Yu Mian had initially considered dressing the solar term characters entirely in traditional clothing, but that seemed a bit too drastic and might not be easily accepted by audiences. So he settled on integrating classical elements instead.
Things like flowing silk sleeves, embroidered patterns, and delicate sashes…
As An read through the continuous stream of messages on his light brain, his curiosity and excitement only grew.
He even found himself thinking that if these outfits were actually designed and made, he’d love to try wearing some!
Thus, after countless discussions between Yu Mian and An, the complete set of twenty-four anthropomorphic solar term concept designs was finally rushed to completion, and submitted together with the script to Xinggui.
As expected, when the script was reviewed along with the character illustrations, every single judge on the panel was deeply impressed.
“If you ask me, I’d choose “Bei Xing’s Necklace”. The story framework may not be complex, but the target audience is crystal clear. And honestly, even as an adult, I found it very interesting.”
“Yes! Yes! If my daughter were watching it, I’d definitely sneak a peek too. Especially if the animation actually lives up to the concept art, it will be a pleasure to watch this work from an aesthetic point of view.”
After making it through the initial selection process, “Bei Xing’s Necklace” was placed alongside the other three scripts that had been marked as top contenders.
Even so, it stood out among them with a completely unique style.
This story was so fresh, so unlike anything that had come before, that everyone who read it couldn’t help but admit it was simply too captivating.
“The only issue is…by choosing this newcomer’s script, we might offend others.”
The small elderly director, Lin Ke, stroked his beard, removed his felt hat, and glanced around the room with a troubled expression.
The screenwriters of the other scripts were all well-known screenwriters in the industry. They had outstanding achievements in several popular interstellar war films, and one of them even had close ties with the investors.
If word got out that their scripts had lost to a newcomer’s, things could get difficult.
But what could he say…
Looking at this script, Director Lin Ke felt a thrill of discovery.
Especially considering that this script competition was meant to find a work for children.
From that perspective, “Bei Xing’s Necklace” was undoubtedly the best fit for young audiences.
And in terms of content, the script was anything but shallow, it used culture as its foundation and delivered a meaningful experience.
The twenty-four solar terms of ancient Blue Star were originally created by observing the celestial movements of the Big Dipper. The seven stars of the Big Dipper revolved over time and one complete cycle was called a “year”, beginning with Li Chun (Beginning of Spring) and ending with Dahan (Great Cold).
Looking back at all this from the perspective of today’s interstellar era….
Wasn’t it an incredibly romantic cultural reflection of humanity’s early fascination with the vast universe?
“It has to be this script. I’m personally reaching out to Xinggui Media to find out who this screenwriter is.”
Director Lin Ke glanced at the signature, which bore only the single word “Mian”, and couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation.
Who would have thought that upon making contact, the chairman of the board, Chairman Camberley, would personally receive him with a knowing smile?
“So? Have you set your sights on one of the scripts we recommended?”
“What? Don’t tell me this screenwriter is some acquaintance of yours! You should have mentioned that earlier!”
Director Lin Ke quickly realized that this so-called “new screenwriter” might not be so simple after all.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to say anything,” Chairman Camberley replied with a smile, “but rather, the person in question was afraid I might use my connections to push things through and force you to choose this script.”
Only then did Director Lin Ke learn that this script was actually the work of none other than Fish Soup Noodles”.
“Teacher Fish Soup Noodles said that if you didn’t select it, he would just turn it into a serialized story for a magazine instead. It wouldn’t be a big deal.”
“No, no, that won’t do. I must have this script! We’re making this one!”
Faced with Camberley’s teasing, Director Lin Ke felt completely reassured, so much so that he was ready to lock the script away in his home safe.
As a director, how could he not have heard of the novels whose adaptations had achieved wild success?
Not to mention that the “Eternal Night Rose” movie was a huge hit recently and had taken over the Federation by storm.
No matter how well-connected the other screenwriters were or how much industry influence they wielded, Director Lin Ke suddenly found them completely unappealing.
Now, he had the chance to turn a story by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles into an animated film. There was no way this production could fall short of the adaptations made by those high-profile directors.
It was time to show them that animated works could be just as outstanding!
Upon hearing from Chairman Camberley that his script had officially been selected, Yu Mian was both surprised and delighted.
