Tokyo Literary Godfather

"They called my movie a once-in-a-lifetime bad movie!"

“Not only did I criticize this work, but last year’s movie was also turned out and cursed by those bastards!!”

"They said that my work last year was so mediocre that they didn't even bother to take a second look, like a piece of shit on the lawn. But this year's movie is so bad that it's like the shit appeared on the sheets... …”

"Not only was I scolded, but Kono was also described as the most promising newcomer in the world by those cunning film critics... I felt sorry for her, but she didn't blame me..."

"Those bastard movie critics ruined me..."

Ono Nagaharu was talking and drinking with tears streaming down his face, and then suddenly put the bottle heavily on the table: "Fuck your dreams!"

He glared at Kei Fujiwara and said: "I finally understand now that dreams are mental cancers that harm others and ourselves. If I hadn't insisted on being a director, I would have lived such a happy life now, and so would that kid from Kono." If you get a stable job at a news station... I advise you to give up as soon as possible..."

"I'm fucking hurting others and myself!"

Halfway through his words, his expression started to look strange, and Fujiwara Kei quickly picked him up and dragged him outside the store.

As soon as he walked out of the store, Ono Nagaharu vomited and then became confused.

Fujiwara Kei looked at Ohno Nagaharu helplessly and asked his boss to take care of him first, then found a pay phone booth and called Mr. Ohno Kyoshi.

Half an hour later, a little old man drove over in a car, thanked Fujiwara Kei, and then took Ono Nagaharu away.

The next day, Ohno Nagaharu did not come to the bookstore, probably to rest at home.

A new batch of books was brought to the library. Fujiwara Kei counted the books and selected a few books from the pile.

A few days ago, a customer ordered a batch of books. At that time, some of the books were uncommon and were not in the bookstore's inventory, so Kei Fujiwara directly called and transferred them from Gunma's library. They finally arrived today.

Fujiwara Kei called. Private telephones are not yet common nowadays. Most ordinary people use pagers, which cannot communicate in time. The call is forwarded by the paging station, and then the paged person finds an opportunity to call back.

Kei Fujiwara hung up the phone, and after a while, the phone rang again.

"Hi, hello, Ono Bookstore."

"Hello, this is Itagaki's house."

"Hello, Mr. Itagaki, you just ordered a book from our store not long ago, and now it has arrived. Is it convenient for you to receive it around seven o'clock in the evening?"

"Can."

"Okay, according to the address recorded earlier?"

"Yes, sorry to trouble you."

Kei Fujiwara hung up the phone. At around six o'clock in the evening, Kei Fujiwara handed the bookstore to other clerks, wrapped the books, and went to the address reserved by the customer.

The client's home was not too far from Ueno. It was in the Yurakucho Station area. Kei Fujiwara took the subway there. After getting off the train, he walked into the client's apartment.

After ringing the doorbell, Mr. Itagaki opened the door.

Fujiwara Kei took out the book from his school bag and handed it to the other party: "Please check it to see if there is any damage."

"Okay, please come in. I'll pay you the balance."

Kei Fujiwara walked in. The room was very clean. There were some children's toys piled up in the corner of the living room, and many books piled on the coffee table. Kei Fujiwara glanced at it and found that they were all mystery or fantasy novels.

Kei Fujiwara sat on the sofa. Mr. Itagaki checked briefly and then stuffed the balance into an envelope and handed it to Kei Fujiwara.

Kei Fujiwara received the balance and was about to leave when Mr. Itagaki suddenly asked: "Brother, may I ask, do you usually have the habit of reading novels?"

Kei Fujiwara nodded: "Reading novels is my personal hobby."

"That's great." Itagaki rubbed his palms, "Can you help me fill out a questionnaire?"

"Questionnaire?"

"To be honest, I work in a magazine, and this is considered a task of the club." Itagaki took out a form and handed it to Fujiwara Kei, "Do you usually buy novel magazines?"

