Wen Yuhan really didn't want to say anything more to Pei Shaocheng, so she turned around and left.
"It's getting colder, remember to wear an extra layer." Pei Shaocheng took a deep breath, crushed the cigarette butt into powder in the ashtray, and said, word by word, "Don't catch a cold and let that guy surnamed Lu find out, he'll be worried sick again."
Wen Yuhan's back suddenly trembled, and she slammed the door shut with a "bang".
...
In the weeks that followed, many members of the crew saw a thin figure loitering downstairs at the hotel every day, sometimes under the sun, sometimes in the cold, damp wind, occasionally bending down to search for something in the grass.
From dawn to dusk and into the long, cold night, without interruption, just like the cigarette in his hand that never burned out.
Some people also saw the famous movie star occasionally appear near the man, or on the balcony, staring at him intently with a gloomy expression, without saying a word.
So those who knew the inside story started gossiping again, saying that the screenwriter who was looking for the item had long been at odds with the movie star, and it seemed that his future days would be even more difficult.
Some people couldn't help but shake their heads and sigh, saying that if they ever ended up like this screenwriter, they would rather go back to their hometown and farm than continue in this industry.
Feng Yuan, who had been instructed by Lu Yanheng to take good care of Wen Yuhan, was now in a dilemma. He dared not disrespect President Lu, nor dared to offend Pei Shaocheng, and was anxiously scratching his head every day. Several times he tried to step forward to ease the tension between the two, but after seeing Pei Shaocheng's expression, he cowered back and went to the hospital to get himself a bunch of calming and cooling medicine, stuffing handfuls into his mouth.
And so, another two weeks passed.
One day, as the sun was about to set, there was a gentle knock on the door of Pei Shaocheng's suite.
He opened the door and saw that the deserted corridor was divided into several sections of light and shadow by the setting sun. An envelope lay at his feet.
Pei Shaocheng bent down, picked it up, and opened it. What rolled out was the cap of the fountain pen.
Meanwhile, on the balcony, Wen Yuhan, a cigarette dangling from his lips, quietly gazed at the distant, rolling mountains. His hands were scratched by weeds, leaving several red cuts, some already scabbed over, others still oozing a shallow trickle of blood.
The wind tousled his hair, and the white shirt that had fit him perfectly when he arrived was now hanging loosely on his body, the wind blowing in through the collar and making a whooshing sound.
Just then, a sanitation truck happened to pass by downstairs. It had a loudspeaker on it and was playing a nostalgic old song, "Olive Tree," on a loop with poor sound quality.
Wen Yuhan gently closed his eyes, listening to the familiar melody echoing in his ears again and again. With a cigarette dangling from his lips, he hummed along in a very soft voice:
"Don't ask me where I come from, my hometown is far away. Why do I wander? I wander far away, wandering..."
The soft singing was instantly carried away by the wind into the twilight...
That night, Wen Yuhan bought a whole bag of liquor from a convenience store, locked herself in her room, and drank while pondering the scenes in the second half of the script.
The computer suddenly beeped, indicating that someone had sent him a new email. Wen Yuhan looked at the email address that had been sent to him, and his pupils immediately dilated in fear.
The next second, the bench suddenly tumbled backward with a dull thud.
Wen Yuhan stood up, bracing himself on the table with both hands, panting heavily, his whole body trembling uncontrollably again.
The email attachment contained a complete script, the one Wen Yuhan is currently writing.
This version is the latest draft that he has not yet officially submitted to the director and the main creative department!
...
A note from the author:
"Olive Tree" Lyrics: Sanmao; Music: Li Taixiang;
There will be one more update today! =3=
Chapter 42
The phone rang at the same time. All Wen Yuhan could hear was his own heartbeat and the buzzing in his ears. The phone screen went off and lit up again several times before he finally used one trembling hand to press down on the other, grasped the phone, and pressed the answer button.
"Why did it take you so long to answer the phone, Teacher Wen? I was getting a little annoyed." The person on the other end of the line had clearly altered their voice, making it muffled and high-pitched. "But if you're just excited because you haven't heard my voice in so long, I can forgive you."
At this point, the other party let out a series of low laughs, and Wen Yuhan's breathing became more and more rapid with each laugh.
The other person seemed to sense Wen Yuhan's fear, and their tone became even lighter: "I'm calling you today because you still don't seem to be taking this seriously enough... Teacher Wen, you promised you'd never come back, didn't you? There are rules to playing games, and you broke your promise."
