Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 1

Twentieth Century Chronicle

Author: Fuchun Mountain Residence

Summary:

An era of madmen.

Chapter 1 Beginning

When Ogawa Heikichi and his wife disembarked from the long-distance carriage, his white shirt was soaked with sweat. Holding his discarded Western-style coat in one hand and a suitcase in the other, he grumbled incessantly, "When will those bureaucrats finally build the railway to Kobe? Taking a carriage home is just too much. Rickshaw, rickshaw..."

As Ogawa Heikichi called out to the rickshaw driver, his wife, dressed in a kimono, struggled to carry a large bundle, following behind her husband with small, quick steps. Sweat beaded on her beautiful forehead, but her kimono remained impeccably worn. Watching her husband's pace quicken, she wanted to call out to him to wait, but the words wouldn't come out.

Just as the bundle was about to slip from her hands, a hand suddenly grabbed it from the side. Yuezi was about to bow her head to thank her when she heard a somewhat childish voice say to her, "Madam, let me help you carry it over. It only costs one coin."

Yuezi looked up and saw that the person helping her hold the bag was a boy of about sixteen or seventeen. Although she wanted to refuse, seeing his unusually cheerful smile, she finally let go of his hand, bowed to him, and said softly, "Thank you for your help."

Lin Feng found the Japanese women of this era quite amusing. He was simply trying to find work, yet they made him feel like he was doing a good deed. He took the bundle and immediately felt its weight. He quickly used his other hand, thinking to himself, "No wonder this young woman can't lift it; it must weigh at least 10 kilograms."

Ogawa Heikichi glanced warily at the boy beside his wife, then took a copper coin from his pocket and said, "Put the things in the car, Etsuko, get in."

Lin Feng glanced at the half-coin in his hand, then at the young woman beside him who seemed hesitant to speak, and smiled, saying, "Well then, goodbye, sir. Have a pleasant journey."

Watching the boy turn and leave, Ogawa Heikichi chuckled and said, "Whose child is this? He's quite interesting."

Sitting on the rickshaw, holding her suitcase, the wife finally mustered up the courage to say, "But we just agreed to give him some money."

Ogawa Heikichi glanced back at his wife and said with considerable dissatisfaction, "You really are a pampered young lady. You want one coin for just a few steps? One coin can buy two bowls of soba noodles in this area."

Having said that, he ignored his wife and said to the rickshaw driver standing in front of him, "To Ogawa Gofuku shop in Kobe village."

Watching her husband stride away, Yuezi could only sigh silently. Soon, the driver began to jog slowly forward, pulling the rickshaw. About fifteen minutes later, the rickshaw stopped in front of a Japanese-style shop—this was Ogawa Heikichi's house. Of course, strictly speaking, it should now be his older brother's house, as he was the third son, and his father's kimono shop was inherited by his older brother.

At this moment, the neighbors recognized Ogawa Heikichi and came forward to greet him. After all, Ogawa was the only person in the entire Kobe village to graduate from Tokyo Imperial University with a bachelor's degree and pass the extremely difficult bar exam to become a lawyer. It could be said that this was not only the pride of the Ogawa family, but also the pride of the entire neighborhood.

Unlike his coldness towards his wife, Ogawa Heikichi greeted the neighbors warmly and responded to their greetings one by one, showing no signs of aloofness. In fact, having left his hometown at the age of 14 to study in Tokyo, he rarely returned home. Apart from returning home to marry the woman his father arranged for him after graduation, he could count the number of times he had been home on one hand. As a result, he even got the names of his neighbors wrong several times.

Fortunately, no one seemed to mind. After chatting with the neighbors outside for a full half hour, Ogawa Heikichi finally entered his home with his mother's help. Ogawa's house was a shop in the front and a residence in the back. As the only kimono shop in Kobe Village, the Ogawa family was considered above average in terms of wealth, so the backyard was actually quite large, capable of accommodating more than a dozen people, and also included a small garden.

After greeting his father and brother, Ogawa Heikichi took a hot bath, which was much more convenient than in Tokyo. After all, Kobe Village is located in southern Shinano, surrounded by mountains and forests, so there was no shortage of timber. Compared to the cramped bathroom in his Tokyo home, the bathtub at home was more than enough for him to lie down and soak comfortably.

