Tokyo Tycoon, Start as a Writer

Chapter 102: Growing Up Night (Part )

The autumn is bright, the sky is high and the air is fresh.

The fiery red maple forest stretching for kilometers is intertwined with the sky, the river, and tourists who come to admire the maple leaves.

The mother and daughter of the Matsueda family walked among the crowd admiring the maple leaves.

My mother was still wearing a conservative black kimono, wrapped tightly all over her body, with a cold and stern expression, looking like a rigid matron of a large family.

The eldest daughter wore a white kimono with the family crest embroidered in silver thread on the back.

The younger daughter was wearing a school uniform, a short skirt, long stockings and black loafers.

All three of them have outstanding temperament and look very similar, and the picture of them walking together is very eye-catching.

My mother has a delicate and cool face, and her skin is still very tender. You can't tell at all that she is already in her forties.

The eldest daughter is tall and well-proportioned, with the same delicate and cool face. With her hair tied up high, she looks a few years more mature than her actual age. When she stands with her mother, they look like a pair of sisters who are only seven or eight years apart in age.

The little daughter has a slim figure, a small and delicate face, and an adorable cherry mouth.

The mother and daughter of the Matsueda family were extremely beautiful and were known as the Three Golden Flowers. They were well-known in the old aristocratic circles.

The guests around them looked at them in amazement.

As for them, they looked unhappy and looked ahead with cold eyes.

In front, Kiyoaki Matsueda was surrounded by the Kobayashi sisters, chatting and laughing, and he looked very happy.

The red maple trees, the overlapping peaks, and the sparse conifers are like eyelashes surrounding the sky.

The Kobayashi sisters took out their cell phones and took photos with Kiyoaki Matsueda again and again, either the three of them together, or the two sisters, or the two sisters alone with Kiyoaki Matsueda.

Every once in a while, they would stop and look through the photos one by one.

“This one is so pretty.”

"Oh, I like this picture very much. Matsueda-kun's expression is unreal and weary! It really suits me. I'll send it to my classmates to see." My sister said proudly.

Matsueda Kiyaki: "..."

"Naoko, this photo of you looks better. Your hand is on Matsueda-kun's shoulder, and his expression is also very cooperative..."

"Sister, you actually used the scissor hand? So unsophisticated!"

The sisters teased and shared with each other, and the maple leaves burned like fire around them.

As for the other two pairs of sisters, Kiyoaki Matsueda pays more attention to the older sister.

As for the Kobayashi sisters, he would pay more attention to the younger sister.

It’s not that the elder sister is not good, but that the younger sister is too good.

Naoko Kobayashi's face has slightly anemic features, it is a pure and flawless face of a child that has not yet been stained by the world.

She was wearing a school uniform and a beret, and had a very slim waist.

When I smile, I look like a daffodil.

When the wind blows, her slender body and skirt will sway slightly, as delicate as a reed.

She is just like this, making people love her.

That delicate body had a charm that made men want to protect or play with her.

On the stage of Kiyomizu Temple, Naoko Kobayashi took a photo with Kiyoaki Matsueda, and both of them smiled at the camera.

Afterwards, the girl sent the photo to the group chat, her fingertips moving quickly and bursts of laughter emanating from her mouth from time to time.

"What are you so happy about?" Kiyoaki Matsueda asked, tilting his head.

"I was chatting with my classmates in the group. They saw the photo of you and me and asked about our relationship." Kobayashi Naoko said proudly, tilting her head and rubbing his arm like a cute kitten. "I told them about your relationship, sister, and they were very envious."

"What's there to envy about this?"

"Of course I'm envious. I have access to Mishima's resources. These rich girls in school can't just meet you whenever they want."

"That makes sense." Matsueda Kiyoaki nodded.

"Hehe~"

Naoko Kobayashi continued to rub her head against his arm like a spoiled child.

She felt a burst of heat where her forehead touched his arm. Looking at his profile from this angle, she always wanted to rub her face against it. Slowly, the girl closed her eyes.

The cool breeze blows through the hair, and the noise in the ears creates a harmonious lullaby.

On this cool autumn afternoon, the girl felt drowsy.

Kobayashi Midori watched this scene with a smile on her face.

After the younger sister let him go, the older sister took over seamlessly and completely took possession of him with tacit cooperation.

Not far behind, Matsueda Shinsako had a gloomy expression on her face.

Songzhi Luming looked at Songzhi Qingxian who was surrounded by two women with cold eyes and snorted with disdain.

