Chapter 27: When you cherish your quiet life, good luck will knock on your door

Chapter 27: When you cherish your quiet life, good luck will knock on your door

Chapter 27: When you cherish your quiet life, good luck will knock on your door
When Amuro Sho, who arrived late, walked into the second floor, An Yuanxian and others who were still playing with the prostitutes immediately stood up and bowed 90 degrees to greet him.

"Section Chief Amuro, thank you for your hard work!" Akira Yasuhara bowed with all his strength, wishing he could stick his forehead to the top of his leather shoes to show his respect for Sho Amuro.

The only one who was still sitting in his seat was Shintaro Ishihara. Not only did he have a high status in the literary world, he also had the support of the Ishihara Group, so he didn't need to act according to Sho Amuro's wishes.

Amuro Sho nodded to them, then walked straight to Ishihara Shintaro, sat down, rolled up his sleeves, and poured him a glass of sake: "Teacher Ishihara, it's been a long time since we last met. Are you in good health?"

"Haha, look, I'm fine." Ishihara Shintaro hugged a woman and deliberately crouched down, laughing. "I heard that you will be promoted to Deputy Cabinet Secretary (the second-in-command of the Cultural Affairs Agency) in the middle of the year? Incredible, you are really promising at a young age."

"It's not confirmed yet. Today the commander just said he would consider it." Amuro Sho had no expression on his face and poured him another glass of wine. "I've heard from President Noma about the author."

"Oh, you are well-informed. What do you think of the Cultural Affairs Bureau?" Ishihara Shintaro glanced at the trembling Yasuhara Akira and said with a smile, "I learned from brother Yasuhara that it was Muramatsu who came up with it alone."

"President Noma has agreed to Editor-in-Chief Muramatsu's proposal." Amuro Sho picked up the wine glass and took a sip. His emotions seemed to be completely calm. "Our Ministry of Culture is just a partner. If Kodansha is willing to publish, we will certainly not stop it."

"But we will not provide any more resource support, and we will not endorse sales." Amuro Sho added, "We will not issue the royalty contract either."

"Oh, so it means that the Agency for Cultural Affairs only enjoys the social impact brought by books, but does not provide any substantial support." Shintaro Ishihara was very satisfied with the result.

This is consistent with his consistent understanding of the Ministry of Culture.

The authorities have come down to discuss things with you, a mere newcomer, but you are so ignorant as to ask for this and that, so we will simply give you nothing.

This is also the consensus of their "upper-class" writers - when faced with someone who tries to break the rules of the game, no matter how outstanding he is, he must be taught how to behave.

Sho Amuro didn't say anything else, but just started drinking.

While the two of them were talking, the others stood and listened respectfully. There was no trace of the giggling scene at the beginning.

Especially An Yuanxian, cold sweat was almost breaking out on his forehead.

Since he entered the industry, he climbed up step by step and finally became the deputy editor-in-chief of Kodansha's "Gunzo" editorial department before he was fifty years old. After reaching this position, he realized the vastness and complexity of the literary world.

In the past, he was like a frog sitting in a well and looking at the sky, but now he is like an ant traveling around the world.

The people around him are all well-known writers and practitioners in the industry, but when facing senior officials from the Ministry of Culture, they still have to lower their heads.

Unless he possesses the appeal and influence to break the shackles of the literary world, even someone like him would not be able to stand up straight in front of many big shots. How could that little security guard dare to refuse the request of the Ministry of Culture?
The response from the Ministry of Culture was similar to what An Yuanxian thought. It was impossible for them to set a precedent for a mere newcomer to "overthrow the superiors".

After being rejected, although Sho Amuro's reaction was calm, his eyes clearly said, "Don't let him get what he wants, let him see the cruelty of the literary world."

"That's all, everyone enjoy yourself, I'll go upstairs first." Amuro Sho finished the last glass of sake, took the handkerchief handed to him by Fan Chunniang, wiped his mouth, and got up to go to the third floor.

There was a Turkish bath girl specially arranged for him by An Yuanxian.

They stood up straight again and bowed ninety degrees.

Before going upstairs, Amuro Sho suddenly stopped and turned to look at them: "Don't let him win the Akutagawa Prize."

After saying that, the footsteps faded away.

"Yes." An Yuanxian understood.

As an official department, the Ministry of Culture naturally could not openly teach Kitagawa Hide, a newcomer who was ignorant of the immensity of the world, a lesson. However, with just one sentence like this, many people would immediately help to do the job.

He couldn't win the Akutagawa Prize, and the sales of his best paperback edition plummeted. This is the fate of a vulgar writer from the "lower class"!

An Yuanxian thought sinisterly in his heart.

And when he goes to hell, I don't mind being a small pusher behind the scenes.

After leaving Kodansha during the day, Kitagawa Hide was not in a hurry to go home.

There was no one at home anyway, Mengzi had classes today and had to work at a convenience store after school.

He took the subway and wandered around various districts in Tokyo, wondering which publishing house he should find as a backup in case Muramatsu Tomoshige couldn't handle his boss.

The winner of the Gunzo Newcomer Award broke up with Gunzo and changed jobs overnight with his award-winning work. If this were put on the Internet in the future, it would definitely be very popular and there would definitely be someone willing to take it over. But in doing so, he was equivalent to betraying Saito Rena, who was running around for him. After all, it has never been heard of that someone changed jobs with an editor, and he does not have such a strong voice now.

