Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 131 Mature Family Education

Maijo Kyosuke looked into Yokomizo Seishi's very cloudy eyes.

He looked back at Noma Genjiro with a curious expression.

Because Noma Genjiro made it very clear in the car earlier.

Professor Seishi Yokomizo is now in a terminal state of illness.

To put it bluntly, it's already the countdown to his death.

Judging from this state, even if Yokomizo Seishi wanted to read the book, he probably wouldn't be able to see the text clearly.

So how did the critically ill Seishi Yokomizo know the stories of "A Bellflower" and "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders"?

Just as Maijo Kyosuke and Noma Genjiro were puzzled.

The door to the intensive care unit suddenly opened.

An elderly man wearing thick glasses, with a hunched back and a magazine tucked under his arm, walked in from outside.

Upon seeing Genjiro Noma and Kyosuke Maijo, who was shaking hands with Seishi Yokomizo, the old man's face showed surprise: "President Noma? Mr. Maijo? What are you doing here?"

"Did you come here specifically to see Professor Seishi Yokomizo?"

When Maishiro Kyosuke heard the question directed at him, he didn't know who the other person was, so he could only look at Noma Genjiro standing to the side.

When Noma Genjiro saw that Maijo Kyosuke was looking at him with pleading eyes, he introduced him to Maijo Kyosuke: "Mr. Maijo, this is Mr. Tsuchiya Takao. Your book 'The Astrological Murder Mystery' was able to win the Grand Prize at the Edogawa Ranpo Ryusho Awards, and Mr. Tsuchiya Takao also played a crucial role in helping you."

Maijo Kyosuke was familiar with the names and works of these masters, but he didn't know what they looked like. When he heard that the other person was Tsuchiya Takao, he was naturally excited and shook hands with Tsuchiya Takao.

This handshake wasn't something Maijo Kyosuke was faking.

In his previous life, he was a mystery novelist and also loved collecting manuscripts by mystery writers. He personally signed the manuscripts of Maishiro Kyosuke and greatly admired these legendary writers.

To be able to meet living figures like Seishi Yokomizo and Takao Tsuchiya, who influenced the Japanese mystery genre and even all subsequent mystery novels.

It was almost more exciting than when Maijo Kyosuke got the manuscript of "Mr. Ultraman's Hands" at "Tatara Used Bookstore"!

Although Takao Tsuchiya had never formally met Kyosuke Maijo, he was already quite familiar with him.

Holding Maishiro Kyosuke's hand with one hand, while patting his shoulder repeatedly with the other, her eyes were full of doting affection for him.

After all, the Japanese mystery fiction scene was still under the "Kiyoshi Curse" at that time.

Most mystery writers also belong to the "social mystery" genre.

Among those still alive, besides myself, Tetsuya Namikawa, and Akimitsu Takagi, only Tsumabu Awasaka, who rose to prominence three years ago, and Kiyoshi Kasai from last year, are still upholding the tradition of classic mystery!

As for Kyosuke Maijo, who produced "classic mystery masterpieces" like "A Bellflower" and "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" at the very beginning of 1980, how could Takao Tsuchiya not appreciate and love them?

"Ms. Mai! Look what this is!"

Like a mischievous old man, Tsuchiya Takao pulled a magazine with a bloodstained top hat printed on the cover from under his arm and waved it in front of Maishiro Kyosuke: "Mr. Maishiro, I already finished reading your article 'Conclusion' in the second issue of 'Top Hat' magazine yesterday!"

"It's exceptionally well-written! So well-written that I think it could be considered one of the best, most original, and most creative short mystery stories I've ever read!"

"This ingenious structure, with no definitive solution, is truly fascinating!"

"I read it four times in one go, and finally decided to come to the hospital today to read the story of 'Convergence' to Professor Yokomizo, so that he could experience the unique charm and wonderful flavor of 'Convergence'!"

Upon hearing Takao Tsuchiya's words, Kyosuke Maijo and Genjiro Noma exchanged a brief glance, already knowing their answer.

It's true that Yokomizo Seishi's writing was illegible.

Despite being unable to read the text, Yokomizo Seishi was still able to understand the stories of "A Bellflower" and "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders".

"It was all thanks to his student, Takao Tsuchiya," reads Seishi Yokomizo.

Seeing this, Maijo Kyosuke understood what he needed to do to get Yokomizo Seishi's evaluation.

Maishiro Kyosuke winked at Uyama Hideomi, who was standing to the side.

Uyama Hideomi immediately understood and took out the manuscript of "Summer of the Ubume" from his bag and handed it to Maishiro Kyosuke.

After receiving the manuscript, Maijo Kyosuke smiled at Yokomizo Seishi and Tsuchiya Takao and said, "Yokomizo-sensei, Tsuchiya-sensei, since you're both here, why don't I make a fool of myself?"

