Kariya: I'll Reclaim My Dignity as an Uncle!

Shinji watched the flight attendant push her cart away and made a regretful sound at her shapely buttocks.

"Ah, if it weren't for that burden, what a wonderful trip this would have been."

Upon hearing Shinji's words, Sakura's face darkened. "Brother, you're almost 20 years old already! Those old tricks don't work anymore! Be careful someone accuses you of harassment!"

"What old tricks?"

Udagawa Nao was very interested in the conversation between the brother and sister. Her understanding of Shinji came entirely from his work, and she knew very little about Shinji in his personal life.

Perhaps afraid of being embarrassed, Sakura explained in a very low voice, so as not to be heard by the flight attendants, "My brother always pretends to be flying for the first time in front of the pretty flight attendants."

"What's wrong with that?"

Sakura sneered, "Then, he can hold that girl's hand and whine, 'Sister, let me tell you, I'm so scared of flying!' or 'Please hold my hand and give me some encouragement!'"

"..."

Udagawa Nao used to think Shinji's shamelessness was limited to business, but now she finally understands what the saying "scumbags always expand in multiple directions" means.

Fortunately, a flight attendant brought her and Sakura two cold drinks at that moment, otherwise she would have been extremely embarrassed.

Udagawa Nao picked up his juice, took a sip, and said to Shinji sitting opposite him, "Shinji, it's a miracle you didn't end up in juvenile detention."

Shinji was quite frank; he replied with a smile, "Let me tell you, this trick of mine works really well. You can try it next time you and your uncle travel by plane."

"Screw you!"

Having become familiar with Shinji, Udagawa Nao didn't stand on ceremony and simply gave him a universally accepted friendly gesture (????).

Shinji, still grinning, said, "Nannou- jie, have you decided where to go with your second uncle? There are so many tourist attractions in China, have you made any plans?"

Udagawa Nao shook her head slightly. "I haven't decided yet. I don't know how good Kariya's Chinese is, or whether we should bring a translator when we go, so we haven't planned the route yet."

"Translation... um, you must feel uncomfortable with outsiders around," Shinji said, stroking his chin. "Hey, if we were all together, there wouldn't be so much trouble. I'd be the best translator."

"Can you speak Chinese?"

"I can't believe it, "Udagawa Nao asked skeptically.

She wasn't doubting Shinji's dubious academic credentials; after all, Shinji's achievements in film and commercial success were impressive enough.

Udagawa Nao had heard Shinji speak English, but had never seen him speak Chinese, so he had some doubts.

"Of course, it's precisely because I've studied Chinese and understand this country that I can see its market and therefore decide to establish a presence here."

Shinji's words made Udagawa Nao somewhat believe him, because Shinji paid great attention to the market in this country and had enough knowledge of it to seem like he wasn't lying.

Sakura, sitting in the back, knew that Shinji's Chinese was fluent to the max, but she still had her doubts.

Previously, when Shinji showed off his Chinese in front of her, Sakura challenged him to recite Shinji poems. As a result Shinji only managed to recite four or five before he started stammering.

Would a true China expert do this?

Therefore, in Sakura's mind, Shinji's Chinese is at Schrödinger's level.

Shinji wasn't embarrassed at all, because he used to be a proper corporate slave, so he had long forgotten everything he knew, like Chinese.

Being able to remember four or five poems in their entirety is already a blessing from the ancestors of my elementary school Chinese teacher.

The rest are basically just misattributions, like "A pear tree in full bloom overshadows a crabapple tree, and from then on, the emperor no longer holds court in the morning."

The flight from Japan to Shanghai is not long, only about two and a half hours.

It's not worth spending this little bit of time sleeping on the plane; sleeping on a plane is uncomfortable to begin with, and it's hard to fall asleep.

I guess I finally managed to doze off, but the plane had already landed.

So Shinji simply took out his phone, which he had already set to airplane mode, and started browsing through his work records.

According to records from Tsuburaya Productions, since the official premiere of <Magical Girl Prisma Illya>, the producer Second Master, has not been involved in much work on this project.

Even though the TV series isn't fully filmed yet and is in a state of filming and airing simultaneously, with Shirou helping to keep an eye on things, Tsuburaya Productions can't really do anything crazy.

The good news is that the first three episodes of <Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya> have all received very good ratings.

The first episode averaged a 23.7% viewership rating, while the second episode followed with a 21.7% rating.

Most importantly, the third episode aired on Saturday morning, achieving a viewership rating of 11.4%.

This initial result has met Shinji's expectations, and he believes that <Final Fantasy>'s performance will only get better and better.

The current storyline of <Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya> has progressed to the point where Illya and the others have retrieved the Rider cards, but are stuck on the Caster cards.

The plot has begun to unfold and is getting into the swing of things.

Shinji's plan for "Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya" was to finish the first and second seasons of the manga, which would end after defeating Gilgamesh.

In Shinji's opinion, the best part of the <Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya> storyline is the second season of the manga, which is excellent in terms of plot, action, humor, and gimmicks.

In contrast, the third season went a bit too far, causing Hiroyama to lose control in the later stages and resort to time travel.

However, even if the third season of the manga is terrible, it's still much better than the second season of the anime. After all, the anime series forcibly split the originally compact first season of the manga into two seasons, resulting in a fragmented plot and a dragging pace that was simply unwatchable.

