Tokyo Tycoon, Start as a Writer

Chapter 99: Preview of "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" and Shinsako in Kyoto

Time flies and it is the end of October.

The single volume of "Dancing Girl" went on sale on the 15th, priced at 1500 yen per copy. The first print run of 10 copies sold out in five days.

Although it cannot be compared with "The Tide" in terms of popularity and sales, it is still a monster-level sales figure.

At noon on the 20th, a group of writers were drinking and chatting in the Maomudong Bar.

Three young people who had just started their careers were gossiping about how being a writer doesn't provide any security. If the book doesn't sell, there's no income. Insurance won't pay, and there's no unemployment benefit. There's no signing bonus or year-end bonus, and the deadline is often the same as the day you lose your job. Your eyes are tired, your waist is sore, and you don't make much money...

But after complaining for a while, the three of them came to the conclusion that "being a writer is at least better than being an office worker!"

The reason they all agreed on was: "Because there is no boss! Life without a boss is the happiest life!"

This statement was applauded by all the writers in the bar.

The atmosphere became a little heated, but then someone said, "The original first print run of my new work was 8000 copies. But today I met with the editor, and she told me that we should print copies first..."

The air suddenly froze, and everyone felt powerless for a moment.

The first edition suddenly reduced by 3,000 copies, which meant that the revenue would be reduced by 400,000 or 500,000 yen, which was a real blow to the young writer... The world of writers is really a world with the most obvious clear hierarchy.

Everyone began to lament the instability of a writer's career.

You don't have to do the math to know that a professional writer can hardly make a living relying solely on the meager royalties.

A writer who has been in the industry for a long time spoke up to ease the atmosphere: "5000 copies is a normal number. The publishing industry is becoming increasingly depressed. Nowadays, a new writer's masterpiece only prints to copies."

Another man wearing glasses said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Nearly 40% of new books printed each year end up back at the publishing houses. In other words, all the new books printed in the country in a year are eventually stored in the warehouses of the publishing houses intact. How pitiful..."

Everyone present was a writer, so everyone thought about his or her own book.

Those unsold books must be buried deep in a small corner of the huge book cemetery, the pages are yellowed and covered with dust... Thinking of this, many people took a big sip of wine.

At this time, someone said with envy: "If you can become a famous writer like Ms. Kiyono, you don't have to worry about income..."

When this was mentioned, everyone looked towards the table on the other side.

Yuko Kiyono is an extremely popular beauty romance writer who has emerged in the past three years and has a large number of loyal readers.

Because she had never been in love, the love novels she wrote were very science fiction in style. She wrote three books in three years, with cumulative sales of over 200 million copies. She was a woman of both talent and beauty.

But this female writer seems to have no luck in love.

Every time I saw her in a bar, she was alone, like today...

Yuko Kiyono is almost twenty-six years old, but she still has the temperament of a college graduate. Today she is wearing a sexy purple suit, her long hair is piled high behind her head, and she is wearing bold black pantyhose and high heels.

She had a cool expression on her face, paying no attention to the coveted glances of the male writers in the bar, and was concentrating on reading the single volume of "Dancing Girl" in her hands.

The focus of the reading is on five short stories.

Especially the two articles "Cigarettes" and "Spring Child".

The short story "Cigarette" allows Yuko Kiyono to glimpse into Mishima's growth journey during his youth.

[I can’t remember any happiness or beauty in that fleeting teenage years. “The bright sunshine illuminates every corner,” Baudelaire chanted, “My youth was all dark storms.”]

As a teenager, Mishima was thin, sensitive and had low self-esteem.

He was born into an old Chinese family and attended an old Chinese private school. He commented that Chinese schools were "filled with a strange and lewd atmosphere."

He resisted this bizarre atmosphere, but at the same time he really liked something about it.

Physical ill health made him lose the soft and sweet memories of his childhood. The first time he smelled the smell of cigarettes, he felt that it was like the "depressive" smell of the rugby club's wind. For a sickly teenager, it just brought him a sense of freshness...

Based on romance, aesthetics and classicism, Mishima vividly depicts the process of a young man consciously resisting rules and consciously obeying them.

Yuko Kiyono was originally a little unhappy with him.

But after reading this short story, I actually felt sorry for him...

Then there is "Haruko".

In a sense, this can also be considered a love short story.

But compared to my own...

The love novel written by Yuko Kiyono is a novel that combines freshness and petty bourgeoisie characteristics.

And Mishima's "Haruko"...

