Chapter 74: ...I drew it

Mu Youyu saw the screen on her phone, and the smile at the corner of her mouth froze slightly.

"... It's really blurry."

"It seems a bit out of focus." Mu Youyu lightly tapped the screen with her fingertip, her tone tinged with regret.

Xia Chao-yi leaned in, his tone full of exaggerated praise: "Hey, it's still pretty nice! Sister Yu and Brother Jin, this blurry outline... what a high-class hazy feeling!"

It still mainly relies on their looks.

Jiang Liangjin glanced at Xia Chao-yi, the corner of his lips curling into an extremely slight arc, and concisely uttered two words: "Well said."

Hearing the two play off each other, Mu Youyu instead felt amused: "Now that I look at it, I think so too."

"It seems... a bit not well taken."

Mo Song's voice was as thin as a mosquito, with a hint of regret: "I was too nervous, I didn't get the angle right."

Mu Youyu was about to say "It's fine," when she saw Bai Yun bouncing over with a camera, her elbow lightly bumping Mo Song's arm.

"It's nothing, just retake it!"

She shook the instant camera in her hand, winked at Mu Youyu, and said, "Little Yu, let me help you take pictures!"

Upon hearing that, Jiang Liangjin lowered his gaze to Mu Youyu, his fingertip lightly touching her hand, and said, "Take another one?"

Mu Youyu smiled and nodded.

The two got into position.

Bai Yun made a gesture, adjusted the angle, gave them an OK sign, and said, "Come a little closer!"

The shutter clicked, the instant camera spit out two photos, and Bai Yun eagerly shook them, saying, "Looks good, looks good!"

Xia Chao-yi leaned over to look, couldn't help but exclaim "Wow," and said, "You two really match when you stand together!"

Jiang Liangjin took the photos and gave him a confirming look.

Mu Youyu leaned beside him to look at the photos, tilted her head at him, and said, "Still pretty nice."

Upon hearing that, the youth's Adam's apple moved slightly, his voice softer than before: "Mm, Youbao has always been pretty."

Mo Song returned the phone to Mu Youyu, saying, "Nice!"

Mu Youyu was still looking at the photos, unaware, so Jiang Liangjin naturally took it for her.

Bai Yun eagerly tossed the camera to Xia Chao-yi, leaned close to Mu Youyu, and said, "Little Yu, let's go to the academy to buy the out-of-print manga!"

Saying that, she pulled her outward.

As they exited the glass greenhouse, the sun grew hotter again.

Passing through the pebble-paved path, the retro bookstore's sign gradually became clear.

Above the door were the large characters "Mist-Frost Academy," and several glazed lamps hung at the entrance.

Inside, there were quite a few people.

As the few of them entered, it quieted down.

Mu Youyu walked past the bookshelves, turned halfway around, and at once spotted a somewhat familiar manga cover on the middle shelf.

The manga is titled "When Rain Falls on the Fingertips," its cover mainly blue and white, featuring a boy and a girl.

The girl has pink hair, sits on the lawn with her legs slightly bent.

Only the boy's side profile is visible, as he reaches his hand toward her.

She hesitated, lowered her voice, and asked, "A Jin, do you find this familiar?"

Jiang Liangjin took it down, flipped a page, saw the familiar art style and a picture of an old man's feet surrounded by hair, and a laugh escaped his throat: "You drew this."

Although the colors were a bit off, he still recognized it.

Mu Youyu remembered.

She tilted her head to look at Jiang Liangjin, saw him lowering his gaze to stare at the cover, the corner of his mouth still holding a smile, and couldn't help but reach out to lightly pinch his waist, "... Don't laugh."

Jiang Liangjin grasped her mischievous hand, stifling laughter, "Okay."

Their whisper was interrupted by Bai Yun's exclamation.

"Little Yu!" Bai Yun searched for a few minutes before discovering the book she wanted was in Jiang Liangjin's hand.

Her eyes lit up, "I didn't expect you to have found it!"

Bai Yun hadn't expected there to really be this book here; she had heard from others that there were two copies hidden in this place, and at first she worried they'd already been taken!

"I've been looking for this out-of-print manga for two months; I heard that in all of C City, only Mist-Frost Academy has two copies left!"

She has long loved this manga artist's art style!

Mainly because she got into it late, it was already out of print; no other software sells this book, and no one puts it up, so she inquired for two months before finding this place!

Her voice was a bit loud, drawing passersby to glance over unintentionally, so Bai Yun led the few of them to a seat and sat down.

Mu Youyu handed the book to Bai Yun, "... You came just for this?"

If you had said earlier, Lin Ning over there has a whole stack.

