Chapter 24: Parents and Children

While Ikawa Akemi was moved, book critic Yashiro Toshihiro also closed the magazine in his hands; after finishing this story about a little boy, he felt a different kind of emotion in his heart.

In his view, compared to the previous piece "Kozue and Yoko," this piece "Sofar" was not as profound in its portrayal of human nature, but from the perspective of exposing society, it far surpassed the former.

It depicts the impact of domestic violence on a child's psyche; from the story's perspective, it begins with the child mistakenly believing his parents cannot see each other due to an accident, and then, amidst the conflict between his parents, his spirit suffers such extreme torment that he truly loses the ability to see his father.

This technique seems exaggerated, but it has a certain basis of rationality and is also filled with a strong sense of irony.

To be honest, he believes that rather than calling it a mystery novel, it would be better to call it a social novel.

And the purpose of a social novel is to reflect social issues like "the influence of parents on children."

Regarding this issue, sociologists have long proven that because a child's mind is immature, they are extremely sensitive to the outside world; the words and deeds of parents during a child's childhood will subtly determine the child's personality.

Once parents fail to make a child feel secure, the child will inevitably develop anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, or manic-depressive emotions, and in extreme cases, they may even give up on life.

This is not alarmist; there have been relevant news reports about this before.

Last year, an 8-year-old child in Iwate Prefecture went missing after writing a suicide note apologizing to his parents; after receiving the report, the police immediately dispatched relevant personnel to search the surrounding area, finally discovering the victim on the verge of death in a nearby forest and sending him to the hospital for emergency treatment.

After the rescue was successful, the hospital discovered that this child suffered from an extremely severe vomiting disorder, a psychological illness where he would vomit uncontrollably whenever someone spoke loudly around him.

This incident attracted the attention of local media, and after reporters interviewed neighbors, they learned that the child's parents often quarreled with each other and would vent their anger on the child, such as by withholding food or locking him in confinement.

Amidst constant suffering, the child's heart suffered severe trauma.

Once the news was reported, it caused a great reaction in all sectors of society, and many people publicly criticized the child's parents.

Unexpectedly, after being criticized, the couple immediately divorced, and neither of them intended to take the child; they are still fighting a lawsuit in court... As for that poor child... he will likely have severe psychological shadows for the rest of his life...

Thinking of this news, Yashiro Toshihiro couldn't help but cast his gaze back to the magazine in front of him; he faintly guessed whether this Teacher Akiwara had written this article because he learned of this news, calling on parents not to cause harm to their children.

However, the circulation of "New Novels" is too small; even if he appeals as much as he can, the number of people he can influence is likely limited.

No, I must lend him a helping hand; I cannot waste such a good article.

Having made up his mind, Yashiro Toshihiro spread out his manuscript paper, picked up his fountain pen, and began to write.

While he was writing furiously, Takei Kohei, the deputy editor-in-chief of "Tokyo Literature," was a bit surprised looking at the recently delivered sales data for literary journals.

He did not expect that the previous issue of "New Novels" actually sold 37,000 copies, which was quite a bit higher than the 33,000 copies estimated by the statistics department last Friday.

Especially in the last two days, Saturday and Sunday, it ushered in a small burst, directly driving the overall sales upward.

Is the effect of paid book reviews really that good?

He pondered for a moment, then turned his head and instructed the female assistant who was pouring coffee next to him: "Bring me these two issues of 'New Novels'."

The latter stopped what she was doing, stepped in her high heels, and walked quickly to the editorial department of "New Novels" next door; before long, she returned quickly with two magazines.

After taking the magazines handed over by the assistant, he first opened "The Footsteps of Searching" and browsed through it carefully; after finishing, he frowned and pondered.

What is Kikuchi Tai thinking? Such a boring article can be placed in the first column, and it even had such a large-scale promotional push? With the meager budget of their editorial department, that counts as a massive hemorrhage.

He stood up, paced back and forth twice, frowning and thinking incessantly.

No, it seems that Akiwara Yuto's article was also published, although the layout was very small.

He picked up the magazine again, flipped to the column serialized by Akiwara Yuto, and began to read the article seriously.

During his reading, time passed slowly, and more than half an hour went by in a flash, but he was completely unaware of it; it wasn't until he put down the magazine that he realized so much time had passed.

After all, he is someone who has reached the position of deputy editor; he can see the quality of an article at a glance, not to mention that Akiwara Yuto's article far exceeded the average standard—"excellent" is not enough to describe it.

This excellence is inseparable from the social significance conveyed by the articles; for example, "Kozue and Yoko" explored choices in human nature, while "Sofar" explored the influence of parents on children.

But this exploration of social significance is not as dry as ordinary articles; instead, it is conveyed through two very clever stories, thereby allowing readers to experience it from the stories themselves.

He felt some regret: why didn't he see the other party's article at the time? If he had just taken a simple look, he would definitely have accepted it on the spot; one must know that if these two articles were published in "Tokyo Literature," he would not only have arranged a cover for them but also conducted a series of promotional posts in the newspaper.

Such stories could completely become one of the existing trump cards and help "Tokyo Literature" compete with the literary journals of the other three major publishing houses in sales.

He regretted it for a while, but soon calmed down; fortunately, the other party published it in "New Novels." As long as he takes the initiative to invite him, he believes the other party would be very willing to switch to another magazine.

After all, whether it is the manuscript fee or other recommendation resources, the conditions "Tokyo Literature" can offer far exceed those of "New Novels."

He picked up his coffee, took a light sip, turned his head to look at the female assistant who was working, and suddenly thought of another thing.

Didn't he ask the assistant to write a rejection letter to the other party at the time? Could it be that she didn't think the other party's article was bad either?

Takei Kohei felt suspicious and decided to ask his female assistant properly.

Akiwara Yuto, who was being considered by Takei Kohei on how to poach him, was at home at this moment; he brewed a cup of instant coffee and then picked up a copy of "Guide to Stage Play Adaptations," preparing to spend his evening learning by reading.

Besides this book, he had also read a series of books in the past few days, such as "The Art of Adaptation," "Techniques for Excellent Screenplay Writing," and "Your Screenplay Needs Improvement"; he often opened the book as soon as he woke up in the morning and only slept when he was tired from reading at night.

He had no complaints about this; since he decided to do something, he had to do his best with all his heart. Only by doing so would he not have too many regrets even if he failed.

During his reading, time passed unknowingly; he felt his lower back was a bit stiff from sitting for too long and prepared to stand up and walk around, when a "ding-a-ling" sound came, and the telephone on the first floor rang.

Having to go up and down stairs just to answer a phone call, a detached house is really inconvenient.

He grumbled in his heart, but still put down his book, walked downstairs, and picked up the receiver: "Hello, hello, may I ask what you need?"

"I'm looking for the Akiwara who lives here..." A crisp female voice came from the phone; she seemed to recognize his voice and immediately changed her tone, saying politely: "Teacher Akiwara, is that you? This is Ikawa Akemi."

Akiwara Yuto also recognized this voice and smiled: "Miss Ikawa, good evening. May I ask what is the matter?"

"Teacher Akiwara, what is your home address? I would like to come and visit, is that okay?" Ikawa Akemi said with a smile on the other end of the phone.

But Akiwara Yuto was a bit stunned; a beautiful college student he had only met once actually wanted to come over—what kind of move is this? Also, should he shave his beard?