I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 225 Life Insurance: Hundreds of Faces I want to read (super two-in-one, must-see plot!)

After three rounds of drinks, it was 8 o'clock in the evening.

The people who had been at the banquet left one after another. The first group to leave were the villagers, who were holding various souvenirs in their hands and with smiles on their faces.

They didn't know the dead son-in-law, so they just followed the custom and had the banquet. After the meal, they were given souvenirs. With so many good things happening at the same time, it was hard not to laugh.

The second group to leave were the dignitaries of Shimoda City. They came here as if to do official business. They left some condolence money, had a simple meal, and finally walked through the mourning hall. There was no expression on their faces the whole time.

If they hadn't unexpectedly met Kitagawa Hide here, they would have run away long ago.

By this point, most of these people had had a drink with Kitagawa Hide, and now they left their seats one by one with the help of their secretaries and drivers, heading towards the parking lot in the night.

The last group to leave were the relatives. They were wearing black clothes and black pants, and seemed very dissatisfied with the widow's family. The bald man who was leading them ran over and said something to the widow, then walked away shaking his head.

There were only Kitagawa Hide and Mengzi at the table. Mengzi felt dizzy because she had drunk a few too many glasses of wine. She curled up in his arms like a kitten, and could hardly open her eyes.

After seeing off the last group of relatives and friends, the widow waved to the geishas who were dancing and singing in the mourning hall, and then walked towards Kitagawa Hide with a glass of wine.

"Teacher Kitagawa, is Sister Mengzi drunk?" The widow sat down next to him, and a scent of orchid-like perfume filled her nose.

Kitagawa Hide picked up the wine glass and clinked it with hers gently. He was surprised to find that she had not only put on new makeup, but also sprayed perfume and dressed up beautifully - she didn't look like a woman whose husband had just died at all.

"Yeah, Mengzi-chan's alcohol tolerance is very low. She gets drunk after just a few glasses." Kitagawa Hide took a sip of sake and became more interested in the funeral of an unknown person.

"It's unlikely that you'll be able to get a taxi back to the hot spring hotel at this time, and Dad won't be home until after ten."

The widow glanced at the geishas who were helping to clean up the mess, then glanced at Kitagawa Hide, leaned close to him and whispered,
"If you don't mind, Mr. Beichuan, why don't you stay at our house tonight like them?

If you are worried that the funeral hall is unlucky, I will let Dad take you and Sister Mengzi to the church to rest. It is quieter there. "

"Ah, that's too much of a bother for you. In that case, Yumeko-chan and I will bother you tonight."

Kitagawa Hide glanced outside. It was getting dark. He was unfamiliar with the place and Mengzi was so drunk. He thought about it and nodded and agreed since a familiar touring artist group was also resting here.

"By the way, do you have a computer or typewriter at home?" He rubbed his temples. If he had known this would happen, he should have been thick-skinned and followed those powerful people.

Kitagawa Hide was worried that these people would find out that he was coming with them and would cause a lot of trouble, so he stayed and sat for a while longer. He didn't expect that he would end up shooting himself in the foot.

"There is a computer in my room. Do you want to continue working?" The widow poured him another glass of wine. This time, when Kitagawa Hide refused it, she looked at him in surprise.

When she was in Tokyo, she heard from her colleagues that Mr. Kitagawa, nicknamed the "ruthless typing machine," loved writing and his desire and intensity in creating were said to far exceed those of other writers.

Now seeing it with her own eyes, she was so shocked that she was dazed for a moment.

After a tiring day of eating, drinking and socializing, and traveling, he still wanted to continue working under such circumstances? !
"Yes. I'm serializing a new book recently, so I want to save more manuscripts." The main reason why Kitagawa Hide wanted to use the computer was to check the situation of "Kitagawa's Little Bookstore" and the feedback on "The Strange Bird Chronicle" on the Internet.

After this year, the Asian financial crisis will hit next year. Although Japan's economy will suffer another heavy blow, its technological level will develop extremely rapidly.

He couldn't quite remember when e-books came out, but in his previous life, when he was in junior high school, around 08, some of his classmates were already using MP3s to read novels, and online serial novels were probably three or four years earlier.

E-books are the core force that will impact the physical book market in the future. If he fails to capture this audience, this newly-crowned "best book in the world" will probably not last for more than a few years and will become the tears of the times.

