I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 814 Boss, we're being monitored!
How could I not be envious?

Hollywood projects can be launched on demand, and domestically, there's the added benefit of a big-name director like Jiang Wen.

Although, a few years later, Jiang's talent may have run dry... well, it's not that he's run dry, but his habit of not being able to tell a good story without metaphors might be popular in this era, but it's not certain that it will be as effective ten years from now.

In Liu Jin's memory, after the evil triumphed over the good, Jiang Zemin never came up with anything good again.

Her personal style is too strong, so strong that it's a bit overwhelming!
But even now, he is still one of the top directors in China.

Perhaps not as good as a poet, a national advisor, or a little cannon, but not far off.

With someone like that protecting her, even a celestial being is truly enviable...

In fact, Huang Xiaoming still doesn't understand why Sophia sent him an audition invitation.

Later, Sophia heard from Tianxian that Liu Jin had used the actor's real name when creating the character. Sophia didn't notice at first, but later realized something was wrong. So she called Tianxian and learned that there was indeed a person named Huang Xiaoming in China. Sophia didn't think too much about it and directly extended an invitation to Huang Xiaoming.

When Huang Xiaoming received the invitation, he was completely stunned!
He came today to thank Liu Jin.

Unexpectedly, he heard about a huge project with an investment of 200 million, which really left him a little stunned.

How could Huayi not have given any hint about such a large investment?
Is it still the largest private film company in China?

Huang Xiaoming felt a sense of unease.

……

Liu Jin gave Jiang Wen a good scolding.

Whether it will be useful or not, even God probably doesn't know.

No metaphors, no Jiang Wen...

I just hope he doesn't make a movie that even the original author, Liu Jin, can't understand.

If that's the case, Liu Jin will definitely turn against him!

Old Jiang's desire to express himself is too strong!
During dinner that evening, Tianxian secretly told Liu Jin that she planned to turn down the role in "Assassination of the Emperor".

"You should talk to Lao Jiang!"

"I wouldn't dare, could you put in a good word for me?"

"Why!"

Tianxian snorted and said softly, "I've read the script for 'Contagious Disease.' It's been a lot of running around, and I reckon it'll take a lot of time. You know my skill level; I'm lucky if I can play one role well. If it's two roles, I'm afraid I'll get them mixed up."

Changchang doesn't have any film offers lately, how about letting her replace me?

"You have such a big face."

"Could you please help me out?"

"Actually, you don't need to do this. Don't forget, Lao Jiang is going there too."

"His role was just a cameo..."

Tianxian held Liu Jin's hand and pleaded incessantly.

Liu Jin couldn't argue with her any longer, so he had no choice but to agree.

I mentioned this to Jiang Wen, and to my surprise, he praised it highly.

"Not taking on multiple projects at once is a good habit. It's already difficult enough to fully understand one character, let alone take on multiple projects at once..."

Even the best craftsmanship will be wasted.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're implying something?"

Jiang Wen just smiled, but didn't give Liu Jin a direct answer.

……

Two days later, Wang Sicong had finalized the flight route application.

Liu Jin took his five children and boarded a plane to Toulouse.

The two sets of twins are eight months old now, which is a very active age.

Fortunately, Camille, the older sister, was very sensible and took care of Liu Jin busy on the plane, which made things much easier for Liu Jin.

With the help of the flight attendants, the flight, which lasted more than ten hours, was tiring but did not cause any trouble.

After getting off the plane, I saw AA and Lao Zhong driving up in two cars.

Camille hadn't seen AA for a long time either, as AA had been too busy ever since officially joining La Cinq.

"mom!"

She cried out with joy and threw herself into AA's arms.

"Missing your daughter?"

"Of course!"

Liu Jin, driving his newly purchased Mercedes-Benz RV, asked with a smile.

"However, I have to go back tomorrow..."

Ed has already arrived in Paris, and I have a project seminar to attend tomorrow.

Has Ed Stafford been taken care of too?

That's fantastic! With that, La Cinq can finally relax about the survival show.

Unfortunately, Liu Jin didn't have time, otherwise he definitely would have gone with him.

After all, in his past life, between Bear Grylls and Ed Stafford, he sided with Ed Stafford!

He just can't show his face; he can only appear as a fan and take photos with Ed Stafford in the future.

Because he had his child with him, Liu Jin went directly to the Grüsang Manor.

The manor has already found a nanny who will help Liu Jin take care of everything.

As for Camille, there's not much to worry about. She's even more popular at the Grüsang Manor than Liu Jin is.

The following day, AA returned to Paris.

And so Liu Jin's leisurely vacation began.

Writing, taking care of the kids!
Life suddenly became orderly.

With the addition of a few children, the manor suddenly felt more like home.

For the first time in his life, Liu Jin experienced the pain of being a stay-at-home dad.

That was real, really, really painful!

At first, he found it interesting.

But as time went on...

I just couldn't take it anymore.

But this is a necessary process.

Fortunately, Chloe and Ottilie would often come to help, which relieved some of his burden.

