True Happiness
There was a housewife who loved reading and writing. However, her husband’s income alone was not enough to support the family, so she had no choice but to open a small general store.
As word spread that she was honest and kind to her customers, more and more people came to her shop. Business became so busy that supplies had to be delivered by truck, and she spent every day occupied with selling goods.
One day, when her husband came home from work, he saw how busy she was and said,
“The other stores in our neighborhood hardly have any customers anymore. The shop across the street may have to close soon.”
After hearing this, she reduced both the amount and the variety of goods she stocked. When customers came looking for items she no longer carried, she would say,
“You can buy that item at the shop across the street.”
Afterward, freed from the demands of business, she had more time to immerse herself in the reading she loved and began writing whenever she had a chance.
This is a story from the younger days of Ayako Miura, who later wrote the famous novel Freezing Point.
