Deng Siqing rolled her eyes. "Go to hell!"
Cheng Huanhuan laughed. "That's right, you don't even need me. You'd practically drug yourself and crawl into Da Fei's bed."
"You little brat, see if I don't strangle you!"
Only in the makeup room would Deng Siqing banter with her like this; she always maintained a dignified air when others were around.
Cheng Huanhuan had become famous overnight, and the station had arranged a program slot for her. Although the time slot wasn't ideal, it was still a news program, and she owed it all to Da Fei.
"Sister Deng, Sister Huan, the lights are being adjusted!"
Hearing the call, the two women opened the door and hurried off to their respective tasks.
At the same time, Mao Feifei went to the station and waited a long time before Qiu Chengdong was finally free.
He met Qiu Chengdong in the office, and Mao Feifei handed over a rather expensive Pu'er tea cake.
"Director Qiu, I brought this back from my hometown for the New Year. Please give it a try."
Qiu Chengdong said seriously, "Xiao Mao, we don't do this kind of thing at CCTV. Just tell me what you want."
Mao Feifei smiled, "Oh, what could I want? I just want to ask about the arrangements for our program later."
"I know you're close to Da Fei, hehe, isn't it because I'm not sure what's going on?"
When Mao Feifei said this, Qiu Chengdong immediately knew what he meant.
Mao Feifei and Chen Ya's male-female duo had a conflict with Lin Chudong and Cheng Huanhuan's duo.
Their performance styles were similar, and their sketch comedies were also similar. Under normal circumstances, one of them should be eliminated.
As the director of a variety show, he definitely wanted to see a hundred flowers blooming, as this would give the audience a good viewing experience.
And Cheng Huanhuan, this comedy newcomer who had suddenly appeared, had such high popularity that it would probably be difficult for her to be eliminated.
Unless they didn't have good works, only then would one of them be regrettably eliminated.
The previous episode was because the film actor's sketch comedy had too few punchlines, so he had no choice but to be eliminated.
If everyone performed very well in the later episodes, the one to be eliminated would definitely be Mao Feifei.
The first episode was because everyone's performance was uneven, mainly because they weren't fully prepared and didn't know what kind of sketch comedy the show liked.
And they didn't know how the show would be received, so they didn't put in too much effort.
And after the first episode aired and the show became a hit, everyone was pulling out all the stops this time.
Even if it meant paying a high price for Sketch Comedy scripts, they wanted to maintain their ranking.
The show was so popular, everyone wanted to make it last. Mao Feifei felt a bit insecure, so he went to the director to feel out the situation.
Qiu Chengdong said, "Don't worry, I still have to consider the ratings for this show. Besides, I have my old leader's backing. I won't make things difficult for you. As long as your performance isn't the worst, I won't eliminate you."
Mao Feifei smiled, feeling somewhat reassured.
As he left Qiu Chengdong's room, he saw Cheng Huanhuan walking into the studio.
Cheng Huanhuan didn't even acknowledge him; they were quite far apart, so there was no need to greet him.
Mao Feifei was walking out when he suddenly saw the door to the break room open. Peeking through the crack, he saw a laptop on the table.
Mao Feifei froze, glanced back, and seeing no one around, quietly pushed the door open and went in.
The computer hadn't been locked; the screen displayed the script Lin Chudong had written for Cheng Huanhuan.
Mao Feifei's eyes immediately lit up, and he quickly began to read.
This script was amazing!
Cheng Huanhuan walked into the studio, ready to start recording the program, when she suddenly had an ominous feeling.
Did she close the computer just now? Was the break room door closed?
That was Director Deng's break room; surely no one would dare to go in?
"Huan-jie, are we starting recording?"
Cheng Huanhuan frowned. "Wait a moment, I left something behind."
Cheng Huanhuan felt something was off and quickly walked back.
She reached the door of the rest room and pushed it open, seeing that it was empty. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
She shut down the computer. The laptop had a password, so no one else could open it if it was locked.
Cheng Huanhuan casually closed the office door and returned to the studio to record the show.
Not far away, Mao Feifei hid in a corner and took a deep breath. He almost got caught, but luckily, he reacted quickly.
