In crossover anime, who isn't a childhood friend?

As she spoke, Shi Yu stared intently at him with her beautiful eyes, scrutinizing him closely.

He's still so handsome, and this is only middle school. Imagine how much more handsome he'll be when he's fully grown up in a few years...

The coffee shop waiter came over with menus in both hands.

"Why don't you order something first? The coffee here is pretty good."

"it is good."

Looking at the half-empty, now-cold coffee in front of Shiyu, Yuan Qianye guessed that she had probably come to wait for him long ago.

He glanced at the menu without much hesitation, and simply told the waiter he wanted the same drink as hers, along with a mango pudding.

After moving to the new house, coincidentally, the distance between us and the Touma family's house became even closer.

After visiting her more often, Kazusa would often take out various desserts from the refrigerator to entertain him, which changed his tastes, and he gradually began to like all kinds of desserts.

"Then I'll have a mango pudding too," Shiyu said with a smile to the waiter after Yuan Qianye had placed his order.

Eating the same desserts and drinking the same coffee as him, in a sense, is like tasting the flavors in his mouth, right?

If Yuan Qianye's God-like perspective could also see into people's hearts, then he would surely have a deeper understanding of the complexity and diversity of humanity.

Unfortunately, she couldn't. Kasumigaoka Utaha hid it very well, not revealing a single thought on her face, and maintained her persona as a well-spoken literary girl.

Kasumigaoka took the initiative to start the conversation: "You've been quite busy lately, haven't you?"

She recently finished reading a book about how to win over handsome young men...

Oh no! It's another book, The Art of Language.

As the title suggests, this book explores communication and interpersonal relationships.

It provides a detailed analysis of language choices in various scenarios, the control of rhythm in communication, and even includes micro-expression interpretations.

In short, as long as you thoroughly read this book, your communication skills will undoubtedly improve.

Even if you can't become the king of social interaction, you can still make yourself the most central and key figure in various situations.

It's said that girls in love are blind, and Kasumigaoka, thinking "maybe it really works," bought the book after flipping through the preface at the bookstore.

She finished reading it in one night, and undeniably, many of the theories and knowledge presented were very reasonable and gave her a lot of inspiration.

For example, right now, she is following the advice in the book not to get straight to business at the very beginning of a meeting.

Interactions between friends are not like work; they don't need to be so direct.

Besides, even when it's work, you still have to exchange a few polite words and build rapport when you're doing business with someone outside.

Just like you need to warm up before exercising, wash your hands before cooking, and have foreplay before making love... it's a similar principle.

Kasumigaoka felt that today's meeting, with only her and Minamoto Chiya alone and no outsiders interfering, was a perfect opportunity to put her experiment into practice.

"I'm not too busy anymore. The advertising contracts I signed are almost finished with Saeko's shoots. The next shoot for new commercials and posters will be before or after the new year, so there's still some time."

All the appliances and equipment we bought for the new house arrived a few days ago. Summer vacation is coming soon, and I'll finally have some free time...

Chiya continued the conversation following up on the topic raised by Kasumigaoka.

As he spoke, Shi Yu rested her hands on the table, the backs of her hands supporting her cheeks, and looked at him with a gentle smile.

She hadn't forgotten what the book emphasized: the eyes are the windows to the soul, best reflecting a person's inner emotions.

When someone is speaking, looking at them attentively and expressing positive emotions such as gentleness, agreement, and encouragement can often have unexpected and special effects.

The effect was indeed achieved.

It's just a little different from what's described in the book.

As Shiyu stared intently at him, Yuan Qianye's speech gradually slowed down. When he finally stopped, he was somewhat flustered, wondering what Shiyu's purpose was in calling him out today.

Could it be that she's asking for my help with something difficult to say? Otherwise, she wouldn't have acted so... abnormally right after we met.

The attempt to please was too over the top.

In short, she was very unlike her usual self.

"But it was all worth it. Chiyo, your efforts have indeed paid off, and that's enough."

Just then, the waiter brought their order to the table.

Shiyu picked up her coffee and virtually clinked it against his cup.

Yes, this is to agree with the other person, make them feel respected, and give them a sense of satisfaction.

Looking at Shi Yu's smiling face, Yuan Qianye felt even more strange emotions, but he still cooperated with her actions.

"Qianye, what are your plans for the next period of time?"

"Aside from promising Rikka that I would take her to an amusement park during summer vacation, there's nothing else particularly special about it."