"Hey, the sisters are working together, but there are two tsunderes among the three of us. How can we beat them..." Matsueda Kiyoyuki sighed, feeling very tired, and also feeling that it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep Matsueda Kiyoaki from winning.

In front was Arun, and behind were the Kobayashi sisters.

The enemies are not easy to deal with.

If Matsueda Kiyoaki was really her husband, Matsueda Kiyoyuki would not be worried at all.

The problem is that he is not.

The three of them, mother and daughter, of the Matsueda family, are all proud and arrogant women. She appears to be approachable on the surface, but in fact, she is the most arrogant of the three... In her eyes, everyone except herself is a fool.

Although she can't say that she likes Kiyoaki Matsueda, she is also trying hard to manage and maintain this relationship.

But now he is surrounded by wolves and may be kidnapped at any time.

How could the proud and arrogant Songzhi Qingxue tolerate such a thing to happen?

Ever since the school festival, she has been trying to see how far she has to go to keep Kiyoaki Matsueda completely.

But she soon discovered that she and Kiyokatsu Matsueda were just a fake couple after all.

She really couldn't just say she loved him.

Without love as a foundation, she wouldn't be able to convince herself to do those things that real couples can do with him.

But the opponent can sleep with Matsueda Kiyoaki...

According to her understanding of Kiyoaki Matsueda, if this man who was very simple in terms of feelings was slept with by one of the two women, he would definitely be responsible for her to the end.

"It's difficult, very difficult..."

Matsueda Kiyoyuki shook his head and sighed, looking at his mother who was gloomy, helpless and angry, and then at his sister who had a cold and contemptuous expression. He suddenly felt even more depressed. If you two had worked harder, we wouldn't be in such a passive position now when we have the leading advantage.

What should I do?
Am I going to watch Matsueda Kiyoaki sleep with another woman and then run away from home?

In front, groups of students left Kiyomizu Temple and moved to the Jishu Shrine on the back mountain.

It was the time when the red leaves were in full bloom, and the mountains, which had almost lost their green color, seemed to have contracted a disease that made them overly gorgeous due to the exhaustion of their vitality.

Jishu Jinja Shrine is located within Kiyomizu-dera Temple and is also a popular tourist attraction.

The God of Matchmaking here is very famous, and young men and women will not miss this place.

The students gathered around the shrine, making a lot of noise and excitement.

After paying homage at the main hall, the next step was to buy amulets. Matsueda Kiyoaki didn't have much to buy, so he just strolled slowly behind the Kobayashi sisters, fulfilling the female students' wish to take photos along the way.

The most popular spot in the shrine is the love fortune-telling stone.

These are two stones about ten meters apart. It is said that if you can walk from one side to the other with your eyes closed, your love will blossom.

Why close your eyes?

Kiyoaki Matsueda speculated to himself that love is blind.

The large group stopped here, and the girls closed their eyes excitedly and circled around the divination stone.

Matsueda Kiyoaki took a few glances and then hid outside the crowd.

Kobayashi Midori queued up with great interest.

Naoko Kobayashi turned her head to look for Kiyoaki Matsueda and found him sitting in a deserted corner, waiting quietly, with a unique sense of loneliness.

Isolated from the world?
Naoko Kobayashi always remembered the day when she first met him.

It was a rainy evening, and she was playing the cello in front of Yotsuya Station. She missed Hokkaido, so she looked at the evening rain outside the station with some melancholy.

At that time, Matsueda Kiyoaki was walking towards her. The lonely and melancholy temperament in him deeply attracted her.

The sensitive and sentimental girl wishfully thought that he was of the same kind as herself.

Later, the two gradually got to know each other.

Despite the gap in age and status, it did not prevent them from placing each other in a very important position in their hearts.

Kobayashi Naoko left the crowd and walked over to him.

Holding down the hem of her skirt with her little hands, she sat down on the grass beside him like a lady, and the two of them looked at the stove burning paper opposite them.

"Let's wait for my sister here," said Naoko Kobayashi.

Songeda Qingxian nodded, and a hint of joy immediately welled up in her eyes. Then she leaned towards him very cunningly.

The two men's shoulders were faintly touching.

The fire in the stove was not very strong, and there were scattered sparks that drew an arc in the air from time to time before going out.

It looks like fireworks, the girl thought.

"I suddenly want to watch fireworks. I missed all the fireworks displays this year." Naoko Kobayashi held her head with both hands and looked towards the distant sky. "During the summer vacation, almost all the classmates in my class went to various fireworks displays. I was the only one who didn't go. No one invited me to go..."

