One
In 1993, 13-year-old Xiao Yang was still painting in Chengde, and the 24-year-old Wang Taili had many female girlfriends because he sang well, and the female girlfriends saw that he liked Michael Jackson, so they pooled 500 yuan to fund him to go to Beijing.
This is Wang Taili's first north drift. He ran from his hometown of Shandong to Beijing, with a dream of music, wanted to learn from a teacher, suffered from no way out, coiled and almost finished, still bumping into walls everywhere, had to sadly return home.
But Wang Taili is very resilient, he is not discouraged, and he has repeatedly lost battles. Soon, he began the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th North Drift, during which he also went to Guangdong... The result was tragic, and after repeated battles, it was still repeatedly defeated.
When Wang Taili encountered Waterloo one after another, Xiao Yang was not satisfied, and failed to apply for the Hebei Arts and Crafts Vocational School and was turned away.
After being hit hard by fate, Xiao Yang was very unconvinced, and he decided to jump directly to the next level, re-study for a year, and then transfer to the Central Academy of Fine Arts High School in Beijing.
At that time, Xiao Yang had long hair and was a young man in the eyes of the teacher. Every time the teacher saw Xiao Yang painting with his back to paint, he would laugh and taunt him: "Yo, Xiao Yang, you still paint!" ”
In 1994, in order to be more sure, 14-year-old Xiao Yang came to Beijing and participated in the pre-examination training, with a tuition fee of 5,000 yuan a year.
At that time, 5,000 yuan was not a small amount, Xiao Yang's parents were ordinary wage earners, this money was very reluctant, so in order to save money, Xiao Yang shared a room with an old lady, and there was only a curtain in the middle...
At the worst time, he even shared a double bed with two other people, 150 yuan per person per month, and if he was not careful in the middle of the night, the people who slept on the side would be squeezed to the ground.
This sounds like a very inspirational story. Unfortunately, the reality is not a TV series, Xiao Yang after such a difficult re-reading, CAMI Affiliated High School still has not been admitted...
If you change ordinary people, you may give up, but Xiao Yang did not. He chose to continue re-reading.
It may be that God is also a little unbearable, so after another year, Xiao Yang finally got his wish after two years of re-study, and was admitted to the Central American Affiliated High School, which only accepts 20 foreign students every year, when he was 16 years old.
At the same time, Wang Taili, an "old boy" 11 years older than Xiao Yang, also began the 5th North Drift with great tragedy.
Two
In 1997, before Wang Taili's 5th North Drift, his father had a look of hatred for iron and steel, and said to him: "This is the last time to pay for your ideals, if it still does not succeed, you will come back to do business with me in a down-to-earth manner!" ”
Wang Taili rubbed his stinging heart and rented a simple house with a monthly rent of 100 yuan on the outskirts of Beijing. When winter came, the house leaked wind everywhere, blowing Wang Taili's lips cracked. It was colder at night, and he only had a thin bed, and he never dared to take off his clothes when he slept.
During the day, he went out to music training classes, found teachers to learn to sing, was bullied, was blindfolded, starved, and some people ridiculed him for not being a singing material...
Soon after, seeing that the coiling on his body was about to be spent again, Wang Taili's 5th North Drift was about to be killed again. At this time, a girl who was learning to sing together said to him: "If you want to mix in Beijing, you must first find a job to fill your stomach, and then talk about learning music!" ”
Wang Taili woke up like a dream and immediately went out to look for a job. He only graduated from middle school, did not dare to enter the office building, went to the hotel to try his luck, a restaurant owner listened to his story, said boldly: "I especially admire you north drift, you come to my hotel to work!" ”
Unfortunately, Wang Taili did not work for a few days, and the hotel was yellow.
Soon, he found a job at a McDonald's again, and one day he was mopping the floor, and his brother came to Beijing to look for him, and secretly looked through the glass outside for a while, feeling very sad.
My brother found him and said, "You said that the conditions at home are so good, why do you have to come to Beijing to suffer this crime?" We are like this, when the stars are all no shadow things, hurry up and follow me home, our father will arrange a job in the system for you! ”
However, no matter what his brother said, Wang Taili just wouldn't go back.
In order to earn money to support his musical dreams, Wang Taili later sold paintings, ran insurance, and pulled advertisements... Exhausted every day, I almost broke my leg.
He didn't expect that he would have to send his brother away, and his father would come again, and it was still under that circumstance that they would meet.
Three
After some hard work, Wang Taili's living standards improved, and he moved from a suburban bungalow to a basement in the city. At first, it was the second basement floor, but then there was some progress, and it was moved to the first basement floor.
At this time, Wang Taili's brother went abroad, and his father sent him to Beijing to take a plane and see Wang Taili by the way. After Wang Taili found out, he carefully cleaned up the residence: some stickers were pasted on the wall, a layer of copper plate paper was laid on the floor, and a pair of slippers were bought and put on the side of the bed.
