Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 448: The Moon

"I have enough money to buy the copyright for now, but I want to buy another streaming platform..."

Chen Xi suddenly said.

Zhang Chen stopped what he was doing and said, "Didn't I tell you that this thing is too expensive? With Jiahe's current market value, it can't sustain it. You should focus on acquiring the copyrights.

If what I expected is correct, there will be a major reshuffle of the streaming platforms after a while, as there are too many streaming software on the market.

After they have reshuffled their cards, it will be the best time for us to join the game. By that time, the country will require legalization. We will hold the copyright in our hands. By then, it will not be us who will beg others, but others who will beg us..."

Zhang Chen was actually talking about the big reshuffle in 08.

Before 08, many people were optimistic about the video industry and thought it would definitely be the next hot spot.

Especially after YouTube was acquired, everyone seemed to have smelled a bloody shark, and hot money poured into the industry.

The most direct manifestation is that more than 400 video websites have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and at the hottest time, there could be 30 websites appearing in a single day.

The three companies that performed best in the early stage were 56.com, Youku, and Tudou, and a large number of video websites followed suit.

This situation is bound to lead to a reshuffle. The pie of the entire industry is so small that if everyone wants to take a bite, then no one will get any.

In those years, there was a news report every few days about how much money a certain video website had raised. There was no way around it, video websites were just burning money.

If you want to occupy the market, you have to spend money, and when the money is gone you can only continue to raise funds.

Why spend money? Because technical support is needed.

The so-called technical support actually refers to bandwidth and servers.

The servers are OK, but the cost of bandwidth is high.

The basic expenses of a video website, including bandwidth and servers, are no less than $400 million per month.

If this isn’t a waste of money, then what is?
A big reason why Youku can remain one of the three major players is that Youku has someone who is very familiar with the field of telecommunications infrastructure and can get bandwidth at super low prices.

It was precisely because of the high bandwidth costs that video websites were unable to raise funds after the financial crisis in 08.

Zhang Chen’s plan was to wait for the financial crisis in 08 to wipe out a large number of video websites, and then he would unite with several powerful companies to fight another copyright war, and the final pattern would be almost set.

Chen Xi nodded. It could be seen that she was a little unwilling, but Zhang Chen was the big boss.

"But you can first learn about those platforms and do some background checks. If you think the one you like is good, we can directly acquire it..."

“I’ve already finished this…”

Chen Xi took out a document from his bag and said, "I am more optimistic about 56.com. I have also met Zhou Juan before. She is a very powerful woman~"

Zhou Juan is indeed very capable. She originally worked at NetEase, where she was responsible for technology and products. Then in 05, she brought together three top NetEase executives to found 56.com.

She was indeed an amazing woman as she was able to share the world with Youku and Tudou in the early days.

Chen Xi is also a strong woman, so it is normal for her to sympathize with her.

However, 56.com encountered a crisis in 08. Due to licensing or review issues, it was forced to shut down for a month, losing nearly one-third of its users and causing serious damage to its vitality.

At this time when so many people are vying for supremacy, being shut down for a month is basically equivalent to being sentenced to death.

Its market was quickly divided up by other similar products, and coupled with the financial crisis and financing difficulties, it completely lost the possibility of an IPO.

"Well, 56.com is indeed developing well now, but the Internet is changing rapidly, and no one can predict what will happen in the future. You can prepare first and get to know more companies..."

In fact, Zhang Chen has no hope for any of the current three pillars.

56.com was suspended. The apparent reason was due to license issues, but no one knew the deeper reasons. Even if he was reborn, he could do nothing about it.

As for potatoes, it’s simply because the internal struggle is too intense.

The couple schemed against each other, and later staged a series of annual dramas such as snatching official seals, adding a lot of fun to the boring lives of netizens.

The internal discord involves not only Wang Wei and her husband, but also Wanwan executives.

In 09, the General Administration issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Internet Audiovisual Program Content", which stipulates that film and television content without a license shall not be disseminated on the Internet.

However, Tudou's Taiwanese executives ignored the company's interests and purchased a large number of Japanese and Taiwanese programs.

Not only are these programs ridiculously expensive, but they also lack licenses, and tens of millions of dollars have been wasted...

The founder is busy seizing power, while other shareholders are busy making money.

Zhang Chen is not a sucker. Only a fool would invest in such a company.

As for Youku, it belongs to Alibaba.

If Zhang Chen really wants to get in, he will only consider other platforms.

But the acquisition of copyrights cannot stop.

“By the way, don’t miss out on overseas dramas, such as the recently popular Prison Break.”

