I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 399 "The Little Prince", is it pure children's literature or a fairy tale for adults with profound connotations?

“Are there any film and television companies willing to buy the copyright of “The Convenience Store of Sorrow”?”

Keigo Higashino's out-of-focus eyes regained their luster.

For him, who was about to lose confidence in writing pure literary novels, this was undoubtedly a powerful shot in the arm.

He is not short of money now, what he lacks most is recognition from the market and the industry.

"Yes. It's a film and television company called Hiroki. The boss, Hiroki Ryuichi, has been in the film and television industry for many years and is an experienced director."

Kitagawa Hide didn't say much to Higashino Keigo, but just patted him on the shoulder to show encouragement and support.

"Dongye, the pure literary novels you wrote are not completely useless. Don't be discouraged. It's just that most readers are still in the wait-and-see stage.

Just wait and see, sales and word of mouth will gradually improve.”

"Yes! I trust your judgment, Mr. Kitagawa!"

Keigo Higashino stood up and bowed 90 degrees, his tone full of gratitude.

In any case, the fact that a film and television company is willing to buy the copyright of "The Convenience Store of Sorrow" at least proves that not everyone thinks that this novel is hopeless!
As long as there is a glimmer of hope, he is willing to continue trying on this path.

After sending out the plan to purchase the copyright, Hiroki Ryuichi waited anxiously for several days.

During the days of waiting, he first finished reading "The Convenience Store of Sorrow", and then used his computer to keep an eye on the sales of "Wenyi".

The quality of the novel remains the same as always. The first short story is very touching and will definitely capture the reader's heart, and the following four short stories do not suffer from any setback in quality.

What is most commendable is that Mr. Keigo Higashino deliberately used the writing style of a detective novel to cleverly link the five short stories with the three thieves and the orphanage where they grew up.

In this way, the story becomes complete and is no longer a series of independent unit drama copies.

To sum up, "The Convenience Store of Sorrow" is undoubtedly a highly completed work.

Logically, a masterpiece of this quality should have no trouble selling copyrights.

However, the sales of the August issue of "Wenyi" were indeed sluggish in the more than ten days after its release.

The large number of loyal readers that Kawaide Shobo has attracted seem to only care about the works of Mr. Kitagawa.

Once Mr. Beichuan stops writing, the sales of "Wenyi" will inevitably plummet and return to normal sales figures.

Kawaide Shobo is clearly working hard to promote Keigo Higashino's "The Convenience Store of Sorrow", and it is no exaggeration to say that they are doing everything they can.

Unfortunately, the results of the promotion were not as expected. The sales curve that had not changed much in the past ten days almost spelled the death of "The Convenience Store of Sorrow".

Hiroki Ryuichi paid special attention to posts about "Wenyi" and "The Convenience Store of Sorrow" on major portals and forums.

Just as he expected.

The number and popularity of posts cannot be compared with the still ongoing "The Little Prince" and the recently completed "Hagane Naoki".

Kawaide Shobo also thought about using the Internet to increase the popularity of "The Convenience Store of Sorrow", but unfortunately it failed.

Currently, there are very few readers who have finished or read this novel, and everyone's attention is focused on "MOE" which will be released on September 9st.

Isn’t the final chapter of “The Little Prince” better than “The Convenience Store of Sorrow”?
For several days in a row, Hiroki Ryuichi has been a regular on major forums and portal websites, but there are very few posts mentioning "The Convenience Store of Sorrow".

But what’s interesting is that any post that mentions this book is basically a long literary review post, with detailed content, sincere words, novel viewpoints, and all of them are full of boasting about practical information.

Those literary critics in the literary criticism circle who follow the wind and speak well of whoever pays them will not work so hard to promote "The Convenience Store of Sorrow".

If you click on the accounts of the posters of those posts, you can find that they are all old readers who have been reading for a long time.

This made Hiroki Ryuichi more certain of his judgment.

"The Convenience Store of Sorrow" is indeed a masterpiece, but due to market and economic issues, it has temporarily become a pearl covered in dust.

The biggest problem now is that the Guangmu Film and Television Company he just registered is obviously a shell company with no real strength.

My status in the film and television director circle is just so-so.

Will Kawaide Shobo really accept his proposal?

Hiroki Ryuichi can only pray that this dusty pearl has not yet been discovered by the capitalists.

At this moment, the cell phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

He immediately reached out and picked it up, and found that it was a call from the copyright department of Kawaide Shobo.

