I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 224 New Record: Funeral of the Nameless I want to open it twice! (Two in one)

1996 8 Month 19 Day.

The second day after the latest issue of "Wenyi" was released.

Kawaide Shobo's new headquarters in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.

"Wenyi" editorial department, deputy editor-in-chief's office.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Please come in."

Rena Saito, who was constantly writing, didn't even raise her head as she continued to flip through the various data reports in her hands.

Due to the delay in the release of the August issue of "Wenyi", various statistical data have not yet been released. She can only compare the sales of the previous issue and use the data of "Literary World" as a reference.

It has to be said that the appeal of "Tenka No. 1" in the Japanese literary world is unmatched.

Before Arima Yoshiyoshi published "The Harp of Burma", the July issue of "Bungei Kyou" sold 7 copies on the first day of printing, and the monthly sales were about 3.7 copies, ranking third among the top five pure literature magazines, almost the same as "Wenyi" which ranked second.

After his new book was published, the August issue of "Literary World" sold 8 copies on the first day of printing!

The data directly increased by more than four times!

Today is the fourth day of its release, and it is said that it is still out of stock in major bookstores in Tokyo, which shows readers' love for this novel.

The pressure is so great.
As Saito Reina was thinking this, she suddenly realized that the person knocking on the door seemed to have no sound now. She quickly looked up and was shocked to find that the person coming was not the secretary, but the big boss Kawaide Shizuko!

Shizuko Kawaide was holding a stack of folders in her hands, which scared Rena Saito so much that she quickly stood up to help.

"President Shizuko Kawaide, why are you here?" Saito Rena saw the sales data table in the folder at a glance, and her heart instantly rose to her throat.

"Like you, I'm a little bit excited, but also a little bit scared about yesterday's data." When Shizuko Kawaide passed by, she happened to see Rena Saito's secretary holding documents and preparing to come in. According to past practice, the real data would not be reported to her until the editorial department had analyzed it.

She couldn't wait any longer, so she just took the information and went to see Rena Saito.

"You haven't read it yet?" Saito Rena put the pile of folders on the table, reached out and pulled out the sales data sheet. When her fingertips touched the A4 paper, her heart trembled slightly.

"Yeah." Shizuko Kawaide pulled over a chair and sat down next to her.

Although she still looks like an icy beauty, her beautiful black silk feet slowly emerging from the high heels under her hip skirt have already exposed her mood at the moment.

They both took a deep breath at the same time and looked at the densely packed report.

"call--"

Among a pile of data, they saw the bright red "14.5" at a glance, and their hearts were immediately relieved!

"14.5 copies is another new record." Saito Rena sighed slightly.

To be honest, after working with Kitagawa Hide for a long time, breaking records is as easy as eating and drinking, and general historical records are unlikely to cause her to become emotional.

Only if you think about it carefully can you slowly realize the horror and madness of this number.

Last year, when the two were still at Kodansha, the total sales of "Gunzo", which was in a life-and-death crisis, almost fell below 30 copies in a month.

Not to mention "Wenyi" at that time, with sales of about 20 copies, it was only comparable to second-rate pure literature magazines.

Now, "Wenyi" can sell 14.5 copies on the first day, and one month may be enough to match the sales of half a year last year.

Reborn is not enough to describe this change!
"Well, very good." Shizuko Kawaide felt that she could hardly suppress the smile on her face.

Ever since she met Kitagawa Hide, her failures have increased day by day, and the personality she had maintained for several years is now crumbling.

But there is nothing we can do about it!
It would have been unthinkable in the past that a pure literature magazine could achieve such brilliant results on its first day of publication!
What is more important to both of them is that Kitagawa Hide's two new choices of anti-war core and Internet marketing are correct!

In addition, in the first confrontation between "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" and "The Harp of Burma", they had a slight advantage.

This is the biggest gain!

Kitagawa Hide successfully entered the ranks of the world's best literary figures with the Goncourt Prize, but doubts about him in the Japanese literary world and disapproval from his predecessors still exist.

This time, the sales volume and readers' feedback have given those people a slap in the face and also indirectly proved the value of his "best product in the world".

"As long as subsequent sales can be maintained, this month's battle will be almost a draw."

Saito Rena celebrated a little in her heart and immediately looked at other important data.

