Chapter 275: The Spark of Literature

"Teacher, it is time to take your medicine."

Yuichiro Yoshikawa sat on the tatami mat, took the water and medicine handed to him by the woman beside him, and swallowed them directly.

Watching his actions, the woman kneeling beside him revealed a look of concern.

Her name is Kurumi Honma, she is Yuichiro Yoshikawa's granddaughter, and also a lecturer in the Literature Force at Tokyo University.

But out of respect, she has always addressed her grandfather as Teacher.

If Yuto Akiwara were here, he would recognize her as the middle-aged woman who sat in the tea room last time.

Kurumi Honma looked at Yuichiro Yoshikawa's listless appearance and could not help but sigh.

Yuichiro Yoshikawa is already 73 years old this year; although he is still 9 years away from the average life expectancy of Japanese men, he is definitely considered an elderly man of advanced age.

Moreover, because his writing life was irregular when he was young, he has many underlying illnesses.

According to the family doctor, his body is far worse than that of other elderly people his age.

Therefore, regarding his decision to leave the house last time to meet Yuto Akiwara at the tea room, Kurumi Honma did not approve from the bottom of her heart.

In her view, given the Teacher's status, he should have just let Yuto Akiwara come to visit him.

However, despite her dissatisfaction, as a younger generation, Kurumi Honma did not have much right to object.

Seeing the old man finish his medicine, Kurumi Honma took the water glass to put it away and asked a question that had been puzzling her.

"Teacher, do you really value Yuto Akiwara that much?"

Not only did you go out to meet him in person, you even said a lot of things encouraging him to let traditional literature "bloom" for longer.

Even before this, you also refuted your own top disciple, calling Yuto Akiwara an "excellent writer."

But in Kurumi Honma's view, Yuto Akiwara is just a young writer who has only written one traditional work.

And Yuto Akiwara has always publicly claimed that he is a mystery writer.

Hearing his granddaughter's question, Yuichiro Yoshikawa laughed.

"Kurumi, many times, you shouldn't look at what a person says, but at what he does."

"Yuto Akiwara's mind might indeed lean more toward mystery, but regarding the development of traditional literature, he has truly played a driving role."

"If the public doesn't pay attention to traditional literature, even if traditional literature defeats mystery literature in words, so what?"

"In the end, it will only further accelerate its demise..."

Before he could finish this sentence, his coughing intensified; seeing this, Kurumi Honma on the other side immediately reached out to pat his back.

After catching his breath, he added: "The important thing is that the works he writes are indeed excellent traditional literature."

His previous actions also stemmed from his own internal reflections.

Regarding the future of traditional literature, he and Yuto Akiwara actually hold the same view: that popular literature has already surpassed traditional literature, and the latter will become increasingly decadent.

Although this is very sad, it currently appears to be irreversible.

Therefore, Yuichiro Yoshikawa's request to Yuto Akiwara was merely to plant a seed in his heart, so that while he continues to write mystery, he will not forget traditional literature.

As long as excellent writers can keep writing, then even if traditional literature declines further, there will still be some loyal readers who feel comforted.

For Yuichiro Yoshikawa, this is already enough!

All he wants is to leave a spark for traditional literature!

Just then, there was a knock on the sliding door; Kurumi Honma stood up and walked out, returning a moment later with a package, which she handed to Yuichiro Yoshikawa.

Yuichiro Yoshikawa looked down and discovered that the sender was written as "Yuto Akiwara."

What is this? He was a bit puzzled for a moment.

On the other side, Kurumi Honma used a utility knife to help open the package, and Yuichiro Yoshikawa was able to see the contents inside: a thick manuscript.

On the first page of the manuscript, the title "A Personal Matter" was written.

"Teacher, it is time for your nap; let's read it later."

Kurumi Honma looked at her eager Teacher and said hesitantly.

She knows her Teacher's personality and is worried that he will ignore his rest and start reading immediately.

"Kurumi, do you know? Excellent works are to a writer what fine wine is to a drunkard, so let's skip the nap today."

Yuichiro Yoshikawa laughed.

"Since that child Akiwara sent this work to me, it means he is very confident in it. As his senior, I naturally must take a good look."

Hearing Yuichiro Yoshikawa say this, Kurumi Honma could not stop him, so she could only sigh in her heart, then pour a cup of tea and set it aside.

Yuichiro Yoshikawa's mind was no longer on the tea; he held up the manuscript and began to read it carefully.

As a leading figure in the literary world, he had only read the first two pages before discovering that this work was vastly different from the previous "Snow Country."

The previous "Snow Country" was undoubtedly extremely beautiful in its phrasing, representing the thoughts of aestheticism to the extreme.

But this "A Personal Matter" in his hands seemed to have cast that aside, with a more plain tone in its sentences.

Is Yuto Akiwara going to change his style?

Thinking of this, Yuichiro Yoshikawa frowned, and even had the thought of calling to advise him.

For an average writer, it is enough to write one style well and take it to the extreme.

Just like himself, from his debut until now, he has always insisted on the aesthetic style; although the focus may differ, the core remains unchanged.

Many of those who debuted at the same time as him, who did not stick to their original ideas, often ended up fading into the crowd or even withdrawing from the literary world.

Of course, this is not absolute.

If one encounters a bottleneck during creation, or cannot advance further on one path, then changing direction is not necessarily a bad thing.

But Yuto Akiwara has only written one "Snow Country" on the path of aestheticism, and yet he is already giving up halfway.

This is something Yuichiro Yoshikawa dislikes; he thinks that child Yuto Akiwara is a bit impetuous.

Although dissatisfied, he still lowered his head and continued reading.

Regardless, since Yuto Akiwara handed the work to him, even if he has opinions, he should read it through once before giving feedback.

However, he decided that if this work is not good, he will inevitably "criticize" it severely.

Although Yuto Akiwara is not his disciple, he is currently the "junior writer" he values the most.

Since that is the case, he must treat him with an even stricter attitude.

Time passed bit by bit, and soon 4 hours had gone by; during this time, Yuichiro Yoshikawa basically just read the book, not even touching his tea.

But when he turned to the last page, Yuichiro Yoshikawa's heart underwent an earth-shaking change.

Oh God of Learning, just how much literary talent have you bestowed upon Yuto Akiwara!