A week ago, after the live segment of “I’m the writer——Please Roast As You Wish”, in the No. 7 contestant's lounge.
No doubt, Feng Bujue was eliminated for writing nothing in the last round. After chatting with the other players for a while, he returned to the break room with a happy face and began to drink a cup of coffee. He just needed to wait until the interview is over and he could take the subway home…
Moments later, Oscar with two videographers, a light and a radio announcer, knocked the door of the lounge.
Feng Bujue opened the door, and when they all came in, they set up the machine and the light.
Oscar walked in and shook hands to Feng Bujue as if an inspection tourist, “You have a long day."
Feng Bujue said: “No, you are the laborious one… "he paused." Eh? Are you going to do seven more interviews, right?”
“No, no, I’ll only interview you.” Oscar replied, “It’s the director’s rule. The six remaining were recorded by the editor or assistant director."
“Oh, ok." Feng Bujue nodded.
The lounge has several fixed positions of camera that have already been measured, and the two folding chairs that the writer and host sat in during the interview reclined in a corner. With lines drawn on the floor, they precisely marking where the chairs should be. The preparation for the interview was quickly completed as several staff members worked for a while.
Oscar, sitting with a manuscript in his hand, turned his back to the camera and said, “So… shall we begin?
Feng Bujue said: “No problem.” He was the one who was anxious to get home, naturally hoping to finish the recording as soon as possible.
“Were you nervous or pressured when you were invited to the show?” Oscar began to ask questions based on his prepared interview script.
“No.”
“Did you hesitate? “Oscar added,” after all you're already a famous writer. Would it be weird to hear about competing with other writers on this stage?”
“I’m nobody when compared to them. Why hesitate?”
“Haha… “Oscar smiled, picked up his portable player, clicked a few times and placed it in front of him. "Why did you name this show like this?"
“I think it’s because I have a hunch on what’s going to happen…… “Feng Bujue said.
Oscar then asked, “Let’s look again…… “He fast-forwarded a few more frames.” Why did you write such a passage in the first round?”
“Why not?" Feng Bujue replied with a smile: “As you said at that time, the three keywords of war, hero and character, it is difficult to have the unexpected answer, then I will write a character who is unexpected to everyone.”
Oscar nodded, pushing the progress bar below the screen. “What do you expect to be on the ballot?”
“Last… “Feng Bujue said,” I already said I was a little overcorrect.”
Oscar then asked, “In the second round, I noticed that you wrote nothing on the operating table.”
“Because the outline is all here.” Feng Bujue tapped his temple lightly with his finger.
“Did you take a few minutes to come up with that story?” Oscar asked.
“In fact, I just started making it up the minute you asked me to publish my answer.” Feng Bujue said.
“I look like that, too.” Oscar smiled. “Haha, but the fact that you can get a second place for the temp shows that you’re really good.”
“It doesn’t work that well if you do it the second time.” Feng Bujue said, "This time it was because the audience had never seen someone make the story in this way, so it was very impressive and got a lot of votes. It would be unfortunate if any of the players followed suit after this time."
Oscar then turned back to gesture, the two photographers paused and the radio announcer dropped the microphone. “I would like to ask a personal question to you…… After the second round, Director Fei and you whispered a few words, what did you talk about?”
It was obvious that Feng Bujue would not be able to carry out the operation of Fei Ran. So, he just replied with quite relax expression: "Fei thought I will be out certainty, so he talked to me about the resurrection match and then we talked about Fight Club and Schubert and syphilis."
Oscar twitched a few times as he motioned for the units to continue recording. He dragged the progress bar again. "Did you read the whole book in the third round?"
Feng Bujue smirked. “I found out when you came in… You hid my envelope in the inside pocket of your jacket, right? “He pointed to Oscar’s suit.” If you’re prepared, you can try.”
Oscar smiled embarrassed, took out the envelope and the wad of A4 paper that had been bound together. He flipped through one of them, and read: “He said with pride, my foolish servant, your father is “
He didn't even finish his words and Feng Bujue continued, “Your father is a hunchback, your mother is a prostitute, your sister is mentally retarded. But you, have the honour of being a servant of a nobleman. What more do you expect?”