In short, unless it is absolutely necessary, he is still willing to run in the new shoes with Kodansha. New shoes are beautiful, but they are generally not as comfortable as old shoes!

While thinking about the problem, he had already circled the Marunouchi Line.

The main line of the Marunouchi Line starts from Ogikubo Station in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, passes through Nakano Ward, Shinjuku Ward, Minato Ward, Chiyoda Ward, Chuo Ward, Bunkyo Ward, and ends at Ikebukuro Station in Toshima Ward. It has a roughly semi-circular shape and can be said to pass through all the wealthy and developed areas of Tokyo.

The Tokyo, Japan in this world is roughly the same as it was when he was a graduate student. No wonder people say that Japan "disappeared for thirty years" after the bubble. There really hasn't been much change.

The only difference is that the literary world in Japan is much more prosperous. Although the quality of works varies greatly and he doesn't recognize nine out of ten writers he sees, the bookstores and libraries that can be seen everywhere show the people's love and enthusiasm for literature.

A while ago, I heard Yumeko and Jabami Rei say that the most difficult department to get into at the University of Tokyo is the Faculty of Literature. Although it's hard to find a job after graduating from it, it has the highest level of prestige. When you walk around the school, students from other majors seem to be naturally shorter than you.

Now Kitagawa Hide was more confident, and prepared to list all the famous people and works he could remember in his mind as alternatives. Then the time would be just like the emperor choosing a concubine, whoever's name was turned over would come to sleep with him obediently.

What a sense of ceremony!
By the way, on the way home, he went to take a look at the items to be purchased, such as clothes and computers. After the royalties arrived, he would replenish them first, and then buy some gifts for his young wife and see if he could find the lost "football" back.

This short subway journey also showed Kitagawa Hide an unknown side of Tokyo.

I don't know if it's because of the pressure from the burst bubble, but everywhere you can see drunken vagrants, homeless men and women, and children searching for food in trash cans.
Even the advertising posters posted outside the building have slogans like "Live hard and don't give up."

For some reason, he suddenly remembered what the barbecue master said, "Life is often sunny and rainy, but a girl who is willing to go out to eat roadside stalls with you often after the bubble bursts is rare."

You must learn to cherish the people around you and the happy life you have now.

He let out a breath, and suddenly hoped that the publication of "Hear the Wind Sing" could bring a little spiritual comfort to those who were lost.

I will try to finish "Pinball in 1973" as soon as possible, which I had not continued writing because of hand pain!
And just like that, three days passed.

During these three days, Kitagawa Hide continued to hang around the entrance of Kodansha as usual, chatting with the security guards and spying on information within Kodansha.

I also occasionally saw Saito Rena a few times, and her dark circles under her eyes became heavier again. She also had not received a reply from Muramatsu Tomoshi and suffered from insomnia every night.

The sales success of "Gun Portrait" has finally died down, and the popularity brought by "Hear the Wind Sing" is also fading. However, the literature departments of several well-known universities in Tokyo have belatedly started to experience a "Kitagawa trend".

Ting Mengzi said that Professor Takeuchi Osamu, together with several professors and associate professors of the literature departments of various universities, began to seriously study the novel "Hear the Wind Sing" and debated whether it created a new writing style.

After experiencing the embarrassing situation of "my idol is right next to me, but I'm a fangirl every day without realizing it", Mengzi was obviously much more shy, as if she was deliberately "estranged" from Kitagawa Hide.

That vicious little bitch Jabami Rei never came again, and Mengzi still kept the fact that Kitagawa Hide was Kitagawa Hide a secret from her.

After all, Jabami Rei is now a famous "Kitagawa fan" at the University of Tokyo. If she knew the truth, she might collapse and fall into Tokyo Bay.

In three days, Kitagawa Hide carefully translated the foreign novel and wrote "Pinball in 1973", and finished the last four and a half chapters of the manuscript in one go.

On the third night, just as he finished writing the last word, his head was a mess and he curled up in the kotatsu in a daze, when there was a fierce and rapid knock on the door.

"Are you going to urge me to pay the rent?"

This was the first time someone knocked on the door in the middle of the night since Kitagawa Hide came into this world. Mengzi, who had also woken up from her sleep, rubbed her eyes, but before she could get up, Kitagawa Hide pushed her back into bed.

He came to the door and looked out through the peephole. Fortunately, it was not the landlord who came to collect the rent, nor was it an employee of the collection company sent by the bank. It was the bearded apartment manager downstairs.

"Excuse me?" Kitagawa Hide only opened the door a crack. He really didn't understand why the apartment manager was knocking on the door in the middle of the night.

"Mr. Kitagawa, your phone is ringing several times downstairs. It's from a woman who claims to be Editor Saito." The apartment manager was also woken up in the middle of the night, so he looked very unhappy.

Kitagawa Hide's confused brain suddenly became clear.

He quickly apologized and thanked the man, then put on his coat, locked the door, and followed the apartment manager downstairs as quickly as possible.

Looks like it’s done!
This is my first pot of gold since I came into this world. I dug and dug, and finally it found its way.

(End of this chapter)