Black Technology Director Can Make Anything Come True (8): Video Hot

“Could it be this one!” The English teacher, who had once said she taught Si Qi for a while, said, “Wow, there are quite a lot of followers! Just the comments alone are over a thousand!”

The teacher sitting next to her leaned over to take a look and saw the English teacher click into a link. A familiar freeze-frame of the campus appeared on the page, and the two of them immediately said, “That’s it!”

The grade director said, “Put it on the big screen.”

There was a projector and a computer in the meeting room. As long as the data cable was connected, the screen could be projected.

Since the teachers used this equipment in every class, they quickly got it ready with practiced ease. Everyone sat down and looked up at the large screen.

The English teacher tapped her phone screen, and the next second the frozen video began to play. Soft music, like the morning sunshine, flowed out from the speakers and into everyone’s ears.

“It’s our school!” A teacher exclaimed in delight while looking at the screen.

At the same time, a louder, more excited “Holy shit!” rang out in Class 2 of Grade 12. A student holding his phone shouted, his face flushed, “Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! Si Qi, you’re amazing!!”

Countless classmates turned their eyes toward him. The student, excited, hugged his phone and walked over to Si Qi, saying, “Si Qi! Your video is blowing up online!!!”

A crowd of students rushed over. “What video? Is it our video?”

“Wait, why do you have my photo on your phone?!”

“It’s a screenshot from the video!” the student shouted. “My brother just sent me a screenshot, asking if this was my school’s uniform. I looked at it and saw—hey, isn’t that Zhou Siran? So I asked him where he got it. Turns out he said our school’s video is trending online and sent me the link. I clicked it, and it was full of discussions about our video… Oh right! Si Qi, didn’t you say your video was for a competition? I just saw someone say it won a prize!! And not just any prize—an international award!! Holy shit, you’re unbelievable!!”

“Wait, wait, where did they see the video? Open it up, let me watch!!”

“Yeah, hurry, open it!!”

The student nodded without hesitation, clicked into the post’s link, and opened the video.

Everyone turned their attention to the screen. They saw that under the gentle music, the morning sky was still dim. Students carried their schoolbags into the campus, sat down in their seats one by one, opened their bags, pulled out textbooks, and began another ordinary day.

When the first ray of sunlight streamed into the classroom, a drumbeat sounded right on cue. Students put down their books and, following the morning exercise bell, left the classroom in neat order.

The synchronized footsteps aligned with the quickening beat of the drums, as if something was building up unknowingly. When the tension reached its peak, a powerful voice suddenly burst forth, the scene jolted, and everyone lifted their heads with solemn intensity in unison with the beat. The classmates who had been laughing while watching the video were all startled.

Their pupils contracted in disbelief—this was really filmed about them? The next second, under the aerial shot, thousands of students all raised their arms, gazing skyward with forceful determination in sync with the soaring vocals, then swung them down hard! Someone finally couldn’t help but break out in goosebumps, blurting, “Holy shit!!”

The fiery scenes left everyone no time to look away. Every frame grabbed their eyes, making it impossible to avert their gaze!

Before seeing this video, none of them could have imagined they would witness such a work!

Students in uniforms, sweating, ran and played in the hallways. Others holding textbooks gestured passionately in front of the blackboard. With the rising, rousing song, the scene changes grew faster and faster. Si Qi’s godlike editing skills shone through completely in this moment. The overwhelming sense of youth made everyone’s eyes light up, the perfect synchronization with the song making it feel like everyone was performing under his direction. The powerful impact was nothing short of breathtaking—no words could describe it beyond shock.

Classmates who had still been joking around now stood frozen as if under a spell, eyes fixed firmly on the screen. In the huge classroom, there was no sound besides the music from the phone.

Si Qi himself had already watched this video hundreds of times and no longer felt much, but his classmates were not the same.

Their reaction mirrored that of the tens of thousands of netizens online. Everyone has experienced youth, or is still experiencing it, so they knew better than anyone what kind of memories those fleeting years had left in their hearts.

