"Taotie has devoured too many Evil Thoughts, eventually giving rise to an extremely evil presence inside. To remain sane, it sealed this extremely evil self within the great cauldron. Later, after another grave crisis, Little Taotie was split off as a smaller existence, creating three distinct personalities. If I choose the third story, I will have to play characters with three different personalities, and I’m afraid I won’t do well."

Xiao Chen looked at the little Little Taotie, finding it hard to imagine her playing an extremely evil character.

"It sounds very challenging."

Little Taotie sighed, "I need to really learn from my teacher how to play a villain."

Her ability to play villains still couldn’t match her teacher’s.

Little Taotie recalled the time when her teacher played the Big Demon who kills children, with such lifelike portrayal, yet innocent, as if what he did was, in his mind, a trivial matter and not wrong.

Villains never think of themselves as villains, nor do they feel their actions are wrong. It’s this kind of character portrayal that gives off an extremely evil vibe.

For true evil is innate, revealed in the details.

When Chen Zi visited the director of the Time-Space Monster Management Bureau, he wasn’t just using the identity of Little Taotie’s assistant, but as Chairman Cheng’s representative and the show’s investor.

The director, upon learning that Little Taotie liked these three stories, gave a big thumbs up, lavishly praising her for being smart and having good taste.

"The author of the first story has already passed away, so changing the ending is impossible. If someone else were to alter this ending, I feel it would disrespect the entire work. The deceased’s family also doesn’t want us to do so. Making it into a short video might be possible, but specifically, I still need to discuss with the deceased author’s family before making a decision."

Chen Zi hadn’t expected the author of the first story to be deceased, no wonder the ending wasn’t favorable. He inquired further, "Does the ending... reflect any particular meaning?"

"Actually, this story was crafted based on some of the author’s real experiences. The final ending mirrors the author’s early death somewhat. Perhaps when writing this ending, the author was already aware of the worsening condition, thus penning this rather bleak conclusion." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"That’s indeed a little unfortunate," Chen Zi sighed.

...

Recently, Little Taotie noticed that Chen Zi would often sneak away to make phone calls.

Following Chen Zi into the lounge, Little Taotie pressed her little ear against the door to eavesdrop.

The passing staff noticed the little girl’s sneaky demeanor but didn’t reveal her.

"After investigating, it’s all true? I want to fund the filming of this movie."

"I’ll inform Chairman Cheng. If my money isn’t enough, I’ll borrow some from him."

"Got it, you go ahead and buy the script first."

After hanging up, Chen Zi let out a breath.

Little Taotie, confused by what she heard, knocked on the door.

Chen Zi opened it and looked down to see the tiny figure looking up with a childish voice, "I have money, you can borrow from me."

Chen Zi was taken aback, then laughed, "And here I thought nobody’s in a hurry to lend money out! Aren’t you afraid I won’t pay you back?"

Little Taotie lifted her chin, her childish voice a bit smug, "If Brother Chen Zi doesn’t pay back, I’ll just deduct your salary until it’s fully repaid."

"Oh! So you have a backup plan!" Chen Zi tapped her smooth, fair little forehead, "In fact, you should know about this, don’t you really like the story of the first script despite thinking the ending isn’t good?"

Little Taotie recalled and remembered such a thing, then asked, "Has the author agreed to change the ending?"

Chen Zi lowered his eyes, sighing softly, "The author has already passed away."