Washing away the fatigue of the journey, the trip from Tokyo to Kobe took a full four days. Compared to the Edo period, the only difference was that they rode in carriages that were once reserved for daimyo and court nobles; otherwise, the travel conditions remained largely unchanged. For Ogawa Heikichi, who had grown accustomed to life in Tokyo, the distance back home was not so much a physical one, but rather a distance from civilization—it felt like a journey backward from the Meiji era to the Edo period.

However, after taking a hot bath and putting on a yukata, he felt the cool mountain breeze passing through the courtyard, and he began to feel refreshed again. Although he was far from civilization, he was also far from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Standing in the courtyard and looking at the distant mountains was quite meaningful. If he were in another place, he could see Mount Fuji, so the area is also known as Fujimi.

Just as he was standing in the courtyard admiring the scenery, his mother knelt down on the veranda of the longhouse and called out to him, "Sanlang, don't stand in the wind right after taking a bath. If you catch typhoid fever, it's no joke."

Ogawa Heikichi agreed and sat down next to his mother, inquiring about her well-being. After exchanging a few pleasantries, his mother quickly brought up her grandson, saying, "I have something to ask you since you're back. Eijiro wants to take the entrance exam for the First High School, and I'd like to ask you about some things, such as what preparations he should make."

Ogawa Heikichi looked at his mother with some surprise and said, "Eijiro wants to go to the University of Tokyo? What's his ranking in school? If he's outside the top ten, he might have a hard time getting into the top high school. Or is he planning to go to Tokyo for cram school?"

His mother immediately looked at him with a long face and said, "Don't look down on Eijiro. He's currently thirteenth in the whole school. If he works a little harder, he can get into the top ten."

Ogawa Heikichi was somewhat skeptical. Looking into his mother's eyes, he said earnestly, "I remember you once wrote to me complaining that Eijiro neither liked studying nor doing business, and you didn't know what he would do in the future. How did he become the thirteenth in the whole school? He's not lying to you, is he?"

The mother immediately replied, "That was before. Eijiro is different now. Of course, it's all thanks to his integrity. Without integrity, Eijiro wouldn't have been able to change."

Ogawa Heikichi asked instinctively, "Shin-gi? Who is Shin-gi?"

His mother looked at him with some surprise and said, "Didn't I mention it to you in my previous letter? Last year, a student came to our door asking to stay overnight. He was willing to pay for his room and board by tutoring. That student was a true example of integrity."

Ogawa Heikichi finally remembered. He nodded slightly and said, "Ah, I remember now. I mentioned in my reply to you that this is a really audacious fellow, just like I was when I was a child."

The mother covered her mouth and chuckled a few times before saying, "He really wasn't exaggerating. In just one year, he's made Eijiro much more sensible. Now it seems like Eijiro has found his path for the future."

Ogawa Heikichi thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll go talk to him and see which subject he wants to study at the University of Tokyo. But, Father, don't you have any other ideas about Eijiro?"

The mother nodded and said, "Your father's only hope for Eijiro is that he can get into the top high school. As for what he will do in the future, he doesn't have any other ideas. After all, he now knows that it is too difficult for people from small places like us to become officials."

Ogawa Heikichi was speechless for a moment after hearing his mother's words. He knew she was referring to him. Although he had successfully passed the entrance exam for a school run by the Ministry of Justice, which later merged into the newly established Tokyo Imperial University, he hadn't passed the civil service exam after graduation and instead chose to become a lawyer. This must have disappointed his father. After all, his father had sent him to Tokyo to study hoping he would become a government official.

However, Ogawa Heikichi couldn't tell his mother why he couldn't become an official, because the feudal lords controlled the power of personnel appointment and dismissal. Even if he had taken the civil service exam, he might not have been able to obtain an ideal position. As one of the first law students at Tokyo University, Ogawa believed that if he couldn't stay in Tokyo as a ministerial-level civil servant, it was better not to take the civil service exam at all, since once he went to the provinces, there would be almost no chance of advancement.

However, such profound politics were difficult to discuss with his mother. They only cared about whether he held an official position. In Ueno, a predominantly agricultural region, farmers held the government in the highest esteem; even a minor official post was considered a sign of a promising son. His years of study without becoming an official were clearly seen as a sign of a lack of ambition. It was precisely because of this conservative atmosphere that he disliked returning to his hometown to visit relatives.

Of course, with the implementation of the judicial examination and the rise in litigation cases across the country, the once-despised advocate has now become a lawyer who can speak on behalf of farmers and the government. Thus, he has become a promising son in Xiaochuan's family, and his father's opinion of him has changed. After practicing law for seven or eight years, Xiaochuan is also preparing to enter politics and build his network. He also needs the support of influential people in his hometown, which is why he decided to return home to visit relatives.

