Chapter 40: Intercepting the Interstellar Journey

Another day has dawned.

The celebration banquet yesterday was a grand affair, filled with photos and group shots. Clips of Leslie Cheung, Li Wenyu, and Fan Bingbing smashing a giant ice sculpture featuring the "300 million HKD" figure were uploaded online one after another, further fueling the netizens' engagement.

Li Wenyu went to bed quite late last night but still woke up early. With his fitness attribute exceeding 100 points, his physique was absolute beast-mode. Upon waking, he saw he had accumulated 34 free attribute points. After a moment of thought, he decided to dump them all into Writing.

Host: Li Wenyu, 21 years old.
Screenwriter: (83/100).
Director: (84/100).
Fitness: (102/100).
Writing: (85/100).
Driving: (67/100).
Car Control: (86/100).
Acting: (52/100).
...

Glancing at Fan Bingbing, who was still fast asleep, he couldn't resist the itch to work. He drank two cups of tea to clear his thoughts, opened his laptop, and began tapping away at the keyboard.

*Interstellar*!

It made perfect sense. He had originally hoarded writing ability with the intention of adapting *Slumdog Millionaire* from a film back into a bestselling novel. Since he had already invested the points and hadn't yet encountered any Indian immigrants in Hong Kong or traveled to India himself, copying a science fiction work was a great alternative—now that his intellect was up to the task, he could begin.

When it came to which sci-fi films were truly impressive, setting aside the Marvel and DC series, *Interstellar*—which would go on to gross 680 million USD globally in 2014 and 750 million RMB in mainland China—was a stellar choice.

Since it was excellent, he would "plagiarize" it as a tribute.

The special effects industry in China was currently quite backward, so hoarding this project until 2017 to film it wouldn't be too late. It had to be said that Hong Kong’s current special effects capabilities couldn't possibly pull off *Interstellar*. With a writing ability of 85 points and the original film as a reference, he could detail the black holes, space, and the theories of time and space, all of which had been compiled by real scientists in North America.

These scientific theories could withstand a certain degree of scrutiny. The original version was a concept Steven Spielberg had been developing since 2003, involving aerospace research and university-level studies on relativity. He finalized the proposal in 2006 and brought Jonathan Nolan on board as a screenwriter in March 2007. From 2003 to 2007, and all the way until the lead actor was confirmed in 2013, it was a long road to the 2014 film.

Old Li could only sigh; as he began typing the book version, he aimed to have it published alongside *Slumdog Millionaire* by the end of 2002. That way, he would save Steven Spielberg all that trouble.

With a national-master-level writing ability of 85 points, reverse-engineering the film...

Two hours later, Fan Bingbing woke up in a daze. After curling up in bed for a few minutes, she suddenly hopped out and walked over. "Don't tell me you're writing another script?"

Back when she was crashing in Li Wenyu’s Hong Kong guest room, that was exactly how she had "camped out" for the script of *Wonder*.

After watching for a few minutes, she exclaimed in shock, "Interstellar? A sci-fi film? The future Earth is plagued by natural disasters, and astronauts fly to the other side of a black hole to find a new home for humanity?"

In those two hours, Li Wenyu had set up the outline and organized the overall narrative arc. Fan Bingbing could easily understand the premise. After murmuring to herself, she grew excited. "Can we really shoot such a massive sci-fi project? *The Legend of Zu* had decent effects, but aren't we a bit unprofessional when it comes to spacecraft and black holes?"

Li Wenyu sipped his tea and shook his head. "I don't expect to film it for another three to five years, but since I have the idea, I'll write it as a book in my spare time and try to get it published."

"By the way, when are you going to film *Wonder*?"

The screening of *The Shallows* was entering its third week, and thanks to the brilliant results and systematic internet marketing, the box office remained strong. Fan Bingbing was indeed free to start another film.

