Chapter 298: They Think We

At Jingda dormitory, Li Ye was writing at the window when Sun Xianjin walked over and placed a stack of membership applications before him.

"Big Brother, take a look at these applications—see if any of them satisfy you."

Li Ye pinched the thickness of the applications and smiled: "It's only been a few days—how did you get so many again? Didn't I post a notice saying we're not taking new members this year?"

Due to "The Lonely Army of Wangxiang," the Lonely Army Literary Society received a flood of student applications, forcing Li Ye to post a notice that no new members would be accepted this year—but clearly, it wasn't working.

"If notices worked, why would we need dollars? Why would we need movie stars?"

Sun Xianjin slumped onto the bed beside him, weakly saying: "You've been enjoying peace these past few days, but I've suffered."

"Each one thinks they're Zhuge Liang's wisdom and a general's talent—as if denying them entry today would make them locked up tomorrow to reflect on what cosmic sin they committed."

"But when you read what they wrote, it's barely better than shit—if we take them in, we're just adding another person to split the money."

"What do you mean 'enjoying peace'?" Li Ye chuckled. "Aren't I just calming down to find inspiration? You understand inspiration, right?"

"I understand inspiration—but I don't understand yours."

Sun Xianjin flipped over, looking at Li Ye with both admiration and helplessness: "We've known each other over a year—I've never seen you run out of inspiration. Whenever you want it, it's like scooping water from your head with a gourd—one scoop, another scoop, another scoop."

「」

"One scoop after another? You think you're scooping water from a water jar?"

Li Ye laughed and scolded him, then said: "Don't complain. These past few days, though busy and tiring for the literary society, weren't you gaining something? Just your talking skills have visibly improved."

"How could they not improve? I've been talking nonstop to a crowd every day—I've drunk two big buckets of water."

Sun Xianjin grumbled some more, then added: "By the way, Brother, there's another thing—since the day before yesterday, those actors haven't come to discuss the script with us."

"Lao Si and Lao Qi were muttering today, saying you've been ignoring them, so nobody got a chance to deeply interact with them—and who knows if we'll ever get another chance."

Lao Si, Zhou Zhihe, and Lao Qi, Ge Linshen, were both students who had participated in writing "The Lonely Army of Wangxiang." When Pan Hong, Xiao Nie, and the Shanghai Film Studio screenwriters came to discuss the script, the two of them were incredibly enthusiastic.

But since Pan Hong and Xiao Nie were beautiful women who had seen countless admirers since childhood, they easily spotted the hormonal fire in their eyes.

So after several days without seeing Li Ye, they simply stopped coming.

Li Ye couldn't help saying: "Don't they know they're annoying? Script discussions should be with screenwriters—what's the point of chatting with female actors all day?"

Sun Xianjin sneered: "Go tell them that yourself—it'll work. If I say it, Lao Si and Lao Qi will flip out. They've used half a bottle of hair oil and borrowed my pants, strutting around like peacocks."

"No matter how flashy they are, it's useless," Li Ye pushed the applications aside. "The film studio people probably won't come back. Tell them to give up that idea."

"If you've got that kind of energy, focus on improving your major grades. Didn't Lao Si barely pass last semester?"

Sun Xianjin exclaimed: "They won't come back? Why? Did you get official notice?"

Li Ye said coolly: "They probably think we're no longer valuable."

After days of covert competition, several film studios finally confronted Pei Wencong and revealed their final terms.

Pei Wencong had already assembled his film crew and begun formal negotiations—so how much value could Li Ye, the "middleman," still have left?

Sun Xianjin paused, then nodded: "That's fine. Our main task is literary creation. These past few days, the literary society's been chaotic with people—how could anyone focus on writing?"

"Hold a meeting tonight to discuss next steps."

"Got it! I'll notify everyone right away."

That evening, Li Ye arrived at the Lonely Army Literary Society and was surprised to find Director Xiong from Chang'an Film Studio there.

Li Ye asked, puzzled: "Director Xiong, what brings you here?"

Director Xiong smiled: "Nothing much—just some local specialties from the studio. I thought I'd bring some over since I've been bothering you so much lately."

Only then did Li Ye notice two large burlap sacks behind Director Xiong, filled to the brim with unknown contents.

"But Director Xiong, you're too generous!" Li Ye laughed. "We haven't helped much these past few days—this makes us feel embarrassed."

"What do you mean you haven't helped? Just writing the novel was a huge help to us."

Director Xiong sighed, speaking plainly: "No matter who ends up filming 'The Lonely Army of Wangxiang,' won't the movie still need Chang'an?"

"We can't compete with the coastal studios now—but once the film airs, won't everyone realize that Chang'an was once the greatest, most prosperous city in the world?"

Li Ye slowly nodded: "Yes. Chang'an was once the greatest, most magnificent city on earth."

"Exactly!"

Director Xiong slapped his thigh happily: "So as long as this movie gets made, we won't lose anything."

