I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 203 Congratulations, Mr. Beichuan
Judging from the situation, their scandal will probably make the headlines of all the major literary newspapers in Paris tonight.

Realizing that she had done something stupid, Saito Reina blushed and whispered to Kitagawa Hide: "Sorry, Kitagawa"

"Don't be nervous, it's okay." Kitagawa Hide was calm. Things had come to this point, and nothing he said would work. He simply patted the back of Saito Rena's hand and comforted her not to feel guilty anymore.

People are afraid of famous pigs.

Anyone with a little fame is always surrounded by paparazzi and scandals.

Fortunately, readers in the literary world are not as fanatical as fans in the entertainment industry. Most of them only eat eggs and do not chase the hens. They will not commit suicide just because their idols are involved in some true or false scandals, as if their parents had died.

After taking photos, several photographers continued to wander around the periphery of the venue, searching for interesting and memorable scenes.

Those who can attend the award ceremony today are basically the top figures in the French literary world. Even if their photos are not used at the moment, they may be useful in the future.

With the idea that opportunity is now and never to be missed, they kept clicking their cameras and used film as if it were free.

The photographers who took pictures of Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena had just reached the gate when suddenly several tall and strong men in black clothes and sunglasses walked out from the venue.

They surrounded several photographers and, for some unknown reason, they quickly took the film and memory cards from them.

The men in black clothes and sunglasses trotted to Kitagawa Hide's table. The Frenchman in the lead put the film and memory card on the table, then said a few words to the two of them, then turned around and pointed to a round table at the edge of the venue.

A group of fashionable men and women in bright clothes were sitting around the round table. When they saw Kitagawa Hide's gaze, one of the girls, who looked very much like Sophie Marceau, tilted her head, raised her right hand in a white silk glove and waved in a friendly manner, then gave him a charming and affectionate smile.

Kitagawa Hide looked around and found that the other party was indeed greeting him, so he smiled and waved in response, then turned to ask the translator girl what those men in black clothes and sunglasses had just said.

"They said that they have already followed Miss Wertheimer's instructions and helped you, Mr. Beichuan, to get back all the secretly taken photos and memory cards, so you don't have to worry."

The translator lowered her voice and said to Kitagawa Hide, her expression full of excitement and surprise,

"They also said that Miss Wertheimer wished to have you to dinner tonight."

Miss Wertheimer?

Is that the blonde girl at that table who was smiling and waving at me?
She looks like a French noble lady or something.

This last name sounds familiar, but Kitagawa Hide couldn't remember it for a moment.

In short, the other person meant to help, and one should not hit a smiling person, so Kitagawa Hide nodded and agreed.

Seeing Mr. Kitagawa so calm, the translator was just about to tell him how awesome the name Wertheimer was when the host's voice suddenly came from the stage.

The whole audience suddenly fell silent, and the audience gave full respect to everyone on the stage.

The female host spoke a bunch of official jargon again. Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena didn't understand anything at all. They were too lazy to ask the translator to translate word for word, so they just clapped like everyone else.

After the opening remarks, Odemeisson, a representative of the ten academicians, came to the stage to deliver a speech. As soon as he stood up, the conference hall was suddenly filled with flashes of various cameras.

The translator also briefly told them about the old man's lofty status in the French literary world.

Odemaison's speech was brief, but it still won warm applause and cheers from countless people present.

Kitagawa Hide estimated that the next process should be to start introducing the shortlisted works, the selection process, and then spend an hour or so before finally announcing the winning works.

Therefore, as soon as Odmeson came off the field, he began to quietly close his eyes and take a nap to catch up on his sleep.

After a few minutes, he became drowsy and his eyelids were about to droop, when suddenly Saito Rena gently pushed his waist and he woke up instantly!
Wasn’t it only five or six minutes?

He wrote a postcard for Mengzi last night and stayed up until after one o'clock before going to bed. Now he was awakened just when he was about to take a nap.

He turned around to ask Saito Reina what was going on, but saw that she had a rare expression of surprise on her face. Her pretty face turned red and white, and her expression gradually changed from surprise to ferociousness to disbelief. Finally, she barely covered her mouth with both hands to suppress her overly excited expression.

Japanese women pay great attention to their appearance and temperament. Some girls even wear masks all day long in order to prevent others from seeing their ferocious expressions when they are excited.

Kitagawa Hide's mind froze for a moment. What could make her so excited?
"Teacher Kitagawa! You, you won the prize. You won the prize!" The translator girl's practice was not enough. Now she looked like a JK who had just graduated and escaped from the sea of ​​suffering. She was just about to jump for excitement.

"Award? What?" Kitagawa Hide opened his slightly squinted eyes and finally saw the huge red banner in front of him.

