Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 600 - 393: Non-mainstream Aesthetics_1

Chapter 600: Chapter 393: Non-mainstream Aesthetics_1

In a bustling city, within an office building.

Even though it was already 11 p.m., and the residential area was quiet, the lights were still on inside this office building, and most people were busy at work.

On a certain floor, a team of store explorers.

The live streamer had just returned with his team and sat down at his workstation when his phone rang.

Seeing the caller ID, a look of surprise flashed across the live streamer’s face.

"Feng Chi?"

He had collaborated with Feng Chi before, but they weren’t very familiar with each other, though he had heard quite a bit of news about him.

With various speculations in his mind, but when he picked up the call, his facial expression instantly switched to business mode, warm and friendly, and the emotion in his voice was just right, impeccable:

"A’chi? What’s up? I heard you’ve been really busy lately, filming on an island? Could there be some good news?"

It was just a casual remark, but upon hearing the response from the other end of the phone, the live streamer’s face changed dramatically.

"Who?!"

He sprung up from his resting chair, looked around, and walked over to a quieter corner:

"...Of course I’m free! Right, I’ll definitely be there... Hey, Brother Chi, you can count on me; we’ve worked closely before, you know our studio’s reputation..."

Once the call ended, he clenched his fist tightly, his face aglow with excitement.

Taking a deep breath to calm down, he walked back.

Seeing his reaction, someone asked, "Got a new store exploration order? Are we doing food or accommodation? What kind of marketing package? How about the price? Do we need to adjust the schedule? We’ve been pretty busy lately."

The live streamer said excitedly, "It’s an invitation to a private museum opening ceremony!"

The rest of the team, while not indifferent, reacted calmly.

"What kind of collection? What’s the scale? Any highlights?" someone inquired.

"It’s a collection of animal models... the scale... should be decent, I guess, I haven’t seen it, don’t know how many items there are, but the place is definitely big!" the live streamer stated confidently.

"No matter how big the place is, without any highlights or content, it won’t be of much use. Whose museum is it?"

"Feng Yi!"

"Who is Feng Yi... Feng Yi?!"

Everyone in the office, whether cutting videos, planning, or talking business... all turned their gaze eagerly toward him!

In a corner, someone who had just lain down to apply eye patches didn’t even mind wasting one; anything obscuring the view was flung aside, and the eyes that looked over shone particularly bright—probably from the eye patches.

"The Feng Yi that’s been talked about a lot online recently?"

"This is a walking gold mine!"

"Given Feng Yi’s current popularity, even if this job doesn’t pay, we should go!"

"If it’s Feng Yi’s place, even if there are only two rocks inside, we can still create plenty of content!"

"Go in and give loads of praise! I mean, praise with tact! Warm, but not obsequious, and we must show our sincerity! In short, even if he’s displaying a few earthworms, you have to praise them to the skies!"

"Hold on a second, was that call just now actually from Feng Yi’s side?" someone asked.

The live streamer brought up his call log: "Feng Chi, the one who’s now in the variety show scene, is Feng Yi’s cousin, a second... no, third-generation rich kid."

"Hmm, we still need to confirm with Feng Yi’s side, just to avoid an empty celebration."

While the team assembled for an emergency meeting on this side, on the other, Feng Chi had finished contacting everyone on his list, completely unaware that someone was questioning his credibility. He put a checkmark after the last name on the list and then left a message for Feng Yi.

After sending the message, Feng Chi reviewed the upcoming work arrangements once more, made some adjustments, and confirmed he could attend Feng Yi’s museum opening ceremony.

Though an exact date had not been set, Feng Yi had provided a rough time range.

Mulling over this in his mind, Feng Chi went to admire one of his treasures—the extended luminous gold-embossed streamer dragon.

Even though Feng Yi had said he would hire a lion dance troupe, those activities were for the daytime. What if there were other programs at night?

He’d bring it along in the car then; it might liven up the atmosphere.

"I can be my own atmosphere crew!"

The next day.

Feng Yi forwarded the list given by Feng Chi to Yi, where a team was in charge of arranging the media and guests for the museum opening.

After breakfast, Feng Yi rushed to the museum again.

The construction workers were indeed curious about the changes in the core area—it had been empty all this time, but when they started work early that morning, they found it had been walled off!

What did that indicate?

It meant the exhibits had been put in place!

It was just a pity that the barriers were too high and the interior was covered with cloth for dust protection. Even standing on a ladder during construction, they couldn’t see what was really inside.

Construction inside the museum continued, but Feng Yi hadn’t rushed over that morning just to see the workers’ reactions to the core area—he was there to meet someone.

Steve had messaged him.

Upon learning that specimen models were being moved into the collection one after another, Steve came over to have a look.

In the museum, the nearly six-meter Burmese python specimen was one Steve had managed to obtain from the research center and gifted to Feng Yi.

Visiting the museum today, Steve also brought several relatively intact snake skins he had managed to get from the research center.

