I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 40: The lives of the lower-class people are even more miserable than the plummeting housing prices. Here comes the inspiration for the new novel!

"Uh, yes. For various reasons, Yan Jing-san had to make a living by picking up garbage. He used to be a writer under me, a very nice person!"

Saito Rena sighed and briefly told Kitagawa Hide about the bar owner Takuya Yanjing.

Taku Yan Jing is also a genuine Tokyo native. His family has lived in the most prosperous and wealthy Tokyo Minato area since the Taisho period. He is equivalent to a "Celestial Dragon" who has always lived within the second ring road of the neighboring capital.

During the bubble era, his family reaped the first wave of real estate dividends. His family was so wealthy that he chose to drop out of junior college directly, took a large sum of money and started a business with his friends.

After the bubble burst, these wealthy families who had made their fortunes in real estate became the main victims of the economic crisis. Yan Jingtuo, who owned a large amount of real estate, instantly lost his family and was separated from his wife and children.

Now he is burdened with numerous debts, and all he has left is this small bar which was originally used to make a living but has been seriously running at a loss in recent years.

Last year, Rena Saito joined Kodansha, and he was one of the first new writers to join her.

He is a very nice person and doesn't cause any trouble, but his writing ability is really worrying. He wasted a year writing hundreds of manuscripts, but none of them were usable. He was not even able to qualify for the Group Portrait Newcomer Award.

Hearing that he was planning to sell the bar recently, Rena Saito introduced Hide Kitagawa to him.

"I'm sorry, Kitagawa-san! I think Yan Jing-san is a very good person and he shouldn't be living so miserable. And you just said you wanted a bar, so I..."

Seeing that Kitagawa Hide was lost in thought, Saito Rena immediately put her hands together and bowed 90 degrees to apologize.

As her body bent, the curve of her buttocks and back was completely exposed to Kitagawa Hide's vision. The two ponytails covered her round buttocks perfectly, which was very tempting.

Kitagawa Hide quickly shook his head to get rid of these strange thoughts. It seemed that the recent high-intensity work and the lack of his wife to help him relieve his sexual desire had made him a little sensitive.

As expected of a young man with a strong and powerful body.

I have to find a way to get rid of some of that excess energy.

"Why do you want to apologize, Mr. Saito? Did you bring me here with the intention of asking me to spend money to help Mr. Yan Jing?" asked Kitagawa Hide.

Saito Reina quickly waved her hands and answered seriously: "Of course not! Because I used to come here to drink often, this bar is really great, and Yan Jing-san was planning to sell it, so I introduced you to come along!"

"I never have that idea! If Beichuan-san doesn't like it, we can leave now." Feeling that the explanation was not enough, she added another sentence.

Beichuan Xiu smiled and said: "So you don't need to apologize to me, you are not blackmailing me morally.

Mr. Saito, we are long-term partners and friends in the future. We don’t have to be so reserved and distant all the time.”

He felt that as his two novels became popular, Saito Rena, who used to be more outspoken, began to become a little restrained towards him and overly concerned about his opinions.

Since he has decided to work with this capable female editor for a long time, Kitagawa Hide hopes that the two of them can be more like friends.

Moreover, he himself does not like the "apology culture" in the Japanese workplace. It is called a culture, but in fact it is just a face-saving project.

They love to apologize and appear to be polite, but in fact they are very proud and hypocritical.

"Yeah, I understand." Saito Rena was moved by the word "friend" that he blurted out, and nodded heavily.

While the two were chatting, Yan Jingtuo, wearing a tattered windbreaker, happened to be walking towards them dragging a large snakeskin bag.

"Teacher Saito! Why are you here so early?!"

When he saw Rena Saito at the door, a surprised smile suddenly appeared on his tired face, and he quickly sped up. However, the snakeskin bag was too heavy, and his speed was still as slow as a snail.

Kitagawa Hide immediately ran up to help him.

"Thank you! I can do it myself." Yan Jingtuo didn't want to dirty Kitagawa Hide's clean hands, and was about to refuse, but suddenly remembered something and paused, "You...you can't be Mr. Kitagawa!"

Today, Saito Rena said she wanted to come to the bar for a drink and chat, and she would bring along Kitagawa Hide, who has become very popular in the literary world recently. He was so happy that he came back a few hours early.

There was no fourth person nearby at this time, so the young man in front of him, who was as handsome as a TV star, was Kitagawa Hide!
It was completely different from what he imagined Mr. Kitagawa to be!

"It's me, just call me Beichuan-san, I'm not a teacher." Beichuan Xiu ignored his obstruction and helped drag the big snakeskin bag.

