69novels Chapter 173 Angels and Demons
Chapter 173 Angels and Demons
Chapter 173 Angels and Demons
Kenzaki Mitsuki has just finished explaining her definition of love.
Before Maishiro Kyosuke could respond, Jiang Liu Meili, who was sitting next to him, capped her pen.
She stood up with a smile and responded to Kenzaki Mitsuki's words: "Ms. Kenzaki, your definition of love was very interesting. Whether it's disregarding everything, being reckless, supporting each other through thick and thin, or growing old together, these are all very common elements in love."
"But these are all positive forms of love, the kind of love that everyone longs for. But have you ever considered that besides positive love, there is also negative love in this world?"
"And then there's love that's so twisted it's unacceptable?"
Jiang Liumei took out the "Six-Dimensional Radar Chart of Reasoning" from her notebook and placed it on the table.
"I believe that everyone who has become a member of the 'New Orthodox Mystery Club' has probably read Kyosuke Maijo's first short mystery story, 'A Bellflower.'"
"So, I want to ask everyone a question."
In the story of "A Bellflower," does Suzue, who lives in the "Bellflower Inn" at Kofuu-kan, have a positive or negative love for the protagonist?
Upon hearing Jiang Liumei's words, everyone present fell into a brief silence.
The first to break the silence was Kyoko Mikoshiba, who rarely spoke and was always like a ghost whenever she participated in the "New Orthodox Mystery Club".
Kyoko Mikoshiba sat down next to her father, Yasunori Mikoshiba, raised her wheat-colored arm, and slowly said, "Ms. Eru, if you are simply asking whether Ms. Suzue's love for the protagonist of the story is positive or negative..."
"Then there is no doubt that Ms. Suzue's love for the protagonist of the story is absolutely positive."
"Because Suzue's love is reckless and selfless. Her love is like a moth drawn to a flame. Even if it means burning herself and committing a crime, she wants to see her beloved one more time."
"Although we all know that Miss Suzue committed an incomprehensible crime in order to see her beloved, her love is like a bellflower, beautiful and flawless, and cannot tolerate being tainted by even a speck of dust."
"Therefore, as I understand it, Suzue-san's love is absolutely positive."
"On the contrary, if Ms. Mai Cheng defines Jack's relationship with S as a romantic one, then Jack's love is distorted and even unacceptable."
Jiang Liu Meili did not expect that Mikoshiba Kyoko, who was usually not good at speaking, always seemed uninterested in Maijo Kyosuke's works, even when she participated in the "New Orthodox Mystery Club".
This led Jiang Liu Meili to believe that Mikoshiba Kyoko's visits to the "New Orthodox Mystery Club" were simply to accompany her father, Mikoshiba Yasunori, and her good friend, Kenzaki Mitsuki.
But the moment Mikoshiba Kyoko opened her mouth today, Eri Ryumi, who was good at judging people, knew that she was wrong, and terribly wrong.
Because Kyoko Mikoshiba was able to analyze Suzue's emotions in "A Bellflower" so deeply!
Jiang Liumei, as the editor-in-chief of a magazine, had to read "A Bellflower" more than five times to analyze it in such depth.
So it's conceivable that Mikoshiba Kyoko, this young girl, is just outwardly cold but inwardly warm. In reality, she secretly flips through Maijo Kyosuke's books again and again, and loves them dearly!
Thinking of this, Jiang Liumei smiled and nodded at Mikoshiba Kyoko, continuing, "Ms. Mikoshiba's analysis is excellent. In fact, it can be said that Ms. Mikoshiba's depth of analysis of 'A Bellflower' far surpasses that of many second-rate mystery critics."
"Getting back to the main point—if we consider the story of 'A Bellflower' as a whole, then Suzue's love is naturally distorted and incomprehensible to others."
"But if we focus only on Ms. Suzue's love for the protagonist of 'A Bellflower,' then Ms. Suzue's love is not so twisted."
"To quote a line from Ms. Maishiro's work: If you want to see a doctor, just get sick; if you want to see that person, just commit a crime."
"Simply put, Suzue in the story of 'A Bellflower' perfectly embodies the definition of positive love. She is reckless and fearless, as long as she can see her beloved one more time."
"And 'Dear Mr. S' is the extreme of positive love, which is to say, it perfectly fits the definition of negative love."
"Both are reckless and fearless, but Jack's dream isn't just to see his beloved, or rather, he's not satisfied with just seeing her once. Jack's dream is to become one with his beloved, to achieve a state of complete emotional control where we are intertwined!"
"This kind of love is abnormal and controlling, but this controlling desire is not about controlling the other person, but about controlling and restraining oneself."
Jiang Liumei paused, placed her hand on the manuscript of "Dear Mr. S," and sighed: "This twisted, nauseating emotion, though I'm reluctant to admit it, is indeed the taste of love!"
