People in Tokyo, the world is clear

"Today, I'll be merciful and wash the dishes for you."

"Although it's a bit rude, could someone who enjoys someone else's lunch for free please not treat something that's a given as if it were a gift?"

"Don't dare."

"Also, are you sure that the strange sticky ointment you just used won't stain my pristine white dishes through your hands?"

"Would you like me to present my hands to you so that Editor Sasakawa can fully utilize the gustatory system of a police canine to identify them?"

③

Today's fight was a draw.

After finishing the kitchen chores, Lin Sen returned to the main hall and sat down, ready to start writing.

Writing has become a near-instinct. Even if I don't have a plot or an idea in mind, I'll subconsciously sit down at my desk in my free time, fiddling with pen and paper, waiting for inspiration to rise like the rising tide.

Perhaps it can be considered a kind of talent. Even in the leisure time between writing and thinking, I can find time to chat.

"It's rare to see Editor Sasakawa reading a current magazine."

"A small amount doesn't fill you up. Above that, it's either a serialized work or a short or medium-length novel. It used to be too much trouble, but now it's too expensive. Generally, we wait until the end of the year for the magazine to publish a bound volume."

"So why are you in such a good mood today?"

"This is the first time I've heard of a talented writer who can write with schizophrenia, so naturally I want to get to know him better."

"Wow."

Lin Sen reacted, put down his pen, and then looked carefully at the cover of the magazine.

Shanshan recognized a familiar color photo on it.

"No wonder the more I look at the man in the suit on the left side of the cover, the more I feel he's a man of extraordinary bearing and distinction. He's simply a gentle and modest gentleman."

Ms. Flamingo simply rolled her eyes at Lin Sen's boasting.

However, in the end, he put down the magazine in his hand and cast a scrutinizing gaze.

"However, I didn't expect that Mr. Scheming would say something like this in an interview. So, how much truth is there in this? Or is it pure hype?"

"It's a mixture of truth and falsehood. I did attempt suicide, and there's a part of me that feels like a past life. The me now is another new life."

The description made the female editor frown, and unexpectedly showed a thoughtful look.

Then, his expression gradually became dazed.

"Actually, I've always been curious. What's it like to choose to give up your life and execute it?"

"Want to hear my truth?"

"You can make up stories, Mr. Sweet Talker. After all, even if you lied to me, I wouldn't be able to tell."

Maybe it was a deliberate prank, but the woman's words seemed to carry the resentment of a wife in seclusion, giving Lin Sen goosebumps.

His cheek twitched inadvertently before he propped up his chin.

"As for me."

The young man tilted his head as the woman in front of him looked at him with her clear eyes, and her complex expression that was a mixture of seriousness, curiosity, and other subtle emotions.

"That experience taught me one thing. If you truly wanted to die, you wouldn't share it with anyone. You'd just pick an ordinary day and disappear from this world without a word. On the contrary, if you kept repeating in your mind that you couldn't live anymore, recounting your loneliness over and over again, and writing down one thought after another about life and death in your notebook, then you didn't want to die. You just longed for sunshine and love."

During the speech, Lin Sen saw that Sasagawa Rimei clenched her fists on the table and then unclenched them.

"So, in the end, for you, hope is greater than despair."

"Definitely."

After all, Lin Sen is not the little Lin Sen who really wants to die and is already dead.

The moment he was reborn, he almost died. But even in this strange world, he shouldn't be underwater, but at the dock.

Whole order of fries.

"So, after that, survival became my top priority. I only sought joy in this turbulent world. If happiness was too difficult, then I would seek peace. Even if the future was rotten."

At this point, the usually serious young man broke his rules.

Staring at the woman in front of him, relaxed and free and easy.

Smile at her:

"Maybe it's luck. I encountered kind souls. You are one of them. But if I think about it carefully, if I had given up from the beginning, I wouldn't even be worthy of this luck. The gifts of fate are always as careless as the pain it inflicts."

"..."

Sasagawa Rio pursed her lips.

At this moment, the woman's eyes flashed with a certain light as she stared at the man in front of her who was telling the story.

She had thoughts in her mind. But artistic women are always reserved. In the end, she lowered her head and did not comment.

Just close the magazine in front of you.

"The Tokyo Young Writers Association is holding a grand prize recently. Also, there's the Tokyo Literature Prize, the Spring Urban Life Literature Prize, and..."

Sasagawa Rimei mentioned the names of several literary magazines and talked about their recent literary awards activities.

Although they are not big awards, they are all well-known in the industry.

More importantly, some of the applications for these places still have certain thresholds, and even require a letter of recommendation from a designated person.

"I took the liberty of sending some of Mr. Itsuki's works, including several unpublished ones. After that, I may have to wait for the answer from fate, as you just said. Will I receive a gift in return, or will it fall into oblivion?"

"."

Lin Sen had actually heard of this female editor's reputation in the industry.

He is indeed a veteran with many years of experience in the industry, but his peers don't seem to respect him very much.

