I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

PS2: The Sword Art Online movie incident is a true story. To put it simply, the distributor took advantage of the company's complete lack of understanding of the industry and the fact that the industry rules were not perfect at the time. They took advantage of the information gap, took kickbacks, and then did not pay back the money before transferring assets and running away. I even went to the cinema to see the Sword Art Online movie myself, and only learned about this incident later in college.

Chapter 46: I will attack in my school swimsuit form

Actually, starting half a year ago, Chen Junqian felt that he should evolve from the male protagonist of a romantic comedy light novel to someone like the protagonist of a story like "Only I Have the Law: My Superpowers Refresh Weekly." After all, it would be feasible for him to say "I don't eat beef" now, just like many urban novels where the first chapter is called "I Became the School Beauty's Personal Bodyguard" and the last chapter becomes "I Am the Only One in Heaven and Earth." But unfortunately, Chen Junqian himself doesn't have much of a thought in this regard, at least not now.

However, Chen Junqian is still willing to use his abilities to deal with today's problem. Come to think of it, this idea seems very similar to Jiahao's, except that he does have the necessary conditions.

As it turns out, the information gap theory holds true even in social affairs. In fact, many industries rely on the information gap between the two parties. Just like the series of answers on Zhihu about "which industries you thought were incredibly awesome before you entered but found to be just so-so after you entered", collecting information and using it to make a profit is indeed a skill.

In this respect, what Boss Cao is doing now is somewhat similar to a college student ten years from now who doesn't even know how to find resources and simply goes to Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace app) to buy novels or find resources from unknown sources for a few yuan. However, the price he has to pay is slightly higher. After all, a quota fee of three million is not a small amount, and it's not like spending three million will solve the problem. There is still two to three million to be paid to China Film Group as a box office guarantee fee, as well as several million to be paid to the company for publicity and distribution.

Considering all these factors, it becomes clear that anyone in the industry willing to import Japanese animated films at this time—excluding those aimed at non-fans like Detective Conan, Doraemon, or Your Name, but rather those geared towards a broader audience—is indeed a loyal fan of the series. After all, it's a risky and low-return endeavor.

Besides the fact that the domestic audience for anime and manga is far smaller, Chen Junqian believes that another important reason why these Japanese anime and manga do not have strong box office appeal is that they are too delayed. Rather, Japanese anime and manga have always been a major area of ​​pirated copies in China. Before Bilibili bought the copyright, everyone basically watched pirated copies. Theatrical versions and animated films are no exception. The import process is also quite long. So by the time they are finally imported to China, many fans may have already seen them and will naturally not be willing to spend money to watch them again.

In Chen Junqian's memory, the reason why this Sword Art Online movie was able to make a profit was not only because the IP still has considerable appeal in 2017 (after all, it was a genuine top anime in 2012 and has continued to be popular with sequels in the following years), but also because it was imported relatively quickly.

The film was released in Japan on February 18th, while the final release date in mainland China is September 15th. Six months sounds like a long time, but in fact, it is a very short example for imported animation. After all, it is not uncommon for many films to be stuck in the review process for a year or two. Judging from the speed of approval, the other party's claim of having connections with China Film Group is not unfounded.

But as Mr. Cao himself said, it would be fine if he could get the quota by paying only three million smoothly. However, the other party also demanded to cover the publicity and marketing expenses. In fact, the price they quoted this time was even higher, asking for eight million. They also confidently stated that other publicity and marketing companies could have a 40% profit margin in their publicity and marketing budgets, but for Juhe, the maximum profit margin was only 10%.

However, such talk is only fooling dogs. After all, the shady dealings involved are like the price of an egg in the palace – everyone from top to bottom gets their fill of kickbacks, and in the end, the publicity might not even be very good.

(In the actual timeline, the marketing budget for the Sword Art Online movie was eventually increased to nine million yen, but the specific bill was quite funny. They dared to claim 50,000 yen for a single poster, but it was actually just a Japanese poster with Chinese characters added. There were also marketing expenses on various websites, with Douban accounting for 500,000 yen. It was later revealed that this 500,000 yen was outsourced to other online trolls to promote the movie on Douban, but it didn't have much effect.)