Li Ye smiled: "That's true."

"I'll be going now. Here's my phone number and address—come find me if you ever get to Chang'an. Also, our studio said they'll send the literary society local specialties every year. Not worth much, but don't refuse them."

Director Xiong grinned, turned, and left.

Li Ye had Sun Xianjin and others open the sacks—they contained walnuts, jujubes, dried chicken, and other snacks.

Don't underestimate these small things—in 1983, resources were still far from abundant.

Want egg yolk pastries? Want Oreo cookies?

You're dreaming.

Just having walnuts and jujubes as snacks was a luxury.

"Today's meeting has two topics. First: literary society recruitment. From now on, we'll only accept five new members per year. Others may apply, but we won't take applications—only portfolios. They must submit published works."

Neither Li Huai nor Yang Yumin attended today—this was Li Ye's first time chairing a literary society meeting, and he immediately imposed a rule guaranteed to offend people.

These past few days, so many people had tried to join the society, and many had gone through Sun Xianjin, Zhou Zhihe, and others to plead their cases. The few who'd helped felt entitled and kept asking Li Ye to make exceptions, driving him to exhaustion.

Now Li Ye forced them to "let their work speak"—first to shut everyone up, second to make it clear who was in charge.

There could be only one boss in this literary society. Don't treat Li Ye like an empty title.

Dozens of faces showed varied expressions, each lost in thought—but no one dared challenge Li Ye.

A boss's authority rests on real ability—everyone's pocket money was proof of Li Ye's tangible skill.

Seeing no objections, Li Ye pulled out a few thin sheets of paper, on which were written three large characters: "Twelve Hours of Chang'an."

"Second: this is my outline for the new novel. Divide into small groups, gather historical materials, flesh out character profiles, and try writing a screenplay."

「」

The literary society fell silent. Dozens of eyes fixed on the thin sheets of paper.

Then, like cold water hitting hot oil, the room erupted.

"Whoa~! Are we making another movie? Good grief, if this keeps up, we'll steal Jingdian's lunch!"

"It's only been a few days! You've got a new inspiration already? Any secret? Take me as your disciple?"

"Forget it! I haven't even gotten to bow yet! Besides, can you even learn inspiration? Know why everyone in our dorm calls Li Ye 'Big Brother'? He's the only one."

「」

"Ding ding ding~"

Li Ye tapped the table. When silence returned, he asked: "So—who thinks they can be the lead writer?"

Everyone froze. Someone asked: "Isn't the lead writer supposed to be Lao Yang?"

Li Ye shook his head: "I asked him—he's unavailable."

Li Ye had indeed asked Yang Yumin, but since the guy had money now, he'd gotten arrogant—he bought a sihe courtyard and vanished, flatly refusing the lead writer role.

The group exchanged glances, then all turned to stare at Li Ye.

Yang Yumin's writing was excellent—but your blade isn't dull either! If not you, who else?

Li Ye was busy too—he was now in his second year, and classes were far harder than freshman year. He didn't want to end up retaking exams.

Also, his sister Li Yue had come to Beijing—he needed to spend time with her, tutor her. Plus, he had a whole manufacturing development plan to manage. If he took on the lead writer role, it would interfere with his time with Wen Leyu.

"I'm busy right now. Think about it. As before, royalties will be distributed according to precedent—the lead writer gets more."

"That's all for today. Meeting adjourned."

Li Ye left cleanly and efficiently, leaving his classmates staring at each other.

Earlier, Li Ye had instructed Yang Yumin and Li Huai to set a fixed royalty split with the school precisely to establish a "precedent."

Otherwise, this communal pot would eventually collapse.

Now, seeing the large sum of money tied to the lead writer role, everyone forgot their own limits and grew eager.

But before they could volunteer to Li Ye, an unexpected third party appeared.

The next afternoon, after class, Li Ye was heading to meet Wen Leyu for lunch when his homeroom teacher, Mu Yunning, stopped him.

This semester, Mu Yunning had completely changed from her previous "nanny" style—she was now elusive. Li Ye had only seen her once at the start of term and hadn't gotten a chance to ask about her trip to the Lighthouse.

This reminded Li Ye of his university homeroom teacher from his past life—who showed up twice a semester and clearly practiced "hands-off parenting."

"Teacher Mu, are you looking for me?"

Li Ye figured he'd been perfectly well-behaved lately, so he couldn't guess why Mu Yunning wanted him.

Mu Yunning said nothing, handing Li Ye several literary journals.

"These contain some of my previously published works. See if they meet your society's standards."

Li Ye stared at Mu Yunning for several seconds in shock: "Teacher Mu, you want to join our literary society?"

Mu Yunning nodded, without a single extra word.

Li Ye hesitated, then asked: "Teacher Mu, may I ask why?"

Mu Yunning said: "To make money. I want to try being the lead writer on your new novel."

Li Ye: