Chapter 153: The Impossible Mission [Third Update, Seeking Subscriptions]

After finishing dinner together, the four of them headed to a bicycle shop. None of them were good at bargaining, so after a brief inspection, they chose a moderately priced and reasonably good domestic brand, Pigeon.

With new bikes in hand, they were ready to roll!

The trip that would normally have taken over ten minutes on foot took less than two minutes by bicycle. Taking advantage of the lingering twilight at the horizon, Zhang Chu and his friends headed toward the library to borrow books.

Actually, Zhang Chu could have directly searched for works related to Indian culture and religion within the system. Borrowing books from the library was merely a cover, a way to prevent others from guessing about the system's existence.

After all, such subjects were quite obscure; without dedicated study and understanding, one could never write about them. Using this method to avoid suspicion was quite useful.

The author of *Life of Pi* was originally of Indian descent, so writing about these topics came naturally to him. If Zhang Chu wanted to make minor modifications, he had to understand these contents himself first.

For instance, at present, he had no idea what the doctrines of Hinduism actually were, nor what the contents of Islam and Christianity entailed—he had to study all of these.

As an ambitious plagarist of literature, Zhang Chu was not content with mere copy-pasting!

Peking University's library was a wonderful integration of classical and modern styles, blending a classical exterior with comfortable modern interiors. Its collection of books was exceptionally rich, second only to the National Library.

It was said that within many of the classical books in this library, one could still see the notes left behind by the literary giants of the Republic of China era, though ordinary people could not check them out at all.

Yang Ling and the others lost themselves in the sea of books, while Zhang Chu had a clear objective. After finding works of various religious types, he used his student ID to complete the borrowing procedures.

He carefully placed the five books into his backpack, then rode his bicycle toward the exit of the campus. An Mi and the others intended to study and read here until the library closed.

Having a bicycle made things much more convenient; it allowed them to exercise while saving time. Zhang Chu felt that the five hundred yuan was money well spent!

The first thing he did when he got home was not to start reading, but rather to turn on the computer and seriously research what on earth the "China's Best Literature" essay competition was, focusing particularly on the selection rules and the judges.

Claiming to seek out China's best literature, this writing contest hosted by the China Writers Association seemed quite attractive. Although there was no cash prize, being able to join the Writers Association and have works published was better than any cash prize!

Unfortunately, not a single one of the listed judges was familiar to him, and even internet searches failed to yield much information, since personal preferences could hardly be published directly online.

Fortunately, Zhang Chu was not fighting alone now; he had a company backing him up. So he picked up his phone and called his agent, Zhou Kang. Asking an industry insider was always better than groping in the dark.

"Uncle Zhou, are you still busy?" Zhang Chu asked.

Over at Dream Dragon Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., Zhou Kang hadn't even finished stretching his arms when he received the call. He replied, "No, just taking a little break. I was actually planning to WeChat you later about the copyright matters—we've basically wrapped those up."

"How did it go specifically? Who offered the better terms?"

Zhang Chu really was a rather irresponsible person. He had been quite busy with the start of the semester recently; even Director Xu Ji had invited him out to discuss the film script for *Evil Minds* in detail, but he hadn't even had the time.

Looking at the preliminary agreement on his computer desktop, Zhou Kang laughed heartily and said, "The BBC has decided to purchase the television adaptation rights for *Sherlock* for two million pounds, and they are adding another three hundred thousand pounds to hire you as one of the screenwriters to craft the English script."

In reality, this television series was merely returning to its old home; its story was set in 21st-century London, so it was completely normal for the BBC to buy it.

"The BBC's production capabilities are very strong. Please go ahead and send them the English text and script for the latter parts directly."

Zhang Chu had already translated the relevant content previously, simply unlocking a screenwriter achievement along the way. The price of three hundred thousand pounds could already be considered a medium income level among screenwriters.

If he hadn't been both the author and the translator, a novice screenwriter would probably have only managed to get thirty thousand pounds!

"If you have time tomorrow, we'll sign the contracts and try to get the TV series into production as early as possible. They are hoping to air it around Christmas."

Zhang Chu pondered for a moment and asked, "What about the copyright for *Evil Minds*? Can we sign that contract tomorrow as well? My schedule has been especially tight lately."

All important matters had piled up together, which was truly mentally exhausting.

Zhou Kang snapped his fingers and said, "The movie copyright for *Evil Minds: City of Light* was secured by Director Xu Ji's studio. They got it for one million RMB plus a 1.5% box office cut. We only get the dividends without any specific powers, meaning we cannot interfere with the casting or filming. As for the TV series, it was sold to Huace Film & Television for six million RMB. If we're signing the contracts tomorrow, I'll go discuss it with them right now."

These terms basically reached the highest treatment a newcomer author could possibly enjoy, and Zhang Chu was mostly satisfied. He only hoped Director Xu Ji's film would perform well at the box office; otherwise, a 1.5% cut would be pitifully small.

"Finally got all these matters sorted out."

"Aren't you studying at school? Why would you be so busy? My daughter was very relaxed during her university days, spending whole days outside taking photos and stuff," Zhou Kang asked in puzzlement. Could this be the gap between a top-tier institution and an ordinary university?

Only then did Zhang Chu remember the specific reason for his call. He spoke up, "Didn't I consult you earlier about that China's Best Literature contest? A senior in my club went ahead and registered me for it, and even posted publicly online challenging others. As a result, I accidentally talked a big game, telling anyone who looks down on me to bring it on..."

Zhou Kang understood the situation perfectly in his heart. "Accidental? Knowing you, I'd say you did it on purpose. The submission deadline for that essay contest is just a few days away. What genre do you plan to submit? Poetry, prose, short stories, or classical Ci poetry?"

"None of those. I plan to choose the full-length novel category. I happen to have a new full-length novel in hand that I haven't started writing yet."

"Five days to write a full-length novel and enter a competition???" Zhou Kang desperately wanted to reach through the phone and knock on Zhang Chu's head to see what on earth he had packed inside it!

Zhang Chu pulled the phone slightly further away; the sudden spike in Zhou Kang's voice had startled him. "Uncle Zhou, if I write a story with a foreigner as the protagonist, do you think those judges will like it?"

Zhou Kang no longer wanted to deal with Zhang Chu. This was simply an impossible mission!

"As long as it's well-written, they will definitely like it. What I'm afraid of is that something written in such a short time will have too many flaws."