I am a literary giant in Japan

Kitagawa Hide likes it very much to go and spend Christmas with the children in the welfare home.

But Kitagawa Hide really doesn't like the attitude of this sharp-tongued woman, Jabami Rei, when asking for help.

Therefore, he pretended to be embarrassed and forced the blushing Jabami Rei to stand up and bow 90 degrees. Only after he said sincerely, "I'll leave this matter to you, Mr. Kitagawa," did he "reluctantly" agree.

After reaching an agreement with the sharp-tongued woman on how to spend Christmas, Kitagawa Hide ran to the kitchen to help Yumeko cook, and by the way, told Yumeko everything in detail -

He and Mengzi have always adhered to the love philosophy of "husband and wife should talk about everything" and "trust and respect are the basis of love", and they have implemented it to the end.

Mengzi nodded as she listened, and then immediately waved the spoon to drive out Kitagawa Hide, who was groaning beside her.

Some concepts of traditional Japanese families are similar to those in ancient times, and "a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen" is basic etiquette.

When it comes to matters like these that involve traditional etiquette and "husband's manners", Yumeko's attitude usually becomes extremely tough, and she is determined not to compromise with Kitagawa Hide on such matters.

Before leaving, Kitagawa Hide picked up a cucumber and ate it while flipping through the book "New Literary Image".

"You guy! Why don't you get me one? I feel like I'm seriously lacking in vitamins lately."

Jabami Rei pulled Kitagawa Toru's little face. This rebellious son "Aba Aba" was enjoying the "abuse" of his godmother in a very shameless way, which made Kitagawa Hide feel like a waste of talent.

"It's in the kitchen, go get it yourself!"

Kitagawa Hide ignored her, sat back on the sofa and continued reading the magazine.

It just so happens that the opening of "Flowers of Hell" is also in the form of an interview.

The first passerby that Nagai Kazufu interviewed was a fruit and vegetable vendor.

Facing the camera and microphone, the small vendors were full of complaints and helplessness.

With the help of the Japanese government's Agricultural Crop Import Restriction Act, these fruit and vegetable businesses should have been prospering.

But the reality is that the prices of fruits and vegetables in Japan are indeed extremely high due to import restrictions.

For example, a scallion costs 100 yen, a quarter of a cabbage can be sold for 120 yen, and two oranges can be sold for 500 yen. The prices are almost as much as a copy of "Literature and Art".

Kitagawa Hide, who had never been to a supermarket to buy vegetables, realized that the fact that Japanese fruits and vegetables are sold by number is not a joke, but a reality!

However, although the prices of fruit and vegetable products have gone up, the profits of vendors are still very thin.

Because the price difference was completely earned by those guys from the Japan Agricultural Association.

This is also a major feature of Japan.

No matter what industry you are in, you will have an association or a union. They usually do nothing and you can hardly see anyone in their office building. But when there is profit to be made, they will fly over like locusts to suck your blood.

Oh, by the way, they have to negotiate the annual "Spring Fight", which is probably the only value of their existence.

It is in this environment that the vegetables and fruits available to the Japanese are very limited. Vegetables are basically kohlrabi, tomatoes and cucumbers, and fruits are apples, bananas and occasionally watermelons.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Hide looked up and glanced at Jabami Rei, and found that she looked good and did not look like she was lacking in vitamins at all. He put aside his worries and continued reading "Flower of Hell".

Nagai Kazufu wrote a long interview record, but it has little sense of reality. It is obvious that the interview was done by company employees who knew nothing. The content has no focus, and the interviewees are all kinds of people.

The main text of the novel follows the interview record.

The plot of the novel mainly tells the life experiences of a girl named Yuanzi who works as a teacher in a wealthy family.

Nagai Kazufu probably wanted to write about the idea that women in the new era are determined to break through secular concepts and strive for freedom and happiness.

However, his writing and thinking are still limited to the early post-war period and the 7080s and s, and the so-called new-age women have no new feelings at all.

His method of depicting women of the new era is also very simple. He still uses the old-school literati's favorite method of using feminine and sensual beauty to oppose the feudal ethics and morals' suppression of sex and love.

By the way, Nagai Kazufu also loves to write about Japan’s sex industry, and you can tell at first glance that he is an old client of prostitution.

