Chapter 147: Zhang Tan Flips the Table (Bonus Chapter for 1600 Initial Subscriptions)

Zhang Tan wanted to handle the script adaptation himself.

Producer Zhang obviously could not agree to this. With an investment of tens of millions, how could he possibly entrust the entire project to a seventeen-year-old boy, even though the television series was adapted from this very boy's novel?

Scripts and novels were, after all, different.

This was also why Producer Zhang had previously hoped Zhang Tan would take a step back.

"Little Zhang, it's not that I don't believe in your talent. If I didn't believe in your talent, I wouldn't have poured so much investment into adapting your novel. *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* is proof enough that you are no less inferior to the renowned masters of Hong Kong and Taiwan. It's just that with an investment of tens of millions, even if I agreed to let you write the script, others would not."

Hearing that Zhang Tan wanted to write the script himself, Producer Zhang explained patiently: "You also know that this show is being directed by me, Zhang Weishen, but the behind-the-scenes investors include Huayi Brothers and China Central Television. I have to consider their opinions. If it bombs, none of us can afford to lose, right?"

He hoped Zhang Tan would make a concession, but he also understood that Zhang Tan was someone he could not afford to offend.

As a bestselling author whose novels sold in the tens of millions of copies, Zhang Tan himself represented television ratings. If handled poorly, instead of protecting the three brainless screenwriters, he would end up ticking off Zhang Tan, which would truly outweigh the gains.

To be honest, Producer Zhang was also feeling depressed inside.

Screenwriters like Liu Changshan had collaborated with him many times before. Their previous martial arts dramas had gone quite smoothly, so why did this particular one have to brew such bizarre trouble?

"Do they think that because they wrote a few shows with decent ratings, their contributions are huge and their spines have straightened? Are they looking down on a seventeen-year-old kid like Zhang Tan? Damn it, just take the money and write whatever you're told to! Are all of you trying to pick a fight with money?" Producer Zhang thought resentfully.

However, he no longer wanted to waste energy investigating why Liu Changshan and the others were stirring up trouble.

Managing a massive film crew meant encountering a few brainless individuals every single day. If he were to investigate every single one of them, he would never get anything done. The top priority now was to make a big issue small, and a small issue nothing.

Zhang Tan's tone was very cold: "Director Zhang. I understand what you are saying, but I am not being youthfully willful, nor do I wish to explain much. Those three people, Liu Changshan, must get lost. I have run out of patience with them. How about this, I will propose a method, and you can consider whether it is feasible, Director Zhang."

"Go ahead, Little Zhang."

"Replace Liu Changshan and his group. You might worry about not being able to find famous martial arts screenwriters because well-known screenwriters in the industry care about their reputation and are unlikely to take on this job, as doing so would offend the three of them. But have you ever considered this: mainland screenwriters huddle together for warmth, but do Hong Kong and Taiwan screenwriters also share the same mindset? If you can't find mainland screenwriters, look for Hong Kong and Taiwanese ones. I refuse to believe the screenwriting industry is so gentle and refined without a shred of competition."

Producer Zhang remained silent.

Zhang Tan continued: "And even if renowned screenwriters won't take the job, surely junior screenwriters can be found? If your director's team and producer's team exercise strict quality control, what is there to fear about employing some junior screenwriters? You can contact Hong Kong and Taiwan screenwriters on one hand, and look for junior screenwriters on the other. Add me to the mix, and let all three sides draft a script. When the time comes, just use whichever version is the best."

At the end, Zhang Tan reiterated: "In short, I have only one opinion: those three people, Liu Changshan, must get lost! Furthermore, the crew must publish the contractual clauses so the public knows the reason those three are getting kicked out is because their scriptwriting showed disrespect to the original work."

The moment Liu Changshan and the others refused to write the script and attempted to threaten Zhang Tan, Zhang Tan had already run out of patience and decided to strike ruthlessly.

He could not control public opinion, but dealing with Liu Changshan and the others was exceptionally simple. As long as Zhang Tan showed a tough stance toward the crew, he could directly kick Liu Changshan and the others out. Once they were cast out, could they still whine and chirp?

"You guys love acting superior, love playing power games, and love showing off, right? Well, I'm not playing with you anymore!"

This was a drastic measure of pulling the firewood from under the cooking pot; Zhang Tan had flipped the table.

He should have flipped the table long ago.

And he had the strength to flip it.

The massive reader market behind him was the embodiment of his strength.

If *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* wanted to achieve great ratings, the readers were a massive pillar of support.

Besides, Zhang Tan was in the right to begin with. By exerting a little influence, he could easily pin all the responsibility entirely on Liu Changshan and the trio. Although this might leave an impression of overbearing behavior and using one's popularity to suppress others, as long as Zhang Tan maintained his fame and continued to write critically acclaimed and bestselling novels, what did such a minor misunderstanding amount to?

People coming to his doorstep to seek collaboration would still trample his threshold.

...

Ultimately, as Zhang Tan had anticipated, Producer Zhang agreed to his proposal.

The scriptwriting would proceed from three fronts.

First, hire junior screenwriters who were eager to make a living and cared nothing for the faces of Liu Changshan and the trio, to jointly write the script. Second, invite a renowned Hong Kong screenwriter to help draft a script. Third, Zhang Tan would write a script himself. In the end, they would decide which version of the script to adopt.

This plan merely cost a little extra in screenwriter fees, which was negligible compared to the tens of millions in production costs.