When his father arrived, Wang Taili smiled and said, "Dad, you see, I can mix well in Beijing!" Father just smiled.
The next day, the mother secretly said to Wang Taili, "Do you know, your father came out of the basement and secretly wiped his tears..."
Thinking that he had been drifting north for five or six years, and still hadn't mixed up a famous hall, Wang Taili was doubly frustrated.
On his birthday, he had a luxury, spent 100 yuan, bought two dishes, a bottle of beer, ate and drank, and couldn't help but think of when he had a birthday at home, his mother always fried a table of dishes, and the family drank together... The feeling of drifting is really uncomfortable.
Compared with Wang Taili, Xiao Yang's days were much brighter.
Since the third grade of Central American High School, Xiao Yang has taught people to draw during the winter and summer vacations, and he does not go home for the New Year, making money to pay tuition fees. At the time of the college entrance examination, Xiao Yang had already drawn and painted so much that he did not take the Central American examination and read the film and television advertising director major of nortel Art Department.
The tuition fee of the Beijing Film Academy is more expensive, and Xiao Yang sees that he can no longer be self-sufficient by teaching people to draw, so he has set up a side job: to be an assistant to a teacher, an executive director, to draw illustrations, script sub-shots... Basically, as long as you can make money, you can take over any work.
Even so, the tuition fees that should be paid in September every year had to be delayed until the summer vacation of the following year, which often made the school worry about Xiao Yang's debts and "escape".
In his senior year, Xiao Yang heard that a boss wanted to see him by name, and rushed to the dormitory, carefully selected a shirt that he thought was the most mature and in line with the director's temperament, and prepared to go to the appointment.
He did not expect that it was because of this "boss" that his fate was reversed.
Four
During Xiao Yang's college years, Wang Taili advertised a magazine, earned the first bucket of gold, went it alone, rented a three-bedroom apartment near the Asian Games village, and opened a cultural company.
He wanted to be in the business of packaging singer entertainers, but never really succeeded.
This time, Wang Taili received an advertisement for a suit of nearly 200,000 yuan, but wanted to find a cheap director. Later, through the introduction of people, I met Xiao Yang.
The first time Xiao Yang went to Wang Taili's company, he felt that everyone inside was surrounded. If you look closely, there are only Two Wang Taili and his wife.
Both of them are "North Drift little masters", the face is a flicker, Wang Taili constantly paints cakes for Xiao Yang, Xiao Yang is not a vegetarian, open his mouth and say what I have filmed, to whom who has been a director's assistant... Dude is worth the price!
In fact, the words of the two are half-true and half-false, mixed with a lot of water, but they tacitly agree with each other and do not say broken. Because they all know that at that time, if you don't say this, you can't mix at all!
When shooting suit advertisements, although the two did not have much experience, they worked very seriously and hard. Wang Gang, as the male protagonist of the advertisement, once said very appreciatively: "I like this way of working with you, shouting about work, high efficiency!" ”
After working together several times, the two slowly became acquainted. One of them can make films, the other can write songs, complement each other's strengths, and combine strong and powerful.
If you continue to cooperate in this way to shoot advertisements, maybe the two can make some money, live a well-off life in the secular sense, and then disappear into the crowd... But suddenly, the fall of a superstar changed them.
Five
In 2007, when the CRBT was a big hit, it was said that "Two Butterflies" alone made 100 million, and Wang Taili also wanted to take the opportunity to make some money. At the age of 38, he received a ringtone advertisement and wrote a song "Bless You Dear" and wanted to sing with Xiao Yang.
Xiao Yang proposed that it would be better to make a micro-film. As soon as the two of them combined, they borrowed the scenery booth built by shooting advertisements, and each person paid some money to shoot a "Memoirs of a Male Geisha".
After the micro-movie was launched, the two of them made a small fire and became Internet celebrities at the time, and it is said that they also received a bonus of 100,000 yuan.
Subsequently, 38-year-old Wang Taili, together with 27-year-old Xiao Yang, set up a "chopstick brothers" group, and more and more advertisements came to the door... Since then, Xiao Yang has flown all over the world, circling between Party A, sometimes sleeping only for three or four hours, and the pain is unbearable.
After work, he was busy sneaking around, using the money earned from shooting advertisements, shooting some videos that did not have to look at Party A's face, were not difficult to be difficult, and were all dominated by his own ideas, and then transmitted to the Internet, shared with netizens, and finally found a little comfort.
So busy until 2009, 29-year-old Xiao Yang finally owned his own house on the edge of Beijing.
