People in Tokyo, the world is clear

However, to be honest, Lin Sen knew in his heart that although this flamingo might really like the feeling of being with friends, it would never take the initiative to extend an invitation for no reason.

Perhaps there were other thoughts mixed in, such as some serious business to discuss.

The subsequent development of the situation can be described as expected.

After a quick half hour at noon, Lin Sen helped wash the dishes. He was then led to the study, where he watched Sasakawa Rimei open an iron box and take out a stack of papers.

"For the first half of this year, the various literary award judging organizations have responded to our submissions. The organizations responsible for major awards like the Akutagawa Prize and the Naoki Prize have been vague and perfunctory. From the language of their responses, it's clear we might not even qualify for a nomination at the final judging meeting in July."

"That is to say, you really dare to invest in these two well-known awards."

"Even if you lose, it's only you who will lose face. I'm willing to be happy for a moment even though this might make you unhappy."

"Good good."

"but--"

Cutting short her usual sarcasm, Sasakawa Rimei suddenly changed the subject, "These unreliable grand prizes weren't our goal in the first place. The good news is that several of the prizes we were hoping to win are progressing smoothly."

Sasagawa Rimei lowered her head and patiently searched through the reply letters one by one:

"The organizers of the Songshan Literary Prize responded with sincere words, expressing affirmation that nominations should be no problem and that there is a chance of winning the first prize."

"It's almost certain to win the Baishan Romance Literature Award. The reply clearly includes words like creativity and a fresh perspective, which are very valuable when judging the award."

"I've also expressed my desire to be nominated for the Otaru Life Literature Award. However, there's an excellent work from Hokkaido, where the selection committee is located, that might not win the grand prize. So I'll have to settle for the honorable mention."

Under Lin Sen's gaze, the female editor lowered her head and carefully looked through the dozens of letters, pointing out one by one the words that might express the attitude of the selection organization.

Lower your tone and tell the story——

This woman must have put in a lot of effort.

The scope of submissions basically covers all major and minor literary awards in Japan this year.

Even some overseas awards that include Japanese were not spared.

This is definitely a very tiring thing -

Select and send out manuscripts, collect replies, read through the content, extract keywords, and analyze the possibility of winning awards.

In the end, it was organized into a clear message, and I speak it out with such confidence today...

For some reason, looking at the lowered face of the woman in front of me, I suddenly couldn't help but imagine a scene:

On a rainy evening, a woman sat at her desk, her hair loose, under a lamp. She sipped her coffee and tore through the letters, reading them intently with her slender fingers.

At this moment, Lin Sen felt a hint of warmth gradually rising in his heart.

He didn't interrupt her from continuing to tell the story, but just glanced at the box containing the letters.

It was a locked iron box. Through the light shining through the keyhole, one could see that both the inside and the outside seemed to have been rusted for a long time.

Very old. Looks like it's been around for a long time.

There are still a few stacks of papers inside, which have not been taken out yet.

Are there other letters that haven’t been taken out yet?

Perhaps it was some mysterious act, but Lin Sen, for once, didn't consider the issue of politeness. He simply reached out and took out the remaining piece of letter paper filled with words.

But when he saw the content clearly, he was stunned.

[I once also wanted to fly into the blue sky.]

[I am always willing to believe that one day, someone will accompany me to watch the sea in the early morning.]

[Takes care of my black hair, picky stomach, and smiling eyes.]

Romance visits every spring. I always fantasize about being connected to it, often feeling like someone is calling from behind. But when I turn around, all I see is the raging wind and the falling cherry blossoms.

[Later, my life became more and more like a stagnant pool.]

[Laughing became a luxury and a pain. So, I gave up smiling.]

I always walk alone. When the wind blows, I walk slowly. When the rain comes, I hide and walk. When there is thunder, I cover my ears and walk.

[I hate loneliness. But now, it's all I have left.]

I don't like naps. Because sometimes I oversleep until dusk, when it's getting darker and no one wakes me up, and the world is getting darker.

I hate feeling this way. I'm also starting to hate writing these things down.

[So, I gave up writing.]

——These are the slightly childish words written on the pages of manuscript paper. They also seem to be a relic of girlhood.

When I got to the last picture, what caught my eye was the yellowed paper that seemed to be used to pad the bottom of the box.

There was only one word on it, written in crooked fonts:

Important things.

"Is it important?"

So the reason those letters were placed in this box is...

Lin Sen couldn't think further.

Because, the moment I thought of this, a cold little hand rushed over.

The slender fingers almost grabbed Lin Sen's arm, causing his skin to naturally convey a cry of pain.

Lin Sen subconsciously loosened his grip. Then, the next second, all the papers in his hand were snatched away and shoved back where they belonged.

"Boom!"

This was the sound of the iron box lid slamming shut.

