Hua Disheng's popularity soared even higher because of his seemingly useless inventions, such as the "solar-powered flashlight" and the "agent chair," featured in the short film.
Many people only then realized that he had previously invented a bizarre invention like the piano-shaped barbecue cart.
Of the four men under his command, only Zhan Chengwen seems to be lukewarm at best.
But Hou Wenjie wasn't in a hurry. Zhan Chengwen's persona was that of a cultural icon, and he not only needed to showcase his talent, but also needed to make his voice heard!
Speak up for the underprivileged, speak up for the people!
He sent Zhan Chengwen around to advocate for the disadvantaged.
Two days later, Zhan Chengwen found Hou Wenjie and told him what he had learned in the past few days.
From him, Hou Wenjie learned that several fellow villagers were owed money for construction projects and had gone to the construction company to ask for their money back.
They asked several times, but the company wouldn't give it to them and even had people kick them out.
Finally, the villagers had no choice but to gather more people to block the company's entrance, which resulted in the engineering company's security calling the police.
Several fellow villagers were administratively detained for "maliciously demanding back wages!"
The villagers were only released today.
Upon hearing this, even after experiencing many lifetimes and witnessing countless bloodshed, Hou Wenjie still felt a profound sense of human tragedy.
Even the best social system cannot stop the greed and evil in human nature.
The law is supposed to be a weapon to protect the weak, but it often becomes a shield for the wicked.
Hou Wenjie sighed, then began to work with Zhan Chengwen to organize the materials and edit the video.
…
It was evening, in the luxurious presidential suite of a five-star hotel.
Zhou Tao handed some money to the girls she met at the nightclub, sent them away, and lay back down on the bed, entering a state of sage-like tranquility.
After a while, he started fiddling with his phone out of boredom.
He suddenly noticed that the artsy blogger he followed had updated his blog.
He remembered the last update was that modern poem he loved so much, "Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms," and wondered what it would be this time.
The video is titled "I Love This Land"!
The first thing that caught his eye was a series of photographs, the initial ones showing the figures of construction workers.
They were wearing not-so-clean clothes, and their faces were covered in sweat as they moved around the construction site.
The voiceover and subtitles appear simultaneously: "They are all mothers' children and children's fathers. They work hard to earn more money to support their families, no matter how tough or tiring it is!"
After that, they were all dressed in clean clothes and crowded in front of a company, seemingly arguing.
The project was completed, but they did not receive their payment. They came to the company to demand their wages, but were driven away by security guards each time.
Left with no other option, they gathered more coworkers to help them collect their debts, and they blocked the company's gate.
Finally, there's a photo of them being dragged into a police car, looking dejected.
The construction company that owed wages reported the incident to the police, and the workers were taken into custody in police cars.
They were found to have acted illegally, constituting "malicious wage arrears demand!"
When all the photos disappeared, Zhou Tao saw that handsome face wearing glasses.
It's Zhan Chengwen.
He watched the birds flying across the sky and began to recite:
If I were a bird,
I then used my hoarse voice to sing.
This land battered by the storm,
This river, forever surging with our grief and indignation,
This relentlessly blowing, furious wind,
And that incredibly gentle dawn from the forest...
—Then I died.
Even the feathers rotted in the soil.
Why are my eyes always filled with tears?
Because I love this land so deeply…
In the video, Zhan Chengwen's voice was full and powerful as he recited the poem. His eyes were already moist, and as he finished reciting the last line, he looked up and gazed into the distance.
In the distance, there is a forest, where birds that have flown across the sky have landed and are frolicking.
The video ends here.
After watching the entire video, Zhou Tao suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, a sense of loss lingering in his heart.
He lit a cigarette and forwarded the video to his WeChat Moments.
He found himself starting to like the sharp edges in the blogger's writing, because he suddenly felt a higher spiritual level.
Whether it's "Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms" or "I Love This Land," both reveal the poet's attitude towards life.
In the past, Zhou Tao disliked some self-proclaimed intellectuals and so-called cultural celebrities.
Of course, Zhou Tao doesn't like them now either. She has even seen some of their works.
I always felt that the values presented in their books were distorted, even to someone like me who doesn't consider myself a good person.
These people, posing as celebrities on the internet today, pontificate and offer opinions that are often laughable.
Zhou Tao's opinion of these people was that they were pretentious and affected.
But today, at this moment, Zhou Tao truly felt the power of words.
If "Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms" is an inner longing and a romantic fantasy, then "I Love This Land" is a silent cry.
The wind and rain lashed the land.
The river flows eternally with grief and indignation.
The wind blows relentlessly, carrying with it anger.
Only the dawn in the forest is full of gentleness.
And so the bird that sang hoarsely died at dawn.
The feathers rotted in the mud.
All its cries are simply because it loves this land so much.
Zhou Tao really likes the feel of this kind of writing; every sentence seems to carry the rhythm of life and is so powerful.
As time went on, the short video containing content about "maliciously demanding unpaid wages" began to go viral.
It not only topped the trending searches on Douyin, but also became popular on Weibo, Zhihu, and many other platforms, achieving mainstream success.
As the buzz grew, so did the controversy.
Some netizens felt that the term "malicious wage arrears" was disgusting and expressed strong support for Zhan Chengwen's use of poetry to voice his opinion, believing that this is exactly what intellectuals in the new era need to do.
Another group of experts and scholars believe that "malicious wage demands" should be dealt with according to the law. The internet is not a place to shout the loudest. They criticize Zhan Chengwen for posting such negative videos to gain traffic and hinder the country's judicial fairness.
The two sides engaged in a fierce online exchange of insults.
"I'm furious! The workers have been waiting for their wages for a long time, that's why they're blocking the door! If you don't pay me, my demand for payment is considered malicious wage arrears, but if you owe me money, isn't that malicious wage arrears? These experts are all dogs!"
"If you can't get your money back, you should report it to the police. Blocking someone's door is wrong. Society is governed by law. Just because you're a vulnerable group doesn't mean you should be pitied!"
"In the end, the workers deserve it. They even caused trouble by demanding their wages. It's only right to pay back debts! That's how it's always been. Now, it's the debtors who have put their creditors in jail. I've never seen anything like it!"
"How do you define 'malicious wage demand'? I've come to collect the debt several times, and you've ignored me. Now that I've sent people to block your way and demand payment, does that constitute 'malicious wage demand'? Does that mean I have to kneel down and beg you for it?!"
"There are still too many people who are ignorant of the law. If all else fails, call the police and hand it over to the relevant authorities."
"The relevant departments have taken action, and the ones who got arrested were the creditors. I wonder if those who maliciously withheld wages have been arrested either!"
In a short time, public opinion in society grew stronger.
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