He couldn't understand the French, but he understood the title of Paradise Lost, which was in both French and Japanese.

"Teacher Beichuan! Your work has won an award! It won this year's Prix Goncourt! And it is the first award-winning work in history to be voted unanimously by the academicians!"

The translator tried her best to lower her voice, but the shock of winning the award was so great that she became a little delirious.

Until the second before the award was given, everyone held their breath, and almost no one thought that Kitagawa Hide, a young writer from Japan, could win the award.

Problems such as nationality, age, and translation are there. In addition, the other shortlisted writers are all the most well-known and best-selling novelists in France in recent years. It is said that outside the underground casino in Paris, Kitagawa Hide's odds of winning the prize have reached the upper limit of 1:800.

However, just a few minutes ago.

Odemaison and others officially announced that the work that won the French Goncourt Prize this time was "Paradise Lost" from Japan, and the originally cumbersome process was greatly simplified.

Because the selection process was very smooth, all ten academicians voted for Paradise Lost, and praised it unanimously. In the past, we would also explain why other academicians voted for the works that did not win the award, which was considered to promote the shortlisted works.

But this time, those bits and pieces are gone.

The moment the winning works are announced.

Throughout the entire venue, everyone's eyes were focused on the originally inconspicuous Kitagawa Hide.

Even if he doesn't want to be the most handsome boy now, he can't do it!
"Kita, Kita, Kitagawa, it seems like it's time for you to go up on stage to receive the award." Saito Rena was so excited that she stuttered.

She tried to cover her mouth, but her mind was a mess.

Isn't this a dream?

This is the Goncourt Prize, the top literary award in France.

One of the three major awards in the world literary world, along with the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Booker Prize!

I heard that the probability of previous winners becoming members of the French Academy is as high as 90%!

That's the French Academy!
Academicians are often invited to attend dinners hosted by the French president and socialize with a host of French upper-class people.

It can be said that in France, as long as you step into the door of the French Academy, you are destined to become one of the 0.01% of this country that controls countless wealth and power.

A foreign academician, Reina Saito had never heard of it.

Odmeson on the stage made another invitation gesture to Kitagawa Hide.

At this moment, Kitagawa Hide quickly stood up, straightened his clothes, gave Saito Rena a warm hug, then gently stroked her back, telling her not to be too nervous.

This scene was captured by reporters, but this is a normal behavior after winning an award, and no one will use this as material for gossip.

In fact, they don't need to have any scandals.

A young writer from a distant country beat out nine top writers from their own country to win this year's Prix Goncourt.

This gimmick alone is enough to make people buy their newspapers and magazines like crazy.

The translator girl also followed him onto the stage in a daze. It was the first time in her life that she stepped onto a stage that she had never dared to imagine.

"Congratulations, Mr. Hide Kitagawa." Odmesson stretched out his hand and shook hands with him warmly, and greeted him with the customary Japanese bow.

A French literary giant was willing to greet others using the etiquette of the other country, which shows his respect for the other party.

Odmeson showed this attitude, and some people who thought there was something fishy going on immediately extinguished the sparks of dissatisfaction that had just been ignited.

Given Odmeson's status, money, power, fame and fortune could not tempt him.

As long as he lives a safe and sound life and nothing happens to him, he will be remembered forever in the French literary world after his death, just like Hugo and others.

Such a writer will never do anything disastrous in his old age.

Then there is only one truth.

The literary and commercial value of Paradise Lost indeed far exceeds that of the other nine works, and has reached the point where issues such as nationality and translation can be ignored!
The other shortlisted candidates present also knew that a novel from Japan was shortlisted, but they basically didn't take it seriously and didn't pay much attention to it.

The commercially published version of Paradise Lost sparked a huge reading craze in Paris, but it was still somewhat inferior to their books.

Now, it seems that I have to take a look at this award-winning work!

"Thank you, Mr. Odmeson." Kitagawa Hideya responded with a smile.

To be honest, at this moment, standing on a high platform in a foreign country, he felt a little emotional and confused.

"Paradise Lost" is quite popular in France and was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt, which is what happened in the original history.

But that's just a shortlist.

Looking back now, the differences in the parallel worlds, the changes in world literature, and people’s more fanatical pursuit of literature are like the flapping of butterfly wings, which actually brought him such a big surprise!

It turned out that his expectation was to be shortlisted. Just being shortlisted would be enough to further enhance his fame in the Japanese literary world.

Now Paradise Lost has won an award
I wonder what those old Bidens will say when they return home?

He couldn't help but look forward to it.

Will he become the youngest "Tenka No. 1" in the history of Japanese literature?

(End of this chapter)