145 Because of You, This Story Exists

Having successfully requested time off from work, Zhang Pa met with Xun Yuyu at a Western restaurant in the evening.

The Western restaurant had been assimilated by Chinese dining habits. Once the customers ordered, the waiters brought out all the dishes at once—you could eat whichever dish you preferred. Want them to serve you course by course in proper sequence? No way!

The main attraction was steak, and Zhang Pa ordered two portions for himself. With the two plates set before him, he ate with immense satisfaction. What was even more satisfying was that he ate the steak using chopsticks.

Xun Yuyu took a diary out of her bag, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Zhang Pa. "I wrote an outline. Help me flesh it out. The main plot should follow this outline, and the central character will be me. It needs to be written around my experiences."

Zhang Pa picked up the diary. It was quite thick and large. When he opened it, the very first sentence was something about a girl in the ivory tower.

Wasn't that phrasing a bit too ancient? He raised his eyes to size up Xun Yuyu.

Xun Yuyu asked what he was looking at.

Zhang Pa asked in a low voice, "I have a few questions. First, how old are you? Second, what time period do you hope the story's background will be set in? Third, do you have any acting foundation? If not, I need to understand you better and try to write about your daily life. When the time comes for filming, you won't need to act; you just need to be yourself."

Xun Yuyu said, "I understand the last two questions, but what does it have to do with my age?"

Zhang Pa thought for a moment and said, "It's nothing, really." He continued reading the script as they ate and read simultaneously.

She had written about thirty pages, but in truth, there was no real main storyline—it was mostly just the story of a female college student, detailing how she liked a certain boy, how she was pursued by others, and how plenty of guys were fond of her, and so on.

After scanning it roughly, he put the notebook down and said, "If this is the main storyline, I suggest we don't shoot it."

"Why?"

"It has no nutritional value, nor any meaning," Zhang Pa said. "Perhaps it has meaning to you, because it talks about your dreams, your memories, and what you desire, but nobody else will care."

"Will they?" Xun Yuyu asked doubtfully.

"Definitely," Zhang Pa replied. Then he continued, "If you want to make a movie, you must first ask yourself. Figure out what you actually want to express or explain! My advice is not to express anything at all. Film art has existed for so many years; there are countless movies related to humanity that reflect various thoughts, problems, and eras—let's not join in on that excitement. When people's horizons become broad enough, they lose interest in these kinds of movies. That is to say, nobody likes playing at being deep."

"Mine isn't deep, is it?" Xun Yuyu asked.

Zhang Pa said, "Your main storyline is practically nonexistent; the main issue is that the story isn't prominent, and there's no reason to watch it."

Xun Yuyu was somewhat displeased. Nobody would be happy hearing themselves talked about like that. With a sullen face, she asked, "Is it really that bad?"

"It's not a question of whether it's bad or not," Zhang Pa explained. "It's a question of whether it's attractive or not..."

The next hour was spent discussing this exact topic. Back and forth, he finally managed to persuade Xun Yuyu. However, a new problem arose: Xun Yuyu was not interested in Zhang Pa's ideas.

What makes a movie attractive? If there is no acting skill, one can only rely on looks; if the looks are also ordinary, one can only win by sheer quantity.

If you want to tell a good story, that kind of film cannot be shot on a budget of just a few hundred thousand yuan. Meanwhile, the so-called thoughtful and substantive stories that could be filmed for hundreds of thousands were directly vetoed by Zhang Pa.

Before coming here, Zhang Pa had pitched an idea to Xun Yuyu: get a bunch of pretty girls, just like shooting a music video. Dress them up extremely well, have them wear very little, and casually pick an uplifting theme, such as participating in a singing competition or how a dance troupe achieves success...

Xun Yuyu disagreed. She did not want too many women to share her spotlight. Furthermore, she wanted a complete story, like the thrilling plot of Infernal Affairs.

Zhang Pa was completely speechless. He told her he would go back and think about it more, and they would stay in touch by phone.

Xun Yuyu told him to be quick about it.

Well, as quickly as possible then. He hailed a cab back to the hotel. However, he received a call from Long Xiaole, the main purpose of which was to scold him.

Long Xiaole had picked up the application form for joining the Writers Association on his behalf and had been trying to get Zhang Pa to fill it out over the past couple of days. But the great Mr. Zhang was full of swagger and claimed he didn't care for it. Getting into the Writers Association wasn't important; what mattered was continuing to write stories, writing them on and on.

Long Xiaole was furious, so naturally, he scolded him for lacking ambition and drive.

Zhang Pa said, "I do plenty of things without drive, one more won't hurt." He ended the call.

Immediately after, however, he received a call from Liu Xiaomei, who said she had discussed it with her parents and they wanted him to move in.

Zhang Pa said, "With this face full of injuries..."

Liu Xiaomei said, "I've already told them you were hurt by someone on my account, and even your home burned down. My mother said you should move over, but you'll have to live on the ground floor."

Zhang Pa said, "I really do want to move over, the problem is I'm not by myself..."

"What do you mean?" Liu Xiaomei asked.

Zhang Pa thought for a moment and said, "Nothing, I mean I have to take care of my students."

"Me too. That's the only bad thing about being a teacher—you have to divide your attention for the students. I've been pondering resigning these past few days, but it doesn't seem feasible; I'm afraid those kids' education would be ruined. At the very least, I have to finish teaching this batch." Liu Xiaomei paused and added, "You should move in."

Zhang Pa said he would think about it.

Liu Xiaomei said thinking wasn't allowed and declared that he had no choice but to agree.

