I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 280 A day in the life of the calculators, inspiration for their creations

The core purpose of raising consumption tax is to allow people to adjust their daily consumption structure.

GST is an indirect tax that is usually added to the price of goods or services.

Therefore, an increase in consumption tax will often lead to an increase in the retail prices of related goods or services.

For ordinary people, this means that they have to pay more for the same goods or services, thereby increasing the cost of living.

Generally, goods subject to consumption tax are high-end luxury items that easily pollute the environment, such as cars, luxury goods, disposable chopsticks, etc.

This kind of decree can quickly increase government tax revenue in a short period of time, making the originally cash-strapped Japanese government's finances much richer.

With money, they can carry out more economic activities to stimulate the national economic recovery.

Another major reason why Ryutaro Hashimoto insisted on raising the consumption tax is that he promised during the election to carry out economic and fiscal reforms to end the five-year recession within three years.

Now that the three-year period is coming to an end, the national economy has not improved at all.

He also tried to deregulate Japan's fiscal sector and put its disorganized banks back on track, but was blocked by his own party and made little progress.

Under various pressures, Ryutaro Hashimoto finally took a risk and decided to raise the consumption tax first to solve the biggest government budget deficit problem.

If you have money, things will be easier!
There is nothing wrong with this idea.

Unfortunately, he did not expect that in July there would be a financial crisis sweeping across Asia. Because he was eager to raise the consumption tax, people's desire to consume decreased and the country's economic circulation became worse.

The government is rich, but it is also completely ruined.

This decision ultimately plunged Japan's economy into its worst recession in decades.

Ryutaro Hashimoto also resigned because of this.

Of course, the initial effect of consumption tax is very good.

Seeing this decree, Mengzi couldn't help but complain softly.

She and Kitagawa Hide are likely to hold their wedding this year, so it can be expected that consumption this year will be extremely high. Raising the consumption tax now is just harvesting money from rich people like them.

Kitagawa Hide didn't care at all.

That little tax increase will not affect his desire to consume.

It is this policy change that may cause the domestic economy to further weaken. After Hashimoto Ryutaro stepped down, what happened to his vanguard, Education Minister Nobutaka Machimura?

Kitagawa Hide can't remember.

But it's something to keep in mind.

After all, Nobutaka Machimura has a large number of Ministry of Education employees who are his die-hard supporters!

Most of the prime ministers who came to power after that were not human beings, at least in contrast to his position, and this must also be taken into consideration.

If you get married this year and make money from the Asian financial crisis, maybe you should consider spending your honeymoon overseas while considering the issue of permanent residence overseas?

Kitagawa Hide was a person who liked to plan his life clearly. With this idea in mind, after coaxing Yumeko to sleep, he decisively went back to the study to make new plans.

We also have to arrange for Masato Senhara to make money from the Asian financial crisis!

The next morning.

Yawning, Kitagawa Hide got up and made breakfast by himself, leaving Yumeko to continue sleeping soundly in bed.

After cleaning the table, he put on his suit and trousers, and like most programmers, he ran to catch the subway with his briefcase!
It was the morning rush hour, and it was Kitagawa Hide's first time to squeeze into this kind of subway. Even with his tall stature, he found it a bit unbearable. Because he was a few steps late, he had to passively experience the "pushing service" of the subway employees outside.

In Tokyo, subways and trains are always super crowded during rush hour in the morning and evening.

Generally, there are two staff members outside each platform. They do nothing but push you with all their might when you try to squeeze in and the door cannot be closed. They force you to squeeze in!

Kitagawa Hide, who was leaning against the door, felt as if his internal organs were squeezed together. In order to prevent the women around him from "taking advantage of him", he had to raise his hands high and hold a briefcase on his head to "prove his innocence".

Fortunately, I wore a mask when I went out today, otherwise it would be very troublesome if I was seen by others.

Kawagoe and Ikezawa, who had an appointment with him to go to the company, had to come from a farther station - they lived in the suburbs and their commuting time was up to two hours, while Kitagawa Hide was very close to the company and only a few stops away.

Even so, he was a little out of breath.

It’s hard to imagine how they endured two hours of crowded life!

After the train arrived at the station, Kitagawa Hide's body, which had been squeezed and deformed, was suddenly released from the subway.

The platform of the station was suddenly filled with people, and each person rushed out like a bullet, which was a spectacular sight.

