I am a literary giant in Japan

November 1997, 12 at 10:3 p.m.

Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden.

Saito Rena, wearing a brand new evening gown, took the hand of Kitagawa Hide, who was wearing a tuxedo, and walked into the music hall with the crowd nervously and expectantly.

The Nobel Prize is awarded on December 12th of each year, the anniversary of Nobel's death.

每次颁奖典礼都是下午举办，这是因为诺贝尔是1896年12月10日下午4点30分去世的。

Unlike those "fake awards" in Japan that imitate Western awards, the Nobel Prize ceremony does not have a flashy red carpet process, nor does it have many media flashing spotlights all around.

The award ceremony videos that readers can later see on the Internet are generally shot and uploaded by official videographers.

The total number of people attending the ceremony was about 1600. Men had to wear tuxedos or their country's national costumes, while women were required to wear serious evening gowns.

The attendees are either past winners, celebrities from all over the world, or well-known people from Sweden and Norway.

Not only is the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded in the Stockholm Concert Hall, but other awards are also presented here to the winners.

"There are so many people. They seem to be all big names in various fields, Kitagawa." Saito Rena quietly held Kitagawa Hide's arm, looked around, and did not dare to speak too loudly.

The big guys who were rarely seen before now appear in front of them one after another like leeks, and Kitagawa Hideya was stunned.

No wonder many people in Eastern countries are so eager for top awards such as the Nobel Prize and the Oscars. After all, their award ceremonies bring together the world's top figures.

Some people's names can only be seen in textbooks.

As more and more people entered the venue, the noise gradually grew louder, and the symphony orchestra sitting high up on the open-air platform on the second floor of the concert hall began to slowly play famous pieces such as Beethoven's "The Blue Danube".

Many of the participants knew each other, and soon they formed small groups. They gathered together happily, but no one knew what they were talking about.

Only Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena, who came from Asia, seemed a little out of place with these people in terms of age, appearance, and status.

Just when Saito Rena was at a loss, a voice suddenly sounded not far away.

"Hey, I told him he would be invited!"

Stephen King, with his sharp face and monkey cheeks, looked very funny even in a tuxedo. He excitedly introduced Kitagawa Hideo across the street to the people around him.

"He is Kitagawa Hide. He wrote The Dancing Girl of Izu, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Remembrance of Things Past!"

"Mr. Kitagawa's novels are very well written and I enjoy reading them." Singer, a former Nobel Prize winner in Literature together with Stephen King, also nodded with a smile.

"So he is Kitagawa Hide! He is so young!"

"Oh my god. He's only twenty, right? He looks about the same age as my grandson."

"Because of The Dancing Girl of Izu, I made a special trip to Izu, Japan this year. It is indeed a rural city that makes people linger."

"Hello Mr. Kitagawa, I am"

After Stephen King's introduction, Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena were immediately surrounded by a group of white old men and women.

If you are good enough, others will not mind your race and nationality.

These old men and women were not jealous of Kitagawa Hide because he was young, handsome and tall, while they were already in their twilight years.

On the contrary, the voices around him were basically praising him, saying that he was a "hero in his youth."

Kitagawa Hideya responded to their warm greetings one by one, but he was not as panicked as the dizzy Saito Rena.

He knew that these people were so friendly to him simply because he would not touch their core interests.

If Kitagawa Hide was a writer in their country and had the chance to share their cake, they wouldn't be so angry.

“Former Nobel Laureate in Economics Robert Lucas, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Edward Lewis, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Saito Reina was so dazzled that she felt she could hardly hold her hands.

If it weren't for the young man beside her, she would not be taken seriously by these big guys.

I originally thought that after becoming the editor-in-chief of Kawaide Shobo, my career had come to an end.

But at this time, chatting with these bigwigs, especially Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also a woman, Saito Rena felt that a new goal for her struggle had emerged.

".Haha, Miss Saito, you are truly young and promising.

When I was your age I had just married my husband, Mike Aris.

For the next fifteen years, I lived a quiet life in Oxford, raising my husband and children, and never thought that I would win the Nobel Peace Prize one day. "

Aung San Suu Kyi held her hand warmly, praising her youth and beauty, while occasionally glancing at Kitagawa Hide who was chatting with other bigwigs there.

She is Burmese and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, when she was detained by government forces for helping the Burmese people fight for democracy and freedom.

She is probably one of the women with the most legendary and richest life experiences in modern society.

Like Martin Luther King and Gandhi, she was deeply loved and supported by the local people. Even in the face of assassination threats from the government, she resolutely gave passionate speeches in the open air.

