In the sowhat dim room, the large screen flickered with light and shadow, playing a video.
Several people were seated in the room, with a man in his forties, wearing glasses, sitting in the middle. Three others, all from the WH departnt, sat around him.
The video being played on the big screen was the recently very popular variety show—Seeking Martial Arts.
From the first episode to the latest, the fourth:
"I don’t even have to move to make you fall..."
"Li Lei! Prepare to die!!"
"As for respect, I’ll show it after my opponent is down."
"Please welco Gao Zheng, the current Sect Leader of the Gao Family Eagle Claw Fist!"
"Perhaps you are right..."
"Let’s go, I’m waiting for the day you make a na for yourselves."
"As long as Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall stands, this promise remains forever valid."
"Those unrivaled in the world may be called saints."
"A scholar should do what a scholar must do, and a martial artist should do what a martial artist must do."
"Three generations of the Li Family, martial artists guarding our nation’s gate."
"In a standing conversation, life or death agreed upon, a promise as valuable as a thousand pieces of gold!"
...
From the first to the fourth episode, each lasting over an hour, the people in the room watched from beginning to end. Soone thought about suggesting a break but seeing the senior leader in the middle watching intently throughout, no one spoke up. Instead, they silently went out to the restroom and then continued watching upon their return.
At the end of the fourth episode, a few lines of text appeared on the screen:
"On the evening of June 16th, 2020, the crew decided to stay at Jinhua Mountain Nursing Ho. That night, they happened to et Zhang Qiang (alias), a disciple of Li Changsheng. Zhang Qiang was also a drug enforcent police officer. The crew invited him to dine together, and they had an enjoyable conversation.
On June 17th, around 2 a.m., a shout resounded through Jinshan Nursing Ho; it was Wu Li calling Zhang Qiang’s na.
Afterward, gunshots were heard. We were awakened and saw the scene in the hallway through the peephole in the door: two criminals, ard, had shot and wounded Zhang Qiang, and they tied up his hands and feet and dragged him downstairs!
After being questioned by the police, we learned that this was a preditated act of retaliation—a drug trafficker’s revenge against Officer Zhang Qiang!
What happened next was recorded by the show’s director, who risked his life to do so!"
After this caption, a shaky video was shown. In the video, two people were confronting each other, one of whom was Wu Li, and the other’s face was pixelated.
Unlike martial arts movies where the moves are clear and the actions graceful, the exchange between the two people in the video was so quick it was hard to see clearly, and the postures could not be called attractive.
The continued sound of loud explosions indicated how intense their confrontation was. After about ten seconds, the two separated, panting heavily.
At that mont, the cara began to shake again and eventually stabilized. Soon after, another person appeared in the fra, the show’s director, Chen Gang.
Following this, Chen Gang tried to untie the bound officer, while Wu Li and the drug trafficker engaged in combat once more. Ultimately, Wu Li defeated him, and the video ended there.
"At 3:10 a.m., the police arrived and took away all the drug traffickers who had co for retaliation. Besides Zhang Qiang and Wu Li’s injuries, there were no casualties among the other personnel."
The finale was a series of interviews, asking the crew and the nursing ho staff for their thoughts on the events of the evening, interviewing director Chen Gang, and of course, the final key interviewee was Wu Li:
Question: Many people woke up because of your loud shout. How did you detect those drug traffickers at that ti?
Answer: I was practicing boxing in my room and just happened to hear so noise outside the door.
Question: When you saw the drug traffickers taking the officer away, you decided to follow them. What were you thinking at that ti?
Answer: Actually, I didn’t think too much. During the day when I visited senior Li Changsheng, he said sothing: A scholar should do what a scholar must do, and a martial artist should do what a martial artist must do. I am a martial artist, and I felt I should follow them and do sothing. That’s all.
...
The fourth episode ended, and so did the video, as soone got up and turned on the room’s lights.
"Wang Bu, how do you feel?" soone asked the leader sitting in the middle.
Wang Bu took a sip of tea and nodded, "Very good, I haven’t seen such a program in a long ti, it’s very aningful."
The others glanced at each other; they didn’t expect Wang Bu to rate the program so highly.
In fact, just yesterday, Qi City TV Station finished editing the fourth episode of Seeking Martial Arts and sent it to the WH departnt for review. Wang Bu wasn’t the leader directly responsible for the review, but for so reason today, he suddenly called several relevant individuals to watch the video together—not just the fourth episode, but from beginning to end.
The others didn’t know why the high-ranking leader suddenly took such an interest in a variety show and were secretly guessing his intentions.
"The the of each episode of this program is very clear, and the value orientation is also good," Wang Bu continued to praise.
