Chapter 215: Father and Daughter, Mother and Son

"It should be about finished with the revisions, right?"

Akiwara Yuto put down his pen, stuffed the manuscript pages in his hand into an envelope, and then filled in the address and the recipient.

She planned to wait until after lunch to mail this piece, titled *The Deceased Mother*, to the "Modern Detective Literature Newcomer Award Committee."

But since this was her debut work, she was still a bit nervous.

Just then, a series of footsteps approached. Akiwara Yuto looked up and discovered her father, Akiwara Shuichi, walking over.

Akiwara Shuichi stopped and said with a smile, "Miho-chan, are you very nervous?"

"It's fine, just average." Akiwara Yuto looked up, then frowned and said, "Dad, I'm not a child anymore; don't add the '-chan' suffix anymore."

Akiwara Shuichi said with a smile, "Understood, Miho-chan."

Seeing the other party ignore her suggestion, Akiwara Yuto felt a bit "angry" and lowered her head, pretending to be busy.

Akiwara Shuichi knew his daughter's temperament; he just sat cross-legged on the floor and continued, beaming, "I just had a phone call with Teacher Akiwara. Do you know what he said?"

Akiwara Yuto originally didn't want to pay attention to her father, but after hearing this news, she couldn't continue pretending to be "angry." She hesitated and asked, "What did Master say?"

Akiwara Shuichi rubbed his chin and continued to keep her in suspense, "Yeah, what did he say?"

"Dad, I'm angry!" Akiwara Yuto widened her eyes.

"Alright, alright, alright," Akiwara Shuichi saw that his daughter was truly planning to get angry and could only give up on continuing to joke, "Teacher Akiwara believes that the final version you revised has already exceeded his expectations."

"Really?" Akiwara Yuto asked, pleasantly surprised.

Akiwara Shuichi nodded and added, "He also said that even if you don't win this Newcomer Award, in his heart, this work of yours is no different from an award-winning one."

Akiwara Yuto was a bit speechless; the feeling of pleasant surprise faded quite a bit.

She felt that this master of hers might not be very optimistic about her, which was why he gave her a preventative shot in advance.

Akiwara Shuichi looked at his daughter's expression, sighed, and said, "Let's not talk about this. You're enrolling in the University of Tokyo in April; have you found a place to stay?"

As a professor at Kyoto University, he had seen countless award selections.

Therefore, in his view, the Modern Detective Literature Newcomer Award that his daughter was participating in was just an award that had popped up in recent years.

So what he was more concerned about was his daughter's university life after she headed to Tokyo.

Akiwara Yuto nodded, "I've already entrusted Teacher Akiwara's assistant, Ms. Asano, to help me keep an eye out for housing near Chiyoda Ward and Bunkyo Ward."

Akiwara Shuichi asked hesitantly, "Is your living expense enough? If you need it, the family can help you solve it."

Akiwara Yuto shook her head, "I'm already very grateful that the family can pay for my tuition. As for living expenses, I plan to bear them myself."

"Then why not live in a dormitory?" Akiwara Shuichi continued to ask.

Akiwara Yuto explained, "Besides the factor that dormitory fees are relatively expensive, I hope the place I live can be a bit closer to Master, so it's convenient for me to go over and ask for advice often."

Akiwara Shuichi nodded; he didn't have much objection to this point.

For universities in Tokyo, dormitories are not only difficult to apply for, but the costs are also not as cost-effective compared to renting an apartment. In fact, due to these two reasons, many people choose to rent on their own.

But he was still a bit worried and asked, "Miho-chan, you haven't really worked any part-time jobs before, right? Will there be any problems?"

Akiwara Yuto shook her head, "Dad, I plan to see if I can maintain my living expenses through submissions. If that doesn't work, I'll ask Teacher Akiwara for help again to see if there's any work related to literature."

Akiwara Shuichi sighed inwardly. He knew that his daughter had already made up her mind to earn her living expenses alone, and even if he tried to persuade her further, it would be of no use.

However, he also understood why his daughter valued this Modern Detective Literature Newcomer Award so much.

