The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 268 Regret for Not Doing Product Placement
Cheng Dongqing crossed his arms, looking thoughtful.

Wang Yang realized something was wrong. The nostalgia session had turned into a business meeting.

He picked up his laptop: "Let's go, I'm starving. Let's eat and drink while we watch a movie."

Meng Xiaojun patted Cheng Dongqing on the shoulder, and the two of them walked to the hot pot table and sat down together.

Wang Yang put his laptop down, adjusted the angle so that all three of them could see it, and then brought back two plates of mutton, throwing them all into the pot at once.

Meng Xiaojun looked up: "Who just said they wanted to lose weight and eat vegetarian food?"

Wang Yang retorted confidently, "Who just said there was plenty of mutton? Besides, you need to eat your fill to have the energy to lose weight, right?"

Cheng Dongqing, who was standing to the side, watched the two arguing but did not interrupt. He simply filled all three of their glasses with wine.

"Come on, let's start with one!"

Meng Xiaojun was the first to raise his glass: "It's been almost twenty years since the three of us last ate, drank, and watched TV together like this, right?"

Wang Yang and Cheng Dongqing then raised their glasses.

"It's been twenty years since we first met at school."

"Yes, I remember back then we only watched those black and white TVs, the kind where you had to connect an antenna to find a signal."

The three wine glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound.

Meanwhile, on the computer screen next to him, the subtitles before the main feature had already begun playing.

After Wang Yang tilted his head back and drank the wine in one gulp, he turned to look at the screen.

He was looking for Yang Muye's name.

I thought it would appear in the producer section, but I saw it in the screenwriter section instead.

There were two screenwriters in total, with Yang Muye's name listed first.

Wang Yang therefore paid special attention to the screenwriter's name, Gu Xiaobai.

Clearly, this is not arranged alphabetically by last name.

In other words, was the plot of this movie mainly written by Yang Muye?

Even without Wang Yang's reminder, Cheng Dongqing and Meng Xiaojun were already aware of the problem.

In an instant, all three of them stopped eating and focused on the computer screen.

After the credits for the director and lead actors, the movie begins.

The opening scene shows Wu Di and Cheng Feng, who play Wu Xiaoshuai and Cheng Dabao, standing on the stage of a singing competition.

Behind him is a prominent logo.

A person making a scissor-hand gesture while holding a microphone.

Below are the five large characters for "The Voice of China" and the logo of the sponsor, Wanglaoji (a popular herbal tea brand).

Why start with such a blatant product placement?
Cheng Dongqing and the other two frowned to varying degrees.

Isn't this overly commercialized?

The camera then pans to the judges' panel.

The four judges, three men and one woman, sat in four specially made chairs, with a conspicuous red button on one of the armrests.

The second male judge from the left, wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat, spoke first, revealing the identities of the two male protagonists.

Cheng Dabao is the wedding emcee, and Wu Xiaoshuai is the hairdresser.

The scene then switches to a wedding hosting session, where Cheng Dabao is holding an apple and reciting his lines.

Then the camera pans to the car.
Through the rearview mirror inside the car, you can see that Cheng Dabao is driving while making a phone call.

He kept apologizing:

"Mr. Wang, I'm truly sorry this time. I've let down the trust that your Happy Holiday Wedding Company placed in me!"

His tone was humble yet submissive.

The wrinkles on the foreheads of Cheng Dongqing and the other two deepened.

Less than 30 seconds into the show, two advertising sponsorships had already appeared.

The implantation wasn't awkward, but it was still a bit too dense.

Is the next hour going to be an endless commercial?
Then the camera shifts again, showing Wu Xiaoshuai giving a haircut while a customer angrily smashes things nearby.

The camera zoomed in on Wu Xiaoshuai's face, his eyes and the corners of his mouth showing grievance and bitterness.

The camera then returns to the Voice of China competition, where the female judge reveals that the two contestants are the oldest among all the participants.

The camera then switched again, giving a close-up shot of a business card that lasted for several seconds.

Bao Xiaobai.

The chief director and producer of The Voice of China.

The camera zooms out, and Cheng Dabao stares at the business card, his expression subdued, something seemingly about to burst forth from his dim eyes.

Wang Yang and Meng Xiaojun were both fine, but Cheng Dongqing was deeply moved by that look.

He recalled how he had knelt before school leaders like a dog, begging to admit his mistakes, but was ultimately expelled from the school without mercy.

Even the department head, who tutored his children for free, didn't stand up for him and say a single good word.

At that time, he was desperate and sitting in his basement apartment, hesitating whether to accept Wang Yang's suggestion to "go into business" and create a new dream. His expression at that moment was exactly the same as Cheng Dabao's on the screen.

