I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 313 Remember me forever

"Book? What book?"

Jabami Rei, who was feeding him water, was totally confused and her hand holding the cup of water paused slightly.

"Norwegian Forest," Kitagawa Hide replied weakly.

He remembered that he was still revising "Norwegian Wood" before he fainted. He stayed up late repeatedly during these days because he suddenly got inspiration and made major adjustments to the plot of Naoko.

“So you really wrote this book.”

Jabami Rei glanced at him with a complicated expression. Before, Kitagawa Hide would call her from time to time to inquire about her past love history, which made her heart flutter and she didn't know how to face this guy.

I didn’t expect that he was really writing the book “Norwegian Wood” and even designed himself as the prototype of one of the female protagonists!

I still remember the last time I became a character in one of his books, which was in his debut novel “Hear the Wind Sing”.

"Beichuan, don't worry, the book is still there, and the manuscript has been saved, so you can rest assured!"

Upon hearing the news, Saito Rena hurriedly leaned over to comfort Kitagawa Hide, trying to prevent him from getting too excited and worsening his condition.

After hearing that Xiao Xiao was fine, Kitagawa Hide let out a long sigh, looked up at Jabami Rei, and was about to ask about Yumeko's situation when suddenly his eyes went dark and he fainted again!

It was October 10rd when Kitagawa Hide woke up from the hospital bed again.

He didn't remember how long he slept, he only remembered that in his dream, he was still typing desperately on the computer, revising "Norwegian Wood" over and over again, striving to ensure the quality of Haruki Murakami's original work while integrating his own life experiences from two lifetimes into it.

Many times, because the number of revisions was too great, Kitagawa Hidetoshi wanted to give up and simply use Murakami Haruki's original work to perfunctory the readers.

But every time such a thought arose, an inexplicable motivation would rise in his heart at the same time.

He wanted to write better and present a more exciting, more real and more world-relevant "Norwegian Wood" to readers.

Kitagawa Hide is not willing to fool his readers.

Because this book carries too many memories of his——

In my previous life, this was the first work that introduced me to Japanese literature.
In my previous life, she was also the first person I read a Japanese original novel about;

In my previous life, the topic of my undergraduate thesis was also closely related to it;
In this life, Yumeko and Jaburi Rei are just like Naoko and Midori in the story, reflecting the past of the three of them like a mirror.
"Are you awake? Do you want to go to the bathroom or drink some water first?"

When Snake Rei, who was lying on the bedside, saw him wake up, she first stood up and stretched. Her beautiful figure was perfectly outlined by her yoga pants and tights.

Then she ran to the window and opened the curtains while talking to Kitagawa Hide.

“The doctor said you’ll be fine once the fever goes away, you’re just overtired and need some time to recover.

When you wake up, there is no need to rush to call them. Let you adapt to the surrounding environment first, and bask in the sun or something."

The dark curtains suddenly parted to both sides, and the soft and warm sunlight shone in from outside the house.

Through the windowsill, Kitagawa Hide could vaguely see the patients from the Mental Health Center next door sitting in rows on the balcony basking in the sun.

The clock on the wall showed half past two in the afternoon.

He struggled to get up first.

Seeing his movements, Jaburi Rei turned around and gently helped him up, placing a pillow behind his back.

"I" Kitagawa Hide was dry-mouthed when he found that there were only two of them in the ward. He had too many questions in his mind, but the first thing that came to his mind was the "Norwegian Wood" which he had only written half of.

As if they were in sync, Jabami Rei rolled her eyes at him, threw a stack of manuscripts at him, and interrupted him directly: "Don't worry, the manuscripts are here, even if the computer doesn't save it, it's okay."

"Hmm" Kitagawa Hide opened his mouth slightly.

Jaburi Rei picked up the teacup and fed him water to drink slowly.

The water temperature is just right.

So different from her cold fingertips.

Looking at each other closely, Kitagawa Xiucai found that the sharp-tongued woman's eyes were red and full of dark circles, and her face showed a strong sign of fatigue.

Could it be that this guy has been taking care of himself the whole time and hasn't gotten much sleep?
"Dream"

"Yumeko's due date is the day after tomorrow. You can't go see her, and she can't see you either."

Jaburi Li gently pulled up her yoga pants which had slipped down a bit, stretched her body lazily, then sat down on the bed, picked up a knife and started to peel an apple.
“The day you woke up for the first time, you suddenly fainted again, shocking everyone.

