Chapter 20 Chapter 18 Shorthand Notation

Nobuyuki Doi returned to the Adam Hotel.As he walked across the hall, a tall man in glasses got up from a nearby chair and walked in front of him. "Aren't you Mr. Doi?" The man in his thirties with high cheekbones handed Doi a business card.It says Naoya Koizumi, secretary of Katsuichiro Hasegawa, a member of the Constitutional Party.This man had called three days ago, saying that Councilor Hasegawa had come up with a book and asked Doi to write it for him, and that he had agreed to meet at four o'clock this afternoon. "Please." Doi took him to the elevator in the office.Secretary Koizumi was speaking flattering words while still holding something that looked like a gift in his hand.

Masako Saeki heard the bell and opened the door of the office. "We have guests," Doi said. "Please! Come inside, please." Masako Saeki led Koizumi to the reception room.She was Doi's stenographer and also worked as a secretary. Koizumi sat on the sofa in the reception room, Saeki Masako served tea to the guests and went back to the back room.This inner room was Doi's study and Masako Saeki's office. Doi took out the envelope Gaipu had given him.Shorthand symbols were written horizontally on the thin six-page letter paper, symbols that looked like Arabic script and crawling earthworms.

"This is shorthand." Saeki Masako glanced at it and said. "Someone gave it to me. Although he is not a stenographer, he is very interested in shorthand. He said it was written in his own way. Others may not be able to understand it. Please take a look. Even the beginning part is fine." "Okay." The small Saeki Masako picked up the letter paper and looked at the beginning, frowned and tilted her head in wonder. "This shorthand is completely different from the shorthand I use," she said, examining the shorthand. "The man said he learned it from a newspaper stenographer."

"It must be. There are several shorthand methods, including the Senate style, the House of Representatives style, the Nakane style, the Waseda style, and the older Arida lock style. It is very difficult for people who have learned the Nakone style to look at the Waseda style. This The shorthand symbols seem to be Kumazaki-style." Masako said in a low voice after reading the letter that Gaiura Takuro handed to Doi. "The Kumazaki style is outdated, and almost no one uses it. Who wrote it?" "He said he learned it a long time ago from the stenographer in the liaison department of the newspaper. Don't you understand other shorthand methods at all?"

This was something that Waipu specially gave to her, but she said she couldn't understand it, and Doi was disappointed. "If the Senate style, the House of Representatives style, or the Waseda style, there are textbooks on this aspect, and you can understand it by reading the textbook. Because no matter how many symbols created by individuals are added, the basic shorthand form cannot be changed. However, I don’t know Kumazaki-style people, and there is no teaching material for this, so I can’t understand it.” "yes?" "Please wait a moment." Masako said after seeing Doi's disappointed face. "It's not that there's no way."

"Is there a way?" "Maybe. Because as long as you master the changing rules of the shorthand symbols of A Duan and A Xing, you can understand them in general." "..." "Miss Saeki, then I'm going to discuss something with the guest. Can you please interpret this letter and translate it into ordinary characters? Translate as much as you can understand." Masako Saeki stared at the Sakikuma-style shorthand text. "It's difficult at first glance, but try your best." "Please." "Mr. Doi, Mr. Harai's "Speech Collection" is only half finished. Isn't Mr. Sawada's article "New Ways to Explore Japan" also urgent?"

"That's right. But..." These are all shorthand for Doi's utterances.It takes three times longer to translate shorthand symbols into words than shorthand. Masako Saeki's implication is that when there is a backlog of work that needs to be completed in a hurry, it is not worth it to waste time on the translation of unfamiliar and outdated shorthand symbols?What she was trying to say was that the urgent work should be done first and put away when you have free time.The suggestion was correct, but Doi was intrigued by it. "No, let's do the translation first." Doi ordered.

"yes!" "I need it. Mr. Harai and Mr. Sawada's manuscripts, please wait a little longer." "Yes, I see." Saeki Masako nodded. Doi entered another room, and Mr. Hasegawa Katsuichiro's secretary, Koizumi Naoya, was sitting on the leather sofa in the reception room, smoking a cigarette. "I kept you waiting for a long time." Secretary Koizumi put the cigarette he was smoking beside the ashtray and stood up.He was a long-faced man with rimless glasses and a secretary's badge pinned to the collar of his jacket. "I'm Naoya Koizumi, Hasegawa's secretary who called."

