I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 221 Influence!
In 2004, the Chinese motorsport scene was like a wasteland.

There are only about two hundred professional drivers and registered athletes, scattered in sporadic events such as the China Rally Championship and the China Touring Car Championship, and only about thirty can truly be considered top-tier professional drivers.

There are slightly more karting and teenage drivers, with 482 officially registered. Most of them gather at karting tracks in big cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, and most are just amateur enthusiasts, doing it for fun.

As for underground street racing, the total number of participants is quite large, approximately 2502. News of underground street racing occasionally appears in the newspapers along the Second Ring Road in Beijing, but the participants' skill levels vary greatly, and most are only pursuing the thrill of speed rather than true competition.

As for the so-called professional drifting competitions?

In China, there are no officially organized drifting competitions; only some performance-style events exist.

Professional drift drivers are extremely rare, numbering less than twenty in total...

Han Cheng was one of these twenty people.

He is both a race car driver and a writer.

...

Magic City.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the bookshelves in the room and reflecting the bestselling youth-themed books.

Han Cheng debuted very early and became famous at a young age. At the age of 19 in the year 2000, he published his first best-selling book, "The Gate of Rebirth"...

The book sold nearly 44 copies upon its release, making the author an instant sensation. Subsequent novels such as "Night Line of the Second Ring Road" and "Gears and White Skirts" also became bestsellers, establishing him as one of the youngest and most influential writers of his time.

Early fame inevitably brings sharp edges and arrogance. Since the turn of the millennium, he has used his pen as a mouth on the internet to criticize countless contemporary celebrities, from stars to directors, writers to the media. He would lash out at anything he disapproved of, which made many media professionals grit their teeth.

Han Cheng had always had a very bad impression of Zhou Yang. In August 2003, Han Cheng verbally abused Zhou Yang online.

Han Cheng's writing is replete with derogatory terms such as despicable, shameless, and scoundrel, and he repeatedly uses Zhou Yang's various behaviors as examples to criticize the superficiality and utilitarianism of the entire internet and film industry!
But, when he accidentally walked into the wrong screening room and unexpectedly saw the racing scene from "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings"...

His eyes widened.

"This is China's first racing movie, and it is also a historic one!"

"I don't know how many racing movies will be made in the future, but I do know..."

"The Lord of the Rings: The Second Ring is a milestone!"

"..."

The young man excitedly wrote a long article of more than 2000 words on [Kuaibo].

Even after finishing writing, I still felt a little unsatisfied.

He sat in the chair, staring at the ceiling.

The plot of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings kept replaying in his mind.

Passion, excitement, pushing limits, madness...

This movie almost satisfied all his desires for racing, and made him feel his passion surge with the plot.

Then, he stood in the aisle, dumbfounded, watching the entire Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings movie until the very end. After it was over, as the audience gradually dispersed and the cleaning staff began clearing the theater and ushering people out, he quietly left the theater...

This movie seemed to completely refresh his stereotype of Zhou Yang. Not only that, but what was even more incredible to him was that the plot of the movie was filmed in a very professional manner. Some of the extreme "drifting" techniques and some of the actions were so skillful that even a professional driver like him could hardly find any flaws after watching it!
He is a writer and a racing enthusiast!
In 2001, he secretly participated in the China Touring Car Championship and finished 8th in a race as an amateur driver. The following year, he registered as a professional drift driver. The racing environment in 2001 was not good; there were few spectators and no sponsors. He basically joined the team with his own money...

Three years later, in 2004, the Chinese motorsports scene was developing slightly but very slowly, still in its infancy. The various races, large and small, were still being held at a loss, with few spectators and little media coverage. At most, they were a niche phenomenon!
Is it possible that the movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Second Ring" will be released...?

Han Cheng thought of this!
He took a deep breath and then dialed the team's number!
....................................

In 2004, drifting was almost a niche "term" with virtually no presence in mainstream culture.

In 2004, racing movies were a completely new genre in Chinese cinema, with no one attempting to make them and no moviegoers showing any interest in the subject.

In 2004, there was no such thing as a "broken engagement" trend...

……

Until The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings, which rode a huge wave of hype, suddenly appeared!
Those viewers who entered the theater out of curiosity and to watch the spectacle were stunned the moment they saw the film.

They had never seen a movie so exciting!

On screen, Wang Tuohai stared coldly at his fiancée, and his cry of "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never underestimate a young man's potential" instantly ignited a flame in the hearts of countless young people.

They had never seen a racing movie that could be so "exciting" and "exciting." The flames at the beginning of the movie were not extinguished by the "racing"; instead, they burned even more fiercely, like a raging fire!

evening.

