Literary Master 1983

Chapter 296 Gu Hua's End

This led to a conflict between Gu Hua and Nie Hualing.

The reason is simple: you told me to come, and I obeyed you and abandoned everything to come; now you want me to leave, where can I go?
Gu Hua said, "You told me that Iowa is full of love, that there is so much love here, so why can't you love me more?"

Nie Hualing then said, "Love comes at a price, and America doesn't support idlers."

"It seems that you are not the kind of person we are looking for."

Then, Nie Hualing began to list her own hardships.

In the 1960s, Nie Hualing faced great hardship after arriving in the United States. Initially, she relied entirely on the financial support of Paul and her distant relatives. Not only her, but all writers who came to the United States at that time faced great difficulties.

The female writer Zhang Ailing is not much higher than her in terms of literary status.

But even after arriving in the United States, no one read her writings, so she had to earn money by sending articles to magazines in the Chinese-speaking world, across the vast Pacific Ocean.

This is the dilemma faced by writers abroad: on the one hand, they genuinely want to embrace a new life and completely transform their identity, but on the other hand, they have to rely on their original maternal families for support, and very few can recreate their former glory.

A welder, whether in the US or mainland China, does the same welding, but a writer is different. Especially since Gu Hua is a writer from rural areas.

Am I not loyal enough? Am I not extreme enough?
Gu Hua said, "I can be a ghostwriter, I can write any article you want, I can still write, there's no turning back for me."

Nie Hualing wasn't surprised to hear this. After a moment of silence, she said, "The problem now is that the host country (the United States) is no longer willing to take you in. Yu Qie has gained more fame in the US than most American writers, and his publications have made it impossible for you to get support from the University of Iowa. His relationship with Márquez is extraordinary, and we're afraid of being put on their list!"

“I told you, I can do anything you want!” Gu Hua said.

Nie Hualing had to explain to him why she had recruited him in the first place:
"In fact, what the United States needs are people like Márquez and Yuche. They have enormous prestige in their own country, yet they skillfully speak for us. Only in this way can those who read their novels feel disillusioned with the world..."

“Now that you have lost your influence in mainland China, you have lost your usefulness as a writer. Because fundamentally, we asked you to write articles not for Americans to read, but for our own people.”

"Or you could write nuclear literature like Yu Qie, write authentic Latin American novels? That way you could survive anywhere, could you?"

Gu Hua felt extremely saddened. What kind of bullshit logic is this?

Being a dog can actually lead to being fired for not understanding the boundaries of what it means to be a dog.

They need a good dog that pretends to be neutral, barks while still reading the room, and knows when to stop! No wonder Yu Qie himself despises Nie Hualing and his ilk so much.

Love is fake, literature is fake, recruitment is fake!

Gu Hua was furious. He was almost trembling and wanted to slap Nie Hualing, but he restrained himself because he could not afford to offend Nie Hualing.

Once Nie Hualing reports the incident to the police, Gu Hua will be deported back to China, and the situation he will face is predictable.

That bitch?!

She can seduce married men, so what the hell can I do? I don't have any muscles that everyone likes!
It turns out that America really is just like what Yu Qie wrote in "Da Sa Ba": if you are a beautiful woman like Lin Zhouyun, you can still exchange your value and get a ticket on the great ship of America. If you are a man like Gu Yan, it is extremely naked here. As an outsider, you only have one path to take because everyone is your potential competitor.

After such a difficult path was paved, there were naturally huge rewards:
Just as Yu Qie is currently receiving acclaim in American newspapers, he seems to have become an expert in nuclear literature, just as "Qian" can hurl insults at every "stupid white student" at MIT...

The most difficult road is often the simplest road, and vice versa.

Gu Hua was banished at this moment.

He tried writing novels to make money, but Americans didn't read them. He also submitted his work to Chinese-language newspapers, but due to criticism from writers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, almost no newspaper dared to defy public opinion and publish his work.

He had to find a job as a waiter at a Chinese restaurant near the University of Iowa.

He washed dishes for a week, working fourteen hours a day and sleeping on a chair in the restaurant after closing. Then the boss started having him work at the front desk to meet customers.

