I Am a Light Novel Master in Japan Chapter 256

Suddenly, Shiina Mashiro's hand gently grabbed the clothes on Li Yan's chest, and she leaned in front of him. Under the golden dusk, she raised her head with tears. That moment splashed out.

"Holmes...I can't understand...I did exactly what you said..."

"...I will...learn to use the washing machine and stop getting wet..."

"...Cleaning was also praised by Nanami..."

"...When you buy something, you will remember to pay..."

"...I took care of my clothes and hair myself..."

"...keep working hard, keep working hard...I learned a lot...but I lost..."

"Well, am I not trying hard enough... But like this... I still can't understand..."

The snow-white and delicate face, with raised eyebrows, stared at Li Yan with eyes that she still couldn't believe. A faint gray arose in the blank color. She trembled slightly and asked in a low voice, the only Holmes she believed in. gentlemen……

Chapter 157 Dream Chasers

——[What color do you want to be? 】

This sentence was once asked by my grandfather inadvertently.

At that time, she was still a child, gently held by her grandfather's hand, roaming in a majestic and beautiful manor outside London, England. Her grandfather, father and mother were all well-known painters in the industry, and such a family, Finally, she was born, a child who was born to be a painter. Born for a pair of eyes that can see the colors of the world more clearly and thoroughly.

This is the ability that all painters who pursue the art of oil painting dream of...

Undoubtedly, whether it was family members or outsiders, when her painting talent was discovered, everyone thought that given the baptism of time, sooner or later this girl would reach the level of legendary figures like Leonardo da Vinci or Van Gogh in the history of oil painting. level, adding her name to the history of world art.

But her grandfather's casual inquiry troubled her deeply.

There are so many beautiful colors, what kind of color does she look like in this world?

Some people say that she is white, just like the Japanese name her father gave her, Mashiro...

She didn't feel that she was really just a blank. She also understands emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy, and can even see through things that others cannot. Because of this, she always feels that she is not really a blank slate.

Until that day, after hearing about Japanese comics for the first time at an exhibition, in order to find information about Japanese comics, she accidentally ended up in an old bookstore opened by a Japanese store manager that specialized in importing books from Japan. , but found the light novel that seemed to be sealed in the center...

It was not a manga, but the cover had a beautifully drawn anime cover, and the author's name was printed on it as "Uesugi En".

By coincidence, accompanied by her father, she casually took down this book and took it home. After reading other comic books in the deserted manor garden, she picked up this one to write. It is a work full of text and only a few pages of illustrations, but as soon as you turn the page, everything changes.

Just like the scene where Harry Potter received an invitation from the magic school at home, at that moment, she delayed her family's mission, the expectations of the British people, and the high hopes of her grandfather, which made her go on a different path. path of growth.

"After reading it... I feel like I want to turn red... like a flame."

This is Shiina Mashiro's deepest emotion after reading the story written by Uesugi En for the first time, and her heart was shocked.

When she secretly made up her mind, she brought her clothes and painting tools, as well as a resume of works that she had made with her best friend Rita, and would participate in well-known exhibitions in the UK, the United States, Italy, Spain, France and other countries. , came to the author who wrote the work she loved so much, but she was rejected. It was the first time in her life that she was denied, the first time she was severely reprimanded by someone for her mistakes in life, and the first time she went to Trying so hard to change yourself...

That person always walks in front of her when she goes out. No matter what the road is, he is as stable as a rock. His whole body is so tall. She deeply believes in Uesugi Yan who can integrate her feelings into the story. The older man who called himself Sherlock Holmes told her that the way to improve herself was absolutely, absolutely correct.

I don’t know how many times I messed up.

Faced with Qihai's complaints and obstruction, she still firmly carried out the common-sense tasks that Li Yan hoped she could complete by herself. She kept failing and trying, and gradually...she no longer let Qihai worry about her. She has really grown, growing at an astonishing speed and moving forward more firmly.

However, the method that I had always believed in ended in failure.

She could not doubt that this was a method error. For her, Holmes would never make a mistake. The only explanation was that she had not done enough.

However, she had tried her best. Even in the UK, she had never forced herself so hard to go to the painting when she had a fever... Why, she still lost...

The final results were announced on the website. As a result, among a total of more than 3,000 submissions, Kashiwagi Eri's work ranked seventh in the overall rankings, while Shiina Mashiro's work ranked fifteenth, with a difference of 178 votes. .

For the first time in her life, she tasted the taste of miserable defeat...it was so baffling that it almost shook her completely.

"..." She lowered her head, her body trembling slightly, as if she had no face to see Li Yan. After all her confession, she lowered her head for a long time. Her beautiful face was hidden by her golden bangs and could not be seen. Her lost eyes allowed tears to flow down her smooth cheeks.

"..."

