Chapter 124 Hollow Heart Disease

Chapter 124 Hollow Heart Disease

Chapter 124 Hollow Heart Disease

After getting Kitagawa Hide's promise, Kawaide Shizuko breathed a sigh of relief and immediately felt a lot more relaxed.

In this situation, if other writers promised her something, she would never let her guard down before seeing the manuscript.

But the person who made the promise was Kitagawa Hidetoki, so Kawaide Shizuko subconsciously felt that the matter was settled, and the public essay competition that had been making her irritated these days became less difficult.

She smiled and nodded: "Thank you, Mr. Kitagawa! I look forward to your new work!"

Kitagawa Hide waved his hand nonchalantly and called Mengzi over. The three of them hung the lottery papers they had obtained on the huge sacred tree next to the torii in the courtyard.

All the branches of the sacred tree were hung with various kinds of sticky papers tied with red and white ropes. The late winter wind blew gently, and the bells on the tree swayed "ding-ling-ling", and the sticky papers seemed to come alive, leaping like elves.

Kitagawa Hide and Yumeko's fortune papers both said "good luck", while Kawaide Shizuko's was "bad luck". She was a little embarrassed to put her fortune paper together with theirs, and originally wanted to hang it on the other side, but she saw Yumeko reached out and gently tied her fortune paper together with hers, and then clapped her hands and prayed sincerely.

"I hope that Xiujun's new book will sell well this year, and Sister Shizuko's company will be able to overcome the difficulties smoothly." Mengzi murmured softly, took Kawade Shizuko's arm and smiled sweetly, "Sister Shizuko, don't worry anymore. My 'good luck' neutralizes your 'bad luck'. Xiujun's 'good luck' will definitely help you defeat them~"

"Thank you, Yumeko-chan." Shizuko Kawaide nodded touchedly.

She finally understood why Saito Rena always said that Yumeko was a good match for Kitagawa Hide.

A workaholic like Kitagawa Hide needs a virtuous wife like Yamato Nadeshiko to take care of the housework. The sum of the two of them, one plus one, instantly bursts out a power far beyond two.

After hanging up the fortune paper, Mengzi took Kawaide Shizuko to the small market inside the shrine and bought her a small windmill. Kawaide Shizuko gave her an exquisite amulet in return.

After eating the vegetarian meal together and confirming that Kawaide Shizuko was much relieved, Yumeko took Kitagawa Hide's hand and reluctantly said goodbye to her.

on the way back.

Yumeko played with the amulet that Shizuko Kawade gave her, lowered her head and sighed, "I feel like Shizuko's life is so hard. She has wealth and status that most people can't even dream of, and she's the only child in the family, but she seems to have lived in a deserted desert from beginning to end. It gives me a very strong sense of 'incompleteness'."

"A feeling of incompleteness?" Kitagawa Hide held the steering wheel and glanced at Yumeko out of the corner of his eye.

He could occasionally understand Shizuko Kawaide's loneliness and desolation, but the two of them didn't have much contact, unlike Yumeko and her, who were both women, so they were able to quickly establish friendship and have in-depth communication.

Kitagawa Hide searched his mind for that feeling of loneliness and felt that the most appropriate example was when he took the Shinkansen to Kyoto. When he talked about his family's private helicopter, it was obviously something to show off and be proud of. Kawaide Shizuko's expression was also very happy when she spoke, but the look in her eyes was loneliness and solitude.

"Hmm. I can't put my finger on that exact feeling. If I had to describe it, I'd say it's like the young people being divided by the 'danchi'."

Yumeko held the amulet in her hand and tried her best to explain it to Kitagawa Hide using all the words she could think of.
"Before the bubble era, the towering apartment buildings separated everyone with walls and glass, and it seemed as if everyone was abandoned by those other than themselves. It was probably similar to that feeling."

Yumeko's hometown is in Ota Ward, Tokyo, which was once the core and prosperous area of ​​Tokyo. In the 70s and 80s, the first batch of "danchi" were built there.

Because she had had similar experiences before, when Mengzi felt the familiar aura from Shizuko Kawaide, she immediately couldn't help but care about her mental state.

As she explained this, words like "danchi", "sense of incompleteness", "only child", and "loneliness" intertwined in Kitagawa Hide's mind, giving him an inspiration.

"'Danchi' is such a nostalgic word," Kitagawa Hideya sighed.

In his previous life, Kitagawa Hide left his hometown to study at the University of Tokyo. Because he was unable to apply for a student dormitory in his freshman and sophomore years, the financially strapped Kitagawa ran to the suburbs and rented an extremely cheap "danchi" house.

He lived there for two years, so he had the same feelings about this word as Yumeko.

The so-called "Danchi" is a group of "collective housing" built in the former urban area, now in the suburbs, in order to absorb the large number of workers who flocked to Tokyo in the post-war era.

