Because it happened so suddenly, she didn’t have many ideas for the seaside short video yet. Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but look forward to Jiang Li’s ideas. Everyone’s attention fell on Jiang Li.
Xia Qi and Sang Tian exchanged looks, their thoughts in sync. If they hadn’t guessed wrong, the script would likely be about Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao dating!
Then, Jiang Li stood up from the sofa and began to speak with extreme seriousness, as if she were giving a lecture to a group of teachers and students.
“I believe the story for this short video could be a love story between a spy and an assassin. They meet by chance at the seaside and fall in love at first sight without knowing each other’s identities. They get married, have a child, and then their child has superpowers!”
Hearing this, three faces immediately popped into Song Qiuyu’s head, and she fell into deep thought. Jiang Li seemed completely oblivious to Song Qiuyu’s reaction as she continued.
“One day, the assassin’s superior sends them to eliminate the spy. After the child discovers this, they cause both parents to lose their memories to maintain family harmony. However, after several years of being a loving couple, the assassin is the first to regain their memories…”
“Your story sounds awfully familiar,” Xie Zhuran interrupted with a weary look on his face, offering a retort.
“All good stories are alike. People will always fall in love with Chu Zihang repeatedly at different times and in different books,” Jiang Li said, turning to look at Xie Zhuran.
“Actually, I also have an idea. Do you all want to hear it?” Xie Zhuran simply sighed and changed the subject.
“Go ahead, Old Xie,” Song Qiuyu nodded.
“I think this short video could also be about a male lead who is pressured by his family to bring a girl home. After being driven mad by various blind dates, he spends all his savings to rent a girlfriend. But after meeting her, he discovers that the other person is actually his childhood friend…”
Xie Zhuran sounded more and more emotional as he spoke, as if he were describing his own autobiography.
“Your story also sounds awfully familiar.” Jiang Li rolled her eyes at Xie Zhuran.
“That’s because it’s adapted from my own experience. I believe the brothers in front of the screen will definitely be able to empathize with me,” Xie Zhuran said, looking away with tears in his eyes.
“What do you mean ‘in front of the screen’?” Jiang Li looked confused.
Song Qiuyu was lost in thought.
“I know this! This happens to coincide perfectly with an idea I came up with!” Lin An confidently joined the conversation.
“It’s about an alien invasion where all humans are kept as pets. While humans are watching TV, the aliens are also watching humans through a certain screen. Then they see a girl walking along the beach, think she’s very cute, and suddenly become interested. So they descend from the sky…”
“?”
Xia Qi slammed the table and stood up. “Your story is way too big! How are we supposed to film that with just the few of us? Why don’t you consider the story I thought of instead!”
“Tell us,” Lin An said.
“Since we’re filming a seascape, we obviously can’t miss out on what happens under the seaside sunset…” Xia Qi’s eyes lit up. “Mecha combat! Continuous mecha combat until dawn!”
“Uh, AI technology is so advanced now, you guys aren’t still worried about how to make mechas, are you?” Xia Qi tried her best to persuade them. “Other niches are already overcrowded. Are you really not planning to try the mecha niche?”
Hearing this, the expression on Song Qiuyu’s face turned subtle. These ideas were truly wild. As expected — previously, not leaving the scripts to them was the right choice!
“Actually, I have an idea too.” Sang Tian raised her hand.
“Go ahead, Sang Tian!” Song Qiuyu likely couldn’t trust the others, but she still maintained her faith in three people.
“I think we can film something different — a story about a one-night stand between an overbearing CEO and his delicate wife. It would be about the arrival of the apocalypse, where the self-reliant protagonist accidentally picks up the male lead from a trash can. He hasn’t fully grown his wings yet after being abandoned by his family, and then they…”
“Ahem!”
Song Qiuyu didn’t have the heart to do it, but she really couldn’t take it anymore, so she spoke up to interrupt. Once people’s imaginations were opened, it was somewhat impossible to imagine what kind of stories they would come up with.
However. So Sang Tian liked the overbearing CEO and delicate wife trope. Then Jiang Xiao really wasn’t suitable for that.
“Don’t you guys think your stories are getting more and more ridiculous? Old Xie, you should still consider the rental girlfriend idea I mentioned,” Xie Zhuran said, spreading his hands.
