22.3 - The Twenty-Second Flavor Part 3

Translator: tarararawr

The text message had a few very simple words: “Don’t be afraid, I am also here.”

It easily caused the corner of Xian Bei’s mouth to rise. She looked up at the audience and looked around. Wow. Her boyfriend really was a crane in a flock of chickens 1 . He stood out. When he smiled at her, it was even brighter than ten thousand rays of light.

Her face was slightly burning, and the smile behind the mask increased. Xian Bei tapped letter by letter to reply: “I’ll fight for it. ><”

“You are very strong, Madam Xian Bei.”

“Oh……”

“The above information comes from your most handsome male fan.”

Pffff. This time she really couldn’t help but laugh.

Xian Bei covers her lips……. Of course, the strangers couldn’t see her mouth.

Then, the host came onto the stage and Xian Bei quickly put away her cell phone.

There was a warm-up activity before the book signing. The host would do a short question segment with the artists to liven up the atmosphere, to promote their work, and to make it easier for fans and the rest of the audience to learn more about the mangaka’s personality.

The first question was shocking.

The host said, “We know that there are a lot of true fans here. Everyone must be curious about our Dada’s 2 ideal types to see if they can match that……”

An echo of agreement.

They went in order.

The first was a chubby male artist with black-rimmed glasses. He scratched his head and said, “I already have a child.”

Host: “Then you have to withdraw from this question.”

The audience laughed.

The second was a young girl who was wearing a ponytail and looked very energetic. She replied with a grin, “The male protagonists of all the shojo manga I have ever drawn.”

The third was Xian Bei’s turn.

As a popular mangaka who had just achieved good sales and sold the manga’s film and television rights for millions, the host gave her a grand introduction and said, “I don’t know if everyone is as surprised as I am. The artist that created so many of everyone’s favorite hot-blooded shounen manga is unexpectedly such a cute girl. This is probably what people call moe 3 .”

Xian Bei’s popularity was visible to the naked eye. The cheers never stopped when it was her turn.

Xian Bei never looked up. She just nodded with her head lowered to show that she was listening. Thank you everyone in the audience……

I’m sorry…..

"

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She really didn’t know how to deal with this kind of situation……

“It seems that Teacher 4 Xian is very shy. Hahahaha.” The host worked hard to warm things up. The fans were also very tolerant and kept applauding.

The creators who didn’t show their public persona could only repay their fans with strength and talent so that they could be worthy of their fan’s love.

When the host asked Xian Bei about her ideal type, the microphone was already placed in front of her. She opened her mouth slightly, and her lips were still weak.

Everyone held their breath and Xian Bei knew that she could not let everyone down like this and let others pay for her issues with social interactions. She took a deep breath and thought of something to herself.

“Can I……write it down?”

Xian Bei asked carefully.

A staff member delivered a blank sheet of paper while the fans celebrated.

Xian Bei quickly picked up the pen into her hand and wrote with a very fast speed.

The big screen behind her projected the paper’s content, which were only five words——

“Original Flavor and 30% Sweet.”

The handwriting was beautiful, but the direction of the character’s strokes could be seen as anxious.

The whole audience was shocked, and even the host didn’t know how to respond. After a moment of silence, he asked, “As far as I know, this is a milk tea flavor, isn’t it?”

Xian Bei nodded again and again.

Host: “Hahaha. Our Madam Xian Bei really has this kind of cold fairy humor from her manga.”

Her performance more or less reminded the manga fans of a character in the manga. A sense of comfort surged in everyone’s mind and everyone was filled with joy.

Finally, her turn was over. Xian Bei breathed a sigh of relief and secretly patted her small chest. Then, she looked up and happened to see a familiar sight.

He was standing in the noisy crowd and looking at her. The corners of his mouth were slightly up into a silent smile.

Xian Bei’s face was hot and her eyes looked elsewhere to dodge it. But she could not help being attracted back to it. They looked at each other again and the curves around the corners of their eyes deepened.

“Yes, I was talking about you.

It doesn’t matter if the world doesn’t understand, and there is no need for outsiders to be clear about it. At this moment, only you understand and that is my entire goal.

There are billions of people on this planet.

I just want to tell you that there are thousands of flavors in the world, and the only one I love is you.”

——The End.——

The author has something to say:

This novel is now finished. Thank you fairies for your company.

tarararawr’s rararamblings: Thank you so much for reading! It’s been a long journey and I hope you enjoyed this sweet story as much as I did. 🙂 If you haven’t already, please check out my other translations . I will also be translating another one of this author’s work called My Ears Say They Want to Know You .

Footnotes

鹤立鸡群 (hèlìjīqún) – idiom for a person’s appearance or talent is superior than the surrounding people 大大 (dàdà) – refers to heroes or gods. It’s used by fans to refer to the celebrity they like, super talented people, etc. 萌 (méng) – Japanese slang for cute character 老师 (lǎoshī) – sometimes teacher is used as a title of respect