Which is more powerful, the Sunflower Manual or the Nine Swords of Dugu?

Chapter 63: Which is More Powerful: The Sunflower Manual or the Nine Swords of Dugu?

"Wu Yu, is Chen Ping back yet?"

"I just dropped him off at his residence."

"Mm."

Wang Jin, the artist director of Starlight Entertainment, put down his cup.

After a moment of thought, he asked, "Are we taking too big a risk by doing this?"

"Director Wang, Chen Ping is different from other actors. He is an exceptionally rational actor with a great mindset. Previously, after gaining a bit of fame for playing Chao Xiaoshu, he didn't harbor any resentment when we sent him to the set as an extra for over two months. Neither his perseverance nor his mindset is something other actors can compare to."

"Mm."

This was precisely one of the reasons Wang Jin favored Chen Ping.

However, Wang Jin was also facing difficulties right now.

It wasn't that Starlight was genuinely being so generous as to tilt resources toward Chen Ping; rather, Chen Ping's participation in *Actors, Please Take Your Place* had completely disrupted Starlight's original plans.

According to Starlight's previous expectations, even if Chen Ping participated in the show, at most he would just get a little screen time.

To everyone's surprise, after joining the show, Chen Ping became an overnight sensation.

Furthermore, Chen Gege, Tencent Video's head in charge Cheng Liang, *The Legend of Chu and Han* director Gao Xixi, along with two Best Actresses, all held Chen Ping in high regard.

This forced Wang Jin to reconsider Chen Ping's positioning.

If Wang Jin's side continued to leave Chen Ping sitting idly, other talent agencies would likely make their move on him.

In fact, they already had.

The entertainment industry is a brutal place.

Although Chen Ping had a good mindset, judging by his attitude, he wasn't someone who would blindly sacrifice his life for Starlight.

Yet, this was precisely what Wang Jin appreciated about him.

Sacrifice one's life? What is this, feudal society?

Cooperation relies not on sentiment, but forever on mutual interests.

If a balance of interests could be achieved between the two parties, Chen Ping would prove to be a far more long-term partner than any other actor.

"Alright, let Chen Ping rest for the next few days, and have him report directly to the *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer* crew when the time comes."

"Yes, Director Wang."

Wu Yu nodded. "Right, Director Wang, there's one more thing I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"In a few days, Chen Ping is going to Hong Kong to attend the Golden Melody Awards ceremony."

"The Golden Melody Awards?"

Wang Jin was stunned. "Chen Ping received an invitation?"

"Yes."

"How is that possible?"

Wang Jin was immensely surprised. "He's just an actor; since when does he sing—oh, I remember now."

At this mention, Wang Jin seemed to recall something. "Almost forgot, this guy is quite skilled at lyric writing."

When Luo Man had personally visited Starlight previously, Wang Jin had already noticed Chen Ping's talent in lyric writing.

However, Luo Man had approached Chen Ping privately afterward, and Wang Jin had no idea which songs Chen Ping had written lyrics for.

Besides, Starlight's primary business was in film and television, with little involvement in music, so Wang Jin hadn't paid much attention to Chen Ping's lyric writing.

To his surprise, Chen Ping had actually received an invitation to the Hong Kong Golden Melody Awards.

This was the most prestigious music award in the country.

Every single person who received an invitation was either a popular singer, a music star, or a heavy-hitting heavyweight in the industry.

"This Chen Ping always manages to exceed expectations," Wang Jin muttered to himself.

Even so, the greater the potential Chen Ping displayed, the more highly Wang Jin thought of him.

"Wu Yu, which songs did Chen Ping write lyrics for for Luo Man?"

"The only one we can confirm right now is *The Human World*."

Wu Yu thought for a moment and replied.

He knew about *The Human World* because Chen Ping had shown his face and sung it during his arts examinations.

However, as for the subsequent songs Chen Ping wrote for Luo Man, Wu Yu wasn't sure which ones they were. "As for the others, I don't know if Chen Ping signed a confidentiality agreement with Luo Man's side or something else."

"Understood."

Wang Jin didn't press further.

Having just the song *The Human World* was enough.

Although Starlight was not deeply involved in the music business—or rather, Starlight had no desire to dabble in that sector—in the company's eyes, music was something that went out of style far too easily.

The same applied to singers.

A singer who was wildly popular today might stop singing altogether a few years down the line.

Nurturing a singer was far less valuable than nurturing an actor.

