Chapter 225: Uemura Award Shortlist

Since he knew about the death threat letter, Akiwara Yuto naturally couldn't sit and wait for death and arranged it quickly.

He first found 5 relatively famous detective agencies, paid a deposit to each, and requested separate investigations on Oonuki Masakazu, Takei Kohei, and others.

Although Oonuki Masakazu was the most suspicious, he couldn't completely rule out the possibility of other people.

Akiwara Yuto also promised these detective agencies that for the detective who could find the specific sender, he would additionally allocate 20 million yen. Believing that with this money, these detective agencies would be more active.

This money was not small, but compared to the royalty income that was constantly coming in every month now, it could only count as drizzle.

Besides that, Akiwara Yuto also specifically purchased a thin stab-proof vest through Asano Aiko's uncle at the Metropolitan Police Department to wear inside his shirt.

And he also let Satake Maki scout for high-end apartments with large property management.

The "one-house-built" he lived in now was mainly wood structure. If that murderer splashed gasoline around and lit it, it is estimated that the big fire could burn the whole house in a short time.

But he indeed reached the time to buy a house—this one-house-built now, every time going up and down the stairs was particularly inconvenient.

Besides these measures, Akiwara Yuto also contacted a professional bodyguard company, finding 1 male and 1 female bodyguard to accompany him.

After arranging all this, another week passed.

But just during this time, Akiwara Yuto learned a piece of news that made him very excited—that was, several major newspapers published the Uemura Award shortlist, and *Suspect X* was on the list.

After this news spread, the public paid further attention to Akiwara Yuto.

Because compared to other nominees, Akiwara Yuto was not only the youngest but also the one with the shallowest qualifications.

In the data analysis of the 5 candidates, Akiwara Yuto's debut time was marked as less than a year, far lower than the average of 20 years for other candidates.

This contrast further confirmed Akiwara Yuto's identity as a "talented writer."

In Japanese society, which has "talent worship" and "strong worship," a large amount of media started reporting on Akiwara Yuto, and some newspapers even exaggeratedly said, this is a "talented writer encountered once in 200 years!"

However, afterward, Akiwara Yuto discovered that the newspapers publishing this report had a lot of interest cooperation with Keijokan, belonging to the "one of our own" category.

No matter what, under a large amount of exposure, the sales of the stand-alone book, which had already been going down, started to advance by leaps and bounds again.

As the shortlisted work, *Suspect X* naturally didn't need to be said; it was snatched up in less than a week and directly reprinted into the market again.

As for *The Death of a Detective*, *The Invisible Guest*, and other stand-alone books, sales also surged by 50% to 100%.

Seeing the stand-alone books selling well, the president of Anju Bookstore, Anju Jin Gangyi, laughed happily.

Besides Anju Bookstore, Keijokan and Fuji TV also caught this fast train, increased publicity by taking advantage of the news of being shortlisted for the Uemura Award, and harvested satisfactory results.

The sales of *April Youth* rose by 15%, directly breaking through from 300,000 copies to nearly 350,000 copies, surpassing *Tokyo Youth* to become the number one literary periodical in the industry! Letting Akiwara Yuto achieve his initial goal!

The ratings of *Furuhata Ninzaburo* surged from 37% to 40%, further consolidating his dominant position in this time slot! Making many drama critics exclaim!

After confirming these good results, Keijokan and Fuji TV both had high-level people send messages, hoping to connect with Akiwara Yuto.

But after Akiwara Yuto attended a few cocktail parties, he declined the subsequent cocktail parties...

Drinking with that group of pot-bellied high-level people was also a waste of time. He didn't want to bind himself completely to these two big ships. If others could give higher benefits, he would still make his own choice.

April 15, Tokyo TV.

When Akiwara Yuto participated in the *Furuhata Ninzaburo* crew celebration party, he simply met with the crew members and then left halfway, taking a special car to Tokyo TV.

He came this time because he received a program invitation from this TV station.

When he had a dispute with Mantan Society, Tokyo TV clearly took Mantan Society's money and prepared to arrange a program to frame him. But because of Asano Aiko's "rebellion," this program instead became a joke.

However, Akiwara Yuto didn't hold a grudge against this TV station. After all, when the program accident happened, the other party could have cut off the signal at the first time, but because of the ratings, they instead dragged it for half a day before ending the program.

This meant that Tokyo TV was just a neutral party taking money to do things.

So he didn't need to think too much. After all, this society is mixed with black and white. Since that's the case, it's better to have more friends and fewer enemies.

The program he was going to participate in was around 8 o'clock, which could be considered prime time, and when he arrived, there was still half an hour before the program officially started.

For Akiwara Yuto's arrival, Tokyo TV attached great importance to it, and even sent a female host, program director, broadcast director, and producer to the door to welcome him specifically.

Generally speaking, actually welcoming in the corridor is fulfilling the obligation of welcome.