However, in this internet age, marketing and promotion are even more important to a film than the quality of the film itself. Although Chen Junqian's first thought when thinking about this was the mysterious "Niu Lai" ten years later, it is indeed more appropriate to give a more positive example, namely "Doraemon: Stand by Me" which was introduced in the past two years and "Your Name" which just finished its run. Both of them attracted a large number of viewers through highly targeted marketing and promotion strategies, and their box office results were quite impressive.

That's why Mr. Cao himself was worried about the company's marketing strategy. After all, it seemed too unreliable. If the company couldn't attract a large enough audience in the first week or even on the first day through pre-release marketing, then the next thing that would happen was to reduce the number of screenings. It's better not to take a comeback against all odds as the norm. Most movies end up slowly becoming obscure.

So what needs to be done now is to ensure that we can obtain the import quota, and then formulate a reasonable publicity and distribution strategy to accumulate enough experience for importing the movie he really wants later.

Sitting in the car, Chen Junqian rubbed his temples as he came to this conclusion.

He's already gone this far.

So please make sure you take good pictures of me.

Just like a simple and straightforward business battle only requires sending someone to pour boiling water on the money tree in the other company, the simplest and most straightforward way to build connections is to have Chen Junqian just have a thought. As long as he raises the banner of "what a romantic comedy needs," things will naturally move in a smooth direction.

After all, the Three Fierce Enterprises wasn't some roadside business. In fact, they already had a distribution company under their umbrella, which was established for action production and promotion. So Chen Junqian didn't need to go to the site to apply for one and then mobilize his company's network of friends and contacts. The problem of import quotas that had been bothering Boss Cao for several weeks was easily solved at a dinner table.

"There are indeed quantity limits for film distribution, but we need to decide based on market conditions. It's inherently quite flexible. There's no fixed limit every year. There's a general quantity limit, but it's not specific. Even if we've already bought up all the available films, if you suddenly get a high-quality one, China Film Group will definitely give it to you."

"As for the quota fee, just give us a token amount. In the true sense of the contract and the law, this kind of thing doesn't really exist. For Mr. Chen's sake, how about 80,000 yuan? Let's make it an auspicious number. We are definitely hoping for high box office returns so that we can get a share of the profits."

(The original online quota fee was three million, but China Film Group only charged 140,000 yuan.)

And so, after a simple banquet, Chen Junqian easily helped Boss Cao resolve the issue of import quotas. The other party was so happy that he kept shaking his hand, wanting to give him figurines and invite him to participate in various company events. Chen Junqian simply said that he would get an autograph for him when the film was imported and there was a symposium with the main creators or a meet-and-greet with the voice actors.

After finishing all the matters in this regard, Chen Junqian finally returned to the hotel, exhausted both physically and mentally. Chen Xi and Gu Linguo, who had been wandering around the neighborhood since he was away that day, also came over. Looking at their brother/senior's tired face, they suddenly understood why there were so many sisters and wives in Japanese anime who would greet their brothers/husbands at the entrance of their homes and even say such embarrassing things.

After all, it's natural to feel a desire to cheer the other person up or to make them feel like they're home and can relax. Chen Xi even really wanted to ask, "Do you want to eat first or take a shower first?" Of course, the last one was impossible.

While she was still lost in thought, her best friend had already dashed off to the bathroom to run a bath for Chen Junqian. Chen Xi moved a little closer, helping her brother with his shoes, and could indeed faintly smell a hint of alcohol on him.

"Has your brother been drinking?"

"No, did it pick up some of the smell?"

"Yes, a little."

Chen Xi took the coat Chen Junqian had taken off and hung it on the clothes rack next to her. She had a complicated feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on. In fact, because her father used to work in sales, she had seen him come home drunk many times. But seeing her brother, who was only a year older than her, doing the same thing, she suddenly realized that he might be an adult now.

And upon closer inspection, that's indeed the case.

In terms of both appearance and physique, he is a fully grown adult. Coupled with his precocious personality and even precocious intelligence, one can already imagine the scene of him being praised by various middle-aged people for his youth and achievements.

"The bathwater is ready, senior, go and enjoy a relaxing bath."

