How to raise a random guy's wife

“It seems we don’t need to.” Kobayashi Megumi held up the paper in her hand. “It’s your original work.”

"I disagree!" Kobayashi Sora's reaction was unusually strong.

"Why?" Eriri's question became even more intense.

"Think about the fan art you've drawn!"

"..." Eriri paused for a moment, then shouted, "This time it's different!"

"Ok?"

“It’s definitely different.” Kobayashi Megumi showed Kobayashi Sora a printed sheet of paper with several sketches that Eriri had already completed. “It’s a normal manga.”

Kobayashi Sora read the title, "The Teasing Master (Former) Takagi-san?"

"Didn't your previous light novels include a bonus section about married life?" Eriri further explained, "I was thinking, could we expand that bonus section into a manga and tell the story of their married life with their child?"

“This looks pretty good…” Kobayashi Sora looked at the sketches. “It has a very school-like feel, and the characters aren’t out of character.”

After all, Eriri has been in charge of manga adaptations, so she's quite adept at drawing fan art.

“I feel great. Sora is very busy with work right now and doesn’t have time to write a sequel, so continuing it this way is a good choice.” Kobayashi Megumi smiled. “And having you, who adapted the original work, draw it makes me feel even more at ease.”

"I had similar thoughts..." Although somewhat unwilling, Eriri honestly admitted, "You all know my screenwriting skills. This time, I mainly wanted to practice. The theme of Takagi-san's story is simple, but the plot of each chapter is very complete. I can learn a lot in the process of imitating and creating. At the same time, with the popularity of the original work, the success of the fanfiction can be guaranteed, which allows me to continue creating."

This is a very real problem. Eriri, who has become a professional manga artist, has reached an age where she needs to consider practical issues.

"That's fine." Kobayashi Sora noticed another problem, "But... why aren't you working with your senior anymore? Did you two have a falling out?"

“It’s not exactly a conflict…” Eriri hesitated for a moment, “it’s just a bit of a disagreement.”

"What's wrong?" Kobayashi Megumi asked with concern.

"She's always on top," Eriri complained bitterly, "I want to be on top too!"

"Uh..." Kobayashi Sora blinked. "Hmm?"

“Even though I’m terrible at screenwriting, I still have ideas I want to express!” Eriri grumbled in dissatisfaction. “But when it comes to adaptations, even if I have things I want to express, I have to prioritize her and follow her arrangements. I’ve always been overshadowed by her because she understands some aspects of animation and direction, while I only understand animation.”

"Oh, so that's what it means..." Kobayashi Sora suddenly realized.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Eriri glared at Kobayashi Sora. “What did you think?”

“I thought… cough cough, I mean, it’s okay not to completely listen to her, right?” Kobayashi Sora asked, puzzled. “Even a fool can have a moment of wisdom, there’s no need to completely listen to her.”

"Respecting the original work is the most basic requirement for adaptation!" Eriri declared. "If you think your adapted plot is better than the original, then why bother adapting it at all? That's how so-called rubbish works are produced."

As an otaku, she deeply abhorred this phenomenon.

Kobayashi Sora sighed, "If only everyone had your level of awareness."

"It's precisely because so few people have this kind of awareness that there's so much garbage. That's why I absolutely refuse to become one of those who create garbage." Eriri paused, her azure eyes locking onto Kobayashi Sora with a murderous glint in them. "Who are you calling a fool?"

Kobayashi Sora: "A slip of the tongue."

Chapter 561 Interdependence

“But even if your screenwriting skills are honed by following this line of thinking,” Kobayashi Megumi pointed out the crux of the problem, “if you continue to work with your senior in the future, you still have to listen to her.”

Yinglili: "..."

Yes, that seems to be true.

Kobayashi Sora suppressed a laugh.

As expected of Kobayashi Megumi, she silenced Eriri with just one sentence.

“I don’t think Eriri wants to completely deny Senpai’s plot.” Kobayashi Sora vaguely guessed Eriri’s thoughts. “It’s just that when writing the light novel, Eriri couldn’t get a word in edgewise, but when adapting the manga, Senpai could give a lot of advice. She probably wants to improve her screenwriting skills so that she can have a back-and-forth discussion with Senpai during the creative process.”

"Hmm... I think I understand your idea." Kobayashi Megumi looked at Eriri, "But senpai's screenwriting skills are so strong, it will take a long time to catch up if you want to improve now."

"Every little bit helps," Eriri decided. "Even a fool can have a stroke of genius after a thousand thoughts; maybe a hundred thoughts will be enough after this improvement."

Kobayashi Sora: "Who is the fool?"

"I want you to take care of it!"

Kobayashi Megumi patted Kobayashi Sora a little. "Since you've made up your mind, then write a formal proposal, um... and an authorization letter, and then we can get started."

"Hmm...hmm?" Eriri looked bewildered.

“I’ll write it,” Kobayashi Sora said. “You just need to sign it later.”

“OK!” Eriri agreed very readily.

"Please think about it a bit..." Kobayashi Sora sighed. "Don't sign anything carelessly when you go out."

"Okay..." Eriri drawled, picked up the printer paper, and walked out. "You guys continue."

Kobayashi Sora didn't intend to stop. She unbuttoned her clothes, applied essential oil, rubbed her hands, and used her fingertips and knuckles to massage the sides of her neck and shoulders from top to bottom, gently massaging upwards and heavily downwards. "I hadn't noticed before, but in the collaboration between Senpai and Eriri, it seems that Eriri has always been in a weaker position."

"I feel that the senior student seems to be at a slight disadvantage."

