I am a literary giant in Japan

"Advanced Esophageal Cancer"

Kitagawa Hide repeatedly read the letter in his hand several times, and after confirming that the content was correct, he finally understood why Hayashi Masumi suddenly did such a "mad" thing as poisoning the curry rice.

This can also explain from the side why Terada Tatsumi has such an attitude towards Hayashi Masumi.

Apart from the hospital examination report, this letter only recorded the content of the interview that day. Terada Tatsumi did not write anything else to Kitagawa Hide.

But since the matter was told to Kitagawa Hide in this way, Terada Tatsumi's final decision is self-evident.

It seems that she will never be able to inherit Hayashi Masumi's legacy and become a "vicious villain" wandering around Japanese society like her.

Kitagawa Hide asked Shimamura Keiko to burn the letter and its contents, leaving no trace.

Watching the letter turn into ashes, he silently recited in his heart, "From dust to ashes, from earth to earth."

Just let everything go with the wind!

1998 9 Month 15 Day.

The culprits of the Wakayama toxic curry incident, Hayashi Masumi and his wife, were secretly taken to a prison in Tokyo and executed by relatively painless lethal injection.

Hayashi Masumi also became the first woman in Japanese history to be sentenced to death by a court judge.

The heat of this incident gradually faded with the death of the two people, and Japan, which had been silent for a long time, soon became crazy again because of the release of the September issue of "Kitagawa".

In 1998, Japan was generally filled with an atmosphere of instability. The poor financial and social environment made people lose their sense of security.

At the beginning of the year, Yamaichi Securities collapsed and Japan's major financial reform began, but it later came to an end due to the dissolution of the Hashimoto cabinet.

After that, the New Democratic Party was established, the Social Democratic Party and the Pioneer New Party withdrew from the coalition government, and the Self-Socialist-Premier coalition government ended.

In addition, North Korea's launch of the Taepodong-1 missile over Japanese airspace has also made the people more anxious.

If there are any good things that can cheer people up a little, they are probably the two things that Japanese football entered the World Cup for the first time and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge opened to traffic.

But for ordinary citizens, this level of stimulation is far from enough.

When the overall social atmosphere is depressed, everyone hopes that someone can stand up and act as their guiding light and weather vane.

At times like this, people tend to turn their attention to the field of literature, which is relatively unrelated to politics, economy, and military.

The pure and spotless writers became the ultimate pure land in their minds.

The publicity and promotion department of "Kitagawa" was keenly aware of this, and with the slogan "life salvation, social hope, and the rise of the bottom", they vigorously promoted Kitagawa Hide's new book "Asakusa Red Group".

The overwhelming billboards are spread across famous cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, and all advertising signs along the subway lines have been replaced with the book cover of "Asakusa Red Group".

Even television stations, radio stations and other audio-visual media helped promote the book, which made people wonder whether the film and television rights of "Asakusa Red Group" have already been sold.

“After the bubble economy burst, Japan in the late Showa period was in the midst of a transformation of the old and the new and the integration of the East and the West.

Asakusa was one of the centers of Kabuki culture and downtown, and a large number of delinquents and prostitutes flocked to it.

Human traffickers roam the streets, and parks and open spaces are crowded with gang members, orphans, and large numbers of homeless men and women.

The protagonist is from another place. While wandering in Asakusa, he encounters members of the boy gang "Red Group". Under the leadership of their leader, the girl Ashin, he explores the streets of Asakusa, which is at the forefront of the times.

The protagonist observes the daily lives of these people with a distant and calm gaze, depicting the destruction and establishment, beauty and ugliness, vanity and poverty of the lower-class communities in Tokyo today, and also subtly conveys Kitagawa Hide's uneasiness about the current situation as an anti-war activist. "

At the entrance of Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore, a large poster filled with promotional articles is placed in the most conspicuous place.

Anyone passing by Tokyo Station, a bustling city, will be attracted by this large poster.

The store manager firmly believes that after reading this promotional article, most people will choose to go into the store and take a look at "Asakusa Red Balls".

As one of Mr. Kitagawa's most loyal fans, the store manager's enthusiasm for Mr. Kitagawa's novels is well known, and he even has hundreds of thousands of fans on the Internet because of this.

Early in the morning of September 9th.

Ashin rode his motorcycle to wake up Ajiu who was still sleeping, and then rushed to Yumiko's rental house as usual.