There were large and small snakes; each skin was preserved in a special box with a transparent cover on top for viewing. The type of snake each shed skin came from was labeled on the box.

"They’ve all been treated and can be preserved for a very long time."

Steve handed over the shed skin specimens to Feng Yi.

Walking into the museum and observing the arrangement inside, Steve’s gaze eventually fell on the enclosed core area.

"What’s inside here?" Steve asked curiously.

"Hmm... it’s an... art sculpture," Feng Yi said, keeping a straight face.

Hearing the words art sculpture, Steve immediately lost interest and looked elsewhere.

Steve was building a conservation institution near Xiao Feng Mountain, a project that Feng Yi had attended the groundbreaking ceremony for. However, it was progressing a bit more slowly.

Building a conservation institution was different from building a museum. With Steve’s high standards, he had to periodically apply to higher authorities, and any delay in approvals could postpone the schedule.

Compared to many private conservation projects, Steve’s was already proceeding quite rapidly.

Yet seeing Feng Yi’s nearly completed museum, Steve couldn’t help but show his envy.

"Your place is about to open to the public, I’m really envious... Oh~~~ a Titanoboa!!!!"

Steve’s heartfelt lament was only half-spoken when he saw the "primitive section" not far from the core area. With vision as if it had a filtering function, he accurately spotted the "ancient serpent" hidden among a jumble of plants, and he quickly rushed over.

Upon drawing closer, Steve explored the snake’s huge body with his eyes and sighed:

"It’s been retouched, hasn’t it? The details are very well done!

"Doesn’t look like the Titanoboa models I’ve seen in other museums. But then, it’s an extinct species, no one knows what it really looked like. Models in museums are only made in reference to the Sanajeh anyway."

Steve looked up at the snake’s huge, ferocious, and grim face: "It’s truly beautiful!"

Feng Yi: "..."

Although he was familiar with Steve’s personality, Feng Yi still found it hard to get used to such unique praise every time he heard it.

After inspecting the "ancient serpent," Steve moved on to other specimen models, with an excitement that resembled that of a young child entering a toy-filled amusement park—he was exceptionally thrilled and reluctant to leave.

Steve was called away due to matters at the construction site; otherwise, he would have continued to stay.

When leaving, Steve thought: If possible, I’ll secure a few more specimens from other places to donate to Feng Yi’s museum—the collection here is still too scant! And the model creation is too slow!

However, to give credit where it’s due, the work really is exquisite!

In the time that followed, the remaining construction at the museum was hurried towards completion.

Feng Yi didn’t stay at the museum the entire time. Before all the work was done, he attended several meetings recommended by the joint protection bureau, writing and presenting reports.

Every time he went out for events, people would ask Feng Yi about his private museum.

News of the imminent opening of the private museum had already spread in certain circles, and those who hadn’t received an invitation were seeking out Feng Yi for the inside scoop.

At one event, Feng Yi also encountered a journalist from an official media outlet, who expressed interest in his collection and wished to attend the opening ceremony to cover it. After all, as a certified expert by the joint protection bureau, Feng Yi’s work in ecological conservation had always been proactive. If appropriate, it could make for good publicity.

To this, Feng Yi found himself in a difficult position.

"Of course, I would be very happy to have you, but as for the coverage... maybe let’s skip it... Some of the collections inside... might not align with mainstream tastes and wouldn’t be suitable for you to report on," Feng Yi told the journalist.

Some of his authentic model statues, if revealed by entertainment-style social media, was one thing, but for serious, official media, it was not the same league!

Not appropriate at all!

If mainstream official media reported on it, even if others weren’t embarrassed, Feng Yi himself would feel the height of shame!

Regardless of what the journalist was thinking inside, he agreed with a pleasant face and respected Feng Yi’s "non-mainstream aesthetics."

Feng Yi, sensing the real emotions of the other person: "..."

The journalist’s inner thoughts seemed to be too imaginative.

Apart from attending events and organizing reports and summaries, Feng Yi still found time to visit the museum on occasion.

As the information spread, more and more people became aware of the upcoming opening. Feng Yi, being the person of the moment, attracted substantial online interest, and the forthcoming opening ceremony garnered much more attention than Feng Yi had originally expected.

Sometimes, when Feng Yi made time to visit the museum, he could see people nearby taking photos of the museum with their smartphones.

The museum’s address was no longer a secret, with an increasing number of visitors coming to check in.

When all construction projects at the museum were complete, and after cleaning was finished, the opening date was set.

The hired staff had finished their training and were already in place.

Two days before the opening ceremony, Feng Yi directed the staff to move the models out of the storage rooms and into display positions, and the barriers around the core area were dismantled.

The strictly trained staff, upon seeing those models, had instantaneous distortions of expression.

Some wanted to laugh, some wanted to exclaim, but all had to forcefully contain themselves, not daring to make a sound.

The museum was so quiet that only the sound of objects being moved could be heard.