Huayu Shen Gongbao

Chapter 23 This generation of netizens is really wicked!

Although there are all kinds of people on the Internet, the largest group is definitely those who enjoy themselves.

After all, most people go online for entertainment.

People follow entertainment news mainly for gossip and entertainment.

If Shen Gongbao had simply issued a clarification in a straightforward manner, it would have generated some buzz, but it certainly wouldn't have had such an explosive effect.

The viewers in the live broadcast room were overjoyed, but the host couldn't stand Shen Gongbao's remarks and his fickle stance.

Seeing Shen Gongbao's increasingly extreme remarks, he didn't know how to respond, after all, he dared not offend Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

When the time was almost up, the host ended the live broadcast.

Although the total duration was only a little over half an hour, the live stream was extremely popular and effective. The highest number of concurrent viewers in the text and image live stream exceeded 210 million, and the number of viewers in the video live stream also exceeded 100 million!

This data was top-tier on the internet in 2007.

Moreover, the topic only really spread after the live stream ended.

After all, there was no mobile internet at that time, and the main tool for accessing the internet was still the computer. Most people could only catch up on the gossip in the second or third hour.

As more and more people joined in the discussion, Shen Gongbao's "rambling remarks" quickly became popular online.

Statements such as "In the US, I am an American; in China, I am a Chinese," "I pay taxes in the US, but consume in China," and "My passport is blue, but my heart is red" have dominated various forums and online communities.

In 2007, although physical knowledge was prevalent, there were also quite a few patriotic young people on the internet.

At this time, the fighting power of both sides was actually more ferocious than that of the Internet in later generations, with various opinions being very radical and highly aggressive.

Those who admire the US believe that Shen Gongbao's statement makes sense; in the 21st century, everyone is an international citizen of the global village, and we should be flexible in our patriotism.

Patriots also found Shen Gongbao's words interesting, as he had linked these rare yellow-skinned, white-hearted creatures to the heavens!

That's the advantage of being a "cross-talker"—your stance is unpredictable, your words waver, and both sides are happy to hear it.

Many netizens also played with photo editing, combining these remarks with photos of Shen Gongbao and spreading them everywhere.

Shen Gongbao has really become famous now!

It can only be said that becoming famous is a very mysterious thing. Shen Gongbao's plan was to announce that he broke the bones of the two Js and become famous by stepping on the two superstars.

But after the live stream ended, few people paid attention to the fracture, but his witty remarks became a viral sensation online.

Shen Gongbao's deliberate attempt to associate himself with Li Lianjie inadvertently aligned with the current era.

The internet is currently in the early stages of transitioning from online slang to online humor, and netizens' entertainment options are not yet very diverse. They particularly enjoy making fun of public figures.

Starting with Li Yuchun from the 05 Super Girl competition and Li Yi, who was described as "protecting the ball like Henry," terms like "bashing someone" and "hater" gradually became popular.

However, after doing a lot of mockery, people realized that low-level mockery has no technical merit and is meaningless, unlike high-level mockery.

Therefore, a sophisticated form of smear campaign, which involves ostensibly praising but actually criticizing, began to emerge, also known as "cross-talk".

People's teasing of Li Yuchun has evolved from "a true iron-blooded man" to "believe in Brother Chun and you will have eternal life," and Li Yi is also respectfully called "Emperor."

The Li Yi Bar and Li Yuchun Bar on Baidu Tieba have gradually developed into large forums, slowly forming a kind of cultural identity.

Shen Gongbao's online comments were in line with the current trend of internet development, which is why they spread rapidly.

This is why, after hearing his remarks, netizens felt that he was not a fan of Jet Li, but a high-level troll.

Many netizens even posted various threads analyzing the events surrounding the Forbidden Kingdom film crew and Shen Gongbao's remarks.

One blog post by a user named "Assassination Novelist" attracted the most attention.

"I watched Shen Gongbao's interview video more than a dozen times and finally came to a conclusion - Shen Gongbao was indeed bullied."

At the very beginning of the interview, Shen Gongbao told the truth and directly admitted to being bullied.

However, Shen Gongbao knew that he was just an insignificant college student, and he couldn't fight against Double J and Huayi in a head-on confrontation. In the end, personal strength could not defeat capital!

