Chapter 82 "I've always remembered it."...
Chapter 82
After nearly two months of work, the manuscript for publication was finally completed. The day after Yu Pan sent the final version to the editor, she received a call from Li Cheng.
"Yu Pan! I have great news for you!" Li Cheng's voice was tinged with noise, but his excitement was palpable. "Our short film won first prize at the academy! The premiere is scheduled for next Friday afternoon. If you're free these next few days, why don't you come and watch it?"
Yu Pan held his phone, his feelings a bit complicated. He didn't have a good impression of Li Cheng and his gang, but the film was, after all, an adaptation of his own work, so after thinking about it, he agreed.
After agreeing on a time, on that day, Yu Pan finished her afternoon classes, picked up her bag, and rode her bicycle to the Film Academy.
Upon arriving at the school gate, he immediately spotted Li Cheng waiting there. The two had last met more than a month ago, when the publication project had just begun. Yu Pan was busy revising manuscripts and teaching, and they hadn't seen each other for a long time.
"Long time no see," Li Chengxian greeted.
Yu Pan got off her bicycle and smiled: "Yes, congratulations on winning the award."
"Thank you," Li Cheng nodded. "It's all thanks to you."
The two chatted as they walked towards the projection room. Inside, they found Gu Ximing, wearing glasses, and Liu Yiyi, with long hair, already fiddling with the projector. They greeted Yu Pan briefly, their attitude lukewarm.
After a brief chat, Yu Pan sat down on the long wooden bench. Li Cheng went to adjust the equipment, and the lights dimmed, with a beam of light shining on the white screen hanging on the wall.
The opening sequence was beautifully shot, and the background music perfectly enhanced the atmosphere; the effect was surprisingly good. The first few minutes of the plot largely followed the original work, with even a few key lines of dialogue unchanged.
Unlike previous stage play adaptations, the film's narrative is more natural and fluid. Yu Pan felt particularly good as she watched the scenes she had described come to life before her eyes.
However, as the plot progressed, Yu Pan gradually felt that something was wrong.
One of the main characters in his novel, Cheng Fuhua, has increasingly sharp and sarcastic lines. Scenes that deliberately portray his ruthless pursuit of quick success and unscrupulous methods, which were not present in the original work, were forcibly added.
The relationship between Cheng Fuhua and Fang Ming, who were originally supportive of each other in adversity and had friction but a warm underlying bond, has now been deliberately portrayed as a competitive relationship full of calculation and exploitation.
This is no longer the Cheng Fuhua he created, who, despite his flaws, was fundamentally loyal, righteous, and hardworking. This is clearly... the dark version that Li Cheng and the others had suggested, but which he had explicitly rejected.
At the end of the film, Cheng Fuhua attempts to abscond with the money but is caught red-handed by Fang Ming and his men, and imprisoned. The scene freezes on Cheng Fuhua's disheveled and distorted face.
When the lights came back on, Yu Pan felt a churning in her stomach, feeling extremely nauseous. They had finally managed to shove their self-righteous, proprietary ideas into the mix.
What's even more infuriating is that some of these twisted character scenes were never mentioned in previous communications.
"How is it?" Gu Ximing was the first to lean in, his face beaming with barely suppressed smugness. "Don't you think the sense of conflict and dramatic tension are much stronger?"
“Visual storytelling is different from written storytelling; it requires stronger twists and turns and conflicts to grab the audience’s attention.” Liu Yiyi chimed in from the side, her words revealing a sense of superiority: “We constantly clashed during the filming process before we found this more perfect way of expression.”
Their "we know more about this" attitude made Yu Pan feel particularly uncomfortable.
“But this completely deviates from the core of Cheng Fuhua’s character,” Yu Pan insisted. “I wrote a story about supporting each other and growing together in adversity, not about showing how dark people’s hearts are.”
After speaking, Yu Pan turned to Li Cheng, who hadn't said much, and her tone turned cold: "This is completely different from the final script we agreed on. You made a lot of changes without my consent."
