Chapter 4: An Unexpected Connection

In terms of character design for "Lotus Casebook," I drew inspiration from "The Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword."

The protagonist, Li Xiangyi, can be viewed as Li Xunhuan stripped of his martial arts—famous in his youth, struck by catastrophe, plagued by illness, and drifting through the world of martial arts.

Qiao Wanmian is somewhat akin to Lin Shiyin; she is the hero’s first love. They seem like a perfect match, yet various problems persist between them, problems that ultimately led Lin Shiyin to commit herself to Long Xiaoyun. In "Lotus Casebook," Qiao Wanmian nearly marries Xiao Zijin.

Di Feisheng is modeled after Shangguan Jinhong, the supreme master of the martial arts world, while Jiao Liqiao is based on Lin Xian'er, a classic femme fatale.

It is easy enough to "write"...

At nine in the evening, Shen Yan stood up, ready to pay his bill and log off. He simply couldn't take it anymore! This lousy internet cafe had such garbage conditions. The smell of smoke was one thing, but the critical issue was the pervasive stench of stinky feet.

I really need to find a way to get a laptop!

After a moment of thought, he sat back down and opened Ganji.com, intending to buy a used laptop. His budget was around 800 yuan; frankly, as long as it could get online and let him type, it would suffice. By dealing locally in person, he could save on platform fees.

And he actually found one! A Hasee Elegance Q, with a second-hand price of 650 yuan. The seller was very clear: the main reason for retiring the machine was that the memory was too small to play games. In truth, a new Hasee Elegance Q only cost 1,999 yuan; it was designed for basic office work and entertainment, with cost-effectiveness as its main selling point.

As an aside, cost-effectiveness is the hallmark of Hasee laptops! Whether it was the 3,999-yuan laptop in 2007 or the 2,999-yuan one in 2008, Hasee was always the first manufacturer to push the price floor of laptops to that level. In September 2008, Hasee broke the price floor once again by launching a 1,999-yuan laptop: the Hasee Elegance Q.

However, reading the reviews, many people advised against it, calling the Hasee Elegance series a typical piece of "electronic trash," citing issues with heat dissipation, the screen, the solid-state drive, and the build quality.

Shen Yan had no such requirements for this thing. As long as it could type and accept a USB drive—which was definitely necessary, since he had no internet at home!

After confirming the transaction time with the seller, he logged off and left.

...

In Beijing, Shen Yan didn't have many friends. At most, he exchanged nods with his next-door neighbors. Two young women lived next door. They seemed to have graduated not long ago and had once invited Shen Yan to dinner—after all, Shen Yan wasn't bad-looking, and good-looking people naturally receive certain privileges. He had felt this in his previous life as well.

However, Shen Yan politely declined. This was quite similar to his past life—he had no time for friends; he only wanted to make money!

Besides these two girls, there was also an actor who had come to Beijing with him. He was a supporting actor for the production "The Road to Awakening," Zhang Enzheng. The man had first attended the Langfang Armed Police Academy, then went on to study at the Hong Kong Film Academy. His resume looked impressive, but it was useless; he could only land roles in TV movies or obscure series. He couldn't even take care of himself, let alone look after Shen Yan.

The two had arrived in Beijing together and were in touch at first, but later, they drifted apart.

Better to just settle down and be a literary transcriber. It would only be for half a month anyway.

Returning to his residence, he washed up, and Shen Yan habitually reached for his pocket... only to realize that he didn't actually smoke! In his previous life, he had been a heavy smoker. Oh well, smoking wasn't a good thing anyway; if he could quit, he should!

Tomorrow, in addition to the offline transaction for the second-hand laptop, he also needed to buy a keyboard and mouse. That would be another significant expense. Wait, he also needed to top up his mobile phone credit tomorrow. After these deductions, he would only have a little over a thousand yuan left. He was undeniably broke.

Fortunately, he didn't need to visit production sets recently, which saved him his biggest expense: transportation costs. Thinking of travel expenses made Shen Yan wince. Last month, he had gone to Hengdian to audition; of course, he wasn't chosen, but the round-trip cost him 700 yuan!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He had been such an idiot!

