Chapter 16: The Fallen Child Star (16) part 1

Soon, Xu Weiheng understood what Yao Rong intended to do with these materials.

Following Yao Rong’s requirements, Xu Weiheng personally made two trips to the lumber market before successfully purchasing all the tools she needed. Among these items were many unprocessed wood pieces, ranging from inexpensive ones costing just tens of yuan to expensive pieces priced over a thousand yuan each.

Yao Rong selected a brown piece of wood and began methodically sanding its surface. Once the smoothness met her standards, she picked up a carving knife and started to work on the wood.

To Xu Weiheng, her every knife movement seemed fluid and effortless, as if she were writing on smooth paper rather than carving wood. Unable to resist, he picked up an identical carving knife and lightly scored the cheapest piece of wood. The knife slipped, nearly cutting the back of his left hand that was holding the wood in place.

Yao Rong glanced at him, ensuring he hadn’t injured himself, then returned her attention to the wood. Throughout, her hands never stopped moving.

Before long, Yao Rong set the carving knife back in its place. The wood in her hands had transformed into a long, cylindrical ‘rocket’.

Xu Weiheng marveled at this exquisite craftsmanship: “How did you do that!?”

Yao Rong handed him the ‘rocket’: “Look closely at this rocket. Does it seem familiar?”

Xu Weiheng turned it over repeatedly, finally noticing something peculiar about the nose cone: “This shape is different from ordinary rockets. Wait, HX – isn’t this the identification number of the rocket the male protagonist rides in ‘Starry Sky’?”

As a reader who had gone through ‘Starry Sky’ three times, he instantly realized: “So this shape is the Von Kármán ogive?”

Indeed, upon recognizing this rocket as the HX model, Xu Weiheng found it identical to the novel’s description.

He first marveled at Yao Rong’s excellent woodworking skills, but soon his heart began to race. “When you write novels, you can’t actually visualize every single thing in them so vividly, can you?”

He had wondered while reading how she could describe things in such intricate detail, not only depicting external shapes but also explaining internal structures thoroughly.

This astounding level of detail was one of the reasons ‘Starry Sky’ had captivated him so much.

Yao Rong brushed off wood shavings from her knees and casually replied, “I can visualize anything I’ve described in detail.”

Xu Weiheng had a startling thought: “So you bought these wood materials to…”

Yao Rong smiled slightly, confirming Xu Weiheng’s idea: “To carve them all out.”

Xu Weiheng’s eyes widened: “So this is the author personally making merchandise?”

“When I finish carving them, I’ll give them all to you.”

Xu Weiheng was too excited to speak, nodding vigorously.

Yao Rong’s idea to carve these models had come suddenly, but it was indeed a multi-purpose endeavor.

Firstly, such craftsmanship would undoubtedly impress everyone.

Secondly, by the time the show began recording, her novel would be ready for release.

The ‘Dear Family’ production team wanted to use her and Xu Weiheng’s popularity to create buzz and attract more viewers to the variety show. She, in turn, wanted to use the show’s popularity to promote her novel.

Although ‘Dear Family’ no longer enjoyed the same level of popularity as its first season, it still commanded a significant audience, with roughly a few million viewers in the live broadcast room.

When these millions of people saw her lifelike carvings of space stations and spaceships, knowing they were perfectly recreated from her novel, wouldn’t they become curious about her book?

If even a small portion of these millions became intrigued and searched for her novel, it would be a significant force.

In the end, she would only have invested some materials and time to maximize the promotional effect.

This kind of free advertising was too good to pass up.

Of course, the most important point was that Xu Weiheng loved her novel.

If these small figurines could make him happy, why not do it?

Xu Weiheng cradled the rocket, examining it repeatedly with evident affection. Suddenly remembering something, he asked Yao Rong, “Grandfather was a carpenter. Did you learn this skill from him?”

