Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Luo Jinnian sat in the conference room of BJ Early Spring Culture, with a review report on the past two years of the Mist Theater circulating internally at iQiyi on the screen in front of him.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds onto the table. He turned to the third page, his gaze falling on a line of bold numbers, and paused for a moment.

The report divided the history of the Mist Theater into three phases.

The first stage is called "opening the mountain", the second stage is called "peak", and the third stage is called "settling".

The first wave of the year was in the second quarter of 2020, and two of the five dramas scored over 9 points on Douban—both of which were produced by Early Spring Culture.

The peak was a few months after those two dramas aired, when word-of-mouth, popularity, and membership conversion all reached their highest points in history, and the entire industry was discussing the "Mist Theater model".

The next three years were a period of reflection, during which the theater released a series of new works, some good, some average, and some quite good, but none of them generated widespread discussion.

The report concludes by stating: "The brand value of Mist Theater was established by two works that scored 9 points on Douban. Although no similar blockbusters were replicated in the following three years, the theater's user awareness and brand loyalty remained among the top in the industry, providing a solid foundation for the theater's future content development."

Luo Jinnian finished reading the report, then closed the screen and leaned back in his chair.

He knew that the two 9-point works were "The Hidden Corner" and "The Silent Truth," and he also knew that these two dramas brought more than just data to the Mist Theater—they brought trust, the kind of trust that made viewers willing to click and watch when they saw the words "Mist Theater."

Director Qin pushed the door open and came in, carrying two cups of coffee. He placed one of them in front of Luo Jinnian. "Wang He just called to ask about the progress of the second season of 'Tales of Wonder'." Luo Jinnian took the coffee but didn't drink it, placing it on the table.

"Tell him the script is already half finished." Director Qin sat down, took a sip of coffee, leaned back in his chair for a while, and then said something that surprised Luo Jinnian: "They want to sign a longer deal with Early Spring Culture, not a single-project contract, but a framework agreement."

"What kind of framework?"

"Three years, at least three dramas. The budget and revenue sharing ratio for each drama are set in advance within the framework, so we don't have to renegotiate for each one. They said this way we can secure high-quality content and make our plans more stable."

Luo Jinnian didn't answer immediately after listening. He was thinking about what that framework agreement meant—it wasn't a matter of money, but a matter of structure. He didn't want Early Spring Culture to become a content processing plant for Mist Theater.

"We can talk, but there are three prerequisites." He held up three fingers. "First, the content direction of the series will be determined independently by Early Spring Culture. The platform can offer suggestions but cannot forcefully specify. Second, the overseas distribution rights for each series belong to Early Spring Culture. The platform can act as an agent but cannot have an exclusive monopoly. Third, the time lock in the framework agreement cannot be rigid; three series in three years is the upper limit, not the bottom line."

Director Qin nodded after listening. "I'll tell them." He stood up to leave, but turned back at the door. "Oh, right, Wang He asked what you're planning to film next?" Luo Jinnian said, "It's not decided yet." Director Qin didn't press further and went out.

The meeting room fell silent again. Luo Jinnian sat there without moving.

He's thinking about what to film next.

This is one of the few issues he truly needs to spend time thinking about right now.

He opened his phone, and several names were already listed in his notes: "Journey Under the Midnight Sun," "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store," and "The Devotion of Suspect X."

These names were things that had settled in his memories from his past life and had been tested by time. But he hesitated for a moment—not because he didn't know which one to choose, but because he felt that "now is not the time."

He needs to walk steadily before looking back at other options. That state isn't the hesitation of "not being able to choose," but a more clear-headed, resolute feeling, like standing at a crossroads, taking a few more glances before taking the next step.

He crossed out those names and typed a new line in his memo: "Next film, not a suspense film."

After typing this line, he looked at it for a while but didn't delete it.

He arranged to have lunch with Jia Bei and Meng Zhaoming. The three of them sat down at a small restaurant in a hutong (alleyway), each with a bowl of noodles in front of them. Jia Bei brought the circulation data for *Story Club* magazine—the December issue had seen a significant increase in sales due to the popularity of *Tales of Wonder*, achieving the highest single-month sales since the magazine's inception. Meng Zhaoming added, "At least 40% of the reader letters were purchased because of the content related to *Tales of Wonder*."

Luo Jinnian lowered his head and ate his noodles. After listening, he simply nodded. "What will be published in January?" Jiabei said, "It's not decided yet." Luo Jinnian thought for a moment and said, "We'll compile a selection of reader discussions from 'Final Destination' and add one of my new short stories."

When Jiabei asked what the new short story was about, Luo Jinnian said, "Write a story about a postman who delivers a letter that shouldn't have been delivered." Jiabei didn't ask any further questions after hearing this and finished eating the rest of the noodles in her bowl.

In the evening, Luo Jinnian took the high-speed train back to Zhanjiang. The carriage was not crowded, and the fields and towns outside the window swept past in the gray-blue twilight.

He didn't look out the window, but leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a while, still thinking about "what to film next".

He came up with a name: "The Long Goodbye".

It wasn't Chandler's book; it was another story—a story about a taxi driver and a missing person, spanning a longer period of time. He jotted down a few notes in his phone's memo app, planning to organize them into a complete outline later.

It was completely dark when he arrived in Langya City. He dragged his suitcase out of the station exit, stood by the roadside for a while, and saw Chu Qingning standing under a streetlamp not far away, holding two cups of milk tea. She waved when she saw him. He walked over and took one cup, and the two walked side by side towards home.

"I watched 'Tales of Wonder'," Chu Qingning said. "You guys acted wonderfully."

"good."

"Gu Yanxi's portrayal of the character Eleven was truly superb."

"I think so too, but since I'm the person involved, shouldn't you praise me more?"

Chu Qingning took a sip of her milk tea, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Your grandpa is amazing."

Luo Jinnian said, "That's more like it. But I also admire Gu Yanxi. She could have worn a wig, but she really gave up her beautiful hair. She told me that even if she shaved it, it would grow back, but that role would never come again."

Chu Qingning didn't know how to respond after hearing this, so the two continued walking forward.

When they reached the bottom of his building, Chu Qingning suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at him, saying, "Brother, have you ever thought about what you would do if you stopped doing all this—stop writing scripts, stop acting, stop running magazines?"

Luo Jinnian stood under the streetlight, holding the half-finished cup of milk tea in his hand, and thought seriously for a moment. "I haven't thought about it."

Chu Qingning smiled. "Then think about it now."

Luo Jinnian thought for a moment and said, "I might open a bookstore."

Chu Qingning asked, "Why a bookstore?" Luo Jinnian replied, "Because I don't have to talk to too many people."

He inherently enjoys a quiet life alone.

Chu Qingning chuckled, then turned and walked into the stairwell.

Luo Jinnian followed behind.

That evening, he sat in his room and reopened the blank document.

The cursor blinked at the top of the page. A motorcycle passed by outside the window and then drove away. The air was slightly cool and smelled of cooking oil from roadside stalls.

He wrote the first line in the document: "Taxi driver Lao Xu has been driving for twenty years, and he has carried more people than he has spoken."

After he finished writing, he added a sentence: "Until one day, he picked up a passenger, and that person never got off the bus."

Then he stopped and looked at the two lines of text for a while, and did not write any more.

Suddenly I don't want to write this story anymore.

He turned off his computer and sat in the dark for a while.

Let's leave the taxi driver's story for a while and let it develop on its own.