NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23 - Terrifying Deductive Ability! The Main Characters Take Shape!
Chapter 23: Terrifying Deductive Ability! The Main Characters Take Shape!
At the same time, the senior executives of major film and television companies such as Jiaxing, Huayi, Zhengwu Sunshine, Huanyu, iQIYI, Youku, and others, along with the panel of judges and millions of viewers in the live broadcast room, were all staring intently at the screen.
The unveiling of the main storyline characters was about to begin!
Meanwhile, in the room, Lu Chen, unaware of everything happening outside, officially began deducing the police storyline. When it came to the police, the deduction process was far less complicated than deducing Uncle Dong’s arc.
After all, Uncle Dong and Tazhai were the skeleton of the entire story. The police storyline only needed to add flesh to the framework and clarify the character relationships.
Furthermore, the goal of the police was inherently clear—combat crime and arrest criminals. Their profession itself was the driving force.
Therefore, After writing down the name Li Weimin, Lu Chen immediately outlined his identity.
[Deputy Director of the Narcotics Bureau of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, an experienced anti-narcotics officer with over 20 years of service.].
[Action Background and Objective: The rise of Tazhai Village has led to a surge in drug-related crimes in Dongshan City. In response, the Ministry of Public Security is launching an operation, with Li Weimin appointed as the head of the investigation team.].
[Story Direction: While uncovering drug production sites, Li Weimin inadvertently discovers Tazhai Village, whose activities appear suspicious. Later, he finds that Lin Yaodong, the village chief of Tazhai, is heavily implicated in drug manufacturing.].
[Eventually, Tazhai is successfully dismantled, and Lin Yaodong is apprehended.].
[Character Traits: Mature, steady, and even a bit ‘cunning.’ He is upright and incorruptible, enjoys a high reputation in the Guangdong police force, and is highly trusted by provincial leaders.].
At this point, Lu Chen wrote the names Li Weimin and Lin Yaodong on opposite sides of the whiteboard.
Next, he started to construct the character relationship diagram.
[Li Weimin—Superior: Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department.
Subordinate: Dongshan City Public Security Bureau.
Lin Yaodong—Village chief of Tazhai.
Power: The three major factions of Tazhai.
Resources: Numerous henchmen and informants in key departments in Dongshan City, serving as his protectors and enablers, making him highly formidable.].
[Therefore, while Li Weimin may seem to be the head of the investigation team, he has limited resources at his disposal.
As a senior representative of law enforcement, it would also be inappropriate for him to directly confront Lin Yaodong’s group.].
[That’s why I need to design a vanguard character to represent Li Weimin in pursuing the Tazhai storyline. Let’s tentatively call this character A.].
[A’s Design—A grassroots police officer who suspects Tazhai Village of drug production and insists on investigating.
Personality: Fearless and highly justice-driven.].
[Thus, Li Weimin uses A as a proxy to gradually advance the investigation into Tazhai’s drug crimes.].
After finishing this setup, Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction, clearly pleased with his work.
[Alright, let’s go with this design!].
_____
At Live Broadcast Room, seeing Lu Chen’s design, the comment section erupted with activity.
[So is Li Weimin the protagonist, or is it A? A feels more like the lead to me.].
[Yeah, I think so too. A is young and plays a key role in exposing Tazhai’s drug operations. Definitely feels like a protagonist.].
[But A seems like a reckless type. Wouldn’t that be less appealing? There are already plenty of similar protagonists out there…].
[Dude, watch it. The police are watching!].
[My bad, haha!].
[Honestly, the character design for A feels pretty average to me.].
In the judges’ room, the panelists frowned slightly at the unfolding scene.
“Ten to one, A is the protagonist of this story,” Xu Ping commented.
“Li Weimin is too senior in rank, and Lu Chen himself said he wouldn’t have him directly confront Lin Yaodong. That means Li Weimin’s screen time will be limited, while A, as the story’s driving force, will naturally have more scenes.”
Yan Gelin nodded.
“That makes sense, Teacher Xu. A, being the key character who pushes the plot forward, is very likely the protagonist. Teacher Liu, what’s your take?”
Liu Heping, looking calm and composed, replied indifferently, “I think so too.”
“Then it’s settled. A is the protagonist!” Yan Gelin affirmed.
As the discussion continued, Chen Sicheng appeared uninterested.
Who cares who the protagonist is? He didn’t believe for a second that Lu Chen’s story would succeed.
Two hours to write an anti-drug drama? What a joke!
If he could pull it off, Chen Sicheng swore he’d change his surname to match Lu Chen’s.
While Chen Sicheng was silently ranting, an urgent ringtone suddenly broke the tension in the judges’ room.
Xiao Sa, reacting instinctively, stood up immediately.
“One hour has passed!”
He quickly picked up the remote and announced it to all 64 live broadcast rooms.
“Attention, contestants! The first hour has ended. Please manage your remaining time wisely!”
______
In the Room, hearing that there were only two hours left, Lu Chen clicked his tongue.
Has a third of the time already passed?
It seemed he needed to speed up. After all, before formally starting the story’s narrative, he still needed to reserve about twenty minutes of thinking time to pretend he was carefully plotting things out.
Calculating further, that left him about an hour and forty minutes for actual writing. And with a few more thinking breaks in between, his effective writing time would be even less.
Great.
Clearly, finishing the entire story was out of the question…
After all, Breaking the Ice had over forty episodes. Even if he worked nonstop for the full two hours, he probably wouldn’t be able to copy it all down…
Better to keep pushing and improvising as I go, Lu Chen thought to himself. I’ll write what I can, and as long as I make it to the next round, that’s a win.
He wasn’t overly concerned about his current ranking. For him, advancing to the next stage was already a victory. After all, winning the championship was his ultimate goal!
With that thought, Lu Chen continued his deduction.
[So now I need to think about the relationship between Li Weimin and A.
Do they know each other?
If they don’t, A will need to build enough trust in Li Weimin to maintain cooperation and exchange intelligence. The advantage of this setup is that it can extend the plot and add some filler content. But the downside is also clear.
A, while young, brave, and occasionally reckless, is detail-oriented. Having worked in the grassroots police force of Dongshan City for years, he’s well aware of the intricate clan relationships and deep-rooted power structures in the area.
Many police officers are related to these clans by blood or marriage. As a result, A is distrustful of certain colleagues around him. Convincing him to trust a stranger like Li Weimin would be a challenging process. This setup could slow down the story’s pace and even drag the narrative.
However, if I design Li Weimin and A to already know each other and have a deep, established relationship, then all those shortcomings can be ignored!
This would not only keep the plot tighter but also allow the story to dive straight into the anti-drug theme. Two birds with one stone!
So, after weighing the pros and cons, the conclusion is—Li Weimin and A should be designed as acquaintances with a strong bond.
This setup will likely produce better results and be more conducive to the plot’s development!].
_____
At the Live Broadcast Room, the viewers couldn’t help but be impressed after seeing this.
[That analysis and reasoning! Lu Chen, you should consider writing detective novels instead!].
[Wait, is this how scripts are written? OMG, this is so mentally exhausting!].
_____
At Jiaxing Headquarters, Boss Yang’s eyes lit up as she watched.
She thought to herself, This kid really has some skills! Writing a story like this is truly impressive!
So much so that she was still undecided about whether to buy the script.
But Lu Chen himself…
Yang Mi was seriously considering signing him instead!