Detailed introduction
This film (drama)Also known as证书，is aMainland ChinaProducerwomen sex，At2006Released in year
。The dialogue language isMandarin，Current Douban rating7.3(For reference only)。
The wind was high and the waves were fierce when urgent cries for help came from the nearby ferry. Wang Zhao paddled his boat like an arrow towards the scene. Many of the drowning victims had already been pulled to shore by rescuers, but in the middle of the river, two nearly submerged individuals were still struggling. He hesitated, unsure of whom to save first. A wave crashed in. Wang Zhao did not have time to think; he dropped his fishing net and forcefully pulled the two onto his boat. One of them was Director Lu of the chemical factory. To express his gratitude, Director Lu asked the village chief to give Wang Zhao two hundred yuan. Wang Zhao firmly refused, stating that he had saved many people over the years but had never accepted money. To him, accepting money would change the essence of his original intention to rescue others. However, the village chief framed the money as a necessary economic encouragement for heroic acts, making it hard for Wang Zhao to refuse.
Who is Wang Zhao? A middle-aged ordinary farmer, he had strong swimming skills due to living by the river. Thus, rescuing drowning victims had naturally become a part of his mundane life. He never thought of gaining anything from saving others, despite often receiving visits from those he saved who came to thank him. But those thanks were, at most, some seemingly trivial old wine and duck eggs from their own river. He was happy to accept such ordinary expressions of gratitude; to him, fishing and occasionally rescuing someone was just a common matter.
Due to the significant impact of the capsizing incident, the county decided to hold a commendation ceremony to honor these heroic acts. The villagers of Xiaogang unanimously nominated Wang Zhao. Watching his fellow villagers enthusiastically recommend him, dreaming of the title of hero and holding a large red certificate with a big red flower pinned to his chest, Wang Zhao felt a happiness he had never experienced before.
One morning, Wang Zhao and the villagers suddenly noticed a large number of dead fish floating on the river. The villagers gathered to find the village chief for a solution. The chief went with them to the chemical factory, where Director Lu hoped to use money to settle the matter, but the affected villagers wanted a complete resolution. The discussions did not align, and both sides parted unhappily.
For several days, dead fish continued to appear in the river. Wang Zhao remained silent, collecting the dead fish and placing them in front of the factory gate, hoping to make the director feel guilty.
The old village chief reported the problem to the township head, who visited the site and asked everyone to understand the issues encountered in the modernization process, offering each family 50 yuan in compensation. The villagers then happily resumed their play in the seemingly clearer river.
The commendation ceremony finally convened, but it surprised every villager in Xiaogang. Wang Zhao was not selected as a hero under the premise of "bravery." He couldn't understand why his actions did not qualify as heroic. Was it merely because he did not jump into the river but used a net to save people? If he had bravely jumped in to save one person, he would have had to give up on saving the other. If that person died, could he still consider himself heroic? He tirelessly sought out the village chief and township head. At first, everyone sympathized with him, but gradually, they thought he was being unreasonable. Wang Zhao felt an unprecedented pressure. He had saved so many people without ever boasting about being a hero or a role model. But this time, the whole village, even the township, knew about it, and he felt wronged. Was his approach truly wrong? Wang Zhao decided to go to the county to get to the bottom of it. He believed there must have been a mistake, so he abandoned all his tasks and began making trips between his home and the county. Eventually, a county leader, feeling sympathetic, gave him an unstamped certificate to comfort him, and grateful, he returned to the village, only to find that when people discovered it was an invalid certificate, he became the subject of ridicule once again.
Wang Zhao felt he had to fight for his certificate and regain his honor. The village chief advised him to stop being obstinate, informing him that the official in charge of this matter, Director Zhang, was the father-in-law of Director Lu, who was upset about how he had used a fishing net to save others, wounding his pride. Furthermore, putting the dead fish in front of his factory made him even more displeased. Thus, the village chief said it was futile to fight, as victory was destined to be unattainable. But Wang Zhao would not concede; he completely severed ties with the old village chief.
Wang Zhao found a lawyer in the county, but after a thorough investigation, the lawyer believed there was no chance of winning. Wang Zhao did not believe this and personally traveled from house to house collecting fingerprints from those he had saved. The villagers were convinced Wang Zhao had gone mad, and no one spoke to him anymore. His wife Meilian left home under the villagers' piercing gazes.
The certificate was finally reissued, but Wang Zhao could no longer muster any interest in it. Ultimately, he refused that certificate, which had brought him so much shame and indignity.