Zhang Pa smiled and said okay.

A short while later, the taxi stopped in front of the hotel at the corner of Xingfuli Street, where Zhang Pa had been staying for the past few days. The moment he stepped inside, the front desk clerk intercepted him, telling him he needed to keep his kids in line.

Curious, Zhang Pa asked what had happened.

The clerk launched into a righteous tirade, clearly very angry.

Zhang Pa listened to the entire ordeal, fluctuating between laughter and tears, and then asked, "Are they in their room?"

"No," the clerk replied.

Zhang Pa muttered that he was in trouble, muttered his thanks, stepped outside, and called Yun Zheng to ask where they were.

Yun Zheng said they were at an internet cafe and the few of them were planning to stay up overnight.

"Stay up your head, get back here right now," Zhang Pa said.

"Can we go back?" Yun Zheng asked after thinking a moment. "Did anyone come looking for you?"

Hearing this, Zhang Pa understood instantly that Yun Zheng was probing him, so he replied, "Nobody came looking for me, only someone came to complain about you. The lot of you, roll back here immediately."

Yun Zheng let out an "oh."

What had the gang of them been doing? In academic terms, it was peeping through door cracks.

This place was a small budget hotel—nothing special, just cheap, and people frequently rented rooms there for trysts.

A couple had checked in this afternoon and started working right after, happening to stay right next door to Yun Zheng and his monkey troop.

The two individuals were quite vigorous, and the room's soundproofing was poor, so the monkeys got to listen to a live broadcast. Mainly, the woman's voice was too loud, and that kind of commotion traveled exceptionally far.

After the monkeys had listened for a while, Lao Pi said, "This is too bullying! What are they doing? Are they mocking me for not having a girlfriend?"

His remark was met with mockery from the other four: "How old are you even? Have the hairs on your body even grown in yet?"

With nothing better to do, the bunch listened for a while longer until it got boring. Lao Pi came up with a terrible idea: "Let's go have a look."

How to look? They couldn't stand outside the window; they could only stand outside the door.

As punishment for the two dogs who had been assaulting their ears with magic sounds, the monkeys intended to take a couple of photos, and off they went.

First, they had to pick the lock. Before setting off, they spent time studying the door lock; the small hotel used those twist-knob locks that automatically deadbolted when pressed down.

Lao Pi had a natural talent for thievery. If this were a video game, he definitely would have added points to the right attributes. He picked up a bobby pin from the floor, practiced in his own room for a little while, and then set off.

The rest was history—they popped the lock on the neighboring door and took their pictures.

However, picking the lock made a noise that caught the attention of the people inside. The monkeys didn't care; taking pictures was a must—this was punishment for their wild behavior.

The moment the lock clicked open, they rushed in like armed robbers to snap photos, and then... they froze.

Inside the room were two naked men. Lao Pi even asked, "Where's the woman? Where is she?"

What happened next was that the two men got dressed and went down to the front desk to complain. Realizing they had made fools of themselves, the five monkeys fled frantically.

While running outside, they even cursed at each other, primarily arguing over how there could clearly be a woman's voice, only for the door to open and reveal men.

Yun Zheng fired back with curses: "You guys couldn't even get the room right by listening? Are you pigs or what?"

With nowhere to go, the bunch had no choice but to kill time at the internet cafe until Zhang Pa summoned them back.

When they entered, they saw Zhang Pa in a daze. The monkeys spoke in hushed tones: "Bro."

Zhang Pa pointed at the wall: "Is this the room you went into just now?"

Lao Pi nodded and said yes.

Zhang Pa said, "That's not right, though. The sounds came straight from here—how could it be men?"

The five monkeys immediately quieted down to listen, and soon they heard the same commotion from the afternoon. Lao Pi said, "See? It's right from next door, how could it not be?"

Zhang Pa thought for a moment and asked, "Is there a third floor? Or maybe it's on the first floor?"

Yun Zheng walked over, pressed his ear against the wall, and said, "It doesn't sound like upstairs, nor downstairs. It's right next door, definitely next door."

Zhang Pa sighed, "This is a very serious academic discipline concerning the study of sound propagation. You guys need to study physics properly."

Lao Pi said, "Should we go over and check again?"

Zhang Pa asked if he had lost his mind.

Lao Pi said, "Those two guys checked out. It's an empty room now."

"Oh, is that so? Let's go take a look then," Zhang Pa said.

So off they went to check. The moment the door swung open, a heavily pregnant woman was standing inside, wearing a look of absolute terror, and she let out a piercing shriek.

Zhang Pa and Lao Pi's gang were all professionals. Facing such a situation, not a single word was spoken. In unison, they spun around and fled, vanishing swiftly into the stairwell, down the corridor, and out the front door of the hotel...

After running a long distance away, Zhang Pa remembered something: "Play rock-paper-scissors. The loser goes back to close the door."

"Bro, the door isn't locked?" Lao Pi said. "I can't go back. I was standing right at the front just now, that woman definitely recognizes me."

Zhang Pa said, "Fine, you're excused. The rest of you, play rock-paper-scissors."

Yun Zheng said, "Bro, I've got gauze wrapped around my head, it's way too conspicuous. It's not convenient for me to go back either."

Zhang Pa looked at the remaining three: "What about you guys?"

"Bro, you should go back. You were standing all the way in the back, and even stayed out in the corridor—that woman definitely didn't see you," Fang Zijiao said.

Zhang Pa was exasperated. "How on earth did I end up knowing a bunch of bastards like you lot?" (To be continued.)