From Capital to Entertainment
China, though the world’s second-largest economy, has rarely succeeded in exporting its culture. The entertainment industry, one of the most vital channels for cultural export in the twenty-first century, has likewise achieved little. While capital has fueled the growth of entertainment, it has also come to dominate the entire industry. After being reborn, an enthusiast of the entertainment business is determined to ascend to the heights of capital, steering the course of the industry. He will forge a unique entertainment empire, transforming his nation into a true powerhouse of cultural export.
From Capital to Entertainment
In June 1999, in the city of Shenzhuan, Huaguo, the Shenda New Village.
Shenda New Village was the faculty apartment complex for Shenzhuan University, located in the Futian central district of the city. It was among the first batches of university-subsidized housing, and its residents were all professors and teachers from Shenzhuan University.
Built in 1993, Shenda New Village stood less than seven stories tall, but in those days, it was considered a rather fine residential area for Shenzhuan.
After finishing his dinner absentmindedly, Gu Zhi greeted his parents and returned to his room.
He closed the door tightly behind him, stood alone by the window, gazing in a daze at the distant evening twilight.
In 1999, Huaguo’s economy was just beginning to take off. As a window city for the reform and opening-up, and a special economic zone, Shenzhuan was developing at a rapid pace. Skyscrapers replaced farmlands, and the city’s commerce gradually took shape.
As night fell outside, dots of dazzling orange-yellow lights flickered to life.
Even as darkness deepened, Gu Zhi could still clearly see the occasional white clouds drifting across the sky.
The teachers living in Shenda New Village, most having just finished dinner, now gathered in small groups.
Some practiced tai chi, others strolled with their spouses, and a spry old gentleman in his fifties stood listening raptly to Peking opera on a battered radio—a sound Gu Zhi found utterly incomprehensible.
From time to time, the sharp chirring of cicadas drifted in, echoin
