Chapter 180 Unless the little princess’s hobby is [asking for monthly votes]
When we arrived at the cafe, it was just past one in the afternoon.
After opening the door, Haruno Sawayama noticed that there were quite a few customers here, but most of them were younger customers.
There were also many high school students in uniforms, who looked like they were taking advantage of the school lunch break to go on a date.
Riho Morikawa was sitting in the long row of seats by the window. After seeing Haruno Sawayama, she did not forget to wave.
Instead of rushing over, after ordering a cup of coffee at the front desk, Haruno Sawayama took the odd-numbered ticket and sat next to Riho Morikawa.
Editor Morikawa, who had been wearing the OL uniform a few days ago, rarely changed into a more casual and fashionable outfit today.
There is a brown bear pattern printed in the center of the white T-shirt, but the cartoony feel is ruined by the towering career line.
Her lower body was wearing a pair of blue and white women's denim shorts. Her beautiful and smooth thighs were exposed without any concealment, and her white and pink skin looked very alluring.
However, Haruno Sawayama didn't have any intention to appreciate it at the moment.
"How was your rest?"
As soon as Haruno Sawayama sat down, Riho Morikawa couldn't help but rub the center of his eyebrows and said with a wry smile: "Have you made up for the energy consumed in rushing the manuscript in the previous two days today?"
"Absolutely. I don't get up until eleven or twelve."
Sawayama Haruno said vaguely.
Um.
The fact that he got up so late had nothing to do with the manuscript.
But you definitely can’t talk about this kind of thing to Riho Morikawa.
"It's great. I also want to sleep up so late. It's rare to come to Kyoto, but I still have to get up at seven in the morning to prepare for the editor's training camp."
Riho Morikawa took a big sip of coffee, and then said bitterly: "It doesn't matter if I get up so early, the official start time is still half past eight, and I have been sitting in the conference room in a daze for a full hour and a half."
"It's not easy for Morikawa to edit."
"Indeed, but I also took the time to read the follow-up content of your book."
Riho Morikawa paused and showed a slightly satisfied smile.
She patted Haruno Sawayama on the shoulder and praised: "It's very good. Both the story and the writing style are very good, and even the concept is deep."
She really felt that Sawayama Haruno's writing was good.
Compared with other players who came to participate in the competition, Sawayama Haruno's strength is at least in the top three.
Of course, the reason why she didn't speak too fully was because she hadn't seen the writers brought by other publishing groups. It was hard to say whether there would be anyone more talented than Haruno Sawayama.
What's more, she doesn't want the other person to be too complacent and complacent. If the first book achieves too high results, and if the second one is a little worse, the sense of gap will easily ruin the other person's writing career.
She has seen almost countless similar examples during her years as an editor.
For the long-term development of Haruno Sawayama, it is better to let the other party learn the habit of self-effacement.
Originally, editors didn't have to worry about this kind of thing, but there were exceptions to everything. Haruno Sawayama was really too young. Not only was he young, he also had enough strength, which made her have to think more.
"The preliminary round will begin this afternoon. It is said to be a preliminary round, but in fact it is almost the same as an audition. The editors of our four major publishing groups will score and decide the works that will be shown to sponsors next week."
"After all, in order to deal with the group's senior management, shareholders, and sponsors, we also need to publish the call for papers online and attract as many other people to submit papers as possible."
Riho Morikawa paused for a moment, shrugged and said disapprovingly: "Only in this way can this event be shown to be "necessary" and they can continue to be held. However, the online submissions will basically not enter next week's competition. , it is estimated that only those who will be brought to Kyoto are eligible."
"I always feel like I got some bad news without knowing it." Haruno Sawayama smiled bitterly.
I have to say that it is really dark inside the group.
But if you think about it from another perspective, it seems that this is the normal side. In this era, no matter what industry you are in, there must be some shady secrets. It would be better to say that there are none.
But fortunately, with his almost cliff-leading strength, even if he encounters an unfair situation, he still has a chance to get up. It can only be said that he is lucky in misfortune, not to mention that the group will not deliberately suppress him.
No matter how you say it, "Norwegian Wood" is a pearl, and its dust will only be temporary. Haruno Sawayama has full confidence in it.
After all, in the previous life, this book had extraordinary influence, not to mention its best-selling status.
That’s an average of one copy in every five people’s hands.
"If you want to continue writing, it's better to know some things in advance."
Looking at his wry smile, Morikawa Riho sighed instead.
"You are not famous yet, so even if you know these things, your exposure will be limited. But when you get good grades, you will be constrained in many places."
"Nothing"
She suddenly changed the topic and said with a smile: "It's not like you don't have a relationship of your own. Just from this point of view, I should be too worried."
Sawayama Haruno smiled and said nothing.
The waiter has already delivered the coffee we just ordered.
While he was still adding sugar to it, Riho Morikawa took another sip of her coffee, and then said leisurely: "How does it feel like living in Ginkakuji Temple? Let alone living in that kind of place, I have never been there. I went to see it.”
