Chapter 82: Outbreak

Last year, Li Xiaoran had heard Wu Yu ask this question once, but at that time she was happily working, so she never thought about other outlets or anything, and refused directly.

But now, Li Xiaoran had quit her job, lost her source of income, and knew she couldn't just lie at home forever. She had to look for another way out.

Going to shoot commercials wasn't a long-term plan either. Maybe being an actor, which she had never considered before, was a good choice? After all, Zhang Yimou had come to look for her before.

However, this would require going to school for another four years, which made Li Xiaoran, who had been annoyed by being managed while studying at the dance academy, feel a bit resistant.

"That Chen Kun from your song and dance troupe, I ran into him a few days ago, and he's applying to our school."

"What? He went to your place?" Li Xiaoran asked in surprise.

Wu Yu nodded, "He's working to earn tuition fees to attend this school, you should think about it carefully."

Wu Yu didn't try to persuade her any further. There are some things she will only understand after she bumps into them herself.

Seeing Wu Yu carrying his bag and about to walk out the door, Li Xiaoran shouted, "Come eat tonight, I'll make you something delicious~"

Wu Yu didn't look back and made an OK gesture. Li Xiaoran just sat there with one hand supporting her chin, staring blankly in the direction he left. Not thinking about work, but about the person.

In her eyes, Wu Yu used to be like a green little boy, like a little brother who hadn't grown up, but the changes in the past year of contact were too great. He suddenly became like a mature man, and several contacts made her feel like she could rely on him.

Especially with the trouble caused by Lu San in these past few months, the sense of peace of mind brought by Wu Yu accompanying her these past few days made her even somewhat infatuated.

When she threw herself into Wu Yu's arms and kissed him last night, Li Xiaoran almost couldn't help but kiss his mouth, but she avoided it when she thought he had a girlfriend.

Li Xiaoran actually isn't the type of character to be coy. If it were another boy, she would have already made a move, regardless of whether he had a girlfriend or not. If she could snatch him, he would be hers; if not, then forget it. How big of a deal is it?

But Wu Yu is different. The two of them grew up playing together. If it didn't work out, it would probably be extremely awkward to get along in the future. She didn't want that.

Thinking of this, Li Xiaoran felt a bit annoyed. Then she thought about the fact that she only had 200 yuan now. Forget about next month's rent, she didn't even have money for food. She didn't want to crawl back home in a dejected manner, so it seemed she had to go out to earn money tomorrow.

She shook her head, not wanting to think about these troubles anymore, and continued to run to the computer to play her "Legend of Sword and Fairy." Games were still what she liked best, and she still had to continue saving her Lin Yueru today!

At noon, Wu Yu went home. Seeing his father beaming with joy at the dinner table, he couldn't help but ask:

"Dad, what are you so happy about?"

Wu Jianping smiled and said, "I didn't tell you when you went abroad a while ago. The first printing of 100,000 copies of "Drawing Sword" sold out last month. The response was very good, and our unit printed another 300,000 copies. This time it's not just in the North China region; it has already been sent to all parts of the country."

Hearing this, Wu Yu also showed joy. Had "Drawing Sword" opened up the market?

"Dad, how is this result?"

"Selling 100,000 copies in two and a half months is quite good, but this also has something to do with the current situation. You know about the "..." declaration signed by America and the little days in April, right? This is clearly aimed at us. Now everyone has started to be dissatisfied with the little days because of this. Our "Drawing Sword" happened to encounter this incident as soon as it was published, so it really caught up with the trend."

Hearing his father say this, Wu Yu also understood. The quality of "Drawing Sword" itself was top-notch, especially the wonderful war descriptions of fighting the little days inside, which were satisfying to read. Now that it encountered this situation, it naturally sold fast through word of mouth.

At this time, Zhou Shuping also complained, "You say these little days don't do what people should do, they have to be America's dog."

"The little days are a typical culture of admiring the strong, observing small courtesies but lacking great righteousness. If you beat them into submission, they will obediently listen to you."

"It would be great if we could make the little days bark at the Americans someday."

"I guess we'll have to wait until we are far ahead!"

The family of three chatted at the dinner table.

The next day, Wu Jianping hummed a little tune and arrived at the office. Just after he brewed a pot of tea for himself, sat down, and opened today's newspaper, he saw a big headline on the front page:

"Unrepentant! Neon's No. 1 Taro Taro kneels at the XX Shrine!"

The font of "Unrepentant!" was specially enlarged and bolded, which was very stimulating to the eyes.

Seeing this headline, Wu Jianping's pupils couldn't help but shrink, and a surge of anger welled up in his heart. He certainly knew what kind of place this shrine was; it enshrined a group of heinous people, it was simply a place of all evil!