She smiled sweetly. "I'll be the first reader then. *Wonder* is easy enough; Brother Wah said he’d consolidate my scenes. Given the acting skills I’ve demonstrated, I usually get it in one take. I might finish in two or three days."

"At the latest, it'll be wrapped in four or five!"

*Wonder* was entirely dramatic, focusing on acting; it didn't require the grueling surfing training like *The Shallows*, and there was basically no action. The long filming time for *The Shallows* was entirely due to the swimming and surfing, and later, after Fan Bingbing’s acting stat reached 80, she went back to reshoot many dramatic scenes. Those reshoots had all been finished in a day or two.

Li Wenyu nodded. "Good, that's efficient. When you go, you might as well buy some NetEase stock. You only received 30% of your 3 million HKD endorsement fee as a deposit."

"But you can use the contract as collateral for a loan of 3 million and buy NetEase on the NASDAQ. I'm buying it too."

NetEase had finally resumed trading yesterday, January 2nd, after being suspended. It was still at a low point; he could aggressively buy in with the 8 million he had hoarded, and Fan Bingbing should do the same.

He had already called his stockbroker yesterday to start buying! He had 1 million in an old account, just waiting for the market to open. There was no need to buy everything at once; the stock would fluctuate between 0.5 and 0.7 USD for the next few months, so he instructed the broker to accumulate shares slowly.

As long as Fan Bingbing made this investment, tax evasion would be a thing of the past for her. Even if she couldn't buy at the absolute lowest price, it would still be a 100 to 140-fold return in two years.

Fan Bingbing nodded, then asked suspiciously, "Aren't you coming with me?"

She had to keep a close eye on this "monk meat" (a term for a highly coveted prize). She had worked herself down to the bone—heaven and earth could testify that in less than five months with Old Li, she had slimmed down to the figure of Li Bingbing, and her face had thinned out significantly.

Li Wenyu laughed. "I'm waiting a few days. I want to meet a sci-fi writer from the mainland; I want to discuss some scientific deductions with him. Plus, *The Piano Tuner* needs time to assemble its crew."

He was talking about the sci-fi author Liu Cixin. In 2000, he had serialized *The Wandering Earth* and won the Special Award at the China Galaxy Awards for Science Fiction. Big Liu was still working at the Niangziguan Power Plant!

Fan Bingbing said happily, "Then I'll wait for you and we'll go together. Brother Wah isn't in a rush anyway."

Li Wenyu didn't mind. He got up and made a few calls, providing travel expenses to have his classmates Yu Bo, Ye Jing, and others accompany Han Xiao from the '99 vocational class to Niangziguan to invite Liu Cixin to Beijing.

After making the arrangements, he said, "It's still early before *Kung Fu* starts filming. I'll get some makeup photos done for you, but you should eat more and put some weight back on. We can always do a two-month crash diet when the time comes."

Fan Bingbing couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I can maintain this physique without having to eat and drink like a monk like Brother Wah. You have no idea how jealous Zhi and Li Bingbing are."

As she spoke, she added curiously, "Old Li, you're not normal. You're definitely not normal. I've asked Hua Jie and some friends..."

"Our fitness regimen is definitely abnormal; it's not scientific. I even had my assistant consult some doctors. A beast like you... logically, I should be in the hospital from time to time."

"I've been taking medication for over four months to avoid getting pregnant. By all rights, it should have had a negative impact on my body. I even thought that if you were going to be such a jerk and not use protection, I'd just bite the bullet and have your baby to make you cry. Who knew that when I went for a check-up, I was even healthier than before?"

What about the side effects of all that medicine?

That must have been the change brought about by him breaking the normal human limits in late November through fitness.

Li Wenyu waved his hand. "I need to get to work."

Seeing that he wouldn't explain, Fan Bingbing stopped asking. She pulled up a chair next to the computer to watch him work. Old Li's track record with scripts was so impressive—surely his novel wouldn't be any different?

A sci-fi novel—even if it weren't filmed until ten years later, as long as it was done right, it would be a massive blockbuster!