I am a literary giant in Japan

It is well known that the manager of Maruzen Marunouchi Shoten is an avid fan of Kitagawa Hide.

In order to promote the unpopular "No Longer Human", the store manager went against all odds and placed "Literature and Art" at the top of the bookstore's sales counter despite pressure.

At that time, Kitagawa Hidekazu and Saito Rena had just switched to Kawaide Shobo, and "Gunzo" successfully jumped from the perennial fourth place among the five major publishing houses to the second place thanks to the "Youth Trilogy" he wrote.

At that time, the Noma family also urged Kitagawa Hide to continue to maintain his image as a writer of "pure youth romance literature" and to dominate the pure literature world together with the publishing house's pillar Oshima Hikaru.

At that time, Kawaide Shobo was the last in the publishing industry, and all famous writers wanted to avoid it. The female president, Kawaide Shizuko, who was rare in the industry, had a very bad reputation and was not favored by others.

Even in this situation, Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore outside Tokyo Station still enthusiastically supports Hidekazu Kitagawa and his novels, seemingly completely ignoring the direction of the publishing industry.

But because of this, after many successful bets, this legendary store manager became the lifelong manager of this bookstore and is also a well-known figure in the bookstore industry.

Nowadays, Maruzen Marunouchi Shoten openly puts Kitagawa's works on the front shelf for sale, and no one questions this behavior anymore.

The parents who rushed into the bookstore had a clear purpose: they all came for the latest issue of "MOE".

Children's picture book magazines are a niche publication within a niche in the Japanese literary world.

Most Japanese families do not have any family education culture. They usually send their children to kindergartens from an early age. When they go to elementary and junior high school, they let them participate in more school club activities to pass their spare time.

A few wealthier families have a parent-child education culture, but most prefer to follow the Western family approach, or if they belong to the aristocratic class, they will have their own unique way of education.

The children's education textbooks used by these families are basically from the West, and many of them are bilingual education.

Japanese people's English is indeed very bad, but in fact, children from wealthy families are not bad at English and they often go abroad, so their spoken English skills are very strong and it is not as awkward as shown in Japanese dramas.

Of course, for the vast majority of ordinary families, buying some fairy tales and reading them to children before bedtime is the most common parent-child education model.

In this bad market environment, Japanese children's literature and children's educational reading materials have almost no room for survival.

"MOE" is said to be the only and most well-known children's picture book magazine in Japan, but in fact, no more than 1 parents know the title of this book.

If it weren't for the hype last month by leveraging Mr. Kitagawa's reputation, there wouldn't be so many parents waiting for the new issue to go on sale today.

Iwaya Koba and his wife followed the flow of people to the front counter and found that the speed at which the clerk replaced new magazines could hardly keep up with the speed at which customers bought books.

"As expected of Mr. Kitagawa. Even if it's children's literature that he has never touched before, as long as his name is attached, it can attract so many readers!"

Iwaya Xiaobo also reached out for two copies of "MOE". Seeing these parents who came to buy the magazine because of its reputation were so fond of the magazine he edited, he felt proud from the bottom of his heart.

It seems that the bet agreement with the company can be easily completed.

I just don’t know if the subsequent plot of “The Little Prince” can continue the quality of the first ten chapters.

Iwaya Xiaobo and his wife followed the crowd out with two copies of "MOE".

He himself has finished reading "The Little Prince", so he can better appreciate Mr. Kitagawa's unique ideas and intentions when writing children's literature.

Just like it says on the cover of the magazine.

"This is not only a fairy tale for children, but also an 'adult fairy tale' for parents to read."

How you view the story in "The Little Prince" depends entirely on how you judge it.

There is no doubt that as an adult, Iwaya Koba also has his own understanding and views on "The Little Prince".

This is what he thinks is the most powerful and unique aspect of "The Little Prince"!
Among the crowd pouring out of the bookstore, Mayumi Aso, wearing a tight purple hunk skirt, a wife's hairstyle, and sunglasses, was holding a little girl's hand and walking quickly towards the parking lot.

The two little girls each held a copy of "MOE" in their hands, with happy expressions on their faces, talking to her in baby voices as they walked.

"Aunt Aso~ Can I read books with Sister Aiko at your house~"

After saying this, Chizuru Sadako raised her little head and looked at Aso Mayumi, her little face full of anticipation and longing.

