Training the Heavens

Chapter 103 Receive the Award
This telegram from Heita Mibu was written as a letter. He listed detailed data to prove the greatness of "Showa American Story".

In the history of Japan, the best-selling book is Murasaki Shikibu's "The Tale of Genji", which tells the various aspects of court life in the Heian period. It is the source of inspiration for Japanese literature and the pinnacle of Japanese classical realism literature.

Since its birth, anyone who can read will buy it. The cumulative sales volume over the years is no longer verifiable, but it is definitely an astronomical figure.

Since the modern era, the top-selling works include Natsume Soseki's "I Am a Cat", Akutagawa Ryunosuke's "Rashomon", Kuroteru Ryuko's "The Little Girl at the Window", Komatsu Sakyo's "Japan Sinks", Shiba Ryotaro's "Xiang Yu and Liu Bang", etc.

"Japan Sinks" has sold more than 4.4 million copies in total, "Xiang Yu and Liu Bang" has sold more than 2.3 million copies in total, and "Little Miss Bean at the Window" has achieved sales of more than 5 million copies in more than five years. "I Am a Cat" and "Rashomon" have even higher sales, with the former having sold more than 10 million copies.

These books have accumulated astonishing sales over a long period of time, and Gao Jialin's "Showa American Story" has sold nearly two million copies just over a week after it was launched on the market. Such a rapid speed cannot be achieved even if Natsume Soseki, Akutagawa Ryunosuke and others were resurrected.

This achievement allowed "Showa American Story" to break numerous Japanese book sales records: first-day sales record, three-day sales record, and one-week sales record.
Although only half of the year had passed, Heita Mibu had firmly concluded in the telegram that "Showa American Story" would inevitably top the Neon 1986 book sales list. It had already occupied this position and would only leave other pursuers further and further behind in the future.

Moreover, at the current sales rate, "Showa American Story" will be able to break the Japanese science fiction book sales record set by Sakyo Komatsu's "Japan Sinks" by the end of this month at the latest, and push this record to a number that will make latecomers despair.

There is a very good chance that he will surpass "Rashomon" by the end of this year and "I Am a Cat" next year. By then, Gao Jialin will become the champion of single book sales in Japan in modern times.

It is unprecedented for a foreigner to achieve such an achievement in xenophobic Japan, and it is unlikely that anyone will be able to surpass him in the future. They are not as lucky as Gao Jialin to live in such an era and produce such a book.

Finally, Heita Mibu once again invited Gao Jialin to make time to go to Japan for signings. Tens of millions of readers are eagerly looking forward to his early arrival to tell them how he created "Showa American Story".

In addition, Tokuma Shoten, Weekly Shonen Jump, and Japan's four major TV stations all wanted to talk to him about adapting their works. Tokuma Shoten already has a film shooting department, and now that they have encountered such a good subject, they will definitely not let it go.

The same goes for "Weekly Shonen Jump". The elements of friendship, hard work, victory, etc. reflected in "Showa Umekoku Monogatari" perfectly fit the definition of a hot-blooded youth manga, and they can't wait to adapt it into a comic and start serializing it.

If this comes true, "Weekly Shonen Jump" will have a second trump card besides "Dragon Ball", and will completely secure its position as the overlord of Japanese comics. If it is snatched away by other comic magazines, the position of "Weekly Shonen Jump" will be in danger.

Needless to say, the four major TV stations are definitely after the TV adaptation rights. Anyone with a brain knows that if "Showa U.S. Story" is adapted into a TV series, it will undoubtedly top the annual ratings charts. Anyone who doesn't understand this should just commit seppuku; such people's lives are a waste of food. So many people are eager to give me money? It seems I really need to go to Japan again. After I claim the award, I'll apply to the relevant authorities.

Gao Jialin took the telegram to report to the school leaders. A short while later, Gao Jialin's name appeared again on the Pujiang College radio. "Good news, good news! The book 'Showa American Story' written by our student Gao Jialin has broken several book sales records in Japan."

Gao Jialin's dormitory became bustling again. Seeing this, he quickly packed up his things and went to live in the big villa on Tai'an Road. Anyway, he had already asked for leave from school and would go to Beijing to receive the award tomorrow, so it didn't matter if he left a night early.

The next morning, Gao Jialin boarded the train with his luggage. This time, since he was going to Beijing to receive the award, the organizer bought a train ticket for him. Because most of the other award-winning writers were older, the organizer specially booked a soft sleeper. Gao Jialin also had the opportunity to sleep in a soft sleeper car for the first time.

Lying in the car, Gao Jialin put the earphones into his ears and turned on his Walkman. A familiar music sounded, "Young man, there's no need to feel down; I said young man pick yourself off the ground."

This Walkman is a gift from Tokuma Shoten to Gao Jialin. They also gave him many music tapes from Japan, Europe and the United States. Gao Jialin felt that this song best suited his current mood. He was about to go on stage, so what song could be more suitable than this one?

The train arrived in Beijing smoothly. Gao Jialin did not rush to report to the hotel designated by the organizer. Instead, he made a phone call and asked Zhang Lifeng to have a meal with him. He came in a hurry last time and did not have a good chat with him, so this time he just made up for it.

After eating and drinking, we checked into the hotel. The award ceremony was held on time the next day. Although it was called an award ceremony, it was actually similar to a commendation meeting. There was no red carpet or performance. More than ten writers, leaders, and reporters gathered in a small auditorium. The leader first went on stage to speak, and then whoever was called went on stage to receive the award. Finally, they took a group photo and everything was done.

Although the ceremony was simple, the award was of extraordinary importance. Gao Jialin saw that several major media outlets had sent reporters. This news would appear in the evening paper and the hourly news as early as tonight, and those heavyweight media outlets would also publish reports early tomorrow morning.

Holding the award certificate in his hand and posing for photos with a smile on his face, Gao Jialin was looked at curiously by other award-winning authors. In fact, they had some objections to Gao Jialin winning the award together with them. Many people believed that "Spring Breeze in Meilong Town" won the award by taking shortcuts and relying on political correctness, and they even complained about it when chatting with other authors.

But when the news came that "Showa American Story" was a best-seller in Japan, they all fell silent. No matter how great they were, they only gained recognition from domestic readers. Gao Jialin not only conquered domestic readers, but also conquered Japanese readers, which they could not do.

After the brief award ceremony, several writers wanted to talk to Gao Jialin. After taking two steps, they saw a leader shaking Gao Jialin's hand and saying, "Mr. Gao Jialin, we have something to talk to you about."

(End of this chapter)