The first-day sales represent the popularity of the magazine. If this data is poor, then this issue of the magazine is basically declared a failure.

When this happens, the editorial department will often hold meetings for several days in a row, analyzing the serialized novels one by one and trying to find out why readers are reluctant to buy them.

Don't think this is a small matter.

Readers' willingness to buy is inertial.

Once they identify a magazine and start investing a lot of money and time in it, they will gradually become more tolerant of it.

Statistics show that more than 70% of readers are more tolerant of magazines they subscribe to over the years and have higher requirements for new magazines.

If people are no longer willing to buy magazines that they used to buy, it means that the quality of the magazines may have dropped significantly!

If this problem is not dealt with quickly, even the most powerful magazine will end up like "Qun Xiang" now, falling from first-rate to second-rate, and it will be difficult to make a comeback.

The reverse is also true.

A sudden surge in data on the first day of reading means a large number of new readers are pouring in.

The last issue that sold over 12 copies on the first day of printing was the supplement, not the main issue that serialized Mayumi Aso and her friends' new book. Although that issue of the main issue also sold nearly 5 copies, the gap with 12 is still quite large.

This time we changed to Kitagawa Hide's new book, and the data more than doubled, which shows how great his influence is.

How to retain these new readers brought by Kitagawa Hide is the most important task of the editorial department in the near future.

In addition, data such as total sales in the first three days, average sales in a week, and minimum sales in a week are all very important.

Seeing that Saito Rena started to get busy, Kawaide Shizuko stopped disturbing her. After encouraging each other, she quietly left the office, took out her mobile phone and dialed Kitagawa Hide's number.

As the boss and partner, she hopes to inform him of the good news as soon as possible.

After three beeps, the call was connected.

"President Kawade? Do you want to talk to me about something?"

Kitagawa Hide's pleasant voice came from the other end of the phone.

It seemed like he was holding some ceremony over there, with the sound of gongs and drums, and various musical instruments, which made Shizuko Kawaide's scalp tingle.

"Teacher Kitagawa, please calm down? Can you hear me?" Kawaide Shizuko couldn't help but raise her voice, and her voice changed from the usual coldness to a hint of joy. "The first day's data is out, 14.5 copies! Congratulations! The new book is off to a good start."

"14.5 copies? Is this the sales volume in Tokyo or the total sales volume nationwide? The magazine was delayed in release. Should the statistics be based on the original release date or should the delayed time be included?"

Kitagawa Hideya also started to shout.

At this time, he was sitting at the rural table with Yumeko. Apart from them, all the people at the table were celebrities from all walks of life in Shimoda City, Minamiizu.

Although it is called Shimoda City, its land area is actually similar to that of the small county town next door.

Because the city has clear blue ocean and white sandy beaches, full of southern charm, there are many tourists coming here.

The municipal officials and celebrities here are obviously richer than those in other cities in Minamiizu.

Compared with Kitaizu, the starting point of the marathon, the latter is a completely remote and poor place, with worlds of difference.

As for why they came to the rural area of ​​Shimoda for the banquet, it could be traced back to the pastor driver who had picked up and dropped off Kitagawa Hide and his partner several times.

The daughter of the pastor's driver brought back a sickly boyfriend from Tokyo. On the day of the marathon, Kitagawa Hide met him once.

Unexpectedly, on the night of the competition, Kitagawa Hide ranked in the top 30. During various social engagements, he succumbed to death in his bed at home.

The pastor, the driver, and his daughter cordially invited Kitagawa Hide and his partner to dinner. His daughter, the delicate widow who was wearing black mourning clothes, was a die-hard fan of Kitagawa Hide's books, and after a series of connections, the dinner was arranged.

When he arrived here, Kitagawa Shucai was surprised to find that this unprepossessing pastor driver actually had many connections in Shimoda City.

The funeral of the wild son-in-law actually attracted many local officials and businessmen to pay tribute!

At this moment, the sacrificial ceremony (a rural funeral custom in which one person shouts at the top of his lungs while the guests bow and burn incense) had just ended, and the touring artist troupe invited by the pastor's driver was performing hard. The sounds of the sanxian (three-stringed lute) and bells and drums came one after another, making it seem a bit noisy.

Shizuko Kawaide was stunned by the question.