Kiyoaki Matsueda tilted his head and looked at the girl's beautiful and pure face.

Her eyes were filled with a very beautiful vision. Did she see a bright future?
"I didn't go to see it either," said Kiyoaki Matsueda.

Naoko Kobayashi looked at him and said, "Together next year?"

"Okay."

"Hook~"

One big and one small, with their fingertips hooked together.

Joy welled up in the girl's eyes and her laughter, like silver bells, startled the birds on the branches.

The last attraction before leaving Kiyomizu-dera Temple is a dark Buddhist hall. It is said that walking around inside is the so-called "Pilgrimage within the womb."

There is no light inside, only a cluster of torches at the entrance providing dim light. After worshippers complete the ceremony in the dark, they can receive the blessing of the Bodhisattva.

The Kobayashi sisters listened to the staff's explanation, nodded "yeah, yeah", and then couldn't wait to pull Matsueda Kiyoaki into the Buddhist hall.

After walking down the stairs and turning the corner, the light immediately became much dimmer.

After walking a few steps forward, they entered a pitch-black darkness. Songzhi Qingxian groped forward in the darkness, feeling the quiet atmosphere and the footsteps of the two sisters in front of him.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps disappeared.

Only one person moved forward, and the other stopped...

Kiyoaki Matsueda originally thought it was Kobayashi Midori, but when he got closer and saw the warm body leaning towards him, from the barren touch, he realized it was actually his sister...

"Huh?" He made a surprised sound.

"Oh, sorry, it's too dark here, I'm a little scared..." Kobayashi Naoko said in a trembling voice, touching his chest and face with both hands to confirm his position.

But in fact, she grew up in the countryside and was not afraid of the dark at all.

But Songeda Qingxian didn't know that.

In his eyes, Naoko is the purest and most beautiful girl in the world.

"Don't be afraid, it's okay, I'll protect you."

With a manly heart, Matsueda Kiyoaki directly embraced her in front of him.

She nestled in his arms softly, as if she had no bones. In the darkness, a cunning smile like a little fox appeared on the girl's anemic face.

"You are so thin~"

"Do you like plump women?"

"Not really, I like to be healthy."

"What do you think of me?" Naoko Kobayashi asked in a pitiful tone.

Holding her body and walking forward, Matsueda Kiyoaki replied: "Among the girls I have a good relationship with, I think you are the purest and cutest."

"Is it true, or is it just to please me and coax me?"

"It's true, I'm not lying to you."

“How many girls are you close to?”

"At most, there are only five or six."

"many!"

The girl grumbled a little in dissatisfaction.

After slowly turning around, the light of fire at the entrance appeared in the pitch-black sight, and a stone below was illuminated.

"It seems like you should make a wish while turning this stone," said Naoko Kobayashi.

In front, Kobayashi Midori finished a circle and made a wish in front of the stone: "I hope my sister and mother are healthy, and I hope everything goes well for Matsueda-kun, and I hope he can get me soon..."

I don't know why, but when Matsueda Kiyokatsu looked at her, he found that her hair was a little green.

How could a normal person's hair turn green?
This strange scene frightened Matsueda Kiyoaki so much that he quickly let go of his sister's waist.

Hate it, hate it, it would be great if my sister wasn’t here… After leaving her sister’s reluctant embrace, the younger sister complained to her sister in a very petty way.

When it was her turn to make a wish, she touched the stone, walked around it, bowed devoutly, and prayed in her heart:

"God, please bless our family and Matsueda-kun with good health, bless my sister and Matsueda-kun with successful careers, bless me with academic progress and mastery of everything, and bless my sister to quickly bring Matsueda-kun back to our home. Then, give him to me..."

A gust of wind blew in from the entrance, and the torches at the door hummed.

The wind that blew into the dark Buddhist temple made a solemn sound, making people feel as if the Buddha was listening to the girl's prayers.

Buddha won't blame me for making such a willful request, right?
Thinking of this, the girl panicked a little, and took a deep breath and said to herself: "If I can't have Songeda-kun alone, then let me and my sister marry him together..."

After leaving Kiyomizu Temple, everyone walked along the mountain road towards the next gathering point.

The mountain road is rugged, the autumn wind is blowing, and the maple leaves are blooming like fire.

The girls walked and stopped, taking pictures along the way.

Following behind from a distance, Matsueda Shinsako's face was so gloomy that it seemed like water was about to drip out of it.

