This director is vindictive.

Chapter 158: Cowardly, snobbish, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and domestic violence?
"Mi, do you want to bet with me too?" Chen Mo said while touching the melon.

The main thing is to hit the ball whether there are dates or not.

"What bet?" Yang Mi looked confused.

"Didn't you also star in 'Lost Dynasty'? Let's bet on the box office of 'Lost Dynasty' and 'Dying to Survive'!" Chen Mo said. He had tasted the sweetness with Fan Binbin, so to keep things fair, Da Mi Mi also starred in 'Lost Dynasty'!

"You're crazy, why should I bet with you? I'm just a guest star, and you think I'm stupid? Guo Xiaosi is mysteriously confident. I tried to persuade him before, but he made fun of me, saying that he had no confidence in "Jade Dynasty" because of our relationship. Why should I bet with you? I'm not crazy." Yang Mi slapped Chen Mo in annoyance and complained.

Chen Mo felt a little bored. "Woman, can't you just cooperate a little? There's really no fun at all!"

What a pity. If Yang Mi had also made a bet with me, I might have been able to truly experience being hugged by women on both sides, although I might also be beaten to death by an angry woman.

"No, something's wrong with you!" Suddenly Yang Mi turned over and sat up, looking at Chen Mo suspiciously.

"Did you make a bet with Fan Binbin? Did she really make a bet with you?" Yang Mi suddenly became excited.

"Um, why are you so excited?" Chen Mo was speechless.

"Tell me quickly, did she make a bet with you? What did you bet on?" Yang Mi asked excitedly.

"Well, okay, it's indeed a bet. The bet is that if you lose, you have to promise the other party something." Chen Mo said leisurely.

"Tsk tsk, she usually looks so smart, how come she becomes a fool at the critical moment? Hahaha! Where does her confidence come from? She doesn't want to lose to you on purpose, does she?" Yang Mi was puzzled, but it didn't stop her from gloating.

However, at this moment, Chen Mo was completely attracted by the amazing sight of the hanging clock in front of him, and had no time to answer Yang Mi's question.

Just act rashly and it will be over.

The special preview screening of "Dying to Survive" for thousands of people has officially begun.

Although 3 billion is not a big number, it still adds a lot of topics to the movie.

Many people are curious about where Chen Mo gets his confidence from. After all, so far, only one domestic film, The Mermaid, has surpassed this number.

Although compared with Guo Xiaosi, Chen Mo's boasting seems to be more reliable, it is only because there is Guo Xiaosi as a comparison.

In fact, three billion is still an exaggerated number.

"Do you think Chen Mo is just bragging, or does he really have the confidence? Or is it purely for movie promotion?" Douban film critic Zhou Xiaobin asked his old friend Bai Yue next to him with a smile before the movie officially started.

"You'll know in a moment, but I do agree with one thing he said." Bai Yue said with a smile.

"What?" Zhou Xiaobin was puzzled.

"A movie that is kept secret must not be very good." Bai Yue said.

"Haha, this is true! However, the advanced screening and the large-scale screening show that Chen Mo is really confident in this movie. I specially learned about Cheng Yong's deeds, and I have to say, it is really amazing. I just don't know what it will be like if it is adapted into a movie." Zhou Xiaobin laughed.

This time, the preview screening for thousands of people included not only film critics and media reporters, but also ordinary audiences.

Of course, most of the audience who were able to grab tickets first were Chen Mo’s fans.

Soon, the movie officially began.

However, the appearance of Cheng Yong, played by Huang Bo, surprised film critics such as Bai Yue and Zhou Xiaobin, because they had done their homework before this, such as understanding the deeds of the prototype character.

The prototype of Cheng Yong is not the owner of a magic oil shop.

Of course, it was just a surprise. After all, reality is reality and movies are movies.

In fact, before coming, they had guessed how Chen Mo would present this movie.

However, in the first few minutes of the scene, bursts of laughter were heard from time to time in the theater, which made film critics such as Zhou Xiaobin and Bai Yue frown.

Because they thought the movie "Dying to Survive" should be a serious and heavy drama, but they didn't expect that it would open in a magic oil shop, giving people a "comedy" atmosphere from the beginning.

However, they have to admit that this opening is undoubtedly very successful from a business perspective.

