Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 441 What kind of autograph session is this?

The reporters had a lot of questions and asked them enthusiastically.

"I heard that before The Truman Show was published, a movie of the same name had already started shooting in Hong Kong. When will the movie be released?"

"Yes. The film has indeed started shooting and is expected to be released in the middle of next year."

“Why did The Truman Show cooperate with a Hong Kong film company instead of a domestic film studio?”

“It’s a long story. Actually, the reason why I wrote The Truman Show was because I participated in the Academy Awards last year.

After I won the award last year, director Li Hanxiang found me and said that Xu Guanwen was seeking transformation and wanted me to help write a script.

Due to some reasons, this idea was not discussed in depth at the time, but this incident also gave me some inspiration.

I have watched quite a few of Shao Guanwen's movies. As an actor, his acting style and personal characteristics are very distinctive.

I tried to create a protagonist in his image. In fact, the protagonist of the novel "The Truman Show" came first, and then the story came into being.

Later, when the novel was almost finished, Xu Guanwen found me again and we talked about the story. We hit it off and decided to make the novel into a movie. ”

The reporters didn't expect that there was such a story behind "The Truman Show". They listened to Lin Chaoyang's narration and wrote furiously. These were all news materials!
For journalists, such content is definitely more attractive than simply reporting on a new book.

Several people followed suit and asked several questions about the film collaboration. Seeing that the theme of the press conference was going off track, Su Chen had to step in and end the press conference.

After the press conference, Lin Chaoyang accepted exclusive interviews from several media outlets present and was busy until the evening.

The next morning, Guangzhou, Yanjing Road.

A group of sanitation workers in uniform just came out of their homes, ready to start today's work.

In another three hours, this street will wake up and become one of the bustling and noisy places in Guangzhou, so they must complete the street cleaning work before dawn.

Some sanitation workers are assigned to clean areas that are close by, so they start working right away when they arrive. They work in silence, and the only sound on the empty streets is the rustling sound of brooms sweeping across the asphalt road.

The cleaning area assigned to Lu Xu was near the Taipingguan Restaurant, which required him to walk half a street. Just as he reached the vicinity of the restaurant, he suddenly noticed a group of shadowy figures in front of him. He was startled and stopped.

After squinting his eyes and taking a closer look, he found that it was indeed a group of people, so he mustered up the courage to move forward.

The closer he got, the more he heard the crowd's whispered conversations and yawns, and he felt relieved.

At this moment, in the darkness behind him, the sounds of voices and footsteps suddenly rang out.

"Hurry up, take two steps!"

"Why are you in such a hurry? It's so early, there must be no one in front of us."

When Lu Xu turned around, he saw several young figures walking hurriedly past him and then went to the crowd.

A young man held a flashlight in his hand and swept it upwards. In the darkness, a beam of light hit the sign hanging on the second floor, illuminating the four big red characters "Xinhua Bookstore".

"I told you to hurry up, look how many people are there in front of you?" someone complained.

"I got up at one and it's only a little after two now. It's not that we came late and walked slowly, it's that they came too early."

"Ouch, everyone is here too early!"

"You're talking about others, but you're the same!"

After watching the excitement for a while, Lu Xu lowered his head and started sweeping the street.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was common for readers to queue up all night every time Xinhua Bookstore received a popular new book.

In the past two years, as the domestic printing paper shortage has improved, the number of publications on the market has increased and the supply has been sufficient, the situation of readers queuing up in the middle of the night to buy books has become less and less common.

Taipingguan Restaurant is less than 20 meters away from Xinhua Bookstore. He is responsible for the hygiene here. He hasn't encountered this situation for a long time and almost forgot about it.

I don’t know what new books were released today. I haven’t seen such a scene in front of Xinhua Bookstore for a long time.

Thinking this in his mind, Lu Xu did not delay and kept waving the broom in his hand.

He is 26 years old and has been doing repetitive mechanical labor for 8 years. He gets up at about : a.m. every day, works on the street until : a.m., and then goes to have breakfast.

After breakfast, he can find a place to rest, then keep an eye on the area he is responsible for, and he can get off work at 1 pm.

Sometimes when he was swinging a broom, he couldn't help but imagine that what he was holding was not actually a broom, but a brush magnified hundreds or thousands of times.

And this empty street is his canvas, the night is as dark as ink, allowing him to paint freely.

Whenever he thought of this, he was filled with pride and felt that his talents had nowhere to be displayed.

