Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

Chapter 122 The Publisher's Aunt

Xiao Nanliang was in a high-intensity group chat when he suddenly saw the photo Lin Beimiao posted and was stunned for a moment.

He had just typed halfway through a message and was about to send it when his fingers stopped on the keyboard, and he stared at the photo on the screen for a long time.

Then he clicked on the image, which zoomed in to full screen, and looked at the signature "Doesn't Eat Pears" on the title page of the collected volume.

And that photo of Lin Beimiao and Aragaki Eri, it's exactly the same as the Aragaki Eri in the photo.

In the group photo, her fair skin appeared even more radiant under the booth lights, and her short black hair accentuated her delicate features. Her A-line skirt and stockings were not visible from the booth.

However, that white shirt outfit makes her look nothing like a cartoonist; she looks more like a female protagonist straight out of a romantic comedy anime, the epitome of a goddess for otaku.

Eri Aragaki even made a heart shape with her right hand on her cheek, quite close to Lin Beimiao.

The two were only about half an arm's length apart, and Lin Beimiao was standing next to her with a wide grin that almost reached his ears.

There's nothing special about it; she got this close to many fans who wanted autographs.

She made the heart shape with her hands no less than a hundred times today, but at the beginning, she actually did the heart-donation gesture more often.

After she spontaneously made a heart shape with her hands, the fans behind her immediately wanted to take photos with her using the same gesture.

It's hard to resist a cute girl making a heart shape with her hands!

But Xiao Nanliang and the others didn't know that all they saw was how close Lin Beimiao was to "Pear Girl" in the group photo.

They didn't see that Eri Aragaki was in the same pose and had the same smile in the other hundreds of group photos.

They only saw this one picture, only Lin Beimiao standing next to this beautiful girl comic artist, the two of them so close that their shoulders were almost touching, it was simply—enviable, jealous and hateful!

Moreover, they weren't like the other fans at the event, and they didn't receive the same treatment as Lin Beimiao.

In short, if others have something that I don't, it will make people jealous!

The group chat immediately erupted in excitement. Not only the group members who were chatting earlier, but also those who had been lurking and even members of the translation team came out to speak.

The usually quiet people all chimed in, "Is that Rina Makoto? Orange, did you see Rina Makoto today?"

"Wow! Is Pear Girl really this pretty in person? Absolutely!"

"She's so beautiful! From now on, I'm a huge fan of Pear Girl!"

"Boss, I'm so envious of you. You got to see Pear Girl and get so close to her. She must smell amazing."

"Ahhh, I've made up my mind! I'm going to study in Japan after I graduate from university. I want to see Ri-chan and get this close to her."

"Pear Girl is so cute! Waaaaah, I'm falling in love with Pear Girl!"

"Boss, did you only see Pear Girl today? Did you see Oda, Kishimoto, or the others?"

"I saw the album the boss uploaded, but it doesn't seem to have Oda or Kishimoto in it. Boss, did you only go to see Rina?"

"Boss, did you ask Pear Girl if she could continue drawing sequels to 'Fog Hill of Five Elements'? I want to see more of the 'Fog Hill of Five Elements' story!"

"Or you could draw another comic like 'Fog Hill of Five Elements,' the art style is just right!"

Lin Beimiao was also quite happy; the envious, jealous, and hateful reactions from his group members were exactly the effect he wanted.

He leaned back in his chair, watching the messages pop up one by one. He immediately reached for the keyboard and typed a reply to each one: [S0S Group - Orange: It really is Pear Girl herself, and I think she's even prettier in person than in the photos.]

[SOS Brigade - Orange: The main thing is that Pear Girl's proportions are amazing, she's definitely over 1.7 meters tall. I'm 1.75 meters tall and I feel about the same height as her.]

[SOS Brigade - Orange: Pear Girl smells amazing, I was so excited when she got close.]

[SOS Brigade - Orange: Actually, we saw them all, but they didn't allow us to take pictures freely on stage. Oda was wearing a fish head mask, and there were also Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Hideaki Sorachi, and Hiroyuki Takei.]

[SOS Brigade - Orange: And it's a pity I only got Pear Girl and Oda's autographs, but it was still worth it, Pear Girl is so cute!]

[SOS Brigade - Orange: Um—I wasn't talking about *Fog Hill of Five Elements*, I was just saying that we all really like all her comics, including *Fog Hill of Five Elements*.]

[SOS Brigade - Orange: You can't blame me for this! The autograph session has a limited time; each person only gets half a minute to a minute. When it's time, you have to leave. I really didn't have time to ask so many questions.]

[S0S Group - Orange: And let me tell you, Pear Girl really loves the culture of the People's Republic of China. Can you believe she speaks Chinese?]

Xiao Nanliang and the other group members were shocked again when they saw Lin Beimiao's reply.

The discussion about whether Annie was the Female Titan was completely forgotten, and everyone's attention was focused on the five words "Pear Girl speaks Chinese".

"Oh, does Pear Girl speak Chinese?"

"Really? It's not one of those everyday greetings like 'hello' or 'thank you,' is it?"

