Trembling At A High Altitude

"It seems my guess was right; this time, my flattery hit the mark," Li Teng rejoiced internally and quickly followed the director into her room.

It was a business suite, with a reception hall outside and the bedroom inside.

After the director entered, she had two bodyguards follow, and once she sat down on the sofa inside, the two bodyguards stood by her side, one on the left and one on the right.

Li Teng entered, and the director had a bodyguard place a chair opposite the coffee table, gesturing for Li Teng to sit down.

There's some disparity from what I had imagined! With the two bodyguards not leaving, it's impossible to foster a closer relationship.

Li Teng looked around and didn't immediately sit down; instead, he went over to the table, poured two cups of tea, handed one to the director, kept one for himself, and then sat down.

"Speak, what do you want?" the director's tone remained cool.

And she hadn't even taken off her mask.

"I'd like to discuss the screenplay of the last two performances; I'm very interested in 'Lurking War Wolf,'" Li Teng certainly knew what the director would like to hear.

He had realized during his approach that this director was hard to get close to with flattery.

But, the clever Li Teng still found a breakthrough.

It was the last two scenes they had filmed.

This so-called 'Lurking War Wolf'

The two scenes from 'Lurking War Wolf' differed from the earlier scenes, which felt like they were just templated screenplays, simple blueprints obtained from the Film and Television City and adjusted slightly, where even the characters lacked names.

'Lurking War Wolf' was different; it had characters, a plot, a story background, and it even went into detail for each person, like Anna, born into a wealthy, bourgeois family, yet fell in love with a talented, ordinary editor named Donna.

Donna was gifted with both beauty and brains, almost all women loved him, and even men admired him.

Though there were only two short scenes, the playwright managed to convey many messages, and from these scenes alone, one could deduce the entire melodramatic and contradictory storyline.

Li Teng deeply suspected that the playwright of this screenplay was the director herself, a work she drafted in her free time.

At first, Li Teng was just suspicious, but after the director was moved by the song he sang in the corridor, he could be sure of his guess.

The screenplay must have been written by the director personally.

A spy drama written by a man generally focuses on the tense excitement of the conflict between enemies and allies, and the fervor of revolution, with relatively normal plots.

But a spy drama penned by a woman often deviates, spending excessive ink on meaningless romantic trivialities and might even include some male-male scenarios.

And the director clearly seemed quite satisfied with her screenplay, putting in the effort to select music she deemed appropriate for each actor to express the messages she wanted to convey in a short time.

She aimed to deliver her intended messages, communicate the emotions she desired, and hoped that those performing the scenes, as well as any potential viewers, could understand everything she wanted to express and communicate.

Regrettably, most people don't notice these details.

To enter her heart, one must start with her creations.

Understanding her works leads to understanding her as a person.

Once her defenses are breached, perhaps he could coax much information about the Film and Television City from her, information he would otherwise not have access to, which would greatly benefit his future survival and development in the Film and Television City.

...

"What do you think about the screenplay for 'Lurking War Wolf'?" the director indeed didn't reject Li Teng's topic.

Through the eyeholes of her mask, one could see that her gaze had softened a great deal, indicating her interest in the topic, and she was eager to hear Li Teng's specific thoughts about her screenplay.

"The script is provided to you by the Film and Television City as a standard, right?" Li Teng deliberately steered the conversation off course.

"Yes." The director was silent for a while before answering Li Teng.

"This script is incredibly bad, absolutely bottomless in its awfulness. Whether it's the plot or the soundtrack, calling it 'melodramatic' is not enough to describe how terrible it is. It's a notoriously bad script that is rarely seen in this world." Li Teng looked into the director's eyes, observing the changes in her inner emotions at that moment.

As expected, the director's eyes underwent a drastic change, filled with hostility towards Li Teng. Through her eyes, Li Teng could feel the anger that was about to burst forth from within her.

There was no need to say it; this terrible script was indeed written by her.

And it was very likely her debut work.

The first time directing a film with her own script.

For a screenwriter, her own script is like her child.

Telling a mother to her face how ugly, cowardly, poor, terrible, and utterly worthless her child is would definitely make her explode, she might even fight you to the death.

Even though the child is indeed ugly, cowardly, poor, terrible, and utterly worthless, because it's her own, she cannot tolerate any criticism of the child, even though she herself knows all too well the child's many flaws.

"However, all that is just the surface." Li Teng continued.

"To the average person, this script may seem awful, at rock bottom, even melodramatic, but they are only seeing the surface."

Since Li Teng was there to flatter, of course, he couldn't insult others' children, even if they were genuinely ugly.

But complimenting someone's ugly child also requires skill, especially when praising an extremely ugly child and saying they are beautiful requires even greater skill. If the complimenting skill is not up to par and is perceived as sarcasm, it can backfire.

"Oh? How so?" The director asked, her tone very cold.

"Let me give you an example. Have you seen Master Xing's 'A Chinese Odyssey'?" Li Teng asked the director.

"I have."

"When Master Xing's 'A Chinese Odyssey' was first released, it received terrible audience reactions, considered to be an awfully bad, nonsensical farce. It was a box office disaster, even rated as one of the top ten worst imported films of the year in mainland China. Many moviegoers who had waited in long lines for tickets cursed as they left early, feeling conned and walking out before it ended."

"But after the movie failed in theaters nationwide, it made its way to the Imperial City Film Academy. This absurd, alternative version of 'Journey to the West' caused a sensation and received acclaim as soon as it screened at this prestigious institution. Its episodic structure, the rebellious characters, and the unconventional love story were highly praised by the new generation of almost professionals. Even the dialogues from 'A Chinese Odyssey' were revered as the 'Bible' of youthful fashion."

"Why was there such a huge contrast?"

"Why was such a classic film initially dismissed as trash?"

"Because the audience level was too low, their IQ too low, they couldn't understand what Master Xing wanted to express or the emotions he wanted to convey."

"Your 'Lurking War Wolf,' Director, is on the same level as 'A Chinese Odyssey' and even surpasses it in emotional depth! Those who think it's bad don't understand it, they only see the surface, not the deeper elements, the meaning and emotions the screenwriter is trying to convey."

"And to appreciate those, one must quiet their heart and experience it slowly."

"In this restless society, fewer and fewer people are willing to quiet their hearts."

"By the way, who is the screenwriter of 'Lurking War Wolf'? Is there a chance to introduce them to us? I'd really like to meet this talented writer, and it would be even better if I could have a chat with her." Li Teng concluded his long-winded flattery.

After finishing his flattery, Li Teng hurriedly took a sip of tea, using it to cover up the various uncomfortable reactions, such as nausea and vomiting, caused by telling so many insincere lies.

"That's, not very convenient, but to my knowledge, this screenwriter has some pretty good works in the real world. She was also really into writing 'Lurking War Wolf'; the original work is over a hundred thousand words long, she was hoping to produce a truly great film with an Emperor Level actor for Film and Television City. Unfortunately, the staff at the Film and Television City's script distribution department lacked vision and didn't adopt this script, so I had to... I had to commission filming a couple of small scenes to try and catch their attention once these exciting segments are broadcast." The director spoke with a tone of frustrated ambition.

Li Teng's flattery was spot on, successfully opening the director's floodgates of speech.

"The people at Film and Television City really have no vision! They just can't comprehend such a good script! Ah, it's such a pity! Such a regret!" Li Teng showed a deeply regretful expression.