Literary Master 1983

Chapter 289 "2666"

He quickly wrote the novel "2666" based on this event.

The entire book is filled with violence, murder, and suspense... Like "One Hundred Years of Solitude," it features numerous characters and subplots, and some stories seem to be unresolved, making it quite mind-bending to read—a typical Latin American novel.

The book "2666" did exist in the original timeline, and it, along with another book, "Southern Highway," is considered one of the most outstanding masterpieces of the post-Latin American literary era.

Upon its publication, the novel was selected as "Best Novel of the Year" by The New York Times and Time magazine in the same year, and later as "Best Novel" by the National Book Critics Circle, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the United States.

The original work was based on a series of murders in a border city in northern Mexico, and it told several independent but interconnected stories. Yu Qie has now changed the background to a massacre that took place in a Colombian restaurant.

It was originally a huge project, but thanks to the Hemingway-style "special training" during this period, Yu Qie was able to operate it with ease.

He quickly wrote the opening and showed it to Márquez.

Márquez initially dismissed it, but after reading it, he was astonished: "Who exactly are you? You're more like a Latin American writer than a typical Latin American writer."

The original novel of "2666" is written in a very interesting way. The storyline is extremely jumpy and complex, with multiple storylines converging and then exploding, which is very suspenseful. It was a very skillful technique back then.

The topics discussed also involve religion, war, suspense, murder... typical Latin American characteristics.

This writing style is almost unheard of among mainland Chinese writers, making it quite novel.

For example, Liu Xinwu wrote "The Bell and Drum Tower," which only scratched the surface of this technique, yet it was shortlisted for the Mao Dun Literature Prize that same year.

The original novel features a fictional German writer named Benoît von, similar to the fictional town of Macondo, which is a literary image. Yu Qie changed this "Benoît von" to Gabriel García Márquez, and he specifically sought Márquez's opinion.

"Gabo, I'm planning to write about you in a novel. What do you think?"

Márquez asked, "Am I dead in your novel?"

Yu Qie joked, "I'm God who wrote the script, how could I let you die?"

Marquez laughed loudly, "Then write me in."

Yu Qiezhen followed "the path that Márquez once walked," investigating the restaurant massacre in Bogotá during the day and researching materials at night, connecting the massacre with the novel.

"2666" is a pseudonym, meaning the distant future. The book expresses a compassionate value system—that humanity will continue its endless conflicts and deceptions until 2666, a time that seems impossibly far away at present.

Furthermore, because the book contains many foreshadowing elements, and some storylines are left unresolved, readers believe that these mysteries will not be solved until 2666.

Yu Qie often came to the bar to see Márquez and share the progress of the novel's creation with him. Márquez associated the number "2666" with the 1928 banana massacre that he was investigating, and couldn't help but say, "Perhaps I will never understand the truth of the matter before I die."

"When will that be? Probably around 2666."

After the massacre, Márquez felt that even the commercial streets of Bogotá were no longer safe.

One day, he gave Yu a revolver, a Colt Rattlesnake, a brand new product just produced in the United States.

This pistol is not popular in the military because the chambering speed is very slow, resulting in a slow reload speed... However, it is more popular among civilians and police in some areas. The revolver's structure means that this thing does not have the risk of jamming.

Gunfight movies often feature scenes of guns jamming, but it's definitely not a revolver.

"Why are you giving me a revolver?" Yu Qie asked him.

Marquez said, "This massacre may be related to drug lords. My information is that this mentally broken killer was addicted to drugs for a period of time, and it is possible that the drugs drove him crazy... He thought that the process of killing was like playing Pac-Man on Atari."

Yu Qie said, "Isn't there drugs everywhere in Colombia?"

Marquez shook his head: "Although we have drugs everywhere, it's still officially prohibited. The government is preparing to use this massacre to bring down the drug lord Pablo, or at least cut off his 'arm'... They are gathering evidence."

"Your novel has also helped us; I have a feeling it will be a great work."

Indeed, the book "2666" was born at the wrong time. When it was written in the original timeline, it was already the beginning of the new century. Literature was no longer a major player, and Latin American literature had lost its former popularity.

Despite the debuffs, it won the grand prize, and would certainly deserve even more praise today.

The revolver that Márquez gave to Yuche caused a minor stir among the visiting delegation. Some people felt that this "murder weapon" should not have been carried on his person, and that Yuche had no right to carry a gun.

