Chapter 354 Heaven’s punishment for the Tang thieves!

Shintaro Ishihara took the elevator directly from the underground parking lot to the top floor and walked into the event site without knowing what had happened before.

As a senior bureaucrat, he declined to attend “Tokyo in World Literature” because he had other activities that he considered more important; and he suddenly appeared here because the previous event ended early, and the “Sanai Building” was nearby, so he decided to come and show his face on a whim.

After all, he still prides himself on being a writer, and having fun with young writers can also increase his support among young people. As for which writers came to the scene, he didn’t know, nor did he care.

All he cares about is seizing the opportunity to build his political reputation.

So when he walked into the scene, he only heard a young East Asian writer quoting the title of his work, and then saw the young man scattering his manuscript all over the floor.

Because he was quite far away and couldn’t see the face of the person on the stage clearly, Ishihara thought that this young man was his admirer. After all, Zhang Chao’s last three sentences were just an ordinary literary declaration if not connected to the previous text.

A smile appeared on Ishihara’s face. He didn’t expect that there was a young person reading his works today, and it seemed that he was a Chinese writer. He was ready to step forward and shake hands with him.

But Ishihara, who had a keen sense of the media, soon realized that something was wrong – the reporters rushed towards him despite the on-site staff’s attempts to stop them.

Although he is the governor of Tokyo, he would never let reporters get so crazy. Something must have happened that he is not aware of.

“Mr. Ishihara, the Chinese writer Zhang Chao just described you as a “political PR”. What do you think?”

Ishihara: “What?!”

“Governor Ishihara, Zhang Chao said that your administration has caused Tokyo to lose its literary charm, resulting in “world literature is losing Tokyo”. Do you think he makes sense?”

Ishihara: “Nani!!??”

“Governor Ishihara, you suddenly came to the scene because you heard about Zhang Chao’s criticism of you and came here specifically to debate with him?”

Ishihara: “Nani!!!???”

Only then did Ishihara roughly understand what had happened, but it happened so suddenly that he had no idea how to deal with it, and he couldn’t just turn around and leave, so he was caught in a dilemma.

But soon someone came to his rescue. The young man on the podium walked lightly through the crowd and came straight to him. He stretched out his big hand, which had distinct joints from playing basketball frequently. “Mr. Ishihara, good afternoon. I’m Zhang Chao!”

Ishihara looked at the young man in front of him, who was half a head taller than him, with a handsome face. There was no provocation in his eyes, only calmness as calm as water.

Refusing to shake hands seemed to embarrass Zhang Chao, but it also showed that he was narrow-minded – although Ishihara was not known for his magnanimity, in this situation it would only be seen as an escape.

Shaking hands made him seem guilty, as if he agreed with Zhang Chao’s criticism of him – although he didn’t know the origin of the metaphor of “political PR”, it was definitely not a good thing.

The key point was that the reporters’ camera positions were not in his favor – he was almost facing the camera head-on, while Zhang Chao had his back or sideways to the camera, and was much taller than him, so the photos taken would definitely show Zhang Chao looming over him.

However, Ishihara is an experienced and cunning politician. He turned sideways and did not directly reject Zhang Chao. Instead, he made room for Zhang Chao and gestured to indicate that he hoped Zhang Chao would stand next to him for a photo.

This not only resolved his own embarrassment, but also threw the problem to Zhang Chao. If Zhang Chao came over and stood together, it would be the standard etiquette of a junior meeting a senior; if Zhang Chao walked away, it would be equivalent to taking over the pressure of public opinion.

Zhang Chao remained calm, turned around and faced the reporter, completely shielding Ishihara behind him, and said to the reporter in English: “The conflict between Governor Ishihara and I originated from literature, but it is not limited to literature.

But I believe everyone has a lot of questions to ask him, so I won’t waste your precious opportunity to ask questions.” After saying that, he stepped aside but did not leave.

The Japanese reporters at the scene were all shocked. As the saying goes, “I’m not afraid of heaven or earth, but I’m afraid of Japanese speaking English!” This is exactly what it means to describe the terrible accent of Japanese English.

As a representative nation of “shame culture”, the Japanese have developed a distorted mentality in which, on the one hand, they are afraid of being laughed at for their accent and dare not speak English; on the other hand, they are afraid of East Asian people who speak English with pure pronunciation and fluent expression.

Zhang Chao’s English accent was trained by Xu Ruiya and has been tested in the United States for a long time. Even if there are some flaws, how can they be ignored by these Japanese reporters who only speak “dumb English”?

So the atmosphere suddenly became silent, and everyone looked at Zhang Chao with awe and surprise, as if they suddenly remembered at this moment that the young Chinese man in front of them was not only famous in his home country, but also a darling of the American cultural world.

Especially as the “Me Too!” movement is gaining momentum in the United States, Zhang Chao’s portrait often appears on street banners and posters.

