Chapter 209: Just know that I can get the job done

“The compet.i.tion last year was held in a ring match format, which was why Tan Mo had the chance to stay and hold her ground the entire time. Her other seniors didn’t even get to s.h.i.+ne once! She won over those from Huaqiao University easily,” said Professor Tang with a laugh.

Director Liu looked at Tan Mo in shock. “I… I only thought she was your student! Never did I think she would be an expert in ancient Chinese!”

Yuan Qi Shan started to have a bad feeling.

“She’s also Professor Gu’s student.” Professor Tang laughed once again.

So… Tan Mo is actually from the Chinese department?” Director Liu pretty much understood what was going on now.

No wonder Shen Jing Yi said that Tan Mo wasn’t from the History department.

He understood now.

Tan Mo should be a student originally from the Chinese department, but Professor Tang must’ve taken her in as a student due to her exceptional skills, albeit unofficially.

“Not exactly,” Professor Tang explained. “Tan Mo is originally from the Economics department. But she follows me and Professor Gu around for our research teams. She’s our student, but she isn’t part of the department.”

“Hmm…” Director Liu blinked a few times. It was all a little too much for him to process right now.

“If Professor Tang hadn’t told me this, I would’ve never believed it.” said Director Liu. He was impressed and in awe. “I already thought that Tan Mo knew more than expected when she knew the details of the historical events so well. All down to the tiny details of the dates, the historical figures, and their dates of birth! I never would’ve guessed that she would also be Professor Gu’s student. If she wasn’t exceptional, she wouldn’t have been seen by Professor Gu at all. This is truly a shock.”

Seeing Tan Mo getting all this attention and praise struck a slight nerve in Tan Jin Qi. She felt both pride and jealousness bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

It is Tan Mo.

“I can confidently say that Tan Mo has perfect grasp of the language of ancient Chinese. Not many can surpa.s.s her in this day and age,” Professor Tang said firmly. “I’m sure there will be no problem regarding the script-handling now that we’ve got her around.”

“You can go ahead and search up last year’s papers from pool B. The only paper that got awarded full marks was written by Tan Mo. She wrote in cla.s.sical Chinese too. Her foundation is solid – so even though the series won’t be using cla.s.sical Chinese, we can still sprinkle hints of cla.s.sical Chinese within it. To Tan Mo, this would be wasting her talent on a petty job,” Professor Tang laughed.

Director Liu took out his phone and started to search for her.

He looked up after reading a small section. “But Tan Mo is about to start school again. I can’t keep her occupied like this forever.”

Director Liu wished to take Tan Mo for himself and switch up some roles within his project. If anything, she could take leave.

But Tan Mo was also Professor Gu and Professor Tang’s disciple.

After seeing the way she was treated by Professor Tang, it could be a.s.sumed that Professor Gu babied her just the same.

He didn’t have the actual guts to s.n.a.t.c.h her away from them.

Since she had already helped out with the preparations, Tan Mo didn’t bother hiding her intentions. “Can I be in charge of writing?”

“Can you?” Director Liu asked. “Not that I’m wary of your abilities, of course! It’s just that even though you’re a student of Professor Gu, you’ve never properly learned how to write scripts. Officially, at least…”

“I’ve read scripts before,” said Tan Mo

“Since when?” Tan Jin Qi blurted out.

“…” Tan Mo didn’t say anything. She had read plays before as introduced by her previous teachers and they weren’t that different from the ones she read now. They could easily be compared. She didn’t say any of this out loud though.

“Didn’t I just read one this morning?” Tan Mo gave a wave of her hand. “Don’t be too worried about the details. Just know that I can get the job done.”

When she gets back to her room later tonight, she could just learn how to write a script herself. It’d be a job done quick!

“Director Liu, if you’re still worried, I can write some of it tonight and show you tomorrow. If you think it’s suitable, then I can keep writing,” Tan Mo suggested. “I’m quick at these things. If we’re lucky, you might even start shooting next week.”

Yuan Shan Qi couldn’t help but feel like Tan Mo was stealing her spotlight.

She wanted to secure her scriptwriter spot.

But now, Tan Mo had appeared out of nowhere.

There was no feeling of resentment or anger in this moment.

It was all of her doing anyways – she kept complaining that there were problems with the script in the daytime. She just didn’t have anything else to do.

But now, Tan Mo wanted to steal her moment. That’s just too much!

Yuan Qi Shan could now see what hurts others but not oneself.

Tan Mo just couldn’t see the good in others.

Ruining others’ jobs, cutting off their income and just wrecking the day in general!

This was unacceptable! She couldn’t let Tan Mo steal her spotlight just like that.

“Tan Mo, you can fully handle the content for History and ancient Chinese. Some would even call you an expert or a professional. If you say you can produce a script, then I’ll take your word for it,” Yuan Qi Shan obviously did not believe Tan Mo. “But don’t lie about it. You really believe you can finish the script in one week and Director Liu can start filming?”

Yuan Qi Shan laughed. “Even the elites within the industry itself can’t achieve such a feat.”

“I didn’t say I’d finish.” Tan Mo put on a “you’re so weird” expression. “I can at least finish writing the first episode so Director Liu can start.

In honesty, she believed she could finish it all.

But if she said it now, no one would believe her.

“I don’t mind working on it even when school starts for me. I can write the scripts while being in cla.s.s, and each time I finish an episode I’ll just send it to Director Liu. Even if there are areas for improvement, I can discuss them with Director Liu without delay. While I write, Director Liu can shoot.” Tan Mo looked at Qi Shan like she was a fool.

Director Liu’s eyes lit up as he heard this and ignored Tan Mo’s expression completely.

Seems like he was a fool too.

“That’s why you’re an outsider. You really think you can write scripts?” Yuan Qi Shan most definitely wouldn’t let Tan Mo steal her spot of being scriptwriter. “There are two groups when a filming takes place. Group A and Group B. These two groups start shooting simultaneously. And they work fast! Not only that, they have to accommodate their schedules to the actors’ schedules. The filming isn’t done chronologically in order of the script. The schedules need to be highly flexible and sometimes, the finale is shot on the very first day. How can you write your script episode by episode? That’s going to be costly on our end.”

“If it were under normal circ.u.mstances, that would be the case. But couldn’t there be an exception made?” Tan Mo batted her eyelashes innocently. Yuan Qi Shan started to feel the resentment growing. “We can’t do that right now. Don’t you know why we’re in this situation in the first place?”

Right as she said that, Tan Mo turned over to look at Tan Jin Qi, as if she was trying to say, how can someone not read the room?

Yuan Qi Shan was left speechless.

She wanted to tell someone off!

“That’s right. Under these circ.u.mstances, we’d lose more if we were to wait for the entire script to be completed.” Director Liu nodded. “Shooting each episode after each script is our best shot for now.”