Gu Hua was the main opponent. He first approached a few familiar friends and said, "Yu Qie already knows how to use a gun, and now, for some reason, he's brought a gun over... Who would dare to say a word against this?"

"What if he kills us?"

But no one responded.

Gu Hua then went to see Ambassador Tang, who took the matter more seriously. As a diplomat, he was required to write regular reports; how could Yu Qie, as the head of the delegation, be leading the way with a gun? Were you trying to play Crossfire in Colombia?
What if you kill the president of Colombia?
This isn't some chaotic, war-torn era.

Ambassador Tang came to confront Yu Qie: "Comrade Yu, Comrade Yu! Some of us have opinions about you..."

He had barely finished speaking when, to his surprise, he encountered Colombian President Bertancur and Gabriel García Márquez. He was immediately dumbfounded, thinking to himself: Why doesn't the president have bodyguards? Why isn't the road closed?

There should be a bunch of plainclothes officers standing at the entrance...

Betancourt, however, was delighted, and holding Yuche's revolver, he said:
"This is a gift I gave to my Chinese friend. As long as he is in Colombia, he has the right to use this pistol."

All that could be seen were rather intricate patterns, and the Colombian coat of arms on the gun handle. It turned out that this Betancourt had been a journalist and translator, and in his youth he had joined a left-wing organization... Someone showed him the Latin American version of "Lurking," and Betancourt was completely engrossed in it.

They believe that Yu Zecheng is no less capable than Che Guevara.

A country's president has become a book lover?

It's hard to say anything about that.

Ambassador Tang felt it was better to avoid trouble. Colombia has its own sun.

Gu Hua waited and waited, but damn it, there was still no response. Gu Hua went to find Ambassador Tang, whose face darkened: "Comrade Yu Qie is a trusted soldier; you shouldn't doubt him so easily!"

Then another thing happened: Gu Hua received a reply from Nie Hualing, inviting him to be a visiting scholar at the University of Iowa. Furthermore, the letter hoped he would write some articles to slander Gu Hualing for money.

It turns out that he had already been noticed by Nie Hualing's organization. Gu Hua once wrote a novel called "Hibiscus Town," which was adapted into a film by director Xie Jin, with Jiang Wen and Liu Xiaoqing as the male and female leads. The film is currently being shot.

He earned tens of thousands of yuan through his book "Hibiscus Town." However, the University of Iowa offered far too much money. For example, Qian Zhongshu, the deputy head of the delegation, was invited to give lectures at a rate of $160,000 per lecture, equivalent to nearly one million yuan.

Yu Qie was also invited, but his fee was only half that of Qian Zhongshu (because Qian Zhongshu was the vice dean of the academy). Gu Hua, on the other hand, was not qualified to be invited to give lectures, but he still wanted to make money, so he had to pay others to write articles that they wanted.

Of course, it's fine if you don't write articles, but then you can only eat and drink and receive a meager stipend, which Gu Hua cannot tolerate.

With someone like Yu Qie around, isn't that blocking his path to wealth?

He controls everything, even what I write.

Unaware of the details, Gu Hua tried to call the police from a public phone booth in Colombia.

He thought to himself: If no one in the mainland can control you, Yuqie, surely the Colombians can handle you too?

The following day, Yu Qie spoke with Márquez again about the novel "2666": "I have written more than 100,000 words, enough to publish a single volume. I hope to release it first. Do you have any ideas?"

Márquez readily agreed, but then marveled, "You wrote 100,000 words in a week, how did you do that?"

“I dreamt about it,” Yu Qie said.

Márquez completely believed his reasoning. This was because many of the plot points in his novels were based on dreams. It is said that the "ice cube" at the beginning of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" originated from a dream Márquez had of eating ice cream as a child, and he wrote that moment into the novel.

The original novel, "2666," consisted of five volumes, each containing approximately 100,000 words, making it a full-length novel. Yu Qie cut out some plot subplots that went beyond the timeline, as well as the incessant reflections on World War II... leaving only three volumes totaling 400,000 words.

He could finish writing this many words within two months.

Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, several police officers suddenly rushed out of the restaurant and demanded that Yu Qie be arrested.

"Where is Yuqie?"

"What do you want with Yu Qie?" Marquez asked.

“Someone reported that he was carrying a gun and was a Japanese drug dealer from Brazil.”

Marquez roared, "I am Yuqie, I am that Easterner!"