The conversation had died down, so Ogawa Heikichi could only get up and say goodbye to his mother, explaining that he was going to check on his nephew's important application to the high school, thus ending his conversation with his mother.

In the northeast corner of the backyard, a quiet little courtyard was partitioned off, which served as both the nephew's residence and study. The earthen walls of the courtyard were covered with wisteria, but the ground was covered with a layer of cinders, which, while convenient for walking, detracted from the overall charm. Ogawa Heikichi walked up to the longhouse in the courtyard, a wooden house with three Japanese-style rooms, facing north, where the light was quite bright.

The two rooms on the left and right are bedrooms, and the middle room is a study. When Ogawa Heikichi walked up the steps, he immediately saw his nephew sitting cross-legged in front of a low table, engrossed in reading a book. He didn't even notice his arrival, which made him look at his nephew with new respect.

He coughed lightly twice at the door, finally waking the boy inside. After glancing back, the boy quickly got up and greeted him, "Uncle, what brings you here? No, I mean, I just went to greet you, but you were taking a bath, so I was thinking of greeting you at dinner time."

Ogawa Heikichi entered the room, sat down opposite his nephew, and then greeted him, "Sit down, sit down and talk. We're all family, don't be shy. Eijiro, it seems like it's been two years since we last met, hasn't it? I heard from Grandmother that your grades are doing well these days?"

Ogawa Eijiro knelt down properly, his hands on his knees, and replied somewhat nervously, "It's not exactly good, but it's better than before."

Ogawa Heikichi then smiled and said, "13th in the whole school, isn't that better than before? It seems you've changed a lot this year, and you've become much more mature."

After a moment of silence, Ogawa Eijiro honestly told his uncle, "I don't actually think I've improved. On the contrary, I feel that the gap between me and Lin-kun is getting bigger and bigger."

This was the second time Ogawa Heikichi had heard this name. Seeing his mother and nephew speak so highly of this Mr. Lin, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. As the most educated person in the family, he had never seen such respect from his mother and nephew.

Thinking of this, his thoughts were inevitably swayed, shifting from concern for his nephew's studies to that Mr. Lin. "The Mr. Lin you mentioned should be our boarding student, right? What kind of person is he that you admire so much?"

Mentioning Lin Jun, Ogawa Eijiro immediately relaxed a lot. He said to his uncle, "Lin Jun was only in the bottom ten of the school in his first year of middle school, but a year later he became the top student. His family wasn't well-off; both his parents had passed away, and he only had an older sister who was married. But he didn't want to be a burden on his sister, so he came to live with us as a boarding student. He also did odd jobs to earn pocket money. Yet, despite all this, Lin Jun was still number one in school and didn't hesitate to share his study methods with others, so everyone admired him. Compared to Lin Jun's hard work and life, I feel ashamed..."

A student who is ranked first in the entire school and can support himself is truly admirable. Especially in an agricultural region like Ueno, labor has always been regarded as a virtue. If this Lin-kun were to rely on his sister for support, he wouldn't receive such admiration even if he maintained his first-place ranking. But for a boy who supports himself with his own hands to achieve first place in the entire school is indeed quite extraordinary.

Being able to support a boarding student like this is indeed a good investment for a family. During the Meiji period, the relationship between boarding students and their host families was very close, similar to the relationship between wealthy merchants and samurai retainers during the Edo period. If the samurai later became successful, they would certainly repay the wealthy merchant. Although the Edo period is long gone, this custom still exists in Japan.

Having learned about the background of the boarding student in his home, Ogawa Heikichi finally turned the topic back to his nephew's studies, "You want to take the entrance exam for the First High School, so your goal is definitely to get into the University of Tokyo. What subject do you want to study at the University of Tokyo?"

Ogawa Eijiro's eyes lit up for a moment before he said, "I want to go to the Department of Literature at the University of Tokyo with Hayashi-kun, and then start a newspaper with him to change the mindset of the Japanese people."

Although he had learned from his mother that his nephew already had a path to take in the future, Ogawa Heikichi hadn't expected to hear such specific plans. He chuckled and said, "The Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo is a top-tier program, on par with the Faculty of Political Science and the Faculty of Law. It's among the best in high school. Your ambitions are certainly quite grand."