Wen Yuhan tried his best to regulate his breathing and reached for the cigarette pack next to him, but because he was too panicked, the cigarette pack slipped from his sweaty hand and fell to the ground.
Wen Yuhan hurriedly knelt down, picked up a cigarette, and, like a patient desperately needing oxygen, put it in his mouth, lit it, and took deep drags.
The person opposite clicked their tongue and exclaimed, "You still love smoking so much. Try to smoke less, and you'll live a few more years."
“I did not break the agreement…” Wen Yuhan curled up against the wall, her voice trembling uncontrollably, “The name Wen Yuhan will never appear in any work again.”
"Teacher Wen, are you playing word games with me?" The voice on the other end abruptly stopped, becoming even sharper. "Changing identities is a foul!! Those who break the rules must pay the price!!"
The scream on the other end of the phone stopped abruptly, and after a moment the tone turned teasing again: "Well, how about we let the past happen again? What do you think?"
"You bastard!" Wen Yuhan roared.
"Hahaha..." The person on the other end seemed very satisfied with Wen Yuhan's attitude, and laughed to himself for a long time before his voice suddenly turned cold. "One day. I'll give you one day to leave your current production crew. From now on, you are never allowed to return to this industry under any identity."
Wen Yuhan's face was deathly pale, and her lips were bitten until they bled bright red.
"Teacher Wen, the story is fascinating... However, plagiarists ultimately deserve only contempt, not praise. I hope this is the last phone call between us."
*Smack*
The call was disconnected.
The phone slipped from Wen Yuhan's hand, and he felt a violent churning in his stomach. He scrambled to the bathroom and vomited up all the alcohol he had drunk earlier.
Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. Wen Yuhan bit her right wrist tightly, unable to stop the intermittent sobs. Although she had long since erected this defense in her heart—knowing that coming back would inevitably lead to this day—the pent-up resentment, unbearable pain, anger, and despair that had accumulated deep within her over the years finally broke free at this moment…
Wen Yuhan clenched her right fist and pounded it against the wall tiles like a madwoman. The excruciating pain, at that moment, became the best remedy for healing her heart.
Another wave of nausea hit him, and he cried and vomited, vomited and cried, until his last bit of strength was drained away. He collapsed onto the cold bathroom floor tiles, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the light above him, like a lifeless puppet with broken strings.
Thump thump thump—
There was a rapid knocking at the door.
"Yuhan, are you there?!" It was Feng Yuan's voice. "Open the door, something's happened! Open the door quickly!"
As the knocking grew louder and Feng Yuan's voice grew louder, Wen Yuhan slowly got up from the floor. She splashed some cold water on her face haphazardly, then staggered barefoot along the wall to the entrance and opened the door.
"Holy crap, something's happened!" Feng Yuan was furious and didn't have time to pay attention to Wen Yuhan's condition, so he said directly, "Have you seen the trending topics on Weibo?!"
Wen Yuhan stared blankly at Feng Yuan.
Feng Yuan paced back and forth in the room, wringing his hands: "You fucking got a bunch of veteran screenwriters to jointly expose you, saying they strongly oppose screenwriters with plagiarism records returning to the industry, saying it's an insult to creators... You fucking bring this up, normally if you're going to expose someone, you'd expose the actors first, why the screenwriters?! And nobody brought this up before, why now of all times! Bro, tell me, have you offended someone again recently?! Huh?! Why are you being dragged out and whipped again?!"
In his anxiety, Feng Yuan inevitably spoke without thinking: "It's also my fault. I was so focused on getting in touch with Lu Yanheng's connections that I agreed to hire you. I thought the old grudges weren't about some big shot that anyone would dig them up... Damn, wait, didn't you tell me before that using a pen name wouldn't matter?! You, hurry up, call President Lu and ask him to help you handle this. You two are on good terms, right?! I need to figure out how to get this trending topic removed first. Hey bro, why did you have to do something like plagiarism back then?!"
“I…” Wen Yuhan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, “I didn’t plagiarize.”
"Damn it, whether it's plagiarized or not doesn't matter now! We need to cut our losses as soon as possible! Ugh... that's why I always say I hate you intellectuals the most! You're all so damn troublesome!"
Feng Yuan's magnified, anxious face gradually blurred in Wen Yuhan's eyes. He understood that this was actually the other party's final warning to him, as well as a premonition.
With the power behind that person, gathering a few veteran screenwriters is nothing. If he really wanted to, there are probably few people in this industry he couldn't shake.
It seems it's time to end all this. Otherwise, in three days, even this show might be accused of plagiarism, just like back then.
