Restart life

Chapter 203 0200 [Getting up early to collect manure]

"On a certain day in a certain month of 2005, a bizarre murder occurred in a certain city. A masked knight killed Mr. Wang, the general manager of the Yuanyuan Entertainment City, in full view of everyone..."

"Manshen brand hair gel works great!"

"Hahahaha!"

Dormitory 404.

Every now and then, bursts of laughter would erupt.

The same situation has been occurring frequently these past few days.

Any dormitory with a computer would attract a group of students who would gather around and watch movies together.

In fact, "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" was mainly spread through downloads and copies. BT, Xunlei, eMule, and FlashGet were the real mediums that made it popular throughout the country.

The number of people who watched "Mantou" through Tudou.com and 56.com is probably less than 1% of the total audience.

But this was enough to significantly increase the number of users on Tudou.com.

"Hu Ge is so talented!" exclaimed Yuan Zhen, a junior from the next dormitory.

Another person asked, "How do you make this kind of video?"

"Video editing software. Actually, editing is very simple. The brilliance of 'Mantou' lies in its script and sound effects. Especially the sound effects, Hu Ge is definitely a professional."

"I want to make prank videos too. They're so much fun!"

"..."

Deng Chen, who lives in the dorm across the hall, chose law as his major in his freshman year.

He raised the question: "Besides using promotional material from 'The Promise,' 'The Steamed Bun' also contains some content from the actual film. This content likely came from pirated downloads. Will Chen Kaige sue them?"

"I reckon we'll be sued," Chen Guiliang said.

Upon hearing this, the students immediately began to discuss it.

"Do you think we can win this lawsuit against PetroChina?"

"Brother, the court has refused to accept the case."

"Even if it's not accepted, it's enough for law school faculty and students to write several papers."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't know yet? Three professors and three graduate students from Peking University have sued a subsidiary of CNPC, demanding 100 billion yuan in compensation for the treatment of pollution in the Songhua River!"

"100 billion?"

"..."

This incident has recently generated even more buzz at Peking University than the story of "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun".

The incident began in mid-last month when an explosion and fire at a workshop belonging to a subsidiary of PetroChina resulted in 100 tons of benzene-related pollutants entering the Songhua River. Earlier this month, faculty and students at Peking University filed an environmental public interest lawsuit, demanding that PetroChina pay 100 billion yuan in compensation to clean up the Songhua River.

The court refused to accept the case, stating that "this case is unrelated to the plaintiffs and is not within the scope of the court's jurisdiction."

In fact, Chen Kaige's potential lawsuit against "Mantou" for copyright infringement will be similar to the current lawsuit filed by Peking University students and faculty against PetroChina. Both cases involve ambiguous legal provisions, leading the courts to directly refuse to accept the cases!

It was almost lunchtime, so Chen Guiliang went to the cafeteria with the others.

When I left, my roommate Li Heng was still downloading VideoStudio via BitTorrent—he also wanted to make prank videos.

Moreover, Li Heng has his eye on "The Monkey King: Love Is Mad".

Walking along the campus paths, there are noticeably more students with their phones in hand.

Especially for students who just bought new phones during Christmas, many of them are still in the excitement of owning their first mobile phone. Even if they don't make calls or send text messages, they can't resist taking it out to play Snake.

Mobile phone prices have plummeted again in the past two months!

This is the third major price reduction for mobile phones this year.

Because of the increased issuance of mobile phone licenses at the beginning of the year, companies such as Huawei, ZTE, Skyworth, and Changhong flocked to the market, resulting in dozens of mobile phone brands being approved for network access in mainland China. Not only is the competition fierce among legitimate mobile phone brands, but there are also a large number of "black market" phones that cannot obtain licenses.

"Chen Guiliang!"

Someone called him to a stop halfway there.

Chen Guiliang turned around and saw that he vaguely recognized the person but did not know them.

The man said happily, "This is my new phone, I just bought it today. Shall I call you?"

"Okay." Chen Guiliang nodded.

He received a call soon after, but Chen Guiliang was too embarrassed to ask for his name, so he saved it as "Peking University classmate No. 87".

When Jiang Junlai saw that the other person had the same model of phone as him, he couldn't help but ask, "How much did you pay for it?"

"We're having a promotion right now, it's only 525," the student said.

Jiang Junlai couldn't help but swear: "Damn! The exact same phone, I bought it for over 2300 last year."

"Hahaha!"

That classmate felt even happier after hearing that.

The group strolled to the cafeteria and lined up at their respective windows to get their food.

Because the rice in this cafeteria is too hard, Chen Guiliang has now gotten used to eating noodles.

Two guys quickly finished their food and rushed off to their weekly ballroom dancing event, dreaming of meeting pretty girls.

"Hi, Mr. Chen!"

Two girls walked by together, laughing and waving at Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang smiled and nodded in return, he also had some impression of the other person, but did not know his surname or given name.

The cafeteria was showing NBA Christmas Day highlights, and many boys were watching TV while eating.

Commentator Zhang Weiping said in his signature tone: "Kobe gets the ball, Wade is right behind him... crossover! Stop! Fadeaway jumper—great shot! That was a tough shot. Wade was guarding his fingertips, but Kobe just made it! That's what a superstar is!"

"O'Neal sets up position... Divac simply can't handle it! He catches the ball, turns... bang! A powerful two-handed dunk, drawing a foul in the process... This dunk carries a year's worth of pent-up frustration!"

"nice shot!"