She just wanted to share the good news, but Kitagawa Hideo threw a series of questions at her, leaving her speechless. "Oh, sorry, I should ask Saito or the people in the data analysis department about these things.

Thank you very much for calling to let me know."

Kitagawa Hide was a little annoyed by the guys around him who kept toasting him, and then he realized that the person opposite him was the big boss.

How could she, the female head of a chaebol family and a wealthy woman with a net worth of 1200 billion yen, know such trivial matters?

But coming back to the point.

In Kitagawa Hide's opinion, this data can only be described as neither good nor bad, and there is nothing to celebrate.

With the support of two major hot events, the Goncourt Prize and "Confessions", it is normal that "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" increased the sales of "Wenyi" several times.

If this was the total national sales, he even felt it was a little off.

But "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" itself is a slow-burning novel. As the three plots go on, there are more highlights.

It is normal that it is on par with "The Harp of Burma" in the early stage. It is estimated that after two or three months of serialization, the gap between the two books will gradually become apparent.

"Well, this result is already very good. Don't worry too much, Kitagawa. Just enjoy your vacation in Izu."

Even through the phone, Shizuko Kawaide could feel the fighting spirit and seriousness burning in Kitagawa Hide's heart, which made her feel even more ashamed.

I am the boss of Hede Shobo, but why do I feel like the boss's wife every time I talk to him?
His tone clearly showed that he thought the sales figures were not good, at least they did not reach his goal.

After he became the "best man in the world", he seemed to have no intention of stopping to rest.

Do you have a more ambitious goal?
Shizuko Kawaide suddenly didn't know what to say, so she chatted with him about her work and troubles in the company - she felt that she was a little slack and not as good as before.

Anyway, after talking on the phone with Kitagawa Hide, the joy she had just felt had completely disappeared, and now she just wanted to get back to the office and work hard!
".Yeah, it's true. Relaxation after work is also important. I've been very happy these days in Izu. If we have time, I'll call Yumeko and Saito, and we can go traveling together somewhere?"

Kitagawa Hide felt that the boss's tone had changed inexplicably, and he secretly wondered if it was because he was under too much work pressure recently?
He remembered that when the three of them went to Kyoto together, Shizuko Kawaide was the most relaxed.

The big boss is the pillar of the entire company and publishing house, nothing can happen to her!

Therefore, after exchanging glances with Yumeko, he simply made an invitation and prepared to take his boss and Saito Rena, who was also a workaholic, on a trip to relax.

If these two people fall, he will really be unable to hold on alone!

The two of them chatted for a while without any connection to the subject. Seeing the widow in mourning clothes holding up a glass of wine to toast him, Kitagawa Hide hurriedly said goodbye to Kawaide Shizuko.

".Then we can talk after I return to Tokyo. By the way, President Kawade, please tell Saito that I plan to serialize a new novel next month.
Yes, yes, you heard it right. It is a brand new novel called "Killing the Grand Master of the Knights Templar", which is also an anti-war theme.

No, no, no, it's okay, you don't have to worry about my health, I am fully capable of opening two doors at once."

"The Strange Bird Chronicle" has not been able to take the lead for the time being, but he is not panicking at all.

Because from the very beginning, he made the decision when he chose to use anti-war themes to criticize Ryutaro Hashimoto's evil deeds and to re-establish the correct historical perspective for the people.

He wants both books: "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle", which focuses on history and literature, and "Killing Commendatore", which focuses on sales and reading experience!
And in order to achieve the best serialization effect, he planned to write two books together.

Otherwise, once the anti-war theme has passed, the profit from writing "Killing Commendatore" will not be that high.

Because it is essentially plagiarism, for Kitagawa Hide, the difficulty of opening two files at the same time lies only in the amount of words and the modification of details, which is not something that is completely impossible.

But to Shizuko Kawade, these words were like a thunderclap, which stunned her.

"The best in the world", and also expelled from the party and removed from office?

Looking at the serialization history of pure literature magazines, it seems that no author would do this!

Is he really not a ruthless coding machine? !
Shizuko Kawaide was completely messy in the company corridor.

She had many questions to ask, but the words "Private Marseille, Ghana" came directly into the receiver, and it turned into a beep.