"For example, in 'Dear Mr. S,' the protagonist Jack feels an instant connection with Mr. S upon seeing him in the newspaper, even to the point of tears, although this emotion is related to Jack's 'lifelong dream.'"
"But upon learning that someone like Mr. S existed in the world, Jack was still moved to tears."
"If this feeling of meeting a kindred spirit doesn't count as love, then in the middle of the story, when Jack and Madame Butterfly break up, I'm certain that Jack and S were in love."
"After all, Jack could have chosen not to plan the case and could have lived a normal life. It was Mr. S's report that gave Jack the opportunity to create the case, and it was Mr. S who led Jack down this path of no return."
"In his letter, Jack claimed that he had given up his beloved Madame Butterfly because he loved her too much and did not want her to become a victim."
Jiang Liu Meili paused here, then looked at Mai Shiro Kyosuke beside her and said, "Mr. Mai Shiro, I don't know if I've over-interpreted your 'Dear S-kun,' but you named Jack's beloved woman 'Madame Butterfly.'"
"Whether it was intentional or subconscious, I always felt that this name had a deeper meaning."
"Because when Madame Butterfly left Jack, that was the moment Jack left the Garden of Eden and decided to commit a crime."
"Jack says that his favorite person is Madame Butterfly, but he is unwilling to let Madame Butterfly help him to become the one who fulfills his dream."
"Therefore, I have reason to suspect that Jack's nonchalant statement in the letter that he had shaken off Madame Butterfly was actually true; the real reason was very likely that Madame Butterfly herself 'flew' away from Jack."
"After all, although 'Dear Mr. S' uses a letter structure," this letter structure is completely different from that of Wilkie Collins's "The Wrong Man" and Ōshita Utō's "The Pseudo-Malignant Patient."
"Because both 'Harming Others Backfires' and 'The Pseudo-Disease Patient' use a two-person correspondence format, taking advantage of the fact that the two people cannot meet in person, in order to mislead and deceive the readers."
"But Dear Mr. S is completely different. In Dear Mr. S, there are only people who send letters, but no one who replies."
"To put it simply, the entire story of 'Dear Mr. S' is a huge narrative trick!"
"Based on Jack's ultimate fate and his various abnormal behaviors in the story, Jack must be a patient with a serious mental illness."
"If we introduce this way of thinking, then we can deduce an interesting conclusion in reverse."
"The details Jack wrote in his letter about Madame Butterfly were all figments of his imagination born out of grief."
"Otherwise, I find it hard to imagine that, given Jack's twisted thinking and the horrific events he ultimately created, if he truly loved Madame Butterfly, he would have made her his 'most suitable person'!"
"By exploiting Madame Butterfly's love for him, he transformed Madame Butterfly into a victim, ultimately merging with her to achieve a blissful ending where they are intertwined."
"But clearly, Jack didn't do that."
"Although the book explicitly states that Jack didn't choose the initial three suitable people," it's because these three were "good boys" who would "go home on time."
"But we can easily find a contradiction in the latter half of the story that completely contradicts this statement."
Eiko, one of "Jack's three suitable partners," volunteered to stay and take care of Jack after the dinner party, intending to spend another night together.
After Kenzaki Mitsuki held her first "New Authentic Mystery Club" meeting, she and Eri Miri began to have a grudge against each other.
Hearing Jiang Liu's beautiful words, he naturally felt something was amiss: "Miss Jiang Liu, although what I'm saying might be a bit presumptuous, aren't you overinterpreting things?"
"While what you say seems reasonable, it lacks substantial evidence."
After speaking, Kenzaki Mitsuki looked at Maijo Kyosuke with a questioning gaze.
Clearly, they want the creator, Kyosuke Maijo, to provide a reasonable explanation.
Maishiro Kyosuke caught Kenzaki Mitsuki's questioning look and smiled as he answered, "Ms. Kenzaki, I think Ms. Eri's interpretation is perfectly correct."
"Although when I was writing the short mystery story 'Dear Mr. S,' I may not have intentionally set up this possibility, or foreshadowed it."
"But as Ms. Jiang Liu just said, when a writer creates a work, it's not a step-by-step process, it's not static. What does the writer rely on?"
"Inspiration, of course!"
"And inspiration is actually closely related to a person's subconscious."
"Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a stroke of genius."
"The so-called interpretation of a work is exactly like this. The person who interprets the work is like a psychiatrist who can analyze a patient's mental state through the paintings the patient has created."
"Although readers are not experts in psychiatry, they can still discern different emotional expressions from the writer's words."
"Moreover, once a work is written, it is no longer related to me personally. No matter how later generations interpret or speculate, it is all the reader's own rethinking."
"Therefore, personally, I do not agree with over-interpreting this statement."
"It is an honor for a writer to be able to write works that are appreciated by everyone and to have people tirelessly interpret them."
"Very few people in the world are able to gain this kind of interpretation, so I really hope that someone can continue to interpret my work and discover new perspectives that even I haven't discovered."