After all, for a newcomer writer, whether or not they have an award-winning experience has a great impact on whether they can successfully submit their work later on.

Although these problems could be solved through Teacher Akiwara's connections, this daughter of his was very independent and strong-willed; she probably didn't want to cause the other party too much trouble.

But just thinking about his daughter leaving him to go to a different place, perhaps only being able to see her once every six months, Akiwara Shuichi felt an indescribable taste in his heart.

Forget it, I'll just sell this old face of mine and ask Teacher Akiwara to help take care of her more!

While Akiwara Shuichi was thinking about how to ask Akiwara Yuto for a favor, Oonuki Masakazu walked out of the post office with a gloomy face. Just now, he had mailed a manuscript of his to the "Modern Detective Literature Newcomer Award Committee."

After leaving the post office, he quickly returned home. When he pushed open the door, his mother, Oonuki Natsuko, said with a beaming smile, "Masakazu-kun, what do you want for dinner? I'll make it for you."

Oonuki Masakazu had his hands in his trouser pockets and replied coldly, "Whatever."

Oonuki Natsuko continued to smile and said, "Then how about medaka fish cuisine?"

Oonuki Masakazu nodded, ignored her, and continued walking upstairs. When he was halfway up, he heard his mother's words from afar, "Forgot to tell you, Editor Muro is already waiting for you in your room."

Oonuki Masakazu's feet paused for a moment, then he continued up and arrived at his room.

After pushing open the door, he saw the visitor wearing a gray suit—the editor of *Tokyo Youth*, Muro Akira.

Muro Akira saw Oonuki Masakazu and asked politely, "Teacher Oonuki, is the manuscript for the latest issue ready?"

Oonuki Masakazu nodded, turned around, took a stack of manuscript paper from a drawer, and handed it to Muro Akira, "According to your requirements, this issue still references the human nature aspects of *Furuhata Ninzaburo*."

Muro Akira took the manuscript, carefully counted the pages, and then put it into his briefcase.

Immediately after, he took out an envelope and handed it to Oonuki Masakazu, "This is the payment for the previous issue. Sorry for the trouble."

Oonuki Masakazu didn't have any extra words; he directly took the envelope, opened it, and started counting.

Muro Akira saw that the atmosphere between the two was a bit awkward, so he tried to strike up a conversation, "To be honest, your mother is really good to you."

Oonuki Masakazu sneered, "She's only good to me when I can provide for the household."

"That shouldn't be the case," Muro Akira said hesitantly, trying to comfort this young writer—although the other party was a ghostwriter, as an editor, he still had the obligation to bridge the relationship between the two sides.

Oonuki Masakazu said in a disdainful tone.

"Back then, when I didn't win the Detective Literature Newcomer Award and caused her to lose face among relatives and friends, she wished she could kick me out of the house. During that time, she didn't even cook for me, only leaving me money to buy instant noodles. With a mother like this, how good can she be?"

Muro Akira tried to persuade him again, "But these are all in the past, aren't they? And she still supports you on this path of literary creation."

The mockery on Oonuki Masakazu's face grew heavier, "Editor Muro, if someone burned all the manuscripts you worked so hard to write, do you think she still counts as supporting your literary creation?"

Muro Akira showed an awkward expression, not knowing what to say for a moment.

After a while, he took the initiative to stand up, found an excuse, and took his leave.

Oonuki Masakazu watched his departing back without saying a word, but his eyes became increasingly cold.

In his view, this Muro Akira was also one of the people who harbored ill intentions toward him.

Although the other party let him become a ghostwriter and successfully helped him solve his life's predicament, this matter of being a ghostwriter also became an obstacle to his future desire to continue normal literary creation.

If nothing unexpected happens, once he wants to end the cooperation, the first person to jump out and oppose it might be him!

And for some time now, he had vaguely felt that someone seemed to be spying on him when he went out. No matter how you look at it, the person with the most motive could only be him.

After all, once they get hold of his leverage, *Tokyo Youth* could threaten him to keep being a ghostwriter!

Oonuki Masakazu clenched his fists and made up his mind.

He couldn't let them boss him around forever; he must get rid of his current situation!! ===== CHAPTER 216 =====