It's done!

If the other party does not accept your proposal, you should notify them in a tactful letter or email.

"Moshimoshi, this is Guangmu Film and Television Company, what can I do for you?"

He suppressed his excitement and tried his best to speak in a calm tone.

"Hello, this is the Copyright Planning Department of Kawade Shobo. Your company recently submitted a copyright purchase plan for "The Convenience Store of Sorrow". Does your company still intend to purchase it now?"

"Of course!"

"Okay. We will immediately send the purchase details to your company's mailbox via email.

Regarding the signing of the specific contract, please trouble President Guangmu to come to our company for consultation when the time comes."

"Ok, no problem!"

As soon as Guangmu Longyi hung up the phone, he felt relieved.

The next question is how to get 1000 million yen from the bank.

Fortunately, the economy is in a downturn now. As long as you have certain qualifications and a guarantor with sufficient strength, banks are willing to lend you money no matter how much it is.

1000 million yen is an astronomical figure. With Hiroki Ryuichi's previous income, he would have to go without food and drink for more than ten years to save that much.

But he believes that "The Convenience Store of Sorrow" will definitely give him double the return!

1998 9 Month 1 Day.

The same drizzle did not stop the enthusiastic readers this time.

The new issue of "MOE", a children's picture book published by Hakusensha, is officially on sale.

This children's literature magazine, which was once destined to gather dust on a shelf in a corner of a bookstore, has now become a favorite that major bookstores are vying to purchase.

Since the serialization of "The Little Prince" began, the sales of "MOE" have rapidly climbed to the first place among Japanese children's literature magazines at a terrifying rate.

The August issue of "MOE" has carved out a new path in the literary market, and as a children's literature magazine, it has sat at the same table with pure literature magazines such as "Wenyi" and "Xinwenxiang".

Hakusensha, which mainly produces girls' comics, now has annual sales of about 105 billion yen, and the majority of its income comes from teenage girls all over Japan.

The directors of the board of directors never imagined that one day, their shabby children's literature magazine would be able to take up the sales banner and compete with their mainstream comic magazines!
Mori Tetsutaro, who recently got married and is pregnant, walked quickly into a large bookstore with an umbrella.

His wife will graduate from college next year, and they had originally planned to get married next year when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

Graduating from university and getting married, double happiness.

However, due to an operational error, the small umbrella he was wearing failed to successfully stop his descendants.

By the time Tetsutaro Mori came to his senses, his young girlfriend was already pregnant, so they had to arrange the wedding ahead of time.

The other two members of the trio, the barrister Hiroshi Yamaguchi and the yakuza boss Shigeo Nishiguchi, gloated over the misfortune at first, but also offered their blessings and help at the first opportunity.

Recently, the three of them have been busy helping Mr. Kitagawa to build momentum overseas in order to criticize the injustice of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The three of them were very busy and basically spent ten days or half a month wandering around, so they had little time to go back to Tokyo.

Under such circumstances, Tetsutarou Mori was still very grateful that Hiroshi Yamaguchi and Shigeo Nishiguchi were still so dedicated in helping him arrange his wedding.

Laugh if you want!
Let them go this time.

After the wedding, his pregnant girlfriend stayed at home to take care of the baby while he started to take care of other things.

Both of them were very concerned about prenatal education, so they focused their attention on the Japanese children's literature market.

Obviously, there is no better prenatal education work than The Little Prince. Mori Tetsutaro followed the flow of people and squeezed into the crowded bookstore.

Piles of "MOE" are placed in the most conspicuous places such as the front desk, the first row of bookshelves, and the display cabinets by the window, so readers don't have to worry about not finding it.

Most of the readers who come to this bookstore come for "MOE", or "The Little Prince".

Everyone bought copies of "MOE" in an orderly manner.

Because this magazine is mostly taken home by parents to read with their children, waves of readers come and go.

By the time it was Tetsutaro Mori's turn to pay, most of the readers in the bookstore had left.

He was holding a brand new "MOE". His wife probably hadn't gotten up yet, so going back now might disturb her rest.

Thinking of this, he simply found a piece of open space, stood there and started flipping through the magazine.

He has read all the recent issues of "MOE", although Mr. Kitagawa's "The Little Prince" is a children's reading material specifically written for children.

But he actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

Write from a child's perspective with an adult's writing style, and see the adult world through a child's eyes.