The story of Haruko, me, and Michiko is set in the war years. It also combines romance, aesthetics, and classicism with sensual themes such as homosexuality, bisexuality, narcissism, incest, and identity dislocation, which deeply shocked Yuko Kiyono.

Can love be written like this?
When reading "The Waves of Time", she felt that her writing skills might never be as good as Mishima's, but in terms of the plot and readability of romance novels, she was definitely better than straight men like Mishima.

result……

"Haruko" beat her up hard.

Yuko Kiyono, who has been very well protected by her strict father since childhood and has never even watched an H-movie, could never have written a work on the theme of love like "Haruko", which is a work that is both beautiful and absurd, thoughtful and magical in its absurdity.

In the field that I am best at, I was repeatedly pressed to the ground and rubbed by a disgusting person. I felt so desperate...

"No!"

Kiyono Yuko put down the book and shouted to the sky.

The other people looked over and said, "Ms. Qingye, what's wrong with you?"

"This is too difficult, I can't do it..." Kiyono Yuko sighed in despair.

When everyone saw the book in front of her, they all showed an expression of "I see" - it would be really difficult to compare with Mr. Mishima.

"By the way, it is said that Mr. Mishima's new work will begin serialization next month."

"What? A new work?"

"It's only been a month since Tide of Tide came out, and there's already a new work?"

"Is this guy going to give me a chance to live?"

The writers wailed and opened Shinchosha's official website or official Twitter account, and sure enough, they saw the preview of Mishima's new work.

On the well-made promotional poster, there is a magnificent temple surrounded by green water.

In this solemn and sacred scene, the talented writer, wearing an elegant kimono and with a blank expression on his face, had his hair a little messy due to the wind.

"what is this?"

"The Golden Pavilion."

"Nonsense, of course I know it's the Kinkakuji Temple. I'm asking why the Kinkakuji Temple appears in the promotional poster for the new work?"

"Has Mr. Mishima gone to Kyoto?"

"Is he going to attend an event there?"

"If the new work is about a temple, will the main character be a monk?"

The authors in the bar were talking about it. Kiyono Yuko looked at the face on the poster and could no longer maintain her cold expression.

...I feel so powerless.

"Looking at the Shincho's promotional slogan, it says that Mishima's new book will make people think more easily than his previous work. In the words of his editor Midori Kobayashi, this is a major turning point for Japanese literature."

"So it's serious literature?"

"thickness?"

"Yes, that's what it means."

"The tweet said that Japanese literature lacks depth, and this book will be an eternal monument..."

"What a loud tone..."

"Just wait and see, gentlemen!"

After this tweet came out, everyone was waiting for Mr. Mishima’s new book.

Because, according to the people at Shinchosha, this book will be one of the greatest works of Japanese literature ever.

If someone else said this, public opinion would definitely be outraged.

But everyone is willing to choose to believe Mishima's words.

Because Mishima is now synonymous with miracle in the literary world.

In June this year, he suddenly appeared and made his debut with "Dancing Girl".

Today, when traditional literature is declining, the emergence of Mishima has greatly increased the number of people willing to pay for literature.

"New Wave" sold out again and again.

Various orders and readers' dissatisfaction with out-of-stock products poured into Shinchosha headquarters like snowflakes.

The machines in the printing house were smoking.

Truckloads of periodicals and books were delivered to major bookshelves and quickly sold out by enthusiastic readers.

Because of Mishima, the Japanese literary world was unusually lively this summer.

Many industry insiders and enthusiasts who often pay attention to the latest developments in the circle can clearly feel that this summer, the Japanese literary world seems to have been rescued from the emergency room.

The originally half-dead literature finally showed some improvement thanks to Mr. Mishima's efforts.

It was like a dying person whose face suddenly had a faint blush.

Is it a last gasp, or will it get better from now on?

No one can be sure now.

But having vitality is better than being half dead.

Everyone knows one thing: this craze was started by Mishima. If he were to fail someday...

"If he can't do it, then the literary world is definitely hopeless..."

"Why worry about him? Even if he doesn't write books, he can live a good life..." As he said this, someone opened YouTube and asked them to take a look.

Yuko Kiyono leaned over to take a look.

The stage play "Red and Black" at the Higashimaizuru Cultural Festival was posted on YouTube and has been viewed over 300 million times.

"It's too amazing. With this popularity, he can debut directly..."

"He's so handsome, even if he doesn't write books, he can still make a lot of money..."

