Chapter 216: Hardcore Reviewer Digs Lotus Roots
Anyway, that was a 200,000 yuan appearance fee, plus 100,000 yuan for props. For Lin Chang, the money wasn't a lot, but it still had to make at least a little splash.
Pei Qian knew full well this was doomed to fail, but that didn't matter. As long as he gave the impression that he wasn't actually desperate to spend this money but was just "playing around," Lin Chang wouldn't get suspicious. That was good enough.
Even though it was called an appearance fee, Pei Qian never intended to actually shoot short videos or little films.
The reason was simple—there wasn't enough budget.
He was only in this for the appearance fee. With just 100,000 set aside for props, there wasn't nearly enough to pay a director, crew, or post-production staff, let alone buy proper filming equipment.
Feihuang Studio did have everything ready-made, but the problem was that Pei Qian didn't want to get involved with them.
After all, from Huang Sibo's perspective, why on earth would President Pei be shooting his own short videos? That would make no sense.
So, Pei Qian decided he'd do everything himself, keeping it low-key and making sure no one other than Lin Chang knew.
He'd film with just his phone. For editing, he wouldn't do anything complicated—just cut out extra footage and stitch clips together.
One long take, all done in one go—good or bad didn't matter. Just upload it to Aili Island afterward and be done with it.
As for whether anyone would watch…
The fewer the better.
He didn't even plan on showing his face. He'd wear a mask, cover up, or only show half his face. That way, if by some fluke the video went viral, no one at the company would recognize him.
The only purpose of making these videos was to pocket that 200,000 appearance fee.
If Lin Chang really asked about the 300,000 later, Pei Qian could simply show him this series of videos as proof that he had "seriously" filmed something.
As for why it didn't get popular…
Well, that couldn't be helped. Even the best can slip up sometimes. President Pei's performance art was just too sophisticated; society these days was too shallow to understand. That wasn't his fault.
By then, Lin Chang surely wouldn't dig too deep, nor would he become suspicious.
With that thought, Pei Qian packed up his things, picked up the delivery he had just received today, left the company, and went back to his rental apartment.
Tonight, he will get the first episode done!
Even though there wasn't really a deadline, since he had to shoot 20 episodes, even at two per week it would still take more than two months. Better to start early.
The sooner they were finished, the sooner he could feel at ease spending that 200,000!
…
Pei Qian first fixed his phone in place and put the newly delivered package on the table.
It was a brand-new smartphone, released abroad just over a month ago: the Pineapple 4, priced at 4,999 yuan, which perfectly fit the 5,000 yuan budget.
Among domestic brands, Shenhua's flagship phones were only considered second-tier. At the very top was still Pineapple, with a status similar to—or maybe quite a bit lower than—Apple in Pei Qian's memory.
In any case, this phone was selling very well and had a good reputation. Perfect for the first episode.
Pei Qian had thought it through: the actual content of the short videos didn't matter, nor did success or failure. The key was that Lin Chang needed to feel this project suited "President Pei's" persona.
Since Pei Qian had told Lin Chang he was using the money for an "experiment," the experiment had to look unusual and eccentric.
It had to be unconventional!
Just like when Pei Qian had acted as "President Pei" before—it was him playing himself, but since there was a script, the appearance fee was perfectly reasonable.
This time, the same logic applied.
Pei Qian decided to play the role of a "professional" tech reviewer.
He first took out a piece of paper and roughly outlined the episode's flow, then got ready to start filming.
To avoid showing his face, Pei Qian simply wrote two characters—"Hardcore Review"—on a sheet of white paper.
He then took an expensive picture frame he had bought earlier, clipped the paper to it, and wore it over his face, successfully turning the paper into a mask.
After that, Pei Qian changed into some ordinary clothes, spent a few minutes thinking, and wrote out the opening script for the video.
"Hardcore Review"
"Non-Independent Review, Day 1"
"Hardcore Review is a non-independent review organization. The review results depend entirely on how much the manufacturer pays. Any product appearing in this video may have already received PR fees from the manufacturer. Please close the video immediately. If any manufacturer is interested in cooperation, please contact us via private message."
He planned to make this a pure subtitle version, shown right at the start of the video, to scare off a bunch of viewers immediately.
Once everything was ready, Pei Qian turned on the phone's recording function and began filming.
"Welcome to the nation's most professional and rigorous unboxing review program. I am your professional digital reviewer, Digging Lotus Roots."
"Today, we'll be unboxing and reviewing the Pineapple 4. So let's carefully begin the unboxing."
Pei Qian deliberately used a flat, emotionless voice to avoid anyone recognizing him.
Then he grabbed a dinner knife, jabbed a few holes into the packaging box, and pried the phone out.
With no care at all, he tore off the protective film, crumpled it into a ball, tossed it aside, and then closed the box along with the charger, cable, and manuals before throwing the whole thing away.
"First test: waterproof performance."
He picked up a small basin of water he had prepared earlier, turned the Pineapple phone on, and dropped it in.
A few minutes later, he took it out. The waterproofing was excellent—no water damage.
"Next, second test: drop resistance."
Holding his own phone in his left hand to film, he used his right hand to drop the Pineapple 4 from different heights and angles.
Corner-down, back-down, and finally screen-down, at heights of 1 meter, 2 meters, and 3 meters.
Afterward, he zoomed in with the camera.
From the 3-meter drop, the phone was a wreck. It was still powered on, but the screen was shattered, a corner was dented, and the back had chipped paint.
"Third test: strike resistance."
Pei Qian once again picked up the dinner knife and slashed at the back cover a few times.
At first the cuts weren't deep, but as he hit harder, clear cracks soon appeared and spread.
"Fourth test: disassembly."
"As everyone knows, teardown is the best way to judge a phone's internal structure and build quality. So let's do a very professional teardown."
Pei Qian took a flathead screwdriver, pried open the back cover along the cracks, and removed the battery, camera, and motherboard components one by one.
By the time he had nothing left to take apart, the phone was completely ruined.
"Alright, this is the internal structure of the Pineapple 4. You can take a look at the workmanship and materials. As for what each part does, I'm sure you all understand, so I won't explain further."
"Next, let's restore it."
He didn't actually do that step. Later, he would just reverse the footage in editing.
Finally, he needed an ending statement.
"That concludes the review of the Pineapple 4. Here's a reminder for Pineapple to please transfer the remaining payment to my private account as soon as possible."
"This has been Hardcore Reviewed. See you next time!"
Once the recording was done, Pei Qian opened a random editing app, trimmed the footage a little, added the intro text and the reversed teardown, and exported the video.
The result was full of problems. President Pei was very satisfied.
Pei Qian then registered a new account on the Aili Island site under the name "Hardcore Review" and uploaded the video.
"Alright, that's a wrap!"
He carefully put away the paper mask and glasses, since he would need them again for the next episode.
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