Chapter 28: Zhou Yang Distributes

July 10

In the morning, the sun shone brightly.

【Tianyu】.

Deng Hairong had just walked into the office and sat down when he heard a knock at the door.

Shortly after, his assistant approached with the latest data, her expression complicated.

“We’ve figured out the situation with ‘Superman 2’!”

“What situation?”

Upon hearing this, Deng Hairong immediately took the document.

Over the years, the popularity of VCDs and DVDs across the country has led countless rogue street vendors to seize the opportunity, endlessly burning pirated discs.

Without exaggeration, as soon as a movie is released, by the next day—or at the latest, the third day—

you can find pirated discs of that movie in second- and third-tier counties nationwide.

Last year, the film ‘Qin,’ which swept the nation and earned nearly 180 million RMB at the box office, had pirated copies appear on the market just four hours after its premiere.

Afterwards…

Tianyu specifically compiled data showing that the official TV DVD of ‘Qin’ sold nearly 30 million copies nationwide, while pirated discs accounted for a staggering 20 million!

At roughly 10 RMB per disc, the profits from pirated copies approached over 200 million RMB!

If that 200 million RMB were counted as box office revenue, ‘Qin’ would have topped the global box office charts!

Last year, Tianyu had joined forces with multiple film companies to resist and crack down on piracy through relevant authorities.

But the results were minimal…

In big cities, it’s manageable, but with so many second- and third-tier cities and small counties, investigating layer by layer would be a waste of manpower and resources—utterly unsustainable!

Moreover, pirated sources come from all over the country. To put it bluntly, anyone who can burn discs and make covers can produce piracy—this kind of crude, home-based growth, how can you possibly stop it?

But!

Previous piracy always appeared after the premiere!

But damn it, ‘Superman 2’ hasn’t even had its official premiere yet—how did they get the source?

“According to the latest data, ‘Superman 2’ is currently screening in only about eight cinemas nationwide, all in the Huaxia Yanjing region… these eight cinemas are extremely remote, on the verge of closure…” The assistant paused, his gaze growing even more complex: “As of this morning, none of these cinemas have received the source material for ‘Superman 2’!”

“Not received?”

“Yes, we investigated thoroughly—they never received the source. The theater owners are desperate too. Also, I received an unconfirmed report that the so-called ‘Superman 2’ is still in post-production… yet over 2,000 tickets have already been sold…”

“Can they even do this?”

When Deng Hairong heard this, his face filled with shock. After a long pause, his expression grew complicated: “Could these people be running a scam? Trying to make one last grab and run?”

“There’s a possibility.”

“I said it—how could the source of ‘Superman 2’ possibly leak…”

“Should we keep monitoring it?”

“Forget it.”

“Alright.”

…………………………

July 10, evening, 6:00 p.m.

Just fourteen hours remain until the premiere of ‘Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2.’

But…

The final version of this film…

Still hasn’t been edited.

The version submitted for review is an extended cut; the actual editing requires trimming the extended version further…

The Huaxia Film Review Group has a rule: no new plot elements may be added during final review, but there’s no rule against cutting plot elements from the reviewed version.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the dim room.

The old computer tower emitted waves of heat, humming loudly, turning the entire room into an oven that baked everyone inside.

Shen Long licked his dry lips, eyes bloodshot, staring fixedly at the Windows 2000 system stuck on the boot screen!

Fuck!

This damn computer’s system is stuck again.

This computer was borrowed from the neighboring ‘Love Ferris Wheel’ crew for post-production work.

But its specs aren’t high—it frequently freezes. At critical moments, he couldn’t tell whether he’d accidentally duplicated an action or if the computer was just repeating the same frame.

Just fucking—

Like watching a pirated DVD with deep scratches on the back: once inserted, it freezes in a way that drives you insane!

After rebooting for over ten minutes, the damn computer finally resumed normal operation. Shen Long took a deep breath.

He swore that if he ever made money in this life, he’d buy himself a brand-new computer costing over 8,000 RMB!

…

After wolfing down a hasty dinner…

Shen Long, shirtless, grunted and toiled away, continuing to edit the so-called ‘Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2.’