Through a comparative "comedy" approach, Cheng Yong's background and character setting in the movie are introduced.

Cheng Yong, a greasy middle-aged man who sells magic oil.

He sold health supplements from a small street stall, specializing in Ah San Shen Oil. Business was poor, and even the Shanghainese-speaking hotel owner nearby couldn't help save the Shen Oil's decline amidst the dominance of Viagra. Cheng Yong couldn't even pay his rent and was avoiding the landlord's calls.

When Cheng Yong returned home that night, his father was practically paralyzed, being fed by a babysitter. His father was agitated because he had received a call from his ex-daughter-in-law, who wanted to take their children abroad. The old man disagreed with his grandson immigrating abroad, and neither did Cheng Yong. Cheng Yong took the lunch box and spoon and fed his father, a scene both poignant and heartwarming.

In summary, through these scenes, Cheng Yong’s identity and character background are outlined.

He is a common man, cowardly, snobbish, and a bully of the weak, but he loves his son and father.

The subsequent development of the plot makes people frown. Why? Because the character of Cheng Yong is really not likable.

Not only is it unpleasant, but it can also easily make people disgusted.

Because he is actually a domestic violence man!

It can be said that this role did surprise many people.

Although everyone understands that this is probably the movie's method of first criticizing and then praising, how can we justify the character of Cheng Yong?
This also introduces his brother-in-law, Cao Bin, a policeman. Facing the furious brother-in-law, he seems at a loss, which makes the image of a failed middle-aged man more three-dimensional.

However, what surprised them was that although the character of Cheng Yong looked unlikable, he was explained very clearly and the story was also told in a linear narrative style, which made it easier for the audience to immerse themselves in the story more intuitively.

Even from the beginning of the movie to this point, there has only been Cheng Yong's line.

Back to the movie, the plot finally reaches a turning point.

The hotel owner introduced leukemia patient Lü Shouyi to Cheng Yong, asking him to bring Gleevec, a potent leukemia drug, from India. As a small health supplement shop owner, Cheng Yong immediately realized that this was drug smuggling, a criminal act, and decisively and rudely rejected Lü Shouyi's offer.

This scene can be said to be somewhat unexpected, but it is also reasonable.

Since he has such a personality, how did he end up on this path?

So at this time, we need to force him, and the foreshadowing laid before begins to take effect.

His father's condition worsened, and surgery required money. With nowhere else to raise the money, Cheng Yong frantically searched the cluttered shop for Lü Shouyiqiang's business card. Alone at a late-night snack stall, three empty beer bottles on the table, Cheng Yong debated whether to commit illegal acts to secure the funds for his father's surgery.

Zhou Xiaobin and others all knew the deeds of Cheng Yong in the original version, but at this moment they had to sigh that this adaptation was indeed more dramatic.

At the same time, Cheng Yong's motives also became logical.

The high cost of surgery and the difficult financial situation forced Cheng Yong to take risks, so he naturally found Lu Shouyi.

Lu Shouyi told Cheng Yong that the genuine Gleevec, a special medicine for treating a certain type of leukemia, is extremely expensive, costing tens of thousands of yuan per bottle. However, there is a generic drug in India that has the same efficacy but is cheaper. However, Indian Gleevec is a banned drug in China and does not have an official approval number. This means that it is impossible to bring the drug from India into the country through official channels and it can only be brought in privately.

This behavior is considered smuggling and selling fake drugs, and serious cases may result in a prison sentence of more than 15 years. At first, Cheng Yong refused, but his father's condition worsened and required expensive surgery, and he had no savings. In the end, he decided to go this route to see if he could earn enough money for his father's surgery.

Bai Yue also had to sigh that Chen Mo really put in a lot of effort to make the plot reasonable.

Because of the character Cheng Yong, he started to take risks, and he had to give a reasonable reason, a reason that would make everyone accept him doing such a thing, and it couldn't just be for the sake of making money.

The reason behind it must be acceptable to everyone, so raising money for his father's medical treatment is obviously a very appropriate reason. In fact, the reaction of the audience at the scene can tell. They are all very quiet, which means that they accepted Cheng Yong's approach from the beginning.

