The Versatile Master Artist

The little girl was not appreciative.

She raised her head, wiped her tears, and was about to focus on crying again when her gaze happened to slide over the cover of the fairy tale book in the hands of the blonde elder sister.

The black little girl blinked gently.

Kelly noticed the change in the little girl’s eyes and was not surprised that the child was drawn to the ”Little Prince” in her hands.

Fairy tale illustrations touch children the most.

They are more innocent, more childlike, and more in harmony with the atmosphere of fairy tales.

Adults like her are moved, not to mention children around ten years old.

”Girl, would you like to take a look?” Kelly smiled and handed over the book.

The little girl seemed a bit shy.

She first snuggled her head into her mother’s embrace and then slowly took the fairy tale book from Kelly’s hand.

Like magic,

she immediately stopped crying.

Her big eyes stared at the Little Prince sitting on a dune on the fairy tale book cover, and the corners of her eyes turned into little crescents, like small moons.

”OH, My god...”

This scene was truly magical, like a pre-designed scenario that only happens on stage plays.

Even the young guy and the black lady beside her were extremely surprised, not expecting a beautiful illustration to have such a positive effect.

The lady covered her mouth, whispering in amazement.

”This is the charm of art; beautiful artworks are more effective than any language and more soothing to the soul,” Kelly gently praised.

She stood up and patted the black little girl’s hair.

”Little one, isn’t it pretty? You have an eye that appreciates beauty. Feel free to learn art in the future!”

Kelly checked the time,

and it was almost the end of the task’s time frame. The book she just gave to the little girl, she planned to grab another [Detective Cat edition] of the ”Little Prince” and head to the bookstore’s cashier to wrap up this volunteer activity.

”The shelves... are empty!”

Kelly was a bit surprised.

Most volunteers had already chosen their targets by then.

She turned several fairy tale section shelves before finding many copies of the [Vellein] version of the ”Little Prince.” The classic versions by Townesman Company, whether in paperback or hardcover, also had plenty remaining.

Only the [Detective Cat] version of the Little Prince, she circled a large bookstore and only found one lonely copy on a remote shelf in the far corner, which was also picked by a slow-moving old man who was also looking for it.

Anyway, taking it was only for registration at the cashier and couldn’t be actually bought.

Kelly didn’t feel right snatching it from the old man.

She only walked towards the cashier empty-handed.

”Thank you for your help, Miss. Please do a registration here and return your task card.” The staff behind the cashier handed Kelly a registration form and placed her task card back into the drawer below the counter.

”None of the versions suit your taste? Then please check the last [Other] option, and note your reasons for not purchasing.”

On the registration form, there was a directory of various versions of the ”Little Prince.” Tick the version you chose.

The staff saw the blonde girl empty-handed, assuming Kelly was dissatisfied with all versions of the ”Little Prince.” This situation was also okay.

The volunteer survey aimed to simulate various situations.

Readers were limited to choosing only one book at most. If someone was utterly disappointed with all versions of the ”Little Prince,” feeling it unsuitable for gifting, they were entirely free not to buy.

Though it was rare.

”No, the [Detective Cat] lady version of the ’Little Prince’ is amazing, but I couldn’t find it on the shelf.”

Without hesitation, Kelly checked the second-listed, behind the name of the illustrator Detective Cat.

Feeling this didn’t express her fondness for the cover illustration created by the illustrator, she also marked it with ”Amazing” behind Detective Cat’s name.

She looked up and handed the registration form to the staff.

”What’s going on? The Detective Cat version’s sample copies are gone. Who set up this experiment scene? How could this happen? Weren’t there 50 copies prepared?”

The staff complained to another colleague behind the cashier.

He assumed they’d placed too few samples of Detective Cat in the bookstore. This oversight was truly unprofessional.

Due to time constraints, logistics had only hand-bound fifty copies each of the works by the two illustrators overnight, theoretically leaving a substantial surplus.

The first group of volunteers was just eighty people.

Even if half of them particularly favored a certain illustrator’s work, reaching a 50% preference rate would only mean 40 copies.

Not to mention the other numerous versions of the ”Little Prince” published over the past half-century, which provided a distraction.

Moreover, for simulating different scenarios,

twenty out of the eighty volunteers had task cards that didn’t specifically require the purchase of the ”Little Prince.”

Like what Kelly just saw, the task card of that black lady only required picking a children’s literature book for the kids.

This [bookstore] was set up as a real-lifesized scene, and the bookstore shelves couldn’t just sell the Little Prince. There were many different types of children’s fairy tales.

Any book within this range was fine.

Under such circumstances, it was almost impossible for a single version of the ”Little Prince” to be completely picked out... right?

”It’s indeed fifty copies. They were checked one by one when placed on the shelf, so the samples should be quite ample.”

Another staff member shrugged, pointing to the sample return area behind them.

”But honestly, I have noticed that many people chose the Detective Cat version of the Little Prince.”

They were just busy retrieving the volunteers’ task cards and processing registration forms, only noticing that the proportion of volunteers choosing Detective Cat was evidently not low, without paying attention to the exact number.

At this moment, they turned to look at the sample return area.

Except for coffee and snacks, nothing in the bookstore could be taken home.

Whether it was sample copies of Detective Cat, Vellein’s version, Townesman’s version, or other fairy tales, everything was returned at the sample return area.

Dozens of various fairy tale books were messily stacked together, resembling a dark yellow brick wall blown over by the wind.

The dark yellow was the background color of Detective Cat’s illustrations.

At a glance, these fairy tale books almost looked the same, with only a few sporadically interspersed with the red background of Vellein’s illustrations and the sketch style of Townesman’s version.

”That’s... too ridiculous.”

The two staff members, realizing what had happened, were both incredibly shocked.

Even in such circumstances, over fifty percent of the volunteers still selected that Detective Cat.

What kind of monster is this!

”Excuse me, when will you formally release the Detective Cat version of the ’Little Prince’ to the market? Will there be an illustrator meet-and-greet in the United Kingdom’s local physical bookstores?”

While the two staff members were in shock, Kelly had already filled out the registration form and eagerly asked.

She was itching with curiosity about what other illustrations might be like inside the ”Little Prince.”

The feeling of seeing what you can’t buy was too frustrating.

She couldn’t wait for the day when she could truly own this new version of the ”Little Prince” on the market.

”Uh, this is just a preliminary market survey, and the Group hasn’t officially decided whether to mass-produce. You might have to wait for further information.”

The staff could only respond with an awkward expression.

”Miss, please fill out another survey questionnaire in the lounge next door. There is also a fifteen-pound book voucher available to each volunteer.”

He handed Kelly a ten-pound and a five-pound voucher from below the counter.

But Kelly wouldn’t accept them at all.

”What do you mean by not having officially decided whether to mass-produce or not? You wouldn’t destroy Detective Cat’s work if dissatisfied with the market survey result, would you? That’s a crime!”

The blonde girl widened her eyes and almost shouted, ”If you truly do that, I will never purchase any work published by the Scholastic Group in the future. Such a commercial publishing house that doesn’t respect art isn’t worth a penny from me!”

She loudly threatened.