Chapter 370 Nomination for the Akutagawa Prize


Chapter 370 Nomination for the Akutagawa Prize

After listening to the store owner's explanation, Mine Shiori, who was standing aside, pulled the corner of Haruno Sawayama's clothes, trying to get him to give up the idea of ​​buying.

However, after Sawayama Haruno looked at the record player, he felt that it would be good to buy it as a collection. Anyway, the old record player is definitely not as good as modern technology. People who buy such things basically just keep it for collection. purpose.

Therefore, he did not listen to Feng Shiori's advice and continued to negotiate the price with the boss.

Maybe it was because it was the first time I met someone who had to bargain with a girl, or maybe it was because this record player had been in the store for a long time. When the boss saw Haruno Sawayama negotiating the price with him so patiently, he I was a little convinced, and finally sold it to Haruno Sawayama at a relatively low price.

Carrying an old-fashioned record player out of the house, Haruno Sawayama looked at Shiori Mine beside him and smiled: "Although it can't be used to play records anymore, it still looks like an old object on the outside. It's just perfect for collection. Just think of it as an early New Year’s gift to you.”

"Hmm"

Hearing this, Feng Shiori showed a slight smile.

She really has little resistance to this kind of thing. Compared with luxurious-looking jewelry, she may prefer something with special meaning.

The old-fashioned steam record player in front of you has an extremely long history, at least several decades, and the inside of the bell mouth is even more rusty and needs extra care. Fortunately, Mine Shiori has the skills in this regard. I am patient enough and plan to deal with it slowly after returning to the villa.

It was definitely not possible to continue shopping with the record player like this. Haruno Sawayama and Shiori Mine first delivered the record player to the driver, and then returned to find Riho Morikawa and the others.

At this moment, the two women had already chosen the corresponding gifts. Riho Morikawa chose a white cashmere coat, and the deputy assistant chose a pair of thick-soled boots. The price was quite cheap. It seemed that she was embarrassed. Asking others to pay too much.

Sawayama Haruno didn't care. After checking out, he stuffed the invoice into his bag, and then continued shopping behind with a few people.

The shops in the back are actually not much different from the ones in the front, but as we gradually go deeper into the commercial street, street performers begin to appear. When Haruno Sawayama and the others were sitting outside a milk tea shop drinking drinks, someone happened to be holding a violin. people performing nearby.

“That’s great”

Riho Morikawa on the side said with some envy: "I joined the music club when I was in high school. I also practiced violin at that time, but I gave up later because of academic problems."

"You?"

Sawayama Haruno looked over suspiciously.

Riho Morikawa doesn't look like someone who can play this kind of instrument. Of course, it's not that she doesn't match the temperament of the violin, but it's a physical excuse.

Generally speaking, playing the violin requires holding the violin body on the arm for a long time and keeping the hand raised. After a long time, the arm will definitely get sore, and this is for those who are too proud of their capital, such as Riho Morikawa In this way, it will appear even more unfriendly.

I have always been troubled by big problems. Raising my hands for a long time to play the violin will only overwhelm my body and make it difficult to persevere over time.

As if he understood Haruno Sawayama's suspicion, Riho Morikawa glared at him and said unhappily: "I was the ace member of the music club back then. If I hadn't quit the club to take the college entrance examination, I might have actually debuted in high school and become a star. ”

"It's enough for you to become an underground singer, right?"

Sawayama Haruno rolled his eyes and didn't take the other party's words to heart.

There are a lot of underground stars in the island country. Generally, they are the kind of people who dream of being on the big stage but have no connections or resources and will take a step back to become underground stars.

But it is not easy to be an underground star. Many people even have to work part-time to maintain their dreams of stardom.

You can often see young and lively girls handing out flyers on the streets of the island country. Most of these people are soliciting customers for their own performances. The more people they attract, the more money they can make. You can also gain new fans.

It sounds very different from normal stars, but this is the norm for most underground stars in the island country, and people can't help but sigh.