The scene of my colleagues at a publishing house secretly bullying and mocking me seems to be still vivid in my mind.

Although she is a person with connections to some extent, in this situation, taking the trouble to do some operations that obviously require connections and multiple parties to appreciate the works she is responsible for is obviously not as easy as she described.

No wonder this woman has been seen going out more frequently recently, and when she is free at home, she often sits in front of the phone and flips through the address book.

Sasagawa Rio is indeed a woman who keeps her word - she promised to help him become famous, so she tried her best to find a way.

It’s absolutely true.

Lin Sen straightened up and looked at her seriously.

"Thank you for your hard work. Really, thank you."

"Mr. Pretender is acting a bit awkward."

She said she didn't care. However, when the woman stood up and turned around, Lin Sen seemed to see a hint of satisfaction at the corner of her mouth.

She's been wearing her hair down more and more often at home lately. Mingming used to often tie her hair up.

It seemed that in front of Lin Sen, he became more relaxed and casual.

Unlike Ms. Ito, Flamingo's hair is slightly naturally curled.

Today, she wore her home kimono, which was a rare occasion. Her tall figure gave her a relaxed and free air of heroism.

Gently combing her hair with her fingers, she turned and walked towards the bedroom:

"I don't mean to disrupt your life. It's just that, in a week, the results of the selections will be mailed to me one after another. So, in the meantime... I mean, try to come to me as often as possible. You'll be the first to know the news. If you're lucky enough to win an award, it will help us plan follow-up plans, such as the time and place for a book signing event to capitalize on the momentum."

"If I keep coming here so often, won't I be a freeloader?"

It was just a habitual joke.

Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly stopped, turned around and stared at him with gentle eyes.

Almost out of the blue.

"It's not a big deal to make you an extra meal."

But he was stunned for the next second, then turned back stiffly.

His steps became faster.

"After all, Mr. Jun, who has low moral character, is used to this kind of shamelessness, so we can only hold our noses and tolerate it."

After she finished speaking, she opened the door handle.

"Aren't you going to read today's manuscript?"

"Put it on the table. I'm going to take a nap first."

"Also, is there something missing?"

Lin Sen asked this.

The woman held onto the door sill, then turned around and glared.

"Mr. Quick Answer doesn't seem to have any sense of self-awareness. So, please use your carnivorous limbs and leave this room. Don't disturb my lunch break."

"Comfortable."

......

The afternoon sun is always hot.

Sprinkled on the blue table, it slowly reflects a unique burnt aroma of a warm day.

Makes people happy.

So the young man breathed a sigh of relief, and used the racket in his hand to easily cushion the white ball that was fed to him at a perfect angle and strength.

Express emotion.

"Sure enough, exercise after lunch is the most pleasant. It also gives people a nostalgic atmosphere."

The young man made a simple and skillful serve, knocking the ping-pong ball in his hand over the net.

"Just a few months ago, I thought Niwa was just a naive table tennis player. But now, he's become so skilled at feeding me the ball comfortably."

"Although I have definitely felt some progress during this period, at the beginning, it seemed like Kobayashi-senpai couldn't even beat me with a single ball."

"Wow."

In the impolite response, and under the gaze of Miss Ito who was covering her mouth and laughing, Lin Sen grinned and missed the white ball that had passed by him. Then he shook his head helplessly and bent down to pick up the small ball that was bouncing on the ground.

"After all, I was your first guide in your table tennis career. Can't you give me a little face and add a beautiful filter to the memories of the past, Niwa-chan?"

“Honesty is a quality that deserves praise.”

Ito Nishika put his hands on his hips and said, "Senior, are you going to use your social etiquette to pressure Niwa-chan?"

"Mine, mine."

Lin Sen counted the twenty-first lost ball in his mind and put away the ball and racket he had picked up. Before he could react, he found that the girl next to him had reached out her hand to him tacitly.

He handed the thing in his hand over almost instinctively, and watched Miss Ito turn around and put the racket into the case like an assistant, and stuffed it into his backpack.

He turned around again and waved to the high school students who were also finishing up their equipment for the finished game.

"Come on. Let's find a place to sit and have some afternoon tea. How was your training match tonight?"

"Maybe there's not much chance. But, try your best."

The figures of the high school student and the two young men overlapped in the hot sunshine, and their shadows slowly lengthened on the sidewalk beside the traffic.

The quiet and ordinary life always seems to warm up slowly without us noticing, just like the temperature that is about to rise slowly.

Also, the young summer is coming after the end of spring.

Chapter 82: The Odds and the Rightess of Ping Pong

Recently, Lin Sen's mind occasionally flashes back to long-lost memories.

I still remember that in a previous life, when I was in my twenties, the people around me had the same evaluation of me.

He speaks little and is serious.

Even as a professional player, when playing a game, he would always be jokingly complained by his teammates after the game, saying that he couldn't say a few words during the whole game.

But the truth is, during the game, Lin Sen always did his job well. He took some strategic directions for granted, with the mentality that "experts know all about it," and rarely nagging his teammates.

In the end, it became like this.