1990: Starting from Baojia Street

"Print an extra 300,000?" Liu Yang was stunned.

During the previous meeting, some people thought that a first print run of 100,000 copies was a bit risky. Why are they suddenly increasing the print run to 300,000 copies now?
The first print run suddenly became 400,000 copies. This is too exaggerated. What happened in the meantime?

Seeing Liu Yang's surprised expression, the president smiled and pointed to a newspaper on the table, "Take a look at this."

Liu Yang walked over and picked up the Reference News on the table. There was a report on it with the title: The world's first successful mammal clone...

Liu Yang didn't finish reading the title. He only saw the word "clone" and his brain almost crashed.

He quickly read the report below and confirmed that this was not some unreliable rumor. Just a few days ago, on February 27, Nature magazine reported this research result.

Since July 5 last year, a research team from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, UK, has successfully used cloning technology to breed a little lamb named Dolly, but it was not announced until a few days ago.

Cloning is not a new word. This technology has always been mentioned. Some institutions have even claimed that they have completed cloning before, but they are basically fake.

There should be no problem with this report in Nature magazine.

Although Liu Yang doesn't usually pay attention to science, he knows how much crazy attention this research result will attract around the world.

Since sheep can be cloned, can other mammals also be cloned?
So what about humans? Is it possible?

If humans can complete cloning, does that mean people will never die? Just like in science fiction movies? Continuous replication?
However, Liu Yang didn't have the mind to think about those things at the moment. He already fully understood why the president wanted to print an additional 300,000 copies of "Never Let Me Go".

"Never Let Me Go" mainly uses cloning technology to explore human nature and ethics. Now because of the cloned sheep, cloning technology will definitely be discussed crazily around the world, so Zhou Yan's book came into being, and its sales are likely to be very crazy.

The key is that the timing was perfect, it just happened to coincide with this time point, as if the scientific institution was cooperating with Zhou Yan.

Taking a deep breath, Liu Yang nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go notify the printing factory now."

"Well, let's go."

……

After Liu Yang communicated with the printing factory, he hurriedly called Chen Hongheng.

Chen Hongheng was tidying up his new office. When he heard the phone ringing, he ran to answer it.

"Which one?"

"Manager Chen, it's me, Xiao Liu."

"Oh, Director Liu, is there anything else?"

"It's like this. We plan to increase the first print run to 400,000 copies. We've already confirmed this with the printing factory."

"Four hundred thousand copies?" Chen Hongheng was also a little confused.

Wasn't it only ten minutes ago? How did the first print suddenly increase from 100,000 to 400,000? What happened in such a short time?
Liu Yang smiled. Chen Hongheng's reaction was within his expectations. Anyone who knew about this would be surprised.

Liu Yang then told Chen Hongheng about the cloning of Dolly the sheep. "For the details, you can buy a copy of today's Reference News. It contains a detailed report."

After listening to what Liu Yang said, Chen Hongheng breathed a sigh of relief. He was wondering whether he was lucky or Zhou Yan was lucky. At this time, news came from the UK about a major breakthrough in cloning technology.

Such a big world news was actually reported by my boss’s new book.

When it comes to big news like this, it makes sense to increase the first print run.

"Understood. I will report this matter to our boss. We can communicate at any time if there is any news."

"Okay, now we're increasing the first print run. I have a lot of things to do, so feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

After hanging up the phone with Liu Yang, Chen Hongheng did not rush to find Zhou Yan. Instead, he first found a copy of Reference News. After reading the news about Dolly the cloned sheep, he took the newspaper to Zhou Yan's office.

Chen Hongheng excitedly reported to Zhou Yan about the cloned sheep and the increase in the first print run by the publishing house. After that, he said with emotion, "Boss, this is simply God's help for us."

Zhou Yan was also slightly surprised.

He was not surprised by the news about cloned sheep. After all, he had experienced these things before. He just didn't expect the timing to be so coincidental, nor did he expect Yenching Publishing House to be so courageous.

