I am a literary giant in Japan

As the low moans became louder, Chihaya Ruri's fear and curiosity grew stronger.

From time to time, the sound of "nani nani" from other people in the front could be heard, which made the people in the queue behind more curious. They stretched their necks to look, trying to understand what was happening in front.

At first, Chihaya Ruri thought it was a terrorist attack and was ready to retreat with both feet.

But after a while, she found that the situation in front was still the same and no one was running back. This made her feel a lot more calm and she began to move her head forward like the people in front of her.

But she was too small, and no matter how hard she stretched her neck, all she could see were dark shadows.

In the end, the curiosity in her heart overcame her fear. She bit her lip, simply left the long line, and walked straight towards the place where the sound came from.

The place where the low calls came from was close to the door of the bookstore. The further you go in that direction, the more people gather, and many of them are readers who are holding the latest issue of "Mass Magazine" in their hands.

Chihaya Ruri's appearance and dress are "fair, thin and young". Today she was wearing a sailor suit similar to the JK uniform. When the middle-aged men around her saw her like this, they knew that she was a "version T0" who was not easy to mess with. They quickly avoided her one after another to prevent her from blackmailing them.

The dispersed crowd helped Chihaya Ruri a lot. She walked to the door of the bookstore, but found that the source was just a few "social animals" who were holding "Mass" and discussing loudly.

"Corporate slave" is one of the most popular Internet terms nowadays, which is a combination of the Japanese words "company" and "livestock".

"Company" refers to a company, and "livestock" refers to livestock raised in batches. "Corporate livestock" is a group of livestock raised in batches by a company, which perfectly fits the attributes of office workers. Therefore, after this word was invented, it quickly became popular on the Internet.

A few "corporate slaves" in suits and ties had not noticed Chihaya Ruri walking next to them at this time, and were still excitedly talking about "Mass" in their hands.

The readers in the long queue behind who had not yet bought the magazine just listened along and exclaimed along with them from time to time, just like the ancient storytellers and ordinary people next door.

“.I heard that The Crucible would end in this issue, and I was worried that there would be no good books to read afterwards.

I didn’t expect that “Mass” would pick up a treasure this time, and a blank writer actually contributed a super exciting new novel!
Hehe, who says that a blank slate writer can never surpass those famous old writers in his lifetime? This Miss 'Kitagawa Naoko' is the best counterexample! "

The "social animal" who was shaking his head seemed to wish that everyone's eyes would be focused on him. While speaking, he deliberately opened the "Massive" in his hand, and the exposed page had the eye-catching words "Ghost Call 1" written on it.

The author's name was indeed "Kitagawa Naoko", whom Chihaya Ruri had never heard of.

"Kitagawa Naoko?" She tilted her head. Isn't this pen name the combination of Kitagawa's surname and the name of the heroine Naoko in "Norwegian Wood"?

It's obvious that this author is a die-hard fan of Mr. Kitagawa.

However, Chihaya Ruri searched through her memory and could not remember any writer in the literary world who could cause readers to exclaim and discuss.

The Japanese literary world is so small that after Kitagawa Sensei reorganized it several times, the conservative writers fled or stopped writing, and the ones left are basically a group of new writers who quietly emerged after 95.

Chihaya Ruri could name all these writers like naming dishes, but Kitagawa Naoko was definitely not among them.

Moreover, "Da Zhong" is now one of the top literary magazines. It is a thin magazine with only a few pages, and each issue will not serialize novels from more than ten authors.

Magazines have limited slots, so it is almost impossible to serialize novels written by blank writers.

Although the sudden emergence of Mr. Kitagawa has to some extent broken some of the conservative ideas in the Japanese literary world, with limited resources and a limited market, if a blank slate writer wants to make his debut, he still has to rely on major new literary awards. Without a few years of hard work, it is basically impossible to publish a novel in a top literary magazine.

The fact that Ms. Naoko Kitagawa was able to have her debut novel published quietly in Dazhong magazine means that she is either an alias for some literary giant, or she has strong connections in the editorial department, or her novel is really well written.

No matter which of the above three situations it is, it is enough to cause various discussions inside and outside the industry.

After figuring this out, Chihaya Ruri could understand the surprise of these "corporate animals".

However, just this little gossip made her give up the queue she had queued up with great difficulty. Chihaya Ruri immediately felt so wronged!
Just as she turned around and was about to leave, the "social animals" started discussing "A Ghost Call 1" again. One of the sentences, "I didn't expect this to be a horror novel," immediately pulled her back.