His luck was really good this time! He actually saw Da Fei's script!
This script is indeed creative and packed with jokes. Unfortunately, Cheng Huanhuan returned too quickly, so he didn't finish reading it. He missed a portion of the ending.
But what he did see was enough. Whoever uses these jokes first, gets them. Da Fei, don't blame me for being ruthless!
After staying up all night, Lin Chudong wrote 50,000 characters, plus a 1,000-character outline. He sent it to Editor Kang and then flew to Jingcheng.
As usual, they rehearsed at Sister Deng's house. Cheng Huanhuan, encouraged by the audience last time, was even more relaxed this time.
The first joke was to activate a gentle mode. Then, Cheng Huanhuan knelt down and started massaging Da Fei's legs with a plop.
Cheng Huanhuan had absolutely no idol baggage and performed very well.
Deng Siqing applauded, "Amazing, amazing! Huanhuan is going to be the Sketch Comedy queen."
Cheng Huanhuan chuckled. "I'd still need Da Fei to give me a boost. I'm already a representative of the Fei Girls. Don't ditch me in the future."
Lin Chudong forced a smile. "Sister Huan, stop teasing me. Why don't you quit your job and come work for my company?"
Cheng Huanhuan said, "That's actually something to consider. How much would you pay me?"
Lin Chudong was speechless. "I was just kidding. You'd actually come? I can't afford you right now."
If she were a singer, Lin Chudong would definitely sign her. He'd even dared to sign someone of Yang Han's caliber. If he really didn't have any resources for her, he could just write a few more songs.
But Cheng Huanhuan was a CCTV host. If he poached her, not only would he risk offending CCTV, but what resources could he even offer her?
Could he really take her to perform Sketch Comedy every day? That wasn't realistic either.
So, this iron rice bowl at CCTV couldn't be discarded.
They'd rehearsed for almost a full day, and they were quite proficient now.
The first time they rehearsed together, they weren't so familiar with each other. Now, they had a pretty good understanding, and they were basically done rehearsing after a few hours.
In the evening, they arrived at the recording site.
Qiu Chengdong and several directors arranged for a few groups of actors to rehearse. There were no audience members during the rehearsals; it was just a run-through of the program so the director could assess whether it was good enough.
When Mao Feifei's program was up, Qiu Chengdong was a bit surprised.
This program was actually pretty good. Looks like Xiao Mao put in some effort.
Such an excellent program, and he still sought to bribe him? That was being overly cautious.
Perhaps it was because of what happened at the Lantern Festival Gala last time, and Mao Feifei was worried that Qiu Chengdong was displeased with him.
After Mao Feifei's performance, the other groups of contestants also rehearsed. The worst performance came from the crosstalk group. Compared to these creative sketch comedies, traditional crosstalk was simply too weak.
However, Qiu Chengdong planned to keep them for another episode. After all, fewer and fewer people were performing crosstalk, and keeping them was considered a unique feature of the show.
When Da Fei and Cheng Huanhuan went on stage for their rehearsal, Qiu Chengdong and the others showed a hint of anticipation.
Their last performance, "Hand in Hand," had been very successful. The show had made Cheng Huanhuan famous, and conversely, Da Fei and Lin Chudong had also made the show a success.
As soon as the two started, Qiu Chengdong and the others' expressions subtly changed.
About five minutes into the performance, Qiu Chengdong called a halt.
"Da Fei, Huanhuan, stop!"
Lin Chudong and Cheng Huanhuan stopped. "Director Qiu, what's wrong?"
"I have a bit of a situation. Come down to my office, you two," Qiu Chengdong said, his brow furrowed and his expression complicated, after calling them to his office.
"Your program and Mao Feifei's have a conflict."
Lin Chudong was taken aback, "The same subject matter?"
Qiu Chengdong said, "Not only the same subject matter, but even the gags are the same. Yours is about buying a female robot, and his is also about a female robot."
"The first gag is also about an emotional mode, and then the female robot's excessive service makes the male owner unable to take it."
"What's going on with you?"
