While Cloud Hao was looking at the system mission in dismay, in an apartment outside the Fifth Ring Road in Shangjing, a middle-aged man was sitting at his desk with a face filled with worry. He was staring blankly at a blank draft and the calendar with the word "deadline" circled in red.
It had been a week since he went into seclusion and locked himself in this house in the suburbs.
However, he still didn't have any ideas for the script outline, and the deadline was getting closer and closer, pretty much driving him into a corner.
By rights, as a director, Tian Ye didn't have to worry about scripts.
After all, scripts were just like the screenwriters on the street—you could have as many as you wanted.
With his reputation in the industry, nobody doubted that as long as he was willing to lower his standards, there would be tons of screenwriters happily sending their scripts to him. It wouldn't even matter if they didn't get any remuneration, as long as their name was in the credits as the main writer. Their next script would be slightly easier to sell then.
However, Tian Ye naturally dismissed the garbage that was delivered to his door.
As a famous director with amazing talent, his movies could only be the best of the best.
If there wasn't any ready-made script up to his standard, he definitely wouldn't just make do. Instead, he would rather write an outline on his own and throw it to a professional screenwriter to come up with and edit the script till it had the right feels, till he was satisfied, and till he approved of it.
However, this process was just too agonizing.
Especially of late, he hadn't had any inspiration at all. He had racked his brains, but he still couldn't come up with a satisfying idea.
However, just sitting there wasn't going to work.
Putting aside the fact that his Tianyuan Films still had a bank loan to pay off, the bet-on agreement with the investors also forced him to speed up his progress.
If he wanted to retain his control of the company, he had to produce a blockbuster film with a box office of over 50 million yuan this year, so as to convince the investors who questioned his filming style and commercial value.
"…No inspiration at all."
Tian Ye hugged his head in agony, got up from the chair, and took out his mobile phone. He then called his old friend. "Come have a drink with me."
Hearing about free alcohol, the reply from the other end of the phone was very brisk.
"Where?"
"My house in the suburbs."
After about an hour, the doorbell rang.
Tian Ye pushed the chair away and stood up. Nonchalantly throwing on an outer coat, he walked to the entrance and opened the door.
When the door opened, his old friend, Lu Fusheng, was standing there. He was a professor in the Music Department at Peking University, primarily focusing on piano and Guzheng. The two of them first met in a production team. They got along right from the beginning, and many of the songs in Tian Ye's movies were also composed by him.
"I was in class just now and there was a traffic jam on the way here, so it took me a while to get here. I hope I'm not too late." After changing into slippers, Lu Fusheng walked into the living room and said with a smile, "What's wrong? Why did you suddenly think about drinking with me? Your new script is about to be materialized?"
"Don't talk about it; I haven't settled it." Tian Ye, who had taken out two bottles of vintage alcohol from the liquor cabinet, walked to the coffee table and sat down. He shook his head and said, "I get frustrated when this issue is mentioned."
Lu Fusheng gave him a side glance. "Yet you still have time to drink?"
"It's because I don't have any inspiration at all. I'm drowning my sorrows." He poured a glass for himself and downed it. The burn forced him to grimace, but he forced himself to swallow it.
Lu Fusheng could not bear to see his old friend in such anguish. He sighed and took a sip of the drink before putting the cup down and saying,
"Are you able to divulge the subject matter?"
Tian Ye pondered for a while. Then, he narrowed his eyes and said, "The backdrop is an ancient era, during troubled times, and the theme… a love that makes others green with envy!"
"Okay, you could have just said that it's a romantic film and be done with it. You even had to add in 'makes others green with envy'," Old Lu laughed. He took another sip of alcohol and continued to ask, "And then?"
"Nothing."
"Huh?" Lu Fusheng's eyes widened. He looked at his old friend in disbelief. "You've been in seclusion for a week but only came up with these few words?"
Tian Ye smiled wryly and explained, "You're also someone who does creative work. You should understand the feeling of your inspiration being exhausted. Besides, I didn't just come up with these few words. The number of draft papers I've used can fill a few large bins…"
Lu Fusheng stared blankly at his old friend for a long time. He seemed to understand something and finally let out a soft sigh.
"I roughly understand what you mean… You want to make a movie that can surpass 'The Swordsman', right?"
Old Tian nodded without saying anything.
"Yeah… If I can't produce one, they'll force me to film The Swordsman 2."
"The Swordsman" was Old Tian's best work. It was the first film in the history of Country Xia's film industry to fully depict "chivalry" and "the martial arts world". It was also the first epic masterpiece to incorporate the themes of romanticism and heroic individualism. Naturally, it was a huge hit on the box office and received good public ratings.
Prior to this, Country Xia's martial arts films were either too much about heroic individualism, which was a success on the box office but didn't have good ratings from the public. Otherwise, they were too full of romanticism and the atmosphere was overly exaggerated, such that they had good ratings but did not do well on the box office.
Many well-known film critics commented that "The Swordsman" was more like a scroll of poems about the martial arts world rather than a movie.
Whether it was an audience with popcorn or an old scholar wearing glasses, they could all infer their own meaning of "chivalry" and "the world of martial arts". They would be moved by the characters in the movie, as well as the unfolding of a glorious era.
It could be said that "The Swordsman" was not only a pioneer in many aspects, but it also led Country Xia's martial arts movies to a new level.
This film brought great success to Tian Ye's career, but on the other hand, it also left a deep mark on him.
When people mentioned his name, they would associate it with the movie, "The Swordsman".
Although he had produced several films since then, none could surpass his debut work, both on the box office and public ratings.
