Chapter 1 The Silence

After Feng Bujue's article was revealed, the scene fell silent.

Perhaps the audience was hesitating... should they applaud this guy who had been messing around the entire time?

In a sense, Brother Jue's sudden seriousness in the last round made people even more unhappy...

It would have been fine if he had just continued to fool around. But this kind of performance was like saying... "Sorry, I was just kidding with you guys before."

Even Oscar, who had a wealth of hosting experience, didn't know how to react for a moment. Fortunately, he didn't need to read the entire writing content of this round aloud; he was watching the big screen along with the audience. So, he could say something whenever he wanted, without rushing to speak at a specific time.

"Well... I think everyone has seen Player Bujue's answer." Several minutes later, Oscar received instructions from the director through the communication channel, and feeling confident, he finally spoke, "... Uh, Bujue. To be honest, if you had shown this kind of performance in the first two rounds, you might not have fallen behind, right?"

"Hmph..." Feng Bujue sneered, "I don't think so."

Oscar warily realized something and didn't take the bait. He just turned to the camera and shrugged, then walked toward the contestant seat number seven, "So... next, let's take a look at tonight's grand finale..." He gestured toward the big screen, "... Let's reveal the final chapter created by Ye Zhihuo."

In the next second, Ye Zhihuo's masterpiece, written in an hour and a half, was displayed on the screen.

In this round, his performance was indeed very good. Because Feng Bujue's temporary departure from the stage allowed Ye Zhihuo's emotions to calm down a lot. In a state of concentration, he wrote a high-quality ending.

Of course... this also had something to do with the novel he "randomly" got. The behind-the-scenes team specially selected an urban novel with a writing style similar to Ye Zhihuo's, but slightly inferior to his level, and the original author of this book didn't leave too many plot holes, and the overall structure of the story was relatively small... In short, in this round, the program team provided various favorable factors to reduce the difficulty of Ye Zhihuo's writing.

In Feiran's original words, "Director, I can only help you this far."

"Wow! Ye Zhihuo is truly extraordinary!" Before long, Oscar commented loudly, "After seeing such an article... I feel... the suspense of the Resurrection Night champion... is getting smaller and smaller." Before the results were even announced, he had already said something very suggestive.

Immediately afterward, Ye Zhihuo's fans took the lead in cheering in the audience. The director also followed suit, directing the entire audience to applaud and cheer, and cooperating with the live DJ's timely insertion of epic background music, successfully creating an extremely enthusiastic atmosphere.

After the clamor, Oscar made a wiping-sweat gesture, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Phew... everyone, the tense moment has arrived once again... Now, please cast... your last vote of the night." After saying this, he immediately added, "The time is... three minutes."

This time, the program team directly displayed a countdown timer for the voting time on the big screen, seemingly to urge the audience to make a choice quickly.

This move was also very beneficial for Ye Zhihuo, who was the last to announce his article... The length of the voting time was not important, what was important was that there was a "time limit." As long as they planted such a concept in the audience's minds, they would speed up their decision-making and become less careful in their thinking.

In this way... the final chapter would naturally gain the upper hand. First, because it was still fresh in their minds and the impression was still there; second, because it would take a certain amount of time for the audience to recall and savor the previous six articles.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock..."

The DJ didn't forget to help, appropriately turning on such sound effects in the audience area, as if afraid that they would think too much...

…………

Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye...

When the timer reached zero, Oscar followed up, "Okay! Time's up!" He faced the audience, "On behalf of every contestant, I thank you for your careful choices."

With that, he bowed, and the audience responded with applause.

"At this moment, the twenty expert judges are still continuing their evaluation. Faced with such seven excellent answer sheets, they must also be extremely conflicted..." Oscar continued, "Of course, for our contestants, today's competition has come to an end." He turned to face the contestant seats, "No matter the outcome, I think... everyone has no regrets." He slowly walked over, "Let's complete the second part of the Q&A session in a relaxed atmosphere."

"So we..." Oscar's gaze swept across the seven writers, "... let's start the questioning according to the ranking up to the last round." He strode forward and walked to the contestant seat number six, "Let's start with... Bujue, who is currently ranked last." He looked at Brother Jue and said, "Bujue, which writer do you want to ask a question to?"

"Ye Zhihuo." Without saying anything else, Feng Bujue turned his head and looked at Ye Zhihuo, who was sitting next to him, and asked, "Allow me to ask... do you like writing?"

He asked quite suddenly, and without going through Oscar to relay the question, he simply finished the whole sentence using the microphone in front of the contestant seat.

Ye Zhihuo's reaction was quite quick. He didn't want to give people the feeling that he was stumped by such a simple question, so he immediately responded, "I started creating under the pen name 'Ye Zhihuo' a year ago." He paused for a moment, "I have been very passionate about literature since I was a child, read many books, and wrote many articles. After graduating from university, I also made a living by writing... Later, for my literary dream, I became a full-time writer." His answer was quite clever, and he took the opportunity to add some remarks to please the audience.

