I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 214: The book written after becoming "the best in the world" satirizes the political arena? (Two in one)

The crackling sound of typing faintly reached Mengzi's ears. She slowly opened her sleepy eyes, stretched, turned her head, and found that Xiujun was concentrating on typing!

So handsome!

She couldn't help but secretly peek at Kitagawa Hide's back as he worked. The more she watched, the more fascinated she became, and the more fascinated she became, the more she wanted to watch.

After Kitagawa Hide started writing a book in March last year, Mengzi gradually discovered that her beloved man was energetic and had strong working ability.

But she didn't expect that after having experienced several bloody battles in the small hot spring, Xiujun could still maintain such a high desire to work.

Is this one of the secrets of his success?
Kitagawa Hide heard the movements behind him and asked while typing: "Yumeko-chan, are you awake? Do you want to drink some water or go eat something?"

"No need~ That's good. I want to read your new book as soon as Xiujun finishes writing~" Mengzi curled up in the quilt, with only a little head poking out.

Beichuan Xiu deleted a few typos and continued with a smile: "You may have to wait another hour. If you are sleepy, you can continue to sleep. I will call you when I finish writing."

"Yes!" Mengzi nodded heavily.

After receiving her reply, Kitagawa Hide turned his attention back to the first chapter of "The Strange Bird Chronicle" which he was still writing.

This chapter only has two or three thousand words, but with Kitagawa Hide's meticulous writing attitude, after an hour, he had only written less than 1500 words.

After concentrating, I soon could no longer hear any external sounds.

If the enhanced memory after time travel and those excellent works of copied literature are the cornerstones of Kitagawa Hide's success, then the serious attitude and ability to enter the flow state anytime and anywhere that he has had since his previous life are the driving force of his success.

In his previous life, Kitagawa Hide had realized a simple but extremely practical truth:

Anyone's success is achieved by enduring inhuman experiences such as pain, boredom, and loneliness.

The more glorious you are in front of others, the harder you will work behind others' backs.

Ordinary people often only see his success and glory, and even think that the other party is lucky and has no real ability, and that "I can do it too."

But if you look closely at the life experiences of those successful people, most of them are filled with hard work, anxiety and insomnia day after day.

These are the sacrifices that must be made in order to succeed.

Precisely because he understood this point, Kitagawa Hideto, as a plagiarist, did not write whatever he wanted as in online novels, and then readers would mindlessly shout that the work was good and awesome.

The actual situation is that when plagiarizing any book, he must first have a deep understanding of the content and author of the original book. In the process of imitation, he must think about the original author's intentions and also consider whether it is suitable for readers of this era and this parallel time and space.

Just now, when Mengzi was sleeping, he called the front desk and asked them to help him get a library card for the local library, or simply buy some books related to the Battle of Nomonhan and have them delivered to the room.

The presidential suite costs tens of thousands of yen a night, so of course the hotel front desk would not refuse this small request, but I was quite surprised.

In the past, they had encountered various difficult guests with strange requests, such as a middle-aged man who insisted on being served by hotel waiters, a perverted girl who liked to knock on other guests' doors in the middle of the night, and so on.

This is the first time I’ve seen a guest like Kitagawa Hide who checks into the presidential suite and asks to buy and read books!

Just like that, Mengzi, who was originally forcing herself to stay awake to watch Kitagawa Hide typing, fell asleep again amid the familiar and reassuring crackling sounds of typing.

When she woke up again, the sky outside had darkened.

The tempting aroma of hot cocoa wafted to Mengzi's nose, and she woke up suddenly. When she opened her eyes, she saw Kitagawa Hide busying herself at a makeshift small wooden table.

"Are you awake? Have a cup of hot cocoa to warm your stomach first." Kitagawa Hide came to Mengzi with a cup of fragrant hot cocoa.

Mengzi stood up with a smile, took the coffee cup, and found that there were pieces of soft marshmallows floating in it.

Roasted marshmallow hot cocoa is the specialty drink of Amagi Yushima Onsen Hotel. The rich chocolate and melt-in-the-mouth marshmallows warm the stomach and soothe the mind, instantly restoring the vitality of Yumeko, whose face was still a little pale.

"Have I slept for a long time, Xiujun?" Mengzi looked outside while holding the coffee cup, and said apologetically, "Sorry, I wanted to go out for a walk with you after I woke up."

"About four hours?"

Seeing that she was still a little inconvenient to move, Kitagawa Hide simply put the dinner on a tray and brought it directly to Yumeko.

“I bought dinner from several restaurants outside, including shrimp tempura soba noodles, snow crab croquettes, and the local specialty, Nikko Yuwa rolls.

Let's just make do with what we have tonight. Tomorrow we'll go to the circus, climb Mt. Amagi, rest in the Amagi hot springs on the top of the mountain, and try some of the delicious food in Mt. Amagi, how about that?"

