Thriller Paradise-Chapter 555

Chapter 555: I am a Writer – Night of Revival (8)

“Are you familiar with the trout? When they were an egg, humans and bigger birds treated them as delicacy. And those who managed to survive would float in the great waves and continue to grow… When the timing comes, they will turn back against nature, take a journey of several thousand kilometres to return to the pool of water where they were born.

“They leap over dams, waterfalls. they will swim against the current and leap against the rapid. Escaping the sharp claws of their predators and swimming against the force of water that would push them back, they would be wounded but they would never turn back.

“After surviving layers of difficulty, they finally returned to the peaceful lake, the place where their mother had birthed them. Then they used their last remaining energy to lay down the next generation and that ends their lives. It is a short life filled with difficulties, one that tested one’s determination and bravery to the maximum. Their bodies will become the food for other animal, their carcass will become the nutrients for the nearby plants around the later. And their future generation… will follow in their footsteps to complete this mission that they were born with. Even though the ending that awaits them is nothing but death, they still follow this whole process to the end.

“Just like so many main characters of so many different stories, they have entered our lives and then left, they have performed a wonderful and memorable show before our eyes but in the end, they will be like the trout. In just a few short years… their journey will end. For them, the days that they have spent before our eyes, that was everything. The death of a character was never the end, the closure of the story was the real ending to their lives.

“Therefore, even though our main character still has many things that he has not done, many aspiration that he has not fulfilled, as long as we still remember him, remember the emotions that he has once evoked in us, his life was not a waste. In that spirit, even when facing his death, he welcomed it with open arms because his journey ensured that he has no regrets.”

…

After Feng Bujue’s chapter was revealed, the studio sunk into silence. Probably the audience was still hesitating… whether they should give applause to this man who had been making a whole mess of the recording this whole time? In a way, the fact that Brother Jue had gotten serious at the last round made some people more annoyed at him…

If he had continued to make a fool of himself until the end, that would have gone with his storyline, but now, didn’t his performance basically say…’oh, jk, I was just toying with you all earlier.”

Even Oscar who had a wealth of hosting experience did not know how to react in that moment. Thankfully he did not need to read all the contestants’ writing in this round, he also was watching them reveal on the big screen alongside the audience. Therefore, he could pick whichever timing he wanted to chime in, there was no fixed spot where he was needed to necessarily say something.

“Hmm… I believe everyone has seen contestant Bujue’s answer.” Several minutes later, Oscar got the director’s order from the ear mic. With a clear direction, he only started to resume hosting, “Erm… Bujue, honestly, if you have performed just like this in the previous two rounds, I believe you would not have been in the last place now…”

“Hmph…” Feng Bujue scoffed, “I honestly do not think so.”

Oscar very alertly caught something in Feng Bujue’s answer and did not follow it up. He instead turned to the camera and shrugged before walking over to the seat of contestant number seven. “Now… moving on, let us see what the current first place contestant has given us tonight…” he waved his arm to point at the big screen, “… let us see the final chapter written by Fire in the Night.” The next second, the proud accomplishment which Fire in the Night had written in half an hour appeared on the screen. During this round, his performance was really not bad, the big reason being Feng Bujue had temporarily left the stage, that helped stabilized his emotions by a lot. Without anyone to distract him, he had written a well above average final chapter to the book he was given.

Of course… this was also related to the book that he was ‘randomly’ given. The production crew had purposely given him a contemporary novel which already had a writing style similar to Fire in the Night but the standard was much lower than his. Since the original author did not have too many loopholes in his story and the overall framework of the story was relatively small… overall, in this round, the production crew had done everything they could to lower the difficulty for Fire in the Night to come up with his story. To quote Director Pei directly, “this is as much as I can help you.”

“Wow! No wonder Fire in the Night is considered the best in the field, the new rising star!” Soon Oscar commented loudly, “After reading this kind of chapter… I have a feeling… the question of who will arise as the victor of tonight’s episode has gotten much clearer…” before the result was even announced, he already dropped this very insinuating statement. Then, Fire in the Night’s fan led a very loud fan chant from the audience. The director borrowed this tide and signalled for all of the rest of the audience to clap along. Combined with the epic bgm that was given by the live dj, they had successfully created a very glorious and stately atmosphere.