“Not considering it,” Song Qiuyu said decisively.
She followed up by ruthlessly rejecting everyone. Then, she asked Jiang Xiao, “Jiang Xiao, what are your thoughts?”
As soon as she said this, the atmosphere in the Secret Hall became strange. Five people stared at her without blinking, their strange gazes making her feel as if they were going to burn a hole through her.
“Why are you all looking at me like that? I’m not playing favorites with Jiang Xiao!!” Song Qiuyu panicked for no reason.
Even though she truly didn’t mean to show favoritism, the way they looked at her made it seem like she was favoring Jiang Xiao no matter what. But she wasn’t; she just trusted Jiang Xiao.
“I was thinking, why don’t we try a combination of a rule-based ghost story and the movie Terror Cruise? I’ve asked the hotel boss, and they can help us borrow a cruise ship over there,” Jiang Xiao said, clutching his phone.
A cruise ship…
Not just Song Qiuyu, but everyone was stunned. While they were all daydreaming, how could someone have such strong initiative that they had already confirmed everything with the hotel boss?
A group of university students who had never been on a cruise ship couldn’t help but be tempted by this plan.
“But Jiang Xiao, do you get seasick?” Song Qiuyu asked.
“Um…” Jiang Xiao pondered for a moment before saying, “I think I get a little dizzy.”
After hearing that, Song Qiuyu hesitated.
“But, I remember you also seem to get motion sickness?” Jiang Xiao added.
Song Qiuyu was taken aback, then she realized what he meant. She quickly nodded, indicating that she also got seasick. This was a lie she had told back then just to help take care of the car-sick Jiang Xiao!
But so much time had passed. If Jiang Xiao hadn’t mentioned it, no one would have necessarily remembered. She glanced at Jiang Xiao and could vaguely see a single pixel of his lips curling upward. She felt quite annoyed but could only clench her fists and endure it for now.
What was there to be secretly happy about?
With that, Jiang Xiao’s plan was temporarily passed over.
“Then let’s listen to my plan instead!” Song Qiuyu sighed, racked her brain, and spoke helplessly.
The plan she came up with was simple: a story where the protagonists’ boss passes away, so they pretend to be grief-stricken and attend the boss’s funeral.
This funeral would naturally not be simple. First of all, the ghost of the deceased boss would be floating nearby, watching everyone the entire time. As long as someone’s attitude was improper, the ghost would hook their soul out. As it happened, everyone was extremely improper, and even their bad habits were all exposed.
Among everyone, there were also two or three people who could see the boss’s ghost…
Finally, there would be a twist. The boss was hooking souls simply to scare the people who could see him. He had no intention of hurting anyone; he just hoped that everyone could smile at the funeral.
After listening, Jiang Li shook her head and said calmly, “Even though your story is good, Brother Autumn Rain, I still think my story about a spy, an assassin, and a child with superpowers would be more interesting as a short video.”
“You’re wrong. My rental girlfriend idea is clearly more interesting,” Xie Zhuran insisted.
“I think my overbearing CEO and delicate wife story is also very good!” Sang Tian raised her hand again.
“Qiuyu, do you think aliens alone are too boring? Then how about we turn it into StarCraft, with everyone competing to be the Pirate King?” Lin An adjusted his glasses.
“Mecha! Mecha!!” Xia Qi gritted her teeth.
Thus, after a rather heated argument, the script finally adopted Song Qiuyu’s idea.
With the addition of working at a comic convention for the next two days, the heavy burden of writing the script temporarily fell on the shoulders of Jiang Li, Wang Xiao, and Lin An. The others would be responsible for adding details. It was estimated that the official filming would begin in four days.
By then, it would already be February 11, with less than one week left before the Lunar New Year.
“Brother Autumn Rain, leave the script to us. You just need to go earn the chicken legs,” Jiang Li said.
“Alright.” Song Qiuyu suddenly felt guilty. When she thought about what she and Jiang Xiao had done in the living room — or rather, in this house — last night, her guilt doubled.
According to Lin An, the girl is supposed to be the one who loses out in that kind of situation. However, in my case with Jiang Xiao, no matter how I look at it — Jiang Xiao was the one who lost out!
With the script settled, the next most important task was the distribution of sleeping arrangements for everyone tonight. Fortunately, the discussion process wasn’t as heated.