Chapter 9 I haven't worn a vest for many years
In 2005, Xu Weisheng was eighteen years old. By then, he had already given himself many pen names, some quite unserious, such as "Bi Ma Wen vs. Lao Huang Tao" and "Huluwa Helps Grandma Cross the Road," while others were so serious that they were chosen by fortune telling, such as "Wu Yu" and "San Bian." He even had some fancy names that he himself couldn't pronounce, like English, French, and Italian names...
In short, Xu Weisheng had many pseudonyms at that time, but none of them were very well-known. Until this year, he began to participate in the creation of a serialized comic called "Billiard Boy". The editor thought that the pseudonym he made up on the spot was too long and asked him to come up with a new name. He hesitated for a long time and finally used his mother's surname to make up a pseudonym that sounded like his real name.
It was all about timing, fate, and luck that year "Billiard Boys" became a hit, sweeping across the country.
The once obscure little magazine has transformed into a best-selling item that sells out every month. Advertisers are flocking to it with money. Faced with such immense wealth, the editor-in-chief remains unmoved by riches and power. He slams his fist on the table and pulls out the pages from the comic magazine that were serialized, approving them as standalone volumes.
The creators of this work became increasingly well-known as a result, transforming from obscure illustrators into rising stars in the comics world, gaining countless fans and achieving popularity that made their peers envious.
— Jian Zhen was fifteen years old at the time, and was one of the people caught up in the wave of idol worship.
She had never been a fan of any celebrities before, and she always maintained a slight sense of pride when her classmates mentioned the names of idols in their conversations, thinking that they were nothing special and not worth liking so much.
The girl sitting next to her recommended her favorite comic, raising her hand and swearing that it was the "most awesome work" she had ever read. Jian Zhen didn't want to refuse her, so she had to bite the bullet and promise to take a look when she had time.
When she said "sneak a peek," she meant reading the comic book during Chinese class. With the comic book under her textbook, Jian Zhen rested her chin on her hand and looked down, pretending to be engrossed in reading the text. Just as she turned to the character introduction, a comic self-portrait of the author suddenly appeared. Compared to the previous style, this self-portrait appeared casual and abstract; if you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for a line drawing.
"laugh--"
Jian Zhen chuckled and turned the page to continue reading the main text.
To this day, she has long forgotten the specific plot of "Billiard Boys", but she can still accurately recall her feelings at the time. First, she concluded that the author himself was a billiards expert. Then she began to notice the extremely smooth panel layout. While most works use word bubbles to replace complicated images for narration, this manga does the opposite, minimizing the proportion of text and using imaginative pen tips to reach places that words cannot reach.
Jian Zhen was halfway through reading when she suddenly felt the paper in her hand burst into flames. The winding lines abruptly detached from the plane, transforming into golden-red fire lines that swirled and danced in mid-air. At the end of the fire lines, a pen was pulling it, constantly tumbling.
So this is how comics can be drawn! Jian Zhen buried her head in the paper, then peeked out from the fixed little square, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the vast and boundless scenery outside the window. And the Lin Sheng who was signed at the beginning was the person flying a kite in the distance.
Jian Zhen read very quickly, and her attitude towards the comic book changed just as quickly, from arrogance to complete admiration, all within the span of a single Chinese class. The next class was also Chinese, and by then she was rereading the comic book, even finding the author's self-portrait pleasing to the eye, secretly thinking that the portrait must be as unconventional and free-spirited as the person who drew it.
So, during class, the teacher confiscated someone else's comic book from her.
The teacher was also puzzled. She had been criticizing Jian Zhen, but Jian Zhen remained unmoved, while her deskmate was almost in tears.
Jian Zhen was so busy praising the book that she didn't have time to reflect on it. She took out a large sum of money from her meager monthly allowance and pre-ordered a brand new copy of "Billiards Boy" from the bookstore owner. While waiting for the book, she went to ask the owner about the latest situation every other day.
"Almost there, almost there, it's being printed." That's what the shop owner always says, and Jian Zhen has no choice but to kill time at the bookstore counter, browsing here and there. She's looked at almost all of Lin Sheng's works, and she finds it very interesting to explore the growth path of an artist. Take this renowned creator, for example; who would have thought he also had so many failed projects—most of which weren't due to his rough artwork, but rather…
In short, at this point, Chien Chen had already humbled herself and happily joined the wave of fans. Since everyone else had only seen the representative works of this rising star, while Chien Chen had read through every nook and cranny of the materials, Chien Chen's prestige in everyone's hearts reached a new height, and she had practically become a "star-chasing expert".
Jianzhen's love came later than others, but she was more persistent. After graduating from high school, most of her friends who used to follow the series together scattered. Most of them had already abandoned the comic books, but Jianzhen was the only one who kept an eye on Lin Sheng's ups and downs.
Lin Sheng revealed on the forum that he had dropped out of school—good, fame should come early, academic studies are just a burden for geniuses.
Lin Sheng joined the beautiful animation amidst a welcoming party of flowers and applause, and the combination of a renowned genius and an industry leader was the talk of the town.
Lin Sheng spearheaded the production of Qili's most outstanding work at the time, the historically adapted feature-length animated series "The Three Kingdoms," which received rave reviews...
