He Killed the Competition!

Ren Hang finished reading the script.

Ren Hang was starting to question his entire existence.

Before, just before summer vacation, Lin Chuan had shown Ren Hang a script called Spoon Killer Demon.

Ren Hang had thought the script was a complete joke.

Unexpectedly, its blend of parody and horror had actually made it a hit online.

Now Lin Chuan had given Ren Hang another script.

Moon.

The quality of this script had completely exceeded Ren Hang's expectations.

Its novel premise, fresh perspective, depth of plot, exploration of human nature, and ending all left him with a bone-chilling feeling.

Ren Hang handed the script back to Lin Chuan and said solemnly,

"Father, please accept this humble son's bow!"

The script was just too damn good.

Brother Chuan had actually entrusted him with a script like this. Just calling him "bro" wasn't enough to express Ren Hang's feelings anymore.

"Enough with the flattery. Get up."

Lin Chuan couldn't help but laugh.

"I still need to see how you understand the role before I decide whether you can play it."

"What kind of person do you think the male lead is?"

Ren Hang scratched his head. "I think, first of all, he's a corporate wage slave. Even though it's the age of future technology and people can go to the moon to collect resources..."

"But the male lead is just a low-level employee at an energy company. He's been living alone on the moon for three years, with only an intelligent robot for company~"

Lin Chuan nodded. "Go on."

Ren Hang continued, "Secondly, he must feel lonely. His family is the emotional support that keeps him going on the moon."

Lin Chuan asked, "Do you think you can portray that loneliness, and the way he falls apart after his beliefs crumble?"

Ren Hang drew a deep breath. "It'll be hard. I can't promise I'll portray those emotions perfectly, but I can promise I'll give it everything I've got!"

The conversation between Lin Chuan and Ren Hang hardly sounded like two good buddies who shared a dorm room.

They sounded more like an interviewer and a job applicant.

Lin Chuan held out his hand solemnly. "Congratulations. You're hired!"

Ren Hang shook his hand excitedly. "Thank you, thank you!"

After shaking hands, they both felt a little awkward, so they turned away at the same time.

The male lead had been cast.

Lin Chuan began thinking about a crucial question: how should he make this movie?

After all, Moon was a science-fiction film set on a moon base.

Lin Chuan naturally wanted to shoot on location.

After receiving Cameron's special-effects production techniques, the knowledge that filled Lin Chuan's mind wasn't about how to create effects on a computer.

It was about how to achieve the best visuals through practical filming.

And how to ask the company for funding to complete the shoot.

Damn it, Lin Chuan hadn't planned on shooting on location with any other film company!

It felt like having the skills to slay a dragon, but no idea how to use them.

Was he really going to have to find a film company to work with?

Should he go with Tencent or Maoyan?

Lin Chuan wasn't rigid. On the contrary, he was flexible and knew how to adapt.

Before looking for investors, Lin Chuan went to the all-purpose Xiao Hei again.

He started a video call with Xiao Hei.

After Xiao Hei finished reading the script,

Lin Chuan asked, "How long would it take to build this set?"

Xiao Hei thought for a moment, then replied,

"Building the moon base would be quite a hassle. Without at least six months, we'd only be able to put together a rough shell."

Lin Chuan's heart sank. Sure enough, Xiao Hei wasn't all-powerful.

Xiao Hei then changed tack. "But there's no need to build it. I remember there's a science-fiction film studio in Fujian. It should be able to meet your requirements."

A science-fiction film studio in Fujian?

Lin Chuan searched his memory for the information he needed.

Fujian was more or less like the Fujian of Earth in the Parallel Universe from his previous life.

It was home to the world's largest astronomical telescope.

Lin Chuan hadn't expected there to be a science-fiction film studio there, too.

Now that he'd found a solution,

Lin Chuan felt much more at ease. He returned to his rental apartment, ready to rest for a while.