"Of course~"

Mayumi Aso smiled and rubbed her little head, took out her cell phone and sent a message to Chizuru Sadako's sister Chizuru Hui.

Ever since Chizuru Sadako was nearly shot in the head by the "Drunken Rose Saint" Shinichiro Azumaru who was waiting in Hanamaru Kindergarten, and Kitagawa Hide severely criticized Chizuru Hui for being an incompetent sister, Chizuru Sadako was entrusted to the more attentive Mayumi Aso to help take care of her.

The Chizuru family is a very famous pastry family in Tokyo. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Chizuru Hui inherited the family property and became a well-known pastry chef.

Everything about Chizuru's family is good except that everyone is a workaholic and no one has the time to take care of the young Chizuru Sadako.

In this way, the burden of taking care of the younger sister fell on the careless Qian He Hui, and she caused many mistakes.

Now Chizuru Sadako is following Mayumi Aso. Not only has she become good friends with her daughter Aiko and they can talk about anything, but she also lives a very comfortable life, which is a relief for everyone.

Not only Chizuru Sadako, sometimes Yumeko also likes to leave Achera and Midori to Mayumi Aso.

Everyone trusts her so much because Mayumi Aso is a great wife and mother.

Even after becoming famous for her haiku and unique novel style, she still focused on her family and spent her free time taking care of her daughter.

Since she became famous, she has also been sexually harassed by many men. Her status as a single mother, her plump figure, and her celebrity-like appearance have really touched the hearts of many men.

Her ex-husband, who had abandoned his wife and daughter to join the Aum Shinrikyo cult, came back many times and asked for reconciliation, but she rejected him sternly.

"I already have someone I like."

This is how Mayumi Aso responded to her ex-husband and all her suitors.

Who she likes is obvious.

If it happened in other industries, a love relationship with multiple taboos such as teacher-student love and sister-brother love would definitely be gossiped by others.

Especially when the other party already has a family and children.

But in the literary world, Mayumi Aso's infatuation with her teacher Kitagawa Hide has become a legend and is also praised in various ways among readers.

In short, Mayumi Aso is very satisfied with her current life.

Whenever she thought of the unattainable man in the dead of night, she would force herself to recall the hard life she lived as a single working mother.

She has to remind herself again and again that such a life is hard to come by and she must not ruin everything because of a momentary impulse.

After bringing her two children to the parking lot, Mayumi Aso accidentally ran into the Iwaya Konan and his wife.

"Teacher Aso! Long time no see! How are you doing recently?" Iwaya Koba habitually handed out her business card and greeted Mayumi Aso very enthusiastically.

Mr. Kitagawa has four well-known disciples in the literary world:
The first disciple, "Queen of Healing" Mayumi Aso;

The second disciple is Keigo Higashino, the "goat of mystery literature";
The third disciple, Tuan Gui Shilang, the “leader of sentimental youth literature”;
The fourth disciple is Shunji Iwai, a "genius in literature, film and television".

Among these four, Mayumi Aso has followed Kitagawa Hide for the longest time and has the greatest fame in the pure literature world.

The most important thing is that her novels are mainly "fresh and healing", which is very consistent with the overall tone of "MOE".

Unfortunately, after publishing her new book half a year ago, Mayumi Aso stopped writing, and MOE’s multiple requests for her to contribute to magazines were unsuccessful.

Rumor has it that Mr. Aso is very aloof, basically does not interact with people in the industry, and rarely shows up to participate in any literary activities.

Iwaya Xiaobo got to know her through several parent-child activities organized by Hakusen Society.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, Mayumi Aso always politely refused.

During this encounter, Iwaya Koba considered that after "The Little Prince", "MOE" might be reduced to its original form, so she gritted her teeth and came up to get close to Mayumi Aso.

"Are you Mr. Iwatani, the editor-in-chief of MOE?" Mayumi Aso glanced at the business card he handed over, and a vague memory arose in her mind.

"It's me, it's me, I didn't expect that Mr. Aso still remembered me!
We last met at the Shibuya parent-child event organized by Hakusensha, do you remember?"

Iwaya Xiaobo said with a lick on his face.

Mayumi Aso recalled it carefully again, then shook her head helplessly and said, "Sorry, there have been a lot of parent-child activities recently, so I don't remember much."