But when he really got home from work and planned to show off his talent, he found that his talent might have been used on the street. He sat in front of paper and pen for an hour or two, with his mind empty.

One great benefit of doing repetitive physical labor is that your mind can be free. Before he knew it, the sky was getting brighter and Lu Xu's work was coming to an end.

He swept the last section of the street in one breath, rested for a while leaning on the broom, and his eyes involuntarily fell on the door of Xinhua Bookstore.

He didn't mean to look over there, he was just attracted by the scenery in front of the Xinhua Bookstore.

In the dim morning light on Yanjing Road, under the sign of Xinhua Bookstore, readers who wanted to buy books had already lined up in a long queue at the door of the bookstore.

Yanjing Road is said to be the most prosperous street in Guangzhou, but its width is only about ten meters, so readers line up not in front of the bookstore entrance, but along the direction of the street.

Lu Xu's eyes followed the crowd and moved backwards. Wherever he looked, there were people queuing up, which stretched for at least a mile.

He couldn't help but be amazed. Which foreign classic masterpiece is going to be released?
It’s so popular!

After watching the excitement for a while, Lu Xu curiously asked a middle-aged man who was queuing.

"Brother, there are so many of you queuing up, what books are on the shelves today?"

"It's Lin Chaoyang's new book, and there's a book signing event at the Xinhua Bookstore."

Lu Xu was surprised to hear the news. He didn't expect that Lin Chaoyang's new book was going to be released.

He is not a literature lover, but he has read novels such as "The Garland under the Mountain", "The Chess Master" and "Shutter Island".

The novels he read have one thing in common, which is that they have a strong storyline and an atmosphere that makes people want to immerse themselves in them. They are very suitable for readers who like to read popular books.

Lu Xu asked curiously, "Brother, what is his new book about?"

The middle-aged man said, "I heard it's quite novel. I don't know the details, but it's said that it's been made into a movie in Hong Kong."

Hearing this, Lu Xu was surprised again.

Living in Guangzhou, Hong Kong's movies, television and other entertainment activities have penetrated into the lives of almost every citizen, and Lu Xu has naturally watched many Hong Kong movies.

He simply believes that Hong Kong movies are much better than those from the mainland.

He thought of "The Last Emperor" and "The Chess Master". It seemed no surprise that Lin Chaoyang's new novel was made into a movie in Hong Kong. He even won the Best Screenplay Award at the Academy Awards.

After hearing what the middle-aged man said, Lu Xu became curious about this novel that was about to be released, and hesitated whether to buy a copy to take a look.

But he took one look at the endless line of readers and thought, forget it. Wouldn't it be nice to take a break instead of waiting in line?

After thanking the middle-aged man, Lu Xu came to the morning tea shop. He glanced at the citizens who were sitting in the morning tea shop leisurely drinking porridge and eating cream-filled cakes, and envy flashed in his eyes.

He still had to go to work and had no time to have morning tea, so he came to the naan bread stall next to the morning tea shop, which had just been set up a short while ago.

"Uncle Mujiang, give me some naan."

Lu Xu is from Guangdong and was not used to eating northwestern-style noodles before. However, since Uncle Wuramjiang opened his naan stall last year, it has won his favor.

Not only him, Uncle Wuramjiang's naan is also favored by many workers engaged in manual labor nearby.

The reason is simple: this thing is really filling!
The key is that you don’t have to worry about losing it. It is also convenient to carry with you, just put it in your pocket. It’s just that it consumes a lot of water.

I found a place to eat some naan and filled my stomach. There was still half of the naan left, so I skipped lunch.

The leader didn't arrange any tasks this morning, so Lu Xu only had to wait on the street until one o'clock in the afternoon and then he could go home from get off work.

He was sitting on the street, and his eyes were attracted by the long line of readers in front of the Xinhua Bookstore.

The team seemed to have no end. Although it was moving forward, there was no tail in sight.

Lu Xu sat there and counted. In just a short while, more than forty people had come out of the bookstore, and each of them held more than one book in their hands.

Some of these books were brought by readers themselves, while others were purchased from stalls set up in front of the bookstore.

How many books do you sell in a day?

Lu Xu couldn't help but sigh in his heart, he is truly a great writer!
But he was more curious about these readers. Today was a rare sunny day in Guangzhou in August. The temperature was about 34 or 35 degrees Celsius, and it was stuffy and humid.

Even if you hold an umbrella and find a shady place while queuing, it is still a difficult task.

Lu Xu felt ashamed of the perseverance of these readers, and then an idea came to his mind.