"Then won't we be competing directly with Sohu?"

Sohu's current film and television strategy is to bet on American TV series, including "Prison Break", "Lost", "Heroes" and the later "The Walking Dead". They are considered the only authentic versions in China.

But in those two years, because the country did not take copyright issues seriously, even if they sued, at most some large pirated websites did not have these resources, but the small ones were still rampant.

“There’s no need to compete directly. They didn’t get the exclusive copyright, so we just need to make sure we have it.

There are also Japanese anime, such as "Naruto" and "One Piece"..."

Chen Xi's ambition did not receive support from Zhang Chen, so he could only remain dormant.

As Zhang Chen got involved in more and more industries, he increasingly found that he did not have enough time.

For example, in the past two days, I met Chen Xi and cast a role in "Beauty's Rival in Palace", all in order to clear up the things at hand before the filming of "Moon" begins.

Not only that, Liu Daoqiang was also waiting to report to him on the construction progress of the theme park.

"The first Star Home is expected to open next year~"

Zhang Chen only gave him 15 minutes, because he had to rush to the set to do the final check in 15 minutes. "Moon" will officially start shooting tomorrow.

"Okay, I'm quite busy these days, so the theme park will have to rely on you~"

"Don't worry, I will keep a close eye on it and make sure nothing goes wrong."

Liu Daoqiang was full of confidence. Zhang Chen had painted a big pie for him and promised to give him shares. He was ready to treat this job as his own career.

As soon as I got into the car, Ning Hao called again.

"what's up?"

"I heard that your sci-fi film is about to start shooting. Are you in need of an assistant director? I'll be your assistant director for free..."

"Have you finished your work on 'Racing'?"

"I'm done with my work. I just sent it for review. I happen to have some free time these two days. I want to go and learn from you how science fiction films are made~"

"Then you can come directly to the China Film Digital Base. I'm on my way there now."

"OK, see you later~"

At the China Film Digital Base, Ning Hao finally asked his questions.

“Writing about the moon?

what do you think?

There are so many science fiction angles to write about, why did you choose the moon?
If it is a distant interstellar space, you can set it up anything you want, aliens, alien monsters like in "Alien", or alien Zerg like in "Starship Troopers"... Even if you are writing about the earth, there are countless topics to explore.

Only the moon~
The moon is so close to the earth that anyone can know a lot about it. There is no mystery about it at all.

It’s hard to come up with a good story in this situation~”

"Here is the script, read it yourself~"

Zhang Chen was too lazy to pay attention to him. After throwing the script to Ning Hao, he went to discuss tomorrow's shooting plan with Wu Shixian.

This was the first time Ning Hao had seen the script of "Moon". He opened it and read it carefully:
In the future, the Earth's energy is facing a crisis, and Lunar Energy Industries Ltd. builds a base on the moon to mine helium-3.

The protagonist Sam is a miner who signed a three-year contract with Lunar Energy Industries and works alone at the lunar base.

He is the only human being on the entire moon, and the other person is an intelligent robot assisting him.

Due to a communication satellite failure, Sam can only receive videos from his wife regularly and relies on playing the videos repeatedly to relieve his loneliness.

In the video, his daughter grows up gradually.

Sam relied on his longing for his wife and daughter to endure the boring work on the moon. All he wanted was to return to Earth and reunite with his wife and daughter after his three-year contract expired.

But just two weeks before the expiration of his contract, he had an accident while driving the lunar rover for mining. When he woke up again, he found himself in the medical room inside the base.

At the same time, he lost his memory of the time of the accident.

Sam accidentally heard the intelligent robot talking to the headquarters and became suspicious. Wasn't the real-time communication system broken?
Sam learned that a lunar rover broke down outside and wanted to go and repair it, but the intelligent robot said that the instructions from headquarters were for him to stay at the base and wait for the maintenance personnel to arrive.

This is very strange. We can obviously repair it ourselves, but we insist on sending maintenance personnel from Earth.

Sam deliberately destroyed the base's oxygen supply system and finally had a chance to go out.

After leaving the base, he drove the lunar rover directly to the accident site.

Then Sam saw the lunar rover that was damaged in the accident. He wiped the dust off the glass and found a person who looked exactly like him inside.

Exactly the same?
Could it be that I am... a clone?

Apparently, the company cloned itself for mining.
Sam thinks he is the real one, and the one who was rescued also thinks he is the real one, and then they both react at the same time, maybe they are both clones~
The injured Sam wanted to view more video footage but found that he did not have enough authority. The intelligent robot seemed to be on their side at this time and took the initiative to enter the password for him.

