I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 215: The Yizu Circus and the Burmese Harp

The next morning.

After a night's rest, Kitagawa Hide and my wife Yumeko both recovered their energy.

After breakfast, the two immediately put on their backpacks and headed towards Mount Amagi before the weather got too hot.

Mount Amagi is the highest mountain on the Izu Peninsula. Its Manzaburodake has an altitude of 1406 meters and attracts many mountaineering enthusiasts every year.

Although the weather is hot in July and August, the scenery of Mount Amagi is the most pleasant. At this time of year in previous years, you can see well-equipped climbers walking up the mountain trail towards the top of the mountain every few meters.

This year is different.

Tomorrow is the day when Izu will hold its first marathon. The small town and villages are filled with long-distance running enthusiasts who come here for the event. Climbers who originally planned to climb Mt. Amagi also curiously stayed at the foot of the mountain, ready to follow the trend and join in the marathon.

Therefore, when Kitagawa Hide and his companion went up the mountain, they could hardly see any other people.

Kitagawa Hide, who was a mountain climbing enthusiast in his previous life, is very experienced. He took Yumeko with him and climbed Mt. Amagi in a rhythmic manner, stopping and starting along the way.

With him, a veteran mountain climber, by her side, Mengzi's first mountain climbing trip was an excellent experience. The whole process did not exert too much mental effort. When they were a little tired, the two of them stopped to admire the scenery outside the mountain, which was quite pleasant.

The overlapping mountains, pristine forests, deep valleys, singing birds and fragrant flowers are a feast for the eyes and a delight to the mind.

After writing three books in succession, "Border", "Lost Paradise" and "Confessions" in the first half of the year, Kitagawa Hide felt physically and mentally exhausted for a time. This time he dragged Yumeko to Izu for vacation, also wanting to relax his tense nerves a little.

Looking at the green mountains and clear waters and the rolling clouds and mist at this moment, his mood was indeed much calmer.

Last night, he and Mengzi read the six information books about the Battle of Nomonhan sent by the hotel front desk. They couldn't help but chat until after midnight. During the chat, they were always worried about how to make the historical line about the Battle of Nomonhan in "The Strange Bird Chronicle" more vivid and easier to understand.

Unfortunately, neither Mengzi nor he had any better solution.

If you don't write historical materials in detail enough, it will easily lose its historical weight. On the contrary, if you write too much, readers will easily lose interest in reading - no one likes to read thick reference books.

Now, looking at the scenery of Mount Amagi and listening to Mengzi talking about the myths and legends related to Mount Amagi, Kitagawa Hide gradually came up with a way to write the historical line in the novel in a simpler and clearer way.

Listening to Mengzi telling ancient myths like a storyteller, Beichuan Xiu suddenly remembered a masterpiece he had read in his previous life, "Things about the Ming Dynasty".

The author Dangnian Mingyue uses historical data as the basis, with time periods and specific characters as the main line, and adds the writing style of novels to vividly and interestingly tell readers some stories about the Ming Dynasty during the three hundred years from 1344 to 1644.

The original book of "The Strange Bird Chronicle" is filled with a lot of popular science knowledge about the Battle of Nomonhan. Kitagawa Hide was drowsy when he read it at the beginning. Perhaps using a similar writing style to replace it can show a better effect!
Kitagawa Hide immediately took out the note paper he carried with him and wrote this down. Mengzi was no longer surprised by his behavior. When she saw him start to write and draw, she stopped talking and sat quietly beside him, resting her little head on his shoulder, waiting for him to finish writing.

ten minutes later.

Kitagawa Hide put away the note paper and gently touched Mengzi's head with his forehead. The two smiled at each other, and everything was said without words.

Kitagawa Hide stood up, pulled Mengzi up, and continued walking towards Amagi Ridge with her.

At some point, a continuous drizzle began to fall from the sky.

As Tiancheng Ridge gradually appeared in their sight, the mountain road began to become winding, like a stairway leading to heaven, half of which was in sight and half hidden in the rain.

The sudden and bright rain enveloped the dense fir forest and swept rapidly towards the two men from the foot of the mountain.

"There seems to be a resting place there, let's run over and take a look!"

Kitagawa Hide put his hand over Mengzi's head, trying his best to protect her from the wind and rain. The two did not expect that such a drizzle would suddenly fall in the hot summer, and no one brought an umbrella.

"Hmm~" Mengzi huddled in his arms, the high-heeled wooden clogs on her feet making a fast-paced "dong dong dong" sound, and she followed him trotting all the way to a large open space outside Tiancheng Ridge.

When he got closer, Kitagawa Xiucai discovered that the so-called resting area was actually a large tent of different heights erected by a circus.

They trotted to the front of the tent, and a girl wearing a ghost mask, wooden clogs and straw clothes smiled and raised the tent door, shouting to the two of them: "Master, Madam, welcome to the Izuku Circus~ Tickets are 1000 yen per person~"

"Okay, thank you." Kitagawa Hide took out banknotes to pay for the ticket, pulled Yumeko into the tent, and gave the girl a 100 yen coin as a tip.

The girl exclaimed, "Wow!" Obviously, she didn't expect that she could receive a huge tip just by pulling the door curtain.

She lifted up her ghost mask, revealing a delicate and pretty face that looked no older than eighteen years old.

"Thank you, sir, and thank you, madam! Would you please let Guangzi take you around the circus?" The girl, who had received the tip, was very enthusiastic. She stood on tiptoe and used her thin hands to help them hold up the door curtain to prevent the hanging thin ropes from hitting their heads.

"Then thank you for your help." Kitagawa Hide had no interest in the circus performance. He just wanted to take Mengzi out of the rain. After all, he was not sure how long the drizzle would last, and they were still a short distance away from the top of Amagi Mountain.

