It was so good to the point that their love extended to everything around them. Even treated Tan Jin Qi with utmost care.
Just how many times has Professor Tang praised Tan Mo, even after having met her just a while ago?
He really was seizing every opportunity he could to pave the way for Tan Mo.
The four arrived at the hotel, and Director Liu had already prepared a room for Professor Tang.
“I’ll go put down my luggage. We’ll talk about the script after that,” said Professor Tang.
“You’ve had a long flight. The journey must’ve been tiring,” said Director Liu. “You should rest first. We can talk about it tomorrow.”
“There’s no need for that,” Professor Tang dismissed with a wave of his hand casually. “First things first. You’ll need to spend a lot of time on the script. Although you won’t make up for lost time, you’ll know you spend less time on it as a whole.”
Professor Liu nodded his head in appreciation. “Thank you very much, sir.”
“Don’t thank me. Are you trying to shame this old man?” Professor Tang huffed in annoyance. “It’s all my fault that the student got this entire mess of a situation delayed.”
Upon hearing this, Director Liu stopped talking about it. “Well, we’ll have to have some dinner.”
“Just have the hotel send it up to the rooms.” Professor Tang said as he entered the lift. “We can discuss further while eating. No point in wasting even more time.”
“Alright.” Director Liu went to his room. He quickly flipped through the menu and ordered his meal through the room service.
As a member of the scriptwriter team, Yuan Qi Shan would have to attend the meeting. A few others came over to Director Liu’s room.
Director Liu’s room was a hotel suite. It had an attached living room that was the perfect place to hold the meeting.
The idea was that from then on, all the meetings would be held in that room.
The meals were swiftly delivered as more and more people arrived to the hotel suite. The group ate and discussed at the same time.
Yuan Qi Shan sat nervously by the table as Professor Tang took out his printed version of the script. “I’ve already highlighted the sections we can keep.”
Director Liu was speechless.
Sections we can keep?
How many sections did he want to change?
Professor Tang continued to speak: “Initially, I only planned to highlight the parts that were unsuitable for the script, but it turns out that there’s just too much. That’s why I only highlighted the parts that we can keep.”
“I agree with what Tan Mo said. The change of regime, war, feuds, and conspiracies between the different rulers are all very exciting within that time period. Whether in court or battlefield, having it all put together would be more exciting than fiction itself. We’ve already got something brilliant here; there’s no need to gild the lily.”
“What you all need to do is to link those historical events together smoothly. All aspects of the story, such as court, war, and the people, must be strung together into a story that the audience can understand and enjoy,” said Professor Tang. He looked over to Tan Mo. “Tan Mo, what do you think?”
Tan Mo was looking through Professor Tang’s bookmarks. She was on the page about Seven Xian Bamboo Forest.
Professor Tang had marked this section as fit to keep.
She nodded. “What Professor Tang has said is completely right. Also, the Seven Xian Bamboo Forest section can be included. Scriptwriter Yuan has once said that a script needs conflict, tension and contrast. So, in that time of chaos, the seven sages of the bamboo forest had been enjoying the luscious environment, while the commoners were starving and poorly dressed. Most of their families were fighting in the war. On top of that, most of the children and the younger generation wanted to find a way out of that hellscape — these three events can be in juxtaposition of one other in order to create conflict.
“There is much one can write about. Since there were no poor families then, the contradictions would be emphasized and intensified within the court, in the army, and within their livelihood. Many families would selfishly care about their own interests and prioritize that over national interests. The general would be fighting for his survival. There’s much to write about.”
Director Liu’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Just hearing Tan Mo narrate the story was already extremely interesting. It wasn’t even on paper yet.
The original script had no such majestic moment in it at all.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
“Who would come by this late?” Director Liu frowned as he stood up. “I already told my assistant that we’re hosting a meeting here and that he’s not to disturb us.”
He walked over to answer the door.
He opened the door and, to his surprise, Shen Jing Yi was standing right there.
“You haven’t left yet?” Director Liu blurted out without thinking.
Shen Jing Yi didn’t say anything.
It looked like he didn’t want to deal with her right now.
“I’ve only just arrived today, and I haven’t even gotten my return tickets yet,” she said with a light smile. “I thought that maybe I’d stay an extra night.”
“What’s up with you?” Director Liu stood firmly in the doorway. He had no intention of letting her through.
He wasn’t sure if he was annoyed by her, but he wasn’t sure if he was trying to avoid her either.
“Director Liu, have you eaten yet?” Shen Jing Yi asked. “Do you want to head down and grab something while we have a chat?”
Shen Jing Yi didn’t have to do anything to lead Director Liu down this crooked thoughts.
Director Liu was exceptional at directing. He often interacted with many people of culture. If anything, she would never get to his level.
She wasn’t as young as the girls in girl groups, nor was was she as well-maintained in her appearance as other female celebrities.
But she was fully aware of these shortcomings.
All she wanted was to be given another chance.
“Oh, I’m eating right now.” Director Liu gave her a perfunctory smile. “You can have a meal by yourself.”
“Director Liu…” Shen Jing Yi was still trying.
“I’m having a meeting right now. As you know, everything needs to be scrapped and redone because of the entire script situation. I don’t have any time to waste,” he said dismissively.
Shen Jing Yi had better known just who’s fault this was.
Professor Tang walked over. “Oh, just let her in. We don’t want strangers to see a young girl standing outside your door. It’s going to look suspicious.”
Director Liu’s face darkened.
In their field, these misunderstandings were bound to happen.
Even when they were discussing serious work, there would be paparazzi who would snap pictures and twist the entire matter into something else.
He was used to it at this point
Since he chose this career, then he must be ready to face any consequence that would come his way.
But if he would be furious if he were to be misjudged for his taste.
Professor Tang’s words really reminded him of that.
He looked at Shen Jing Yi. She kept lingering around. It was clear that she wasn’t planning on leaving. It was true that she couldn’t keep standing there. People would think things and that would cause trouble.
Director Liu had no choice but to move aside and begrudgingly let her in. “Come on then.”
Shen Jing Yi would’ve never thought that Professor Tang would personally come over.
She followed behind the two as her fingertips trembled nervously.
Only after entering the living room did she realize that Tan Jin Qi, Tan Mo and Yuan Qi Shan were present too.
She realized that it meant that apart from Professor Tang, no one else had bothered to tell her about this meeting.
“You are all here… to discuss the script?” she asked.
“Yes,” Director Liu replied curtly. “The original script needed to be amended. We can’t keep much of the initial content, and that’s what we’re discussing now.”
