: Amazing Skills

"If you like my songs, it's because I wear a garment of dreams, a garment that makes everyone shine. I hope that you, too, can have your own garment of dreams!"

—Qiong Yao, "The Dream's Garment" (1979)

……

Huang Wenbin said quite frankly, "We're even anyway. I just didn't want you to leave empty-handed, so I made this guarantee. If you don't believe me, I can actually write a story outline for you right here and now, and you can take this outline back and have someone polish it into a script."

"You're being way too arrogant. Do you really think we know nothing? We've been in the industry much longer than you, and we've written more scripts than you've ever read."

Xie Hong was indeed a little unconvinced. He was also a screenwriter and knew how difficult it was to write a good script. He couldn't stand this little kid bragging.

At this point, he even began to doubt whether Huang Wenbin had actually written those two scripts.

"If you don't believe me, you can give me a test." Huang Wenbin maintained a calm smile throughout.

"Old Zhang, you test him!" Xie Hong turned to Zhang Huaxun and urged, "Didn't you tell me about that idea for the Leshan Giant Buddha on the train? Tell him about it and have him come up with an outline on the spot."

Zhang Huaxun had always felt that this idea was unique, and he had only discussed it with a few close friends. Now that he was asked to say it in public, he was actually a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Xiao Zhang. You're from Beijing Film Studio. Even if they hear about it, they won't spread your idea," Director Wang said with a smile, allaying Zhang Huaxun's concerns.

That's right.

Zhang Huaxun, without further hesitation, explained the origin of his idea for the Leshan Giant Buddha: "My wife and I are both from Sichuan, and her home is right at the foot of the Leshan Giant Buddha. I've been there a few times and developed a great curiosity about it. A few days ago, I watched a popular Hong Kong kung fu movie, and suddenly it occurred to me, could I tell a story about the Leshan Giant Buddha!"

"I checked the Leshan County Annals and some other materials and found that some touching stories happened during the construction of the Buddha statue in the Han and Tang dynasties. Moreover, there has always been a rumor that there are treasures inside the Buddha statue and that several generations of monks have been guarding these treasures."

"A thousand-year-old Buddha statue, a Han Dynasty tomb, theft and destruction of the Buddha, monks protecting the treasure... these elements are naturally material for a good story!"

"..."

After Zhang Huaxun finished speaking, everyone else also showed amazement.

To be able to connect so many things to a single tourist attraction and even think of adapting them into a script truly shows considerable talent.

After hearing this, Huang Wenbin was also very surprised. Wasn't this the classic movie "The Mysterious Buddha" from the 1980s?

Before he traveled through time, he watched this movie repeatedly in order to write a historical novel, and he remembered it very clearly.

He can write this script without using the hard drive in his mind.

"Give us an outline right now!" Xie Hong turned to Huang Wenbin, his tone not without provocation.

Huang Wenbin smiled, confident that he had just stumbled upon this opportunity.

Everyone else also looked at Huang Wenbin.

Even Director Wang was quite curious about just how good Huang Wenbin's screenwriting skills were!

"This is actually a story framework for robbing and protecting treasure."

Huang Wenbin was confident and composed, showing no fear in the face of a group of film industry veterans who were older than him: "Since we're going to seize the treasure, there must be at least two forces involved: the one that seizes the treasure and the one that protects it."

"So what kind of person would want to extract treasure from the Buddha's belly?"

"Corrupt officials? Gangsters and warlords? No, those are far from enough; they won't stir the audience's emotions. So who's the better enemy? The Japanese!"

"But now that China and Japan are on friendly terms, the characters can't be the current Japanese; the setting has to be during the Anti-Japanese War."

"Let's go a bit further. For example, the Japanese Imperial Family devised a plan to plunder Chinese treasures. We can come up with a name for it later. They then sent a group of people to China to steal all sorts of national treasures. To protect these cultural relics, a certain professor hid more than 9000 boxes of Palace Museum artifacts inside the belly of a Buddha statue."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Huaxun's eyes lit up. He felt a surge of exhilaration and an indescribable sense of comfort.

These settings are entirely consistent with historical facts. Historically, there were indeed instances of Japanese looting national treasures, and also instances of escorting artifacts from the Forbidden City southwards.

"The authorities wanted to protect the cultural relics without attracting the attention of the Japanese, so they sent guards to protect them secretly."

"Next, some people harbored greed and betrayed the cause, leading to a bloodbath with casualties on both sides."

"Many years later, the professor's son unexpectedly received a letter that led him back to China and to the Leshan Giant Buddha, which in turn sparked a struggle between various forces."

"In the end, the professor's son who escorted the cultural relics, together with the female protagonist, defeated all kinds of evil forces, protected the Buddhist treasures, and safely handed them over to the state."

"It can also include the unique Gelaohui (袍哥) organizations of Sichuan, as well as the magical legends about Lingyun Cave."

"Act One, it could be written like this..."

Huang Wenbin's mouth never stopped; he almost finished telling a story outline in one go, and even dictated the first scene.

Some of the settings in this outline were added by Huang Wenbin based on rumors he saw online before his time travel. For example, there was a rumor about a TV series called "The Mysterious Buddha" that was filmed in 2009.

Unfortunately, Huang Wenbin couldn't find any resources or specific information; he only saw a vague and ambiguous introduction.

But that doesn't matter, it just so happens to come in handy.

"What a genius!" Zhang Huaxun was stunned after hearing this, because the content perfectly matched his expectations.

After coming up with this idea, he kept refining the story in his mind, but unfortunately he could never quite get it right and only had a vague idea.

Now that Huang Wenbin had pointed it out, his fingers couldn't help but twitch.

Zhang Huaxun excitedly said, "I have an idea! Director Wang, book me a room at the guesthouse. I'm not going back to Shanghai; I'm going to write the script right now!"

Factory Director Wang grinned and quickly called Liang Xiaosheng over, asking him to process Zhang Huaxun's check-in procedures.

Zhang Huaxun was originally a screenwriter at Beijing Film Studio; he was only invited by Shanghai Film Studio to revise scripts.

Xie Hong hurriedly shouted, "Once the script is written, it will belong to our Shanghai Film Studio."

"Xiao Xie, you're overthinking it!" Director Wang quickly waved his hand. "Zhang Huaxun originally worked for our Beijing Film Studio, and now he's writing scripts there. How does he belong to your Shanghai Film Studio?"

Xie Hong was dumbfounded: "What about our Shanghai Film Studio? We didn't get a single one. How am I supposed to explain this to everyone back home?"

Huang Wenbin said with a smile, "It's okay, just write down what kind of script you want, and I'll write one for you."

Xie Hong stared at Huang Wenbin for a long time, and seeing that he didn't mean any mockery, he immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, I was very offensive just now. Now I admit it, I completely admit it!"

Director Wang gave these people paper and pens, and they quickly wrote down what topics they wanted and what their requirements were.

Huang Wenbin put away the note and earnestly promised, "Don't worry, I will definitely give each of you a script within a year, I will never go back on my word."

They now admire Huang Wenbin. This man can take someone else's idea, outline a plot, and write the first act in just a few seconds. Such talent is rare in the world.

Although these people were not entirely satisfied, they did not leave empty-handed either, so they left one after another.