Page Forty
Heart pounding, I interrupted my communication with Linhua.
When I returned to the SUV, Dianfeng and Ya had already unloaded the comic books from the car onto the hand carts provided by the organizers. Two hundred copies were loaded onto two carts. Dianfeng and I each pushed one cart back to the booth, while Ya drove the Blue Destiny to the underground parking lot of the exhibition hall.
Thanks to the nicknames they used, this book felt like some sort of superpower fantasy work.
Wu Qinglan’s “Magical Girl Heaven” was quite well-made. Besides the first volume of the comic, the issue also came with a setting booklet, making the final product quite thick. Even two hundred copies of the comic were heavy enough that pushing them on the carts gave a strong sense of inertia.
Originally, I was talking with another club member when I saw Dianfeng and I returning with the carts. Wu Qinglan clapped her hands and called us over.
“You two worked hard. It must be heavy, right?”
I shook my head. “It’s manageable with the carts.”
“Push them backstage. The warehouse arrangements are handled by Marika.”
“Wait! There’s no more space in the warehouse!” A nervous-looking older sister wearing glasses ran out from backstage, fanning herself with a fan. Seeing the two hundred comics on the carts, she looked distressed. “How did we get so many? I didn’t hear about this!”
Wu Qinglan calmly took the fan from the older sister and started fanning herself.
“Don’t be so rigid, Marika. You can put away the folding chairs. If you stack the books, they can serve as seats too, right?”
“Sit on the comics we’re selling?” Marika’s glasses slipped down her nose.
“Trust me, Marika. Books that Marika has sat on will definitely sell better. Promoting them might even attract someone to pay a high price.”
“Don’t say such inappropriate things, Commander. I’ll call the police.”
It seemed this older sister who was almost ready to fight with Wu Qinglan was the warehouse manager mentioned earlier.
Though not heavily made-up, Miss Marika still had an eye-catching appearance. She wore black-rimmed glasses, looking around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.
Her forehead was broad, so she had long, wavy hair in a middle part, dyed a golden brown.
She wore a black women’s vest and tight blue jeans. While these clothes highlighted her figure, the combination of the outfit and glasses made her look slightly rustic, like a mechanic.
“This is Miss Marika, the main writer for ‘Magical Girl Heaven,'” Dianfeng said, wiping sweat off his brow. “She’s an elder member of the club, the commander’s junior from university. Don’t let her disheveled appearance fool you—she’s stunning in cosplay.”
He smacked his lips as if reminiscing… slightly disgusting.
In the end, Marika didn’t agree to Wu Qinglan’s suggestion of removing the rest chairs, but the two hundred comics couldn’t just stay in the aisle. So she thought of borrowing space from nearby booths.
“I’ll go ask other booths if they have empty spaces we can use!”
Wu Qinglan shrugged, disdainful. “Impossible. Even if they do, there’s no reason for them to lend us space.”
“At times like this, we need to believe in the peace and love of otaku culture!”
With that, she turned her back and headed alone to the nearby booths.
Honestly, I agreed with Wu Qinglan. This place was a battlefield where every inch of space was valuable. I didn’t think she could borrow any space to store the comics. For promotional booths, it was okay, but for booths selling doujins and merchandise, everyone stacked their items like small mountains, with the owners sitting on tiny stools in the middle.
Setting up sound equipment… ears were blasted by the speakers’ self-oscillation.
“Borrowed! Borrowed!” Marika came running back less than ten minutes later, proudly looking down at Wu Qinglan.
“You two, along with Dianfeng, push the carts and follow me.”
“Did you really borrow it?” Wu Qinglan’s jaw dropped. “You? Did you seduce someone?”
“What do you take me for? The person in charge was a girl too!”
The booth she negotiated with was just across the aisle from a small fifty-square-meter booth of the Witch Workshop. The setup hadn’t begun yet, so it wasn’t clear which company’s booth it was.
“So much space. Is this a company’s booth?” asked Dianfeng, who was a bit chubby.
“Lilim Publishing House, but all their works are aimed at women. You two probably don’t know?”
