Chapter 105: Angry Because It’s Juvenile

Chapter 105: Angry Because It’s Juvenile

The next morning, Chen Feng and Zhong Lei each got up and had a meal at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant.

Zhong Lei’s hand unconsciously played with the whole wheat cereal flakes, her eyes fixed on Chen Feng with a hint of curiosity. “They say Katie is a goddess in the hearts of many domestic music fans. Don’t you know her?”

“I know her.”

“And yet, we’re about to meet her in person today. How come you don’t seem excited at all?”

“Why should I be excited? We were the ones invited by the other party for collaboration. We are on equal footing. Furthermore, I am very certain that the person in front of me is more outstanding than Katie and will achieve greater things in the future. I see you every day, so why should I lower my expectations and look forward to someone inferior to you?”

Zhong Lei was speechless for a long time.

“I don’t know if I should call you arrogant, or say you think too highly of me, or perhaps you’ve just become more slick and better at sweet talk.”

Chen Feng pointed to his own face, “Do I look like someone who’s slick and smooth?”

“No, you don’t.”

“Right, then. I’m just stating the facts.”

Zhong Lei: “I feel like you’ve become very cocky since coming here.”

Chen Feng put down his spoon, “This Western food is really awful.”

He smiled, “The environment shapes people. The people here like to greet cocky individuals. In their eyes, a capable person being cocky isn’t called arrogance; it’s called cool. We are both cool. So we don’t need to hold back.”

At that time, Zhong Lei still didn’t know that this was just the beginning.

It wasn’t until after attending the screening in the afternoon, and then being shown up by Neil Blomkamp’s boasting as he relentlessly praised Chaos Space for a long time, that she truly realized Chen Feng’s cockiness had no bounds.

Director Neil was also a cocky person, very self-assured. While bragging about himself, he didn’t forget to express his disdain for Chinese sci-fi.

In Neil’s view, Chinese filmmakers lacked both imagination and rigorous scientific literacy. With the exception of a handful of barely passable films, most Chinese sci-fi movies were an eyesore and should be thrown into garbage trucks for destruction.

Neil also believed that by inviting Chen Feng to collaborate this time, he was offering Chen Feng an excellent opportunity. China simply couldn’t produce a sci-fi movie worthy of having “Baptism of Fire” and “Self-Combustion” as its theme songs.

Neil thought Chen Feng should thank him because he had brought them a real stage to showcase their talents.

Although Zhong Lei felt in her heart that what he said was true, the words were indeed unpleasant to hear. Chen Feng was even more blunt, his face full of impatience, seemingly on the verge of an outburst at any moment.

At that time, Katie Swift was also voicing her opinion, apparently wanting complete control over the lyric adaptation, expecting both Zhong Lei and Chen Feng to assist her.

Not only that, Katie also wanted to completely change the original meaning of the lyrics, inserting her own understanding of the universe, space, and future technology.

This was her creative philosophy. She wanted to personally infuse soul into the song she was going to sing.

And then Chen Feng blew up.

He laid down the ultimatum on the spot: the Chinese side must lead the lyric adaptation. Otherwise, even if the adaptation rights were granted, he would not acknowledge any connection between their team and the song once he returned.

Of course, he also said he wouldn’t sue them; they were using it legally, but he would absolutely not admit any collaborative involvement with the English version.

In simple terms, he was ashamed to be associated with them, making the English version of “Self-Combustion” illegitimate.

After saying this, Chen Feng took Zhong Lei and left, leaving Neil and the others looking at each other.

They didn’t know what they had done wrong.

But clearly, they couldn’t let the situation deteriorate further, as the film’s box office performance in mainland China would likely suffer negative impacts.

Then, a Chinese-American actor in the production team seemed to understand the essence of the problem.

He said,

“It’s probably a cultural difference. What we see as confidence, Mr. Chen might perceive as arrogance and hubris.”

That summary was spot on.

