Chapter 198: Girl, too young? [Seeking monthly votes]
Less than a moment after coming out of Ginkakuji Temple, Sawayama Haruno saw a black business car driving over.
He stood there and looked for a while, until Morikawa Riho rolled down the window and asked him to get in, then he slowly walked over.
"You're dressed quite smartly."
As soon as I got on the car, Morikawa Riho greeted me warmly.
After all, in her eyes, Sawayama Haruno is now like a delicious bun.
"We were all wearing casual clothes when we met before. It turns out that Mr. Kiriyama is so suitable for wearing this kind of suit." She said with a smile.
Morikawa Riho was also dressed formally today.
She was wearing a light gold evening gown. Although her shoulders were exposed, the neckline of the gown tried to cover her proud assets as completely as possible.
But it is this half-covered look that makes it look more attractive.
Not to mention that women's evening gowns are generally slim-fitting, which perfectly outlines her tight and sculpted figure. Even if she is sitting in the car and people can't see her completely, it is not difficult to imagine her almost perfect appearance.
What is even more eye-catching is that she deliberately tied her hair into a somewhat dangerous hairstyle today. Not only did she put on makeup, she also wore shiny earrings.
Mature women are indeed different from those girls in school. They know how to put on makeup to suit themselves best, and they also know how to dress up to look intellectual and decent.
Seeing this, Haruno Sawayama couldn't help but sigh in his heart, it turns out that Miss Morikawa, who wears a uniform all day, also knows how to dress up.
He thought that the uniform OL was the other party's companion skin.
"I bought this suit when I first entered college."
Sawayama Haruno smiled slightly.
"Fortunately, I can still wear this one, otherwise it would be much more troublesome to buy one at the last minute."
"Indeed, the scene tonight is extraordinary." Morikawa Riho teased, and added, "I have already asked the authors who will attend the banquet for this competition. There are three people in total. Would you like to meet them, Mr. Kiriyama?"
Those who are invited to the Sunday dinner are basically those who have a high probability of winning the competition.
Apart from Sawayama Haruno himself, the person behind the conspiracy was among those two.
This piqued his interest a little.
"Does Ms. Morikawa know?"
"Of course I know. One of them is Shibata Shinkai, a famous suspense writer for a long time."
Riho Morikawa spoke eloquently.
"You should have read his books. He is one of the best-selling authors of physical books in recent years. His books are not pure suspense, but more about various suspense cases caused by ethical issues. They also reflect part of the current social situation. Because of their deep meaning and good writing style, they are very popular among young people."
“So that’s what it is.”
Sawayama Haruno nodded slightly, probably understanding what the other party meant.
It was nothing more than a melodramatic family ethics drama leading to a tragedy. He was very familiar with this. After all, more than half of the physical books on suspense themes in the island country followed this pattern.
Well. Speaking of ethics, eh, isn’t that very similar to my own book?
It’s just that “Norwegian Wood” may not be as strongly related to the other one.
"Shibata-sensei's books are really popular among young people."
Morikawa Riho suddenly added something with a slightly meaningful tone.
"Many middle school and high school students admire him very much."
"It seems that I will have to learn from Mr. Shibata's work if I have the chance." Sawayama Haruno said calmly.
This was probably a hint to me that Shibata Shinkai was most likely the person who was designated as the leader?
After all, Ms. Morikawa has been emphasizing that it is "very popular among young people" since the beginning, and from the look on her face, it seems that Mr. Shibata's works contain not only suspense content, but also have something to do with emotional literature.
It just so happens that the little princess of the Ishizawa family is now a junior high school student, so it is normal for her to be attracted to books of this type.
It seems that the other party is my biggest competitor this time.
"Which publishing group does Mr. Shibata belong to?"
"Shinchosha is the group that specializes in publishing literary books, and it is also the group that has the best relationship with the Ishizawa family."
"I see."
Sawayama Haruno seemed to be thinking about something.
So it’s Shinchosha, no wonder.
Perhaps as one of the four major publishing groups, it is not the most famous one.
But the reason is that other publishing groups also produce animation and comics, while Shinchosha is more inclined towards literature.
In Sawayama Haruno's previous life, this publishing group was not very famous, but as long as the two awards were mentioned, people would feel as if they suddenly realized that "it was this".
And that is - the Yukio Mishima Award and the Yasunari Kawabata Literature Award.
These were two very prestigious awards in the island nation’s literary world in the past. Although they were not as prestigious as international awards, they were already considered very impressive even within the island nation.
Judging from the current situation, Shibata Shinkai seems to be the flagship figure of Shinchosha in recent years, and his strength should be very strong.
Zeshan Haruno thought for a moment and then asked, "I roughly understand. What about the other person?"
"Another Person"
Morikawa Riho paused, and her eyes became inexplicably strange.
"Well, the other person is like you, he seems to be a newcomer, and he is said to be very young."
"How young?"
"I don't know the details, I just know she's still in school, and it's not university yet," Morikawa Riho said distressedly while fixing her hair, "Their people wouldn't tell me, but she should be here tonight, right?"