Listening to their discussion, Kiyono Yuko took out her mobile phone and started searching for news about "Mishima", only to find that he is now a "super internet celebrity" and news about him can be found everywhere on Twitter, YouTube, and various forums.

On Twitter trends, a hot search term about him appears from time to time.

#Mishima, handsome#
#Mishima, Julien#
#High school stage play "Red and Black"#
#Mishima likes two sisters at the same time#
#Mishima wants to eat the whole family bucket#
These topics, whether true or false, dominate the Twitter trends.

It was almost noon and the atmosphere in the bar was very lazy. Many writers had nothing to do, so they just kept reading the comments. If they saw something interesting, a gossipy female writer would read it out and share it with everyone.

"He's handsome, a great writer, sings French songs very well, and acts well in stage plays. Compared to him, I feel like I'm just here to make up the numbers..."

“He wrote the theme song himself.”

"Oh my god, is there anything this guy can't do?"

"I can't have children!"

"Mishima, come and marry me and my sister. We both want it."

"Sisters, don't just look at Mishima's looks. I'm a drama major. In today's class, the professor played this competition video and asked us to write a paper, saying that his acting level is already top-notch!"

"Mishima, why don't you run for prime minister?"

"I support you. I have been annoyed with those old politicians for a long time..."

"He is still too young, and he is not from a political family. How can he become the prime minister?"

"Although I think so, this person's fans are very fanatical. As long as he has enough fans, it is not impossible for him to become prime minister..."

"Fanatical fans? They must be women, right? I think all those women have given birth to his babies."

"He will solve Japan's aging problem by his own efforts. From now on, Japan will belong to his Matsueda family!"

"He is now a son-in-law. If he has a child with another woman, then the child should return to the Tokugawa family."

"In other words, Japan belongs to the Tokugawa family!"

"Japan really once belonged to the Tokugawa family."

“Fuck fuck fuck, long live the Emperor Tokugawa, long live the Emperor Tokugawa!” “Long live the Emperor Tokugawa, long live the Emperor Tokugawa!”

"Emperor Tokugawa, aboard!"

At this point, the tone of the comments started to become a little off.

The writers were laughing so hard as they read the reviews. The more Kiyono Yuko observed, the more surprised she was at the terrifying popularity of Mishima both inside and outside the circle. The more desperate she felt inside - was it possible to win her father's heart back from him in this lifetime?
Feeling dizzy, she received a message from Arun saying "lunch is ready" and walked into the corridor leading to the kitchen.

Arun runs a cat-eye-hole bar and Arashiyama cuisine pavilion.

They are all in Ginza Sanmachime, and the back doors are next to each other, so you can go directly to one another from the back kitchen.

Under the guidance of the waiter, Yuko Kiyono entered the private room. Arun was still busy and had not come over, so she started drinking first.

The bright sunlight slanted in from the window, illuminating her graceful outline.

With slender fingers, she held up the small wine glass.

"Damn Mishima! Give my father back to me..."

The bitter wine enters the throat and the heart aches.

When Arun walked in, he saw a woman's face reflected in the bright sunshine. Compared with her, the beautiful autumn courtyard outside the window was overshadowed.

"Why do you look so hopeless?" Arun asked curiously.

Kiyono Yuko is truly desperate now. She sits on the floor, leaning against the window, crossing her legs gracefully, her eyes empty and dull.

Seeing Arun coming in, she raised her face slightly, revealing a face that looked like she wanted to cry but had no tears.

"What's the shock? You haven't even touched a single bite of the food on the table. Could it be that you've been drinking since you came in?" Arun sat down opposite the dining table. He was wearing a gray V-neck sweater, and his round and plump upper body was very eye-catching.

She has a petite and slender figure, but her breasts are unexpectedly plump.

"No, I was just thinking about something." Yuko Kiyono gulped her wine.

Ah Run picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of puffer fish meat: "Could it be something about the novel?"

"No, it's not."

"That's... about my father?"

"It can be considered as such, but it's mainly about Mishima." Kiyono Yuko said listlessly, and also picked up a piece of puffer fish meat.

"What's the matter, Mishima?" Arun looked at her warily, pressing her step by step, "Then tell me, I might be able to give you some good suggestions."

"It's like this, hmm, delicious!" Kiyono Yuko picked up a piece of puffer fish sashimi and put it in her mouth. She felt that the delicate fish fat today was more delicious than before, and asked quickly: "What's going on? The puffer fish tastes especially good today..."

Arun looked at her dimly: "In order to present the most original and delicious taste of pufferfish, I specially retained a little pufferfish toxin."