After all, the script is in their hands.
“Teacher Feng.” Wen Yuhan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and she spoke softly as if she had made up her mind, “Trust me, there won’t be any problems. As long as I leave the crew and give the credit to someone else, they should stop making trouble.”
Feng Yuan was suddenly stunned: "You...you're sure?"
Wen Yuhan nodded: "That's for sure. This is directed at me, and it has nothing to do with the production team."
Feng Yuan stared into Wen Yuhan's eyes and saw certainty in them. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, nodded as if he wanted to say something, but then didn't know what to say.
The usually shrewd and slippery man was speechless for a long time before stammering to Wen Yuhan, "Cough, brother, don't blame me, you see, I had no choice... You, sigh... the main thing is that I didn't invest in this play, and I can't afford to offend any of those who took the money."
"I know," Wen Yuhan said, lowering her head. "I'm sorry for troubling you."
He walked past Feng Yuan again, picked up a cigarette from the ground, lit it, and silently smoked most of it before turning back to Feng Yuan and saying gently, "After I leave, please leave the signature for Xiao Yang. No matter what, help me keep his position."
After speaking, Wen Yuhan gritted her teeth and bowed deeply to Feng Yuan.
"Okay, okay!" Hearing Wen Yuhan take the initiative to leave, Feng Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was now only thinking about cutting his losses and had no time to worry about anything else. He immediately asked, "When are you leaving? I'll book you a plane ticket."
Wen Yuhan looked out the window at the boundless night, and finished the last puff of his cigarette.
"The sooner the better tonight."
...
At this moment, in a private winery on the outskirts of the city, Pei Shaocheng, slightly drunk, leaned against the ebony bar, his fist pressed against his forehead.
His tie was loose, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone.
A man in a gray bespoke suit opened a new bottle of wine, poured one for Pei Shaocheng and one for himself, and casually put his arm around Pei Shaocheng's shoulder.
"Shao Cheng, it's not that bad. It's just another setback." The speaker, Yu Nanfeng, had a roguish air about him, but then sighed, "I can understand you. After all, it's pretty bad to be defeated by the same person twice. But you should have learned your lesson by now, shouldn't you?"
Pei Shaocheng glanced at the man, who immediately waved his hand knowingly and said, "Alright, alright, I won't say anything. Considering that I left behind a bunch of messy things at Huacan and flew over to be with you, could you please stop looking like a pathetic ghost, like a dog that's been kicked out of its house?"
"Shen Wei." Pei Shaocheng picked up his wine glass and clinked it against the other man's. "Shut up, or I'll punch you."
"Heh, you only dare to threaten me." Shen Wei scoffed, but still politely finished his drink and said, "Seriously, are you really going to team up with Lu Yanheng?"
Pei Shaocheng took a sip of red wine and swallowed: "Still thinking about it."
Shen Wei sighed: "Alright, I'll take your vote anyway. These two brothers, the older one has a belly as big as the ocean, he's calm and collected, but in a way, that's also quite scary. The younger one is decisive and efficient, but he's young and impetuous, and lacks experience. Most importantly, the way I look at him, he seems like a wolf in sheep's clothing. I'm afraid he'll become arrogant and domineering if he gains power one day... Sigh, we need to think about it more carefully."
Seeing that Pei Shaocheng was still not very talkative, Shen Wei started scrolling through his phone out of boredom, complaining incessantly: "Hey, you big romantic, I kindly flew all the way here to drink with you and you're still not happy. From now on, I... ugh, Shaocheng."
Shen Wei's tone turned serious as he looked at Pei Shaocheng, his smile fading. "Something's happened," he said solemnly.
...
Chapter 43
Shen Wei had the car driven very fast, and while sitting in the passenger seat, he would occasionally glance at Pei Shaocheng in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
The other person's cold, stern face briefly lit up as the rows of streetlights along the highway illuminated the scene before plunging back into darkness.
Shen Wei lit a cigarette, rolled down the car window a little, and said, "Don't be too anxious. The trending topic has already been removed."
Pei Shaocheng didn't reply, but his index finger, resting on his knee, kept tapping against it, his eyes dark and deep.
He took the cigarette Shen Wei offered, leaned back in the car seat, his chest heaving with each inhale of tobacco before slowly exhaling…
The dusty memories became clear again after many years due to this extremely similar incident. Back then, Wen Yuhan was initially pushed into the spotlight by a "plagiarism blood letter", and later became the target of public criticism due to a series of "ironclad evidence" that were exposed one after another.