Horror novel?
Such a niche subject?
Chihaya Ruri remembered that the last time she read this kind of novel was when she was in elementary school.

At that time, because bizarre horror anime such as "Wonder City" and "Devilman" were very popular, a small horror wave also arose in the film and television and literary circles.

However, the literary world at that time was still firmly controlled by conservatives and Ichiro Tanizaki, and this kind of unorthodox novel was soon labeled as "garbage" and had to sit on the same table with the lowest-grade erotic novels, becoming a typical street literature.

And just like mystery literature and romance novels, because there are no good writers to create them, the quality of Japanese horror novels is worrying, and they were quickly eliminated by the market, becoming a sewer-like subject that no one cares about.

Nowadays, mystery literature has been brought to the fore by people like Keigo Higashino, and romance novels have also become popular with the influence of "Hidekazu Kitagawa", and have frequently appeared in various literary magazines.

But even for these two types of revived subjects, there are rarely works written by creators other than top writers published in the top literary magazines.

Not to mention the horror novels which are so niche that they can’t be more niche.

"Volkswagen" actually dared to secretly include its own content when "The Crucible" was finalized, becoming the first "person" in the industry to take the risk. It can be said to be very bold.

After her curiosity was aroused again, Chihaya Ruri decisively walked out of the crowd and walked towards the luxury car parked on the side of the road.

Behind her, similar "street advertisements" are being performed repeatedly. The "performers" are generally dressed up as the familiar "social animals", "students" or "literature lovers". This is obviously a new promotional trick played by "Volkswagen" to promote "Call Me If You Can 1".

Chihaya Ruri only reacted after getting on the car.

But it doesn’t matter. Her curiosity has been aroused anyway. It doesn’t matter whether those “social animals” are “shills” or not. None of these can stop her from wanting to watch “Call Me If You Can 1”!
"Uncle Kagawa, please help me check which bookstore nearby can buy "Popular" right away. I want to read it now. Please!" Chihaya Ruri said softly to the driver in the front seat.

"Yes, ma'am."

The bald uncle nodded slightly, then took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

ten minutes later.

Chihaya Ruri held the March issue of "Volkswagen" contentedly, sat in the back seat of the luxury car, and couldn't wait to flip through it.

She watched the finale of The Crucible first.

She had just finished catching up on the previous issues of "The Crucible". Although this novel was not within her comfort zone, she was still deeply moved by the actions of the protagonists Hiroshi Kitahara and senior Mako for the deaf and mute children.

She just turned 20 this year and went to the cinema to watch the movie of the same theme "Children in the Dark". During the period, Kaoru, who came to Tokyo specially to watch the movie with her, cried bitterly, and she also lamented and felt sad.

People have different views on the end of the Charity Group.

Optimists feel that this is a great victory. From now on, people with disabilities in Japan finally have their own voice and are no longer lambs to be slaughtered.

Pessimists believe that if one charity group falls, thousands more will emerge in the future. They think the root of this incident lies in the political system, and if the corrupt political world is not properly rectified, similar things will definitely happen in the future.

Chihaya Ruri, who has been in contact with the upper class since she was a child, has seen more of the dark side of the world, so she is an unwavering pessimist.

Because she does not approve of the struggle of Mr. Kitagawa and others, she is very resistant to this kind of thing, and has a natural sympathy and lament for those who do these things.

This emotion spread to novels of the same type, making Chihaya Ruri reluctant to read them in depth.

But The Crucible is an exception.

She seemed to have read something different from this novel. Kitagawa seemed to be doing his best to write about a dark world, and then told the readers with hope, "We fight all the way, not to change the world, but to prevent the world from changing us."

This belief, which she perceived, has supported her until now even though she did not like "The Crucible".

She lowered her head and continued reading the novel.

".Next, the Chief Cabinet Secretary will read the commemorative message on behalf of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was very willing to participate, but unfortunately he was visiting the United States yesterday and was unable to commemorate with us.

The Prime Minister himself hopes that everyone knows that the contribution of Wujin City in promoting democracy and upholding human rights in this land over the past 28 years is a great achievement that is difficult to describe in words.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome the Chief Cabinet Secretary to the stage with warm applause to deliver his speech! "

A bald man walked up to the podium amid applause. A gust of wind blew down a flower basket next to the podium, and the red petals danced in the wind.

“I feel deeply honored to be here in Kiritsu, the sacred place of democracy and the birthplace of human rights in our country.”

The bald man's voice came through the loudspeaker, and not far away, louder "noise" was coming towards here again and again.

The demonstration procession led by Hiroshi Kitahara and Mako marched towards the speech venue with drums and gongs.