After walking some distance away, it was Zhong Lei, who normally had a short temper, who tried to persuade Chen Feng instead.

She also couldn’t understand why Chen Feng had gotten so angry.

“Don’t be like this. Don’t go against money. We are both new here. Try your best to restrain yourself a bit.”

Chen Feng took a deep breath. “It is very difficult for me to restrain myself.”

Only he knew the reason.

He had personally experienced several wars, even having felt the taste of his body being torn into countless fragments on the front lines.

Seeing others narrate future wars in such a juvenile manner, filled with meaningless personal heroism, portraying the rulers of the future world like wise children, with a worldview so pale and rigid it defied logic, yet having no self-awareness and spouting arrogant remarks while wildly displaying a sense of conceptual superiority… his state of mind was practically on the brink of collapse.

“It’s too shallow, too ignorant, too short-sighted, too absurd. How does he even have the right to laugh at us for being juvenile?”

Zhong Lei said: “Maybe he didn’t mean it intentionally?”

“Isn’t that even more infuriating? It means he fundamentally views things that way.”

Chen Feng panted heavily, trying hard to calm his emotions.

Zhong Lei studied him for a long time. After waiting for him to slowly cool down, she said: “You weren’t someone who got easily agitated before. You have something on your mind.”

“Hmm.”

Chen Feng leaned back against the wall, the plot of Chaos Space surfacing in his mind again.

Although the title of this new work was in the same vein as Elysium, there was no narrative connection between the two films.

Chaos Space told the story of a war between Earthlings and aliens three to four hundred years in the future.

Hmm, by that time, humans had already mastered wormhole technology and controlled dozens of star systems near the Solar System.

Ridiculous.

The entire Human Civilization had also surpassed 500 billion in population.

Even more ridiculous.

But all of humanity submitted to the control of an alien representative, belonging to a vassal Civilization.

This alien looked exactly like a human, just with pointier ears, hair that was tentacles, and longer limbs.

The wormhole technology humans had mastered was a gift from them.

Even more ridiculous.

What was even more absurd was that this alien was also licentious and tyrannical, a complete despot.

Chen Feng felt it was downright painful to watch.

This alien’s management style was extremely simple and crude: no management, only taxation.

Therefore, the entire structure of human society was utter chaos, with gangs and corporate factions carving up territories, much like the lord era of medieval Europe.

Then the male protagonist rose from the common people, chatting with his childhood sweetheart, “I will bring freedom to everyone in the future,” “I promise.”

There’s a trope in Western movies: if the male protagonist makes a promise early on, he will definitely fulfill it.

This male protagonist truly had cheat-like abilities. With just a few words, he convinced high-level human traitors to defect. Then, carrying a weapon that pretended to be an energy weapon but was actually a Gatling gun, he charged in alone.

The final boss, that very alien, actually engaged the male protagonist in hand-to-hand combat with swords inside the Base!

The male protagonist even won the sword fight!

The Civilization behind the alien was actually so frightened by witnessing the male protagonist’s astonishing combat skills that they recognized Earthlings’ equal status.

Chen Feng was truly disgusted beyond belief.

If resisting Invaders was as easy as depicted in your movie, then what was the point of humanity’s arduous struggle over the next thousand years?

What were all those sacrifices for?

And also, this alien Civilization, hailed as capable of dominating the Milky Way Galaxy, are you freaking kidding me? They are way too idiotic!

And what kind of bizarre setting is “licentious and tyrannical”!

What’s the difference between aliens having intimate relations with humans, and humans having intimate relations with sheep?

This was the root of his anger.

Chen Feng took a deep breath and spoke quietly.

His voice sounded distant, his mood desolate.

“Before human thought truly sprouts wings and humanity genuinely leaves Earth to set foot in space, if humans encounter a war crossing Civilizations and star systems, it absolutely cannot be a war solvable through solo acts of personal heroism.”

“It’s like when humans decide to destroy an ant colony. Who would squat down and pinch ants to death one by one with their fingers?”

