Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

"Land, nation, bloodline."

Old Zhou frowned and muttered those words to himself.

"Wow, that's a really high-pitched opening."

The history consultant next to him tapped the table with his fingertips, neither too lightly nor too heavily.

"It's more than just tall."

"If you can't keep up with the momentum, then it's not called being magnanimous; it's just shouting slogans."

That was quite a blunt remark.

But no one in the room found it jarring.

This isn't a fan meeting, and nobody cares how much traffic Fang Yu has.

Once a work is on the table, it's either good or bad.

Fang Yu stood on the other side of the conference table, his expression calm.

"The teacher is absolutely right."

"If you start too high and there's no support behind you, it's easy to sprain your ankle if you fall."

Old Zhou looked up and glanced at him.

This kid doesn't protect his manuscript.

He originally thought that the young man who dared to say "not even the punctuation needs to be changed" was somewhat arrogant at heart.

As a result, Fang Yu stood there obediently, letting them find fault with him.

He didn't interrupt or rush to defend himself.

Shen Weimin did not participate in the discussion.

He had already read those sentences.

That day at Chen Daoming's house, Fang Yu casually wrote down this passage.

It was these few sentences that made him make an exception and give Fang Yu a pass to visit the Forbidden City.

But no matter how well the opening is written, it only proves that the direction is correct.

A complete theme song cannot be supported by just a few lines.

Shen Weimin lowered his eyelids slightly, his gaze continuing to sweep down the paper.

"This capital region, the central axis, is like the unwavering integrity of a gentleman."

"The Nine-Dragon Wall, with its glazed tiles, marks the beginning of history's decline and rise."

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

Tang Huaiyuan reached out and pulled the manuscript closer to him.

"Central axis, Nine-Dragon Wall, Glazed Tiles."

He pointed out three words in a row, and when he looked up again, his tone had completely changed.

"That's more like it!"

Old Zhou's furrowed brows relaxed a bit.

The biggest problem with the manuscripts that were rejected before was that they were too generalized.

Palace walls, wind and snow, old dreams, and the setting sun—these elements are piled up all over the paper.

It does sound quite profound, but it could be used in any other ancient city.

Fang Yu's sentences are different.

The central axis of the capital region, the Nine-Dragon Wall, and glazed tiles.

Once these images are established, the location becomes unambiguous.

"but--"

A literary consultant stroked his chin and asked a question.

"Is it a deliberate attempt to elevate the phrase 'unwavering integrity of a gentleman' by placing it after 'central axis'?"

Fang Yu did not immediately refute.

He casually pulled out the empty chair next to him, sat down calmly, and then met the other person's gaze.

"Dear teachers, what I wrote is not just a geographical line."

"The central axis runs from south to north, traversing the entire palace city."

"It is upright, it is straight, and it has stood there for hundreds of years."

Fang Yu tapped the tabletop twice with his knuckles.

"A person who observes propriety will have a righteous heart."

"In my opinion, this line itself embodies the spirit of a gentleman."

The literary consultant looked at him for two seconds, nodded slowly, and did not ask any further questions.

Tang Huaiyuan's finger had already impatiently slid to the next sentence.

"History has risen again from this decline."

He raised his head.

"Why not write 'Witnessing the Decline and Rise'?"

Fang Yu answered quickly.

"If we only write testimonies, the Forbidden City becomes a dry spectator."

"But it was once a center of power and a microcosm of the times."

"The old dynasty came to an end here, and a new era emerged from that history."

Fang Yu tapped the manuscript paper.

"That's why I wrote 'From this decline to the rise'."

The history consultant adjusted his glasses and looked at Fang Yu seriously for the first time.

These lines neither shy away from the glory of the Forbidden City nor skip over its period of decline.

They maintained a very firm grasp on the scale.

Shen Weimin remained silent.

The preceding content was basically the same as what he had seen last time.

The real new draft begins here.

"These dragon scales, once, fell to the ground with a clang like shattered ice."

Shen Weimin stopped in his tracks as he picked up the thermos.

Tang Huaiyuan's fingers, which were tapping the table, remained rooted to the spot.

Dragon scales.