Gu Linguo, who ran out of the bathroom, interrupted Chen Xi's daydream. Chen Junqian originally wanted to get his clothes before going into the bathroom, but Gu Linguo pushed him into the bathroom while saying, "We'll get them for you in a bit." The bathwater was already prepared, so Chen Junqian took off his clothes and buried his whole body in the perfectly warm water, then let out a comfortable sigh.

In any case, having someone to take care of you after work is definitely better than being alone. Now that the work is done, I'll take the two of us out tomorrow.

At the same time, Gu Lingguo, who was outside the bathroom, laid Chen Junqian's suitcase flat on the ground and began to rummage through his clothes. Compared to her sister, she was always the more proactive one. Chen Xi was used to following her sister, so she also squatted down and picked out her brother's clothes one by one.

In the January anime "One Room" that the three of them watched together, there is a tradition of changing the ending picture for each episode. In the sixth episode, which is also the second episode of the sister arc, the chosen ending illustration is a scene where the sister who moved into her brother's house is blushing and staring blankly at a pair of her brother's boxer shorts while folding his clothes.

Chen Xi only expressed her ambivalence about this. After all, she originally wanted to loudly rebuke what was so embarrassing about this level of behavior, since she saw it every morning. But then she thought that her sibling relationship and way of getting along with Chen Junqian didn't seem to have any reference or universal value, so she decided to let it go.

"The senior looks so tired. He should be financially independent, but he still has the feel of a corporate slave."

"Indeed, I originally thought that this job he was talking about was the same as before, like going to comic conventions with Lin Guo or something."

“My senior and I didn’t go to the anime convention just for fun… well, actually we did have fun most of the time, but this time is different. If my senior is really too tired, I don’t think it’s necessary for him to take us out tomorrow. It would be fine for him to just stay in the hotel and rest. What do you think, Xiaoxi?”

"Yes, I can do it."

As they talked, the two of them had already rummaged through Chen Junqian's suitcase to find all his clean clothes. Chen Xi folded them into a stack from top to bottom, from the inside out, and sat on the sofa with them in her arms. She rested her chin on the top layer and looked at the bathroom glass door, which was covered with a layer of water mist. The scene in the animation where the younger sister was caught taking a bath by her older brother came back to her mind.

Although Gu Lingguo kept nagging her about this classic scene, Chen Xi, who had almost no experience watching movies, was really seeing this scene for the first time. Would it look like this from her brother's perspective after her swimsuit was washed away at the beach? No, she was definitely much older than that little one, even if she was the same age two years ago.

While she was lost in thought, Gu Lingguo, who had just told Chen Junqian to rest, had already started rummaging through her luggage at some point. She pulled out something that Chen Xi had never expected, or rather, a piece of clothing that seemed out of place for this season.

"...It's winter now, why is Lin Guo wearing a swimsuit?"

"Because it's all for this moment. Swimsuits aren't just for swimming; they're also widely used in the shower, or more precisely, when the female lead is scrubbing the male lead's back or washing his hair. But don't worry, Xiaoxi, I brought yours too. I don't know your current size, but I bought it one size larger than it was in 2015. Here it is."

Before Chen Xi could react or even complain, Gu Lingguo, who seemed to have been prepared in every way, had already changed into her swimsuit in no time. Since the room was warm enough, she then opened the bathroom door.

"Free body scrubbing service—"

Chen Junqian, who was taking a nap in the water with his eyes closed, was also a little startled. In the steamy bathroom, Gu Lingguo, who looked quite convincing in a swimsuit she'd somehow acquired and a name tag on her chest, even noticed Chen Junqian's gaze and turned around to show him off with a smug look.

"So, were you surprised or delighted, senior?"

"I'll go with the latter then, I want to soak a little longer."

"It's alright, it's alright, I'll keep you company."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Junqian heard a thud. When he opened his eyes again, the girl, whose hair was already mostly wet and sticking to her ears and forehead, was right in front of him. She looked especially lovely under the warm light of the bathroom.

"Did you complete your work smoothly today?"

"Well, the result went very smoothly. I estimate that Lin Guo will have the opportunity to see the Sword Art Online movie in theaters this summer."

