Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 153 Award

In mid-September, the film festival officially opened. The second page of the screening schedule listed the screening information for *2001: A Space Odyssey*, scheduled for the afternoon of the third day of the main competition, in a theater with a capacity of approximately four hundred people. Luo Jinnian arrived on the opening day and, after checking into the hotel, did not participate in the public opening ceremony activities. Lin Yiming arranged for a project coordinator to handle matters during the screenings, including technical coordination of the projection equipment, coordinating audience entry times, and arranging subsequent jury discussions.

At 1 PM on the day of the screening, Luo Jinnian arrived fifteen minutes early and sat in the back row on the right, not in the front. About 70% of the seats were occupied, evenly distributed without any obvious clusters. After the lights went out and the screen came on, the approximately two-minute black screen remained relatively quiet in the venue. During the screening of *Thus Spoke Zarathustra*...

As the music began and an overhead shot of the African wilderness appeared on the screen, there was a brief, scattered murmur in the back row, but it didn't last. When the film finished and the lights came on, about half the audience stood and applauded, a gesture that lasted roughly the normal duration. Luo Jinnian did not leave after the lights came on; he remained seated until the flow of people in the aisle decreased slightly before standing up and leaving through a side door.

The day after the screening was the Q&A session with the jury. Luo Jinnian was scheduled to attend the latter half of the afternoon session. After the previous creator left, he entered the discussion room from the waiting area. The jury consisted of three people: a long-time researcher of science fiction, a producer specializing in technical aspects, and a curator from a European film festival. During the discussion, they raised several questions about the film, mainly focusing on narrative pacing, technical solutions, and the adaptation of the original work. Luo Jinnian's answers were concise. For example, when asked about pacing, he replied, "The pacing is part of the original work; there were no major adjustments during the adaptation." When asked about the technical solutions, he answered, "It was decided based on both the expected effect and existing conditions."

The judging results were announced on the evening before the closing ceremony. *2001: A Space Odyssey* won the Grand Prix in the main competition. The jury's comments stated: "The film achieves a high level of completion in visual presentation and technical execution, while maintaining an accurate recreation of the original narrative structure. This balance makes the film distinctive among similar works."

The award announcement was sent to the project team via internal email after the closing ceremony. Director Qin and Director Mo each replied with brief confirmations: no further comments. Lin Yiming sent a message that evening, mentioning that someone in the industry exchange group had forwarded the award information, and that several collaboration inquiries from international channels had been sent to the overseas company's office email, mainly concerning future project collaborations and the possibility of multinational production. Luo Jinnian read Lin Yiming's message but did not reply. He needed to confirm his current work plans and resource allocation before considering whether to respond to these inquiries.

The day after the closing ceremony, Luo Jinnian did not participate in any other activities or give any interviews. The festival's official press release after the closing ceremony listed the complete list of winners and a summary of the jury's comments. The section regarding this particular film was identical to the version read at the closing ceremony, without any further additions or adjustments. After the press release was published, several industry colleagues sent congratulatory messages, most of them brief. Luo Jinnian responded to each one with consistent wording, without discrimination.

Back at his lodgings, he reviewed his initial notes on the story about "sound" and the meeting minutes about the memory storage project. He hadn't yet decided on his next step, and could make a decision before next week. He wanted to let the two sets of materials settle in his mind for a while, and see what outlines they would reveal after that. Before making a final decision, he could observe for a while longer to see which path's signals were clearer, more stable, and more worthwhile to follow.

After Luo Jinnian returned from the film festival, his life quickly returned to its previous rhythm. Morning classes, his usual seat in the cafeteria at lunchtime, and the usual lighting in the corridor before school ended. When Chu Qingning waited for him at the school gate, she was still holding two bottles of yogurt, as if he had never left.

"Did that movie win an award?" she asked softly.

"Take it."

"So, are you going to be busy again?"

"It's not decided yet."

Chu Qingning didn't ask any more questions, and the two walked along the old street towards home. The road was bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, and the leaves of the roadside trees fluttered in the wind, like a row of notebooks turning pages, with ink still wet on the corners. The streetlights were not yet on, but the sky was already beginning to dim.

Back in his rented apartment that evening, Luo Jinnian turned on his computer and reread the initial draft of the story about "sound," then opened the meeting minutes for the memory storage project. He had allowed these two documents to settle for a while, and now they had fully settled to different levels, each forming a relatively complete outline.

The basic framework of the story about "sound" already exists; all that's needed is to fill in the details. The memory storage project, however, is a framework yet to be developed, requiring more effort to refine and detail its structure.

He preferred to finish the story about "sound" first—it had been waiting long enough and didn't need repeated adjustments to the already formed outline; it only needed some subtle embellishments and coloring.

He opened the document, revised a few wordings, and added a transition.

There were no long pauses during the process; the only thing to do was to ensure that the revised narrative rhythm and tone remained consistent with the full text.

Three weeks after returning from the film festival, Luo Jinnian was in class as usual. That day, when the bell rang, the boy next to him suddenly called out from behind, "Hey, are you from Early Spring Culture?"

Luo Jinnian paused for a moment, his pen still in his hand. He turned his head.

"I saw online that '2001: A Space Odyssey' won an award, and the company is called Early Spring Culture, I think. Is your company the one—" The boy added, as if afraid he was mistaken, "Aren't you the one who wrote 'The Martian'?"

Luo Jinnian's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, without immediately answering. The boy had probably run up after gym class; his bangs were still wet, and sweat glistened slightly under the light. After a few seconds, Luo Jinnian said, "That's a project done by Early Spring Culture."

"Oh, I knew it," the boy didn't press further, patted him on the shoulder, "You're pretty impressive, running errands for that company. My cousin really loves your novel, 'Charlie IX'."

""

He turned and left after saying that, as if he had only done so to confirm the matter.

Luo Jinnian didn't explain. He put the textbooks on the table into his schoolbag. The folded note tucked into his notebook in the desk drawer hadn't been taken out before. He knew it was still there, the creases clear, the handwriting neat, reminding him of those quiet moments when he wasn't in the spotlight, which also shaped the outline of this road and resonated with what he was participating in.

That evening, Luo Jinnian received an email from Lin Yiming. The subject line was: "Someone is looking for you, and the other party is quite influential." The email body began with a brief explanation: A person with considerable influence in the local independent film production circle, contacted through an overseas company, inquired whether the director of this project would be available to participate as a co-consultant on a project that had not yet been officially approved. Lin Yiming added a line at the end of the email: "The other party also said that he has seen your speech transcript from the exhibition."

Luo Jinnian paused when he saw that line. His gaze lingered briefly on the words "I've reviewed your presentation transcript" before he continued reading the attached collaboration proposal in the email. The email mentioned that his project was also exploring "expanding the boundaries between technology and narrative," but he had encountered bottlenecks at the data level due to limited resources and technological accumulation. He had discussed related ideas with industry professionals at previous conferences, but hadn't found a concrete implementation path. After reviewing Early Spring Culture's project transcript, he believed that Luo Jinnian's approach to similar problems might have broader reference value.

Luo Jinnian read the email from beginning to end, then closed his laptop.

He neither refused nor accepted immediately.

Thinking to myself, "I won't respond for now; I'll wait for the right opportunity."

17