"I'll follow Xiujun's arrangements~ As long as I can be with Xiujun, it's fine." Mengzi took the tray and replied with a sweet smile, "Let's eat together first, Xiujun~"

"Okay!" Kitagawa Hide liked his little wife's obedient character in front of him. He didn't know if it was because she had broken through the last step, but now his little wife was not only as gentle and virtuous as before, but also more cute like a little bird.

While eating, the two discussed the marathon that would start the day after tomorrow, and the topic turned back to Kitagawa Hide's new book "The Strange Bird Chronicle".

"This book title is so strange. It sounds like it has nothing to do with anti-war." Mengzi took a bite of the Nikko Yuba roll and was immediately surprised by the soup that overflowed from it.

This is actually another way of making sushi, except that the seaweed wrapping the outside is replaced with tofu skin dipped in sauce. In addition to glutinous rice grains, there are also seafood, wagyu and other meats.

"Because the whole book is written around the image of the clockwork bird. You will understand it after you finish reading the first part of the novel."

Kitagawa Hide did not explain too much. "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" itself is more magical than a story, and it is difficult for readers to read the ideological implications he wants to express just from the title introduction.

The Chinese translation of "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" can easily confuse readers. In fact, the direct translation from Japanese is "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle".

The clockwork bird is the strange bird in the book that appears in Okada's yard, the Xinjing Zoo in Northeast China, and the boy's yard. It makes a "squeaky" sound like a clockwork, but no one has seen it.

Chronicles are similar to the Chinese word “chuan”.

Mengzi seemed to understand, but was curious and quickly finished her dinner. Then she asked for the first chapter of "The Strange Bird Chronicle" and began to read it impatiently.

“I was in the kitchen cooking spaghetti when a phone call came in.

I was whistling along to the FM radio, Rossini’s “The Thief Magpie.”

This piece of music is perfect for cooking spaghetti.”

At the same time, in the deputy editor-in-chief's office in the Kawaide Shobo Shinsha headquarters building in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

Rena Saito, who had just received the first chapter of Hide Kitagawa's new book from the fax machine, immediately returned to her desk and began to read the main text of the novel carefully.

"It is the most familiar Kitagawa Hidefu!"

After reading just a few sentences, Saito Rena realized that after writing "Paradise Lost" and "Confessions" successively, Kitagawa Hidezai returned to the writing method and style he was best at!
Although "Border", which is of the same style, is not as successful as the later two books, the problems of hollowness, extramarital affairs and only children mentioned in the book were mentioned one after another by members of Congress in the meeting, causing quite a social sensation.

Especially the love story between Hatsu and Shimamoto in the book makes readers feel as if they are back to the time when they were reading the "Youth Trilogy".

People like nostalgia, and they also like to add filters to their nostalgia.

Today, Kitagawa Hide has gone from being an unknown security guard to being recognized by the literary world and readers as the best writer in the world. However, many readers still claim that "Youth Trilogy" and "Hear the Wind Sing" are his best works! Returning to the old writing style may be criticized as a step backwards, but it is the most stable and most effective way to achieve results.

This is his first work after "Tenka Ippin". Rena Saito even feels that it doesn't matter if it's not very popular, as long as he maintains his usual standard and gets through the vacuum period after becoming famous.

She was afraid that Beichuan Xiu would suddenly make a big move, and then someone would take the opportunity to criticize her to death.

But as she read on, Rena Saito slowly discovered that this new novel called "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle", just like its strange title, was different from all the books written by Hide Kitagawa before!
The books written by Hide Kitagawa in the past, especially those with a strong Hide Kitagawa style, are generally disguised as romance novels, using popular love stories as an introduction.

For example, the drunk girl picked up by "I" in "Hear the Wind Sing", the twin sisters in "Pinball in 1973", and the lame girl Shimamoto in "Border" and so on.

These are all female characters that Rena Saito still remembers clearly even after a long time.

But in this book "The Strange Bird Chronicle", although a lame girl similar to Shimamoto appears soon at the beginning, the two did not fall in love and did not know each other.

The protagonist of the story, Toru Okada, went to her house to look for his lost cat, and then the two chatted casually, and then Toru Okada fell into a deep sleep in her yard.

Until the end of this chapter, I saw the sentence "In such darkness, only the four legs of Wataya Noboru emerged.

There were four quiet brown-haired legs with soft and thick soles.

It is feet like these that silently step on the ground somewhere."

An unprecedented sense of horror suddenly emerged in Saito Rena's heart.

Noboru Wataya is the brother-in-law of the protagonist of the novel, Toru Okada, and has a very sensitive identity: a member of parliament and a reserve governor of Tokyo.

Obviously, this brother-in-law must play a very ignominious role in this novel.

In Japan, there are many writers who use novels to satirize politicians, but is it too much for the first book after becoming "Tenka Ippin" to satirize the political arena?

"Dong dong dong."

There was a knock on the door.

Saito Reina looked up and immediately replied, "Come in."

