I am a literary giant in Japan

Kuroda Keiki's method of following the updates was simple and crude, which was to simply drag Noriyama Kiyoko along to find Kitagawa Hide himself.

Kitagawa Hide's new home was donated free of charge by Mitsui & Co., a luxurious villa located in the heart of Minato Ward.

Countless famous and wealthy families from all over Japan gather here, and it can be said to be a wealthy area among the top wealthy areas.

After buying some souvenirs at a nearby luxury goods mall, the two headed straight to Kitagawa's house.

When he arrived at Mr. Kitagawa's house, Kuroda Keiki realized that his home was so close to Kitagawa's!

Looking up from the asphalt road below, one can clearly see the tall and handsome Kitagawa Hidemasa chatting with a middle-aged man with a decadent face.

The doorbell rang, and Kitagawa Hide looked down and found a young couple he had never seen before.

"Ah, you are indeed the most famous writer in Japan. It has been many days since the New Year, and there are still so many people coming to visit you."

The middle-aged man was still lying on the wooden recliner while he was talking, as if he couldn't bear to leave it for even a second.
"Unlike me, I entered the twilight stage of life at the age of 35. Life is boring~"

"Mr. Shimamura, you are too pessimistic. He is a wealthy man who has no worries about food and clothing thanks to his family inheritance.

If even you are considered to have entered the twilight stage of life, then what are those office workers who work every day but cannot save any money? "

Beichuan Xiu shook his head when he heard this, picked up the pile of printed manuscripts of The Old Man and the Sea on the desk, and stuffed them into his hands.

"You should read my new book more. Maybe Santiago's experience can help you regain hope in life."

"No, no, no, Mr. Beichuan, please forgive me!"

Shimamura, who had refused to leave his comfortable recliner, suddenly jumped up when he saw the thick stack of manuscripts. He backed away frantically while waving his hands and said,

"You know that I fall asleep when I read pure literary novels, so stop torturing me with it."

"Haha. If I didn't know your situation, Mr. Shimamura, you would break my heart with just this sentence."

Kitagawa Hide knew that he was really afraid of studying, so he took the copy back with a smile.

Shimamura is a neighbor who lives across from Kitagawa Hide. His late father was the chairman of the famous Shimamura Group.

After his parents passed away, Shimamura had no intention of taking over the family business or getting married, so he sold the Shimamura Group to the Mitsui Group for 105 billion yen.

After that, he relied on the money to live a leisurely life in the port area, and every day he either went fishing and grew flowers or played games at home.

The two met due to a misunderstanding in the past.

A politician couple wanted to visit Kitagawa Hide during the year, but they went to Shimamura's house by mistake.

After many twists and turns, Kitagawa Hide did not have much interaction with the politician couple, but became close friends with Shimamura, who was extremely spiritually empty and lazy.

Kitagawa Hide himself is a workaholic, extremely motivated, and is constantly working towards new goals every day.

But he particularly likes to make friends with slow-paced people, as he feels that this can effectively neutralize his fast-paced life.

And he was tired of being surrounded by his fans.

This guy Shimamura likes women, Western dance, and painting, but he has no interest in Japanese literature at all.

Therefore, even though he knew that the other party was the number one writer in the Japanese literary world, he still interacted with Kitagawa Hide as close friends, which was very much to Kitagawa Hide's liking.

Another thing that made Kitagawa Hide interested in Shimamura was that Shimamura was a true nihilist and a pure lustful person.

Shimamura studied Western dance, collected books and photos on the subject, and also tried every means to find posters and programs from abroad.

But he never went to watch Westerners dance in person, and refused to watch Western dance performed by Japanese.

According to him, live dancing is not nearly as interesting as photos and books.

He liked the sexy girls who existed in photos and on the pages of books, but he didn't like communicating with those dancers face to face.

Of course, as an unabashed lecher, the number of prostitutes that Shimamura had summoned was dozens of times more than the women that Kitagawa Hide knew!
Kitagawa Hide believes that this is due to the nihilism in his personality.

On the one hand, I have no interest in anything and think everything is meaningless;
On the other hand, he is obsessed with the short-term pleasure brought by women and cannot extricate himself.

Such a contradictory personality makes Kitagawa Xiu feel very interesting.

Skipping the topic of literature, Shimamura turned the conversation back to his experience of going to Niigata Prefecture and began talking about several girls he met there.

Beichuan Xiu was listening with great joy when the door to the open-air balcony was suddenly knocked.

"Oh, Mrs. Beichuan, didn't I tell you to let me do all the little things like this? Go and see the young master, the young lady, and the guests downstairs!"