"Well, let's just pick one of Oonuma Shin or the production company to take the blame."

Shinji looked at his phone with a wry smile.

"Gentlemen."

A clear, melodious voice rang out.

Please do not use your mobile phone on the plane!

Shinji turned his head and found a beautiful and elegant flight attendant staring at him reproachfully.

"It's okay, I put it on airplane mode."

Shinji waved his phone, showing the flight attendant the airplane logo on the screen.

The flight attendant repeated, "Please do not use your mobile phone while the plane is in flight."

"Tsk, I forgot."

Shinji shook his head helplessly. He then remembered that before 2015, mobile phones were not allowed on airplanes in China, regardless of whether flight mode was on or off.

Of course, whether it was exactly 2015 is debatable, since Shinji didn't fly much before his time travel, and he had also heard that different airlines had different standards.

Shinji originally intended to use a Suggestion Magic to win over the flight attendant, but after carefully examining her appearance for a while, Shinji hesitated.

He felt the flight attendant looked familiar, and a thought suddenly struck him—he remembered someone.

In the end Shinji didn't choose to fight this woman to the bitter end, but instead obediently put his phone away.

Perhaps Shinji's gaze was too audacious, for the flight attendant squinted and stared at Shinji for a long time before finally getting up and walking away.

Shinji whistled flippantly. "Ah, I've always had a dream."

"What?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows; she instinctively felt that her older brother was up to no good.

"If I turn off the airplane's flight mode right now, will the flight attendant think I'm a terrorist and pin me to the floor?"

"Don't worry, even if the flight attendants don't know how, I will do it."

Sakura warned fiercely, "If you don't behave, I'll make sure you spend the entire trip in China in a wheelchair!"

"This is just a little joke~"

Shinji wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Sakura said coldly, "Is this something you can joke about?!"

Shinji fell silent, awkwardly touching his nose and shrinking deeper into his chair.

After being scolded by Sakura, Shinji became much more obedient.

However, Shinji wasn't bored. With a new mission, he kept staring at the flight attendant and comparing her to the person he remembered.

As previously complained, when two-dimensional characters are brought to life in three dimensions, they become difficult to recognize without specific features such as hair color, eye color, and hairstyle.

Because the flight attendant's hairstyle was completely different from Shinji remembered, Shinji carefully observed her, afraid of mistaking her for someone else.

This led to the flight attendant and Shinji making eye contact and exchanging glances several times.

"Hmph~"

The flight attendant gave a disgruntled snort, seemingly thinking she had encountered a lecherous man.

Shinji, however, remained completely unfazed, instead winking at the other person to show his friendliness.

Then he was completely ignored by the other party.

"I think you should look away and fasten your seatbelt."

"Udagawa Nao suddenly said."

"Are we almost there?" Shinji asked, turning around.

"We're about to land; the plane has already made that announcement."

"Oh."

Shinji nodded and sat down. He had already confirmed the other person's identity, so there was no need to keep staring at the girl.

Soon, after circling twice over the airport, the plane landed steadily on the ground.

The first thing Shinji did after unbuckled his seatbelt was not to retrieve his luggage, but to go directly to the flight attendant.

"Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

The other person looked wary.

Shinji didn't mind and took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over.

"Whenever you decide you don't want to be a flight attendant anymore, you can call this number anytime."

After saying that, Shinji left without looking back.

"Neuropathy."

The flight attendant initially intended to tear the business card to shreds and throw it away, but then she noticed a Magecraft mark on the back of the card.

"..."

The flight attendant pondered for a moment, then carefully put the business card away before her colleagues noticed it.

"That person..."

The flight attendant looked at Shinji, who was carrying his carry-on luggage, and walked out of the plane, her expression becoming somewhat confused.

On the other side, after Shinji got off the plane, they went through customs procedures with the help of a designated person.

Fortunately, Shinji and his group were officially invited guests of the film festival, so the entire process went very smoothly.

After everything was finished, Shinji, Sakura, and Udagawa Nao each dragged their luggage and walked out of the airport terminal.

As soon as Shinji stepped out of the passage, he saw a prominent banner that read, "Warmly welcome world-renowned Director Shinji Matou to the Shanghai Film Festival!"

Beneath the banner were eager faces craning their necks in anticipation; if conditions allowed, Shinji estimated there would likely have been a row of people playing suonas there.

"This is way too exaggerated..."

Shinji, feeling a little embarrassed, twitched the corner of his mouth twice.

Chapter 279 Kariya: I want to reclaim my dignity as an uncle!

"Wow, my dear nephew~ How's this spectacle? Do you like it?"

Under the banner, Kariya grinned, his smug expression resembling that of a mischievous monkey.

"Second Uncle, it's been a long time."

Compared to the enthusiastic Kariya, Shinji's attitude was much colder.

Judging from Kariya's attitude, he is definitely the culprit who made the airport pickup so extravagant. It would be a miracle if the Second Master gave him a friendly look.

Kariya wasn't angry. He walked straight past Shinji and showered Udagawa Nao with concern.

"Nannou, you must be exhausted after a two-hour flight. Let me help you with your luggage."

Udagawa Nao smiled slightly, "Kariya, long time no see. You look quite energetic~"

"Pretending to be something they're not."

If it weren't for the numerous reporters surrounding them, Shinji would have really wanted to kick his uncle to make him tone it down; he was practically drooling.