He handed the business card to Doi as usual. "Hasegawa is always under your care." Koizumi saluted. Doi had never met Senator Hasegawa.No matter who the other party is, the catchphrase of the secretaries is, "Member XX is always under your care." Secretary Koizumi wanted to ask Doi to ghostwrite the work of Katsuichiro Hasegawa, a member of the House of Representatives of the Constitutional Party.Without exception, all the guests who came to this reception room came to make use of Doi's literary talents.Just like the clients who come to a lawyer's office are all for entrusting to solve legal disputes and lawsuits, none of them come to discuss other matters.

Various gatherings of members of Congress have become popular recently. Two months ago, Masaaki Kawamura held a "support meeting" at the O Hotel.As long as one party is held, the congressman can make a fortune, so various gatherings with clever names are held, and the most common one is the publication commemoration meeting.But to write a book requires talent, and the secretary is not capable of ghostwriting, so it is necessary to find a powerful brain substitute-a ghostwriter. "What is the purpose of the book?" Doi asked Secretary Koizumi routinely. "This!" Koizumi showed a confused expression. "We can't think of any topic at once, do you have any good topics?"

That's what most "clients" say.Their expressions seem to say: You are in the ghostwriting business, so you should be familiar with the market. "This..." Doi tilted his head. "Anything is fine, please leave everything to Mr. Doi!" said Koizumi wearing rimless glasses. This is also the common language of the "client".No matter what the content is, as long as there are "writings" on the line, the commemorative publishing party will have the income of the parliamentarians.If a big congressman holds a party in a first-class hotel, his income can be about 100 million yuan, and after deducting hotel expenses (vegetable money, wine money, service fee), he can get back 60% or 50%; One reads it seriously.But without this signboard, there is no way to get 50 to 60 million yuan in revenue overnight, so I tried every means to hire people to write the "writings" of the congressmen, and all these jobs were concentrated on Doi, who is well-known as an expert. . "Mr. Hasegawa's works, how many pages will be printed in thirty-two format?" Doi asked him after taking a sip of herbal tea. "It's not good if it's too thin, it needs to be this thick." Koizumi moved his thumb and index finger up and down, about one and a half centimeters. "There are about two hundred and ten pages." Doi immediately calculated. "If it is 210 pages in thirty-two format, it will be printed in ten-point typeface, and the arrangement will be looser. Each page can be printed in fourteen lines, counting thirty-five characters per line, and there are four hundred and ninety characters on one page. Suppose there are 200 pages of 500-character manuscript paper, and there are about 250 sheets of 400-character manuscript paper to write. It is difficult for me to decide the content of such a long thing, and you should decide the theme. Doi said to the long-faced counterpart. "Well, so far I can't think of any topic to write about!" Secretary Koizumi was restless, his eyeballs behind the rimless glasses were rolling around. "How about Mr. Hasegawa asking for a question?" "The old man just said, leave everything to me, and asked me to ask Mr. Doi for help." "Is this book urgent?" "Urgent! Urgent!" The secretary suddenly moved forward, approaching Doi. "The publication commemorative meeting is scheduled to be held in two months. Can we finish the manuscript before then? The venue has been decided to be at N Hotel, and the Fengxiang Hall has been booked." "Sorry, I can't make it in such a hurry." Doi answered while picking up the cigarette in front of him. "Can't make it?" "Think about it, it takes more than a month to write 250 sheets of manuscript paper, judging from the current work situation, and then send it to the printing factory, typesetting, printing, proofreading and binding, it will take at least a month." "I have made an agreement with the printing company and the binding company. They said that it can be finished in about 20 days. We just need to pay more." With the benefit of 50 million or 60 million yuan in sight, it is nothing to spend more on printing fees. "Even if the printing line and binding line can be rushed out, but my manuscript cannot be rushed out!" "I heard that Mr. Doi dictated the writing to the stenographer, so do it quickly!" "I have already taken over the works of other gentlemen, and there are two backlogs there, which are very urgent. There are other sporadic manuscripts, so I can't pick up yours before they are finished." "Mr. Doi is worthy of being a celebrity in the theoretical circle!" Secretary Koizumi said in a tone of sincere admiration, not sarcasm. Doi knew in his heart what it meant to say that he was a writer in the theoretical world.They refer to their experience of "all together fighting" in the Faculty of Law of Dongdae University.What kind of ideal blueprint did you draw in the upcoming book "Explore a New Way for Japan" by Rep. Sawada?What kind of theoretical thinking did Mr. Harai Kenichiro develop in his "Speech Collection"?What is used here is the basic point