Boy, it’s really heavy!
"Kitagawa. Teacher Kitagawa! It's really you!" Yan Jingtuo felt dizzy. He was a super loyal reader of Kitagawa Hide. Even though he was financially tight, he still bought a hardcover paperback edition of "Hear the Wind Sing".

Reina Saito also trotted over to help, and the three of them worked together to carry the large snakeskin bag into the bar.

As he walked into the bar, Kitagawa Xiu's eyes suddenly lit up.

I originally thought that this kind of small bar in the basement would have a hippie style, but the decoration here is simple and beautiful. There are several rows of bookshelves next to the bar, which contain many famous works. There are also some Western oil paintings hanging on the wall, which is quite stylish.

An old record player was placed in the middle, and there was a piano in the corner, but it was covered with dust and seemed to have not been used for a long time.

The overall style is very "jazzy" and elegant, which is the type he likes.

"Yan Jing-san, is it okay to leave this here?" Saito Reina clapped her hands and looked at the large snakeskin bag on the ground. "Do you want me to help you carry it to the inner room?"

"No, no, there are just some old books in there. I'll put them here and sort them out myself later. Please wait a moment, teachers. I'll go get some drinks and food." Yan Jingtuo said and ran into the back room behind the bar.

"Outside here is the bar hall, and inside there is a lounge of about 20 square meters, as well as a supporting bathroom and kitchen. It has everything you need, and it's quite convenient." Saito Reina skillfully took him to sit in front of the bar. Looking at the rows of bookshelves and wine cabinets, her eyes wandered as she recalled the past. "In fact, my writers and I often had dinner here before."

"I had just joined Kodansha at that time and my salary was not high. Thanks to their unremitting support, I was able to get through the most difficult time." Saito Reina rubbed the bar table with her fingers and whispered,
“Because this is Yan Jingsang’s bar, the charges are lower than outside, so we bring our own fried noodles and fried rice here for dinner, which is convenient and economical, and can also bring him some income.

Looking back now, it was a peaceful and comfortable life. "

"That kind of life is pretty good." Kitagawa Hide looked at everything here and could imagine that the fledgling Rena Saito and a group of writers under her gathered here, chatted, and drank. That kind of comfortable and safe feeling must have been great.

"It's a pity that the road of literature is too cruel. If you can't make your debut after persisting for several years, many people will eventually choose to give up." Saito Reina sighed, "In fact, most newcomers can't make it to the day when they are successfully shortlisted for the Newcomer Award. It's really rare to win the award for the first time you write a novel like Kitagawa-san!"

"So, Kitagawa-san, you don't need to put too much pressure on yourself. You are really outstanding!"

Kitagawa Hide nodded, he couldn't respond to this.

Saito Rena was probably frightened by his terrifying hand speed.

Who could be so desperate to produce a novel of high quality? How many brain cells and energy would it take?
She was really afraid that she would develop psychological problems if she focused on writing novels.

"Teachers, can I have regular beer? Otherwise, I'm going out."

Yan Jingtuo changed into clean clothes and carried a small basket filled with ice cubes and cans of beer.

He glanced sheepishly at the empty wine cabinet; he had already sold out all the good wines.

"Ordinary beer will be fine. I like this kind." Kitagawa Hide interrupted him with a smile and asked him to sit down at the bar as well. Then he picked up a can at random, opened it, and handed it to Saito Rena, "Saito-san, here." "Ah, thank you." Saito Rena took the beer and stopped halfway through saying "Arigato". She had recently figured out Kitagawa Hide's temper.

Kitagawa Hide is completely different from ordinary Japanese. He has his own set of rules and style in doing things, and he doesn't like to say "private Marseille" and "arigado".

He is very down to earth.

"Yours, Mr. Yan Jing." Kitagawa Hide handed another can to Yan Jing Takuya.

Yan Jingtuo quickly stood up and took it with both hands, then bowed and thanked: "Thank you very much, Mr. Kitagawa! I'm sorry, please forgive me, I'm really too excited to meet you in person."

"Yan Jing-san is your fan." Saito Rena said with a smile.

"Ah, should I get you an autograph?" Kitagawa Hide joked.

Unexpectedly, Yan Jingtuo stood up and excitedly took out the book "Hear the Wind Sing" that he had been holding in his hand but didn't dare to take out, and placed it in front of him respectfully: "Is it really okay?"

Kitagawa Hide was startled, but still smiled and picked up the pen to quickly write his name.

This was the first time he met his die-hard readers (Azuma Yumeko was a bit of an exception and didn’t count), and it was also the first time he truly felt the Japanese people’s fanatical pursuit and love for writers.

The Japanese really admire and respect literary masters.

