Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 71, "The Hidden Corner," plot summary.

After several days of waiting, Director Qin finally saw the full picture of "The Hidden Corner".

"There are quite a few characters."

Compared to Luo Jinnian's previous works, "Grandma" only had two important characters, and "Summer" only had three children and one adult. The biggest difference in "The Hidden Corner" is that there are more characters.

Director Qin put in more effort in casting this time compared to the previous two films. Although he complained, he was secretly delighted. The fact that he thought of him as soon as he wrote such an excellent work shows that the young man has him in his heart.

"Yes, that's true. But I think Gu Yanxi can play the little girl. I'll have to audition for the role."

The role of Zhu Chaoyang in "The Hidden Corner" requires a high level of acting skill. Luo Jinnian doesn't consider himself a particularly talented actor, but the young lead role in this drama is undoubtedly extremely important.

Hearing how much the boy valued the script, Director Qin became even more curious about the story and decided to read it right away.

The opening of "The Hidden Corner" uses several scenes with striking contrasts to quickly draw the audience into a hazy era. The beginning of the story can be broken down into two parallel and rapidly converging storylines.

The first clue is the lively atmosphere of the old streets in the southern part of the city. Zhu Chaoyang, a top student, has just finished his exams and ranked first in his class. However, his mother works at a tourist attraction and often doesn't come home for days at a time; his father, after remarrying, only dotes on his younger sister, Zhu Jingjing, who buys luxury goods, and hardly pays any attention to him. He lives alone in the old house, and his life is so monotonous that it consists only of studying.

That evening, two unexpected people appeared at his doorstep—Yan Liang and Pu Pu.

Yan Liang was two years older than him and used to be his best friend in elementary school. Later, his father was arrested and sent to an orphanage. Pu Pu was a girl in the orphanage, with short hair and eyes that revealed a calmness and vulnerability beyond her years. The two of them ran away from the orphanage and had nowhere to go, so they could only come to find Zhu Chaoyang.

At first, Zhu Chaoyang hesitated. But seeing Pu Pu's lips, white from the cold, and Yan Liang's pleading eyes, he softened and took them in.

The next day, Zhu Chaoyang took Yan Liang and Pu Pu to climb Liufeng Mountain. Before leaving, he specially brought his old digital camera, which his father had recently given him, hoping to take some pictures of the scenery.

The second clue is that 35-year-old Zhang Dongsheng is an unpaid math teacher at the Children's Palace, without a formal position and with a meager income. Eight years ago, he gave up everything for love, moving to this city to marry into his wife Xu Jing's family, becoming the "son-in-law" who could never hold his head high. Now, Xu Jing is having an affair and is determined to divorce him; her parents despise him from the bottom of their hearts, their words filled with disdain.

That day, he took his parents-in-law to climb Liufeng Mountain, the highest peak in the area. Before setting off, he carefully handed his mother-in-law a sun-protective shirt and carried his father-in-law's bag, appearing to be a considerate and humble son-in-law.

Throughout the journey, the three men were preoccupied with their own thoughts. The old man was indifferent to him, urging him to divorce his daughter as soon as possible. Zhang Dongsheng maintained a gentle smile and softly asked, "Dad, Mom, will I... still have the chance to be filial to you in the future?"

Upon reaching the summit, a mountain breeze carrying clouds and mist swept across the viewing platform. Zhang Dongsheng suggested taking a photo of the elderly couple, guiding them to stand on a large rock at the edge of the cliff. The old man didn't take it seriously, smiling as he stood up, even instructing him to "take a better picture." Zhang Dongsheng, holding his camera, looked at the two elderly people's displeased faces through the viewfinder, then suddenly squatted down, pretending to adjust his shoelaces—in that instant, he pounced on them, shoving them forcefully with both hands.

"ah--!!"

The two clues intersected.

Three children played and frolicked on the mountain path, sunlight filtering through the leaves and falling on their faces. Pu Pu began to sing a song—her favorite nursery rhyme, "Little White Boat." As the song played, Zhu Chaoyang raised his camera, pointed it at the distant mountain scenery and Pu Pu singing, and pressed the record button.

The camera slowly pans to the distance. Through the clouds and mist, the viewing platform atop Liufeng Mountain is clearly visible.

On the small LCD screen, Zhu Chaoyang inadvertently captured an unbelievable scene, and his eyes widened—

The scene depicted Zhang Dongsheng pushing the two elderly people down the mountain.

That night, the three children huddled on Zhu Chaoyang's bed in his room, watching the video over and over again. Yan Liang was trembling with anger and said they should call the police. Pu Pu hesitated—her real purpose in escaping was to raise 30 yuan to treat her younger brother Xin Xin, who had leukemia and was waiting to be adopted at the orphanage.

"We can't call the police." Pu Pu stared at the bespectacled man on the screen. "We should... use this video to ask him for some money."

Yan Liang fell silent. Zhu Chaoyang also fell silent.

A seemingly simple idea—to "get money from a villain to save her brother with leukemia"—quietly took root in her mind at that moment. The video was both evidence and the fuse they themselves lit. And from that afternoon onward, the lines between "good" and "bad," "justice" and "crime," became completely blurred.

When Luo Jinnian copied "The Hidden Corner", the plot was mainly based on the TV series. The original novel was too dark, and the children were just flat, bad kids. Of course, Zi Jinchen's original novel was indeed called "Bad Kids".

It's like the TV series changed the original intention of the extortion motive to something better. In the TV series, it was to raise 30 yuan to treat Pu Pu's younger brother's illness, while in the original novel it was only for survival expenses, and the amount was decided by the child.

The TV series made a major overhaul of the original work, rewriting the core story of "innate evil" into "a human tragedy distorted by environment and fate".

This adaptation strategy cleverly avoids direct value disputes, using beautiful cinematic language to call on the public to pay attention to children's psychological trauma and the pain of their original families, thus creating this masterpiece.

Zi Jinchen has really good luck with adaptations; whether it's this book or his other works, the adaptations always involve smart screenwriters.

This is a miracle in the country.

Without even looking at what came next, Director Qin already knew what level of work he had received. He excitedly fantasized that his very first TV series would win awards like crazy.

"But it's just another dark-themed work told from a child's perspective... You'll probably be suspected of having mental health issues by even more people."

"Just tell me if it looks good or not."

"nice."

"That won't do. It's unavoidable to speculate about the creator based on what they write in their works. Let the audience think what they want, as long as they come to see my work."

The young man was quite carefree.

Director Qin found it interesting. Even now, when he writes scripts, he is still hesitant because his family knows his true identity. He wants to learn from Luo Jinnian in this respect.

He didn't realize that the young man was just talking without understanding the situation—his true identity was known to very few outsiders.

"If we're making this for our next project, I'll prepare in advance. I'll call you once the actors and everything are cast."