Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 132: Rather Be the Chicken Head
In 2005, apart from Hong Kong Island, the only domestic direct flight to New York was from Yanjing, and it was not launched until June. The entire journey took 6 hours and 13 minutes and was operated by Continental Airlines of the United States.

Zhang Chao directly booked a first-class seat, which cost 7 RMB. During the entire flight, except for sleeping, Zhang Chao basically wrote - this is also the reason why he chose the first-class cabin, because there are big enough seats and he can get enough rest.

IWP would pay for all of this anyway. Ms. Nie had retired a long time ago and was no longer in charge of IWP's daily work or fundraising. She was only a consultant, so Zhang Chao had no psychological burden when he made the request.

The plane landed at New York's Kennedy International Airport at 2:15 p.m. local time. Although Huang is not from New York, he worked in New York for two years after graduation, so this is his home ground.

He called to rent a car early, and he took Zhang Chao straight to the center of New York. Soon, the New York skyline appeared in front of them.

New York in 2005 looked more prosperous and modern than any other major city in China, especially the number of skyscrapers, which almost exceeded the total of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Huang Jiefu returned to New York for the first time in several years. He was even more excited than Zhang Chao. While driving, he pointed at the buildings in front and shouted, "Boss, this is New York, the city of freedom, the city of dreams, the city that never sleeps, the melting pot, the city of a thousand cities..."

Zhang Chao raised his tired eyelids and glanced at it politely, then closed them again with a "hmm". It wasn't that he had any prejudice, but with the memory of his previous life, he was indeed immune to skyscrapers.

Huang Jiefu's excitement actually comes from the special complex of American culture towards New York. As the center of the American and even world economy, New York has transformed many foreigners who come here to pursue their dreams into "New Yorkers" - fast-paced, indifferent, utilitarian, fashionable...

"New Yorker" is a very special cultural phenomenon - in the eyes of many foreigners, "New Yorker" is a typical American; but in the eyes of Americans, "New Yorker" has nothing to do with "typical American".

In many American movies, "New Yorker" is even used as a mockery.

For a professional manager, success in New York is the highest praise, which is why Huang Jiefu is so excited.

Zhang Chaoke had no time to care about these. His brain was still in Yanjing time, which was around 3 a.m., but the light coming through his eyelids told him that it was still daytime.

But they finally got to the hotel. Huang Jiefu booked a mid-range hotel for the two of them, which cost $350 a night, which was neither expensive nor cheap in New York.

As soon as he got off the car, Zhang Chao sniffed and added, "A city full of urine." Huang Jiefu shrugged, saying that there was nothing he could do about it and it was part of the city's characteristics.

After checking in, Zhang Chao basically spent the first two days adjusting to the jet lag. Apart from sleeping and eating, Huang Jiefu took him around New York City in his car.

After careful observation, Zhang Chao's perception of this city has changed - it is not like Shenzhen where he lived for many years in his previous life. It is a modern city newly built within 20 to 30 years. There are almost no traces of history, and only a few relics are retained as scenic spots.

It is also unlike Yanjing, where I have lived for more than a year, which is like a sandwich, with Soviet-style buildings and modern buildings sandwiching the classical old city in the middle, with almost no transition between the three.

In New York, one can clearly see the context and trajectory of the city's development from its architecture. Buildings with distinctive styles from different eras stand side by side, silently telling the vicissitudes of 200 years.

During the tour, Zhang Chao noticed that Huang Jiefu obviously avoided certain neighborhoods. When he asked why, Huang Jiefu said, "When I first came to New York, someone told me that there are some places I absolutely cannot go to..."

Huang then introduced the origins of the "green zone", "yellow zone" and "red zone" in American cities, and how to distinguish them. In the "green zone", if there is a quarrel on the street, there will be patrolling police to intervene; at the same time, in the "red zone", a gunfight may end, and no police will come to the door.

This is true even if New York's NYPD has 4 police officers.

Zhang Chao asked with great interest, "What district does Chinatown belong to?" Huang Jiefu said, "Yellow District. Chinatown has a different set of rules. The order there is mainly maintained by... uh... how to say... the Council of Elders. I haven't had much contact with it, so I don't know much about it."

Zhang Chao corrected him: "It should be a society or a gang, and there may be some families behind them."

Huang Jiefu's father was one of the first batch of college students who went abroad to study in the early 80s. While studying abroad, he fell in love with an American girl, Huang Jiefu's mother, and got married. In the end, he did not return to China and has been living in Los Angeles as an engineer.

Huang Jiefu's mother is an accountant. His family is a typical American middle-to-high-income middle-class family, and he has little contact with the traditional Chinese community in the United States, so he doesn't know much about the ecology of Chinatown.

The third day was the day when I had an appointment to discuss matters with the publisher Simon & Schuster.

The two arrived at Simon & Schuster's office building at the agreed time, and they were approached by David Miller, a senior editor of Simon & Schuster's international publishing department.

After saying hello, David Miller said to Zhang Chao: "I have been following your work for a long time." He spoke Mandarin with only a slight foreign accent.

Seeing Zhang Chao and Huang Jiefu's surprised reactions, David Miller said with some pride: "Not bad, right? To do international publishing, you naturally need to know several languages. I also speak French, Italian, and Japanese."

Then he continued, "I think even without Mr. Xu Yuanchong's recommendation and his granddaughter Rheya's excellent translation, we might have contacted you. Over the past year or so, you have been a phenomenal figure in the Chinese literary world. I have read your book "Youth Like You", which is an excellent work."

Zhang Chao said: "Thank you for your recognition - but what plans does Simon & Schuster have for publishing my book in the United States?"

David Miller said: "We have launched a publishing project called 'Other Attention' this year, which aims to select and translate the works of emerging writers who have received much attention from 20 to 30 countries outside the United States.

Although you are not the only Chinese writer on the list, we decided to choose you after reading Rheya’s translation of The Great Doctor. ”

Zhang Chao and Huang Jiefu looked at each other and both felt that this was very different from what they had expected, so they asked, "So, my work is just one of the books in this series? It won't be published separately?"

David Miller nodded and said, "Yes. Although you are already very famous there, you are still a newcomer to American readers."

This reason is not unacceptable. Zhang Chao never thought that if he showed off his dominance, American readers would rush to buy his book. However, as a book in a series, it is obviously not in line with the size of "The Great Doctor".

In the previous life, The Great Doctor was divided into two parts, each with more than 30 words. Although Zhang Chao was going to delete the less important side stories, the planned volume was more than 50 words, so he said that he would not publish a single volume within two years.

Of course, this is mainly for China, because he needs to use "The Great Doctor" to support the sales of "Youth". How the English version of "The Great Doctor" is released has nothing to do with the sales of "Youth", as long as the plot progress remains consistent.

However, this was a misjudgment due to the other party's lack of understanding. Zhang Chao patiently explained his plan for the length of "The Great Physician". David Miller was obviously stunned after listening to him. He paused and said, "50 words? That's about 35 words translated into English. You know, the first four Harry Potter books only have this many words in total. Is "The Great Physician" so grand?"

Zhang Chao nodded and asked, "Do you want to re-examine your publishing plan? There is an old Chinese saying, 'It is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox'. I believe I don't need to explain its meaning.

Although I am a 'new writer', I am not short of sales. American readers do not know me yet, but I will not accept that the first publication of The Great Doctor will appear in front of readers in the form of one of a series of books. "

(End of this chapter)