Graduates watching the children on screen running forward without regret longed for their own youth. Students currently in their final year of high school were so stirred that their blood boiled, itching to grab an exam paper right then and there just to calm themselves down.

Watching the kids in the video push forward resolutely, unbroken by any hardship, the resilience coming through the images rooted deeply into every viewer’s heart, giving them immense courage.

When emotions surged so strongly they felt like shouting aloud, a heroic spirit swelled inside them. They only wished for storms fiercer than ever—because no matter the challenge, nothing could stop them!

Meanwhile, on the vast sports field, hundreds of students crouched slightly, leapt with all their strength, reaching with outstretched arms toward the sky that seemed within reach, grasping for their most longed-for future! At that moment, the pent-up emotion completely erupted, and finally someone’s eyes turned red, unable to hold back.

As the crowd slowly landed, the song that had run through the entire video abruptly stopped. A faint sense of unfinished longing surfaced, leaving them unwilling to let go, as waves of reluctance burst in their chests.

On screen, everyone stood up, exchanged smiles, fixed on their own directions, and scattered. It was as if they had gone through a grueling yet inevitable journey of life together, and after breaking through, youth without regret—then each to their own path.

The silent language of the film touched every viewer’s heart. Many recalled their lives after leaving school, the friends they never saw again, the setbacks and hardships over the years, and their past selves who had once fought tirelessly at their desks. In that moment, all those years surfaced, making their noses sting with countless emotions surging within.

The crowd in the sunset gradually dispersed. Once gone, their figures could no longer be seen. The vast playground was left empty and quiet. The invisible emotion lingered inside, and even as the screen faded to black, no one spoke.

For a while, the classroom remained in silence.

Only after those heated and bittersweet emotions settled a little did a girl’s voice, half laughing and half crying, break the stillness: “The aftershock of this video is too strong, my fingers are still shaking.”

Another classmate beside her nodded unconsciously, then looked at Si Qi in disbelief: “Si Qi, this video you made is really… really…”

“Too amazing!!”

The classmates who snapped back to their senses shouted the words together, faces flushed with excitement, yelling, “It’s absolutely incredible!!”

“I never thought a subject I’m so familiar with could still give me chills.”

“It felt like the film was pulling my emotions along the whole time, up and down, leaving no room to resist.”

“It’s like I lived through an entire youth all over again…”

“I can’t even imagine the people in this video are actually us… but wow, that feels so surreal! Si Qi, how did you even film this? With talent like this, not becoming a director is a waste!”

A boy playfully smacked Si Qi on the back. Si Qi lifted his chin proudly: “I’m so smart, I can handle anything with ease! As long as you enjoyed it, that’s all that matters.”

“Of course we enjoyed it!! Damn, I still haven’t fully recovered. This is more exhilarating than chugging a whole bottle of ice-cold Coke!” The boy who had played the video for everyone said, “Anyway, the competition is over, so send the video to the group later—I have to save it!”

“Yeah yeah, me too! I’m going to show my parents and friends, let them see it too!!”

“Me too, me too! Ahhh, I never thought this video would be this insane!” He had first thought it was just another typical school memory video that flooded the internet, but it turned out to be a blood-pumping, epic blockbuster!!

“And it even won an international award! Those foreigners sure have good taste!”

“Not just abroad! Haven’t you heard it’s already gone viral in China too?”

“Holy shit, does that mean the whole internet has seen us now?”

“Ahhh, if I’d known so many people would see it, I would’ve dressed better. My hair is a total mess in the video!”

Saying that, they started searching online for pages about the video. And what they found shocked them—hundreds of posts were discussing it, and related topics were already appearing on Weibo.

More and more people were flocking in. Some came because they’d heard a Chinese work had won an international award, some because friends recommended it for the nostalgia of youth, and some simply because it was trending and curiosity made them click.

Like a snowball rolling bigger and bigger, this high-quality work drew more and more attention thanks to people spreading it voluntarily. A quick refresh brought up countless new comments.

Netizens expressed: “I was already mentally prepared after my friend warned me, but the moment the song started and I locked eyes with those kids, I was instantly covered in goosebumps—completely uncontrollable!”