At that time, the waiter's salary was seven dollars an hour, while the boss paid him two dollars.

"Why?" Gu Hua was furious again. "Why do I do the most work but get the least?"

"You can go somewhere else," the boss said, not caring at all.

“I used to be a writer!” Gu Hua said.

"So what?" the boss said coldly.

Just like the letter that Chen Chong, a mainland actress who failed to make it in the US, wrote to her readers in the spring of 1984, even actresses like her still made a living by doing odd jobs and working as restaurant servers in the US.

Fortunately, Chen Chong was able to get to know an Italian director and later return to acting, even appearing on the Spring Festival Gala—but what else could he do?
He's gone too far!
Gu Hua never expected that he would be fired even for such a humiliating job.

A new group of students have joined the restaurant. Influenced by the dialogue between writers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, they are very interested in mainland literature.

One student said, "The development of literature in mainland China is obviously better than ours now, especially in terms of its level—for example, someone like Yu Qie, just him alone is higher than all the others here combined, and he is still very young."

Another student said, "And he even wrote nuclear literature. Today someone asked me what nuclear literature is. I said it was something written by some American or Soviet... I never imagined that it was written by ourselves."

The person in front said, "The mainland's economy is underdeveloped, so why are their novelists so talented?"

“You’re wrong!” someone behind said. “Although their economy is underdeveloped, they treat writers very well.”

Gu Hua couldn't help but stand aside and listen to what the students were saying.

Yes, he received more than 2,000 yuan in royalties for the book "Hibiscus Town" within a few months. That was in 1981, which was equivalent to the entire income of six farmers for a whole year, not to mention the subsequent reprints and remakes.

Before the peaches, Gu Hua, as a veteran, had already risen to the position of vice-goat of the regional writers' association. He should have needed many more people to support him throughout his life.

Why has it become like this?
I should have had countless donuts.

At this moment, one of the students suddenly stopped talking, and Gu Hua noticed that this person was staring at him.

"Are you the Gu Hua that Yu Qie mentioned?" the student asked.

“I am not Gu Hua, I don’t know Gu Hua,” Gu Hua said.

The student shook his head: "Yu Qie said in the World Journal that Gu Hua is at our University of Iowa, and he is a very refined-looking person. I noticed that even though you are a waiter, there is no evasion in your eyes. When we talked about Yu Qie, you seemed a little unconvinced. If you are not Gu Hua, then who is Gu Hua? Besides, your Mandarin is not good, and you are from the South."

Gu Hua lived in the mountainous region of southern Hunan, and his novel "Hibiscus Town" is based on his own experiences. People from Hunan Province speak Mandarin with a very distinct accent, and Gu Hua was no exception.

Back then, Taiwan was quite particular; news anchors spoke with impeccable pronunciation, often even more clearly than the average mainlander. So it was their turn to look down on Gu Hua's Mandarin accent.

Gu Hua had to admit: "Yu Qie is a great novelist, but he's a petty person! He has no tolerance for others and he persecutes me everywhere."

The student didn't argue with him, but nodded at him.

Gu Hua thought this person agreed with his opinion, but to his surprise, Gu Hua was fired by his boss that very night.

"Why don't you want me either? Two dollars is too high?" "Those people aren't students, they're staff. They came to warn Nie Hualing not to mess around."

"Where did these people come from? Who sent them?" Gu Hua was terrified.

The boss gave him a look that said, "You know nothing." He continued, "Who in the Chinese world doesn't despise you and Nie Hualing for what you've been doing? I didn't know you were that traitor before, but now that I do, how can I possibly take you in?"

“A third of my customers are Chinese. If word gets out, how can I keep the business running?”

Gu Hua packed his things that night, but was kicked out of the restaurant and forced to become homeless again.

However, Gu Hua was a quick learner. During his time working at the Chinese restaurant, he had already learned a few American greetings, enough to get by. A few days later, he found another job as a waiter, this time at a restaurant owned by a Mexican.

Life at the Mexican restaurant was particularly tough. The working hours and intensity were far greater than at the Chinese restaurant, and because he couldn't speak the language and looked particularly thin, he was often bullied by other Mexicans.

