I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 205: Challenge from the "World's No. " goalkeeper Arima Yoshiyoshi! (Two in one)

After the award ceremony, Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena were invited to attend the subsequent dinner and dance.

Unlike award ceremonies, which have a relatively serious atmosphere and are attended by many writers, dinners and dances are actually mainly intended to serve the upper-class people who come to watch the ceremony.

They have been your backdrop and audience for two hours at the venue, so you should definitely give back some of their enthusiasm afterwards.

In any country, politics, business and art are a trinity and inseparable good partners.

The youngest winner of the Prix Goncourt in history.

The first foreign winner in history.

The first unanimous award-winning work in history.

These three titles alone are enough to make Kitagawa Hide the most watched person at dinners and dances.

During the meal, members of the Académie Goncourt, members of the French Academy, French political dignitaries, business tycoons and others took turns coming to chat with Kitagawa Hide.

Of course, given their status and position, they would not really take Kitagawa Hide seriously, unless you can become a world literary giant on the level of Hugo, Shakespeare, or Leo Tolstoy in the future - but who can guarantee that Kitagawa Hide can't become one?
These people came over with smiles, drank some wine, exchanged personal contact information, and said a few compliments, basically with the intention of establishing a good relationship.

Even so, as these scenes are captured in various ways, they will probably create quite a stir in the Western literary world in the future.

It was the first time for Saito Rena to go abroad, the first time to attend an overseas banquet of this scale, and the first time to be someone's female companion. While feeling the novelty, she also gradually understood the feelings of her senior Tou Reiko.

It is said that Toriko once said at a small circle of upper-class Japanese women that going overseas to attend a ceremony of this scale is like a Japanese J-League player going to the NBA for a tryout.

Regardless of whether you can really stay in the world's top league in the future, when you come back after a circle, you will find that your vision, ability, etc. are far beyond those of domestic players and are no longer on the same level.

After her remarks were made public, she was criticized by the old-school forces in the Japanese literary world as being pro-Western.

They were tamed, westernized, and enslaved by foreigners.

Saito Rena had previously maintained a neutral attitude towards this matter. After all, after several contacts, she found that senior Touma Reiko was definitely not a Western-worshiping person.

Now she probably understood what her senior was thinking.

We have to admit that the Western literary world is more developed than the Japanese literary world.

Taking the essence and discarding the dross is what their generation should do.

But there is no need to belittle yourself.

While Saito Rena was comparing the Japanese literary world with the world literary world, Kitagawa Hide was entangled by the enthusiastic Miss Olivia Wertheimer.

With the assistance of the Japanese translator specially hired by Olivia, the two quickly became familiar with each other, and Kitagawa Hideya finally figured out the other party's identity.

The Wertheimer family is a German-French family that originated in the Middle Ages. The first-generation founder of the family business, Ernest Wertheimer, immigrated to France in 1874 to start a business. It has been nearly 150 years since then, and it has now been passed down to the fourth generation of the family.

The most well-known story of this family is that the second-generation helmsman Pierre Wertheimer met and completely manipulated Coco Chanel.

At a horse race, Pierre met Coco Chanel, who was born in a slum, grew up in an orphanage, was a socialite and high society milliner with shops in Paris, Deauville and Biarritz.

In 1922, Chanel and Grasse-based perfumer Ernest Beaux created a perfume called No. 5.

The perfume was immediately popular with Chanel customers, but the laboratory could only produce small quantities and was unable to mass-produce it.

Théophile Badet, founder of the Galeries Lafayette department store, wanted to sell the perfume No. 5, so he introduced Chanel to his friend Pierre at the Longchamp racecourse outside Paris.

In 1924, the three reached an agreement to bring Les Parfums Chanel under their control.

Pierre produced No. 70 in his factory and received 20% of the profits; Théophile Bard received 10% as an agency fee; and Chanel herself only received %.

Chanel felt she had been cheated, so she launched one lawsuit after another in an attempt to gain more control and profits, but not only did she fail, she was also trained by Pierre into a "hot weapon."

In 1953, as sales of No. 5 began to decline, Pierre and Chanel reached a final agreement: the Wertheimer family would pay for Chanel's company as well as Chanel's personal expenses and taxes for the rest of her life, and in exchange, the family would own the name of the perfume and fashion.

Since Chanel had no heirs, the Wertheimer family would also receive her perfume royalties after her death.

A few years later, the Wertheimer family bought the remaining 20% ​​of the company from the Bader family and became the real owner behind Chanel.

The Wertheimer family has been running the business for four generations and is jointly managed by brothers Alan and Gerard. The family's total assets have now reached 150 billion US dollars, equivalent to 1.5 trillion yen, which is equivalent to five Kawaide Groups.

Olivia, who insisted on dancing and chatting with Kitagawa Hide, is Gerard Wertheimer's youngest daughter. She is 18 years old and is about to enter the Art Academy of the University of Paris.