Oscar was genuinely surprised. “Bu Jue sir, your memorizing ability is amazing,” he said. As if he couldn’t believe it, he turned the paper over and over, confirmed Feng Bujue couldn’t see anything on the back, and added, “You could even join some talents show.”
“Haha… Not interested.” Feng Bujue laughed, he still seemed to struggle with the book, adding: “It’s a good piece of writing, but the plot is to cliché without creativity. In addition, there is a short story that copied Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. He only changed the years and characters and turned the destroying of the bridge into an assassination. In the process of reading, I felt a sense of familiarity. And I get it when I saw the sentence that “No one can be himself, no one is an island”. 1) This guy didn’t know how to proceed until he reached chapter 300, so he used a plot from another book. Then, after making up a rather tedious story, he couldn’t go on."
Oscar was quite stunned and he thought: You're not just finished read the book, and you read it quite earnest…
“Is that really… Won’t you write the final chapter for this book? Even writing something randomly down will give you a vote.” Oscar asked again.
“I was particularly reluctant to touch the work of others, especially the work of such eunuch novel.” Feng Bujue said: “This kind of book gave me feeling of… It’s like a child in someone else’s family, and the parents leave him or her alone in the street before grows up.” He shrugged: “I’m not going to let an outsider pretend to be his parents and bring him up. Since the child’s parents do not cherish him, why shall I do? First of all, I’m not interested in parents like that.”
"Well, I think I understand." Oscar answered, “and how do you feel about being eliminated? Any regrets? Regret for not answering questions in the third round?”
It's impossible for Feng Bujue to say himself is rush to be eliminated, so he scratched his head and decided to say a few ceremony words: “Well…….. I think it would be nice to be a part of it. Thanks to the editors of the program for thinking of me as a little guy. Regret…… Not regret at all. Since did, I will not regret.”
The interview lasted about 15 minutes, and there was a lot to record, including comments on the other contestants’ performance at one point, and some stereotypical questions and answers.
Toward the end of the interview, Oscar looked at the script in his hand, and when the questions were almost finished, he activated his portable player. "I have here a clip of all the other writers who came to “I’m the writer” and recorded a VCR, and I hope you can read it.”
…………
“The writer is……”
“A writer?
“Well… It means… to me…… “
“A writer is…… “
“The person use the word to build their dream.”
“A job, a career.”
“The purveyor of ideas.”
“It’s my life.”
“It’s ordinary, but it’s extraordinary…… “
“Means no return? Haha… Cut that out.”
“Say the somebody else’s writing is not good with different flaws; can you do all good if you write?”
“Because I like to write, I just stick to it.”
“Everyone started in the same place, we are all chasing the same dream. But a lot of people took a detour, or give up halfway. But I think those of us who can keep walking will come back to the same destination."
“Always remind yourself that I’m a writer. It’s not about showing off, we are just professions. It’s about what we’re going to do as writers, not what people are going to tell us.”
“If anyone can write, what else are we going to do as professional writers?”
…………
Oscar added: “It’s customary for writers on our show to answer this question. “He paused.” Bu Jue sir, what does the word “writer” means to you?”
After Feng Bujue looked this not really long VCR, he suddenly felt it's hard to answer. “Let me think about it,” he said. He showed a very serious look, which he did not show during the entire show.
After a long silence, Feng Bujue finally said, “I'm ok.”
The radio man raised the microphone again, and Oscar turned to the cameraman and said, “Please give a close-up.” He turned to face Feng Bujue again: “OK, please speak.”
Feng Bujue said, "To me, a writer is…… Someone who can change the world with words.
By being true to yourself, you can make your dreams come true."
1) The reference came from John Donne's poem: No Man Is An Island. Yes, I have no idea how a Chinese read Hemingway, John Donne and Allen Pole became a thriller webnovel author.😊 San Tian Liang Jiao's an amazing person.