"Indeed, the the of the first episode of Seeking Martial Arts was ’Truth and Falsehood,’ exposing a fake master who was collecting money under the guise of Martial Arts, preventing more people from being deceived; the second episode’s the was ’New and Old,’ showing the hardships and perseverance of the older generation of Martial Artists, as well as the younger fighters’ inheritance of traditional culture."
One of the leaders responsible for the program review remarked insightfully, indicating he also cared greatly about the program.
Sure enough, Wang Bu nodded in satisfaction upon hearing the other party’s comnts.
With the leader’s affirmation, the person continued, "The third episode, ’National Martial Arts Grading and Challenge,’ was an innovation in traditional culture and a good promotion; by the fourth episode, ’Martial Artist Guarding the Country’s Gate,’ the program not only promoted Martial Arts but also highlighted the sacrifices and greatness of the Drug Enforcent Police, with a very good the."
Wang Bu smiled and said, "After the last segnt of the fourth episode is broadcasted, it will definitely cause quite a stir."
Then his tone shifted as he said, "In recent years, there have been more and more dostic variety shows, and so are very popular, but most are adaptations of foreign variety shows. We have very few original variety shows, let alone successful ones, but we have always encouraged originality."
Hearing this, the others exchanged glances, sowhat understanding why the high-ranking leader suddenly cared so much about the Seeking Martial Arts variety program.
Wang Bu continued, "The Seeking Martial Arts variety show is not only original but has also garnered widespread attention and discussion, which is very rare."
"Moreover, what I value most about it is not rely its originality but its promotion of traditional culture!"
At this point, Wang Bu intensified his tone as he looked at the others, "These years, various foreign cultures have beco popular in our country—music, movies, animation, variety shows, and so on—but our culture has had difficulty penetrating foreign markets, which is of great concern to our superiors!"
The others perked up, understanding the focal point of today’s discussion: cultural output!
This was what the WH departnt had always been working on and what the entire entertainnt industry was trying to do.
Just take the movie industry, for example—each year, foreign films take a large slice from the enormous pie that is Hua Country’s market, even with WH departnt restrictions on importing foreign films. In contrast, dostic films struggle to make a mark in foreign markets.
Not just movies, but music, animation, and variety shows face the sa issue. While Hua Country can spend large amounts to acquire foreign rights and introduce foreign variety shows, none of the dostic originals have proven sellable abroad.
Music and films are not only the entertainnt industry’s mainstays but also the mainstream in the arts. The highest temple and honors lie abroad. Music has the Grammy Awards, and film has the Oscars—both foreign awards, but musicians and filmmakers worldwide view them as the highest honors in their fields.
The sa goes for the fighting culture. Boxing, which ca from abroad, has its highest honors in the four major professional boxing titles. Although Mixed Martial Arts was initially proposed by Li Xiaolong, the top standard competitions have always been abroad, with UFC’s championship belts now being the highest honor in Mixed Martial Arts.
We too have our music, movies, and Kung Fu, but the highest honors can only be obtained abroad. We can only learn and adapt to the rules set by others—such is the power of cultural output!
"We emphasize cultural confidence, pride in our nationality, and the idea that what is national is global, and none of this is possible without cultural output," said Wang Bu with a serious expression.
"In terms of cultural output, Hua Country’s Kung Fu is one of the best things we’ve done. Many foreigners, when they think of us, probably think of the word Kung Fu first. But in recent years, Traditional Martial Arts have been gaining a bad reputation at ho. If our own people lack confidence, how can we expect it to reach an international audience?"
"Li Lei set a good precedent. The arrival of the Seeking Martial Arts program was tily, and I hope it can boost our countryn’s confidence in Traditional Martial Arts. On this basis, it could also reach an international audience and promote our Martial Arts and traditional culture."
Wang Bu laid out his requirents, and the rest bowed their heads in contemplation. Going abroad with a variety show is easy, and so is promoting it, but since the leader had explained so much and specifically ntioned cultural output, it was obviously not going to be as simple as just producing a program abroad and promoting it a bit.
Now that the leader had spoken, the subordinates, no matter how difficult, must respond. The person who had comnted on Seeking Martial Arts earlier spoke up, "Alright, I will talk with Qi City TV Station about this matter and co up with a specific plan as soon as possible."
Wang Bu nodded and declared the eting adjourned. He was only responsible for setting requirents; the specifics of implentation were for those below to discuss.
"Wang Bu’s aning seems to be that in the next few episodes, Seeking Martial Arts could go abroad and visit foreign Martial Artists."
After Wang Bu left, the remaining people stayed to discuss. One of them said,
"That appears to be the idea. But we shouldn’t limit ourselves to visiting Chinese Martial Artists abroad; we should also visit those foreign fighting masters to make a na for ourselves."
"That makes sense. It looks like we’re planning to turn Li Lei into a golden signboard for our country."
"Let’s hope he has the strength for it. Otherwise, all this talk is moot."
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