August was nearing its end, marked by the phenomenal success of "A Chinese Odyssey."
September was just around the corner.
Su Yu needed to prepare for the next round of the "Era Music King" competition.
Moreover, in addition to "Era Music King," a film titled "Initial D" was set to be released.
He could use his participation in the show as an opportunity to visit the set.
He also needed to discuss pricing for theme songs and insert songs with Morita Yui.
However, today, he had an event to attend first.
The production team of Gong Ju Ren's program "Poetry All Under Heaven," upon hearing that Su Yu had written a song for Gong Ju Ren, had invited him to be a guest on their show.
Since most of his commitments were next month and he had nothing much to do at the end of this month, Su Yu accepted the invitation.
Just then.
A commercial van was seen approaching from a distance.
"Brother Yu, get in!" Gong Ju Ren rolled down the window and poked his head out.
Su Yu opened the car door and got in.
However, as soon as he got in, he paused slightly.
Gong Ju Ren wasn't the only one in the car; an old acquaintance was also present.
It was his editor, Zhou Sisi.
"You're participating in the show too?" Su Yu glanced at her, then at Gong Ju Ren.
The two had been in a relationship for some time.
"Su Yu, long time no see." Zhou Sisi felt a bit awkward under Su Yu's gaze. After clearing her throat slightly, she said, "I'm not exactly participating. This time, besides the cultural figures, 'Poetry All Under Heaven' has also invited representatives from web media. Our Qing Kong Literature is among the invitees."
Although Qing Kong Literature was an online literature platform, it also had a traditional poetry section, albeit not a very popular one.
Zhou Sisi had actively sought the opportunity to represent Qing Kong Literature on the show for a simple reason: she wanted to spend more time with Gong Ju Ren.
"Oh, I see." Su Yu nodded.
"Brother Yu, this is breakfast I bought for you." Gong Ju Ren produced soy milk and steamed buns from beside his seat.
Su Yu accepted them and thanked him. Little Gong was still the same young man who loved buying him breakfast, unchanged.
A slight silence filled the car, tinged with a hint of awkwardness.
Su Yu, however, felt nothing in particular. He ate his steamed buns while observing Gong Ju Ren and the others.
"Ahem... Su Yu, have you thought about the new book?" Zhou Sisi broke the awkward silence after a moment of thought.
"This time, I want to try a different approach." Su Yu swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth and took a sip of soy milk.
Zhou Sisi blinked in surprise. "What approach?"
Su Yu pondered for a moment. "I want to release the TV series and the novel simultaneously."
Given his current industry fame, he no longer needed novels to market IP popularity. Therefore, acting as a screenwriter to film a TV series would have no adverse effects.
"Why?" Zhou Sisi was a bit bewildered.
Indeed, with Su Yu's status, there were no issues with filming a TV series directly.
However, this would undoubtedly affect the subscription performance of the novel.
In Zhou Sisi's opinion, this method was not the best choice.
"Let's give it a try. Perhaps the effect will be better." Su Yu didn't elaborate on his reasons.
There was a plot twist in "The Return of the Condor Heroes" that was too explosive. He feared that if the web novel were released first, it might negatively impact the viewership of the TV series.
Yet, he always referred to himself as a "cultural transporter" and didn't want to alter the plot of "The Return of the Condor Heroes." Restoring the classic was what he should be doing.
Therefore, the best choice was to directly film the TV series and update the web novel simultaneously.
This way, when readers encountered that particular plot, there would be no turning back.
Then, he would have his prepared film critics analyze the plot to soothe the audience's emotional wounds, and the matter should pass.
Otherwise, once Su Yu's alias, Jiangnan, was exposed, he would undoubtedly receive countless hate letters.
"Since you've made this decision, it's acceptable. I'll inform the book fans about the details of your new book, otherwise, they keep asking me for updates daily." Zhou Sisi knew that once Su Yu made a decision, no one could change it.
So, she had to agree.
Based on her understanding of Su Yu, the new book must have something very special about it for him to adopt this release method.
"The new book is called 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' and it's considered a sequel to 'Legend of the Condor Heroes'." Su Yu said after a moment's thought.
Zhou Sisi raised an eyebrow. "That's great. After 'Legend of the Condor Heroes' was released, the wuxia genre became very popular. If they know there's a sequel, they'll be extremely happy."
Actually, the market for wuxia was still substantial. At least in the early days of online literature's rise, many people got into the online reading pit by reading wuxia novels.
Now, with the progress of the times, various genres bloomed, and science fiction dominated the online literature circle.
However, whatever Jiangnan wrote became popular.
When everyone was lamenting "Wuxia is dead," his "Legend of the Condor Heroes" allowed people to see the true essence of wuxia.
Guo Jing's chivalrous spirit for the nation and its people, as well as the martial arts world he created, touched countless fans.
...
Half an hour later.
Su Yu and his group arrived at the Hua Shi building.
The last time he was here was to discuss the copyright of the "Journey to the West" TV series.
"Do we just go in?" Su Yu asked.
"You two go in first. I'll go directly to the program site to wait," Zhou Sisi said.
As a media representative, she could simply head straight to the program venue.
"Alright, let's meet at the parking lot after the recording. I heard Xiao E and the others are also in Kyoto. We can have a gathering later," Gong Ju Ren nodded.
Su Yu naturally had no objections.
"Sisi!" At that moment, someone called out from a distance and walked over.
"Shen Chun?" Zhou Sisi was slightly surprised.
"Hey, Su Yu, you're here too?" Shen Chun came up to them and looked at Su Yu with surprise.
"Long time no see." Su Yu nodded at him, but his eyes flickered towards Gong Ju Ren beside him with a playful smile.
This Shen Chun, one of Kyoto's Four Talented Youths, was also Zhou Sisi's childhood friend. Su Yu had interacted with Shen Chun before. Although they weren't very close, they could be considered acquaintances.
"Wow! It's Ting Yu!!" Suddenly, another shriek came from a distance.
Then, Wu Xiaomeng came running from afar!
"Good heavens, the last time I saw you, you were just starting out in the industry. In the blink of an eye, you've become a big shot. Even with cheats, you wouldn't advance this quickly!" Wu Xiaomeng, with her outgoing personality, even though she wasn't very familiar with Su Yu, still joked around.
She had remembered losing to Su Yu in a couplet challenge for a long time.
"Are you praising me or teasing me?" Su Yu's mouth twitched.
"Of course, I'm praising you. Are you a guest on this episode too? Will you participate in the poetry recitation segment?" Wu Xiaomeng dreamed of winning against Su Yu at least once.
"I'm just a songwriter. Poetry is for you cultural figures. I'm just an audience member this time," Su Yu quickly waved his hands.
This Wu Xiaomeng liked Shen Chun, Shen Chun liked Zhou Sisi, and Zhou Sisi liked Gong Ju Ren. However, Zhou Sisi and Shen Chun were childhood friends, and she didn't want their relationship to deteriorate because of these matters.
His head ached.
It was best for him not to get involved.
Today's stage belonged to Gong Ju Ren.
"To be precise, he's singing the theme song for your program today."
With that thought, he pulled Gong Ju Ren forward.
Then, he turned and walked into the Hua Shi building.
He disappeared, leaving behind his achievements and fame.