It was not until Zhang Chao coughed that the reporters reacted and prepared to continue questioning Ishihara.

Ishihara, who was standing beside Zhang Chao, had veins throbbing on his forehead, and he wanted to turn around and leave. But if he left now, he would really become a “coward” who was afraid of fighting, and wouldn’t his “manly image” really become a “male PR performance”?
Facing the challenge, Ishihara did not get too excited, but said cunningly: “The protagonist of today’s event is not me, but all the young writers.

I don’t want to see only my old face in tomorrow’s news! So please, I won’t answer any questions today.”

His words were flawless and his expression was intimidating without him getting angry. The reporters were afraid of his identity and didn’t want to continue to surround him.

At this time, the venue staff appeared in time and cleared a passage for Ishihara so that he could walk to the organizer’s seat.

When they passed by Zhang Chao, their eyes crossed, and each saw the disdain in the other’s eyes.

“Araru (despicable)!”

“Old fox!”

But then they withdrew their gazes and returned to their seats.

As soon as Zhang Chao sat down, many of his colleagues excitedly hugged his shoulders and praised his courage. A Korean writer who looked to be about 40 years old was so excited that he spoke fluent Korean with an admiring look on his face.

Laughter and joy.

After Ishihara sat down, he started whispering with the old man next to him. After a while, a staff member handed him some papers.

After Ishihara finished reading as quickly as possible, his thick eyebrows were almost twisted into a knot, his face flushed, and he stared at Zhang Chao not far away, with magma in his eyes about to burst out.

The organizers around him all had serious expressions and the atmosphere was like a cemetery.

The reporters immediately captured the disparity between the two atmospheres, and with the click of a camera shutter, a photo worthy of winning a journalism award was created.

The organizers would certainly not allow the situation to deteriorate further. The host immediately adjusted his state and went on stage to change the subject: “Governor Ishihara’s presence has made our event more valuable. Now, please welcome the French writer…”

It was as if Zhang Chao’s speech had never existed, just like the manuscript paper on the ground had been cleared away long ago.

But after Zhang Chao’s commotion, the rest of the event became boring. Representatives of writers from other countries who came on stage to speak only gave a few perfunctory remarks and then hurriedly ended, obviously wanting it to end early.

The organizers certainly didn’t want this long-planned and expensive event to end in such a whimper. At this time, Ishihara whispered something to one of them, who showed a look of surprise. After the message was passed, the host immediately announced with a smile on his face: “Next, welcome Mr. Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, to give a speech for this event!”

The reporters at the scene were shocked. Didn’t Ishihara just say that he didn’t want to steal the limelight? How could he change his mind so quickly? However, this was obviously more in line with everyone’s expectations, so they immediately applauded.

Even in the writers’ seats, many people cheered and applauded, and an American writer blew the “hooligan whistle” twice, obviously enjoying the fun.

Amid the noise, Ishihara stood up and walked towards the podium with steady steps.

Although he is 75 years old, which makes him an old man in every sense, Ishihara is still very confident in his thinking and eloquence. His sharp words are one of the foundations of his foothold in politics.

The staff member just handed over an activity record that fully recorded the content of Zhang Chao’s speech. Ishihara felt dizzy when he saw it.

“Political male PR”, “top gigolo”, “spiritual aphrodisiac”, “spiritual Viagra”… every word Zhang Chao used was like a steel knife, piercing Ishihara’s heart.

Ishihara, who has been active in the literary and political circles for 50 years, has never been humiliated like this.

The scary thing about Zhang Chao’s speech is not that he is called a “male public relations” or a “gigolo”, but that his logic is self-consistent and the arguments are sufficient to prove that he is!

This hit Ishihara’s heart more than any vicious, dirty insults.

So he decided to fight back on the spot, without waiting even a quarter of an hour or a minute!
Standing on the podium, Ishihara first glanced at all the writers, reporters and organizers in the audience, then stared at Zhang Chao deeply, as if he wanted to engrave the appearance of this Chinese man on his retina.

Then he leaned forward slightly, got closer to the microphone, and began his speech: “I am very happy to see outstanding young people from the world’s literary circles discussing this beautiful city under our feet – Tokyo.

As the governor of Tokyo, I…I feel deeply honored. As a…writer, I…feel…very…good…about…Tokyo…”

Ishihara felt that the scene in front of him was becoming increasingly blurry, and his tongue seemed to be tied up and he could not get any words out of his mouth. The contents of the speech were cut off in his mind and he had no idea what to say next.

“Has Tokyo experienced another earthquake? I’m really getting old. I can’t socialize too late. Is the afternoon sun too hot? Where am I now?”

These were the last thoughts that popped into Ishihara’s mind, and then his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

The scene immediately fell into chaos.

The staff who organized the event rushed to the stage, calling Ishihara’s name and trying to wake him up, while calling the emergency number.

