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

Shanghai, a top internet company, 3 PM.

The break room, which should have been a place for employees to relax and chat, had a strange atmosphere at the moment.

Project Director Lü Jun, holding a cup of coffee, frowned as he watched several female interns from different departments huddle together, quietly sobbing.

"What happened? Did the customer yell at you?"

Lu Jun asked with concern, as he is a senior executive of the company and has always been very courteous.

An intern named Xiaoya raised her red eyes, shook her head, and choked out.

"Mr. Lü, the menma..."

Another girl chimed in.

"Mr. Lu, we found Menma! Waaaaah..."

"Menma?" Lü Jun was completely confused. "A new colleague? Which department?"

The entire tea room fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone's eyes, including those of several male programmers who were slacking off, were focused on Lü Jun as if he were a prehistoric creature.

Xiaoya asked in an incredulous tone.

"Mr. Lü, haven't you seen the anime 'Anohana'?"

Lü Jun shrugged with a smug look on his face.

"Animated films? Sorry, I only watch commercial and art films with depth. Those things for kids are a waste of time."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt isolated from the entire world.

Xiao Ya, who had just been so enthusiastic, silently turned away and hugged the others, crying.

The male programmers also looked away, one of them muttering to himself.

"You haven't even seen 'Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day,' no wonder you're single."

Holding his coffee, Lü Jun felt for the first time that his proud elite status was utterly worthless.

……

Meanwhile, in the editorial department of Douyin, China's largest music platform, editor-in-chief Li Xiang was frantically pulling out his already thinning hair while looking at the latest chart data.

"They've all gone completely insane!"

He pointed at the data line on the screen, which was soaring almost vertically, and roared at his subordinates.

"Can anyone tell me! What kind of magic is this song called 'Secret Base'? How did it manage to dethrone the king of pop's hit song of the year from its number one spot in just three hours?!"

A music editor wearing headphones raised his hand tremblingly, his face pale.

"Editor-in-chief, this is the ending theme song of the anime 'Anohana'."

"An anime ending theme song?!"

Li Xiang's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"You're telling me, a theme song from an animated film dominated our entire new song chart? All those top-tier artists, all those kings and queens of pop, were completely crushed by an animated film?!"

He looked at the song's information.

Lyrics and music by Su Bai, sung by Shen Qingyue.

Who are these people? I've never even heard of them!

"Editor-in-chief, you'll understand once you listen to it." The editor handed over the earphones.

Li Xiang put it on with some skepticism.

As the intro begins, the clear guitar sound is like a summer breeze.

"The future we promised each other at the end of summer, the dream we have now..."

When that sad yet incredibly warm female voice rang out, Brother Li's body jolted violently.

Even if he hadn't seen the animation.

But at this moment, he seemed to see the secret base under the sunlight, and the girl in the white dress, smiling and crying.

For the duration of a song, the office was completely silent.

As the last note faded, Li Xiang took off his headphones.

Everyone could see that the editor-in-chief, known for his hard-heartedness, had red eyes.

Li Xiang opened his phone and searched for information related to this animation.

He then added the animation to his favorites on Bilibili.

He remained silent for a long time, then picked up the internal phone, his voice hoarse but unusually firm.

"Hey? Is this the tech department? Immediately upgrade 'Secret Base' to S-level recommendation! Activate the highest level of pop-up promotion across the entire site! The title will be..."

He paused, then took a deep breath.

"Will you still remember Menma in August ten years from now?"

……

This frenzy is sweeping from online to offline at an incomprehensible speed.

The backend of Taotao, the largest e-commerce platform in China.

Liu Fei, the operations director of the apparel category, was staring at a data model that was puzzling her.

"Investigate! Investigate this! What's the story behind this white lace dress? Why did its search volume skyrocket three hundred times overnight?! We've replenished stock five times, and it sold out instantly each time! Pre-orders are already booked for two months from now!"

A subordinate rushed over, out of breath.

"Director! We found it! It's the same style worn by Menma, the female protagonist in 'Anohana'!"

"Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day?!"

Liu Fei felt that her worldview had been shaken.

She immediately opened the product review section, which was instantly flooded with comments.

"Wearing this, I'm Menma's dog!"

"Boss, could you burn me one? Urgent, waiting online!"

"Don't say anything, I just finished watching the anime and cried while using my living expenses to order it. I hope that wearing it will help Jinta find me."

Even more outrageous is that this trend has even spread to anime conventions in major cities.

The areas that used to be occupied by all sorts of strange costumes are now completely white.

Hundreds and thousands of men wandered around the venue, meeting each other without saying a word, just smiling at each other, and then hugging each other and crying.

The scene was quite spectacular, and netizens jokingly referred to it as a large-scale family reunion event.

……

The Jiangcheng Tourism Bureau was the first to feel the impact of this physical force.

The door to the director's office was suddenly pushed open, and Xiao Li rushed in, sweating profusely and waving a report in his hand.

"Chief! It's blown up! It's completely blown up!"

Director Zhang adjusted his reading glasses and said with dissatisfaction.

"What's the rush? Has our application for the tourist bus route been approved?"

"No, Chief!"

Xiao Li put the report on the table, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Look at this! Last weekend, our city's tourist arrivals increased by 1000% compared to the same period last year!"

"How many?!"

Director Zhang nearly jumped up from his chair and snatched the report away.

His hands started trembling as he looked at the glaring number above.

"How is that possible! We didn't organize any big event, so where did all these people come from?"

The section chief pointed to the tourist source analysis on the report.

"Director, you see, 95 percent of the tourists are young people aged 18 to 30! Their destinations are all very similar, namely the old Jiangcheng Bridge and our Jiangcheng Temple."

"These are all filming locations from the anime 'Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day'!"

"They came and did nothing but shout like characters from anime on the bridge, search for some secret base in the temple, and groups of them were setting off fireworks. Our sanitation workers are already under immense pressure!"

Director Zhang stood there, stunned, his mind buzzing.

Who would have thought that an animation would turn this city into the most popular tourist destination in the country overnight!

This overwhelming wealth left him dizzy and disoriented.

"quick!"

Director Zhang slammed his hand on the table, his eyes gleaming.

"Immediately establish a special task force for 'Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day'! Contact the author! We want to appoint him as our city's cultural tourism ambassador! He's our city's lucky charm!"

……

When the whole world went crazy for Menma.

Su Bai was leisurely browsing the news on his phone.

"Secret Base topped the music charts, setting a new record for anime songs."

"Menma's white dress has boosted the summer women's clothing market, which economists call a phenomenon of cultural consumption."

"Jiangcheng tourism is booming, and the government publicly expressed its gratitude to Su Bai."

News articles kept popping up, and Shen Qingyue next to her was already numb to it.

She watched him calmly scrolling through his phone, and a deep sense of powerlessness welled up inside her.

This man used an animated film to leverage several massive industries, including music, fashion, and tourism.

For the first time, animation, which was originally at the bottom of the social hierarchy, stood in the spotlight of mainstream culture.

Nowadays, the opening line in social situations has become "Have you watched Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day?"

If you haven't seen it, if you haven't shed tears for Menma, then you'll be excluded from all social conversations.

This is no longer a simple success.

Shen Qingyue looked at Su Bai's profile and asked softly.

"Su Bai, how do you feel now that you've seen all this?"

Su Bai turned his head and spoke seriously.

"I feel like the foundation has finally been laid."

Shen Qingyue was taken aback.

"foundation?"

Su Bai didn't explain anything, just smiled slightly.

This is the foundation upon which he redefines animation culture.