I won't be a loser.

Cherry Blossom Season: 191. Am I the Yin Corner?

"Are you free after school?"

After tidying up my desk and putting my pencil case into my schoolbag, I heard the voice of Akihisa Yoshii beside me.

"Yuuji and I are going to a ramen restaurant together. Yuuji's treat!"

"Hey! I didn't say that, did I?"

After hearing what Yoshii Akihisa said, Sakagami Yuji put his hand on Yoshii Akihisa's shoulder, put his face in front of Yoshii Akihisa, and looked at Yoshii Akihisa with a "smile".

"Forget it today. My hair has grown a little longer recently. After school, I have to go to the barber shop to get a trim."

"Is that so? Then there's nothing I can do. Should I change my hairstyle?"

"I didn't really think about the hairstyle, I just simply trimmed my hair a little shorter."

"Well, it's just Yuuji and I going to the ramen shop. Let's go together next time."

"Ah."

"Are you dissatisfied with the two of us?"

Looking at Yoshii Akihisa's seemingly regretful expression, Sakagami Yuji also felt helpless about Yoshii Akihisa's emotional intelligence. He covered his face with one hand and sighed, regretting that he knew this guy and had such a close relationship with him. If he had not met Yoshii Akihisa, his life would definitely be a different and beautiful scenery.

"No, nothing..."

"I go first."

Unable to explain or argue with Yoshii Akihisa, Kento said goodbye to the two of them and left the classroom first.

Watching him leave alone, Yoshii Akihisa looked towards the door, couldn't help but sigh, and turned his gaze to Sakagami Yuji beside him.

"I always feel like he comes home early after school every day. Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Isn't it normal for him to have a girlfriend? He has a good personality and looks that girls like. I haven't heard him dating anyone at school, and I'm a little worried. Is he interested in... No, in your case, that's impossible."

His eyes fell on Yoshii Akihisa. After staring at him for a while, Sakagami Yuji was silent for a moment, then he shifted his gaze and looked in the direction of Nakano Ichika. The girl had already left the classroom with her sisters. Sakagami Yuji couldn't help but pinch his jaw lightly.

"If he was dating other girls, girls outside of school, then maybe that would be a good thing."

"Yuuji, don't you feel jealous?"

"why?"

Glancing at Yoshii Akihisa, Sakagami Yuji's reaction seemed very calm. He didn't show any jealousy at all because his good friend had a girlfriend, which surprised Yoshii Akihisa.

“No…no? Could it be…”

"Let's go to the ramen shop first while there aren't many people here. By the time it gets to the end of the day, it'll be full of office workers and it'll be hard to find a place to sit."

"Oh......"

He left the classroom and walked out of the school building. He looked back in the direction of the Astronomy Club. He didn't know whether Feng Xiaochun was in the club activity room, so he reached into his pocket, sent a text message to the other party with his mobile phone, and left the school.

After walking out of Fengzhizaki and a while, he arrived at a nearby street and stopped at the door of a barber shop. Xianren walked in and explained his requirements to the staff inside. He asked them to cut his hair slightly shorter and trim it. It took about half an hour, and Xianren walked out of the barber shop.

After touching his hair and trimming it, Xianren felt that he became much more refreshed. When he thought about what he should do next, he didn't know what to do for a moment, so he walked towards a nearby convenience store.

"Buy some drinks and go back."

After buying a lot of coffee and tea at the convenience store, Xianren returned to his apartment carrying the heavy shopping bags.

Leaving a bottle of tea on the table and putting the rest in the refrigerator, Xianren came to his desk, sat down, and thought about what he should write next.

Ever since his book was published, Saionji Sekai seldom came to his place, and Setsuna only came to his apartment at dinner time. Compared to the intimate time before, the time suddenly became dull.

He started the computer, opened the document, looked at the content he had previously set up, closed his eyes, and casually deleted all the content he had written down.

"Works without soul won't feel like writing anything. Writing a programmatic work like this...it's painful just thinking about it."

But when he denied all his original decisions and rethought what he should write, he fell into entanglement again. Sitting in a quiet room, he silently turned on the music player, input the old music he liked, closed his eyes, and tried to find some inspiration from it.

"Cheerful themes don't suit me. Themes about pain and torture, and finding happiness amidst them, are more suitable for me. My previous works were all about sadism, with sadism combined with chaotic settings. I felt that stories like a foster brother torturing his sister, and a 24-year-old male college student imprisoned by his neighbor, would flow easily when written. However, happy content..."

Murmuring silently, the wise man showed a thoughtful expression.

"Comedy is often tragic at its core. My stories are filled with torture and pain, but is that actually a comedy at its core?"

Of course, normally, when you hear him say this about his work, you will definitely retort, "What kind of comedy is this?", but there are also many people who like this.

"Hmm... a popular work like this, yes, I got it!"

