Restart life

Chapter 202-0199 [A Bloodbath Triggered by a Steamed Bun]

The growth rate of Weibo's paying users is faster than Chen Guiliang had anticipated.

He wanted to promote the "microblog" concept, but no major internet companies followed suit, and only a few media outlets mentioned it casually.

The article published by Internet Weekly stirred up readers' emotions and mainly focused on the competition between Kaixin001 and Cyworld between China and South Korea.

But it doesn’t matter!
ByteDance can use any media outlet that writes a few words to create a story.

Xie Yang arranged for people to post on Baidu Tieba and forums every day, saying that "microblogging" was a new direction for the development of online social networking, and that major Chinese internet companies were paying attention.

Some netizens are inevitably drawn to it.

The number of users paying to open a mobile Weibo account is increasing by more than 160 per day. The trend is steady and upward.

Especially those who receive monthly phone credit subsidies, they have so much credit they can't possibly use it all, and they end up spending it all at the end of the month. As long as these people understand the concept of Weibo, they're very willing to try it out, since it's not like they're paying for it themselves.

These people also share their mobile phone Weibo posts with their colleagues.

It often goes like this:
"Look, Yu Quan sent another MMS message. Chen Yufan is walking his dog in the neighborhood."

"When did this happen?"

Just now.

"how do you know?"

"Haha, I have his Weibo account, so I can get updates from him anytime."

"That's amazing! How did you do that?"

"I'll teach you how to do it... Oh, and remember to follow me. You won't receive Weibo updates on your phone if you just follow me normally."

It's a fashion statement, something you can show off.

……

Zhongguancun Cinema is right next to ByteDance and Youke.

Bian Guanyue stared at the poster for a long time: "How about we choose 'The Promise'? This movie has a really strong promotion, there are ads for it outside our school."

Although Chen Guiliang didn't care what he watched, he still sincerely reminded him: "Actually, you can think about it more carefully. Director Chen's films in recent years are hard to describe."

“I quite like his ‘Farewell My Concubine’,” Bian Guanyue said.

Chen Guiliang said, "From the producer to the screenwriter, from the investors to the lead actors, everyone in 'Farewell My Concubine' can keep Director Chen from being willful."

Chen Guiliang believes that "Farewell My Concubine" was personally directed by Chen Da, because Chen Da truly had the ability, and his father would not have been able to make it.

However, this person is prone to letting loose and has a truly unusual thought process.

Bian Guanyue looked up at the film schedule. Besides "The Promise", there were also "Perhaps Love", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "The Imperial Concubine's Smile".

Films not yet released but scheduled for Christmas include: A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella, Ride Alone for Thousands of Miles, King Kong, and Shopaholics.

"Then let's choose 'Perhaps Love'." Bian Guanyue mainly chose it because of the words "musical".

Chen Guiliang readily agreed, even though he had no interest in the film.

Chen Guiliang took Bian Guanyue to queue up to buy tickets, and also bought some cola and popcorn.

With 40 minutes to go before the movie started, the two chose a corner to sit down and chat.

"Listen to my nursery rhyme." Bian Guanyue handed over an earphone from the MP3 player.

Chen Guiliang accepted it with a smile; he had heard it many times before.

He suggested to Bian Guanyue that she write a Chinese-style song with opera elements, but the result was completely different.

The song features spoken word in Sichuan dialect, a pop-style verse, a chorus in the high-pitched style of Sichuan opera, and a nursery rhyme-like ending.

It sounds strange yet has a unique charm.

Chen Guiliang closed his eyes, and through his earphones came Bian Guanyue's dialect recitation, imitating a child's voice:

"Blue stone slabs, hopscotch, toes dotting the morning dew."

Rolling iron hoops, clanging and clattering, chasing butterflies over the courtyard wall.

Grandma called out, "Hurry back inside!" The aroma of food wafted through the air as she tugged at her skirt.

A sip of sweetness, a tap of sesame candy, clinging to the child's bygone days.

There's a verse in the middle that's sung in a pop style.

Next comes the high-pitched Sichuan opera singing with a faster tempo:
"The kite, held by its string, flies into the center of the clouds."

Holding a handful of mud, I'll mold a little figure.

The cicadas sing throughout the long summer, and the ground beneath the trees is their sleeping bed.

In my dream, the palm-leaf fan sways and sways, shattering a river of starlight into a bright brilliance…

The last section is a Sichuan folk rhyme about hide-and-seek, the children's voices fading into the distance.

To be honest, the transitions between sections weren't very smooth, and Bian Guanyue hasn't quite grasped the essence of Chinese-style singing. Her singing style is too formal, not popular or accessible enough.

It's a bit of a mishmash.

After listening to the song with Chen Guiliang, Bian Guanyue said, "Many people on my Renren and Kaixin message boards say this song is well-written. But I always feel that something is wrong, there's a kind of... well, disconnect."

Chen Guiliang suggested, "Could the initial children's dialect recitation be turned into a dialect rap? It should be laid-back and casual, like someone lying in bed reminiscing about their childhood. The opera-style chorus shouldn't be so traditional; try to make it more pop."

Bian Guanyue thought carefully: "I can give it a try."

She's really bored; besides attending classes, her only hobbies are writing and singing songs.

Just as Bian Guanyue was about to speak, Chen Guiliang raised his index finger and shushed her.

Chen Guiliang saw Guo Fengzi, who was queuing with a girl to buy movie tickets.

Judging from Guo Feng's awkward demeanor, Chen Guiliang knew that the woman next to him was the legendary senior sister.