Mine Shiori on the side suddenly asked curiously: "Does Miss Morikawa know how to play the violin? Why didn't I see you perform during the company's team building activities before?"

"Who wants to perform in front of a bunch of old men and middle-aged uncles?"

Riho Morikawa bit the straw and said with some disdain: "Team building is about watching the big bosses get drunk, then hold their arms and cross one leg and keep spinning around, talking and laughing, crying and howling."

“It’s so picturesque”

"Shiori, you have only been in the company for half a year. If you stayed in the company for a long time like me, you would know that team building is really boring."

Riho Morikawa put down the milk tea in her hand and began to sigh: "I can't just go home and rest, and I have to socialize with my colleagues. It's really troublesome. After the annual meeting, there will be our own department next spring. It’s a team building dinner.”

"Oh right"

Riho Morikawa paused, and suddenly looked at Haruno Sawayama aside.

"There seems to be an exchange meeting between you authors next spring. It's like a salon. The time is similar to the time of our department's team building. Do you want to attend?"

"I won't go." Haruno Sawayama shook his head and said casually, "Except for competitions and other activities next year, don't call me for anything else."

"Okay."

Seeing what he said, Morikawa Riho had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​letting him meet more colleagues.

But now that the matter of participating has been mentioned, Riho Morikawa felt that it was time to tell the other party clearly about the literary awards and nominations for the coming year.

Among the literary awards in the island nation, the two largest ones are the Akutagawa Prize and the Naoki Prize. In addition, there are some special prizes and prizes set up to commemorate other authors. However, regardless of these for the time being, Riho Morikawa plans to let Ze Yamaharuno went to participate in the Akutagawa Prize and the Naoki Prize.

After all, there haven't been any particularly powerful works in the past two years. Haruno Sawayama's strength is here. Not to mention whether he can win the championship in the end, at least there is hope, let alone a nomination.

According to Morikawa Riho's estimation, Sawayama Haruno will be able to get at least one of them. This is still based on the fact that an old writer has submitted his previous works to the competition and successfully nominated. Otherwise, Sawayama Haruno's level can basically win. Both awards were won. “Let’s talk about the Akutagawa Prize first.”

Riho Morikawa supported her chin with her hand and explained plausibly: "There will be two nomination opportunities for the Akutagawa Award a year, in the first half and the second half. The first half of the year is too far away, so we will ignore it for the time being. The nomination time of the second half of the year Just in mid-January next year.”

"If you are lucky and happen to be nominated, the results will be available around mid-February."

"If you are not nominated, you will have to wait until the first half of next year, that is, July or August, but then you will probably be playing for too long. After all, you will definitely have written a second book by then. ”

"If you are very confident about yourself, it is best to win this award before the second book comes out, and try not to let the competition between the two books conflict."

"Because sometimes the judges will not award the award to the contestants who have multiple shortlisted books in order to take into account other contestants and the situation of the literary world." Riho Morikawa added.

It’s a bit disgusting, but most literary award events are actually like this. With the development of the times, literary awards actually consider more and more aspects. It’s not just about whether the author is talented, but whether the writing is good or not. .

If you could win a prize for writing well, would Haruki Murakami never win a Nobel Prize in his previous life?

Haruno Sawayama had also been mentally prepared for this, so after listening to what Riho Morikawa said, he didn't have much reaction. He just divided the two books to participate. Can they be nominated together? Still unknown.

And he feels that he is more likely to be directly nominated for the competition in the second half of the year. After all, the sales volume of "Norwegian Wood" is here, and its literary quality is self-evident. As long as the Akutagawa Award officials are not fools, they will let him be nominated, right?

Thinking of this, he pondered for a moment and then said: "I understand. By the way, does Ms. Morikawa know which other authors may be nominated in the second half of the year?"

"Not many."

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Riho Morikawa shook her head.

"Usually those who failed to win the award in the first half of the year may still be nominated in the second half of the year. In addition to the Chaoqiu Award that you participated in before, there may be authors who were nominated at the same time. , but there should be very few, probably Mr. Shibata and Mr. Sakurai.”