When it comes to "Danchi", the impression that Japanese people have of it today is that it has old houses, poor security, a lot of poor people, and children who don't study hard.

But in fact, before the bubble, those who could live in the "group homes" were middle-class elites such as teachers.

They were the first beneficiaries of the post-war economic boom, and an important condition for applying for "danchi" at that time was "only child".

This generation of only children who grew up behind high walls are much lonelier than their other peers and suffer from various mental illnesses.

This has also led to a "social urban disease" that has continued to this day - hollowing out.

With the rapid development of society, the barriers between people are like the walls between "group dwellings". Driven by the consumer culture where money and power are supreme, people have unknowingly become profit-driven, playing with everything but feeling empty and lonely. The resulting psychological disease is hollowness.

Young people of Shizuko Kawaide's age are one of the main groups suffering from the "empty heart syndrome".

This mental illness is now spreading rapidly among the social population, and is tending to develop among young people and middle-aged and elderly people.

Kitagawa Hide turned the steering wheel and drove into the open-air parking lot next to Kokubunji City Station. The moment the car stopped, he finally knew what kind of social novel he should write to help Kawade Shobo overcome its difficulties!

In the original history, in 1992, in order to extend his stay in the United States, Haruki Murakami taught modern Japanese literature at Princeton University Graduate School as a visiting professor. During this period, he created a social novel disguised as a youthful love story based on the "empty heart disease" -

South of the Border, West of the Sun.

This book is considered one of Haruki Murakami's most underrated masterpieces.

Because the novel was preceded by the blockbuster "Norwegian Wood", its release was destined to be difficult to reach such a peak. The publishing house at the time even promoted it as the sequel to "Norwegian Wood" in order to attract readers.

In fact, this novel has nothing to do with "Norwegian Wood", but the heroine Shimamoto was deliberately promoted by the editorial department as "Nanoko who did not die and lived to the age of 36."

Although its final sales were far less than that of "Norwegian Wood", it is Haruki Murakami's culmination of literary and social themes.

It is also the only novel by Haruki Murakami that is linked to the "hollow syndrome" and directly reflects the social nature of modern Japan.

It is obviously very appropriate to release it at this point in time!

"Yuezi-chan! It's so nice to have you around!" As soon as Kitagawa Hide got out of the car, he couldn't help but excitedly hugged and kissed Yuezi, whose head was full of question marks.

Mengzi was kissed so hard that she was confused, but when she saw how happy he was, she felt as if she was "needed" and was extremely happy.

After the two kissed, they walked back to "Peter Cat". Kitagawa Shucai found a familiar figure standing at the door of the cafe. He guessed that the intimacy between him and Yumeko just now was seen by the other person.

"Teacher Kitagawa. I thought I couldn't wait for you anymore, so I was just about to leave." Muramatsu Tomoshi, who looked a little haggard, was holding two bags of gift boxes in his hands, trying his best to smile without being too embarrassed.

Although he had been suspended, he was still nominally the deputy editor-in-chief of Kodansha's "Gunzo" editorial department. If he went directly to the home of his competitor, who knows what people would say if they saw him.

He didn't know whether Kitagawa Hide would let him in and sit down.

"Teacher Muramatsu, long time no see." Kitagawa Hide didn't care much about it. After all, they were comrades who had fought together, and there was nothing wrong with visiting each other.

"Ah, long time no see, Happy New Year!" Seeing that he did not show any expression of disgust, Muramatsu Tomomi felt relieved and greeted my wife Yumeko, "Hello, Mrs. Kitagawa." "Hey hey hey it's me." Yumeko's face turned red, but she couldn't say "I'm not", so she quickly made an excuse to go into the cafe first and hid in the kitchen to make coffee for the two of them.

Kitagawa Hide and Muramatsu Tomomi sat down and immediately started chatting about each other's recent situation. When he heard that Muramatsu Tomomi had been suspended, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The haiku market that Kodansha worked so hard to create was encroached upon by itself. "I Am a Cat" severely satirized Noma Airi in terms of sales and literary quality. In addition, "Akadashi" completely beat "Hear the Wind Sing", so it is normal for Noma Airi to vent her anger on her subordinates.

But when he thought that he was one of the people who caused Muramatsutomo to become like this, Kitagawa Hide could only sigh secretly.

"It's so brand new, I can hardly recognize it."

Muramatsu Tomoshi didn't care about this, but was instead lamenting the changes in the cafe.

When Saito Rena and others had their first gathering, they also invited him and Yasuhara Akira.

That was his first and last time here.

Unexpectedly, after many twists and turns, this bar finally became Kitagawa Hide's property.

The two chatted about the past in the café, and the topic turned from writers to work and the recent public essay competition.

Perhaps realizing that it was not a good idea to talk about this since they belonged to different camps, Muramatsu Tomoshi turned the topic back to family.

He is in his fifties and is not satisfied with his work. He looks haggard, just like a young man suffering from "empty heart disease". He has money, a family, children and a job, yet it seems like he has nothing and his heart is empty.

