The literary era since 1979

It was already early February when I returned to Tokyo from Hokkaido.

After Fang Yan enjoyed Keiko Matsuzaka's tenderness in the cottage for a few days, the two had to part ways and go their separate ways.

Since Keiko Matsuzaka was recording the song for "Snow Flower", she would also join the crew of "The Ring" with Kurihara Komaki. Fang Yan came to the Yuhikaku headquarters and handed the completed draft of "Love Letter" to Suzuki Shunjiro and his daughter.

At this time in the office, Yoko Suzuki was wiping her tears and crying with pauses.

Fangyan took out a tissue and handed it over.

"Thank you, Teacher Fang."

There was a hint of sobbing in Suzuki Yoko's words.

"Ugh."

After reading the manuscript from beginning to end, Suzuki Shunjiro sighed deeply, "How could Fangyan-kun think of writing such a story?"

Fang Yan started by talking about the experience of Hashimoto Yui and Yamashita Masanobu getting along, and said, "In the past, I felt that your Japanese society was cold and indifferent, so I wrote "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog". Now I find that even something as pure as love seems to be a rare thing in Japan..."

"Mr. Fangyan is absolutely right!"

Suzuki Shunjiro said sternly: "How could this society become like this? I often fall into deep thought."

"So I think you should really reflect on this!"

Fang Yan said: "Think carefully about what true love is."

Suzuki Shunjiro slapped his thigh and said, "Right! We really need a voice of reflection right now!"

"But Mr. Fang, you clearly said before that this is an aesthetic pure love novel, why do I feel it is more like realism?"

Suzuki Yoko wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Because I added onions to it…

Fangyan thought about it, but said seriously: "Because I use a completely realistic writing style, but the narrative tends to be aesthetic. Of course, I borrowed a lot from the aesthetics of Master Yasunari Kawabata."

"No wonder!"

Suzuki Shunjiro's eyes lit up instantly, "No wonder I can feel the charm of mono no aware, mysterious, and wabi-sabi from it."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "This is the first time I write like this. It's a bold attempt. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"What's the problem? Fang Yanjun's novel captures the essence of Kang Chenggong!"

Suzuki Shunjiro laughed out loud and planned to link "Love Letter" with Kawabata Yasunari's aesthetics of mono no aware when publishing and promoting the book.

"In my opinion, it would be better for this book to focus on words like 'youth', 'love', 'beauty', and 'romance'."

Fangyan suddenly thought of "Norwegian Wood", which is called "Haruki Murakami's 100% realistic love novel."

He simply titled his own "Love Letter" "Fangyanjun's 200% Romantic Youth Pure Love Literature".

Pure love warrior, never give up!
"Alright! I believe this book, Love Letter, will be a 'pure love book' that will make all the boys and girls in Japan shed tears!"

Suzuki Shunjiro glanced at Suzuki Yoko, whose eyes were red from crying, and said, "Look at my little girl. She's already crying like this after just reading it once!"

"Odo-san!"

Suzuki Yoko glared at him in embarrassment, then turned her head away, avoiding Fangyan's gaze guiltily.

Fang Yan smiled and changed the topic to the publication of Love Letter:
"I have already promised the Kyoto University Family Relations Association that I will be responsible for the translation. Is that okay?"

"No problem! Absolutely no problem!"

Suzuki Shunjiro solemnly promised that as long as Yuhikaku could publish "Love Letter", any conditions would be negotiated.

Seeing that the two had almost finished their conversation, Suzuki Yoko interrupted and said, "Teacher Fang, when do you plan to return to China so that I can book a flight in advance?"

"The 13th."

Five days after Fangyan said this, he and Suzuki Yoko took a flight from Tokyo to Yanjing and flew back to Capital International Airport.

I took a taxi and headed straight to Nanluoguxiang.

Yang Xia, Fang Yan, Gong Xing, Su Ya and others were all in the yard. When they heard the noise, they ran out and welcomed the two people into the house.

Fangyan placed the gifts, big and small, on the table and distributed them while saying, "These are from our mother!"

After Yang Xia, it was Gong Xian. She had so many clothes, jewelry, and women's bags that it was dizzying and overwhelming.

“Why buy so much?”

Seeing him handing over a beautifully wrapped gift box, Gong Xing was surprised: "What is this?"

Suzuki Yoko grinned and said, "Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, isn't it? This is the birthday chocolate that Teacher Fang specially prepared for you."

