Literary Master 1983

Chapter 269's standalone edition is very expensive, very expensive, very expensive.
The price of the standalone edition is very expensive.

A single volume costs two yuan. The average salary of Shanghai residents is sixty yuan, but it has risen to eighty yuan in the last two years.

So, two yuan divided by eighty yuan equals one-fortieth of his income—which doesn't seem like much, but considering that forty years later, the average salary of a worker in Shanghai will be eight thousand yuan, this percentage becomes quite significant. It's equivalent to two hundred yuan for a book.

The books published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House happen to be among the most expensive.

A copy of Plato's Western philosophical work costs 1.8 yuan, while the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House edition costs 2.5 yuan. The reason is simple: the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House edition has a redesigned cover, uses high-quality paper that doesn't peel, and employs renowned translators, making the cost significantly higher.

In Japan, there's a publishing house called Iwanami, which created the "Iwanami phenomenon," where young literary enthusiasts would carry books with the "Iwanami" logo around to show off. The Shanghai literary scene seems poised to become the "Chinese Iwanami," as its beautifully bound series are highly sought after by young literary enthusiasts.

Yu Qie's new book, *Lurking*, became his most expensive book ever, a three-volume set costing a total of nine yuan. That's equivalent to nearly a thousand yuan in later times. Upon its release, it indeed surprised readers—nine yuan!
"It's on sale! It's on sale!"

Writer Yu Hua recently came to Shanghai on a business trip. His good friend Su Tong, who is from Suzhou, came to visit him after learning that he was in Shanghai.

After graduating from the Faculty of Arts, Yu Hua and Su Tong both returned to their hometowns and wrote several novels. Su Tong asked Yu Hua, "What are you doing in Shanghai?"

"Submit the manuscript."

"What manuscript?"

"I wrote a short story called 'Three Women and One Night' and submitted it to 'October,' but it was full and they didn't accept it. So I submitted it to 'Sprout' in Shanghai, and the editor asked me to come to Shanghai to revise the manuscript. What about you?"

Su Tong said, "I also wrote a manuscript and submitted it to Zhongshan."

Su Tong is an editor at Zhongshan Journal. He submitted and reviewed the manuscript himself.

Damn, this is so corrupt.

Yu Hua said enviously, "I also wanted to study at Yenching Normal University and become an intellectual, so I could become an editor at a magazine. It's a pity I didn't get into university."

Speaking of which, Yu Hua greatly envied Su Tong. In the writers' class, Su Tong was known as "Little Yu Qie," a term used to describe his high level of education, good looks, and popularity with women. Guan Moye once praised Su Tong, saying, "I don't envy anything else about him, except that he has hundreds of women who like him." Yu Hua also thought Su Tong was "an absolute heartthrob among writers," with thick eyebrows, large eyes, fair skin, and a scholarly air.

What the hell is this if not Xiao Yuqie?
Their timing was a bit unfortunate; Yu Qie had just left Shanghai. The news was spreading everywhere, but although Yu Qie had left, his book was still available in Shanghai, so the two of them went to the bookstore to see how his new book was selling.
On the way, they learned that an international book fair was being held at the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building in Shanghai. They went inside to browse and broaden their horizons. With the easing of Sino-Soviet relations in the past two years, cultural exchanges have begun to resume. Su Tong said, "The Soviets will definitely bring their best works here!"

It was also mentioned that "Yu Qie's 'Lurking' will be exhibited there, so they can't afford to show weakness. The Big Brother likes to flex his muscles. In the past two years, people in their hearts have been thinking about change, and not many great writers have emerged, whereas there used to be many."

Sure enough, the Soviet Union was exceptionally capable, bringing together all the biggest stars in history: Turgenev's "The Sparrow," Gorky's "Childhood" trilogy, Chekhov's "The Chameleon," Tolstoy's "War and Peace"... There was simply too much to read. For the two of them, these books were like an old smoker encountering Zhonghua cigarettes—utterly irresistible.

Among the exhibits were some rare Soviet books, as well as some from mainland China. One set of "Zhitang's Book Talks" (by Zhou Zuoren) in sheepskin leather was on display and for sale free of charge by a private collector. At the time, it was priced at a high of two thousand yuan, and it was sold out in the blink of an eye.

People in Shanghai are damn rich!
Yu Hua said bitterly.

Su Tong asked Yu Hua if he had read Yu Qie's latest novel. Yu Hua replied, "Not only did I read it, but I also recommended it to Guan Moye, and even got him to publish it in the same issue of 'Harvest' as Yu Qie! Aren't I just doing him a favor?"