"Every time I go home and see my wife's face, I lose all interest." Muramatsu Tomoshi replaced coffee with wine, and after a few glasses, his complaints became louder and louder. "It seems like she will never understand me. All she wants is promotion, promotion, promotion, and making money, money, money."

These are topics that men in the workplace often talk about when they get together. Unfortunately, for Kitagawa Hide, who has lived two lives and has zero experience in this area, he is completely unmoved.

He had no say in this.

However, the feeling of loneliness coming from Muramatsu Tomomi deeply infected him.

Kitagawa Hide once again thought of "South of the Border, West of the Sun".

"I just saw you and your wife. Oh, sorry, Mr. Kitagawa, I didn't mean to peek. Anyway, looking at you, I suddenly felt that it's okay to just do a mediocre job and find a woman I like to enjoy the taste of love.

Men, you work hard, in the final analysis, to find a good woman and make her subordinate to you, this is the common law of nature. In the animal world, males desperately capture prey and defeat opponents, and ultimately they want to get the female's body, don't you think so, Mr. Kitagawa?"

Muramatsu Tomoshi finished his beer in one gulp.

When talking about love, he suddenly became inexplicably excited and his face became shiny.

Beichuan Xiu smiled and said, "That's right. You have already achieved success and fame, so you should really stop and enjoy love. I am still young, and only by making money can I make the girl I love live a happier life."

"Haha, successful and famous. Beichuan, you are joking! Compared with you, what kind of success and fame do I have? It's far from it."

After drinking another glass of beer, Muramatsu Tomoshi suddenly looked up and around. After confirming that there were no other customers, he whispered to Kitagawa Hide,

"Maybe you inspired me, I suddenly want to have a love affair. I really want to have a romance with an outstanding woman. But age is not forgiving, I am just daydreaming."

"No, in fact, it's the opposite. Only when you get older will you have such thoughts." Kitagawa Hide smiled, then signaled with his eyes that Mengzi should stop drinking.

Muramatsu Tomoshi is an elite middle-aged man with an annual salary of over 10 million yen, and is considered a hot commodity in the eyes of many women.

Combined with his thoughts and complaints after drinking today, Kitagawa Hide suspected that he might really be having an extramarital affair!

Today's society is not tolerant of this kind of thing. Once exposed, the person will basically be ruined.

Unless you are a special person with a very high social status, such as a national writer like Kitagawa Hide.

But it was difficult for Kitagawa Xiu to ask or advise about this kind of thing, so he could only pretend not to hear it.

"I'm afraid I can't do it. But if I continue like this, I feel like I've forgotten something very important in my life."

Realizing that Kitagawa Hide didn't want to discuss this topic in depth, Muramatsu Tomoshi said something discouraging and ended the topic himself.

Kitagawa Hide asked Yumeko to get two cups of honey tea. After each of them drank one cup, Muramatsu Tomoshi's drunkenness dissipated a little.

Perhaps realizing that he had just said something not very nice, Muramatsu Tomoshi smiled awkwardly and quickly told Kitagawa Hide not to take it to heart.

After that, the two of them started chatting about lighter literary topics, and tacitly agreed that no one would mention love or women again.

As dinner time approached, Muramatsu Tomoshi didn't want to disturb Kitagawa Hide on the first day of the new year, so he left a gift box and bowed solemnly to him at a 90-degree angle, thanking him for chatting with an old man for the whole afternoon.

He felt much better and his recent depression was relieved.

Before leaving, Muramatsu Tomoshi hesitated again and again, but still took out a piece of paper at the door, and whispered to Kitagawa Hide: "Kitagawa, I know you haven't signed a writer's contract with Kawade Shobo, and you are a freelance writer.

If you are interested in participating in this public essay contest, you can use a pen name.

This is my home address. If you have any questions about the public essay solicitation, please come to my house.”

Kitagawa Hide understood the implication of Muramatsu Tomoshi's words.

If he submits his work under a pen name, he can handle everything.

"I understand. I'll consider it." Kitagawa Hide took the piece of paper and watched him slowly leave.

Looking at Muramatsu Tomosei's leaving figure, he suddenly felt very emotional.

This is probably the combination of "empty heart disease" and life pressure of middle-aged men.

Knowing clearly that this kind of solicitation might cause strong resistance from him, in order to return to the company and for some things he once had, Muramatsu Tomomi still lowered his head and personally put his friendship with him on the scale of business.

Turning back to the cafe lobby, Kitagawa Xiu held the piece of paper and wanted to throw it into the trash can several times, but finally put it in the business card box on the table.

He went to the computer and opened the document after more than a month. The figures of Shizuko Kawaide and Tomoshi Muramatsu kept surging in his mind.

The sound of typing on the keyboard rang out again, and the title of the book "South of the Border, West of the Sun" was typed out.

(End of this chapter)