A beautiful mature woman dressed quite delicately and still charming took the fruit plate and tea from Mengzi and knocked on the door again skillfully.

"Master, I'm Jingzi, can I come in now?"

"Please come in!"

Kitagawa Hide nodded to the beautiful mature woman outside the glass door.

After getting the news, Keiko Oyama immediately walked over with her waist twisted.

She is 50 years old and is a top housekeeper hired by Yumeko from Mitsui Housekeeping, with a monthly salary of yen.

Keiko Oyama cleaned up the food leftovers on the terrace table, and then served a new fruit plate and tea to Kitagawa Hide and the others.

While busy, Keiko Oyama bent over, revealing her full curves wrapped in a tight skirt.

Even though she covered her chest with her hands while working, her mature charm still captivated the 35-year-old Shimamura.

"Master, two distinguished guests have come downstairs, and the lady is receiving them."

Keiko Koyama noticed Shimamura's gaze, and quickly covered her skirt and stood up, standing respectfully beside Kitagawa Hide and speaking in a low voice,

"The young lady's dress was embroidered with a sixteen-petal chrysanthemum."

The second half of her sentence was almost inaudible, but was still heard by the sharp-eared Shimamura.

The sixteen-petal double chrysanthemum crest is the family emblem of the Japanese imperial family, and only direct family members who have not yet left the imperial family can wear it.

In today's royal family, the only young woman who is qualified to wear this family crest is Akihito's youngest daughter, Princess Nori.

"I'm a little sleepy. Teacher Beichuan, please go and do your work. I'll go home and lie down."

Shimamura was secretly shocked. He didn't expect that Kitagawa Hide even had connections related to the royal family!

He was not an ungrateful guy, so he immediately stood up and said goodbye.

Before leaving, Shimamura made a special appointment for the weekend and insisted on continuing to talk with Kitagawa Hide about his trip to Niigata Prefecture.

Keiko Oyama followed him out through the side door, while Hidetoshi Kitagawa quickly hurried downstairs.

In the living room of the villa.

Kuroda Keiki sat up straight, looking a little reserved, not wanting to embarrass the Kuroda family in front of Mrs. Kitagawa.

And Kiyoko Nori was like a very outgoing girl. She directly picked up Kitagawa Toru, who was babbling non-stop.

Kitagawa Midori is sleeping soundly in Yumeko's arms, and she is also very cute.

"It turns out that Archer and Midori's names are taken from the male and female protagonists of "Norwegian Wood" ~ They look so similar."

Kiyomiya Kiyoko used her fingers to tease Kitagawa Toru, and the more she looked at him, the more she liked him. In her heart, she actually liked the couple Toru and Naoko more, but when she heard that the prototype of Midori was Mrs. Kitagawa, she kept this to herself.

If Qingshu and I have a child in the future, if it's a girl, we can name her Naoko!

She was thinking so happily, and then she saw Kitagawa Hide, who was many times more handsome in person than in the photo, coming down from upstairs.

"Oh, sorry, there's a guest upstairs. I'm sorry."

Kitagawa Hide glanced at the two visitors and was almost certain that they were Princess Nori Kyouko and her boyfriend Kuroda Keiki.

As his assets grew, his social circle became more and more upper-class.

In Japan's upper class society, you can often run into royal family members and descendants of the nobility.

These families have controlled many of Japan's national resources since ancient times. Even though times have changed and they were liquidated by their own father, the Americans, after the war, many families still remain enduring and always occupy a large amount of means of production.

Once you reach a certain level of living in Japan, you can’t break away from them.

If Kitagawa Hide wanted Archer and Midori to finish kindergarten and elementary school in Japan, he would most likely place them in Gakushuin.

The more of these relationships the better, as long as they don't involve politics.

"Ah, it's okay, it's us who came to visit unexpectedly and disturbed you!"

Kuroda Keiki, who was older than Kitagawa Hide, hurriedly stood up and bowed, using honorifics when speaking. His respectful appearance startled Yumeko, who had just recognized the imperial family emblem.

When did her husband become so famous that the royal family respected him so much?
It feels like a dream.

In the past, Yumeko could only watch women like Princess Nori Kiya Kyoko on TV, and she never dared to imagine that one day she would be able to sit down and chat with her like an ordinary friend.

"Haha, don't be so reserved. I don't care about these things. By the way, I haven't asked you two who you are yet?"

Seeing that he was so polite, Kitagawa Hide also used a few respectful words.

He personally hates these honorific particles in Japanese. Every time he speaks, a lot of them pop up, but seven or eight out of ten words are modal particles and are completely useless.