After finishing his film review, film critic Liu Jiasheng still had an unventable emotion in his heart. Influenced by the film, he couldn't contain his emotions and went on various social networking sites to learn about the "racing" genre... As a result, he was somewhat surprised when he logged onto the websites!
Before the film's release, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings" and Zhou Yang were heavily criticized, with accusations of "plagiarism" being frequently used. However, about ten hours after the film's release, these criticisms gradually subsided.
On forums and websites such as [Movie Home], [Wandou Movie Network], [Kuaibo], and [Soudu Tieba], the hottest search term at this moment is the word "drifting".

Clicking on the trending search term "drifting," Liu Jiasheng saw a series of popular science posts, which, along with the movie title "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings," blossomed like a hundred flowers in various online forums and websites.

He spotted someone who appeared to be a professional race car driver and started recording a series of videos explaining "drifting" in a popular science style...

The explanation will break down a series of maneuvers based on the movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings" including "drainage cornering" and "inertia drifting," and there will be professional drivers demonstrating and disassembling them on site!
After watching these videos, Liu Jiasheng, who had never paid attention to "racing-themed" movies before, felt as if he had opened the door to a new world. Before he knew it, he started watching a series of exciting racing movies. He watched until 10 p.m. When he clicked on those posts again, he found that the trending topic of "drifting" on [Kuaibo] had exceeded 100,000 times!

The most popular post is the article by young writer Han Cheng, titled "Feasibility Analysis of Drainage Ditch Curving and Inertial Drift!", which has been reposted nearly ten thousand times!

..............................

The post has gone viral!

"The post from Hancheng has gone viral!"

"Nearly 10,000 reposts! Nearly 100,000 discussions online, and our own [Racing] forum gained over 10,000 new users this afternoon!"

"Posts about popularizing racing knowledge are now being reposted everywhere!"

"..."

Inside the pit area of ​​the Shanghai F1 International Circuit.

The door to the office of Lin Guodong, the head coach, general manager, sponsor, and investor of the China Touring Car Championship, was pushed open!
The assistant rushed in, shouting excitedly!

Lin Guodong suddenly stood up from his chair, his hand holding the cigarette trembling slightly, and then stared intently at the data provided by his assistant.

Looking at it this way, he took a deep breath: "What's the media's reaction?"

"Many media outlets are coming to interview us drivers now. What should we do next?"

"Hang up the movie posters for 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings'! Quick, let's do a special feature! Quick, let's do a drifting feature!"

"Also, widen the drainage ditches in the training ground by two centimeters!" He pointed to a screenshot of Takumi cornering on the screen, his voice trembling slightly. "Starting tomorrow, everyone must watch this movie before training! Make sure to hold some drift-themed competitions in the next few days, recreating classic scenes from the movie, and give out free tickets to invite more people in, quick!"

“We are ready, but…”

"But what? Tickets are sold out, Mr. Lin. No matter how well Zhou Yang's movies turn out, tickets are always hard to come by at the beginning. Moreover, with Zhou Yang's repeated outbursts, he has completely offended the Chinese film industry. Currently, only four cinema chains under Zhou Yang's control have tickets available nationwide. And tomorrow is the premiere of 'The Lord of the Rings,' and other small and medium-sized cinema chains are all waiting for the release of this epic film..."

"So exaggerated?"

"President Lin, you don't understand Zhou Yang's influence in the film industry right now. Even the people who criticize Zhou Yang will secretly buy a ticket to see one of his movies..."

"Spend money, damn it, spend money! Oh right, the film rights to 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings' haven't been sold yet, have they?"

"do not know……"

"Damn it! I forgot about that. You send someone, fine, I'll go myself. Do you have Zhou Yang's contact number? I want to talk to Zhou Yang about cooperation!"

"We've tried contacting Mr. Lin, but we can't get through. Zhou Yang's phone is always unreachable. I just received news that it's not just us; many investors have their eyes on the rights to 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings,' and they're all trying to contact Zhou Yang! Some people even saw the premiere of Zhou Yang's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings' in advance... After seeing the audience's reaction after the premiere, they started contacting Zhou Yang's company!"

"Damn, are they crazy? They... Zhou Yang was already insulted like this before, how could they..."

"Despite the criticism, everyone knows that the astonishing wealth behind Zhou Yang is no less than a mountain of gold!"

"..."

Lin Guodong stubbed out his cigarette and glanced briefly out the window.

This incredible amount of traffic and wealth absolutely cannot be wasted!
"Meeting!"

"All senior executives are here for a meeting!"

"from now on!"

"At all costs, acquire Zhou Yang's copyright, and more!"

"Please have Zhou Yang come and be our spokesperson!"

"Give him whatever money you want!"

"..."

After saying those words, he stared at the computer screen again.

A moment later!

He realized that a historic turning point for Chinese motorsport might be just around the corner in the next couple of days!
He must seize this opportunity!
(End of this chapter)