"Oh?"

"The expressiveness and communicative power of words are ultimately a whole order of magnitude lower than that of pictures, just like comics and animation," Kobayashi Megumi explained her thoughts. "With Eriri's current abilities, adapting a work wouldn't be difficult, but she still gave a lot of advice. The final adapted comics often contain a lot of content that wasn't in the original work."

"So... Kasumigaoka Utaha is using the adaptation process to further refine her work?"

“During the adaptation process, Kasumigaoka Utaha realized more of her shortcomings. In giving advice to Eriri, she further improved her work and achieved self-improvement.” Kobayashi Megumi paused, “But this type of adaptation is not common in the industry.”

“Indeed, apart from some collaborations between scriptwriters and manga artists, most manga adaptations are based on the manga artist’s ideas.” Kobayashi Sora nodded. “After all, text and manga have different forms of expression and different audiences, so it’s natural to prioritize manga artists who are more experienced and have a better understanding of manga as a medium.”

"In other words, Eriri can adapt many people's light novels to hone her drawing skills, while only by collaborating with Eriri can Senpai have the opportunity to further improve her own works," Kobayashi Megumi summarized. "From this perspective, Senpai relies on Eriri more."

"So... this is a mutually dependent relationship?" Kobayashi Sora used her thumb to massage Kobayashi Megumi's Dazhui acupoint. "To better portray the story of Senpai, Eriri will work harder to improve her drawing skills, and to make her drawings worthwhile, Senpai will need to improve her screenwriting abilities—if their relationship were even a little better, this wouldn't have happened."

Neither of them was willing to admit defeat, and neither was willing to be inferior to the other, which ultimately led to this outcome.

“If their relationship were a little worse, it wouldn’t have had this effect.” Kobayashi Megumi recalled their project. “And it seems they both realized they were too dependent on each other and started exploring other directions.”

The live-action film project for Kasumigaoka Utaha and the fan-made manga ideas for Eriri are essentially about exploring new avenues through independent creation.

Kobayashi Sora finished her massage. "Are they breaking up?"

"You go pick up the kids, I'll cook at home, and we're done?" Kobayashi Megumi poked Kobayashi Sora's nose. "It's just about exploring on our own, dividing the work, and avoiding becoming someone who can only depend on the other for existence."

The worst thing you can do when creating something is to work behind closed doors. This can happen to one person or two people working together.

Not everyone is like Akane Akasaka, who can intensively engage with a large number of works in a short period of time while creating, thus maintaining her creative passion and broadening her thinking.

Kasumigaoka Utaha wants to break free from Eriri's adaptation and achieve self-improvement on her own.

This way, when Eriri adapts her work, she can better improve it.

Eriri wants to break free from Kasumigaoka Utaha's storyline and independently improve herself.

This way, when adapting Kasumigaoka Utaha's works, she will know how to better express them.

"I see." Kobayashi Sora said knowingly. "So I'm going to pick up Lanlan today?"

"It's still early after school." Kobayashi Megumi glanced at the time. "Hmm... Shall we go home first?"

It's okay for the president to leave a little early.

"Going home now?"

"Hmm..." Kobayashi Megumi bit her lower lip lightly, "You've worked so hard for so long, I can give you a massage too."

"Can't we do it in the office?"

“Hmm…” Kobayashi Megumi thought for a moment, “No, even locking the door won’t work.”

"No need to lock...lock the door?" Kobayashi Sora's eyes lit up.

The massage he was thinking of seemed to be the same massage that Kobayashi Megumi had mentioned...

They are not the same kind.

"Didn't you really enjoy your trip to the hot springs before?" Kobayashi Megumi lowered her voice. "So I bought a big bottle of bath oil."

Kobayashi Sora smiled innocently, "It seems like I'm not the only one who likes it."

"I like it too," Kobayashi Megumi said, her gaze wandering. "It softens and moisturizes the skin very well, cleanses and nourishes it, and has a great moisturizing effect..."

"Just because of these?"

"Just because of these things."

"There's another thing I really like: the sound it makes when I apply it to my skin is so pleasant..."

"Let's talk about it when we get home."

Chapter 562 So cute!

"Don't get too fat, or you'll be eaten alive!"

Watching the girl shouting on TV, Xiaolin Lan hesitated for a moment and put down the grape she was about to eat.

Noticing her daughter's subtle movement, Kobayashi Megumi's lips curled up slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm..." Xiaolin Lan pinched her little belly, "If Lanlan eats a lot, will she be eaten too?"

"Hmm..." Kobayashi Megumi drawled, "That's possible."

Lin Lan, who was being held in her mother's arms, shrank back a little. "Then Lan Lan won't eat."

"That's not right," Kobayashi Megumi corrected. "It's not that you can't eat it, it's that you can't eat a lot of it."

"Hmm..." Xiaolin Lan blinked, "How much is 'a lot'?"

Kobayashi Megumi glanced at her husband and gave him a meaningful look.

“A lot is…” Kobayashi Sora understood and took the fruit plate from Kobayashi Ran. “If I eat all of this by myself, that’s a lot.”

"No, you'll turn into a pig like a rice cake!" Xiaolin Lan hurriedly stopped her, waving her little hand, "I'll help Daddy eat some."

Rice Cake: "Meow?"

"Mom, eat some too." Ran Kobayashi fed a grape to Megumi Kobayashi's mouth. "That way, none of us will turn into pigs."

Before the movie "Spirited Away" was even over, Ran Kobayashi was already starting to feel sleepy.

Kobayashi Sora gently rocked the little girl a couple of times, and she drifted off to sleep.