Chapter 160: The request of *April Youth*

Dating Akiwara?

Hearing this question, Asano Aiko was hesitant for a moment.

In Nihon society, if it's not a very good relationship, one should generally avoid delving into other people's privacy.

So after hearing this question from Satake Maki, Asano Aiko was very surprised and couldn't speak for a long time.

However, could it be that this Miss Satake also... toward Akiwara...

Asano Aiko turned her head, looked at Satake Maki, and found that the other party had a very natural expression on her face.

She thought for a moment and still asked, "Miss Satake, why do you ask this question?"

"If I have offended your privacy, Senior, I apologize first." Satake Maki waved her hand and then continued.

"I'm just curious. After all, you and Senior Akiwara have been working together for so long, and you even eat together at night."

Although Satake Maki said it this way, she knew that the reason for her question was not because of "curiosity" at all.

After all, the two had little personal friendship; if she asked about personal privacy just out of curiosity, it would undoubtedly be a bit too rude.

But even knowing that she was "rude," she still asked.

Because she really wanted to know whether Akiwara and Asano were actually dating.

When they were on the phone, Akiwara and Asano addressed each other without even adding suffixes.

Besides, Asano Aiko had even appeared at Akiwara Yuto's home, and they were even eating dinner together tonight.

Everything that happened made Satake Maki feel very "uncomfortable," but she also understood that she had developed deep "jealousy."

Driven by this jealousy, she couldn't care about whether it was "rude" or not.

However, although she asked the question "are you dating," she still used "curiosity" as an excuse, disguising that she only asked because of curiosity.

Asano Aiko looked at Satake Maki carefully twice and found that she only had a smile on her face, and she couldn't see anything else at all.

It seems like another person who asked this just because of gossip.

Asano Aiko wasn't surprised, because of her statement in the TV interview earlier, the Mantanshe Society had even taken the initiative to promote that she and Akiwara were a couple in public opinion.

So on the second day she came to Anju Bookstore, that administrative staff member named Itakura Naka had secretly asked her in private.

Even that President Anju had shown this kind of look.

Why were the people in this publishing house so gossipy?

Asano Aiko felt a bit helpless for a moment.

"Miss Satake, you may have misunderstood. Akiwara and I are just in a pure working relationship. He hired me to be responsible for helping with proofreading and subsequent publication matters."

Asano Aiko paused and added, "Besides these, we can only be called friends..."

She knew she liked Akiwara Yuto, but she thought there was no need to tell the people at Anju Bookstore about this.

"Is that so? That's a pity." After hearing this answer, Satake Maki showed a regretful expression, "Senior Satake is so beautiful, I thought Master Akiwara must have pursued you."

She said it was a pity, but she was very happy in her heart.

Satake, you still have a chance, don't give up!

On the other side, Akiwara Yuto said goodbye to the three members of President Hehe and left the Mystery Writers Association.

Just now, he was told the process of joining the Association—mail in a series of his relevant materials and stamp it with his personal seal.

As for the remaining review work, the Association would arrange for it to be resolved by President Hehe's side.

Akiwara Yuto walked to the train station, took the train, and after a journey of about 40 minutes, returned to Chiyoda Ward and walked toward his home.

While watching the setting sun falling obliquely, he continued to think about the problem.

What should his next piece be about?

Honkaku or Social? Nihon or Europe and America?

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment and decided not to limit himself too much.

According to President Hehe's words, he was considered to have joined the Moderate faction within the Honkaku school, but this faction's view on mystery was based on the premise of storytelling.

So there was no need to put the cart before the horse and blindly pursue whether it was Honkaku or Social.

Speaking of which, what should he write that would be appropriate?

While he was thinking, he found that he had walked to his front door without realizing it, but at the door stood an acquaintance he hadn't seen for a long time—the editor of *April Youth*, Awazu Hideki.

After seeing Akiwara Yuto, Awazu Hideki said pleasantly, "Good evening, Master Akiwara."

"Is there something?" Akiwara Yuto was a little puzzled, but his tone of reply was very impolite.

In fact, he did have reason to be impolite.

When he first met Awazu Hideki, the other party wanted to poach him from *New* to *April Youth*.

When he met Awazu Hideki for the second time, the other party wanted to trick him into signing a long-term contract to work for *April Youth*.

Therefore, Akiwara Yuto had no good feelings for him.

Hearing Akiwara Yuto's impolite words, Awazu Hideki didn't show any impatience at all.

In his view, Akiwara Yuto was a "ruthless person" who had withstood the blockade of the Mantanshe Society and made the Mantanshe Society suffer a big loss.

So after seeing Akiwara Yuto, Awazu Hideki immediately bowed and stated his purpose in a very sincere tone, "Master Akiwara, I hope you can help *April Youth*!"

Akiwara Yuto raised his eyebrows, a bit confused for a moment.

He thought for a moment and felt that it was still early before his appointment to eat with Asano Aiko, so he opened the courtyard gate and signaled Awazu Hideki to come into his home to talk briefly.

Awazu Hideki nodded, followed Akiwara Yuto, changed his shoes at the entrance, walked to the second floor, and under Akiwara Yuto's arrangement, sat on the straw mat behind the low table.

Akiwara Yuto poured two cups of tea and placed them on the table, then sat down cross-legged.

"Editor Awazu, before, regarding Takei Kohei's targeting of me, you gave me some information, which barely counts as a favor. But I remember, you seemed to want me to sign a 7-year exclusive contract, right?"

Akiwara Yuto's words were about the favor on the surface, but in reality, they indicated that the value of this favor was limited.

After all, a 7-year exclusive contract was undoubtedly a very tyrannical clause!

So in his view, as long as this Editor Awazu didn't know what was good for him and made some excessive request, he would just sweep him out the door.

Awazu Hideki smiled awkwardly.

"Master Akiwara, I hope you can publish a serialization in *April Youth*, but I won't let you work in vain either. As for the manuscript fee, you can put forward your own opinion first, and I will go and reflect it to my superiors."

Akiwara Yuto was a little puzzled when he heard this and asked, "Does *April Youth* have any problems?"

Besides this, he really couldn't think of a reason why *April Youth* would come to him for a manuscript. After all, the relationship between him and Awazu Hideki was still relatively awkward.

And if he wanted to write, the manuscript fee definitely couldn't be too low.

Awazu Hideki nodded and continued, "Judging from the sales in recent times, the sales of *April Youth* are getting lower and lower, and the weekly sales have fallen below 70,000 copies. If this continues, it might fall out of the ranks of the five major literary journals."

He sighed, "In fact, the Board of Directors of the Education Publishing House has been very dissatisfied with our performance, and some upper management even proposed changing *April Youth* from a weekly to a semi-monthly, or even changing the name of the journal."

Hearing this content, Akiwara Yuto was a little surprised and couldn't help but show a look of pity.

If this was the case, then *April Youth* was really miserable. Whether it became a semi-weekly or changed its name, it was undoubtedly a great humiliation for a magazine journal.

At this point, this Editor Awazu probably had quite a few troubles too; maybe he could even be transferred to another department.

Speaking of which, why did the sales of *April Youth* drop so much?

Akiwara Yuto was a little puzzled and asked his question to Awazu Hideki.

Awazu Hideki showed a bitter smile: "This matter actually has quite a bit to do with you, Master Akiwara Yuto."

Akiwara Yuto was even more puzzled in his heart.

What does this have to do with me?

But hearing the content Awazu Hideki said, Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but be surprised... ===== CHAPTER 161 =====