Ogawa Eijiro wasn't embarrassed by his uncle's good-natured teasing. He firmly stated, "Lin-kun said that setting a higher goal allows us to focus wholeheartedly on achieving it, instead of constantly looking around and ultimately losing our way. I wholeheartedly agree with that..."

Chapter Two: A Novel

Ogawa Heikichi was very satisfied with his nephew's answer. He became even more interested in the boarding student in the family. The fact that the boarding student could say such a thing meant that he had already left the ranks of teenagers and had begun to think about things that adults had begun to think about.

He then said, "Where is that Mr. Lin? Let me meet him too."

Ogawa Eijiro thought for a moment and said, "Lin-kun should be doing odd jobs at the station. He wants to save up some money for his high school tuition. He'll be back by dinner time."

For some reason, the image of the sunny young man he had met at the train station flashed through Ogawa Heikichi's mind. He thought to himself, "It can't be such a coincidence," but changed the subject, saying, "Getting into the Department of Literature at the University of Tokyo isn't easy. Strictly speaking, it's much harder than the Department of Law. After all, in Law, all you need is a good memory. Do you really think you can pursue a career in literature? Is this an article you wrote? Let me see it."

Following his uncle's gaze, Ogawa Eijiro looked at the manuscript on the low table beside him, and immediately shook his head and said, "This is not an article I wrote, it is a novel written by Lin Jun. I just helped Lin Jun find typos and give some suggestions."

"A novel?" Ogawa Heikichi was quite surprised, but he smiled and said, "You've already started writing novels before even entering Tokyo University? That's perfect, let me see how Lin-kun's writing is, and whether he has the potential to become a writer."

At his uncle's insistence, Ogawa Eijiro had no choice but to hand over the manuscript on the low table, but he still explained on behalf of his friend, "Lin-kun's novels are a bit different, Uncle, please don't think he's too arrogant."

"Arrogant?" Ogawa Heikichi smiled silently at his nephew. The most arrogant people in the world were all in Tokyo right now. If he didn't encounter one or two arrogant individuals every day, then he wasn't in Tokyo at all. So he wondered, what was the craziest thing a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy could think of? Becoming a hero in the army? Or pursuing some noble lady?

Ogawa Heikichi opened the manuscript with a certain interest, but after reading a few pages, the smile on his face gradually froze. The word "arrogant" flashed through his mind. This was indeed the writing of an extremely arrogant person.

This is an epistolary novel, not about the present or the past, but about the conflict between Japan and Russia in the coming years. The novel is told from the perspective of a journalist's diary, recounting the story of a reporter from a Japanese newspaper who accepts a posting assignment in China. The story begins this summer with the reporter, Kameyama, arriving in China and traveling north from Shanghai to Tianjin and Beijing.

His observations and experiences on the road described the tragic state of Chinese rural areas, which were on the verge of bankruptcy under the invasion of foreign powers. Although it originated from the imagination of a Japanese country boy, the descriptions of the landscape of rural towns and villages in northern and southern China are largely accurate. Ogawa Heikichi's impressions were naturally derived from Japanese newspaper reports about the Qing Dynasty.

What made Ogawa Heikichi feel arrogant was not this description of the bankruptcy of Chinese villages, but the author's evaluation written in the protagonist's voice: "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 stripped away the last layer of armor of this aging empire, revealing the empire's weak and incompetent nature. Through the illusion of this empire that Japan had torn open, the world's powers are further intensifying their invasion of this old Eastern empire."

…Under the intensified aggression of the great powers, China was increasingly becoming a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country. The contradictions between peasants and landlords, between Han and Manchu people, and between Chinese and foreigners were intensifying. In this context, the Boxer Rebellion, a small peasant self-defense group established in Shandong in 1897, became a banner for the Chinese people to resist the invasion of the great powers, rapidly expanding into the most influential popular group in northern China.

The story begins with the development of the Boxer Rebellion. To appease the peasants and to counter the increasing pressure from foreign powers, the Qing court chose to support the Boxers in order to resist the expansion of foreign influence in China. This ultimately led to a full-scale conflict between China and the various foreign powers, and China undoubtedly lost. To maintain their rule, the Qing rulers made a 180-degree shift in their stance, moving from confrontation with the foreign powers to cooperation in suppressing peasant resistance. Thus, the Boxer Rebellion was utterly defeated.

