Tokyo Tycoon, Start as a Writer

Chapter 4 The Dancing Girl of Izu

After leaving the room, Oshima Isamu looked at Matsueda Kiyoaki with a boastful look on his face, "I'm not bragging, I can meet any editor in Shincho that I want. Editor Oguri just now is the most friendly and fair editor in Shincho. Just smile secretly because I'll help you vote for him!"

"I can see that you are very capable." Kiyoaki Matsueda nodded slightly.

Along the way, many regular employees with work badges would take the initiative to say hello when they saw Oshima Isamu. This security guard is really popular.

"The competition is huge this time. I heard that more than 5000 people have submitted their works. Don't be discouraged."

For the sake of 10,000 yen, Oshima Isamu became friendlier to Matsueda Kiyoaki. He patted him on the shoulder and consoled him: "You are a new writer after all. It is normal that you are not as good as those who have been submitting novels for several years or even more than ten years. Just keep at it. Maybe in a few years, I will call you teacher when I see you. By the way, why do you write novels?"

"Because I'm poor, I came here for the 100 million yen prize." Kiyoaki Matsueda answered honestly.

"...?"

Poor people shouldn't write novels.

I don't know how many people starved to death on this journey. Isn't this how Oshima Isamu became a security guard?

"Anyway..."

Oshima Yong opened his mouth, speechless, and finally patted him on the shoulder: "Wish you good luck."

■

"Isn't Xiaoli leaving yet?"

"You guys go ahead, I'll take a look at this manuscript."

"Sent by Oshima?"

"...Heh, he's his cousin."

Shinchosha is a publishing house that focuses on pure literature. The editors are all very professional and picky about words. Relatively few manuscripts are submitted here, so when it’s time to get off work, the editors leave quickly.

Naoto Oguri had nothing important to do after get off work, so he picked up the folder that Oshima Isamu sent him.

When I opened it, I saw manuscript papers stapled together.

It appears to be a handwritten manuscript.

The name of the contributor is Kiyoaki Matsueda.

"The spring snow melts, and the pine branches become clear..."

Naoto Oguri quickly conjured up that picture in his mind and secretly said what a good name it was.

The handwriting is beautiful.

Although this manuscript is full of words, it gives people a refreshing feeling, thanks to the author's excellent typesetting and beautiful fonts.

There is no chapter name, 01 is used to mark the chapters, and there are 7 chapters in total.

The first page, the first line, is the title of the work.

"'The Dancing Girl of Izu', a story about a dancer's love story..."

The manuscript gave Naoto Oguri a good first impression, so he decided to spend more time and carefully take a look at the level of work that the security guard's cousin could write.

[The road became narrow and winding, and I should be close to Amagi Ridge. Just as I was thinking this, I saw the dense cedar forest dyed white by the rain, chasing me from the foot of the mountain at an alarming speed.]

This opening has a very strong visual effect.

Just by reading the text, I can recall the feeling of urgency that the rain was chasing me from behind.

Naoto Oguri continued reading.

Just a few simple sentences highlight the theme of the article.

This happened on the fourth day of my trip to Izu, when I was climbing Amagi Ridge.

It started to rain heavily while I was climbing the mountain, so I ran to a teahouse at the north entrance of the ridge to take shelter from the rain, and once again met touring artists who were hiding from the rain.

"The protagonist's goal is to catch up with this group of artists. According to the title, the dancer below is the heroine..."

Naoto Oguri looked down.

The dancer appeared on stage, accompanied by four others.

After about an hour in the teahouse, the dancers were ready to leave.

I began to feel restless, so I asked the old lady in the teahouse where the artists were staying tonight.

The teahouse granny said contemptuously: "There is no guest for such a person, so just stay where you are."

After a while, the rain stopped.

Although the teahouse lady tried to ask me to stay again and again, I just couldn't sit still any longer and got up to leave.

"Master!"

The old woman chased after him, shouting.

Just because I gave her fifty cents, she was very excited.

[“I’m really sorry for your expense.” She held my schoolbag and refused to give it to me. I tried to stop her, but she refused and said she would take me there.]

Seeing this, Naoto Oguri felt something was wrong in his heart.

Judging from the teahouse grandma's attitude towards the protagonist and the dancer, the social status gap between the male and female protagonists is obvious. From his professional perspective, this story will most likely end in tragedy.

I continued to look down. [I was so eager to catch up with the dancer that I arrived at the tunnel at the top of the mountain. The old woman then gave me the schoolbag.]

[Walking into the dark tunnel, cold water drops fell one after another. The exit leading to Minami-Izu was slightly lit.]

"This last sentence..."

Naoto Oguri put down the manuscript, closed his eyes and thought for a long time.

