Early morning on January 2nd.

The whole of Tokyo is still immersed in the New Year's holiday.

But because of that, you can do what you want to do.

In front of the Yomiuri Shimbun Building, when the sky was still dark, people came here.

The staff was here early, putting up slogans, flags, and hanging them.

The full name of Hakone Ekiden is 'Tokyo Hakone Reciprocating University Ekiden Race Walk', and the name is all kanji, which can be said to be quite straightforward.

Higashino Qiang unexpectedly has some advantages, his place is not far from here, he just needs to walk over.

When I went out, I deliberately glanced at the weather, and it was a little gloomy.

It won't snow, will it?

I remember that in my last life, in the northeast of my hometown, it always snowed in the solar calendar year.

That said, Tokyo is also very hot in winter, and today's temperature is minus 6 degrees Celsius.

It's a great way to run.

He wore a long over-the-knee down jacket printed with the word T, which was equipped by the University of Tokyo, and under the down jacket, it was already a battle robe.

I came here at a slow pace, and I met everyone.

"Asano-senpai, good morning. ”

"Higashino-san, morning. ”

"Arima-senpai, good morning. ”

"Ha, Higashino-san......"

"Saikyo, you're here. ”

The East Continent Race Walking Club meets here, and of course, there are teams from many other schools here.

Tokai Dai, Komazawa Dai, Waseda, Meiji, Aoyama ...... It's all heroic.

These college players, either warming up or closing their eyes, are preparing for the Hakone Ekiden that is about to start.

It's just that Higashino Qiang can clearly feel the gaze of those strong school players.

Unexpected with disdain.

It's normal, the University of Tokyo really doesn't have much to say in this event, and the dish is over.

Fortunately, everyone at Tokyo University didn't care.

The ten people who participated in the competition have now been divided into four groups, and the five sections on the first day must be ready, and Higashino Qiang, the player in the last section, does not need to be in a hurry.

Also not in a hurry are Senior Asano and Asano Xuan.,In addition,Today, the person who sat in the support car behind is the physical education teacher of the University of Tokyo.,The coach can't say it.,It's support.。

As for Nishimura and Dasong, they have already gone to the following section with other groups to prepare, and the auxiliary ones also include Xu Xiaoxiao and Nose Hair Shenmu.

Senior Arima Ichihei has almost prepared, wearing a running vest and shorts, the main color of yellow, which is actually the color of the ginkgo biloba in the school emblem of Tokyo University.

Naturally, if the yellow color is the main color, the cuff will also be yellow.

It reads the words "University of Tokyo".

To tell the truth, Higashino is in this competition, looking at everything in front of him, he has a feeling of being in his hometown.

"Higashino-san, what are you thinking?"

"Oh, Asano-senpai, I didn't think about anything. ”

"Let's get started, come with me to Hakone. ”

"Okay. ”

Higashino Qiang knew in his heart that Senior Asano might want to talk to him about something.

As the time approaches, more and more people watch Hakone Ekiden.

In Japan, especially in Tokyo, the city seems to be empty during this kind of Chinese New Year.

Let's just say here, under the Yomiuri Shimbun Building, in the heart of Minato-ku, Tokyo, there are not many cars on the road.

Not usually.

It is possible to do this kind of running, and it will not have much impact on people's lives.

The time came to eight o'clock, and the crowd reached its peak.

The contestants all came to the banner with the full name of Hakone Ekiden written on it, and 21 contestants wore cuffs.

This cuff is written in Japanese as '襷', which is pronounced ju in Chinese and tasuki in Japanese.

The next 107 kilometers are passed on to this thing.

"Ready!"

The TV truck has been started.

The audience at the starting point was waving flags vigorously and shouting the names of the contestants and the school.

"The 80th Hakone Ekiden, begin!"

A gunshot rang out, and 21 players rushed out.

At the beginning, no matter who it is, the mood is a little excited, so it is likely that the rhythm will not be controlled well at the beginning, and many people will collapse after running too fast.

Higashino Qiang and Asano Sho looked at Arima Ippei, and the expression on his face was not bad.

After all, the goal of Todai has been achieved, and now it's just a matter of making the most of it.

"Let's go. ”

"Hmm. ”

Senpai-senpai Asano's face was very happy, his younger brother also set off with the team before, and Senya Asano mainly supported Senpai Arima today.

Higashino Qiang naturally saw it, so he was ready to go up the mountain with Asano senior.

But at this time.

"Brother Higashino, can you sign it for me?"

"Huh?"

A small child appeared in front of Higashino Qiang with an expectant face.

looks like a fan brother.

Senpai Asano smiled, "Sure enough, it's an idol." ”

"Ahem......" Higashino Qiang couldn't fight back when he was complained, yes, we could have eaten with our faces, but my strength didn't allow it.

Sign it, sign it.

"What's your name?"

"Yuki Kawauchi, Saitama came, and when he was in his hometown, he already admired Higashino Sama very much!"

Dong Yeqiang seemed to be a little familiar with this name, thought for a while and said: "Well, it's signed, but you have to keep running, if you really can't hold on, you can be a civil servant and eat together." ”

"I will definitely play at Hakone Station like Sama Higashino!"

With that, the little kid was gone.

It's just a small episode.,It seems that Saitama comes.,They all like Higashino Qiang.,The same is true of Genos.,Could it be...