Such wonderful ideas and writing style made Tetsutaro Mori feel as if he had returned to the first time he read Mr. Kitagawa's novel.

"Hear the Wind Sing".

Over the past three years, many people may have gradually forgotten this "newcomer's debut work" that once led Kodansha out of the trough and stood out from the crowd with "Gunzo".

But Tetsutaro Mori still remembers it as if it happened yesterday.

Because this was also the starting point of his journey as a literary critic.

Now, while reading The Little Prince, the same feeling he had when he read Hear the Wind Sing came back to him.

The plot of "The Little Prince" continues from the last episode.

The little prince met the king who claimed to rule everything. After talking with him, he planned to continue traveling to other planets.

During the subsequent journey, he met several interesting people:

Lives on the second planet, a very vain person.

In the eyes of those who are vain, everyone else becomes their admirer.

Even if he was the only person on the planet, he still felt that he was the most beautiful person on the planet, the best dressed person, the richest person, and the smartest person.

He asked the little prince to admire him, and the little prince shrugged and met his request.

But the little prince also raised his doubts: "I admire you, but what can make you so interested in this?"

He couldn't understand why this vain person could continue to compare with others on a planet with only one person.

This little story hit the nail on the head for Tetsutaro Mori.

Once upon a time, he was a vain person who had accomplished nothing, living in his own world at school, at work, and at home.

The little prince is right. Even if others are forced to admire you, what's the point?

People should live for themselves, not live for the evaluation of others.

On the third planet, the little prince met a drunkard.

An alcoholic drinks all day and becomes depressed.
The little prince was curious about why he drank, and he said it was to forget.

The little prince asked him what he wanted to forget, and he said that he wanted to forget his shame.

"Then what are you ashamed of?"

The little prince loved to ask questions like this.

"I'm ashamed of my drinking." The drunkard never spoke again after saying this.

"Pfft-"

Mori Tetsutarou didn't know why he was laughing.

As he laughed, he felt an inexplicable sense of sadness again.

Living on the fourth planet is a businessman.

He spent the whole day doing various calculations and work. He claimed that all the stars in the sky belonged to him and he wanted to use this to make more money.

The little prince wondered what he would do with the extra money.

He said he would buy more stars and make more money.
The little prince was speechless.

He feels that alcoholics and industrialists may seem different, but in essence they are the same.

The fifth planet is the strangest, so small that it can only accommodate a street lamp and a lamplighter.

“Perhaps this man is not in his right mind,” the little prince thought. “But he is better than the king, than the vain man, than the businessman, and than the drunkard.

At least his work has some meaning.

When he lit his street lamp, it was like he added a star, or a flower.

When he turned off the streetlights, it was like letting the stars or flowers fall asleep.

This is a wonderful job, it is really useful."

As soon as the little prince arrived on the planet, he greeted the lamplighter respectfully: "Good morning. Why did you turn off the lamp just now?"

"Good morning. -- Because it is an order," replied the lamplighter.

"What are the orders?"

"Just put out my street lamp. Good evening." And he lit the street lamp again.

"Then why did you light it again?"

"That is also an order," replied the lamplighter.

"I don't understand," said the little prince.

"There is nothing to understand. An order is an order," answered the lamplighter.

"Good morning." And he turned off the street light again.

The little prince did not understand his work, but respected his behavior.

He thought the Lamplighters were at least better than the people on the previous planets.

Those people only care about themselves, while the lamplighter at least cares about other things.

Of course, the lamplighter will definitely be looked down upon by others.

When he saw this, Tetsutarou Mori vaguely felt what Mr. Kitagawa wanted to write.

Mr. Kitagawa actually wanted to write his thoughts on society and his exploration of politics and the world into such a children's literature novel!

If you think about it carefully, don’t industrialists, drunkards, kings, lamplighters, and vain people correspond to certain specific classes in society?

The "drunkard" at the bottom of society refers to the "industrialist" of the capitalists, who is very much like the "lamplighter" of ordinary social animals, the self-righteous "king", and the vain "middle class".

"hiss--"

At this moment, Tetsutaro Mori could no longer tell whether this was children's literature or a fairy tale for adults.

Or maybe it's both, depending on how you look at it?
This children's literature novel is far from as simple as people think!
"Mr. Kitagawa is truly a writer whose depth is unfathomable and whose estimation is inestimable."

Tetsutarou Mori praised from the bottom of his heart, and then couldn't wait to continue reading.

(End of this chapter)