"Hey~"

Songzhi Qingxue sighed again.

It's really tiring to have such a proud mother.

"Why are you sighing here?" Matsueda Shinsako transferred her anger to her daughter. "That's the man you chose. Why don't you stop him from traveling with other women? Why are you hanging around in front of me? Do you expect me, your mother, to help you get your man back?"

"It's not impossible." Songzhi Qingxue thought thoughtfully.

“……”Matsueda Shinsako was so angry that her chest hurt.

These two daughters are so troublesome, especially the eldest daughter!
"Aqing will soon be abducted by another woman." Songzhi Qingxue said quietly.

"Ok?"

At this moment, not only the mother, but even the sister who always disliked Kiyoaki Matsueda looked over.

"Among the women he knows, there is one called Arun, a kind and big-breasted woman who is the perfect wife in his mind in every way..."

Kiyoyuki Matsueda put on a sad look as if she had been abandoned by a man, and told the love story of Kiyoaki Matsueda and Arun with a little exaggeration.

After hearing this, my mother and sister fell silent.

The mother's eyes were clearly filled with anger, panic, and a bit of helplessness.

My sister's expression wasn't that obvious, but it was also quite subtle and complex... Isn't that nonsense? The inside of her thighs are still full of marks that haven't been washed off.

"Can't you think of a way to keep him?" Matsueda Shinsako looked at her daughter in panic.

"How can I keep him? I can't. He and Miss Arun are in love with each other. What can I do? He and I are not even a real couple..." Songzhi Qingxue looked like he had a headache.

Matsue Masako gritted her teeth and said, "Then why don't you and him be a real couple?"

"...?"

My sister looked shocked.

In this case, wouldn't it mean that Sister Ai Cao is also...

After hearing what her mother said, Songzhi Qingxue smiled bitterly: "My relationship with him is not yet at the level of a real couple, so there is no way to do it. Mother, be prepared to lose him. As long as Miss Arun takes the initiative, he will not be able to keep her. And I think it will be soon..."

These words made Matsueda Shinsako bite her lower lip and her eyes became increasingly dangerous.

■

In the afternoon, the students visited two temples and a shrine, and prepared to return home at dusk.

When the sun is setting in the west and is about to fall below the horizon, it is also the brightest moment of the day. Even the western sky has turned into burnt amber, with a clear and pure beauty.

Under the oak tree in the parking lot, Matsueda Kiyoyuki said goodbye to her mother and sister and looked towards Matsueda Kiyoaki.

"I have to go back to Tokyo tonight, so you, mother and sister should have fun." Kiyoyuki Matsueda got into the driver's cab of the Bluebird.

In the dim light of dusk, her graceful silhouette was slightly bent, her cold fragrant hair, and her slightly dry red lips all had a melancholy beauty.

Observing her face through the dim car window, it was as if I was looking at a beautiful woman in a painting.

The car window rolled down, and Songzhi Qingxue's little face leaned on the window, looking at him with a smile: "I have a strange feeling that when we meet in Tokyo, you will become a real man."

Kiyoaki Matsueda felt something was slightly wrong.

There was an unusual light flickering in Songzhi Qingxue's smart eyes, and the fingertips on the steering wheel began to tremble.

"It's a bit confusing." Kiyoaki Matsueda commented.

The pine branches and the snow smiled.

The oak tree above my head was shaken by a gust of wind.

The withered yellow leaves are spinning around.

A leaf fell between the couple.

Songzhi Qingxian subconsciously reached out to catch it, but the wind seemed to be stronger, blowing the dead leaves away.

Then, the dead leaves on the ground were blown away one after another.

Looking at the increasingly less clean ground, Songzhi Qingxian felt an inexplicable emotion in his heart.

"Goodbye~"

Songzhi Qingxue waved his hand and the Nissan Bluebird flew eastward.

The wind was blowing gently, and she left in the sunset. She not only disappeared from Matsueda Kiyoaki alone, but disappeared from the whole world in an instant... It felt ridiculous, right?

Don’t call it a flag.

Kiyoaki Matsueda turned around and looked back.

The setting sun shone on Matsueda Masako's face. Her plump, white neck and eyes were shrouded in a faint blue halo. Her beautiful face seemed to be filled with resentment and determination, making people want to give her a hug.

■

Starting from the next day, the 29th, Kyoto began to enter days of continuous autumn rain.