Lin Chuan opened Weibo to check how the writing contest for Happy Family was going.

To his surprise, a new meme had made it onto Weibo's trending list.

It showed a group of noblewomen dressed in finery, chatting and laughing inside the Forbidden City.

Then a bomber flew overhead.

Lin Chuan liked the meme.

He was instinctively hostile toward noblewomen like that.

Lin Chuan was surprised to see that Ye Weiming, the director of The House That Never Dies, had also liked the picture.

It looked like the director was trying to distance himself from his leading actress.

Lin Chuan remembered that in his previous life, there'd been a terrible science-fiction film whose director had also distanced himself from the lead actor.

He'd told the media that he shouldn't have cast that traffic star in the lead role.

In Lin Chuan's view, though, the blame for both films was split evenly between the director and the lead. The actors had no acting skills, and the directors had made an even bigger mess of things. The whole thing had collapsed, and they deserved it!

He continued checking the hashtags related to the Happy Family writing contest.

But he hadn't expected someone named Fang Qingyong to threaten to teach him a lesson.

Fang Qingyong was a longtime fan of Lin Gege.

He was also a fairly well-known man of letters with some standing in literary circles.

After the Happy Family writing contest began, he'd announced that he would win first place.

He planned to use the prize money to make Lin Gege happy.

Lin Chuan sneered. This guy was another longtime sycophant.

He took a look at the man's writing, and found it even more amusing.

The article by this literary veteran was about a farmer who, with no way out, had to sell his daughter.

After the landlord bought the girl, she became his wife.

She had the final say in everything, and the landlord did whatever she told him to.

So after Huang Shiren married Xi'er, he treated Yang Bailao like his own father and obeyed Xi'er in everything.

Every farmer in the story was cunning, greedy, and lazy, while every landlord was hardworking and industrious.

Lin Chuan was almost laughing with anger.

What era was this? And people were still trying to resurrect the landlords?

No wonder this man was a longtime fan of Lin Gege. From beginning to end, his writing reeked of a feudal relic.

In the comments, plenty of the writer's fans were praising him:

"This is so beautifully written. I'm about to cry!"

"There's an old saying: poverty breeds schemes, while wealth breeds kindness. There's some truth to it. A lot of people get worse the poorer they are!"

"A lot of landlords were actually good people. Our memories have been clouded!"

"Teach that Lin Chuan a lesson! Some young people really have no manners. Don't they know what it means to respect the old and care for the young?"

"If a piece like this didn't win, I'd really have to worry about whether the contest was rigged!"

Lin Chuan noticed that all the comments were positive.

There wasn't a single negative comment.

That was because Fang Qingyong had turned on comment curation.

Fang Qingyong was playing a calculated game.

If Lin Chuan gave him the prize, Fang Qingyong could trample him to get ahead and use Lin Chuan's money to please his beloved Gege.

If Lin Chuan didn't give him the prize, Fang Qingyong could claim Lin Chuan was jealous and trying to suppress him, and that the contest was rigged.

Then he could rile up his fans and have them attack the fairness of the contest.

Quite a few of Lin Chuan's fans also expressed concern.

"Damn, one rotten apple really does spoil the whole bunch. Where did this Fang guy come from?!"

"This contest was going so well, and now someone like him has pushed his way to the top. What a disgrace!"

"Any writers here willing to step up and take the wind out of this old geezer's sails?"

"Nothing we can do. There are just too few people with a sharp pen these days!"

Lin Chuan dug a few pieces he'd learned in his head, wrote them out, compressed them into images, and posted them on Weibo.

He added the caption:

[Everyone, I got the urge to write a few pieces while organizing this contest. But I can't be both the referee and a contestant, can I?

It'd be a waste to let them sit around after I've written them, so I'm posting them here for everyone to enjoy.]

The three pieces Lin Chuan wrote were:

My Uncle Jules, A Bowl of Clear Soup Soba Noodles, and Cabbage Soup.