Verena was also at the manor, but she wasn't of much help.

She often spent time with Camille, and when they had nothing to do, the two beautiful women, one big and one small, would sit in the lakeside pavilion and play chess.

Only then did Liu Jin realize that Verena was also a skilled chess player.

……

Meanwhile, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was released in North America.

This is a work more suited to modern tastes than Fitzgerald's work, which is imbued with the strong early 20th-century style. Liu Jin's wording largely follows the film version rather than the original text.

To be honest, if you've read the original "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," you'll definitely feel very awkward.

Extensive use of descriptive language, lengthy passages of inner monologues, and mostly environmental descriptions…

However, it seems that works from that era were all in this style.

However, Liu Jin's version, adapted from the film, is more suitable for modern readers' tastes.

After its release at the end of June, fueled by extensive pre-release promotion, it sold over two million copies globally on its first day…

A profound and moving journey through life.

Through his unique perspective on time, Amos tells the extraordinary story of a remarkable man born old yet living in the opposite direction of time. In this book, Amos, contrary to his usual style, infuses it with profound and soul-stirring meaning.

As I read, I also pondered the true meaning of life.
Susan Sanger

I know Amos won't let me down.

In fact, he moved me.

At the beginning of the novel, Daisy lies in her hospital bed, revealing a mixture of curiosity and acceptance of death.

That composure, and her understanding of death, revealed a serene attitude towards the end of life. She did not view death as suffering, but rather as the beginning of a new journey…

From that moment on, I knew that I was about to undergo a spiritual baptism!

Thank you, Amos, you always create amazing works!
And I implore you, sincerely, as earnestly as if praying to God, please do not stop creating.

No matter what you write, I will support you.

Michiko Kakutani, chief commentator for The New York Times
……

Kakutani is quite an interesting person.

From the very beginning, she was a staunch opponent of Amos.

She would find fault with any of Liu Jin's works from various angles, look for bugs, and then launch a fierce attack on Liu Jin.

When did it start?

It seems that it was around the time of "The Da Vinci Code," which marked the beginning of the first epic battle between Liu Jin and J.K. Rowling, that she seemed to be won over.

Since then, she has rarely criticized Liu Jin in the media.

On the contrary, whenever Liu Jin was criticized, she would unhesitatingly stand by his side and cheer him on. Even the editor-in-chief of Random House, Mr. Sen, called to complain to Liu Jin about why he hadn't given her the book…

Is there something you're unhappy about with Random House?

"Du Lemeng even asked me if I had any opinions about him."

In the end, Senquluo couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Aren't you going to publish 'Devil and Angel' next month?"

“I feel it will be hard to surpass ‘Benjamin’!” Sen Qulu laughed. “In terms of level, it still falls short.”

Let alone The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, even the devil and angel in "The Da Vinci Code" fall short.

But as one of the Professor Langdon trilogy, this work is not bad.

"I heard you gave Hachette a trilogy?"

Our ancestors?

"Yes."

"How did you know? I only gave them to them at the end of May."

"This circle is only so big, and news travels very fast... Mainly, around the middle of the month, when Lagardère attended the Frankfurt Book Fair, he bragged about it to our CEO Hamt, and as a result, Hamt called Du Lemeng to inquire, and it seems he gave her a severe scolding. Amos, don't forget that Langdon was your earliest partner."

"In the past two years, your cooperation with us has decreased significantly."

"The next book, the next book will definitely be yours."

"what story?"

"The story of a pianist."

Sen Qulu didn't ask any more questions, but he clearly breathed a sigh of relief on the phone.

"Amos, I look forward to your new work!"

After hanging up the phone, Liu Jin scratched his head vigorously.

Since Benjamin's was released, this is the sixth time that publishers have called Senchoro.

Lagardère said: "Amos, Our Ancestors will do something big, no less than the Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

George of Simon & Schuster earnestly requested Liu Jin that if there were similar works, they should be considered first.

HarperCollins Publishers, on the other hand, hoped that Liu Jin would have time to visit their company.

Scholars Group...

In short, his current popularity is approaching that of J.K. Rowling back in the day.

Even Rowling called to complain to Liu Jin that the Scholars Group no longer cared about her much...

"Devil and Angel" is coming soon.

I wonder what it will be like!
After you finish Dante's Code, be sure to take a break and catch your breath.

……

Camille is having so much fun!

Chloe gave her a gentle white miniature horse, which made her feel as if she had returned to her old farm in Brazil.

Horse riding, dog walking...

Then Old Zhong got her a small bow and arrow.

The Grysant estate was thrown into chaos.

Fortunately, in mid-July, Camille's maternal grandparents arrived in France from Brazil, finally giving Liu Jin a chance to catch his breath.

The arrival of the two elderly people not only kept an eye on Camille, but also took over the care of the four babies. They looked down on Liu Jin... after all, Liu Jin hadn't given AA a proper status yet.

But they also knew that Liu Jin treated AA very well.

Watching Ambrose on TV, radiating confidence, and seeing her as a Victoria's Secret Angel on the runway reveals a completely different vibe.