"The story begins with a very ordinary boy being confessed to by a girl, but he rejects her. Then he returns home and falls into deep pain, as if he's been hurt by a girl before. He rejects other girls, until finally he plays a prank that leads to the accidental death of his first love!"

Inspiration suddenly came to me, and the content of the whole article was mainly about the beautiful memories of the hero and the dead heroine, as well as the hero's regret and pain, until the truth was revealed at the end, and the hero stood on the beach with a dark smile on his face.

The male protagonist's sinister smile suddenly appeared in his mind, making Xianren's scalp tingle.

"Well, that's the general content. Next, we need to set up the characters..."

Perhaps because he had also experienced the death of his lover, and he was indeed largely responsible for the death, Xianren simply changed his name and applied himself to the setting. As for the heroine, he also directly modified some small details and applied Sayuri's template.

"What's the title of the work?"

There was no big problem with the content, but he still had to give his work a name. However, Xianren sat at the table in a daze, staring at the document in front of him, and fell into silence for a long time.

"Um, Sakura....crying under the Sakura stone?"

Sakura stone is a specialty of Okinawa. It is as transparent as water and the color of cherry blossoms. Using sakura stone as a token of love between the two and giving this book the title does not seem to be a big problem, but he does not know much about sakura stone.

After saving the book and closing the document, the wise man opened his browser and began searching for information related to Sakura Stone...

In the evening, when Shanshan came to call the virtuous man, he saw the virtuous man who had just trimmed his long hair. His eyes couldn't help but fall on the virtuous man's hair. He stared at it carefully for a moment before asking the virtuous man if he had trimmed his hair today.

"It doesn't seem that obvious?"

"It looks a little shorter, but it's not much different from before, so it's not very noticeable."

He stretched out his hand and gently pinched the short hair on Xianren's forehead. After pinching it for a moment, he let go of his hand. He stared at Xianren for a while, then lost interest. This made Xianren feel a little weird. He thought he had trimmed his hair very obviously, but there was not much difference from before?

When entering Qingpu's house, Qingpu Mai noticed at a glance that Xianren's hair volume had changed, which surprised Xianren a little.

"Well, I thought your hair was a little long before and wanted to ask about it, but because of other things, I forgot about it for a while and didn't remember it anymore. Now that it's cut a little shorter, it looks a lot more refreshed."

"Was your hair very long before?"

"It's not very long, but combined with your occasional silences, it gives people a slightly dark feeling."

"dark......."

"A little bit."

Qing Pu Wu stretched out her hand, gently opened and closed her fingers, and made a rough gesture, which made Xianren fall into deep thought, thinking about what kind of impression he had given Qing Pu Wu at that time...

When I returned to my apartment, I didn't rush to bed. I sat at the desk and opened the document in front of me. I continued writing the beginning as soon as I got inspiration. It was around ten o'clock in the evening before I took a shower and lay down on the bed to rest.

"Sales have increased significantly recently. It seems that the 10,000 copies will soon be sold out, and a new round of reprinting will be carried out."

Mari Fukaoka told Xianren some good news, which made Xianren, who was originally lacking interest, regain a little spirit. He closed his eyes, opened them and looked at the blue sky above his head.

“How many more do you plan to print?”

"Didn't you get interviewed on a program earlier? So this time we're planning to print an extra 30,000 copies."

"Thirty thousand copies?"

Compared with the initial 6,000 copies, the wise men who heard about it couldn't help but sigh in their hearts. They didn't expect that this work, which they had no expectations for, could actually grow from 6,000 to 16,000 copies, and now they are about to print another 30,000 copies.

"Because the show hasn't aired yet, if it were, the number of viewers would probably increase quite a bit."

"But it's just a late-night show, so probably not many people watch it."

"Because of late-night programming, more young people will be watching, right? When that happens, it sparks discussion among young people, which will attract other young people to explore similar works. Thirty thousand copies should be enough within Tokyo. For a program broadcast nationwide, thirty thousand copies isn't actually a lot."

“Is everything based on the show being broadcast?”

"Don't overthink it, Miyamizu. Your work is undeniably good, and its quality is no worse than others. It just lacks a little... buzz. Now there's a program to help promote it, which just helps you make up for that. So, there's no need to think too much. Just focus on creating new work."

"I didn't think too much about it. I'm already very satisfied that the volume has grown from 6,000 to what it is now."

"That's great to think like that. Do you have any ideas for the new book?"

"At the beginning, but with the computer, it should be faster than before, about one or two months."

Mari Fukaoka fell into silence. She glanced at her cell phone, confirmed that she was on a call, and put the phone back to her ear.

"Two months?"

"If it's fast, it could be a month, but that's probably a stretch. So, normally it should be two months. But considering the holidays, I'll be away from Tokyo for a while during the summer vacation. Back in Itomori, I probably won't be creating, so the work will probably be finished after the summer vacation."

"......I understand. Well, let's leave it at that for now."

"Work? Go ahead and get busy."