Jiang Liangjin obviously thought of that too, "Is it out of print?"

He hasn't really paid attention.

Mainly Lin Ning is in charge; he and she had deleted it at first, then reconciled and added it back because of Youbao.

Bai Yun took the manga with a grin, "Right, right!"

She stroked the book cover, her tone full of reverence: "Look at the brushwork of these rain lines; Artist Yue Shu makes each drop's arc different—it's practically a divine art style!"

Mu Youyu indicated: "... Do all the arcs differ? I can't even remember myself."

Thinking that, she also asked aloud: "Is that so?"

Bai Yun nodded heavily, "Yes!"

"... When Rain Falls on the Fingertips" is a romantic fantasy manga.

The female lead is Lin Yushi, the youngest intern forecaster at the Meteorological Bureau, who has a special ability to empathize with the weather; her emotions unconsciously affect local weather.

She, after causing an important event to encounter a rainstorm due to a mistake, used her own power to save all innocent people, yet she kept blaming herself.

She then voluntarily transferred to a remote coastal town observation station with few people, to calm down and get familiar with her ability.

In the town, she met the old station chief who insisted on recording weather tracks, and the male lead Ye Yuan, who for some unknown reason fears rain.

She helped the old station chief along the way, learned that the male lead Ye Yuan had amnesia, and also redeemed him.

……The last chapter, chapter twenty, writes that Lin Yushi stands at the observation station's gate.

The old station chief was handing her the weather record book, with an inscrutable expression saying: "Yushi, you should understand, some rain when it falls is not just for people to hide from, but to let them learn to turn panic into a reason to share an umbrella..."

Just like you, just like Xiao Yuan.

And besides, in this world, it's not only you who influences the weather.

Lin Yushi didn't understand these words' meaning; just as she reached out to take the book, a startled sound came from behind as Ye Yuan knocked over a water cup……

Then it ended, the first part concluded, this manga artist's process produced a manga book, and then it disappeared!

Compared to other types of manga, this manga's plot is actually not very compelling to keep reading.

Most of its popularity still relies on this book's sole manga artist, Yue Shu, whose unique art style took off.

Bai Yun thought of this and felt heartbroken, she suppressed her voice: "Ahhh, Yue Shu's art style is really amazing! Even if you just casually write the plot, even if it turns into a lump, someone will still read it!"

How did she suddenly stop drawing, stuck on writer's block ahhh!

If Yue Shu continued drawing, she would keep rewarding it to keep the manga at the top of the rankings!

Xia Chao Yi knew she liked it, so he nodded: "Exactly, I don't know why Yue Shu stopped drawing for over a year, almost two years."

He liked this plot and art style, and later searched online to find out Yue Shu had stopped drawing for almost two years!

With Yue Shu's art skill, she could definitely keep working in this line!

Mo Song also came over; she had read this manga before, and upon hearing this, she nodded in understanding.

Her tone full of agreement: "Yes, Yue Shu's art is really moving! I don't know why it's stalled, I'm really curious about the later plot..."

Jiang Liangjin held back a laugh and said to Mu Youyu: "Your little fan girl."

Mo Song thought he was referring to herself, instinctively turned her head and let out an "ah".

Mu Youyu also recognized her own art style; this manga was something she doodled for fun in her second year of junior high.

Later Lin Ning said she wanted to publish and collect it, so she went through the process to release it.

But……

Her gaze fell on the manga's cover: "……Xiao Yun, this is a pirated copy."

Bai Yun couldn't believe it, almost slapped the table: "What! Really?"

How did Xiao Yu suddenly say this is a pirated copy?

She came to the academy specifically to find this very copy!

"Right." Mu Youyu nodded.

Mo Song also came over to take a look; she saw the pages printed clearly, colors saturated.

It was no different from the manga she had borrowed from the library before; it was really hard to tell it was a pirated copy.

She couldn't help but cautiously interject: "It looks quite exquisite to me; is there a big difference from the genuine version?"

Xia Chao Yi also hadn't seen the genuine version, so he couldn't tell.

Jiang Liangjin couldn't help feeling a little proud: "I can tell."

"You're awesome."

Mu Youyu praised him with a sentence, then explained: "The genuine version's colors should be lighter."

"How do you know?" Bai Yun blurted out instinctively.

Could it be that Xiao Yu has the genuine version?

Indeed, she is the eldest daughter of the Mu Family; basically nothing she wants is unattainable!

I never expected Xiao Yu to like the same manga as her ahhh!

Jiang Liangjin looked toward Mu Youyu beside him.

The latter's eyelid twitched, and she didn't hide it from her: "……I drew it."