“This time, Director Lin Ke personally reached out to ask me about this ‘new screenwriter’. There’s definitely no shady business involved.”
Hearing Camberley’s teasing, Yu Mian couldn’t help but laugh.
“Still, I have to thank you for sharing the information in the first place. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have even thought of submitting a script.”
“It was just a small favor. My two little ones at home are really looking forward to it.”
Ever since Camberley had taken his two daughters to an event where they met Yu Mian in person, they had become die-hard Fish fans, so much so that they pestered him daily, asking why he couldn’t invite Teacher Fish Soup Noodles to stay at their house for a while.
Their eagerness gave Camberley an oddly amused feeling.
Teacher Fish Soup Noodles had managed to captivate these young readers with just a few books, and, in turn, completely wrapped their parents around his finger.
One could only imagine the impact once the new animated film was completed and officially aired.
Fortunately, as a parent, he wasn’t short of money. He could certainly afford to fulfill the requests of his two little princesses.
“Is the deal finalized?”
“Yes, it’s finalized. It’s officially selected. In a little while, Huo Yan should be seeing the new animated film too.”
Hearing Huo Ting’s inquiry, Yu Mian responded with a smile.
With this new payment coming in, his options for buying a house would expand.
“Are you really coming with me? Ernis said he could help me look as well.”
Yu Mian still felt a little guilty about taking up Huo Ting’s time just to help him look at houses.
And because of that system reward, he now knew for sure that Huo Ting didn’t really want to look at houses with him, even though he always pretended otherwise.
“He’s close with you now?”
“Uh… not exactly.”
But it was true that Ernis had a particularly high favorability toward him, and he was also quite familiar with the area.
As Yu Mian mumbled a response, he noticed the crystal ball flashing again as if it were malfunctioning.
‘Alright, alright. This system reward was proving to be highly unreliable.’
Meanwhile, thanks to Huanyu’s tireless efforts, the development of the game adaptation for “God Of Cooking” was finally on track, and updates about it had sent book fans into a frenzy.
The game would revolve around managing Taoyuan Restaurant, growing ingredients on Taoyuan Mountain, and collecting gourmet recipes and star beast records.
It even incorporated the gradually expanding map and plot line from the book, adding an NPC interaction system and socializing feature.
For example, players could visit the Starship Dock on the Taoyuan Mountain map to travel to other sub-maps. For example, on the Central Star, there was Zheng Duozhi, whom Lu Zhen had a good relationship with after they met. With a high enough interaction favorability, one could even receive various mission clues and gifts.
It was even said that when the favorability level is maxed out, a special romance plot line can be unlocked!
And when the new vanilla-based food plotline was revealed, readers were amazed.
Because vanilla was an ideal ingredient for semi-finished products like vanilla cream and vanilla ice cream, the Food Research Institute decided to try selling these ready-made ingredients for the first time.
When live broadcasting, Yu Mian demonstrated how to make slightly more complex vanilla desserts, such as vanilla pudding and vanilla ice cream cakes. Unsurprisingly, these creations became the most popular delicacies ever featured in the “God Of Cooking”.
After all, among the basic tastes of sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy, sweetness was generally more universally appealing than spiciness.
Even the specially formulated vanilla-flavored nutrient solution skyrocketed to the top of the sales charts, though there were later reports of people getting cavities from consuming too much of it.
The Food Research Institute quickly issued a statement, reminding everyone that while the vanilla-flavored nutrient solution was delicious, it really shouldn’t be consumed in excess.
Yet, while everything seemed cheerful and harmonious, there was one group of people feeling rather dejected.
[First of all, I admit the new book is indeed very good, but isn’t the update speed for our “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” a little too slow?]
[Exactly! “Reborn” started later and has already been completed. Why does “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” have to be left behind?!]
[Come on now, don’t worry! Teacher Fish Soup Noodles is already working very hard! Once “God of Cooking” is finished, he’ll definitely focus on updating our book!]
Although the fans of “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King”, including the Dwarf Fos, were getting anxious, they still considered themselves understanding and considerate of Fish Soup Noodles.
As long as they were willing to wait patiently, the next spring would surely be the turn for their “Rebirth of the Interstellar Soldier King”.