"Teacher Kitagawa! Are you okay?" Ikezawa and the other man, who had been waiting for a long time, found him from the crowd.

"Shh - I'm fine, you can rest assured and just treat me as an ordinary employee." Beichuan Xiu waved his hand, and the two men understood and followed him out, one on the left and one on the right.

Ikezawa was a little shy and reserved, as he was unsure of Kitagawa Hide's true thoughts. He took Kitagawa Hide to the bus stop.

"If we have enough time, we can walk to the company, but at this time, it's better to take the more expensive bus." Ikezawa explained, "Otherwise there is a risk of being late."

"I thought I left home early enough. Sorry for wasting your time! What time did you leave home?" Kitagawa Hide smiled helplessly.

"You have to leave home at 7 o'clock. No, no, no, you don't have to apologize. This is a common thing." Kawagoe waved his hands hurriedly.

"7 o'clock?" Kitagawa Hide was silent.

I originally thought that office workers in developed countries would be relatively comfortable.

After all, wages and benefits are definitely better than in developing countries.

I didn’t expect that office slaves are office slaves, and their fate is like that of beasts of burden wherever they go.

After leaving the station, the three of them immediately changed to a bus. Kitagawa Hide paid all the fares directly and refused the banknotes handed over by the two.

The bus was packed with office workers who were obviously "high-tech warriors".

Everyone put their briefcases on their knees, held business newspapers in their hands, put headphones in their ears, read the newspaper news in silence, and waited to get off at the stop.

This is the living condition of the uniform-looking men that can be seen everywhere nowadays.

After experiencing this deeply, Kitagawa Shucai understood that this is the kind of life that the "Calculator" in "The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland" has.

Just like the clones in the movies, each one is completely unified and has no self at all.

After shaking in the bus for ten minutes, the Beichuan Network building finally emerged from a plateau on a hill.

"You'll see, as soon as everyone gets off the bus, they'll all rush there." The direction that Chi Ze pointed to was a 24-hour convenience store.

Passengers got off one after another and the bus immediately became an empty bus.

He was right. The people who got off the bus walked into the convenience store one after another with expressionless faces and filled the store in no time.

"They are all like me. They work overtime until late at night, so they sleep as much as possible in the morning. Unmarried people basically buy a bowl of instant noodles or tofu skin sushi here, and then buy a comic magazine before going to work.

After breakfast, you can start your day's work.

This area was originally a hilly area, and there was no restaurant. So whether it was lunch or dinner, I would basically buy a bento at a convenience store and then continue to work overtime."

The same is true for Ikezawa and Kawagoe, who live the same life.

Then this time, Kitagawa Hideya followed them to buy an assorted bento at the convenience store.

"Everyone looks lifeless and tired. Are they so busy at work?" Kitagawa Hide observed carefully and found that employees from other companies were in the same state.

"Yes! I joined the company after I graduated last year, but I pulled an all-nighter on my first day. After that, I never got off work on time. I usually get off work around 10 o'clock, and when the delivery deadline is approaching, I simply have no concept of time. In the worst month, I pulled an all-nighter six times, worked overtime three times on Saturdays, and four times on Sundays, with overtime hours exceeding 200 hours."

Kawagoe replied with a smile,
"Of course, our company's benefits and salary are very good, and overtime pay is also very sufficient, but it is really busy. Other companies are said to be not so good, with long working hours but very poor pay."

Ikezawa glanced at his friend and scratched his head, feeling that it was a bit inappropriate to say this in front of Teacher Kitagawa.

But Mr. Kitagawa did give him a different feeling.

We just met officially yesterday and talked for a few hours today, but it felt like we had been friends for years.

You can talk about anything and say whatever you want.

Teacher Beichuan gives people a very comfortable and safe feeling!

“It’s really busy, day and night, all day long.

When I entered the company in the morning, I saw people sleeping on their desks everywhere, as if they had just experienced a war, with corpses everywhere.

Because the work was so hard, sometimes the outsourcing company suddenly disappeared and we couldn't keep up with the deadline, so we had to work overtime all night.

I remember that I worked until the last day of December last year, and when I returned to the apartment, the Red and White Songs Festival was broadcast live on TV.

Ikezawa echoed the words, swiped his card, and the three of them entered the company together.

Because Kitagawa Hide was wearing a mask, only a few people knew that he was there to experience the job, so they were able to see the real situation in Kitagawa's Network Technology Department office area.