His name began to appear in the credits of many fantastic works. Initially, the media commented that he was "energetic" and "proficient in everything." However, as the number of works accumulated, the quality gradually declined, and public opinion began to shift. Industry insiders first turned their attention to Lin Sheng, criticizing him for using someone else's name to promote his work without actually participating in it. They accused him of shamelessly using his name to promote his work without actually participating in it, simply to make his name more famous so that he could earn more endorsement fees in the future.
Next are the fans who once invested their true feelings. Most of these people have also entered society and started working. Their lives have changed drastically over the years when Lin Sheng's paintings accompanied them, from campus to workplace. They pinned their hopes on Lin Sheng to remain unchanged forever. So once the filter cracked, this group of people's backlash against their idol was also crazy.
At that time, Jian Zhen was at the heaviest academic workload. She often left the art studio in the middle of the night and returned to the dormitory. The door was already closed when she got back, and the dormitory supervisor could not wake her up no matter how she called. She had no choice but to give up, turn around and go back to the art studio to lie down fully clothed. Moonlight shone in through the open window, and Jian Zhen was lost in thought: What is Lin Sheng doing?
He hasn't updated his social media for a long time, so he's probably not doing well. Rumors circulate that he's been sidelined by Qili, while others speculate that he's left Qili and will never touch a paintbrush again. Qili remains tight-lipped about this.
Jian Zhen didn't believe that an optimistic person could truly be defeated, but... just thinking about how depressed and haggard he looked at the moment still brought an uncontrollable pang of pain to her heart.
—Even though she didn't even know what Lin Sheng looked like, the difference between a handsome, artistic young man looking haggard and a disheveled, introverted man being injured clearly brought Jian Zhen different levels of distress, and she irrationally believed that Lin Sheng was the former. This view went against the mainstream opinion that followed.
People think that Lin is too ugly to show his face, otherwise why would he have been famous for so many years without a single photo of his face being released?
Jian Zhen scoffed at this statement. Once, when a classmate from another school mentioned this view in front of her, she immediately retorted without hesitation: "Only someone who is ugly would think it's illogical not to show off when others are beautiful."
The students from other schools were rebuffed by her. Looking at Jian Zhen's face—which was truly convincing—they could only pout and leave.
Having driven away the enemy, Jian Zhen did not feel relieved. Rather than winning a verbal battle, she wanted to personally pull Lin Sheng out of the swamp. For this reason, she had been working hard for Qi Li's offer for more than two years.
Little did anyone know that "Lin Sheng" had long since shed his superstar aura, voluntarily left Qili, and started working independently, recruiting his own team.
He went to register his business on a rare snowy day in the southern city and named his studio "Touxue" (meaning "penetrating snow"). Touxue has never been a large company, and at its peak, it never had more than 20 people. According to the laws of business classification, they did not even meet the threshold of a micro-enterprise.
Just as 3D animation was gaining the upper hand and beginning to far surpass 2D animation, the founder of Touxue told his employees: "I'm going to be making 2D animation. The whole process might be very busy and tiring, and it will take a long time. Think it through. Of course, I will pay your salary on time."
On the same day, three people expressed their intention to seek better opportunities elsewhere.
Most of the others who remained were also captivated by the boss's good looks. After all, unless he said it himself, no one knew that he was the once-famous genius painter Lin Sheng. Everyone in the company respectfully called him "President Xu".
However, as time went on, the people in the studio gradually discovered the detestable aspects of Mr. Xu and began to call him Old Xu without any respect.
This affectionate nickname lasted for two years until April of this year, when Xu Weisheng's cash flow dried up and his savings from the previous two years were almost gone. He was forced to close down the business.
When signing the bankruptcy petition, he casually wrote "Lin Sheng" on the paper. Fortunately, his handwriting was so illegible that the person didn't even see the name clearly. They only asked him, "Isn't your surname Xu? Why did you write Lin?"
"Oh—" Xu Weisheng finally realized what was happening and apologized profusely, asking someone to prepare the documents and sign them again.
While re-signing, he still had the mood to joke with the staff: "Sorry, I haven't been Lin Sheng for many years."
The other person glanced at him expressionlessly, as if urging him on. Xu Weisheng awkwardly pursed his lips, realizing that he hadn't completely erased his past reputation.
After handling the follow-up work of the employee layoffs, Xu Weisheng returned to his alma mater and asked Hao Jiaren to help him contact Jiangyuan, saying that he was going to go there to risk his reputation and try to get some investment. In fact, he already knew that this was impossible. Not to mention his past failures in trying to get investment, his studio had already been deregistered.
He traveled a long way to come here, actually for the youngest girl in the studio. She was a self-taught artist with a wild and unconventional approach to the profession. She also had ADHD and shed more tears when she left the company than her boss, Xu Weisheng. She said she had no legitimate reasons for leaving and was afraid she would have to leave the industry.
Xu Weisheng patted her on the shoulder without saying a word, and a month later he played the "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" trick in Jiang Yuan's office.
That day, he smiled and said to Dean Jiang, "Even if I can no longer paint in the future, I cannot ruin her dream, otherwise wouldn't I be misleading her?"
Jiang Yuan stared at him speechlessly for a long time before finally relenting and agreeing to introduce the child to a bright future.
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