"she?"
"Yeah, girls."
Morikawa Riho smiled and said jokingly, "Teacher Kiriyama, please don't have any bad ideas. The other party is a serious minor."
"Technically, me too."
Sawayama Haruno felt a little helpless.
These guys always tend to forget his age. In fact, he is not even twenty years old.
"The girl I'm talking about is not even sixteen years old. Does Mr. Kiriyama want to commit a crime?" Morikawa Riho said confidently.
Such a young age made Sawayama Haruno stunned.
Not even sixteen? This is a bit too scary.
Shibata Shinkai has been famous for a long time in this era, so it was normal for him to be invited to the dinner; I was invited because of the best-seller "Norwegian Wood" in my previous life, so it was understandable that I was invited.
But what does this sixteen-year-old girl rely on?
Sawayama Haruno's curiosity was instantly aroused.
"What's the other person's name?"
"Saijyo Tsukasa is said to be from Kyoto. When we get to the banquet venue, you will see who is the youngest, and that person should be Saijo Tsukasa," added Morikawa Riho.
"I see."
Sawayama Haruno nodded.
It seems that there are powerful guys in the parallel world as well.
Although this era did not have people like Dazai Osamu and Murakami Haruki, it seemed to have given birth to other extraordinary figures.
But even so, it will not affect his confidence in "Norwegian Wood".
About half an hour later.
The black business sedan took Sawayama Haruno and Morikawa Riho to a manor.
After getting off the car, Sawayama Haruno keenly noticed that there were many luxury cars parked nearby, and there were several waiters in tuxedos at the door. They came up to greet them as soon as they saw him and Morikawa Riho.
"From Kodansha, the name is."
Riho Morikawa has already shown her identity to them.
After a brief check of the invitation list, he and the other party were quickly allowed to pass.
After entering the huge luxurious villa in the manor, Morikawa Riho suddenly reached out and held him.
"?"
Sawayama Haruno turned around and looked at her in some confusion.
"Dinner companion, haven't you heard of it?"
Seeing that Sawayama Haruno looked a little confused, Morikawa Riho had to patiently explain to him.
"Look, most of the people around here are here with their girlfriends. Otherwise, it would be awkward if no one knows me and no one cares about me. What do you think I got in on?"
"I don't know, maybe it's strength?" Sawayama Haruno said casually.
Morikawa Riho gave him a charming look.
A man who looks honest at ordinary times but starts to talk nonsense at certain times.
But who can blame the other party for being talented?
I was able to be invited here this time, thanks to the other party.
“There are quite a few people.”
Sawayama Haruno let Morikawa Riho hold his arm and walked inside while looking around curiously.
There were definitely quite a lot of people in the banquet hall, and most of them looked very well-dressed and energetic, which was beyond his expectations.
Moreover, unlike the "stereotyped" writers that everyone has, the people present here are basically real literati. Not only do they not have the gloomy atmosphere of otakus, on the contrary, they are all very talkative and their appearance is very natural.
Sure enough, there are some differences between literati and online writers, Zeshan Haruno sighed in his heart.
"It's indeed a lot, more than I expected."
Even Riho Morikawa who was standing by couldn't help but grumble.
"Could that be Katsuhisa Nishihara?"
"Who?"
"A star, a male star, and he's very popular recently." Morikawa Riho tightened her hand around the other person's arm and said helplessly, "Don't you, Mr. Kiriyama, pay much attention to movies?"
“I really don’t pay much attention to it”
Sawayama Haruno coughed dryly.
If it was a short-haired girl from home who came over, recognizing her would be a piece of cake and it would be easy.
He really didn't have much of an opinion about the TV dramas from the island country and had basically never watched them, even in his previous life.
"The last movie that Katsuhisa Nishihara made was actually a remake of a very famous book."
"Maybe we'll have a chance to work together in the future, Mr. Kiriyama."
"Really?" Sawayama Haruno couldn't help but take another look and said casually, "Hey, what a surprise. I don't know why I can't imagine him playing Watanabe."
Morikawa Riho wanted to say a few more words, but someone came over at this moment.
"Hey, is that Morikawa?"
The person who spoke to me was another woman who looked to be in her thirties.
The other party seemed to know Morikawa Riho, and was looking at Morikawa Riho's hand tightly holding Sawayama Haruno's arm with some surprise.
"what"
"Imai-senpai."
Morikawa Riho was startled and subconsciously let go of her hand, then greeted the other party respectfully.
You have to be respectful, as the other party is a very famous senior in the editing industry.
Before joining Kodansha, Riho Morikawa studied under the company for a period of time and worked as an assistant editor.
"long time no see."
"It's been about four years since we last met."
"Who is this?"
"Kirishama Fuyumi is one of the writers I am responsible for now." Morikawa Riho quickly introduced her, "She is also one of the people invited this time."
There was inevitably a hint of boasting in her tone.
The senior named Imai quickly saw through her little thoughts and immediately found it a little funny.
"Really? The little girl who would cry when she was scolded has now become a reliable editor," she joked.
(End of this chapter)