That being said, music possessed a charm that film and television could never match.

Its dissemination was much easier and far more convenient than TV dramas and movies.

If one could produce a song that swept across the entire nation, almost overnight, everyone would remember your name.

Just like *The Human World*.

Even a dignified Best Actress, having reached a bottleneck in her film career, could take a further step forward through a song and widen the gap between herself and other Best Actresses.

This was something film and television could never achieve.

While Wang Jin couldn't be certain how far Chen Ping could go in the field of lyric writing, frankly speaking, his anticipation for Chen Ping was growing stronger by the day.

***

Naturally, Chen Ping knew nothing of what had transpired on Wang Jin's end.

The reason they didn't know which songs Chen Ping had written wasn't because of any confidentiality agreement between him and Luo Man.

It was mainly because Chen Ping hadn't used his real name.

In the realm of lyricists, Chen Ping had used a pen name: [Don't Ask].

At this moment, however, he had picked up a set of *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer* and had begun reading it all the way through from the very beginning.

Chen Ping had not yet received the script for *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*.

Judging from adaptations of various versions, however, it was safe to assume certain alterations would be made.

Regardless of how it was adapted, it would inevitably be based on the original novel.

In the absence of a script, reading the original work beforehand was the best possible choice.

Moreover, Chen Ping held a different perspective on the character of Lin Pingzhi compared to the general public.

If adaptations were made in the future, he could utilize his Director's Space to re-imagine and recreate Lin Pingzhi to a certain extent.

Yet, even with the Director's Space, reckless changes—even with a system providing cheat-like assistance—would inevitably draw criticism upon release.

Therefore, in order to craft a more vivid character, Chen Ping intended to thoroughly master the original novel of *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer* first.

It took him a full three days to finish reading the original work.

By the time he finished, his notebook was already filled to the brim with notes.

Naturally, the vast majority of the notes were about Lin Pingzhi.

Take, for instance, the matter of Lin Pingzhi's self-castration.

Why didn't Lin Pingzhi castrate himself *after* getting married to Yue Lingshan and consummating the marriage, choosing instead to do so *before* the wedding?

Was he truly in such a desperate rush for revenge?

Even in the greatest of rushes, waiting a few days wouldn't have hurt.

If the goal was to take revenge on Yue Buqun, wouldn't doing *that* to his daughter have been an even better form of retaliation?

Another question: why did Lin Pingzhi ultimately kill Yue Lingshan?

This was a puzzle that troubled quite a few readers.

Logically speaking, by castrating himself before the wedding, Lin Pingzhi had intended not to harm Yue Lingshan.

This proved, from another angle, that Lin Pingzhi genuinely loved Yue Lingshan, which was why he wished to spare her from harm.

If he didn't want to hurt her, why did he end up killing her in the end?

Had he lost his mind?

Was it an accidental killing?

Or were there other reasons?

Furthermore, there was still the issue of Lin Pingzhi's self-castration.

Many previous versions treated Lin Pingzhi's self-castration as the ultimate humiliation for a man.

The same applied to Yue Buqun.

Self-castration was an irredeemable blot, which was why virtually no version had managed to make audiences feel warmly toward Lin Pingzhi.

Yet, from Chen Ping's perspective, with over a hundred members of the Lin family brutally murdered, wouldn't casting off his manhood for the sake of revenge make him an even more inspirational figure?

Why did everyone hold such a strong prejudice against him?

It boiled down to Chen Ping's previous conclusion: simply because Lin Pingzhi wasn't the protagonist.

At the same time, Chen Ping felt that as times changed, people's views on characters might also shift.

Previously, people might have viewed Lin Pingzhi's self-castration with disgust, but if he reinterpreted the role and crafted a more distinctive Lin Pingzhi, perhaps he could completely reverse that blot on the character's reputation.

Much like Dongfang Bubai.

Dongfang Bubai was a character whose image had been completely inverted.

Following that, Chen Ping had also jotted down a series of other questions.

For example:
Which is truly more powerful, the Sunflower Manual or the Nine Swords of Dugu?
Can the Evil-Warding Sword Technique go toe-to-toe with the Nine Swords of Dugu in a single duel?
Is Linghu Chong truly carefree, proud, and completely free of scoundrel-like flaws?
Which faction is stronger, the Qi Sect or the Sword Sect?
How should one view a person like Yue Buqun?

The points Chen Ping had written down might just come in extremely handy at some unexpected moment.