I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 62 I am a professional at running away with a bucket! (4000 words, there will be one more to come)
Reason told Kitagawa Hide that the second half of the sentence did not need to be added. He just needed to make it clear that he refused to become Ishihara Shintaro's "disciple".

Be patient and the sea will be peaceful; take a step back and the sky will be wide open.
Endure, endure, endure
But he really couldn't help it!

Ever since Kodansha decided to sign him to a new contract, disgusting things started happening one after another, as if there would never be an end.

He could understand the personal plan that Noma Airi customized for him. After all, it was for the company's revenue consideration. If Kitagawa Hide were in that position, although he would not do such a stupid thing, he might sacrifice the writer's personal interests for the company and ignore some of his ideas.

but!

For a mere Akutagawa Prize, he was forced to kowtow to Shintaro Ishihara and become his disciple.

Then Kitagawa Hide could not agree.

The relationship between him and Kodansha is not one of "once missed, never again" but one of mutual benefit.

If he feels uncomfortable or unhappy in his job, he can totally consider changing jobs or something.

Now, the benefits of signing a short-term contract for only one year are reflected.

And after saying this, I felt so good.

The emotions that had been suppressed along the way were finally released a little.

Perhaps because they didn't expect Kitagawa Hide to speak so bluntly, the group of people were stunned like fools.

The bald managing director was the first to react, sweating profusely. Before he came, he had considered various emergencies, such as Kitagawa Hide losing his temper after being disliked, Ishihara Shintaro suddenly changing his mind and not wanting to accept a disciple, and the final outcome of the Akutagawa Prize being unable to be determined.

But I haven't considered the current situation.

Kitagawa Hide was kneeling upright, facing a group of literary giants headed by Ichiko Sadatsugu, and blurted out these words!

He was stunned for a few seconds before he smiled awkwardly: "Actually, Mr. Beichuan meant..."

"What I mean is that I have never thought about becoming Mr. Ishihara's disciple, and I don't care whether I can win the Akutagawa Prize or not." Kitagawa Hide straightened his back, completely restrained his smile, and repeated it again.

The bald executive was speechless. He had no way to explain himself, so he pulled the corner of Kitagawa Hide's clothes and whispered, "Teacher Kitagawa!"

Kitagawa Hide remained unmoved. When he became serious, there was a hint of majesty on his handsome face. Only a person with full confidence in his heart could show such an expression.

"Kitagawa Hide, do you know that what you said today will ruin your future career in the Japanese literary world? It doesn't matter if you win the Akutagawa Prize? Do you know how many writers have been honored for their entire lives because of winning the Akutagawa Prize? Do you know that your book doesn't deserve this award at all?"

Ishihara Shintaro was insulted in public, and his tone changed.
"You are nothing but a 'dirty writer' from the lower class who writes romance novels! Do you know what you are talking about?!"

“Whether my book is worthy of the award is determined by the readers, not by a certain group of people. The only people who can comment on my books and my writing career are those readers who have spent money to buy the books and read them carefully without any personal subjective thoughts.

If an award is decided by only a certain group of people and the opinions of readers are of no reference value, then this award means nothing to me. I just want to write a best-selling novel that can be recognized by readers, that's all."

Beichuan Xiu's patience with these people had long been exhausted. He slowly stood up, finished speaking word by word, and left without looking back.

"By the way, Executive Director Hanamori, I will return all these things to Executive Director Noma today. I don't like them, nor do I like the personal project she made for me."

"I am just me, Kitagawa Hide, an ordinary little writer."

So cool!

As I walked out of the hall, I was met with strange looks all around and heard words like "pyramid-shaped sunflower-patterned family crest", "Russo-Japanese War", and "Oda Nobunaga's expedition against the Choshu Domain".

These "literary men" talk about everything from history to literature, and appear to be well-read and talented, but in fact they do not even accept the most basic culture of their own country, and they all want to be "Westernized" and "progressive."

In Kitagawa Hide's eyes, these people are not as good as Keigo Higashino and Shiro Dango who drank and chatted with him that day!

What happened to the lowlife writers?
I can still slap you in the face with my sales and public discussion, I can still work my way up from the bottom step by step, completing the ladder of "overthrowing the superiors" and becoming a Japanese or even world-class literary giant!
What is the most unforgivable thing in this world?

In the eyes of Kitagawa Hide, who has lived two lives, the most unforgivable thing is deception!

Kodansha wanted to deceive him into thinking he was a cash cow who could only write pure literary novels about youth romance. They deceived him into thinking that it would help him ease his relationship with the bigwigs in the literary world. In fact, they wanted him to be a "gunman" for Shintaro Ishihara in order to win the Akutagawa Prize.

This touched his bottom line.

So Kitagawa Hide left decisively without any hesitation, and even when he was waving to stop a taxi, he was already considering which new employer to take over him.