“Yu Pan, I think you’re still too idealistic.” Li Cheng shrugged. “Reality is full of scheming and betrayal. Didn’t the film win an award because of our changes? That shows that we’re on the right track and that the audience and judges approve.”
"But this isn't my story!" Yu Pan's voice unconsciously rose a little.
Li Cheng's expression also darkened. "Adaptation is a form of re-creation. We are also creators. We respect your original work, but we also need to incorporate our own understanding."
“Exactly,” Gu Ximing rolled his eyes. “You can’t expect us to copy your text exactly, or the resulting film will be very boring. Since you authorized us in the first place, you should trust us.”
There was no point in arguing; Yu Pan felt a surge of powerless and stifled anger. Too lazy to argue further, he picked up his backpack and turned to leave.
Watching Yu Pan storm off, Liu Yiyi panicked a little. "Hey, do you think he'll really cause trouble?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" Gu Ximing said nonchalantly. "We're not from the same university, how can he possibly interfere with our film academy? Besides, words are no proof. We'll stick to the fact that he agreed to it, what can he do about it?"
“That’s true.” Liu Yiyi nodded and looked at Li Cheng: “If all else fails, hey Li Cheng, isn’t your uncle the department head? Why don’t you ask your uncle to handle it?”
Li Cheng, who was suddenly called out, was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, we'll see."
-
In the evening, when Shen Yanzhou returned home after work, he opened the door and saw Yu Pan sitting cross-legged on the carpet with several sheets of paper covered in writing in front of her. Her lips were pursed tightly and her brows were furrowed, clearly indicating that she was sulking with someone.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yanzhou walked over, sat down next to him, and casually ruffled Yu Pan's hair. "Why are you making such a face?"
Yu Pan raised her head and poured out her entire afternoon's experience at the film academy, as well as Li Cheng and his group's twisted logic of "professional judgment" and "freedom of adaptation."
"Of course they don't care if they didn't write it!" Yu Pan became increasingly angry as she spoke. "They forcibly changed the living, breathing character I created into a tool solely for creating conflict, and they still think they're absolutely right and justified!"
Shen Yanzhou listened quietly, not in a hurry to judge right or wrong. He simply looked into Yu Pan's eyes and waited until she finished speaking before asking, "What do you want to do?"
Yu Pan took a deep breath, her eyes hardening. "I'm going to the organizing committee of that competition, and the teachers in charge at the film academy. This is malicious alteration without my consent, a serious distortion of my original work. I'm going to complain... no, I'm going to appeal!"
“Okay,” Shen Yanzhou nodded, “What do you need me to do?”
"No need." Yu Pan shook her head, then lowered her voice and added somewhat embarrassedly, "Maybe you should help me hire a lawyer who knows about this? I've already asked the teachers in our department, and their actions may have already infringed on my rights."
"No problem," Shen Yanzhou agreed readily.
While Shen Yanzhou was looking for a lawyer, Yu Pan also began to organize all the materials left behind when Li Cheng first invited him to make changes.
Strangely enough, he never had the habit of keeping drafts and notes before; he would throw them away once he felt they were no longer useful.
But this time, perhaps subconsciously he kept those discussion notes in his bookshelf, and now it's particularly easy to organize them.
Shen Yanzhou was efficient and quickly helped Yu Pan contact a lawyer named Yuan who specialized in intellectual property. Yu Pan then took all the materials she had prepared in the past two days to meet with lawyer Yuan.
Attorney Yuan appeared calm and capable. He carefully reviewed Yu Pan's handwritten appeal points, the detailed comparative analysis diagram between the original manuscript and the final script, and all communication records with Li Cheng's team.
“The materials are very well prepared,” Attorney Yuan affirmed, then pointed to a few places with his pen. “Here, we can express it more precisely. We should emphasize that this is a fundamental distortion of the core spirit of the characters and the theme of the story, not just a simple plot change. This is more serious in terms of law and academic norms.”
