Chapter 359 is indeed quite skilled.
The room was small, without even a wardrobe. The main furniture consisted of a bed and a small table, and everything was on full display.
The environment wasn't great, but it was clear that Xu Yue had tried her best to keep the house tidy.
She found a folding stool in the corner, unfolded it, and let Shen Xuewei sit down. Then she took a kettle, filled it with water, and boiled hot water for Shen Xuewei.
Seeing Shen Xuewei staring in the direction she had just left, Xu Yue explained:
"My room is only suitable for living; it doesn't have a separate kitchen or toilet, so I have to go outside to get water."
Shen Xuewei nodded without saying anything, warming her hands by holding the cup full of hot water.
Her gaze swept around the room, and was soon drawn to a pile of books that Xu Yue had placed in the corner.
"I didn't expect that after being in the capital for so long, you would actually enjoy reading."
"Hey, don't tease me. Anyway, I still don't like reading. But it's useful to me, so I'll force myself to read a little."
She got up and brought over a few books she had been reading recently.
Upon closer inspection, Shen Xuewei realized they were all books about acting.
Books like "An Actor Prepares," "Fundamentals of Dramatic Performance," and "Six Lectures on Acting"...
They are mostly in good condition, showing that they have been frequently handled.
As Shen Xuewei casually flipped through one of the books, Xu Yue was already giving a long, detailed introduction to the place where she lived.
"Hey, Weiwei, don't let the fact that my place looks so plain fool you. It's right on the Second Ring Road, close to some commercial areas and entertainment-related companies and places."
"If others come late, they won't be able to rent it even if they want to."
“I have a group leader I’m quite close to who lives upstairs. I see her often, and I’ve gotten several roles with screen time from her. The one last time, she introduced me to it…”
Shen Xuewei listened quietly to her talk, and through her eloquent description, she seemed to see her life in the capital over the past few years.
Xu Yue talked for a long time before finally remembering to ask Shen Xuewei.
"Weiwei, why did you suddenly come to the capital this time? You only told me when you got here. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
If I had told her earlier, she would have moved to a nicer place to live.
It wouldn't have come to this, with Shen Xuewei seeing my embarrassing situation...
When she asked about it, Shen Xuewei smiled and sent her the novel "The Tale of Turbulent Times" on her phone.
"This time, I'm here for this novel. Your task in your spare time for the next period of time is to read this novel completely."
"I'll give you a surprise in a few days."
Xu Yue opened the novel that Shen Xuewei had sent her.
"All right."
"You want me to see it? I'll see it. I'll see it in a few days. You're being so mysterious. What surprise are you planning to give me?"
She looked around at the cramped space, and her tone of pleading sounded very unconvinced.
"It's getting late...would you like to stay here and sleep?"
Shen Xuewei also read it through, and then sighed.
There wasn't even a private toilet; she had to squeeze into a public toilet outside with other people. She really didn't want to make herself suffer like that.
"No, I've already booked a hotel this morning. I'd better go back and stay at the hotel."
She changed to a hotel closer to Star Trails Productions, which was less than a ten-minute walk from the company, making it more convenient to stay there.
Shen Xuewei didn't plan to stay, and Xu Yue didn't say anything.
The two talked for a while longer, and as it was approaching 10 p.m., Xu Yue led Shen Xuewei out of the basement and took her to the roadside to hail a taxi.
Shen Xuewei took a taxi to the hotel. After washing up, she turned on her computer to record and refine the content of her discussion with Gu Xu that day.
In the following days, after initial adjustments, she and Gu Xu had a heated argument about the adaptation of the novel.
According to Gu Xu, her novels mainly depict the efforts and struggles of ordinary people at the bottom of society, and the content is heavy and monotonous.
To make the content richer and more suitable for television adaptation, it is necessary to add striking contrasts such as the inaction and corruption of the upper echelons of the dynasty at that time.
This would necessitate a significant increase in the content regarding court intrigue and power struggles.
This added portion accounts for almost half of the content, leaving only half of the original novel's content.
Shen Xuewei expressed strong dissatisfaction and rejection of this adaptation.
People from other departments of Star Trail Productions happened to pass by the two's office and witnessed their heated argument.
At the height of the argument, they seemed to realize that there were people watching outside, and they glared out at them.
The onlookers pretended to be extremely busy and then dispersed in a flurry.
On this day, Shen Xuewei and Gu Xu had an argument and parted on bad terms.
When it was time to leave work, everyone had a long face.
They left the office at the same time, as if they hadn't even seen each other.
The next day, Shen Xuewei initially didn't want to come, but then she remembered that she had already promised, even though the novel was about to be heavily revised...
Thinking of this, her anger flared up again.
The people I checked before said this company was pretty good and had no disputes.
The original authors were quite satisfied with the previous adaptations of the novel, which is why she agreed to sell the rights to them.
Unexpectedly, this strange incident occurred, and they actually wanted to drastically change her novel.
Such drastic changes, so drastic they're unrecognizable—isn't this just reckless alteration?
However, she still had some sense of contractual obligation. After sitting in the hotel fuming for a long time, she still went to Star Trail Production Company.
As soon as I arrived at the office, I was startled by Gu Xu.
After just one night apart, Gu Xu looked extremely haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and even pale lips.
Although they had just argued yesterday, considering that the other person was getting on in years and might be in this state because of her anger yesterday, she still asked with concern.
"Uncle Gu, are you alright?"
Gu Xu, with a stern face, tossed a USB drive to her.
"This is something I wrote overnight based on our discussions over the past few days. Take a look and then decide."
Shen Xuewei looked at the USB drive in her hand, wondering what he was trying to tell her.
Seeing that the other person was already sitting in their seat, and looking that apart from being a little tired and haggard, they didn't seem to be in any serious condition, I felt a little relieved.
She plugged the USB drive into her computer and opened the contents.
The USB drive contained only one file: a simplified, rough script.
She opened it hesitantly, skimmed through it for a long time, then stared at the document without saying a word.
Gu Xu looked up when he saw the other person fall silent.
“Weiwei, I know you’re against excessive adaptation of novels, but harmful and benign are two different things.”
"If you read through the contents and still feel the changes aren't good enough, we can discuss it further..."
Shen Xuewei remained silent, only repeatedly looking at the contents of the document.
After Gu Xu added some content, the whole plot is indeed more exciting and richer than the original. As expected of Xinggui Productions' go-to screenwriter, he really has some talent.
Shen Xuewei did not raise any further objections and tacitly approved his changes.
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