Chapter 100: Release and Diary

7:00 PM, Chiyoda Ward.

Akiwara Yuto opened the door, walked into the entrance, and suddenly heard a phone ringing.

Who is calling me at this time?

He was a bit confused, but still quickly changed into indoor shoes and answered the phone: "I am Akiwara Yuto, who is this?"

"Teacher Akiwara, it's me." A familiar voice came from the other side of the receiver, and Akiwara Yuto quickly recognized it as Anjiu Jin Gangyi's voice.

"President Anjiu, is something the matter?"

On the other side of the phone, Anjiu Jin Gangyi said excitedly: "Teacher Akiwara, Tokyo Distribution contacted me. Because the effect of the trial reading session was good, they are preparing to increase the order quantity from 12,000 copies to 18,000 copies!"

"That's really good news!" Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but clench his fists.

Of the first edition of 30,000 copies, 6,700 were sold to more than 30 cooperative bookstores through the trial reading session, and 18,000 were sold to the distributor Tokyo Distribution. As for the rest, there were only 5,300 copies left!

Immediately after, Anjiu Jin Gangyi continued: "Teacher Akiwara, for the remaining 5,000-plus copies, I plan to keep 1,000 copies as inventory backup, and the other 4,300 copies will be sold directly through bookstores via direct sales."

"Hmm, I'll trouble you!" Akiwara Yuto nodded. After all, although he knew quite a bit about publishing knowledge, his understanding of the distribution side was still on the surface.

Therefore, it was best to leave professional work to professionals to handle.

"Don't be so formal, teacher Akiwara. After all, we are a community of interests. The better the books sell, the higher the profit Anjiu Bookstore can obtain."

Seeing Anjiu Jin Gangyi say this, Akiwara Yuto didn't stand on ceremony, but he asked another question: "President Anjiu, may I ask which step it is at now? What is the specific release date for *The Devotion of Suspect X*?"

"Rest assured, it has already been entrusted to the printing factory, and large-scale printing has begun. It is expected to be completed on Wednesday and delivered to Tokyo Distribution and major bookstores on Thursday, and they will arrange for it to be on the shelves uniformly on Friday."

Hearing all this, Akiwara Yuto set his mind at ease. After all, his current savings were only 600,000 yen, and after a while, he might have to eat instant noodles again.

After finishing the situation, Anjiu Jin Gangyi talked about some late-stage promotion matters and took the initiative to end the call.

Akiwara Yuto put down the receiver, walked into the kitchen, took out the bento box from his briefcase, put it into the microwave, set it for 3 minutes, and pressed the button.

Watching the bento box rotate in the microwave, Akiwara Yuto began to think: should he go to a bookstore to see the specific situation on the day of the official release?

While Akiwara Yuto was thinking, Satake Maki also returned home. She said "I'm home" at the entrance and walked into the living room with a clatter.

Lady Satake, who was cooking, heard the movement and poked her head out, saying: "Satake-chan, where did the octopus sausages on the top shelf of the fridge go, and why are there so many fewer eggs?"

Satake Maki was a bit embarrassed and replied: "Sorry, Mom, I took them to make a bento."

"Bento, can you eat that much by yourself?" Lady Satake didn't quite believe it. She looked carefully at her daughter's figure and found that it hadn't become very fat.

"That... anyway, it was just used up." Satake Maki didn't want to say the real purpose, so she mumbled and brushed it off.

"Really, don't lie to me, okay?" Lady Satake looked at her suspiciously for a few glances, then suddenly seemed to realize something.

"Is it for some male colleague!? Is it that Xidao-san? Someone even gave you a birthday gift last time."

"So annoying, just cook your meal properly, be careful or I won't eat dinner~"

Satake Maki was a bit shy, so she ran back to her room and closed the door with a "thud."

Watching her daughter's panicked actions, Lady Satake smiled and continued to cook. While cooking, she thought a bit "sadly."

This Christmas, will I be able to see Satake-chan bring a boyfriend home?

Sigh, the child has grown up~

On the other side, Satake Maki sat in front of the dressing table in her room, looking at herself in the mirror.

In the mirror was a girl with light brown dyed hair. The girl's skin was fair, and her features could be considered good-looking. But to be honest, it was just good-looking among ordinary people.

Facing the mirror, Satake Maki made a face, then opened the drawer, took out a black water-based pen and a pink notebook, opened it to a new page, and began to write.

She wanted to write down her feelings in the form of a diary.

"October 6th, Wednesday. As of today, it has been the 35th day since I met teacher Akiwara Yuto."

"However, sometimes I still feel like I'm dreaming. I didn't expect to have the opportunity to meet the writer I like the most. It's simply too incredible."

"Does the god think my life is too ordinary, so he gave me a little good luck? If so, thank you to all the gods on Takamagahara."

Writing to this point, she put down the pen, closed her eyes, put her hands together, and made a prayer posture.

After a while, she finished praying and picked up the pen to continue writing.

"Sometimes, life might be so wonderful, but what's even more wonderful is that it often isn't what you think."

"Before meeting teacher Akiwara, I thought that he, who could write works like *Seven Rooms*, should be a very gloomy or even dark person. After all, didn't many literary critics say that he is a 'thriller-type genius'?"

"But after contacting teacher Akiwara, I discovered that he has a cheerful personality and is very gentle in his dealings with others. He greets me every day, says thank you when he takes the bento box, and even washes the bento box clean and returns it to me..."

"Although he is gentle, it's not quite the same as the genius image I imagined, which makes me a bit disappointed."

Writing to this point, Satake Maki's movements paused. She thought for a while, crossed out the line "a bit disappointed," and changed it to "doesn't seem bad either."

"Anyway, being able to be so close to my idol makes me very happy. I hope I can keep this feeling forever."

"Looking at it now, the plan to send a bento every day has been successful, but teacher Akiwara's attitude towards me is still very distant. So for the next step of the plan, I want to further close the distance and make him call my name!"

While Satake Maki was writing furiously, the room door was suddenly knocked, and her mother's voice came from behind the door, "Dinner is ready, hurry up and wash your hands."

"Got it, I'm coming!" Satake Maki responded in a crisp voice, wrote down the last sentence, closed the notebook, stood up, and prepared to go out.

What she wrote was this sentence.

"I hope teacher Akiwara's work will be a bestseller when it is released tomorrow!" ===== CHAPTER 101 =====