Chapter 376 The End of the Sweet Journey
With the help of Shibata Shinkai, a senior in the industry, Sawayama Haruno also got to know many fellow authors.
In addition to his own fame, many people's attitudes have changed subtly after knowing that he is "Wushan Donghai".
Such enthusiastic attitude of others made Zeshan Haruno couldn't help but sigh. It really is true that when people become famous, they feel like they have friends wherever they go.
Perhaps noting that Sawayama Haruno was not very interested in the conversation within the circle, Shibata Shinkai finally took him to find a place to sit down and rest.
Looking at the young talent in front of him, Shibata Shinkai pushed his glasses and said with a smile: "I heard that you are preparing your second book recently. How is it going?"
"We have only touched a small part of the beginning."
Sawayama Haruno shrugged, "There are too many things to do. I guess I won't have time to write until January or February next year."
"Really? The nominations for the Akutagawa Prize will be released in the second half of the month." Shibata Shinkai paused and said with a smile, "If nothing unexpected happens, both of us will be nominated. We will probably meet again in Tokyo then."
"When Mr. Shibata comes over, remember to say hello to me in advance. I'll be the host this time." Sawayama Haruno said politely.
The other party had helped me promote my new book before, and I still haven't repaid the favor. Considering my status as a host in Tokyo, it is only right for me to host and entertain Shibata Shinkai.
What's more, both of them are well-known figures in the literary world, and they will inevitably deal with each other in the future. The last Kyoto competition and the upcoming Akutagawa nomination illustrate a problem very well, that is, there are only a few people at the top of the literary world, and it is difficult not to be familiar with each other.
As competitors, it is normal for them to respect each other. What's more, Shibata Shinkai is a humble person and very easy to get along with. He is not like others who speak arrogantly by relying on their status as seniors.
This alone was enough to make Sawayama Haruno have a much more friendly impression of him. However, it was obvious that Sawayama Haruno did not notice that his current status was that of a true senior in the industry, and his colleagues who arrived at the venue basically did not dare to speak to him in an instructing tone.
"The two great writers seem to be having a very happy chat."
While they were still chatting, Morikawa Riho, who had gone to greet other editors, came back at some point.
She looked at Sawayama Haruno and Shibata Shinkai chatting and laughing, and couldn't help but teasing, "At least give the other little fans a chance to interrupt, right?"
"When I walked over just now, I noticed that many people were secretly discussing you. I guess they wanted to go up and say hello but were too embarrassed to do so."
"Have it?"
Sawayama Haruno looked around reflexively and happened to see Yazaki Miki secretly staring at him.
He had a very deep impression of the girl who came to Canada with him, because she approached him and talked to him very enthusiastically, so it was hard for him not to remember her.
However, this time, the other party did not step forward rashly. She probably noticed that there were too many seniors in the annual meeting venue. Even if she wanted to say hello to Sawayama Haruno, it would not be her turn as a junior to step forward.
Sawayama Haruno shrugged without denying anything, and nodded slightly to the girl who was secretly looking at him from a distance, as if to say hello, which immediately made Yazaki Miki feel flattered.
Such behavior made Morikawa Riho a little dissatisfied. She put on a smiling expression and suddenly pulled Sawayama Haruno up.
"Sorry, Mr. Shibata, please lend it to my Kiriyama for a while."
"Please."
Shibata Shinkai nodded and watched the two leave.
Morikawa Riho pulled Sawayama Haruno to a corner where there were few people before letting go of her hand.
"You."
Morikawa Riho said unhappily, "I just spent a long time looking for you. Don't you even bother to take a look at the message I sent you?"
"My phone is on silent."
Sawayama Haruno had an innocent look on his face. He had indeed muted his phone. After all, he didn't know who he would meet in the venue. To be on the safe side, it was better to mute the phone when participating in these large-scale events, in case his phone suddenly rings after the annual meeting officially begins.
But rather than whether the bell rang or not, he cared more about where Mine Shiori went?