Kitagawa Hide really didn't have time to explain to her. It was too noisy and busy here. He could only say goodbye quickly and hung up the phone.

When she looked up, the big shots from Shimoda City and a widow with tears on her face whose husband had just died were already approaching.

They each held a wine glass in their hands with flattering smiles on their faces, leaving him speechless.

If I had known this would happen, I should have run outside to make the call.

Even if there is constant singing outside, it is better than being pestered by these mercenary guys here!
"Well, Mr. Kitagawa, we just mentioned that Shimoda City is a port town that opened at the end of the shogunate. It is close to the sea, rich in resources, and has a unique cultural landscape. If you are willing to write a travel novel for us, please write a travel novel for us."

The one who took the lead in toasting was the governor of Shimoda City, a guy who looked gentle but actually never took his hand off the thigh of the woman next to him.

Others also echoed the sentiment, hoping that Kitagawa Hide could take the initiative and write a novel for Shimoda City. If that didn't work, they could write a travel guide or even leave some calligraphy!

They are not stupid.

In the marathon that just ended a few days ago, someone was so smart that he recognized Kitagawa Hide who was in the first thirty miles.

The local TV station and the reporter from Tokyo Broadcasting System TBS who came from afar quickly came to interview, and Kitagawa Hide's short appearance and interview of just a few dozen seconds had a better publicity effect than their grand marathon competition!
This is a living money tree!

Naturally, these people are eager to ask Kitagawa Hide to help promote their hometown. With the rise of tourism, they will be the biggest beneficiaries.

"Well, writing actually requires inspiration." Kitagawa Hidehiro toasted with them and seemed to be very familiar with them, but when it came to literature and work, his attitude was extremely firm.

Whether to write or not is my business, I have the final say, no one can force me!

At that time, Miyamoto Juju of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's Investigation Department didn't even dare to press his head and ask him to help write a book!

However, although these people are materialistic, perhaps because they are not at the center of power, they do not have the arrogance of the celebrities in the Tokyo area. They are very humble and listen to Kitagawa Hide in everything.

This is also the reason why Kitagawa Xiu is willing to sit here and eat and drink with them.

As long as they didn't go too far, he didn't care.

After all, these people are the local bosses of Minamiizu, and Kitagawa Hide doesn't want to offend them easily.

"Of course, of course. You are the best writer in the world, and your works must be full of inspiration! I understand, I understand!"

The governor of Shimoda City understood immediately, nodded continuously, and raised his glass again.

"Yes, yes, inspiration!" others echoed.

Beichuan Xiu was speechless for a while, and he didn't know what they understood. He just drank it anyway.

After a round of drinking, the widow who was at the end of the line came over slowly, sat down next to him and Mengzi, cried and called Mengzi "sister", then raised her glass and toasted them three times in a row.

Kitagawa Hide thought that she was probably moved by the sight of himself and Mengzi, so he sighed and comforted her with a few words.

Just watching the funeral of this nameless person, it seemed that even the name of the deceased was not seen, it was done in a very sloppy manner.

But everyone at the banquet was in high spirits and cheered.

And there was this widow, who came to toast and flatter.

The pastor driver who was my father-in-law was not seen all day.

Kitagawa Hidetoshi felt that this funeral was very strange.

Xunzi, who was performing hard on the stage, was secretly watching him.

Because of delayed sales, the latest issue of "Wenyi" just arrived in Izu tonight. She wanted to go to see Mr. Kitagawa's new work as soon as she finished dancing.

In this monotonous life as a geisha day after day, novels are the only light in her boring life.

Among all the beams of light, Mr. Beichuan’s book is undoubtedly the brightest one!
At the same time, at the new headquarters of Kawade Shobo.

Reina Saito was just about to ask her secretary to buy a pizza when she looked up and saw her big boss Shizuko Kawaide walking into her office again.

This time, Shizuko Kawaide completely failed.

She sat down and looked at Saito Rena. It took her a while to come out of her emotions of joy and worry.

"Reina! I just called Kitagawa. Do you know what he said?"

Saito Reina gave a curious look.

The big boss didn't even pay attention to something like addressing someone, which is a matter of social etiquette. It seems like a big deal!

"Beichuan said he plans to be exiled next month, and his new book is called "Assassinating the Knight Commander"!"

(End of this chapter)