Chapter Ninety-Seven: Division of Labor and Cooperation

Xia Shiyang was the first to praise, “I didn’t expect your story to be quite good! It has a bit of the Dragon Clan vibe. But the idea of combining mechas, starry skies, and the gray mist layer is really creative—much better than the girly comics I usually draw.”

Then, shifting tone, Xia Shiyang added, “However, I’m not familiar with making comics about mechas; I mostly draw characters.”

Lin Nan immediately replied, “Then you should try a new style.”

Then, speaking quietly so only the three of them could hear, he said, “We’re aiming to make a million yuan; how can that be without some challenge?”

Hearing this, Xia Shiyang fell silent.

After a moment’s thought, she agreed to take on the character and mecha design for the comic.

Though she had never drawn mechas before, she had nearly ten years of art training, and nowadays software assistance made drawing mechas much easier.

Sitting nearby, Si Dong raised a concern: “According to your story, we need to shoot a lot of star and deep-space photography, which will be very difficult with your current equipment.”

Because Lin Nan had reported his entire set of gear to Si Dong a few days earlier, Si Dong could easily assess the quality of astrophotography they could achieve.

After pondering, Lin Nan replied, “Then let’s start by photographing the moon. We can adjust the story so that the Starlight ship absorbs moonlight first, turning silver, and later absorbs starlight, turning blue. After all, moonlight is stronger than starlight.”

Pausing briefly, Lin Nan continued, “Once we earn some money, we’ll upgrade our astrophotography equipment and then shoot deep space.”

After he spoke, Lin Nan noticed Si Dong and Xia Shiyang exchanging curious glances.

When their eyes met, both quickly looked away, their faces flushed.

Lin Nan thought to himself: “Haha! No one dares meet my gaze on the basketball court, let alone you two girls.”

He failed to notice that the two girls were blushing and turning their heads.

Both admired how quickly Lin Nan had come up with a practical solution.

Only Lin Nan himself remained unaware, thinking it was perfectly normal.

In fact, in many emerging modern industries, some young newcomers are even stronger than veterans immersed for years.

Especially in creative fields like the internet and comics.

Young people’s ideas are always wildly imaginative; they love innovation, dare to be original, and don’t rely on old tricks.

They hope each story they craft is more interesting and thought-provoking than the last.

Just as children are born poets.

A young, imaginative mind holds great advantages in many endeavors.

It’s just that many fail to recognize their goals when young, or due to family and environment, lack the conditions to chase their dreams early on.

But Lin Nan now fully possesses those conditions and can pursue his dreams boldly and confidently.

Lin Lang also wanted to see how far Lin Nan could rise within his “Million Club.”

Over the following time, Lin Nan, Si Dong, and Xia Shiyang sat in an air-conditioned KFC, carefully dividing their upcoming tasks.

Xia Shiyang would be responsible for drawing the comic characters, while Lin Nan and Si Dong would handle the lunar background images.

Lin Nan emphasized to Xia Shiyang that the intelligent lifeform “Starlight” must be drawn as cute as possible, because she would be the constant companion of Junzi Yu through the long years.

Also, many boys likely fantasize about having a companion like Starlight by their side, just like the silly girl in Magical Phone.

Hearing Lin Nan’s suggestion, Xia Shiyang exclaimed he was a genius, like a natural-born artist.

She promised to draw Starlight irresistibly adorable.

Before leaving, Lin Nan bought each of the two girls an ice cream cone from KFC to celebrate the start of the starry sky comic.

When they stepped outside, Lin Nan’s home was to the left, while Si Dong and Xia Shiyang’s homes were both to the right.

So Lin Nan walked home alone.

Meanwhile, Si Dong and Xia Shiyang arm in arm, as close as best friends.

Girls’ matters are truly complicated to understand.

Back home, Lin Nan began checking the weather forecast online for the coming days.

Summer vacation had just started, so there was plenty of time.

He needed to pick a cloudless, haze-free day with excellent conditions to photograph the moon.

He planned to capture the moon in all eight phases, since Junzi Yu wouldn’t absorb the same moonlight every time.

To pursue perfection and pay attention to detail, Lin Nan couldn’t be careless with the comic backgrounds.

After all, Xia Shiyang’s character drawings were the comic’s essence; she put in great effort, while their work was more peripheral and comparatively easier—but that meant they couldn’t afford to be sloppy.

After some research, Lin Nan found that the next evening would be perfect for photographing the first quarter moon.

There was just one problem: Lin Lang wasn’t home for the past two days, so Lin Nan couldn’t carry the equipment alone up to Qinglan Mountain.

Thinking of this, Lin Nan messaged Si Dong on QQ, “Dong Dong, what’s your dad’s name?”