"Sister Ashin, ah~" Ahjiu yawned and watched Ashin get off the car bored. Like before, he came to the door of the rental house, knocked on the door and called for help.

"Boom boom boom——"

When no one responded, Shin shouted, "Yumiko-chan! I'm coming!"

Still no one responded.

Her expression dimmed for a second, and then she showed a bright and happy smile.

"Let's go! Let's go to the bookstore and buy some books!"

Shin returned to the motorcycle, put on his helmet again, and drove Jiu towards Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore in high spirits.

"Yumiko has moved away for a long time. And since then, she has never returned to Asakusa or Kabukicho."

Talking about that old friend, Jiu felt a little dissatisfied but also somewhat relieved.

She knew that Yumiko and Meggie had become contracted writers for Kitagawa, and from information she had inquired from clients, she learned that even if they could not serialize their novels in magazines, such contracted writers could still receive a basic salary ranging from 10 to 15 yen per month from the publishing house.

For girls like them who rely on their youth to make a living and engage in the sex trade, this is simply a dream job.

Jiu was also happy that her good sister was able to completely leave the Asakusa community.

It was this behavior of leaving without saying goodbye, as if they were trying to cut off ties with these "trash friends" at the speed of light after becoming rich, that made her feel a little uncomfortable.

But that's normal.

If it were her, she would probably do something even more extreme than Yumiko.

She just felt a little distressed for Sister Ashin who still came here every day as usual.

Sister Ashin probably thinks that as long as she persists, she will be able to see Yumiko again one day?
"Yeah. That's good. But I still come here once a day, knock on the door, call her, and make sure she's really gone."

Ashin's voice was full of joy, not like a poor fellow abandoned by his best friend.

"Day after day, year after year, until it is confirmed that she will never come back."

"That's too persistent, Sister Ashin~" Jiu didn't understand, but was willing to accompany her to do this.

Isn't a best friend a big fool who will support you unconditionally at all times?

Ashin stopped talking and focused on riding his bike, and soon brought her to the Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore which was already crowded with people.

As the largest bookstore in the vicinity, Maruzen Marunouchi has always had no shortage of customers. From opening in the early morning to closing in the evening, there are at least thousands of readers coming to the bookstore to buy books.

But today, the store manager vaguely saw the enthusiasm when "Hear the Wind Sing" was first put on the shelves.

Readers rushed in like crazy, asking for five or ten copies of Beichuan, as if a 500 yen magazine was as worthless as oden sold at a roadside stall. Ah Xin and Ah Jiu, who had just arrived at the store, were also frightened.

This doesn't look like a bookstore at all, it's clearly a shopping mall from the bubble economy era!
After finally squeezing into the bookstore with the crowd, Ashin relied on his good physique and strength to open a path to the front counter.

The petite Ajiu followed closely behind her, fearing that if she turned around, she and Sister Axin would be separated by the terrifying crowd.

"Please give me two copies of Beichuan, the September issue!"

Shin took out coins and banknotes from his pocket and managed to scrape together 1000 yen.

If it wasn't for buying books, the money would have been used to buy lunch for her and Ajiu.

"Today's Beichuan is on sale, 10% off all items. Are you a member of our bookstore? If you are a member, you can enjoy an additional 10% discount."

The enthusiastic clerk held two copies of "Beichuan" and did not forget to sell various "discount strategies" to Ashin.

When the economy declines sharply, many industries that were once high and mighty will begin to become "down-to-earth", and various seemingly favorable shopping discounts will emerge.

Of course, the essence of these things is to promote consumption, so that citizens can take the money in their pockets out and use it instead of keeping it in the bank and causing terrible deflation.

Ashin was confused and got a membership card under the clerk's persuasion, enjoying the so-called 1000% discount. But when he touched his pocket in the end, he not only paid the full 500 yen, but also paid an extra yen.

Looking at the golden card in her hand, she smiled helplessly. It seemed that she would have to come to buy books in the future.

After getting the magazine, the two originally planned to go home or go to Kabukicho to read it, but when they learned that the bookstore provided free coffee and seats, they decisively squeezed through the crowd and managed to grab two chairs. Then each of them held a cup of coffee and tore open the transparent film of the magazine.