She has a lively and outgoing personality, but her pair of peach blossom eyes always involuntarily reveal the charm of a mature woman. The combination of these two completely different characteristics makes her charming and unique.

This little girl is a typical aristocratic lady who admires literary celebrities. She has been living a life of luxury since she was a child, and she is already bored with the life she has had.

Like her older brothers and sisters, she began to come into contact with higher-quality and more interesting literature and art.

But art is something that is very abstract and difficult to understand, and is inseparable from a person's basic aesthetics and cultural literacy.

Olivia and her elders have visited countless art exhibitions, sculptures, etc., and have also read many works by French writers.

But given her age and experience, she is simply unable to appreciate the profound meaning of some masterpieces.

Boring, ugly, uninteresting.

This is how she intuitively feels about most of the Prix Goncourt winners.

It wasn't until she read Paradise Lost that the poignant and moving love story, and the determination to die for love, captured the little girl's heart and soul.

She couldn't appreciate how successful this novel was.

Anyway, she was deeply moved by the love in the film, and the story was also interesting and attractive.

It turns out that pure literature can be so interesting and beautiful!

Then the love-struck little girl fell into Kitagawa Hide's trap. She first got tickets to the award ceremony from her father by acting cute. Then she asked her subordinates to help Kitagawa Hide solve the problem of reporters taking secret photos of her. She then took the opportunity to invite him to dinner and dance.

In short, the cause and effect of the matter is roughly like this. For Kitagawa Hide, it is just the process of a top female fan chasing his idol.

There will probably be many more such things in the future, so Kitagawa Hide didn't take it too seriously.

The other party also has the mind of a little girl, and with his ability he can easily coax her.

As they chatted, Olivia wanted Chanel and Kitagawa Hide to do a collaboration or something, and Kitagawa Hide took the opportunity to bring in Yumeko as his girlfriend and manager.

Business cooperation? Yes.

But you need to talk to my girlfriend.

When Olivia heard that Mr. Kitagawa had a girlfriend who he had been dating for many years and was about to get married, her heart broke and her charming peach blossom eyes were soon covered with mist.

Kitagawa Hide didn't pay much attention to this little girl. If a world-class luxury brand like Chanel really wanted to cooperate in business, it would probably have to find the business department of Kawade Shobo to negotiate. The process was tedious and complicated. Even if the other party was a young lady from a family, it would certainly not be possible to finalize the cooperation in one go.

As for feelings.

The girl is just in love, and who knows, she might be replaced tomorrow.

What makes Olivia memorable to Kitagawa Hide is her personality, words and deeds.

When Kitagawa Hide first met the little girl, he thought of an important female character in a French literary masterpiece:

In "Remembrance of Things Past", the protagonist's first love is the noble lady Gilberte Swann.

The same big family background, the same liveliness and charm, the same youth and ignorance, the same admiration for promising young people.
"Teacher Kitagawa, what are you thinking about?"

The two danced intimately, and Olivia naturally abandoned the Japanese translation that was like a light bulb, and simply communicated with Kitagawa Hide in her own English, which was not very fluent.

Kitagawa Hide was recalling the plot of "Remembrance of Things Past" in his mind, a long novel of more than three million words, a pearl that cannot be ignored in the history of French literature and world literature, the pinnacle and pioneering work of stream of consciousness.

He said casually: "I suddenly feel that Miss Wertheimer, you are very much like the heroine in a novel."

"Really?!" Olivia was very surprised and asked curiously, "Can you tell me which novel it is?"

"Remembrance of Things Past." Kitagawa Hide answered without hesitation. Olivia's head was immediately filled with question marks. She had never heard of this book, but she didn't dare to show it. Wouldn't it make her look ignorant?

Kitagawa Hide was also stunned when he saw her silly expression.

"Marcel Proust"

Isn’t this the pinnacle of French literature in the 20th century?
This literary giant should be a household name in France, right?

Olivia was even more confused.

She had never heard of the name, nor the book.
"Sorry, maybe I remembered it wrong." Kitagawa Hide scratched his head in confusion. Could it be that Marcel was also blown away by the butterfly effect?
He quickly changed the subject and just made a note in his mental notepad.

Just as Kitagawa Hide was attending the ball, Bungeishunju's president Toru Ueno and "Tenka No. 1" Arima Yoshiyoshi learned about the Goncourt Prize ceremony in real time via international calls.

"The Goncourt Prize was really awarded to him?" Arima Yoshiyoshi looked a little unhappy.

Ueno Toru sat opposite him, put down the receiver, and nodded solemnly, "Yes. He has already won the award and will probably return home in early August."

The two were relatively speechless.

Toru Ueno suddenly thought of Sawako Noma who had died in prison, and Kodansha and Gunzo which had been messed up by Kitagawa Hide.

"Wenyi" has flattened the two big mountains of "Group Portrait" and "Qunxing", and only "Literary World" and "New Tide" are left.

Shinchosha represents half of the Japanese literary world and sits firmly at the top of the list. If it were in a video game, it would be the final boss.

