Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 413 Please teach me how to write a novel!

"I told you this kid has guts!"

Zhang Chao's words not only caused thunderous applause at the scene, but even the audience in front of the TV resonated deeply with his words; at the same time, they were also shocked by Zhang Chao's courage.

After all, the names of those people on the stage are enough to make ordinary people dizzy. Zhang Chao is well known for his "arrogance" in the literary circle, but this is the first time I have seen him so "tyrannical" in the business circle.

The key point is that Zhang Chao is not "slandering others", but has solid reasons and can tell stories. He looks much better than those "big guys" who like to shout slogans.

In this era, people's feelings about how the Internet will affect their personal lives are actually vague, and most people just follow the crowd and think it should be a good thing.

But I have no idea how good it is or whether it is completely good.

Zhang Chao used two stories to point out the hidden dangers behind this, which immediately gave people a sense of enlightenment.

In 2008, most Internet companies were still in the stage of grabbing land, and they didn’t even realize that they already had the rope in their hands that could tighten the necks of users.

After hearing Zhang Chao's words, almost everyone felt a chill on their necks...

No one wanted to hear what happened next. Even the reporters started to get bored and hoped it would end quickly so they could interview Zhang Chao earlier.

After all, what he just said was so inflammatory that it hit the weak spot of every "big boss" on the stage.

At this moment, Xiao Sa has completed the three philosophical questions countless times in his mind: "Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?"

The "big guys" on the stage were also extremely tormented. After all, most of them had not experienced such a close slap in the face for a long time.

But I still have no way to fight back.

In the public opinion field, the verbal attacks from more than a dozen people on the stage are not as powerful as Zhang Chao alone; in the business field, the real guns and bullets... they are not crazy enough to use their own careers to vent their anger.

After the products of "Chaotidal Culture" are bundled with Zhang Chao's influence, it will definitely be a hard stone to chew.

After more than ten minutes of feeling extremely uncomfortable, everyone finally heard the host announce the end of the event as if they had been granted amnesty. Many people left the stage without even shaking hands with each other or looking back.

However, the reporters did not get what they wanted. As soon as they rushed to the backstage, they heard from the event organizer that Zhang Chao had already left the event and there was no way to keep him.

The rest of the big guys also refused the interview and went back to the hotel.

The reporters looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering how they were going to write the report when the person they wanted to interview wasn't there.

At this time, a sharp-eyed reporter caught a glimpse of Xiao Sa sitting in a corner backstage with a tired face, and immediately seized the opportunity to surround him, and put a fist-sized microphone to his lips: "Xiao Sa, as the host of tonight, you also contributed to Zhang Chao's wonderful performance. What do you think of his views? Have you communicated with him beforehand?"

Xiao Sa's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he heard the latter part. He looked at the reporter in horror and kept saying, "I didn't, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"

After saying this, he hid in his dressing room as if escaping.

……

Not to mention how embarrassed Xiao Sa was, Zhang Chao's speech was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, and ripples spread out layer by layer. From literature to business, from a net worth of tens of billions to being penniless, everyone was involved in this debate on "Internet business ethics."

Several industry giants have had to make promises to the public through their public relations departments;
Relevant departments also said that they would pay close attention to the healthy development of the Internet economy;
Many active and experienced netizens have started to create tutorials to teach those "newbies" how to see through online tricks...

It was at this time that Zhang Chao's symposium at October magazine really began to be taken seriously, and his statement, "Literature only does two things: first, to prove that a crisis exists; second, to prove that human beings deserve this crisis," swept the entire literary world.

For a time, professors and college students in ivory towers, literary youths writing in dark basements, and readers who simply loved literature were all reciting and discussing this sentence.

In addition to the verbal power itself, the more important thing is that Zhang Chao is practicing what he preaches, endorsing this sentence not only with his works but also with his personal credibility and influence.

How can one not be fascinated by such a writer?
Even Zhang Chao's harshest critics are now unable to find any black spots in him in this matter.

He really dares to write and speak!

