Tokyo Tycoon, Start as a Writer

Chapter 24 This time it’s my turn to beat you.

The couple's conversation as if no one was around caused dissatisfaction from Tachibana Mihoko.

At this family dinner, she originally wanted to embarrass her sister by attacking Kiyoaki Matsueda, further damaging her sister's image in their father's mind, so as to make her father more partial to her in the distribution of the inheritance.

The old patriarch had no sons, only two daughters.

There are only about 100 billion yen in assets left, which makes the already limited relationship between the two sisters even thinner.

After finally getting rid of my sister, my niece came to mess things up again...

No, I have to resort to some tricks!

Tachibana Mihoko looked at her watch and said, "Oh, it seems like the time is up."

So, she asked someone to bring a TV, switched it to the NHK broadcast channel, and said to everyone, "There are fifteen minutes left until twelve o'clock, and the press conference for the New Trend Award will begin. Didn't Qingxian say that you also voted? I wonder if you have made it to the final selection list like Junxiong..."

"Ok?"

Songzhi Qingxue looked at Songzhi Qingxian in confusion: "You voted too?"

"I submitted it on the last day." Kiyoaki Matsueda replied.

"Haha, you're very brave." Songzhi Qingxue gave him an encouraging smile.

She naturally knew what Kiyoaki Matsueda was capable of in literature, so she immediately assumed that he did not make the final shortlist.

But there is nothing to be ashamed of. Just treat writing as a hobby.

She herself is also a student of liberal arts, but her major is law and she is not good at literature.

Literati have a very high status in Japan, far higher than actors, singers, and idols, and are also very popular among women. Matsueda Kiyoyuki does not pay special attention to literary affairs, but when he occasionally hears news about the emergence of a certain talented writer, he will feel sincere appreciation.

On the TV screen, the camera was aimed at the hotel auditorium.

In ten minutes, eight judges will appear on the screen and announce the winners of this year's New Trend Award.

"Kiyori!" Tachibana Mihoko asked, "Which work of yours is it? Did it make the final selection? Our Toshio's "Eggs and High Walls" is the hot favorite for this year's award! You must be better than Kiyohiko to be chosen by him. You didn't even make the final selection, did you?"

These words were rather sarcastic, and the atmosphere in the tea room suddenly became solemn.

The old lady sitting at the top did not stop him, as Miyoko was her biological daughter.
As for Masako, she was a stumbling block left behind by his ex-wife.

Kiyoaki Matsueda had only been in this house for more than an hour, but he could already feel how miserable Masako's life was before she got married.

Just as he was about to speak, Songzhi Qingxue beat him to the punch and said, "Aunt, I chose Qingxian because he is a trustworthy person and respects my ideas and opinions, which is what I value more."

Honest and reliable means being dull and wooden.

Respecting her thoughts and opinions means being obedient and easy to control.

"Qingxue, don't be so modest on his behalf." Tachibana Mihoko raised the corner of her mouth and smiled softly, "When I went to your house that day, he looked so confident, as if he had won the prize. Ask him yourself if this is true."

"How could that be? Qingxian is such an honest person..." Songzhi Qingxue was also laughing and turned to look at Songzhi Qingxian, "Right?"

However, Matsueda Kiyoaki shook his head and said, "I was indeed very confident that day."

"..."

A trace of pain flashed in Songzhi Qingxue's eyes.

Tachibana Toshio, who had been feeling frustrated since he sat down, finally smiled. "Oh, Matsueda-kun is really that confident. That's great. I wonder which one is your masterpiece?"

He appeared to be happy and open-minded, but in fact he was full of sneers in his heart.

He had already inquired about the abilities of this son-in-law. He was just a liberal arts student who only studied hard. There was no way he could write a book.

Besides, even if he can write, can he be better than the ghostwriter he hired?
Even if he has the real talent, what does it matter? One of the judges is his uncle. What can he use to compare with himself?

After eating a lot of food, Tachibana Toshio became full of confidence.

"The book 'The Dancing Girl of Izu' on the list is my work." Kiyoaki Matsueda said calmly to everyone.

For a moment, everyone was stunned. They didn't expect that he had actually entered. After they came to their senses, they quickly opened their mobile phones to check and indeed saw the title of the book "The Dancing Girl of Izu" in the list.