Just as Senior Brother Min said, this senior sister was not particularly beautiful.

But it gives people a feeling of cleanliness and purity, as if it is unpolluted by the filth of the world, like a quietly blooming orchid in a secluded valley.

"Two half-price tickets for 'The Promise,' and we have student IDs."

A founding shareholder of ByteDance pulled out his student ID and demanded to buy a half-price ticket.

Guo Feng turned around and asked, "Do you want a Coke?"

My senior sister said, "Drink."

Guo Feng asked again, "Do you want some popcorn?" His senior sister replied, "Yes."

"Then I'll buy it for you." Guo Feng became happy.

The two of them, holding cola and popcorn, chose a place to sit down.

Then, we didn't know what to talk about.

After a long pause, Guo Feng finally asked, "Were you involved in the project?"

The senior sister said, "Yes, I'll do odd jobs for the teachers and senior brothers and sisters."

Guo Feng didn't know how to continue the conversation, so he blurted out, "This is my first time going to the cinema to watch a movie."

My senior said, "Me too."

“But I’ve seen it on the computer.”

"No. I watched VCDs when I was in junior high school. My dad likes to watch martial arts movies."

"I heard that The Promise is a very good movie."

"do not know."

Have you seen "Farewell My Concubine"?

"No?"

What about "A Chinese Odyssey"?

“I’ve heard my roommate mention it before.”

The conversation between these two was like kindergarten children playing house.

……

Screening room.

Chen Guiliang was dozing off; he was trying very hard not to fall asleep.

Bian Guanyue, however, watched with great interest; the musical was quite to her liking. But occasionally she would frown, feeling that the plot didn't suit her taste.

Having finally finished watching "Perhaps Love," Chen Guiliang stretched and left.

As Bian Guanyue walked, she said, "The character played by Jacky Cheung is not well-developed enough; he's just a tool to drive the plot. As for the love story... how should I evaluate it? It seems like love is just for the sake of love, and the motivation for the love lacks persuasiveness. It's like the director assigned them a love task. However, the song and dance numbers are excellent."

"Because the director's ambition was too great," Chen Guiliang commented, "He wanted to cram everything in, and the song and dance numbers took up too much time, resulting in many things remaining superficial and not being explained clearly. It's neither profound nor simple enough, hanging in mid-air, neither here nor there. It's just awkward. I guess the director won't try this kind of approach again."

Bian Guanyue said, "I don't know if 'The Promise' is any good."

At this very moment, Guo Feng and his senior sister are still sitting in the movie theater.

"Hahahaha!"

A burst of laughter erupted, making it seem as if "The Promise" was a comedy.

Lines that should be touching often end up making the audience burst into laughter. For example: "You ruined my chance to be a good person."

The senior student said to Guo Feng, "This movie is so boring."

"Should we leave early?" Guo Feng asked.

"Okay." After saying that, the senior sister bent down and walked out, not wanting to waste time in the movie theater.

Guo Feng cursed the director a hundred times in his heart; his first date in his life had been ruined just like that!

……

Far away in Shanghai, Han Han walked out of the movie theater.

Out of courtesy, he agreed to write articles on Sina Blog while keeping his Kaixin001 account.

But he hasn't written a single blog post in the last two or three months.

Too lazy to write.

At this moment, Han Han really wanted to complain; she simply couldn't hold it in.

He suddenly remembered that Kaixin.com had helped him set up a mobile Weibo account.

Han Han couldn't wait to get home and touch her computer, so she took out her phone and took a picture of the movie ticket.

Then he typed: "The Promise is just an epic self-indulgent rave by Chen Kaige and a bunch of gods. Every aspect of this movie is rife with the folly of rich people. From the script to the acting, it's a complete disaster!"

Click Send.

Although this guy hasn't updated his Kaixin.com status for several months, he still has a group of fans who pay close attention to him, including more than 300 people who have activated the mobile Weibo function.

Including Xie Yang.

Xie Yang was having a late-night snack with his roommate when he received a text message from Han Han on Weibo. He immediately called the staff on duty and said, "Mobilize the online army to spread the word that Han Han posted on Weibo."

This lousy movie has received a lot of criticism.

Even Chen Kaige's ex-wife posted a sarcastic comment on her Sina blog: "Some directors used 300 million yuan to prove that they are 30,000 feet off the ground."

Hu Ge, also from Shanghai, has worked as a radio host, music producer, and recording engineer.

He is currently a freelancer, occasionally taking on sound effects jobs for animated films and commercials, and also running a Taobao store selling audio equipment.

Hu Ge endured two agonizing hours, and when he walked out of the movie theater, he felt terrible.

Back in his rented room, Hu Ge began to conceive the script, and "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" was quickly completed.

Then it took several more days to produce and edit the video.

He was unaware of the existence of Tudou.com; he had simply sent the video to a few close friends.

Friends, always eager for a good show, uploaded the video to Tudou.com.

Tudou.com thus broke out of its niche, and within just a few days, the video became known throughout the country.

The main method of dissemination is as follows: A white-collar worker is working while using QQ when a friend sends him a video link. After watching the video, the worker tries to suppress his laughter so hard his stomach hurts, then forwards the link to other friends…

It quickly became a popular online search term, even ranking much higher than "The Promise".

Tudou.com hadn't done anything, yet its user base inexplicably surged, prompting Wang Wei to quickly upgrade the servers.

Chen Guiliang acted quickly, placing Zhang Liangying's Weibo ad in the ad titled "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun".

Anyone who watches "Mantou" will see the Weibo ads!

(End of this chapter)