Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 805: The War Spreads to Amazon

Amazon's Chief Operating Officer Jack has been a little worried recently. He did not expect that the war in traditional media would spread to the Internet and even to the Amazon website.

The reason is still the novel "Railway Spikes" written by the writer Minghua.

The novel was published by Ashley press and first appeared on Amazon.

Although this is a serious novel and not a bestseller, it is written by the famous writer Minghua, and his Harry Potter series of novels are selling well in the United States. Many of Minghua's fans also bought this book on the website, so the sales are quite good.

However, because the theme of the novel that "Chinese workers were the main force in building the Pacific Railroad" goes against the mainstream American perception that the Pacific Railroad was built by Americans, it has attracted a lot of criticism, especially from white supremacists who left messages under the book, criticizing and even abusing it, and encouraging readers not to buy it.

That’s fine, some people even went to the Harry Potter series of novels and left messages, calling on readers to boycott all novels written by Minghua!
This made Jack very angry. The Harry Potter series could be said to be the best-selling series on the website. How could he just watch these people come and mess things up?

Of course, he personally wasn't too impressed with the book. He thought Minghua's writing was a bit exaggerated. Is it all thanks to you Chinese workers? We Americans are doing this for a living?!

So he decided to take the book off the shelves once and for all.

As a result, within two days, he received a call from Ashley Press President Ms. Demi, asking, "Mr. Jack, Mr. Minghua's "The Road Spike" was suddenly removed from your website. It was said that you gave the order. Is that true?"

Demi's aggressive tone made Jack feel uncomfortable, but he still answered patiently: "Ms. Demi, this book has caused a huge controversy in China. I think you are aware of it, and it has affected the operation of our Amazon website. Taking it off the shelves will benefit the website and Minghua personally. Do you want to see the sales of the Harry Potter series decline?!"

Unexpectedly, Demi's answer was unexpectedly tough.

"Mr. Jack, let me remind you that according to the contract signed by both parties, unless the federal government explicitly orders a ban on the sale of a book, your website has no right to remove it from the shelves!"

Jack got angry when he heard this: "Ms. Demi, don't forget that we have a supplementary clause: if the sales of a book seriously affect the normal operation of our website, we have the right to remove it from the shelves!"

“Do you think this book has affected the operation of Amazon.com?”

"Is not it?!"

"OK, I won't talk to you, I'll talk to Bezos!"

"Whatever." Jack shrugged.

It doesn't matter.

Bezos is currently busy acquiring websites and will definitely not be interested in such a small matter.

Indeed, Bezos has been very busy lately, and the website is expanding rapidly.

Just this year, Amazon acquired three companies in one go!
In April, it acquired IMD, an Internet film database company.

In August, it acquired Junglee, a data mining company, for $8 million.

Also in August, it acquired Planetall (a social networking company) for US$8 million.

He was very busy with recent events, but when he heard Demi calling to complain, he still listened patiently.

"OK, Ms. Demi, tell Mr. Fang that his book will be on the shelves soon and wish him a happy life."

Bezos paused after putting down his phone, then picked up the landline and dialed a number: "Jack, come to me, right away."

Three minutes later, Jack appeared in Bezos' office.

"Minghua's book 'The Road Spike' will be on the shelves soon." Bezos spoke crisply.

"This book is very controversial in the country. I heard that it has alarmed some federal congressmen. I'm worried that it will affect the reputation of our website." Jack hurriedly explained.

"We sell books on our website based on the principles of inclusiveness, neutrality, and freedom. We do not get involved in any political topics, Jack, I think you know that," Bezos explained patiently.

"But."

"No buts!" Bezos seemed impatient. Looking at Jack with a stubborn face, he asked unhappily, "Do you know who the author of this book is?" "Chinese, Minghua." Jack was a little surprised. He didn't know why the other party asked him such a naive question.

"Minghua, what's your original name?"

"Fang Minghua."

"Jack, go check out our top ten shareholders!"

View shareholder information?
Jack was confused for a moment, not knowing what Bezos meant by this sudden remark.

Suddenly, the name of one of the top ten shareholders flashed through his mind.

The second-ranked individual, Fang Minghua, owns 30% of Amazon's shares.

Oh my God.

This Fang Minghua is the other Fang Minghua? !
Jack was immediately shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.

The second largest shareholder’s book was actually taken off the shelves!

Fortunately, Fang Minghua is in China and probably can’t see the situation here for the time being.

"Bezos, I'll order the books to be put on the shelves right away," Jack replied immediately.

"OK, go ahead, keep this a secret."

Jack hurried out of the office. He now understood why the woman named Demi was so tough and almost fearless. It turned out to be this reason.

Soon, the book "The Road Spike" appeared in the bestseller recommendation column of Amazon's website, and a bunch of comments appeared below, some supporting, some opposing, and the arguments were endless.

Jack doesn't care anymore, let it be whatever it is.

The fate of "The Railroad Spike" on Amazon is just a small episode in the book's encounter in the United States. In the United States, many people have joined the ranks of criticizing the book, including some right-wing media figures like Rush Limbaugh, one of the talk show hosts, and well-known writer Kurt Gangkai, who criticized Minghua's novel for fraud.

"His novel is full of lies and disgusting. How could the builders of the great Pacific Railway be a group of Chinese workers who smuggled in from China?!"

Even Senator Orrin Hatch publicly criticized the novel: "I believe that the most important thing for a writer, whether American or Chinese, is conscience and honesty. It is a pity that Mr. Minghua, a famous writer, forgot all of this when he wrote this book."

He even announced that he would introduce a bill in the Senate to ban the publication of the book.
Fang Minghua, who was far away in China, naturally had no idea what was happening in the United States.

The weather is nice today. The northwest wind finally stopped after blowing for several days, and the sun showed its long-lost smile.

It is now the beginning of December and the submission of papers for the online literature competition has ended. In a few days we will go to Shanghai for the final evaluation.

Fang Minghua felt dizzy after reading articles for days. It was a rare good day, so he sat in the yard, basking in the sun, drinking tea, stroking his dog's head, squinting his eyes and humming a song.

我 等 的 船 不 来

我 等 的 人 不 明白
寂寞 默默 沉没 沉入海

Richie Jen's "Sad Pacific".

Xiao Qi is so popular that this song and the song "Heart Too Soft" are sung all over the streets of Xijing.

Just at this moment, the phone in the living room rang, and Fang Minghua had to stand up and go to the living room to answer it.

It's Li Li calling.

(End of this chapter)