Shizuko Kawaide, who was also working overtime, pushed the door open and saw how hardworking her newly promoted deputy editor-in-chief was. She didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

"Reina, aren't you off work yet?" When the two were alone, Kawaide Shizuko would directly call her "Reina". Since that trip to Kyoto, their relationship had gone beyond superiors and subordinates and was now more like good friends.

"Just as I was about to go back for dinner, Kitagawa sent me a new book." Saito Rena smiled helplessly and waved the manuscripts with her hand.

When she heard that it was Mr. Kitagawa's new book, Shizuko Kawaide immediately became interested.

She originally thought that Kitagawa Hide and Yumeko would disappear for several months when they went to Izu for vacation, but she didn't expect that Teacher Kitagawa was even more of a "workaholic" than the two of them. On the first day of going to Izu, he immediately finished the first chapter of his new book!
She subconsciously thought that Kitagawa Hide was silently responding to Arima Yoshiyoshi's challenge, and the corners of her mouth that were curled up suddenly retracted, and her face and expression became serious.

It seems that Mr. Kitagawa is ready for a tough battle!

As the most powerful woman behind him, I should also act more urgently!
"How is it? What's the subject?" Kawaide Shizuko came to sit in front of her and asked with concern, "Have you finished reading it?"

"I just finished reading it." Saito Reina glanced at the few words in Kitagawa Hide's appendix at the end of the novel chapter, pondered for a moment, and said to Kawaide Shizuko, "Kitagawa said it was an anti-war theme, but from what I can see now, it's more like a novel that satirizes politics."

Satirical novels are also Kitagawa Hide's strong point.

"I Am a Cat" was the first work in Japanese literary world to satirize writers and chaebols!
But it seems a bit unstable that he has just become the "number one official in the world" and has started to satirize the current political arena.

"Can you let me see it?" Shizuko Kawaide's expression became more serious.

Because of her family background, she has easier access to the real power level in Japan than Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena.

Previously, "Confessions" set off a frenzy of legislative amendments. Although the results were good for the country and the people, it did affect several of the largest parties in Japanese politics.

In particular, within the Ministry of Education, which has been split into two factions, Nobutaka Machimura, who has just been transferred from Vice Minister to Member of Parliament and head of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, is vigorously rectifying the right-wing faction of the Ministry of Education.

He was a die-hard fan and supporter of Kitagawa Hide. This move angered many political opponents, and those political parties also began to hate Kitagawa Hide.

These are things hidden in the dark side of the country. Kitagawa Hide cannot see them, but Kawaide Shizuko, who is his safe haven, can see them.

She didn't want this mess to affect Kitagawa Hide's creation, so she never said anything, but just silently protected him from the wind and rain behind his back.

But writing about such a topic at this time might really make you the target of public criticism!

After spending more than ten minutes reading these three thousand words, Shizuko Kawaide appeared calm on the surface, but her heart was in turmoil.

The familiar Kitagawa Hidefu instantly brought her back to the days when she stayed up late to read books. This time, the magical style was more to her liking than the previous romantic novels. She couldn't wait to read the sequel!

This is the satire on politics that Saito Reina is concerned about, how come she didn't see it?

Kitagawa Hide specifically mentioned a few words at the end, saying that the core theme of this book is anti-war, and that it may also use magical realism creative techniques.

So what is magical realism?

It seems that Saito Reina didn’t mention this just now?
"How is it? Actually, I was a little worried that Kitagawa would write something off-topic, but he said it's an anti-war story, and it should be the same as The Burmese Harp. I should believe him."

Saito Rena rubbed her hair with her hands in a rare unladylike manner. Now she finally understood what it meant to be "too concerned to be confused"

After Kitagawa Hide got the title of "The Best in the World", he had no reaction at all. The next day, he happily went to Izu for vacation with Yumeko.

On the contrary, Rena Saito, who was promoted to deputy editor-in-chief, became hesitant again because of this.

They were worried that Arima Yoshiyoshi was really targeting Kawaide Shobo and Kitagawa Hide, that there would be problems with Kitagawa Hide's "debut work", that he would really write anti-war works as a satire on politics, etc.

It turns out that my own practice is not enough!

Saito Rena suddenly missed the days she spent in Paris with Kitagawa Hide.

I don't know why, but I always feel more confident when he's around.

“I think it looks pretty.”

Shizuko Kawaide tried hard to maintain her iceberg persona. She had only one feeling in her mind now, that she really wanted to use some professional words to praise this new book, but "I am uneducated, and only a "wow" can get the job done."

After holding it in for a long time, I can only say "it looks pretty good".

"As for the problem you're worried about, Reina, it's useless for us to discuss it here. Why don't we call Mr. Kitagawa tomorrow and ask him?"

Shizuko Kawaide is very clear in her mind that her own aesthetic level is there. Discussing too many literary details with Rena Saito will only reveal her true colors and will not solve any substantive problems.

And she has always been very sincere to Kitagawa Hideichi.

If Kitagawa-sensei is really going to make a big splash with his debut work after becoming "the best in the world", then she'll bet that Kawade Shobo will accompany him once!
(End of this chapter)