“No, you would just light a big fire, scorch the land where the entire anthill is located for three days and three nights. This not only wouldn’t destroy the soil, but the ashes of the fire would instead turn this place into fertile land.”

“Or you bring a hose and thoroughly water that piece of land.”

“Every single action by humans is Doomsday for the ants, but it costs humans absolutely no effort.”

“So, whether it’s past films like District 9 or Independence Day, or Edge of Tomorrow, Pacific Rim, Starship Troopers, and so on… they are all very childish.”

“Okay, I’m not afraid of you scolding me for this, but I think Star Wars is especially childish.”

“Laser swords go ‘BiuBiuBiu,’ my Force powers erupt ‘BiuBiuBiu,'” Chen Feng pretended to swing a sword and shook his head, shrugging. “They understand nothing.”

“This is a completely imbalanced disaster that could end in an instant, with Earthlings not even knowing what the enemy is. It hardly qualifies as a war.”

“Put yourself in their shoes. Can ants comprehend how humans create the ‘end-of-the-world flood’? Hmm, a hose, a self-priming drainage pump. Can ants understand that? Do they know how to disconnect the pump’s electricity?”

“This movie is too absurd and ridiculous. I can’t accept it on an emotional level. If Neil had been more low-key, I might have tolerated his ignorance. But he was so arrogant, so I got angry.”

After hearing him out, Zhong Lei still didn’t fully understand his anger, but she chose to accept it.

Zhong Lei began trying to put herself in Chen Feng’s emotional state and asked: “But movies nowadays are all made this way. Otherwise, the male and female leads wouldn’t stand out enough, the audience couldn’t immerse themselves, and there would be no box office.”

“That’s why I agreed to the collaboration initially and didn’t intend to nitpick. It’s just that Neil stepped on my sore spot, and my emotions got a bit out of control. I’ll go back and talk with them again later.”

Zhong Lei felt slightly relieved and then asked another question: “If humans could step into space, even travel throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, what would war be like if it happened then?”

Chen Feng shuddered all over, his mind beginning to involuntarily imagine that scene.

He remembered again the struggle humanity had waged against beasts, natural disasters, diseases, and other calamities from ancient times to the present.

He recalled Ding Hu’s last words before his death last time, a faint, involuntary smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“That would inevitably be an era of magnificent epics everywhere, an age where countless heroes would forge the legend of our race with their flesh and blood. It’s a pity humanity won’t get to see it.”

Zhong Lei shook her head. “It’s that we won’t see it. You’re being too assertive.”

“Alright. Let’s go back.”

Zhong Lei: “Wait, I just thought of something. Going back to your ant analogy, what if one ant in the colony mutated, with exceptionally potent venom, capable of killing an adult human with one sting? Even if it couldn’t save the entire ant species, wouldn’t it at least have a chance to take the enemy down with it? If it stings fast enough, it might even leave a few fellow ants behind as a spark for the survival of their Civilization?”

Chen Feng was taken aback.

“Yes!”

“So, personal heroism can sometimes be quite useful?”

“Whose side are you on anyway?”

The two didn’t chat there for long.

Surprisingly, Neil and Katie took the initiative to come over with their team first.

The other side reflected on their attitude, apologized formally to Chen Feng and Zhong Lei, expressed willingness to respect their cultural perspectives, and repeatedly emphasized that their earlier words held no malice.

Since the other party had provided a way out, Chen Feng took the opportunity to step down.

The collaboration officially commenced. They agreed to go back and work on their respective tasks.

The Chinese side would produce a first draft of the English lyrics within two days. They would meet the day after to discuss, and then polish and fine-tune the lyrics based on the Chinese side’s draft.

The two returned to the hotel. Zhong Lei started nibbling on her pen while working on translating and adapting the main ideas of the lyrics. Chen Feng, bored, searched online to watch other people’s sci-fi movies for fun.