Huayu: As a child star, I just want to be famous

Chapter 10 Discussion (Part )

The next day, Chen Linfeng was listening to the teacher's lecture while thinking about the topic for the New Concept Composition Preliminary Competition.

In the past two years, newspapers have been talking about the drawbacks of examination essays. Combined with the name of New Concept, it can be imagined that what the organizers want is an article that is different from the standards of middle school essays.

The requirements for the preliminary round would not be too high. After some thought, Chen Linfeng wrote a short story about a one-minute time machine.

This is the plot of a creative short film from later generations.

The male protagonist chats up a beautiful lady. Unlike ordinary chat-ups, the male protagonist has a time machine that can travel back to one minute ago.

He was not a very expressive person and a lot of mistakes happened during the pick-up process.

So the male protagonist kept pressing the time machine to avoid his own poor performance.

From the heroine's perspective, the guy who approached her left a good impression on her.

As the conversation deepened, the male protagonist learned that the female protagonist was a female PhD in physics and was holding a book on quantum mechanics.

The two began to discuss quantum mechanics, and the male protagonist kept pressing the time machine, trying his best to maintain the topic until the male protagonist told him about the time machine.

The heroine, who is a doctor, tells him the truth about time travel.

It turns out that traveling through time once means one's death in the original world, so it is not really going back to the past, but the mind traveling to another world one minute ago.

The male protagonist fell into panic. He had traveled through time more than a dozen times, which meant he had died more than a dozen times.

Seeing the man extremely depressed, the heroine, who had already developed a crush on the man, felt sorry for him and thought she had done something wrong.

So now it's the heroine's turn to keep using the time machine, just to prevent the man from knowing the truth about time travel.

The story ends here.

This is a two-way pure love story hidden under the guise of time travel, with many twists and turns in the middle, which should be enough to cope with the preliminary round.

After Chen Linfeng finished writing the story, he mailed it to the address required by the newspaper and waited for the result.

In early October, Chen's father left home and started to participate in the project planning of the sequel to Journey to the West.

Not long after, he sent back the news that there had been initial progress in attracting investment, and he believed that the preliminary preparations would be launched soon.

In November, as expected, the organizer of the New Concept Writing Competition called to inform me that I had passed the preliminary round.

Zhu Guiming, deputy editor-in-chief of Mengya magazine, told him over the phone,
"Your essay has won a prize in the preliminary round. We have decided to publish it in the fifth issue of Sprout after the semi-final next year. Please prepare to participate in the semi-final on March 5."

And inform some necessary information for next year's rematch.

There have been many news reports about the New Concept Competition in newspapers during this period.

Mengya Magazine and seven famous universities including Yenching University, Fuwen University, East China Normal University, Southern University, Tianjin University, Dongxia University and Haidong University jointly launched the "New Concept Writing Competition" with the aim of "facing the new century and cultivating new talents."

In particular, the competition announcement mentioned that the award-winning high school graduates will be the focus of seven famous universities and will be admitted in advance or given priority depending on their specific circumstances.

Once the news was disclosed, it caused a huge response across the country.

The neighbors around also heard that Chen Linfeng participated in the preliminary round, and now he entered the semi-finals, there was a lot of noise.

The popularity of Chen Linfeng on campus had just cooled down slightly, but it started to rise again.

The school attaches great importance to this and the Chinese teacher conducts writing exercises every few days.

The principal even decided to go to Shanghai with Chen Linfeng to participate in the rematch.

At the end of December, Chen's father returned home.

He threw his bag on the table and slumped in his chair, looking a little depressed.

Chen's mother rarely saw him so depressed, so she asked, "What happened? Why are you acting like this?"

"The sequel to Journey to the West is on hold now. Why did I just get involved in it in the first place?" Father Chen slapped his forehead, full of regret.

"At the beginning you swore that there was no problem, but now it's a little difficult and you can't do it? Please tell me the details of the situation slowly." Chen's mother said calmly.

Chen Linfeng was puzzled when he heard this.

Not really. The sequel to Journey to the West was successfully broadcasted in the previous life. The impact was not small. I didn't do anything, so there shouldn't be any problems. Father Chen said in a low voice, "The most important factor in deciding to get involved in this drama was that Cao Rong said that he met Zhang Lingtong when he was acting in the sequel to Journey to the West, and he was sure to invite him to play the role of Sun Wukong in the sequel."

