Chapter 10

It took Chen Xin an entire afternoon to read through Liu Cixin's collection of short and medium-length science fiction stories.

From "Whale Song," "Micro Epoch," "Poem Cloud," "Mirror," to "The Wandering Earth," "The Wages of Gods," "The Village Teacher," "China Sun"... almost every work carried Liu's characteristic grandeur and the lonely choices of small lives, a dramatic contrast that gave a strong sense of shock and感染力, making his works feel incredibly weighty.

It was no wonder that some people commented that this unremarkable man living in a third-tier city had, over the course of a decade, single-handedly "elevated Chinese science fiction to world-class standards."

Chen Xin felt that this praise was not at all exaggerated. Moreover, he discovered that Liu Cixin was particularly skilled at transforming abstract scientific descriptions into grand scenes. His writing was hard, with solid technical logic and vivid imagination, and his descriptions of scenes had a strong visual impact, making them very suitable for adaptation into science fiction films.

The only strange thing was that over the years, no Chinese director had adapted his works.

China had a world-class science fiction writer but could not produce a single high-quality science fiction film. This was more of a tragedy for Chinese filmmakers than a regret for Liu Cixin.

Chen Xin didn't want to think about these depressing matters. After careful consideration, he selected two works from the dozen or so short and medium-length novels, believing that the script he needed would be one of these two.

The first was "The Village Teacher." This novel was very famous, and there were rumors that the Beijing-based Galloping Horse Film Company had already acquired the rights to adapt it and had registered it with the GD Administration. However, when it would be produced was anyone's guess.

"The Village Teacher" tells the story of a terminally ill village teacher in a poor area who teaches the few students in the village and ultimately collapses on the lectern.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of light-years away, a galactic war that had lasted for over 20,000 years was coming to an end. To prevent the silicon empire from continuing to invade through stars, the carbon-based civilization decided to establish a 500-light-year isolation zone and destroy all the stars within it.

To avoid accidentally destroying planets with advanced civilizations, the carbon-based civilization randomly selected intelligent beings from these planets to answer questions, thus deciding whether to destroy the planet.

The few students taught by the village teacher were randomly selected as Earth's representatives. They answered the questions correctly using Newton's three laws, which they had learned from their teacher on his deathbed, thus saving the solar system.

Later, when the carbon-based civilization's spacecraft approached for observation, they discovered that Earth's civilization was far more advanced than the 3C level they had estimated, having evolved to a 5B level.

They found that the individuals of Earth's civilization communicated information through vocal cords, with a transmission rate of one to ten bits per second, and could not inherit memories. There were individuals called teachers who served as intermediaries for knowledge transmission between generations...

"The Village Teacher" was undoubtedly a very unique science fiction novel. The first half could be considered a documentary about basic education in China's poor areas, while the second half, with the addition of aliens, made the entire novel ethereal. The final part, which explained the profession of a teacher in the language of science fiction, was particularly moving.

The other work was "The Wandering Earth," an early work by Liu Cixin, published in 1999.

His novels were known for their grandeur, but this work gave a sense of a different kind of delicate beauty, where a small, tender emotion supported a vast, steel machine. Chen Xin remembered reading this novel a long time ago and being deeply moved. Even after several years, he was still captivated when he picked it up again.

The protagonist of the novel is an engineer at the space center who is about to go on vacation when the director asks him to take a pair of eyes.

The eyes are a pair of sensor glasses. When you wear them, everything you see, smell, and touch is transmitted by ultra-high-frequency information waves and can be received by another person wearing the same sensor glasses, allowing them to experience what you are experiencing. As more people work on the moon and in the asteroid belt, the cost of returning to Earth for vacation is very high, so people invented this device. Some lucky individuals who can return to Earth for vacation wear these eyes, allowing those in outer space to share their joy.

The owner of the eyes this time was a young girl. During the journey, the girl's sensitive and sentimental nature and her attachment to the ordinary beauty of the world annoyed the protagonist, yet she unknowingly taught him something indescribable. Unconsciously, the protagonist found that a certain feeling dulled by the fast-paced modern life had become sensitive again.

