Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 180

They were sincere in purchasing film and television copyrights and adaptation rights. There were no traps in the contract, but Jiang Ning still added some clauses. For example, the general film and television copyrights were divided more specifically into TV series rights, other film and television rights, and online drama copyrights. The copyrights still belonged to the author, Jiang Ning. The authorization period was only five years. If no project was initiated within five years, the author had the right to sell it to others. There were also other details written in black and white that were added to the contract.

Qin Shumin didn’t find any problems after reviewing it, and the two signed the contract quickly.

By the evening, Qin Shumin was already on the train back to the provincial capital, holding the signed book given to her by Ning Meng in her hand, still feeling a bit dazed.

She felt that Ning Meng’s actual age should be older, but after meeting her, she felt that Ning Meng was just as she imagined. Yet, when facing her, Qin Shumin couldn’t regard Ning Meng as a mere teenager; the young girl carried more weight.

She took a long breath and looked out the window at the falling white snow in the night.

When she returned to the provincial capital, it was already past ten o’clock at night, and there was only one last bus left at the train station. She staggered all the way home and handed the contract to Director Li the next day.

Director Li was very satisfied with her efficiency. As he took the contract, Qin Shumin took a quick look at the key terms before he turned directly to the signature page. After reading it, she said, “The copyright contract has been signed. You should also send someone to screenwriter Chen to learn how to write a script.”

Seeing Director Li flipping through the contract, Qin Shumin couldn’t help but say, “Director, why don’t you read the contract carefully?”

Thinking there was something wrong, Director Li frowned slightly and looked at it more carefully. As he did, he noticed something off. Upon seeing the ID number on the signature page, his frown deepened.

Looking up from the contract, he asked Qin Shumin, “Xiao Qin, was the ID number written wrong? Are you sure you didn’t find the wrong person?”

A smile bloomed on Qin Shumin’s face, one that seemed like she had played a successful prank. Director Li’s eyebrows furrowed even deeper as he heard this. “Are you sure you haven’t mistaken the person? Ning Meng may come to file a lawsuit.”

Qin Shumin smiled and replied, “I confirmed with the publishing house and the magazine; Jiang Ning is really Ning Meng.”

When he saw the similarity between the names Ning Meng and Jiang Ning, Director Li initially thought that Jiang Ning was a family member of Ning Meng. Unexpectedly, Qin Shumin directly said that it was her.

The content of Catcher in the Song Dynasty was not only about criminal investigation cases but also went beyond simple martial arts novels. It revealed the ups and downs of the court, the turmoil, and the treacherous waves behind the scenes. Although it only showed the tip of the iceberg, it wasn’t something a teenage girl could have written.

But there was no shortage of talented individuals in the world. Out of caution, Director Li contacted Wuxia and the publishing house, confirming that Jiang Ning and Ning Meng were the same person. After that, Director Li no longer hesitated. Whether Ning Meng was Jiang Ning or not, they actively promoted the project.

The original screenwriter who had read Catcher in the Song Dynasty quickly contacted the TV station, expressing his willingness to take on the job. However, since their original crew all spoke Cantonese, they required translators and assistant screenwriters to assist in adapting. The role of the heroine in Catcher in the Song Dynasty was very prominent. In adapting it, they didn’t need to remove that role; instead, they could develop an emotional drama for Zhan Zhao and let the original heroine take the lead. So, they needed an actress who fit the heroine’s age to play the role.

When Qin Shumin heard that the original screenwriter said the actress should match the age and image of the original female lead, her first reaction was to call Jiang Ning to play the female lead.

Her appearance and age fit the original heroine perfectly. Additionally, the heroine herself was a time traveler with a calm and indifferent temperament typical of an adult.

However, the director, screenwriter, station director, and others did not support that idea.

A significant reason the station director didn’t support her suggestion was that Jiang Ning was a high school student, and her winter vacation was too short, so she wouldn’t have enough time to finish filming a full-length TV series.

Qin Shumin had to give up.

The original screenwriter left the relationship between the male and female protagonists to Qin Shumin and several assistants to write. This was a very common collaboration in scriptwriting. Typically, a TV series script was completed by multiple screenwriters. Some were responsible for the court and the Jianghu, while others focused on the emotional drama.

As a reader of Catcher in the Song Dynasty, Qin Shumin had naturally admired the pairing of the heroine and Zhan Zhao. While reading, her mind was filled with fantasies about their emotional interactions. Unfortunately, the author didn’t satisfy the readers’ desires, focusing more on the cases, with the emotional aspects remaining hazy. Since she could now write down the interactions she had long imagined, she felt a little excited.

While writing the script, everyone in the costume team also had a copy of the original book. Based on the descriptions of the costumes, they consulted professors from the history department of the Provincial University and students from the School of Fashion Design to create appropriate clothing.

Because there was already a ready-made plot, the screenwriter could adapt it quickly. The main task was to cleverly weave together the court case with the emotional drama.

Considering that the heroine played a very important role in the hearts of Mainland readers of Catcher in the Song Dynasty, and had many fans, when the screenwriter adapted the content, many scenes involving the original heroine were adapted to feature the new heroine.

As the first case of the Kaifeng government office, Zhan Zhao also came into contact with the heroine.

The adapted heroine had a lively and cheerful personality, with quite a bit of chivalry. She was passionate about criminal investigation and solving cases but was limited by her identity as a woman. So, she disguised herself as a man and went out to investigate cases with her father. She was very smart. Eager to prove herself, she often took the lead in solving cases, trying to crack the mystery before the famous Master Bao and Zhan Zhao, wanting to compete with them. In the end, they cooperated with each other, solving one case after another.

Jiang Ning and the original screenwriter were not very skilled at writing emotional scenes. When the original screenwriter wrote the emotional plotline, there was no scene of the characters kissing. He only used one adjective similar to Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and Empress Xiao, describing debauchery and immorality. The rest was left to Qin Shumin and her small team.

(Emperor Yang: one of the worst tyrants in Chinese history)