Chapter 10: Dilemma of Position

After walking out of the gate, Akiwara Yuto quickened his pace.

The reason he quickened his pace was not because he wanted to go home to write the manuscript as soon as possible, but just because he was too "ashamed."

Just now, he had been holding back words of thanks in his heart, wanting to say them to Asano Aiko but couldn't.

Seeing that the other party's attitude became distant, he subconsciously blurted out his heartfelt words at the publishing house gate in full view of everyone, and his voice was slightly "loud."

Now that he thought about it, it was really a misstep. After all, there would be many opportunities for the two to deal with each other in the future. Wouldn't it be better to say it in a coffee shop or izakaya?

Although embarrassed, Akiwara Yuto still straightened his back. Anyway, most people didn't know him. As long as he wasn't embarrassed, the ones who were embarrassed would be others.

In his wild thoughts, he walked toward the train station, preparing to find a large chain supermarket first to purchase daily necessities and spare paper and pens.

He planned to "retreat" well next, try his best to become proficient in Japanese writing habits as soon as possible, and write all the remaining articles.

He was thinking about it, and his eyes unconsciously noticed the surroundings, seeing a vertical billboard on the ground, on which dense housing agency advertisements were pasted.

Behind this billboard was a shop with a "Fujihashi Real Estate" sign.

Thinking of the room he was forced to "live-stream for love" in, he couldn't help but consider it seriously.

The manuscript fee was about to arrive, so why not move. After all, only when the environment is comfortable can one write better, right?

While Akiwara Yuto was thinking about moving, Asano Aiko was busy participating in the internal meeting of the editorial department.

The meeting place was the office where she brought Akiwara Yuto to sign the contract last time—because there were not enough tables and chairs, every editor moved a folding chair over.

The editorial department meeting was held on time, basically once a week, and the meeting content covered all aspects, including the serialized content to be published in the next issue, magazine sales statistics, reader feedback, etc.

Although the content was relatively messy, this was the daily work of an editor.

Seeing that everyone was present and seated, Kikuchi Tai began to preside over the meeting formally. He first said that the sales of the previous issue were still insufficient, hoping that everyone would work harder, urge the signed authors, and dig for newcomers.

Seeing everyone nod, he announced that the "New Novel" in the next issue would open a new column, specifically serializing Akiwara Yuto's short stories.

There was a slight commotion in the conference room. A man in his 30s wearing glasses suddenly raised his hand and proposed: "Editor-in-Chief, can we take a look at Teacher Akiwara's work."

Hearing this, Kikuchi Tai nodded toward Asano Aiko, who immediately stood up, brought a stack of bound texts, and began to distribute them.

Everyone got the materials and flipped through them quickly. For a time, only the "swish" sound of flipping paper remained.

The man wearing glasses was no exception. He sat up straight, looked at the words "Koshi and Yoko" on the document, and subconsciously reached out his right hand to adjust his glasses.

He was Songdao Kazuhiro, the deputy editor-in-chief of "New Novel," who had been rolling in this line for more than ten years.

He had already heard the wind before this meeting, saying that Kikuchi Tai wanted Asano Aiko to open a column specifically to be responsible for the serialization of a newcomer's work.

Hearing this news, he felt at the time that the editor-in-chief was crazy. Rookie editor + newcomer writer, no matter how you look at it, it was the kind that would definitely be cut.

You must know that under normal circumstances, newcomer authors have limited writing levels, and many places cannot be perfect.

Therefore, there must be a senior editor who is experienced enough to guide them and lead this author onto the path of literary success.

But he knew Asano Aiko's situation. She had been on the job for three years, and her daily work was to help deal with chores. The most proficient thing was probably pouring coffee, right?

May I ask what kind of suggestions such an editor can provide to a newcomer?

Although the circulation of "New Novel" is low, it is not something that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can publish and serialize!

Not to mention that a new serialization column might occupy his promotion resources!

Holding such an idea, Songdao Kazuhiro began to look carefully, seriously starting to pick out flaws.

The writing style is ordinary, and some paragraphs even look a bit awkward. Is it really worthy of being a newcomer?

You must know that a truly good article requires writing style, plot, and connotation. Just this point can be judged as unqualified, right.

Thinking about it, he took out a black fountain pen, circled the places he felt had problems, and wrote the evaluation directly: Writing style needs improvement. After a pause, he added a big exclamation mark!

Subsequently, he pondered the opening plot—the plot of a woman jumping off a building appearing at the beginning, why does it look so inexplicable...

No, the self-talk of the woman jumping off the building appeared below. Perhaps this is the protagonist's self-fantasy suicide. Could it be that he used the magical realism writing technique of Latin America?

He felt a bit curious and couldn't help but continue reading. As he read, he completely forgot his intention to criticize and immersed himself in this story with Yoko as the first perspective.

Why, despite being identical twins, did Yoko suffer from her mother's abuse? It seems that many Japanese families also have the problem of favoring one child over another. There seemed to be news reports before...

As the younger sister Koshi, she actually let her older sister eat her vomit? The old woman Mitsuko, who brought hope, actually passed away just like that? Is there something wrong with this author's heart? Does he want to take revenge on society?

And is this mother a devil? Just because of a small matter, she pushed her daughter off the building!? Does she finally know she killed the wrong person? Thinking about it makes people feel a chill.

In the continuous flipping, time passed all at once. Songdao Kazuhiro hadn't come back to his senses yet, and he flipped to the last page.

He suddenly found that except for the first evaluation, he hadn't moved a pen later.

Thinking about it, he crossed out the previous evaluation. Forget it, this is the work of the proofreading department, so he shouldn't worry about it.

How to say it, although the writing style is average, the design of the plot behind is clever enough to cover up this small flaw.

Especially the mother's inexplicable expression at the end, it is simply a divine touch.

He put down the pen and began to continue thinking. Unconsciously, he flipped to the front again, pondering the exploration of human nature behind the words. Why would the mother not like Yoko and favor Koshi despite being twins?

Is it because Yoko is too much like herself, like the poor woman who was abandoned by her husband and gave birth to twins alone.

So every time the mother sees Yoko, it is as uncomfortable as seeing her own unbearable past, prompting her to punch and kick Yoko.

If this is really the case, this Teacher Akiwara's insight into human nature is a bit powerful!

He didn't dare to treat the other party as a newcomer anymore and began to recognize the title of "Teacher." However, he immediately frowned and began to ponder another problem.

Although the other party wrote very well, is it really a good thing for himself? ===== CHAPTER 11 =====

Although the other party wrote very well, was it truly a good thing for him personally?