The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 254 - 178 Preparation for the Movie and Magic
Chapter 254: Chapter 178 Preparation for the Movie and MagicEarly in the morning, Jiang Shu was woken up by a continuous knocking at the door.

He opened his eyes, sat up, then closed them again, freezing in place as if in deep meditation.

After a full five minutes, he slowly came to, got out of bed, and groped his way to open the door.

”Teacher, you’re back!” It was Su Xiaoou outside the door; she was the only one who would knock like that. She poked her head in to look around, then walked straight in. ”Where have you been recently? How did you just disappear all of a sudden?”

”I went traveling,” Jiang Shu turned to close the door behind him. He scratched his belly and walked into the bathroom to start his morning routine.

”Traveling?” Su Xiaoou was shocked by such an answer. ”What’s there to enjoy traveling alone? Or was there a woman with you? But even if you were traveling, you didn’t need to vanish into thin air, did you? Could it be a woman we can’t know about? A forbidden love like with an older sister or something?”

”...” Jiang Shu’s hand froze while brushing his teeth. He held a mouthful of water, gargled noisily, and then replied irritably, ”You’re overthinking it.”

”Oh.” Su Xiaoou pursed her lips, stopping her baseless guesses.

As she walked toward the magic table, she casually mentioned to Jiang Shu, ”I’ve made quite a bit of money performing lately.”

”Oh, how much?” Jiang Shu asked with a smile.

”Not bad, just around five or six thousand,” Su Xiaoou tilted her head, waving her hand with an indifferent air, but the slight smile on her face betrayed the pride she felt inside.

”Five or six thousand?” Jiang Shu immediately looked curious. ”Just from tips? How did you manage that?”

He didn’t suspect anything else. If Su Xiaoou had been swindling money from others like she had before, she definitely wouldn’t have brought it up.

”It’s easy,” Su Xiaoou said with a sly grin. ”You just need to find the right target audience.”

”Hmm? What target audience?” Jiang Shu blinked, seemingly impressed by her cunning.

”I bought a bunch of roses, then exclusively performed more romantic magic tricks for couples—various versions of flower transformations, flame into flower, Spirit Perception flower, Special Card flower, and so on. Basically, it’s very easy to bewitch those women, and then all I have to do is sell flowers,” Su Xiaoou shrugged, making it sound simple. ”No man would refuse to buy a rose with dew for the lady beside him at such a moment. And since I didn’t price them steeply—just ten percent more than the flower shops—it’s a done deal.”

”That makes sense,” Jiang Shu nodded.

Although the money she earned was not purely from magic, it was close enough. After all, making a pure living from magic was somewhat difficult.

”It seems you’ve been studying your mathematics quite well,” Jiang Shu commented with a chuckle. ”You haven’t fallen behind on the classes with teachers Kirie and Shen Xuwan, have you? It’s time for them to arrange an examination for you.”

One had to admit, exams were a very effective way to test learning outcomes and were good at uncovering mistakes made during one’s studies.

”Ah—” Su Xiaoou’s face fell at the mention of exams. ”Can we not do a math test? I haven’t been able to follow along in several classes now. Tsukimiya teacher seems quite excited when she’s teaching, but I don’t understand a thing.”

Then: ”Brain too slow,” ”Can’t wrap around it,” ”Always a step behind,” ”Just can’t get in.”

Seeing this comment, Jiang Shu couldn’t help but admire it.

Little Yi’s knack for sharp-tongued comments was truly erudite; you wouldn’t grasp what it was saying without thinking it over.

”Keep the money for yourself,” Jiang Shu replied, then pulled open the fridge to check its contents.

Well, about to expire.

Thinking this, he gave up the idea of making breakfast, then turned to Su Xiaoou, ”Go on, help me buy some breakfast from across the street.”

”Oh.” Su Xiaoou was still immersed in her anxiety over the exam. She really didn’t understand why, as an apprentice, she needed so many tests.

The apprenticeship system differed from the regular basic education system. Apprentices, well...

She hadn’t heard of anyone else around her who needed exams.

But she also hadn’t heard of anyone around her who wasn’t envious of her.

As the only magic apprentice in Lonely City, Su Xiaoou never worried about her employment prospects. Sister Mei now treated her as a little treasure basin.

With this thought, she walked out the door exuding a newfound confidence, her step unbearably dismissive of any family ties.

After she left, Jiang Shu turned to his apprentices, ”Have you learned enough? Is the script ready? Have you added the magic elements I instructed you to add?”

Apprentice Alpha: Yeah, I’ll send the finished product for you to see.

”That was pretty fast,” Jiang Shu remarked, and then opened the script document.

Fade in.

Late night. Rooftop.

A girl holding a glass bouquet, dressed in a snow-white dress, slowly walks toward the edge of the rooftop.

Flashback.

Basement. Dim, flickering lights.

A man in a plaid shirt leans over a grimy workbench, on which lies a computer so old it seems to be from the last century.

Behind the workbench, on the wall, hangs a whiteboard with several photos clipped to it with magnets, all of different angles of the same man.

Voice-over: I am Qu Hao. An ordinary man. Average family, average growth, average programmer, an undistinguished life. Yet, when the only flower wilted, nothing was ordinary anymore.

Flashback.

The girl in the white dress leaps from the rooftop, the perspective only showing the glass bouquet in her hands, which slowly tumbles in the air, then crashes to the ground, shattering into countless pieces.

In the blurred background, a red blood pool gradually spreads, slowly soaking the glass fragments, staining them blood-red.

...

After reading the script, Jiang Shu nodded with satisfaction.

Although he was not sure what standard such a script would have in the industry, the three Tablet Spirits had done a commendable job of conveying his outline and story.

Pretty nice, one could say.

With such a script in hand, he would have more leverage in dealing with Director Tang.

With that thought in mind, Jiang Shu smiled again.

Without much hesitation, he sent the script to Li Yuntang, and then opened up the chat with Director Ye Zheng.

Director Ye Zheng had already replied: Mr. Jiang, I have heard about your issue from Miss Li Yuntang, and I would prefer to discuss the specifics in person. If you have time, how about this afternoon?

Jiang Shu replied: Sure, pick the time and place.

Ye Zheng’s response was swift: Alright, two o’clock this afternoon, Seventh District, D-zone Offshore Café.

Jiang Shu looked at the message and, after a brief contemplation, smiled.

This director was willing to meet him at the café that was closest to him, which seemed to show great sincerity.

Furthermore, Sister Mei had replied to his message, asking him to finalize the theme of the performance as soon as possible so she could start building momentum and prepare the ticket sales agenda.

Although the timing was tight, Sister Mei already had ample experience in dealing with various situations involving Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu quickly sent the theme of the magic performance to be held in two days.

It was very simple, just two words.

Paperman.

He also attached a photo of the paperman on his desk.

The cartoonish Paperman had a sinister smile that inexplicably gave one a chill, even in the heat of summer.