Reborn as a comedic artist

Late at night, in the studio.

Wang Shuo held the mouse in his hand, his eyes slightly red, as if he had just been punched in the face, and he didn't move for a long time.

On the screen, the progress bar has just finished.

Those were the footage Cheng Ming shot today. After three hours of meticulous editing by Wang Shuo, the final video was finally produced.

There are no fancy transitions, no explosive special effects, and even the filter used is a grainy, dark tone.

On the stereo, the song "Noodles and Dishes," which was supposed to be released in 2017, was "borrowed" by Cheng Ming ahead of time!

The intro flows gently, the guitar sounds cool and clear, accompanied by whistles that are slightly off-key yet extremely penetrating, like a dull knife cutting flesh, sawing into one's heart again and again.

End of video.

The man in the ill-fitting white shirt and the broken-legged gold-rimmed glasses raised a bottle of liquor under the dim streetlights.

The subtitles slowly appeared, accompanied by that suffocating monologue: "So I'm probably sick...!"

The screen fades to black, leaving only a faint sigh and the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the plastic sheet.

"Smack."

Wang Shuo paused the game. Even though he doesn't smoke much, he shook a cigarette out of the pack, put it in his mouth, and tried to light it several times with the lighter.

He took a deep drag, the pungent smoke filling his lungs and causing him to cough, his entire body trembling.

"Ahem... Old Cheng."

Wang Shuo's voice was a little hoarse. He didn't turn around, but just stared at the blacked-out screen.

"Tell me honestly, how did you come up with this video and this piece of music?"

"This isn't something anyone can do with just their hands...!"

Cheng Ming sat on the sofa to the side, completely oblivious to the fact that he was the person involved, and spoke casually.

"fart...!"

Wang Shuo turned his chair around, the wheels scraping against the floor with a screeching sound.

He pointed at the screen, his usual jovial demeanor gone, replaced by a frighteningly serious expression: "This thing...this thing is a bit eerie. Anyone with hands can do it...?"

Wang Shuo has never denied that Cheng Ming is exceptionally talented.

He tolerated the transformation from his previous antics and pranks to his later mastery of various musical instruments and singing, since it's not surprising for art students to have many talents.

But all of those things in the past, whether they were for laughs or to show off, had traceable origins.

But today's video has a completely different style.

The absurdity of ordinary people being beaten down by life, yet still having to force a smile.

The seemingly comical yet desperate sense of reality is as if it condenses the social conditions of the underprivileged over the past few decades into just five or six minutes.

Especially when compared to the episode of "In the Name of the Rich" that was just edited yesterday.

On one hand, he plays a character who is miserable one moment and fantasizing the next on his deathbed: luxury cars, beautiful women, and extravagant spending, filling the screen with decadent indulgence.

On one side is Cheng Ming's portrayal of a down-on-his-luck art student, seemingly abstract and nonsensical, but full of metaphors and satire that practically tears reality apart for the audience to see.

......

"Old Cheng, this is more than just a contrast."

Wang Shuo stubbed out his cigarette hard in the ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts, his brow furrowed.

"I'm afraid the comments section will explode if I post this video. This video... is deeper than anything we've ever filmed before, so deep it's unsettling...!"

The sense of immersion was so strong.

It was so powerful that even Wang Shuo, a chubby guy who usually joked around and whose family was fairly well-off, felt a tightness in his chest after watching it, and even developed a deep sense of self-doubt.

Who am I? Where am I? Does this 180-pound body also house a restless soul?

Lies don't hurt, truth is the knife.

What I fear most is truly being able to empathize.

Wang Shuo felt he was becoming somewhat withdrawn.

Seeing his adopted son looking somewhat doubtful about life, Cheng Ming's lips twitched. It wasn't really his fault; the problem was that the system's support was just too powerful.

The video's fiery core, coupled with expert-level acting skills, and the background music of Zhang Youzhi's exclusive version of "Noodles and Dishes," is surprisingly explosive!

"call……"

Cheng Ming let out a long sigh of relief: "There are no born geniuses. It's just a matter of accumulating knowledge and experience before unleashing their potential. Quantitative change leads to qualitative change... You don't understand...!"