Japanese newspapers also reported on the Boxer Rebellion, which was prevalent in northern China at the time. However, the focus of the Japanese newspapers was on the conflict between the Boxers and the Germans, viewing it as merely a conflict between the Chinese people and the Germans. Therefore, Japan took an outsider's attitude in evaluating this xenophobic action by Chinese peasants.

While Japanese newspapers criticized the xenophobic sentiments of the Chinese as unacceptable, they also expressed approval of the Chinese opposition to Germany, given that Germany was a major instigator of the Triple Intervention and the return of Liaodong Peninsula. In a sense, if the Germans suffered losses in China, it was tantamount to avenging Japan.

However, the author's assertion that the Qing Dynasty would use the Boxer Rebellion, a popular resistance movement, to challenge other nations and attempt to drive them out of China through popular force is rather absurd. While Ogawa Heikichi acknowledged the Qing court's corruption and incompetence, given its long history of interaction with the world, it couldn't possibly have been that ignorant. Challenging Germany or the United States was one thing, but challenging Britain and Russia would have meant certain defeat for the Qing, let alone challenging all the major powers—a decision only a madman would make.

The author then writes that this brainless act by the Qing Dynasty provoked the anger of various countries, eventually leading to the formation of a United Nations force to punish the Chinese court and its insurgency. Ogawa Heikichi finds this point plausible; if the Qing government had indeed made the foolish move of declaring war on various countries, then military intervention would have been a matter of course, at least for Japan, which would have been eager to send troops to demonstrate its special rights in China.

However, what made Ogawa Heikichi feel arrogant was this statement made by the reporter Kameyama in the book: "Russia sent troops to annex Manchuria and thus obtain a deep-water port in a warm region - Lushun; Britain sent troops to defend its various privileges in China; Germany sent troops to expand its special interests in Shandong; the United States sent troops simply because it was unwilling to be excluded from East Asian affairs; only Japan's sending troops was completely meaningless and merely became a tool for the Western powers to control China."

So when Japanese policymakers were smugly pleased with themselves for finally becoming one of the great powers, they discovered that they had only been called in to do menial tasks, not invited to the table for a meal. Japan deployed even more troops than Russia, but in the end, besides earning the hatred of the Chinese, it allowed the Russian bear to trespass to the edge of its own homeland, digging a huge pit for itself.

This commentary undoubtedly includes criticism of all those in power in the Japanese government. It seems that in the author's eyes, Japan's rulers are only slightly better than the Qing Dynasty rulers, but only marginally so. If the author of this article were a University of Tokyo graduate like Ogawa Heikichi, Ogawa would likely sympathize deeply, as he too is dissatisfied with the current Japanese leadership. As a University of Tokyo graduate groomed for future bureaucratic positions, is it possible for him to fail to enter the ruling class after graduation? Is there anything more infuriating than this?

However, Ogawa only wanted to replace the system, not to completely overthrow and rebuild it. Naturally, he would not allow outsiders to attack anyone in the system at will. These outsiders refer to the common people in Japan, including students who have not yet been admitted to the first high school.

Seeing his uncle suddenly get angry, Ogawa Eijiro felt quite uneasy. After all, the other man was his elder and a senior of the Tokyo Imperial University, which he wanted to apply to. Of course, he didn't want his uncle to have any bad impression of Lin Jun and thus forbid him from associating with Lin Jun.

However, his uncle, who seemed angry, looked up at him and asked the first question: "What about the next part?"

"What do you mean by 'later'?" Eijiro, who was trying to defend Lin Jun, was a little confused for a moment, but he quickly realized what was going on and said to his uncle, "Lin Jun hasn't written the later part yet, but this is just a novel and doesn't represent Lin Jun's true thoughts."

Ogawa Heikichi looked at his nephew seriously and said, "A novel is a reflection of a person's thoughts. If he didn't have such thoughts, how could he have fabricated it? Can you imagine such an article? If you can't imagine it, how can you say that this isn't Mr. Lin's idea? It seems that I need to have a good talk with this Mr. Lin. I've seen many talented young people go astray and ruin themselves in Tokyo. Let me know when he comes back."

Seeing his uncle stand up to leave, Eijiro had no choice but to speak up and stop him, saying, "Uncle, the manuscript."

Ogawa Heikichi glanced at the manuscript in his hand, then said to his nephew, "I will personally hand it to Lin-kun when he returns. This kind of writing is not suitable for you to read."