The scene then shifts again, showing Wu Xiaoshuai sitting at a hot pot table, holding Bao Xiaobai's business card, his half-drunk eyes dull and lifeless.

"Isn't that a bit impractical?"

The camera returns to the singing competition, where the male judge on the far left asks a very pointed question.

"Do you think you can still be popular at your age?"

The camera focused on Cheng Dabao and Wu Xiaoshuai on the stage. Both of them were silent, their eyes filled with strong resentment and a little helplessness.

This scene broke Cheng Dongqing's defenses again.

He recalled how he had failed the college entrance exam for two consecutive years, and how he knelt before his mother and a group of relatives, begging to be allowed to take the exam again. Some of the relatives said things that were far more unpleasant than that.

Cheng Dongqing doesn't remember the exact words, but the gist was that you're already so old, and people your age in the village are already fathers, while you're still taking the college entrance exam.

If I fail the exam twice, will I be able to pass it if I take it again next year?
Meng Xiaojun, who was standing next to Cheng Dongqing, put a hand on Cheng Dongqing's shoulder and patted him hard.

At the same time, the film cuts to the host played by Xu Kaiyang.

He announced rapidly, "Next, please welcome contestant number 6, Cheng Dabao and Wu Xiaoshuai, to perform their original song—"

The screen went black, and the three large orange-red characters "Old Boy" filled the entire screen.

Wang Yang reached out and pressed the space bar to pause the playback.

This move immediately drew the ire of Cheng Dongqing and Meng Xiaojun.

"What are you doing?"

Wang Yang picked up his chopsticks and tapped the edge of the hot pot.

"Eat meat! You'll get old if you don't eat meat soon!"

Eat! Eat!
Just know how to eat!

Cheng Dongqing and Meng Xiaojun were too lazy to even criticize Wang Yang anymore.

The Old Boys' performance was about to start, the most exciting part, but you paused it.

Wang Yang scooped up a piece of blanched mutton, dipped it in sauce, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing with a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

good to eat!

Seeing that neither Cheng Dongqing nor Meng Xiaojun intended to touch their chopsticks, Wang Yang stood up, picked up a few slices of mutton, and placed them in their bowls.

Meng Xiaojun not only didn't appreciate it, but also blamed Wang Yang: "Who asked you to pick up the meat? Hurry up and continue playing!"

Wang Yang sat down calmly.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Do you guys think it's time for Old Boys to perform their new song next?"

Cheng Dongqing immediately followed up with a question:
"Is not it?"

Wang Yang looked at Cheng Dongqing and uttered a curse he hadn't used in a long time.

"Rubber!"

These words instantly stirred up Cheng Dongqing's "ancient memories." He had taken the college entrance exam three times before finally getting into Peking University, only to make a fool of himself in his very first English class.

The local accent is too heavy, it's simply "awkward".

Cheng Dongqing thus became known as a "country bumpkin" in the eyes of his classmates.

Upon hearing this address again, Cheng Dongqing was not angry at all; on the contrary, he felt very warm and familiar with it.

He stuffed the mutton that Wang Yang had helped him pick into his mouth and asked, "Did I travel through time?"

Wang Yang, holding chopsticks, pointed at the computer screen: "Do you understand film montage? Although this is just a short film, it's a full hour long. It's like eating a Western meal; have you ever seen the main course served right away?"

Cheng Dongqing adjusted his glasses and said seriously, "I have actually seen it. Don't KFC and McDonald's serve the main course right away?"

Wang Yang was speechless for a moment.

All I can say is that Cheng Dongqing's joke is really lame.

He put down his chopsticks and began to analyze the situation seriously:

"That opening sequence just now, despite all the information it contained, only lasted a minute. Based on my years of experience watching films, the director and screenwriter are quite capable."

"The film opens with a series of camera transitions that clearly explain the characters, events, and background, and also reveal the main conflict of the film. The two main characters are both old, and the judges are not optimistic about them."

"The main content is coming up next, and I bet the timeline will go back to their student days, either high school or college. If I'm wrong, I'll down this bottle of wine!"

Cheng Dongqing and Meng Xiaojun exchanged a glance.

"Row!"

With the bet settled, Wang Yang pressed the spacebar again to continue playing the movie.

As the sound of the eighth set of broadcast gymnastics began, the scene showed high school students playing around during recess in the 1990s.

Wang Yang looked at Cheng Dongqing and Meng Xiaojun with a smug expression.

See? I was right.

Cheng Dongqing and Meng Xiaojun remained silent, staring at the computer screen with reminiscence in their eyes.

Although they were all born in the 1970s, looking at the familiar scenes on campus still filled them with emotion.

Meng Xiaojun turned to Wang Yang and asked:

"Which set of broadcast gymnastics was it when we were in high school?"

"The sixth set."