Seeing Ah Xin gulping down coffee as if he were drinking water, obviously trying to drink back the money he had lost, Ah Jiu pursed his lips and chuckled.

She suddenly felt that after Yumiko left, the relationship between her and Sister Ashin was pretty good.

It seems that Mr. Beichuan said something when he was in the editorial department of Beichuan.

“There is no party that will last forever. What we should do is not to be sad about the end of the party, but to try our best to enjoy it at its climax.”

Life is a journey, and experience is more important than possession.

Ashin on the side didn't think so much.

She really cares about money——

1500 yen, with her earning ability, she might not be able to earn that much in two or three days, which is really painful.

At least make back your money on the free coffee!

"belch--"

After drinking three cups of hot coffee, Ashin felt his stomach was round and a little bloated, so he stopped this behavior and turned his attention to the magazine.

The book cover design of "Beichuan" follows the simple style of "Group Portrait". The cover is mostly composed of lines, which looks very artistic.

In addition, the shadow of the former "Group Portrait" can be vaguely seen in many places of the magazine.

After all, the company's team is inherited from Kodansha's "Gunzo", and many of the old employees are three-generation veterans——

He has worked for three pure literature magazines: "Qunxiang", "Wenyi" and "Beichuan".

Ashin didn't have much aesthetic sense and thought the cover was rather sloppy, not as good as those fashion magazines with busty beauties or those flashy anime magazines.

But she didn't care about this, since she only had one goal -

Kitagawa's new book "Asakusa Red Ball".

"Introduction It is difficult to estimate the troubles this novel will bring to the members of the Red Group and the people in the Asakusa community. Chapter 1 "The Girl Playing the Piano"

After reading the introduction, Ashin felt that Mr. Kitagawa was quite particular, actually publicly apologizing for such a thing.

Many famous writers will not write such a "disclaimer" even if they quote real people and events, and they do not treat ordinary people as human beings at all.

That bad attitude made Ashin very unhappy.

From the introduction, Mr. Kitagawa aroused her favor.

The title of the first chapter reminded Shin of the abandoned piano in the heart of the Asakusa community.

There used to be a beautifully dressed girl who played the piano there every day. It was said that she was the daughter of a wealthy family, but her family fell into poverty due to the bursting of the bubble economy, and she also fell into the Asakusa community.

Ashin doesn't understand music, but every time he passes by, he is always attracted and can't help but stop and listen to a song.

She also told this story to Teacher Beichuan herself.

Unfortunately, the girl suddenly disappeared a few years ago.

Some said she was crazy, some said she went to live with relatives in Nagoya, and some said she was sold to Kabukicho by bad boys.

In short, there are many different opinions about the girl's ending, and no one can explain it clearly, just like the Asakusa community itself, it is always shrouded in fog, like looking at flowers in the fog or catching the moon in the water, which is ultimately nothing.

The first chapter of the novel uses the popular writing style of the Edo period to describe in an easy-to-understand way a corner of the Asakusa community from the perspective of "I", which begins with a girl playing the piano.

The characters and stories in the novel are so familiar to Ashin that he knows them all.

But when it is re-presented through Mr. Kitagawa's words, there is a sense of beauty and reality that she cannot describe.

Everyone said that Mr. Kitagawa was the best in the Japanese literary world, but Ashin couldn't understand it at first.

Because she also wanted to be the best in the Asakusa community, but for so many years, no one had ever taken that position, and she didn't understand how powerful such a person must be.

Now that I read the novel, I seem to understand it a little better.

Ajiu on the other side was watching and secretly sizing up Axin.

Even Sister Ashin, who has no interest in words, was addicted to it. The magic of this novel is really great!

Of course, she did not escape and was deeply fascinated by Mr. Kitagawa's writing.

The second chapter of the novel is called "Sumida Park" and tells the story of the people living near the only park in the Asakusa community.

Shin and Jiu remember that Sumida Park existed when they were children.

Now more than ten years have passed, and it is still there, as if nothing has changed.

In the eyes of many Asakusa people, Sumida Park is a microcosm of the Asakusa community.

"The dancer dancing Spanish dance with needle holes all over her upper arms, the detectives wandering around at night, the women tamping at the construction site, the children buying Chitose candy at the shrine"

One familiar figure after another flashed through Ashin's mind.

"What a detailed description, what a realistic feeling" even she couldn't help but murmur. (End of this chapter)