Tokyo: The life of a literary giant begins with home self-defense!

Chapter 29 A Mayfly Sees the Blue Sky 1 (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

Taro Ono, editor-in-chief of Shinchosha Group 1.

He graduated from Waseda University in his early years and wrote an article called "Quilt", which was praised as the pioneer of Japanese private novels.

He made his debut with the public newcomer award "Gunzo" and was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize, the highest newcomer award.

His new book sold 30 copies and he was once a promising newcomer in the entire literary world.

Why would such a capable and prestigious literary worker appear here?
This story begins in the afternoon in Tokyo.

"Mr. Ono, your wife has brought you another lunch box." Walking into the messy editing team, Mishima placed the lunch box on Taro Ono's desk as usual.

The chief editor of Shinchosha Group 1 has a wife that everyone envies.

She would come to deliver lunch on time every day at noon, and would also come to pick him up after get off work even when it rained or snowed.

"Your wife is so nice."

Mishima said this with some envy, but when he looked up he found that the editor-in-chief did not brag about his wife as usual.

"We started dating in high school."

"Of course she pursued me."

"We are pure love, do you understand?"

There were no similar words. This man, who used to be a bit elegant, was just seen scratching his hair and muttering something.

Mishima Kazuya moved closer.

"How can you write like that?"

"Snowy Night has been materialized."

"What does the mirror represent? What does the Snow Country represent?"

"It's just chaos. It's just chaos."

This scene may seem a bit weird to outsiders, but Mishima Kazuya has already gotten used to it.

This must be a work that I have come across that catches my eye.

"It's the guy who has great handwriting." The security guard looked at the manuscript in the other party's hand. Long Chuan Che's handwriting was very recognizable.

"Don't act cute at this time, you bastard!"

Taro Ono slammed the manuscript on the table, and Mishima Kazuya shrank his neck.

The Japanese are very good at complaining, and this Mishima security guard is also very good at making jokes. In the past, the words and actions of the two would often bring a cheerful atmosphere to the editorial office, but today it was obviously inappropriate.

The office was somewhat quiet due to the sudden loud shout of the editor-in-chief. Mishima Kazuya asked hesitantly:

“Is this manuscript not well written?”

Taro Ono is serious and fair about works. He can't help but give comments while reading if he finds something pleasing to his eye, but he will get angry if something in the middle is too ugly.

The beginning is good, but the rest is like chewing water. These bastards don’t have such high attainments. Can they not have such high intentions?

Criticize society. Are you hungry? Just criticize it.

This is a sentence that Taro Ono often says.

Since the economic bubble, literary works criticizing the world have become the mainstream, and this kind of pure literature is also the most popular.

But Taro Ono just doesn't like this.

Is this another step into the trap?
While Mishima Kazuya was thinking this, Ono Taro spoke.

"It's not well written."

The editor-in-chief, who is hailed as a trendy "tiger", had a complicated expression.

"It's so bad that every short sentence is a work of art, so bad that he wants to write about the impermanence of fate, and so bad that he wants to write about the futility of everything."

These literati are just fun.

Mishima Kazuya laughed a little.

Is this a compliment or an insult? "I'm from Hokkaido, Mr. Mishima, you know that." Ono Taro sighed and ran his finger over the first sentence.

At this moment, the entire editing team was silent, and everyone pricked up their ears to listen to what had caused their editor-in-chief to give such a strange evaluation.

"I know, Niigata Prefecture." Mishima Kazuya nodded. Ono Taro's hometown is the place with the heaviest snow and the most coal mines in Japan.

Every winter, black trains spew out white mist along the tracks, running little by little to all parts of the country.

"The snow on the ground was loose, the forest was white, the trees seemed to be covered with a layer of cotton wool, the snowflakes swirled slowly in the air, and melted immediately when they hit our burning faces."

Taro Ono looked out the window at the snow that refused to accumulate and the bustling city and sighed.

The city has its own beauty, and the snow town has its own advantages.

But the first sentence of the opening chapter seems to bring me back to my own snowy hometown.

"Look here."

Taro Ono pointed to the first sentence of the manuscript. Although he was speaking to Kazuya Mishima, more than a dozen people in the editorial department all looked over.

"After passing through the long county tunnel, we arrived at the snow country. The background of the night turned white, and the train stopped in front of the signal station."

Someone nearby read out these words and raised an eyebrow.

Except for interns, everyone who can be here has read countless articles. All the gourmets can sense something different from the first sentence.

"What did you see?" Ono Taro looked at the editor who spoke.

"A kind of..." The man in the suit frowned. "A kind of delicate beauty."

“He uses a very precise description to allow people to personally experience the wonderful sights in the snow.”

"If you have lived in a snowy land, you will feel it more deeply."

Taro Ono read the first two sentences of the opening chapter repeatedly and then sighed.

"The book is set in the 1930s, when electricity was far less common than it is today."

"After the train rushed out of the tunnel, people still felt the endless darkness. Only when the light came, the snow would appear white because of the reflection, and the night and the earth became clear. Here..."

Taro Ono pointed to the phrase "The background color of the night turns white."

"There is a small time lag between the lights of the train and the signal station shining on the snow and the passengers feeling the change of darkness inside the train. The author keenly captured this and wrote "the background of the night turned white", which is a delicate and vivid description."

"It also echoes the sentence 'The train stopped in front of the signal post'."

An editor hiding in the corner said excitedly, and Ono Taro looked at him approvingly.

Pure literature is different from popular literature.

Popular literature can be read quickly and is more suitable for general public reading, while every sentence in a good pure text work is worth repeated consideration.

For a reader who can appreciate literature, encountering a good work is like a gourmet encountering a delicious dish.

I read it word by word over and over again, and I am always excited by the author's delicate writing style.

Seeing everyone excitedly sharing the manuscripts they had sent, Taro Ono smiled and then fell silent.

"What's wrong, Mr. Ono?"

Mishima Kazuya looked at each other curiously.

According to the other party, the manuscript was very good, but Editor-in-Chief Ono still did not look happy at all.

"Mishima," Ono Taro looked resentfully at the security guard who forced the manuscript on him.

"Do you know what readers are most afraid of?"

"what?"

Ono Taro looked at the address on the envelope and took a deep breath.

"Of course, when I was reading something exciting, the author stopped updating."

(End of this chapter)