"Really? That would be my first time watching an animated feature film in a movie theater. Detective Conan and Doraemon definitely don't count, these are more mainstream. I feel like maybe some people will dress up as cosplayers to see it? There should be some screenings in Guoning too, but in a small county like this, there probably won't be many screenings?"

It has to be said that a girl who is always full of energy and vitality can really make people feel happy. While answering the other party's series of questions, Chen Junqian adjusted his posture in the water. However, Gu Lingguo seemed to have noticed this as well, and sat up slightly. After being soaked in the water, the school swimsuit clung firmly to her body, and compared to a swimsuit, it was more like body painting. It can be said that almost everything that should and shouldn't have been seen had been seen.

It turned out that Gu Lingguo herself was still a little shy in this situation, so she immediately lay down again, with only her small head sticking out. However, her underwater body parts were now even closer to Chen Junqian's.

At this moment, countless award-winning CGs of the female protagonist from various corners of the game seemed to replay in Gu Lingguo's mind, one after another. At this moment, she was not fighting alone; she had... behind her.

But it doesn't seem to work.

All I can say is that Gu Lingguo's true thoughts at this moment were probably closer to 'Xiao Xi, my legs are weak, help me up quickly.' Even though their bodies were already pressed together, they were still talking about work over and over again, completely stuck on this point.

However, Chen Xi did not abandon her best friend. Or rather, she was not Zhu Wenyun and could not tolerate the scene of the two of them waiting outside in the bathroom. Although the swimsuit that Gu Linguo threw at her was exactly the same style that Qiong Mei wore in a certain episode, it should be called a school swimsuit, but Chen Xi still had to bite the bullet and put it on.

"My...brother..."

Before she could finish speaking, Gu Linguo pulled her into the conversation.

I suddenly remembered a scene from *Dream of the Red Chamber* that my brother and I read together when we were little, where Qingwen teases Jia Baoyu about bathing with a maid:

"I remember when Bihen sent you to take a bath, it took two or three hours. I don't know what you were doing. We couldn't go in. Later, when you finished bathing, we went in to take a look. The water on the floor was up to the bed legs, and even the mat was soaked. I don't know how you bathed."

She now knows how to wash it.

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

Chapter 47: The Black Sheep and the Six-Winged Archangel

Speaking of which, the last time Chen Junqian traveled to Beijing was when he participated in the recording of the first season of "Chinese Character Dictation Competition". That was almost four years ago in 2013. The program itself had already completed three seasons and was preparing to hand over the baton to a new cultural program called "Chinese Poetry Competition".

As a megacity with a long history and having been the capital for hundreds of years, Beijing was still very attractive to the younger sister who was visiting for the first time. Therefore, the three of them followed the same route as most tourists, visiting popular historical sites such as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven. In the evening, they accompanied Gu Linguo to explore various shopping malls. Although Beijing is not as rich in anime and manga culture as Shanghai, which is known as the "Magic City," it is still quite strong, much stronger than Guoning. Gu Linguo had a great time shopping.

On Chen Xi's birthday, Chen Junqian also gave his sister a proper celebration. Although his sister herself didn't care much about birthdays, just like him, she felt that this was indeed a good time to ask for gifts and make wishes. So she took the opportunity to be patted on the head quite a bit. If there were any historian recording the emperor's daily life at this time, he would have left a record saying, "Such is the favor shown to him."

When Chen Junqian returned to Guoning after his trip with the two of them, which was a journey where all parties had to be careful about what they said about the subject of the biography, and could only leave behind the record of "the secrets of the palace are unknown", Zhu Wenyun announced to him with a relieved expression that the first draft of the new book was finally completed.

As a pure commercial writer, one needs to produce at least one new work a year to maintain exposure. Zhu Wenyun herself used to complain when she was a child that Keigo Higashino's works were becoming more and more numerous but the quality was declining. Now that she has become a writer in this model, she can understand his hard work to some extent. It is only because Chen Junqian has been constantly providing her with fresh material that she would have run out of inspiration long ago.

Even so, this new book, which was eventually named "Black Sheep," made Zhu Wenyun feel a long-lost sense of exhaustion in the later stages of writing. The meaning of the title is quite clear. In Zhu Wenyun's own view, Gu Linguo and Chen Xi are, in fact, black sheep among a group of white sheep. The former's uniqueness and the latter's aloofness can easily separate them from the crowd. Therefore, in the plot of this book, Zhu Wenyun tried to depict this sense of separation and division.