A first print run of 400,000 copies is not a small number. If it goes wrong, the publisher will suffer heavy losses.

Although the content of "Never Let Me Go" is highly related to cloning technology, it does not necessarily guarantee that the book will be a big seller. It is just a possibility.

"You are really lucky. You are fully responsible for this matter. If you have any ideas, just go for it. If you are undecided, come to me."

Chen Hongheng was stunned for a moment. He thought Zhou Yan would be as excited as he was when he heard such good news, but he was surprised to find that Zhou Yan was so calm.

The boss is indeed the boss. This kind of determination is not something that ordinary people can have.

But this seems normal. Although 400,000 copies are a lot, the royalties that can be obtained are actually not that much. Maybe even less than what the boss earns from just writing a song.

Not to mention the boss’s albums, the sales volume there is simply incomparable to that of novels.

He even heard a hint of impatience in his boss's words. Was this an illusion?
If you come to him when you are undecided, does that mean you shouldn't come to him easily?
Chen Hongheng's feeling was absolutely correct. This was exactly what Zhou Yan meant. In Zhou Yan's view, he invited Chen Hongheng to the studio to share the work with him. If he had to report everything to him, he would be annoyed to death.

Chen Hongheng nodded, "I understand, boss. I'll leave first then."

"Okay, go ahead and do your work. There's no need to rush. After all, you just arrived. Get settled first. Has the logistics department arranged a place for you to live?"

"Well, we have been temporarily arranged to stay in the staff dormitory."

The staff dormitories were built later, and the employees of their studio generally do not live in the staff dormitories. They all have their own residences outside.

After all, the conditions in employee dormitories are limited. They are basically used as transitional facilities for employees who temporarily have no place to live, or when there is a lot of work to do, employees do not go home and just stay in the dormitory to rest.

Chen Hongheng didn't care much about his accommodation. Although the conditions of the staff dormitory were average, it was no problem for him to live there. The key point was that it was right inside the factory, which made it convenient for commuting to and from get off work and saved a lot of time.

……

The news of Dolly the cloned sheep spread quickly throughout the country, first in the leading newspapers and then on all major television stations.

In just one week, news about cloned sheep could be heard everywhere in the country. On the streets and after dinner, people were talking about cloning.

The news about cloning became more and more outrageous. The news gradually changed from "cloned sheep" to "cloned humans", and finally there was even a rumor that there was a place in the UK full of cloned humans.

At first, this place had no specific name, and everyone called it "somewhere in England." But suddenly one day, this place had a name, "Haier Xiangshe."

Where is Haier Xiangshe?
Some say it is a town in Plymouth.

Some people say it is a castle in Manchester, while others say that Hale Xiangshe is not a place at all, but the first underground organization in the UK.

This Haier Xiangshe organization specializes in breeding cloned humans and selling their organs, and it has been doing this business for 20 to 30 years.

The story became more and more outrageous, and there were more and more descriptions about Haier Xiangshe.

Gradually, many people actually believed that there was a place called Haier Xiangshe, which specialized in raising clones and selling their organs.

Those who have read Zhou Yan’s new book “Don’t Let Me Go” know that Haier Xiangshe is the boarding school where the protagonists are.

When some people heard these rumors, they immediately thought of the novel and immediately realized that the students at Haier Xiangshe were actually clones?

Considering what is revealed in the book, this possibility is very high.

Of course, some people also suspect that Haier Xiangshe has nothing to do with cloning and that the news was deliberately fabricated by some readers.

As for the truth, no one knows.

It was not until March 5, the day of Jingzhe, that Zhou Yan’s new book “Don’t Let Me Go” was released nationwide.

Early in the morning, in Room 2 on the 204nd floor of Yenching Normal University, dozens of students were waiting in the classroom, looking at the door.

Not long after, two young men came into the classroom pushing a cart.

“The book is coming!”

someone shouted.

The students gathered around excitedly, staring at the books on the cart.