Saitama's romanized sound: saitama.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing. ”

Higashino decided that even if he ran 20 kilometers in the future, he would not run 10,000 meters.

The two of them walked to the train station and prepared to take the Shinkansen to Hakone.

On the road.

"Higashino-san, you want to write a book about Hakone Ekiden, right? ”

"Hmm. Or about us. ”

"So, do you want to hear the story of Arima Ippei?"

"Oh? Is Senpai Asano ready to break the news?"

"Haha......"

Along the way, it will definitely not be lonely.

......

"The first section has started and the players are fast-paced. ”

"At the current speed, it's 2 minutes and 58 seconds per kilometer, and at that rate, I'm afraid it's hard to keep up. ”

"Everybody's excited, it's up to us to see who can hold up to the pace. ”

The broadcast of Hakone Ekiden was constantly heard on TV, and the judges of the Ryotei Shinkiri, and the judges of the Literature Promotion Association, commented on the masterpieces while watching.

"Teacher Onigo's "White Night Walking", I think it's really well written, where is this reasoning, this is simply written in an era!"

"That's right, I also support Mr. Ghosto's "White Night Walking". ”

"However, this is still a matter of reasoning after all, and I won't talk much about it, so don't you ignore this one? "She on the Other Side", the masterpiece of Mitsuyo Tsunoda, is really an excellent work of pure literature. ”

"Yes, Mr. Tsunoda's work is delicately written, and the key is that it writes about many issues of contemporary women and society, which is definitely a masterpiece!"

Today is the first collegiate review, to be honest, this time is a bit excessive, and it is a holiday right now.

But, after all, it was Ishihara and Watanabe, the two literary bigwigs, who asked for it, and besides, everyone wrote it, and there was no holiday.

Home, every day can work, and every day is a holiday.

Unexpectedly, it was-for-tat as soon as it came up.

"White Night Walking" is a very long work, and it was evaluated like this on the first day, obviously everyone has seen it before.

As for the opponent "She on the Other Side", this book is the work of the female family Mitsuyo Tsunoda.

And, most critically, it is.

Mitsuyo Tsunoda, she was shortlisted for the Akutagawa Award three times, but unfortunately she returned with a feather.

Now, according to the Akutagawa Prize, Mitsuyo Tsunoda can no longer be shortlisted.

So......

That's right, this is also the third time she has been shortlisted for the Naoki Award.

Although, in this new joy, there are several judges who are newcomers to the Literature Promotion Association, but the 'old' judges such as Atoda Takataka and Goki Hiroyuki know it in their hearts.

According to the normal rules, this Naoki award should be awarded to Mitsuyo Tsunoda.

That's how it should be.

And, there's one more key.

Mitsuyo Tsunoda was born in Waseda.

In this room, there is more than one person from Waseda.

Junichi Watanabe, who gave up medicine and practiced literature back then, was a person who could be admitted to medical school, and he had an absolute high IQ.

I immediately understood the methods of this old guy Ishihara, which is indeed very powerful.

It's really okay, Ishihara is an important official in Tokyo, but he always engages in some crooked things.

In Tokyo, he didn't contribute much, but this guy has a lot of supporters.

It's weird.

But this is Japan.

To tell the truth, in such a situation, he was quite touched by Mr. Ghost Go, and even wanted to slap the table.

However, the table will not be patted, but the momentum will be there.

Thinking of this, but listening to him shout.

"Gentlemen, we are for the sake of Japan's literary and artistic selection! How can we be so senior!"

Everyone was shocked, everyone knew in their hearts, Ishihara and Watanabe, I'm afraid this is about to start.

It's like the Hakone Ekiden on the TV, and it's very intense.

......

"Look! Surpass has appeared! Hanoi, the last runner to start, has now surpassed two runners!"

"Wow, that's amazing!"

......

"Umehara, Todai, is very brisk!"

"It seems that the sea breeze has given him strength. ”

......

Taking the Shinkansen to the foot of Mt. Hakone, Higashino closed his eyes and recuperated with a headset in his ear, and he had been listening to the broadcast of the game.

In this era, it is still not convenient enough, and it is impossible to watch the broadcast on your mobile phone, but fortunately, there is a broadcast.

Almost all of Japan is watching this running race, and even when riding the Shinkansen, many people come to Higashino for autographs.

According to Asano-senpai, he does have a bit of an idol feeling.

No, the strength of our grandfathers is not allowed to eat with their faces.

It was already noon, and Higashino took off his down jacket outside

"Please enjoy it. ”

“OK。 ”

Senior Asano took the down jacket and sent his blessings again.

Higashino Qiang is actually more grateful that the senior said a lot.

"Here we are! Today's final friendship has begun!"

"Umehara of Todai has finally appeared, and now Todai is ranked 16th!"

Higashino was a little lonely, and several runners around him had already started.

Seriously, it's true that the gap in strength is too big to win the championship.

However, it is true that he is not reconciled.

Maybe this unwillingness is the real precious thing.

Whew!

Umehara's face was a little deformed, and it was obvious that he was doing his best.

There is a sea breeze in this fourth section, and the people who blow it are uncomfortable.

Until the end.

"Leave it to me. ”

Higashino took down the cuff, and Senior Umehara couldn't say anything.

Run!

Towards Lake Ashi.

PS: The second more is sent, please don't worry, the black car must be full of code words today, thank you very much!

My literary life in Japan

My literary life in Japan