As if she had seen through Sawayama Haruno's confusion, Morikawa Riho took the initiative to explain, "She went to the back to prepare for the opening ceremony later."
"I called you here to tell you about the wedding photo shoot. The reservation has been made. Have you and your family members chosen a location?" Morikawa Riho added quickly.
"So fast"
Sawayama Haruno was slightly startled.
The appointment time was faster than he had imagined. They had clearly been asked to choose their preferred photo shooting location first, but he didn't expect that the wedding photo plan was booked in just over a week?
"It seems that someone just canceled their appointment in January, and the wedding company is trying to make up for it from the end of the month to the beginning of the month."
Morikawa Riho paused for a moment and asked in confusion: "Aren't you in a hurry to shoot? If not, I'll call them later to reconnect with them."
"no need."
Seeing Morikawa Riho say this, Sawayama Haruno quickly interrupted and said, "Let's go according to the scheduled time. Anyway, we don't have anything else to do after attending the annual meeting tonight, so we can just take the flight back tomorrow."
Since they were not returning with the company, Sawayama Haruno and the others naturally had to pay for their own return tickets.
Of course, this little money was nothing to Sawayama Haruno nowadays. He waved his hand and indicated that he would also pay for the plane tickets for Morikawa Riho and her deputy assistant. Such generosity made the mature female editor couldn't help but smack her lips.
"By the way, you're in such a hurry to go back because you've finished your other business in Canada, right?"
Morikawa Riho narrowed her eyes and smiled maliciously.
"Sure enough, that day with Shiori?"
"If you know, don't ask anymore." Zeshan Haruno was a little speechless, "Besides, you have asked her privately, right?"
"She has been hesitant and unwilling to admit it, so I have no way to confirm the facts."
Morikawa Riho crossed her arms over her chest and said with a smile, "How is it, how does it feel to be hugged by you?"
"Let's not talk about the hugs. I'm really tired."
Sawayama Haruno rubbed his brows and smiled helplessly: "You can see that after returning to Tokyo, I will have to take them to another place to take wedding photos without stopping, not to mention the nomination and novel later."
"You don't know how lucky you are, do you?" Morikawa Riho punched him viciously and said angrily, "If I were a man, I wouldn't know how excited I would be with so many beauties around me."
She was really a little envious of Sawayama Haruno's life. He was young, rich, famous for his talent, and had a lot of beautiful and gentle girls around him who always supported him. Even Morikawa Riho, a woman, couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
As expected of a great writer, his private life is also so romantic.
"Good, excited, excited."
After being hit by a punch from Morikawa Riho that didn't hurt him much, Sawayama Haruno's attitude seemed a bit perfunctory.
He discussed the wedding photo shoot with Riho Morikawa again, and then, considering that the annual meeting was about to begin, the two returned to their respective seats.
Mine Shiori, who had disappeared for a long time, also came over secretly from the side path, bending over. After seeing Sawayama Haruno, a bright smile immediately broke out on her face.
"Sorry for the long wait"
She quickly sat in the seat closest to Sawayama Haruno, and while quietly apologizing, she reached out and held the other person.
The two have just officially confirmed their relationship, and at this moment, Mine Shiori is only interested in sticking to Sawayama Haruno.
If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't get away from work, she would have wanted to follow Sawayama Haruno from the beginning.
But it’s not too late now. The annual meeting has just begun, and there is still some time for the two of them to secretly hold hands and be intimate.
"What did you do just now?"
"I helped my colleagues in the same department to confirm the manuscript. I also helped to debug the PPT and video. In addition, I helped to compile the summary of this year's award-winning novels."
Mine Shiori stuck out her tongue and whispered, "It's so troublesome. My eyes are almost blurry from looking at it."
"Thanks for your hard work."
Sawayama Haruno squeezed her little hand, as if to comfort her.
Although it was just a very ordinary little action, Mine Shiori couldn't help but feel secretly delighted.
This was something she had never dared to think about before, but now she can hold Sawayama Haruno's hand openly, which is a huge improvement compared to the past.