Just as Ikezawa said, colleagues who had worked all night were sleeping on the table like dead dogs, while those who had just arrived quickly got into work mode while eating rice balls bought from a convenience store.

Kitagawa Hide followed them to the workstation and turned on the computer like them, ready to get down to work.

He spent the entire morning organizing what he saw, heard, and felt, and wrote it all down in his notebook. It felt like just a few hours were much more effective than if he had been thinking hard at home for several days!

At noon, everyone gathered on the rooftop to eat their lunch boxes. Regardless of whether they had families or not, they were all identical "calculatores" at the moment, complaining about their current lives while eating.

At first, everyone was a little nervous because of Kitagawa Hide's presence, but soon, they started chatting and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

"It would be great if we never had to worry about life!" someone laughed.

"If you could live without any pressure, but at the same time had to maintain such a monotonous life, would you be willing?" asked Kitagawa Hide.

"Are you saying that we don't have to worry about mortgages, car loans, marriage, etc?" the man asked.

Kitagawa Hide nodded: "Yes. But you must live like this for the rest of your life."

"I don't know. Maybe I would be willing to do that! Or maybe I would find it boring." He was unsure and thought about it for a while, finding it hard to imagine what kind of life that would be.

But in fact, he is living a similar life now.

When discussing this, some people began to boldly ask Hide Kitagawa whether his new book would be related to this work experience.

Kitagawa Hideya nodded generously, indicating that there is a high probability that a new book will be serialized this month, and the content will be related to them, most of the office workers and ordinary people in Japan.

"But the subject matter will be more sci-fi." Kitagawa Hide chuckled.

"Science, science fiction?! Do you mean Star Wars? Or Godzilla or Interstellar?" Ikezawa couldn't help but ask.

Science fiction in Japan is still underdeveloped, with most local productions being special effects dramas, and people's perception of it is still at the level of overseas science fiction blockbusters.

Many employees gathered around, curious about how science fiction would be combined with pure literature, and with them and ordinary people in Japan.

Kitagawa Hide didn't say much, just told them to buy "Wenyi" and read it later.

The lunch break passed quickly.

He and others were busy with work throughout the afternoon.

It was not until Kawagoe came over and called him to eat that Kitagawa Shucai realized that it was already dinner time and time to get off work.

Because they have been busy promoting the physical book of "The Dancing Girl of Izu" recently, as well as the online sales that Kitagawa Hide came up with on the spur of the moment, the employees of Kitagawa Network have to work overtime.

How could Kyohei Murabayashi dare to let the big boss who came here to experience life work overtime with him? After trying to persuade Kitagawa Hide for a long time, he still failed and had to accompany him.

Just like that, for the first time after his time travel, Kitagawa Hide experienced the feeling of being a corporate slave working overtime until 11 o'clock in the middle of the night.

There is still some pastoral atmosphere near the Beichuan Network Building, so the surroundings become quiet every night.

Only the building where the programmers work is brightly lit, like a city that never sleeps in the darkness.

After get off work, everyone poured out of the company like a tide, walking outside exhausted.

There were no trams or subways late at night, so the company subsidized the fares and allowed them to take a taxi back.

Some employees, like Chi Ze and the others said, have to meet deadlines, so they will have to work overtime all night.

Seeing this scene, Kitagawa Hide felt a little uncomfortable and a little at a loss.

Including Kyohei Murabayashi, the four of them came to the roadside together. These "calculatorians" were not like other office workers who would go to the izakaya to have fun after a day's work.

They were tired and just wanted to go home and rest.

The four of them took a taxi. In the car, when talking about the daytime work, Kawagoe couldn't help laughing and said, "Even if the computer is turned off, my brain will not stop for a moment, whether in the train, in bed, or in dreams. This thing must be a sequelae!"

Ikezawa also said self-deprecatingly: "When I take the train home in the middle of the night, I can tell at a glance who are the 'insiders'. Those who are pale and nervous, those who often turn their heads and look around, those with dull eyes, and those who mutter to themselves. Because if you look around in the company casually, you will see these people everywhere."

"."Murabayashi Kyohei was not used to the rhythm of speaking in front of the big boss, and was a little at a loss for a moment.

Kitagawa Hide listened and nodded continuously, devoting himself to the work. It was indeed like this, but their state seemed a little different from his own book writing.

Looking at the night sky and the "city that never sleeps" disappearing into the distance, Kitagawa Hide gradually became clear about how to write "The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland".

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(End of this chapter)