The rain was very fine, and there was heavy fog in the morning and evening. The continuous autumn rain seemed to cover the entire Kansai region, and the pedestrians on the road were hurried, and seemed to be deeply tired and exhausted.

In this late autumn season when it is hard to tell whether the autumn rain is like fog or the fog is like autumn rain, Kiyaki Matsueda is busy from morning to night almost every day, traveling to several cities around Kyoto.

With his new book about to be published, he had to cooperate with the publicity and promotion work and had no time to play with Masako and Xiaolu.

Far away in Tokyo, there was still no news from the Shinchosha headquarters, and no word was leaked to the outside world.

Apart from Mishima himself who was promoting the brand in the Kansai region, other departments of Shincho seemed to have lost their memory and no news came out.

Colleagues from other publishing houses were very confused.

"They have almost no publicity at their headquarters. What are they trying to do?"

At a regular meeting of Bungeishunju, editor-in-chief Tojo asked the biggest question in his mind: "What are they thinking? Only letting the author go to the book signing event to promote it himself, are they planning to give up on Mishima? This shouldn't be right. How long have they been shouting their bold words? Who can tell me what Shincho is thinking now?"

The editor-in-chief's question made everyone look at each other in bewilderment.

Xinchao is the industry leader and has always been a leader in industry operations. However, it is now doing this kind of operation before the interview of the new book of the writer it is promoting, which really confuses its peers.

"I have a friend working there, and there really is no publicity at all," said an editor, raising his hand.

“Are you raising resources?”

“Maybe we should wait until November to start promoting it?”

"Or is it that Mishima is just a smokescreen for them, and they have a real great author hiding?"

"This is impossible……"

Just as everyone was discussing this, a puzzled voice came from behind: "Are they going to save the resources to carry out a counter-sniping attack on us?"

This possibility silenced the entire meeting.

Editor-in-Chief Tojo's face instantly turned gloomy.

"It's not easy to counter-snipe us..."

"No matter how great Mishima is, he is just a new writer who writes romance novels. What we promote is post-war literature that reveals the scars of the nation. Judging from the depth of the plot, this is not much better than Mishima..."

"Moreover, the Ishihara Group has provided so many resources for publicity and promotion. After our repeated speculation and demonstration, "The Tower and the Sun" will definitely be a bestseller. Mishima only had one hit, "The Wave of Tide", so is it possible that all his books will be hits?"

The editors present were all analyzing the current situation rationally.

Judging from the popularity and exposure on the Internet, "The Sun and the Tower" is definitely ahead of Mishima.

In the eyes of the editors of Bungeishunju, the first battle in November is a game with a relatively good chance of winning.

Of course, although they are confident, they dare not make any guarantees.

The reason is simple.

Because that’s the new trend.

Because the writer's name is Mishima.

Shincho represents a long history, while Mishima represents a glorious present and a future with infinite possibilities.

In the entire Bungeishunju, there is currently only one person who has the ability to compete with Mishima without relying on external resources in a head-on confrontation, but that literary giant who is half a step away from becoming a literary giant has no plans to publish a book recently.

The editors in the conference room talked for a while, and finally fell silent.

An absurd idea slowly took shape in everyone's mind.

"It can't really be a precise counter-sniper attack, right?"

They will let you build up momentum in the early stage, and when your momentum reaches its peak, that is, when both books are released, they will then concentrate on promoting and stab you in the back... If you want this approach to be effective, you must be able to crush you in terms of quality.

Are the trendy people so confident? Can Mishima crush Ishihara Seiji?
No one can be sure until they see the two books.

"Damn it!" Editor-in-Chief Tojo slammed the table hard.

Xinchao didn't do anything, but he felt so uncomfortable...

Seeing his subordinates' emotions gradually being affected, Editor-in-Chief Tojo gritted his teeth and said, "Shincho is not invincible. Did we not win enough before? With the help of the Ishihara Group in promotion this time, how can we lose? Calm down and follow the plan. I will apply to the higher authorities for more budget for promotion..."

These words began to improve morale.

This time, we must win.

I've been working on this for so long, I can't lose to a new writer, right?

Then where can they put their reputation in Bungeishunju?

Thus, a new round of vigorous publicity campaign began again.

#Many professors highly recommend#
#A scarred memory unique to the Japanese#
#和魂永远不胜#
The war without gunpowder continues to rage over the competition for the Akutagawa Prize.

As November arrives, each side has played the cards it was dealt.

On the last day of October, the plot content of "The Sun and the Tower" was fully revealed.