Once Producer Zhang made his decision, he acted with swift and decisive execution, immediately notifying Liu Changshan, Yang Hongjun, and Shi Rui—who were currently feeling pleased with themselves and waiting for Zhang Tan to cave—that they could deduct the cost of the time wasted on the script and get lost.

Simultaneously, Producer Zhang's studio released another official statement.

"Recently, during the script adaptation process of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*, some unpleasant events occurred. The original screenwriters Liu Changshan, Yang Hongjun, and Shi Rui failed to respect the original work during scriptwriting, diverged from the crew's vision, and maliciously smeared the original author Zhang Tan in the media without authorization, causing significant losses to the production team.

"Following unanimous consultation by the crew, it has been decided to terminate the screenwriting duties of the three individuals. To better adapt *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* and strive to produce a work that reassures everyone and satisfies all readers who love this novel, Producer Zhang's studio has specially invited multiple screenwriters from the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to contribute the best possible script alongside the original author, Tan Zhang!"

As soon as the statement was released, fans rejoiced.

Regarding the screenwriter dispute of the past few days, the ones who worried the most were actually Zhang Tan's readers and fans.

Readers who loved *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* naturally hoped Zhang Tan would personally oversee the script adaptation to ensure that the television series would retain the essence of the original work. Therefore, over the past few days, Zhang Tan's fans had gone toe-to-toe against those badmouthing him, and the uproar across major forums was entirely driven by these clashes between Zhang Tan's haters and fans.

Fans might lack professional insight, but they believed that only the author truly understood the novel. If the author wasn't even allowed to participate in the adaptation of a novel, how much resemblance would the adapted product bear to the story they read?

A post on Tianya Forums titled "Zhang Tan is my most favorite author in the ten years I've been reading, with a talent that shoots straight to the stars; I believe only his screenwriting can bring me the most wonderful version of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*" garnered enthusiastic upvotes from Zhang Tan's fans the moment it was published.

"Support Detective Chief!"

"Well played, Detective Chief! Get those idiots of screenwriters out!"

"Producer Zhang finally did something right."

"OP said it well! Regardless of anything else, as long as Detective Chief is overseeing it, I will definitely watch every single episode without missing one!"

"Tan Zhang is my favorite author. He has inspiration and is far better than those screenwriters who tell rotten stories yet act all self-satisfied."

"Haha, now I'm full of anticipation for *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* again!"

"Mighty! Big Tan is so handsome!"

"I think Detective Chief should actually act in it himself. I'm rooting for him to play Guo Jing."

"Haha, I think Detective Chief is more suited to play OuyangKe."

"Have you guys watched *The Return of the Condor Heroes*? The protagonists aren't Guo Jing and Huang Rong anymore; it's Yang Guo, the son of Yang Kang and Mu Nianci, and the female lead is Xiaolongnü, the successor of the Ancient Tomb Sect."

"To the person above, is *Condor Heroes* good? I haven't bought it yet."

"Replying to the above: my friends all say it's good, but I feel a bit of regret that Guo Jing isn't the protagonist. Every time I see Yang Guo, I think of Yang Kang, but the quality is still at a very high standard."

"I read it too. It's no worse than *Condor Heroes*. Xiaolongnü's introduction was stunning."

"Is it really that good? I better go buy a copy and read it right now."

"Too bad only one volume comes out a month. It's not satisfying enough."

"The person above should be content. Tan Zhang's writing speed is already like lightning. From *Condor Heroes* to *Return of the Condor Heroes*, over two million words were written in just a single year. I've been chasing Zhang Feifan's *Muddy Ox Enters the Sea* for half a year, and he hasn't even written one hundred thousand words for me. To top it off, this guy went off to write short stories for *Martial Arts Stories* again. Isn't that a rip-off?!"

"Speaking of which, I love *The Four Great Constables* so much. Is the Detective Chief still writing it? I want to read stories about Wushui, Tianshou, and the others."

"No idea, no news."

"You guys above have severely derailed the topic."

...

Zhang Tan closed Tianya Forums.

Looking at the blank document, he pumped himself up mentally. Having enjoyed the flattery, it was time to get to work. He needed to take the script for *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* seriously.

Chasing away Liu Changshan and the three others was no big deal—just a few trashy screenwriters who had no self-awareness. It was only at the beginning that Zhang Tan had been caught off guard.

Facing this kind of situation for the first time, where the opposing party leveraged the media to bombard him, he inevitably lacked a bit of confidence.

However, once his anger was truly ignited, and he surveyed the gap between them, Zhang Tan suddenly realized that he was the mainland martial arts literature heavyweight backed by countless readers, whereas the other party consisted of a few unrecognized screenwriters. That gap was truly as vast as a chasm.

If he had exerted pressure on the production team from the very beginning, he could have subdued the three pieces of trash long ago without letting them stir up any waves. But even though a small wave had been stirred up now, the end result wasn't much different. Liu Changshan and the trio were still chased away, and the crew had even issued a statement proving that the three of them had brought it upon themselves.

No matter how much Liu Changshan and the trio cried to the media, hardly anyone would believe them anymore.

In this society, history is written by the victors.

However, although Zhang Tan had found his footing and directly flipped the table to chase the three away, external doubts and criticisms directed at him had not yet ended.

He had to strike back at those celebrities who doubted him through his screenwriting work for *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*.

"Say I don't understand screenwriting and am blindly meddling?"

"Do you take me for someone who has watched all those television series for nothing, reviewing them once or twice every single summer vacation!"

Strictly speaking, Zhang Tan, who was brainwashed in a recurring loop by Louis Cha's dramas every summer vacation, possessed the strongest screenwriting capability of all! (To be continued.)