"Here, it can be emphasized that this is a distortion of the core spirit of the characters, rather than just a change in the plot."
During her conversation with Attorney Yuan, Yu Pan's previously somewhat disorganized thoughts became increasingly clear.
-
Four days had passed since Yu Pan stormed out, and Li Cheng and his group thought the matter was over. However, while they were in class, members of the organizing committee suddenly came to their door, saying they wanted to understand the situation.
"Don't panic," Li Cheng whispered to Gu Ximing before going in, "Talk to Liu Yiyi and the others. We'll insist that Yu Pan agreed to the changes herself and that she's just backing out now."
In their first informal conversation, they all gave the same story, sticking to this version of events. In addition, Li Cheng also approached his uncle, who was the department head, hoping to suppress the matter.
"Uncle, it's really nothing serious, just a creative disagreement. The original author has gone back on his word and is being unreasonable." Li Cheng tried to downplay the matter.
His uncle initially thought it wasn't a big deal, just a dispute between students, so he contacted the organizing committee and asked them to handle it appropriately so as not to affect the students' enthusiasm for creation.
Because of this, the screening of the award-winning student works, which was originally scheduled to begin on Friday, has been postponed.
But what happened next was completely out of control.
First, the organizing committee suddenly hardened its stance and demanded a formal investigation. Uncle Li Cheng was alarmed and carefully questioned the contents of the appeal materials, only to discover that the matter was far more serious than it had been described.
He was instantly enraged. He summoned Li Cheng to his office, slammed the door shut, and launched into a tirade: "You've really gotten bold, haven't you! Infringement! Alteration! And you tried to fool me into thinking it was just a minor disagreement?! Now you've kicked a hornet's nest, you know? They have powerful backers! How am I supposed to help you?"
Li Cheng turned pale from the scolding; he never expected that Yu Pan, a mere student, would have such a powerful background.
"Get out!" Uncle Li Cheng waved his hand angrily. "You made this mess, so you have to take responsibility for it!"
Li Cheng nervously went to meet up with his team members, who were eagerly awaiting good news.
"So? What did your uncle say?"
"It's over..." Li Cheng slumped into a chair. "My uncle said... he can't control me. He also said that if I misbehave again, he'll personally punish me..."
"What!?" Gu Ximing jumped up. "What are we going to do!? You were the one who insisted on changing it this way! You said it would be fine!"
Liu Yiyi burst into tears: "It's all your fault! I told you we couldn't change it like this, but you wouldn't listen! Now look what's happened, if we get punished and our files are stained, how are we going to get jobs in the future?"
Li Cheng's mind was also in complete turmoil. In a daze, he thought of something, "I, I have another way."
-
After the appeal materials were submitted, the investigation process began, and there was no time to rush it. Yu Pan was in a good mood, eating and drinking as usual, and still sleeping soundly in Shen Yanzhou's arms at night.
Fortunately, he often engaged in sexual activity with Shen Yanzhou, otherwise, given his lifestyle, he would definitely have become a fatso.
Early Sunday morning, Shen Yanzhou rang his alarm and got up. After washing up, he sat back down on the bed and patted Yu Pan's face. "Who was it that swore last night that they would go grocery shopping with me this morning?"
Yu Pan frowned, groggily pulling the blanket over her head, her voice muffled as she said, "Tonight...we'll go tonight..."
Shen Yanzhou was amused by him and didn't press the issue further. He didn't force him, but there weren't many vegetables left in the refrigerator, and Yu Pan had said last night that he wanted to eat salt and pepper shrimp. He sat on the edge of the bed for a while, teasing the sleepy man, and then went out to buy groceries.
Just as Shen Yanzhou closed the door and turned to go downstairs, he bumped into Li Cheng, who was walking up the stairs.