The seemingly absurd ending of the novel "Painted Skin" has been read again and again by many people -

[When I drew the last line of eyeliner in front of the mirror, the surgical scar itched slightly at my hairline. This was the mark left by the third repair, like a transparent centipede crawling deep in my scalp. The background of the live broadcast room was changed to pure white. The operator said this was called "perfect flawless mode", which could make my face, which was worth three hundred thousand dollars, look divine.

When the barrage of comments started to roll, I subconsciously reached for the sound card switch - until I touched nothing, then I suddenly remembered that the voice changer had been implanted in my vocal cords, and I no longer had to press the switch to make my voice sweet and sexy.

There’s naturally no need to adjust the beauty parameters - it’s right there, my personal customization, covering every corner of my face and body, and no matter how big the movement, there will be no flaws - I no longer have to cover my mouth when eating noodles.

But when I leaned over to grab the cup of water, I could still feel the silicone-filled sternum making a dull sound.

Why do people still use software to retouch their faces when they have already achieved “flawless perfection”?

I've had so many faces I can't even remember them all.

"Thanks to 'Qingfeng Mingyue' for the supercar!" I heard my voice flowing out from the artificial vocal cords, as even and sweet as honey in a jar...

After the show ended, I curled up on the leather sofa and counted the gifts I received. When my fingertips brushed across my nose, I couldn't feel any bone movement. Suddenly, my phone vibrated. It was a message from my cousin from my hometown: "Sister, the TV station is coming to shoot a documentary about your growth. My second aunt built brick walls and paved the floor of the pigpen. She said it was your former dance studio."

I walked to the French window, and the lights of Pudong burned thousands of spots of light on the glass. The LED screen of the building opposite was playing my brand advertisement, and the face known as "the most beautiful face in the world" was suspended in the night sky, silently watching me.

In the deepest part of the drawer is an old ID card, with the three characters "Xu Changchang" curled up in the yellowed plastic film. The girl in the photo has a swollen round face and a small cut on her right earlobe, like a glutinous rice dumpling that has been bitten. When I went to the police station to renew my ID last winter, the household registration police stared at the new face on the screen and said, "The plastic surgery certificate needs the director's signature."

At three in the morning, I somehow logged into my old account. The "Tao Zhi Yao Yao" live broadcast room still had a ban notice hanging on it. The special effects Chinese clothing my avatar was wearing was long out of date, and my pale face looked like a zombie.

Is that me?

That’s me too. 】

Readers can't help but feel a chill when they think of Zhang Chao's interview with October magazine and the interview at the Internet Conference...

……

"Will everything you said really happen?" In the editorial office of "Youth" magazine, Shuang Xuetao was a little confused and couldn't help but ask Zhang Chao this question.

Zhang Chao was leisurely drinking tea and looking at the new issue of "Youth·Grand View" which was about to be published - this was the first time in more than half a year that he had read the sample copy of the magazine so carefully.

Starting from the second half of this year, "Youth" has basically completed the business separation with "New Sprouts" magazine. Whether in editing, proofreading or publishing, it is completely independent, and "New Sprouts" magazine has only retained a portion of the shares.

In addition, the number of submissions to the three journals was very large, so the editorial scale expanded rapidly. The office occupied the entire west wing and an ear room of the courtyard, and was filled with nearly a dozen office spaces.

However, the tradition of Zhang Chao's time is still maintained here. There is no separate editor-in-chief's office, and everyone works in the same space.

As the editor-in-chief, Ma Boyong only has one more bookshelf than others.

Zhang Chao no longer recognizes many of the people here.

However, they all recognized Zhang Chao. When they saw this legendary figure finally appear in the editorial office, they couldn't help but look at him curiously and talk about him in low voices.

Zhang Chao had long been accustomed to being a monkey and did not feel any discomfort.

Hearing Shuang Xuetao's question, he thought about it and did not answer, but asked back: "Do you think it's better to happen or not to happen?"

Shuang Xuetao hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think it's better not to let all of them happen... I still find it hard to imagine that one day the vast majority of people in this world will be immersed in the same lifestyle."