of view of its "enemy" during the "all-communist struggle" period, and combined with the current political and social situation to further develop the theory of "enemy". "Mr. Doi, please find a way to help Representative Hasegawa, please." Koizumi put his hands on his knees and bowed deeply to Doi. "This is not good, Mr. Koizumi, please put your hands down." Doi stared at the other party. "I've said it just now. I can't accept it anyway. I can't do it in terms of time and energy." "This... we are willing to pay 20% more than other gentlemen in terms of manuscript fees?" "what?" "The old man said so." "No! Please convey my thoughts to Mr. Hasegawa." "Don't say that, please reconsider." "There is no room for consideration. Sorry, please go back." "Really." Secretary Koizumi said something like coming back to discuss again, and reluctantly left the room. Doi sank his body as strong as a cow into the sofa, gasping for breath, holding his head in his hands and not moving. "Mr. Doi!" Masako Saeki came behind the chair at some point. "Are you uncomfortable?" She bent down to look at the face of Doi who was sitting there with his head down. "No." Doi straightened his waist. "Just a little tired." "Your complexion is not good." She said, looking intently at Doi's face. "It doesn't matter, it's just that I'm very tired because of the constant pestering of the guests just now." "You refused this matter very well. I was relieved after hearing your answer inside." Although the door between the two rooms was closed, the speech here could be heard clearly in the other room. "Mr. Doi, the Kumazaki-style shorthand notation has some clues." Saeki Masako said as if to make Doi happy. "Ah, do you understand?" Doi, who was sitting on the sofa with his head bowed, suddenly straightened up from the sofa and stared at the face of the female stenographer. "That's not all." She was a little nervous about Doi's premature joy. "A part is fine. Which part?" "It's the topic." "Is it the title? What is it called?" "It's called A Midsummer Night's Dream." "A Midsummer Night's Dream? Is it the famous Shakespeare?" "It's just that the title is the same, and the content must not have the slightest resemblance to Shakespeare's plays." "What was written?" "I'm going to read on. Although it's not a proper noun, it clearly states the common nouns 'Summer' and 'Meng'. As long as you know 'Summer' and 'Meng', you can determine 'Night' from the numbers. Because it Is it Shakespeare?" "yes." "So I can translate the words Zhong, Xia, Ye, Zhi, and Meng." Masako Saeki smiled. Four days passed. Masako Saeki is translating the shorthand draft of "Exploring the Way of Renovating Japan" written by a member of the House of Representatives, Hirae Sawada of the Constitutional Party.This book was dictated intermittently by Doi within a week.If there is no interference from other things, such a thing can be completed in about three days.Saeki Masako is sometimes in the Adam Hotel, sometimes in his own apartment is constantly doing translation work.Doi is dictating Mr. Harai Kenichiro's "Speech Collection", which is half completed. Whether it is a "book" or a "speech collection", the content requirements are not high, as long as people feel "interested" and "beneficial" after reading it.In fact, the person who placed the order does not necessarily ask for "beneficial", as long as it can be used as a material for the "publishing commemoration meeting".As long as a member of parliament publishes a book, a "publication commemoration meeting" can be held in Tokyo and the electoral district.It can also be held in Kansai if there is an appropriate title.In this way, the kinetic energy can increase the income of members of parliament by two or three times. "Publication Memorial" has now become one of the reliable sources of funding for congressmen. In order to write such a book, Doi had to collect materials, sort them out, make records, and conceive painstakingly.Members and secretaries can only say "you have full authority", and some members can specify the purport of the work and other specific requirements, but these so-called purports are old-fashioned and extremely old-fashioned, so it is up to Doi to find a way to make it It becomes something trendy.The manuscripts completed in this way are of course much better than they expected, and the members who ordered are often very satisfied. But Doi took great pains to write each chapter with its own characteristics, and it cannot be written uniformly.Even if there are some similarities (because both are conservative constitutional parties), each book has to be written differently.Therefore, Doi met with the client in advance, listened to his conversation, learned about the congressman's knowledge, education level, familiarity with his language habits and his character from his behavior, and also considered the congressman's place of birth. and electoral districts, decide how the article is written.After these preparatory work are done, the dictation can be carried out relatively smoothly. What really takes time and effort is the preparation work before the dictation. "Miss Saeki!" Doi stood behind Masako Saeki who was sorting out the shorthand manuscript of "A New Way to Explore Japan".While looking at her shorthand record on the left, she translated and wrote the original text