So he later deliberately explained that it was Collin Chou and Cheng Chi-ho who bullied him, thus exposing the two Js and Huayi Brothers.

Did Double J and Huayi Brothers participate in bullying? I think they did.

Because Shen later stated that he came forward to clarify in order not to anger his supporters, and did not mention the two Js.

According to what Shen Gongbao said later, he broke the bones of the two Js on set, and the two Js deliberately concealed it to protect him, which led to them being slandered by netizens.

Under this logic, the main reason for Shen Gongbao's clarification should be to prevent the two Js from being wronged and to clear the name of their two good brothers.

However, Shen Gongbao did not say that. Instead, he said that in order to prevent netizens from getting angry, he was deliberately implying to everyone that the two Js were involved in bullying.

He said that the two Js's statement about taking great care of younger generations was just a deliberate attempt to smear them.

When people combine Shen Gongbao's earlier statement about being bullied with his later statement about the two Js taking care of their juniors, they will feel a strong sense of irony.

If the two Js really take care of their juniors, then why was Shen Gongbao bullied by Collin Chou and Zheng Zhihao?

Isn't this a joke?

From this point onward, everything Shen Gongbao said afterward was a sophisticated attack, and should be interpreted in reverse.

He is using the guise of a die-hard fan of Jet Li to attack the stains on Jet Li's record.

This also fits Shen Gongbao's personality.

He wasn't the bookish academic genius type; rather, he was a highly intelligent academic genius with excellent eloquence, strong initiative, and a knack for retaliating.

When Collin Chou tried to mess with him, he hid steel plates in his clothes; when Double J and Hua Yi tried to pressure him, he used offensive language to disgust them.

This kind of skill and intelligence is truly amazing.

Moreover, I think that Shen Gongbao's willingness to come out and clarify the situation to help the Kung Fu King production team calm things down must be because he received some kind of benefit.

As for the specific benefits, it is currently unknown.

If there are any further revelations in the future, you can check my speculations in the comments section of this blog post.

The blog post "Assassination of a Novelist" provides a very detailed analysis, clearly explaining the rhetoric and logic in Shen Gongbao's interview, which has earned it the approval of many people.

That afternoon, the blog post had already garnered over 500 million views and was still growing rapidly.

In the comments section of the blog post, many people believe that the benefit Shen Gongbao received was money from the production team.

However, a netizen named "Thirty-Year-Old Virgin" offered a different perspective.

"I don't think Shen Gongbao was after money. Highly intelligent academic achievers often have higher pursuits. Perhaps he was trying to create better works?"

The script for The Forbidden Kingdom was so bad that Shen Gongbao couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to adapt it, but he didn't have the authority.

The production team granted him certain adaptation rights, which is why Shen Gongbao agreed to come forward and clarify the matter.

It must be said that there are some incredibly imaginative people among the netizens who managed to guess part of the truth.

However, at present, the speculation about a "30-year-old virgin" has not attracted much attention.

It wasn't until after the release of "The Forbidden Kingdom" that his answer was unearthed by netizens, and together with the blog post "A Writer's Odyssey," it became a classic post on the internet.

The public was in an uproar. Besides analyzing Shen Gongbao's interview and making fun of his rambling remarks, many people online were also mocking Li Lianjie.

I don't know which netizen made a meme, but the picture borrowed the most popular line from the movie "Fearless" which was released last year. A beggar asked Huo Yuanjia, "When will you be the number one in Tianjin?"

The image has a steamed bun photoshopped into the beggar's hand, with a caption next to it: "Goubuli Steamed Buns".

Huo Yuanjia's expression changed drastically upon seeing the steamed buns, and he leaned back with a look of disgust.

This meme doesn't contain a single dirty word, but it's incredibly satirical. Even Goubuli steamed buns are ignored by Li Lianjie (a famous Chinese comedian).

Then Li is a dog.

Once released, the meme spread rapidly online, sparking a frenzy among netizens.

So much so that when it was lunchtime, Shen Gongbao first called Li Lianjie to explain.

"Brother Jie, I'm such a loyal fan of yours!"

You know what kind of person I am; I'm very principled! I'm definitely not some kind of idiot.

These netizens are so mean! They altered my post!

Li Lianjie: "..."