Chapter 24: Parents and Children

While Igawa Akemi was moved, book reviewer Yashiro Toshihiro also closed the magazine in his hand; after reading this story about the little boy, he had different feelings in his heart.

In his view, compared with the previous "Little Ornament and Yoko," this "Sofar" is not as profound in terms of the depiction of human nature, but from the perspective of exposing society, it far exceeds the former.

It depicts the influence of domestic violence on the child's heart; from the perspective of the story, it is first that the child, because of an accident, mistakenly thinks that his parents cannot see each other, and then in the conflict between his parents, his soul is severely tortured, making him really lose the ability to see his father.

This technique seems exaggerated, but it also has a certain rational basis, and it is full of strong irony.

To be honest, he thinks that instead of calling it a detective novel, it is better to call it a social novel.

And the purpose of social novels is to reflect social problems such as "the influence of parents on children."

Regarding this problem, sociologists have long proven that because children's minds are immature, they will be very sensitive to the outside world. And the words and deeds of parents in children's childhood will subtly determine the child's personality.

Once parents cannot make children feel a sense of security, children will inevitably have anxiety, depression, compulsion, manic-depressive and other emotions; to an extremely serious degree, they will even give up their lives.

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

Last year, an 8-year-old child in Iwate Prefecture disappeared after writing a suicide note apologizing to his parents. After receiving the report, the police immediately dispatched relevant police forces to search in the surrounding area, and finally found the person concerned who was dying in a nearby mountain forest and sent him to the hospital for emergency rescue.

After the rescue was successful, the hospital found that this child suffered from extremely severe vomiting syndrome, which is a psychological disease; once someone speaks loudly around him, he will vomit uncontrollably.

This incident attracted the attention of local media; some reporters interviewed neighbors and learned that the child's parents often quarreled with each other and would vent their anger on the child, such as not giving food and confinement.

In constant pain, the child's heart suffered severe trauma.

Once the news was reported, it caused a great response in all walks of life, and many people publicly criticized the child's parents.

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

Thinking of this news, Yashiro Toshihiro couldn't help but cast his eyes on the magazine in front of him again; he guessed in his heart that maybe this Mr. Akiwara wrote this article because he learned about this news, calling on parents not to cause harm to children.

However, the circulation of "New Novel" is too small; even if he calls on it again, I am afraid the number of people who can be influenced is limited.

No, I must help him; I cannot waste such a good article.

Having made up his mind, Yashiro Toshihiro spread out the manuscript paper, picked up his fountain pen, and started writing.

While he was writing furiously, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Takei Kohei of "Tokyo Literature" was a bit surprised looking at the sales data of literary periodicals sent recently.

He didn't expect that the previous issue of "New Novel" actually sold 37,000 copies, which was much higher than the 33,000 copies estimated by the statistics department last Friday.

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

Is the effect of the book review paid for so good?

He pondered for a while, then turned his head and ordered the female assistant who was making coffee next to him: "Bring me these two issues of "New Novel"."

The latter stopped the action in her hand, stepped on high heels, and walked quickly to the editorial department of "New Novel" next door; not long after, she walked back quickly with two magazines.

After he took the magazines handed by the assistant, he first opened "The Footsteps of Searching" and browsed carefully. After reading, he frowned and pondered.

What does Kikuchi Tai mean? Such boring articles can be placed in the first column, and he also made such a large-scale written promotion? With the little budget of their editorial department, it can be considered a big bleeding.

He stood up, walked two steps in place, and thought constantly with a frown.

No, it seems that Akiwara Yuto's article also appeared in the newspaper, although the layout was small.

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

In the process of his reading, time passed slowly, and more than half an hour passed in a blink of an eye. But he was completely unaware of this. It was only after he put down the magazine that he realized so much time had passed.

After all, he is a person who has reached the position of deputy editor, and he can see the quality of the article at a glance, not to mention that Akiwara Yuto's article is far beyond the average level, and "excellent" is not enough to describe it.

This excellence is inseparable from the social significance conveyed by the article; for example, "Little Ornament and Yoko" explores the choices of human nature, and "Sofar" explores the influence of parents on children.

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

He was a bit regretful; why didn't he look at the other party's article at the beginning? As long as he took a simple look, he would definitely hire him on the spot. You know, if these two articles were published in "Tokyo Literature," he would not only arrange a cover but also do a series of push articles in the newspaper.

Such a story could completely become one of the existing trump cards and help "Tokyo Literature" compete in circulation with the literary periodicals of the other three major publishing houses.

He regretted for a while, but soon calmed down again. Fortunately, the other party was published in "New Novel"; as long as he took the initiative to invite him, he thought the other party would be very willing to change to a magazine, right?

After all, whether it is manuscript fees or other recommendation resources, the conditions that "Tokyo Literature" can give are far beyond "New Novel."

He picked up the 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? Didn't she also feel that the other party's article was not good?

Takei Kohei muttered in his heart and decided to ask his female assistant carefully.

Akiwara Yuto, who was being considered by Takei Kohei on how to dig, was at home at this time; he made a cup of instant coffee, then picked up a "Guide to Stage Play Adaptation Works," and prepared to spend today's evening by reading and learning.

In addition to this book, he also read a series of books such as "The Art of Adaptation," "Excellent Script Writing Techniques," and "Your Script Needs Improvement" in the past few days, often opening the book when he got up in the morning and sleeping when he was tired of reading at night.

He had no complaints about this; since he decided to do something, he had to do his best wholeheartedly; only by doing this would he not have too much regret even if he failed.

In the process of his reading, time passed unconsciously; he felt that his waist and back were a bit stiff from sitting for a long time and prepared to stand up and walk around. At this time, a "ding-a-ling" sound came, and the phone on the first floor rang.

It's really inconvenient to go up and down the stairs just to answer a phone call in a detached house.

He complained in his heart, but still put down the book, walked downstairs, and picked up the receiver, "Hello, hello, what can I do for you."

"I'm looking for Akiwara who lives here..." A crisp female voice came from the phone; it seemed she recognized his voice and immediately changed her tone, saying politely: "Mr. Akiwara, is that you? I am Igawa Akemi."

Akiwara Yuto also recognized this voice and smiled: "Ms. Igawa, good evening, may I ask what is the matter?"

"Mr. Akiwara, what is your home address? Can I come to visit?" Igawa Akemi said with a smile on the other end of the phone.

But Akiwara Yuto was a bit dumbfounded; a beautiful college student who only met once actually wanted to come to the door; what kind of operation is this? Also, should I shave my beard? ===== CHAPTER 25 =====