Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 85 of the original novel "The Hidden Corner" is released.

After regaining his senses, Lao Yan continued reading.

After the seventeenth scene, the case officially begins.

In the dismemberment case, Wang Xiang's son, Wang Yang, is drawn into it. The story abruptly jumps from everyday family matters to a suspenseful atmosphere, but Lao Yan noticed that the script did not lose its original flavor because of the case—even in the tense moments of investigating clues, the characters' sense of life remained consistent, several narrative lines ran in parallel but were not chaotic, and the time span from 1997 to 2016 was jumped around flexibly without ever making the reader dizzy.

Tea in Early Spring is truly masterful. The structural design is top-notch, the plot unfolds smoothly, and each character is vividly portrayed.

Gong Biao reappears and goes with Wang Xiang to investigate a clue. The two sit in the car and have a conversation. Wang Xiang says, "I'm already this old, what's the point of all this fuss?" Gong Biao replies, "Brother, if you don't keep up the excitement, you won't live?" Wang Xiang is silent for a long time, then says, "I don't know what the point of living is anymore."

Gong Biao said a line that completely broke Lao Yan's defenses: "Big brother, do you know why I call you big brother? It's not because you've worked at the factory longer than me, it's because I've lived in this world for over forty years, and only you make me feel that I, Gong Biao, am still somewhat useful."

Old Yan's tears fell onto the script.

He was crying for himself. Old Yan was even worse off than Gong Biao. At least Gong Biao had an older brother, but Old Yan didn't even have anyone to call him "brother." He had been acting for over a decade, working with countless actors, directors, and producers, but not a single person was willing to value or respect him.

Talented individuals are common, but a discerning eye like Lao Yan is rare. He put down the script, picked up his phone, found Luo Jinnian's number, and dialed it.

The phone rang twice before being answered. Luo Jinnian's voice came from the other end, carrying a nonchalant air typical of youth: "Uncle Yan, finished reading?"

After several seconds, Lao Yan finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly: "The character Gong Biao... you wrote it for me?"

"certainly."

"Thank you, thank you..." Old Yan was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Why are you bringing this up? Uncle Yan, finish filming this movie first, and make Gong Biao gain twenty pounds. The character is supposed to be a greasy, overweight, diabetic middle-aged man."

After hanging up the phone, Lao Yan sat on a folding chair on set for a long time. His assistant came over to ask if he wanted to eat something else, but seeing the tears on his face, he silently retreated.

Old Yan glanced at the script on his lap, sighed, and said in a voice only he could hear, "How could I possibly not act well? I've played Gong Biao for half my life."

Is this all there is to my life?

What other way is there?

After "The Hidden Corner" finished airing, its popularity did not decrease; instead, it snowballed and grew even larger.

"Want to go hiking together?" has become the most popular social slang this summer.

Someone posted a photo of a mountaintop on their WeChat Moments with the caption "Anyone want to go hiking?" The comment section immediately exploded with comments like "No way," "You go by yourself," and "I wouldn't dare go with you."

The scene where Zhang Dongsheng pushes someone has been edited into various memes, and "Do I still have a chance?" has become a frequently used phrase—people can't help but laugh when they say this.

The most outrageous one is "Little White Boat." This song was originally a cherished memory in elementary school music textbooks, but now netizens have directly renamed it "Yin music" (a derogatory term for music intended to be obscene or disturbing).

Every time the song is played in the show, it means someone is about to die—in the first episode, after singing "Little White Boat" on the mountain, the parents-in-law are pushed off; in the third episode, Zhu Jingjing falls from the attic during rehearsal with the children's palace choir. A parent complained on Weibo that her child came home from school singing "Little White Boat," and she felt a chill down her spine, so she asked her child to sing another song.

On Weibo's trending topics list, topics related to "The Hidden Corner" have been appearing one after another.

During its broadcast, it garnered over two hundred trending topics on Weibo, and on the day the finale aired, it made it onto eight trending topics in one go.

"The Hidden Corner soundtrack", "The Hidden Corner Little White Boat horror nursery rhyme", "Qin Hao takes you mountain climbing" and "Zhu Chaoyang's diary" have been trending on social media, with the main topic's readership exceeding 2 billion.

The show reached a peak rating of 9.2 on Douban, with over 600,000 reviews, and maintained a stable rating of 8.9. Its popularity score on the platform reached 9964, making it the highest-rated show of the year among the six works in the Mist Theater series.

Industry insiders have begun discussing a term: "the rise of Chinese dramas".

Previously, only American dramas, Japanese dramas, and Korean dramas had this kind of brand effect. Most domestic dramas were long, padded family dramas and period idol dramas. "The Hidden Corner" only has twelve episodes, with each episode ranging from more than forty minutes to more than seventy minutes in length, entirely determined by the plot.

One netizen commented on Douban: "Twelve episodes is truly the best TV series length in the world."

If Chinese dramas are to undergo reform, they must first abolish the long and tedious format of dramas starting at fifty episodes.

The discussion gradually expanded from the plot itself to broader social issues. The impact of family of origin on a child's development, unequal relationships in marriage, and adolescent mental health—these terms frequently appeared in various commentaries and interpretive articles.

But all this excitement was for the audience. Luo Jinnian locked himself in his rented room, scrolling through the discussion threads on the forum about early spring tea.

Many people are guessing who the person behind the early spring tea is. Some say it's a screenwriter in his forties, some say it's someone who returned from overseas, and others say it's a university professor.

The most outrageous theory is that Tea in Early Spring may never have gone to school, because the children in his stories all have a kind of uneducated, wild beauty.

When Luo Jinnian saw this post, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he continued scrolling down.

He also saw readers of the magazine "Tales of the Tang Dynasty" asking when Early Spring Tea would publish a collection of his short stories. What those readers didn't know was that Early Spring Tea had not yet revealed his true treasures.

One evening, Duan Lei was browsing the forum when he suddenly saw a post that had been pinned to the top—

The novel "The Hidden Corner" is going to be published.

The message was posted by the official account of Zaochun Culture, and the wording was very concise: "In response to the requests of our viewers and readers, Zaochun Culture, in conjunction with the publishing house, is releasing the official original novel of 'The Hidden Corner,' which is now available for pre-order. The book includes the complete plot text of the TV series as well as some previously unpublished content."

Duan Lei clicked on the purchase link almost reflexively.

He had waited too long for this book, no, he had waited too long for any book on early spring tea.

The short stories from "The Record of Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty" were scattered in various magazines, making it impossible for him to collect them. Now there is finally a collection, although it is only this one volume, it is better than nothing.

Ordering and payment were completed in one smooth process.

His hands were trembling slightly as he unpacked the book.

Opening the first chapter, Duan Lei scanned a few lines, his body unconsciously leaning slightly forward, his brows furrowing—this wasn't right.