This journey planted a seed deep in the protagonist's heart, changing his views on many things. Much later, he learned that the girl was the navigator of "Sunset Six."

The "Sunset" series of spacecraft were designed to explore the Earth's internal structure. "Sunset Six" encountered an accident while navigating the mantle and sank to the core. The crew members, unable to bear the shock, died one by one, leaving the girl alone to spend the rest of her life in the sealed core. That monotonous journey turned out to be the last time she saw the surface of the Earth...

Undoubtedly, both novels were excellent and relatively simple to film, making them suitable for Chen Xin to practice on.

"The Village Teacher" had few scenes, just a dilapidated classroom. Chen Xin only needed to get the interactions between the teacher and the children right, and the interstellar war scenes could be handled by Steel Coin.

As for "The Wandering Earth," there were only three characters: the director, the male protagonist, and the female protagonist. The plot was simple, and a script wasn't even necessary; they just needed to follow the novel's progression.

Chen Xin listed the pros and cons of both novels and, after much consideration, crossed out "The Village Teacher."

It wasn't that "The Village Teacher" wasn't good; it was just that "The Wandering Earth" was more suitable for a short film.

"The Village Teacher" had a more complex theme, and Chen Xin couldn't guarantee that he could fully convey some of the ideas. Moreover, the grand interstellar war scenes in "The Village Teacher" were better suited for the big screen, and making a short film would be a waste.

"The Wandering Earth" didn't have these issues. The novel had a simple structure, a concise plot, and a profound theme. As long as the emotions of the female protagonist were well portrayed, the film would be half successful.

Additionally, the novel was not long, making it perfect for a 30-minute short film, as if tailor-made for Chen Xin.

...

Chen Xin, drenched in sweat, carried a box of metal products up the stairs. As soon as he entered the house, Steel Coin eagerly brought a cup of water and said, "Dad, you must be tired. Here, have a drink."

Chen Xin took the cup and gulped down the water in one go, then collapsed on the sofa, panting.

Steel Coin then dove into the box, found a piece of steel, and cut off a small piece as if slicing tofu, putting it in his mouth and exclaiming how delicious it was.

Chen Xin picked up a magazine and fanned himself, feeling unsatisfied, and called out, "Steel Coin, don't eat so fast. Help me cool off first."

"Wait a moment, I'll be right there." Steel Coin stuffed a few more pieces into his mouth, then used the coffee table to jump up, hovering in the air. His body parts melted and reformed into a three-blade propeller.

The propeller was silver-white, with no visible drive mechanism, yet it spun silently, creating a gentle breeze. Chen Xin sighed in relief.

To make the short film, Chen Xin bought several boxes of beer, instant noodles, and a pile of sausages, eggs, vegetables, and fruits from the supermarket, filling the refrigerator to the brim. He then made two trips to the eastern suburb warehouse to bring enough metal food for Steel Coin to last for half a month.

"Alright, let's get started." After resting for a while, Chen Xin took a coin from his pocket and threw it to Steel Coin, who quickly transformed back into human form and caught it with his mouth, crunching it while following Chen Xin into the room.

Chen Xin had no experience making CG films, but fortunately, the experience of others didn't apply to him and Steel Coin.

So Chen Xin didn't bother looking for guides and decided to follow his own ideas.

First, they needed to create a storyboard, a crucial step. Steel Coin was responsible for the outline, and Chen Xin for the details, to prevent Steel Coin's ideas from going off track.

Steel Coin had read the novel several times and, after taking over the computer, began to create the first scene based on his understanding.

Chen Xin continuously provided suggestions and opinions through the microphone, and the two worked in perfect harmony. The scenes on the screen gradually became more detailed, and Chen Xin then asked Steel Coin to add annotations in the blank spaces, such as dialogue and sound effects.

Soon, the first scene of the storyboard was completed, and Chen Xin printed it out using a color printer.

Next was the second scene...

It took them over three hours to complete the storyboard, which was rich in text and images, with detailed content. Even Chen Xin, a layman, could visualize the scenes in the film just by reading the script.

If other directors saw it, they would be amazed.

...