Si Dong’s QQ nickname was Dong Dong, and Xia Shiyang’s was Shiyang—both quite fitting.

Si Dong quickly replied, “Si Fangxiang. Why?”

Lin Nan responded, “Do people call him Uncle Xiang?”

Si Dong was puzzled, “How do you know that?”

Lin Nan smiled, thinking his guess was right, and wrote, “Because I’m in the Lingnan stargazing group.”

He continued typing, “I’m going to ask Uncle Xiang if I can join him on his stall tomorrow, so we can take moon photos together.”

Si Dong was silent for a long while before replying with a simple, “......”

Lin Nan felt like a genius, having arranged everything perfectly.

He immediately tagged Uncle Xiang in the QQ group chat and said, “Uncle Xiang, are you going to Qinglan Mountain to photograph the first quarter moon tomorrow? If so, can I come? I’m also from Qingshui County.”

Soon, everyone in the group saw Lin Nan’s message.

They recognized the young man with the username “m78,” and several seasoned enthusiasts were already familiar with him.

Because he had been very active recently, always asking at least three questions daily, and his astronomy knowledge was clearly growing.

Many urged Uncle Xiang to accept his request.

Astrophotography is a field that greatly benefits from mentorship.

Learning alone wastes money and slows progress.

Many things are hard to figure out solo.

At that moment, Si Fangxiang had just returned home and saw Lin Nan’s mention in the group.

He was impressed by m78, knowing he was passionate and hardworking, and was about to agree.

But then he remembered he’d surely bring Si Dong tomorrow, as last time, when he took her during the full moon, the experience was poor.

Si Fangxiang had a vague suspicion: Could this young man be interested in his daughter?

Several friends in the group, after meeting Si Dong, had already expressed a wish to become relatives through marriage.

Since then, Si Fangxiang had been cautious.

But soon he dismissed the worry.

This young man probably didn’t know Si Dong, as he had only joined the group in the last two months, and Si Dong hadn’t been mentioned much recently.

With that in mind, Si Fangxiang agreed to Lin Nan’s request in the group, asked for his address, and arranged a departure time.

Si Fangxiang was happy to mentor a junior.

Since the rise of online education platforms, many veterans in China’s industries were eager to guide newcomers.

To promote traditional virtues and help these novices appreciate the industry’s charm and join quickly.

After receiving confirmation, Lin Nan smiled with renewed energy.

He checked his astronomy equipment once more, then continued studying astrophotography online.

At seven o'clock the next evening, Lin Nan waited by his residential gate, holding the box containing his equipment.

Soon, a white Toyota SUV pulled up and stopped in front of him.

The driver’s door opened, and a man stepped out, speaking in a somewhat imperfect Qingshui County dialect.

“You must be Lin Nan, right?”

The speaker was Si Fangxiang—Uncle Xiang—and Lin Nan’s future...

Lin Nan looked toward the voice and replied loudly, “Yes, Uncle Xiang.”

He observed the approaching man: about 178 cm tall, casually dressed in a white crew-neck short-sleeve shirt and cropped pants.

Though dressed simply, Lin Nan thought he was as handsome as his own father.

As Lin Nan studied him, Si Fangxiang also observed Lin Nan.

He felt the young man looked familiar but couldn’t immediately recall where he had seen him.

He said, “Put your equipment in the trunk first. We can leave now; the earlier we go, the earlier we return.”

The first quarter moon is observable soon after sunset, which is convenient.

Unlike the last quarter moon, which requires waiting until two or three in the morning.

After stowing the gear, Lin Nan opened the rear door and got in.

Once inside, he feigned surprise and called out, “Si Dong!”

Si Dong, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around with a matching expression and whispered, “Lin Nan?”

Si Fangxiang in the front was astonished: “You two know each other?”

Then suddenly realized, “You’re Si Dong’s deskmate—the national basketball champion Lin Nan?”

Lin Nan smiled and replied, “Yes, Uncle Xiang.”

When Si Dong had just called Lin Nan, Si Fangxiang immediately recalled who he was.

He had learned about Lin Nan being Si Dong’s deskmate when Si Dong went to the capital as a cheerleader.

Si Fangxiang loved astrophotography but had also watched quite a bit of basketball.

Lin Nan’s playing style was exactly what he admired.

When he was in the United States, Si Fangxiang had even attended AI basketball games.

But now, in the era of information explosion, Lin Nan had been out of the public eye for months.

And with his grown-out bangs, Si Fangxiang hadn’t recognized him immediately.

With this connection established, Si Fangxiang chatted freely with Lin Nan during the drive.

Lin Nan naturally answered all questions.

The car gradually headed toward Qinglan Mountain.

Si Fangxiang seemed to completely overlook how “coincidentally” Lin Nan had ended up in his car...