Eijiro could only watch helplessly as his uncle left with the manuscript of Lin Jun that he had copied. He didn't know why he wasn't suited to reading such writing; in fact, he enjoyed it very much, finding it far more interesting than the novels popular in schools. After the victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, various novels on the theme of war became popular, but while they either told stories of individual bravery or the wit of generals, none of them addressed why Japan went to war. At least Lin Jun's writing presented these refreshing perspectives.

On the other side, after leaving his nephew's yard and returning to his room, Ogawa Heikichi couldn't help but take out a manuscript from his sleeve and start reading it. Although the article was rather arrogant, its analysis of the situation in East Asia was superior to that of some political commentators. At least those political commentators would only scoff at the Boxer Rebellion in neighboring countries, considering it an uncivilized and barbaric act, or gloat over the Germans, since the main area of ​​activity for the Boxers was Shandong.

No one has ever analyzed the changes in China's political situation and the resulting shifts in the East Asian landscape starting with the Boxer Rebellion. As a student at the University of Tokyo majoring in domestic law, Ogawa was at a disadvantage here. If he had studied international law, he wouldn't have had to struggle to become a lawyer; he could at least have entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If Lin Jun had been born 20 years earlier, he would probably be a prominent figure in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by now.

Chapter Three: Lin Xinyi

When Lin Xinyi walked back to his host family with a sore back, the sun was already setting in the west. The sunlight reflected a red glow on the stone road, which, combined with the morning glories on the wooden fences on both sides of the street, actually created a very picturesque scene.

At this time of year, smoke rises from every chimney, and there are few pedestrians on the streets. Although this is a town named after a village, life here is indeed not much different from that in the countryside. In places where there are no railways or cars, life is full of idyllic beauty.

Lin Xinyi, counting his coins with his hands in his pockets, felt no sense of poetry whatsoever. Although he had been lucky today, he only earned 10 and a half coins. In truth, he really didn't want to do such manual labor to earn money, but in an agricultural area like Kobe Village, there was almost no work to be done except manual labor.

The money a boy like him could earn in a day was roughly equivalent to what a female factory worker would earn in a day, about 9-10 sen, and one yen was equal to one hundred sen. The tuition for the first high school was thirty-seven.5 yen a year, which meant he would have to work odd jobs for a year and not eat or drink to save up that money. No wonder children from poor families wouldn't apply to the first high school.

However, he certainly wouldn't have applied to the Army Academy or the Naval Academy unless absolutely necessary. Although these schools were free, with a Chinese soul within him, he would never have been interested in joining the Japanese army to massacre Chinese people. Moreover, it was 1899, and the Russo-Japanese War would have occurred in five years. At this time, the chances of dying while applying to military academy were very high.

However, according to Japan's military service law, all healthy men aged 17-40 are required to serve in the military, unless they are students in government-run public schools. In other words, if he couldn't get into a top high school before the Russo-Japanese War broke out, he might receive a "red paper, 1.5 sen postcard, saying he has to become a soldier tomorrow," which would be even more tragic than attending military academy.

Upon seeing the familiar street corner, Lin Xinyi stopped and tidied his appearance. Regardless of poverty or wealth, neat attire was fundamental to gaining favor with others. As for the smell of sweat on his body, he could only ignore it for the time being.

Upon entering the clothing store where he was staying, Lin Xinyi greeted the shopkeeper loudly. The shopkeeper, Xiao Chuan, who was doing the accounts, was startled and looked at him with some annoyance, saying, "Xinyi, you greet me so loudly every time you come back. I can't keep doing my accounts."

Lin Xinyi said with a smile, "Because every time I see the shopkeeper, I feel that today is a perfect day, and I can't help but feel energetic. If the shopkeeper needs anything, I can help."

Shopkeeper Xiao Chuan waved his hand at him and said, "Forget it, it's not the end of the month, it's just a small account. Go take a shower, there's hot water. After you shower, it'll be time to eat."

Lin Xinyi bowed to Manager Xiaochuan and went into the backyard. Lin Xinyi was going back to his room to get his clothes when Yingjiro stopped him and said somewhat hesitantly, "My uncle is back today."

Holding the clothes, Lin Xinyi nodded and replied, "Oh, you must be my uncle who's a lawyer in Tokyo? The shopkeeper told me this when I came in, and even told me to take a shower first, and then we'd have dinner together."

Eijiro had no choice but to confess: "Uncle saw your novel and didn't seem very happy. He said he wants to talk to you after dinner."