He has publicly said many times before that "Flowers of Hell" would be another of his masterpieces and would also be his final work.

After all, the old senior was "the best in the world" and represented the highest standard of Japanese literary world in the past.

No matter what, Kitagawa Hide will still look at his opponent's final work with awe.

Unfortunately, after reading the entire novel, Kitagawa Hide only had one word to describe "Flowers of Hell".

That's shit.

Now he gradually understood why Ichiro Tanizaki was once revered as the "number one in the world" in Japanese literary circles.

Indeed, compared with these "best in the world", whether it is "The Devil's Tattoo", which was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, or "The Devil's Love" which was written later to compete with him.

In terms of literary value and level, he indeed surpassed other writers of his time.

Especially the unfinished "The Love of a Fool" is undoubtedly the painstaking work of Ichiro Tanizaki.

"call--"

"Another victory without any suspense." Kitagawa Hide casually threw the "New Literary Image" in his hand onto the table.

If it were three years ago, seeing his arrogant look, Jabami Rei's first reaction would be that this parasite was showing off again, he was so arrogant and stupid!

And now, when she saw Kitagawa Hide lying on the sofa with a relaxed expression, she couldn't help but lean on the sofa as well, and also put her mind at ease.

In today's Japanese literary world, Kitagawa Hide is truly a lone warrior seeking to defeat the enemy. It is almost impossible to find someone who can even see the taillights of his car.

Jabami Rei found it hard to imagine how such a top writer could have failed to win the Nobel Prize in Literature so many times.

Her traditional Japanese educational thinking prevented her from truly questioning the value of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and her rational and emotional thinking also prevented her from questioning Kitagawa Hide.

The feeling of being stuck between two pieces of bread as hamburger meat is really terrible.

Similarly, Jabami Rei is also secretly looking forward to the yet-to-be-released "1Q84", wondering what kind of surprises it will bring her.

On December 1998, 12, Oricon, which was never inferior to any other company in fanning the flames, quickly posted the first-day sales data of the December issue of "New Literature" on its own magazines, newspapers and official website.

93.1 copies.

Compared with the November issue, the year-on-year increase is nearly 11%, which indeed reflects the market appeal of Nagai Kazufu and the hype of his so-called final work.

In order to promote the film, the animation and film versions of "Hell Flower" are being produced at the same time.

There is no plan to release the physical book for the time being, because of concerns that its sales will affect the sales of "New Literary Image".

After all, this is about the competition between Shinbunxiang Publishing House and Kawade Shobo Publishing House for the top spot in the publishing industry, and no one dares to let unknown variables invade this sales war.

What is more interesting is that the live-action film version of "Flower of Hell" was produced by Toho Co., Ltd., and the heroine Sonoko was chosen by Toho's highly praised 98 fourth "Toho Cinderella" Maho Nonami.

"Toho Cinderella" is a female star beauty pageant held by Toho Co., Ltd. The girls selected will surely become one of the pillars of Toho in the future.

Previously, the undisputed number one actress in Toho was Yasuko Sawaguchi, who was also the winner of the first "Toho Cinderella".

After the millennium, Minami Hamabe, who was known as "the most beautiful woman in Japan in a century", also won this title.

The title of the fourth "Toho Cinderella" was originally intended to be awarded to the more popular Jabami Rei, but she was targeted for assaulting someone and was eventually fired by the company. The title was then given to Nonami Maho.

Now Toho has specially asked Maho Nonami to play the heroine in "Hell's Flower", obviously intending to accompany "Shinbunxiang" and Nagai Kazukaze to compete with "Bungei" and Kitagawa Hide.

These capitalists and the Shinbunxiang Publishing House, as well as Bungeishunju and Shinchosha, which were defeated by Kawade Shobo, will not shed tears until they see the coffin.

Just when "Flower of Hell" was being promoted, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Education took the lead in announcing the blockbuster news about "1Q84" -

Mr. Kitagawa's new book "1Q84" will be released to readers in two versions.

The official version published by the official publishing house under the Ministry of Education will be available in major bookstores on December 12. All passengers who take the Tokyo subway on that day can get a 17% discount on "1Q84 (Official Edition)" with their subway tickets.