Standing in an empty house, watching the lights of Beijing at night, Xiao Yang felt that the fast-paced work was eating away at his dream of directing, and he was confused: "Am I really alive? Why am I living like this? ”
In June 2009, the 51-year-old legendary superstar Michael Jackson suddenly fell. As a super fan of his, Wang Taili was drunk by the head and suddenly woke up.
This year, Wang Taili was 41 years old, and he said to the 30-year-old Xiao Yang: Michael Jackson has died, my fucking youth is dead... No, we really have to do something!
Six
Wang Taili wrote a song called "Youth".
Xiao Yang said that if you change it again, Wang Taili will change it. Until Xiao Yang saw that Wang Taili changed the lyrics of the chorus to -- "Youth is like a rushing river, it is too late to say goodbye when it is gone", Xiao Yang said: "Lao Wang, don't change it again, really, great!" ”
Coinciding with the "11 degrees of youth series of movies" held on a certain platform, the "Chopsticks Brothers" were invited, and the organizers provided them with sponsorship of 100,000 yuan.
Xiao Yang planned to make a micro-film, thinking that 100,000 yuan was not enough, and he would just add some money. Unexpectedly, due to his lack of experience, Xiao Yang suddenly shot the cost of the film to 700,000 yuan...
There was no way, I had to piece it up, begged grandpa to tell grandma, and insisted on making this movie.
It was a summer, and in order to photograph the youth of their memories, they found an abandoned middle school, and on this ruin, swarms of mosquitoes flew in the scorching air.
The scene was lit up, the temperature was almost as high as 50 degrees, Wang Taili's wig was even ignited, and for a back-up shot, the photographer was almost smashed by the big fish tank that burst inside...
At the end of the filming, an even worse news came from Wang Taili's home: his father had advanced lymphoma.
Wang Taili rushed home to visit, and then took his father to Beijing for treatment, and accompanied him to bed while filming.
Finally, my father ran out of oil, and when he was dying, he still worriedly said to Wang Taili:
"I've watched you grow up to today, always didn't do the right thing, today to do music, tomorrow to do film and television, but also to be an actor, this is too unreal... You are also old, I can't manage you in the future, I can't help you, you just do something practical! ”
Wang Taili bowed his head and listened silently, and the dream in his heart began to waver. Although he was eager to prove it to his father, he probably couldn't wait. So he decided: If it doesn't work this time, he will really go home. Confessed, what to do.
As a partner, Xiao Yang knew too well how difficult it was for Wang Taili to come along the way. He was not reconciled, so he persuaded Wang Taili to say: "You told your father to let him wait, we want (let him) watch this film, I will cut it!" ”
But Xiao Yang studied advertising directing and cut a 40-minute film for the first time. Therefore, although I studied and cut the film day and night, I still took many detours, very anxious, and very painful.
One day, he was overloaded with work and exhausted, and when he went to the hospital to see a doctor, he suddenly received a call from Wang Taili: his father was gone.
Xiao Yang held the mobile phone in the same place, his heart was very uncomfortable, and he blamed himself: "Why didn't I finish cutting it?" Why? ”
However, Xiao Yang knew that Wang Taili was even more upset than he was: not only because it was Wang Taili's father who died, but also because Wang Taili had not been able to "overturn the case" in front of his father in his lifetime.
Because of this, after filming this micro-film, Wang Taili had the intention of retreating. Xiao Yang stopped him: "Lao Wang, you don't have to change your career, this time we may really become!" ”
Seven
As you know, Xiao Yang and Wang Taili's "Old Boy" became popular overnight after its release. In the film, the huge gap between reality and ideals buries the enthusiasm of many people, the youthful and crazy youth, and pokes countless tears of the post-80s and post-90s.
Some netizens left a message saying that the movies in the cinema have been watched in vain over the years. More netizens brushed 23 times in a row, in a late night moment, tears over and over again.
The crew who shot the film, overcoming many difficulties and basically not making money, sent a text message: "Thank you for giving me such a meaningful summer." ”
The melody of "Old Boy" is actually a cover of Japanese singer Takumi Ohashi's "ありがとう", the lyrics were written by Wang Taili, originally called "Youth", and renamed "Old Boy" after revision. This song is on fire in China and has become a must-order song in KTV.
The "Chopstick Brothers" were also on fire, and Xiao Yang's mobile phone was almost exploded by friends.
Xiao Yang never found that he had so many friends. Especially in the evening, a friend called and borrowed wine to say to Xiao Yang:
"I'm singing your song with whoever I'm with, and I say I know you, they don't believe it, come and go, you sing two sentences with them, say two sentences..." A circle down, nearly 20 people. Later, Xiao Yang was really reluctant to answer the phone.
After the death of Wang Taili's father, he wrote a song "Father", which was later made into a movie "Father", starring Xiao Yang, Wang Taili and Huo Siyan, etc., thus entering the film circle.
Next, the brothers made a big move.
