After my divorce, I became a Tokyo literary giant

Chapter 35 No one remembers the loser unless champagne is opened at halftime
January 9th, 1: AM.

Major bookstores in Japan have resumed business as usual.

The 1st is often the day when major pure literature journals and monthly issues are released. In addition, today is the day when the group portrait newcomer awards are announced, so the bookstore's customer flow is obviously much greater than usual.

Kinokuniya, Shinjuku store.

Two huge posters were displayed at the entrance of the bookstore. One was a list of 50 shortlisted works for the Group Portrait Newcomer Award, and the other was a separate promotional poster for the award-winning Yomiuri Okata and "Afterimage".

The editorial department of Qunxiang used a very exaggerated slogan for this book.

——A masterpiece of growth comparable to "Three Days to See".

After entering the door, this issue of "Qun Xiang" magazine was placed on the most conspicuous display cabinet.

The new issue of "Qingye" was also published, but only a dozen copies were displayed in the most remote corner of the district.

Nearly half of the customers who entered the bookstore came for "Group Portrait" because it published the content of the first half of "Afterimage".

Readers who received the new issue immediately checked the table of contents and found the page where this award-winning work was located.

Some of these readers were attracted by the title of newcomer to Gunzo, while others were old fans of Yomiuri Okamoto.

After reading the first half of "Afterimage", both groups of people had a somewhat uncertain thought in their minds at the same time: That's it?
I don't feel that great, so how come I won the award?
New readers feel that the whole book is just about pity. It doesn't seem like a novel, but more like a marketing autobiography.

Old fans read it and thought it was just a rehash of his first book, with no innovation at all...

After a hot sales in the morning, "Group Portrait" seemed to be a bit slow to sell in major bookstores near noon.

"Huh? There's something..."

At this time, more and more people discovered that there was a book called "Listen to the Wind Sing" in this issue of "Group Portrait" which was unexpectedly good.

“Is this book good?”

“I can’t explain it, but it feels very different.”

“It’s a refreshing feeling…”

"Let me take a look too..."

"I can only say that I felt something very much, a kind of melancholy of youth gone by. In the summer of 1970, the wind blew past with a languid and bittersweet feeling. Our dreams will never come back..."

In the reading area of the bookstore, a young girl read the last section of "Hear the Wind Sing" and the expression on her face gradually became dull.

Is this the end?

It's called the ending, but it seems like there is no ending at all.

The fragrance of the ocean tide, the sound of a distant whistle, the touch of a girl's body, the smell of shampoo, the evening breeze, vague longings, and summer dreams...all of these still surround the girl, keeping her thoughts immersed in the words and not returning to reality.

Other readers in the reading area also felt a little confused after reading it.

The sense of distance, alienation, nothingness and loneliness conveyed in the book are very real and strong.

At the end of the story, "I" got married and lived in Tokyo.

Jay expanded the bar and continued to peel buckets of potatoes every day as before.

"Rat" is still drinking and writing novels.

I never saw the girl with only 4 fingers on her left hand again.

The record of "California Girls" is still at the end of the record shelf.

Bitches Boyz has a new album out...

Nothing seems to have changed, yet everything seems to have changed.

Just like what the book says, everything is like a crumpled carbon paper. Even if it looks intact, it is actually still irreparably different from the original.

After reading this book, I can feel that everyone is lonely and confused.

The aftereffect of reading it is quite strong, so I need to take it easy.

"This guy named Mishima, could it be that this is a pen name some big shot came up with to try out a new style of writing?"

Someone on the other side exclaimed, his face full of disbelief.

"This is truly a novel style!" A bespectacled, scholar-looking man pushed his glasses up and commented professionally, "The book's language is concise, fluent, and delicate, and full of humor. It makes reading it easy, while also allowing you to better understand the author's emotions and thoughts, a quality that many traditional literary works can't match."

The girl in front finally came to her senses and immediately said, "This book is obviously more worthy of the award than 'Afterimage'."

This sentence also awakened other readers in the reading area.

"Yes, why did Afterimage win the award instead of this one?"

