167. The Illustrator's Dilemma

Hey—who on earth is your child here! Is that any way to threaten your own son?
Jiang Yu couldn't help curling his lips, silently complaining in the bottom of his heart.
Then he saved the photo, transferred it to his own phone, and prepared it for easy recognition when he arrived at the airport tomorrow.
However... Shiina Mashiro?
I somehow have a faint impression of this name. Could it be my imagination? And seriously, why would I have an impression of a little girl's name, you idiot?!
After saving the contact note as "Shiina Mashiro" on the photo, Jiang Yu tapped into LINE once again, preparing to continue the previous conversation with Kotobuki Tsumugi and the light music club from her school.
Then Jiang Yu discovered that in the short while he had spent checking the email and saving the photo, the girls had already decided on the time for their meetup.
After asking for everyone's opinion, they decided—or rather, the four girls of the light music club decided—to schedule their first gathering for May 4th, which was the second day of the latter half of the Golden Week holidays.
Thinking about it carefully, aside from potential club matters, Jiang Yu realized that he truly had nothing else to do throughout the entire holiday. He didn't know whether he should feel happy or sad about that...
With complex feelings, Jiang Yu typed out an "OK," sent it, and placed his phone on the desk. After a brief rest, he needed to resume his game-development journey.
However, fate had other plans. Less than a minute after Jiang Yu put down his phone, the screen lit up automatically once again, accompanied by the notification chime for a new LINE message.
Could there still be something unsettled?
Thinking this, Jiang Yu sighed, paused the work he had just started, and picked up his phone once again.
"Huh—? Editor Kuroneko?"
Jiang Yu then wore a slightly surprised expression, murmuring to himself. Seriously, did all these people coordinate today? They all managed to have business today, and all of it right in the evening...
Kuroneko: "Tusu-sensei! The consultation regarding the illustrations has finally yielded results!"

Seeing this sentence, Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow, recalling the discussion he previously had with her concerning the illustrator for My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected, though that memory was practically on the verge of being forgotten by him.
To think that as the original author, he could be so indifferent to his own work—such behavior, in the entire realm of creators, could at the very least be described as eccentric, if not entirely unique.
After a brief thought, he directly sent a voice call request to the other person. For matters like this, he believed face-to-face communication was far more reliable than text explanations. Since a face-to-face meeting was impossible right now, and hastily initiating a video call wouldn't be entirely appropriate, he would simply explain things directly via voice chat.
That, roughly, was what Jiang Yu was thinking.
Meanwhile, at Gokou Ruri's home.
After sending the message to Jiang Yu, Gokou Ruri continued her previous work on the computer in front of her. When she clicked into the hard drive, her gaze involuntarily swept over the F drive. Inside were some ideas she had written down for self-amusement during middle and high school. Although most of them had never been shown to anyone, and she had long since abandoned those illusory notions, she naturally couldn't bring herself to delete them all.
After all, when a person grows up and looks back at their previous naive thoughts, they might sneer, shake their head, or feel immensely embarrassed; or perhaps they might chuckle, feel proud, or harbor grand ambitions. But no matter what, those final emotions ultimately transform into nostalgia.
Moreover, the carefree days when young people could still dream without worry are invariably the times adults returning to society miss the most. Just like anyone who has worked and struggled in society for many years, when they recall the foolish things they did during their student days, don't they also smile knowingly?
Suddenly, the vibrating phone beside the computer brought Gokou Ruri back to her senses. Seeing that the caller was none other than Jiang Yu—the very person she was just preparing to report her work to—she quickly shook her head, cast aside the idle thoughts in her mind, and answered the voice call.
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Moshi-moshi, is this Editor Kuroneko? This is Jiang Yu, ah, I mean Baili Tusu."
Gokou Ruri stood up. The black cat that had been resting on her lap naturally woke up, leaped to the floor, gave her master a puzzled look, meowed softly twice, and receiving no response, simply trotted away back to its own small bed.
Yet before returning to its bed, the look the black cat cast at Gokou Ruri seemed somewhat resentful, as if saying, "You hold me and won't let me leave when you need me, but throw me away the moment you don't," or something along those lines.
"Um, is there something you need, Tusu-sensei?"
"Nothing major, really. Just wanted to talk about the outcome regarding the illustrations. I figured talking over the phone would make things clearer. I hope I'm not disturbing you?"
"Ah, no, not at all. Regarding the illustrator issue, we sent out invitations to the two illustrators Tusu-sensei selected, and we just received their replies today."

"And the result?"
Jiang Yu cut straight to the point.
"Well... as for Ailmi-sensei, because she seems to have a bit too much work on her hands—she's responsible for the illustrations of The Blazing Dark Fairy, has her own original manga to serialize, alongside some other commitments—though she was very enthusiastic about the manuscript of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected that we attached, she ultimately declined the job."
Was the first-choice candidate rejected? Jiang Yu leaned against the windowsill of his bedroom, sighed softly, and continued, "Then the other one... um... Eromanga-sensei?"
"About that... the person didn't explicitly refuse the job. However, since the only material we attached was the short excerpt of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected published online, the other party isn't sure whether your subsequent manuscripts will maintain that level of quality, and has requested that we send the entire light novel manuscript for review before making a final decision."
"Hmm... then send it over. As long as the other side signs a commercial non-disclosure agreement, that should be fine, right?"
"......That is true, but aren't you angry, Sensei? The other party is doubting your standards, even though this is such a marvelous light novel!"
At this point, Gokou Ruri's voice involuntarily rose, sounding somewhat indignant.
Jiang Yu couldn't help but chuckle, then offered some words of comfort: "Well, I'm a newcomer after all, so it's normal for them to have those kinds of thoughts. You don't need to get so angry, Kuroneko... Look, I'm the author and even I'm not angry, see?"
"......I somehow have the feeling that your tone right now is as if you're coaxing a child. Is that my imagination?"
"Well, well... Imagination, it's definitely your imagination!"
Jiang Yu stated with absolute conviction.