Fortunately, after the doctor examined me, he said that I just fainted due to being too weak and there was nothing serious wrong with my body.

I heard that you were writing a novel, and they scared the Nippon Life Insurance so much that they called you overnight to inquire about your situation.

Come to think of it, you actually bought yourself an accidental life insurance policy, and the beneficiary is Mengzi-chan. Did you suddenly come up with this idea after writing that article "Life Insurance"? "

Jabami Rei stopped the knife in her hand and looked at him curiously. As a real fan of Kitagawa Hide, she had read the novel about insurance fraud in "The Dancing Girl of Izu" many times.
"You really scared Nippon Life Insurance this time.

I heard from Sister Shizuko that if you really have an accident, they will have to pay Yumeko-chan about 10 billion yen in insurance premiums!"

"Haha, cough cough." Beichuan Xiu knew that she was teasing him on purpose, trying to relax his tense emotions, so he laughed a few times in cooperation.

"How about them?"

After laughing and coughing, Beichuan Xiu still felt a little weak, so he stopped smiling, took a bite of the apple piece handed to him, and asked again.

"They all went back~"

Jaburi rolled her eyes at him again and chuckled.
"Sister Shizuko is a big boss, and Sister Reina is also a busy person. Now that they know you are okay, they flew back to Tokyo overnight to tell everyone else that you are safe.

Do you think they are all as empty as a little actor like me? "

Kitagawa Hide nodded slightly. Indeed, Kawaide Shobo had just finally gotten out of the economic crisis and had a lot of things to do. Now that everything was fine on her side, Kawaide Shizuko must rush back to take care of the affairs.

But having said that, Jabami Rei, who is already considered a quasi-first-line star in the Japanese film and television industry, is actually very busy. Her announcements are estimated to be scheduled from October to the end of the year.

She was willing to stay here and take care of herself on behalf of Yumeko, and Kitagawa Hide was very grateful for this friendship.

"Well thank you, Jaburi Rei-chan."

Kitagawa Hide was halfway through his speech when he realized that Jabami Rei and the others had graduated from the University of Tokyo for almost half a year, and that the former "Jabami-san" had become the big star Jabami Rei, so he changed the suffix "classmate" to the more intimate "Rei-chan".

Jabami Rei's cheeks flushed slightly, and she glared at him lightly. She subconsciously wanted to say something sarcastic to him, but when the words came to her lips, they turned into: "Okay, okay, no need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, just work hard to finish this book!" She patted the stack of manuscript paper. During the days when Kitagawa Hide was in a coma, she, Kawaide Shizuko and Saito Rena had already read this book "Norwegian Wood".

Because it was a "return to the original intention" that Kitagawa Hide repeatedly emphasized, and the title of the book was his favorite poem "Norwegian Wood", so they all had high expectations for it.

Kitagawa Hide did not disappoint them.

The scene at the beginning of the novel where Toru Watanabe gets off the plane at Hamburg Airport in Germany, the familiar sentences and beauty, and the sense of love of Kitagawa Hideshi that was deeply embedded in their hearts, made the three of them feel as if they had returned to the time when he wrote the "Youth Trilogy".

Thirty-seven-year-old Toru Watanabe recalled his former lover Naoko, and the heart-wrenching feeling made them want to know the sequel to the story.

This is also the first time that Hide Kitagawa wrote a book in flashback.

Jaburi Rei has read all the books he has written, and has read each of them in depth more than once.

As a top student in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo, Jabami Rei has an extremely high level of literary literacy and a stronger sense of novels than the average reader.

Because of this, every time she reads Kitagawa Hide's novels, she can't help but sigh in her heart.

This guy's creativity and inspiration are like the sea, endless.

What’s even more frightening is that he can master many different writing styles, and his writing skills have continued to grow in the past two years, even changing his writing techniques several times.

It seems like there is nothing he can't write!
In the first chapter of "Norwegian Wood", "Remember Me Forever", Toru Watanabe recalls Naoko's outfit.

Small cold hands, long hair that feels smooth and soft to the touch, soft and round earlobes, a small mole below the earlobes, the camel brand coat that he often wears in winter, the habit of always staring into each other's eyes and asking questions, and the trembling voice for no reason (as if he was standing on a hillside with a strong wind and talking)
These details are the results obtained by Kitagawa Hide through various observations of Jabami Rei.

There were many things that even Jabami Rei herself was not aware of - such as her trembling voice.

So what she said just now was not just to tease Kitagawa Hide, but she sincerely hoped that he could finish this work well.