Do you want to go and see for yourself what a great writer looks like?

As soon as this thought came to his mind, he could no longer sit still.

He stood up and walked outside the Xinhua Bookstore, then stood on the street and looked into the bookstore. Coincidentally, there were several readers waiting for autographs in the bookstore, completely blocking the figure of the great writer.

Lu Xu moved back and forth a few steps and almost bumped into the readers who were queuing, but still did not see Lin Chaoyang's true face.

Originally, he was not that curious about Lin Chaoyang's appearance, but now the person was right in front of him, but he was so close that he couldn't see him at all. It was really depressing.

After waiting for a while, a new group of readers came, but he still couldn't see the face of the great writer. The bookstore was closed today because of an event being held, and only readers who came to attend the book signing were allowed to enter.

The more Lu Xu thought about it, the more depressed he became. He held his breath in his heart. He had to watch it today.

He ran all the way to the end of the line and lined up.

But after waiting in line for half an hour, he began to regret it. The line was too long.

I'm under the scorching sun and sweating profusely. It's been half an hour, but why does it feel like there are no fewer people in front of me?

Lu Xu turned his head and looked behind him, and his heart suddenly felt balanced again.

Because he found that a team of forty or fifty people had formed behind him without him noticing, and everyone, like him, was also enduring the scorching heat.

At noon, he took out the remaining half of the naan, which just solved the problem of eating.

The team moved forward little by little. When Lu Xu was bored, he would occasionally look up at the sky, hoping that the sun would set quickly. There were multi-story buildings on both sides of Yanjing Road. At around four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun moved to the west and could no longer be seen.

When the sun really went down, he began to feel anxious again.

Why isn’t it my turn yet? I have to work in the second half of the night.

But he had been waiting in line for a long time, and it seemed a bit uneconomical for him to just give up, so he had to force himself to continue waiting in line. At about five o'clock in the evening, when there were only a few people left and he could enter the bookstore, Lu Xu suddenly felt excited for some reason.

He held the book he had just bought in his hands. Although he hadn't read it yet, he felt that it must be a good book.

Finally, it was his turn to enter the bookstore. He swayed left and right through the readers in front of him and saw Lin Chaoyang, who was bending down to sign a book. He was so excited that he couldn't express it in words.

When it was his turn, Lu Xu handed over the book in his hand with a smile on his face, "I especially like your novels."

"Thank you." Lin Chaoyang raised his head, his face and body covered with sweat. There was no air conditioning in the bookstore, and this day was like being in a steamer. He was not much better than the readers queuing outside.

He asked Lu Xu: "What's your name?"

"My name is Lu Xu."

Lu Xu was speaking Guangpu. Lin Chaoyang was slightly surprised to hear the name, "Lu Xun?"

"It's Lu Xu. Lu in Lu Zhishen, Xu in rising sun."

"Oh, Lu Xu. I thought it was Lu Xun. Mr. Lu Xun has some connection with Guangdong."

Lin Chaoyang was smiling and approachable. He chatted and laughed with Lu Xu while signing autographs for him.

Listening to his casual conversation, Lu Xu felt warm and indescribably comforted in his heart.

When signing, Lin Chaoyang also wrote a blessing on the title page of the book, "Thank you Comrade Lu Xu for your support. I hope this book can bring you inspiration and happiness", followed by the signature.

The content of the blessing was very simple, and Lu Xu was filled with joy when he saw it.

"thanks, thanks!"

He kept saying thank you and then left the bookstore reluctantly.

After leaving the bookstore, he carefully looked at Lin Chaoyang's blessing and signature in the dim light outside.

He is a great writer, even his handwriting is so beautiful, without any airs.

Lu Xu thought of what Lin Chaoyang had just said about his name being very similar to "Lu Xun", and he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride in his heart. They were indeed a bit similar, why didn't he notice it before?

By the way, what is the connection between Mr. Lu Xun and Guangdong?
He thought to himself that he must investigate this matter when he got back.

Holding the book in his hand, he turned his gaze to the readers still queuing outside.

Compared to the daytime, the line now is much shorter, but it is estimated that there are still about a hundred to eighty people.

While the group of people were still queuing, he had already gotten a copy of "The Truman Show" signed by Lin Chaoyang.

Lu Xu looked at the cover of the book with joy again. He decided to read it carefully when he got home.

When I got home, it was already 6:30 in the evening. I had a quick dinner. The wind started to blow outside and the air was very humid.

It looked like it was going to rain again, so Lu Xu closed the doors and windows, took a cold shower, and then lay down on the cool mat.