When Lin Sen looked up again, he saw a face with flushed cheeks, but in contrast, it was filled with an expression of extreme anger and disgust.

The woman gritted her teeth:

"It is hard to imagine that there are such shameless villains in the world who move other people's personal belongings without permission."

Please help me

"My mistake. I thought it was the letter that hadn't been taken out."

"Vile, disgusting, scumbag, dirty pervert..."

The flamingo, whose temperature was gradually turning red, used almost all the offensive words it had learned in its life in just a few seconds.

Unfortunately, for Lin Sen, the true lethality of these words is still debatable.

However, one can still feel the other person's mood at the moment.

He just admitted his mistake generously, showed a sincere and correct attitude, and said nothing.

Only when someone's rapid breathing gradually slowed down did he raise his head again.

Strangely, the faint blush on her face did not disappear, and even seemed to be deeper.

Then, the flamingo took a deep breath:

"you."

"Please speak."

"Out, now."

"Ok."

Editor Sasagawa, who was born as a literary girl, is ultimately of high quality.

Knowing that the other party was still a firecracker that could explode at any moment, and that he was indeed in the wrong, Lin Sen didn't say a word.

He turned around quickly and rushed out the door, ending the information exchange meeting in a nearly interrupted manner.

Novel qun9⑤０1捌零㈨○九

Wait a few days, at least one day. Give them some time.

Thinking of this, he closed the study door and prepared to leave.

But just as the wooden door was about to close, a voice that seemed to suppress some emotion was heard:

"This afternoon, Mr. Scumbag, I have an appointment to keep."

"Of course I remember this. It was with Mr. Higashino."

Even if you are so angry, are you still thinking about this kind of thing at this time?

This woman.

While expressing his emotion, Lin Sen also felt a rare sense of guilt in his heart.

After temporarily suppressing it, he spoke:

"Thanks for the reminder, Editor Sasakawa. Thank you all the time. You've worked so hard on my behalf."

"..."

"Today, I was indeed wrong. If you have any ideas for punishment, I agree."

After Lin Sen finished speaking, there was no response from the study for a long time.

It seemed that this silence was bound to continue until the other party returned to normal.

Lin Sen stopped talking, quietly closed the door, and hurried out.

The woman was left leaning against the study, holding the iron box in her arms, lowering her head, and saying nothing.

It took a long time before he looked up and stared at the sky connecting the buildings through the glass window, wondering what he was thinking.

That is, under this same sky, in a certain cafe—

In front of a table and chairs by the window, Lin Sen reached out and shook hands with the writer in front of him who was still an older young man.

"I have long admired Mr. Dongye's name, and today I finally get to meet him."

"Itsuki-sensei...you're exaggerating."

"Teacher Dongye seems a few years older than me. If you don't mind, how about I call you Dongye Senior?"

"Well, of course."

"Senior Dongye, just call me Xiaolin."

The somewhat reserved man in front of me is twenty-seven years old.

His voice was rather deep, and his tone of voice was rather flat. He lowered his head slightly while speaking, and his eyes habitually looked downwards, not actively seeking to meet Lin Sen's gaze.

Obviously, he has a socially anxious personality.

When facing Lin Sen, who is to some extent a social terrorist, he behaves more like a junior.

Even when he sat down and started talking, he subconsciously bowed slightly, which made Lin Sen a little confused.

Fortunately, when he spoke, he was somewhat normal:

"When I called today, the editor who answered the phone was also named Kobayashi, but I remember her last name was Sasakawa... Madam?"

I can only say that he is worthy of being a top mystery writer. Discovering such details and deducing the answer to the relationship between the two is nothing but child's play.

Lin Sen had no choice but to half-acquiesce. However, considering not going too deep into the relevant topic, he quickly covered it up with another topic:

"I heard that Mr. Higashino's new work, 'The Hakuba Villa Murder Case,' doesn't plan to continue to feature Officer Kaga as the protagonist?"

"Ah... yes."

The plan was a success. The other older young writer in front of him, quickly drawn to the topic related to himself, nodded in agreement.

Then, I waited for Lin Sen to throw out a new sentence:

"It's a shame. Higashino-sensei's book 'Graduation' earlier this year was really well written, and Officer Kaga in the book left a deep impression on me. He's calm and rigorous, loyal and righteous, and a very vivid character. Speaking of which, I vaguely feel that Higashino-sensei was leaving a foreshadowing for this character to have a sequel, so why use a new protagonist?"

This exclamation was so touching that it made Dongye in front of him stunned for a moment. He seemed to have not expected that this junior who was a few years younger than him would actually read his work seriously.

Soon, this surprise turned into a kind of empathetic recognition.

So, under Lin Sen's gaze, Dong Ye suddenly sighed heavily:

"Actually, originally, I was planning to continue the series with the same protagonist."

Chapter 16: The Unyielding Life