Lin Xinyi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "Which novel?"

Eijiro said, "Isn't that the one you made me read?"

"Oh, the one about the 'Lectures on the Rebellion,' then it's alright." Lin Xinyi's heart immediately calmed down. Ever since he realized that it was difficult to save enough money for his high school tuition by doing manual labor, he wanted to earn some royalties by writing novels. After all, at this time, the sales of Japanese newspapers had just begun to skyrocket, and all kinds of tabloids were popping up one after another, so the demand for content was still quite strong.

He originally wanted to write romance novels, but his idea was rejected because the common people didn't like overly literary works. They preferred erotic or mystery novels. The upper class, on the other hand, preferred romance novels with a different taste than the straightforward narratives of later generations. They preferred pure love stories filled with torment and suffering. After understanding this, Lin Xinyi gave up writing this type of novel because he knew he couldn't write them.

As for submitting pornographic articles to tabloids, he did have one piece that left a deep impression: "Young Woman Bai Jie." However, as a middle school student, it was probably not appropriate for him to write such a thing. If he were discovered, his reputation would be completely ruined in the conservative Ueno Prefecture, and it might even implicate his married sister. So he wrote it but didn't dare to submit it.

Only then did he resume writing the kind of novel most suitable for a time traveler: a historical novel based on events that were about to happen. Eijiro's words had startled him; he thought his copy of "Young Woman Bai Jie," which he kept on his desk, had been confiscated—that would be the end of him. However, since it was a pseudo-historical novel about the Boxer Rebellion, he felt relieved.

"It's just graffiti, why is your uncle unhappy with it? Why is he making such a fuss about this?"

"I don't know why he was angry. I just heard him say, 'Arrogant.' But I also think that your criticism of the cabinet and the army was indeed a bit too bold."

Hearing Eijiro's words, Lin Xinyi laughed instead and said to him, "We are going to high school. Criticizing the current government and the army is not called being bold, it is the right of the ruling class. Alright, let's talk after I take a shower. I'm all sticky right now, I can't even stand it myself."

Eijiro watched Lin Xinyi's departing figure with disbelief. He had been taught to obey adults since childhood, so he felt a sense of pressure surrounding his uncle, which made him afraid to do anything rash. But Lin Xinyi was not like that. Whether at school or anywhere else, he never seemed to be afraid of authority.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I was so worried for nothing. You're too carefree. We're not even high school students yet."

After taking a shower and changing into a clean bathrobe, Lin Xinyi felt completely refreshed. The Xiaochuan family was a large family, and the men ate first, followed by the women. Because they practiced individual servings, everyone's food was almost identical.

Since Kobe Village didn't have electricity yet, electric lights were high-tech, only imported from abroad four years ago, and even in Tokyo, they were a luxury only a few could afford. Therefore, the Ogawa family still used candles at night. However, the development of modern industry made paraffin candles, derived from petroleum, very popular, which also made candles cheaper, so they could light more candles at night.

However, even this light was too dim for modern eyes, so he could only vaguely make out a young man with a small mustache standing next to the shopkeeper, without recognizing the couple he had met at the station. Ogawa Heikichi, on the other hand, immediately recognized the boarding student at home as the strange boy who had helped his wife carry her bundle, but he didn't show anything.

After dinner, Eijiro and Hayashi Shinji got up and left. The men of the Ogawa family then sat together and chatted about everyday matters. When they figured it was about time, Ogawa Heikichi, who had something on his mind, got up and made an excuse to leave with his father and brother.

When Ogawa Heikichi came to his nephew's room again, he heard his nephew and the boarder discussing a math problem. He stood outside the door and listened for a while, and then he felt that the boarder's math skills were indeed good enough to teach his nephew.

Just as Lin Xinyi finished explaining a math problem to Eijiro inside the room, they heard a cough coming from outside the door. The two of them quickly stood up. Upon seeing the person standing outside the door, Eijiro called out "Uncle," and Lin Xinyi also greeted him in return.

Ogawa Heikichi entered the room and sat down opposite the two men. He spoke a few words to his nephew first, then turned his gaze to Lin Xinyi. After looking him up and down, he said, "You must be Xinyi. Since you want to apply to No. 1 High School, why are you doing odd jobs at the train station? No. 1 High School is not as easy to get into as you think. It is the target of all junior high school students in Japan. The top student in a rural school like Kobe Village is nothing compared to junior high schools in Tokyo and Osaka."