[Crispy Shark: Uh, quite a lot, actually. But the most important thing is the film and TV rights. Several companies are already bidding.]
As Yu Mian’s first book, “Contract Marriage” had a simple and straightforward main plotline, but its plot developed clearly and crisply, with the conflicts and pacing tightly intertwined.
The key was the two main protagonists, Gu Bai and Caesar. Their characters were extremely well-rounded, vivid, and charismatic, which made them very popular among readers.
It was clear to see that, as a romantic comedy, the book would make for an excellent adaptation.
[Crispy Shark: And, both Gu Bai and Caesar’s roles are already being eyed by quite a number of popular actors. I’ve heard that the competition behind the scenes is quite fierce!]
[Fish: Wow… is the progress that fast?]
Yu Mian didn’t expect that actors were already eyeing the two roles.
[Crispy Shark: Of course, have you forgotten about President Kane’s rumor clarification incident? [Shark wiping sweat]]
At that time, Kane became an overnight sensation just because he looked so much like Caesar in the book. After book fans noticed this, he exploded in popularity, and there are new readers flocking to his StarBlog account everyday.
Although Kane, as the CEO of a corporation, didn’t care about this and even found it awkward, always trying to clarify the rumors, for most actors, this was undeniable proof of the massive fan-following “Contract Marriage” had.
Anyone who could land a role as an affectionate male supporting character might just have an opportunity to become an overnight sensation!
[Crispy Shark: So now a lot of people have been trying to contact you. But because you’re so mysterious, they all ended up contacting Huanyu.]
Even the deputy chief editor’s lightbrain had almost been overwhelmed by all the inquiries.
It was all from the heads of various film and TV companies, asking if “Contract Marriage” had finalized any plans or if they could recommend any actors.
[Fish: Uh… no worries, just follow Huanyu’s agency method to move things forward. Although I’m not very knowledgeable about film and TV, the casting still needs to be careful. Everything should be fair and just, and the most suitable actor should be chosen.]
After hearing Shaxs’ explanation, Yu Mian couldn’t help but imagine the anxiety from the constant buzzing of his lightbrain with everyone trying to use connections to get their way.
But thinking back on the disastrous adaptations of many works from his past life, Yu Mian felt that the choice of actors was indeed crucial. He couldn’t just let anyone be randomly cast.
[Crispy Shark: Don’t worry, Huanyu will definitely stand on the author’s side and move forward fairly and justly! And the deputy chief editor is also paying great attention to all aspects of “Contract Marriage”. Perhaps you’ll even get to personally make the final decision.]
The most important point was that among the readers chasing updates for “Contract Marriage”, there was the little ancestor of the Bart Clan…
Although that person had already returned to the Eternal Night Galaxy, she couldn’t resist remotely monitoring the updates through the star network every day!
If “Contract Marriage” dared to carelessly cast someone and make a mess of it, the deputy chief editor would probably be the first one to be replaced by the people higher up.
This was the benefit of having a super-rich, powerful reader.
In any case, with this atmosphere, the serialization of “Contract Marriage” had finally entered the final stage of the plot.
In fact, since Gu Bai had set aside all his past indecision and formally went to the distant August Star for further studies, it was Caesar who changed from the high-spirited man at the beginning to an increasingly haggard and pitiful guy.
The updates of “Contract Marriage” during this period made the interstellar readers feel heartbroken and bittersweet. Every day, they couldn’t help but show up on time for the 6:00 PM update, making sure not to miss a single chapter!
It almost felt like they were deliberately looking for knives to eat.
And yet, they ate them up eagerly, unable to stop. What strange and terrifying literary magic was this?
Were they all secretly masochists?
Especially after Gu Bai left, the headache that had been cured for so long suddenly returned to Caesar one night, worse than ever before.
It was even more intense than any previous time, as if countless knives were stirring and slicing inside his brain.
Caesar’s once radiant and dazzling blonde hair had started to dull and tangle under the torture of his severe headache.
Ignoring the butler’s attempts to stop him, he took seven or eight painkillers all at once, but it still didn’t improve. Finally, like a beaten dog, Caesar opened the golden handle of his bedroom door under the moonlight.
But this time, no one would be sitting quietly nearby, gently and patiently waiting to play music for him.
Caesar looked at the empty bedroom, and at that moment, he realized more clearly than ever that Gu Bai had gone.
Gu Bai had completely left him.
Not even the bedroom he had lived in for a year showed any traces left behind.
The clothes, watches, jewelry, and various gifts he had bought for him—none of them had been touched.
Standing in front of the walk-in closet in a daze, Caesar felt as if the past year of his life had been a sad and pathetic joke.
He should have noticed it earlier.
If Gu Bai had been a vain person, how could he have shown no interest in any of these things?
But he didn’t realize that, and even kept thinking that Gu Bai had really fallen in love with him.
That was why he would tie his tie for him every morning.
That was why he clumsily prepared meals for him for the first time.
That was why, even when he was arrogant and willful to the extreme, Gu Bai would still be gentle and indulgent with him.
As if he never had a temper.
Caesar pressed his forehead, feeling like a trapped and exhausted beast searching for an escape. He subconsciously screamed out in anger and despair before collapsing onto the bed.
But Gu Bai wasn’t like this before.
He would get angry with him, would tell him what he couldn’t do, would stop him when he made mistakes…
But when did Gu Bai change?
It wasn’t until a moment of realization that Caesar fearfully and helplessly looked out at the moonlight outside the window.
