Chapter 88: Revenge for Personal Grudges

Shen Shilang couldn’t help but ask, “So, did you contact me through WeChat?”

“No, not with you. There’s a specialized tool for that,” Su Jinshi replied, thinking that explaining the app would be overly complicated.

“A game?” Shen Shilang recalled Mo Jizong’s words about him being just a character in a game.

“No, this isn’t a game. This is definitely not a game,” Su Jinshi responded, her voice rising with barely contained emotion.

The driver couldn’t resist glancing through the rearview mirror, having noticed the strange nature of the conversation.

Su Jinshi paid no attention to the driver’s curiosity—they were strangers who would part ways after this ride anyway.

“This is simply a bridge that allows us to meet and communicate,” Su Jinshi explained. “That Mo Jizong knows nothing; he just assumes I’m playing some game.”

The car pulled up outside Su Jinshi’s residential complex.

After stepping out, she continued her explanation to Shen Shilang, “In my world, technology hasn’t advanced enough to create game characters so lifelike—flesh and blood beings capable of having real-time, natural conversations with players, responding appropriately to anything they might say.”

“Here, game characters are pre-programmed. Players trigger specific responses with keywords. When the keywords match, the responses are largely identical. Plus, most responses are text-only; voice acting is limited.”

“That’s the fundamental difference between games and reality,” Su Jinshi concluded.

Shen Shilang was merely curious about the gaming capabilities in Su Jinshi’s world, but he had never doubted his own reality.

He smiled and nodded, “I understand, because I am real. I’ve never questioned that, so I don’t believe you’re playing a game. As we discussed before, we simply exist in two different worlds.”

Meanwhile, Quan Guanran and Wei Zhaoxian were jointly leading their troops against the enemy.

Shen Shilang remained in his tent, recuperating. As he had mentioned, while the Northwest Army no longer checked on him, Quan Guanran’s people provided excellent care.

With Su Jinshi’s medicine, Shen Shilang’s condition improved noticeably each day.

A week later, Su Jinshi unsurprisingly received a WeChat message from Qingyou.

Qing You: 「”Jinshi, Sheng Xiao didn’t approve your script.”」

Su Jinshi smiled indifferently at the expected news.

Su Jinshi:「 I was prepared for that. Any interest from other companies?」

Qing You: 「Definitely! Flash Frequency Technology is particularly promising. They’re starting to produce their own short dramas, and they have a significant platform advantage since their app is the primary distribution channel. By handling both production and streaming, they cut out platform fees. While they’ll still take their percentage from us, their overall costs are lower than traditional companies.」

Qing You:「 Additionally, Gravity Media, who we’ve collaborated with before, reviewed your first three episodes and showed strong interest. However, their terms remain unchanged from before. Given your status as a hit screenwriter, we’re hesitant to proceed unless they improve their offer.」

Qing You: 「Like Sheng Xiao, Flash Frequency is new to the short drama industry, so they’re likely to offer attractive terms to secure partnerships. Initially, I wanted to compare both Sheng Xiao and Flash Frequency’s offers, but now that Sheng Xiao passed, and Flash Frequency is offering better terms than Gravity, we should explore detailed negotiations with them—especially regarding performance-based royalty percentages.」

Su Jinshi:「 Of course. Just let me know if you need me in the negotiations.」

Qing You:「 Will do.」

Qing You added:「 I really wonder what Sheng Xiao is thinking. They claimed your script ‘doesn’t align with their current positioning.’」

Qing You couldn’t suppress her frustration:「 I’d love to know what their positioning actually is if they’re rejecting your work. Your short dramas consistently lead market trends—they’re practically industry benchmarks. Every time one of your dramas becomes a hit, it spawns countless imitators. Any proper market research would show them that.」

Su Jinshi:「 They’re new to the industry. Without precedent for this type of content in the current market, they’re probably just risk-averse. I understand their position.」

Qing You:「 Then they’ll be relegated to following others and picking up scraps.」

Su Jinshi laughed softly.「 Come now, you weren’t really planning to go with them anyway.」

Qing You: 「True enough, but it still irritates me.」

Su Jinshi: 「Don’t let it bother you. I’ll focus on writing another hit—make them regret their decision.」

Qing You:「 That’s the spirit!」

Su Jinshi then remembered something important: 「Oh, there’s one matter I need the company to monitor.」

Qing You:「 What’s that?」

Su Jinshi:「 While Sheng Xiao rejected the script, they’ve seen the outline, character profiles, and first three episodes. Though the outline isn’t highly detailed, it clearly shows the plot’s trajectory. I don’t want to assume the worst, but they’re new to short-form content, and we have no history with them—no way to gauge their business practices or industry reputation.」

Su Jinshi: 「Best case scenario, they play by the rules. But we should prepare for the alternative.」

Qing You:「 You mean they might take your script—which they’ve deemed ‘unsuitable’—and hire a cheaper writer to continue from your outline and initial episodes if it shows promise?」

Qing You’s initial reaction was that Sheng Xiao wouldn’t risk such a reputation-destroying move. Such an action would blacklist them within the industry. Who would dare collaborate with them after that?

But then she remembered Su Jinshi’s personal acquaintance with Mo Jizong. Perhaps this warning stemmed from insight into his character.

Qing You replied:「 Understood. I’ll alert the chief editor. We’ll keep close tabs on the situation.」

When Qing You raised the concern with the editor-in-chief, he nodded thoughtfully. “The short drama industry is booming right now, attracting many new players. Anything’s possible. Besides, when profit’s involved, some companies will risk temporary reputation damage—it rarely has lasting consequences.”

…