Chapter 278: The Misunderstanding of

Once Akiwara Yuto made his decision, he began to ponder the literary theories from his past life's memories.

So-called literary theory refers to the principles concerning the essence, developmental laws, and social functions of literature, focusing on the study of literary logic.

If further subdivided, it can also be linked to literary history and literary criticism.

In different countries, it is divided into different types and stages due to different social structures; in his past life's memories, the one he studied most was Marxist literary theory.

After pondering repeatedly for half a day, he finally found some literary theories suitable for the local Japanese context and spent two days organizing them into a speech draft.

After finishing the writing, he wanted to find someone to review the draft, but unexpectedly discovered there was no suitable person around him.

Asano and Satake both dealt with popular literature and had no research into traditional literary theory.

As for Yoshikawa Yuichiro, this lecture was also meant to test him, so it wouldn't be appropriate to ask him.

Akiyama Etsuko and he had a relationship based more on an exchange of interests, so it was not easy to disturb her either.

After thinking it over, he took the Shinkansen directly to Kyoto University to find his "acquaintance," Toyama Shuichi.

Strictly speaking, the other party was in the field of film literature, which was a bit different from pure traditional literature, but since the paper he had previously published was co-authored with him, he should be quite knowledgeable about literary theory.

After being informed of the background, Toyama Shuichi readily accepted the request to "review the draft."

And after reading the whole thing, he expressed his heartfelt admiration.

"Akiwara, the structuralist literary thought in your article is something few in academia have studied before. I think if you revise it, it could be published in a journal."

"Let's leave that for after the lecture." Akiwara Yuto waved his hand.

However, he was still a bit uncertain in his heart and pressed, "Are there really no shortcomings?"

Toyama Shuichi had wanted to say there were no problems, but he also saw how much importance Akiwara Yuto placed on this lecture.

After hesitating for a while, he said, "There are still three days until the lecture starts, why not try giving it once?"

Akiwara Yuto thought about it and felt this was a good suggestion, but soon discovered another problem.

Any lecture requires the cooperation of the local university and the rental of an auditorium or other venue; doing it now would be too rushed.

Moreover, if he gave his topic in a public setting, would the people at the association think he was "lacking confidence"?

Upon learning of Akiwara Yuto's thoughts, Toyama Shuichi laughed: "If you don't mind, come to the activity room of my classical literature club tomorrow afternoon and give it to the members."

"However, there are only 30-something people, so it can only count as a small lecture."

Akiwara Yuto hadn't expected this solution, so he gladly accepted.

After finishing official business, Toyama Shuichi, as the host, dragged Akiwara Yuto to a yakitori shop.

While drinking, he began to show concern for his daughter Toyama Miho's life at Tokyo University.

"Akiwara, does Miho have a boyfriend at university?"

Akiwara Yuto hesitated for a moment, unable to answer.

His usual interactions with Toyama Miho were purely one asking and one answering.

Moreover, Japanese people value personal privacy, so it wasn't easy for him to ask about Toyama Miho's private life.

Unable to find an answer, he brushed it off with an ambiguous remark.

Toyama Shuichi was a bit drunk by then and said bluntly, "Teacher Akiwara, Miho is so beautiful, don't you have any thoughts?"

Hearing this question, Akiwara Yuto felt awkward.

He actually had thoughts the first time he saw Toyama Miho, but he could also tell that she only regarded him as a teacher.

And thinking of Satake Maki, who had confessed to him but to whom he had yet to reply, he really didn't know what to do.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto delay in answering, Toyama Shuichi imagined a lot in an instant, and his drunkenness faded quite a bit.

He fell silent for a moment, organized his words, and said a "heavy" sentence.

"Teacher Akiwara, Miho is my daughter after all. If you don't intend to marry her, I hope you won't treat her as a mistress."

Akiwara Yuto was even more speechless.

The so-called "mistress" in Japanese refers to a lover.

But things between him and Toyama Miho were truly clean; it was purely an academic exchange.

Looking at Toyama Shuichi's serious expression, he could only explain at length that the two were purely in a "teacher-student relationship."

And upon hearing everything, Toyama Shuichi's expression finally relaxed.

However, Akiwara Yuto always felt that upon hearing they were not dating, the other party's expression seemed a bit disappointed?

Time quickly reached the next afternoon, and Akiwara Yuto followed Toyama Shuichi to Kyoto University and entered the classical literature club's activity room.

After Toyama Shuichi announced Akiwara Yuto's identity, the many students in the activity room were surprised and delighted.

Because of his age and appearance, they had originally thought Akiwara Yuto was a student newly joining the club, but they hadn't expected him to be a famous writer in the literary world.

For a time, the order in the activity room became completely chaotic, and many even took out paper and pens wanting an autograph.

Upon discovering the chaos, Toyama Shuichi "coughed" several times before order was maintained.

Immediately following his arrangement, a female student who was the club president arranged for everyone to set up chairs and sit down.

Akiwara Yuto also took his manuscript, stood at the front of the activity room, and officially began his "trial lecture."

"Today, the topic I want to lecture on for everyone is, 'The Advancement of Japanese Traditional Literature and Modern Literature.'"

As he spoke, he put down his manuscript and achieved a completely scriptless lecture.

While he was lecturing, some students in the audience applauded from time to time and each appeared very "focused and attentive."

Time passed bit by bit, and soon an hour had passed, and Akiwara Yuto's lecture came to an end.

The moment they heard it was over, enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

Hearing that applause, Akiwara Yuto felt relieved in his heart; it seemed that if it went like this, there shouldn't be any problems with the official lecture.

So he shook hands with the club members on the scene one by one and signed autographs for the students who hadn't gotten one earlier.

Actually, there were only about 30 people, so he finished signing quickly.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Akiwara Yuto left the club room with Toyama Shuichi and began walking toward the school exit.

Akiwara Yuto looked at Toyama Shuichi and said with a smile, "Professor Toyama, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to practice. I think there shouldn't be any big problems later on."

But to his surprise, Toyama Shuichi frowned instead.

"Akiwara, do you really think there are no problems with this lecture?"