1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 639 Civic

"That's wonderful, it's truly touching."

Li Xiaolin wiped away her tears. Even though she had been working in literature for so many years and was a veteran editor who had read countless manuscripts, she was still moved by the story Jiang Xian had woven.

Moreover, the second story is not completely disconnected from the first story.

When Ah-Lang wondered if the grocery store was still operating the way it did when he was a child, he once saw a woman riding a bicycle to deliver mail.

Her long hair was tied back, and although she only wore light makeup, her features were very well-proportioned. I don't know if she does some kind of sports, but her arms, which were visible under her sleeves, were very strong.

When Ah Lang asked her if the grocery store was open, she said, "I can't tell you my name, and besides, what I just sent wasn't an inquiry letter, it was a thank-you letter."

"I consulted someone about something more than six months ago and received valuable advice that solved my problem, so I'm here to express my gratitude."

Little snowflakes!
This is clearly the little snowflake from the previous story!

Li Xiaolin became increasingly engrossed in the book, flipping through page after page until the intro to "Rebirth" began, then turning the page...
Gone!

"Oh dear, what happens next?"

"finish watching?"

Jiang Xian was drawn to Li Xiaolin's voice and handed her a peeled apple. "The rest? I haven't written the rest yet, have I?"

"."

Li Xiaolin was a little annoyed. "Oh dear, I really shouldn't have read your manuscript at this time. After reading it, I feel like something is missing. I'm eager to read the rest."

"Then let you experience what it's like to be a reader following a serialized story this time, and feel what they're going through," Jiang Xian said with a smile.

Li Xiaolin smiled and said, "In short, it's a very good novel. Judging from the two stories so far, they are both very well written and very moving. If the quality doesn't drop in the later parts, or even if it continues to break through and makes the later stories more exciting, this novel will definitely be even more exciting."

"Behind"

Jiang Xian nodded. "I'll try my best."

"Then I look forward to seeing your next draft soon."

Li Xiaolin said, "Jiang Xian, for an ordinary writer, the level of these two stories is already praiseworthy. But if I may be greedy, I think that if it were you, you should write something even more wonderful and at a higher level. Only then would you be worthy of the name Jiang Xian."

Jiang Xian found it a bit strange, "Sister Lin, what you're saying doesn't seem quite right. The way you're talking makes it sound like my manuscript already belongs to your 'Harvest' magazine?"

"Jiang Xian, you absolutely must give this manuscript to Harvest."

Li Xiaolin disregarded his elders' feelings and said, "Your People's Literature is ultimately a platform for short and medium-length novels, but our Harvest is different. We at Harvest are dedicated to cultivating novels, as you know. Besides, we are all your own authors, so why would you be afraid that Harvest won't do a good job for your novel?"

"I'm not worried about that."

Jiang Xian knew Li Xiaolin's personality well and knew that she had always been kind to him. He was confident that if he gave her the manuscript for "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store," she would definitely help him promote it.

"OK then."

Jiang Xian didn't hesitate any longer, "Since you just happened to be here, I told you in advance that I would give this manuscript to Sister Lin."

"You can rest assured if you leave it to me." Li Xiaolin was delighted to hear this, thinking to himself that his trip to find Jiang Xian was definitely worthwhile.

Every time she came to Beijing, she was entrusted by Ba Jin, who had difficulty walking, to visit and handle many matters on his behalf.

Therefore, it was not easy for him to find time to visit Jiang Xian.

And Jiang Xian truly lived up to her expectations, immediately submitting an excellent novel like "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store".

Li Xiaolin even made up his mind that no matter how full or busy his schedule was when he came to Beijing in the future, he would definitely visit Jiang Xian's house at least once.

On the other hand, Jiang Xian had no idea that he had become a hot commodity in Li Xiaolin's eyes, someone she was thinking about, and that she was even arranging to invite Li Xiaolin to dinner at her home.

While chatting with Zhu Lin about movies and sharing news she'd heard from her lover who worked at the Shanghai Film Studio, Li Xiaolin also affectionately served food to the little emperor.

"Daddy has always wanted to see your little darling. If the whole family goes to Shanghai in the future, please stay at our house." Before leaving, Li Xiaolin said this to Jiang Xuan, and didn't forget to hug the adorable little emperor one last time.