Moreover, this kind of thing can easily make people feel involved. If you encounter such a thing, even if you know that the consequences may be serious, will you do it?
It can be said that Cheng Yong is indeed not likable, but at least he is not a bad person! He also has the shining points of a small person.

When they arrived in India, Cheng Yong's conversation with the pharmaceutical factory owner made film critics like Zhou Xiaobin sit up straight.

"Do you want to be a savior?"

"I don't want to be a savior, I want to make money!"

"Life is money!"

Cheng Yong was not so noble at this time. Of course, this is also human nature.

After all, his original intention was not to be a savior! It was to make money! And he said the most cruel yet true words. For those patients, money is life, and for Cheng Yong at this moment, life is money!

After some operations, Cheng Yong bought the medicine. Except for a very small amount taken by Lu Shouyi, the other medicines needed to be sold. However, the process of selling the medicines was not smooth. Many patients did not know the efficacy of Indian Gleevec and refused to take it. Lu Shouyi and Cheng Yong tried their best but failed to sell a single bottle of medicine.

This is normal and realistic.

Cheng Yong was naturally dissatisfied with the setback in selling medicine, because he was already penniless and was counting on these medicines to make him money.

But the patients didn't believe them at all.

Finally, Lu Shouyi thought of Liu Sihui, the group leader of the patient group!

Liu Sihui's appearance can be said to be extremely erotic. For the first time, noise appeared in the theater. Although it was only 20 seconds long, Liu Sihui's pole dancing scene still made many people smile.

Liu Sihui, one of the core members of the medicine sales team, is here!

Liu Sihui's daughter is a leukemia patient. As the group leader of several patient groups, Liu Sihui knew about Indian Gleevec. After trying Indian Gleevec, she found that it was indeed effective. With her promotion, Indian Gleevec started to sell well.

However, the scene of meeting fellow patients for the first time also made people feel complicated.

As mentioned before, they paid tens of thousands for a bottle of genuine medicine, and they had been taking it for so long, but Cheng Yong’s medicine only cost 5,000, and they still thought it was expensive!

The complexity of human nature can be said to be fully reflected here.

During one of his drug sales, a man named Huang Mao appeared to steal the medicine. After a chase, Cheng Yong discovered that Huang Mao was very poor and couldn't even afford the 2000 yuan bottle of Indian Gleevec. However, he was kind-hearted and shared some of the stolen medicine with other poor patients. Cheng Yong, moved by his compassion, recruited Huang Mao to join the drug sales team.

The medicine was selling well, and they needed to expand their business. With Lv Shouyi's recommendation, they found Pastor Liu, who was leukemia-stricken and spoke English. After some persuasion, Pastor Liu joined the team.

Cheng Yong's words of persuasion to Pastor Liu were also heartbreaking.

Although it sounds funny, after laughing, it makes people feel sad from the bottom of their hearts.

Cheng Yong constantly bragged, "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda." Seeing that Pastor Liu was determined not to join the bandwagon, he even uttered, "If I don't go to hell, who will?" Pastor Liu was moved, not because of his profound understanding of the doctrine or his devout faith. The reason he was reluctant, even after all, to pick up the long-distance call and act as an interpreter, was because Cheng Yong offered a simple inducement: I'll give your church members a discount on medicine.

The medicine sales team assembled and sold out the medicine quickly.

As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, but it is obvious that Cheng Yong has passed the most difficult stage.

Cheng Yong went to India again and obtained the "domestic agency rights" of Indian Gleevec, got a smuggling ship, and finally opened up the channel from the pharmaceutical factory to the patients. The career of the five-person team reached its peak.

Everything seemed to be going in a good direction. Cheng Yong made money, and Lu Shouyi, Huang Mao and Liu Sihui's daughter could all have medicine to buy.

Pastor Liu can provide discounted medicine to his congregants.

"When I first became ill, my wife was only six months pregnant, and I felt like dying every day. Now I have medicine and money. If my son had had a baby sooner, I could have become a grandfather." Lv Shouyi has truly benefited from purchasing smuggled drugs. He can now lead a normal life, spend time with his family, and care for his children. He brought Cheng Yong to his home to visit the children, and his words were filled with gratitude to Cheng Yong, love for his children, and a desire to live.

The first climax occurred when the team went to the nightclub where Liu Sihui often worked for team building.