"Mr. Sakurai?"

Sawayama Haruno was a little curious.

Why doesn't he remember that there was such a number one figure in the Kyoto competition?

Logically speaking, if he could compete with him for the Akutagawa Prize, the other party should be considered a well-known one in the Kyoto competition, but he didn't seem to have a deep impression on him, and he couldn't be a lower-profile person than himself. Human right?

"Mr. Sakurai, like Haruno, is a new writer who has only debuted in the past two years."

Seeing that Sawayama Haruno was a little confused, Mine Shiori added in a low voice: "She also participated in the last Kyoto competition, but she did not go to the competition site."

"Really?"

After being reminded like this, Sawayama Haruno seemed to remember something and said casually: "Isn't he the kind of junior high school student you mentioned before?"

"Well, that's her." Riho Morikawa nodded.

It was really that person. I had heard that the other party was one of the strong opponents competing for the top spot before. I didn’t expect that I might be able to run into him this time for the Akutagawa Prize.

And at such a young age, his talent is terrifying.

Haruno Sawayama couldn't help but curse in his heart. He relied on the blessing of memory and system to achieve this point, but he really relied on his own talent. Sure enough, even in a parallel world, there would be that kind of Is there a one-in-a-million genius?

But fortunately, even if I can't win the award this time, I will still have a chance next time. Being nominated is already an honor. After all, I have only debuted not long ago, not to mention that the matter has not been finalized yet. Maybe I will be the last Still won the grand prize successfully.

Haruno Sawayama was not too worried. On the contrary, Riho Morikawa and Shiori Mine were nervously discussing the matter, probably among the contestants who might be nominated.

Haruno Sawayama just listened to them talking for a while, and soon lost his original interest. After he drank the milk tea, he stopped their chat. The group was going to continue shopping until it was time for dinner. Find a restaurant to eat again.

In the future, there were fewer and fewer shops, but more and more restaurants began to increase. As the sky gradually darkened, Sawayama Haruno and others finally chose to eat in a Mexican restaurant.

There are actually many Mexican restaurants in the United States and Canada. On the one hand, it is because they are very close and there are many people coming from Mexico; on the other hand, because Mexican food does have a unique flavor. In several surrounding countries, are relatively popular.

Not to mention the situation in Canada, there are really many Mexican restaurants in the United States. Many Americans even shamelessly include Mexican food in their American cuisine. However, only those who know the industry know that there is no such thing as Mexican food in the world. There is no such thing as American food.

Mexican food is mainly based on salads, chicken, and beef. It is divided into appetizers, main dishes, soups, and desserts. Haruno Sawayama tried the special sauce-roasted beef and found that it was indeed the same as the sauce-roasted beef in the island country. There is a big difference. The most important thing is that the sauce is not as thick as the one in the island country.

Mine Shiori prefers the special salads and clear soups here. The soups in Mexican food are basically light. For islanders who are accustomed to drinking miso soup, it may be okay to try to change the taste occasionally. good.

After eating and drinking, they packed up their things and went back to the villa to rest.

Today is the second day after arriving in Canada, and the annual meeting officially started on the fifth day. There are still two days of free time. According to the original plan, tomorrow Haruno Sawayama and Shiori Mine will set off to see the university. Waterfall time.

The driver will take them to the vicinity of the viewing group. After paying the money, the two of them can set off with the group to see the waterfall. The reason why they choose to go with the group is because they are not familiar with the place. It is better to act as a group than as two people. .

In order to adjust the jet lag as soon as possible and to recharge his batteries, Haruno Sawayama took a shower early and went back to his room to rest.

Suddenly there were only three girls left in the living room. After chatting with each other for a while, Feng Shiori quickly went to pack her things and prepare to take a bath.

After she stood in the bathroom and took off her clothes one by one, Feng Shiori looked at her slightly delicate figure in the mirror and showed a somewhat complicated expression.

She bit her lip gently and unconsciously tightened the necklace around her neck. What she was thinking about was tomorrow's date with Haruno Sawayama.

(End of chapter)

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