Li Yan sadly and silently looked at this girl who was full of doubts and was caught off guard by the failure. He wanted to reach out to comfort this British girl who came all the way to pursue her dream of comics, but... The hand that was stretched out in the air was slowly withdrawn under the difficult decision.

"I have expected this result. Shiina, you are a genius. This is an indisputable fact. At just fifteen or sixteen years old, you already have paintings collected by the British royal family. It can be seen that the British regard you as a national treasure. ...So, I am selfish towards you and do not want a young national treasure painter like you to be led astray by a consumer culture like Japanese comics. Fortunately, you have always listened to me and have not given up on continuing to learn oil painting. , I have really worked hard on you during this period. It is normal that you will lose the competition. Comics and oil paintings have completely different requirements and expression methods. You participated in the competition as a complete newcomer. With such results, It’s already amazing. It’s not the first place, but it’s also reasonable… This world doesn’t revolve around you, Shiina.”

"...!"

Li Yan's words made Shiina Mashiro's heart suddenly feel cold, and she became even more depressed.

However, those two pairs of rough and wide palms gently pressed on Shiina Mashiro's shoulders. The strict young man looked at her with sad eyes and endless expectations, and said: "This world belongs to everyone. , so victory and defeat always exist, and setbacks will be experienced sooner or later. Every one of us has been through this. The key is what attitude you will adopt to deal with it next. Shiina, this time, it is also what I told you before How do you find inspiration in life?… Work harder, be patient, and you will become more reliable.”

In the corridor at dusk, her golden bangs covered her tearful eyes, and she stared blankly at the young man standing in the warm wind, listening to his words.

"If you keep working hard like this, maybe in the future... no one will think you are a pet anymore, and you will become the lion-hearted king in the world of paintings. So, be braver and continue to create with ease. For your first comics readers.”

Li Yan looked at her with a smile and said encouragingly.

"...Okay." Shiina Mashiro looked at that smile quietly, that tall and reliable figure, and finally, the turbulent heart gradually calmed down.

Again, Li Yan was in room 605, quietly watching Shiina Mashiro return to the desk that she had messed up. After a little clumsily starting to clean up, he continued his comic creation, and he relaxed a little. He breathed and closed the door.

However, just when he turned around, a girl appeared unexpectedly behind him. He was so frightened that he opened his eyes wide and looked at Nanami Aoyama who suddenly appeared.

"...Classmate Qingshan, don't scare me, why are you behind me?" Li Yan looked at Nanami Qingshan in shock and asked.

"I came over a long time ago, but Senior Li, you have always been paying attention to Mashiro, and you didn't notice me at all..." Aoyama Nanami showed a smile, bowed politely, and said.

"That's right...I'm sorry, I didn't notice it. Did you just come back from work?"

Li Yan secretly felt that he was out of the crisis environment where he was once surrounded by enemies, and his vigilance was getting worse. He didn't know whether living like this was a blessing or a potential danger. Immediately, he asked Nanami Aoyama who was wearing school uniform. It was not clear whether she came back from the school club activities or from her part-time job.

"No, I'll go back to work after I change my clothes. This time it's a maid cafe, and the salary is pretty good. As expected, if I live here, I'll have more time and opportunities to work, and I'm a little too busy... By the way... Come back, senior, you are really a strict teacher. I originally thought you would comfort Mashiro, but instead you made it more difficult for her."

Nanami Aoyama explained with a smile at first that after living in this apartment for more than a month, she not only became familiar with Xiaolin and other neighbors, but also gradually realized what kind of person Li Yan was.

She looked at the door of 605 and said with a bitter smile: "That guy, I didn't expect that she really persisted so much for a month. I tried to persuade her to give up taking care of herself several times. In the end, even I didn't expect that she It really became successful gradually. Now she can keep the house clean even when I'm not at home. When I was in school, I didn't know what she watched, and her mood was not very stable. Only now do I know, It turns out that she would be so frustrated by failure, and I understand her a little bit better."

"I feel like I've always troubled you, I'm sorry..." Li Yan heard the experience in Qihai's words and asked with an apologetic look.

"Senior, I don't need to apologize. I should thank you. Mashiro is already my friend. Her transformation like this is probably due to senior. I appreciate people who work hard. If possible, please continue to guide me. Zhenbai, if it’s okay...if I don’t understand something, I’ll ask my senior.”

Qingshan Nanhai shook his head, showed a somewhat embarrassed smile, and said to Li Yan.

"Of course there is no problem. However, it is not my fault alone. Not all transformations of one person are so smooth. It's just that Shiina has always believed in me and is willing to change like this. So, in the final analysis, it is her own choice. You have to change, Aoyama-san, so work hard, I look forward to the moment when you become a famous voice actor."

After Li Yan finished speaking, he immediately smiled and got out of the way of the door. After a few more pleasantries, he walked towards his apartment room.

Qingshan Nanami looked at the figure that was getting away in a daze.