"Actually, if it weren't for the fact that it sounded so bad, the book title I initially thought of was 'Pests,' but after thinking about it, 'Black Sheep' is definitely a better title."

"So, in the end, Wen Yun did write about school bullying."

"After all, a story needs twists and turns and selling points, and the male protagonist in the book is not like Junqian in real life who can really protect both of them well from the beginning. So I don't think Junqian is the prototype of the male protagonist in the book. He is just one aspect of you."

The literature-loving girl, slumped over her desk, looked utterly exhausted, as if she were about to turn to ashes and vanish at any moment. So Chen Junqian went over and patted her shoulder to comfort her.

"Alright, this book is now complete. Wenyun can take a good rest for a while."

"It feels like a dark joke to say this to a student who is about to enter their senior year of high school."

"At least compared to writing a book, studying should be less stressful for Wenyun."

"That's true... I feel like I don't want to write another word until next year."

Now that things have come to this, having written about all the girls around Chen Junqian, including herself, in several books, Zhu Wenyun is beginning to understand why he doesn't want to miss any of them. After all, just like the experiences she described in her books, each of them has a story with him. Even the most discerning readers might think, "If this isn't love," or "Why aren't these two together yet?" In the reality that love is inherently sacred and perfect, it makes people even more devoted and determined to never let go.

After all, people yearn for these beautiful love stories that are full of ups and downs but ultimately have a happy ending because real-life relationships are mostly quite simple or even boring, whether in the beginning, the process, or the final ending.

They are always in the prime of their lives, and compared to tranquility, they definitely want to have their own stories that they can tell decades later.

And so, as Chen Junqian sat quietly beside her, flipping through the sample book, Zhu Wenyun lay there staring at him intently, as if she couldn't get enough of looking at him. It wasn't until Chen Junqian took the initiative to look away from the words and lift his head to stretch his neck and shoulders that she finally looked away.

"I feel that Wen Yun's understanding of anime and manga culture is more comprehensive than I imagined."

Just as the saying goes, "cultural workers must be cultured," compared to authors who can write about high school students finishing their evening self-study at 9 pm, Zhu Wenyun has indeed done her best in this field that she was previously unfamiliar with. However, this is also related to Chen Junqian providing her with a lot of ready-made dialogues and insider references for reference. After all, Zhu Wenyun is only writing a female protagonist with this kind of attribute, and she can't really turn the other person into an old-fashioned anime fan. She obviously doesn't have much interest in this.

"As long as the anime and manga community doesn't feel offended or feel like they're being unfairly exploited, Xiaoxi is much easier to handle in that respect."

After all, Zhu Wenyun has always been a high-achieving liberal arts student. Given the close relationship between literature, history, and philosophy, she is familiar with the historical references her younger sister often uses. Furthermore, Chen Junqian, the assistant involved, provides more professional information. In terms of participation alone, this is the book in which Chen Junqian has been most involved to date.

"However, I feel that the copyright for this book probably won't be easy to sell."

In Chen Junqian's memory, youth-themed films and television works that mix in anime and manga-related attributes can easily become quite bizarre. For example, there was a movie he watched before his rebirth called "Crossing the Angry Sea." In this respect, the saying that small circles entertain themselves in their own small circles also makes sense.

"Well, it's alright, I'm not really short of money lately."

In fact, after the success of the web series adaptations of two of her works, many film and television companies did focus their attention on Zhu Wenyun. However, her two new works, "A Letter from a Strange Childhood Sweetheart" and "Black Sheep," seemed difficult to adapt and had a visibly small audience. So they had to reluctantly withdraw their inquiries. Zhu Wenyun's attitude towards this was also very open-minded.

After all, she does have a desire for money, but that desire was satisfied long ago. As for income afterward, it's fine to have it or not. The literary girl still has the pride of a literary girl. For her, the best medium for emotions is always words. In comparison, things like catering to film and television adaptations or simply wanting to sell copyrights are obviously not within her consideration.

When exactly will it be officially released?