The complete version published by Kawaide Shobo Publishing will be released simultaneously on December 12 and the December issue of "Wenyi", and readers can choose to purchase it.

This bombshell news immediately caused a huge stir in the literary, academic, publishing and literary criticism circles.

Especially the companies in the publishing industry were completely shocked by the confidence of Kawade Shobo and the official!

Not to mention the "stupid move" of releasing the official version before the magazine, at least judging from the introduction, the official version seems like a castrated version. Perhaps the launch of the official version will actually boost the sales of the complete version.

The physical book and the magazine can be released at the same time. Even if the magazine serializes the novel all at once, the existence of the physical book will seriously affect the sales of the magazine!

Everyone wants to read "1Q84" and has already bought it, so why not just buy the physical book which has more collectible value, instead of buying "Wenyi" which comes with other things?
This self-defeating marketing strategy has made other companies in the publishing industry unable to help but hire people to spy on the staff of Hechu Bookstore's publicity and distribution department, so that they can headhunt for them in the future and avoid these idiots at all costs.

In short, after this official news was released, everyone felt that Kawade Shobo exuded an atmosphere of "arrogance, self-confidence, arrogance and ignorance" from top to bottom.

Kitagawa Hide himself was also questioned in various ways, and some even suspected that "1Q84" was a ghostwritten product and might not have been written by Kitagawa at all.

Maybe it's something that was written under the name of Mr. Beichuan, and then some official clerk wrote it for him, just to make money and to flatter the official.

Moreover, Kitagawa Hide had just finished writing the popular "Kafka on the Shore", and won various fantasy awards overseas. He might be busy going out to sea now, or he might still be dealing with the issue of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

"1Q84" was written in such a short time that one cannot help but wonder if there is something fishy going on.

"No wonder the official was reluctant to release any information about 1Q84. Could it be that Mr. Kitagawa really hired someone to write for him?"

Looking at the information released by the government and the "1Q84" poster released early, readers gathered in front of the bookstore gradually began to have similar doubts.

What is strange is that this time, both Beichuan Entertainment’s own public opinion army and the government and Heide Shobo’s water army were unusually calm and no one paid attention to these doubts.

So in this weird atmosphere.

1998年的12月17日，由文部省出版社出版的《1Q84（官方版）》正式面世。

Despite the doubts, countless readers still came early in the morning and waited in front of the doors of major bookstores, just to get a glimpse of "1Q84 (Official Edition)".

The staff of major bookstores did not disappoint the readers and also placed the novel in the most conspicuous place in the bookstore very early on.

What’s interesting is that, perhaps because of the 1% discount, the Tokyo subway was packed like never before that day. Wave after wave of passengers rushed into the bookstore with subway tickets in hand, and then exchanged the subway tickets and the yen in their pockets for a brand new copy of "84Q (Official Edition)".

Jabami Rei is also a member of the subway army.

Behind her were a large group of drivers from Kinoshita's driver team.

These men in black suits were all in uniform and looked like members of a yakuza organization.

Even the surrounded Jabami Rei has the air of a gangster lady.

Kitagawa Hide had promised to accompany her to visit those deaf-mute children on Christmas, so she naturally had to return the favor and went straight to Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore and bought 200 copies of "1Q84 (Official Edition)" in one go.

Anyway, these books will eventually be given to children as gifts, so sending another batch to the more remote Yamanashi Prefecture won’t be considered a waste or a deliberate attempt to inflate the data.

Piles of people in black suits carried the physical books directly from the bookstore to the van, which really looked like they were just brushing data.

But no one paid any attention to them at the moment, because everyone was completely attracted by the content of "1Q84 (Official Version)".

The heroine named Aomame and the hero named Tengo are deeply attracting those who read this book.

Before coming here, Yumeko secretly "spoiled" Jabami Rei, saying that the heroine of this novel was based on her personality and appearance, except that her name was very strange.

Jabami Rei, who had already opened the novel, realized at first glance that Aomame was based on herself.

But what's up with this character design that has both good and evil sides?

Is he hinting at my ambivalent personality?
This guy!

"Hmph, I'll settle the score with you after Christmas. For now, let's forget about it. Reading novels is more important!"

Jaburi Rei sat in the car, resting her long, straight legs on the front headrest, thinking happily. (End of this chapter)