But Akiwara Yuto is a writer after all, and his status in Japanese society is very high. Besides that, he is also a "talented writer" nominated for the Uemura Award—if he wins the Uemura Award, he will undoubtedly be admired by more people.

Under such circumstances, the TV station naturally didn't dare to be negligent; otherwise, if Akiwara Yuto felt their attitude was not good and said something to the outside world, it would undoubtedly cause a great impression.

Finally, several members of the program team waited at the door of the TV station early. When Akiwara Yuto got off the car, they bowed neatly and said: "Teacher Akiwara, you've worked hard!"

Akiwara Yuto had seen quite a few high-level people by now and wasn't surprised, but he still bowed back very politely and said "Everyone has worked hard."

Maintaining a humble attitude is still very important. Anyway, a better attitude doesn't cost a penny and can win more respect from others.

After seeing Akiwara Yuto's attitude, the few people on the scene breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the attitudes of many writers are very difficult to communicate.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto being so polite, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

"Very honored that Teacher Akiwara can come to participate in the program," the female host Mizuta Haruna handed over her business card, "Please give me more advice in the future."

When saying this sentence, her eyes were smiling, and her attitude was very intimate.

In her view, Akiwara Yuto was young and had already been shortlisted for the "Uemura Award," and had several best-selling works; his net worth must not be small.

Such a person is definitely a "golden turtle son-in-law."

And the host she was currently engaged in was a youth job after all; when she got older, she would have to turn to behind the scenes. Since that's the case, it's better to hold onto this golden thigh and let herself become a writer's wife.

Akiwara Yuto didn't know the other party's plan, just smiled and took the business card, then exchanged business cards with the producer, director, and broadcast director, completed the Japanese-style meeting process, and then followed them politely to the program recording site.

Akiwara Yuto looked curiously and discovered that the recording site had two rows of sofas, which could facilitate the host and guests to chat.

And surrounding the sofa were a pile of equipment and corresponding staff.

The program director and broadcast director and others walked to the side to discuss work, while Mizuta Haruna walked up to "entertain" Akiwara Yuto.

For the title of writer's wife, she prepared to take the initiative to be a "carnivorous girl," otherwise if she missed this opportunity, she estimated her intestines would turn green with regret.

"Teacher Akiwara, please sit down and have some tea."

Mizuta Haruna invited Akiwara Yuto to sit on the sofa and handed over a cup of tea. Akiwara Yuto followed suit, sat down, took the tea, and said "Thank you."

Mizuta Haruna sat opposite, tried the microphone simply, and found there was no problem before chatting—this belonged to the work category, but she could take this work category to pave the way for her own plans.

As a host, she quickly figured out Akiwara Yuto's easygoing personality and then started chatting.

After chatting for a while, she pretended to be curious and asked: "Teacher Akiwara, do you have a girlfriend?" 【22

"Not at the moment," Akiwara Yuto said, "The program later won't ask about these things, will it?"

"Of course not, it's just my own personal curiosity," Mizuta Haruaki said with a smile, "A writer as talented as you is actually still single."

She was actually intentionally flattering Akiwara Yuto; in her view, there wasn't a man who didn't like being praised by a woman, especially a beautiful woman like her.

But regarding the fact that Akiwara Yuto was still single, she remained skeptical, suspecting that he was saying it intentionally in front of her.

"I just haven't met the right person yet," Akiwara Yuto replied.

"Then..." Mizuta Haruaki intentionally leaned in a little closer, letting her perfume be smelled by Akiwara Yuto, "What kind of woman do you like?"

"Probably a beautiful woman like you," Akiwara Yuto said with a smile.

He was indeed not lying; as a host, Mizuta Haruaki's figure and face were naturally one in a hundred, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to attract male viewers at all.

However, although he liked beautiful women, he didn't just look at their faces, otherwise, he would have pursued Asano Aiko long ago.

A female host like Mizuta Haruaki looked like she was very good at "flirting," and he didn't know how many boyfriends she had gone through; he had no interest in becoming the next one.

But he still intentionally flattered her; after all, there was still a live interview between the two of them later, and he would need her help then.

Mizuta Haruaki felt a surge of joy, thinking Akiwara Yuto was hinting at something, so she said, "Actually, I don't have a boyfriend either..."

Just as she wanted to say she liked talented men, there was very little time left before the program started.

The director immediately reminded the two of them loudly, interrupting what Mizuta Haruaki wanted to say next.

Hearing the prompt, Mizuta Haruaki's attitude changed immediately, and she prepared to record the program properly.

In her view, the "Jin Guixu" opposite her had already expressed his attitude, so they could just talk in detail after the program ended; perhaps they could find a bar to chat more.

Akiwara Yuto also revealed a "smile" and entered the state of recording the program.

He had no interest in female hosts or anything of the sort; he had come to this program today with a very important purpose!