Chapter 304: Chapter 304 - 283: A Big Brainstorm_1

Dai Rui and Zhang Bin looked at each other, both seeing disbelief in each other’s eyes. The final scene of the film felt like a sudden black hole, devouring people’s imagination and blowing open the minds of all the viewers —

Could Ye Shen really see?

Was the doctor really killed by Jiang Yan?

Did that rabbit causing the car crash exist?

Was the story he told Sofi true or false?

These questions previously had plausible answers, but with Ye Shen’s throw of the can, all the answers seemed to shatter. Question marks lingered in everyone’s mind.

“No.”

Dai Rui, who had just exited the cinema, suddenly pulled Zhang Bin, who was deep in thought, and suggested: “Let’s watch the movie again tomorrow. I feel we focused too much on the music and missed quite a few details.”

“Okay.”

Surprisingly, Zhang Bin agreed.

The film pushed twists to the extreme. The conclusion of the movie, the ultimate twist, completely overwhelmed viewers. With just one detail, the scriptwriter overturned everyone’s understanding of the story!

Zhang Bin was included.

This was the first time Zhang Bin had decided to watch a film for the second time immediately after viewing it.

But without a second watch, many of his questions would remain unanswered. This feeling of seemingly understanding, yet not quite understanding the movie left him particularly intrigued.

Upon leaving, they noticed that a few other viewers had made the same decision: “The ending proved that the protagonist definitely lied. The question is, when did he start lying? Let’s watch it again tomorrow…”

Of course, only a minority decided to watch it again.

Most people chose to search for answers online immediately after leaving the cinemas, which led to an entirely predictable scenario.

All who had watched the movie participated in the overall analysis of the movie plot, full of shock and queries!

[Eat-sup-sup]: “I got totally fooled by the ending!”

[Qian Dan]: “The final twist is simply amazing!!! It boosted the attack power by 50!”

[Bird_Sinking_into_the_Seabed]: “Ye Shen, hitting the can flying with a tap of his walking stick at the end proves that he is not blind, and he has lied to Sofi again. But I was so immersed in the piano music at the end – it could have swollen Ol’ Chu’s face, but let’s stick with discussing the movie – it was just brilliant and I didn’t think about the repercussions of the huge plot twist immediately. Can anyone explain it?”

“If you want explanations, I got them.”

Inside a forum for mystery films.

A user who goes by the name “All_The_Usernames_Were_Taken”:

“The man who shot the rabbit does not exist. The protagonist just made up a story based on the rabbit-shaped figure on his cane. Jiang Yan didn’t really kill the doctor. In fact, Ye Shen and the unscrupulous doctor handed Jiang Yan to the mysterious tycoon in exchange for her kidney and a large sum of money. He even used the money to hold a concert and cured his own eyes using her corneas. Maybe Ye Shen wanted to leave Sofi with a good impression and cover up the fact that he indirectly killed someone, so he chose to lie.”

“So when did the protagonist start lying?”

“Careful viewers would notice that the story narrated in the movie and the version Ye Shen told Sofi linked through a single scene – a tree by the roadside.”

“In the movie’s narrative, the doctor drove Ye Shen and Jiang Yan past the tree towards the distance. Suddenly, the scene switched to Great Qin two years later, where Ye Shen was narrating his experiences to Sofi.”

“But in Ye Shen’s version, they didn’t simply drive past the tree; they stopped there! The commotion from the trunk as Jiang Yan woke up forced the doctor to stop and attempt to administer an injection. However, Jiang Yan fought back and killed him. So, regarding when Ye Shen started lying, the tree provides the answer!”

“…”

This post received a lot of upvotes and was the most widely accepted one because it provided the most direct evidence, making it more reliable than baseless conjectures.

However, there were alternative analyses as well.

“I think the protagonist is just a pianist who likes pretending to be blind. Maybe after being caught cheating by Sofi, the lies he told from the time they met in Great Qin until they met again were just excuses he made up after sleeping with another woman and not being able to justify his actions. He then left the girl and came up with a series of excuses after arriving in Great Qin!”

“The protagonist enjoyed playing the blind man. People’s defenselessness satisfied his voyeuristic desires. He loved prying into the unknown sides of peoples’ lives under the guise of a blind man.”

“Could the man shooting the rabbit at the beginning of the film be real? Jiang Yan didn’t kill the doctor in the car. On the way to the airport, the doctor was accidentally killed by the man hunting the rabbit. The protagonist and Jiang Yan were saved, then either deceived or persuaded the man hunting the rabbit to dispose of the doctor’s body and continue the journey to deliver Jiang Yan to the tycoon. In exchange, they got the corneas and money to travel to Qin…”

“Everything is possible, anyway, everyone in this movie is wicked! Only poor Sofi was deceived over and over again.”