"Really? I remember this is the seventh set?"

"That's something we got after we went to college."

"What about the eighth set?"

"It started in 97, and basically everyone born in the 80s is doing this kind of thing."

Meng Xiaojun was filled with emotion.

More than twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Cheng Dabao appears in his high school days, wearing a school uniform and looking like a carefree street urchin, holding a guitar and practicing singing "Xiao Fang".

Cheng Dongqing remembers this song clearly; it was released in 93.

Because his ex-girlfriend went abroad that year, and slept with him on the night before she left.

When he woke up, his girlfriend had already left without saying goodbye.

Cheng Dongqing held the tape recorder and listened to the song "Xiao Fang" over and over again, his mind filled with images of his ex-girlfriend.

Then the scene shifts again, and as the theme song of the Japanese anime "Hana-Kimi" plays, the school beauty played by Jiang Nansun appears.

Under the beautiful lens filter, Jiang Nansun perfectly demonstrated what true white moonlight is.

At that moment, Wang Yang, Meng Xiaojun, and Cheng Dongqing were all stunned.

For Wang Yang, who had seen many women and ultimately married an ordinary-looking woman, he simply admired Jiang Nansun's pure and beautiful appearance.

It's said that men are boys until they die, and they only ever love eighteen-year-olds.

Married older men are no exception.

On the contrary, Meng Xiaojun and Cheng Dongqing's sighing and regretful eyes clearly showed that they had a story to tell.

Snapped!
Wang Yang raised his hand again and pressed the space bar to pause.

The image freezes on a close-up of Jiang Nansun's face, which is beautiful from every angle with light makeup.

Coming to their senses, Meng Xiaojun and Cheng Dongqing protested in unison:

What are you doing now?

"I'll take a screenshot and use it as my computer desktop wallpaper later."

Wang Yang was busy operating the machine and said without turning his head.

Meng Xiaojun complained: "Aren't you childish?"

After taking the screenshot, Wang Yang turned around and said, "You don't understand, do you? A study abroad showed that men who look at beautiful women more often can have a longer average lifespan."

Meng Xiaojun had a "I don't believe you" look on his face.

He had worked odd jobs at a well-known research institution in the United States and had never heard of any similar research.

Wang Yang wasn't embarrassed when he was exposed. Instead, he asked Meng Xiaojun if he had ever had a crush on a school beauty like Jiang Nansun in the movie during his high school years.

Meng Xiaojun avoided eye contact and changed the subject: "You should ask Dong Qing about this; he has the most experience."

Cheng Dongqing took the initiative to pick up the topic, looking at Wang Yang and Meng Xiaojun with a serious expression.

"When I first saw Su Mei in the library, she looked exactly like she did in the movies. She was so beautiful that she seemed to be glowing."

Wang Yang objectively analyzed, "That's what they call 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' But then again, haven't you ever thought about going back to her all these years?"

Meng Xiaojun suddenly blurted out, "What's the point of seeing him?"

Just as Wang Yang was about to ask what business it was of his, Cheng Dongqing suddenly began reciting a poem to himself.

Xi Murong's "Elegy".

I will never see you again in this life.

Just for,

The one I'm saying goodbye to is no longer you.

The you in my heart will never reappear.

Reproduced
It's just the vicissitudes of time and the passing years.

After reciting the poem, Cheng Dongqing picked up his wine glass and drank it down in one gulp.

Wang Yang couldn't help but click his tongue when he saw this.

That's why people say the power of the "white moonlight" is so great that even the person in question can't compare.

After Su Mei went abroad, she married a foreigner, and now her child is almost ten years old.

It's better to cherish the memory than to say goodbye.

Seeing that Cheng Dongqing was in a low mood, Wang Yang wanted to give Meng Xiaojun a look so that Meng Xiaojun could comfort Cheng Dongqing.

Unexpectedly, Meng Xiaojun also picked up his glass and downed it without saying a word.

Wang Yang glanced at the wine glass in front of him, which he hadn't drunk a drop of.

What is this for?
Meng Xiaojun put down his wine glass, looked up at Wang Yang and Cheng Dongqing beside him, and his first words were:
"I regret!"

Wang Yang's first thought was that Meng Xiaojun regretted not confessing his feelings to his high school sweetheart back then.

Cheng Dongqing, however, had a thoughtful expression in his eyes.

His intuition told him that Meng Xiaojun had something else in mind.

"I have a feeling this movie is going to be a hit!"

Meng Xiaojun pointed to the computer screen.

"If only we had sponsored this movie, just like the red-can Wanglaoji herbal tea did. Imagine if the product placement at the beginning of the film had been replaced with our New Dream brand, wouldn't it have been more in line with the theme of pursuing dreams in this movie?"

(End of this chapter)