Chapter Ninety-Five: Starry Sky Comics

Hearing Sidong’s confusion, Lin Nan also realized: this truly was a problem.

Astronomy ruins a lifetime; photography impoverishes three generations.

There’s no flaw in that saying.

From what Lin Nan understood so far, the only way to make money from astrophotography was by entering astronomy photography competitions and winning prizes. Setting aside how much prize money would need to add up to a million, with his current photography skills and beginner equipment, getting a photo shortlisted would already be quite an achievement, let alone winning.

After pondering for a long time, Lin Nan couldn’t figure out how to earn a million through astronomy, so he could only reply to Sidong, “I’ll think it over carefully when I’m home for the holidays. Since you know so much about astrophotography, I might ask for your help then.”

Sidong nodded quietly, his voice barely above a whisper like a mosquito’s, “Okay~”

Then they each stared at their desks and the night sky, pondering: how could they make money with astrophotography?

Interestingly, these two fifteen-year-olds were both focused on how to make money, yet neither was worried about whether they could actually earn a million.

There are two kinds of people who never worry about making money.

The first are those who have already entered society, understand it well, and possess considerable ability.

The second are still students who have yet to face the hardships of the world, filled with beautiful illusions and thinking everything is easy.

Clearly, Lin Nan and Sidong belonged to the second group.

But strictly speaking, Lin Nan wasn’t entirely in that category, because he had already earned a million.

Thus, geniuses and ordinary people always differ—in their perspectives and realms of thought.

Though this is heavily influenced by one’s upbringing and surroundings, gold will shine; if you cannot shine, it only means you are not true gold.

…

With his bangs still not fully grown, Lin Nan put on his mask, returned to the dormitory to pack, and then went home.

Summer vacation had arrived, and the campus was filled with laughter and cheer.

After a year of intense high school life, there was finally a longer break.

Of course, some students might only have a few days of rest before being ushered into tutoring sessions by their parents.

Lin Nan, naturally, had no intention of going to cram school.

On the way, he kept thinking: how exactly could he make money from astrophotography?

This was how Lin Nan was—when he set his mind on something, he thought about how to do it well every moment without delay or distraction.

The same applied to basketball as to astronomy.

Sitting by the window on the bus, watching the scenery rush backward, his mind still churned over the question.

Suddenly the bus braked sharply at the next stop, jolting the deep-in-thought Lin Nan back to reality.

He glanced toward a small roadside shop, where a child was eating blue-packaged Lay’s chips while watching cartoons on a TV.

The distance wasn’t far, and Lin Nan’s eyesight was excellent; he could faintly make out that the cartoon playing was Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.

Lin Nan smiled, thinking kids nowadays all seemed to watch Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.

It was different from when they were young.

He remembered watching many cartoons in his childhood—Ultraman, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, Digimon, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Transformers, Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan, Detective Conan…

He felt that almost any of those was more entertaining than Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.

Childhood these days seemed so dull.

He also thought about how children today didn’t play the same games they did.

They used to play with spinning tops, yo-yos, racing cars, marbles, cards, sandbag tossing, cops and robbers…

But kids now apparently didn’t play those games.

He wondered what they played instead.

Lost in these nostalgic thoughts, a faint idea began to form in his mind but just as slowly faded.

It was the same familiar feeling he had when thinking about the “Million Club” concept.

Lin Nan suddenly laughed to himself; he knew he was just missing a spark of inspiration.

But inspiration couldn’t be rushed. Paying close attention to life’s details might suddenly trigger it.

…

Back home, Lin Nan set down his suitcase, hurried to wash his hands in the bathroom, then sat down at the dining table to eat a fragrant lunch with Ye Xinlan.

Lin Lang was still busy with work related to the Shishi Network and wouldn’t return for a few days.

After lunch, Ye Xinlan was invited out shopping, leaving Lin Nan alone at home.

This had become the norm in Lin Nan’s household—three family members each doing their own things, yet the atmosphere remained harmonious and warm.

In fact, whether family or lovers, it’s not necessary to be together every day.

Each person is an independent individual with their own affairs and varying interests.

Thus, whether it’s kinship or love, a pattern of coming together and drifting apart can oftentimes deepen intimacy and avoid conflicts.

Of course, in the early stages of romance or when children are toddlers, staying together is important.

But later on, or once children grow up, constant closeness isn’t necessary.

Having lived a full life, Lin Lang understood this well.

So every time he returned from a trip and was with Ye Xinlan at home, the two were very close, their love gradually softening into familial warmth.

Lin Nan, meanwhile, had cultivated good habits of independence.

…

Alone at home, Lin Nan didn’t feel lonely at all, as he had many things to do.

His top priority was how to make money from astronomy.

He opened his computer and logged into his QQ account.

His username, “Soaring Wings,” perfectly matched his current state.

He clicked into QQ Space, intending to see if Sidong had any astronomy photos posted.