Upon seeing Shen Yanzhou, Li Cheng grasped at a lifeline, "Brother Shen... Brother Shen!"
Shen Yanzhou didn't stop walking and continued downstairs, not even lifting his eyelids. "Is there something you need?"
Li Cheng followed closely behind Shen Yanzhou, his tone almost pleading, "Brother Shen, I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. Please, talk to Yu Pan. If he's willing to back down, the academy can be lenient with the punishment... I... I can't take this punishment, otherwise my life will be ruined!"
Shen Yanzhou stopped and turned to look at him, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Now you're scared? Didn't you think of this when you secretly changed things behind his back?"
"I..." Li Cheng choked, his face turning pale. He clenched his fists, his voice trembling, "Brother Shen, as long as you're willing to help... I'll do anything! I'll agree to anything you ask..."
The implication in his words was too obvious, and Shen Yanzhou's eyes instantly turned cold. He glanced at Li Cheng with undisguised contempt in his eyes, making Li Cheng feel like a cheap item displayed on a street stall, subject to people's judgment.
“Li classmate,” Shen Yanzhou’s voice was not loud, “you think too highly of yourself and look down on me and Yu Pan too much.”
"I..." Li Cheng's face flushed red, but she still wouldn't give up. "You, you're not interested in me, are you? Yu Pan comes to our school, and you always come to pick him up... weren't you just stopping by to see me?"
He still remembers that day when he saw Yu Pan off at the school gate, Shen Yanzhou leaned against the car, smiled in his direction, and spoke softly and gently.
"You're overthinking it." Shen Yanzhou's brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. "What Yu Pan did was right. He was protecting his hard work and taking back what was rightfully his. Not only will I not advise him to give up, I will support him to the end."
“Since you dared to do it, you should dare to take responsibility and bear the consequences yourselves,” Shen Yanzhou said. “Also, if you’re not thinking clearly, go to the hospital to get checked out.”
After finishing his sentence, Shen Yanzhou ignored Li Cheng, whose face was ashen, and headed towards the vegetable market.
-
The film school teachers took this matter very seriously and spoke with each member of the team individually.
Ultimately, they were students who hadn't truly entered society yet, and their psychological resilience was limited. Another boy in the team, after realizing that Li Cheng was completely helpless, hesitated for a long time before finally choosing to tell the truth.
“We originally filmed according to the original script, but Li Cheng and Gu Ximing… towards the end of filming, they did feel that the original script was too bland.”
He lowered his head and spoke softly, "We tried to dissuade them before, because Yu Pan had refused when we first suggested similar ideas. But they felt... that human nature is inherently dark, and that this change is more realistic, plus the final product does look more stimulating..."
Ultimately, after joint review, the college and the organizing committee determined that Li Cheng's team did indeed make inappropriate and significant modifications to the core characters and themes of the story without the permission of the original author, Yu Pan, during the adaptation and filming process.
Although this act does not constitute outright plagiarism, it seriously damages the spirit of the original work and violates the basic principles of adaptation and collaboration. The first prize awarded to the short film is revoked, all team members are given a major demerit, and an apology is to be issued to the original author, Yu Pan.
-
The night the matter was resolved, Yu Pan and Shen Yanzhou snuggled up on the sofa watching TV.
Yu Pan suddenly turned her head and looked at Shen Yanzhou very seriously: "Brother."
"Um?"
"Thank you."
"Hmm?" Shen Yanzhou looked at him: "Thank me for what? I didn't do anything."
“Nothing was done. You found me a very reliable lawyer,” Yu Pan said, counting on her fingers. “And…”
“You told me before that when something happens, I should protect my rights reasonably. This is to protect myself and take back what rightfully belongs to me. I have always remembered that.”
-----------------------
Author's Note: Panpan [Cat Head]: Stubborn, going head-to-head with [Cat Head].
That last sentence should be in chapter 40.
As always, red envelopes will be randomly given away in the comments section...
Kneel down and apologize. [Please][Please]
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