Making Things Difficult

Dai Ying's office.

Dai Ying turned her head and looked again at the scene of Shen Liang's suicide, feeling deeply moved:

Bao Zheng said to Shen Liang with great grief, "Xiao Ai, who was killed by your own hands, told me. Xiao Ai's suicide note was written very clearly. When I first saw that suicide note, I found it strange. Look at this character 'jian' (奸), it's composed of three 'nu' (女 - woman) characters. And these three 'nu' characters, whether in strokes, writing style, or combination, are exactly the same. Why is that? It's because this character was not written by Xiao Ai herself, but was traced by you. You traced the radicals of other characters and combined them. Look at this again, this was written by Xiao Ai before she died, the last line of Liu Yuxi's 'Wuyi Lane': 'flying into ordinary people's homes.' What you traced were the radicals of the character 'xing' (姓 - surname). Xiao Ai hadn't been learning calligraphy for long, so her handwriting was naturally immature and uneven, making it difficult to imitate. You had to trace it. You actually taught her to write it in the last piece of calligraphy you taught her, because by then, you had already harbored murderous intent. This piece of calligraphy was actually a death warrant leading Xiao Ai to the gates of hell. Am I right!"

Seeing that his plot was exposed, Shen Liang burst into laughter, saying as he laughed, "That stupid woman, she's too stupid, she's incredibly stupid. I am Khitan! Khitan! My nature is brutal. Ha, ha, she kept getting closer to me. Is she too stupid? That day when we went on an outing together, wasn't she very down? She had already discovered my motive, hahaha, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid woman, she's really too stupid, too stupid. Actually, I was always trying to avoid her, but she didn't understand, she didn't comprehend. But later she understood, yet she still wanted to stay close to me. Tell me, isn't she a stupid woman? I am Khitan, I am a murderer! Why, why on earth!"

Dai Ying looked up at Li Xun. She knew Li Xun was very talented, but could these six episodes of script really have been completed in just two days?

"The sounds of wind and rain, the sounds of reading, all sounds enter the ear."

To "Family matters, national affairs, world affairs, care about everything."

"Ten mouths full of thoughts, thinking of family, thinking of country, thinking of the state."

So decisive, he produced two couplets in one go.

Whether it was Gongsun Ce's response, "Eight eyes are pleased, pleased with flowers, pleased with the moon, pleased with the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Or Bao Zheng's response, "Eight eyes add joy, celebrating the year, celebrating the month, celebrating peace."

In the end, weren't they all produced by this person in front of her?

She had searched online. The couplets, including the riddle of the Xinwei top scholar, yielded absolutely no trace. This meant that these couplets and riddles were very likely all his original work?!

What kind of monster was this!

"Ahem!"

Li Xun coughed.

Dai Ying snapped back to attention and said, "I just checked. Historically, Bao Zheng's hometown was in Fei City. And if Goryeo envoys entered the country by sea, they would land on the Shandong Peninsula. Therefore, the Goryeo envoy delegation absolutely should not have passed through Bao Zheng's hometown of Luzhou."

Because the two timelines diverged in the Late Yuan Dynasty, this timeline had no Three Heroes and Five Gallants, no Cases of Bao Gong, and certainly no series of related storytelling and operas about Bao Gong. That's why when Dai Ying first saw the script for Young Bao Qingtian, her first reaction was to ask who Bao Qingtian was.

Dai Ying only learned after searching keywords online that there was a minister named Bao Zheng in the Northern Song Dynasty. Bao Zheng's hometown was in Luzhou, which is today's Fei City. Then a question arose in her mind: why would the Goryeo envoy delegation pass through Bao Zheng's hometown on their tribute mission?

In reality, such minor discrepancies with history were not a big deal in scriptwriting. In scriptwriting, the story comes first. Minor deviations from history are trivial details that no one would care about. Sometimes, screenwriters even deliberately alter time or space to make impossible encounters happen and for stories that wouldn't normally occur to unfold.

The reason Dai Ying brought this up was simply because she couldn't stand Li Xun's nonchalant demeanor, as if nothing had happened.

Heaven knows her heart raced every time she saw him, and she remembered that night when he got drunk. Why was he so nonchalant, as if nothing had happened? Why was he so calm?

Li Xun smiled faintly and said, "Ah, it's about that. In December of the eighth year of Emperor Renzong's Tiansheng reign, the Goryeo Minister of Goryeo Affairs, Yuan Ying, led a delegation to 'present local products.' After that, Song-Goryeo official relations were severed for forty years, until the 'Alliance with Goryeo to Restrain Liao' policy was introduced and Song-Goryeo resumed relations. Due to the traditional northern route passing through Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Mizhou being obstructed by the Liao State, in the seventh year of Xining, Goryeo sent an envoy requesting, 'Wishes to avoid the Khitan and requests to change the route from Mingzhou to the imperial court,' which was approved by the Song court. And from Mingzhou to Kaifeng, it does indeed pass through Bao Zheng's hometown, Luzhou. Of course, this doesn't mean that Goryeo envoys on tribute missions at that time would definitely take the Mingzhou route, but at least there was a possibility."

Young Bao Qingtian was, after all, a show from 20 years ago. Its plot holes had long been exposed online. During the process of writing the script, Li Xun had tried his best to mend any plot holes he could. As for those points that were often mistaken for plot holes but weren't, he was also well aware of them.

Dai Ying was momentarily speechless, and her gaze towards Li Xun became somewhat unfriendly.