When he was very young, his grandfather had passed away. However, Xu Weiheng still remembered receiving carved items from his grandfather. Even his baby carriage had been handmade by his grandfather – sturdy, durable, and beautiful.

Yao Rong replied, “Yes, I learned from him.”

This wasn’t entirely untrue.

At Xu Weiheng’s request, Yao Rong carved him a satellite as well.

He placed these two ornaments on his bedside table, content, and continued to go out for purchases.

The summer heat was intense, nearly at its peak for the year. To avoid the sun, Xu Weiheng chose to leave at dawn and return only after sunset.

Seeing that he wasn’t too tired, Yao Rong let him be, only ensuring that cool, refreshing treats were ready for him to enjoy upon his return home each day.

Of course, during this process, Xu Weiheng inevitably encountered many problems.

For instance, when purchasing renovation materials, he was sold subpar products at premium prices and was sometimes treated as an easy mark to fleece.

At first, Xu Weiheng was too shy to speak up even when he vaguely knew he was being cheated. But after falling victim a few times, he learned his lesson and avoided further pitfalls.

One day, as Yao Rong went out for a walk, neighbor Old Chen remarked to her, “That Weiheng lad seems to be getting more and more energetic.”

Yao Rong smiled and agreed.

Indeed, he was becoming more lively.

Just this morning, he had climbed the longan tree in the yard to pick fruit, only to come down and discover several large mosquito bites on his arms.

Returning from her walk, Yao Rong opened her computer to find several messages popping up urgently.

「Tiangong Vision: Ms. Yao, we’ve examined the model blueprints you provided. They can indeed be built!!!」

「Tiangong Vision: Can you share your design concept with us? We agree to your terms – 10 million yuan plus a technology investment for a 30% stake in Tiangong Vision」

The above two messages were sent half an hour ago.

Of the 10 million yuan, 5 million was compensation for Xu Weiheng’s mental distress, and the other 5 million was the appearance fee from the show’s production team.

Perhaps because Yao Rong hadn’t responded to their messages for a long time, they timidly sent three more messages five minutes ago:

「Tiangong Vision: This share is indeed substantial. Our team has invested at least 100 million in the company, along with years of effort, so we must ensure we retain absolute decision-making power.」

「Tiangong Vision: Well, if you’re not satisfied, we can discuss it further.」

「Tiangong Vision: Otherwise… how about thirty-five percent?」

Yao Rong finished reading these messages and began typing a response.

…

Meanwhile, at Tiangong Vision in H City…

Pei Rou slumped in his office chair. Despite his feminine name, he was undoubtedly male—a man in his late twenties wearing thick black-framed glasses, looking dejected. Behind him stood several young colleagues about his age, all appearing as lifeless as frost-bitten eggplants.

“What should we do? They haven’t replied yet. Do you think they feel thirty-five percent is too low?” Pei Rou lamented, rubbing his temples.

A colleague sighed heavily, too exhausted to stand straight. “It’s possible. Our cash flow is already problematic; that ten million could resolve our urgent needs. If they take advantage of the situation, that ten million could buy thirty percent of our shares.”

“Not to mention the model they have. If we could secure that model, our company would immediately rank among the top special effects firms.”

“And when I say top, I don’t mean just nationally, but globally!”

Pei Rou despaired, “It’s over! Our dream was so close. Are we really going to lose it just because we won’t give up more shares?”

A female team member couldn’t take it anymore: “Stop with the nonsense. What if they just missed our message due to unexpected circumstances?”

Just as Pei Rou was about to respond, his eyes suddenly lit up. He lunged toward the computer, staring intently at the message box displaying “The other party is typing…”**

「Yao Rong: Let’s settle on thirty percent.」

Then Yao Rong reassured them further.

「Yao Rong: Don’t worry, your team will still manage the company. I won’t participate in decision-making; I’ll only collect dividends.」

Pei Rou let out a shriek, nearly hugging the computer. Though the others didn’t react as dramatically, they all wore relieved smiles.

It was good that the deal could be reached.