Lin Chudong frowned. Suddenly, Cheng Huanhuan's face changed.
"When you sent me the script yesterday, I was about to record the show. I saw him when I was leaving. I didn't close the door, and I forgot to turn off my computer. I went back later to turn it off. He must have seen the script!"
Cheng Huanhuan was now full of regret. She hadn't expected Mao Feifei to take advantage of those few minutes!
Qiu Chengdong's expression was also a little solemn. "Huanhuan, are you sure he plagiarized your idea?"
Cheng Huanhuan nodded. "I'm sure!"
"There are cameras in the studio. You can check. He definitely went into Sister Deng's office!"
Lin Chudong stood up and said, "Director Qiu, I'll go find him."
After saying that, Lin Chudong quickly walked out, and Cheng Huanhuan quickly followed.
Before he wrote the script for this Sketch Comedy, he had specifically checked and there were indeed no similar works, not even the same type.
Although it was possible that they'd have a collision of ideas, it just so happened that Mao Feifei's coincided with his. Wasn't that a bit too coincidental?
A collision of ideas was one thing, but to have the same punchlines too? This was clearly plagiarism!
Lin Chudong pushed open the door to Mao Feifei's office. Their eyes met. Chen Ya was also sitting beside him, and he didn't seem surprised by Lin Chudong's arrival.
"What do you want?"
Lin Chudong said, "You've run out of ideas, haven't you? You copied my script?"
Mao Feifei was quite calm, and sneered, "Don't talk nonsense. When did I copy your script? I worked hard to write this myself, how could it be considered copying yours?"
Cheng Huanhuan said, "Your idea and punchlines are clearly exactly the same as ours. I still have the script on my computer. You went to Deng Jie's office to peek at it, didn't you?"
Mao Feifei looked like a dead pig not afraid of boiling water, and said.
"You have no evidence. Why are you accusing me of plagiarism? I could say you're the ones who plagiarized me. I came up with this Sketch Comedy years ago, and it's only being used today. Have you performed it before?"
Qiu Chengdong walked in, followed by a director. He handed Cheng Huanhuan a phone.
"Here you go, Huan-jie."
The phone displayed surveillance footage of him entering Deng Siqing's office.
"Mao, how do you explain this?"
Mao Feifei glanced at it, already prepared with his story.
"Oh, I'm a fan of Sister Deng. I finally got to CCTV, and I saw Sister Deng's break room wasn't locked, so I wanted to ask for a photo. But she wasn't there. I waited a few minutes, didn't see her come back, and then left."
"Is there a problem?"
Cheng Huanhuan glared, fuming, "You're just trying to weasel out of it!"
Mao Feifei said, "You two, don't come in here treating me like a criminal. What gives you the right to accuse me of plagiarism? Have you even published or performed your work?"
"You can't just make accusations without proof. I can sue you for defamation."
Mao Feifei was like a dead pig not afraid of boiling water; he was determined to have this piece.
It was common for these comedians to plagiarize jokes, especially Mao Feifei, who had copied many jokes online and had even been sued before, but nothing ever came of it.
It was difficult to determine plagiarism with comedy bits. Even if Da Fei, known as a 'lawless outlaw', took him to court, he wouldn't be afraid.
Moreover, this work hadn't been released in any way. How could they prove they wrote it first? Even if they had a document with a save date, what proof did they have that he copied them? Couldn't he have come up with it himself, and just happened to be similar?
In short, whoever performs it first, it's theirs.
Qiu Chengdong frowned and said.
"Xiao Mao, are you sure you didn't plagiarize someone else's work? If it's true, the nature of this matter is quite serious."
Lin Chudong's work hadn't been released yet, so the issue shouldn't be called plagiarism; it should be called theft.
Mao Feifei said, "Director Qiu, I really didn't. You can't just listen to one side of the story. I came up with it myself."
Mao Feifei insisted he hadn't plagiarized. Anyway, Lin Chudong and the others didn't have any evidence. Even if Director Qiu leaned towards them, he wouldn't protect Da Fei so much, considering his superior's face, right?
The law emphasized the benefit of the doubt. Without evidence, nothing could be decided.
