[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-16":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Literary Master of Tokyo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2354865,4607,"Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Whose Life?","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-16",16,"\u003Cp>Monday, July 5th, 8:30 AM.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sugihara Aisa held a stack of books in both hands, walked to the literature section in the upper right corner of the bookstore, and began to feel troubled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was a bookstore clerk, but she preferred to be called a book curator; her job was to place every book in the most suitable spot so that the customers who needed them most would see and purchase them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This job sounded simple, but the actual execution was far more complex, because every book had its own target audience and sales cycle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It could be said that deciding which book to place in which position at what time was entirely a science of management.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this medium-sized bookstore where she worked, in order to better sell books, the entire store was divided into sections such as manga, literature, and science and education.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A curator was assigned to each section, specifically responsible for the placement and recommendation of books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She herself was the person in charge of the literature section.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After placing the stack of books in her hands onto the display shelf of the literature section, she sighed and continued to \"feel troubled.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the literature section curator, she managed all the literature books in the store, but she had to distinguish between books that sold well and those that did not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the question arose: which unpopular book should be thrown into the \"cave\" today?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called \"cave\" actually referred to the bookshelf nearby; the origin of this term was inseparable from the placement of the books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a book was very important, especially a bestseller, customers needed to see it immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, such books would be placed flat and neatly on the display table like offerings, revealing their exquisite full covers, waiting for the patronage of customers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Generally speaking, these types of books were also the easiest to sell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if a book was unimportant, it could mostly only end up being inserted into the bookshelf. Once it reached this point, only a tiny spine could be seen, as if it had entered a \"cave.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps one day a kind-hearted customer would come along, dig it out of the cave, and take it away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stood by the bookshelf, searching for a suitable spot to insert a book, while pulling one out from the stack in her hand, her mind wandering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My dear book, I am truly sorry; if this week's sales don't meet expectations, I will definitely be scolded by the store manager... so, please go ahead and rest in the cave for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After inserting a dozen or so books into the shelf, she slowed down and decided to slack off and \"read\" for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this was slacking off, it could be done openly and honestly; after all, without properly reading the content, how could she know if a book would sell well or not?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She picked up a book at random and glanced at the title.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh, isn't this \"New Novel,\" which hits the bottom of the sales charts every week? Why was I so unlucky to draw this one today?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget it, I heard the serialized story \"The Footsteps of Searching\" inside is not bad; I'll just take a quick look today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She leaned against the bookshelf and began to read. After a full twenty minutes of reading, she felt increasingly disappointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is this content? The mystery-solving method is boring to death, there are a pile of irrelevant environmental descriptions, and the pacing is so slow it makes one want to sleep... and at the very end, it suddenly throws a bunch of inexplicable clues to the police and solves the whole case directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is the author's intention? To introduce sightseeing routes to readers?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, I heard this story was written based on a real police case; do RB police really work like this? I'm actually a bit worried about my own safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She shook her head, but in her heart, she had already sentenced \"New Novel\" to life imprisonment, preparing to let this book go into the \"cave\" to cool off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, her hand habitually swiped to the next page, and she saw the first page of \"Kozue and Yoko\":\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If Mother wanted to kill me, what method would she use? For example, she might beat me with something hard like she usually does, or perhaps use her usual method of strangling my neck; or, she might push me off the balcony to create the illusion of suicide.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This opening is a bit chilling, isn't it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She couldn't help but stop her hand, which was about to close the book, and decided to read a few more pages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as she read on, her heart became tightly entangled due to Yoko's plight, and she was completely and thoroughly immersed in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the beginning of Yoko's abuse, to Yoko being treated with kindness by her grandmother, to the younger sister Kozue being pushed off the balcony, and finally that eerie smile on the mother's face...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All these scenes appeared in her mind like a series of images, one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more she read, the more distressed she felt, yet she couldn't bear to put it down. It was only after a long while that she calmed her emotions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By this time, she realized the corners of her eyes were already wet; she had cried without even realizing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why did I cry? she couldn't help but wonder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She pondered for a long time and was surprised to discover that her own life had many similarities to Yoko's.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had also grown up in a single-parent family; her father doted on her younger brother in every way but was indifferent to her, and even felt extreme disgust toward her because she looked more and more like her mother, who had run away from home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under such circumstances, she had even once wanted to give up on life...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she was in great pain, her high school homeroom teacher gave her a book as a gift, with a note written inside, hoping she could find her own life after graduating from high school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Encouraged by this book and the note, she held on until high school graduation. After thanking her teacher, she left her hometown and her original family, starting a new life as a bookstore clerk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was silent for a moment, flipped to the author information page, and saw the four characters \"Akiwara Yuto,\" wondering what kind of person he was and why he could write such an article.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The profound meaning contained in this kind of article about finding a new life from pain could absolutely not be written by a writer who had never had similar life experiences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Presumably, this Mr. Akiwara, like her, must have had an unbearable past, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She glanced at the display shelf and decided to clear a spot for this story that had touched the depths of her heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This story called \"Kozue and Yoko\" should not be buried in the bookshelf; let it be placed on the display shelf. Perhaps it could also help someone who needed it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Sugihara Aisa was contributing her meager strength to the sales of \"New Novel,\" someone else was looking at the \"New Novel\" in front of him with an expression of disgust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scratched his head in frustration, muttering to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How on earth should I write this pile of horse manure to make it smell fragrant?\u003C\u002Fp>",1250,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","fc16709962d504e4141a768753d1b6bc9243ed22b4ed706be07207a634055998","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-17","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-15",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]