Then they discovered a horrible truth: the so-called three-year period, at which they would be sent back to Earth to reunite with their families, was simply a scam.

What sent them back was not a hibernation chamber, but an incinerator.

That is, the company deceived them, took advantage of them, and then killed them.

Below the hibernation chamber, the two Sams discovered countless clones waiting to be activated.

The injured Sam left the signal shielding range of the base and finally made a video call home, but found that the woman who answered the phone had the same name as his daughter, but their ages did not match.

Sam realized something and asked about other circumstances, and learned that his wife had died of cancer several years ago.

At the same time, I heard a woman calling another person "Dad", and that voice was clearly my own.

At this moment, the injured Sam understood everything.

It turns out that the real Sam had returned to Earth 15 years ago when his contract expired, and he was just the fifth clone of the real Sam.

It turns out that all the videos he watched in the past three years were recorded in advance by the company. The company used this method to deceive one clone after another.

No. 5 feels like the sky is falling, but there is another crisis at hand.

Cloning is illegal. The maintenance personnel sent by the headquarters must be here to destroy the evidence, and the evidence is them...

Before the maintenance personnel arrived, Clone No. 6 came up with an idea.

He activated Clone No. 7, then put Clone No. 7 back into the damaged lunar rover, and let Clone No. 5 escape back to Earth on the only ore transporter, while Clone No. 6 himself stayed at the base to deal with the maintenance personnel.

At this time, Clone No. 5's body has reached its limit. He knows that he will not live for a few more days, so he is willing to give the chance of life to Clone No. 6.

He returned to the damaged rover himself to confuse the maintenance personnel, and had Clone No. 6 return to Earth on the ore transporter, leaving Clone No. 7 inside the base as the newly activated clone.

Finally, No. 6 successfully returned to Earth and exposed the secret of Lunar Energy Industry's illegal use of clones for mining, causing Lunar Energy Industry to go bankrupt.

The story ends here.

Ning Hao was in deep shock.

"Moon" is pure soft science fiction, the kind that can't be softer, relying purely on concepts~
But this is a work that will linger in your mind for a long time after watching it!
Why is the contract period of Yueneng Industrial three years?
Because the life span of a clone is only three years.

Several clones, including No. 5, had the same symptoms when their three-year deadline was about to expire: vomiting blood, losing hair, and losing teeth.
This proves that the life span of a clone is only three years.

There was one scene in the movie that left a deep impression on him, which was the moment when each clone was about to return after its three-year period expired.

They would all look at the photos of their wives and daughters with a silly smile, naively thinking that they would be able to return to their families soon.

Then happily step into the hibernation chamber and press the button to burn yourself?

The picture is not cruel, but it makes people think about it carefully.

Clones are pathetic, but clone number 5 is the most pathetic because he knows everything.

He knew that he was a clone, and that his beloved wife and daughter did not belong to him at all.

The most touching detail in the movie is the different reactions of Clone No. 5 and Clone No. 6 when they learned of their wives' death.

When Clone 5 hears the girl who answers the phone tell him about his wife's death, his initial reaction is disbelief. He asks, "Are you sure?"

When clone No. 6 heard the news of his wife's death, his body couldn't help but shake twice and he almost couldn't stand.

This subtle difference is the most normal reaction.

Because for Clone No. 5, he and his wife haven't seen each other for three years, so naturally their feelings have faded.

As for clone No. 6, in his memory he had just been separated from his wife for a week. The sudden news of his wife's death was obviously a stronger blow to him than to clone No. 5.

So what is the most shocking part of this movie?

Did he discover that there was a person who looked exactly like him in the damaged lunar rover?

Or did they discover that both of them were actually clones, and that there were countless more clones in the basement?

Or is it that the clones whose contracts expired entered a hibernation chamber and were suddenly incinerated?

Ning Hao felt that neither was true.

It's the part where clone No. 5 calls his home on Earth.

When I saw Clone No. 5 making a video call home and learned the truth.

It turns out that everything is fake. The wife and daughter he misses so much are not his, and his memories are all fake.

When Ning Hao saw this, his heart ached deeply.

The only motivation that supports Sam in fighting loneliness is his wife and daughter. He believes that his wife and daughter need him and they are waiting for him to return and reunite the family.

But at this moment you suddenly realize that everything is fake and no one needs you at all.

Sam's world must have collapsed at this moment. He lost the meaning of his existence, and the people he loved didn't even know he existed.

For Sam, the most precious thing is this memory, but it turns out that this memory does not belong to him...

Then what is the meaning of his existence?
This is probably a question that every human being, even every clone, cannot figure out.

(End of this chapter)