"Okay, then you and Sister Mengzi will sleep in my room tonight, right? There are still many spare rooms at home, so you don't have to worry about anything else."

Seeing that he stopped drinking, the widow drank a few more glasses on her own until a blush appeared on her face, then she smiled and said.

Beichuan Xiu bowed slightly to her, thanked her repeatedly, and watched her leave the banquet with a twist of her waist. It seemed that she ran to the mourning hall to talk to the few remaining relatives.

As soon as she left, Rongji, the aunt geisha and others dared to come over and greet Kitagawa Hide.

"Good evening, Mr. Beichuan." Rongji looked at the large amount of food left on the table and swallowed.

The same sound was also uttered by Chiyoko and others.

They had been singing and dancing the entire day without drinking a drop of water or eating a bite of food, and now they felt dizzy.

"Good evening."

Kitagawa Hide saw their embarrassment, but the table was full of leftovers, and it would not be appropriate to invite them to eat together. Looking around, it was obvious that the host had not prepared any food for the geishas.

"We can just fill our stomachs with the leftovers, don't bother!" The sharp-eyed geisha saw through Kitagawa Hide's thoughts and quickly came over to say with a smile.

"Please continue. We will sit down again when you and your wife finish eating."

This is not a polite remark, but an instinctive reaction they have formed after many similar experiences.

Rongji held Chiyoko, who had suffered three miscarriages, and Yuriko, who was sold to them by her family as an apprentice, and the three of them stood respectfully at the back.

The experienced middle-aged geishas played the role of pouring wine and making people laugh.

She skillfully helped Beichuan Xiu pick up dishes and pour wine. Seeing Mengzi sleeping soundly in her arms, she smiled and said, "Madam, you have a really good taste in wine. I wonder if the host family has honey water. That thing is very good for sobering up."

"You don't have to rush! I'm full. I'll take Yumeko upstairs to rest." Kitagawa Hide couldn't stand this, and quickly helped the limp Yumeko to get up, making it easier for these geishas to "eat".

"Oh, I'm really sorry to bother you." The geisha said apologetically and quickly called Chiyoko and Yuriko to come over and help the man.

"Nothing, just get busy!"

Kitagawa Hide smiled and waved his hand, and suddenly found that the most beautiful and lively Kaoru was gone, and asked in confusion,
"Where's sister Kaoru?"

"That girl! She was so hungry, but she insisted on going to the town bookstore to buy some magazines. Hey, she is not you and your wife, so what's the point of studying for her?"

The auntie rolled her eyes and sighed.
"She spent all the money she earned on books."

Kitagawa Hide couldn't respond, so he could only smile, and then he and Chiyoko and the others helped Yumeko upstairs to rest.

The widow had been staring at them for a long time. Seeing that Chiyo and the other two were about to follow them to the second floor, she hurried over to stop them and insisted that she and Kitagawa Hidefu Yumeko let them go downstairs to "eat".

"Teacher Kitagawa, these geishas always tour the villages and towns in Izu. I heard that they sleep wherever there are customers. It's not very clean."

The widow thought that they were getting close to Kitagawa Hide for some ulterior motive, and Kitagawa Hide didn't quite understand the customs and practices of Izu, so it would be bad if he was cheated.

Kitagawa Hide and Eikichi have met them several times and don't think they are that "dirty". If Chiyoko, Kaoru and others didn't have this background, they should have been like Jabami Rei, Chizuru Hui, Kobayashi Tomoyo and others he knew, who went from being JKs to grown-up girls, then entered society, worked, got married, had children, and lived an ordinary and happy life.

He didn't argue with the widow and helped Mengzi into the room.

Walking into the room, Kitagawa Hide was slightly surprised by the luxurious decoration and the fully equipped electronic equipment and furniture.

This kind of finely decorated rooms can be found everywhere in Tokyo and it is not surprising.

But in this poor rural area, especially in this ordinary-looking self-built house in the countryside, it is particularly eye-catching.

The widow also said that she and her father seldom lived in this old house, and usually relatives helped to take care of it. She and her father lived in an apartment building in Shimoda City, and sometimes rested in the church.

Kitagawa Hide remembered that when Christianity first came to Japan, it was wanted by the bureaucrats of the shogunate, and some white people were even cooked alive by the samurai.