Jiang Xian sighed as he watched this scene.

When I was Jiang Niannian's age, or during my childhood, people like Li Xiaolin and Ba Jin were figures who lived in legends and textbooks.

But now, they are all frequent visitors to my home.

He could even imagine what it would be like when Jiang Niannian started elementary school.

When I opened my Chinese textbook and looked at the titles of the texts, I saw that this one was written by Aunt Zhang Jie, this one by Uncle Feng Jicai, and oh my, there was even Grandpa Ba Jin!
Of course, you'll definitely see his dad too.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xian couldn't help but feel a little proud, after all, he already had one of his essays, "The Garland on the High Mountain," included in the textbook.

Recently, I heard that the education department is planning to include "The Little Prince" in textbooks.

After seeing Li Xiaolin off, Jiang Xuan returned to his study. Looking at the manuscripts scattered on the table, he tidied them up and then replied to Li Xiaolin's words.
Does the novel achieve a breakthrough later in its content?

Jiang Xian was very clear about this; the novel "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store" truly achieved this.

Although the first two stories were heartwarming and well-told, this novel wouldn't have become a worldwide bestseller if it hadn't achieved a breakthrough in the later stories.

He filled his pen with ink, ready to begin writing the third story in "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store".

As I walked out of the ticket gate, I glanced at my watch and saw that the hour and minute hands pointed to just past 8:30.

He sensed something was wrong, looked around, and noticed that the clock above the train timetable showed 8:45. Namiya Takayuki curled his lip and clicked his tongue. That old watch was behaving erratically again.

The watch his father gave him when he got into university has been frequently stopping and starting lately. After twenty years, it's probably nearing the end of its life; he should probably buy a quartz watch sometime. A revolutionary crystal oscillating watch used to be ridiculously expensive, almost enough to buy a car, but lately the price has been getting cheaper and cheaper.

Leaving the station and walking along the shopping street, he was surprised to find that although it was already late, some shops were still open. From the outside, every shop seemed to be doing brisk business. He heard that since the new town was built nearby, many new residents had moved in, and business on the shopping street in front of the station had been getting better and better.

Takayuki was a little surprised that business was so good in this unassuming shopping street in the countryside. But seeing the area where he grew up gradually regaining its vitality, he was secretly pleased and even hoped that his own general store could open on this shopping street.

He turned off the shopping street onto a side street and walked for a while until he arrived at a residential area. New houses were constantly being built in this area, so the scenery was different every time he came here. He heard that many of the residents here commuted to Tokyo every day. Even by express train, it would probably take two hours. He could never live that kind of life, Takayuki couldn't help but think. He currently rented an apartment in Tokyo; although it wasn't large, it had two bedrooms and a living room, where he lived with his wife and ten-year-old son.

He knew that while he couldn't possibly commute to work from here every day, he would likely have to move to a more distant place next time he moved. Life is full of disappointments, and the increased commute time was a minor inconvenience. After crossing the residential area, he turned right at the T-junction and continued walking for a while. It was a gentle uphill slope. Once he got here, he could walk home even with his eyes closed. His body knew how many steps to take and the curves of the road. He had walked this route every day before graduating high school.

A short while later, a small house appeared to the right. Although the streetlights were on, the billboard was too old to read the words. The rolling shutter door was already down.

He stopped in front of the store and looked up at the billboard again. Namiya General Store—he could barely make out the words as he got closer.

There was a fire lane about one meter wide between the house and the adjacent warehouse. Takayuki walked around the fire lane to the back of the shop. When he was in elementary school, he always parked his bicycle here.

There's a back door at the back of the shop, and next to it is a milk crate. About ten years ago, the milk company delivered milk to our door every day. Shortly after my mother passed away, we stopped subscribing to milk, but we still kept the milk crate.

There's a button next to the milk carton. It used to ring the doorbell when I pressed it, but it's broken now.

Guizhi pulled the doorknob, and the door opened immediately. He was already used to it.

"Good evening," he greeted in a low voice, but no one responded. He went in on his own, took off his shoes, and entered the house. The kitchen was right inside, and further in was a Japanese-style room. Continuing forward, he arrived at the shop.

