Chapter 2: Bell of Evil Strategy (3)
5-year-old Jerry woke up from Tanaka Nana's arms with a dazed expression, scratching his messy hair and showing a helpless face. Since being recognized as Tanaka Nana's little son, he had become Tanaka Nana's pillow! Alas, the soft tofu was eaten by this old woman again.
Go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, and wash your face!
"Miss Nannan, Miss Nannan, it's time to get up!"
The beautiful author Neneko-san suddenly flipped over, then pulled Jerry into her arms and hugged him tightly. As she murmured, her mouth directly bit onto Jerry's cheek, making a "chu chu" sound!
Jerry was weak and small in strength, directly suppressed by Tanaka Kanna, except for struggling to protest, there was no way at all!
After a long time, Tanaka Nana finally got up from the bed with her clothes disheveled and pushed Jerry out of the door, then started changing her clothes!
Jealous Bob was eating breakfast while reading a book, because Tanaka Kanae said that if he didn't finish reading Game Theory, he wouldn't be allowed to sleep in the same bed as his mom! For Bob who had an Oedipus complex, this was undoubtedly a huge blow, and from time to time he would think, who is really her son, me or Jerry?
But no way, who let Jerry understand everything! The strong Bob didn't die and stuck to Tanaka Nana, like Shin-chan, cutting off his own small JJ to become a girl as a threat, crawling onto Tanaka Nana's bed. On the contrary, he jumped into the sea of books with great enthusiasm!
"Bob, Bob, are we going to the book signing event? Aren't you going?"
"Bob raised his head from the pile of books, 'I'm not going, I still want to read! You guys go ahead! Oh, Jerry, take care of my mom for me!'"
Jerry saw him being a bit stubborn and secretly pulled Tian Zhongcaizi.
"Bob, come on, let's go! Staying at home all the time will make you moldy!"
"Alright then!"
Date: April 6th, Sunday, morning, 8 o'clock!
Location: Opposite San Sheng Tang Bookstore No. 1, Coffee Shop!
Event: Midnight Bell's Seven Nights Strange Talk Book Signing and Sale!
Tanaka Nanako appeared with two children and felt the enthusiastic atmosphere on site!
The huge empty space across from the café was packed with people.
A branch splits off from one side of the empty land and leads directly to the San Sheng Tang bookstore, and another branch splits off from the other side of San Sheng Tang and leads directly to the coffee shop's signing stage!
This winding and twisting snake-like passage, Jerry imitated, is completely the audition of American idols in later generations. But even he was completely shocked by the scene on the spot! Truly underestimated the terror enthusiasm of Japanese nationals!
In 1985, a year of famine for horror movies, "Midnight Bell" suddenly triggered Japan's horror boom!
The midnight sale of the first store of Sanseido has sold out, and book lovers who failed to buy books are constantly venting their dissatisfaction with exaggerated language! Under no choice, all the books from other branches in Tokyo were transferred here!
"Mr. Rice, line up, line up, get in line!"
9:05, the signing event officially begins!
"Hello everyone! I am Tanaka Nanako, the author of Mayonaka no Kurokōji: Nanatsu Yoru no Gekidan. Nice to meet you!"
With Tanaka Kanna's appearance, the atmosphere on site was suddenly ignited!
"Ah~~ Cai Cai Zi Miss, I am your die-hard book fan, I am your die-hard book fan~"
"Miss Cai Cai Zi, I love your Midnight Bell so much!"
"Miss Cai Cai Zi, you look so beautiful!"
"Miss Nannanzi, Miss Nannanzi, are you married?"
"Miss Neneko, why did Iyokichi Hachirō kill Sadako?"
"Miss Nana, why did they find Sadako's corpse, but Sadako killed Ryūji and didn't kill Shizuko?"
"Miss Nannako, Miss Nannako..."
……
"Everyone line up, no cutting in line, no pushing forward! There's enough for everyone, the head office is urgently allocating more stock!"
……
"What's your name?"
"Nagatani Mari!"
"To my lovely bookworms, Nagatani Marika, Tanaka Nanako, April 6th, Showa 60!"
"Thank you so much! Miss Cai, I'm your biggest fan, my mom is also a fan of yours, my dad is too, and even our school teachers are fans of yours. I really admire you for being able to write such wonderful books! You know what? My biggest dream is to be just like you, a bestselling author!"
"Then, for your dreams, go for it, Mokuren!"
"Hi!"
……
"Nippon Television, Nippon Television, I'm Okamoto Rison. Here at Sanseido Bookstore in Nerima-ku, Tokyo, a grand party is being held. The participants include junior high school students, college students, and people from various industries, all sharing one common interest - horror! They have gathered here today for a book, yes, the one that recently swept Japan, the million-seller horror novel 'Midnight Bell' by Tanaka Nanako!"
