158: Chapter 163 Brand Activities

"I'll go." Chen Mo suddenly spoke up. Just two words, yet it seemed to take all his strength.

He didn't know why either. Perhaps it was because of Scott's words, "You have the right," or maybe it was because of that homeless man who earned more than him.

"You've thought it through?" Scott seemed incredulous. "I thought you would refuse. After all, you've never liked these… political statements in public."

"Thought it through."

"Don't you need to consider it a bit more? This is CNN, broadcast nationwide."

"If I consider it any longer, I won't go. While I haven't changed my mind yet, reply quickly."

Scott laughed. After laughing, he asked, "Why did you start a livestream last night? You didn't even give a heads-up."

Chen Mo stretched his feet out from under the quilt and stepped on the floor. The floor was a bit cold.

"I hit a wall with a song."

"What do you mean?" Scott thought he had misheard.

"It means I had writer's block," Chen Mo explained. "I couldn't write anything, and I felt anxious inside. Once I started the livestream, played some music, and talked to a few people, that feeling smoothed out."

"Just because of that?"

"Just because of that."

Scott sighed again, but this sigh was much lighter than the previous one.

"Alright then. I'll reply to CNN first. I'll coordinate the specific time later. You go back to sleep for a while."

Chen Mo hung up the phone and stared blankly at the crack on the ceiling for a while.

He picked up his phone and opened the email Scott had sent. The attachment was a video file, with a playback duration of two minutes and seventeen seconds.

The video began with the rally site in New Hampshire.

On a winter morning, tens of thousands of people stood in the square. Their breath turned white, and Hussein's gray coat was slightly blown up by the wind.

He stood on the podium, holding no manuscript in his hands.

"And to those who are tired, and I know you are tired. I say to you: no matter what they tell you, no matter how hard it gets — don't stop."

(And to those who are tired, I know you are tired too. I say to you: no matter what they tell you, no matter how hard it gets — don't stop.)

The camera cut to the audience.

Some were wiping away tears, others were holding up posters of Chen Mo's album, and one girl was wearing a jacket printed with the Chinese characters "dont stop".

When the video ended, the scene cut back to the CNN studio, and the host said something to the camera.

Chen Mo turned down the volume and only saw the subtitles: "...a cultural phenomenon that transcends music."

He closed the video, and the screen returned to the email interface.

At the end of the email, Scott wrote: "I think you can be proud of this for a moment. It doesn't need to be long, five minutes is enough."

Chen Mo leaned against the headboard, closed his eyes, and chuckled softly. After about thirty seconds, he opened his eyes.

The phone screen was still lit. Weibo, Instagram DMs, and Twitter notifications—every icon had a red "999+" on it.

He tapped on Chen Hao's message.

[Bro, I just finished watching the CNN video. You're fucking awesome!]

[It was reported on the morning news today. My classmates are all talking about it. I don't even dare to say you're my brother, hahaha!]

Chen Mo replied: [.]

Chen Hao replied instantly: [I love you! I'm proud of you!]

Chen Mo replied with a cat rolling its eyes meme.

He then tapped on Taylor's message. The time was a little past seven in the morning.

[Forgot to mention, your posture while playing the guitar during the livestream was very ugly. I'll give you eighty points, and one hundred points for the song.]

Chen Mo chuckled and replied to Taylor: [The posture wasn't good because that guitar was too big. I need a smaller one.]

Putting down the phone, he got out of bed.

January 24th, Los Angeles.

The dinosaur fossils in the Natural History Museum were silent under the lights, as if returning to that ancient era before mobile phones existed.

The OnePlus global launch event was held here, with the theme "Leica Dual Camera." At the entrance stood a huge billboard—

The photo Chen Mo took at the Aranya seaside: black and white mode, gray sea, white Lonely Library, him standing on the beach, the hem of his trench coat blown up by the wind.

This time, he had a OnePlus 3 in his hand.

In the afternoon, he took out the engineering prototype in the backstage dressing room and took a photo of Jessica.

The OnePlus 3's Sony IMX298 sensor, 16 megapixels.

She was looking down at her iPad, her ponytail draped over her shoulder, the light from the screen reflecting on her lenses.

He casually sent the photo to the family group chat. Xiuying replied instantly: [Who is this?]

Chen Mo said: [Did you forget? My assistant.]

Xiuying said: [Oh, what about that foreigner from last time?]

Chen Mo said: [That was the agent.]

Xiuying said: [There are too many people around you. I can't remember them all. I only remember Taylor.]

Chen Mo said: [Because your son is too famous.]

Xiuying sent a pouting emoji.

Chen Jianguo replied below: [Don't mind her, she's a shipper.]

Liu Hu pushed the door open and came in. He was wearing a dark blue suit today and was unusually wearing a wristwatch, a Cartier.

Seeing him taking photos with the OnePlus 3, Liu Hu didn't stand on ceremony and sat directly on the armrest of the sofa, pointing at the phone in his hand: "Is it good to use?"

Chen Mo flipped the phone over, screen facing up. The body was an all-metal unibody, and it felt very solid in the hand. He had been using it for three weeks, and the edges were already rounded from handling.

"The feel is indeed good," Chen Mo said truthfully. "Especially this three-stage mute switch; it's very practical."

Chen Mo paused and brought up the only downside.

"But I'm used to the iPhone's screen. Although this one has vivid colors and deep blacks, I always feel it's a bit straining on the eyes when reading sheet music. If the brightness is too high, it's glaring; if it's too low, I can't see clearly. It's troublesome to adjust."

"The OnePlus 3 focuses on performance," Liu Hu nodded and noted it down in his memo, hands crossed over his abdomen. "Snapdragon 820, 6GB of RAM. Is this enough for you?"

"It's enough," Chen Mo nodded. "I usually just use it to listen to music, look at sheet music, and reply to emails. The highlight is the system; it's very smooth and simple, without all that messy pre-installed software. It's much better than the OnePlus 2."

Liu Hu leaned against the back of the chair, looking at Chen Mo in the mirror, a smile appearing on his face.

"The engineers say this one is a return to their original intentions. In the user report you wrote after using it last time, you said, 'This is a phone with a conscientious system; it reminds me of the surprise I felt when I first played with a smartphone.' The people in the marketing department went crazy when they saw that sentence."

Chen Mo remembered something and said, with a hint of teasing: "Now the promotional materials all say this: 'Chen Mo says the OnePlus 3's system makes him want to learn how to code.' Did I ever say that? You marketing people really can make the dead speak. When did I ever say something like that?"

"The meaning is conveyed regardless," Liu Hu stood up and straightened his suit. "Let's go, it's almost your turn to go on stage."