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

Chapter 70 Everyone, Come Follow Me! (Fourth Update!)
In late August, the city of Yanjing was so stuffy that it was hard to breathe.

Yanjing Xinjiekou, Jishuitan...

For countless post-80s art and literature enthusiasts, it was a paradise for collecting CDs.

What is disc collecting?

As the name suggests, it is a group of artistic young people who stand in front of a store selling CDs or a series of mobile stalls, bending over and constantly rummaging through the boxes provided by the shop owner for their favorite movie and music CDs. They communicate with the owner from time to time to express their needs, hoping to get the movie CDs or music albums they want from the "owner" who has connections.

This process is called disc digging.

Before the millennium, Huaxia Film Group held a conservative attitude towards the import of foreign films, including local Hong Kong films.

Some films were unable to be imported through official channels due to policy issues, while others were unable to do so due to systemic problems.

However, mainland moviegoers' desire for films has not diminished; on the contrary, it has become even more intense. Where there is a market, there are people willing to take risks.

Through the actions of a group of daring "scalpers," they obtained sources of goods through various information channels, and eventually the team grew larger and larger, gradually forming a gray piracy industry chain.

.........

September 8, evening.

Xinjiekou, though not as famous as Xidan, Dongdan, Xisi, or Dongsi in Beijing, has always been a bustling street in the northern part of the city.

The bustling crowd flowed continuously.

As usual, a group of artsy young people who came to browse for CDs arrived in the evening to see if there were any new releases.

But today, when they came over...

They suddenly discovered that several familiar "bosses" who used to sell CDs at mobile stalls had all disappeared.

After searching for a long time, they finally heard some news.

That means a new round of crackdowns has begun.

However, aside from a little regret, these artsy young people didn't have any other thoughts.

In the year 2000, the Chinese government intervened to regulate this series of industrial chains, and in the short term, it did achieve some significant results.

But this thing, if you regulate it, it will be less; if you don't regulate it, it will suddenly grow like weeds after a fire, and with a gust of wind or a drop of rain, it will instantly cover the mountains and fields.

These bosses have been hiding during the crackdown, but they'll be back with their stalls as soon as it's over.

Young people who collect CDs are already used to it.

but……

What they didn't know was that this crackdown was more severe than any before.

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

A gentle breeze was blowing at the street corner.

Xu Chunyang, who had been carrying a camera and traveling all over the country to record pirated films since the beginning of the millennium, heard some news at this moment.

Starting in early August, a piracy squad was organized in Shenzhen to carry out a thorough crackdown and destruction of pirated CDs.

The force was astonishing!

I heard that the most serious ringleader in Shenzhen is currently facing prosecution and administrative penalties, and may even have to go to jail.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, the official anti-piracy voices have become increasingly strong recently. In some news programs, you can even see some TV stations broadcasting live the seizure of illegal CDs.

In addition, a group of film and television companies of all sizes in China, led by Tianyu Media and Huasheng Brothers, signed a petition last week, stating that they would make great efforts to combat piracy.

Under this series of surprise inspections and policy changes, Xu Chunyang keenly realized that he couldn't do piracy forever.

We need to transform our business quickly!

But what can a transformation do?

Making genuine CDs?
How could anyone afford that? Let alone whether we can even get the goods, even if we could, we'd still need to advance funds and pay a deposit...

There's also the risk of not being able to sell them...

Xu Chunyang silently looked at the movie theater in front of him, then glanced at the video recorder in his hand.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Hey?"

"Hey, Xiao Xu, have you finished recording the movie 'The Distant Man: Reboot'?"

"I... Boss, the higher-ups are cracking down on piracy. What if we get arrested...? Maybe we should be more careful this time and wait until things calm down before going!"

"The famous stock market guru once said, 'Be greedy when others are fearful!' I've looked into the market in Yanjing; most 'bosses' don't dare to do it. If we do, we can make a fortune. The movie 'The Longest Nite: Reboot' is very popular at [Movie House] today. I heard they're about to release the official DVDs. If we can get pirated DVDs out and sell them before the official ones, making tens of thousands of yuan isn't a dream. If we're going to sell, we should do it now. I'll pay you 3000 yuan for this job. Just hand it over to me after you're done. I'll handle all the legal issues..."

"..."

The boss's voice came from the other end of the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Chunyang glanced at the video recorder one last time, and finally looked at the Feihe Cinema not far away.

A reward of 3000 yuan is just too tempting!

Or should we stop after this one order?

Just as Xu Chunyang gritted his teeth, preparing to take a risk...

The phone rang again!
This time, the call came from Li Dongqiang, who was also recording pirated videos.

Xu Chunyang wasn't familiar with Li Dongqiang, only knowing that this senior came from Shenzhen and was very familiar with many pirates. Some time ago, he seemed to have been hanging out with the group behind "Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2" and apparently made some money...

"Hello, Xiao Xu."

"Brother Li..."

"Are you still in Yanjing?"

"Here I am!"

"Are you free right now?"

"Have!"

