I am a literary giant in Japan

1998 4 Month 18 Day.

Outside Tokyo Station, outside Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore.

After a long period of depression, Shimamura finally recovered from the hospital.

During this period, he gradually developed some feelings for Keiko Oyama, who was responsible for taking care of him.

When he first saw this beautiful mature woman who was eight years older than him and was already 43 years old, Shimamura felt more physical desires in his heart.

No one can resist an older mature woman who is as ripe as a sweet peach.

But as time went by and they spent more time together, Shimamura gradually felt many different qualities in Keiko Koyama.

She is gentle, virtuous and tenacious. Even though her life is full of difficulties and her third husband is an alcoholic and a domestic violence man, she still holds her head high and faces her already messy life with strength.

She has a kind of vitality that Shimamura urgently needs and desires.

It doesn't matter age, gender or wealth.

It’s just a vitality that is pure to the extreme.

This tremendous vitality made Shimamura want to get closer, touch and obtain it.

The other person was a married woman, eight years older than him, and the matter of Komako and Ye Zi was still circling in his mind.

But the newly budding feelings have already broken through the ground and can no longer be suppressed.

Shortly after being discharged from the hospital, he went to see Mr. Kitagawa and, on the pretext of "consulting about emotional issues," told him about his feelings and thoughts about Keiko Oyama.

After all, the other party is in that situation. Even though "extramarital affairs" are rampant in Japan, Shimamura does not want to wantonly destroy other people's families.

After listening to his long thoughts, Mr. Kitagawa was silent for a long time.

He seemed to be recalling something, or thinking about something.

That day, Shimamura seemed to have returned to his elementary school days, sitting trembling in his seat waiting for Mr. Kitagawa's judgment.

Just when he was ready to endure the storm of preaching, Mr. Beichuan said to him: "Love has nothing to do with right or wrong, you don't have to blame yourself or worry too much about it.

Just tell her your feelings and wait for the result.

As long as you don't step into the abyss of greed and just love, there is no right or wrong. "

After Mr. Beichuan had comforted him, he gave him a copy of "Paradise Lost".

After returning to his villa, he began to flip through the book as if possessed, even though he had no interest in pure literary novels.

Then I was deeply immersed in the story of Tomomi Muramatsu and Rinko.

The last two autopsy reports shocked him greatly. The stories were true, the processes were poignant, and the endings were tragic.

Extramarital affairs are not acceptable!

Immoral love will put both parties in a desperate situation.

After reading "Paradise Lost", Shimamura thought about it for a few days and finally made an appointment with Keiko Koyama for dinner.

The whole dinner was harmonious. He said nothing and felt there was no need to confess anything.

Shortly after Shimamura withdrew, Keiko Koyama contacted him again.

She decided to divorce her third husband, Akio Koyama, who was an alcoholic and abusive husband.

What really made her make up her mind, besides the dinner with Shimamura and the feelings that could be seen at a glance, was her husband Akio's violation of their daughter Yumiko!

The eldest son, Kiyoshi, ran away from home because of his daughter Yumiko's rejection. He was finally found and on the way home, Keiko Koyama and her son Kiyoshi accidentally saw her husband Akio violating the second daughter Yumiko!

It turns out that Gongzi refused to clean up because she was "not clean" anymore!

Yumiko is the daughter of her second husband and has no blood relationship with Akio Koyama. After the truth was exposed, the whole family was paralyzed.

Akio Koyama attempted to cover up the matter by using his position as the head of the family and Keiko Koyama's gentleness.

But Keiko Oyama is no longer the woman who first came to Tokyo ignorantly and wanted to pursue the upper-class life of a "Tokyoer".

She decisively contacted Mr. Kitagawa's wife. With the assistance of Mrs. Kitagawa, Akio Koyama was arrested and the matter ended in divorce.

After knowing all this, Shimamura was filled with emotion. It was also the first time that he saw the different soul beneath the attractive appearance of Keiko, the beautiful mature woman.

She spent half her life chasing after becoming a real "Tokyoer", while he spent half his life living in a daze as such a "Tokyoer".

Two lives, two ways of living, intertwined at that moment.

"Mr. Shimamura~ I'm sorry, there was a traffic jam on the way for no apparent reason. I didn't expect to be late. I'm really sorry!"

Keiko ran over in a panic like a girl who had just fallen in love, with an apologetic look on her face, afraid that her lateness would leave a bad impression on Shimamura.

"Ah, it's okay, I just got here too."

Shimamura returns from his memories.

He glanced at the crowd behind Jingzi. Today was a weekday, so there shouldn't be any traffic jam at this time, and there shouldn't be such a large crowd of people.

But today is also the day when the new issue of "Wenyi" is on the market, and it is the end of the story of "Snow Country".

There were countless readers coming and going, all crowding into the bookstore.

In just a short while, Shimamura and Keiko saw dozens of people leaving with satisfaction, holding copies of Wen Yi.

"Really? That's good!"