“This made me want to cry… I remembered my school days. If time could rewind, I’d give anything to meet my classmates again and relive that already-lost youth.”

“I used to hate studying, but after watching this, I suddenly wanted to fill out a few test papers. This video is addictive!”

“Every student in the video—isn’t that all of us? Time can’t come back, but the fire of youth still lives inside us. As long as we want to, we can still do it!”

“I’m a film major. I just searched up the author of this video and found out he’s a complete beginner! All I can say is, monsters like this really exist these days. Whether it’s cinematography, music choices, the film’s message, or the natural performances of the students—every aspect feels like an unrepeatable miracle! I can’t believe all of this was pieced together by hand, clip by clip. There wasn’t a single jarring moment; the flow was natural and seamless, extremely enjoyable to watch! And the style is so mature, with details handled beautifully… I guarantee this work will show up in our lectures within days.”

“I don’t understand the professional reviews upstairs, but when I watched it, I felt so excited, and after it ended I was shocked. From a passerby’s perspective, this video is absolutely amazing.”

The teachers sitting in the meeting room were all scrolling through comments on their phones. Seeing the netizens’ messages, they grinned from ear to ear and eagerly discussed them with their colleagues.

It seemed that the rush of blood and burning passion they had just felt wasn’t because of filters—it was truly how everyone felt!

The principal said to Si Qi’s homeroom teacher, “Later, go talk to Student Si Qi, see if he’s willing to accept an interview. If he doesn’t want to… try to persuade him a little.”

Seeing how afraid the principal was that Si Qi might refuse and miss such a huge opportunity, the homeroom teacher couldn’t help laughing and crying: “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him—I think he’ll definitely agree.”

With Si Qi’s personality, there was no way he’d reject an interview because of shyness or being introverted. He was so outgoing he practically wanted to be friends with the whole world, for everyone to know him! As long as he was interested in something, he would definitely do it, without worrying about anything else.

After speaking, the homeroom teacher suddenly remembered something. He glanced at the neighboring class’s homeroom teacher—who had always been giving him trouble—with a half-smile and said, “Teacher Zhou, you saw the footage in that short film just now too, right? The last scene that netizens said was ‘etched into their memory, unforgettable’—that’s the one you blocked Si Qi from filming, no matter what.”

Hearing this, all the teachers in the room put down their phones and turned to look at that teacher, their eyes filled with shock, as if saying, “What, you actually did something like that?!” They stared at him as though he had committed an unpardonable crime, leaving him furious and humiliated: “I, I…”

He wanted to argue, to say that what Si Qi did was just childish nonsense. But thinking of Si Qi’s achievements, thinking of that film that shut up all doubters, and the overwhelming reaction online… even if this teacher was good at quibbling, right now he couldn’t find a single excuse to refute!

“Teacher Yang has raised an excellent student!” The principal said with a smile. “With your support, this child was able to create such a film.”

He cast a meaningful glance at Teacher Zhou, who for the sake of his own reputation, had spent all his time belittling Si Qi and trying to strangle his talent, forcing a free-spirited boy into rigid, high-pressure rote learning. The principal sighed and said, “This year’s Outstanding Teacher award belongs to you, without a doubt!”

Teacher Zhou, under the principal’s loaded gaze, nearly fainted. Forcing himself to endure the mocking looks from everyone, he lowered his head deeply, filled with regret!

If only he hadn’t opposed Teacher Yang over the Special Teacher title. Not only had he needlessly made an enemy, but this incident had made him suffer several humiliations in a row. He feared this would leave the principal and others with a lasting bad impression… What a disaster!!

…

The celebration across the school lasted a long time. By the next day, when city TV reporters came to find Si Qi, nearly everyone in the school had already heard that a senior student had won an international award for his film.

After watching the video, they couldn’t stop discussing it excitedly. None of them had imagined that something trending across the whole internet would happen right around them—and that the video being discussed featured their school, even themselves!