After the celebration died down, Oscar made a show of wiping his sweat and sighing, “Phew… dear audience, it is time for that nerve-wrecking moment again… Now please cast… your final vote for the night.” After he said that, he immediately added, “The time limit is… 3 minutes.” The production crew this time directly put the countdown timer on the big screen as if they wanted to pressure the live audience to make their decision as fast as they could.

This action was also very beneficial for Fire in the Night who was last to announce his writing. The time limit of the voting period was not that important, the important thing was there was a ‘time limit’. As long as such a concept was left in the audience’s mind, then they would be urged to make their decision faster and thus they would spend less time thinking. That way… the writing that they had most recently read would definitely had the most benefit. One was because it was still fresh in their mind; and two was the audience would not have the time to remember about the other six chapters that were announced before it.

Tik tok, tik tok…

The Dj did not forget to lend his aid, and appropriately started this sound effect in the audience seat as if worried that they might spend too much time thinking…

…

3 minutes passed in the blink of an eye…

When the timer dropped to zero, Oscar followed it up with, “Ok, time’s up!” He turned to the audience, “I represent every single one of the contestant to give their appreciation for the votes that you have casted.” Then he bowed deeply. The audience repaid him with an applause.

“At this moment, the discussion between our 20 professional team of judges is still going on. Facing 7 such well-written chapters, I do not envy their job…” Oscar continued, “Of course, for our players, tonight’s competition is already over.” He turned to the contestants. “No matter what is the result tonight, I believe… everyone can go home with no regrets.” He slowly walked over. “So let us continue and finish the second half of the q and a segment under this joyful atmosphere.”

“So let us…” Oscar’s eyes scanned the seven contestants, “…continue the q and a based on the current ranking from the previous round.” He moved his feet to the seat of the sixth contestant. “We will… start with Bujue who is currently last.” He turned to Brother Jue and asked, “Bujue, which of the other writer do you wish to direct your question to?”

“Fire in the Night.” Without wasting a beat, Feng Bujue turned around in his seat to Fire in the Night next to him and ask, “If you do not mind me asking… do you, like to write?”

His question came very sudden, he did not wait for Oscar to relay the question but directly asked the whole question using the microphone before the control panel. Fire in the Night reacted quite fast, he did not give others a feeling that ‘I was knocked down by such a simple question’ so he answered instantly, “I started to use the penname Fire in the Night to start writing about one year ago.” He paused. “Since I was young, I fell in love with literature. I have read many books and wrote many articles. After I graduated, I also relied on pen to earn a living… later to fulfil my literary dream, I became a full time writer.” His answer was rather standard and formal, just enough to buy some love from the audience.

“hmm, hopefully you will go far on your literary dream.” Oscar added this and then turned back to brother Jue and asked, “Bujue, are you satisfied with Fire in the Night’s answer?”

“The answer did not reply to the question, hence it is nothing but bullshit.” Feng Bujue replied the following with a face lack of expression. At that moment, the atmosphere at the studio dropped below the freezing point…

Not only the audience, even most of the workers’ brain had short circuited at that moment. Oscar had also shown an expression of shock and blunder that he had never shown before in front of the camera.

“What’s wrong?” Feng Bujue looked at the stunned Oscar and prompted, “keep on going, it should be Yamcha’s turn next.”

“Quick! Before Fire in the Night get into an argument with him, keep on moving!” Pei Ran’s desperate voice appeared in Oscar’s ear mic as well. With that order, Oscar quickly turned around and with one slide, arrived at the seat of the second contestant…. He swiftly adjusted his expression and said, “Okay, next… Yamcha… who would you like to pose a question to?”

“Erm…” Yamcha still could not move his sight away from Feng Bujue. He said without turning his head back to Oscar. “I wish to ask Brother Jue…” His tilted his head slightly and said into the microphone. “I have noticed this a long time already… in an online game there is recently very popular, there is a well known player that has similar Id to Brother Jue’s penname and he looks very much like…”

“I have no further comment.” Feng Bujue cut him off and used a tone reserved for teaching students, “But I do have an advice… it is not good for youngsters to get too immersed in gaming, your study is more important.”

“Oh… okay…” Yamcha’s lips twitched and he shrunk back in his seat.

