Entertainment: You're asked to make a healing animation, but it will make the whole internet de

The next day, at Healing Animation Company.

The atmosphere was oppressive.

This was a stark contrast to the fervor and excitement of last night's victory celebration.

An atmosphere of anxiety permeated the studio at that moment.

No one started the engine, and no one discussed the storyboard.

The new interns and seasoned veterans gathered in small groups, heads down, scrolling through their phones, their faces increasingly grim.

On the screen are relentless mockery of the new healing animation, Healing Connection, on various social media platforms and forums.

Giving up, running out of ideas, bowing to traffic...

Each glaring label is like a sharp blade, piercing the hearts of these creators who have just climbed to the pinnacle of honor.

They don't understand.

They couldn't understand it.

After Clannad proved to the world that animation can carry a life story, why would the company suddenly change course and make a short, seemingly childish and perfunctory anime?

This feels like a form of self-betrayal.

All the pride and glory seemed to turn into a joke overnight.

Shen Qingyue stood in the center of the office, looking at the anxious team and feeling the confusion and wavering emanating from each of them. She felt a mix of emotions.

She knew better than anyone that Su Bai's decision must have a deeper meaning.

But this time, his actions were utterly bizarre.

Even she, the most steadfast defender of the Soviet-style healing method, felt an unprecedented sense of bewilderment.

She took a deep breath, knowing she had to do something.

She is not only the company's core illustrator, but also the backbone of the team besides Su Bai.

She walked to Su Bai's office door, knocked, and then pushed the door open and went in.

Su Bai was sitting in front of his computer, leisurely drinking tea, as if the pressure from the outside world was a dimension away from him.

"Su Bai".

Shen Qingyue's voice carried a hint of tension that she herself was unaware of.

"Everyone needs an explanation."

Su Bai put down his teacup, looked up, and calmly looked at her.

"Have them all come to the meeting room."

Five minutes later.

The conference room at Healing Animation Company was filled with all the employees.

The atmosphere was heavy; you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone lowered their heads, waiting for Su Bai to speak.

They hoped that Su Bai could provide a reasonable explanation to dispel the confusion in their hearts.

They were also afraid that Su Bai would actually admit that he was just tired and weary, and had decided to compromise with the market and capital.

Su Bai walked into the conference room and stood in front of the projection screen.

Unlike usual, he didn't start by making a few jokes to lighten the mood.

He simply picked up the remote and pressed a button.

The projection screen lit up, displaying no complex data analysis.

There are only two words typed in the simplest boldface.

【celebration】

【take a vacation】

Everyone looked up, staring at the two words with puzzlement.

"I know what everyone is thinking."

Su Bai spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"You're thinking, are we just giving up? Are we abandoning the artistic pursuits we've always upheld?"

He looked around, taking in the confusion on everyone's faces.

Then he smiled.

It's a relaxed and relieved laugh.

"Everyone was exhausted after climbing to the top of Clannad."

"You're exhausted, working overtime until late at night every day, revising a single detail of lighting and shadow hundreds of times."

"I'm tired too. In order to build that huge and real life, every nerve in my body has been stretched to the limit."

"Even the viewers in front of their screens are tired."

"Throughout the long spring, summer, autumn and winter in Hikari-zaka Town, they accompanied Tomoya and Nagisa, cried, laughed, despaired, and also found peace."

"Their emotional expenditure is far greater than we imagined."

His words resonated with many of the employees present, who nodded in agreement.

The period of creating Clannad was indeed the most glorious, but also the most exhausting, journey of their careers.

"so."

Su Bai's voice carried a hint of pleasure.

"We need to rest before we climb the next, higher, and more treacherous mountain."

"Now, it's time to hold a grand celebration."

"A wrap party dedicated to all the characters we created. Let them step out of their heavy fates and have some fun."

"A tribute to all our supporters. Thank you for being with us through those tearful days and nights."

"At the same time, it's also a paid collective vacation that our Healing Animation Company is giving ourselves!"

celebration?

Wrap party?

A thanksgiving ceremony?

Su Bai used a series of brand-new concepts to instantly reshape everyone's understanding of healing connection.

The gloom of giving up seemed to have been torn open at this moment.

Seeing the lingering doubt on the employees' faces, Su Bai smiled slightly and continued.

"Imagine that scene."

His voice was captivating, like a magician demonstrating his wondrous tricks to the audience.

"Okazaki Tomoya suddenly decided to teach magical girls how to play baseball. As a result, our Madoka got nervous and lost control of her magic, hitting the baseball out of the atmosphere and directly into the moon."

"Pfft."

Some employees couldn't help but laugh.

"Also, Kaori Miyazono and Yui-chan, two equally talented girls who love music, have formed a brand new rock band."

"Let's have a high-octane battle with Asami Iwasawa's GDM on the stage of Hikarizaka High School!"

"In the audience, Sunohara Youhei, Hinata Hideki, and this bunch of idiots formed an idiot support alliance, waving glow sticks and chanting the dumbest slogans!"

The oppressive atmosphere in the conference room had completely dissipated.

The employees' eyes began to sparkle with longing and excitement.

They are the creators, and they understand better than anyone how interesting and exciting the scenes Su Bai depicted are!

"Let those characters who bear too much sorrow laugh and act silly to their heart's content in this party we created."

Su Bai's voice softened.

"This is the whole meaning of healing connection."

"A carnival, a party, a vacation."

By the end of the meeting, there were no more complaints or questions to be heard in the studio.

Everyone was eager and ready to get involved in the preparations for the celebration.

Only Shen Qingyue, amidst her excitement, still harbored a trace of calm doubt.

She caught up with Su Bai and stopped him at the door of his office.

"Is it really just a party?"

She looked into Su Bai's eyes and asked earnestly.

Based on her understanding of Su Bai, this man never did anything without a deeper meaning.

A simple party? That's not like him.

Su Bai looked at her determined eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then turned to the side.

"Come in."

He led Shen Qingyue to his computer, said nothing, and simply moved the mouse and double-clicked to open a folder on the desktop.

The name of the folder made Shen Qingyue's pupils shrink sharply.

[A Healing Animation Universe]

The folder has been opened.

There were no messy files inside, but rather clearly categorized subfolders, like a vast and intricate galaxy map.

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Your Lie in April

......

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Clannad

......

Each folder represents a completed work.

Behind these folders, there are even more gray folders labeled "Unlocked," densely packed and stretching to the very end of the screen.

Shen Qingyue felt her breath catch in her throat.

What did she see?

These are not individual projects.

What a magnificent, yet terrifying, blueprint this is!

Su Bai is not creating a series of animations.

From the very beginning, he was building a complete universe!

"The party is the prelude to this grand epic."

Su Bai's voice rang out in the quiet office, calm yet carrying a power that could shake one's heart.

"And this," he said, pointing to the screen full of folders, "is the cornerstone of our next ten years."

Shen Qingyue's mind went blank. She was so shocked by this ambition, which exceeded everyone's imagination, that she couldn't utter a single word.

It turns out that from the moment they first heard of Hana-name, everything they did was not an isolated event.

They are all pieces of the puzzle in this vast universe.

Su Bai moved the mouse and clicked on the healing connection proposal.

On the title page of the proposal, Shen Qingyue noticed an inconspicuous note marked in red.

[A glue for worldviews, a buffer for emotions]

Before she could ponder the meaning of those two words, Su Bai's voice rang out again, softly.

He looked out the window at the gradually brightening sky, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"The revelry is meant to make the silence that follows seem even more deafening."

You'll understand soon enough.