He couldn't sleep. He got up—he might as well pull an all-nighter at the internet cafe. He could write more and build up a backlog of chapters. He needed to finish "Lotus Casebook" first.

"Lotus Casebook" was a typical work of traditional martial arts fiction. Shen Yan was confident that the magazine "Martial Arts Edition" would serialize it. They were severely lacking in submissions, so they had dug up many works from Qidian and Jinjiang, such as "The Youth of Shushan," "Withered Parasol Tree Under the Missing Moon," and "Bamboo Shadows on Green Gauze."

On one hand, good manuscripts were limited and few people were writing martial arts fiction; young, talented authors weren't necessarily willing to write for magazine serialization. On the other hand, with the major decline of print media, "Martial Arts Edition" had also fallen into obscurity.

Then, in 2021, the magazine stopped publication entirely. This was normal. Don Quixote burned a pile of chivalric novels, Jane Austen teased Gothic novels at Northanger Abbey, and Grandmother Jia laughed at the stories of scholars and beauties. Every generation has its own brand of "satisfying" fiction. If these were merely disposable stories to be forgotten after reading, there would be no need for lamentation.

When the flowers wither, they always leave behind a few fruits, carrying the unique flavor of that era. The flowers will naturally bloom again, but it will no longer be the same. Traditional magazine serialization, especially for martial arts works, has its own dedicated readership!

"Starting by Signing in to the Tathagata Palm," this book was extremely popular in 2020 or 2021. If you were reading on Qidian at that time, you would see a flood of "sign-in" style works, all imitating it. Was that book martial arts? Actually, it had quite a martial arts atmosphere: demonic Buddhas, the Shaolin Temple, martial cultivation, and grievances in the pugilistic world. But lovers of "traditional martial arts" probably couldn't accept that style of work.

...

Back at the internet cafe, he ordered instant noodles and bottled water, and got straight to work.

Around four in the morning, he couldn't hold on any longer, so he logged off to go home and sleep. He saved his work to his email, returned to his room, and collapsed onto the bed without even washing up.

He was sleeping soundly when his phone suddenly rang. Shen Yan struggled to open his eyes and checked the caller ID: "Sister Yang."

Who was Sister Yang? Could it be Yang Mi? When did he get to know such a sister?

He answered... well, it was Sister Yang Huo!

She asked about his situation and then recommended a role, telling him to go for an audition next week. It was a TV series called "The Holy Monk."

Shen Yan replied smoothly, "Okay, Sister, please send me the audition address for the production team, and I'll go give it a try."

"Mhm, I'll send it to you in a bit."

After hanging up, Shen Yan went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, waking himself up. He quickly called his second uncle to explain the situation.

It was indeed his second uncle who had spoken to her! Yang Huo was the second female lead in "The Road to Awakening." When Shen Yan was with the crew, he had gotten along well with her. His second uncle had mobilized everyone last night, recommending his nephew to everyone he knew. Consequently, Yang Huo thought of the role she had been offered and recommended Shen Yan.

Yang Huo was quite famous; she had shot to stardom playing Jiang Yuyan in "The Proud Twins." Since she was the female lead in "The Holy Monk," it wouldn't be difficult for her to bring someone into the crew.

Shen Yan... felt a bit of regret. He had agreed too quickly! He didn't really want to go. For one thing, he had already accepted a role in "National Anthem," so what if the schedules conflicted? For another, in three months, he would likely no longer need to go around auditioning for roles! By writing, he should be able to complete his initial capital accumulation.

He scratched his head. "But I have to go to the 'National Anthem' production set in half a month!"

On the other end of the line, his second uncle immediately cursed, "Then why did you blindly agree to her?"

"...I was up all night, my brain wasn't clear..."

"...What kind of production?"

"Something called 'The Holy Monk'..."

"That's fine. I know about that show; it's still in the preparation stage. It probably won't start filming for another half a year... You'll have time!"