……
A unique signing mode brought unprecedented enthusiasm to book lovers. After signing nearly 5,000 books, Tanaka Kanna was exhausted! Jerry saw the situation and hastily asked Egawa Umeru to inform many media friends such as Okamoto Rison of Nippon TV and Aida Tomonori of Asahi Shimbun to hold an impromptu press conference.
However, at the press conference, book fans still became the main characters!
These enthusiastic guys have almost every question!
For example, Miss Neneko, are you married? Miss Neneko, are those two your sons? Miss Neneko, where do you get the inspiration for your writing? Miss Neneko, can I have a hug from you? Miss Neneko, do you need an agent? Miss Neneko, I love you, give me a kiss! Of course, this shameless guy was immediately dragged away by the guards, and what awaited him would be a severe lecture!
The Japanese police may be weak when dealing with Americans, but once they start training their own people, the intensity is beyond Jerry's description!
Of course, the media didn't spare any effort either. These guys even dug up the fact that Tanaka Kanna was forced to resign!
Just as Tanaka Nana was getting furious, Jerry snatched the microphone away.
"...When exposing others' scars, shouldn't you first question the incompetence of the Japanese government? A national government that can't even protect a weak woman, where were they when my mother was hurt? Sir, don't forget, how you treat others is how others will treat you! Alright, I won't answer any more questions about personal privacy, next question!"
Jerry's sudden barrage of criticism left the reporter who asked the question pale-faced!
All book lovers were almost instantly conquered by a five-year-old child! They turned their guns on the media!
"This is a grand gathering for book lovers, get out of here, journalists!"
"Was his head smashed with a hammer? How can you ask such an impolite question!"
"Throw that idiot out!"
……
On April 6, 1985, the Midnight Bell's Seven Nights of Strange Tales signing event took place. This incident left a heavy mark on Japan's modern history, not only because it was the signing event for the Midnight Bell, which would later be hailed as the pinnacle of horror, but also because at this event, a five-year-old brat let out a cry that shook the nation's dignity!
Watanabe Hiroshi's facial muscles were almost stiff from smiling, because just one "Midnight Bell" had caused the entire Sansei-do printing department to overheat and break three printers! In addition, Kadokawa Bookstore, Autumn Bookstore, Kubo Bookstore, those guys who usually looked down on others, all came knocking on the door, asking to purchase books of "Midnight Bell"! Watanabe Hiroshi also got a promotion due to "Midnight Bell", he was originally just a small section chief under the publishing department, but now, Moriya Shinmei had made an official order, and the department officially became independent from the publishing department!
Not only that, the advertising department's phone was blown up, and some guys even brought their own products, a bundle of yen, directly to the door, and sat down in the advertising department with an attitude that they wouldn't leave if they didn't get an ad spot. The advertising department's daily profit even exceeded the total of the bookstore's ads for the previous four months!
On the day of the signing ceremony, San Shi Tang's first bookstore sold over 110,000 copies each of Midnight Bell Vol.1 and Vol.2. Within a month, the first print run of 700,000 copies of Midnight Bell Vol.2 was sold out, with Midnight Bell firmly occupying the top spot on the book sales chart!
"Idiots, idiots, all of you are idiots!" Nishio Shinji slammed his fist on the table, bellowing loudly. A masterpiece had slipped through his fingers like that! He could see the prospects of "Midnight Crow" clearly, but Shogakukan's president, Sakaue Hiroshi, let it go! For someone as proud as Nishio Shinji, this was a complete humiliation - even Makoto no longer took him seriously, calling him blind to true talent! But what could he do? He was just the editor-in-chief after all.
Watanabe Hiroshi pulled out a check with a beaming face, "Kanako-chan, this is the second installment of sales commission and part of advertising commission!"
Tanaka Nana took a look and was dizzy from the numerous zeros, but fortunately, she had already started to develop some immunity!
"What's this? Are you still talking about ad revenue sharing, Guang Jun?"
"Yes, Miss Neko! Since the on-site advertisement was planned by Jerry, President Moriya specially allocated a portion of the advertising revenue for that day as a token of gratitude. Please accept this small gift! Thank you!"
"Hi!"
In 1980, the US trade deficit expanded year by year, reaching $160 billion in 1984, accounting for 3.6% of that year's GDP. At the same time, the US government budget deficit began to appear. The Federal Reserve raised official interest rates three times, implementing a tight monetary policy, causing the dollar to soar. Under pressure from the economic crisis, on September 22, 1985, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the United States, Japan, West Germany, France, and Britain held a meeting at the Plaza Hotel in New York, reaching an agreement that the five governments would jointly intervene in the foreign exchange market to induce the dollar to depreciate against major currencies in an orderly manner, solving the problem of the huge US trade deficit. Because the agreement was signed at the Plaza Hotel, it is also known as the "Plaza Accord".