"I don't understand...? You really are a weirdo, I'm completely speechless...!"

Wang Shuo rolled his eyes; the sadness he felt earlier was instantly washed away by this guy's pretentious aura.

Although he had said this many times, at this moment, he was truly convinced.

The kind of prostration.

"Alright, stop being so sentimental. Life goes on..."

Cheng Ming's expression became slightly more serious: "The Shanghai Carnival is almost here, we need to rehearse more tomorrow..."

On the system interface, the little red light indicating the task deadline had started flashing. Although only he could see it, the sense of urgency was real.

"Once you're done, first release that video of Fengzi filming yesterday, 'In the Name of the Rich,' so netizens can see your 'miserable' life and raise their expectations..."

Wang Shuo was taken aback for a moment, then reacted, pointing at Cheng Ming and laughing and scolding, "That's a really cunning trick of yours! You use sweet talk to make him dizzy first, and then stab him in the back?"

First, release videos of yourself flaunting your wealth, immersing everyone in that miserable yet illusory luxury.

Once the hype builds up, then release this episode of "Kong Yiji".

Thinking about that huge sense of loss, Wang Shuo felt like he was aiding and abetting evil...

Cheng Ming corrected, "This is called the art of contrast."

"Okay, I got it. You're the director, so you call the shots."

Wang Shuo turned around and gripped the mouse again, but his hand was trembling slightly.

The aftereffects of that video were really strong; Cheng Ming's words, "I'm probably sick," were still stuck in his head.

"Then I'll post Fengzi's first."

Wang Shuo operated the backend, dragging the video he had edited yesterday into the upload box.

The title is simple and direct: "Really Don't Want to Work Hard Anymore? Magic and Reality...!"

..........

Nothing more was said that night!

Thanks to the reversal of the previous "filial son's tears in the cafeteria" story, coupled with the bombardment of the "Shuyin Trilogy," Wang Shuo's video account is no longer an unknown figure on Bilibili.

The number of views has exceeded three million.

This is not just a number; it represents a phenomenon.

Reaching this level in just over a month makes it arguably the biggest dark horse on Bilibili this year!

I wouldn't dare say there will be no one like him in the future, but there will definitely be no one like him before. He is a solid top 100 UP master, and he may even make it into the top three if he can just secure a spot in the top ten of the year!

That's why countless eyes are fixed on this account that has been silent for over ten days.

When the four large characters "In the Name of Wealth" appeared, along with the cover image of Wang Shuo wearing tattered camouflage pants but with a large gold chain photoshopped around his neck, the entire platform's data backend experienced a momentary lag.

In just one night.

Even without any promotion from operations or Shuyin, the red dot notification in the "following list" alone is enough to create a traffic storm.

It started with over five million views!

After all, Cheng Ming has been silent for about ten days since the "Shu Yin Trilogy" that made countless art students kneel in disbelief.

In this fast-paced internet age, not updating for ten days is almost equivalent to becoming outdated for an ordinary internet celebrity.

But for these viewers whose tastes have long been spoiled, this is called "holding back a big surprise".

The inbox has been flooded with messages from eager fans urging for more updates.

Now it has finally happened.

Click to watch the video.

The intro begins with a variation of Jay Chou's hit song "In the Name of the Father," which everyone is familiar with, but the scene is not of the Italian Mafia, but of a dusty construction site under the scorching sun.

Its target audience is mostly young people, either college students or young professionals who have just entered the workforce.

My first reaction upon seeing this heavily modified version of "In the Name of Wealth" was to laugh.

He laughed like a pig.

The lyrics were so sarcastic, "To get rich, I'm working like a pig," which, combined with Wang Shuo's bitter and resentful face, perfectly embodied the word "prank."

But as he looked at it, his smile froze on his face.

Especially when Wang Shuo almost fainted while carrying cement for that vague "four dishes and one soup", and finally saw himself wearing gold and silver, with luxury cars and beautiful women in his hallucination.

That inexplicable heartache was like a thorn, piercing the softest part of everyone's heart.

You're all smiles before watching, but then you're completely disgusted afterward.

..........