Christianity has always been inferior to Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan, and is even inferior to the cults that were once popular.

Didn’t you expect that there is so much money to be made in the countryside?
But among those who came to the funeral today, few were Christians.
Moreover, the first time I met the pastor's driver, he looked like he couldn't make it as a main job as a pastor and had to work part-time as a taxi driver. It was really hard to associate him with that family background.

The widow didn't seem to want to talk about these things too much.

The two of them put Yumeko on the bed and settled her down. Seeing that she was sleeping soundly, Kitagawa Hide didn't want to disturb her by typing, so he and the widow left the room again.

Back downstairs, the widow ran off to argue in a low voice with several noisy relatives. Kaoru, still wearing her Noh costume, also came back with a brand new copy of "Bai Wen" in her hand. It turned out that she came to read his latest novel.

When Kitagawa Scholar came closer, a group of geishas stood up respectfully and saluted.

Xunzi deliberately pulled out the soft cushion under her buttocks, turned it over, and put it on the bench beside her. Then she lowered her eyebrows and said to Kitagawa Xiu: "Teacher Kitagawa, please sit down."

"Teacher Kitagawa, would you like to drink a little more?" The geisha came over with a smile, holding a clean wine glass in her hand. She told Chiyoko to pour the wine, and then took out a cigarette and handed it to him.
"Oh, I was just scolding that girl Kaoru, it turns out that this is a book written by you, Mr. Kitagawa. Each copy is 800 yen. You should buy a few more so that we can read it carefully."

Kaoru lowered her head and pushed the ashtray in front of Rongji to Kitagawa Hide.

Today, in order to perform the demon Noh play, she wore her hair in a big bun that Kitagawa Hide couldn't name. The hairstyle was quaint and unique.

This hairstyle made her delicate oval face look even more petite, just like the portrait of a girl in a picture book, so beautiful that it was almost distorted.

Kitagawa Hide shook his head. After traveling through time, he quit smoking.

He used to smoke to relieve loneliness and sorrow, but now his new life is happy and there are not too many worries, so he no longer needs nicotine to numb himself.

The geisha thought her cigarette was not good enough, so she stepped back with a wry smile and carefully put the cigarette back into the wrinkled cigarette case.

"Auntie likes to act rich even though she's poor. A book that costs 800 yen isn't cheap at all." Rongji drank a little too much and teased the geisha with a smile.

The auntie geisha spat at him and said with a smile: "Alright, alright, you are the only one who talks too much. If I wasn't providing for you little ones, would I be like this?"

"Oh, and there's this girl Xunzi, she's the most troublesome! She's obviously destined to be a dancer, but she's always talking about studying. Look at you, do you look like you're destined to be a student?

"Look at the master's wife again. That's the fate of a scholar. Stupid!"

She turned around and scolded Xunzi with a smile, her voice so loud that it caused laughter from everyone in the mourning hall.

Xunzi lowered her head even more.

"Mom has drunk too much. Kaoru, you should accompany the master for a walk in the fields. The master of the main family will be back soon and the singing will start again." Nineteen-year-old Chiyoko was not allowed to drink yet. She stood up and winked at her sister, now looking like the head of the family.

Kaoru said "hmm" and looked up at Kitagawa Hide, her eyes full of anticipation.

Kitagawa Hideya didn't want to chat with the drunken rural women, so he stood up and walked out with Xunzi. When the two left, the widow glanced at them, and she couldn't help but get angry and cursed at several relatives.

The sounds of drinking, singing and quarreling gradually faded away.

Kitagawa Hide and Kaoru left the noisy mourning hall and walked towards the fields under the moonlight, feeling much more relaxed.

Kaoru still held the book "Literature" in her hand, and remained one step behind Kitagawa Hide, following him slowly, and was always unwilling to walk side by side with him.

"This funeral is a bit strange." Beichuan Xiu wanted to take a walk, but there was a shy and timid little girl who couldn't talk next to him, so he had to find topics to chat with.

"Speaking of which, it seems like the host family has been arguing a lot? That uncle hasn't come back yet. I wonder what he's been busy with."

"Well, it should be for life insurance," Xunzi answered in a surprisingly low voice, and began to look down at the clogs on her feet.
"The path near the stream is slippery at night, Mr. Beichuan, please be careful."