“Spring Breeze! The man is more reliable! Hurry to brother Spring Breeze!” Pei Ran shouted hurriedly in the communication channel. By then, Oscar had lost all interest, he was now a puppet following the director’s order. He did not even follow up what Yamcha said earlier, he just turned around to ask Uncle Spring Breeze in the third contestant’s seat, “Brother Spring Breeze, it is your turn now…”

“oh… I would like to ask… Soda…” uncle Spring Breeze was indeed reliable. After all, at his age, he was very good at reading the room and he knew when to hold back. Therefore, he chose to cooperate with the host to direct the audience’s attention away. So Uncle Spring Breeze asked Soda a harmless question and Soda responded with a simple and well-respected answer. Then, it was Soda’s turn to ask, he too asked Uncle Spring Breeze back an equally harmless question…

With the cooperation from the two experienced members of the society, the audience’s attention was finally moved away from Feng Bujue and Fire in the Night… and the atmosphere in the studio had somewhat returned to normal.

After that, the goth girl Rose refused to ask and had stated clearly that if anyone directed any question at her, she would refuse to ask as well.

Then… it was General Fei’s turn.

“I also would like to ask… Fire in the Night a question.” General Fei turned over with a smile and asked Fire in the Night. “Did you have fun… during the competition tonight?”

Other than Fire in the Night, General Fei was clearly the one who wanted to win among the rest of the writers. During the opening, he already insinuated Fire in the Night’s cheating behaviour at the opening, but that was all he did. General Fei himself knew that even without Fire in the Night, the chance of him winning the episode of the return special was very slim unless the other writers had all performed badly. But… since things had already escalated to this point, General Fei was not above kicking a man when he was down.

“he… he he he…” Fire in the Night’s laughter was as fake as it possibly be. He was made so flustered by Feng Bujue earlier that he did not know how to speak already… If he responded with a formal answer… he would look fake, but if he answered honestly… he would look mean and selfish.

…

15 minutes later, in Feng Bujue’s dressing room. The lightning, recording and camera were all ready. Oscar sat across from Brother Jue and prepared to start his interview. The recording from earlier was forced to end earlier…

After the recording was cut, Fire in the Night went down the stage to have a few words with the director before leaving in a huff with his entourage. But the rest of the contestants still stayed to help record the rest of the show. The part of Fire in the Night would be recorded later separately.

During the final broadcast… naturally the q and a session of this episode would be all cut out without a trace. The editors had to make many editing before they managed to join many spliced segments to fill in the blanks… thankfully the episode would be broadcasted in the end of June so they had plenty of time to work their magic.

“Can we start now?” Oscar held the script and asked Brother Jue.

“You can start anytime.” Feng Bujue replied.

“Ok, action!” Pei Ran who sat in the room gave the order. Oscar used a normal tone to ask his first question, “Do you feel surprise about the fact that you are eliminated?”

“What do you think?” Feng Bujue tossed the question back.

Oscar chuckled, now he was much more relaxed, it was like he was chatting with a friend, “ha ha… yes… I too thought it was no surprise.” He picked up the laptop by his side and pulled the video forward to where he wanted, “Now let us talk about the first round… You have copied the lyrics fully, yes?”

“I was just trying to show audience.” Feng Bujue explained, “what is the meaning of plagiarism.”

Oscar nodded. “And… what about the story of the hare and tortoise in the second round…”

“Like I told you, that was paraphrasing.” Feng Bujue said.

“Why would you do… something like that in the scope of a competition that will be broadcasted all over the country?” Oscar asked.

“I just want to see how the audience will response.” Feng Bujue replied.

“How do you think they will respond?” Oscar smiled sadly and said, “You have obviously cheated, so naturally they would respond negatively. How else do you think they will respond?”

“Is that so? Then how come that is not the case when the same happens on the bigger stage in real life?” Feng Bujue used another question to deflect this question, “Is this simple concept only that black and white in this current state, time and place?”

Oscar was startled, “This…”

“Does that mean that… as long as I achieve success, no matter what I have done, even if I have cheated, as long as someone helps me to clean up the trace, cover up the tracks, I can rest easily at night? I am thus not considered a cheater?” Feng Bujue asked again.

“Saying things like that will offend most of your colleagues.” Oscar smiled and tried to change the subject.

“Ha ha… Not only my colleagues in the field… but also people in movie-making industry, gaming industry, electronic industry…” Feng Bujue said, “I’ve already been numb after seeing so many of them…” he chuckled. “Therefore… I was overjoyed when I saw my fans either left or booed me from the audience, that proves that they are not blinded by this culture of blind idolization.”

Oscar was silent for a few seconds and used a rather admirable gaze to study Brother Jue. Then he moved the progress bar on the laptop again, “During the third period, you have performed splendidly and you have used less than 30 minutes to come up with something so wonderful.” He paused for a few seconds, “So… this is the real talent of Feng Bujue, is it? This is what you are really capable of?”

