This was the first all-staff dinner since the founding of Xingyao Animation Company. Chen Feng was obviously overjoyed—this was the closest he had ever come to realizing his anime dream.

At the table, the mood was lively.

Urged on by everyone’s curiosity, Chen Feng finally took out the script. The others gathered around eagerly to take a look.

The title on the cover read in bold: Under One Person.

As soon as they saw the title, everyone had a few guesses. A domestic animation? Under One Person? Must be a hot-blooded shounen series!

Everyone knew domestic animation wasn’t easy to make. A slightly weak script could become full of pitfalls. And hot-blooded series were even harder—strict censorship, limits on gore, and it still had to grab the audience’s attention. The restrictions were heavy.

The fact that the company was diving into a project like this right off the bat made everyone a little skeptical.

At that moment, Chen Feng flipped past the cover and motioned for them to keep reading. Though they said nothing, whether they had doubts or not, since they had joined the company, they were all going to give their best to see it through.

The first page opened with the beginning of the story—a drunk man mumbling to himself as he stumbled through a shadowy forest. Unknowingly, he wandered into a graveyard, looking to rest at a tomb.

Suddenly, the sound of a shovel digging a hole caught his attention. He instantly broke into goosebumps and shouted, “There’s a ghost!”

Gu Xingyi’s descriptions were spot on. As they read, the others couldn’t help but keep going. What made it especially entertaining was how the characters spoke with strong regional dialects, giving it a fresh and unique vibe.

Soon, the slightly goofy protagonist Zhang Chulan appeared, followed by the mysterious girl Feng Baobao. The protagonist’s world began to change—first his grandfather’s corpse was stolen, then he was attacked by zombies…

As Chen Feng continued flipping through the script, the story unfolded one twist after another, and the readers’ eyes grew brighter with excitement.

This script was amazing—comprehensive, well-structured. Even just skimming through, their minds were already visualizing the characters and the setting.

The adorably dense Baoer-jie who spoke in a thick Sichuan-Chongqing accent.

Zhang Chulan, who on the surface seemed lazy, easygoing, and sarcastic, but in truth was sharp and meticulous.

And then, the gradually revealed mysterious world of the yi ren.

The more they read, the more immersed—and shocked—they became. If this anime got made, it would definitely shake up the current domestic anime scene. After all, most of today’s domestic animation was still stuck in outdated tropes.

But this yi ren world introduced a completely new combat system, one that had never been done before.

Gu Xingyi was still happily devouring the food in front of him. He had barely taken a few bites earlier because he was too busy chatting. He had a lot of confidence in Under One Person.

Just then, his phone on the table suddenly rang.

Gu Xingyi glanced at the few people still mesmerized by the script, picked up his phone, and stepped out of the private room.

It was a call from Lin Guodong. Back when they were at Huayin, they had exchanged contact info—but Gu Xingyi had no idea what the old man wanted this time.

Once outside, Gu Xingyi answered the phone, opening with a greeting.

“Old Lin, good afternoon!”

“Hahaha! Good afternoon, Xiao Gu! You’ve been making quite the waves lately, huh? Even back at Huayin I hear about you every day!”

…Gu Xingyi just shrugged it off casually~

“No way, old man, you’re joking. I’ve been properly staying at home taking care of the kid! Only stepped out once to sing a song, that’s all.”

Gu Xingyi spoke the truth—he really had only gone out once to sing. The rest of the time, he’d been home taking care of the kid!

“You brat! You’re calling that just a song? Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Here’s the thing—you know that Huayin is a department under Huayang, right? Now the TV station is preparing a program, an inspirational one. The theme is to encourage today’s youth not to give up, to persist and bravely chase their dreams.”

On the phone, Lin Guodong paused after saying that.

Gu Xingyi picked up on the deeper meaning behind his words and quickly responded.

“Old Lin, is this show still missing a song? So basically, you’re calling to ask me for a song, aren’t you?”

“Hahaha! Smart as always, you brat! Exactly. The songs written by the lyricists and composers in the department didn’t satisfy the TV station, so of course I thought of you!”

Lin Guodong laughed heartily and explained the situation to Gu Xingyi.

“I originally wanted to reach out to you earlier, but you were busy being a guest performer. I couldn’t interrupt your appearance for your wife, right? But now the station is really pushing for it, so I had no choice but to come ask you. So? You think you’ve got what it takes to write the theme song for a program like this?”

As he listened, Gu Xingyi’s mind was already racing.

Inspirational. Courage. Persistence. Pursuing dreams without giving up.

Those keywords… where had he heard them before?

In the next moment, a song popped into his head—one he could practically hum on the spot.

Damn!

Wasn’t that the song he used to hear all the time back in school in his original world? Chasing Dreams with a Childlike Heart!

Chasing Dreams with a Childlike Heart—wasn’t its entire message about striving forward, fighting hard, and never giving up on your dreams?

It was wildly popular in his original world. GALA won a ton of awards with that song, and it even became the go-to inspirational anthem passed around by young people everywhere!

“Old Lin, I’ve got some inspiration already. Shouldn’t be a problem!”

“That’s great! I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Xiao Gu! How about this—are you free tomorrow? Come to Kyoto. I’ll wait for you at Huayang TV Station’s headquarters! When you arrive, I’ll take you in. If the song fits, Huayang definitely won’t treat you unfairly!”

Old Lin got straight to the point. Since Gu Xingyi said he had inspiration, he believed it—especially given that, working at Huayin, he knew the quality of Gu Xingyi’s recent songs.

Going to Huayang headquarters in Kyoto?

Gu Xingyi was tempted. This was the Huayang headquarters—not just the Huayin branch in Modu like before.

But he hesitated. He still had to take care of Nainai. She was in school now, and the only time he had free was when she was at school.

Still, with Old Lin personally reaching out, and this being a request to write for Huayang, it would be hard to say no.

After thinking it through, Gu Xingyi said,

“Old Lin, I really can’t make it to Kyoto. I’m taking care of my kid at home, and she can’t be left alone. How about this—I’ll write the sheet music and lyrics tonight and send them over to you, along with a rough demo. You can check it out and see if it works?”

“That so? That’s fine, then. Kids come first. I’ll wait for your message tonight!”

“Alright.”

After settling everything with Lin Guodong, the call ended. Gu Xingyi scratched his head.

Great—he hadn’t even wrapped up the anime project yet, and now he had to produce a whole new song.

Sure enough, his dream of becoming a full-time stay-at-home dad was slipping further and further away.

But hey, that’s just life. One thing leads to another—every cause has its effect. From the moment he first stepped into Modu, everything had already been set in motion.

He pocketed his phone, cleared his mind, and turned back into the private room.