The bald managing director who was still in the literary salon felt like the sky was falling. He immediately apologized to Ichiko Sadajiro and others on behalf of Kitagawa Hide. However, to his surprise, although Ichiko Sadajiro and others were unhappy, they did not dwell too much on Kitagawa Hide.

Ishihara Shintaro was the most angry, but he only said, "He will never win the Akutagawa Prize again in his life!", and then continued chatting with Ichiko Sadaji and others.

The bald executive who was observing nearby immediately realized that to these true leaders of the literary world, Kitagawa Hideya, who had published two novels, was just a "newcomer passing by like a shooting star."

It is indeed rare in recent years, but it is not to the point where they take it so seriously.

Apart from the fact that the sales of her novels are indeed good, in terms of forum qualifications, time spent writing books, and awards won, she is not even as good as Oshima Hikaru, who was just shelved by Kodansha.

He felt like the sky was falling because Kitagawa Hide had already been designated as the successor to Oshima Hikaru, and his book had indeed brought "Gunzo" back to life. This messed up thing would be very unfriendly to Kodansha's interests.

But for the people in front of him, it was not a big deal.

Who would stay angry for too long with a newcomer who only writes romance novels?
still have a chance!

All he had to do was convince Kitagawa Hide to switch his new book back to its original track and accept Noma's arrangements as much as possible.

So even if I don't win the Akutagawa Prize, as long as the sales of "Gunzo" and the physical book are healthy, Managing Director Noma won't blame me!

Thinking of this, the bald executive was about to call Noma Airi immediately, but in the end he stopped his outstretched hand.

If he is beaten like this, he will definitely be transferred to a messy place and will never be able to turn his life around!

We have to convince Kitagawa Hide first!

After getting off the bus, Kitagawa Hide paid 1.4 yen for the fare, and his heart was almost broken!
No wonder people say that in Tokyo, you’d rather walk until you die than take a taxi!

Bunkyo Ward is about 70 kilometers away from Adachi Ward. Taxis in Tokyo now charge about 1.052 yen for every 200 kilometers. The unit price is almost 20 times that of the next door in 10 years, which is breathtakingly expensive.

It was all because the mansion was located in a remote place. After getting on the bus, Kitagawa Hide, who was thinking all the way, was too lazy to get off. Because he had always taken public transportation, he had no idea of ​​the distance between Bunkyo Ward and Adachi Ward.

The 1.4 yen was like a blunt knife cutting him hard, making Kitagawa Hide even more disgusted with Kodansha and that group of people.

No, I have to write a novel to satirize them later. I wonder if there is any novel I can borrow to use.

Thinking this, Kitagawa Hide took out the key and opened the door.

The lights were still bright, there was a familiar beautiful figure, and that fat British shorthair blue cat Pete, who was obviously extremely fat, but as fast as lightning, pounced towards him!

"Meow~"

"Xiu-jun? You're back~ You've worked hard today!"

As Pete rushed into his arms, Yumeko, wearing cartoon pink pajamas, trotted over in slippers, gently hugged Kitagawa Hide and rubbed her head against him. Smelling the reassuring body fragrance, Kitagawa Hide stroked Pete's smooth cat hair, and felt that the unhappiness of the whole day suddenly dissipated.

Everything is back.

This is the life he wants.

"Mengzi-chan, is there anything to eat at home?" Kitagawa Hide touched his stomach. He walked in such a hurry that he forgot to eat.

"We still have instant noodles at home. Can I fry two eggs for you?" My wife Mengzi looked at him distressedly and said softly, "How come you are so busy that you forget to eat? You will get hungry."

"Well, I'll tell you later." Kitagawa Hide handed the clothes he took off to my wife Yumeko, and came to the computer desk holding Pete.

"Okay! I'll go make you something to eat first. There's new beer on the table." My wife Yumeko looked at him with a somewhat evasive look and quickly ran to the kitchen by herself.

Kitagawa Hide responded and reached out to grab the can of beer that had been pushed to the edge of the table before Pete could knock it over.

"Not bad!" Kitagawa Hide glared helplessly at Pete who was pretending to be innocent. For some reason, the cat always liked to push everything to the edge of the table, and sometimes, if he was not careful, he might knock something over and break it.

If Pete dares to knock over the water cup on the computer desk, Kitagawa Hide will turn it into a stray cat immediately!

Looking at Pete lying there and licking his fur, he suddenly thought of a novel.

Natsume Soseki's "I am a Cat"!
Doesn't this meet his needs?

This novel is set in the world of Kitagawa Hide's previous life. Natsume Soseki began writing it in 1904 and serialized it for more than two years, totaling 30 words.

The novel observes the human psychology from the perspective of an anthropomorphic cat, and satirizes capitalists, rulers, and a group of self-righteous and cynical intellectuals with humorous language and delicate writing.

