I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 133 He is the first person in the past 1 years who understood me from that song ( is owed)

The book "Literature" that his youngest son brought was a version that he specially asked a professional translator to customize.

American bookstores rarely sell magazines from other countries.

It’s not that they deliberately want to create cultural barriers, but magazines from many countries have very strong national cultural colors.

If it is popular entertainment products such as movies, TV series, and cartoons, it is not difficult to say that the public will have a certain degree of acceptance.

But for things like pure literature, even if you put them on the shelves, basically no one is willing to buy them.

Because it is difficult for ordinary people to adapt to the huge differences between cultures of different countries, their cultural literacy cannot support them to read this kind of books.

It was hard for Gene to imagine how this reading could accurately convey his songs from sixty years ago to the Japanese.

His records were indeed popular for a while, but that was sixty years ago in Mexico and rural America, and had nothing to do with Japan.

Driven by curiosity, he opened "Literature and Art", put on his reading glasses, and slowly read the novel titled "South of the Border, West of the Sun".

The youngest son stood aside, waiting quietly.

He didn't understand literature and had no mood to read novels written by Japanese.

He only knows one thing.

He asked his elderly father to come out of retirement and re-record "South of the Border" with his help, and then used the record company he had to promote it heavily.

Whether he links it with the novel or just promotes the song alone in Japan, taking advantage of this wave of popularity to expand into the Japanese music market will be beneficial to his business in every way.

After a long time.

Gene slowly closed the magazine, sat on a slightly swaying recliner, took off his reading glasses, closed his eyes, and just sat there swaying.

It was as if my thoughts followed the rhythm of the rocking recliner and went back to sixty years ago.

Then the youngest son was surprised to hear his father, who had not sung for decades, suddenly begin to sing the song "South of the Border".

The familiar melody, the voice is not like before, but there is an indescribable sense of vicissitudes.

“South of the border
Down Mexico way

That's where I fell in love when

South of the border (south of the border)
Down Mexico way

She was a vision in
"

As the youngest son listened to Gene humming the song slowly, he felt as if he were back in his childhood.

"Jerry, I missed your mother." When Gene opened his eyes again, tears filled his cloudy eyes.

He saw his own past in that novel.

He met his first wife, Inan Mae Spivey, in 1932 while traveling from Mexico to Los Angeles.

They fell in love at first sight when they met, and within a few months, they decided to get married.

The poem "South of the Border" was also written at that time.

The general meaning of the lyrics is easy to understand, it's about Gene meeting the love of his life south of the border.

In 1980, his beloved wife passed away. Since then, he would always think of this song and his beloved, but no one could understand his pain anymore.

Until this novel came out.

The twelve-year-old "Hatsu" and the girl named Shimamoto reminded Gene of the past.

"Is this the charm of words that transcends national boundaries?" Gene slowly stood up, and his youngest son Jerry hurried to help him up.

"Dad?" It was the first time he saw his elderly father lose his composure like this.

"Let's go to the recording studio now. While I still remember this emotion, I want to re-record it myself and give it to the writer named Kitagawa Hide."

Gene said softly, looking back at the yellowed old photo on the table.

"He is the first person in 60 years who understood me from that song."

Time flies and it is already the end of January.

Kodansha headquarters building, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Looking out from the window of the conference room, the sunny side of the tall building opposite was so bright that it was dazzling.

The snow that ended three days ago seemed to have taken away the long winter, and the vibrant spring seemed to be approaching.

After Muramatsu Tomoshi finished reading the last data report, he leaned back in his chair and turned his gaze to the other editors.

Nearing noon, the conference room was filled with frowning editors. Editor-in-chief Kashiwamura Takeshi and Chief Editor Noma River at the top had ugly expressions as if they had swallowed a few flies.

In this atmosphere, no one dared to speak, only the female secretary near the door was typing away.

The January issue of "Gun Portrait" has been on sale for half a month, and now the total sales volume is about 1 copies. If this trend continues, it will not be a problem for the monthly sales volume to exceed 47.9 copies.

This is the best result since Hide Kitagawa left.

Although it was the result of a joint effort among writers recruited and core writers in reserve, the sales volume was enough to make the editorial department breathe a sigh of relief.

If we hadn't gotten the real sales data of "Wenyi", it would have been a good thing to celebrate.

But now, in comparison, good things have become funny.

The January issue of "Wenyi" has been on sale for about two weeks, with total sales of 1 copies. If it sells for another day or two, it is estimated that the sales will be almost the same as "Qun Xiang".

You know, from the end of last year to the beginning of this year, the two presidents, Sawako Noma and Toru Ueno, mobilized countless resources and severely suppressed Kawaide Shobo in all aspects.

Not to mention anything else, Kodansha recruited nearly fifty core writers in one go.

Including the people poached by Bungeishunju, 35% of Hechu Shobo's writer pool has been emptied out.

Especially those guys who originally planned to serialize their new novels in the January issue of "Wenyi" all jumped to these two companies.

This resulted in the January issue of "Wenyi" being unable to gather novels of sufficient quality to be published.

For this reason, "Wenyi" had to expand the serialized version of "South of the Border, West of the Sun", and also added an interview and a message from Kitagawa Hide to make up the word count.

If you read the January issue of Literature and Art carefully, you will find that Kitagawa Hide alone occupies more than 1% of the space.

This is a very stupid and bad thing for a top literary magazine.

It will cause many loyal readers to run away.

Because they feel that buying a copy of "Wenyi" is just like buying a single volume of Kitagawa Hide's novel, which is too cost-effective!

It would be better to just buy the single volume.

