My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

Chapter 84 Dong Shu's Correct Interpretation of "The Devotion of Suspect X"

"I stayed with Mr. Fujino and read the sample book in his office."

Keigo Higashino leaned forward, almost collapsing onto the table; he was clearly somewhat drunk.

"No detective novel has ever been written in a way that is so impactful."

"You're not good enough." He pointed at Daze Zaichang.

"You're no good either, Miyuki." He then pointed at Miyuki Miyabe.

Keigo Higashino leaned back, letting out a long breath, seemingly exhausted.

The booth was quiet for a few seconds.

Only the laughter and background music from the next table drifted over faintly.

Osawa looked at Miyabe Miyuki, then at Higashino Keigo who was almost asleep, and asked, "That's all? — Did you think we could deduce the whole story just by hearing the title?"

Miyabe Miyuki has a very low threshold for laughter, and she picked up on her older brother's humor and couldn't help but laugh.

"神がかっている! (Top, extraordinary, holy, the highest...)" Keigo Higashino murmured.

"神がかっている?" Osawa Zaimasa repeated.

The story couldn't be simpler. Ishigami, a high school math teacher, was a genius who almost won the Fields Medal in college. His mother fell ill, so he dropped out. He teaches math at a run-down high school, and the students don't like it, but he doesn't care.

His daily routine consisted of only one line: home, school, the lunchbox shop, and back home. There was a woman named Yasuko at the lunchbox shop, his neighbor. Ishigami liked her a lot, but they never spoke.

Then one day, Yasuko's second ex-husband came to her door, harassing her, demanding money, acting drunk, and even trying to send his "daughter" to a nightclub to earn money. The three of them got into a scuffle, and Yasuko's daughter smashed a vase on the back of her stepfather's head. In a moment of panic, Yasuko strangled him to death with an electrical cord.

He said, "I'll help you."

What happened next was beyond human comprehension.

Ishigami disposed of the bodies for them, and Yasuko and her daughter's alibis were flawless—so flawless that the police didn't believe them at all.

The police, having exhausted all other options, turned to Yukawa—a physics professor at Teito University who specialized in solving unusual cases. Yukawa and Ishigami were university classmates.

Yukawa met with Ishigami, and after the meeting, Yukawa said one sentence—"I don't want to believe it, but the possibility that Ishigami is the culprit is 99.9%!"

Two geniuses began their battle of wits. Ishigami had calculated every step of the way; he had planned everything in advance, from how the police investigated to where they would end up. Yukawa, on the other hand, understood Ishigami. He knew Ishigami's way of thinking and that Ishigami wouldn't do anything pointless.

But he just couldn't find a flaw, until one day, Yukawa suddenly realized something...

After figuring it out, he completely collapsed. He went to find Ishigami, and the two sat facing each other in the classroom. Yukawa said, "You won, but I have to tell you, I know."

Ishigami laughed, saying, "What's the point of saying all this now..."

Because Ishigami is going to turn himself in...

He confessed to the murder, claiming he did everything, detailing the motive, method, and specifics—a perfect account, even more convincing than Yasuko's alibi. The police believed him, and the case was closed.

Do you want to know what Ishigami did to help Yasuko? — He killed another person.

Ishigami used the life of another villain to clear Yasuko and her daughter's name. From the very beginning, he never intended to escape unscathed.

You think that's the end? No, if it ended like this, this book would only get a 90 out of 100.

Because that despicable, damned pretentious Yukawa, in order to tell Yasuko the truth!

Finally, Yasuko also turned herself in. She knew everything Ishigami had done for her, and she couldn't pretend not to know and live happily on her own.

When Ishigami saw Yasuko enter the detention center, he completely broke down!

He let out a beastly roar, a roar laced with desperate and chaotic cries—you must read this book word by word. I believe that everyone who reads this will involuntarily shed tears, like me...

Ishigami foresaw everything, even his own fate. But he didn't foresee that Yasuko would feel guilty, or that Yasuko also loved him?

After finishing his story, Keigo Higashino picked up the bottle and poured himself a drink, his hand trembling slightly.

"This book isn't a mystery novel at all; it's a smokescreen, just like Ishigami's tricks—he makes you think he's solving a math problem, but he's actually asking you a question about human nature: to what extent can one person truly love another?"

"Mr. Snail's trick is the ceiling, and so is emotion."

"After you finish reading the last page and close the book, you won't think about how ingenious the trick was—you'll think about Ishigami himself."

You'll feel sorry for him, you'll feel sad, you'll ask yourself, how could anyone be so foolish? And then you'll find yourself crying.

"A mystery novel that can make you cry. What level would you call that?"

Three days after Uncle Dong gave his correct interpretation of "The Devotion of Suspect X", the book went on sale. There was no pre-sale event, and it quietly appeared on the special Mr. Snail booths in major bookstores.

It can't be said to be done quietly, after all, he already grabbed attention in October with the gimmick of "making 4500 million yuan with the book title". His current low profile is just for tomorrow's glory.

Invited by Hanami Tsuru, president of Yan Yin's agency, Zhao Wen walked a few steps from "Snail Investment Co., Ltd." to his "dining hall", Akasaka Yachiyo.

This is one of the pieces of information Hanami Tsuru obtained: Mr. Snail's favorite restaurant is called "Akasaka Yachiyo," and Yachiyo's "Salted Grilled Whole Sea Bream" and "Honey-boiled Black Beans" are must-order dishes.

Today, Hanami-san specially arranged a private flower arrangement appreciation session because he felt that a refined person like Mr. Snail must appreciate the flower arrangement art that has been passed down for thousands of years in Japan.

Then Zhao Wen met Akina-chan, oh, I mean, he met Nakamori Akina after her "transformation"...

Akina's hair is usually either down or tied in a ponytail, but today it's up in a bun—just like the president's wife on TV. All the stray hairs on her forehead have been combed up and treated with hair gel. Zhao Wen noticed for the first time that Akina's forehead is actually quite round.

The navy blue suit skirt was clearly a high-end item from Mitsukoshi, with crisp shoulders and a well-tailored skirt. However, Zhao Wen found it somewhat comical, like a child wearing adult clothes.

She was wearing a white shirt underneath, with the collar buttoned all the way up, completely covering her beautiful collarbone!

High heels, stilettos, at least seven or eight centimeters high. Akina usually wears flats or low heels, but today, these shoes made her look completely different. She stood there with her legs slightly apart, her feet subtly shifting her weight, clearly tired from standing.

Up.

Zhao Wen was overjoyed; if he had a camera, he would have definitely taken a picture of the men.