An indescribable pride and joy filled their hearts, so strong that even the reporters who came to interview could feel it. They couldn’t help but praise: “No wonder such a video was made here. I can sense that every student in your school is vibrant, lively, and very confident…”

The principal, who accompanied them, laughed nonstop under the compliments, proud and unreserved: “Our school has always advocated free education, striving to tap each child’s potential and help them develop fully! Si Qi was able to make such a film also because his homeroom teacher supported his decision, and his classmates willingly cooperated in the performance…”

The reporter nodded repeatedly, recording the principal’s boast with her recorder. Then, led by him, she met the boy who stood out so obviously in the crowd—just one glance was enough to know: “It must be him, this has to be Si Qi.”

His presence was remarkable—confident and unrestrained, instantly evoking the image of the video: sunny, spirited, with a will so strong no hardship could break him.

The school uniform on him looked as fresh and clean as morning air, with not a trace of gloom. His short hair was neat and crisp, his black eyes bright and shining. His high-bridged nose was handsome and refined, and the upward curve of his lips made people want to smile along with him.

The principal said, “This is Si Qi.”

He didn’t need to point out exactly who—everyone knew instantly who he meant.

The young female reporter smiled and shook Si Qi’s hand: “You’re exactly as I imagined.”

Si Qi laughed, lifted his chin as usual, proud and unrestrained, yet without provoking any dislike.

This was exactly what people imagined a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old should look like.

He was the rising sun that no one could look away from.

Si Qi’s interview was broadcast at 7 p.m. the next evening on the local TV station. Si Lin had been waiting eagerly in front of the TV. While watching, he kept pointing at the screen and talking excitedly to his brother beside him, jumping up and down in delight—completely unlike the cold, expressionless look he’d worn during his own interview before.

At school, teachers and students who could, sat in front of TVs too, thrilled to see their school on screen, and the familiar scenery. They shared the video and the interview crazily on their Moments.

Many who happened to see the interview in their feed were shocked. They had seen the short film online that supposedly won an international award, but never imagined it had been filmed by a senior high school student!

Soon, someone uploaded both the interview and the short film to Weibo, quickly sparking heated discussion.

“He’s actually a senior in high school!”

“Surprising yet not surprising. Honestly, it’d be hard for most adults to make something so full of youth and drive.”

“To be fair, for a non-professional high school student to shoot such a short film… that talent is terrifying. He’s clearly born for this.”

“He’s a senior? And he finished filming everything in just one month? I’m crying, what the hell have I been learning in college these past years?”

“Oh my god! Yucai High is a key school in our city, with really high entrance scores! When I first read the comments, I thought, a kid in senior year slacking off to film shorts, he must be from a vocational or ordinary school. But it turned out to be Yucai!”

“Even crazier, his teacher said he convinced them to let him film by casually getting a full score and ranking first in the grade at the same time… A perfect score! I wouldn’t even dare dream of it.”

“Incredible, absolutely incredible…”

“Hey, check the trending search! That kid who filmed the short just uploaded the video himself!”

“What? Really? Let’s go worship the genius!”

In no time, Si Qi’s account—registered less than half an hour earlier—gained over ten thousand followers. Most were netizens who had come because of the video, flooding the page with endless compliments. Si Qi and Si Lin laughed happily reading them.

When netizens asked if he would keep making videos, Si Qi replied: “Of course! My dream is to become a world-famous director!”

Many who had watched his short film—some several times over—remembered how he had already brought honor to their country on the international stage. They all liked his comment, praising his ambition and expressing their expectations for him.

Si Qi was delighted. He decided to keep the account, which he had originally only intended to use to upload the film, and began posting short videos from time to time.

Each video had his little touches, making them interesting, with plenty of comments and shares.

Some even went viral, sparking waves of nostalgia among viewers: “Oh, so this was made by the same author of that school short film!”

“He registered a Weibo account? I only just found out!”

“Ahhh, he’s uploaded so many videos already? And I only saw it today? I feel like I missed out on a fortune!!”

Just like that, what should have been fleeting fame from a viral short gradually settled into something longer lasting. For over half a year after winning the award, Si Qi maintained strong popularity and became a modest internet celebrity.