Beside the bed…

Cinematographer Zhang Yunyi was juggling multiple roles!

Not only did he handle cinematography, but also post-production visual effects…

At this moment, Zhang Yunyi’s hair was wild, his body reeking of sweat, his eyes glued to the screen, occasionally flipping through ‘The Complete Guide to Computer Special Effects,’ bought two days ago from Xinhua Bookstore.

Yes!

Zhang Yunyi had learned everything from scratch!

He stared through the screen at the visual tricks and computer-generated effects, created using optical illusions.

After watching once, Zhang Yunyi grabbed his hair in frustration, feeling like he’d lost all faith in life.

“Fuck!”

“I’m fucking—”

“…”

“I’m done with this!”

He suddenly smashed the computer onto the floor, his mind and body completely shattered.

Fuck!

What the hell was he even making?!

When Shen Long heard this, he flinched slightly, not daring to speak.

At that moment…

The door to the rented room opened.

Zhou Yang walked in, dressed in a sharp suit.

“What’s wrong?”

Zhou Zong, I’m done. If I keep making this damn ghost thing, I’ll go insane… I won’t take my pay for these days of shooting—not a single cent!

Seeing Zhou Yang in his suit, Zhang Yunyi wiped his nose and tears, pointing at the computer: “Zhou Zong, I can’t do this—I really can’t. Look at what I’ve made! Why don’t you hire someone else?”

Zhou Yang stepped closer to the computer and glanced at it…

Then adjusted his glasses, his eyes filled with admiration: “I think it’s great—full of creativity and artistic flair…”

“Great? Zhou Zong… this is shit!”

“I believe in you.”

“I can’t… aren’t we running a scam?”

“I’ll repeat it again—we are not!”

“But—”

Just as Zhang Yunyi was on the verge of collapse, he saw Zhou Yang pull out a stack of red envelopes and place them before him.

Staring at the bulging envelopes, Zhang Yunyi gasped!

Fuck, these envelopes must contain several thousand RMB!

“Tonight, after finishing post-production, I’ll give you all big red envelopes!”

“The envelopes are right here—you can look at them…”

“I have another stack just like this.”

“…”

Zhou Yang straightened his clothes, opened his briefcase, revealing a large stack of bulging red envelopes!

“Finish tonight’s work, and all this money is yours!”

“If you complete it by 8 a.m. tomorrow, you’ll still be the heroes of this battle—the true heroes!”

“I’ll wait right here—with you, through the night.”

“…”

When Shen Long heard this, he rushed over, saw the stack of red envelopes in the briefcase, and his eyes widened!

Zhang Yunyi’s spirits lifted instantly, his mind blank. Seeing Zhou Yang’s sincere expression, he gritted his teeth, picked up the mouse, reinserted the ball into the mouse, and resumed his grueling work: “Zhou Zong, I’ll give it another try!”

“Zhou Zong, I’ll try too!” Shen Long nodded, returned to his computer, and continued his most agonizing work of his life—cracking under pressure, teeth clenched.

And Zhou Yang brought over a chair…

He sat silently before the two, bored under the dim light, and randomly picked up a copy of “Introduction to Directing” from the rental apartment to read.

………

Ten hours later!

Four a.m.

Shen Long drained his last strength and finally finished editing.

After handing the footage to Zhang Yunyi, who was suffering with a face full of anguish, he collapsed onto the chair.

This damn movie had sucked out his soul.

At five a.m., Zhang Yunyi completed the final footage assembly and finally produced a movie, then wearily handed the copy to Zhou Yang.

“Zhou Zong!”

“All of this is yours! Future films—you get a share!”

“……”

After seeing the copy, Zhou Yang quickly reviewed it, then pulled out all the red envelopes from his briefcase and handed them to these two prodigies.

When the two saw the heavy stack of red envelopes…

Their minds instantly went blank with joy!

After watching Zhou Yang hastily take the copy and vanish into the vast night…

They eagerly opened the envelopes!

A moment later…

When they saw that all the dozen or so plump red envelopes contained only five-yuan and ten-yuan bills, and some even contained the insane addition of a single one-yuan note…

Their smiles slowly froze.