on the manuscript paper.The shorthand symbols are like arabesques. "Have you understood the shorthand symbols in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"?" Masako put down the ballpoint pen and faced Doi. "There are still many incomprehensible symbols. The Kumazaki style is outdated, and the writer has his own cursive writing habits in calligraphy, so he has to use deduction to interpret it, and it will take some time." "yes?" "However, using the writing methods of Zhong, Xia, Ye, Zhi, and Meng as clues to study each line and paragraph, I have found some rules. The content seems to be a novel centered on a love story." Saeki Masako's short stature and thin face make her an unattractive woman.Maybe she is not very beautiful, but she never wears makeup when she goes to work, and she is an out-and-out female stenographer.Saying the word "love" from Saeki Masako's mouth, it sounds like hearing "kitchen knife" and "teacup", which are purely material feelings, without any emotional associations. There is nothing more inappropriate to say "dissonance" and "accident" than Takuro Uaipu wrote a romance novel with shorthand notation. "Does the hero and heroine's names appear in the novel?" Doi asked. "No name ever appeared." Changzi himself said a little puzzled. "The protagonist 'he', the heroine 'she', from beginning to end." "What about the other characters?" "It is also coded with letters such as 'A', 'B', 'X', 'Z'." "Hey, it's totally like a new concept novel." Although Doi said so in his mouth, he did not think that Takuro Gaiura would write such a "literary work".If it is that kind of "literary work", there is no need to use shorthand symbols. This must be a joke made by Xingzhi! Two days later, Masako Saeki told Doi in his office. "Mr. Doi, the content of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is generally understood." She said that she interpreted most of the Kumazaki-style shorthand symbols.Looks like a lot of work was put into it. "That's great, what kind of content?" "There are still some small places that I don't understand." "Just talk about the outline." "The protagonist 'he' seems to be a middle-aged man. I don't know his age. He has a wife. The heroine 'she' is a married woman with two children. Her husband is referred to by the word 'Z'. I don’t know Z’s occupation, but I think he is an entrepreneur, because he is often busy with company affairs, travels frequently, and occasionally has a lot of guests at home.” Masako Saeki narrated slowly. "And 'he' is a key employee of Z company, like a direct descendant of Z. 'He' often goes to Z's president's house to report on the company's situation, and receives important instructions from the president. From these circumstances, he and the company The relationship between the elder family is very close, and they have gained the trust of the president and his wife, that is, 'her'." "right." "President Z even goes to places or far away to play golf on Sundays, public holidays and other holidays, and is often away from home. It seems that the president has another mistress outside, so he neglects to take care of the family." "what." "The president's wife 'she' goes to a resort two hours away from Tokyo by car every weekend and holiday, and spends the holidays with the children in a hotel there. It seems that the son is a high school student, and the daughter She's a middle school student. But 'she' goes to the hotel alone on weekend nights, and the kids go to 'her' from Tokyo on Sunday morning." "Why doesn't she take the kids to a retreat on weekends?" "If you take your kids with you, you won't be able to take a good rest. Even if it's just a weekend night, you'd rather spend it by yourself. Take a leisurely soak in the hot spring." "spa?" "This resort seems to have Hakone as a model." While talking about this, the phone rang.Masako picked up the earphone, recorded the other party's phone conversation, covered the microphone with her hand, and looked back at Doi. "It was Mr. Hataka, the secretary of Mr. Nishikori, who said that he had something to ask, and he must come to visit in the next few days." Nishikori Ukichi is a direct descendant of Masahide Teranishi and has served as Minister of State twice.He didn't belong to the Sixi sect originally, but came from other sects, but he has become Sixi's most trusted person since some time, and others say he is a person who can speak well.Hataka wants to meet, presumably to be a ghostwriter for Nishikori.Doi thought, I don't know what he's going to say, so listen first before talking. "I'm Doi." He said into the microphone that Masako took over. "Oh, Mr. Doi, I'm Shotaro Hataka, the secretary of Nishikori Ukichi who was on the phone with the female secretary just now. I've admired you for a long time!" Unknowing outsiders always regard Saeki Masako who answered the phone as Doi's secretary.While Doi was answering the phone, Masako was preparing black tea. On the phone, Hataka said in a sophisticated tone that this time Nishikori was going to write a biography and was going to ask Doi to write a draft. "Is the biography you are talking about Mr. Nishikori's own?" "That's an autobiography. It's not an autobiography, it's someone's biography. Let's talk about it when we meet." Doi thought that even a popular congressman who had been elected to the National