Marquez's face is known to almost everyone in Latin America. The policemen knew they had messed up at a glance and immediately apologized to Yu.

The entire restaurant was immediately in an uproar, and then Yu Che pulled out a gun: it had the Colombian national emblem on it.

A false alarm!
However, the fact that Commander Yu was reported was utterly ridiculous. Since not many people knew that Yu Qie possessed a pistol, and even fewer had the motive, the investigation quickly traced him back to him, despite Gu Hua's vehement denial.

Gu Hua wrote a heartfelt apology letter, which Yu Qie accepted on the surface, but in his heart he was thinking about how the United States would deal with Gu Hua.

Yu Qie vaguely remembered that Gu Hua had defected to Canada in the original timeline in order to make money. It was inevitable that he would follow the same old path if he was tempted even slightly.

In late April, the first volume of Yu Qie's novel "2666," written in response to the restaurant massacre, was finalized.

News from Taiwan indicated that Yu Guangzhong and his group had already departed for the United States and were preparing for their trip. Yu quickly entrusted the manuscript to Márquez, asking him to help find a publisher.

Somehow, these manuscripts were discovered by Márquez's agent.

Agent Carmen was quite surprised when she saw the manuscript: Latin American literature and Eastern literature are two completely different aesthetics.

How the hell could this be written?
She rushed over and negotiated a new signing fee: this time, she wouldn't sign the person, but only the Spanish-language novels written by Yu Qie, as well as the agency rights for the Spanish-language novels of other books.

The signing bonus was reduced to $100,000. This is because Carmen essentially brought her own resources to support Yu Qie's novel project.

With Márquez's introduction, Yu Che finally agreed.

Agency rights and publishing rights are two different things. Agency rights refer to Carmen negotiating with Spanish publishers in the name of Yuche to help him sell his work at a high price.

Thus, in the Spanish-language market, Carmen took on a role similar to that of Zhang Shouren, the editor of the Chinese magazine "October," while Yu Qie only needed to focus on writing novels and didn't need to worry about anything else.

She was essentially a literary agent who was the first to realize that "the literary boom is essentially a market phenomenon, not a purely artistic movement," and then almost single-handedly rewrote the plight of most Spanish-language writers.

Before Carmen, many Latin American writers lived in dire poverty, but after the market frenzy she sparked, "every Latin American writer started flying first class."

This woman devised a strategy for Latin American writers: "Latin American writers must first prove that they are Latin American before they can prove that they are writers." This strategy has proven effective.

Carmen and Yu Qie previously discussed why the book "American Psycho" could not be immediately successful, based on this assumption: because Yu Qie was not an American, he was not qualified to write the article.

The writing of "2666" prompted her to temporarily operate Yu Qieye as a Latin American writer.

"You're very special. I said before that we can't expect someone outside of America to succeed quickly in the US by criticizing America; that's not what American readers want to see. So I thought you would succeed as someone who criticizes their own country, but I didn't expect..."

"Yes," Carmen immediately replied, "you've actually succeeded by criticizing Latin American society."

Yu Qie shrugged: There's nothing we can do but suffer a little more with our Latin American brothers.

“Perhaps I also had the blood of Americans tens of thousands of years ago,” Yu said.

Although the joke wasn't very good, Márquez and the others still laughed it off.

Qian Zhongshu's observations on the similarities between Native American totems and oracle bone script inspired Yu Qie. Marquez's metaphor of the AK further enlightened Yu Qie.

He doesn't need to follow the old path to fame at all.

Carmen liked to carry around a bulky cell phone with an elongated antenna, and then negotiate with publishers with great enthusiasm; many of the photos she later left to literary magazines are of this type.

Because she single-handedly sparked the Latin American literary boom and dressed up as the Pope at a writers' gathering, Carmen was affectionately known as "Big Mama." Due to her fame, any author signed by her quickly gained the attention of international publishers.

So, after Yu Qie and Carmen signed a contract, his novel was quickly noticed by an American publisher, which tentatively published 3,000 copies.

Yu Qie and his entourage also boarded a flight to the United States, completing their ice-breaking journey across the Taiwan Strait. Mark came specifically to see him off, and at the airport, Yu Qie waved goodbye to him, saying, "I will be back soon, and I believe the truth about the massacre will soon come to light."

Márquez also said, "I believe you because you wrote '2666.' We are both novelists and investigative journalists."

"The truth that people eventually learn may lie in your novel."

(End of this chapter)