On the first day of June, it was past the end of the day, but the sky was still bright, and there were not many signs of imminent night.

Against the feeling of heat that has not completely dissipated, Toru Shimizu came to the morning study, pushed open the door, and saw Aya Uei who was tidying up his desk.

"Shimizu-kun, you're here. Kishida-san has been waiting for you for a long time. ”

Following her gaze, Masaaki Kishida leaned back in his chair, his upper body covered by a newspaper, and from time to time there was a burst of snoring, as if he had fallen asleep.

"Thank you, Sister Cai."

Shimizu Toru thanked him, but noticed that the smile on Aya Ueui's face suddenly became narrow.

"Nothing. By the way, the content of the interview you went to the dessert shop with Miss Nanami was published, and the response from readers was very good... So, Shimizu-kun, come on. ”

I don't know if the cheer in her mouth refers to an "interview" or something else, but with Toru Shimizu's understanding of her, asking will only be teased by her. simply skipped the matter, went straight to Kishida's table, and tapped the table with his knuckles.

"Ahh Who? ”

Kishida rolled over suddenly, didn't have time to bend the newspaper that had slipped to the ground, and stared at the person in front of him with bloodshot eyes, and it took a long time to see an appearance.

"It turned out to be you stinky boy. Tell me, why did you come so late lately? ”

Picking up the newspaper in his hand, Toru Shimizu also pulled a chair and sat down.

"During this time, Irie-san has to revise the dictionary, and I basically help out at Kodansha during the day, and I can only come over after work."

"Obviously I just went to an internship, why did I become their person for some reason," Kishida smacked his mouth and shook his head again, "Forget it, why are you looking for me today?" ”

"It's mainly about the new book, I revised the outline of the novel, and I want to trouble Kishida-san to see what other problems there are."

"There's a heroine this time?"

Qing Shui nodded expressionlessly.

The news intrigued Kishida and gave him a meaningful look.

"Oh, then I'll have to take a good look."

Taking the outline from Toru Shimizu's hand, he had just turned the first page, he suddenly remembered something, and said: "By the way, your last book has been sold almost completely, and the publishing house has decided to print a thousand more copies, and your royalties are estimated to arrive before the end of the month." ”

The novel was printed, which was really unexpected news for Toru Shimizu.

Being able to sell 5,000 copies in half a year is a rare achievement for even some veteran writers at a time when the book market is shrinking, and it is a pretty good result for a newcomer like him. It's not quite comparable to the bestsellers on the sales list, but it's a good start, to say the least.

Even if he put aside the illusory prospect and just look at the present, printing 1,000 copies means that he will receive about 150,000 yen in royalties, which is a big windfall for him.

Toru Shimizu was thinking about what to do with the money, and Kishida had already skimmed through the outline, covering his cheeks with a toothache expression.

"Your outline..."

"What problems does Kishida-san think?"

"Speaking of questions... I'll confirm again, the heroine is set to be the granddaughter of the landlady, right? ”

Qing Shui Toru didn't know why, just nodded, "That's right." ”

"Now living next door to the main character? Proficient in cooking? How often do you help prepare the protagonist's dinner? ”

"Yes."

"But then?"

Kishida flipped the outline in his hand to the back and glared.

"You first wrote the acquaintance clip of the protagonist and the heroine, and then, the heroine has been married to the protagonist for ten years when she appears again."

Toru Shimizu was still a little puzzled, "So, what's the problem?" ”

"That's the big question, right? process, what readers want to see is the process of emotional development between two people! The time spent together, the place of the date, the scene of confession, and the process of revealing one's heart, this is the focus of emotional description! ”

Kishida's voice rose a few octaves.

"It's like you go to a car race, but the organizer only tells you the starting point and the last position, and the driving process in the middle is kept secret, do you think anyone will want to watch this kind of race?"

"But... I..."

"Forget it, the outline of this book is not in a hurry, you go back and think about it again."

-----

The process of emotional development...

Toru Shimizu was lying on the sofa in the living room, listening to Nanami Nanami's voice preparing dinner in the kitchen, and remembered Kishida's suggestion again.

In all fairness, his advice does make a lot of sense.

From acquaintance, to the establishment of a relationship, to the final becoming husband and wife, two strangers do have to have a gradual process. Although things often happen in real life that are more absurd than in fiction, the world in the book is logical.

Having said that, Qing Shui Toru stared at the ceiling for a long time about how to describe the changes in the relationship between these two people, and in addition to making himself dizzy, he didn't sort out a specific idea.

With a sigh in his heart, he decided to put aside the outline for the time being, and instead thought of Nanami Nanami.

She eventually rented the room next door, and after getting the key, she moved the few luggage with the help of Toru Shimizu. After that, according to what I said that day, I came to borrow some facilities from Toru Shimizu's room from time to time.

But there are good things happening. The much lower rent than expected, and the modeling job she started receiving from Aya Uei finally eased her financial pressure, at least she didn't have to work at night, and finally had some time to do her own thing.

In this case, she offered to take on the task of cooking dinner for the two of them, as a "reward" for her borrowing Toru Shimizu's room.

For this, Toru Shimizu couldn't find a reason to refuse. After finishing dinner and cleaning up, and then finishing schoolwork, watching TV, talking about recent movies and books, it was soon late at night. In this way, the two of them spent a lot more time together than before she moved out.

It's just a few meters away from the place where I sleep at night, but Toru Shimizu doesn't think it's a big problem.

was thinking wildly in his mind, and suddenly he heard Nanami's voice.

"Clear water."

"How?"

Toru Shimizu got up from the sofa and saw Nanami Nanami walking out of the kitchen with a kitchen knife.

"Wait... Nanami, you are..."

"Huh?" She tilted her head suspiciously, "Is the knife a little blunt, Qing Shui, you can take a look." ”

"Oh, I thought..."

"Why?"

"Nothing".

Dispelling the unwarranted nervousness, Toru Shimizu took the kitchen knife from her hand and looked at it carefully for a while.

"It's a bit blunt. I remember that I brought it from home when I came to Tokyo, so it must have been some years. ”

"No wonder, it always felt like it was a lot of work when I was cutting the chicken just now. By the way, Shimizu, will you sharpen your knife? ”

"I haven't touched it much... There is no whetstone at home," Speaking of this, Toru Shimizu suddenly had an idea, "Do you want to go to Heba Bridge tomorrow?" There are a lot of kitchenware shops there, and you should be able to provide knife sharpening services. ”

"Okay."

"Seven see you going too, right? After all, I don't know anything about this, and you're the main one you use. ”

Nanami stared into his eyes, trying to see through the real thoughts behind his proposal, but he looked as usual, as if it was just a simple proposal.

After hesitating for a while, he finally nodded slowly.