"What happened?"

"As a result, Guan Moye read it and talked nonsense, and was caught and severely criticized! Yu Qiena's book clearly praised faith, but Guan Moye misinterpreted it. Oh dear, this is troublesome."

Su Tong laughed heartily and pointed at Yu Hua, saying, "You little rascal! You know Teacher Guan admires him, so you deliberately tricked him into going on stage!"

In fact, Su Tong, Yu Hua, and Guan Moye had an excellent relationship and were all influenced by Yu Qie. However, their reactions to each other differed. Yu Hua said, "Of the three of us, we're not only verbally convinced, but also in our hearts. Don't you think so?"

"Yes! What about Guan Moye?"

"He may say he's not convinced, but he's actually convinced in his heart. He always wants to imitate Yu Qie. I wanted to make him realize this, but unfortunately, I meant well."

Su Tong said, "You fooled him. What good intentions did you have?"

"I just want him to let go of his obsession and stop being obsessed. If it doesn't work this time, I'll do it again next time, until Teacher Guan runs out of ideas!"

Along the Bund on Yan'an East Road, young people often take time to read, sometimes while eating or drinking tea. Su Tong and Yu Hua found a wonton stall and ate there. They encountered a young father with his young son eating shepherd's purse wontons. The young father was engrossed in a book as he ate. The book had an exceptionally ornate cover, featuring a radio, military medals, a coffee table, and the two large characters "Lurking," the first book in Yu Qie's newly released collection.

The series has three books in total. The young father's son had two other books called "Lurking" next to him, and he bought the whole set.

Holy crap, they bought it already?

Didn't they say the whole series would be nine yuan?
His son, no more than four or five years old, was also eating wontons, holding a bowl. After finishing his wontons, the young father picked up a book, muttered to himself, and left, forgetting his son at the wonton stall.

Yu Hua was overjoyed and immediately shouted, "You left something behind!"

The young father immediately realized what was happening, turned around to thank them, and then stared at the books he had bought, picking up the other two books as he read them... Yu Hua hurriedly shouted again, "Your son, you forgot about your son!"

"Oh!!" The young man finally understood, his face flushed red, and said, "Thank you for reminding me!"

Su Tong was stunned by this scene and couldn't help but ask, "You love reading so much and have the money to buy individual volumes, you must have read the serialized version long ago, so how come you're so engrossed?"

The man touched the back of his head and said embarrassedly, "I heard that the cover had the ending of the story, so I looked at it and compared it with the story, imagining Yu Zecheng's later decades. Once I thought about going in... I don't know anything anymore!"

What's so special about this cover?

Although the printing was exquisite and had many ingenious details, it was just the story of Yu Zecheng. Where did the "later decades" come from? Yu Hua couldn't understand it.

After the person left, Su Tong said, "Let's go, let's hurry to Xinhua Bookstore to study the cover!"

Su Tong was a native of both Suzhou and Shanghai. Because Suzhou and Shanghai were very close, in later years, a train ticket would only cost ten yuan to travel between them. The Zhongshan magazine, where he worked, was the provincial publication of Jiangsu Province and frequently published manuscripts by writers from Shanghai. Su Tong often traveled to Shanghai on business.

Before the Shanghai Book City was built, the largest bookstore in Shanghai was the Xinhua Bookstore on Jinling East Road. At the time, it was the largest bookstore in Asia, with a huge sign outside that read "Xinhua Bookstore." The building was seven or eight stories high, and inside it imitated foreign department stores, displaying all kinds of goods on counters for people to choose from, except that all the goods were books. It was a kingdom of books.

How big is the Xinhua Bookstore on Jinling East Road?
Last year, Shanghai Film Studio, Shochiku Film Company of Japan, and TV Asahi co-produced an anti-war film called "A Life in Shanghai," set in 1936. However, the film was exposed as a mistake right at the beginning! The protagonist, Shiro Hatano, is seen taking a ride on Jinling Road with a huge "Xinhua Bookstore" sign in the background. This is because the Xinhua Bookstore is so big that it's impossible for anyone on Jinling Road not to see it in a photo.

As a result, even such a huge bookstore sometimes couldn't accommodate everyone.

Su Tong and Yu Hua arrived at Jinling Road, only to find a long queue stretching as far as the eye could see, with the head of the queue leading to the Xinhua Bookstore.

