My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

Zhao Wen wore a standard, gentle, business-like smile, but his eyes were already vacant and unfocused.

"I'm tired. Let's destroy it, quickly."

Following the group, Miyuki Nakajima gradually approached Zhao Wen and slowly saw Snail Dad's perfectly timed smile. It was obvious that the man's soul had already run away, leaving only his body sitting on the stage mechanically copying his pen name.

Although it was past 4 p.m., thousands of people were still gathered outside the quarantine zone. Members of "Snail House" led the crowd in an organized and disciplined manner, occasionally shouting:

"Mr. Snail—we love you!"

"Mr. Snail—You're the most handsome in the world!" In 82, people in Taiwan were surprised to find that they had a new word to describe men: handsome! The handsome of Xiang Shuai!

Zhao Wen ignored him and continued operating the autograph machine.

Miyuki Nakajima covered her face, barely able to suppress a laugh. It turned out that even the young snail, who had achieved legendary status, could be worn down by repetitive trivialities.

Others think he's enjoying immense popularity and fully deserves all the glory, but he gives off the impression that he really wants to run away.

Throughout her life and into the decades to come, Miyuki Nakajima never held a record signing event due to her extreme social anxiety. Even when "The Villainess" sold two million copies, she firmly refused the encouragement from fans and record companies.

Therefore, she felt a lot of empathy for Mr. Snail's current state.

Since escaping her misery and achieving financial freedom, Miyuki Nakajima's interest in money has truly become almost zero.

When she arrived at the book signing event, it was already 2 PM. Too lazy to say much, Miyuki secretly pulled out 20,000 NTD and bought a numbered ticket (1440). She then found a member of the Snail House who spoke Japanese and asked them to write a line of Chinese on a sticky note.

Mr. Snail, please help me copy down the following Japanese sentence.

There is a line of Japanese in the middle part of the note, written by herself: Miyuki, もっと永気を出してください, カタツムリさん (Miyuki, please be braver, Mr. Snail.).

She knew Mr. Snail didn't understand Japanese; she had heard him say it the night before last. But it didn't matter. "Sir, you can just copy it from the Japanese text. That should do it, right?"

Miyuki Nakajima slowly approached the signing table, bowed slightly, and placed the note and book in front of Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen glanced at the note and thought, "Huh, it's Japanese, Miyuki..."

He looked up and his gaze fell on Miyuki Nakajima's face. Deep-set eyes, double eyelids—it really was Miyuki Nakajima. She was much prettier in person than in the images that had been preserved on the internet decades later.

Miyuki, do you think the whole world doesn't know you? How is your behavior any different from Ronaldinho taking a fake passport to Paraguay?

Zhao Wen calmly picked up the pen and, following the instructions on the note, ceremoniously copied down the line of Japanese text. He no longer acted perfunctorily as before. After finishing, he held the book in both hands and handed it to the woman riding on the back of the silver dragon.

Miyuki Nakajima reached out and took it, bowed slightly, and prepared to quietly turn and leave.

At that moment, a voice rang out, in Japanese:

"Miyuki, もっと永気を出してください."

Miyuki Nakajima completely froze, her body stiffened, her pupils dilated slightly, and she stood there blankly, her mind a complete blank.

Does Mr. Snail speak Japanese?

A mixture of shock and embarrassment overwhelmed her, and Miyuki Nakajima, slightly flustered, practically ran away from the area.

"Mr. Snail! You liar! You clearly said you didn't understand Japanese!"

Zhao Wen guessed that this musically talented woman probably became his fan because of "Norwegian Wood".

Yi'an, along with dozens of Snail House volunteers, is sorting out the information left by book fans and the "commemorative autographed books" that will be distributed later—exclusive souvenirs for the members of "Snail House".

All of the more than 1,000 volunteers who came to maintain order on-site enjoyed this exclusive benefit!

Zhao Wen deeply understands what it means to truly "pamper fans"—this is the first large-scale gathering since the establishment of Snail House. All members can receive a personally signed book after the signing event, choosing one of the four single volumes, which are limited and not for sale.

After the book signing event, Zhao Wen declined the grand banquet hosted by the United Daily News and Sanming Bookstore.

Why call it a "grand banquet"? Because many celebrities attended; following current practices in the cultural sphere, the United Daily News invited a great many prominent figures.

Led by Gao Xingjiang, the editor-in-chief of the United Daily News supplement, the team included literary giants Lin Haiying, popular writer Li Ang, representative of local literature Huang Chunming, emerging writer Zhu Tianwen, cultural celebrity Jiang Xun, and others. These individuals are all core writers of the United Daily News system and represent the true mainstream of Taiwan's literary scene today.

In addition, Liu Zhengqiang, the founder of Sanming Bookstore, personally attended and oversaw the event!

The film industry even invited Ke Junxiong, who had just won both the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor and the International Film Festival Award for Best Actor, along with his wife, actress Zhang Meiyao, known as "Taiwan's First Jade Girl," to attend the event.

However, Zhao Wen was not interested. After listening to Editor Lou read out the entire guest list, he refused outright.

Therefore, when a person's fame and status reach a certain level, they really don't have to go against their own wishes to do things that make others unhappy, even if they are the most important guest at this banquet.

He was willing to attend, and very willing to attend Brother Deng's small banquet, because Brother Deng told him that one of the guests was Little Yellow Dragon... Ding Qing.

In fact, Wu Deng is a person with inner beauty. On the surface, he is very carefree, but he has accurately figured out his younger brother's preferences.

He had chatted and boasted with Zhao Wen so many times that he knew his little brother had a secret admiration for Gu Long. He had known Ding Qing for several years, and although they weren't very close, he knew his little brother had this thought, so he immediately invited Ding Qing over.

When Zhao Wen agreed to come, Brother Deng was overjoyed.

The Sanmin Bookstore and the United Daily News have such grand entourages, but my brother refuses to go. He insists on coming to eat and drink with the elder brother. Tell me, isn't that equivalent to two major institutions, yet not as good as me, Wu Deng, alone!

Wu Deng lives on Hankou Street in Wanhua District, just two alleys away from the film company she works with. It is a quiet two-story detached house in the middle of the city.

Yi-an was having dinner with more than a hundred group leaders, and Zhao Wen asked Lao Han to accompany her. After all, she was a young girl and it was her first time in Taipei, so she couldn't afford to have any mishaps.

Chen Erfeng, on the other hand, followed Zhao Wen calmly. She was even more interested than Zhao Wen when she heard that Gu Long's top disciple was attending the dinner.

After getting off Wu Deng's white horse, Zhao Wen saw Ding Qing standing under the eaves.

Long hair, heavy beard

Cloth jackets and cloth shoes that don't belong to this era.