"Let me give you a preview of my unpublished new work, 'The Summer of the Ubume.' I'd love to hear the two senior authors' opinions on this book."

"After all, this is the mystery novel I boasted about at the Edogawa Ranpo Ryusho Awards, claiming it was one that no one had ever seen, heard of, or been able to write before!"

Both Yokomizo Seishi and Tsuchiya Takao showed expectant expressions upon hearing Maijo Kyosuke's words.

They all sat up straight, eager to hear what kind of mystery novel Maijo Kyosuke was talking about—a novel that no one had ever seen, heard, or written before.

Maijo Kyosuke rarely has the opportunity to perform in front of Yokomizo Seishi and Tsuchiya Takao.

He immediately opened the manuscript of "The Summer of the Ubume" and began to vividly recount the story of "The Summer of the Ubume" to Seishi Yokomizo and Takao Tsuchiya.

The article "Conclusion" by Maijo Kyosuke, published in the second issue of the magazine "Top Hat," is simply too powerful.

As a result, more than 400 writers refused to compete with Kyosuke Maijo and demanded that all their submissions be withdrawn.

This gave Jiang Liumei a rare opportunity to rest.

After handling some basic matters related to the magazine department, I let the magazine department staff, who had been busy for the past ten days or so, leave work early.

He drove himself to the "Longevity Bath" and planned to share what had happened that day with Maijo Kyosuke.

Although, this is not a very important thing.

However, Jiang Liumei wanted to share everything she had seen and heard with him.

Unfortunately, Maijo Kyosuke, who rarely goes out, is not at the "Longevity Bath" today.

This made Jiang Liu Meili worry about Mai Shiro Kyosuke, fearing that something might have happened to him again.

Fortunately, Grandma Myojin Kusako told Jiang Liu Meili.

Maishiro Kyosuke left the "Longevity Bath" along with Uyama Hideomi and a very fat man.

Upon receiving this news, Jiang Liumei naturally understood that the very fat man was President Noma.

Although I don't know what President Noma and Mr. Uyama took Maijo Kyosuke to do.

But Jiang Liu Meili no longer needs to worry about Mai Shiro Jingjie's safety.

I said goodbye to Grandma Myojin Kusashi.

Jiang Liumei then drove towards her home in Chiyoda.

Jiang Liumei returned to her villa in Chiyoda Ward.

As soon as the villa door was opened, the father, Jiang Liushige, was seen wearing a "Doraemon" outfit.

She and her younger sister, Erome, dressed in a "Doraemon" outfit, are putting together a huge Doraemon family portrait puzzle, which is at least two meters wide and was bought from somewhere.

Jiang Liubieji, the mother, remained unchanged, wearing a purple silk nightgown and lying on her side on the sofa reading a book.

Jiang Liumei changed into slippers and hung her briefcase and coat on the coat rack by the door.

He plopped down on the soft sofa, enjoying the rare moment of tranquility.

But the quiet time passed very quickly.

Jiang Liumei hadn't even settled into the sofa when her ever-observant mother, waving a book in her hand, gave her a mischievous grin: "Meili, tell your mother about this 'Top Hat' magazine you have?"

"Or it could be just the two of us, mother and daughter, let's be more direct."

"Shall we talk about Kyosuke Maijo?"

Looking at the "Top Hat" magazine in her mother Jiang Liubieji's hand.

Jiang Liumei's heart suddenly skipped a beat, because her mother had never been very interested in her work.

So, what made my mother buy the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine?

Although Jiang Liumei was very curious about this matter, she didn't dare to ask a single question.

Because of her mother, Jiang Liubieji! She was absolutely terrifying!

The horror wasn't that the mother would torture herself.

It's just because my mother really loves trying to figure out what people are thinking.

She's like a famous detective in a mystery novel; once you strike up a conversation with her, the end result is that no one has any secrets from her.

All secrets will be exposed before her.

"There's not much to talk about. I don't know much about Ms. Maishiro's situation. We just have a normal working relationship."

Upon hearing Jiang Liumei's words, Jiang Liubieji pulled out several newspapers from the table in front of the sofa.

He placed the newspapers in front of Jiang Liumei, a mischievous smile on his face: "Is that really true, Meili?"

"I've been reading the newspapers about Kyosuke Maijo lately!"

"It seems that many newspapers are saying that your relationship with Keisuke Maijo is ambiguous, and some even claim that Keisuke Maijo became a new writer promoted by Kodansha because of you."

"So—Beautiful, are you dating that genius mystery writer, Kyosuke Maijo?"

"Tell Mommy!"

"You know, Mom is very open-minded."