Su Tong was completely dumbfounded: "Is there a Sino-US literature exhibition here? Or has this place been converted into an embassy so that they can process immigration applications to the United States?"

Yu Hua didn't know either! They asked the person in front, "Comrade, what are you doing here?"

"Buy books!"

"Yu Qie's copy of 'Lurking'?"

"Yes. I heard that the real ending of 'Lurking' is in the standalone book. I really want to curse Yu Qie; he made money twice from one story!"

"If you hate Yu Qie so much, why are you buying his books?"

"I want to know the ending! What did Yu Zecheng do after that? How did he become a wealthy businessman? — It's not in the serialized version! Novel writers really know how to make money!"

These past few years have indeed been a golden age for the publishing industry, the complete opposite of the dying film industry. A small newsstand at a busy intersection in Shanghai could sell nearly three hundred different magazines at a time! The magazine business was booming, and the magazine publishers were making a fortune. "Popular Cinema" sold movie calendars for twelve yuan each, featuring beautiful pictures of actresses like Liu Xiaoqing and Fu Yiwei. There were only twelve photos and a printed calendar, but the movie studios that featured these actresses were selling movie tickets for only three or five mao each... Fearing that their calendars wouldn't sell well, the magazines started sponsoring movie productions instead.

This is truly a reversal of the natural order.

At that moment, a sales clerk from the Xinhua Bookstore on the east side of Jinling Road walked towards them holding a large sign. Upon closer inspection, the sign read, "Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House has xxx sets of the complete 'Lurking' series remaining..."

The woman crossed out the number "xxx" and rewrote "two thousand". She walked around the long queue like she was on a fashion show. Wherever she went, the readers' eyes followed. When she returned after circling back, the number "two thousand" had suddenly been crossed out, and it had become "five hundred"!
It turned out that a bookseller from the capital bought 1,500 copies of "Lurking" in one go, almost emptying the quota allocated to the Xinhua Bookstore on Jinling East Road.

This was like stirring up a hornet's nest; everyone immediately erupted in anger, raising their fists to punch someone!

"Give back the books from Shanghai to our readers!" they shouted.

They didn't just shout; they formed ranks, made flags and banners on the spot, and were about to take a walk. They encouraged each other with Yu Zecheng's slogans, shouting as they charged towards the enemy's fortress. Yu Hua, always eager for a good show, yelled, "Give us back our books! I'm from Shanghai, I'll protect the books from our printing plant!" Su Tong grabbed Yu Hua, "Don't cause trouble, haven't you had enough of messing with Guan Moye yet..."

Before he could finish speaking, the people around him, hearing Su Tong's words, thought he was a traitor. Su Tong's handsome eyebrows were punched, almost shattering his glasses. He quickly changed his tune, saying, "I also support Yu Zecheng, and I can love Yu Zecheng too!" Only then did the people around him let him go! The crowd was indignant, and the two of them pushed forward together, laughing as they did so!
Yu Hua said, "This is so interesting! Being a fan of Yu Qie's books is so interesting! We've started a book club called Yixin Book Club over there. Why don't you join us?"

Su Tong took off her glasses and said, "I've been a member for a long time. I was the one who started this book club."

Xinhua Bookstore was terrified. A cadre-looking man came out and shouted through a megaphone, "Comrades, don't get too agitated. We...we have already withdrawn this deal!"

That's more like it!
The book fans have become well-behaved again.

Last year at the Capital Indoor Stadium, Frenchman Pierre Cardin held the largest fashion show in China's history. The event was reported by CCTV, attracting a large media presence and hundreds of thousands of spectators. The Frenchman carefully selected tall, slender Chinese girls and dressed them in particularly daring and trendy clothes, instantly creating a sensation in both China and France.

The French were amazed that the Chinese had managed to abandon their old and conservative clothing!
Chinese people are realizing: So this is what fashion is all about! Besides black, gray, blue, and white, there are so many beautiful colors!

Su Tong had just graduated from Yenching Normal University that year and had seen the fashion show. However, he felt that the frenzied atmosphere at the time was probably not as exaggerated as it is now. On Jinling East Road, the salespeople holding up signs saying "How many books are left?" were more popular than the models.

Su Tong exclaimed, "I'm afraid I'll never write a novel to this level in my entire life!"

The two queued for an entire afternoon before finally managing to get a complete set of "Lurking" before it sold out, with Su Tong paying for it. Yu Hua had heard that the set contained some Morse code for readers, so he specifically looked for a reference book on Morse code conversion.

(End of this chapter)