“If you think that is the case, then so be it, I have no reason to give you the impression otherwise.” Feng Bujue smiled.

At that moment, Oscar looked at the question script and waved at the workers behind him. The boom operator and cameraman understood and stopped their recording. Then Oscar changed a tone to tell Brother Jue. “Hmm… based on the rules, all the contestants that came tonight will have to say a few words to the contestant that has succeeded to move to the final tonight. Bujue, about that…”

“Actually I have an idea.” Suddenly Pei Ran who said at the room corner suddenly spoke up, “Bujue, come over and let us discuss this…” Feng Bujue narrowed his eyes at the man and replied, “Director… your resentment towards Fire in the Night sure is deep. I have already done so much for you, what else do you want from me…”

At this point, I believe everyone would have noticed the truth already. Indeed… the person that Fire in the Night who had truly offended… was the main director Pei Ran. Before the episode even started, Pei Ran already formed a contract with Feng Bujue. These two cunning characters cooperated in the dark and directed this whole episode with their hands… and Fire in the Night who was guilty to begin with could only swallow this bitter pill whether he liked it or not.

…

At the evening of 8th June, inside Feng Bujue’s home.

“You bunch of people… don’t you guys need to go to school or work tomorrow?” Brother Jue scanned the group of people in his living room and uttered helplessly. At that moment, Li Ruoyu, Wang Tanzhi, Gu Xiaoling, Bao Qing, An Yueqin, and the landlady Auntie Liu… the whole group of people was seated before the screen of his television and watching the unedited tape that he brought back from the station for I am a Writer—the Night of Revival.

“It is so rare you have so many guests, you should be happy.” Ou Yang Jian carried an apple and walked out from the kitchen until he reached Brother Jue’s side. “Speaking of which… why is there a pair of underwear in your fridge.”

Feng Bujue slowly turned his head around and glared at the lawyer. “You people… really treated this place as your own home?!” He grabbed the apple from Ou Yang Jian’s hands. “And you haven’t answered my question? Why are you here?”

“On the way here, it was me who called him over.” An Yueqin who sat not far away raised her head to say. Ou Yang Jian then added in explanation, “In other words… she wants this professional over here to see… if the actions and words you have done in this episode can be made into a lawsuit against you.” He said as he stole the apple back from Brother Jue. “If there is any problem… I should be ready for it.”

“You all are just here to watch the train wreck… but everyone makes it sound like it’s for my own benefit.” Feng Bujue narrowed his eyes and said, “I have already colluded with the main director, do you think anything harmful towards me would be left in the final version?”

“Shush—shut up, the show is starting!” Xiao Tan said excitedly. Then the first scene of the show appeared on screen. One hour later… the official part of the episode was over, and now it was the backstage interview portion. The interviews Oscar had with Brother Jue and the other contestants were edited interspersed within each other.

“Bujue, before we leave this stage, do you mind saying a few words to Fire in the Night who successfully made it into the final?” Oscar on the screen asked with a smile.

“Erm.. sure…” The camera cut to Feng Bujue. He used a tired face and dragged out his answer.

“Oh, by the way, according to our workers, you have quoted so many different songs today, it seems like you are very well-versed in music, from classic love song, to French Anglais to rap music…” Oscar added, “But I notice you have not used any Chinese song so how about…” he said as he passed the laptop he was holding to Feng Bujue, “You use a Chinese song as a final message to leave for our Fire in the Night?”

“Ha ha ha…” Feng Bujue laughed evenly thrice. “That was what I was planning…”

Then, as if he was already ready all this while, he started to write rapidly on the laptop.

“What you want cannot be attained, such is life.

“Unable to abandon those baggage because you are too busy struggling with the world’s eye on you.

“When you realize compromise is a thief, it has already stolen all of your choice.

“Fame is nothing but a fever, followed close behind by regret and uncurable cough.

“I can forgive but I cannot stop

“The lonely melancholy in the night.

“You are still young but you lament the difficulty of the old and experienced.

“Who gave you the courage to put on this disguise.

“The ambitions that you have abandoned is like a palm.

“Whenever you think of it, you’ll be given a slap.

“And then you will reflect, hating the dirtiness that has become a part of you.” [A paraphrasing of the song ‘A Song for Myself’ by Jonathan Lee]