"Eh?"

Yuko Kiyono was stunned.

"I was kidding." Arun rolled his eyes at her and ate a piece himself.

"I was scared to death..." Qingye Youzi patted her chest, still feeling frightened. "The look in your eyes just now, I thought you really wanted to kill me."

"What's going on between you and Mishima?" Arun asked unhappily.

...If something really happened, it wouldn't be as simple as just scaring you.

"That guy, I hate him more and more..."

Yuko Kiyono gulped down a small pot of sake and started talking nonstop, accusing Mishima of destroying her family.

At first she was gritting her teeth and indignant, but as she spoke, she shifted the focus to her love for Mishima's works. She spoke like a brainless little fangirl and even said things like "He is the perfect candidate for prime minister."

hmm~
He looks quite drunk.

Why do I feel like you will become my love rival in the future?
Arun found it funny and thought she was cute.

He skillfully cracked an egg and slowly beat it into a bowl, then poured a few drops of soy sauce on it, sprinkled some green onions evenly, then scooped up the hot puffer fish porridge and handed it to the person opposite him.

"for you."

"Uh, thank you." Kiyono Yuko took the wooden bowl and drank the steaming porridge.

Tears slowly overflowed from her eyes, and she murmured blankly: "Since my mother passed away, no one has ever served me a bowl of hot porridge..."

Ah Run smiled faintly: "Eat more, if it's not enough, there's more."

Yuko Kiyono calmed down and quietly ate the soft and glutinous porridge. Tears were in her eyes but they did not fall.

Her appearance is actually very similar to that of Kiyoaki Matsueda.

Her debut work was criticized by her father, and she felt ashamed. In a fit of rage, she broke up with her father and wandered around the streets like a stray puppy. While wandering, she came to Arun, who fed her a meal.

The puffer fish porridge was extremely sweet and I ate three bowls without realizing it.

Kiyono Yuko quickly regained her spirit and looked at Arun: "Ah, thank you Miss Arun!"

"Are you feeling a little more relaxed?" Arun asked with a smile.

With a full stomach and a relaxed mood, Kiyono Yuuko showed a happy smile on her face: "I'm completely fine! Run, why don't I move in with you?"

"reject!"

"Why? You're single, I'm single too, and we can take care of each other together."

"I already have someone I like, thank you."

"Huh?" Kiyono Yuko was stunned.

Seeing her stunned expression, Arun laughed as if he was playing a prank: "He is a married man, and I became his lover. He is also a young writer, his name is Mishima..."

“——Huh?”

Kiyono Yuko's pupils were shaking.

"Hahaha..." Arun laughed happily.

■

10 month 25 number.

Chiyoda-ku, Kioi-cho 3-23.

The end-of-month meeting is being held in the editorial department of Bungeishunju Publishing House and Bungeishunju.

If we talk about the people who had the greatest impact as a result of Mishima's sudden popularity, it would of course be his colleagues in the publishing industry.

The explosive success of Mishima's two consecutive books and the incredible sales of the monthly magazine Shincho had a "swallowing effect" on several other publishing houses, causing their monthly magazine sales to be abnormally low in recent months, and some even experiencing a serious decline.

The monthly magazine that has experienced a serious decline is Bungeishunju.

The founder of Bungeishunju was the top literary giant Kikuchi Kan, an out-and-out right-wing militarist.

The founder is an extreme right-winger, and the style of the entire publishing house has always been right-wing. It has now become a base camp for right-wing writers.

The current editor-in-chief of Tojo is also an extreme right-winger.

At this month-end meeting, the editors of Bungeishunju focused on discussing marketing methods that rely on the Internet for promotion, as well as current market preferences.

Editor-in-Chief Tojo slammed his hands on the table and shouted to the editors below, "I told you to pay more attention to market trends, but you didn't listen. Do you know now that you were wrong? Writing about love is the easiest way to get out of the circle, don't you understand? Those readers have no appreciation ability. The more popular and commercial your writing is, the more willing they are to pay!"

"Yes……"

The editors below nodded submissively.

"Since I said so, why don't you follow up?" Editor-in-Chief Tojo tightly grasped a copy of Shincho, his eyes wide open, "Go collect the romance manuscripts for me. If you can't get any, ask your own writers to write them!"

"Editor-in-Chief, I can't receive it..."

"The new trend is very popular, and most of the manuscripts are submitted to them..."

"Most of the authors under our command are military..."

