The victory banquet was lively. Fang Qiu sat with the Traveler, Paimon, Klee, and Xingqiu.
Marbled slabs of meat sizzled on the grill, and the drinks arrived soon after.
Once Yae Miko had given her short summary and everyone had raised their cups, the mood in the hall warmed up considerably.
They had worked hard for an entire morning, and everyone was worn out. Plenty of people, like Fang Qiu, had barely touched their breakfast.
The moment the cups came down, a good number of them dug in and started wolfing down food.
Not a shred of scholarly restraint among them.
Authors who knew each other chatted away, trading plans for where to go next.
Fang Qiu was having a great time too. The only snag was that their table was famous enough that people kept dropping by to offer toasts and small talk, which slowed down her eating.
Most of them didn't pester her, though. A sentence or two, and they moved on.
Some did pester, of course. One middle-aged man had drunk too much and wanted to tour the Irodori Festival with Xingqiu.
Xingqiu was at a loss.
Luckily, Yae Miko came over with her wine just then, and the man had the sense to slink off.
"Oh my, who would have thought Teacher Zhenyu could be even more popular than our Fang Qiu?"
Yae Miko smiled and sat down beside Fang Qiu as she spoke.
"Please don't tease me, Editor-in-Chief Yae."
Xingqiu took an awkward sip of juice.
When the books went on sale earlier, a lot of people had assumed he was a girl.
It had embarrassed him badly…
"Teacher Zhenyu, there's nothing shameful about good looks. If anything, it's something to be proud of."
The corners of Yae Miko's mouth curved up. She poked Fang Qiu, who was busy eating, with her elbow. "Fang Qiu, don't you agree?"
"Cough… cough…"
Fang Qiu had been drinking juice, and Yae Miko's question made her choke.
She looked at the smile on Yae Miko's face, and a faint chill ran through her body.
She had the distinct feeling that smile was up to no good.
Then again…
She had to admit that Xingqiu really did look androgynous. His facial lines were soft enough that he could easily pass for a girl.
After all, she had mistaken him for one the first time too…
Yae Miko didn't press the point, though. Instead, she turned to the benefits of having a pretty-girl author.
She explained that a pretty-girl author boosted book sales and let more people see the stories the author wrote.
She added that, now that everyone had mistaken Teacher Zhenyu for a pretty-girl author, it would probably be a huge help to the sales of A Legend of Sword.
Xingqiu had meant to ask Yae Publishing House to help clear up his identity, but Yae Miko's preemptive strike left him speechless.
It wasn't that he cared about money.
He was, after all, the Second Young Master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild.
He just wanted more people to read the stories he wrote.
In his book, he had poured in a great deal of his devotion to the single concept of "chivalry."
Please, from the edge of despair, read my chivalry.
"I've been watching the readers' reactions today, and they're very enthusiastic about Teacher Zhenyu being a pretty girl. Yae Publishing House has a partnership with Liyue's Tianquan, so once Fang Qiu's new film is released, we'll start work on adapting and shooting our own. Teacher Zhenyu's work is naturally the first choice. If possible, I'd like Teacher Zhenyu to cooperate a little."
Yae Miko's lips curved up as she watched Xingqiu, who looked slightly tempted.
"Cooperate how?"
Xingqiu asked, puzzled.
As the saying goes, the player is lost while the onlooker sees clearly.
Fang Qiu glanced at the baffled Xingqiu, then at Yae Miko, whose smile had widened, and sighed inwardly.
That smile screamed trouble.
And with all the groundwork Yae Miko had just laid, the answer was obvious.
True, the Traveler had mentioned before that Xingqiu loved pulling pranks.
Like tricking Shenhe's nephew, Chongyun, into eating a chili popsicle.
But compared to Yae Miko, the gap in skill was enormous.
"It's about your gender, of course, Teacher Zhenyu. At the events to come, I'd like you to appear in women's clothing," Yae Miko said with a perfectly straight face.
"What?!"
Xingqiu went pale with shock.
"If you attend in women's clothing, Teacher Zhenyu, the popularity of A Legend of Sword will reach a new peak."
Yae Miko pressed on.
"No, no, absolutely not! A man can't wear women's clothes! I was hoping Yae Publishing House would help me squash the rumor!"
Xingqiu refused at once.
If word of the dress ever got back to Liyue, how could he ever show his face again?
"I see… Then Teacher Zhenyu, could you at least hold off on clarifying your gender for now?"
Yae Miko put on a worried look. "If readers had known from the start that you were a man, that would be fine. But right now everyone believes you're a pretty girl. If you clarify now, it will surely hurt the book's popularity. The damage would only be temporary, and with your talent, recovering is just a matter of time. But at this critical moment, with the film adaptation coming, a dip in popularity would hamper the film's promotion and spread in Inazuma."
"Well, uh…"
Yae Miko's business analysis left Xingqiu dazed for a long while.
"Teacher Zhenyu, you wouldn't want the film or animation made from your work to stall in Inazuma, or even sink, would you?"
Yae Miko sighed, every inch the person who only had his best interests at heart, her tone earnest and heartfelt.
"Er…"
Xingqiu was lost for words again.
Something felt off, yet what Yae Miko said seemed to make sense…
For a moment, he had no rebuttal.
In the end, under a barrage of Yae Miko's rhetoric, he could only reluctantly agree to hold off on clarifying his identity and let Yae Publishing House promote his book with a vague, ambiguous attitude.
"Thank you for your understanding, Teacher Zhenyu."
Yae Miko smiled, and a flash of mischief crossed her eyes.
Step one of the plan: complete.
Watching Xingqiu wear the relieved look of someone who had dodged being talked into a dress, Fang Qiu let out a long sigh.
If only this world had Mr. Lu Xun.
Back in that age of awakening, Mr. Lu Xun once said:
"The Chinese temperament always favors compromise and the middle path. Say this room is too dark and you want to cut a window in the wall, and everyone will surely refuse. But if you propose tearing off the roof, they'll come around to compromise and agree to the window."
Yae Miko had the order reversed, but the principle was about the same.
She had asked Xingqiu to promote the book in women's clothing, been refused, and then settled for the smaller request: that he hold off on clarifying the rumor.
And Xingqiu had chosen compromise.
After all, compared to a dress, not clarifying the rumor was far easier for him to accept.
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