Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 4 Writing in Seclusion
[PS: My new book has been signed, and I hope everyone can vote to support it—also, I will update daily at 12 noon before it is officially released.]

Five days later.

After handing everything over, Zhang Yan finally sat down at his desk with peace of mind.

In the past few days, he took the time to write down all the puns, proverbs, famous quotes, satirical jokes, and other miscellaneous information that he saw in his dreams.

He originally wanted to do one last check and fill in any gaps before writing the novel, so that he wouldn't forget it over time.

But once he sat down at his desk, his mind was completely occupied with his secondary creation plan for "The Great Detective of the Red Chamber".

Therefore, we can only skip this step and start working out the novel outline directly.

In Zhang Yan's view, this fan fiction novel, which is over 250 million words long, could actually be compressed to less than 50 words.

First, there's the abundant and satisfying 'love story'. Zhang Yan feels that cutting 90% of it is not a problem at all. What needs to be considered now is which plot points can be retained.

After careful consideration, Zhang Yan decided to retain three storylines: the core storyline of Xue Baochai, the main wife; the storyline of Wang Xifeng, who represents the act of stealing perfume and jade; and the storyline of the maidservant, which serves as a supporting element.

Of course, the cut content shouldn't be wasted. Zhang Yan plans to strengthen the best parts of it into these three storylines, making the related plots more three-dimensional and richer.

As for the crime investigation section, most of the cases in the book are adapted from classic cases. They are not particularly novel in 2017, but they are different in 1990, as they are almost all 'original'.

As long as the original flaws are repaired, most of the content can be preserved.

In addition, to make up for the problem that the original work's plot lines were too scattered and lacked a main storyline, Zhang Yan planned to plant some clues in advance, connecting some of the cases together, and making Prince Zhongshun, who secretly took young boys and girls to make elixirs for the retired emperor, the final villainous boss.

Finally, there's the subplot that helps Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu grow up. Because later readers generally disliked Jia Baoyu, this part was heavily criticized by readers during the serialization.

But after much hesitation, Zhang Yan decided to keep this line.

First of all, the atmosphere in 1990 was different from that in 2017; most readers still hoped to see more positive and shining points in the protagonist.

Secondly, there are certain scenes along this storyline that Zhang Yan finds hard to give up.

For example, Mingyan, the personal servant who had committed a serious crime, sought help from Baoyu in the peach blossom grove but to no avail. In a fit of rage, he tried to strangle Baoyu to take him down with him, but was instead killed by Lin Daiyu with a flower hoe.

Although the Lament for the Fallen Flowers became a lament for the souls of men, it also prompted a fundamental transformation in the two children.

For example, after Jia Baoyu worked hard, in order to make up for the family's deficit, he asked Jiao Da for help in dealing with the Lai family, prompted by the protagonist.

Jiao Da agreed without hesitation and tried to kill Lai Da in public. However, due to his old age and weakness, although he managed to stab Lai Da, the dagger did not penetrate deeply into his flesh. He could only desperately pounce on Lai Da, using his forehead as a hammer and swinging his white beard and head to drive the dagger into Lai Da's heart again and again.

The latter, in particular, left a deep impression on Zhang Yan, so he ultimately decided to compress and streamline this storyline as much as possible, retaining only the main plot and a few iconic scenes.

In addition, regarding the main character's design.

Zhang Yan planned to pick up the plagiarism formula that the original author had abandoned. The reason the original author didn't want to write it this way was mainly because the plagiarism formula had been overused in later generations.

But in 1990, this wasn't cliché; it was innovation!

After this radical restructuring, coupled with numerous memorable quotes to enhance its memorability and depth, Zhang Yan firmly believed that this revamped third-rate online novel would shine brightly in the popular fiction world of 1990.

…………

Having thoroughly grasped the original book in his dream, Zhang Yan only needed half a day to develop the outline, and his writing flowed effortlessly.

He started writing on Saturday, April 8th, and by noon on Tuesday, the 11th, he had already written more than 4 words. Because some characters and overly vulgar scenes were cut, the plot has now reached the most exciting part of the original book, the "Case of the Heavenly Dog Devouring the Heart on Xinglong Street".

Zhang Yan's creative passion had not diminished at all, but his wrists were starting to give out, forcing him to stop, gazing out the window while rubbing his wrists.

Just then, footsteps sounded at the door. Zhang Yan turned around and saw his father, Zhang Xingguo, walking in carrying a plastic bag.