"This way, on the one hand, I can realize the shortcomings of my work, and on the other hand, I can discover new structures and new ideas in my work for future mystery writers to study."
"Simply put, this is a win-win situation."
"This is also my original intention in founding the New Orthodox Mystery Club!"
Maishiro Kyosuke paused for a moment, then fixed his gaze on Jiang Liu Meili: "Therefore, I hope that Ms. Jiang Liu's interpretation of the works can continue indefinitely."
"Being able to see people interpreting my work is also part of what supports my creative work."
Maijo Kyosuke's words warmed Jiang Liu Meili's heart.
Although she understood that Maijo Kyosuke's remarks were expressing his attitude and opinion on the issue of "over-interpretation".
But in Jiang Liumei's heart, this was also Maishiro Kyosuke speaking on her behalf.
With Maijo Kyosuke's support, Eri Ryu Meili did not become arrogant. Instead, she presented even stronger evidence to prove that her conjecture was logically consistent!
"My interpretation of Madame Butterfly is not unfounded. Besides Jack's extensive description of Miss Butterfly in his letters, there is much other supporting evidence."
"For example, when Jack came to Japan, he chose three suitable people. These three were Madame Butterfly, Eiko, and ————"
"Did everyone notice? Jack's so-called 'third person' was never mentioned at all; Ms. Maishiro didn't even bother to give this character a name."
"Of course, from a writing technique perspective, this character is not important, and there is absolutely no need to write an extra name, which would create a reading obstacle for the story."
"But why are only Madame Butterfly and Eiko mentioned by name?"
"Why didn't Teacher Wu Cheng make the other two girls at the dinner party—Lena who loves telling corny jokes, and Jesse who was rude and opened someone's refrigerator without permission—the third person?"
"Such a setup would be a piece of cake for Ms. Mai, so why didn't she do it?"
The reason is quite simple.
"Because in Mr. Mai's mind, Madame Butterfly and Eiko are projections of angels and demons."
Jiang Liumei opened the manuscript of "Dear Mr. S" and began to read: "After mentioning the breakup to Madame Butterfly, Jack described it like this."
“I know, but it doesn’t matter,” Madame Butterfly said, then looked out the window.
"The streets of Tokyo were brightly lit after the rain, and she was surrounded by golden light. I kept her in the golden light. She looked up at me and smiled. For a few seconds, we looked silently into each other's eyes."
"Her smiling eyes often remind me that life is just a simple mystery. I always feel that through those eyes, I can fall in love with this city, the people of this region, and my life. Maybe it's because I love her too much that I can't bear to consider her the 'most suitable person.'"
"Finally, I tried to call out her real name, but I couldn't remember it. Even if I did, I would have a hard time pronouncing those few sounds accurately. She was enveloped in golden light, sitting in an Eden that had nothing to do with my hateful desires."
Jiang Liumei quickly flipped through the manuscript of "Dear Mr. S" in her hand and continued, "This part contains an abstract scene that is clearly out of place with the other plots and has a strong element of imagination."
"Clearly, Jack sees Madame Butterfly as an angel who can save him."
"But when it came to Eiko, this is how it was described."
"She stared at me meaningfully. She knew that Japanese women were mysterious in the eyes of foreigners, and she often stared at me with that look to highlight that mysterious quality."
"When she stares at me like that, I feel my gaze become hesitant and cold. At the end of last year, I suddenly broke up with her coldly on the phone, so now she must think I am a traitor more hateful than Judas. Indeed, tonight I am both a saint and a devil, but not because I loved a woman tenderly and then threw her away like scraps of paper."
""
"This bizarre description, and Eiko's excessive intimacy, are like a demon tempting one to commit a crime!"
"Furthermore, the fact that Jack didn't invite his beloved Madame Butterfly to his final dinner further corroborates my interpretation and conjecture."
"Because Madame Butterfly, being an angel, could never enter such a defiled place and consume that terrible forbidden substance!"
"Even while I was interpreting the text, I began to doubt whether Madame Butterfly actually existed in Jack's life, since Jack couldn't even recall her real name!"
Jiang Liumei's wonderful interpretation left everyone present speechless with surprise!
Because everyone has only just read the story of "Dear S-kun" and was shocked by the unique plot twist of Maijo Kyosuke, but they have never considered that "Dear S-kun" can be interpreted in this other way!
Seishi Yokomizo agrees with Kyosuke Maijo's recent comment about "over-interpretation," because both his own works, "Gokumon Island" and "The Honjin Murder Case," have been interpreted countless times by critics both at home and abroad!
Each interpretation brings a new brilliance to the work, simultaneously triggering a new wave of sales frenzy.
Therefore, Yokomizo Seishi admired Jiang Liu Meili from the bottom of his heart for her ability to interpret the story so thoroughly.
I couldn't help but applaud!
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