He opened "The Truman Show" and admired the signature on the title page for a while before reading the main text.

Truman is a happy office worker. Every day he wears a standard office suit, carries his briefcase, appears in front of his Victorian-style home surrounded by a picket fence, and steps onto the picturesque streets on the outskirts of the town.

Neighbor Pan Sheng would whistle while cleaning the trash can, and Truman would always greet him as he walked toward his car.

"Good morning, Truman!"

Pan Sheng's greetings were skillful and enthusiastic, as if he had practiced them thousands of times.

Truman came to the car, and his license plate read "Ocean Paradise - A Great Place to Live".

"Good morning, Mr. Pan! I'm afraid I won't see you again today, so I might as well tell you everything now. Good afternoon, good evening, and sleep well!"

The one who responded to him was Pan Sheng's dog Paluto, who barked happily at Truman...

Lu Xu is not a literature lover. He usually reads a lot of popular novels, especially the martial arts novels that have been very popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan in recent years. Every time he buys a book, he will be fascinated by it.

Compared with ordinary martial arts novels, "The Truman Show" is a bit boring, but the text is interesting, which is also Lin Chaoyang's style.

Therefore, when Lu Xu read the novel, he did not feel awkward. Instead, he felt a yearning for the lifestyles of the economically developed areas described in the novel.

But as he read the novel, he found more and more things were wrong, and he wondered if it was his illusion.

He always felt that the casual words of the people around Truman were like the commercials on TV, stiff and boring, but Truman seemed to enjoy them and was unaware of it.

He led a happy and routine life, greeting his neighbors when he went out every day, chatting with potential customers on the street, and buying newspapers and magazines at the newsagents.

But he also had his own worries. Because his father drowned when he was young, he didn't dare to take a boat and had never even left the small town.

His first love girlfriend suddenly disappeared and was said to have gone to Fiji. There had been no news of her for more than ten years. He could only buy fashion magazines one by one, tear off the facial features of the models who looked like his first love from the pictures, and go home to piece them together.

Until one day, his long deceased father suddenly reappeared, but before he could recognize him, his father was kidnapped by a stranger who suddenly appeared on the street. He excitedly told his mother the story, but his mother didn't believe her son at all.

From this incident, he gradually became sensitive to some of the discordant little details in life.

Lu Xu continued to dig out the truth from Truman's perspective. He found that he seemed to be always being monitored. No matter where he went or what he did, it seemed like someone had planned it.

Seeing that Truman in the novel seemed to be caught in a huge conspiracy, Lu Xu's heart began to hang in the air.

"Bang bang bang!"

Lu Xu's immersion was interrupted by his mother knocking on the window, "Go to bed quickly, you still have to go to work."

When his mother reminded him, Lu Xu looked at the time and found that it was already past nine o'clock in the evening.

He had to go to work at one o'clock, so Lu Xu quickly put down the book and closed his eyes.

But he lay there for a while, thinking about what happened to Truman. What kind of conspiracy had he fallen into? Were the people around him all in disguise? What secrets did Taoyuan Island hide?
Can't sleep! Can't sleep at all!

After lying in bed for half an hour, Lu Xu, unable to fall asleep, simply got up and started reading a novel again. He kept reading until midnight when it was time to go to work.

He yawned and reluctantly put down the novel. The mystery in his heart was finally solved.

It turns out that Truman was chosen from birth to be the protagonist of a reality show that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and all his life experiences actually took place in a huge studio.

The relatives and friends around him are actually actors. His life is full of hypocrisy and control, and every detail is recorded by the camera for the whole world to see.

Although Lu Xu has never watched a reality show, it does not prevent him from understanding this format of program. He understands this format as a TV series that is broadcast 24 hours a day, and the protagonist is not aware of it.

It's really a big lie!
Lu Xu tried to imagine if he had been raised in a cage called an island but actually a studio since he was a child, with all his family and friends around him being actors, the moment he learned the truth, he felt like he might go crazy.

After the mystery in his heart was revealed, Lu Xu felt sad and worried for Truman. It was a pity that it was too late, otherwise he really wanted to continue watching and see how Truman would deal with those lies and control next.

After changing into work clothes, Lu Xu set out again.

He has not slept for thirty hours since yesterday morning. Even an iron man would not be able to endure working another day today.

But there was one good news: it started raining at around seven o'clock last night and was still raining when he went to work, so he didn't have to work early this morning.