Bungeishunju called "The Sun and the Tower" a landmark work of postwar literature.

This book tells a fictional story about an ordinary young man's pursuit of ideals and love in the difficult and decadent post-war era.

There is a very magical plot in it.

The girl that the protagonist likes was insulted by an American soldier. The protagonist used his wit and strategy to successfully kill the soldier. During the pursuit, he received help at every turn from the Japanese police who were under tremendous pressure. In the end, he successfully turned over a new leaf and lived a new life.

In the scene where the soldier is killed, the protagonist seems to be cheating, it's so exaggerated.

From a literary perspective, it's a piece of shit.

But from a business perspective, this is fine wine. National sentiment has always been the most convenient tool used by the upper class to fool the lower class.

Bungeishunju made its final revelation, but Shincho remained silent, leaving the entire industry feeling nervous about the coming storm.

■

On the afternoon of the 31st, Kiyoaki Matsueda visited the Kinkaku-ji Temple.

The abbot received him warmly and provided a lot of information and photos from that year, allowing him to get a glimpse of the full picture of the arson case.

Why did the trainee monk set fire?

What was his final fate?

Lin Chengxian's father was also a monk, and he was the abbot of a small temple in a small fishing village near Hewu.

His father had been in poor health for many years, and his condition worsened when Lin Chengxian was in middle school.

For the sake of his son's future life, the father wrote a letter to the abbot of Kinkakuji Temple, whom he had never met before, begging him to accept his son as an apprentice.

At that time, Kinkakuji Temple had a system for training new people: the best apprentices could be funded by the temple to go to college.

After receiving the letter, the abbot of Kinkakuji Temple agreed to accept this disciple whom he had never met.

Not long after, Lin's father passed away.

Lin Chengxian entered the temple to study, and after graduating from high school, the temple paid for him to go to Otani University to continue studying Buddhism.

This should have been a beautiful story.

However, Lin Chengxian had a congenital defect - a severe stutter, for which he was often bullied by his peers. Stuttering made him feel inferior, introverted, and not good at socializing.

As he grew older, his character flaws became more serious.

After entering university, Lin Chengxian felt that he must be very unpopular among the people around him, and the elders in the temple must also hate him.

His excessive inferiority complex and sensitivity caused his once excellent grades to plummet, making him think that people around him looked down on him, and his grades became even worse...

Carrying the burden of his father's expectations and the responsibility of raising his mother, Lin Chengxian's life became increasingly difficult.

Thanks to the huge ticket revenue brought by the numerous tourists, Kinkaku-ji Temple is booming and its operating income has hit new highs...but inside the temple, the status of the monks is far inferior to that of the staff who operate and generate income.

Lin Chengxian observed this scene and questioned the world.

He was both a beneficiary of the Kinkakuji Temple's funding system and a skeptic of the temple's economic revenue-generating mechanism.

A devout monk bows down in front of a money-making operator, which creates an unbridgeable gap between his understanding of religious beliefs and the actions of monks.

Loneliness, anxiety, confusion, and bewilderment...all of these things intertwined together, and Lin Chengxian's inner faith collapsed.

He chose to set fire to the Golden Pavilion, destroying it and himself, letting the world know that he hated this world.

Early morning of December 1950, 7.

Trainee monks set fire to Kinkaku-ji Temple.

The fire caused no casualties, but the 720-year history of Kinkaku-ji Temple was almost completely destroyed in the fire.

After the scandal broke out, Lin Chengxian swallowed sleeping pills and attempted suicide by cutting open his stomach (unsuccessful attempt).

After the incident, the police invited Lin's mother to the police station for questioning in order to understand his motives in more detail.

Upon learning that her son had committed a heinous crime, the mother suffered severe mental trauma and committed suicide by crashing into a train on the way home.

On December 1950, 12, the Kyoto Court sentenced Lin Chengxian to seven years in prison. When Lin committed the crime, he was already suffering from schizophrenia. After being imprisoned, his schizophrenia symptoms became more severe. At the same time, he developed tuberculosis and died in the hospital where he was treated on March 28, 7.

【Golden Pavilion Temple is the most beautiful in the world. 】

【Humans always yearn for beauty, call for beauty, and create beauty. 】

【However, beauty is always fragile. 】

【In the face of evil, beauty is vulnerable. 】

【This is the tragedy of life.】

[Therefore, when I watched the burning of Kinkakuji Temple, my heart was filled with sadness like the autumn wind.]