"There really is..."

Qingxue Songeda looked at the phone, her rosy cherry lips slightly opened in surprise.

"Kiyoaki is truly amazing!" Tachibana Mihoko gave a thumbs up and said to everyone, "I knew it, he looked so confident that he would definitely take first place. If he hadn't taken first place, I would have suspected there was something fishy going on!"

This blatant flattery made Songzhi Qingxue frown.

She was already very surprised that Kiyoaki Matsueda was shortlisted for the selection. As for the final grand prize, she had never thought about it at all, and had a preconceived notion that "Dancing Girl" would be eliminated in the first round.

The higher the aunt praises him now, the more she will devalue him when the results come out... Songzhi Qingxue is so smart that he can naturally see through the aunt's mind at a glance.
I wanted to speak up to ease the situation, but it was too late.

On the TV screen, eight judges walked into the conference room and sat on the podium in the middle of the screen.

Everyone in the tea room focused their attention on the TV. Tachibana Toshio smiled elegantly as he watched Ito Seiichiro, his uncle, on TV.

In June, he used the name of uncle to visit the other seven judges. Except for one stubborn old man, the other judges all expressed their support for him.

That old stubborn person is, of course, the famous literary critic and professor of the Faculty of Literature at Waseda University, Seino Nakaharu.

At this time, the old stubborn man was facing the microphone and solemnly announced: "The winner of the 54th Shincho Award is - Mishima! The winning work is - "The Dancing Girl of Izu."

"..."

Tachibana Toshio's pupils contracted sharply.

His eyes seemed to fall into an abyss, his facial features froze at the same time, and the smile froze on his face.

"Impossible, there must be something wrong!" Tachibana Mihoko screamed and stood up.

On the TV screen, the judges spoke briefly and the scene switched to a pre-recorded interview with the author.

The image of the writer Mishima, who has messy hair and is handsome but has a somewhat decadent look in his eyes, was made public. When asked by reporters how he created the award-winning work, he lazily said, "I wrote it when I wanted to."

The literary temperament is fully brought to the fore.

Looking at the face on TV, the two people named Tachibana were completely stunned.

The other relatives were just dumbfounded.

Kiyoyuki Matsueda watched the TV and her gaze returned to Kiyoaki Matsueda's face. No matter how hard she tried to find the difference, it was the same person.

As the candlelight flickered, she bit her lower lip gently, her eyes filled with indescribable complexity... He seemed to be hiding something, he was really scheming. Would she be unable to suppress him in the future?
Everyone in the tea room had strange looks in their eyes, looking at Songeda Qingxian as if he were an alien. He didn't like being looked at like that.

Besides, he has more important things to do.

"I'll go see my mother." Matsueda Kiyoaki said, then got up and went out.

Songzhi Qingxue sat there for a while, came to his senses, and followed him out.

When she reached the door, she stopped and added a stab to her aunt: "Thanks for your words, aunt, there seems to be no shady dealings in this selection."

"..."

Tachibana Mihoko's face turned dark.

■

The heavy rain washed over the mansion, and the lights flickered, creating an especially quiet atmosphere.

Kiyoaki Matsueda stopped a servant on the road and asked her to lead the way to the room where Masako was.

It was a fairly large ward.

"Dong Dong~"

Knocked on the door.

"Who?"

Shinsako's dull voice came from inside.

"I."

"come in."

Songzhi Qingxian opened the door and entered the house.

The room was quite big, and outside the window was the willow trees in the yard. Matsueda Shinsako had her back to the window and was looking at him sternly.

She has a very high nose bridge, narrow eyes, and looks very majestic from the front.

"Why are you here?"

Kiyoaki Matsueda walked towards her: "The results of the selection are out."

"If you didn't win the prize, you didn't win it. I won't blame you for it." Matsueda Shinsako said lightly, her tone gentler than expected.

"I'm here to collect a debt."

"Ok?"

“I won a prize.”

“……”Matsueda Shinsako’s heart skipped a beat, her beautiful eyes widened as she looked at him in shock.

Kiyoaki Matsueda walked up to her and smiled as warmly as spring breeze.

"It's my turn to beat you this time."

(End of this chapter)