But 300,000 words is a bit too long. I will write it slowly and see how to publish it after I find a new employer.

He took a sip of beer, and the cool feeling made him shout out in pleasure. Then he turned on his computer and began to think about his new employer.

In the more than an hour in the taxi, Kitagawa Xiu had already thought about the problem thoroughly.

First of all, "Ball" and "A Wild Sheep Chase", which were about to be completed and were about to start serialization, could not be moved.

Even if he wanted to say goodbye to Kodansha completely, he couldn't break the contract tomorrow and sign a contract with a new club the day after tomorrow.

At any time, job hopping should be done in a "ride the donkey and see the horse" manner.

The serialization of "A Wild Sheep Chase" can also push the "Youth Trilogy" to a peak, leaving those who previously mocked him for only being able to write romance novels speechless.

After the completion of this trilogy, Kitagawa Hideya had a work to his credit, which gave him a little more confidence when he talked about it.

After all, when you find a new employer, the other party also has to consider the risk cost, right?

At the same time as breaking up with Kodansha, Kitagawa Hide probably had become irreconcilable with those so-called big names.

These people are most likely the same group who criticized him in the newspapers before. They also have high status and position, especially the leader, Ichiko Sadatsugu.

The publishing house that takes over must take these factors into consideration, and the key to Kitagawa Hide's ability to impress the other party is his excellent new book and his outstanding past achievements.

In fact, he prefers another possibility -

As a freelance writer, he also collaborates with many publishing houses and newspapers.

But in the Japanese literary world, basically only top writers can do this.

Because newcomers in the literary world basically make their debut with a certain publishing house’s Newcomer Award, they are firmly tied to that publishing house from the moment their first work comes, and then they are nurtured as newcomers to become veteran writers and mainstays.

Hikaru Oshima is a living example.

In this case, you only have the possibility of switching from a small publishing house to a large one. It is rare for a person to go from big to small, as people always strive for higher positions.

For a new writer like Kitagawa Hide who made his debut with the group portrait newcomer award, if he wants to change jobs, he can only go to the other four leading publishing houses. Even the smaller temples are not big enough to accommodate a big Buddha like him.

The problem is that when those four companies signed him, it was like a stepmother taking care of a child, and it always felt unsafe.

And with the previous experience of Kodansha, Kitagawa Hide had to guard against the possibility of being robbed again.

It’s because I didn’t have enough social experience in my previous life!
Who would have thought that talking about society could have this ability.

Then it is clear what needs to be done.

While "A Wild Sheep Chase" was being serialized, I secretly worked with Kodansha to polish "No Longer Human", and then, with my past achievements and fame, as well as this book that would go down in history, I found a good owner who was willing to take over!
During this period, there are many things to do, such as screening those new publishing houses that extend olive branches. If they run away with the money, Rena Saito will also have to consider how to deal with it.

Oh, and there is also liquidated damages.

Kitagawa Hide turned around, picked up the contract that was underneath "Hear the Wind Sing", and flipped to the end.

Because Japan's Civil Code and Commercial Code clearly stipulate that liquidated damages shall not exceed 20% of the subject amount, and in this short-term contract, the copyrights of Kitagawa Hide's novels are still in his hands. The actual amount is only the 25 yen monthly salary, and the total liquidated damages are 60 yen.

"Fortunately, this is different from the contract of a certain website next door. It won't take away all your copyrights from the beginning."

Kitagawa Hide exclaimed with relief and stuffed the contract back.

Just then I smelled the delicious aroma of instant noodles, and when I looked up, my wife Yumeko was already walking towards me with tableware.

"Xiujun, please enjoy your meal~" My wife Mengzi knelt obediently beside me.

"Well, thank you, Mengzi-chan." Kitagawa Hide picked up the chopsticks and glanced at my wife Mengzi, and my little wife's eyes suddenly became vague.

Something is definitely wrong!
From the moment he entered the room, he noticed that Yumeko Agatsuma, who was not good at hiding her emotions, had been subconsciously avoiding his gaze.

Judging from past experience, my little wife is in trouble!
Did something bad!

"Yuezi-chan, are you hiding something from me?" Kitagawa Hide suddenly asked after slurping his instant noodles.

My wife Yumeko was still peeking at the ceiling, and the sudden question made her blush with shame.

"Xiujun, I."

A lot of words were running through her mind, and she had thought of a lot of excuses before Xiujun came back.

But she couldn't lie to Kitagawa Hide, so she just plopped down, pressed her hands to the ground, and begged for mercy.
"Wuwuwu~ Xiujun, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!"

Beichuan Xiu's mouth paused while he was eating noodles, and he quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

"I went to school in a daze that day and forgot that your haiku was on my homework, so I just gave it to Kobayashi!"

Thank you for your support
I have successfully PKed Sanjiang. I will work hard to update and dedicate the best work to everyone!

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(End of this chapter)