Fujiwara Kei thought: I work in a bookstore and don’t need to spend money to buy it. But in Japan, a place that attaches great importance to copyright and protecting the rights of authors, it is more or less shameful to engage in prostitution for free.

So he nodded and said, "Yes."

He looked down at the top of the questionnaire and found the four characters "Spring and Autumn Literature Appreciation" clearly printed on it. He raised his head and looked at Itagaki: "You work at Spring and Autumn Co., Ltd.?"

"Yes, I am the editor of Spring and Autumn Literature Appreciation." Itagaki handed over a pencil, "I hope you will fill it out truthfully."

This is similar to market research, mainly to keep up with market changes as soon as possible. The questions are roughly like "Who is your favorite author?" and "What elements do you most want to see?"

After filling it out, Fujiwara Kei handed the form to Itagaki, who took it with a smile and said, "Excuse me, have you purchased the latest issue of Spring and Autumn Literature?"

"I've already seen it." Fujiwara Kei smiled, "Miyano-sensei's works are as interesting as ever, and "The Past of the Bird", I think is also a good work. It's a pity..."

"pity?"

Kei Fujiwara spread his hands: "It's a pity that there is a lack of socialist works."

Itagaki was stunned: "Do you like socialist mystery works?"

"That's right. To be precise, I not only like reading. I also wrote a socialist work and submitted it to your publisher. But it's a pity that I didn't win your favor."

"Have you written anything yet?" Itagaki looked interested.

"Yes." Kei Fujiwara seemed to smell a turning point. One of the keys to success is to never miss any opportunity. "The manuscript is in the backpack behind me."

Itagaki smiled, understood what Kei Fujiwara meant, and didn't refuse, and said, "If you don't mind, let me have a look."

He took out his manuscript from the backpack behind him and handed it to Itagaki.

"Here is the outline and first four chapters of my manuscript."

"What's the name of the book?"

"White Night Walk."

Itagaki took out the manuscript from the kraft paper bag, sat on the sofa, and began to read.

The beginning of the book is no different from most of the mystery novels, it starts with a murder case.

In an unfinished building in Osaka, a male body was found. Policeman Sasahara Junzo rushed to the scene after receiving the police report.

The deceased was stabbed several times, one of which was fatally stabbed in the chest.

The room where the deceased was located was a place similar to a secret room. The door of the room was blocked with bricks from the inside. There were no windows in the room. The only thing that could lead to the outside world was a ventilation duct.

The person who found the deceased was a boy who had crawled in through this ventilation duct. This abandoned building has been unfinished for many years, and children often come here to play, so it is not unusual for children to climb the ventilation duct.

After the child found the body, he went home and quickly told his parents, who then called the police.

In addition to the doubt that the door was blocked, the forensic doctor also found another suspicious place.

That is, the belt of the deceased was loose by two bars, and after the forensic autopsy, the food in the deceased's stomach had been digested for two hours.

It's not because of the bloating after a meal, but why did you untie the belt?

The police began to conduct visits and investigations along the interpersonal relationship of the deceased.

The deceased was a pawnshop owner, and at the time of the incident, the deceased's wife, children and store employees were watching TV, and the three of them could prove to each other.

And when Officer Sasahara was questioning the wife and employees of the deceased, Officer Sasahara saw a little boy, the son of the deceased, Ryoji Kirihara.

Officer Sasahara was shocked, because the moment he met the child's eyes, he was frightened by the gloomy darkness in the boy's eyes.

Seeing this, Itagaki Kazuhiko's eyes lit up.

Having read hundreds of mystery novels, he immediately received the author's hint in the book. Could the death of the deceased be related to his son?

This is only the first chapter. Did you give such a clear hint so early?

interesting……

Itagaki Kazuhiko thought to himself, subconsciously touching the tea cup, but looked up at the clock on the wall, it was already getting late, and if he drank tea now, he would not sleep at night, so he took his hand back.