"Haha, you are so busy, it's normal that you don't remember.

Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you here. If you don't mind, shall we go to the cafe next door for a drink?"

Iwaya Koba knew that Mayumi Aso didn't like invitations from strange men, but this time he brought his wife with him, so he could invite her under the pretext of a family gathering.

As long as he could talk to Teacher Aso for a few words, he was confident that he could invite her to write a parent-child novel for "MOE".

"Oh, sorry, I have to take them both home to read and cook for now.

If we want coffee, how about we meet next time? "

Mayumi Aso bowed slightly politely, and her plump and sexy figure was outlined in the tight skirt, which was eye-catching.

"Ah, that can't be helped. Since you are busy, let's make an appointment another day!"

Iwaya Xiaobo glanced at the two little girls holding "MOE" and continued to answer with a smile without being discouraged.

He felt that it was a big progress to be able to talk so much with the usually aloof Mr. Aso and to get the seemingly ambiguous invitation permission.

I wonder how many editors in the industry have racked their brains but still cannot get a single response from Mr. Aso.

"I am truly sorry. Next time I have the chance, I will come directly to the MOE editorial office to apologize to you in person!"

Mayumi Aso solemnly put his business card into her bag, and her words didn't sound like a joke.

Iwaya Koba keenly noticed the possibility of cooperation, and hurriedly smiled and escorted Aso Mayumi and the other two to the car.

After watching them leave, the wife, who had been silent all the time, suddenly came over and whispered, "Dear, didn't you say that Mr. Aso is very cold and arrogant and rarely talks to others?
How come now she seems like an ordinary single mother?"

"I don't know either. From the previous contacts, it seems that Mr. Aso really doesn't like to communicate with the opposite sex in the industry.

It is said that only editors from Kawade Shobo and Kitagawa Entertainment can contact her and sometimes get her manuscripts.

Today, it seems that she is also interested in cooperating with MOE."

Iwaya Xiaobo scratched his almost bald head, also puzzled.

After returning home.

Mayumi Aso brought the two little ones to the study. Instead of rushing to cook, she helped them open "MOE" and sat together to watch the "The Little Prince" they had been longing for.

The title of the book "The Little Prince" also touched the hearts of these children. When they turned the pages, the several illustrations that were accidentally revealed made them particularly curious, and they all begged Mayumi Aso to start reading quickly.

"Okay, okay, don't worry, I'll take a look first and then tell you about it, okay?"

Mayumi Aso has the habit of reading the children's books she wants to read to her daughter herself beforehand, so that she can avoid reading them in advance if the content is not suitable for her daughter's age group.

Otherwise, you will find out halfway through that the novel is "adult-oriented" and not suitable for children to read.

"Yeah!" The two little guys nodded and sat aside obediently waiting.

Mayumi Aso turned the page of the book and began to read softly.

"When I was only six years old, I saw a wonderful illustration in a book called "True Stories" about the primeval forest. It showed a python swallowing a big beast."

The childlike language and writing are completely different from the novels written by Hide Kitagawa before.

If she was not absolutely sure that this "The Little Prince" was written by Mr. Kitagawa, Mayumi Aso would find it difficult to connect this writing style with that of "Norwegian Wood".

Even though she has read it many times and understood it many times, every time she sees a new book written by Mr. Kitagawa again, she always feels all kinds of surprises.

Mr. Beichuan’s writing style is so varied and different!
The most terrifying thing is that no matter what the subject matter or writing style, as long as he is willing, he can master it easily, as if he has been able to write since he was a child.

Only writers who have written novels and truly reached the pinnacle of novels know how terrifying this talent is.

It would be almost impossible for a well-known writer to study just one genre in his entire lifetime.

Not to mention repeatedly changing one's writing style and trying new themes in different tracks.

Mayumi Aso read on along the words, and when she saw the somewhat childish yet peculiar picture of "a python swallowing a large beast", she suddenly remembered the art drawings that her daughters Aiko and Chizuru Sadako had drawn in kindergarten.

This painting was obviously created by a well-known illustrator at the instruction of Mr. Kitagawa.

The level of the painting has nothing to do with Teacher Kitagawa, but the images and artistic conception conveyed by the painting are a true projection of Teacher Kitagawa's thoughts.

Because of this, Mayumi Aso felt extremely shocked! (End of this chapter)