I am a writer in Tokyo

Chapter 225 New Year’s Eve

The urban legend appeared, without any suspense, and almost exactly as Kitajima Koma had imagined. It appeared on the horizon at an extremely fast speed, rushing all the way with a cloud of dust. When it got close, he saw Mr. Oshima in the driver's seat with a fierce look in his eyes. His whole body tilted and the car also changed direction. Amidst the flying dust, it parked steadily in the garage in an extremely beautiful posture.

Before they could say any greetings, they saw Teacher Oshima pounce on them from the car. This scene was exactly the same as the hungry tiger pouncing on its prey in the animal world that Ju saw when he was a child. However, he was not knocked down. Compared to the beast, Teacher Oshima was still very rational. He controlled his body and stopped within ten meters. He turned around and handed the document bag in his hand to Ye Zi.

"Put your manuscript in there, and write your specific information on the seal." Fearing that Ye Zi didn't understand, Ju explained. Ye Zi knew the specific process, because it was always like this when Ju submitted his manuscripts before. Of course, she had followed Ju to Xinchao at first, but as Ju's status rose, coupled with the terrible urging of Oshima teacher, submissions became like this now.

All behaviors outside the rules actually stem from the changes brought about by one's own ability and status. It is understandable that Ju does not follow the usual procedures, but now that she can also receive such treatment, Ye Zi can't help but feel a little excited when she thinks about it.

Such intense psychological activity caused Ye Zi's hands to tremble constantly when she took the file bag handed over by Oshima Kazuya. She always felt that the pressure on her was a little too great for unknown reasons.

On the way here, Oshima Kazuya carefully recalled that when he asked Ye Zi for manuscripts, Ye Zi's answer seemed to be that there were no manuscripts recently, but after a few days, she said that there were manuscripts again. Oshima Kazuya's face was a little dark. He always felt that his group of authors had teamed up to deceive him, a poor little editor, and they were no longer the group of lovely little readers.

"So, this manuscript was written suddenly in these few days?" Oshima Kazuya tried to get some answers that could comfort his soul.

"No." Ye Zi was very nervous and gave the answer quickly. Poor teacher Oshima felt terrible after hearing that and his face turned a little dark. But when he saw Ye Zi sealed the file bag containing the manuscript and handed it to him, his face suddenly looked better.

"Actually, I've been thinking about this article for a long time, but I always felt that it wasn't written very well. Also, I felt that writing about someone else's story would seem a bit... wrong." Ye Zi spoke in a low voice. She glanced at her teacher secretly, but Kitajima Koma didn't say anything, and Oshima Kazuya stared at the file bag with wide eyes, ignoring what she said.

Ye Zi felt that nothing she said now would be of any use: "I have deleted and revised a lot during this period, so I thought I would give it a try, if possible."

In fact, her guess was correct. In Oshima Kazuya's ears, there was only one sentence constantly rolling: I want to submit, I want to submit, I want to submit...

"I will do it as soon as possible, and put it in the next issue of the journal if possible. Of course, if Miss Ye's article is of good quality, I will compete with Mr. Kashiwagi for the front page position." Oshima Kazuo was very generous when he received the manuscript. He suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Kitajima Koma who was standing beside him holding Yuriko.

"Although Editor-in-Chief Kashiwagi said that there is no need to write additional articles recently, it is still necessary to give some points for haiku." Oshima Kazuya was very happy that he could find a new point to urge the manuscript: "The previous one is almost shining, so I hope that Mr. Kitajima can do it as soon as possible."

He used the term "Mr. Bei Dao" because it sounded more formal and, well, it showed the legitimacy of his request for manuscripts as an editor. It was not at all his attempt to read something he liked before anyone else.

Oshima Kazuya, who received the manuscript, was completely different from the previous one, as if he didn't recognize Kitajima Koma and Ye Zi at all. He got into the car with a whoosh, and it took less than a minute from starting the engine to disappearing from sight.

When he appeared in the office again, his whole temperament was as powerful as a rainbow. Everyone could see the blush on his face and of course the file bag on his chest.

"Teacher Xiaoyuan's new book?" Everyone knew that this kind of treatment was basically only enjoyed by Teacher Xiaoyuan, but after knowing that it was Ye Zi, everyone else stood up and moved towards Oshima Kazuya's workstation.

"Has Miss Ye started writing a book too?"

"What do you mean by starting to write what you have written before?"

"At the beginning, they gave her the same salary as Professor Bei Dao. Doesn't this seem like a bit too high a starting point? What if her article..."

"Don't you know that Mr. Beidao is her teacher? A student taught by a genius like Mr. Beidao can't be that bad."

"So, what's the name this time?"

Their eyes passed over Oshima Kazuya's head and fell on the paper: New Year's Eve.

Maybe it was because of Kitajima Koma, but the moment they saw these three words, they felt an almost desolate atmosphere. Although it was written on New Year's Eve, according to the style of Kitajima Koma and the students he taught, it can be at least guaranteed that this is not a good story under such a time background.

Either it is desolate or it is dreary.

Oshima Kazuya was just as curious as the others. He opened the first page and saw what Ye Zi had written:
"Poor people are always wronged because they are poor. They have no way to defend themselves. People will definitely make fun of them and say that this is a trick that poor people always like to play. It's so painful. What can I do?"

"I once borrowed two yuan from an acquaintance at the end of the year, but the two yuan was not enough to pay the interest. The day that was supposed to be a happy occasion was filled with sadness for me."

You can see the main text of the article by flipping through these words. The whole article is not very long, but no one present said anything.

Just like Kitajima Koma's snow country before, people can't help but enter the snow country to escape, and now, Ye Zi's articles begin to reveal a fact to everyone, what the life of the lower class people is like.

Such a life is full of the smell of defeat, like a rag soaked in bitterness covering your face directly, so heavy that you can't breathe.

(End of this chapter)