The Nobel Prize Committee gave her the reason for winning the award: "In recognition of her contribution to the non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights for the Burmese people."

Her greatness is pointed out succinctly.

In the original history, she ranked 2011th among the top 100 most influential people in the world in by Time magazine.

In 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi also announced that she would run for president of Myanmar.

Although due to various reasons, she was unable to officially take office as president.

But in 2016, she served as the minister of the new government's four departments: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Presidential Office, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, and was specially granted the position of "National Advisor". It can be said that she is a true role model of modern women.

On the other side, Kitagawa Hide was happily chatting with a bunch of other bigwigs from various fields in the world.

During the conversation, he suddenly discovered that in the eyes of those top figures who already possessed countless wealth, power, and women, there were only two most important things:

Life, health and spiritual pursuit.

The former determines how long they can live and how long they can continue to enjoy these things.

The latter determines the height of their thinking and the richness of their soul.

When material enjoyment reaches the highest level, it is actually the same.

On the contrary, it is the spiritual joy that seems to be endless and is a happiness that money cannot buy at all.

When these bigwigs get tired of material enjoyment, they like to turn their attention to literature and art.

Music, painting, literature, sculpture, etc. are the spiritual pursuits they value most in their daily lives.

Therefore, in the eyes of these industry insiders, the most noteworthy Nobel Prizes every year are the winners of the Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the Prize in Literature.

The young Kitagawa Hide became the focus of their attention. In just over ten minutes, countless olive branches were extended to him.

There is no way, "Remembrance of Things Past" and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" are just too popular in the Western world.

As we chatted, time unknowingly came to four o'clock in the afternoon.

Most of the participants had arrived, and Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena sat in the first row of the audience with those previous winners.

The official photographer passed by them several times, generously giving the two of them various close-up shots.

Rena Saito finally realized that even without winning the award, Hide Kitagawa had already firmly established his foothold in the Western cultural circle.

The last person to come here to attend the ceremony was Ichiro Tanizaki.

But at that time, except for a few people like Ma Yueran who were interested in Oriental literature, basically no one paid attention to him.

Ichiro Tanizaki has always treasured the photo with the Nobel Prize winners of that year at home, but he was placed in the corner with only half of his face exposed.

Even so, it was widely publicized by the Japanese media at the time and was rated as the absolute best in the world.

Now that she has experienced all of this personally, Saito Rena suddenly feels that she was only looking at the world from a narrow perspective.

It turns out that the pictures I saw in textbooks when I was a child and the things I dreamed of touching are actually so simple and within reach.

This is all thanks to him being by my side.

She looked at Kitagawa Hide who was standing beside her.

At this moment, Kitagawa Hidemasa was listening attentively to "Blowin' in the Wind" performed by the symphony orchestra.

This song is a famous work by Bob Dylan, a famous American singer-songwriter, artist and rock singer.

Last year, he was successfully shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Yes, you read that right.

The Nobel Prize judges put a song on the shortlist.

Not only that, this song was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice in 06 and 16, and successfully won the award in 16!
Kitagawa Hide didn't know whether this was a deliberate show by the Nobel Prize Committee and the Board of Directors, or whether they really admired Bob Dylan, or whether it was simply a gesture of goodwill to the influential American rock music industry.

Anyway, he is a person who loves listening to music.

In his spare time from writing, he likes running and listening to music. In those days, there were no portable music listening devices such as MP3 players, so he could only enjoy music at home by listening to records.

In addition, the richness of the Nobel Prize has also brought together countless famous people in the world, giving them a common identity and social circle.

When he really got involved in this, he found that winning or not is not that important - if you don't have too much obsession with this field.

What is really important is to enter this circle and enjoy the network resources it brings.

In just this one afternoon, Kitagawa Hide met at least a hundred world celebrities.

They are spread all over the world, working in various fields. In the future, they may be able to help you get things done with just one phone call.

Reina Saito on the side had completely different ideas.

After feeling the charm of the Nobel Prize, she couldn't let it go for a long time.

She used to think that helping Kitagawa Hideaki become the best in the world was a goal she needed to devote her entire life to.

At this moment, listening to the melodious tune and the host's deep voice, her goal changed.

"Beichuan."

"Ok?"

"Take the award! Next year! Let's come here together again next year, okay?"

A long-lost gleam appeared in Saito Rena's eyes.

Just like when he first faced the Akutagawa Prize.

Beichuan Xiu turned his head, saw the light in her eyes, and then chuckled.

After a few minutes, he put away his smile, gently covered the back of her palm with his hand, nodded solemnly and said: "Yes. Next year, we will come here again as winners!" (End of this chapter)