Even when he signed his autograph, Yan Jingtuo had to stand respectfully, then bow, take it with both hands, and put it away carefully.

"I'm so happy that I think it's worth it even if I die now." Yan Jingtuo took a big gulp of beer, suppressing his inner excitement.

"Not really." Kitagawa Hide waved his hand.

"By the way, Yan Jing-san, the reason I brought Mr. Kitagawa here this time is because he is interested in purchasing a bar." Saito Reina sipped her beer and turned the topic back to the purpose of their visit.

Because the communication equipment was very backward in that era, it was better to talk in person than to spend money on the phone, so it was only at this time that Yan Jingtuo realized that Kitagawa Hide was here to inquire about the sale price of the bar.

Perhaps because of the idol filter, the discussion with Takuya Iwao went smoothly.

He was even willing to give Kitagawa Hide a discount, but Kitagawa Hide flatly refused.

He could see that this peer, who was also a member of the "baby boomerang generation", was on the verge of poverty, and Kitagawa Hide would never take advantage of such a person.

The three of them drank a basket of beer, ate some sushi and tempura, and finalized the final price.

Hidemasa Kitagawa bought the bar for 996 million yen.

Before leaving, looking at Takuya Yanai, who was holding "Hear the Wind Sing" in his arms and was obviously very tired, but still enthusiastically seeing them off, Kitagawa Hide suddenly felt the painful life of the people at the bottom of Japanese society today.

On the way back on the subway, seeing that he had a gloomy expression again, Saito Reina asked worriedly: "If Kitagawa-san thinks this price is too expensive, we can look for something else."

"No, I am very satisfied with both the price and the bar." Beichuan Xiu knew that she was going to overthink again, and quickly explained, "It's just that when I saw Yan Jingsan's situation, I thought of some things and I felt unhappy."

Thirty-five-year-old Yan Jingtuo is heavily in debt and unable to find a job. He can only make a living by collecting old magazines from trash cans every day.

After sorting out the old magazines, he sold them to the recycling station for 5 yen each, earning a small profit.

Ten hours to pick up books and two minutes to eat.

From morning to night, if he is lucky, he can earn about 2000 yen a day, which is exactly the monthly income of Kitagawa Hide as a security guard.

After the divorce, Yan Jingtuo couldn't even see his daughter who was in elementary school.

In fact, he was eager to get rid of this kind of life. In order to find a job, he carried his resume with him, but he encountered obstacles everywhere because of his academic qualifications as a junior college dropout.

Workers like him who cannot even earn enough income to maintain the minimum quality of life are the majority of the lower-class people in Japan today.

It is the government that deliberately ignores and pretends not to see the majority of people.

Even so, Yan Jingtuo still found time to study while picking up trash, hoping to scrape together enough money to attend night school cram school and find a decent job by improving his academic qualifications.

Apart from the big difference in their appearance and the fact that Kitagawa Hide has no children, his experience is very similar to the original Kitagawa Hide.

If I hadn't traveled through time, even if Kitagawa Hide didn't hang himself, his life would have been like that of Iwao Takuya.

And Yan Jingtuoya is a true portrayal of millions of ordinary people who do not have his ability as a plagiarist.

Kitagawa Hide is a Chinese himself and has no feelings for this country. He even feels that it would be better if he lost more of the lost thirty years.

But the government’s incompetence and the chaebol’s greed should not fall on the heads of ordinary people who work hard just to live a better life every day.

After seeing Takuya Yanjing's life and thinking about the suffering people at the bottom of society, Kitagawa Hide probably had an idea for a new book.

There are quite a few books to choose from, and you can continue to observe them in the near future before making a final decision.

Speaking of which, when Kitagawa Hide heard the offer today, he was shocked. For 1000 million yen, he could buy a small underground bar of about 90 square meters located in the Tama area.

Four years ago, I wouldn't even have dared to think about it.

In the long history of Japan's real estate market, the bursting of the bubble was an important turning point.

In 1984, the average land price in Japan was 11 yen per square meter, but in 1991, the price of houses in Tokyo rose to 272 million yen per square meter, and in the city center it reached a staggering 1450 million yen per square meter.

You read that right.

At that time, one square meter in the city center was more expensive than the current selling price of this small bar!
Even though the Tama area is not in the city, it is also part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The price of this small bar by Takuya Yan is only 11.1 yen per square meter.
How can this not drive people to death?

Only with money can you live a better and more decent life.

Looking at the lives of various beings reflected in the glass windows, Kitagawa Hide couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Thanks

100 Qidian coins rewarded by the author Xingzhe Hanhan and his book friends

One hundred ways to find out that men are lying 200 Qidian coins rewarded by book friends

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(End of this chapter)