Chapter 95 - 093 threw at her, a pig.
"We work so hard, not to change the world, but to prevent the world from changing us." This was a particularly memorable line from a movie Tian Sangsang had seen before.
Once, in her youth, she scoffed at South Korea, dismissing it as a brainless country that churns out pretty boys. Yet as she matured and watched some more South Korean dramas, she came to admire their innovation, where the actors rely entirely on their performances. Later, she encountered South Korean cinema and was thoroughly shocked.
As many people remarked, it’s not the country that influences film, but film that influences the country. Things that seem impossible here became reality over there. Movies like "Hope," "Molten Furnace," and "Defendant" left lasting impressions. Even erotic films aren’t just about sex; they have substance and plot, such as "The Treacherous" and "Frost Flower Store." The first movie Tian Sangsang watched was "Murder Memories," a film critiquing societal conditions during a particular time in South Korea, with an ending that sent chills down one’s spine. While watching, you truly felt the unease and oppression of the era and the tragedies brought about by the lack of legal enforcement. At the end of the film, the protagonist never finds the killer and cannot even definitively identify who the killer might be. Perhaps the murderer was one person all along, or maybe each case had a different perpetrator. But the greatest culprit, wasn’t it the era itself? Years later, the protagonist returns to the scene of the crime and comes to a startling realization: the killer wasn’t someone with obvious characteristics but just a regular person, someone among us. He had initially gone in the wrong direction. When the movie premiered, the murderer might very well have sat in the cinema, watching the protagonist on the screen.
However, just because someone else is good doesn’t mean you should blindly deny your own value; the key lies in learning from them. She didn’t think her own country was particularly bad; entertainment doesn’t necessarily reflect any real problems. What she could see was that her country was making progress. Especially over the past few decades, the changes had been dramatic, like the transformation of oceans into mulberry fields. Everything had turned upside down. We are all products of this era, all being pushed forward by its momentum. No matter how we proceed, we’re moving forward, always forward.
Tian Sangsang couldn’t help but admire her wandering mind. She was chatting with her "dream man," yet she managed to let her thoughts drift all the way to South Korean cinema. Hastily, she pulled herself back to the conversation.
Xu Yiyuan seemed surprised that Tian Sangsang brought this up and looked at her with some astonishment before breaking into a sudden smile. "You make a good point. I heard that five days from now, the city secretary will be coming to inspect the rural areas in town. Maybe you can find justice there."
Did that mean she could bring this issue up to the city secretary?
"Lately, there’s been strict enforcement in the city, with particular emphasis on cleaning up practices like this." Xu Yiyuan added. He didn’t state it outright, but his implication was clear enough.