Marika didn’t turn around as she walked ahead, her wavy, golden-brown hair bouncing up and down.
“Isn’t that the publisher of ‘Dream Fragrance?'”
When Marika mentioned women’s works, I remembered that Fengwu mentioned Lilim Publishing House would be setting up at CCP. Unfortunately, Xiao Cangyu’s social anxiety prevented him from coming for a signing, which was a pity.
“Oh!”
Before I could finish, a petite woman screamed and darted out, grabbing my cart. She startled me. She looked up at me with dark, sparkling eyes, like a young deer begging for food.
The kind that could butt.
Her eyes narrowed into a ≧∀≦ shape as she slapped my arm, saying with a tone of regret, “Boy, you understand? Have you read ‘Dream Fragrance’? It’s rare for a boy to read it. Tell me your thoughts?”
She seemed to be from Lilim Publishing House. Though it was a major work by Xiao Cangyu, I couldn’t connect with it. The main character seemed particularly shallow.
Marika still needed help, so I couldn’t speak frankly. Some commercial flattery was necessary for the sake of profit. Moreover, it was Xiao Cangyu’s work, and even Tan Linhua and Yan Liuzhuan gave high praise, especially Yan Liuzhuan wanting to illustrate it. There must be something I hadn’t noticed.
“Hmm… the character development is good?”
“I might have startled you by rushing out. Actually, I’m the editor of ‘Dream Fragrance’ and the on-site supervisor. You can call me Xiaodie.”
“No problem, thank you for lending us space.”
Hearing our conversation, Marika turned around.
“Oh, Teacher Xiaodie, I couldn’t find you. Now I know where you were.”
“I saw you walk past me!”
“Teacher Xiaodie is so short.”
Xiaodie was about 150 to 160 cm tall, a petite woman with long black hair. Perhaps to appear taller, she had a hairpin standing up on top, swaying in the wind.
She wore a black business suit and silver-rimmed glasses, with lipstick adding to her mature look.
Despite her efforts, her height and youthful face were drawbacks. She looked like a young adult, perhaps a middle school student.
“If you joke about my height again, I won’t lend the space!”
“Sorry, sorry, but isn’t it cute?”
Xiaodie snorted derisively, almost self-mockingly.
“Cute, huh? Do you think a thirty-something career woman still yearns for compliments about being cute?”
The Lilim Publishing House booth warehouse was already filled with their novels, including “Dream Fragrance.” Since Xiao Cangyu wasn’t doing a signing, the number was fewer than other novels, which was a shame.
After unloading the two hundred copies of “Magical Girl Heaven” to a corner of the warehouse, my arms were sore.
“Do you two know each other?” Dianfeng asked.
“Yes, Miss Marika has done illustrations for our publishing house,” Xiaodie explained, pushing her glasses up. “Her illustrations have a strong sense of motion, making her famous among adventure novel readers. Sometimes her fame even surpasses the authors.”
“That’s an exaggeration! I only draw for fun!” The golden-haired older sister blushed and denied hurriedly.
So that’s why Marika, a somewhat famous illustrator, could easily borrow the publishing house’s space.
“Speaking of illustrations, I have a friend who wants to become an illustrator for Teacher Gongyong Xiaoji.”
“Published works rarely change illustrators,” Xiaodie shook her head, indicating it was unlikely. “But if he brings his work to show, Gongyong Xiaoji wouldn’t stop drawing altogether.”
Xiaodie’s words echoed what Fengwu said. Yan Liuzhuan indeed had no chance with “Dream Fragrance” illustrations.
“Bad news, Teacher Xiaodie!” A Lilim Publishing House staff member rushed over, handing Xiaodie a phone.
“Because Teacher Gongyong Xiaoji refused to attend the signing, online opinions exploded. Everyone questioned the identity of the young female author, and the boss is furious, demanding you bring Gongyong Xiaoji to the event tomorrow.”
The staff explained.
“Oh? Ah!”
Seeing the message on the phone, Xiaodie’s neck tilted, and she stood there, stunned.