"Well, I wish you can go further and further on the road of literature." Oscar also praised, and then turned to Brother Jue and said, "Bujue, are you satisfied with Ye Zhihuo's answer?"

"Dodging the question, spewing nonsense." Feng Bujue responded with eight expressionless words.

In that instant, the atmosphere of the entire venue dropped to freezing point...

Not to mention the audience, the brains of many staff members went into a short circuit. Oscar even revealed an expression of astonishment and helplessness on camera for the first time ever.

"What's wrong?" Feng Bujue looked at the stunned Oscar and said, "Continue, the next one is Yamucha asking a question."

"Quick! While Ye Zhihuo hasn't started arguing with him, hurry up and take action!" Feiran's anxious voice also rang out from Oscar's headset at this moment.

Oscar obeyed and turned around, gliding to the contestant seat number two... He quickly adjusted his expression and said, "Okay... next, Yamucha... who do you want to ask a question to?"

"Uh..." Yamucha's gaze was still unable to move away from Feng Bujue. Without turning his head, he said, "I want to ask Brother Jue... I noticed earlier... recently there's a very popular online game, and there's a well-known player, his ID is very similar to your pen name, and he looks..."

"No comment." Feng Bujue interrupted him and continued in a tone of educating a child, "Also... young people shouldn't be addicted to games, focus on writing books."

"Okay... alright..." Yamucha's mouth twitched, and he immediately chickened out.

"Brother Da Di! Brother Da Di is more reliable! Hurry up and find Brother Da Di!" Feiran quickly shouted a few more times in the communication channel.

Oscar was completely clueless at this point, he would just do whatever the director said. He didn't even respond to Yamucha's words, and turned his face to Uncle Da Di on seat number three, "Brother Da Di, it's your turn..."

"Oh, I want to ask... Qishui..." Uncle Da Di was indeed very reliable. After all, he was middle-aged and very good at observing people's expressions. He would always leave room for maneuver in everything. Therefore, he chose to cooperate with the host and divert everyone's attention.

So, Uncle Da Di immediately asked Qishui an unimportant question, and Qishui gave a brief and appropriate answer.

Then, when it was Qishui's turn to ask a question, he asked Uncle Da Di a similar question in return...

With the joint efforts of these two people, the audience's attention finally shifted away from Feng Bujue and Ye Zhihuo... The atmosphere at the scene also became slightly more normal.

After that, the Gothic sister Rose refused to ask questions, and stated that if anyone asked her a question, she would also refuse to answer.

Then... it was General Fei's turn.

"I also want to ask... Ye Zhihuo." General Fei smiled and turned his head to Ye Zhihuo, "Was today's competition... enjoyable?"

Apart from Ye Zhihuo, General Fei was obviously the most concerned about this resurrection match among the writers. At the beginning, he had used words to satirize Ye Zhihuo's cheating behavior. But... that was all. General Fei also understood that even without Ye Zhihuo, he would still have to rely on other writers' abnormalities to have a chance of winning the resurrection match...

But... now that things had come to this, General Fei would naturally not let go of the opportunity to stab him in the back and gloat.

"Heh... hehe..." Ye Zhihuo smiled as awkwardly as he could. He had been disturbed by Feng Bujue to the point that he could hardly speak... Saying too many polite words... seemed hypocritical, telling the truth... he was afraid of seeming petty.

…………

Fifteen minutes later, in Feng Bujue's lounge.

The lights, camera, and recording equipment were all set up. Oscar and Brother Jue sat opposite each other, ready to start the interview.

The previous recording had been forced to stop...

After the cut, Ye Zhihuo went offstage and said a few words to the director, then left angrily with his entourage. However, the other contestants still stayed behind and finished recording the remaining scoring portion together. As for Ye Zhihuo's scenes, they would be recorded separately later.

Later... the Q&A session in this episode was naturally all cut out. The behind-the-scenes staff did a lot of editing to mix many separately recorded shots together to create this episode's master tape... Fortunately, this resurrection match would not be broadcast until the end of June, so there was still plenty of time for post-production.

"Can we start?" Oscar asked, holding the script and looking at Brother Jue.

"Whenever you're ready." Feng Bujue replied.

"Okay, action!" The director, who was sitting to the side, gave the order at this time.

Oscar asked the first question in a calm tone: "Are you surprised by the result of being eliminated?"

"What do you think?" Feng Bujue actually threw the question back.

Oscar smiled. At this moment, he seemed very relaxed, as if he was chatting with a friend: "Ha... yeah... I think it's quite normal." He picked up the tablet in his hand and dragged the progress bar a bit, "Let's talk about the first round first... You copied the entire lyrics?"

"I did a demonstration." Feng Bujue said, "Let's call it plagiarism."

Oscar nodded: "So... the story of the tortoise and the hare in the second round..."

"Like I said, advanced plagiarism." Feng Bujue said.

"Why... did you do this in the competition?" Oscar asked.

"I wanted to see the audience's reaction." Feng Bujue replied.

"There's no need to look..." Oscar laughed, "It's definitely going to be despised."