Of course Jingzi knew that he was talking nonsense.

His face is so red from the wind, how could he have just come?

She felt warm in her heart and became more cautious.

There is another reason why I was late today - I went out too late.

Since it was strictly their first date, she dressed up carefully.

Jingzi's makeup is meticulous, first applying cold cream to her face, then steaming it with hot bath water, and then doing some facial massage.

After completing these basic procedures, she would wipe off the cold cream with expensive gauze and wash her face with cold water.

In this way, the facial skin will automatically tighten and makeup will not easily fade.

The powder and rouge must be evenly blended into the skin, almost invisible, elegant and delicate, to distinguish her from those middle-aged women who wear heavy powder and heavy makeup. After all, she is already very old, and it is impossible for her to be like Mrs. Beichuan, who can amaze countless men even if she does nothing.

Shimamura was indeed amazed, and she also enjoyed that kind of sight.

At this moment, Jingzi, who had solved all his problems, felt so relaxed that he wanted to light a cigarette.

"Let's go in too." Shimamura gently took her hand, "By the way, how is it going?"

"My wife found me the best lawyer in Tokyo. He had no choice but to sign. And he actually did that to Yumiko!
I will never forgive him!

You must send him off."

Keiko didn't say anything else. This kind of thing, this kind of emotion, shouldn't be revealed to Mr. Shimamura.

In short, although it is difficult, things are indeed moving in a better direction.

They retold their story in full to Mr. Kitagawa, hoping that Mr. Kitagawa would record it like he did with "Snow Country".

I thought Mr. Kitagawa would refuse.

But after a few days, Mr. Kitagawa actually gave a positive answer - but the requirement was that the real person and real name must appear on the screen.

"Two copies of the latest issue of Wen Yi, 1200 yen!"

After the "Spring Fight" in March ended, the staff of Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore was replaced by a new group, and Kyoko is now in charge of the cashier.

Her family's conditions were not as good as those of Kaoru and Chihaya Ruri, but with Kaoru's introduction, she successfully got this part-time job.

"The price has gone up." Keiko took the magazine and handed the banknotes and coins to Kyoko.

Kyoko scratched her head and replied with a smile, "Yes. Because of the new layout, each copy of Wen Yi will be 600 yen from now on."

This price is already very exaggerated among pure literary magazines, twice as high as that of ordinary magazines.

But it's "Wenyi", no one cares about the 50 yen increase.

The two people who got the magazine quickly evacuated and started reading it eagerly after returning to the car.

Keiko knew that "Snow Country" was a knot in Shimamura's heart.

And this final chapter should allow him to completely get over this emotional knot.

She also wanted to read about Shimamura's past life from "Snow Country".

She wanted to know what kind of person he was in the past, what kind of girls he liked, and what kind of things he had experienced.

The story of "Snow Country" continues from the last episode.

In front of the old man's grave and in front of Komako, Shimamura invited Ye Zi to go to Tokyo together.

The leaves were silent.

Silence is rejection.

But the indomitable Shimamura still wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

He felt that in Ye Zi's heart, that bare grave was more important than himself.

This was something he could not accept at all!
But after asking questions continuously, the only response I got was silence.

Ye Zi can't leave this small mountain village.

"Why can't you leave?"

On the way back to the guesthouse from the grave, Shimamura still couldn't figure out the reason. The only reason he could think of was that "a lonely grave is more important than a living person like me."

Komako also felt bad.

She got drunk when she returned.

Even though her fiancé had just died, she was still attending all kinds of social events like a loose woman.

"Do you think I'm drunk? You don't understand! Every time I think about how she will be loved by him, and how she will become the most important person to him if she goes to Tokyo with him, while I am living a dissolute life alone in the mountains, how can I be happy?"

Shimamura had no way of finding out whether Komako had actually said these words.

But when he saw Komako like that in the book, his heart suddenly ached.

Yes.

At that time, his mind was full of Ye Zi, and he completely ignored Komako, whose fiancé had just died and who was even willing to not attend the funeral in order to say goodbye to him.

He was entangled in Ye Zi's attitude, but never thought about Ju Zi, who was even more tormented.

"Komako." Shimamura let out a long sigh and couldn't help but glance at Keiko beside him.

She was reading a book seriously and seemed not to hear his murmurs.

It seemed as if fate had brought him to the same crossroads again.

"Fire! Fire!"

When seeing the scene where the silkworm house was reduced to ashes due to the accidental fire of the film during the movie playing, Jingzi, who was usually emotionally stable, couldn't help but tremble.

The love triangle between Shimamura, Komako and Yoko always reminds people of Watanabe, Naoko and Midori in "Norwegian Wood".

The latter reaches its climax with Naoko's unexpected death.

The same is true for the former.

The big fire made Jingzi's heart ache.

She couldn't help but glance at Shimamura and found that he was looking at the magazine calmly.

Haven't seen that part yet?

No, it's not.

He is watching.

My hands were shaking so badly.

It's so heartbreaking. (End of this chapter)