The nightclub manager wanted to force Liu Sihui to go on stage to dance, but at this moment Cheng Yong was no longer the same person as before.

As the saying goes, money is a man's courage, and this can be said to be fully demonstrated at this time.

When Cheng Yong threw money at the nightclub manager, the manager said, "Just wait for me."

This was originally a common expression used by men when they were arguing fiercely and needed help to fight.

As a result, before he finished speaking, the camera turned and the manager started pole dancing on the stage.

Such an extreme contrast of "saying one thing and doing another" naturally constitutes a kind of black humor that is eye-catching.

While the manager was dancing, Liu Sihui was the loudest in her booing. She shouted, "Take off your pants! Take off your pants!"

When Cheng Yong looked at her, the camera gave a close-up of Liu Sihui's expression. It was an expression of smile with tears. While she was smiling triumphantly, her eyes were filled with tears.

This scene can be said to be the most enjoyable scene for the audience to watch in the movie so far.

After the team building was over, Cheng Yong started to have feelings for Liu Sihui. This twists and turns in the play made many viewers come back to their senses from the previous comedy atmosphere.

Liu Sihui's daughter's numb look made it impossible to laugh.

Because when the little girl saw Cheng Yong sitting on her mother's bed wearing only underwear, she was neither surprised nor curious, but showed indifference and gloominess that was completely inconsistent with her age.

Liu Sihui's family thus came into the audience's attention.

Ballet photos hanging on the wall reveal that Liu Sihui was a ballet dancer with a respectable career before her daughter fell ill. Leaving Northeast China for Shanghai, switching from ballet to pole dancing, and single-handedly caring for her ailing daughter were all choices Liu Sihui was forced to make.

But no matter how difficult the situation was, she did not choose to become a prostitute, nor did she choose to abandon her daughter. She still stubbornly adhered to her moral bottom line, which was considered to be the lowest in the eyes of ordinary people, and held on to her little remaining dignity.

When Cheng Yong fled in panic and Liu Sihui closed the door, a smile of relief unconsciously appeared on the corner of her mouth.

This scene made the audience unable to laugh anymore.

After the climax comes the ending, and the same is true for "Dying to Survive". The team-building scene can be said to be the climax of Cheng Yong and the drug-selling team, and it is also the climax of the first plot.

Sure enough, soon there was another turning point.

A patient's family member came to Cheng Yong, saying their mother's symptoms had worsened after taking Indian Gleevec. After some investigation, Cheng Yong discovered someone else selling Indian Gleevec: Zhang Changlin, a longtime counterfeit drug dealer. They discovered that the Indian Gleevec sold by Zhang Changlin was actually a "fake drug," essentially made of flour. It wouldn't kill, but it had no therapeutic effect.

Four of the five members of the team were suffering from leukemia. Unable to bear watching so many fellow patients being deceived, they staged a scene at the conference. In the end, everyone was taken to the police station.

The widespread circulation of Indian Gleevec caught the attention of pharmaceutical representatives of genuine Gleevec, who reported the case. Due to its significant impact, the case was transferred to the criminal police, led by Cheng Yong's former brother-in-law, Cao Bin. Cao Bin was investigating Indian Gleevec, as was drug dealer Zhang Changlin. Although the five-person team was cautious, the major drug dealer, with his long experience in the pharmaceutical industry, quickly tracked down Cheng Yong.

Zhang Changlin reported Cheng Yong and then tipped him off, using the police to intimidate him. Cheng Yong's financial crisis was resolved, and under Zhang Changlin's coercion and inducement, he sold the Indian Gleevec channel to him for two million yuan.

At the farewell dinner, Cheng Yong argued with them and said, "I'm just a magic oil seller. How can I manage so many people? I have elderly parents and young children to take care of. What will they do if I get arrested?"

The other four members of the five-person team were undoubtedly disappointed with Cheng Yong.

But at this moment, the audience in the theater, such as Zhou Xiaobin, were somewhat amazed by this turn.

It can be said that this is similar to the situation where Cheng Yong was forced to take risks before.

Cheng Yong is just a small person, he only has his family in his heart, he can't afford to lose his family by committing crimes and smuggling. No one can blame him, everyone gathers together for the love of their family, when the cost of losing is too high, they naturally give up.

(End of this chapter)