Zhang Chao raised his head upon hearing this and looked at Shuang Xuetao in surprise. Looking at this somewhat thin young man from Northeast China, his eyes were as clear as water, and the confusion at this moment was like the dark green shadow under the water.

"After all, he is engaged in pure literature..." Zhang Chao sighed inwardly.

While others focused more on Zhang Chao's "predictions" about the bizarre future and the alienation of human nature, Shuang Xuetao keenly sensed another element that made him uneasy - in Zhang Chao's three novels, people's lives, work, and entertainment seemed to be tied to mobile phones and the software inside them.

That small screen is like an abyss with a huge mouth, which not only swallows up time but also swallows up human emotions.

Shuang Xuetao picked up his iPhone and shook it, then said to Zhang Chao, "I'm a little afraid to use it now—even though it's really fun!"

Other domestic writers and critics have not yet realized this, mainly because smartphones are not yet popular and people lack practical experience of how they will change their lives.

Shuang Xuetao was different. He got the iPhone 3G brought back by Huang Jiefu from the United States very early on, and also experienced "WeChat" and "Kung Fu Fruit" developed internally by "Tide Culture" very early on.

Especially the latter, which made him go to work with dark circles under his eyes.

That is why, after reading the three novels, he developed a fear of what Zhang Chao predicted: how mobile phones would change people's daily lives. Writers always have a keen sense of things that best symbolize the material characteristics of the times.

Although Ma Boyong also plays with iPhone, his attitude towards it is completely different from Shuang Xuetao's.

For him, who grew up playing FC, Famicom, and PS, the smartphone is a brand new toy that makes him extremely excited.

He is more concerned about how to use it to make his life more interesting, and is even conceiving a new novel based on smartphones - just like he wrote the first suspense novel in China that used social software as an entry point, "She Died on QQ."

Zhang Chao had no intention of persuading Shuang Xuetao. For a writer whose thoughts were basically mature, doing so was almost tantamount to humiliating him.

Zhang Chao just said slowly: "The mobile phone is just a surface, it is just a carrier of the Internet. A few years ago, the connection between the Internet and humans was not so close, and we had to find a computer to connect to the online world.

But things are different with smartphones, which allow us to stay online anytime and anywhere.

In a few years, not only mobile phones, but also watches, glasses, headphones, and even the lights, curtains, windows, door locks, toilets, dressing mirrors in your home...all will be connected to the Internet. Have you ever imagined such a life?"

Zhang Chao did not deliberately lower his voice, so most people in the office were attracted.

Ma Boyong was already a person who had a high degree of acceptance of "future life", but after hearing what Zhang Chao said, he couldn't help but ask: "I can understand watches and glasses, I have seen them in movies. I can also understand electric lights and curtains, they are convenient for life——

But what is an Internet-connected toilet? If I'm already sitting on it, why do I need to control it remotely? Can't I just press the button? If I'm not sitting on it, it's even more useless to control it remotely!
You are exaggerating a bit!"

Zhang Chao laughed and said, "It's not just toilets. Refrigerators, rice cookers, washing machines... everything that carries electricity will be connected to the Internet. This is called 'Internet of Everything'!"

Shuang Xuetao couldn't help but shudder after hearing this. A bunch of novels and movies flooded into his mind like a tide, such as "1984", "Animal Farm", "V for Vendetta"...

He collapsed back somewhat helplessly, his body and eyes revealing a sense of dejection and powerlessness to resist.

Ma Boyong was different. He read a lot of miscellaneous books and immediately realized what was going on. He asked, "Isn't this just like when Europeans first started using electricity? They wanted all objects to be powered by electricity."

Zhang Chao nodded and said, "Almost the same. Also, after the discovery of radioactive substances and nuclear energy in the last century, Americans were crazy about them. At that time, some people even drank supplements containing 'radium' as nutritional supplements.

In the 50s, a scientific toy sold to children in the United States contained a real uranium ore..."

Zhang Chao's description made everyone present shudder.

He did not intend to stop, and continued excitedly: "Can you imagine that in the future you can buy a 'smart toilet' that can automatically flush and dry, and the manufacturer will give it to you for free.

