Of course, Jada had no idea what was going through Ren's mind at the moment; if she did, she would have burst into laughter.
After all, wasn't all he had done aimed at pursuing Jada? Making her feel like they were a family was a big step towards success.
At this moment, Ren was sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone.
Although he appeared calm when Jada told him about the popularity of his manga, he was actually quite curious about the comments.
He first checked "Manga Talk."
This media outlet is a top player in the manga industry, specializing in reviewing manga from various magazines.
Of course, there were two types of reviews: praises and criticisms.
The editor from Manga Talk seemed quite favorable towards him.
They lauded his work "Your Name" as a rare gem in recent youth romance manga, giving it a five-star rating and expressing high expectations.
The page was filled with glowing words, particularly highlighting Ren's pen name, Porter, noting his creativity and looking forward to his further contributions to the manga world.
The editor even speculated that Porter might be a pseudonym for some established author and was determined to uncover Ren's real identity.
However, Ren didn't take these comments to heart.
After all, the media is known for being fickle.
If his second episode flopped, these same people would probably be the first to criticize him, using phrases like 'lost his touch,' 'started strong but went downhill,' or 'wasted potential' in their reviews.
Of course, Ren wasn't going to give them such an opportunity.
He then looked at the biggest headline in the middle of the page.
It was far more prestigious than his own, featuring a cover image placed right at the center of the page.
Just from the image, Ren could see headlines like "The Latest Masterpiece from Little Chicken Eats Eagle" and "First Grand Work in Two and a Half Years," all designed to catch the eye.
Clicking on it, there was even a large color photo of the author.
Like the others, the praise was immense, basically suggesting, "Follow this series or you'll regret it."
Out of curiosity, Ren searched for the new work by Little Chicken Eats Eagle, and everywhere he looked, there was promotional content about this creator. Envy can make people ugly.
It was hard not to feel envious, thinking that if he had that kind of promotional backing, he wouldn't have suffered such poor sales on the first day.
His manga might have exploded in sales from day one.
After a brief glance, Ren lost interest.
His own page just had a title without even a picture, while others received massive promotional efforts for any new release.
Of course, he was just momentarily jealous.
He continued browsing other media outlets, and most of what he could find was praise for his work.
This reassured Ren.
At least for now, the local adaptation of "Your Name" seemed to be well-received.
Most mainstream media approved of it.
Ren had been a bit worried about whether his adaptation from the Japanese version would be well-received.
"Still pretending you don't care!" While Ren was reading positive comments about himself, Jada unexpectedly appeared beside him, her head close to his ear. So close, in fact, that Ren could smell the dishwashing detergent scent from her recent dishwashing.
"Here you are enjoying all the praise about yourself, aren't you a bit narcissistic?" Jada said somewhat irritably.
She had come back to tell him about the manga's success, and he had acted indifferent, yet now he was engrossed in reading about himself, truly sneaky.
"..." Caught by Jada, Ren didn't panic but looked at her earnestly.
This made Jada blush, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed, "What are you staring at? Is there something on my face?"
"You... look very nice."
Ren's sudden compliment made Jada's blush spread to her ears, and she nervously played with the lock of hair on her chest, "Really? Thanks…"
"You see, you also like hearing words of praise," Ren smiled and added, "So let's not criticize each other for being vain."
"..."(*￣︿￣)
Hearing Ren's retort, even Jada was momentarily stunned.
This guy had complimented her just to counter her earlier accusation of his narcissism!
Then, impulsively, Jada clenched her fists, grabbed a cushion from the sofa, and threw it at Ren's face, then stormed off back to her room in a huff, fuming.
???
Ren was left bewildered.
Why had the conversation that was going so well suddenly led to violence?
After some thought, Ren froze.
Had he missed an opportunity to further endear
himself to her by getting caught up in argumentation? When had he started acting like a typical clueless man?
He knew well that arguing with a woman about right and wrong during a relationship could spell doom. Winning might mean winning the argument but losing the love; losing meant being blamed either way.
Love required sweet nothings, not logical debates.
"Ah, miscalculation," Ren lamented with his hands crossed over his chest.
Meanwhile, little Yueyue, watching her father's confusion, seemed to understand that her dad was destined for the couch again tonight.
She pulled out a little notebook from somewhere.
June 6th, sunny. Mom and dad argued again. Dad's couch-sleeping count: +1
If Ren were to see his daughter's notebook, he might explode in frustration.
It meticulously recorded each instance of him sleeping on the couch...
--------
Make sure to give more power stones! Little Yueyue says so!
≧◠‿◠≦✌