Kitagawa Hide nodded and indeed saw a thin stream running through the fields, reflecting the full moonlight and the few lights of the country houses.

"Life insurance?" He picked up a branch and used it as a crutch to help him walk on the slightly muddy path.

Kitagawa Hide slowed down his pace, and Kaoru also slowed down, always keeping one step away from him.

"Yes. The son-in-law of that family always passes away. This should be the sixth time."

Xunzi raised her head slightly, frowned in the moonlight, and a trace of sadness hung on her pretty face.
"My mother said that the owner wanted life insurance, and it seems that they can pay 1000 million yen at a time."

1000 million yen was an astronomical figure for Kaoru. She couldn't tell exactly how much it was. Anyway, the host had invited them to perform funeral dances six times at similar funerals.

After her explanation, Kitagawa Hide suddenly understood, and all the doubts he had recently had about this matter were resolved.

Life insurance in Japan is life insurance, which has many types and can pay a lot of money.

If it is really the 1000 million yen compensation that Kaoru mentioned, it is likely that the insurance company paid 100% of the insured amount.

If Kitagawa Hide remembers correctly, in this kind of situation, the insurance company has to pay 40% of the deceased's salary to the widow every month as a pension.

Because of the maximum insured compensation, the deceased is generally deemed to be the main source of income for the family.

After his death, the insurance company naturally has to take on the responsibility of supporting his wife and the elderly in the family, and the compensation pension will not be stopped until his wife remarries.

No wonder the pastor's driver's family is so rich.
If Xunzi was not lying, with the death of six "pillars of the family", this means that at least 1 million yuan was defrauded from the insurance company.

Kitagawa Hide recalled that in his previous life, when he was a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, he heard an anecdote from his classmates in the law department.

It is said that there is a young woman in Tokyo who specifically marries "sickly men" and then induces her husband to buy huge life insurance policies, with only her name listed as the beneficiary.

In this way, she became rich by relying on her "dead husband" and successfully became a billionaire from an ordinary housewife.

However, the case was later reopened and it was discovered that she had killed twelve "husbands" in a row. Although those people were sick, they did not die suddenly. Almost all of them were killed by her giving them drugs.

This woman can be called a modern version of "Pan Jinlian". If the Metropolitan Police Department had not uncovered these cases, she would still be doing this.

Sometimes there are all kinds of loopholes like this in Japan, but if you are rich and powerful, the law will make way for you and you don't have to worry about being punished.

Thinking about the large number of celebrities who came to the banquet today, Kitagawa Hide felt more and more that this was the case.

1 million yen, equivalent to 1000 million RMB, was a huge sum of money that was enough to drive countless people crazy in an ordinary rural town like Shimoda City in Minamiizu in 1996!

Looking at Kaoru's innocent face, Kitagawa Hide sighed and did not explain it to her in detail. He only said that if he had the chance in the future, he would write it into a short story.

Because this incident suddenly reminded him of a short novel "Life Insurance" written by Yasunari Kawabata in his early years with an irregular style.

Most people who have read this novel are die-hard fans of Yasunari Kawabata.

However, his novels mainly highlight the beauty of mono no sad and perverted Japanese love.

Kitagawa Hidenori wanted to use this social event as a starting point and write something that would attract attention from all walks of life and even promote the filling of insurance loopholes.

But I will definitely have to wait until I get back to work on the collection of short stories.

His current focus is still on "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" and "Killing Commendatore".

When Xunzi heard that he was going to write a short story, she was very happy.

Although Mr. Kitagawa's novels are good, they are still a bit too profound for her, who is only sixteen years old.

She wanted to read shorter novels so that she could learn while writing casually.

A novel is like a fine net, and she has no idea where to start learning it.

When the topic turned to literature, the shy and timid Kaoru became more talkative. As they chatted, she involuntarily walked to Kitagawa Hide's side.

She was only a little over 1.5 meters tall, and Kitagawa Hide was nearly 1.8 meters tall, looming over her like a mountain, making her feel safe.

".Actually, although my mother always scolds me, she never wants me to do this job. In the past, I secretly learned to sing folk songs (popular in rural areas, with erotic songs), and she scolded me several times, asking me to read your books more and learn less about these things.