This brought great comfort to the two elderly people.

On July 16, "Devil and Angel" was released.

On July 20th, the "Paris Trilogy" was released...

The entire French book market was turned upside down.

Adding to the earlier success of *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, Liu Jin once again dominated the top three spots on the French Booksellers' Association's sales charts for July. His Paris trilogy, in particular, seemed to transport readers back to 01, when *Amélie* swept the market. People were talking about Liu Jin again, but with a greater sense of respect in their words.

Amos loves France!

Otherwise, how could he have created such a beautiful story?
Liu Jin, on the other hand, completely ignored the disputes outside and focused solely on his creative work at home...

Throughout July, Liu Jin completed two works: Assassin's Creed Black Flag and Assassin's Creed Abandoned.

Both novels are based on Assassin's Creed III.

Black Flag tells the story of Connor's grandfather, Edward Kenway; while Abandoned tells the story of Connor's father, Haytham. Together with Assassin's Creed III, they can be considered the "Connor Trilogy." With this, seven Assassin's Creed games have been created. Liu Jin plans to create five more in two years.

He will incorporate the original works of "The Great Revolution", "The Underground", and "Origins".

But for the last two parts, he plans to expand the map to China... but how exactly to write it? He doesn't have a clear idea yet.

The only certainty is that he will not use Yan Leisheng's two works.

If all else fails, trying something original might not be a bad idea!

……

While working on Black Flag and Abandoned, Liu Jin also created Midnight in Paris.

This is also the last installment of Woody Allen's Midnight Trilogy, something Liu Jin had promised Woody long ago.

If I don't write it soon, Woody's script will probably be out soon...

The novel was still sent to Singer Publishers, and a draft of the manuscript was also sent to Woody to see if he would accept it.

After entering August, Liu Jin went into seclusion again to begin creating "The Legend of 1900".

This work was originally supposed to be completed last year, but Liu Jin kept putting it off until now.

There's no way around it, I'm just too busy!

Since Alessandro Baricco is a non-existent figure, Liu Jin understood why Tornatore didn't make a film about The Legend of 1900—there was no original novel! The Legend of 1900 was adapted from Baricco's literary screenplay "1900: Monologue," written in the early 1990s. Now, Baricco is nowhere to be found, so naturally, there would be no film.

Literary scripts, huh...

Liu Jin hasn't seen it.

Therefore, he based his work entirely on the movie "The Legend of 1900".

However, while creating the film, he still changed 1900 to be a Chinese American, and the Virginia, which travels between Europe and America in the film, became a cruise ship traveling between Los Angeles and Shanghai... 1900's mother was a Chinese woman persecuted by the Chinese Exclusion Act, who gave birth to 1900 on a cruise ship that was being deported back to Shanghai.
However, after 1900 was born, his mother also passed away.

The rest of the story is not much different from the movie.

Danny, the stoker who was adopted in 1900, was still a black man.

Ignoring the ridicule of other workers, he raised the Chinese baby alone and named him 1900 to commemorate this special day.
Born at sea, 1900 was a person who had never existed on land before.

Aside from Danny, he had no relatives, no household registration, and no nationality...

The sea was his cradle, and he grew up on the Virginia.

A maritime accident leads to Danny's death... 1900, now an orphan again, learns to play the piano without a teacher, thus beginning his journey of playing the piano at sea.

I won't go into the details of the story to avoid being accused of writing filler content.

In this story, Liu Jin added elements such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, as well as various discriminatory behaviors against Chinese people by Westerners in that era, to continuously enhance the conflict and drama of the story.

The assistant arrived at the Gruson Estate in mid-August.

Eva didn't come because, as the director, she still had some follow-up work to do and was expected to return in September.

When the assistant returned, Liu Jin was completely absorbed in his creative process.

They didn't inquire about the filming process, nor did they ask about the assistant's feelings.

The assistant, without saying a word, put down her luggage and took over the work of proofreading, modifying, and inputting the data into the computer.

It must be admitted that the arrival of the assistant made Liu Jin's work much easier.

Twenty days, 380,000 words.

After Liu Jin finished composing "The Legend of 1900", he was as if he had been seriously ill, lying in bed all day, unwilling to even move a finger.

"Boss, this is a document sent by Zhou Shouzi. Please take a look."

He was unwilling to move, but the work never stopped.

After joining GST in June, Zhou Shouzi spent two months producing an investigation report.

In his report, he expressed the view that "the future center of the world economy is in China" and suggested investing in some Chinese companies.

This includes JD.com, which Liu Jin is familiar with, and whole grains.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Jin added the names BYD and DJI, and told Zhou Shouzi that he would be fully responsible for this series of investments.

After completing the approval process, Liu Jin planned to go for a walk.

But as soon as I stepped out the door, I saw Verena rushing over from the direction of the server room building.

She pulled Liu Jin along to the lakeside.

"Boss, we're being monitored!"

"what?"

Liu Jin was taken aback upon hearing this and looked at Verena in surprise.

……

(End of this chapter)