Chapter 35: The Mysterious Man

The Lotus Casebook has reached its seventh installment, and with the plot now well past the halfway mark, the image of Li Lianhua has become increasingly vivid—as has the story itself.

This is not a typical hero’s journey or a comeback tale; it is the story of a man who, having walked through the gates of hell, is simply struggling to survive. Although Li Lianhua is indeed the legendary Li Xiangyi, his temperament, his outlook on life, and the most dazzling parts of the man he once was have vanished. Though his silhouette remains vaguely familiar, and he can still muster a fraction of the "Yangzhou Slow" technique or wield a sword despite his depleted internal energy, for the most part, he exists solely as Li Lianhua. The book focuses heavily on the experiences of Li Lianhua. True, he is Li Xiangyi, but more often than not, and to a greater extent, he should be addressed as Li Lianhua. While Li Lianhua lacks the perfection of Li Xiangyi, most readers have grown fond of him.

Thanks to The Lotus Casebook, sales for Wuxia Edition have risen by several percentage points, and many who had canceled their subscriptions have returned. It is understandable that publishers are interested in the title, but to offer a mere 6% royalty rate? That is an insult. While a royalty rate of 5% to 8% is standard for a new author, Shen Yan is no nobody; his pen name, "Fried Husky," is already a sensation on Qidian. His novel, Essence of the World, outperformed Yue Guan’s new work, The Era of Great Strife, to claim the top spot on the new book monthly chart. Furthermore, in its second month on the shelves, it ranked in the top five of the overall monthly chart. By all rights, the royalty should be at least 8%. He isn’t asking for the 20% rate that someone like Han Han commands—after all, Han Han has become a personal brand—but 6% is simply too low. Shen Yan felt insulted, so he decisively refused.

Li Yuqiu sensed his irritation and replied, "Understood. Next time, if the royalty is below 10%, I won't even mention it to you. By the way, I’ve read the first half of Legend of Fei..."

"Is it good enough for serialization?"

"Absolutely."

"Fine, you handle the arrangements."

With The Lotus Casebook, Legend of Fei, and now Youth Song, Wuxia Edition has not introduced such promising new talent in a long time—especially writers adept at long-form fiction. Feng Ge’s Canghai and Xiao Duan’s Opening of the Tang Dynasty did not meet expectations. As for Shi Weihan, he is still working on Mountains and Rivers. Then there is Cang Yue. After the Mirror series, or perhaps after Seven Nights of Snow, her quality plummeted, and the Feather series essentially fizzled out. Furthermore, her representative work, Listen to the Snow Tower, is essentially fan fiction of The Heroic Trio. It was born because fans of the original were unhappy with the character development in the source material—specifically, the fact that the female character Lei Chun became difficult to like in the later chapters—so Cang Yue created the character Xue Wei based on her.

However, while Listen to the Snow Tower plagiarized the character designs and style, the story itself felt hollow. How should one put it? The group of authors at Wuxia Edition all seem like "old souls in young bodies." They learned from the masters like Jin Yong and Gu Long, combined that with the rise of the internet age, and produced peak works right out of the gate. But because their debut works were so highly acclaimed, they lacked the gradual accumulation of their predecessors, and their subsequent growth failed to meet the heights their fans expected.

That, however, has nothing to do with Shen Yan. He is just here for the paycheck.

The TVB filming model actually originated from Shaw Brothers. It is a massive studio system defined by a fast pace and high commercialization, with alternating interior and exterior sets that allow a production to be completed in just a few months. The Weaverbird of the Sky is divided into five units, with Li Guoli as the general director, joined by co-directors Lin Yufen, Li Huizhu, Liang Shengquan, and Wei Hantao. Honestly, managing so many directors while ensuring efficiency and visual consistency is a science in itself. As the general director, that is exactly Li Guoli’s job.

The next day, on the set of The Weaverbird of the Sky, Shen Yan walked into the makeup room while sipping a cup of milk. His costume was a classic Song Dynasty scholar’s robe, known as a *daoyi*. It was not a garment worn by Taoists, but rather a tea-brown outer robe with slanted collars and black trim—a favorite among scholars. After his makeup was done, Shen Yan stood up and bowed to the makeup artist. "Thank you, teacher."

"You look quite good... Come, let me fill in your eyebrows."

"That won't be necessary; too much is as bad as too little."

"Fine then. You go out first, I have to work on the next person." The makeup artist looked a bit regretful but let him go.

Leaving the makeup room, Shen Yan saw Janine Chang, who was holding her script and reciting her lines. After a moment of thought, he walked over to greet her. "Sister Chang, good morning!"

"...Morning." Janine Chang responded immediately. Seeing that Shen Yan didn't have a script in his hand, she asked curiously, "You don't carry your script?"

"...My memory is quite good."

"You’ve memorized it all?"

"I'm just a supporting character; I only have a few lines." As he spoke, Shen Yan continued walking. "Sister Chang, I’ll head off now."

"Oh..."

Shen Yan found a spot to stand and rest. This was something Ji Xiang had taught him: it is best not to sit down on set, because once you sit, you easily get drowsy, and once you get drowsy, you become too lazy to think. "Chen Xu, bring me the script... I’ll read it over." Standing around was boring.

Shen Yan simply had Chen Xu bring him the script. In fact, apart from resting, he had been observing the actors on set. The Weaverbird of the Sky was a priority project for Tangren Media, produced in collaboration with Nanning TV. As an aside, the collaboration was actually with Qu Nianzhong, a well-known television executive who had served as the station head of Southern (Guangzhou) TV before being transferred to Nanning TV last year. Why the transfer? No one knows. Regardless, there were many familiar faces in the production, such as Cheng Pei-pei and Damian Lau. Additionally, the other four "Weavers" of the Jinxiu Workshop were played by Li Qian, Xu Qiwen, Han Xiao, and Li Jinming. Shen Yan recognized Li Qian and Li Jinming—the former from Dragon Gate Inn and Darker, the latter from iPartment. He never expected that Li Jinming, beyond iPartment and The Stars Have Come to My Home, had also acted in The Weaverbird of the Sky. Oh, The Stars Have Come to My Home was a reality show where Li Jinming was "married" into a rural family. As an actress, she initially thought it was just a job, but the family took it seriously, not only making things difficult for her on the show but also insisting she stay in the village afterward. It was quite famous.

*Ahem.*

Shen Yan was curious about everyone, but in truth, the most mysterious person among all the actors in The Weaverbird of the Sky was himself. Just think: a newcomer, not even from a professional acting school, who managed to snag two roles in a single audition? Is this a fairy tale? Everyone assumed he had connections. No one approached him, except for Liu Shishi.

She saw Shen Yan standing all by himself and walked over immediately. "Why are you standing here?"

"...Ah? Am I in your way?"

"...No, your assistant didn't get you a chair?"

"Oh, I don't need a chair. Standing keeps my mind clearer."

"Well... drink some water."

"Oh." Taking the mineral water Shishi handed him, Shen Yan asked, "Should I go and introduce myself to them?"

Shishi thought for a moment. "...It's best if you do... I'll go with you!"