“No trouble~ No trouble~” The girl who called herself Guangzi jumped and led them to the inside, “Master and Madam, please come this way. Please be careful of your heads.”

Kitagawa Hide nodded, and seeing that Mengzi looked curious, he simply followed Guangzi and walked further inside.

This is called a circus, but it looks more like a huge fair.

Right above his head was a faded red banner with the words "Isaku Circus" written on it in crooked artistic characters. The area below was divided into several groups of people, and many climbers like Kitagawa Hide and his group stopped to watch. "Over there is the stilt-walking area. There is a Yin-Yang fortuneteller in the small tent over there. I heard that she is very effective in predicting marriages! Do you like to watch horse racing acrobatics? There will be a solo performance by our circus's horse master Liuzi there soon!"

Guangzi excitedly introduced the performances in the circus to Kitagawa Hide and the others one by one, and also briefly introduced himself.

It turns out that she was adopted by the circus director Mr. Izuku when she was young, and she also practiced horse racing acrobatics.

But now with Miss Ma Shiruko here, other apprentices basically have no chance to perform - Ruko was once the mainstay of a large circus in Tokyo, and was bought by Mr. Isaku for 10 yen.

The difficulty of the show she was performing was too high, and apprentices like Guangzi were completely unable to cooperate.

"If you're hungry, you can buy sugar-roasted chestnuts and roasted egg waffles over there." Guangzi pointed to a few small stalls in the distance.

Kitagawa Hide looked in the direction her finger pointed, and sure enough, someone was turning a cylindrical device made of fine steel wire, making a clanging sound of frying beans.

"What's that tent over there?" Yumeko is a native Tokyoite. From childhood to adulthood, except for school trips, she basically spent her time in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo.

Seeing the circus with a strong rural atmosphere, she felt curious and puzzled.

The people here, their dress, their manner of speaking and their behavior, seem to be a generation away from those in Tokyo.

"Ah, that." Guangzi's cheeks flushed, and she stole a glance at Kitagawa Hide, hesitating, "It's, it's a special performance. It costs a lot of money. In short, it's more expensive."

"How much is the ticket price?" What attracted Mengzi mainly were the several huge posters outside the strange red tent.

The pictures on it are all bizarre, such as conjoined twins, a woman with a human head and a snake body, and hairy dwarf children.

Kitagawa Hide saw through this thing at a glance, and guessed that this was probably the "interesting circus performance" that the pastor driver mentioned.

In his previous life, in his hometown in the countryside, there would occasionally be such circuses coming to perform for a few days and nights.

Apart from those programs suitable for all ages, this special performance with an ambiguous tent, bizarre pictures hanging outside, and not welcoming women and children, once attracted Kitagawa Hide.

It was not until many years later that he learned from an industry insider that this was the legendary borderline performance.

Don’t be fooled by the strange pictures on the outside. In fact, they are nothing more than pole dancing, strip shows and the like.

If you pay enough, circus acrobats can even give you a one-on-one performance.

"That." Guangzi's face turned even redder.

If it was just Kitagawa Hide alone, she would openly introduce the special "performance" inside, but now it is clear that the two are husband and wife, how dare she say it openly?

"Let's go to the magic stall over there. There seems to be a small bookstore there?" Kitagawa Hide saw Guangzi's reaction and became more confident. He gently pushed Mengzi and immediately changed the subject, taking her to the inner side.
“I wonder if I can buy the latest issue of Literary World.”

Today is the release date of Bungeishunju's "Literary World". This issue of "Literary World" will serialize Arima Yoshiyoshi's debut work "The Harp of Burma". Arima Yoshiyoshi has returned to the literary world after 30 years, and Mengzi is also very curious to see what his new work is about.

After all, this is one of the seven, oh no, one of the eight living “best people in the world”.

Arima Yoshiyoshi's famous work is even included in the junior high school Chinese textbook!

Mengzi nodded, took his hand and immediately walked towards the magic stall and the bookstore.

Guangzi on the side breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the old man cleverly avoided the topic, otherwise she really didn’t know how to explain it to that beautiful and innocent lady!
There is also a large singing stage next to the magic stall, where most customers gather.

A man was standing on a wooden platform, beating a big drum and singing at the top of his voice.

Five or six dancers performing the Taisho dance stood side by side on the stage, with their backs to the audience outside. Each of them carried a floral parasol on their shoulders, covering their upper bodies, waiting to start dancing.

There is a small tent on the inside of the stage with a large curtain hanging outside. It opens and closes every two minutes or so, allowing people to vaguely see the gorgeous dancers inside.

When the show was about to start, the signal bell rang and the curtain fell, never to be opened again.

This is obviously telling the spectators that if they want to watch the dancers inside, they have to pay extra ticket money, and the only free show is the performance of the big men and middle-aged women outside.

To the left is a magic stall, which is currently performing a fascinating show. However, for people like Kitagawa Hide and Yumeko who came from Tokyo, that kind of magic is a bit too childish and boring.

The audience applauded sparsely, and a few men could not help themselves and paid their money to go into the small tent where the dancers were.

But soon, a large number of guests, and even some circus acrobats, were attracted by the movement coming from the small bookstore.

"Don't miss it if you pass by. The latest issue of "Literary World" contains the new work "The Harp of Burma" by "The World's Best" Arima Yoshiyoshi, a pure literature magazine!"

A young man holding a round fan and wearing an ancient men's bathrobe was shouting loudly. The cart next to him was filled with all kinds of messy magazines, and in the front were rows of brand new and beautiful "Literary World".

(End of this chapter)