Assembly six times and served as a minister wanted to hold a "publishing commemoration party"."Books" with political ideals and aspirations have become commonplace, so they want to change the game and publish a biography.Perhaps this is the brilliance of Nishikori.If the protagonist of the biography is a big industrialist, then everyone in the company will come to buy it, and there will be more sources of money, and it will not only be on the scale of the publication commemoration. Doi and Secretary Hataka made an appointment to meet, and quickly put down the earphones.Because he wanted to continue listening to the plot of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" from Saeki Masako. "As I said just now, the president's wife, marked with 'her', went to the resort alone on weekends. She stayed in the hotel that night and picked up the two children on Sunday the next day. Is this place?" Changzi put the black tea in front of Doi, sat on the chair politely and said: "When she arrived at this resort, it was 'he' who drove 'her' to the hotel. Because 'he' drove, 'she' didn't feel restrained, so 'her' husband 'Z' also cared for his wife's For the sake of asking 'he' to do this..." Masako Saeki told Doi the outline of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" up to this point. Even Doi, the "reader", began to vaguely guess what kind of development the relationship between "he" and "she" would have in the future. "After sending 'her' to the hotel, the two of them had some tea in the lounge there, and 'he' returned to Tokyo immediately." Saeki Masako continued talking.Doi had guessed that the resting place was Hakone just now, so it seemed that "he" would spend two hours running back and forth. "After a while, their relationship developed from drinking tea together in a hotel to having dinner together. Because from 'she', 'he' sent himself here from Tokyo, just drink tea to let 'him' I feel a little sorry when I go back. Is this human nature? Husband 'Z' asked 'he' to drive here. There is nothing unnatural about 'she', and so is 'he'. And this dinner is also in a hotel Ordinary restaurant." This is Takuro Ura's "novel" written in Kumazaki-style shorthand notation.It is still not clear whether "he" is Waipu himself, but the shadow of Waipu overlaps in front of his eyes.So, is the president of "Z" the president of Dongfang Development Company and Hisahiro?In addition to serving as the president, He Jiu is also the mediator behind the scenes of the financial industry, and he is a busy man.There may be several mistresses, and they cannot take care of their families. This situation is very similar to the "Z" envisaged in the novel.If this is the case, "she" is Mrs. Kazuhiu, then the following plot can be imagined.Is "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the "confessional novel" of Waipu Takuro?Or is it a completely fictional "story"? "This way..." Saeki Masako continued. "During dinner at the hotel 'he' started drinking a little. Drinking alcohol is not allowed for drivers. 'She' knew it shouldn't but persuaded 'him' to drink. 'She' felt that the whole 'He', who is busy with social affairs, is very apologetic for serving his personal affairs. It seems that 'she' is not someone who doesn't like drinking. After drinking, 'he' can't drive back to Tokyo, so he had to stay in a hotel that night." "'He' doesn't live in a room with 'her' in a hotel, of course." Saeki Masako continued with a dull and unattractive expression. "After 'he' drove 'her' to the resort, the two gradually stayed in the same hotel more and more times. But they were never in the same room, not even on the same floor." Masako emphasized this point. "But after entering the room, 'he' and 'she' talked to each other on the phone until they fell asleep." "What are we talking about?" "I haven't fully understood this place yet, but it seems to be a guessing quiz." "Guess the riddle?" "It doesn't happen now. Didn't twenty fan-style quiz questions become popular before? It seemed like a boring conversation. After the two finished speaking, they said good night to each other and put down their earphones." "After about two months like this, in summer, the resort is very cool, but the two of them gradually entered the level of insomnia. The young man lit a campfire in the forest, and the singing of youth floated in from the window. One day like this late at night, 'she' came to 'his' room. There was a light knock on the door, 'he' knew who it was, hesitated for a moment, but made up his mind to open the door. 'she' suddenly She tore off the black veil that covered her face, buried her face in the arms of 'him' and began to cry. Just like this, she cried and confessed her love to 'him'." "..." "'She' did not leave 'his' room until the next morning." Is this a matter between Mrs. Kazuhiu and Waipu?Or his fiction? "What about the future?" "It's a pity that the story ends here. But the ending of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" foreshadows that the secret love between 'him' and 'her' will continue." Saeki Masako, who lacked femininity, also had an unusual expression in her eyes, and after she finished speaking, she let out a breath like a sigh. "Mr. Doi, this is the author's own confession." The female stenographer squinted to the side, asking questions like a monologue.