Before he could continue reading, he heard a loud "slap" in the office. Wu Jianping turned his head to look; it was Xiao Li, a colleague who had joined the company for only a few years. At this moment, he was slapping the table, filled with righteous indignation:

"These dog-day little days, what are they trying to do! Shameless!"

At this moment, Xiao Li was clearly furious and started swearing directly in the office.

But everyone in the office didn't care and spoke up one after another:

"Inhuman, shameless, immoral! Beasts in human clothing!"

"The little days want to make a comeback! We must strike them!"

At this time, a colleague said to Wu Jianping, "Old Wu, I used to think that the Li Yunlong you wrote was too rude, but now I think it should be like this, kill the little days!"

"Yes, I thought Brother Wu wrote well before! It should be like Li Yunlong, slaughtering all these beasts!"

At the same time, not only in Wu Jianping's office, but all of China, and even the entire Asia-Pacific region, caused a fierce response because of this incident.

Because even if Neon had had kneeling behaviors before, they were all done privately as private individuals. In the 80s, there was a cabinet member who knelt as a public official, which caused strong protests. Since then, there had been no such thing for more than ten years.

And this time, it was not only kneeling as a public official, but also the No. 1 of Neon representing Neon himself publicly kneeling!

This response was too big. The entire Asia-Pacific region condemned this incident, and China naturally was not short of criticism. Major newspapers all participated in it for a while.

The authorities put forward strong protests on one hand and appeased the public internally on the other, so that no excessive behavior or phenomena could occur. Many schools were glad that it was just the summer vacation period, otherwise, if a group of hot-blooded students gathered, who knows what trouble would be caused.

Isn't that right? Several middle school boys who gathered together after the holiday met and cursed at the little days:

"Fuck their mothers, the little days, they really don't change their nature!"

"If I had an atomic bomb, I would throw two more over to see if they still worship!"

"Exactly, blow that shrine to smithereens!"

At this time, after a boy finished cursing, he smiled and said, "Look at this!"

Several boys gathered around to look and saw him take out a book called "Drawing Sword," and couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"

The boy said proudly, "A book about fighting the little days, I stole it from my dad. He curses the little days while reading it, saying it's satisfying to read this book, we must kill them!"

"Really or fake?"

"Then put it in the middle, let's look at it together."

Three or four boys gathered together and opened the book to read.

"Don't turn the page yet, I haven't finished reading..."

At sunset, when a boy returned home for dinner, he said to his father:

"Dad, buy me a book!"

His father frowned upon hearing this:

"Buy a book? Another comic book? If you have the mind, read more classics. You're already in middle school, what are you reading comic books for!"

"No, this time it's a book about fighting the little days!" The boy immediately raised his voice, speaking righteously.

This made his father's expression soften: "What's it called? I'll go to the bookstore to see for you tomorrow."

"Drawing Sword, it's written so well! That Li Yunlong..." The boy began to talk endlessly.

His father also showed interest.

The next day, the middle-aged man took advantage of his lunch break to go to a nearby Xinhua Bookstore. As soon as he arrived at the entrance, he saw posters promoting it on several display boards:

"Drawing Sword, "Where the sword points, everything is invincible!""

"What Bushido, I'm fighting Bushido!"

"Read "Drawing Sword", learn from Li Yunlong, beat up the little devils!"

The middle-aged man felt satisfied as soon as he saw these few sentences, it was just right for his taste!

At the same time, he thought to himself that it seems this "Drawing Sword" should be quite good, as it could be hung at the entrance of the Xinhua Bookstore for promotion.

He walked directly to the front desk: "Hello comrade, may I ask if you have "Drawing Sword"?"

The cashier pointed to the side: "Here, you came at the right time, there are only these ten or so left."

The man walked over and saw a red-covered book. The two characters for "Drawing Sword" were written with great momentum, especially the last vertical stroke of the "Sword" character, which was like a sharp sword.

He had heard his son talk about it yesterday and was a bit curious, so he stood there and started reading. He became fascinated as soon as he looked at it. He didn't know how much time had passed until someone gently patted him:

"Hey, big brother, are you buying this book?"

The middle-aged man looked up and saw a young man in his twenties, then said:

"Oh, I'm buying it, I'm buying it. I just got fascinated by it."

"Big brother, how is this book? My friend told me it's satisfying to fight the little devils, is it true?"

The middle-aged man pointed at the book and smiled: "It's written too well! Look at this: 'We are the ancestors of the little devils, now the little devils don't respect their ancestors, is that okay?!'"

"Well said! Just for this sentence, I'm buying it too! It's a pity this bookstore is out of stock, sigh!"

The middle-aged man then realized that the ten or so copies just now had already been sold out. The one in his hand was the last one. He quickly took the book to the front desk to pay and went back happily.

At the same time, Wu Jianping was sitting in the editor-in-chief's office of their publishing house.

