Chapter 244: Sorry, I Refuse

Seeing the "conflict" between Gao Tianzhijiu and He Tian Xin, Akiwara Yuto felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart.

After all, in the series of events before, He Tian Xin had caused him quite a bit of trouble.

However, he also understood that this level of conflict was not as good as letting the New Honkaku school, represented by Gao Tianzhijiu, break with the traditional radical Honkaku school represented by He Tian Xin in terms of philosophy.

So he just glanced at He Tian Xin with a half-smiling expression and sat down.

After seeing this expression of Akiwara Yuto, the anger on He Tian Xin's face became even more obvious.

"Sorry, I have something else to do, I'll take my leave first."

He Tian Xin stood up, glared at Akiwara Yuto, and found an excuse to leave.

If he stayed any longer, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to help but do some impolite actions.

After He Tian Xin left, the seminar continued, but after the eyesore was gone, this meeting became exceptionally smooth.

Quite a few New Honkaku writers raised questions and insights one after another, and Akiwara Yuto answered them one by one.

After all, he was a Master of Literature by background and was also a very senior mystery fan.

So these answers of his, whether in terms of theory or the angle of looking at problems, were completely different from everyone in the venue.

And this also made his answers easily convince everyone who asked questions in the venue.

Not only that, some writers even found new directions for writing from his answers.

By the time the seminar ended, all the participating writers, regardless of their age, were very convinced when calling Akiwara Yuto "Teacher."

Because of this conviction, most people proposed exchanging business cards.

This made the business cards Akiwara Yuto brought run out all at once, and he had to apologize and write down his number and email with a pen.

Looking at the busy Akiwara Yuto, a satisfied smile appeared on Hehe's face; this seminar today could be said to be a great success!

Just as he was preparing to greet Akiwara Yuto to leave together, Gao Tianzhijiu looked at him with meaningful eyes, then walked up and said: "Vice Chairman Hehe, thank you very much for the seminar you organized."

Hehe smiled and said: "Where, after all, I also support the development of Honkaku works, so naturally I hope outstanding works can be seen by more and more people."

Gao Tianzhijiu raised his eyebrows; he heard the hidden meaning in Hehe's words—the meaning of "also" equally represented supporting the development of works of other schools.

However, he didn't say much, only saying: "Chairman Hehe, I would like to chat with Teacher Akiwara alone for a while, is that okay?"

"Of course, as mystery writers, naturally we should communicate properly."

Hehe smiled and patted Gao Tianzhijiu on the shoulder, then greeted Akiwara Yuto and left directly.

He vaguely guessed what Gao Tianzhijiu wanted to say, but out of confidence in Akiwara Yuto, he didn't intend to say anything more.

Gao Tianzhijiu looked at Hehe's departing back, and the word "old fox" suddenly came to his mind.

……

On the other side, Akiwara Yuto had finally finished exchanging pleasantries with everyone, and just as he was preparing to say goodbye and leave, a voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"Teacher Akiwara, could we drink some tea alone?"

Akiwara Yuto turned his head to look and discovered it was the representative writer of New Honkaku, Gao Tianzhijiu.

Akiwara Yuto didn't hesitate much and agreed.

Although the two's previous stances were different, at this seminar, this Teacher Gao Tian indeed praised his work highly.

So the other party's invitation couldn't be considered a trap.

After saying goodbye to others, the two went to a tea room on the top floor of the association and sat down facing each other.

Gao Tianzhijiu took the initiative to pour a cup of tea for Akiwara Yuto, then said politely: "Teacher Akiwara, this *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* of yours is truly brilliantly surprising."

"Thank you very much for your praise," Akiwara Yuto thanked him and took the tea, then looked up at the other party: "But your intention for talking to me isn't just this, right?"

Gao Tianzhijiu didn't expect Akiwara Yuto to be so straightforward, so he also got straight to the point: "Teacher Akiwara, regarding the orthodoxy of mystery literature, how do you view it?"

He knew that Akiwara Yuto had always been in the same stance as Hehe and others, but he still wanted to hear Akiwara Yuto's own thoughts.

Akiwara Yuto didn't expect this, and after being stunned, he replied: "I don't think there is any such thing as orthodoxy or not; compared to that, I value more whether the story itself is brilliant."