Most members of the team are deaf and mute, so not many people can shout along with the slogans, and can only use the gongs and drums in their hands instead.

The loud "noise" of gongs and drums is like the emotions they want to vent, echoing in the ears of "normal people" over and over again.

On a hill in the distance overlooking the entire street, Inspector Jiang was holding a radio and directing the police stationed on the sidewalk.

“Don’t let them get close to the square! Drive them from that intersection to the Education Department. If anyone gets hurt, there’s nothing we can do.

Get them out of here! If the TV cameramen catch us, it will all be over!"

Inspector Jiang shouted excitedly while holding the radio,

"Prepare to fire the riot gun! Three, two, one, fire!"

"Are they crazy?! Aren't riot water guns special equipment used to deal with large-scale mass riots?
This is a large weapon used by the Ministry of Defense and the National Security Department to fight terrorists and stop riots!"

After reading this, Chihaya Ruri was dumbfounded.

The riot water gun also has a professional name - vehicle-mounted riot water cannon. Chihaya Ruri saw it when she went to the secret base of the Ministry of Defense with her father when she was a child. It was the kind of armored vehicle that looked very scary when viewed up close.

Using weapons of this level to deal with a parade of disabled people is indeed something hypocritical politicians would do.

Faced with the unreasonable riot water cannons, the marching team suffered heavy losses.

But they, who were disabled but determined, did not stop. Instead, the strong men stood in front, and the thin women and children followed behind, and they continued to walk towards the square, step by step, slowly but firmly!

Kitahara Hiroshi, who was at the front of the crowd, held Yeon-do's portrait in his hands and called out her name over and over again at the top of his lungs.

"This child can't hear or speak. Her name is Yeon-do. Please help her."

"This child can't hear or speak. Her name is Yeon-do. Please help her."

Looking at Kitahara Hiroshi's cry in the book, Chihaya Ruri couldn't help but whisper in agreement.

In the previous serialization, Yeon-do committed suicide by lying on the railway tracks, just like the little boy who committed suicide at the beginning of the story.

She will never see those scum being brought to justice, and can only lie on the cold ground, silently looking up at the bloody sky.

Unfortunately, the calls of Kitahara Hiroshi and others did not receive any practical response.

The riot water cannon easily "suppressed" the demonstrators and completed its "mission".

The Chief Cabinet Secretary, who was not far away, breathed a sigh of relief. At least he did not make a fool of himself in such an important occasion when he was speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister.

He continued to speak passionately to the confused people about the history of "human rights promotion" in Wujin City. Opposite him was the "human rights promotion" team that was overwhelmed by water guns. This scene seemed quite "funny".

Inspector Jiang, who had made a "great contribution", was very satisfied, as if he had already seen a future of promotion and salary increase.

After the riot, Kitahara Hiroshi was expelled from the Charity School for the Deaf and Mute, and Mako was expelled from Kiritsu City.

The last chapter of the novel begins with a letter from Yeon-do's mother to Kitahara Hiroshi.

"We were arrested that day for violating the Road Traffic Law and the Assembly and Procession Law, but luckily we met a 'good judge'.

He determined that we did not commit the crime for personal gain, and therefore fined each of us 7.9 yen.

Judging from the fines, have we received a heavier punishment than the Ci Ai School for the Deaf and Dumb, which has not paid a penny of tax to the country?
Anyway, the judges in Wujin City are so tolerant."

The reply was full of ridicule, and it also mentioned that the Ci'ai School for the Deaf and Dumb had been reopened, and even the administrative director and physical education teacher involved in the incident had been reinstated. The only person who was fired was Kitahara Hiroshi.

Of course, things are not unchanged.

Thanks to the efforts of local caring people, the injured children were transferred out and now all live in a small welfare home called "Shelter Home".

Someone asked Liuli, who survived, "What was the biggest change before and after this incident?"

She replied in sign language: "I finally understand that we are also equally precious 'people'."

Chihaya Ruri, who also has the same name Ruri, couldn't stop herself from crying when she saw these words.

The ending of The Crucible is brutal.

The bad guys were not punished, but the good guys suffered.

But did they really lose?

At the end of the story, when Kitahara Hiroshi received the reply letter, he was walking alone beside the fountain in the park.

His ears echoed with the words Liuli said to him in sign language when they parted for the last time.

"You don't feel guilty towards us, do you? Our eyes are thirsty for news from you, Mr. Kitahara."

Kitahara Hiroshi's eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist, and the dots of white shirt on the grass swelled and mottled into a blur.

Like fog. (End of this chapter)