[Our youth stood on a dazzling peak, and the Golden Pavilion stood on the same peak as us, talking face to face.]

That night, Kiyoaki Matsueda sent this passage, along with the remaining manuscript of The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, to Editor-in-Chief Murakami of the Shincho Editorial Department.

The next day, November 1st arrived.

After the Ishihara Group's repeated information bombardment, long queues formed in front of major bookstores in Japan, and some books that were originally not so popular also gained valuable exposure opportunities.

In this literary war in which all major publishing houses participated, the most eye-catching ones were undoubtedly Shincho and Bungeishunju.

"Shincho" and "Bungei Shunju"; Mishima and Ishihara Seiji.

The confrontation between the two was like the boundary between Chu and Han, dividing every bookstore into two halves.

Several other major publishing houses also launched their own masterpieces that were shortlisted for the Akutagawa Prize at the end of the year. Each of them has a good fan base and publicity resources, and their fans also crowded the bookstores.

Readers from all walks of life came in waves.

The books on the shelves were sold one by one, and the clerk kept restocking the stock.

This grand literary carnival was simply unprecedented. TV reporters reported in front of major bookstores, and the TV station's commentators shouted excitedly: "The feast of Japanese literature has arrived."

In the first-day sales competition, Bungeishunju won a landslide victory.

With its super-standard publicity and promotion, its skills in stirring up national emotions, and its policy of publishing a large quantity of 6 words, Bungeishunju sold more than 8 copies on the first day, ranking first among the top five pure literature magazines in terms of sales.

"Xinchao" ranked second with sales of just over 5.

The other three are in the range of 2-4.

Kiyoaki Matsueda received the first day's sales data on the first night, but did not take it too seriously.

It's not just a one-month thing, there's also December and the separate volumes.

If you want to win the Akutagawa Prize, the sales and reputation of the single volume are the real main battlefield...

On the 2nd, Kiyoaki Matsueda went to Osaka to attend several book signings and events. When he returned to Kyoto, it was almost evening. He was so tired that he fell asleep directly on the sofa in the guest room.

Tired after a busy day, in a comfortable temperature, he was intoxicated by the happiness of sleeping alone on a soft sofa. The young man, who had no idea what insomnia was, was gradually awakened by an itchy feeling...

Slowly opened his eyes.

Matsueda Shinsako squatted in front of him and gently stroked his cheek with her white fingertips.

It was already dark outside the window. Her lips moved slightly, as if she was smiling, and there was a very strong maternal glow in her eyes.

"very tired?"

Like warm water seeping out bit by bit, Matsueda Shinsako rolled her watery eyes and said softly, "Actually... I've also learned about recent events and asked around. It seems that the competitor's sales are better... Does this have any impact on your award?"

Matsueda Kiyoaki was stunned by her gentle look, feeling a little uncomfortable. He smiled and shook his head, "Uh... it's just the beginning, so it's hard to draw a conclusion so quickly. But I'm really tired these past few days. There's nothing I can do about it. I don't have a consortium to back me up..."

"How about, relax tonight?"

"How to relax?"

"Let's go to Gion and find a geisha to serve you." Matsueda Shinsako said, then lowered her eyes unnaturally, "I... I'll take you there."

"……what?"

Song Zhiqingxian's expression was extremely strange.

Gion, the largest geisha district in Kyoto, Shinsako wants to take him to find a geisha?

"I'll go take a shower first." Matsueda Shinsako said, and went back to the room to change into a yukata.

The room was so quiet that Kiyoaki Matsueda could even hear the sound of the heavy black kimono sliding down from the snow-white shoulders.

The elegant silk cut through the air and fell onto the tatami, rustling as it landed.

It still feels so weird...

Kiyoaki Matsueda got up from the sofa, walked to the refrigerator, took out a can of Coke, and drank it in big gulps.

Feeling the stimulation of the carbonated soda in his mouth, his mind gradually became clear.

The night has completely enveloped the window, the stars are twinkling in the sky, and the evening moon is faintly illuminating the entire Kyoto.

I looked at the time, it was nine o'clock in the evening.

I slept for almost 4 hours. Although my body was still loose, I didn't feel tired anymore.

He walked back into the room.

On the ground were the clothes that Masako had taken off.

There was also a feminine scent in the room. The still life was so perfect, with feather-light white mesh gloves draped over the trunk and a gorgeous kimono belt dragging from a chair onto the tatami, its tassels dangling.

Songzhi Qingxian bent down and picked up the clothes on the ground. The fragrance of the clothes and the slight remaining body temperature were very clear.