In addition, the joint essay contest launched on the 18th attracted a lot of attention.

It is in this situation.

"Wenyi" fought its way out.

It not only stabilized sales, but also appeased readers.

Could it be that Hidema Kitagawa has the magic power to support a pure literature magazine alone?
Judging from the current results, it seems to be the case, but no one is willing to admit it.

The editors gathered here as soon as they started working, either studying data or tables, trying to find a possibility that the sales of "Wenyi" had nothing to do with Kitagawa Hide.

Even suspended employees like Muramatsu Tomoshi were forcibly recalled, which shows how urgent the matter is.

Before returning, Muramatsu Tomoshige was thinking every day about how to resume his post, how to please President Noma, and how to keep his job.

After coming back, he suddenly felt a little bored.

He didn't want to bother with the pile of reports on the table and just turned his eyes to the window.

On the other side of the high-rise building illuminated by the sun, the clouds appear as two parallel lines, as if they were painted with a brush, and the front end of the floating clouds seems to be a tic-tac-toe-shaped wireless.

Gazing at the silent sky, Muramatsu Tomoshi's mind flashed with Rinko's snow-white body, and he seemed to hear her moans filled with pleasure.

At this time, everyone is worried about whether the joint essay contest can suppress Kawade Shobo, and whether the next issue of Kitagawa Hideki's novel will continue to be popular.

I'm afraid I'm the only one who's obsessed with women. I'm really crazy.

But he had no choice.

After returning from Kamakura that day, he secretly went to "Peter Cat".

Kitagawa Hide doesn't look like a top writer at all who single-handedly saved Kawaide Shobo from a losing situation.

He was typing by himself and treated me warmly when he saw me.

It seems that the recent publishing war has nothing to do with him.

The two chatted about "South of the Border, West of the Sun", and the topic turned to "beginning" and the island itself.

Muramatsu Tomoshige couldn't help himself and told Kitagawa Hide about his extramarital affair.

To his surprise, Kitagawa Hide did not despise him, scold him or ridicule him like most people did.

Kitagawa Hide did not spoil the ending of the story, but just comforted him and told him not to think too much about it.

Although he didn't get what he wanted, Muramatsu Tomoshi still felt a lot more relieved.

He felt that Mr. Kitagawa was indeed a unique writer.

Different from those "upper-class writers".

Perhaps only someone like him can write such a beautiful and touching novel.

He didn't get an answer, but after that, Muramatsu Tomoshi's longing and love for Rinko became even stronger.

His thoughts returned to the conference room. Muramatsu Tomoshi stared at the white clouds floating in the sky for a while, then suddenly stood up.

While others were still looking at useless data reports, Muramatsu Tomoshi left the meeting room on the pretext of going to the toilet.

His mind is now full of Rinko.

Rinko should be at home now, as there are no classes at the training center today.

Hiding in the toilet cubicle, he took out his cell phone.

Ironically, after being promoted to deputy editor-in-chief, this mobile phone, which was equipped due to his busy work, is now used to whisper with Rinko.

As if possessed by a ghost, he dialed Rinko's home phone number and immediately heard Rinko's voice.

"Moshimoshi, is it Youshi-kun?"

Rinko seemed to know that he would call and immediately responded excitedly.

Muramatsu Tomoshi confirmed that there was no one around before whispering into the phone, "I suddenly want to hear your voice."

"Aren't you in the company now?"

"Yes, but when I think of you, I get impulsive."

"What are you thinking?"

"I think the shape of the white clouds is like your body."

"Stupid, it's daytime now."

"I miss you so much."

"No, don't say that."

"How about we go to Kamakura? There will be a Noh performance at Kamakura Daitogu on February 2th. If you want to go, I can book tickets now."

"I want to go. I want to go with you." Rinko answered simply.

"Okay, I'll book the ticket right away."

"I have to wait another eighteen days before I can be with you." Rinko felt itchy in her heart when she thought of him.

Eighteen days, it seemed so long that she could not wait any longer.

Realizing that what she said was too explicit, Rinko quickly changed her words and said, "I will be patient. Can you be patient too, Tomoshi-kun?"

"Yes." Muramatsu Tomoshi's heart was surging. He couldn't control himself when he thought of Rinko.

Perhaps "Hatsu" has similar feelings towards Shimamoto?

The eighteen days were indeed very torturous, but as long as he could touch Rinko again, he didn't think it was so hard.

"At that time, it seems that the new issue of "Wenyi" will also be on sale. Should we buy it and read it like we did that day?" Rinko suddenly said.

"Okay, just like that day!" Muramatsu Tomomi agreed readily and felt that his heart had flown to Kamakura.

at the same time.

Kawaide Shobo's new headquarters, editorial office area.

After a burst of cheers, everyone seemed to realize something and returned to their seats with awkward smiles.

Opening champagne at halftime is not something that should be encouraged.

Although the cheers had died down, they were still in a very excited mood.

After being depressed for a whole month, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Despite being attacked from all sides, "Wenyi" can still keep up with the sales of "Qunxiang", at least so they don't have to worry about suffering a Waterloo in the first issue of the new year and then falling into the curse of sluggish sales for the whole year.

The editors cheered, but Kitagawa Hide, who came to the meeting with his apprentice Mayumi Aso, had a blank expression on his face.

The two of them went straight into Saito Rena's office and slammed the door. The atmosphere seemed a little wrong.

After a while, Kawaide Shizuko, who also had a blank expression on her face, called the editor-in-chief, the deputy editor-in-chief, and several senior editors, and followed them into the office.

There was the sound of a door slamming shut and the blinds being drawn down.

All was silent.

(End of this chapter)