To reach his peak with his debut work was obviously not what an ambitious director expected to see.
Later on, Tian Ye kept wanting to remove the mark left by "The Swordsman" and tried to be innovative with the basics. However, the audience and investors didn't seem to buy it.
After the failure of the two masterpieces, which he had spent a long time producing, both the confidence and tolerance of investors and banks hit rock bottom. Especially at the most recent partners meeting, one of the partner representatives stepped forth to issue him an ultimatum.
"Investment of 30 million."
"If you make a loss again, then you'll film 'The Swordsman 2'!"
Although this seemed to be the safest choice that would definitely make a profit, it was also the option Tian Ye was the least willing to accept.
Even though "The Swordsman'' was a mark he couldn't get rid of, it was still his own work, just like his child. Yet now, someone wanted him to strangle it to death with his own hands and milk its last bit of value dry. As the father, he naturally couldn't agree!
However, it was not that easy to fulfill the conditions set by investors.
According to the threefold law, if he didn't want to make a loss with the capital of 30 million, he would have to earn at least 90 million. Even though the box office ceiling had been updated annually in recent years, it was definitely not an easy task to achieve such a result.
Furthermore, the 30 million yuan budget was a tight sum in itself…
"I can't consider big productions. I don't have that much budget to capture the audience's attention through special effects. Besides, I thought that if I want to surpass 'The Swordsman', I must find an entry point from its shortcoming."
Lu Fusheng deliberated for a while before saying, "Romance?"
Tian Ye nodded gravely.
"That's right."
Although "The Swordsman" had achieved amazing results in many fields, the only shortcoming it had was the missing romance.
On the one hand, it was because the martial arts world he described only had decisive killings stemming from debts of gratitude and revenge that came and went in haste. There wasn't much about the love and affection between the opposite sex. On the other hand, the duration of a film was limited, so only one or two key points could be expanded. If there was too much, it would be overwhelming.
Thus, if he wanted to have a breakthrough, he could only use this domain, which he had never set foot in before, as a beginning point, painting a picture of a martial arts world that was not depicted in "The Swordsman".
Even if this was not an easy task.
Seeing the vexation written all over his old friend's face, Lu Fusheng lifted his glass, took a sip, smacked his lips, and said, "It's a pity that I'm a musician, so I can't help you much with scripts. However, if you're in a bad mood, I happened to hear a good song recently. I'll share it with you so that you can listen to it."
"Song?" Tian Ye poured another glass for himself and said indifferently, "Piano song?"
"In your eyes, do I only study the piano?" Lu Fusheng chuckled. He waved his hand and said, "Unfortunately, it's really not a piano piece, but a pop song that has been quite popular recently. Though it is indeed with piano accompaniment."
"Hah, in that case, I really have to listen to it." Tian Ye clinked glasses with his old friend and said jokingly, "But since when did you become interested in pop music?"
Lu Fusheng smiled but didn't explain. He took out the phone and opened the media player application, then placed the phone on the coffee table.
The prelude rang out slowly, as if it were coming through from afar.
Tian Ye's brows furrowed. Just as he was about to listen carefully, a hoarse yet delicate voice rang in his ears along with the piano melody that sounded like a guzheng.
"The bustling sounds of life vanished with the escape into the temple, leaving the world behind."
"Dreams are cold. After the twists and turns of life, the debts of love I owe can be written into books."
Before the first verse was over, the moving melody and poetic lyrics caught him in a vice-like grip.
Seeing the poignant expression on his old friend's face, Lu Fusheng smiled and drank from his cup.
"Looks like you haven't been online for the past few days. You actually haven't heard this."
"Keep quiet." Tian Ye raised his hand to silence him and sat upright. With tightly knitted eyebrows, he moved closer towards the phone and muttered, "Wait until I finish listening to it."
When he saw how engrossed his old friend was, Lu Fusheng chuckled inwardly and stopped talking. He quietly accompanied him in appreciating the sound of this rain that traversed through time and space.
This rain outside the temple lasted for four minutes.
Although it was not long, in Tian Ye's heart, it felt like a century had passed.
Even after the last sentence, "In the temple, I listen to the rain, longing for eternity", was sung, he continued staring blankly into space and didn't snap out of his daze.
That song, those lyrics, that melody…
Just like a key, it opened the door to a new world in his heart!
When he saw the astonished expression on his old friend's face, Lu Fusheng smiled like he had expected this. Putting down the wine cup in his hand, he slowly opened his mouth, "This song inspired me a lot.
"Over the years, I've been researching how to incorporate Chinese-style elements into Western-style music. The clever use of the B note in this song is really a textbook-level innovation.
"Before this, regardless of whether it was pop or non-pop songs, we usually try to avoid having the 4 and 7 notes on the staff when composing Chinese-style piano music. But after listening to this piece, I suddenly gained new insights into composing music.
"Of course, besides the melody, I also like the lyrics very much. The poetic flavor that doesn't use too much pretentious flowery language to bring out the description of emotions and the mood was as apt as the ending note xi.
"This part is quite similar to your movies."
Before he was done talking, Tian Ye suddenly leaped up from the sofa, as if his soul had returned to his body.
Looking at his refreshed old friend, Lu Fusheng was slightly stunned.
"What's… wrong with you?"
Tian Ye didn't respond. Instead, he swiftly whipped out his phone. He quickly swiped open the contact list with his trembling thumb and called his personal editor.
The call went through very quickly.
Without making any small talk, Tian Ye commanded, "Put your work aside immediately and come over to my place right now.
"Yes, I have an idea for the new script. I want to discuss the outline of the script with you!"