He spread his hands and said, "Ask Zhang Lingtong's Monkey King who would not be convinced. I felt at the time that this project was a sure win."

Mother Chen nodded, "That's true. If we really invite him, it will naturally be the basis for a hit drama."

"That's right. When we initially confirmed the intention, Zhang Lingtong also agreed to act in the role."

The more Chen Shantong thought about it, the more unlucky it felt. "Who knew his wife wouldn't agree?"

Chen's mother was surprised and asked, "What does it have to do with his wife?"

"Zhang Lingtong's wife said that if he played the Monkey King too many times, his image would become rigid, which would be detrimental to his future career as an actor. For the past two months, Zhang Lingtong hesitated and finally refused to play the role."

Chen Shantong cursed when he said this, "The main character is gone. This drama is doomed."

So that's how it is. Chen Linfeng pondered for a moment and asked, "Dad, don't worry. Let's not worry about what his wife says. Can I ask how much Zhang Lingtong's pay is?"

Chen Shantong hesitated for a moment and slowly said a number.

"This number is not low. It ranks among the top among mainland actors," explained Chen's father.

Is this the level of pay for top mainland actors?

"That's the current pay of the top actors in mainland China, which doesn't even match their worth." Chen Linfeng said bluntly.

"Another reason is that most of the dramas these top actors are currently performing are serious dramas that can improve their reputation, so it is understandable that their pay is limited.

But is our sequel to Journey to the West a serious drama? "

Chen Linfeng thought of his previous life, and the reputation of the sequel to Journey to the West at the beginning.

"Dad, I've read the script. This drama is obviously a commercial drama of the comedy type. The director is still a novice. It's good enough that Zhang Lingtong starred in this drama without bad reputation."

"You mean Teacher Zhang thinks the money is too little?" Chen Shantong grasped the key point of his son's words.

"No way, why would an artist do that for money?" Chen's mother thought it was unlikely.

"That's right, Xiaofeng, you underestimate the artist. To put it bluntly, it's his wife who is causing trouble. Zhang Lingtong is also a grown man. How can he listen to a woman on such an important matter?"

Halfway through his words, Chen Shantong saw his wife glance at him, and his voice became smaller and smaller, almost mumbling in the end.

Chen Linfeng explained, "It's not entirely because the money is too little, but I still feel that it's not worth risking my reputation for such a small salary.

From the perspective that he had already agreed to it, he probably didn’t have much of an issue with the pay at first. But when his wife raised objections, he started to consider many aspects, and the pay became one of the important factors he considered.

He raised his finger and listed the various reasons why Zhang Lingtong might not appear in the film: "The pay is not outstanding, the film may not have a good reputation, and continuing to play the Monkey King will cause transformation problems."

Chen Linfeng shook his three raised fingers, "Obviously, after comprehensive consideration, Director Cao's personal relationship alone is not enough to allow him to perform."

"I think Mr. Zhang still doesn't want to be trapped in the role of Sun Wukong." Shi Xiaolong raised his hand to express his opinion.
"Xiaofeng, didn't you also tell me about the transition after adulthood? An aspiring artist like this will definitely consider future development issues."

"All of this can be solved with money!" Chen Linfeng said firmly.

"Zhang Lingtong's Monkey King is so classic that it cannot be more classic. People all over the country only recognize his Monkey King.

One more performance or one less performance doesn't make that much of a difference. If you give him enough money, he can consider the issue of transformation later."

Chen Linfeng looked at his father. His father had his hand on his chin, motionless, and was obviously still considering it.

"In TV dramas and movies related to Journey to the West, Sun Wukong is the absolute protagonist and determines the success or failure. In this regard, Zhang Lingtong has the ability to carry a drama on his own and can sell the drama on TV."

Chen Linfeng continued,

"Dad, why don't you discuss this with Director Cao? On the one hand, increase Zhang Lingtong's salary and use the money to stun him. On the other hand, use the reputation of his last role as Sun Wukong to attract investment.

The wool will come from the sheep, and the extra pay will be nothing to those companies that invest in him because of his name. "

When Chen's father heard this, he couldn't help but interrupt, "What you said is getting more and more outrageous. If the pay is high, the cost will be high, and if the investment is large, it will be difficult to recover the cost. Do you think it is so easy to attract investment and make a TV series?"

(End of this chapter)