"This is really new, giving chocolates on Valentine's Day?" Yang Xia was surprised, "Then what should we give on Chinese Valentine's Day?" "Give a red string!"

Seeing everyone talking and laughing, Fang Yan, who was deliberately ignored, was so anxious that she jumped up and down: "Brother! What about mine? Where is my share?"

"Look at you, you're in a hurry."

Fang Yan rolled his eyes in annoyance, then pointed with his finger: "Here, these are all yours."

“Wow, that’s so many!”

Fang Yan's eyes sparkled as she unpacked the packages one by one. She saw that the first box contained music tapes of female singers such as Matsuda Seiko, Nakamori Akina, Matsuzaka Keiko, Koizumi Kyoko, and many even came with the singers' autographs.

When she turned over the autograph of "Teresa Teresa", she couldn't help but scream.

Yang Xia, Gong Xian, Su Ya and the others were all startled, and all of them looked over:

"Deng Liyun's autograph? How did you get it?"

"That's a long story."

Fangyan briefly explained the whole story, and then divided the extra signatures: "I asked her for more than one, everyone has one."

Gong Xing lowered his voice and said, "Yanzi, can you give me two more, no, one?"

Fang Yan smiled knowingly: "Do you want to give it to our mother and Xiao Ying?"

Gong Xing nodded slightly, "One is enough, I'll give this one to my parents."

"How can that be! If others knew about it, they would think I couldn't afford it!"

Fang Yan winked his right eye jokingly, "One for each of you. I've even prepared one for Zhao Jing and Zhang Yu."

Gong Xing smiled sweetly, "You are so nice..."

Fang Yan said: "I am nice to you, isn't it natural?"

Gong Xing frowned slightly, "But I always felt that you were a little weird when you came back from Japan. You were too nice to me..."

"Isn't it like a new marriage after a long separation?" Fang Yan said with a wry smile, "Did I treat you too well, so you still want to hit me?"

Just as the two were staring at each other, Fang Yan's scream once again attracted the attention of everyone in the audience.

Yang Xia leaned over and asked, "Does this look like a radio?"

“This is a Walkman.”

Fangyan looked at the Walkman in the younger sister's hand and said, "This WM-DC2 is the world's first Dolby-C Walkman."

Yang Xia was shocked, "This must be expensive!"

Yoko Suzuki initially said "64000 yen", but seeing that everyone was confused, she quickly changed her words and said:
"If converted into RMB, that's 1500 yuan!"

When these words were spoken, Yang Xia, Fang Yan and others all gasped. It was just a small thing, but the price was as high as that of a domestic large color TV!
"This thing was given to me by someone else. I didn't spend any money on it."

Fangyan did not tell the truth, that the Walkman was a "Christmas gift" that Keiko Matsuzaka gave to her younger sister.

Yang Xia scolded him with a painful look on her face: "You have no idea how to spend money. How much money will it cost to buy so many things?"

"Not much, not much. This is just the beginning."

Fangyan didn't think much of it, saying that the money spent on these things was less than a drop in the bucket of the share of the record sales of the song "Sunset Song".

Yoko Suzuki chimed in and said that Teacher Fang had just signed another book contract with Yuhikaku, and the advance payment alone was 100 million yen.

This is merely the highest standard that can be agreed upon by the Japanese publishing industry, but it is not the upper limit for Yuhikaku.

Even if it's an advance payment of 2 or 3 million yen, as long as he can sign a dialect novel, Yuhikaku will be willing to give it no matter what!
"Hey, brother, can my New Year's money also increase this year..."

Fang Yan raised her hands up shamelessly.

With a snap, Yang Xia slapped her hand heavily, "Why are you raising the price? What do you need so much New Year's money for?"

"I can't make the decision on this matter. Ask your sister-in-law and our mother!"

Fangyan spread his hands, looking helpless.

The younger sister immediately threw herself into Gong Xing's arms, her eyes like a puppy, clear and innocent: "Sister-in-law!"

Fang Yan saw Yang Xia's face darken, so he pulled her aside and said, "Mom, let's invite my brother-in-law and his family to have lunch at noon. We can give them these things to take home."

"I'm afraid not these days."

Yang Xia shook her head and said, "Your brother-in-law is in Pengcheng now, so you should wait until the New Year's Eve dinner and then give it to them in person." (End of this chapter)