"Say hello and thank you is already pretty impressive, okay? But Pear Girl is Japanese."

"Then I love Pear Girl even more! Pear Girl is definitely not faking this. Didn't she say in the previous interview that she really likes the culture of the People's Republic of China?"

"Exactly, language can lie, but can Pear Girl's paintings of 'Wu Song' and 'Fog Hill of Five Elements' be considered lies?"

"Even if it's a lie, I think that's enough—anyway, I believe Pear Sister."

"True passion is shown in actions. Anyway, Pear has always behaved very well with me, and I'm willing to believe that she genuinely loves the culture of the People's Republic of China."

Lin Beimiao saw that some people in the group were still skeptical, so he quickly typed a reply.

His fingers flew across the keyboard, each word carrying an urgent "I heard it with my own ears and you still don't believe me" kind of SOS. —Orange: It wasn't just simple everyday phrases like "hello" or "thank you," it was real Chinese; she was talking to me.

[SOS Brigade - Orange: Anyway, Pear Girl really speaks Chinese quite well, so communication shouldn't be a problem.]

[SOS Brigade - Orange: I'm not exaggerating, it's true, I wouldn't lie to you guys, okay?]

This further fueled the enthusiasm of the group members.

The message feed in the group reached its peak for the night, with several people sending messages simultaneously, and the chat history on the screen scrolling wildly.

"Pear Girl really speaks Chinese, so communication won't be a problem anymore! That's great! There won't be any issues when Pear Girl and I get married!"

"Dream on! Pear Girl is my wife!"

"Stop fighting over it, I'll tell you the truth. Actually, Pear is my foreign fiancée whom I've kept hidden all this time. We were betrothed since we were kids!"

"Pear Girl likes the culture of the Republic and can speak Chinese, so I have to support her. By the way, the Attack on Titan manga has been released, right? I'll see if I can get a copy from overseas."

"Yes! I'll also buy it through an overseas proxy! It'll be my way of supporting Pear Girl!"

"When will Attack on Titan be available in Chinese? Waaaaah, I don't understand Japanese!"

"It doesn't matter if she doesn't understand. I'm just trying to support Pear Girl, because she speaks Chinese and likes the culture of the People's Republic of China so much."

"I'm definitely buying this single volume; even if I don't understand it, I'll keep it on my bookshelf."

"What are you guys thinking? Do we really need someone else to buy it for us? Isn't our boss in Japan right now? He just met up with Rina today, he's in Tokyo!"

"Yeah! Boss, why don't you help us buy the Attack on Titan manga together? You're going back to China for New Year's Day anyway, so buying multiple copies at once will save on shipping."

Aside from a few people who started calling Eri Aragaki their wife, others began thinking about how to support Eri Aragaki's manga works.

Lin Beimiao saw that the group members had already started to organize group purchases on their own, and some of them were even more proactive than him.

He thought for a moment, roughly calculated his luggage allowance in his mind, and then typed: [S0S Group - Orange: Okay, give me a list of those who want to buy this for me, and pay me a deposit first. I will bring it back when I go back to China for New Year's Day. Each person is limited to three books, otherwise my luggage will not be able to hold more.]

And then, just like that—

Eri Aragaki's unexpected display of Chinese as a rapper unexpectedly brought her her first reward.

So fast, and so many.

Lin Beimiao received pre-orders from more than a dozen people that very evening. Each person bought at least one copy, and some even bought three copies—one to keep, one to read themselves, and one to lend to a friend.

Later, Lin Beimiao also helped others buy books and planned to pay out of his own pocket as a benefit for the translation group. Every time he went to the bookstore, he would pick up a few more Attack on Titan volumes. When he returned to China, his suitcase was more than half full.

They contributed to the sales of approximately several thousand copies of the Attack on Titan manga.

Of course, this was done gradually through proxy purchases, not Lin Beimiao buying thousands of Attack on Titan single volumes to bring back to China all at once.

Later, he would bring a batch back with him every time he returned to China. People in the group would also be asked to bring a batch back when they went to Japan for business or tourism. Little by little, it added up.

So it's true that Eri Aragaki's preemptive efforts to recruit men were effective, and they brought her unexpected benefits.

After all, this represents the sales of several thousand volumes of Attack on Titan. How many manga only sell a few thousand volumes a month?

At the same time, Lin Beimiao, seeing many people in the group hesitant to buy "Attack on Titan" because there was no Chinese version, sighed—

He felt sorry for those group members who wanted to buy but couldn't read Japanese, every time he saw their comments.

It would be great if a domestic publisher could officially collaborate with Shueisha to introduce the Chinese version.

Ultimately, most people buy comics to read; very few people are truly determined not to read them but simply to collect them.

of.

If you can't understand the content, the purchased single volume will just sit on the bookshelf collecting dust. Only a minority of people in the group would actually buy the original Japanese version that they can't understand just to support the author.

"Let me think... I think my mom knows a few aunties who work at publishing houses?"

Lin Beimiao suddenly remembered that his mother seemed to know several publishing house owners.