Chapter 25

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Zhang Tan was adept at writing scripts. Before he came to this world, he had written dozens of scripts, some of which had made him famous.

The adaptation of *The Lamp-Lighter* into a manga was not difficult for him; it was relatively easy, and he spent more time reading the manga.

When Luo Ming registered him, the project team gave a deadline of 5 days. However, two days later, he suddenly received a notice that the deadline was moved up by one day, meaning Zhang Tan had only two days left, and he had only written a third of the script.

"Is the time enough? I have nothing to do these few days, so you can focus on writing the script. You don't have to come to the company; just manage your time well."

After getting the news, Luo Ming immediately asked about Zhang Tan's progress. Upon learning that the time was insufficient, he very considerately said he wouldn't arrange any other tasks for him these few days, allowing him to focus on the script. He even offered to help with any writing questions, anytime.

Zhang Tan thanked him repeatedly.

Luo Ming, however, said, "I should also take the blame. When I told you the news, the project had already been running for several days, and others had already started writing, which made you start later than them."

Zhang Tan quickly replied, "How can you blame yourself? I can't thank you enough."

To catch up with the script, Zhang Tan concentrated, working day and night. He declined Jiang Rong's dinner invitation and Xiao Bai's "football invitation match." Finally, after two days, he finished the script.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief. The next day, he went to work, printed out the script, and was about to submit it to the *The Lamp-Lighter* project team when Luo Ming happened to return. Seeing him with a stack of bound A4 papers, Luo Ming knew it was the script. He calculated that today was the deadline and was eagerly waiting for it.

"Finished?" Luo Ming asked.

Zhang Tan handed him the script and said, "I finished it last night. If you have time, Mr. Luo, could you help me review it?"

"You are capable, and writing an adaptation script is no problem for you. However, this is your first solo project, and it's important for you, so I'll take a look first."

Luo Ming casually put his bag on the table, sat down, and quickly flipped through the script. He usually liked to brew a pot of tea and browse the news online, but he skipped these habits today.

As he read, he said to Zhang Tan without looking up, "You should have shown it to me last night. With more time, I could have given you a thorough review."

Zhang Tan replied, "I only finished it around 10 PM last night, and I didn't want to disturb your sleep."

"Disturb what? At 10 PM, I was still helping my daughter with her homework. Compared to that, reading a script is much easier."

He continued, "I remember the deadline is 10 AM today, right? It's 8:30 now, so you have an hour and a half. Don't rush; wait for me to read it. You've spent so much time on it, so don't worry about these 90 minutes."

Seeing him engrossed in the script, Zhang Tan proactively brewed a cup of Lushan Cloud Mist tea and gently placed it beside him. Luo Ming, without looking up, picked up the cup and sipped a few times.

He read quickly and, after about half an hour, deeply sighed, put down the script, and rubbed his sore and swollen eyes. "It's written very well, but there are a few small issues here, here, and here."

Zhang Tan immediately sat at the computer and made the changes on the spot. After half an hour, the script was fully revised. They double-checked it, confirmed there were no problems, and printed a new copy.

Zhang Tan breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the clock on the wall, and said, "It's 9:30. I'll go submit it now."

"Wait," Luo Ming called him back. "Give me the script; I'll submit it. We don't want to use connections, but we can't be at a disadvantage in front of those who do."

He took a few big sips of tea, picked up the script, and hurried out. He went to the 10th floor and knocked on the door of the *The Lamp-Lighter* project director's office.

"Hey, Mr. Luo, you're also involved?" The director, upon seeing him, glanced at the script in his hand and smiled.

Luo Ming plopped down in the chair in front of the desk, pushed the script to the director, and said, "I'm getting old and can't handle two projects at once. Don't think that just because *Under Tianyu Mountain* is finished, I have nothing to do. I mentioned Zhang Tan to you before; this is his script."

"Hmm?" The director picked up the script, glanced at the cover, and casually flipped through it. "Isn't it enough to submit it to the review team? Do you need to give it to me directly?"

Luo Ming laughed, "Don't pretend to be naive. With so many submissions, Zhang Tan's script might not even get a response. I'm not asking you to use connections; I just want you to know about Zhang Tan and this script. Spend a little time on it, or submit it to your review team so they can give it more attention. I've read it, and objectively speaking, it's really good. Even if I wrote it, it wouldn't be better."

"Overstating it a bit? Mr. Luo, you are a golden pen. How many young people can compare to you?"

Luo Ming smiled, said nothing, and handed the script to the director, achieving his goal.

"I won't disturb Director Li anymore. I'll leave now."

After Luo Ming left, Director Li opened Zhang Tan's script again. After a while, he called someone to take the script and asked, "How many scripts have you received?"

The staff member replied, "13, oh, plus this one, 14."

"So many?"

"Actually, 21 people registered, but the remaining few didn't have enough time to finish, so they couldn't submit."

Director Li was somewhat surprised. No wonder Luo Ming personally delivered the script. So many screenwriters were involved in a manga adaptation project, and he felt a heavy heart. These 14 scripts were not just scripts but the dreams of 14 young people. He didn't directly choose Zhang Tan because Luo Ming delivered the script but asked the staff to internally screen the scripts, leaving 5, and then submitted them to the script evaluation team for review.

After submitting the script, Luo Ming returned to the office and told Zhang Tan he could freely arrange his time, whether staying in the office or going home. He had been very busy these few days and needed to relax.

Zhang Tan thanked him and stayed in the office. Near noon, Jiang Rong called, mysteriously inviting him to dinner, as if she had found a treasure.

"Did you write a script called *The Lamp-Lighter*?"

"Wow? How did you know?"

He immediately thought, "Did the script get submitted to the evaluation team?"

"Right on! Isn't it fate? Your script was assigned to me, hahaha."

Zhang Tan immediately said, "In that case, I can't invite you to dinner."

"What do you mean? Are you being so stingy?" Jiang Rong's tone was a bit unfriendly.

"Don't be angry. It's not about being stingy, but I'm worried others might say I bribed you. Do you agree?"

Jiang Rong firmly said, "I disagree. Let's go; I want to eat the RB cuisine downstairs."