"Is that so? Then why is it not like this on the bigger stage of reality?" Feng Bujue answered the question with another question, "Is it that such a simple principle will only become clear in black and white at this time, in this place?"

Oscar was slightly taken aback: "This..."

"Is it saying... no matter what means I use to succeed, as long as someone washes my reputation afterward, I can feel at ease? I'm really clean?" Feng Bujue added.

"Speaking like this will offend your colleagues." Oscar said with a smile, trying to change the subject.

"Hehe... not just colleagues... film and television media, game software, electronic products..." Feng Bujue said, "I've seen too much, I'm already numb..." He smiled, "So... I was very happy to see my fans in the audience booing me just now."

Oscar was silent for a few seconds, looked at Brother Jue with a rather admiring gaze, and then moved the progress bar on the tablet again: "In the third round, your performance was very outstanding, and the total time spent before and after was less than half an hour." He paused for a moment, "Sure enough... is this your true strength?"

"Think of it that way if you want." Feng Bujue smiled slightly.

At this time, Oscar looked at the question draft and raised his hand to signal the staff behind him. The sound engineer and cameraman immediately understood and stopped filming.

Then, Oscar changed his tone and said to Brother Jue, "Well... according to the regulations, all the contestants who came to participate in the resurrection match today have to say a few words to the writer who successfully resurrected, Bujue, what do you think..."

"I have an idea." At this moment, Feiran, who was sitting in the corner of the room, suddenly interjected, "Bujue, let's discuss it..."

Feng Bujue squinted at the other party and replied, "Director... your resentment towards Ye Zhihuo is really deep, I've already helped you to this point, what else do you want to do..."

Seeing this, I believe everyone should understand. That's right... the person who really felt extremely unhappy about Ye Zhihuo... was the chief director Feiran.

As early as the "pre-match mobilization," Feiran had already reached an agreement with Feng Bujue. These two sinister guys secretly colluded and directed today's drama together... and Ye Zhihuo, who had a guilty conscience, could only accept it gloomily.

…………

Evening of June 8th, Feng Bujue's home.

"Don't you guys have to go to work or school tomorrow?" Brother Jue looked at the group of people in the living room and said in a helpless tone.

At this time, Li Ruoyu, Wang Tanzhi, Gu Xiaoling, An Yueqin, Bao Qing, the landlady Aunt Liu... this large group of people were all sitting in front of his home theater screen, watching the uncut version of *I Am a Writer – Resurrection Night* that he brought back from the TV station.

"It's rare for your house to have guests, you should be happy." Ouyang Jian took an apple, walked all the way from the kitchen, and stood next to Brother Jue, "By the way... why are there underwear in your refrigerator?"

Feng Bujue slowly turned his head and glared at the barrister, "All of you... really don't treat yourselves as outsiders!" He snatched the apple from Ouyang Jian's hand, "I haven't asked you yet? Why did you come to join in the fun?"

"I called him over on the way here." An Yueqin, who was sitting not far away, raised her head and said.

Ouyang Jian took over the conversation and said, "In other words... let me, a professional, come and take a look... whether your various actions in this episode will constitute grounds for litigation." As he spoke, he regained the apple from Brother Jue's hand, "If there are any problems... I can prepare early."

"You're clearly here to watch the fun... but you're saying it so logically..." Feng Bujue squinted and continued, "I've already colluded with the chief director, how could the officially broadcast version leave any loopholes?"

"Shh--don't talk, it's starting!" Xiao Tan said excitedly.

Before he finished speaking, the first scene of the program appeared on the TV screen.

One hour later...

The main feature of the competition had all been played, and the recording entered the backstage interview stage. Oscar's dialogue with Brother Jue and the images of him interviewing other writers appeared alternately.

"Bujue, before leaving our stage, can you say a few words to Ye Zhihuo, who is entering the finals?" Oscar in the picture asked with a smile.

"Well... I can..." The camera switched to Feng Bujue, who replied in a drawn-out voice with a listless expression.

"Oh, by the way, according to our backstage staff's statistics, you quoted many songs written or composed by Teacher Li Zongsheng today..." Oscar added, "Why don't..." As he spoke, he handed the tablet in his hand to Feng Bujue, "How about leaving a message in the form of lyrics?"

"Ha, ha, ha..." Feng Bujue laughed dryly in a flat voice, "That's exactly what I want..."

Then, as if he had prepared in advance, he quickly started handwriting on the tablet:

[Wanting what you can't get, what can you do about life.

Reluctant to give up what should be given up, only caring about being entangled with mundane matters.

When you discover that compromise is a thief, it has already stolen all your choices.

Fame and fortune are just a high fever, regret is the cough that follows, that won't get better.

I can forgive, but I can't stop.

Feeling sad alone in the night.

It's youthful arrogance, but pretending to be experienced.

Who gives you the courage to pretend.

The abandoned ideals are like a slap in the face.

Every time you remember a sentence, you get slapped.

Then you start to reflect and hate your own filth.]