"Come here for a meeting... By the way, do you know any other colleagues in Beijing? The more the better... And I'd like to know some reliable ones!"

"what?"

"Let me tell you the truth, the policies from above are getting stricter now. From what I've heard, more than a dozen of my peers have been arrested or had their businesses shut down... You can't keep doing piracy for long. Right now, Mr. Zhou is in need of people. If you can get in touch with any of them, bring them all to my office. I'll interview them personally. The sooner the better. As long as you can get on Mr. Zhou's big ship, making money will definitely not be a problem!"

"what?"

"Okay, that's all for now! I'll send you the address..."

"..."

Shortly after Xu Chunyang hung up the phone, his phone vibrated. Li Dongqiang had sent him an address.

He stared blankly at an address on his phone, momentarily lost in confusion.

After glancing at the movie theater ahead, he finally put down the video camera and silently walked towards the address.

……

Half an hour later, he arrived at Li Dongqiang's rented room.

The rented room was found to be packed with people.

In the crowd, he unexpectedly spotted Zhou Zhonghua, the boss who had just called him to record a pirated video of "The Distant Man: Reboot".

At this moment, Zhou Zhonghua, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, is filling out his personal information.

"You came?"

“Um, Brother Li, we…”

"Fill in your identity information first, and I'll report it to General Manager Zhou for review immediately..."

"Ah, what is performance?"

"It's about how many movies you've recorded, how many DVDs you've sold, how much revenue you've generated, your areas of expertise and projects, and the regions you cover. Try to be as realistic as possible... so we can plan the marketing points..."

"Ah, this..." Xu Chunyang was instantly shocked when he heard this!

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhou won't set a trap... Besides, what good would it do Mr. Zhou to send you all in? Last month, when Mr. Zhou was promoting the sales of 'Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2,' we used countless pornographic covers. Strictly speaking, reporting you is also reporting ourselves. I'm not doing this for no reason..."

"Then this identity information..."

"It's just to let Mr. Zhou understand our business scope. Don't worry, it's fine..."

"Huh?" Xu Chunyang hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded, writing down his resume on the paper.

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

8 month 21 day.

early morning.

Du Wei, who was on duty in the publicity department of the Yanjing Public Security Bureau, received a phone call.

"Hello, Officer Du?"

"Hello, you are……"

"Oh, hello, I'm Zhou Yang, the Zhou Yang who made the news for phone scams... My company is right next to the police station, we're neighbors..."

"Cough, cough..."

Upon hearing the words "telephone fraud," Du Wei began to cough violently and uncontrollably.

This person...

Are you really this open and honest now?

"Officer Du, I'd like to ask if anyone in our department has been arrested for piracy?"

"Yes, and a lot of them. Recently, the higher-ups have been cracking down on the smuggling and piracy of CDs, and several people have records with us... Why are you asking this? Wait, you're not thinking of getting involved in piracy, are you? Let me tell you, don't get involved in that..."

"Oh, Officer Du, how could I dare? My company is right next to the police station. Would I dare do anything illegal? I just want to get in touch with some people, talk to them. I recently released a movie called 'The Resurrection,' and I'm planning to sell DVDs. I need some help..."

"Wait! Don't tell me you want these pirate sellers to help you sell legitimate copies?"

"Ahem, ahem, though the words may be rough, the principle is sound. That's roughly the idea... I just want to help more people see the error of their ways and provide them with a job, right? Officer Du, you know these pirate sellers are all seasoned veterans. If you arrest them today, they'll behave for a while, but once things cool down, they'll come back to do it... Since they're all selling anyway, why not help me sell some?"

"you……"

"Officer Du, I'm just dropping by for a visit..."

"..."

Du Weigang hung up the phone.

Then they heard a knock on the door of the publicity department office.

Then...

Zhou Yang, wearing glasses, walked in cheerfully carrying fruit.

"Officer Du, thank you for your hard work..."

“Zhou Yang, I can’t help you contact people for this kind of thing… We can’t give you the information either, it’s a secret… Also, there are security cameras here, take the stuff back!” Du Wei stared at the fruit, then suddenly became serious.

"Officer Du, I understand, I understand... It's just some ordinary fruit, Officer Du. I won't do anything illegal or disorderly. I just want to know about the current situation of the piracy market... Besides, my company is right next to yours... I absolutely abide by the law!"

"..."

When Zhou Yang said this much, Du Wei finally sighed.

"Please sit down!"

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

"Fuck!"

"Oh shit!"

"Holy crap! Are you sure this isn't the way to the police station?"

"Why does this road look more and more like the way to the police station?"

"Grass!"

"Damn it, they're going to the police station!"

“Get out of the car, get out of the car!”

"..."

Three o'clock in the morning.

A bus was carrying about ten people who were involved in piracy.

At first, these ten or so people were full of hope and dreams for the future, but as the bus went around in circles and things looked increasingly wrong...

The group of people were instantly horrified!

(Fourth update delivered!)
(It's already ranked 8th on today's urban fantasy bestseller list!)

(Gritting my teeth, I'll add another chapter!)

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(End of this chapter)