Chapter 17: "The Lotus Pavilion" Serial Publication

Page (1/3)
Ma Yili's reputation was indeed far-reaching...
The fact that she had taken an interest in someone spread quietly within a small circle!
In the following days, quite a few so-called agents came to contact Shen Yan...
But they were really just group leaders...
Shen Yan definitely would not agree!
He wasn’t foolish; if Ma Yili wanted to sign him, he would consider it—but group leaders without resources were simply not an option!
By the way, those few people who almost came to blows that day... they didn’t cause trouble afterward, but Shen Yan’s reputation took a hit!
There were all sorts of wild rumors circulating that Shen Yan had failed to latch onto a big shot...
The main instigator was that bespectacled man!
Zhang Wuchou even tried to defend him a bit, but it was futile...
It only made the rumors seem more credible, painting Shen Yan as a pathetic man trying to sponge off Ma Yili and being rejected...
Even the assistant to the actor Zhang knew about these things...
Of course, he knew it was pure fabrication!
“They’re saying all that about you—aren’t you angry?”
“Angry, yes...” Shen Yan uploaded the written draft to his drafts folder and replied, “But there’s no need to stoop to their level. At most, there’s one month left before ‘National Anthem’ finishes filming... I probably won’t see any of them again for the rest of my life.”
“...Should we ask Brother Zhang to intervene?”
“No need, Brother Zhang is so busy... Besides, I think the rumors about me failing to latch onto Teacher Ma Yili are better than before!”
“Before?”
“Didn’t someone say Brother Zhang had his eye on me?”
Just then, Zhang Wuchou walked in and overheard Shen Yan’s words, angrily cursing, “Who the hell is spreading these damn rumors?”
Shen Yan immediately greeted him, “Brother Zhang!”
“Wait, was what you just said true?”
Shen Yan smiled and said, “Look, I’m just an extra like them, at best a background actor in the group. Suddenly you notice me and I get to hang out in your dressing room every day... Those people must be making stuff up to feel better about themselves...”
“Damn...” Zhang Wuchou was so mad he wanted to punch someone. “Who said that?”
“A lot of people... and you can’t control them!”
“I can’t control them? Who said I can’t?”
“So many people... extras just making rumors because they’re bored!” Shen Yan continued, “Anyway, I think celebrities and actors, as public figures, can earn money that ordinary people can hardly imagine, but the price is that many people will talk about you... whether good or bad...”
Zhang Wuchou scrutinized him for a moment. “How come you’re so open-minded?”
“...Not really open-minded. I was angry at first... until the rumors about me trying and failing to sponge off Teacher Ma Yili came out, so they cancelled each other out!”

Page (2/3)
“Cancelled each other out... I really admire you.”
Zhang sat down. “Have you started serializing the martial arts novel you wrote?”
“Yeah, this is the sample issue...”
Shen Yan took out a sample issue of the “Martial Arts Edition” from his backpack: “Lotus Pavilion—that’s what I wrote!”
“Fried Husky... haha,” Zhang couldn’t help laughing when he saw the pen name. “...Why’d you choose such a pen name?”
“It’s easy to remember!”
“...What’s it about?”
“Have you seen ‘Little Li Flying Dagger’?”
“Of course!”
“That makes it easy!” Shen Yan nodded. “The character relationships in my book are inspired by ‘Little Li Flying Dagger’...”
Shen Yan briefly summarized the story of Lotus Pavilion, then asked, “Brother Zhang, would you like to act in a martial arts drama?”
Zhang shook his head. “I’m not picky about genre... but there are only a few companies that shoot martial arts dramas, and they mostly adapt Jin Yong or Gu Long works. If you want to adapt yours, it might be tough!”
“No, no,” Shen Yan explained, “I wrote it just to earn some royalties... not long ago, I wasn’t in a good place financially... so I thought I’d write something to make money.”
“...I went through a time without money too,” Zhang looked at him. “How about I introduce you to my agent?”
Shen Yan thought for a moment, then nodded. “...Thank you, Brother Zhang...”
...
Zhang’s agent was Fu Hongyu, currently an agent at Orange Sky Entertainment.
Right, Zhang originally signed with Orange Sky.
But... his success had nothing to do with Orange Sky.
Orange Sky... was something else; whether movies or TV dramas, none made a profit.
Logically, since they invested in Golden Eagle Horse Films, they should have had the capacity to produce new series.
Golden Eagle Horse was impressive, with a slew of quality dramas like “Shanghai Tango,” “The Proud Twins,” “Black Hole,” and “Wind and Cloud.”
But after Orange Sky acquired them, they released “The Hidden Hero,” “Halfway Brothers,” and “Home, N Times.”
Only “Home, N Times” stirred some waves—the main investor and producer was still Zhao Baogang’s Xinbaoyuan!
Orange Sky’s taste was terrible; their choice of projects and investments were poor—a money sinkhole where everything lost money.
Of course, this was partly because Wu Kebo only cared about capital operations and had no heart for film production...
But Orange Sky did produce quite a few films and dramas...
And they were notorious for not promoting their own talents; they mainly hired outside actors.
For example, with “The Warlords,” despite investing so much, they didn’t squeeze in a single one of their own actors.
The most typical case was Tang Yan, who signed with Orange Sky but rose to fame because of “Chinese Paladin 3.”
Page (3/3)
When Wang Jinghua brought a batch of actors over to Orange Sky, he was baffled—projects made by the company didn’t even use their own people?
In the big-budget “Red Cliff,” Hu Jun got a role, while Song Jia could only play a maid...
Fu Hongyu was Zhang’s agent...
Previously he had been Zhou Xun’s agent at Huayi, then jumped to Orange Sky...
This man’s abilities were mediocre!
After Zhang’s decline, he fell off the radar too. He struggled for a while, trying to organize film and TV productions, but unfortunately, no platforms bought in!
Shen Yan... needed an agent like this, someone who didn’t micromanage.
Just get me roles, and don’t bother with the rest!
Only problem was, Fu Hongyu might not be interested in Shen Yan!
After all, he mostly managed actors who were already famous...
...
After Lotus Pavilion was serialized, it quickly became popular in the martial arts circle...
Shen Yan had taken some cues from the TV series—since the original novel was overly web-fiction style, mostly from Li Lianhua’s first-person perspective, with other characters underdeveloped...
Of course, it was only inspiration!
He incorporated the fake death of Dan Gudao...
Actually, the original Lotus Pavilion novel’s narrative leaned more toward mystery-solving than the typical martial arts world, with a main plot but not every case tied to it.
The original only mentioned Dan Gudao once: as the second gate leader of the Four Sides Sect who died years ago in a bamboo forest battle.
Then nothing more!
Of course, Li Lianhua’s character setup remained largely unchanged—he was still a prodigy who, after reaching the summit, returned to simplicity, practicing medicine and helping people, content and detached.
He knew his death was near but was free of worries, living earnestly.
However, there was no deliberate emphasis on tragic backstory, royal conspiracies, fake deaths, or typical melodrama about grudges in the martial arts world...
In Lotus Pavilion, as long as Li Lianhua shone, everything else was secondary...
Moreover, with the legacy of Fu Xi, Shen Yan’s writing was quite strong!
The moment it serialized, the editorial department called to ask if they could interview Shen Yan...
“Phone interview?”
“...Let’s go in person!”
Shen Yan thought for a moment, then nodded, “Alright!”