Hmm, this mango pudding tastes pretty good, and the milk flavor is quite rich. Kazusa will probably like it a lot...

In addition, he will probably spend more time visiting Kazusa's house during the summer vacation.

During this period, Touma Yoko went out to work again, mainly busy with her piano recitals in various places.

Occasionally, she will be invited by investors to participate in brand collaborations and business events.

This means she will be away from home most of the time.

Out of gratitude for the special care the mother and daughter had shown him, Yuan Qianye felt it was necessary to talk to that lonely genius more often.

Don't keep staying at home all the time, facing the piano all day, and eventually you'll lose all your social skills.

It's definitely not because of her other musical skills, like guitar, saxophone, violin, or anything like that.

That was just a side effect.

For the next ten minutes of the conversation, it was Kasumigaoka who unilaterally brought up topics, all of which were about Minamoto no Chiya herself.

Each time he answered naturally, he would always receive a reply from Shi Yu that seemed somewhat exaggerated, either in amazement or praise.

Despite being praised highly, Yuan Qianye found it quite difficult to keep up.

Several times I wanted to reach out and touch her forehead to see if she had a fever.

But considering how impolite it was, I ultimately held back.

But this patience has its limits.

"...Shiyu, what brings you here today?"

Finally, after finishing her coffee and pudding, Yuan Qianye couldn't hold back any longer and brought up the important business she had come out for today.

He actually didn't dislike chatting with Shiyu.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have spent over an hour chatting on those nights after connecting her video call.

All I can say is that she acted really strangely today.

Kasumigaoka paused for a moment, realizing that something seemed to have gone wrong in her practice.

I have a feeling that Qianye seems a little impatient with me?

How could this be?

However, Qianye was still waiting for her reply, and she didn't have time to think about it too much.

"It's about the paperback station..."

Now that she realized that her previous performance seemed to be off, Shiyu naturally returned to her normal demeanor and stopped trying to force herself to follow the practical theories in the book.

Then, to her astonishment, she noticed that Yuan Qianye's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed as he leaned back in his chair.

Is he... feeling relieved?

Okay, it seems we've found the problem.

Kasumigaoka seemed somewhat annoyed.

I threw that tattered book in the trash as soon as I got back; it almost ruined my plans!

While the theories within are very useful for a father at home, they are of no value to Chiya if they have no effect on her.

With Kasumigaoka returning to normal, the subsequent communication process became much more natural, thankfully.

She laid some groundwork before formally asking for help.

It turns out that as a light novel author, she was signed with Fantastic Bunko, and according to past practices, during the Lunar New Year period, they would hold an annual exchange meeting for authors with other well-known bookstore platforms.

Many well-known figures in the industry will also attend the banquet, including editors, executives, celebrities, and major shareholders from various document libraries.

However, due to the well-known flu outbreak this year, the bookstore has postponed today's annual meeting for safety reasons.

As a result, many novels were released in the first half of the year, coupled with various practical issues such as the corporate income tax filing period.

A variety of miscellaneous and busy tasks followed one after another.

This pause lasted until the middle of the year, then moved to the end of July, which coincided with the summer vacation.

Kasumigaoka, a currently popular light novel author, is hailed as a leading figure in the new era of pure love youth literature.

The newly released novel volume has repeatedly broken sales records, and she was naturally given a special invitation by the paperback publisher, who also allowed her to bring family or friends along.

Most importantly, the winners of some awards will be announced at the banquet, and according to inside sources, the book "Love Metronome" is among them.

Upon receiving this news from the editor, she immediately thought of Yuan Qianye.

She wanted to travel with him.

If we say that she was the mother of this work, having painstakingly created the love metronome, then...

So Qianye is the father figure who lends a helping hand at the crucial moment, bringing this work back to life.

He deserves to share this honor with me.

"...Because neither my dad nor my mom will have time. One of them needs to work overtime at the company, and the other has already made plans to travel with friends. I'm not used to this kind of situation, and I'll inevitably feel uneasy going there alone. So if you can come with me, that would be a huge help."

Xia's parents, who were not present at the time, had their schedule arranged by their beloved daughter without their knowledge.

The actual situation is—

After learning that his daughter had received a request from the library to attend a banquet that sounded very prestigious, Xia's father was shocked.

He went straight back to his room and changed into the expensive imported suit that he only wore on important occasions. After taking a shower after get off work, he went to the bathroom to style his hair, showing off his elite demeanor.