Kitagawa Hide nodded.

of course!
During the second half of his stay in Los Angeles, he spent almost the entire day in his newly purchased apartment, either staring at his computer or scratching his head at his typewriter.

The purpose is to present the best "Norwegian Wood" to readers!
"By the way, now that you've all read it, what does Saito-san think of this manuscript?"

When talking about novels, Kitagawa Hide suddenly felt less sleepy.

I feel more energetic, the feeling of weakness is gone, and even my voice is much stronger.

"Sister Lingna said that you could consider reducing the literary quality of the novel and moving towards a story that the public would like more."

Jabami Rei hesitated for a moment, but still told Saito Rena her first impression after reading the novel.

To ask a writer who is close to winning the Nobel Prize in Literature to weaken the literary quality of his works is simply an act of "treason" and "deserving death".

Storytelling, popularity, universality, as well as bestsellers and popularity, these are all obstacles to winning major literary awards in the world literary world.

It's not just Japan. The literary circles in other countries are more averse to writers who always write best-selling novels.

Whether out of jealousy or genuine disdain, they always say that these people are wasting their talents and using their outstanding talents for business and making money.

Over time, these writers will be corrupted by money and will no longer be able to write any moving works.

Therefore, most writers like to write novels that are obscure and difficult to understand in order to have their works catch the eye of the judges of literary awards.

This is also the most common problem that Kitagawa Hide has encountered since his debut.

He finally broke the literary world's stereotype of him with one masterpiece after another, and now he is forced to go back to his old ways.
What surprised Jabami Rei was that Kitagawa Hide nodded thoughtfully and actually took this suggestion into consideration!

Whether "Norwegian Wood" is a pure literary novel or a romance novel, there are still different opinions until the day when Kitagawa Hide traveled through time.

People in the pure literature world hate Haruki Murakami, while people in the popular literature world think his novels are too awkward and literary.

It was Haruki Murakami, who was stuck in the middle, who accomplished what no one in the two literary circles had done.

Kitagawa Hide himself feels that this novel would be much better if it focused more on the story. The original work's forced focus on and elevation of loneliness and other aspects actually feels a bit superfluous.

After talking about this topic, Kitagawa Hide opened up completely.

While asking about what happened during the days he was in a coma, he also chatted with Jabami Rei about writing a book.

that's it.

Two more days passed.

Los Angeles Hospital is indeed one of the top medical institutions in the world.

Their estimate of Yumeko's due date was exactly right.

On October 10, Yumeko was about to give birth. On the same day, the 5 financial crisis that swept across Asia finally broke out in South Korea.

The government, the chaebols, economists, the public... no one expected that the storm would come so quickly, so violently, and so terrifyingly.

When Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries were attacked by overseas hot money, Koreans began to guard against them "stealing" the Korean won.

However, those overseas hot money seemed to have no interest in South Korea. They bypassed the Korean won market several times and instead kept attacking the Japanese yen.

Just when the Koreans were relaxing, overseas hot money led by Soros suddenly targeted the Korean won market and invaded their foreign exchange market at lightning speed.

On the morning of October 10, the Economic Research Institute of South Korea's Samsung Group stated that the average debt ratio of South Korea's top 5 companies has reached a shocking 30%!

In other words, all the chaebol groups that support the Korean economy are extremely highly in debt!
Koreans, from top to bottom, owe a lot of money for no apparent reason!

Subsequently, large companies such as Hanbo Steel Company and Sammi Steel Company went bankrupt one after another due to their inability to repay their high debts.

As these companies went bankrupt, various bribery issues were exposed in South Korea's political and financial circles.

At this time, Kim Hyun-chul, the son of South Korean President Kim Young-sam, as well as several bank presidents, government officials and members of parliament were arrested one after another.

After these companies went bankrupt, it became very difficult for Korean financial institutions to recover the loans they had issued, resulting in more than 300 billion US dollars in bad debts!

In early October, Kia Group, the eighth-ranked Korean car group, declared bankruptcy, indicating that South Korea has completely fallen into a serious financial crisis that is unsustainable!

South Korea's central bank's foreign exchange reserves suddenly decreased a lot, and more than 7600 billion won worth of stocks have been sold, and stock prices have been falling.

Of South Korea's foreign debt of more than 1000 billion US dollars, two-thirds will mature in December. If it cannot be repaid before maturity, this country will become the first bankrupt country in the world!

(End of this chapter)