At the Liyue Editorial Department, Bai Qing sat back down at her office desk. She had hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to grab dinner and return to work overtime.
She rubbed the space between her eyebrows and opened Fang Qiu's novel.
Title: "Your Lie in April".
Huh?
When she saw the seven characters of the title clearly, Bai Qing couldn't help but freeze.
Didn't Fang Qiu usually write stories about female martial heroes?
How did the style change so quickly?
With doubts, Bai Qing gritted her teeth and continued reading.
The story begins in a spring in Inazuma.
After school, a piano-playing boy and his childhood friend walk together, chatting about daily topics.
The writing style was fresh and the prose refined; although it was just an ordinary slice-of-life opening, it couldn't help but make Bai Qing's eyes light up.
This writing ability was much stronger than Fang Qiu's previous work; the skill in rendering this relaxed atmosphere was even on par with the top novels on the market.
However, the only drawback was that while the atmosphere was well-established, the protagonist, Arima Kousei, seemed somewhat out of place.
As expected, the skill was still lacking a bit.
However, compared to what Fang Qiu wrote before, it was already much better.
"A story about a boy and a girl... readers have been quite fond of this genre lately. It seems Fang Qiu has done her market research."
Bai Qing smiled gently; this genre was also quite popular among young people.
A beautiful author plus a decent romance story.
It should increase sales significantly.
It's just this handwriting...
Obscure.
Bai Qing rubbed her eyes and continued reading.
As the three walked together chatting happily, the male childhood friend, Watari, was approached by his new girlfriend.
Watari decisively slipped away.
Left behind, Tsubaki Sawabe and Arima Kousei walked together. Under the cherry blossom trees, the two chatted about youth.
"When you have someone you like, the world becomes colorful."
"No one will like me."
"You're too gloomy! Your eyes are dull and lifeless, and we're only fourteen!"
"But, eyes are black; they can't emit light, right?"
"There you go again with that logic. Of course I know that; they don't shine normally."
"Tsubaki, your eyes are shining. The world you see must be colorful, right? Unlike mine."
Reading this, Bai Qing felt even more strongly that the character Arima Kousei was out of place with the story's atmosphere.
"Should I make an appointment with Miss Fang Qiu tomorrow to talk about the issues here?"
Bai Qing pondered.
She continued reading.
As the two chatted, it grew late.
Arima Kousei returned home alone.
The originally relatively relaxed writing style suddenly became incredibly heavy in the next paragraph.
Arima Kousei looked at his mother's portrait and said, "I'm back, Mother."
And so, the writing style became even more oppressive.
Time passed. The next day, at school.
Arima Kousei sat at his desk, recalling what Tsubaki had said, and fell into memories.
The writing style was terribly oppressive.
The boy slumped over the piano, sobbing silently.
"In the autumn of my eleventh year, I... could no longer play the piano."
Even when his childhood friend appeared before Arima Kousei the next day, the writing style remained incessantly depressing, interspersed with many of Arima Kousei's memories.
Through these memories, Bai Qing also figured out Arima Kousei's backstory.
A boy forced to learn piano by his mother since childhood. Under his mother's strict tutelage, Arima Kousei had no childhood; if he made a mistake, he would be beaten by his mother.
To make his mother happy, Arima Kousei always held back his tears and worked hard.
Until his mother passed away.
After reading a few pages, Bai Qing felt a bit breathless.
Oppressive.
She finally understood why the character Arima Kousei seemed so out of place at the beginning.
"This control over the text... surely she didn't find a ghostwriter?"
Bai Qing put down the manuscript in her hand, let out a long breath, picked up her teacup, took a sip of hot tea, and continued reading.
She actually felt a faint expectation for what would happen next.
If the whole piece had this writing style, probably very few readers would be willing to continue reading.
Thus, Tsubaki invited Arima Kousei to meet at a park.
However, Arima Kousei waited for a long time, but Tsubaki did not come.
Just then, Arima Kousei discovered a pair of shoes and tights.
Reading this, Bai Qing couldn't help but smile.
As expected, it's this kind of plot.
As an editor, she saw through the thread of Fang Qiu's story at a glance.
A girl who is about to save Arima Kousei is about to appear.
And so, just as Arima Kousei was confused, a melodious sound of music rang out.
Following the music, he searched all the way and encountered a girl wearing a white dress on a small hill in the park.
She was holding a melodica, playing a moving tune.
And so, in this moment, the gloomy writing style instantly became bright.
Although Bai Qing knew early on that Fang Qiu would change the style in this plot segment, she was still impressed when she saw Fang Qiu's description.
"The moment I met him, my life changed. What I see, what I hear, what I feel... everything within my sight began to become colorful. The whole world started to shine."
Through Fang Qiu's delicate description, Bai Qing seemed to be able to see with her own eyes that barefoot girl in white, playing under the sunlight, surrounded by children, playing to summon.
It's just that Bai Qing didn't understand why Fang Qiu wrote that when Arima Kousei made eye contact with the girl, the girl shed tears.
Even when Fang Qiu later explained that it was because she blew too hard that she cried, Bai Qing felt it was a bit superfluous.
It was a minor detail.
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