The front section describes the landscape, the central axis, the Nine-Dragon Wall, and glazed tiles.

Upon reaching this point, the scales fell and shattered on the blue bricks.

The image of a dynasty's decline from its peak is hidden in the four words "a resounding crash."

Old Zhou sat up straight.

"It landed with a resounding clang, like shattered ice..."

He read it again.

"This sentence has both visual and auditory elements."

The history consultant raised his hand, indicating that we should continue reading.

"A single scale, a heart within."

"The story is so turbulent, I can't bear to listen."

Tang Huaiyuan picked up the manuscript and stared at those two lines for a long time.

"Where exactly did you find the dragon scales here?"

Fang Yu replied:

"It could be the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City, or the totem on the Nine-Dragon Wall."

"On a larger scale, it also refers to every descendant of the dragon who has come through that period of history."

"The scales may be gone, but the heart remains."

Tang Huaiyuan looked at the manuscript again and nodded slightly twice.

"The imagery is not unrealistic, and the overall structure is coherent."

Fang Yu smiled.

"Teacher Tang, your summary makes my work seem much more sophisticated."

Tang Huaiyuan glared at him, annoyed.

"Don't give me that platitude."

"You wrote these lyrics yourself, don't you know what you're doing with them?"

"There are quite a few."

Fang Yu coughed lightly and answered seriously:

"But I'm afraid that praising myself will make me seem less humble."

A few low laughs echoed in the conference room.

Old Zhou, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn't help but glance at him now.

"So you've learned to be humble now?"

"The exam is due in ten minutes, and they even said I don't need to change the punctuation."

"When these words reached the meeting room, they almost made our blood pressure spike."

Fang Yu spread his hands.

"I call that having confidence in my work."

"I can't exactly hand in my manuscript saying, 'Gentlemen, my writing is a mess, please bear with it,' right?"

Old Zhou was taken aback by his words.

"Alright, stop joking around."

"I've only read half of it."

"If the second half falls apart, whether you wrote it in ten minutes or ten months, you'll still be executed!"

"Alright."

Fang Yu nodded readily and gestured "please" with one hand.

"Please continue the trial."

Shen Weimin moved the manuscript paper down a bit.

I kept my emotions very low in the beginning.

If it continues to sink deeper into the past, the whole song will be trapped in the decline of a dynasty, unable to escape its current state.

The next section takes a different direction.

"When people observe etiquette, their hearts remain calm."

"The melodious sound of the guqin evokes the heart of a gentleman."

The literary consultant leaned back in his chair, his brows relaxing slightly.

"This place is well-preserved."

"Instead of continuing to emphasize the brokenness, it returned to the human element."

Tang Huaiyuan nodded in agreement.

"The Forbidden City has weathered six hundred years of storms, and what it leaves behind today cannot be nothing more than a sigh."

He pointed to the four characters "守礼" (shǒu lǐ, meaning "to observe propriety") and "守静" (shǒu jìng, meaning "to maintain tranquility") with his fingertip.

"Though the dragon scales have fallen, the culture has not been severed."

The history consultant took the manuscript and continued reading.

"I'm sober, waiting for a response."

"The vast and magnificent Chinese civilization."

This time, no one in the meeting room was in a hurry to speak.

The experts each looked at their manuscripts and reread them from the beginning.

Starting with the landscape, establishing the framework with the central axis, and then delving into the fragmentation of the dragon scales and the continuation of civilization.

The structure of this section is now closed.

Old Zhou touched the carbon pen that he had chewed so much that it was pitted and uneven.

The pen tip hovers above the manuscript paper.

He wanted to circle a few points that needed to be discussed, but he hesitated to put pen to paper.

It's not that he doesn't want to choose.

Looking at the text alone, there is indeed no obvious break in this passage.

Old Zhou put down his pen and looked up at Fang Yu.

"Where's the piece?"

His expression was even more serious than before.

"We've already seen whether the lyrics can hold up."

"But this is the theme song, not a poetry recitation."

Old Zhou pointed to the sentence, "These dragon scales, once, fell to the ground with a clang like shattered ice."

Whether the chorus can be effective or not ultimately depends on the melody.