A video appeared online without any warning.
The headline read: Zhang Ye's Documentary on Air Pollution in China.
Another headline read: "Department 14's latest documentary."
And another headline read: "What exactly is smog?"
It just started popping up this way.
A lot of people were caught completely off guard!
"What?"
"The documentary?"
"Didn't it get banned?"
"Yeah, didn't Central TV ban it from being broadcast?"
"What's going on then?"
"Didn't they hold a press conference this morning to make an explanation about the ban? Then where did the documentary come from? This must be fake news, right? Is it clickbait? They're just trying to lure us into reading the reports, right?"
A lot of people did not believe the headlines as there has been too much fake news recently.
But many of them still could not hold back from clicking. And when they did, they were stunned!
"Damn!"
"Look! Quickly, look!"
"Look at what?"
"It's really true! This…this is Zhang Ye's new documentary!"
"How is that possible? It wasn't even broadcast on TV!"
"Go and take a look for yourself! It's not a documentary that was meant for television broadcast at all! The documentary was released live at the press conference instead! Oh my god! Teacher Zhang is too amazing!"
"Ah!"
"What?"
"Let me see, let me see!"
The first batch of viewers just kept on howling excitedly like that!
But when they finished watching the entire documentary that was filmed live at the press conference, which lasted over an hour, all of them got mad without exception. They could not believe it, as shock was written all over their faces!
"How is this possible!"
"Th-This is what smog is? These are the enemies that we've been facing on a daily basis?"
"This is too shocking! Too shocking!"
"This…this…"
"Share it! Hurry!"
"Right, we have to let everyone know about this!"
"Old He, quickly come and see this!"
"Old Wang, stop playing your games already. Have a look at this!"
"Motherfucker! This is too much! These polluting enterprises have really gone too far!"
"So that was why they banned it from broadcasting? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Start sharing it!"
"Right, share it for Teacher Zhang!"
In the blink of an eye, the Internet blew up!
This documentary struck like a thunderbolt and lit up the Internet with a bang!
On Weibo.
"What's the matter?"
"What's happening?"
"What's everyone watching?"
"Why is everyone so excited? What happened?"
"Let me have a look too."
On the discussion forums.
"What is this video about? Why is getting so many views?"
"A documentary? Why did it get posted here? This is a stock trading forum."
"Holy shit! This documentary…"
"Heavens! Is this for real?"
"Is this what smog is? Fuck their grandpas!"
"So they've been keeping that from us all this time?!"
"Fuck! I want to swear at someone! I really want to swear at someone!"
On Tieba.
"Why didn't they tell us?"
"Why didn't they tell us before?"
"If I had known, I would have worn a face mask!"
"My wife died from lung cancer last year! Fuck!"
At a filming location.
A call from Fang Weihong suddenly came in. "Sister Zhang."
Zhang Yuanqi said pleasantly: "What's the matter?"
Fang Weihong said solemnly: "There's a video online that I think you should watch."
Zhang Yuanqi: "Hmm?"
Old Chen's house.
Chen Guang's face was one of shock. "This…"
Fan Wenli also looked somewhat pale. "This is the smog?"
Chen Guang said, "It has…already advanced to such a stage?"
Songstress Zhang Xia was at home watching this documentary. She watched it twice and fell silent.
At Beijing Television.
Dong Shanshan was stunned.
Hu Fei wore a sunken expression.
Hou Ge, Xiao Lu, and the others were all enraged!
At Yao Jiancai's house.
Yao Jiancai's wife gasped. "Why didn't anyone ever tell us about something so terrible? Why?"
Yao Jiancai gave a wry smile. "Little Zhang has ripped a great big hole in the sky this time!"
Yao Mi said, "Why do you say that it's ripping a hole in the sky? Teacher Zhang just reported the truth!"
Yao Jiancai said, "It's not like no one has investigated this before. There are also some people who know about this as well, so why must he go and spill the beans? This kid is an imbecile!"
His wife disagreed with him. "Yes, he is stupid. No one is more stupid than him in the entire entertainment industry! That time when Lee Anson pushed a fan after the Spring Festival Gala, if it were anyone else, they would not have bothered stepping in. But Zhang Ye did! When Beijing Television's Wang Shuixin caused Father Wei's death, if it were anyone else, they would not have done anything. But Zhang Ye did! When the Japanese delegation visited Peking University and acted arrogantly, if it were anyone else, they would not have dared to say a word. But Zhang Ye did! He never had anything to gain out of any of that, and even caused many people to start scolding him! They've been scolding him from the year before last until last year, and then from last year again until this year. You said that he is an imbecile? I totally agree! He is the stupidest person I've ever seen in the entertainment industry. But, but deep down in my heart, I just can't help but admire and respect him! Do you know why I feel that way?"
Views of the online video were increasing rapidly!
Every refresh brought about an increase of a million views!
There were two video hosting sites that even crashed from the heavy load of traffic, leaving their entire site crippled!
This was an unprecedented kind of virality, as no other documentary had ever managed to create such a shocking and influential impact within an hour of its release! No, perhaps it wasn't just for documentaries. Even for movies, music, or videos, none of them had ever hit such a level of craze!
Central TV was angered!
The entertainment circle was stunned!
The entire country had been turned upside down due to this live documentary conference!
Confusion!
Panic!
Anger!
Madness!
All sorts of emotions were spreading rapidly among the people!
"@EnvironmentalProtectionMinistry Why didn't anyone take control of the pollution issues? Why?"
