A young man from another world returned to his hometown.

Chapter 102 Crouching Dragon and Young Phoenix

In the footage, a dizzyingly shaky shot first rotates towards the ceiling for three seconds, then suddenly slams down, barely catching up with Lin Jiayao sitting in a chair.

However... the image was out of focus.

The entire video was blurred into a sad mosaic, and Lin Jiayao's handsome face was abstracted into a puddle.

Even more fatally, the composition precisely cuts Lin Jiayao's head off the frame.

Only a neck and half a shoulder were visible on the screen, resembling a screenshot from a headless horror movie in the dim natural light.

For a full fifteen seconds, not a single frame was clear.

Everyone who watched was exhausted.

Lin Jiayao stared at his phone screen, his smile gradually freezing.

"this……"

The artsy guy pushed up his glasses and spoke first, his tone carrying a sense of self-righteous grievance.

"I told you, without a team, you simply can't capture the emotions in a film."

He sighed.

"Moreover, the focal length of this phone's lens is too short. Tarkovsky used a Zeiss standard prime lens back then. You're asking me to use this kind of consumer-grade device to present artistic image language? That's disrespectful to the creator."

Lin Jiayao opened his mouth, then closed it again.

It's so stream-of-consciousness; I can't believe this was filmed by a media student carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

"...Thank you for coming for the interview. Please wait for our notification."

Lin Jiayao forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace.

The artsy guy straightened his back, nodded politely, picked up the RED camera he probably only used for posing, and left.

The moment the door closed, Lin Yan and Nia burst into laughter, slapping the table.

The group tried to maintain their composure, covering their mouths and holding back for a couple of seconds, but Lin Yan's shout shattered their last line of defense. Xier buried her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking wildly. Although she didn't understand photography, she had watched short videos before and had never seen such an abstract scene.

"All talk and no action, nothing to brag about."

Lin Jiayao was on the verge of tears.

"It's okay, it's just the first one."

He took a deep breath and patted his cheeks to encourage himself.

"How could the province's top media college be of this caliber? The next one, the next one will definitely be different!"

The next one was definitely different.

The woman who entered was a woman with exquisite makeup and a smart outfit. As soon as she sat down, she exuded a shrewdness.

"Hello, both of you!"

She smiled brightly and handed over a resume.

"I interned at an MCN agency for a year, overseeing the entire incubation process of two accounts with millions of followers. I have a deep understanding of the secrets of traffic generation!"

Lin Jiayao took the resume, glanced at it, and nodded.

Having practical experience is good; this one seems reliable.

What are your thoughts on our project?

Lin Jiayao sent over the project introduction: Tian Disabled Persons Sports Club, which records the daily training of disabled athletes and creates inspirational short video IPs.

The girl picked it up and scanned two lines, then her eyes lit up.

"A disabled athlete?"

She put down her resume, clapped her hands together, and made a crisp sound.

"This subject matter is absolutely brilliant! Let me describe a scene from the script!"

She cleared her throat and began to speak at length.

"Episode 1! Let's make it explosive from the start! Find a mud puddle and make them crawl in it!"

She gestured with her hands, her eyes burning with a fervent desire for online traffic.

"They deliberately portrayed their tragic lives! Then they added sad music and slow motion! The audience was so moved by the scene that they burst into tears on the spot!"

The smile on Lin Jiayao's face disappeared.

But the girl didn't notice that she was getting more and more excited as she talked, and she stood up.

"Then find a few actors to play villains in society, to stir up trouble, and to curse people! To maximize the audience's anger!"

Her voice grew louder and louder, as if she were sharing a secret recipe.

"Finally, here comes the highlight! The climax! Let them pull off a stunning comeback from the brink of defeat."

She slammed her hand on the table, her face flushed with excitement.

"Extreme sob storytelling combined with a satisfying plot twist! This structure is unbeatable in short videos!"

After saying that, she leaned back in her chair with a smug look on her face and crossed her legs.

The office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; Lin Jiayao had stopped talking.

Beside him, Lin Yan, who had been casually playing with his phone, stopped typing.

The temperature in those eyes, which usually looked at everything with a lazy air, was dropping degree by degree.

The original intention of establishing the club was never to turn those kids into commodities for generating traffic.

And now, the interviewer in front of them is telling them to be like clowns, crawling and howling in the eyes of the entire internet, waiting for charity.

The girl was still engrossed in her own creative work and failed to grasp the atmosphere.

"How is it? Bosses, isn't my proposal...?"

"go out."

Lin Yan's voice wasn't loud. He raised his hand and pointed straight towards the door.

"……what?"

The girl was stunned.

"I'll tell everyone."

Lin Yan repeated himself, his tone leaving no room for negotiation, a stark contrast to his usual carefree and nonchalant manner.

"Your proposal is treating people like monkeys; they don't owe the world a performance."

The girl's face first turned white, then quickly flushed red.

She jumped up, grabbed her resume, and stuffed it into her bag, the chair scraping against the floor tiles with a screeching sound.

"Alright, alright, you don't know what's good for you, huh?"

She turned her head as she walked out.

"You country bumpkin bosses who don't understand the internet deserve to fail! Just wait until you're finished!"

She slammed the door shut.

……

After working hard for several hours, Nia and the others couldn't stay still any longer and dragged Xier out to play.

These people came one after another.

Some people talk about using virtual avatars to sell products, while others say they want to use AI to create a sense of contrast.

Some claimed to have a guaranteed million views, but when asked about the details, they found out it was all plagiarism and copying.

Another student who became an internet celebrity came in and the first thing he asked was, "How much will you pay for the appearance?"

As the last interviewee left, Lin Jiayao slumped into his chair.

He clutched his head with both hands and let out a painful groan.

"No... a total annihilation?"

His wide eyes were filled with disbelief.

"This is the only professional media college in the province!"

Lin Yan drew a circle on the ceiling.

"Nowadays, those with formal training are either academic types who have memorized a lot of theories but have terrible practical skills, or they are formulaic machines whose brains have been completely brainwashed by those fast-food traffic videos with plot twists every three seconds and conflicts every five seconds."

He shrugged.

"No one can calm down and observe people or take pictures of them."

The stories of those children don't need elaborate techniques or formulas to generate buzz; what they need is a pair of eyes that can see their true vitality. But all morning, he couldn't find a single one of those eyes.

"...Let's end this."