"As long as the other person isn't a bad person, I won't stop you."

Jiang Liu Meili blushed as she looked at the newspapers her mother had collected, which were filled with various reports about her and Maishiro Kyosuke.

"No way! My relationship with Mr. Mai is just a working relationship."

"These messages, these messages are all rumors!"

"It's a rumor spread by other publishing houses to discredit Ms. Mai Cheng."

Upon hearing Jiang Liumei's words, Jiang Liubieji's face showed a look of sudden realization: "Oh, so it was just a rumor."

"I was definitely overthinking it."

"I used to quite admire this guy named Maijo Kyosuke."

"After all, I've read 'A Bellflower' and 'The Astrological Murders,' and they are indeed very well written."

"And the latest piece, 'Convergence,' has an amazing design and a story structure that many writers find difficult to surpass."

"I was originally planning to invite this genius writer to our house for dinner to see if there was any chance he could help our Futabasha with some manga scripts."

"What a pity—"

After Jiang Liu bid farewell to Ji, he began to flip through the magazine again.

However, the rustling sound of the magazines turning pages made Jiang Liumei feel very uneasy.

Because my mother is known for her love of prying into other people's secrets, once she sets her sights on you, there's no escaping her!

Therefore, we must not be so careless.

With this thought in mind, Jiang Liumei felt extremely uneasy.

In fact, I have a very good relationship with my mother.

It's perfectly acceptable for someone of your age to have a boyfriend.

But I just don't want to talk to my mother about this kind of thing.

Because I never showed even a little bit of emotion to my mother.

Your mother will see right through you from head to toe!

This feeling is just too unbearable.

No one likes the feeling of being seen naked, right?

Not to mention that she had finally taken control of her own life and absolutely could not let her mother interfere!

Just as Jiang Liumei was pondering these random thoughts...

Jiang Liubieji placed the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine on the table and stretched out her waist.

He then pressed the phone on the table, dialing someone he didn't know: "Hello, is this Ms. Matsuda?"

"I am Farewell Princess of Futaba Society. I inquired with my daughter about the matter you asked me a few days ago."

"My daughter and Teacher Wu Cheng have only a professional working relationship; there is no romantic relationship between them."

"Everything in the newspapers is a rumor."

"So, if you like Ms. Mai, you can confidently and boldly pursue her."

"There's no need to worry."

While Jiang Liu was making the phone call, he kept glancing at Jiang Liu Meili out of the corner of his eye.

Jiang Liumei's shoulders trembled as she shrugged.

Jiang Liu Bie Ji continued her live broadcast: "You asked me what Teacher Wu Cheng likes?"

"Men, they just like girls who are pretty, have hot bodies, and gentle personalities."

"For example, Ms. Matsuda, as a popular gravure idol, you not only have outstanding looks and a hot figure, but also a gentle personality. I believe that with your looks, Mr. Maijo will definitely fall for you!"

"In short, if you like something, pursue it boldly and don't leave too many regrets in your life."

Jiang Liumei's face flushed with anger upon hearing her mother's words.

Because she never expected that her mother's sudden interest in Maijo Kyosuke was actually at someone's request, coming to her to investigate!

Judging from what my mother said, the other party is a well-known gravure idol?

Thinking about all this, Jiang Liumei became somewhat unsettled.

The fact that Kenzaki Mitsuki, that big-eyed girl, was competing with him for Maijo Kyosuke was enough to make him feel threatened.

Now, let's add a hot gravure idol to the mix!

Maybe! Maybe she really will take Maijo Kyosuke away from her!

Once the seeds of worry are sown, they can grow into a maddening fear!

Jiang Liumei felt that her hands at this moment were just like those described in the story "Mr. Ultraman's Hands".

Having lost all control, I suddenly pressed the hang-up button on the landline!

However—the mother's face did not show any blame or surprise.

Her mother simply swung the unplugged telephone cord, giving her a knowing, sly look: "Beautiful, you really do like Maijo Kyosuke, don't you?"

Seeing the smug look on her mother's face, Jiang Liumei realized that she had been fooled again!

How many times has this happened in the past twenty years?

I've lost count of them all.

"Mom! You've gone too far!"

"What good does it do you to tease me like this?"

Jiang Liubieji smiled and shrugged indifferently: "There's no benefit to it."

"I just wanted to remind my naive, adorably silly daughter."

"Everyone likes an outstanding man."

"If you really don't want to have any regrets in this life, then you have to strive for it."

"Of course, don't focus all your attention on men; improving yourself is also very important."

"Because outstanding people won't wait for you in the same place."

Jiang Liubieji brushed her long black hair aside with her hand: "As for why I did this?"

"I just don't want to see my wonderful daughter crying her heart out because someone else stole her man."

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