But when you go to the toilet, you have to listen to a commercial before it flushes. Want to dry? Then you have to listen to another commercial.

If you don't want to hear ads, you can pay a monthly fee. And one person pays, and only one person can use it - the toilet has a built-in "buttocks pattern recognition function, so anyone who sits on it will know."

Someone couldn't help but ask: "Then...then can't I just wipe it with paper?"

Zhang Chao laughed and said, “The toilet manufacturer found out that you haven’t listened to the advertisements or paid the fees for a long time, so they directly locked your toilet remotely and closed the lid so that you can’t open it again.

You'll be holding your stomach and jumping up and down beside the toilet. Can you handle it?"

Zhang Chao's words made the editors present turn green.

But he still had no intention of stopping, and continued with interest: "The toilet is like this, and the rice cooker can also be used. The manufacturer will give you a rice cooker for free..."

"Alright, alright, alright, we know how powerful you are, please let us go!" Even Ma Boyong couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted Zhang Chao's "casting" repeatedly.

He said with a sad face: "According to what you said, how can the Internet make the world a better place? It obviously makes the world full of traps!"

Zhang Chao laughed and said, "Didn't I say at the Internet Conference in Nanjing that humans keep inventing tools, but problems will never decrease.

You can’t just think about the benefits and ignore the problems it brings! If there are problems, just solve them. Don’t be an ostrich.”

Having said that, Shuang Xuetao still looked worried.

Zhang Chaocai ignored him and saw that all the editors in the office were paying attention to him. He stood up and said to everyone, "I came here today because I have something to announce..."

Except for Ma Boyong and Shuang Xuetao who already knew the inside story, everyone else's neck was stretched out, even Lan Ting was no exception.

Zhang Chao said: "The previous three novels were all serialized in other journals. Do you have any opinions about this?"

The editors looked at each other, not knowing how to respond.

It was Lan Ting, an old classmate, who said bluntly: "Of course I have objections! You are the founder of Youth Magazine, and your works should be published in Youth Magazine!"

Besides, the sales of the three issues you published your works in, whether it was Harvest, October or Contemporary, were higher than our Youth Party..."

As Lan Ting spoke, she pursed her lips, looking extremely aggrieved.

This is not because she is deliberately acting like a spoiled brat because she and Zhang Chao are old classmates. Rather, she has really devoted herself to the editing work of "Youth·Non-fiction".

Naturally, people are very dissatisfied with Zhang Chao's behavior of "eating from the inside and betraying the outside world".

Zhang Chao didn't take it seriously, he smiled and said, "Well, I will definitely publish the next novel in our Youth Magazine.

But I haven’t started writing this novel yet…”

Seeing that everyone was eagerly waiting, he didn't keep them in suspense and continued, "I plan to create in a completely new way, which requires the participation of everyone present."

The editors looked confused.

Writing is a highly personal thing. Great writers usually have a strong stubbornness and will never allow outsiders to interfere with their own ideas.

They can only listen to the opinions of editors and readers in the early stages of their careers, and they are all very proud after they become famous.

Zhang Chao is young, but he has achieved a lot. I have never heard of any editor in the industry who dares to make a fuss about his manuscript. What does he mean by "I need the participation of everyone here"?
Zhang Chao said slowly: "For this novel, every time I finish writing a part, I will leave a multiple-choice question about the fate of the characters and the development of the plot, and everyone in this office will vote to decide.

I will continue to write based on your votes.

In other words, at least half of what this novel will look like in the end is decided by you. I wonder if you are interested in participating and teaching me how to write a novel?"

These words even perked up Ma Boyong, who had been lacking interest, and Shuang Xuetao's confused look was replaced by one of disbelief and astonishment.

This is not what you told us last night. You said that the fourth novel would be serialized in "Youth·Grand View", but you didn't say that the editors would be involved in voting on the direction of the work.

Everyone's brain was numb at this moment, and then they became extremely excited - teaching Zhang Chao to write novels, is this really a game that I can play without spending any money?

(End of this chapter)