"Ginkakuji Temple, that's it."
While adding sugar, Haruno Sawayama said casually: "If Editor Morikawa wants to visit, how about I take you there in the afternoon? The car that sent me here is still parked outside, so it's just a drop-in."
"Forget it. I have to deal with the company's affairs in the afternoon. I really can't have a moment of leisure."
Riho Morikawa stretched, and the proud capital in front of him also fluctuated a few times.
She smiled lazily and charmingly, then took out her tablet from the side. "I called you here this time, actually, to show you the works of other contestants in our group."
After saying that, she pushed the tablet over and said softly: "Because the author cannot be watched alone to avoid leakage, I specially asked you to come out and take a look."
"Yeah?"
Sawayama Haruno took the tablet in surprise.
He was really curious about the level of his competitors.
After all, by observing other people, you can better judge how high your ranking can be.
Haruno Sawayama clicked a few times on the tablet, and soon the works of other colleagues appeared.
"Only eleven?"
"There are already a lot, okay? Do you think there are still many people writing this kind of physical literature now?"
Riho Morikawa said angrily: "Just go and see the network department next door. Most young people are still more willing to serialize and publish on the website."
"Yeah."
Sawayama Haruno responded casually.
Holding the tablet and just glancing at it, he couldn't help but frown.
Most of them are suspense themes. It is said that there is a market for suspense novels in island countries, and they are still so popular even in parallel worlds.
It made him want to bring a few suspense works here, just to open a vest and make quick money?
"You don't have to read the whole thing, just focus on the beginning, and you can judge the level of other people. If there is anyone you are really interested in, just read more."
Riho Morikawa shrugged and said nonchalantly: "Anyway, it's still a long time before we go back to the group hotel in the afternoon. If you hurry up, you'll definitely make it in time."
"Trouble." Haruno Sawayama said casually.
Let's put suspense novels aside for now. He pays more attention to books with more romance elements.
After all, on the way to Kyoto, Riho Morikawa also said that the main purpose of this competition is to please a certain little princess, and priority will be given to love themes.
Rather than asking the editors of the four major publishing groups to grade, it would be better to let the little princess grade alone.
Only other editors can say good works that she thinks are good; other editors can certainly not speak out about works that she thinks are bad, even if they think they are good.
After all, these days, those with money are the sponsors, and the four major publishing groups were not really established for some bullshit literary world. Aren't they all about money?
For the next hour, Haruno Sawayama spent the last hour in the cafe holding a tablet.
During this period, Riho Morikawa stayed by his side. The two of them ordered more cups of coffee without knowing it. After Haruno Sawayama browsed all the documents on the tablet, he put it down and let out a long sigh of relief. .
"How about it?"
Seeing that he seemed to have finished reading, Riho Morikawa put her face on her hands and said with a smile: "Have you made a rough judgment?"
"Um."
Sawayama Haruno nodded.
"The level gap seems to be a bit uneven. Some are very good, and some make me feel very bad."
"Indeed, you are already one of the best among them." Riho Morikawa took the tablet back and said with slight appreciation, "From your perspective, you can naturally see more of them."
"What Ms. Morikawa said is too much. I also have a lot to learn."
Haruno Sawayama touched his chin and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "There are still one or two books that I think are better, those two books about youth literature. They also have a lot of love elements and the descriptions are also very delicate."
He was not being self-effacing, but really felt that the two of them might be more advantageous in this competition.
After all, the person you want to please is only a junior high school student. Even if "Norwegian Wood" has a deep intention and depth, the other party will still be able to understand it completely, right?
Moreover, the other party has not experienced that period of great depression, so it is even more difficult to understand it.
As for the two people he thought were good, the love scenes they wrote were relatively good, and maybe they could be more attractive to the little princess in this regard.
Unless the little princess likes to see large-scale descriptions, in that case his "Norwegian Wood" may still have a chance to win over those two.
But how is this possible?
A junior high school student, right?
Well, certainly not.
"Anyway, I have to thank Miss Morikawa today for coming here with the manuscript to give me a look."
Haruno Sawayama smiled and said: "On the weekend, a few of us plan to go shopping around Kyoto. Would you like Miss Morikawa to come with us?"
He planned to invite Suguha Esaki and Shiori Mine to go out for dinner on Saturdays and Sundays. If possible, he could also bring Riho Morikawa with him.
After all, the other party also took good care of me, and disclosed the inside information about the competition in a timely manner. This time, he even took time out of his lunch break to come over and let himself read the manuscript.
In addition, it is inevitable to continue to deal with each other in the future, so normal human interactions are inevitable, it is better to say that there should be more.
"Aren't you satisfied with those two girls, Teacher Kiriyama?"
Riho Morikawa joked: "I don't want to spoil the scenery by following you, not to mention I have other things to deal with on the weekend."
"You are joking, Miss Morikawa."
Sawayama Haruno was a little helpless.
(End of chapter)