“Keqing, what do you think? Do you think Mo Mo will win?” Xu Mingjing asked with her eyes still glued to the screen.
A few seconds passed, and the mother still had not gotten her answer. She finally turned her head away from the TV, only to see her daughter staring at the screen and biting her lips.
The screen showed every scriptwriter who had been nominated for the award, and the last one to appear was Tan Mo.
Xu Mingjing said, “‘Legend of Wei and Jin’ definitely was a good story, or else it would never have warranted such success.”
She had been one of the people who had waited impatiently for the drama to update every week while it was airing.
“If the script is the sole reason for the success of a drama, then why do they still need a director?” Yuan Keqing scoffed. “Scripts are nothing more than words on pieces of white paper, conversations without any emotions. A script is meaningless without a good director and amazing actors to bring it alive.
Yuan Keqing paused and continued, “There’s a drama that I used to like so much in the past that I even went and found the script online. The script was a pure disappointment, nothing but boring words. If the script had never been made into a drama, the story would never have garnered any attention. Mo Mo just got lucky because Director Liu is amazing at what he does. She got nominated because of the amazing team, not the other way around.”
“But…” Xu Mingjing took a sip of her tea. “Didn’t Director Liu compliment Mo Mo at the red carpet event just now?’
“Seriously, mom?” Yuan Keqing scoffed once more. “Other people might not understand, but we should know why she got complimented. At first, no one could understand why Uncle decided to sponsor ‘Legend of Wei and Jin’. Not one of us could find an answer. But now that we know Mo Mo was the scriptwriter, isn’t it obvious? Uncle’s company is the biggest sponsor for the drama, and Mo Mo is the scriptwriter. It’s natural that the director had to compliment her. This is the director’s way of getting closer to the family so that he can get more sponsors for his future projects. They are benefiting each other. TanYue provides the director with resources, while the director helps put Mo Mo in the spotlight. Another thing! Look at how much money Uncle had to spend to make Mo Mo famous. Why isn’t Dad doing the same thing for me?”
Yuan Keqing wanted to get famous too, and she was so angry at the fact that her cousin had stepped into the spotlight, but she hadn’t.
“Heck! I can say for sure that Uncle paid those two professors so that Mo Mo could become their student also,” Yuan Keqing said.
“Well, you are still in high school, aren’t you?” Xu Mingjing tried to calm her daughter down.
Since Tan Mo was already a university student, it was natural for her parents to start investing in her future.
However, Yuan Keqing was still a high school student, and the most important thing for her was to study instead of thinking about getting famous.
Yet, her mother’s words angered Yuan Keqing even more. “Mom, are you saying that I’m not as good as Mo Mo? That even though we are both 17 years old, she’s already a university student while I’m still in high school?”
“What the heck is wrong with you?” Xu Mingjing sighed. In all honesty, that had been the mother’s real intention, but there was no way she was going to admit it as it would only hurt her daughter.
Xu Mingjing started to blame herself for her daughter’s behavior. If only she hadn’t told her daughter to give everything to Tan Mo when they were still children, Yuan Keqing would never have hated Tan Mo this much, and the rivalry would never have happened.
The most important fact was that Yuan Keqing was always on the losing side of the rivalry.
Even Xu Mingjing was completely surprised by how talented and smart Tan Mo was, as there was nothing special about the Tan family’s DNA.
Tan Wenci and his three sons were talented in their own specific fields, but that was it. They were never known for being good at their studies.
Unlike her father and siblings, Tan Mo was a complete monster who started attending Beijing University at the age of 15.
With Yuan Keqing’s scores in her examinations, it wouldn’t be a problem for her to get into a normal university, but if she really wanted to attend Beijing University, it would basically be impossible.
And, yet, the daughter wished to attend Beijing University once she graduated from high school.
She kept saying that if Tan Mo was there, then she had to be there as well, or else people would laugh at her for being inferior to her cousin.
That was why Yuan Zhengwen and Xu Mingjing would only let their daughter pursue art courses in high school instead of science courses, since it would be easier to get a higher score in the high school leaving exams that way.
With a little outside help from Yuan Zhengwen, they should be able to send Yuan Keqing to Beijing University.
Despite that, there would still be a huge gap between Yuan Keqing and Tan Mo,
The undeniable truth was that Tan Mo was already studying at one of the Hua Empire’s best universities while Yuan Keqing was still struggling in high school.
The difference was too huge to compare the two of them.
“Aren’t you taking the high school leaving exams this year? We’ll start planning your future once you’ve graduated,” Xu Mingjing said and quickly changed the topic. “By the way, you still haven’t answered my question. Do you think Tan Mo will win the award?”
“Of course not!” Yuan Keqing laughed. “Even if we ignore the fact that Uncle and Director Liu are benefiting from each other and focus solely on the script itself, it would be hard for her to win. Yes, the drama has been successful, but I’m sure most of the judges never even read the real script and would just decide if the script is good or not from the plot and tempo of the drama. If Mo Mo does win, then she really has to thank Director Liu for that because that’s the director’s job, not the scriptwriter’s. I mean, it’s impossible that the director wouldn’t alter the script to produce a smoother flow to the drama, right?
Xu Mingjing nodded and urged her daughter to continue.
“Let’s say that Mo Mo’s script was really that good. However, she’s still a newcomer, right? Has she ever written a script before? Director Liu did mention that she had, but I think he was lying. Think about it, Mo Mo is just 17, and still a student. How did she even find the time to write scripts for dramas before? Also, when did she learn how to write one? That alone would take years to master,” Yuan Keqing analyzed the situation. “I believe the reason Director Liu made up that lie was so that he could clear away the suspicions of other people and prevent people from calling him out for using a scriptwriter with no prior experience. Even if Mo Mo really did have some experience, she’s still a newcomer to the business. ‘Legend of Wei and Jin’ is her first project under her pseudonym, Qi Mo, while the other nominees were scriptwriters who had worked in the business for years. Even I know who they are, and I don’t work in the entertainment business. These are really famous people.
Yuan Keqing paused to take a breath.
“Even though the public might not care about the Best Script Award, to these scriptwriters, this is their life’s goal. Mom, do you really think they will sit still if the organizer gives the award to a newcomer like Mo Mo? These scriptwriters have fame, connections, and experience, and it’s just impossible for the organizer to overlook them. They wouldn’t want to offend the other nominees because of a greenhorn. Mo Mo’s script has to be like the best in the century if they are willing to take that risk.”