Seeing everyone gathered around, President Shang Wenya shouted, "Everyone find a seat and sit down. We will distribute it one by one."

After hearing Shang Wenya's words, the students all found their seats and sat down obediently.

After they all left, Shang Wenya contacted the people who came and confirmed that the number of books delivered was correct, then arranged five people to start distributing the books to everyone.

Hong Zhi, who was sitting in the first row, was lucky and was the first to get the book.

He ignored others and directly opened the novel, found the place he had seen before, and continued reading.

Basically, everyone who came here today has watched the previous issue of "October" and finished the first part of "Never Let Me Go".

Hong Zhi read very quickly. It didn’t take him long to see the paragraph where the female teacher had an outburst, and he also learned about “copying”.

It’s indeed a clone!
It is indeed Haier Xiangshe!
Hong Zhi slammed the table excitedly, and the others looked over with surprised expressions.

Knowing that he had acted impulsively, Hong Zhi bowed repeatedly and apologized to everyone.

"Sorry, sorry."

The others originally just wanted to see what was going on, but when they saw Hong Zhi apologize, they didn't say anything and turned their attention back to the book.

But soon, discussions in the classroom gradually became louder.

As more and more students saw the "truth", more and more students became excited. They were too embarrassed to make loud noises and could only discuss in a low voice with the people next to them.

After all, this is not a classroom, and Shang Wenya did not organize a discussion.

In fact, there has been a lot of news about Haier Xiangshe and "Never Let Me Go" in recent times. Many people speculate that "Never Let Me Go" is about cloning, after all, there are clues in the previous article.

But another group of people think that the publishing house deliberately promoted it in this direction. How could it be such a coincidence that Zhou Yang had just finished writing a cloning novel and then there was a major breakthrough in cloning technology?
But now it seems that this coincidence really happened.

"Never Let Me Go" is indeed a novel that is highly related to cloning technology, which makes people feel incredible.

In fact, there have been some science fiction novels related to cloning in recent years, but "Never Let Me Go" is obviously different from the science fiction novels they have seen before. The perspective of this novel is more concerned with the process of how the truth of the world is gradually revealed and unfolded as the protagonists grow up.

This seems like a story about clones, but it also seems like something that every ordinary reader will experience.

Therefore, the emotional impact of this novel is stronger than that of ordinary novels related to cloning.

When Hong Zhi was reading the book, he had a distinct feeling that even though he knew about cloning, he did not feel spoiled and did not feel disappointed at all.

Just like in the book, the protagonists seem to have known the meaning of "copy", but they live with complicated emotions, sometimes deliberately avoiding it and sometimes eager to explore.

Hong Zhi was wondering whether these children really believed that they were human beings like other ordinary people, and what their understanding of “donors” was.
They feel that this is their fate and do not resist. Is it because they lack the courage or because they completely accept that they are just "tools"?

"No matter how much pain people can endure, no matter how tragic their experiences are, no matter how unfree they are, they will try to survive in the cracks of fate and accept everything that fate gives them. People work tirelessly, trying to find dreams and hopes in such a small living space."

Hong Zhi was completely silenced by these words.

He was clearly reading a story about clones, but he put himself into the story.

At first he did not understand the male protagonist's desire to become a good donor, but later he gradually understood that perhaps if a person is born in a vortex, he will think that rotation is the norm in life.

Survival...sometimes it is not just about seeking the chance to live, but also about seeking the rationality and meaning of survival.

If my existence has no meaning, then why should I survive, and where can I survive?

To seek the meaning of existence, we must first seek a reasonable identity, and this is what the protagonists have been doing.

Hong Zhi sighed deeply and closed the book in his hand. This was the least sci-fi science fiction novel he had ever read.

However, he didn't originally regard "Never Let Me Go" as a science fiction novel.

As expected, Zhou Yan, who wrote "Tree Hole", brought us such a special first novel. What's interesting is that the UK has coincidentally achieved a breakthrough in cloning technology, as if to cooperate with Zhou Yan to publish a new book. (End of this chapter)