In the afternoon, Zhang Yahui, Bao Xu, and Liang Qingfan finished their inspection of potential locations for the food market and returned to the office area of Sloth Apartments.

“So, after comprehensive consideration, this farmers’ market is the most suitable option.”

“What do you all think of this place?” Liang Qingfan looked at the two of them.

Bao Xu and Zhang Yahui both nodded: “Yes, we have no objections either. Let’s decide on this location.”

This farmers’ market was even more deserted than they had imagined. Small vendors selling various agricultural products set up stalls there, with goods piled up everywhere. The environment could be described as dirty, messy, and poor.

Moreover, both the vendors and customers at the farmers’ market were primarily middle-aged and elderly people, mostly long-time residents who had lived in the area for decades and came to buy vegetables every day.

But with the decline of the old industrial district, most young people in Jingzhou no longer lived in this area, so the foot traffic at this farmers’ market had been decreasing.

Small vendors couldn’t make money, and many had moved elsewhere, so the situation here was deteriorating.

When Zhang Yahui and the others went to inspect the market, they also met with the market’s owner, intending to purchase the market outright and then renovate it centrally.

Of course, they wouldn’t drive away the original vendors but would find places for them nearby. After the entire market renovation was completed, stalls would be reserved for them, and the stall rental fees would remain unchanged.

Zhang Yahui said, “The key issue now is how to plan the entire food market and what design style to adopt.”

Liang Qingfan thought for a moment: “Actually, there are many styles we could design. Traditional Chinese food street style, or some foreign styles would all work.”

“But once we decide on a style, everything related must be unified, and we definitely can’t change it afterward, so we must be careful when choosing.”

The three fell into a brief silence.

As Liang Qingfan said, any style could work, but the key was which style would be more popular once implemented.

Suddenly, Bao Xu had a flash of inspiration: “Hey, I just thought of a great style.”

“Do you remember Mr. Pei’s movie ‘Beautiful Tomorrow’? There was a scene with a cyberpunk style.”

“I think that style would be excellent.”

“On one hand, it can tie in with ‘Beautiful Tomorrow’, allowing people to see scenes from the movie in Jingzhou; on the other hand, the cyberpunk style is distinctive enough and aligns well with the core spirit of a food market.”

Liang Qingfan’s eyes lit up: “Hmm? That makes sense!”

Zhang Yahui seemed a bit confused: “Um… which scene was that? I’ve seen the movie, but there were so many scenes, I don’t really remember.”

Liang Qingfan immediately found the movie “Beautiful Tomorrow” on the AiLiDao website and fast-forwarded to the scene where the male and female protagonists were dating in the outside world.

“Beautiful Tomorrow” featured four different architectural styles: capsule spaces (cramped, narrow, high-tech but severely homogeneous), the outside world’s slums (cyberpunk style, many small shops, bright lights), the outside world’s core area (spacious, grand, typical sci-fi architectural style), and the residential areas of the upper class (classic mansions).

However, most of the scenes were shot with sets and green screens at that time, with no real locations.

Now, if they could recreate the scenes from the movie with this food market, it would definitely be a great selling point.

Moreover, the cyberpunk theme combines “low-end living with high-end technology,” typically featuring somewhat broken social structures against a backdrop of highly advanced technology.

Cyberpunk themes often incorporate many Chinese elements, with a prominent feature being various Chinese characters on neon signs.

The reason for this was that places like Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City had influenced authors of that time. The characteristics of limited space, high population density, compact buildings, and the coexistence of old and new elements aligned perfectly with the cyberpunk aesthetic, so many cyberpunk themes included Chinese elements.

Later, many Chinese artists created original artwork combining cyberpunk and Chinese styles, with very good results.

Looking at the scenes in the movie, Zhang Yahui finally remembered: “This style does look great!”

“The key is that it can create a connection with the movie.”

“This way, Tenda’s attractions in Jingzhou will have one more addition. Tourists can first visit the Thrilling Lodge to play, and afterward come to this cyberpunk-style food market to enjoy cuisine from all over the country.”

Liang Qingfan said, “Yes. Not only that, we can also find ways to transform the route from the food market to the Thrilling Lodge!”

“The two places aren’t very far apart, just about one or two kilometers. If we can buy or long-term lease all these shops along the way, and then renovate them a bit.”

“Later, vendors who perform well in the food market could move to these shops. This way, as the number of vendors increases, perhaps the entire street could become a food street, forming a complete entertainment package with the Thrilling Lodge!”

Bao Xu said, “Moreover, I think we can incorporate some game design concepts.”

“For example, we can divide the stalls inside the market into different tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. The higher the tier, the better the location and the more seating. If a vendor remains in the Diamond tier for a continuous period, they can move to an outside shop.”

“The entire food market can hold regular evaluation activities. We can also randomly refresh a few small stalls to become half-price experience areas or free areas. Rare stalls can be refreshed at scheduled times, giving customers the feeling of camping for rare NPCs.”

“And since it’s cyberpunk style, we definitely need to integrate high technology with a down-to-earth feel, adding some cyberpunk electronic displays. The ordering and queuing systems can also serve as decorative elements.”

Bao Xu quickly explained his ideas.

In his view, this place was actually very suitable for incorporating interactive experiences from games, giving first-time food market visitors a sense of novelty and greatly enhancing their experience.

Bao Xu was also doing his best to help Zhang Yahui and Liang Qingfan with the design so he wouldn’t have to go traveling.

Zhang Yahui was delighted: “Great! This way, the general approach for the entire food market can be finalized!”

“Initially, I just thought of creating a place for vendors to gather, but you two have provided so many great ideas.”

Liang Qingfan smiled slightly: “We’ve just expanded a bit on Mr. Pei’s thinking. Although Mr. Pei certainly couldn’t have guessed this specific location and packaging, what we’ve come up with should be more or less in line with his original idea.”

“This is Mr. Pei’s art of management. Each time, he gives what seems like a broad requirement, allowing subordinates to fully exercise their initiative, but the final results still converge on the same path.”

“Alright, let’s work quickly to complete the design plan for the food market and get this project on track as soon as possible!”

…

…

March 21, Wednesday.

At the ICL League match venue, two official commentators and one professional player were practicing their coordination by commentating on match recordings.

This personnel arrangement was mainly chosen for stability.

Of the two commentators, one was the host commentator, ensuring topics didn’t go off track; the other was the team fight commentator, ensuring team fights were exciting. As for the professional player, he was mainly responsible for lineup predictions and situation analysis.

The three had very clear division of responsibilities.

After all, these professional players didn’t have much commentary experience. From Zhao Xuming’s perspective, arranging one commentator with two professional players, as Bunny Tail Livestream did, carried some risk.

Other commentators and professional players were also practicing hard during this time, as it would soon be their turn to go on stage.

Today’s two commentators were the most experienced in the ICL League, and the professional player on stage also had a relatively good understanding of the game.

Zhao Xuming’s idea was to arrange the most capable commentators to ensure that this focal match with FV Team would generate enough attention. This way, they could make a strong impression, leaving viewers with the impression that “official commentators are now as professional as Bunny Tail Livestream commentators.”

During his breaks, the professional player was also constantly reviewing recordings of FV Team’s previous matches.

When he was playing professionally, he had scheduled a few training matches with FV Team, but was basically quickly outplayed, completely unable to understand FV Team’s intentions.

However, in hindsight, he could still analyze and explain many things.