Eight
In 2014, the "Chopstick Brothers" prepared to shoot "Old Boy's Raptor Across the River". Because of the endorsement of "Old Boys", countless capital hot money is moved by the wind and wants to take the opportunity to share a piece of the pie.
Coal mine money, restaurant money, pig money... There are even companies that are about to go public and want to use stocks as a chip to cooperate. This time, they no longer have to worry about shooting funds.
After the release of the film, although it achieved a good box office performance of 210 million, it was difficult for word of mouth to reproduce the grand scene of "Old Boys" that year.
Surprisingly, Wang Taili wrote a song "Little Apple" in 2012, but because of this film, it quietly became popular.
Listening to this song once and listening to it twice, the old man and the old lady will form a team to dance the divine comedy of square dance, sweeping the whole country and detonating the Network with the momentum of the fire.
At the same time, the MV painting style that makes ren dou's second pulse surging has also attracted the criticism of many netizens.
Wang Taili was very aggrieved, and specially registered a small vest to "ask for forgiveness" on the Internet. He said: This dance was designed by the choreographer of "Gangnam Style". And the original intention of creating the song is because someone walking on the street will cry when they meet him, saying that they can't stand it when they hear your "Old Boy" and "Father".
It's also too sad, that's why he wrote such a simple and bright song.
This year, the "Chopstick Brothers" were invited as guests at the AMA National Music Awards. Before that, among the Asian stars, only Uncle Bird, who was out of the circle with "Gangnam Style", had been honored on this stage.
But what they didn't expect was that this trip would bring a sneer.
Nine
There are three main reasons for the criticism of netizens:
First, false singing.
Second, in the United States, the mainstream music festival, "Chopsticks Brothers" is a "mat performance" in the advertising time period, there is no global synchronous live broadcast, and the awards are also awarded by the host in the background, which cannot be found on the official website.
Third, during the live stage performance, the exaggerated "obedience" and dance movements made domestic netizens feel embarrassed, and even foreign audiences complained to domestic reporters: Chinese audiences like this?
There is a lot of controversy on the Internet, in a word: "Chopsticks Brothers" this trip, is it to shame Chinese, or to earn face?
"Chopsticks Brothers" said that the two are not professional singers, the dance skills are very bad, and this time the choreographer teacher has cooperated with Lady Gaga, very powerful, the movements designed by this person are a big challenge for them.
The two felt a lot of pressure, and in order to be safe and not to sing wrongly and lose people, they chose ring tone processing (false singing).
For the view of the award, the "Chopstick Brothers" are optimistic and have a very low posture:
"Maybe at first everyone thought it wasn't perfect, but we bravely started, throwing bricks and stones, and hoping that Chinese culture would become more and more mainstream on the world stage."
In this regard, an entertainment commentator of the People's Network summed it up to the point: "Chopsticks Brothers" are not shameful, and Chinese popular culture is backward to shame people.
In the following years, the number of "chopstick brothers" combined became less and less. Wang Taili gradually faded out of the public eye and retreated to the second line to concentrate on making music.
Xiao Yang has gone farther and farther in the film and television circle, and in recent years, the "Tang Detective Series" and "Manslaughter" and "My Sister", which have basically been applauded and praised, have also been nominated for the "Golden Rooster Award Film Emperor".
The asymmetrical heat of the two has caused rumors of the dissolution of the group from time to time. In this regard, Xiao Yang always tried his best to explain, saying that the two did not break up.
In 2020, the "Chopstick Brothers" studio was cancelled and rushed to the hot search, like the end of a generation of youth memories.
But the two still "show love" and "commercial blowing" in the air, which makes people can't help but sigh: from "male geisha" to "old boy", and then to today's imminent separation, confusion, all the way to work hard to get to the top, the youth of that year' enthusiasm seems to still be vividly remembered.
Life is so short, and there are many tribulations in the rivers and lakes. It should be said that almost every young person has had a blood-boiling dream, but not everyone can do their best for the dream.
Zhou Xingchi said that if you don't have a dream, what is the difference between being a person and salted fish? None of us are salted fish, but people are always bound by reality. Chai rice oil and salt, childbearing, most people's dreams die in the world, but you see:
There are always some people who have come to places we have not been, experienced different tribulations, seen different landscapes, and made us believe that the fact that dreams come true is real!
Follow @Wan Xiao Knife headline number to read more character stories and explosive articles. For example, "The Fragrant Past of the "Actress Harvester"", "How the Big Guys of the Bamboo Gang Stirred up the Entertainment Circle", "The History of the Hong Kong Circle Playboy", "The History of Sun Honglei", "The Melon of the "Three-level Film Goddess" in the Hong Kong Circle", and the secret past of the four heavenly kings, Zhou Runfa, Jackie Chan, Zhou Xingchi, Jet Li, Lin Qingxia, Maggie Cheung and other stars.