My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

Chapter 75 Is that all the scandals from the 1980s were about?

The cover of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" features a little boy wearing glasses with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.

This is the cover designed by Zhao Wen. In three days, or perhaps four days, children will go crazy for this book, and it may even top the New York Times bestseller list.

This bespectacled little wizard will become a symbol of an era in the decades to come.

Although Rowling's 12 consecutive stabs are legendary, Zhao Wen doesn't want to experience it. He's already experienced 13 consecutive stabs in his previous life, that's enough.

What he wanted wasn't a legend, but to make money as quickly as possible.

He lacked a sense of security and only with enough money and influence could he feel at ease in the crisis-ridden 1980s and 90s.

Before 97, apart from a select few at the very top of the wealth chain, no one could sleep soundly at night. Even the wealthiest had to serve others... For example, well, let's not go there. It's been revised seven times already. Gentlemen, just imagine that period yourself. Let's crowdfund the book...

Therefore, if you don't want to be inexplicably killed by these people, you'd better have the same or even greater strength as them. You don't have to bully others, but you must first have the ability to protect yourself.

If you don't follow that path, you'll end up with ten or a hundred times more assets, becoming what's known as a "big fish."

Zhao Wen has now seen the "low-key" fax sent by Editor Gao, which has put his mind at ease. It is the financial report up to last week, showing a cash flow of NT$130 million, and he also has more than NT$60 million in income from previously signed contracts in his personal account.

That's roughly two small goals, not too many, not too few.

In two more months, just profiting from Toshiba, this "mega-stock of the era," will be enough. With double leverage from bank financing and the stock market, Zhao Wen's most conservative estimate is that by October next year, when Toshiba pulls back, he will have earned at least NT$30 billion.

Zhao Wen dared not touch other small tech stocks in Japan because he did not know the specific dates of their rise and fall. He only knew that in 1983, some super-performing stocks rose by 500% in just a few months.

Toshiba, however, is different. It's called a "legendary speculative stock" because it's not only famous—even Zhao Wen, a complete novice in the stock market, is aware of its wildly fluctuating price patterns—but it's also remarkably stable, has a massive market capitalization, and can be manipulated at will...

The Yan Yin Agency was dealt with, but one person was seething with anger—Kondo Haruka.

This scumbag watched as Akina Nakamori's drama "Girl A" gained momentum in just over a month, making her a 100% popular singer next year. Although she was still far from becoming a top singer, he thought that as long as she finished filming that drama with him, he would definitely be able to take off along with her.

Now you're inexplicably refusing to be photographed! You're just a newcomer, don't you know that creating scandals will make you famous faster?!

Kondo was both disappointed and resentful, pondering over and over who had caused the whole mess.

Seiko Matsuda? Impossible. That woman just likes to play around; she wouldn't care about me that much.

Three straight flushes? That's just a slut, but does she have the power to influence Yeon-eun Agency?

Kondo Needle Eyes, that scumbag, doesn't usually read much, but Mr. Snail is so famous. From fans fainting at his book signings to making tens of millions with just a few words in the title, it's impossible for you not to have heard of him unless you're an old man or woman from the countryside.

He'd heard that Akina Nakamori was recording a song for Tokuma Shoten's key project, and that Mr. Snail was the main creator of that project. This...

It's obvious! Mr. Snail definitely has that influence! He's got his eye on Akina Nakamori?

Scumbags never think like normal people. Kondo's first reaction wasn't to admit defeat, but to seek revenge.

A normal person would at most sigh and say they were unlucky, and that would be the end of it.

But he was a scumbag. Years later, when his own mother was seriously injured in a car accident, he knew it all along, but he still continued to flirt with Nakamori Akina's nemesis, Matsuda Seiko, delaying the rescue time and then watching helplessly as his mother died.

Later, his mother's ashes were stolen, and his enemies threatened him not to go to claim the award, or they would scatter the ashes. This guy swaggered around and didn't care at all; he claimed the award and then used a fake bag of ashes to impersonate her.

You expect someone like that to settle things peacefully?

So Kondo Haruka decided that he would take revenge on two people: Nakamori Akina, who didn't give him any face, and Mr. Snail, who had interfered.

Twelve days.

From the day he decided to take action, Zhao Wen spent a full twelve days to put the director's detailed script for "Love Letter" completely on paper.

This isn't a script for actors to rehearse their lines; it's a construction blueprint that can be directly taken into the film crew.

The film is nearly 120 minutes long, broken down into 87 scenes, each marked with interior/exterior shots, day/night sequences, etc.

Season, weather, key scenes, even down to the camera position, camera movement, shot size changes, as well as the color temperature tendency of light and shadow and the entry point of sound design.

He wrote three drafts of the scene with the painting on the back of the library card, from the camera position to the speed of the zoom in, and even marked the pauses in the female Fujii Itsuki's fingers when she flipped the card. Cai Cai, with a script this detailed, even if you're not very smart, you should be able to act it out, right?

Seventy thousand words written by hand.

Zhao Wen's handwriting speed has improved significantly. When he first transmigrated, he was exhausted after copying 5000 words a day. Now, he can easily copy 7000 words a day by copying "The Devotion of Suspect X" for a while and then copying the script of "Love Letter" in a different position.

"Shocking! Girl A's mysterious boyfriend is actually him!" This headline appeared in a tabloid.

The founder of the Shocking Department has appeared! A photo of Zhao Wen and Nakamori Akina together at the entrance of Tokuma Shoten headquarters has been posted. The two are smiling at each other and look very close.

There are also several photos of the two talking sideways. In fact, this is a scene with several people together, but the tabloid reporter deliberately cropped out Miyazaki Hayao and others around them, and only captured the two of them together, with the lighting and shadows adjusted to be ambiguous.

This really stirred up a hornet's nest. Nakamori Akina was already a rising star, and now "Girl A" is generating a lot of buzz. As for Mr. Snail, he's the most popular literary figure in all of Japan right now!

The tabloid was reprinted three times that day, and it was sold out as soon as it was put up on the street. Even bookstores outside of Tokyo had to ask people to get more stock.

Mr. Snail is usually very mysterious and rarely appears in public. Suddenly, such a big scandal broke out, and it was with a popular female singer. The media went crazy instantly.

They followed up with full-page reports and reprinted them, with all sorts of wild speculation flying around.

TV morning shows, radio stations, and weekly magazines are all talking about this, and its popularity is growing day by day.

However, it seems that the vast majority of book fans have their focus somewhat off-target.