fictionpage Chapter 93 New Drama Premieres
Chapter 93 New Drama Premieres
In October, "The Long Season" was launched on Kiwi Fog Theater.
Luo Jinnian waited in his rented room until eight o'clock. His computer had Youku open, with the progress bar for the first episode displayed on the screen, but he didn't watch it immediately. Every frame was deeply etched into his mind when he came out of the editing room earlier. He knew the story's content perfectly well, and he was more concerned about viewership numbers and other data than watching the show.
The character who makes his first appearance is Gong Biao, played by Lao Yan. He's driving a taxi and the song "Walk Away in Style" is playing in the car.
This is the image of an old man with a big belly, greasy braid, and gold-rimmed glasses. The sinister and sharp look that Zhang Dongsheng once had in "The Hidden Corner" has all disappeared, replaced by a kind of relaxed feeling that makes people feel both sorry for him and sad.
Lao Yan knew that the character he was going to play was very challenging: a college student in the 1990s who, under the wheels of time, had become a greasy middle-aged man who had driven a taxi for twenty years. Now that he had succeeded, his character carried a profound sense of depth just by appearing on screen.
"Gong Biao is the best man of this era—he knows everything, but he chooses not to complain."
Old Yan brought this line to life.
A dozen minutes later, the phone rang; it was Lao Yan.
"Brother, have you seen it?" Old Yan's voice trembled slightly on the other end, carrying a tension that he was trying hard to suppress but couldn't.
"I'm watching."
"I don't even dare to watch it," Lao Yan said. "When I was filming, I thought I acted pretty well, but now that it's going to air, I'm afraid I won't do a good job."
Luo Jinnian heard someone speaking on the other end of the phone; it sounded like Lao Yan's agent. Lao Yan covered the receiver and said something, then turned back to the phone and said something that stunned him: "You know what? I dreamed about Gong Biao last night."
Luo Jinnian remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"He stood at the entrance of the small restaurant, wearing that leather jacket, with a bandage wrapped around his head, just standing there looking at me without saying a word." Old Yan's voice trembled slightly. "You wrote this character so well. This time I really stepped out of Zhang Dongsheng, but it seems like it's even harder for me to step out of Gong Biao."
Luo Jinnian was silent for a few seconds, then said something that made Lao Yan remain silent for a long time on the other end of the phone: "Let Gong Biao go back to his story. That's the relationship between an actor and a role. Gong Biao's whole story is over."
Old Yan breathed a sigh of relief on the other end of the phone, because he thought of Gong Biao's fateful ending in the story. He laughed and scolded, "You kid are really something," before hanging up.
Luo Jinnian smiled as he looked at the words "Call Ended" on his phone screen.
Among actors, Lao Yan is the kind who rarely talks about pay, doesn't understand contracts or resource exchanges, and only thinks about roles and scripts. From these perspectives, Lao Yan is undoubtedly the best partner—he is an actor, an actor willing to dedicate himself entirely to a script, and that's exactly the kind of good actor Luo Jinnian needs.
Luo Jinnian took a can of Coke from the refrigerator and returned to his desk.
The kiwifruit drama garnered 8964 views upon its premiere and received a generous 9.0 rating on Douban. It's worth noting that due to the reputation of Early Spring Culture, "The Long Season" had a large number of ratings. When labels like "Highest score for a domestic web drama premiere" and "New high for domestic drama ratings in nearly eight years" were posted, Luo Jinnian's phone vibrated like crazy.
Gu Yanxi only sent two words: "Awesome."
Chu Qingning sent a long string of exclamation marks, and then asked a question that made Luo Jinnian both laugh and cry: "I really like the character Gong Biao, played by Uncle Qin Hao, but I heard that his ending was very tragic (′へ`、)."
Luo Jinnian: Hahaha (˙ω˙)
Chu Qingning sent a string of angry emojis.
Meng Zhaoming called around 10 PM. "The kiwifruit company called, asking if 'The Long Season' can be published as a book. We should strike while the iron is hot and release it simultaneously while it's at its peak." Jia Bei later took the call. "Simultaneous release of the print and ebook versions, how much for the first print run?" "Five hundred thousand copies at the very least, we'll add more if needed. I've been in the publishing industry for so many years, I have that kind of judgment—a 9.4-minute drama, plus the influential name of 'Early Spring Tea,' the adapted novel of the same name should sell out its first print run of five hundred thousand."
As Luo Jinnian listened, the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile.
The night outside the window has deepened.
Luo Jinnian recalled that a year ago, Early Spring Culture was just an empty shell company with no employees, and this rented room could be used as an office. A year later, the company had established three main business segments: film and television production, spearheaded by "The Hidden Corner" and "The Long Season," whose combined online viewership accounted for more than half of the annual revenue of iQiyi's Mist Theater; book publishing, with the magazine "Story Club," which, thanks to the serialization of "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty" and the author resources built by Jiabei, maintained a stable circulation of around 200,000 copies per issue, and the first seven volumes of "Laughing Cat Diary" sold over three million copies; and online films—"The Human Chair" had already been filmed, with Director Mo using a 1990s style to depict an armchair in a dark and damp Western-style house in the foreign concessions that harbors a person, earning over 30 million yuan in revenue sharing on the platform; "Monkey Paw" followed closely behind, about a middle-aged man from the lower class who finds a mysterious monkey paw, whose every wish results in the death of a relative, with the ending remaining a mystery; and "Seven Deadly Sins," a film Director Mo planned to release in theaters. Rumors were already circulating in the industry that "Early Spring Culture produces no bad films."
This is what we've accomplished in a year.
Luo Jinnian picked up his phone, took a screenshot of the playback page for "The Long Season," and saved it to a folder. He wrote a few lines on a piece of white paper: "Every gift of fate has already had a price tag attached."
My phone vibrated. It was Gu Yanxi: "Are you still writing?"
Luo Jinnian replied with a "no," then added after a moment's thought: "I'm thinking about what to write as the headline for the next issue of 'Story Club.'"
Gu Yanxi replied with an eye-roll emoji, then sent another message: "Go to sleep early. You have class tomorrow."
Luo Jinnian glanced at the message, put down his phone, and turned off the light. In the darkness, the occasional sound of a motorcycle passing by in the distance drifted from downstairs, and a dog barked twice before falling silent.
He recalled the voices that came from between the pages, from the screen, and from all directions: those who screamed, fell silent, wept, and lost sleep because of what he wrote; those who routinely posted "Early Spring Tea is My God" on forums; those who bought "Story Club" from newsstands and read it until the edges were worn through; and those who followed the serialization of "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty" for a year.
They didn't know "Early Spring Tea," didn't know his age, and didn't know what he looked like, so they spent their days speculating about the author.
Luo Jinnian enjoys the feeling of wits and battles with readers.
He closed his eyes.
Tomorrow's class, the manuscript the day after tomorrow, next month's serialization, and the next film to be made, "Seven Deadly Sins".
He was overwhelmed with work and couldn't keep up with everything.
But this is the path he chose himself.