Lin Chudong curled his lips into a cold smile and said, "Alright, you can have this program. Do your best."
After saying that, Lin Chudong pulled Cheng Huanhuan and walked out.
"Da Fei, what should we do?"
"There's still time. Let's rehearse another one."
"Rehearse another one? Is there enough time?"
"Yes, there is. We won't write a script. I'll just tell you directly."
Seeing that the two were going to rehearse, Qiu Chengdong said, "Da Fei, are there any more good programs? If not, we can record them another day."
Da Fei was the mainstay; the effects of his program had to be guaranteed.
Lin Chudong said, "No need, Director Qiu. Two hours are enough. I won't rehearse. We'll record directly later."
Qiu Chengdong nodded. He trusted Da Fei; this guy's talent in comedy was definitely not bad.
Besides, it was a pre-recorded show. If it really didn't work, they could record others first, and then Da Fei could record a separate one later.
Two hours later, the show officially began recording.
Cheng Huanhuan and Da Fei also came out of the lounge.
Qiu Chengdong asked, "How is it? No problem, right?"
"No problem."
"Alright, let's begin."
After recording the program, Lin Chudong immediately returned to the film crew.
When he arrived, Liang Yin, as usual, asked about the outcome.
"How did it go this time?"
Lin Chudong said, "There was a bit of a hitch."
After recounting what happened today, Liang Yin's expression immediately changed.
"What do we do then? Was his performance any good?"
Lin Chudong nodded. "It was okay. He probably didn't see the second half, so he adapted it himself. It was passable."
Liang Yin frowned. "So, we basically gave him a free pass on the performance?"
Lin Chudong sneered. "Don't worry, he won't get away with it. I'll deal with him after the show airs."
Liang Yin nodded. Although the show had finished filming, it hadn't aired yet. They would have to wait and see how it turned out.
It was already night by the time Lin Chudong got to the crew. He stayed up all night again and finished writing the first part of Three-Body Problem. He handed it over to Liang Yin and Wang Zhi for review.
Lin Chudong's constitution was now quite robust. Staying up all night was nothing to him. He could catch up on sleep with just a couple of hours during the day.
Of course, he couldn't maintain this kind of schedule long-term, but it was fine for occasional use.
The next day at noon, Editor Kang called to confirm that they could sign a contract for Three-Body Problem and would release the first book first.
If sales were good, then the second book would be written.
Lin Chudong's first fifty thousand words had already captivated him. If Beginning couldn't be considered science fiction, then this Three-Body Problem definitely could.
The story involved some professional scientific knowledge, all of which were cutting-edge technologies that humans were currently researching.
He didn't expect Da Fei to be so knowledgeable about science, and the story's imagination was unrestrained. He was already engrossed just by looking at the outline, not to mention the story's interlocking plot.
The characters in the plot were vivid, especially the setting of the Three-Body world, which was simply too mind-blowing.
The scene of the human computer was described very well. When the shocking scene appeared in his mind, even Editor Kang, who had read countless manuscripts, had to admire Da Fei's talent.
Thirty million soldiers mimicking a computer; this concept was too novel.
After hanging up Editor Kang's call, Lin Chudong immediately sent the proofread, complete version.
Editor Kang was sitting in his office at this moment, having just finished calling Da Fei and was about to knock off for the day.
He picked up his coffee cup and drank the last bit of coffee.
He leaned back in his chair and stretched his neck, as if releasing all the fatigue of the day.
Just as he was about to switch off his computer, a notification popped up in his email.
Editor Kang opened his email and saw a document inside.
"Three-Body Problem - Full Text, 220,000 characters."
Editor Kang was stunned.
"Didn't we just finalize the manuscript and tell him to write more? He's already finished?"
Editor Kang quickly put on his glasses and clicked open the file to check.
Then, looking at the novel of over two hundred thousand words, he fell into deep thought and self-doubt.
Over two hundred thousand words couldn't possibly have been written in an instant. This meant he'd finished it a long time ago and was just sending it over after the manuscript was approved.
The problem was, he started writing before it was even approved.
