Chapter 226: Don’t Bully This Young Lady Anymore
Chapter 226: Don’t Bully This Young Lady Anymore
Seeing that everyone below still looked somewhat confused, Eric said again, “Actually, I already have quite a few ideas for this story. After the meeting ends, I’ll have someone hand them to you as reference. At the same time, I’ll give you a few more hints. Mulder’s ultimate goal is to find clues about his sister’s disappearance, and perhaps even eventually find his sister. Through memories recovered by deep hypnosis, he discovers that his sister’s disappearance is related to alien abduction. Therefore, he will record, classify, and mark the supernatural phenomena he encounters. Through his professional sensitivity, Mulder will select information that may be useful and piece it together like a child’s jigsaw puzzle, ultimately forming a complete trail pointing toward the Bretans’ colonization conspiracy. You can add a scene in every episode where Mulder takes notes.”
The idea for the subtitle “Puzzle” was something Eric had come up with on the spot. In the original version, Dana Scully was the one who often recorded the supernatural phenomena they encountered, but in the episodes Eric had watched, he had not noticed any special purpose behind Scully taking notes. Since that was the case, Eric felt it would be better to use this idea on the male lead instead. Moreover, the “puzzle” plot could also arouse viewers’ speculation and curiosity. This kind of suspense setup had always been a major tool for attracting popularity in American dramas.
This time, after Eric finished speaking, the writers raised no further concerns. After all, they were the best group of science-fiction writers jointly found by Fox and Firefly. If Eric had not only provided the general background, but would also give them his own plot concepts as reference, then if the combined strength of eight people still failed to produce a script, they would not deserve their reputations.
After another half hour of detailed discussion, Eric finally summarized, “Then, next, you have two months to produce a script that satisfies me. At the end of the year, Firefly and Fox will jointly produce a sample episode. I hope everyone won’t disappoint the audience. If there are no other questions, the meeting is adjourned.”
Everyone left one after another. Eric quietly discussed matters with Allen while quickly organizing the materials in front of him into a folder. When he raised his head, he saw Elizabeth still sitting at the end of the long conference table, her chin propped on her right hand as she looked at him curiously.
“What are we going to CAA for next?”
“You’ll know when we get there. Don’t cause trouble. Let me finish reading this material.”
Eric was too lazy to explain and waved his hand.
Elizabeth snorted angrily, but she no longer disturbed Eric and turned her head to the other side.
“Eric!”
As soon as Eric walked into a reception room inside the CAA building, a small figure rushed toward him.
Eric picked up Stuart Runkle, spun him around once, then put him down and rubbed the little guy’s head with a smile. “You’ve grown quite a bit taller.”
“You’re still that tall.”
Standing in front of Eric and tilting his head up, little Stu looked Eric up and down. “Eric, looks like you won’t grow anymore.”
Eric smiled and rubbed the little guy’s head again. “Don’t act like a little adult. An eight-year-old child should look like an eight-year-old child.”
“What should an eight-year-old child look like?” Little Stu asked in a very “world-weary” tone. Seeing Eric walk toward his parents, he shrugged and turned to size up the others who had come with Eric. When he saw the tall and beautiful Elizabeth, the little guy’s eyes immediately lit up. He approached her and revealed an innocent smile. “Hi, hello!”
Elizabeth had already felt this little guy looked familiar. At this moment, she finally realized who he was. Overflowing with maternal affection, she crouched down and touched Stuart’s head, her face full of surprise. “You’re Kevin, Kevin from Home Alone.”
“My name is Stuart Runkle. You can call me Stu,” the little guy introduced himself. Then, pretending to be innocent, he said, “Miss, you’re really beautiful. Can I hug you?”
“Of course.”
Elizabeth did not think too much and smiled as she prepared to hug the little boy.
After greeting Stuart’s parents and the new agent named Brian Kuzman, Eric turned his head just in time to hear the little guy’s innocent request for a hug. With a bitter smile, he reached out and lifted the little guy away in one motion.
“Stu, don’t randomly take advantage of girls. It’s only been half a year since we last met. How did you turn into a little pervert?”
The little guy struggled twice and broke free from Eric’s hand. “Eric, you’re so stingy. I’m this small, I can’t do anything. Even if she’s your girl, a hug won’t make her lose a piece of flesh.”
“We’ll talk about these things when you’re eighteen. For now, honestly do what someone your age should be doing.”
Stuart was about to continue arguing, but Mrs. Runkle, worried that the little guy would anger Eric, quickly stepped forward with an apologetic smile and dragged him away.
However, Elizabeth, who had heard their brief exchange, had already fallen into a daze.
This… was really an eight-year-old child?
No one in the reception room cared about the woman’s thoughts. After a brief exchange, Eric took Allen, Charlson Runkle, and Stuart’s new agent into the small conference room nearby, leaving only Elizabeth and the Runkle mother and son in the outer room.
The reception room grew quiet. The little guy seemed not to notice anything around him. He ran to the sofa, pulled a Rubik’s Cube from a small schoolbag, and began playing with it by himself.
Feeling somewhat bored, Elizabeth also walked over and sat on the sofa. She picked up a magazine from the coffee table and casually flipped through it. Only Stuart’s mother stood by the door of the small conference room and listened for a while. She wanted to push the door open and go in, but although she reached out several times, she did not dare make any move. She could only pace back and forth in the open space by the small conference room door.
Elizabeth was reading the magazine when the childish voice sounded beside her ear again. “What’s your name?”
The woman raised her head and saw the boy constantly and rapidly turning a Rubik’s Cube much larger than his palm. “Are you asking me? You can call me… Liz.”
“I’m not that familiar with you, so I’ll call you Elizabeth.” After saying that, the little guy opened his pure eyes and continued asking, “Miss Elizabeth, are you Eric’s woman?”
“No.”
The woman instinctively felt that she should not keep chatting with this little guy, but she still had to answer the question. “I’m only his assistant.”
But as soon as she finished speaking, she heard a sound clearly carrying disdain.
“Tch.”
“Little guy, what do you mean by that?” The woman could not help putting down the magazine and raising her head to stare at the little boy.
Stuart told the truth. “I just think you’re a little hypocritical.”
“I’m… hypocritical?” The woman pointed at her own nose in disbelief. “On what basis are you saying I’m hypocritical?”
The little guy shrugged. “Eric didn’t let you follow him in just now, which means you’re only an irrelevant female assistant. Your salary definitely isn’t very high. If you’re not Eric’s woman, then where did you get the money to buy such expensive things? Just that Chanel bag of yours isn’t something your salary could afford.”
“My family is ten times richer than that bastard!” The woman completely forgot Stuart’s age and, like an angered little female cat, raised her voice to refute him.
“Oh.”
Hearing this, the little guy drew out the sound and nodded. “I understand now.”
Elizabeth sat back on the sofa, picked up the magazine, and forcefully flipped through several pages, deciding she would no longer pay attention to this little guy.
But the little guy did not let her go. “You like Eric, so instead of being a rich young lady, you came to be his assistant, right?”
Hearing that sentence, the woman immediately threw the decision she had just made to the back of her mind. “I do not like that bastard!”
The little guy sighed deeply. “Ah, women who say one thing and mean another. They’re even willing to deceive children.”
“You…”
The little guy was just about to continue teasing the woman when Mrs. Runkle, who had already been feeling extremely anxious, finally spoke. Her voice was slightly sharp.
“Stu, shut up. Don’t bully this young lady anymore.”