Yanjing Road was quiet in the early morning. Lu Xu and several colleagues hid in a shed at the intersection to rest until dawn.

After getting up early and having breakfast, the rain was still falling. Lu Xu and others were relieved again. If nothing unexpected happened, they could slack off for the whole day.

After not sleeping for more than thirty hours, Lu Xu was so sleepy that he kept yawning. In order to stay alert, he ran along Yanjing Road to check if there was too much garbage, otherwise it would be their job after the rain.

It rained heavily today, and there were only a few customers in other shops on Yanjing Road. But when Lu Xu passed by the Xinhua Bookstore, he found that there were not much fewer people inside than usual.

He stood at the door of the bookstore for a while and saw several readers coming out of the bookstore. The book covers they were holding looked very familiar. It was the book "The Truman Show" that he had been reading yesterday.

Seeing this scene, Lu Xu couldn't help but think of the scene of yesterday's book signing event. He walked into the bookstore as if possessed by a ghost and heard two salesmen chatting there.

"Hurry up and ask the manager to transfer some goods. If sales continue like this, the inventory will not last until the day after tomorrow."

"These readers are really exaggerating. It's ok that so many were sold at the book signing yesterday, but why are there still so many people coming today in such a heavy rain?"

"He's a famous writer, he's very popular! I see these 3,000 books are not enough to sell for three days, it's really exaggerated, it's almost equal to the total sales of other books."

The salesperson's idle chatter reached Lu Xu's ears, and he didn't know why he felt a sense of honor in his heart. He guessed it was probably because he also bought "The Truman Show".

After leaving the bookstore, Lu Xu looked at the sky and really wanted to get off work early and go home to read novels!
"This weather is so unpredictable. The sun was so hot yesterday, and it rained without stopping."

As soon as they got on the train, Lin Chaoyang started complaining to Li Shifei.

The main reason for his complaint was not the weather, but because he was supposed to take a plane to Shanghai today, but the flight was cancelled due to weather reasons, so he had to take the train instead. The two of them didn't get on the train until almost noon.

Yesterday's book signing event was much more popular than expected and ended after eight o'clock in the evening. At last, Xinhua Bookstore counted that 2100 books were sold.

Of course, it is impossible for Lin Chaoyang to write blessings and signatures on all the books. Some readers who bought books bought several copies at a time and signed their names on all of them, but he only wrote blessings on one book.

But even so, Lin Chaoyang was still tired and had back pain after a whole day, which was even more tiring than writing more than 10,000 words a day.

The book signing event lasted until after eight o'clock yesterday evening. It was already eleven o'clock when I returned to the hotel to sleep. I got up at five in the morning to catch a flight, but the flight was cancelled, so I went to the train station again.

After all this trouble, Lin Chaoyang got on the train, completely exhausted.

"Thank you for your hard work! Thank you for your hard work!"

Li Shifei listened to Lin Chaoyang's words with a gentle attitude, and even handed him a cup of water.

There is no way, after all he is the God of Wealth of their Huacheng Publishing House.

"It's not hard, it's mainly about time."

Leaving Tao Yushu in Hong Kong, even though Tao Yumo was looking after her, he was still a little worried, after all, she was almost seven months pregnant.

The biggest advantage of taking a plane is that it is fast and can save time. Now that the plane has become a train, we have to waste another day on the road.

Lin Chaoyang noticed the impatience in his tone, calmed down, and said to Li Shifei: "Old Li, you have worked hard too, it's not easier than me."

Li Shifei laughed and said, "I can't ask for such hard work! Just hold on a little longer, you will definitely be able to get home before the 21st."

Lin Chaoyang nodded.

We arrived in Shanghai without any conversation along the way.

Huacheng Publishing House chose the Xinhua Bookstore on Nanjing Road as the venue for the book signing event for "The Truman Show". As one of the most prosperous cities in Asia, Nanjing Road is the essence of Shanghai, where the most prosperous shopping malls and well-known stores in Shanghai are gathered.

The buildings on both sides of the street are of Western style and full of exotic charm.

The Nanjing Road Xinhua Bookstore is located at the intersection of Nanjing Road and Shandong Road. It has been the largest bookstore in Shanghai since 1956 and was even once known as the "largest bookstore in the Far East."

Early that morning, Lin Chaoyang, led by Li Shifei, came to the entrance of Xinhua Bookstore on Nanjing Road. Looking at the endless long queue in front of the bookstore, Lin Chaoyang felt numb and regretted his decision.

Why did you agree to hold a book signing event for no reason?
(End of this chapter)