Could it be that everything was not because Gu Bai had left him, but because he had, unknowingly, driven Gu Bai away himself?
Had he lost the Gu Bai who had once truly cared about him?
Meanwhile, Kane, who had been watching with a heart both sour and satisfied, could hardly describe the emotions that surged within him at this moment.
“Damn it—this is the feeling! Has this bastard Caesar finally started to reflect!?”
“It wasn’t Gu Bai who left you, it was you who lost him yourself, do you know that?!”
Kane felt that the latest chapters of “Contract Marriage” were hitting just the right spot for him!
This was exactly what he had been waiting for, what he wanted to see for so long!
Especially every time he saw Caesar go crazy at night, despairing by day, and realizing he couldn’t blame anyone because everything was caused by his own hands—Kane felt more and more satisfied.
‘You didn’t appreciate it back then, now that your wife’s gone, you know you’ve lost your mind?’
‘You were so arrogant, hurting your wife’s heart—now you know it was your own fault?’
‘That’s right, everything from the start to the end was caused by you, and you can’t blame anyone else.’
‘If anyone’s to blame, it’s that you’re just not worthy of a good wife!’
Just thinking about this in his mind, Kane felt a sense of relief as if all the resentment he had towards Caesar some time ago had been completely released, and he felt refreshed, so much so that even dinner that night tasted better.
Occasionally, when the two siblings Kane and Audrey happened to return home at the same time, they would race to eat faster, then run upstairs at precisely 6 p.m., leaving Lady Freya completely confused.
What on earth has possessed them all?
Even because of Yu Mian’s updates that officially gave Caesar a hard time, the readers who were not very tolerant of torture and were soft-hearted had already flooded the comments section, crying and begging the author not to torment Caesar anymore.
[Although I’m really enjoying it, but Caesar’s wife has already left, and he’s so pitiful and haggard, he can’t even handle the company anymore. Isn’t this too tragic?!]
[Why did you sign a marriage contract in the first place, Caesar? If you had signed a ten year contract, your wife wouldn’t have left after just one year! Wahhhh!]
For Caesar’s self-inflicted suffering, countless readers who had once despised him, were now gradually feeling sympathy, but also anger at his foolishness.
If only he hadn’t been so confident and arrogant back then, he wouldn’t be crying like this after his wife left.
Now, look at him, so pitiful and miserable—it’s really heartbreaking!
Of course, aside from these soft-hearted readers, there were also many who were enjoying the pain, shouting through tears: “Can we get more?!”
They even claimed the current bittersweet plot was delicious.
Some readers, who absolutely despised Caesar, directly demanded that the author should make him suffer even more. It would be best if he went bankrupt!
Yu Mian, who has been keeping an eye on the overall situation, could only say that the readers’ wails were not a big problem and the plot was still under control.
It was necessary to give Caesar a hard time, but it was absolutely unacceptable to use such a crematorium method like to bankrupt Caesar.
After all, the biggest problem with “crematorium” novels is that if the crematorium in the second half is light and not well executed, the readers would label it as a scam and pull both the author and the scumbag male protagonist into the “fire” for cremation.
Moreover, one key issue often overlooked in such plots is that if the “crematorium” style is not run properly or the method is wrong, it could end up hurting the overall story more.
Many inexperienced authors, afraid of being criticized if the crematorium doesn’t burn violently enough, tend to overdo it in the second half, either bankrupting the protagonist or breaking his limbs.
While some enthusiastic readers might shout for it in the comments, if the author actually writes it that way, they would quickly realize that the silent majority of readers were disappointed.
After all, this is not the type of “crematorium” they wanted!
In fact, many readers would even think, “If the scumbag male protagonist is like this, just send him to be cremated. He’s not worthy of our darling, the second male protagonist should take over!”
That’s right, the key point of the “crematorium” arc is—when you’re torturing the scumbag, you can’t lose the “satisfying” factor!
Whether or not the “crematorium” succeeds actually depends heavily on how well the author handles the pacing in the earlier parts of the plot.
If the scumbag attack has been too inhumane, there’s no way to avoid torturing him cruelly; otherwise, the readers will be seriously dissatisfied.
But when Yu Mian wrote “Contract Marriage”, he made Caesar constantly waver between the readers’ breaking points and their sympathy, hopping back and forth.
You could say this guy is annoying—he really is.
He acted pretentiously in front of his wife everyday, was jealous of every little thing, and was also not careful with his words and couldn’t say a single nice word.
But has he really done anything that deserves bankruptcy?
Not really!
Caesar not only secretly loved him without realizing it, collected all kinds of records of his wife, and bought him various gifts with his money, but he also took care of his mother’s medical bills without Gu Bai knowing…
At the same time, he strictly adhered to being a man of ethics, and was still a complete rookie in love.
Ignoring his flaws, he was essentially a golden and shining wife slave!
It was because of this that when Yu Mian finally started to make Caesar suffer, so many readers, after enjoying it in the first second, naturally started to feel pity for him.
And naturally, they began to cry in the comments of “Contract Marriage”, asking:
When will our Gu Bai and Caesar ever remarry!? QAQ
However, the hottest comment among them was, of course, one filled with confused self-questioning:
[This experience of following the plot is really too strange. Before they divorced, I was madly shouting for them to divorce, and now that they’re actually divorced, I’m starting to urge them to remarry. Am I being manipulated by A Bowl Of Fish Soup Noodles? Help—]