"This woman, she's not really going to take me to find a geisha, is she..." The young man's face remained strange.

"I ve done washing."

Matsueda Shinsako, who had just come out of the bath, had bright and moist eyes and her slightly pouting lips were very seductive.

She was still wearing a black kimono.

If she put on a bright red kimono, would she be very attractive?

Kiyoaki Matsueda suddenly wanted to see her wearing a gaudy bright red kimono.

"Do you want to wash?" asked Matsueda Shinsako.

He shook his head: "No."

"Then wait for me for a moment and then I'll go out." Matsueda Masako went back to her room and closed the door. After about ten minutes, she went out carrying a bulging handbag.

It's still drizzling outside.

Kyoto at night has a unique charm.

The hotel where they stayed was surrounded by many Edo-period buildings, with brick and tile roofs and the street in front of the door paved with bluestone slabs.

Song Zhiqingxian was holding a paper umbrella and walking slowly on the bluestone road that was wet by the night rain.

There is also the beautiful Masako under the umbrella.

Two tourists holding SLR cameras followed them and took pictures.

In the lingering autumn rain, yellow lanterns stretch to the end of the night, embellishing the quaint Gion complex.

Geishas in kimonos walked in groups of two or three on the cobblestone road in a hurry to get to the performance.

Their nostalgic style, an unintentional bow, and delicate and beautiful lines make people happy.

The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder in the night rain, holding paper umbrellas, both of them feeling complicated.

The shops on both sides were flashing bright lights, and the rustling voices were affected by the rain, and when they came through, they were hazy as if they were separated by several layers of filter paper.

Masako Matsueda kept her head down and hurried along the way.

After arriving at Gion, I paid to book a private room.

It is called a box, but in fact it is an auditorium facing the lake, one side facing the stage.

Guests can enjoy authentic Kaiseki cuisine while watching the performance, which is an elegant experience.

Of course, the greatest pleasure of coming here is the geisha's wholehearted service.

Kiyoaki Matsueda sat down on the tatami, in front of him was a small pond that separated the audience seats from the stage.

The swaying bonfire in the drizzle and the dark pool water complement each other, creating a very mysterious scene.

"It's not convenient for me to watch what you and the geisha are doing, so you stay here by yourself." After Matsueda Shinsako helped him order food and the geisha, she turned around and came out, standing at the door and said to him: "I'm going to the airport now and will return to Tokyo tonight. You don't have to wait for me."

After saying that, she left without looking back.

"..."

Songzhi Qingxian had a strange look on his face.

So, what is going on...he doesn't know.

At the door of the box, Matsueda Shinsako stood and waited for a while, and finally a geisha in a red kimono came over.

"What's your name?" she asked.

The geisha was puzzled as to why there was a woman in the box, but she did not dare to ask any more questions. She lowered her head and replied docilely, "Madam, my name is Xunzi."

Matsueda Shinsako looked at her carefully and saw that she had a cold and beautiful oval face and a charming temperament. She was moved and ordered, "Come here, I have something to tell you."

"Okay, ma'am." Xunzi responded with her eyebrows lowered.

■

In the box, Songeda Qingxian looked left and right, observing the environment.

On the walls on both sides were private rooms separated by screens, from which one could faintly hear the man's rough laughter and the woman's gentle service.

Directly in front of the box is the stage.

Kiyoaki Matsueda looked over and saw a play being performed upstairs.

"Whoo~"

The autumn wind suddenly grew stronger.

The cold, wet evening breeze disturbed the campfire, and in the dark night, it seemed as if the rain was burning.

To the sound of rapid drumbeats signaling the general's march to battle, two women carrying wooden trays slowly walked into the box.

"I'm going back to Tokyo tonight, and let the geisha Kaoru serve you for the rest of the time." Matsueda Shinsako said condescendingly.

After a while, there were only two people left in the room, and the geisha in a bright red kimono walked towards Matsueda Kiyaki.

She is tall and plump, and the hem of her kimono skirt drags gorgeously on the ground, which looks gorgeous.

Her noble and cold pointed face, reflected red by the bonfire, made her look like the most noble beauty in the world; rather than calling her a geisha, it would be more appropriate to say that she was a queen, as her temperament as the mother of the country could arouse men's desires.

But the problem is...

Kiyoaki Matsueda stared at the geisha in amazement, feeling as if his brain was not enough.

After a while.

“…Are you serious?”

(End of this chapter)