Tokyo Literary Godfather

The phone on Itagaki Kazuhiko's desk rang, and he quickly picked it up: "Yes, yes, are you here? Okay, I'll go down right now."

Editor-in-chief Kawaguchi stood behind Itagaki Kazuhiko and said, "Is it Mr. Fujiwara?"

"Yes, Minister."

"Take him for a casual visit and come directly to my office."

"yes."

Shimada looked at his colleagues in surprise, and even the minister...

Who is this Mr. Fujiwara?

"Could it be Ryosaku Fujiwara?" Yohei Kikuchi muttered, scratching his head.

Ryosaku Fujiwara is a senior figure in the literary world and has won the Akutagawa Prize. However, he seems to write pure literature, which does not seem to match the style of the magazine.

After a while, Itagaki Kazuhiko led a person up. His back was to Shimada and the others, and his face could not be seen clearly.

But what is certain is that this is a young man, not Mr. Fujiwara Ryosaku. Fujiwara Ryosaku is in his fifties this year.

The two of them entered the minister's office directly. After a while, the female assistant also walked in. When she came out, Shimada stopped her.

"Ms. Sakata, I would like to ask, who is that teacher?"

The female assistant shook her head: "I've never seen him before. He has a strange face and is very young."

Faceless? very young? Shimada frowned.

"But, the minister seems to attach great importance to this young man." The female assistant added.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the minister deliberately asked me to soak his precious red robe."

Shimada was stunned. He knew that there were many hospitality teas in Kawaguchi Nobu's office, divided into several grades.

You have done something wrong, and inviting you to tea is a different level;

Ordinary authors and ordinary editors are on the same level;

The famous author and the editor who have made great contributions are another level.

Top writers and superiors are of the highest order.

The red robe is the highest grade, which shows that the minister attaches great importance to this writer.

"Who is he..." Shimada couldn't help but muttered.

After a while, Kei Fujiwara stood up in the office and held hands with the editorial director Kawaguchi Shin.

Kawaguchi Nobubu said: "Teacher Fujiwara, then we will have a happy cooperation."

"Definitely, I feel very honored to be able to contribute to Chunqiu Society."

"By the way, Mr. Kawaguchi, I have another request."

"Please say."

Kei Fujiwara thought for a while and said: "I don't want to use my real name to publish my works, I want to use a pen name."

"Oh?" Nobu Kawaguchi was not particularly surprised. Creating a pen name is a common practice for many writers. But the vast majority of writers use their real names. Writers are very respected in Japan. Most writers would like to have the words "I am a writer" tattooed on their faces. No one wants to hide their identity.

"Because I'm about to work in a company, and I don't want my colleagues to know that I'm writing a novel..."

"Don't Fujiwara-kun plan to become a full-time writer?"

Kei Fujiwara smiled: "I have such an idea, but we also have to look at the final sales of the book. I am about to graduate, so it is safest to find a professional job first."

Nobu Kawaguchi was stunned: "Is Fujiwara-kun still a student at school?"

"Yes, I am a current student at Tokyo Bunge University."

Nobu Kawaguchi glanced at Kei Fujiwara in disbelief. He thought that someone who could write a work like "White Night Journey" would be thirty years old, no matter how young he was, and would be able to write it if he had certain social experience and insights.

I thought she was young, but I didn't expect she was really young.

Logically speaking, if you are not full-time, it means that the serialization is unstable, but Kei Fujiwara has already submitted the entire manuscript of "White Night Journey", so it doesn't matter.

"No problem, Fujiwara-kun, what name do you want to give it?"

Kei Fujiwara had already made up his mind and said, "Let's call him Keita Sima."

Such a somewhat Chinese-style name can be regarded as a tribute to the previous life.

"No problem." Kawaguchi Nobu smiled and turned to look at Itagaki Kazuhiko, "Itagaki-kun, go take Fujiwara-kun to dinner. Fujiwara-kun can eat whatever he wants. Give you a sufficient budget."

"Oh, you're welcome, I..."

Itagaki Kazuhiko patted Fujiwara Kei on the shoulder, "Don't refuse. After the serialization is confirmed, it is already a default rule for the editor to invite the author to dinner."

"Then it's better to be respectful than to obey." Kei Fujiwara smiled. It's been a long time since I had barbecue...

After once again confirming the details of the serialization, Kawaguchi said: "The first payment for manuscript materials will be credited to your account within two working days, please pay attention to check."

"Okay, thank you."

Itagaki Kazuhiko took Fujiwara Kei out of the minister's office. He was also very happy. Firstly, he helped "White Night Journey" get serialization. Secondly, the editor took the author out to eat. He could also have a great meal. Anyway, he could be reimbursed and he could enjoy it as much as he wanted. Fishing.

So when Fujiwara Kei subconsciously declined, he firmly opposed it!

When he walked out of the office door, Shimada quickly raised his head, wanting to take a look at who the young author was who made even the minister fall in love.

But when he and Fujiwara Kei looked at each other, they couldn't help but froze.

Is this this arrogant guy?

Shimada certainly had an impression of him. That day at the beef bowl, the young author returned his business card to him while making harsh words. He was extremely arrogant and left a deep impression on him.

Fujiwara Kei met Shimada's gaze, stood still, and looked at him.

The two looked at each other for four or five seconds. Shimada couldn't bear it anymore and subconsciously avoided looking at each other.

However, when he made this subconscious reaction, he regretted it. Isn’t this giving in?

So he stared back, but Fujiwara Kei had already left with Itagaki Kazuhiko with a smile.

"Hey, Shimada, isn't this kid..." Yohei Kikuchi also recognized Kei Fujiwara and poked Kei Fujiwara in the lower back.

"Yes...this guy and Itagaki...how do these two people know each other?"

"I don't know, Itagaki still likes to find authors in every corner." Kikuchi Yohei said with a smile, "This author seems to be writing social reasoning, right?"

"right."

"The space of "Spring and Autumn Literary Appreciation" will not be given to a newcomer. I heard that it will be arranged in a supplement." Assistant Miss Sakata suddenly said at this time.

"Really?" Yoto Shimada quickly confirmed.

"Of course it's true." Miss Sakata said, "I heard it with my own ears."

"Hmm..." Shimada felt a little relieved. The sales volume of the supplement was far behind the main magazine, and he couldn't really compete with them.

And as far as he knew, one year after the supplement was first published, the single volume of the serialized novels sold only 80,000 copies, which was really nothing to worry about.

Shimada kept comforting himself in his heart, and the feeling of uneasiness and anxiety in his heart gradually disappeared.

At this time, he remembered what Kei Fujiwara said not long ago when he put his business card on the table in that beef restaurant:

"Perhaps we will meet again."

"We did meet again, but so what? Can you still break the sales record?" Shimada muttered.