Chapter 0617: Zhao the Huckster

"I've read the original. To be honest, your adaptation isn't a success."

Zhao Fusheng looked calmly at Xu Lei and suddenly spoke.

Jiang Wen was startled, then his gaze also turned to Xu Lei, full of inquiry.

An original script and an adapted script were different after all. Whether to stay faithful to the original and whether to fully convey its spirit was itself a challenge.

Moreover, Xu Lei's script was clearly a niche art film. If it couldn't move those who had read the original, gaining recognition would be even harder.

"You've read that book too?" Though her face flushed slightly, Xu Lei looked at Zhao Fusheng with surprise. In her original thinking, Zhao Fusheng probably wouldn't have read such a niche book.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled. The original of "Letter from an Unknown Woman" was a work by Austrian author Stefan Zweig. It told the story of an unknown woman who, in the final moments of her life, wrote a poignant long letter steeped in lifelong infatuation, revealing her desperate love to a famous writer. The novel used a woman's most painful experience to express the depth and devotion of love.

In 1922, having experienced World War I, Zweig calmly waited for the various ideological waves of the pre-war world to recede, recalled the problems of yesterday's world, reflected on his own writing, and began his most important decade of creation.

"Letter from an Unknown Woman" was precisely a representative work of his ideological turning point. This text was a literary expression of the spiritual crisis in the era of change that Zweig lived through, and also Zweig's doubt and reflection on his self-centered values after the ebb of romanticism. Zweig had also received two letters from unknown women in his life. It was these two letters that inspired Zweig. Therefore, this book could also be seen as Zweig's autobiography.

However, due to its audience, this book was not widely known.

But as it happened, when Zhao Fusheng was drifting in Beijing back then, the dormitory he rented had a copy of "Selected Works of Zweig." If a person is too bored, they will use all sorts of things to pass the time, and reading was one of them.

So Zhao Fusheng had indeed read this book.

Nodding, Zhao Fusheng said to Xu Lei, "To be honest, your adaptation isn't a success."

In Zhao Fusheng's view, a good adaptation should at least have more tension than the original and better fit what the work intended to express.

Xu Lei gave a wry smile. She hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to be so blunt.

"I know, my skill is insufficient." Xu Lei didn't deny Zhao Fusheng's words either; she nodded directly, admitting that Zhao Fusheng was right.

Jiang Wen glanced at Zhao Fusheng with some surprise. To be honest, from his understanding of Xu Lei, this woman was always the type with deep cunning. For her to voluntarily admit her lack of skill meant Zhao Fusheng had hit the nail on the head.

"And to be honest, if you shoot according to this script, I think the result might not be very good." Zhao Fusheng looked at Xu Lei, thought for a moment, and decided to speak frankly.

Xu Lei was taken aback, then her expression became interesting. Zhao Fusheng's words were almost like a direct slap in the face, but she had to admit he made a lot of sense.

Knowing her own situation, although Xu Lei thought highly of herself, she also understood that with her current skill, the road to becoming a director was really long.

Not to mention that what she was now striving to build was an image of a talented woman.

Sighing, Xu Lei said bitterly, "It seems Ye Jing was right. I'm really not cut out to be a director."

It must be said that sometimes speaking is an art. Just like now, Xu Lei's single sentence both expressed her determination to become a director and told Zhao Fusheng the purpose of her visit today.

Hearing Xu Lei's words, Zhao Fusheng silently sighed in his heart. No wonder she had come to him; it seemed Ye Jing intended for him to repay this favor.

But on second thought, this was actually good; after all, it was better than always owing someone a favor. Zhao Fusheng himself was the type who didn't like being indebted to others, so this matter was a good opportunity.

With that in mind, Zhao Fusheng looked at Xu Lei and said, "Old Xu, actually, I think you don't have to rush to shoot this film."

Hmm?

Xu Lei was startled, then heard Zhao Fusheng continue, "You can first try making some low-budget art films to hone your directing skills. When you feel your level is sufficient, then consider shooting this script."

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Xu Lei was thrilled. As a screenwriter, although Zhao Fusheng had just said a lot, his current words clearly indicated he had already approved of the script. How could she not be happy?

But Jiang Wen, sitting nearby, blinked. He felt that those words just now seemed somewhat familiar.

However, since Xu Lei was there, even if he sensed something off, Jiang Wen wouldn't say anything. He just silently glanced at Zhao Fusheng, inwardly deciding to get this guy drunk one day and give him a good thrashing.

Facts proved that no matter how shrewd and capable a person is, they lose their composure when it comes to matters involving their own interests. Except for saints, no one is not selfish.

Even a saint like Confucius had the dark history of executing Shao Zhengmao, let alone ordinary people.

Xu Lei now had clearly lost her bearings. Perhaps because she had heard too many discouraging words recently, Zhao Fusheng's encouragement made her suddenly feel that he was really a good person.

If Jiang Wen knew what Xu Lei was thinking now, he would laugh uncontrollably. But there was no help for it; Zhao Fusheng gave off such a sincere impression, as if he truly had Xu Lei's best interests at heart, making it hard not to believe him.

"Thank you, Fusheng." Xu Lei said to Zhao Fusheng earnestly, "If there's a chance, I hope to work with you."

"Haha, sure, sure." Zhao Fusheng nodded with a smile. In his view, this was something that would never happen, so agreeing wouldn't cost him anything.

He had always been like this—not one to easily offend anyone, but if he did offend someone, he wouldn't mind offending them to the death.

After seeing off the overjoyed Old Xu, Jiang Wen turned to Zhao Fusheng and said meaningfully, "Are you sure you've never done fortune-telling or something?"

Zhao Fusheng blinked, looking innocent: "If I say I was sincere, would you believe me?"

Heh...