Hearing his subordinates' voices, Editor-in-Chief Tojo was furious and slammed the table: "Are all of you brainless? The military state cannot fall in love? Let me ask you, when you commit seppuku after being defeated in the war, can you have a beautiful and loyal wife to accompany you? When you fly a plane towards the enemy warship, can you recall the cherry blossoms and girls in your hometown in your mind? We capture cities, kill all enemies, and rob them of their money and supplies. Can't we do this for the women in our hometown to live a better life?"

"Yes Yes……"

The louder the editor-in-chief's voice is, the less likely the editors below will dare to speak.

"Now, Mishima's new book is about to come out." Editor-in-Chief Tojo gritted his teeth and said, "According to his current popularity, as expected, the November New Wave will sell out again! So do you know what our role will be next month?"

"I know!" A very clever editor looked up, "We will continue to be stepping stones for Mishima and Shincho."

After saying this, he looked at the editor-in-chief with pride.

"You're the only one who's smart!" Editor-in-Chief Tojo was furious. He raised his hand and smashed the Shincho in his hand heavily on his head. "Get out of here. Bungeishunju doesn't need idiots like you!"

"Hi!"

The editor didn't dare to say anything more and crawled out of the meeting room.

The remaining people looked at each other, and the atmosphere became even more depressing.

Editor-in-Chief Tojo propped his hands on the table, his eyes red, and growled, "Bringing out a new work at this time is undoubtedly aimed at the Akutagawa Prize. Judging from the situation, we will be suppressed by Shincho for a few more months. Not only will we not be able to beat them in sales, but we will also not be able to beat them in major awards. We have not won any of our matches against Shincho in the second half of this year..."

"What if the level of Mishima suddenly drops?" an editor whispered.

Editor-in-Chief Tojo glanced at him and said coldly, "You can say you are stupid, but never doubt the judgment of Editor-in-Chief Shincho. Since he can say that this is the greatest work in the history of Japanese literature, it proves that Mishima's new work is no less than his previous two works!"

The group of editors were speechless again.

"Idiots, hurry up and get the manuscripts ready!" Editor-in-Chief Tojo was furious. "I don't care what methods you use, whether it's coercion, bribery, cheating, or selling your body, you must get excellent manuscripts in the shortest possible time! I tell you, if you can't turn the tables this year, you will forget all your bonuses this year, no, this year and next year."

"..."

The editors of Bungeishunju all smiled wryly.

Editor-in-Chief Tojo breathed heavily and glared at his editors, ready to use his most admired militarist stick to hit them.

At this moment, the door of the conference room was suddenly opened.

"Who!" Editor-in-Chief Tojo looked over angrily.

He is the editor-in-chief, the boss of the content department, and a top figure in the entire Bungeishunju. How dare someone disturb him during a meeting? He doesn't want to work anymore, right?

But when he saw who it was, the arrogance on his face when facing the low-level editor was quickly replaced by a fawning smile.

"Boss, why did you come here in person? Is there anything you want to tell me? And this person..."

Looking at the young man who walked in, Editor-in-Chief Tojo was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed: "Teacher Ishihara, why are you here at Bungeishunju?"

The person in front of me is none other than Shintaro Ishihara’s grandson, Seiji Ishihara.

Bungeishunju is the base camp of right-wing writers, and Ishihara Shintaro is the representative of current right-wing writers. Naturally, there are close ties between the two.

It is impossible that the top management of Bungeishunju did not know the eldest son of the Ishihara family.

"I have a book I want to submit to you guys. It will be published next month, directly attacking Mishima..."

■

On October 10, Kiyoaki Matsueda came to Kyoto to attend the launch event.

The day after tomorrow is the first of the month, and "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" will be officially published. He will have to attend an event at the Golden Pavilion then.

Matsueda Rokumei is on a school trip and happens to be coming to Kyoto this week.

My mother-in-law was bored at home and wanted to take this opportunity to travel and relax, so she came to Kyoto with him and stayed in the same luxury suite.

On the morning of the 29th, Matsueda Masako was lying on the sofa in her pajamas with her collar loose.

The mistress of a relatively conservative family suddenly reveals her private parts, and the scene is very tempting.

She closed her eyes and took a nap, her long hair covering half of her face.

The other side of her hair is tucked behind her ear, revealing a delicate earring, which is very dignified and elegant.

"I'm going out." Kiyoaki Matsueda said to her.

Matsueda Shinsako opened her eyes and said to him, "Come back early. Qingxue will come over in the afternoon, and we will go shopping together as a family."

"Good~"

■

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(End of this chapter)