Then, he picked up the manuscript again, read it over and over again, and repeated in his mouth: "The exit to Minami-Izu is slightly lit up..."

In the current Japanese literary world, especially in the field of pure literature, there is a prevailing trend of "classicization".

Works whose plots and texts are free from vulgarity and are filled with criticism of society and human nature are the favorites of the judges of major literary awards.

If you want to be called a writer, the articles you write must be obscure and difficult to understand, so that you can be distinguished from those popular novelists who write mystery and romance novels.

If you can reach the pinnacle of writing pure literature, you can be called a literary giant.

A writer of popular novels is just a novelist, no matter how good the sales are. At best he can be given the title of "best-seller".

However, this book, "The Dancing Girl of Izu", uses a fresh and natural writing style without any deliberate showmanship to make pure literature as simple and easy to understand as popular novels, but at the same time it still retains all the artistry of pure literature between the lines.

For example, this last sentence.

"The exit to Minami-Izu is slightly lit..."

Good works can always trigger emotional resonance in readers.

Naoto Oguri quickly got into the situation.

He was in a hurry to hurry on the muddy and slippery mountain path, but he couldn't walk fast. First, the ground was slippery and it was easy for him to fall off the cliff. Second, the old lady in the teahouse kept pulling him, preventing him from catching up with the people ahead.

He wanted very much to leave the old woman behind, but his good upbringing did not allow him to do so.

He could only look at the foggy mountain road. The woman he loved had long since disappeared, and he became more and more anxious.

After finally reaching the top of the mountain, he took the schoolbag from the old woman and plunged into the tunnel.

Cold water drops dripped and landed on his collar, his cold shoes slowed down his steps, and the dark and depressing space gradually extinguished the fire in his heart... At this moment of despair, the exit leading to Minami Izu was slightly illuminated.

His spirit and body were both lifted up.

Hope rekindled!

"If such writing skills were truly written by a new writer, then I can only call him a genius..." Naoto Oguri couldn't help but admire and impatiently turned to the second page.

The more he looked down, the more shocked and intoxicated he became.

The novel is not long.

Description can be roughly divided into three levels.

The first layer of description: description of the dancer.

For example: This hairstyle makes her serious oval face look even more delicate and well-proportioned, which is really beautiful;
Another example: The dancer's snow-white body and slender legs look like a small sycamore tree when she stands there;

Another example: Her big, black, sparkling eyes, which flickered charmingly, were the most beautiful part of her body.

The psychological description of dancers mostly shows shyness and restraint, as well as deep inferiority complex in the industry.

The second layer: The development of the relationship between me and the dancer.

The dancer and I had just walked together. Her face was flushed and her hands were shaking. She looked so ashamed that people would exclaim, "This girl has just fallen in love."

The dancer was playing chess with me, and her black hair was about to touch my chest. When she found out, her face turned red, and she put down the chess piece and ran out.

When I was reading to the dancer, she leaned towards me, put her face close to me, and had a serious expression and sparkling eyes.

The third level of description: the underlying description of realism

The author reflects the survival difficulties of itinerant artists through many descriptions, such as the old woman in the teahouse, the businessman, the hotel owner and the signboard at the village entrance.

The old woman in the teahouse would say disdainfully, "Who knows where that kind of person would live"; the businessman would disdainfully call the artist "that thing"; and the hotel proprietress would warn the protagonist, "It's a waste to invite that kind of person to dinner."

On the way, there was a sign at the entrance of each village: Beggars and touring artists are not allowed to enter the village!
The living conditions of being discriminated against everywhere had a very negative impact on the dancer's mind, making her lack of self-esteem, which is why she behaved restrained in front of the protagonist.

The whole text is full of literary flavor and humanistic care.

Naoto Oguri silently savored the faint feeling of "sorrow" that permeated the entire novel from beginning to end.

From the panic and ignorance at the first meeting to the speechless moments at separation, the whole text conveys a faint sense of sadness and sorrow.

The beautiful scenery of the Izu Peninsula, the budding love of young men and women, and the hazy and innocent longing made Naoto Oguri feel as if he was there and left him with endless aftertastes.

It's been a long time since I felt this way...

His eyes stayed on the last page of the manuscript, unable to move away.

[The lights in the cabin went out. The smell of raw fish and tide water on board became stronger and stronger. In the darkness, the boy's body warmed me, and I let my tears flow down. My mind turned into a pool of clear water, dripping out, and in the end nothing was left, only a sweet feeling of happiness.]

Late at night, the editorial office is quiet.

In the only office with the light still on, Naoto Oguri stared blankly at the manuscript in his hand.

My mind is empty.

(End of this chapter)