Time Travel: The Queen's Coronation

After the Lunar New Year, we returned to campus. Along the way, we were often teased by acquaintances, saying, "A couple is back to school!" But I was prepared for this, so I responded with aplomb.

Entering the dormitory, I braced myself for their "judgment." I slowly pushed the door open and cautiously peered inside. Alas! No one was there. Great! I breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made my bed and desk. About an hour later, I heard footsteps. They must be returning. As if you can't escape them, let the storm intensify!

"Hi! Long time no see, I missed you so much!" I greeted him warmly.

"Hey! Isn't this Mrs. Rong?"

"Miss Zheng, long time no see!"

"I heard that Miss Wei is engaged. Do I have to call her Mrs. Rong or Madam Rong from now on?"

"You can call me whatever you want"

"Hehehe! Stop acting, I'm getting goosebumps!"

"That's right, the acting is terrible!"

"What! I've played the leading female role before, and you actually said my acting is bad!"

"It's not uncommon for the leading actress to have poor acting skills, otherwise why would there be so many bad movies!"

"Then I am better than Qing'er, right?"

“It’s definitely better than Qing’er.”

"No way! I acted pretty well too."

"We were so embarrassed watching this, are you okay?"

"Hahahaha, fine, as long as you feel happy and don't get mad at me."

"Hey, hey, the engagement isn't over yet."

"Exactly, it's so sad that they didn't even inform us."

"I forgot about it when I was busy."

"To express my apology, I have ordered a cake to make amends to everyone."

"Okay, for the sake of the cake, I'll let you go."

"This will never happen again!"

"Never happen again"

"Mmmmmmm!"

"Hey! This is your engagement gift."

"And mine"

"this is mine"

"You guys!" I was so surprised that I couldn't speak.

"Don't be touched. We are not angry. We just feel a little unhappy that you ignored us. But our temper comes and goes quickly. We are still good sisters. When good sisters get engaged, we have to give something as a gift. So don't be touched," Zheng Lan said, hooking her arm around my shoulder.

"If you feel sorry for us, you can treat us to a meal," Liu Xiu looked at me expectantly.

"No problem, let's eat out this weekend!"

"Ugh! Hooray!"

The quiet dormitory was filled with cheers. This matter was finally over. But I felt sorry for them. I was so busy that I forgot about it. I should have mentioned it in the group at the beginning. I really shouldn’t have done that!

I was writing a novel that evening when an email arrived. I opened it and checked. It was from a film company. They said they'd read my novel and thought my writing was excellent. They wanted me to write a script for them, and they wanted to discuss the details. If I agreed, they'd send me a call at a suitable time, and they'd arrange a meeting. I thought it was quite promising. My work had garnered millions of followers on the novel platform, and I hadn't expected it to attract a film company, too. This was an opportunity to showcase my work on the big screen, allowing even more people to see me and my talent! I quickly replied, saying I'd be available to meet up that weekend.

I postponed my dinner invitation to Saturday night so I could meet with the film company that afternoon. They agreed and supported me in pursuing bigger opportunities and a platform to showcase my talent.

At 2:00 PM on Saturday, I arrived at the hotel in the city center as agreed and went to the private room they had prepared in advance. I called to let them know I was downstairs, and the person in charge came down to pick me up shortly afterwards.

"Excuse me, are you the writer Wei Qingwei?" A man of medium build wearing a black suit and black-framed glasses walked up to me and said.

"Yes, I am. You are?"

"I'm Zhou Zhu, who just spoke to you."

"Oh, oh, hello, Manager Zhou."

After shaking hands, we went upstairs. When we opened the door, there were about ten people sitting inside. Zhou Zhu took me to sit next to the main seat.

"This is our director, Chen Sinian," he said, introducing the man with slightly gray hair sitting in the main seat.

"Oh, hello Director Chen, I'm Wei Qing. Your movie 'Phoenix' is great. I've watched it several times."

"Really? Then what do you think of the story structure? Tell me honestly, and talk about it from your perspective as a novelist."

"Well, the story is good, the filming is good, and the picture structure is perfect, but the logic of the story is a big flaw."

"You're right. The feedback we received from the public was that the story's logic was flawed, or even illogical. The whole story was incomprehensible, so the follow-up of the film did not meet expectations. This is why I want to work with you. I've seen your film "Bullet," which has a very complete logic and an intriguing plot. Could you write a similar story for us?"

"What kind do you want?"

"I want a suspense film. In recent years, suspense films have received good responses. If the story suspense is well handled, it can easily exceed expectations."

“Do you have any other ideas?”

"I haven't made any other films yet, because I've never made a suspense film before and I want to try it for the first time. The more brain-burning the plot, the better. The kind that people may not understand the first time they watch it, but will be attracted to watch it a second and third time."

"Yeah, yeah," I wrote down Director Chen's requirements in my notebook so that I could come up with a story when I got back.

"Another important point is that there should be a little romance, but romance is just a sideline, playing a role of embellishment. The most important thing is the suspense and solving the case."

"Hmm," I listened and took notes.

Director Chen later shared his expectations and thoughts on the film, and I took notes. In one afternoon, I filled a third of my notebook. Director Chen claimed to have no ideas, but in reality, he had many, which was exactly what I needed. The more detailed his requirements were, the more I could tailor the work to his needs. He gave me three months to finalize the script, which was quite challenging. I'd never written a screenplay before; I'd only ever written novels, and those novels were written based on my own ideas. Writing a script based on someone else's ideas was my first time, and the tight timeline put a lot of pressure on me.

Later, I began to conceptualize character relationships and plot points, creating a simple network diagram for Director Chen. Director Chen provided feedback based on my diagram, and I made revisions. We spent a month discussing the story structure alone, and time was running out. After finalizing the story structure, I raced through the draft within a month. To finish the script, I stopped updating my accounts on all platforms for a month. My fans on the novel platform were clamoring for updates, with hundreds of thousands of requests. They also left messages on my social media accounts, urging me to update as soon as possible.

After I gave them the manuscript, they were quite satisfied, but they still requested some changes and additions. I made all the necessary changes and finally submitted it a week ahead of schedule. With the manuscript submitted, the work was complete, and I received the payment from them in my bank account. Seeing this payment, I felt that the two months of hard work had been worth it!