This is why, when your boss is furious, you shouldn't argue with them. If you lose the argument, it's because you're incompetent and have a bad attitude. If you win, you leave your boss speechless and frustrated, which will lead to an even worse outcome for you.

Dai Ying had been scrutinizing it for a long time, and she had only noticed this one "plot hole." It turned out to be her own lack of knowledge that made her look foolish? This was truly unbearable!

"'Ten mouths full of thoughts, thinking of family, thinking of country, thinking of the state.' This upper couplet is indeed very skillfully crafted. However, for the lower couplet, whether it's Gongsun Ce's 'Eight eyes are pleased, pleased with flowers, pleased with the moon, pleased with the Mid-Autumn Festival,' or Bao Zheng's 'Eight eyes add joy, celebrating the year, celebrating the month, celebrating peace,' they both feel a bit lacking. Go back and ponder it again, and come up with a better one."

Heaven knows how classic Dai Ying found those two lower couplets to be, but she just couldn't stand Li Xun. That night he kissed her dozens of times, and then he actually charged her ten thousand yuan? She wasn't short of money, but why did he have to take it? She was the one who lost out! He even took money for this, why didn't he become a gigolo?! Today, she was determined to make things difficult for him! These two lower couplets must have exhausted his brain cells by now, right? Come up with another one? Did he really think he was the God of Literature reincarnated!

Hearing Dai Ying's request, Li Xun, as expected, looked troubled.

He wasn't satisfied with these two lower couplets either?

This was too much!

If you're not satisfied, then you come up with two of the same caliber yourself!

Of course, Li Xun wouldn't dare to say this out loud.

Seeing Li Xun's expression, Dai Ying felt incredibly pleased.

She had no intention of actually replacing those two couplets. She was just finding an excuse to make things difficult for him.

Li Xun thought for a moment and said, "I think those two lower couplets are quite good. It would be too difficult to come up with another one, and it might not necessarily be better than those two."

Dai Ying put on a stern face and admonished, "As a screenwriter, you must never have a perfunctory attitude. You must strive for perfection in the details, because as soon as you think it's 'good enough,' the audience will think, 'Oh well, it's just okay,' and the drama will be mediocre, whether you watch it or not. In the end, a drama that could have been a huge hit might end up with just a passable result, and the first person you've shortchanged is yourself."

Li Xun scratched his head and said, "It's not impossible to come up with another one, but I'll say this upfront: I can't guarantee that the new one will be as good as the previous two."

He wasn't satisfied with these two, so the requirement was too high. Li Xun did have another lower couplet in mind, but it wasn't significantly better than the previous two. However, she was his superior, and since the leader was dissatisfied, Li Xun felt he should prepare an alternative plan.

Seeing Li Xun nod in agreement, Dai Ying was somewhat surprised.

Was he really going to come up with another couplet?

Watching Li Xun ponder, Dai Ying started to feel uneasy.

He wasn't thinking on the spot, was he? Did he not even need to think about it overnight at home?

Just then, Li Xun said, "Leader, what do you think of 'A body expresses thanks, thanking heaven, thanking earth, thanking the king'?"

This couplet is said to be from the hands of Qianlong and Ji Xiaolan of the Qing Dynasty.

Legend has it that Ji Xiaolan missed his parents and wanted to return home to visit them. Qianlong noticed this and presented a couplet, the upper line of which was:

"Ten mouths full of thoughts, thinking of wife, thinking of son, thinking of parents."

Ji Xiaolan immediately responded:

"A body expresses thanks, thanking heaven, thanking earth, thanking the king."

Seeing how quick-witted Ji Xiaolan was, Qianlong was greatly pleased and immediately granted Ji Xiaolan permission to return home to visit his family.

Although the first line of this couplet wasn't "Ten mouths thinking, thinking of home, thinking of country, thinking of the state," the structure of both lines was the same, and the mood was similar. It was perfect for him to use to deal with his beautiful boss.

"President Dai, what do you think of this line?"

Li Xun said cautiously.

He was not satisfied with the first two lines, and this third line wasn't necessarily much better than the previous two, so Li Xun was still a bit nervous.

As for Dai Ying, she had intentionally made things difficult for Li Xun. From her true feelings, she was already extremely satisfied with the first two lines and never thought Li Xun could actually come up with a couplet of the same caliber. So, what could Dai Ying think when Li Xun instantly threw out another lower line that was no worse than the previous two?

Speechless!

And then she cried out in her heart, "This works too?"

So, is this the so-called genius?

So, could she still maintain her authority in front of her subordinates?

She was so angry, what should she do? She really wanted to fire him, so she blurted out, "You don't have to come in tomorrow!"

Li Xun: "..."

Dai Ying: "Tomorrow, go meet with producer Tang Jiahe and director Kong Teng to discuss the production issues of this drama. Go find my assistant later to get their contact information."

Li Xun: "President Dai, let me offer a suggestion. Please try to say everything you need to say all at once in the future. I thought you were really going to fire me, you scared me to death."

Dai Ying chuckled and said, "Get lost!"

Li Xun smiled and said, "You got it!"

After Li Xun left, Dai Ying was stunned.

She had actually smiled at a subordinate and said the word "get lost." This would have been absolutely impossible before. Although she had sent back dozens of subordinates' scripts for revisions, and although she appeared cold, she had never said the word "get lost" to any subordinate.

What was wrong with her today?