Some boys in the cafeteria even stood up in excitement.

Like the other boys, Chen Guiliang was completely absorbed in watching the highlights. Sigh, it seems like we won't see scenes like that again in twenty years.

The NBA is really something else.

After watching the highlights, Chen Guiliang suddenly felt like playing basketball.

Forget it today.

I'll invite Xie Yang, Yang Shuo, and Guo Fengzi to hang out another day.

On the way back to the dorm, my friends were still talking about the NBA.

"I'm going to smash the backboard!"

Jiang Junlai stood on the flower bed and tried to dunk like O'Neal, but he lost his balance and fell flat on his face.

"Hahaha!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Some classmates even ran over to tease him, mimicking dribbling movements and twisting in front of him.

"Get out! Get out!" Jiang Junlai said irritably.

After playing around and laughing, some students went back to the dormitory to fetch water, carrying thermos flasks.

Chen Guiliang took out the "History of Ming" and "Veritable Records of Ming" that he had copied some time ago and began to organize and conceive the last few tens of thousands of words of the fourth volume of "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty".

He wrote the first three volumes in just six months last year.

All year has passed, and the fourth volume is still not finished... Li Xunhuan is about to curse.

After some time, Li Heng finished downloading the video editing software and started learning how to edit videos from online tutorials. He turned to Chen and asked, "Senior Brother Chen, are you going to use the computer?"

"There's no rush," Chen Guiliang said.

Li Heng asked, "How should I parody 'A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella'?"

“That film itself is a nonsensical parody,” Chen Guiliang said. “No matter how brilliantly you parody it, you can’t achieve the same effect as ‘Mantou’. Parody also depends on the target. Only parodying a serious film like ‘The Promise’ can create a contrasting effect.”

“That’s right, that’s the kind of contrast we want,” Li Heng nodded.

Chen Guiliang asked, "What are some of the more respectable videos on Tudou.com right now?"

Li Heng said, "They're all pirated movies, TV shows, and variety programs uploaded by netizens. There's no way to make a parody out of them."

"Let me see."

Chen Guiliang opened Tudou.com and found that, besides those, the most viewed videos were music videos by foreign stars, including Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, H.O.T., Koyote, and others.

“I remember you’re from the Central Plains,” Chen Guiliang said.

Li Heng asked, "What's wrong?"

Chen Guiliang asked, "Have you ever heard of 'Li Huozi's Divorce'?"

“Of course I’ve heard of it,” Li Heng said.

Chen Guiliang pointed at Michael Jackson: "Use his music video, paired with 'Li Huozi's Divorce.' It's the part where he gets up early in the morning to collect manure."

"what?"

Li Heng was dumbfounded: "How could they cut these together? They're completely unrelated."

“Why don’t you give it a try?” Chen Guiliang said. “Pay attention to Michael Jackson’s dance moves and rhythm, and then cut in some footage of the band and the audience.”

My roommate, Tong Zhihong, asked curiously, "What is 'Li Huozi's Divorce'?"

"Our traditional opera from the Central Plains," Li Heng explained simply.

There weren't many resources for traditional operas online at the time, and Li Heng searched for a long time before finally finding some material.

He put on his headphones and learned as he edited, working for two or three hours before finally producing a one-minute-plus spoof video.

"Come over quickly and take a look!"

Li Heng, beaming with pride, unplugged his headphones and plugged them into the speakers.

Michael Jackson was seen swaying and twisting his hips on stage, accompanied by music from the Central Plains Opera. His movements were perfectly in sync with the beat, as if this were the original version.

Then, Michael Jackson picked up the microphone and began to sing passionately: "I got up early to collect manure, and when I came back, my woman was gone..."

"Hahahaha!"

Jiang Junlai, who was engrossed in studying, burst into laughter upon hearing just the first sentence.

Tong Zhihong reached out and grabbed Li Heng by the neck, shaking him violently, saying, "Don't you dare make fun of my idol! Give me back my Michael Jackson! Damn it, I can't watch this music video anymore!"

Li Heng stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes, looking like he'd been played for a fool, and protested, "It was Senior Brother Chen's idea, it has nothing to do with me."

Chen Guiliang said he wouldn't take the blame: "I was just saying it casually, who told you to actually do it as a prank? Hahaha!"

Tong Zhihong lectured Li Heng and asked, "Do you have any more of these kinds of pranks in the Central Plains? Let me do one. If I wanted to prank HOT, I would have disliked them for a long time."

"Wait a minute, let me upload it to Tudou first," Li Heng said.

This guy not only uploaded it to Tudou.com, but also provided links on his Renren.com and Kaixin.com accounts, tricking his friends into watching it.

Tudou.com only uploads six or seven hundred new videos every day.

Once uploaded, it will be easily seen by other users.

Two minutes later, a comment appeared in the comments section below the video: "Unwatchable. The streamer must be seriously ill."

Hahahaha~~~~

"My MJ, what are you doing picking up manure in the Central Plains?"

"I can't be the only one who's blind; I'm going to send the link to all my friends!"

"..."

An era of parody, which began with random Photoshop manipulation, has now been brought to the public's attention by "Mantou".

Chen Guiliang recalled "The Suppression of Bandits in Birdcage Mountain".

The parody of Michael Jackson in that film is also quite brilliant.

Who would have thought that the guy who sang and danced in "The Bandit Suppression in Birdcage Mountain" would become the producer of "The Wandering Earth" more than ten years later?
(End of this chapter)