Gao Tianzhijiu was a bit disappointed, but still continued to ask: "Then do you think the philosophy of the social school is correct?"

Compared to the radical Honkaku school, the social school also has its own views, which is that it believes that the human nature and sociality of mystery should be placed in the first place.

Akiwara Yuto pondered for a bit and shook his head.

After being silent for a while, he said bluntly: "My view is that all schools of works should be treated equally, and let the readers decide what they actually like."

His subtext was that he didn't support the radical school's suppression of works of other schools.

Gao Tianzhijiu sighed deeply: "Teacher Akiwara, if the social school occupied our current position now, do you think they wouldn't suppress Honkaku works?"

Akiwara Yuto was just about to answer "No," but hesitated for a while and didn't say anything, because he thought of the history of his past life.

In his past life, social mystery rose because of Song Ben Qing Zhang.

Because this kind of work focuses on depicting the dark side of characters and is closer to the social life at that time, it was deeply loved by the public and readers.

Also because of his influence, a large number of social school writers emerged one after another and once ruled the mystery literature circle for 30 years.

This phenomenon was called the "Qing Zhang Curse."

But because of the prevalence of social school works, quite a few writers and critics regarded the views of the social school as the gold standard.

So much so that after Dao Tian Zhuang Si's *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* was published, it was suppressed and criticized by quite a few supporters of the social school, and it didn't even win the Jiang Hu Chuan Luan Bu Award.

With this precedent, he naturally couldn't say that if the social school occupied the advantage, they wouldn't suppress the Honkaku school.

Gao Tianzhijiu saw that Akiwara Yuto didn't respond and continued to persuade: "Teacher Akiwara, the reason Honkaku can be so prevalent today is the result of the efforts of many seniors; we cannot give up this advantageous position."

"So, I hope you won't mention this topic in the future."

Akiwara Yuto sighed and didn't say much.

He also saw Gao Tianzhijiu's firm confidence at this time; it wasn't something that could be persuaded with one work or a few words.

Just as he stood up and prepared to say goodbye, Gao Tianzhijiu suddenly bowed deeply, "Teacher Akiwara, please consider whether you want to stand with us."

Akiwara Yuto asked puzzledly: "This is?"

Gao Tianzhijiu said in a sincere voice: "I hope you can become a member of the New Honkaku!"

Akiwara Yuto was speechless; he was still preparing to persuade Gao Tianzhijiu, but didn't expect the other party to be trying to persuade him too!

However, he quickly understood Gao Tianzhijiu's intention, which was the influence brought by the book *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders*.

In his past life, the New Honkaku school established the book *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* as a banner, thereby attracting interested readers and new authors.

And compared to Dao Tian Zhuang Si, who was still a newcomer at the time, he had more fame and more loyal readers.

Once he stood on Gao Tianzhijiu's side, there was no doubt that he could play a greater role in the development of the New Honkaku school!

But if that were the case, it would undoubtedly be a betrayal of Hehe and others!

Gao Tianzhijiu seemed to see Akiwara Yuto's concerns and said in a mocking tone: "Don't you feel that you are being used by Vice Chairman Hehe?"

Hearing this "sowing discord" remark, Akiwara Yuto frowned.

Gao Tianzhijiu didn't care and continued: "Teacher Akiwara, you have now become a banner of the moderate school; continuing like this will undoubtedly make you targeted by more people. But whether it's the public opinion conflict of the Modern Mystery Literature Award or the award selection of the Zhi Cun Award, what can they help you with?"

He paused and emphasized his tone: "To say something unpleasant, I think you are doing something thankless."

He observed Akiwara Yuto's expression for a while and found he couldn't see anything, so he said with a sincere expression: "If you join us and focus on creating Honkaku, any problem you encounter will not be a problem."

"After another 5 or 6 years, you can take over my current position and become the leader of the New Honkaku."

After hearing these conditions, Akiwara Yuto didn't know how to reply for a moment.

He didn't know that the other party would actually say these things just to win him over.

The position of a leader of a school was not much different from Hehe's status in the moderate school.

And after joining the New Honkaku, he would basically have no obstacles or pressure in winning the Zhi Cun Award and other awards!

Once he reached that step, he could put down all his worries and just write manuscripts quietly.

Akiwara Yuto was silent for a long time and finally gave his answer.

"Sorry, I refuse!" ===== CHAPTER 245 =====