Just as he clicked, he realized that to view Sidong’s space, he needed to go to her homepage, not QQ Space itself.

He was about to close the tab when QQ Space refreshed and loaded.

The top post immediately caught his eye.

It was a drawing of a male and a female manga character.

The lines were clear and fluid, the forms graceful, expressions lively.

They reminded Lin Nan of the characters from Cardcaptor Sakura he had seen on TV.

Since the drawing wasn’t fully colored, Lin Nan guessed it wasn’t sourced from the internet.

He wondered, “Who is this? Such good art.”

Looking at the name, it was Xia Shiyang.

“Oh, it’s her,” Lin Nan thought, not surprised.

Xia Shiyang was his classmate from middle school and the class’s cultural committee member.

Since the first year of middle school, she had been responsible for their class’s blackboard newspaper.

Their class always ranked first in school for blackboard newspaper competitions, thanks to her.

By first year of middle school, Xia Shiyang had already been studying art for six years.

Lin Nan figured that by now she must have nearly ten years of training.

Such skill was no surprise.

If those two anime characters were placed beneath a vivid starry sky, it would look even better!

Anime! Starry sky!

Lin Nan suddenly thought of a way to make money.

He and Sidong would capture beautiful starry sky photos; Xia Shiyang would create anime characters, then they’d use software to combine the two, producing a starry sky manga story.

Wouldn’t that be a way to earn money?

Lin Nan smiled, realizing that was where the inspiration lay.

Animation, manga, starry sky comics.

But then he wondered: would Xia Shiyang agree to work with him?

Without overthinking, Lin Nan decided to try and see.

He immediately sent Xia Shiyang a QQ message: “Are you there?”

To his surprise, she replied instantly: “Yes, what’s up?”

At the other end, Xia Shiyang was puzzled, admiring her own manga characters on her computer.

Also attending Qingshui No. 1 High School, she naturally knew about Lin Nan’s legendary feats from middle school.

Their classmates were amazed at how unremarkable Lin Nan had suddenly made huge academic progress in third year.

Now, as a first-year high school student, he had already won the national basketball championship.

However, Xia Shiyang was puzzled about why Lin Nan was contacting her.

She didn’t play basketball.

Lin Nan thought for a moment, organized his thoughts, and sent a message via QQ:

“I’m currently researching astrophotography. How about we collaborate? I’ll shoot beautiful starry sky images for your backgrounds, and together we’ll create a starry sky manga. What do you think?”

Xia Shiyang stared at the message, stunned.

National basketball champion now dabbling in astrophotography? How did that make sense?

And collaboration on a starry sky manga?

She felt Lin Nan’s thought process was too rapid to follow.

She was just about to politely decline the national champion and former classmate, when another message from Lin Nan arrived.

It contained his Million Club plan and proof of his million-yuan basketball earnings.

Xia Shiyang was dumbfounded, this time for several minutes.

Then she remembered her own online serialized girlish comics, which had seen dismal results.

She thought, “Fine, this summer I’ll go wild with the national champion!”

Though she found the idea of earning a million from starry sky manga somewhat fanciful, Lin Nan already had one million under his belt.

Maybe geniuses simply had thought patterns ordinary people couldn’t grasp?

Besides, it was a good cause.

She was a kind-hearted girl after all.

So Xia Shiyang replied on QQ: “Sure!”

Thus, another first-year high school girl at Qingshui No. 1 was drawn into Lin Nan’s Million Club secondary plan.

The first was Sidong; this time it was Xia Shiyang.

Both were far more skilled than Lin Nan in astrophotography and manga, respectively.

Lin Nan then wondered if this arrangement would still qualify as the Million Club.

But soon he felt it was fine.

The club’s membership criteria should be that an individual earns a million in a certain field.

The process of earning could involve collaboration; after all, most ventures are team efforts, rarely accomplished alone.

If teamwork were disallowed, the number of industries eligible for the club would shrink drastically.

So Lin Nan thought that once he earned his second million and made the Million Club public, he would disclose both million-yuan journeys in detail.

This way, others could learn from it and judge whether his million was truly earned through hard work.

Future members would need to provide detailed accounts of how they earned their million.

And a standard for approval would be set.

For example, lottery winnings or gambling wouldn’t count.

But partnerships in companies, software development, gaming, or other ventures would be acceptable.

One condition: the member must hold a leading role in the team.

They must lead the team to the million-yuan mark.

Their importance must reach a certain level.

Thinking of this, Lin Nan suddenly wondered what role he himself would play in this three-person team.

He didn’t understand manga, and in astrophotography he could at most assist Sidong.

This was a problem.

Frowning, he suddenly realized that although characters and backgrounds were important in manga, the core was the storyline!

In other words, if he could come up with an exceptionally brilliant story, wouldn’t that do?

So Lin Nan picked up a pen from his study desk, twirling it as he pondered a story about the starry sky.

The pinnacle.