“No, Sofi was not deceived in the end. When Ye Shen picked up the rabbit cane, she gave a disdainful smile. That already indicated she knew he was lying. But she believed that Ye Shen did nothing wrong by killing Jiang Yan, which is why she comforted him in the end, saying he should have taken her corneas.”

“So there is no decent person in the whole story…”

Various online analyses represented the different directions led by the open-ended conclusion.

And after reading these analyses, most ordinary viewers were shocked to realize that they had overlooked so many details!

So Sofi discovered the truth too!?

Damn, are we watching the same movie?!

We both went to public schools, how are you so clever?

At this point, a netizen followed up with a comment: “After reading the analysis by this big-shot, I suddenly felt that the male lead should be disappointed with Sofi. Perhaps, he wished his original goodness was still there, just like in his own story where the blind rabbit killed the female lead instead of him. And by the way, some people said that the last song and the romance with Sofi are forced, I feel that what Ye Shen liked was not Sofi, but his initial kindness in his heart, but in the end, Sofi did not turn out to be what he thought.”

“…”

The discussion got livelier, with some film critics also joining in.

Like everyone else, they analyzed from various angles, but their conclusions mostly pointed towards using the big tree as the reference—

The part where the tree is told in reverse order is where the male lead starts lying.

After reading these film reviews and analyses, the audience became even more aware of just how detailed and thorough this movie is!

The plot is insane! It left me speechless! The evil side of humanity is displayed in all its glory. Before watching the movie, just from looking at the poster and description, I thought it was an inspirational comedy about a blind musician. However, the story unfolded in such an unconventional manner, Xian Yu’s script is mind-boggling!”

It’s so freaking amazing!”

I went for the music, but ended up with so much more. It’s unbelievably good! There were countless plot twists, I had goosebumps all over! The recurring theme in the beginning and ending scenes plus the final scene of the male lead really left a lot to the imagination! This is the best mystery film I’ve seen this year!”

Who would have thought Xian Yu could play with dark humor and storytelling tricks so skillfully! I thought the plot was spiraling out of control in the last 20 minutes of the film, then the ending completely blew me away. Apart from the blind dude’s girlfriend who is somewhat decent, everyone else is evil! The script! The score! The cinematography! Every single one is fine! The plot twists were executed brilliantly, and several gags made me burst out laughing. It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a film this much with my full intellect. Hats off to Teacher Admirable Fish!”

“…”

As the heated discussion among netizens continues, the piano compositions that appeared in “The Tuner” naturally became classics not to be missed!

In fact, many people initially went to see the movie just for these songs!

“The piano pieces in the beginning were all great, but the best one has to be the one played at Su Tai’s death scene.”

“That piece is truly amazing!”

“When I heard that piece again at the end, I felt like just for that song alone, the money I spent on the movie ticket was worth it! Not to mention how interesting the plot of the movie was…”

“This film is simply a highlight of Xian Yu’s composing talent!”

“If this is the case, is there any suspense left for the Qin-Chu music battle?”

“What suspense? The piece played at Su Tai’s death scene was absolutely divine!”

“The other pieces were also very good. When I first heard the others, I thought Xian Yu’s response was already superb. It was the piano piece at Su Tai’s death scene that made me realize that Xian Yu’s response was even more impressive than I imagined!”

“Uh… I think I now understand why Yang Zhongming suddenly pulled out of the season’s competition.”

“For this round of Qin-Chu battle, Xian Yu alone is enough for Starlight!”

“…”

Amid the sighs, someone reminded:

“The two most classic songs in the movie have been released, you can download them from any media player. The song played at Su Tai’s death scene is titled ‘Mariage d’Amour’, make sure you get the name right”

Yes

With the release of “The Tuner”, the two piano pieces from the movie have also topped the charts on major music players.

The first is “Missing”.

This track is mostly praised for its innovative style.

The most loved though, is the piano piece played at Su Tai’s death scene and at the ending by the protagonist once more, named ‘Mariage d’Amour’!

Those in the music circle weren’t idle.

With the release of these tracks, many Qin-Chu musicians listened to Xian Yu’s new work for the first time.

Outcome.

The musicians in Chu land were silenced after listening to ‘Mariage d’Amour’.

To describe the situation of the Chu musicians using the in-jokes the netizens often tease each other with in games seems quite apropos:

“I’ve sent my part, have you?”

“I initiated it.”