"Dad, why are you back?"

Zhang Xingguo usually eats lunch at the company cafeteria. "There's nothing much going on at work, so I decided to come back early to rest for a while."

As Zhang Xingguo spoke, he placed the plastic bag containing the noodles on the desk, glanced discreetly at his son's draft, and then casually said, "We'll have braised noodles for lunch, with vegetables and eggs."

Zhang Yan immediately realized that his parents must have found out that he had been so engrossed in writing his novel yesterday that he forgot to eat lunch—his mother couldn't leave, so his father had come back specifically to have lunch with him.

"You can eat whatever you want."

As Zhang Yan spoke, he pointed to the draft on the table and said, "Dad, how about you help me revise it tonight?"

These past few days, his family members have seen him working tirelessly and are very interested in his new novel, but they are hesitant to bring it up.

After all, in his parents' eyes, he was only motivated to write a novel because of what happened to Zhou Nan.

Hearing his son offer to "correct" him, Zhang Xingguo was overjoyed, but said with a hint of annoyance, "I'm busy all day long, and you just have to cause me trouble—forget it, I'll try to find some time tonight!"

According to later accounts, his father was a classic example of someone who said one thing but did another, never openly expressing his love for his child.

But when he ate noodles at noon, his frequent glances at the draft betrayed his inner anticipation.

Zhang Yan noticed his father's eagerness but didn't want him to read it beforehand. Firstly, there wasn't enough time at noon, and secondly, he worried that the earlier parts wouldn't be impactful enough. So, he wanted to finish writing the "Xinglong Street" dog case first.

After seeing his father off, Zhang Yan sat back down at his desk and continued to write with flowing, unrestrained strokes.

The case of the Heavenly Dog Devouring the Heart tells the story of Jia Zheng's superior, a vice minister of the Ministry of Works, who transferred his morbid longing for his deceased wife to his youngest son, who bore a striking resemblance to her, and thus had an unspeakable relationship with him.

After a painful struggle, the youngest son mistakenly took this as his father's longing and attachment to his mother, and at one point chose to compromise or even cooperate.

But as time went on, the vice minister gradually revealed his tyrannical nature and inadvertently revealed that his wife's death was also related to his abuse.

He treated the two men as playthings, and even his youngest son as the dog that had bitten him, subjecting him to all sorts of humiliation and torture.

In a fit of rage, the youngest son fabricated the story of his father being bitten on the toe by a dog and ordering the execution of all the dogs in the household, thus creating the "Case of the Heavenly Dog Devouring the Heart," in which he disemboweled his father and swallowed his heart raw.

The most crucial part of the crime was that the murderer stood behind the door of the secret room and shouted, waiting for everyone to rush into the room to check before sneaking in unnoticed.

Because this method of committing the crime was borrowed from a certain comic, in 2017 it could only be considered parroting and reciting the text verbatim.

Therefore, the original author emphasized the secret behind "the Heavenly Dog Devouring the Heart" and even used Xue Pan, a double-dealer, to reveal the key point - "I, Old Xue, can tell at a glance that this kid is definitely a bastard!"
However, in 1990, this method of committing the crime became an "original," and a classic original that deserves to be written about in great detail.

On the contrary, the truth behind the case can only be written in a restrained manner.

After all, things are different now. If we were to go back to 88, the original text's standards—even the standards before it was edited—would not have been considered high at all.

However, last year's major crackdown on popular novels resulted in the suspension of over 95% of related magazines, and the previous trend of pursuing sensationalism and pornography was also swept away.

Therefore, to get a manuscript approved now, you must be careful to strike the right balance.

Although reconstructing the fourth case was somewhat troublesome, since the core was copied after all, Zhang Yan ultimately managed to finish the plot of the 'Heavenly Dog Devouring Heart Case' before evening.

At this point, the novel's total word count reached 78000 words.

Zhang Yan's goal is to write 100,000 words and then submit them for publication.

At this rate, I should be able to finish writing it in two more days, but recopying it will also take some time.

"cough~"

Zhang Xingguo left work a little earlier than usual. After entering the room, he coughed lightly and walked to the desk as if nothing had happened. He kept glancing at the novel draft out of the corner of his eye, but he hesitated to ask for it.

Zhang Yan chuckled inwardly and quickly presented the draft with both hands.

(End of this chapter)