It is hard to imagine that in ancient times, when fighting, both sides would still curse each other with honorifics.
"My name is Kuroda Keiki, and this is my girlfriend, Princess Norihiko."

Kuroda Keiki had just introduced himself to Yumeko, but when Kitagawa Hide asked him, he repeated it respectfully.

Kiyomiya Kiyoko, who was holding Kitagawa Toru, also stood up and greeted Kitagawa Hide.

".Mr. Beichuan, I am sorry to bother you this time because of your new work, The Old Man and the Sea."

Kuroda Keiki stated his purpose somewhat embarrassedly.

A writer's novel is usually kept "confidential" before it is serialized in its entirety, just like gold, silver and money in a safe.

The novels written by Kitagawa Hide, a "number one in the world", involve the interests of countless people.

He asked him to let him take a look at the subsequent manuscript in advance. If he hadn't been so excited just now and didn't think carefully after calming down, Kuroda Keiki would definitely not dare to make such an impolite request.

After saying this, his cheeks felt a little hot, and he could only drink tea to cover up the embarrassment.

"Ah, I see." Kitagawa Hide did not expect that "The Old Man and the Sea" would touch these two people so much.

When this book was published in 1954, it indeed caused a sensation and resonated with many people, but that was also due to certain factors of the times.

The current conditions in Japan are suitable for the publication of this book, but that is only for the large number of lower-class people.

Kuroda Keiki is the eldest son of the Kuroda family and the future heir. Needless to say, Norihiko Kyoko probably had to endure the greatest hardship in her life by leaving the royal family to work outside.

Would such a person also be touched?

"If it makes you feel embarrassed, please just pretend we were never here!"

Kuroda Keiki quickly added.

Whether in terms of status and influence in the literary world or in terms of asset strength, the Kitagawa family is no inferior to the Kuroda family.

If he offended Mr. Kitagawa for no reason, he would probably be scolded to death by his father.

"Ah, that's nothing. I'll ask the maid to bring the draft."

Kitagawa Hide shouted upstairs,
"Sister Jingzi, can you please get me the copy of The Old Man and the Sea?"

"Okay, sir!"

Keiko Koyama had just sent Shimamura home and was about to clean up the mess on the terrace. When she heard Kitagawa Hide's call, she immediately cleaned her hands, then carefully picked up the stack of copies, twisted her waist and went downstairs.

When the complete copy of "The Old Man and the Sea" was delivered to him, Kuroda Keiki could no longer hold back. He stood up and bowed repeatedly, then began to read it impatiently.

Kitagawa Hide saw that he didn't even show the manuscript to his girlfriend first, but read it directly himself.

It seems that the two people's visit this time is not a show or to get closer, but they are real book fans who want to urge for more updates.

Kiyomiya Kiyoko was not angry, she just continued to hold Archer and play with him. When Archer was about to cry, Midori woke up, and then Midori took over again, and they had a lot of fun.

On the other hand, Keiki Kuroda was completely immersed in the novel world of "The Old Man and the Sea".

He still had five chapters left to read in the entire novel, which had only about 70,000 to 80,000 words in total, but he spent two hours reading it before he put down the copy with a feeling of being unsatisfied.

Santiago, who had finally caught a big marlin, encountered a school of sharks. He fought with them until the last moment with great courage.

The ending can be said to be both reasonable and unexpected.

The big marlin was eaten until only a large fish bone was left, and the sharks also paid a heavy price in blood.

At the end of the story, Santiago returns home alone, dragging the fish bone.

The return trip was easy, he had no thoughts, no feelings.

He was above it all now, intent on steering the boat as well and as wisely as he could to his home port.

At night some sharks came to eat the remains of the dead fish, just like people picking up bread crumbs from the dinner table.

The old man paid no attention to them, no attention to anything else except steering the boat.

He only noticed how nothing was heavy beside the side, and how easily and wonderfully the boat came along.

"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

“Life is like a journey. We must learn to endure loneliness and fatigue, and then move forward firmly.”

"Every day is a new day. It's nice to be lucky, but I'd rather be absolutely perfect. That way, when luck strikes, you're ready."

After putting down the copied manuscript, Keiki Kuroda was still in a state of passionate emotion.

After him, Norihiko Kiyomiya wanted to take the manuscript back to the Imperial Palace to read it, and even suggested putting it in the museum of the Imperial Palace.

Even if this was just a copy of "The Old Man and the Sea", it would be worthy enough to be a collection for the royal family.

Kitagawa Hide agreed without hesitation, not caring about these things at all.

The books he wrote can bring people enlightenment and happiness, which is what he really pursues. (End of this chapter)