Zhang Chao was also dumbfounded watching from the audience. Did he curse someone to death? Thinking of this, even though he was extremely bold, cold sweat broke out on his back.

You have to know that although politicians like Ishihara are annoying, they definitely have a lot of supporters, especially those extremists. It would be no fun if they came to your door wearing a headscarf and bringing wakizashi with them out of anger.

There is no Shu Han army protecting me…

At this time, Kadokawa Lehiko walked quickly to his side and said to Zhang Chao, “Chao-kun, it’s almost time, let’s go.”

Zhang Chao nodded, and taking advantage of the chaos, followed Kadokawa Lehiko out of the venue, took the elevator, went straight down to the garage, got into the Toyota Century that had been waiting for him, and quickly drove out of the crowded streets of Ginza.

Only then did the two of them breathe a sigh of relief.

Kadokawa Leyohiko smiled and said, “Chao-kun is indeed an unrivaled eloquence. This is the first time I’ve seen Ishihara look so embarrassed.”

Zhang Chao asked with a hint of confusion: “If anything happens to Ishihara… aren’t you worried that my novel will be boycotted?”

Kadokawa Koyomi laughed and said, “Chao-kun, although you know a lot about literature, you don’t know much about Japan. I dare say that if Ishihara died, not only would your book not be boycotted, but it would sell for an astronomical amount!”

Zhang Chao was surprised and asked, “So many people hate Ishihara?”

Kadokawa Toshihiko shook his head and explained, “People don’t hate Ishihara, but they are curious about who made Ishihara so angry and how he did it. Of course, if this person happens to be a writer, of course they will buy his books and read them.”

Zhang Chao was speechless for a moment, but when he thought of the tough guy Yamagami Tetsuya who was rubbing the “Abe cutter” with his hands, he could understand that ordinary Japanese people did not have much aversion to him. After a while, he asked, “Will you feel any pressure? After all, he is the governor of Tokyo.”

Kadokawa Toshihiko’s smile turned into contempt, and he said with disdain: “Ishihara is from the Yamazaki faction, and I support the Seiwa faction… Besides, if Ishihara dies, the governor of Tokyo will have to be re-elected…”

Zhang Chao: “…” Why does it seem like I’ve helped him a lot?

Zhang Chao did not understand the political factions in Japan, but he roughly understood that Kadokawa Lehiko was not worried about his situation, and even thought there was an opportunity to gain, so he felt a little gloating.

After thinking it over for a while, Kadokawa Leyan said to Zhang Chao, “Mr. Chao, you are right! With the inspiration of Ishihara’s death, we can arrange for more printing of “Hometown” now!
Oh, and we also need to arrange for reprinting of the previous books! But in the next two days, I will arrange for two more people to guard Qingjiyuan.”

Zhang Chao nodded. Qingjiyuan is located in a high-end residential area, and its security is very tight. Besides, Japan is still a modern country after all, so it is unlikely that the Shinsengumi or Iga ninja will break in – but necessary security still needs to be done, which also shows that Kadokawa Lehiko attaches great importance to him.

The good thing is that his parents have “abandoned” him today and went to Kyoto with Tanida, so there is no need to disturb them.

I just don’t know if this will have any impact on the itinerary of the delegation of young Chinese writers that will be going to Japan next week…

All of a sudden, all kinds of thoughts were in a mess, and Zhang Chao himself couldn’t sort them out for a while. He simply let go of the thought and closed his eyes to rest – Ishihara was really mad at him, so at worst he could just buy a plane ticket and fly back immediately. As the saying goes, “A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.”

After returning to Qingjiyuan, Zhang Chao asked the “female general” who managed the villa to get him some food first. After filling his stomach, he called the Writers Association in China: “Hello, Chairman Tie, let me report to you that the situation has changed a little bit…”

Ten minutes later, Zhang Chao hung up the phone, the vibration of Chairman Tie Ning’s voice still lingering in his ears, thinking that you are not always so calm and gentle…

But since things had come to this, Zhang Chao didn’t care anymore. He was feeling sleepy after a full meal, so he simply lay down on the tatami and took a nap.

……

After an unknown amount of time, the phone rang. Zhang Chao picked it up in a daze. It was Kadokawa Leyan, who said with regret, “Ishihara is not dead, he had a stroke. He was rescued in time and has woken up.

But it is said that it will take several months for him to recover, and now there are rumors that he will resign from his post as governor. “

Then he said to Zhang Chao: “Japanese public opinion is not favorable to you now… You can check it out on the Internet. If it is not necessary, don’t go out recently. I will send someone to Qingjiyuan to deliver anything you want.”

Zhang Chao hung up the phone and immediately opened his laptop. Without searching specifically, he saw four big words on the homepage of Yahoo Japan: Heaven will punish the Tang thieves!

(End of this chapter)