While the two were still being affectionate with each other, the opening ceremony of the annual meeting on the stage officially began.
The two hosts responsible for the opening dialogue seemed to be employees of the company. One of them looked familiar to Haruno Sawayama. After confirming it several times, he realized that the other person was a staff member who had participated in the Kyoto competition.
In addition, there were several other editors whose faces looked familiar, but Sawayama Haruno did not have a very deep impression of their names.
Instead, it was Mine Shiori who introduced them to him with great interest, especially when the winning works of the company this year were announced on the stage, Mine Shiori even talked about the representative works of each author.
In fact, Sawayama Haruno doesn't care much about other people's works, but the feeling of secretly gossiping with Mine Shiori is not bad, so he leaned next to Mine Shiori with interest and listened to her introduce him.
However, as they were listening, their whisper was suddenly interrupted by the host on the stage.
The spotlight suddenly hit Sawayama Haruno in the audience. Confused, he sat up straight subconsciously, until he heard the host excitedly announce the winner of the Asaaki Award and Morikawa Riho's whispered urging, he reacted.
I almost forgot that I was one of the winners. Why didn’t anyone tell me that I would have to go on stage to receive the award? ?
Sawayama Haruno complained in his heart, but luckily he had made sufficient preparations before participating in the event this time. In addition, he had a strong psychological quality, so even though he was caught off guard by the spotlight and the host, he quickly calmed down.
He stood up and readjusted his tie, then shook hands with several colleagues who were congratulating him with a smile on his face, and then strode towards the stage.
What he was going to be awarded was naturally not a trophy, as he had already won that once during the Kyoto competition. What he was going to be awarded this time was a certificate of honor for literary workers within the company, the kind that had more symbolic significance than practical significance.
Fortunately, there was no need to give a speech to express his gratitude for the award. After Sawayama Haruno went on stage to receive the certificate, he followed the leader beside him and looked at the camera with a smile. After taking a few photos, he slowly left the stage.
It was a close call. It would have been terrible if he had to talk about his experience of winning the award. He had to do it that time in Kyoto. He had no preparation beforehand and had to rely on improvisation on the spot. After he finished speaking, he even forgot what he said.
"Are you okay?"
After stepping down, Mine Shiori still looked at Sawayama Haruno nervously.
However, the latter shook his head and handed her the certificate.
"There shouldn't be anything for me to do next, right?"
"That shouldn't be it. The next activities should be raffles and performances."
"That's good."
After hearing what Mine Shiori said, Sawayama Haruno also breathed a sigh of relief.
It would be troublesome if he were to go on stage again later. Although it was very pleasant to have so many people in the audience looking at him with admiration, it was still scary enough to walk into such a big occasion without any preparation. Fortunately, I had a strong psychological quality and did not make a fool of myself.
Morikawa Riho on the side looked at him with a gloating look, as if she had guessed that Haruno would go on stage to receive the award but didn't say it out loud.
Zeshan Haruno glared at her. Although he didn't say much, he had already kept the matter in mind. He would make the other party pay for a big meal in the future.
The following activities were somewhat ordinary, just like the annual meetings held by most companies. After summarizing the company's business and revenue for the year, there were commendations for literary creators, followed by some entertainment activities.
Everyone has the opportunity to go on stage and draw a lottery, and internal staff of the company will also get extra chances to draw a lottery based on their corresponding positions and points.
However, Morikawa Riho and Mine Shiori did not win any good prizes after several draws. Instead, an editor sitting not far from them won the top prize, which was a one-month travel reimbursement voucher to the Maldives.
Noticing that Mine Shiori seemed very envious, Sawayama Haruno also secretly took this matter to heart and planned to take them to the Maldives as a family trip after finishing the second book next year.
In this way, the annual meeting came to a temporary end.
After finishing the event, the few people returned to the villa to rest, and Mine Shiori secretly slipped into Sawayama Haruno's bedroom while Morikawa Riho was in the room and didn't notice.
(End of this chapter)