It’s easy to guess who the next target of the ambitious Shizuko Kawaide, who inherited the family business, will be.

In the second half of the year, with the return of Kitagawa Hide, the pure literature world will surely engage in a more bloody fight.

"Confessions" promoted legislation, "Paradise Lost" won the Goncourt Prize, and "Frontier" continued last year's glory.

Toru Ueno could not think of any reason to deny that Kitagawa Hideshige would become the new "Tenka No. 1".

When he returns home with the Goncourt Prize, there will surely be people on his side who will bring up this matter first.

At that time, everyone became passive!

By then, regardless of whether Kitagawa Hide can be recognized as the new "Number One in the World", relying on this wave of popularity and heated discussions, if he releases new works in the second half of the year, it will be difficult for "Literary World" to withstand his offensive.

We must find a way to put out this fire!

Ueno Toru looked at Arima Yoriyoshi.

Arima Yoshiyoshi is the most anxious and worried "No. 1 in the world" right now.

Before, he returned to the political arena, accepted Okamoto Yomiuri as his disciple, and helped Bungeishunju and Kodansha to organize a joint essay contest. Unexpectedly, these things turned out to be rotten to the core.

Although he was able to save his reputation in the end thanks to his huge readership and status in the literary world, his undefeated reputation as "the best in the world" also began to show some cracks.

And among the seven living ones, Arima Yoshiyoshi is recognized as the "best" goalkeeper in the world.

If Kitagawa Hide takes office, it will inevitably stir up another controversial topic.

Between this young writer who rose from obscurity to world-class fame in just one and a half years and goalkeeper Arima Yoshiyoshi, who is the new goalkeeper?

"There's no way I'll let this kid step on me to get to the top!" Arima Yoshiyoshi growled.

The seven of them, who were originally firmly seated on the altar, did not care at all about the fighting in the Japanese literary world.

Because they are transcendent, detached gods who will never be affected.

Readers have been taught, generation after generation, that they are supreme.

Just like some famous figures in the world literary scene, you can no longer measure their true level from their works.

Once someone's name is put forward, it means that you, the later comers, cannot surpass him.

This is an established truth that generation after generation has been brainwashed and accepted through marketing.

"The best in the world" was deified since Ichiro Tanizaki. The transcendence of these seven people in the Japanese literary world was imitated by some great masters of the world literary world.

Now, this rule is about to be broken.

That would surely set off an epic revolution in Japanese literature!

And the goalkeeper Arima Yoshiyoshi is the first person to be pulled down from the altar!
"Absolutely not!" Arima Yoshiyoshi's eyes were red.

Not to mention that behind Kitagawa Hide is Wen Yi, a new publishing house that is just as young and ambitious as he is.

Ueno Toru sighed inwardly.

After witnessing the demise of Kodansha, he really didn't want to be an enemy of Kitagawa Hide.

What a pity.

The other party is naturally in the enemy camp, and his political stance is definitely not right-leaning, so it is impossible for him to be the same kind of person.

such a pity.

It would be great if I could stay at Kodansha or come to Bungeishunju.

"Ueno-san, I'm going to officially serialize my new book in August!" Arima Yoshiyoshi pinched his thigh, unable to hold back any longer.

"Please Bungeishunju start promoting me now!"

Thirty years have passed.

Finally, the "best product in the world" is back!

Hearing these words, Ueno Toru was immediately cheered up.

Not only the readers, but also the citizens, including the practitioners themselves, worship these seven people as gods.

This is an expectation that comes from the bottom of my heart.

When Arima Yoshiyoshi said this, all the threatening feelings brought by Kitagawa Hide's winning the award seemed to disappear in an instant!
"Mr. Arima, what subject will your new work be about?" Toru Ueno couldn't help but ask.

"War. Looking back at that war and speaking out for the politicians behind us." Arima Yoshiyoshi is the most famous right-wing writer. If he is going to write something, it will definitely be a work with a strong right-wing tendency.

He said it cryptically, but Ueno Toru understood it immediately.

As expected of Mr. Arima!
And this is Bungeishunju’s stance, which is very consistent!

His action was also an invisible challenge and demonstration to Kitagawa Hide.

No matter whether everyone admits that you are the best in the world or not.

Now the goalkeeper Arima Yoshiyoshi has a new book serialized in August.

If you don't dare to write together, then you are a coward and unworthy of your position.

If you write them together, your sales and reputation will be completely crushed. Even if you get the title of New World's No. 1, it will be a joke.

He is not in the same league as the goalkeeper and is just a figurehead.

As for Kitagawa Hideshi's new book, it can reach the level of Arima Yoshiyoshi, or even surpass it.

Ueno Toru had never considered this matter.

Deep down, they believe that "Tenka Ichipin" is a Japanese writer who transcends his time.

He is a god, an existence that cannot be defeated and cannot be approached!
"I understand! You've worked hard! I'll arrange the promotional activities right away!" Ueno Toru knelt down in front of him and saluted, giving him enough face and respect.

(End of this chapter)