Kento didn't know what was wrong with Mari Fukazeoka. When he heard that Mari Fukazeoka seemed to fall into silence all of a sudden, he stopped chatting and hung up the phone.

Sitting at her desk, Mari Fukaoka recalled the answer she received when she talked to Kento just now. She frowned tightly, rubbed her forehead, and sighed deeply.

"Two months, maybe that's what makes people different."

Normally, it takes four to five months to create a new book, and one book a year is the norm. For someone like Xianren to be able to create a book in just two months is already extremely fast.

"Young people's energy?"

Feeling a little complicated, Mari Fukaoka sighed and stopped thinking about Kento's new work. She had to wait until he finished creating those things before considering them. The important thing now was to deal with the present affairs first.

"TV shows, famous prime-time variety shows, basically have no chance. They'll only be invited after the show airs and becomes a hot topic. As for other shows..."

Kaiyingsha's influence in the industry can only be described as average. It is impossible to be on a show without paying some price. However, Kento's current situation is not worth the publishing house spending too much money. The president is not very supportive, and Mari Fukaoka is helpless.

- - - -

Dark character, dark corner

I re-read Keigo Higashino's publishing speed and I can only say that it is indeed outrageous.

Thanks to Ruoyexi Shangxian, Broken Jigsaw Puzzle, Lu Tingtao, Suomarezi, and Baihe Xiaoniao for their monthly tickets and blades! Thanks to everyone for their recommendation votes!

Cherry Blossom Season: 192. You Are My Angel

When he saw the series of numbers on his account balance, Xianren couldn't help but feel a little emotional. He didn't expect that he had achieved the achievement of one million yen when he was still in the first year of high school.

"Three million yen is roughly the annual income for an average young person. This is based on sales of 30,000, no, 46,000 copies."

As someone who once had nearly 10 million in savings, he was not that shocked by the 3 million income. He just felt a little sad in his heart. He did not expect that there would be such a change that would make the sales of his not-so-well-received work soar.

"After a month, it can be considered a bestseller, right?"

He entered an amount of 500,000 yen, took out a stack of banknotes from the ATM in front of him, stuffed it into the envelope he had prepared in advance, put it in his arms, kept it close to his body, and then left the ATM.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to withdraw more, but he can only withdraw this much at the ATM. If he wants to withdraw more, he can only go to the bank counter. In that way, he can directly withdraw 200 million yen in cash from the bank. However, Xianren just thinks it’s a bit troublesome and not as convenient as an ATM.

"If there are more, it won't be safe. This is enough for now."

He gently pressed his right hand on his chest, feeling the thickness of his pocket. Xianren was going to hand these over to Mito Yuge. With these, the other party's life would probably become easier and she could start her own life again.

"At least, I can leave that cramped environment and live in a more comfortable place."

From the cashier's office, he arrived at the comic cafe where Mito Yuge was. Xianren stopped, ordered a cup of coffee, and waited quietly for the other party in the store. This time he did not choose the comics on the bookshelf.

Sitting quietly on the sofa, drinking the coffee in front of him, quietly waiting for the girl.

She arrived at the comic cafe at five in the afternoon and sat there until the evening. After answering Setsuna's call, she told him that she was not in the apartment at the moment and was meeting someone in Shinjuku. The girl did not ask much, but just reminded him to go home early and hung up the phone.

The coffee was refilled, and then again.

It was not until it was completely dark outside and the street lights on the roadside flickered one by one that I saw the girl in a clean white shirt walking into the store with a tired look in the direction of the door, supporting my cheek with one hand and thinking about the future.

Xianren, who was sitting in the corner, looked at the girl's tired expression and steps, but did not call her out. Seeing that Mito Yuge didn't notice him, he stood up and followed her silently.

After finishing her studies at school and leaving, Mito Yuge went to her part-time barbecue restaurant as usual and worked for three hours. The salary was much higher than her previous job, but the intensity of the work was also completely different.

She has to help entertain guests, ask them what they ordered, and serve the dishes on the table from time to time. It wouldn't seem difficult if there were fewer people, but her part-time job happens to be during the time when there are the most people.

From the moment she entered the shop and put on her work clothes, she started working straight away, entertaining table after table of customers, serving food, and clearing tables... There was no time to rest at all. By the time her part-time job was over, she was dizzy and felt dazed when she returned to the comic cafe...

Looking at the girl walking in front of him, he found that she didn't notice him. Xianren also found that the girl was not in a good condition and looked quite tired. She followed quietly behind her without even looking back at him.

Following the other person all the way from the lobby to the resting place, seeing Mito Yuge using the room card to open the room, Xianren also slightly quickened his pace. When Mito Yuge entered the room——

Snapped!

Mito Yuge wanted to close the door and then fell down to rest. She felt that the door behind her seemed to be stuck. She pulled her hand, but found that the door could not be closed. She turned around to look at the door and noticed the hand holding the door.