"'Hear the Wind Sing' didn't even make the final judging list, which is very strange." "Could it be that it didn't participate in this selection?"

"That's a shame. If I had participated, this would definitely be the one that won the Newcomer Award..."

While the readers were discussing the matter, Professor Fujimiya was sitting in front of his computer, reading the second half of the work that Mishima had sent him.

"This is the end..."

After reading it, Professor Fujimiya also felt a sense of loss.

As the saying goes, the layman sees the excitement while the expert sees the details. An industry insider of his level would not be easily shocked by a novel. Having been a professor of literature at the University of Tokyo for 20 years, he must have read all kinds of novels.

He looks at a novel not from a reader's perspective, but from an academic perspective.

He thinks the level of "Hear the Wind Sing" is above average.

If the scope is limited to new authors, then it is undoubtedly top-notch.

Rather than comparing the quality of the novel, Professor Fujimiya values the book's language style, writing skills, and the embryonic form of postmodernism and artistic atmosphere that is still relatively rare in Japanese literary circles.

If such a novel is successfully promoted, it will surely become a banner of literary reformers.

Professor Fujimiya intends to use this as a positive example to call on some young writers to break away from the lengthy and obscure style of traditional Japanese literary texts and learn more from the concise and fast style of American modern novels, thereby causing a revolutionary change in the Japanese literary world.

It was based on this idea that after carefully inquiring about the whole incident with Mishima and seeing the signing time between him and Kodansha, Professor Fujimiya directly started to criticize him on social media using his real name.

Not only did he criticize himself, but he also used his influence in the literary world to drag the reformists into the criticism.

This is just great!

By the afternoon of September 9st, the entire literary and publishing circles were in an uproar!

■

At noon, at a high-end Western restaurant in Ginza.

Editor-in-chief Yamada of the "Gunzo" editorial department, Hojo Aiko, and Okatake Yomiuri were having a celebratory banquet together.

"Bang~" the waiter opened the champagne.

The abundant foam gushed out, symbolizing the celebration of victory.

"Come, congratulations to Mr. Okatake for winning the award." Editor-in-Chief Yamada raised his glass.

Hojo Aiko quickly filled a glass of champagne and brought it to Otaku Yomiuri's lips: "Congratulations, Mr. Otaku."

With the grand prize in hand and the beautiful editor serving him, Yomiuri Okamoto is now very proud and his face is flushed.

"The first half of 'Afterimage' will be published in the September issue, and the second half in the October issue. The single volume will be released in November. I will secure the maximum possible publicity and promotional resources for Mr. Otaku..."

Editor-in-Chief Yamada was immersed in the subsequent business operations and was in a surprisingly good mood.

Over the past six months, the sales of "Group Portrait" have been declining. As the direct leader of the content team, the pressure he bears can be imagined.

The sales volume in the next three months will have a bearing on his career prospects.

In order to avoid any mistakes, he personally presided over the results of this group portrait appreciation and blocked many novels that would have threatened "Afterimage".

As long as he can sacrifice a few unknown writers and maintain the sales of "Group Portrait", it is equivalent to saving his job. Why not do this?

What those novelists lost was just a chance to win an award!
As for the impact on the reputation of the Group Portrait Awards, that is another department's business and has nothing to do with his editorial department.

Yomiuri Okamoto won the Group Portrait Award, which was a victory in the first half.

The sales in the next three months will be the victory in the second half.

Although it's a bit early to open the champagne now, Editor-in-Chief Yamada can't think of anything that can stop him.

The more he looked back on what he had done during this period and the business plans he had developed, the more he felt that he was a genius, and he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Hojo Aiko's face was also full of joy.

The writer he signed won the award and forced Yukiho Yonekura to resign. It was a complete victory.

The vain Yomiuri Okamoto also successfully won the first prestigious literary award in his career and was very proud of it.

Just when the three of them were feeling a little overwhelmed, Editor-in-Chief Yamada received a call from his subordinates.

"Hey?"

"Editor-in-chief, something terrible has happened."

(End of this chapter)