The editor-in-chief was smiling so much that his face was full of wrinkles:

"Old Wu, that "Drawing Sword" of yours is really popular! The 300,000 copies printed have been sent out for less than a month, and they are almost sold out. Now bookstores everywhere are urging for goods!"

Wu Jianping first corrected him: "Leader, I wrote this together with my son."

The editor-in-chief nodded at him with a smile: "You, father and son soldiers, I understand!"

The editor-in-chief actually thought in his heart that Old Wu was really good to his son, paving the way for him like this. In his view, this must have been created by Wu Jianping. After all, he came from the battlefield, how could his son invent this?

Then Wu Jianping said modestly: "Leader, I also happened to catch up with the time. Who would have thought that these little days would be so rampant and rebellious!"

The editor-in-chief nodded: "These little days are hateful, triggering great dissatisfaction among our masses. But it's also because your "Drawing Sword" is well written, making people feel satisfied and happy after reading it! Otherwise, why wouldn't they go buy other people's books?"

Then the editor-in-chief said with a smile: "Old Wu, you are also an old man in our unit, I won't play tricks with you. We plan to print another 600,000 copies this time, giving you a 12% royalty. If there is a need for printing next time, we will settle it for you at 15% in the future!"

Last year, Wu Jianping mentioned tiered royalties to the unit, but for this kind of new reform measure, the enthusiasm in the unit was generally not high, so it was shelved.

This time, the editor-in-chief still used the old method for him, raising the royalty once for each printing. The initial 100,000 copies of "Drawing Sword" had an 8% royalty, the second 300,000 copies had 10%, and this time 600,000 copies were directly 12%.

Wu Jianping naturally nodded in agreement. Being able to raise his royalty so quickly was already taking good care of him. As for the 15% royalty, that would have to wait slowly. Old Wu understood in his heart that the 300,000 copies sold so fast this time was borrowing the east wind. Once the public's emotions subsided, the sales speed would definitely decrease significantly. This 600,000 copies would probably take a while to sell.

However, the development of things greatly exceeded Wu Jianping's expectations, or rather, it exceeded the expectations of all the people in the Asia-Pacific region.

Time entered August. Under the condemnation of various regions, the Japanese not only did not apologize or repent, but instead made more radical moves. A team of Neon right-wing personnel drove a boat and landed on the Diaoyu Island!

This team of people was not just landing on the island. They landed on the island four times in a row, built a Neon lighthouse on it, hung up the red sun flag, and erected a monument, shouting to the whole world in this way!

As soon as the news spread back to China, the whole country was furious!

Now even those who maintained a calm attitude towards kneeling at the shrine last time couldn't sit still, all of them were furious!

Diaoyu Island has been our Chinese territory since ancient times, how can we let the Japanese touch it like this?!

What is August? It is the day of Neon's defeat. What they are doing is to prove what is known to everyone!

These little days are too rampant! Wolf ambition, clearly known!

Young people were all angry. Many people walked to the streets to protest, and many people ran to the hero monument to shout, "Down with the little days!"

For a time, because of these consecutive incidents, the anti-Japanese sentiment of the Chinese people was high, and slogans of boycotting Japanese goods were shouted everywhere.

The authorities could only negotiate diplomatically while strengthening guidance internally to avoid large-scale smashing incidents. Those similar to large-scale gatherings had to be persuaded to go back. If there were too many people and emotions were high, it would be easy for something to happen.

And it was under such circumstances that a novel began to be spread crazily, and that was "Drawing Sword"!

The protagonists of those novels in the past were too pretentious. Even if they cursed the little days, they were all literary and bookish, which was really not satisfying.

But "Drawing Sword" is different. Li Yunlong, a protagonist full of bandit spirit, often cursed, but he cursed satisfyingly!

And the war plot of him fighting the little days was also described very wonderfully, realistically shaping the powerful Neon troops. Under such circumstances, Li Yunlong could still lead his independent regiment to fight back and forth with the little days and finally win, which made people feel hot-blooded, satisfying, and happy, and they couldn't stop!

Even some official institutions noticed "Drawing Sword" and became interested in it. After all, being able to guide the public's emotions through cultural and entertainment works is the best outlet.

Soon, several large newspapers mentioned "Drawing Sword" and Li Yunlong's spirit of drawing the sword.

"..."

Recently, a novel titled "Drawing Sword" has been extremely popular. The protagonist Li Yunlong comes from a grassroots background and has various shortcomings such as rudeness, impulsiveness, and lack of culture, but in the eyes of the masses, he is very cute because he always possesses the spirit of drawing the sword:

Facing a powerful opponent, even if he knows he is not a match, he still draws his sword resolutely. Even if he falls, he must become a mountain, a ridge!

This is how awe-inspiring, how resolute, how happy, how bold!

In the era of peace, we must remember history and sound the alarm..."

The newspaper of '96 is still the uncrowned king. Once the newspaper starts to actively promote your work, especially a large newspaper, it proves that you are really popular!