What if it wasn't approved? Wouldn't those two hundred thousand words be wasted? What if he or the chief editor had some suggestions for revisions? Wouldn't he have to make extensive changes later?
Did he really have that much confidence that it would be approved without any revisions? Da Fei was being too self-assured, wasn't he?
But… he did have the capital to be self-assured.
This manuscript, any experienced editor who looks at it can tell it's absolutely going to be a blockbuster.
Just talking about the novel itself, it's definitely deeper and more captivating than Beginning.
The imaginative concepts, logic, and plot setup inside are all top-notch. This work absolutely has the potential to be a phenomenon.
Editor Kang continued reading the following fifty thousand words, and the more he read, the more shocked he became.
His wife called. He hesitated for a moment and said, "I'll be working late at the office, don't wait for me to eat."
"Huh? Working late again!" Recently, Editor Kang had been extremely busy, and his family had some complaints.
"Yeah, I'll go back after I read a bit."
When a person's desires swell to a certain point, they must be satisfied, or it becomes very uncomfortable.
Even though it was only a twenty-minute trip home, he was completely engrossed in the book's plot and wanted to read it immediately; he couldn't wait even twenty minutes.
Suddenly, Editor-in-Chief Zheng Yu walked in.
"Old Kang, not off work yet?"
Editor Kang said, "Editor-in-Chief Zheng, Da Fei's book has been sent over."
"Hmm, I know. Didn't I read it? The royalty split you suggested is fine." Zheng Yu was also quite satisfied with the beginning of Three-Body Problem; he hadn't read such an engaging novel in many years.
"No... Editor-in-Chief Zheng, Da Fei sent the entire book."
"Ah?"
Zheng Yu sat down, staring at Editor Kang's screen, his face filled with shock.
"He wrote it so fast? He was prepared! Send it to me, I want to see it too."
The two of them were working overtime at the publishing house, staying until late at night.
They had agreed to go home soon, but several hours had already passed.
After finishing reading, neither of them could calm down for a long time.
Zheng Yu said, "The literary world is about to have a monster."
Zhou Shifang was still occasionally trying to make his presence known.
He dug up some of Da Fei's previous literary works and attacked them.
Except for The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot, he basically disparaged all of them.
After all, the fable The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot was included in the Chinese language textbooks. If he randomly attacked it, wouldn't that be slapping the textbook bureau in the face?
Da Fei had cursed him too harshly before. When he used to curse others, he was still a little more subtle, but this time he was really too direct.
"Looks like a dog from afar, a Japanese dog up close. And when you get closer, oh, it's Mr. Zhou Shifang."
This sentence was everywhere now, especially for Zhou Shifang. He usually took a look at the evaluations of himself, so the big data pushed it to him like crazy.
Including his family, friends, and die-hard fans, all of them were pushed by the big data.
Zhou Shifang also had many colleagues with whom he didn't have a good relationship with, and they were laughing at him, wishing they could forward Da Fei's Weibo.
Zhou Shifang held it in for several days and then replied with a short essay.
He listed several Western masterpieces, all of which had similar themes to Da Fei's Beginning.
The general idea was that these were the ceiling of science fiction suspense novels.
Da Fei's work was just a web novel with a science fiction shell, mindless and lacking depth.
Look at the ceiling of the novel world, look at his After Ten Thousand Years, which one hasn't won countless awards?
Da Fei's book was just fast food literature catering to the market.
Not to mention anything else, his After Ten Thousand Years was an existence Da Fei would never be able to surpass.
Seeing Zhou Shifang's words, Liang Yin was furious.
These literary types are really annoying. If it were people from other industries, even if it were infighting among entertainment industry colleagues, it wouldn't feel so awful.
Just like that musician Wang Xi before, who also mocked Da Fei online.
Although annoying, it wasn't a big deal.
But this Zhou Shifang's words were sharp and disgusting, twisting concepts and arguing illogically, making people angry just looking at it.
Liang Yin took a deep breath, feeling like her underwear had shrunk a size.
She put her phone in front of Lin Chudong, pointing at it and saying.
"Da Fei, get online and cuss back at him!"