"Steel manufacturing corporations that have flouted the law, you all better own up!"
"Right, you all owe everyone an explanation today!"
"Who approved those heavy vehicles that failed the emissions tests and allowed them to be on the road?"
"Requesting that the relevant departments thoroughly investigate this! Why should we pay the price for your irresponsibilities? What makes all of you think that you can profit off of our health? Teacher Zhang is right! You motherfuckers! What is that I smell in the air? It's not the smell of smog, it's the smell of the goddamned money from pollution!"
The populace exploded in anger!
An emotion rooted from the thoughts of getting deceived and having the truth withheld erupted!
"Where can we buy face masks?"
"They're available online!"
"Remember to buy the protective face masks that Teacher Zhang emphasized in the documentary. If it's just a normal cloth-type face mask, it won't be effective no matter how many layers it has. It won't work at all!"
"There's a private steel factory near my place that has broken the law. How do I report them?"
"Didn't Teacher Zhang already mention that?! Just report it to the police, as well as call the Ministry of Environmental Protection!"
"Right, let's report them all!"
"If one person is not enough to make a difference? Then are ten enough? If ten are not enough? Are 10,000 enough? Fuck, I doubt nobody won't care if so many of us report the violations!"
"Let's all take action together!"
"Motherfucker, we can't let them go about flouting the law any longer!"
"Smog! You motherfucker!"
"Corporations contributing to smog! You motherfuckers too!"
But at this moment, something happened that no one expected!
"Ah, I can't play the video anymore?"
"What do you mean you can't play the video anymore?"
"I can no longer load the documentary on dot net's site!"
"Damn! The video that was posted by the official website of Tianjin TV can't be played either!"
"It's been deleted!"
"It's the same for me. It says that the video has been taken down!"
"What happened?"
"Fuck!"
"Someone has made a move!"
"Zhang Ye's Documentary on Air Pollution in China has been taken down!"
Two hours after the incident started, the video was gradually deleted off the servers on a wide-scale. The reports by several mainstream media outlets regarding the documentary also disappeared suddenly!
The citizens were enraged!
Central TV Department 14's people also exploded with anger!
Ha Qiqi slammed the table. "How'd they take it down so quickly!"
"It's only been out for two hours!" Zhang Zuo said in anger.
Little Wang said, "They're totally bullying us!"
But Zhang Ye was not surprised. He just laughed it off and said, "Didn't we already expect that? Then what's the fuss about?"
Tong Fu anxiously said, "But a lot of the people have yet to watch it!"
The SARFT.
Wu Zeqing's office.
Bai Li hurriedly ran in. "Chief Wu, something really has happened! At the press conference held at Central TV, Zhang Ye…"
"I already know about that," Wu Zeqing said calmly.
It was at this time that Bai Li finally knew why Wu Zeqing had rushed back a day earlier during an important meeting at Shanghai. She understood now what Chief Wu meant when she said that something might happen today! It was Zhang Ye again! So it was over Zhang Ye's troublemaking again!
Why?
What was the relationship between Chief Wu and Zhang Ye?
Bai Li did not ask, and neither did she have the courage to ask. "That documentary's been taken completely offline!
"On whose instructions?" Wu Zeqing looked at her.
Bai Li hesitated before saying, "It was the instructions of Deputy Chief Chen who is at the meeting in Shanghai. It seems like he received a call from the higher-ups and later gave the order directly to all the online video hosting sites and TV stations."
Wu Zeqing nodded. "I understand."
Bai Li said, "Chief Wu, ma'am…"
But Wu Zeqing did not say anything to her. Instead, she picked up the telephone on her desk.
10 minutes later.
The Internet was still in an uproar!
"How can they delete it?"
"I haven't even watched it yet!"
"Isn't this too much?!"
"Ah! It's back up!"
"What?"
"Yeah, the video is back online! We can watch it now!"
"Aiyo, it's been restored on dot net as well! The documentary is back online!"
"This is great!"
"Wh-What on earth is going on here?"
Everyone was confused!
The employees of Department 14 were overwhelmed by this surprise!
"It's been restored?"
"It really has been!"
"What happened?"
"Holy shit!"
"Who's helping us out?"
Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others could not understand. How could they have any supporters?
Zhang Ye was also taken aback, but soon realized who it was. A warmth overcame him, and he momentarily felt rather apologetic. He would not ever regret what he had done today as he did not implicate Yan Tianfei nor his subordinates from Department 14. But there was someone who had been supporting him from behind and fighting alongside him! Zhang Ye did not wish to drag her down, but he knew that this was not going to be possible, so he felt quite sorry for her.
After he went back into his own office, Zhang Ye made a call.
"Old Wu," Zhang Ye greeted.
Wu Zeqing replied: "Mhm."
Zhang Ye hesitated for a moment. "It'll be fine if you can't make it work. Just leave it."
But Wu Zeqing smiled. "You've said it, and it has also been published, so how can we just leave it?"
"But for you…" Zhang Ye was afraid that she would be held responsible.
Wu Zeqing gently said: "Haven't the responsibilities between us always been very clear? You're in charge of the talking, while I'm in charge of letting you talk. Now that you've done your part, leave the rest of the battle to me."
When Zhang Ye heard this, he laughed. "Alright!"
Wu Zeqing said: "But I can only help you fend them off for at most a day."
"A day? That's good enough." Zhang Ye looked outside. He looked at the downcast sky outside and said: "We can only do so much anyway. Let's clear up this day a bit, just a little."