Yuji, dressed in Japanese-style trousers and a sweater, knelt before the low table in the Japanese-style room, slowly raising his head to look at Takayuki. His reading glasses had slipped down to the tip of his nose.

"why you?"

"What? It's me? Your door wasn't locked. Haven't I told you several times to remember to lock it?"

"Don't worry, I'll know when someone comes in."

"You didn't even know I came in, you didn't hear my voice, did you?"

"I heard the sound, but I was thinking about something, so I couldn't be bothered to answer."

"You're just making excuses again." Takayuki placed the small paper bag he had brought on the low table and sat down cross-legged. "This is your favorite Kimura-ya red bean bread."

“Oh,” Yuji’s eyes lit up, “You always spend so much money on me.”

"a piece of cake."

Yuji stood up with a "Heave-ho!" sound, picked up the paper bag, opened the door to the altar next to him, placed the bag containing red bean bread in front of the altar, rang the bell twice, and then put it back in its place. Although he was very thin, even though he was nearly eighty years old, he still stood very straight.

"Have you had dinner yet?"

"I ate buckwheat noodles after get off work. I'm staying here tonight."

"Oh, is that so? Did you tell Fumiko?"

Yes, she's very worried about you. How are you feeling?

"Thanks to you, I'm fine and don't need to come back to see me at all."

“I’m already back, why are you saying things like that?”

"I mean, you don't need to worry about me. By the way, I just took a bath, and the water hasn't been drained yet, so it should still be very hot. You can take a bath anytime."

While speaking, Yuji kept his eyes on the low table.

On the low table was a letter, and next to it was an envelope addressed to "Namiya General Store".

】

This is the third story in "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store," and this chapter is titled: "Waiting for Dawn in the Civic."

The CIVIC is what we commonly refer to as the Civic.

Clearly, the legendary Namiya Namiya has finally appeared in this story.

His son, Namiya Takayuki, also appeared at the same time.

As the son of Mr. Namiya, Takayuki Namiya never quite understood why his father, a general store owner, would also act as someone who answers inquiries.

It all started when Takayuki's mother passed away, and at that time, his father, Yuji Namiya, was still unable to get over the shadow of his wife's death.

Until one day, Guizhi received an unexpected phone call from his older sister, Laizi.

“I was shocked. Dad suddenly became very energetic, maybe even more so than before Mom passed away. For now, we can rest assured. You should go back and see him too; you'll be very surprised.”

When Guizhi returned home, he learned that his father had started helping people relieve their worries and troubles.

So although I don't quite understand, because some of the letters really are just pranks.

Just like when Takayuki saw his father receive 30 inquiry letters with the same handwriting, clearly from the same person.

He advised his father not to waste his time, but Mr. Namiya Yuji stubbornly and earnestly replied to all 30 letters.

No similar pranks occurred after that, and one night, the grocery store received a letter that simply said "I'm sorry, thank you," in handwriting very similar to the thirty letters.

Guizhi will never forget the smug look on his father's face when he showed him that piece of paper.

Therefore, Guizhi allowed his father to do what he loved.

Takayuki's purpose in returning this time was actually to persuade his father to close down the general store, because the business was very slow and there was a huge deficit. He wanted his father to live with him after closing the store, because he was planning to buy a new house, which would be large enough for his family and father to live in.

At this time, Yuji Namiya was considering a consultation that he found troublesome:

A woman using the pseudonym "Green River" said she is pregnant with a married man's child, but she suffers from infertility, so this may be the only child she can conceive. She is now in a dilemma and hopes to find a solution.

Takayuki knew that the general store was of great significance to his father, so he did not force his father to close it down.

To his surprise, not long after, Yuji Namiya suddenly fell ill and decided to close the shop and move in with his son. After living at his son's house for a while, Yuji Namiya suddenly fell ill again and was hospitalized. The doctor diagnosed him with liver cancer, which was already in its terminal stage.

Just when his children were feeling very sad, the old man suddenly asked Takayuki a favor, saying that he must go back to the general store and ask him to stay there alone for just one night.

Guizhi was very confused, but the old man said he had a very important reason. If Guizhi agreed to take him back, he would tell Guizhi the truth about why he had to go back.

(End of this chapter)