Another time we went to the countryside to dance, and after the dance, the host asked us to eat the leftover hot pot. Then an uncle suddenly ran over and patted Yuriko and me on the shoulders.

My mother put on a stern face and said, "Hey, I'm warning you, don't touch this child! She's still a girl."

Grandma is really nice.”

Kaoru opened up the conversation and talked about her sister Chiyoko's stillborn child, and how they secretly held a 49-day memorial service for the baby. Although they were later discovered by their mother and scolded and even punished by being exposed to the rain, everyone laughed happily, as if the baby's spirit in heaven had been comforted.

Later, my mother cried and bought medicine for them and made soup for them, saying that she was not good enough and that was why they were like this.

In her world, the materialistic, fawning geisha that Kitagawa Hide saw was so gentle and loved them.

As Kitagawa Hide listened, he thought of the pastor's driver who seemed kind but refused to show up even after his son-in-law died. He couldn't help but sigh that all living beings are so diverse.

"Oh, sorry! I said too much. You must be very bored!"

Xunzi suddenly realized something, her smile disappeared, she lowered her head again, took small steps, and started to keep a distance of one body length from him.

After chatting happily, she also mentioned that she wanted to go to Tokyo, to see the prosperity of the big city, to watch movies in the legendary cinema, instead of squatting in the square with a group of uncles and aunts to watch outdoor projectors.
She said a lot and had many visions, but the only thing she didn't say was "studying". But from beginning to end, she held the book "Literature and Art" tightly and didn't mention it a word. But it left a deep impression on Beichuan Xiu's heart, and every sentence she said was "I want to study."

After Kaoru returned to her old self, the conversation became less interesting.

Kitagawa Hide pulled her back and returned to the mourning hall, where they found Rongji and the aunt geisha were completely drunk on the ground. The remaining relatives of the host family spread straw mats on the ground and let them sleep there, acting as night watchmen.

The youngest girl, Yuriko, huddled in place like a quail. She had no blood relationship with Chiyoko and Kaoruko, and was sold to a touring artist group by her parents for 1000 yen in cash.

When Kitagawa Hide saw her for the first time, he felt that she had completely lost her "light" and was always like a puppet at the mercy of others.

At this time, Yuriko was alone taking care of Eikichi and the aunt geisha, and Chiyoko was nowhere to be seen.

"Sister, you should go and accompany the servants." Xunzi pulled his sleeve and whispered.

Kitagawa Hide was stunned for a moment, then he understood.

The teahouse on the top of Tiancheng Mountain refused to welcome them, and the guests laughed and mocked them, saying "They sleep wherever there are guests." In fact, this is not a joke, but a fact.

This is what their future life will be like.

Nineteen-year-old Chiyoko is considered an adult in the countryside. Although she is married to Eikichi, she still has to take on a "part-time job."

Some relatives of the host family are staying here tonight. The night is long, so she
No wonder she had three miscarriages.
Look at the other two.

Xunzi is sixteen years old and has the care of her mother and brother, so there is still light in her eyes.

Yuriko was fourteen years old, but her future life was already determined, so there was no light in her eyes.

But if this continues.

Sooner or later, Kaoru will become like Chiyoko.
Kitagawa Hide looked at the mourning hall again. He couldn't see the portrait clearly, and his memory of the brief encounter was also vague.

1000 million yen life insurance, an uncertain life of running around, a dancer who sells her body for a meal.
"Kaoru, do you like reading?" Kitagawa Hide suddenly pulled her aside and asked.

Xunzi was stunned for a moment, glanced at the "Literature and Art" in her arms, and nodded subconsciously.

"I mean, would you like to go to Tokyo and study at a university with many girls like you?"

Kitagawa Hide knew that 1000 million yen was not a small sum, that it would take a lot of money to change the lives of several people, and that most people could not change their fate in their entire lives.

but.

1000 million yen is nothing to him.

The money that can change a few people's lives is nothing.

I am really inspired to write this.

The story plot is based on several novels, but the details are my personal experience.

Beichuan’s move this time can be regarded as making up for my regret.

After this part of the story is finished, the two chapters will no longer be combined into one, and two chapters will be restored.

The recent two-in-one is for the completeness of the plot, everyone must remember to subscribe~
Thank you!

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(End of this chapter)