Love You for Ten Thousand Years

"A Chinese Odyssey."

"A Chinese Odyssey?"

"Yes, 'A Chinese Odyssey'!"

In his mind, the words "A Chinese Odyssey" repeated incessantly.

Then, Chen Yu looked at the "A Chinese Odyssey" icon on his computer desktop.

This icon wasn't for Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey" but for NetEase's online game, Westward Journey Online.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this before."

He smacked his forehead, and suddenly, Chen Yu had a revelation.

Both Stephen Chow's two movies and NetEase's game had "Journey to the West" in their name. Though there might not be an immediate connection between the two, there was a way to link them together.

"How can they be linked?"

Chen Yu's mind kept turning.

He seized on a lead.

"A Chinese Odyssey", since its release in 1995, had never gained popularity. In fact, it had flopped.

In Hong Kong, it only earned around 50 million HKD at the box office, but the film's production cost was over 40 million HKD.

The film's underperformance almost bankrupted Stephen Chow, and even his film company went out of business because of it.

In 1996, when "A Chinese Odyssey" was screened in mainland China, it played for three days and only earned 200,000 yuan.

Due to its abysmal performance, cinemas had to interrupt its screening and show other films instead.

However, if "A Chinese Odyssey" had just ended up as a total failure, it wouldn't have become a classic.

When the internet began to spread, "A Chinese Odyssey" unexpectedly became popular online. Countless iconic lines were shared by people, and thus, it became a classic.

Now, in 2001, the internet hadn't completely become widespread in China. "A Chinese Odyssey" had garnered some attention, but it was far from being as popular as it would become in the future.

In that case, why not add some fuel to the fire?

"A Chinese Odyssey: Love You for Ten Thousand Years."

Decisively, Chen Yu opened a document and began writing an article titled "A Chinese Odyssey: Love You for Ten Thousand Years". The phrase referred to the iconic words spoken by Sun Wukong to Zixia in "A Chinese Odyssey". Inspired by the movie he'd just watched and his deep affection for it, it only took him half an hour to finish writing the article.

"Jian Ge, have you finished your cigarette? Come here."

"What's up?"

"Just come."

Zhang Jianming flicked his cigarette and entered the office.

"Come on, Jian Ge, take a look at this article."

"A Chinese Odyssey: Love You for Ten Thousand Years? You wrote this?"

"Yes."

"Why did you write this?"

"You'll find out when you read it."

"Alright."

Though Zhang Jianming didn't quite understand what Chen Yu was getting at, he knew that Chen Yu wouldn't joke about such matters.

With his eyes fixed on the document, Zhang Jianming read it carefully.

After more than ten minutes, Zhang Jianming slapped his thigh. "Wow, 'A Chinese Odyssey' is so amazing?"

"You think so?"

"Wow, I didn't think much of this movie before, but after reading your review, I suddenly realized that this film is incredibly awesome."

"That's right."

"No, I need to rewatch this movie right away."

Sometimes it's like that. When you don't like a movie, it's not necessarily because the movie is bad, but because you didn't fully grasp it. After Zhang Jianming finished reading Chen Yu's article, he felt an intense excitement deep within.

He sensed that A Chinese Odyssey had an elusive, indescribable charm. It was a feeling that touched the heart, stirred emotions, and even brought tears to one's eyes involuntarily.

"Okay, go ahead and watch."

Chen Yu didn't object. While Zhang Jianming was rewatching A Chinese Odyssey, Chen Yu posted the article on 5173.

...

Wang Fei was a gamer.

Unlike other players, Wang Fei played all sorts of games. Recently, however, the game he played the most was The Legend of Mir 2, not because it was the best game, but because it had the most players.

A game becomes more interesting when you have a large player base.

But even though The Legend of Mir 2 was fun, playing it extensively could be tiring. After clearing monsters in the evening, Wang Fei logged onto 5173.

Lately, the website Wang Fei browsed the most was 5173.

Of course, he wasn't there to sell equipment or read game guides. He was there to read forum posts.

That's right.

5173 wasn't just a platform for selling equipment or reading game guides; it had another intriguing function—entertainment.

Many players like Wang Fei would visit the forums of a particular game on 5173 and share amusing stories from their gaming experiences.

This made Wang Fei feel relaxed and entertained.

Today, just like any other day, Wang Fei opened 5173 to catch up on the latest happenings in the gaming community.

"A Chinese Odyssey: Love You for Ten Thousand Years."

The headline on the homepage was this news.

At first, Wang Fei thought it was another 5173 promotion for WJO.

However, even though he realized it looked somewhat like an advertisement, the previous promotions of WJO had been quite impressive. Things like the beauty rankings and real-life player weddings had always captured Wang Fei's interest.

Even though he didn't play WJO much, looking at pictures of beautiful women was enjoyable.

Without hesitation, Wang Fei clicked on the post.

But this post wasn't about the game WJO; it was about Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey".

"Love knows no reason, for it knows no ending. Love can bring life or death, and death can bring rebirth. Those who love and cannot be with their beloved, and those who die and cannot be reborn, all face the same fate, bound by love. While these words may be overstated, in reality, love cannot bring the dead back to life, or else there wouldn't be so many tears shed. However, these words fit perfectly in "A Chinese Odyssey"! In the world of "A Chinese Odyssey", time can be traveled freely. What is impossible? "A Chinese Odyssey" cannot escape the influence of love, where love takes root without reason and deepens over time! If you watch "A Chinese Odyssey" and only laugh, it means you are still young. If you cry, it means you've understood it. If you are moved and can't tell whether it's from bitterness or joy, it means you've truly comprehended it. If you watch it over and over, unable to distinguish tears from laughter, it means you've fallen in love with it..."

If Wang Fei had been reading with an entertainment mindset before, now he was entirely captivated.

"Wow, is this movie really that good?"

"How did I not notice this before?"

"Once, I had one true love in front of me..."

Remembering the movies he had seen before, Wang Fei's eyes became moist.

"A Chinese Odyssey" turned out to be such a classic. It was ridiculous that he hadn't understood it back then.

"Brothers, an outstanding post, you must read it."

"A Chinese Odyssey, you have to watch it again."

"A classic we once forgot, 'A Chinese Odyssey'..."

Almost instinctively, Wang Fei shared this post with his friends on various platforms.

Of course, he also shared it on the major forums he frequented.