Undoubtedly, "Drawing Sword" exploded under this background. The 600,000 copies that had just been printed and shipped were almost bottoming out not long after.

Editor-in-chief's office of the publishing house.

"Old Wu! You, no, you father and son soldiers, this time it's really going to be popular! Your "Drawing Sword" has now been praised by the higher-ups, congratulations!"

"Leader, it's inseparable from the support and help of our publishing house!" Wu Jianping has been in the unit for so long, he is not a fool.

The editor-in-chief laughed:

"Hahaha! This time I won't say anything, print another 1 million copies, 15% royalty!

Also, we have received inquiries from publishers in Wanwan and Hong Kong, wanting to talk to you about the traditional Chinese copyright of "Drawing Sword". You are going to be popular overseas this time!"

Wu Jianping himself felt that this experience was like a dream. When he first wrote "Drawing Sword," he felt it was just okay, thinking it could sell 200,000 or 300,000 copies at most. Who would have thought that now it was going to be printed to 2 million copies, and overseas publishers had contacted him!

Should he thank the little days for the assist?

As soon as this thought popped into his mind, Wu Jianping spat and denied it. Dog-day little days, invading our Chinese territory, must not die well!

Everyone curses, but life and work during this period must continue. Like Wu Yu, he has been busy with serious business.

After all the post-production of "Together" was completed and the master tape came out, Wu Yu contacted Director Gu of the Movie Channel for a report as soon as possible.

Two days later, in the screening hall of Tao Jingying Academy.

"Oh, Old He, you're here too."

"Of course, I said back then that I must come to support Little Wu's first feature film!"

Not only Director Gu came, but also the host Hou Keming, Xie Xiaojing, and other teachers from Tao Jingying Academy, as well as the old comrades who made the "Dance of Martial Arts" documentary with Old Lady Ruan, all came.

The circle is really not big. To be honest, the people present basically know each other, and even those who are not familiar have met.

"Little Gu, how are the other two films invested by your Movie Channel?"

Director Gu smiled bitterly: "The one from the Tao Jingying Studio only started filming in the summer, and the one from the August First Film Studio ran out of money halfway through. Now they are looking for us to add investment, sigh!"

"The August First Film Studio probably added war scenes again. That's all money, how can 700,000 be enough! I'm not sure if this movie can be finished."

"Han Sanping from the Tao Jingying Studio is good at pulling investment. It should be no problem after filming, but I'm afraid of some trouble in the middle."

Hearing this, Director Gu also shook his head. It seems that self-made movies are really not easy to do, but fortunately, Wu Yu only used 300,000 to film the movie, which can be considered a shot in the arm for him.

"Alright, alright, don't talk about these annoying things for Little Gu. Isn't there one filmed? Let's see how Little Wu's movie is."

Soon, the lights in the hall went out and the screen lit up.

A poor student studying in Beijing, an isolated old man in a courtyard. One is green, strong, lively, and loves to tease; the other is twilight, lonely, grotesque, and falsely clever. When two people with edges collide, modern culture and traditional culture begin to coexist in the courtyard, and at the same time, conflicts arise.

There is no big love-hate relationship, from beginning to end it is daily trivialities, but it is this kind of ordinary trivial things like making phone calls and using electrical appliances, under Wu Yu's careful arrangement and design, that allow everyone present to follow the development of the story layer by layer, and in the change of seasons of winter, spring, summer, and autumn, little by little realize the process of the two people from contradiction and conflict to mutual support. Simple and plain, but seeing the truth!

The people watching the movie can be considered old people who have been immersed in the industry. Even those who don't know how to film know how to appreciate it. Several people sighed at the same time, using such a simple scene, but being able to film a story with twists and turns, the key is to be able to convey the most innocent and simple emotions, not simple!

At the end of the movie, when Old Lady and Zhou Xun were crying silently, Old Lady Ruan, who was watching, couldn't help but take out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. As an old man over 70, she had a deep understanding of this taste.

When the movie ended and the lights came on, several people also discovered Old Lady Ruan's abnormality, and the people beside her wanted to comfort her. Old Lady Ruan shook her head and just said two sentences: "Really good, really good!"

"I didn't expect it, Little Wu could actually film such a delicate film!"

"Yes, I saw his "Car 44" back then, and my impression of him was still stuck on a young director with a sharp and incisive style. I didn't expect him to be a good hand at playing with warmth."

Hou Keming also sighed after hearing it: "I was quite curious about what effect he could present after reading his script back then. I didn't expect it to be completed so well! From actors to performance to the lens and the style of the whole film, it is very excellent and coordinated, really can't see the appearance of a novice at all."

Taking advantage of the fact that Wu Yu hadn't come over yet, several people discussed with each other.

Blocked, wait for rescue. ===== CHAPTER 83 =====