Sometimes, things happened that were simply too embarrassing for him to talk about.

In this situation, Gu Hua could only try to pick up books again and study English diligently, hoping not to waste his talent.

Books in the United States are extremely expensive, so Gu Hua could only search everywhere for textbooks, novels, popular science books that others didn't want... anything he could possibly use to learn.

Mexicans seem to dislike reading; they only seem to love having children.

Something happened that made him very nervous.

Gu Hua noticed that the restaurant owner was reading a book called "2666".

The official language of Mexico is Spanish. This book is very popular in Central and South America, and publishers in Argentina have already praised it as "the best book in the post-Márquez era".

Then, the Mexican boss discovered that he was also interested in "2666" and became very friendly with him: "Do you know? The author of this book is Chinese, from the same country as you. Yet he understands our suffering and knows what we are thinking!"

"So the reason you let me work for you is because of Yu Qie?" Gu Hua asked.

"Yes."

Gu Hua felt that nothing in the world could be more ironic. He lived in a world full of scum, and in just one month, the more than nine million square kilometers of land in the United States had no place for him to live.

Since he left the delegation, almost everyone—from newspaper reporters and intellectuals to restaurant owners—has come to despise him because of Yu Qie.
-
"What? Gu Hua is coming back?" Yu Qie was very surprised.

"You heard that right."

Qian Zhongshu came specifically to talk to Yu Qie about this matter.

Gu Hua wrote a letter and sent it to the mailbox at Boston University, specifying that it was for the visiting delegation. Upon opening it, I found it was about this matter.

Yu Qie wasn't surprised: so many people came back with their tails between their legs later.

There was a Peking Opera troupe in Shanghai. The troupe leader actually ran away with the entire troupe. Then, feeling completely out of place, he ran back, ruining his own workplace. He was so affected by this incident that he never recovered.

The reporter later asked, "What did you go to the United States for? And why did you come back?"

The man said, "I came here to promote traditional Chinese culture."

Shameless people always have something to say.

How could Yu Qie tolerate Gu Hua swaggering back like that?

Gu Hua must be punished for his return, and as for writing novels in China in the future, that's out of the question.

As long as Yu Qie is around, Gu Hua will never have a chance to make a living through literature. America, Japan, Latin America, Southeast Asia... where can you escape to?
Yu Qie therefore held a small meeting with everyone in the hotel, where he emphasized his views: "It is only right and proper that a life should be paid for a life and debts should be repaid. If Gu Hua is not punished, I will absolutely not be able to live with myself."

"The Americans want to punish him, but we should punish him even more. Does he think he'll get away with it if he comes back?"

"That concludes my statement. Who agrees? Who disagrees?" Yu Qie's gaze swept over everyone in the group.

Gu Hua's actions disgusted everyone else, and it seemed that no one disagreed.

No, perhaps there still are.

Zhang Xianliang stood up and said, "Do we really want to drive them to utter destruction, to kill them out of their spirit?"

"What, you have a problem with that?" Yu Qie looked at him with an expression that suggested he would also exile Zhang Xianliang to Iowa.

There's a rumor, a new rumor, that Gu Hua was deliberately let go by Yu Qie. Yu Qie wasn't surprised at all by the peaches he received—Yu Qie is vindictive and utterly intolerant. Although he's the most generous delegation leader in history, always treating people to meals and borrowing money from everyone, if anyone hinders his progress, he'll make sure that person sees their own brains.

That would be an ending where even death wouldn't be easy, because Yu Qie wouldn't allow it.

Zhang Xianliang broke out in a cold sweat and said, "I failed to keep an eye on Gu Hua, which affected everyone's mood. I wish I could kill Gu Hua. If anyone lets Gu Hua come back, I will be the first to object."

"Furthermore, I support all of Commander Yu's decisions," Zhang Xianliang said.

become!
Yu Qie was too lazy to write a letter, so he asked Qian Zhongshu to do it for him. Qian Zhongshu also didn't want to get involved in this mess, saying, "Gu Hua is like a mop covered in shit; it's dirtier than anything it's trying to clean!"

In the end, only Zhang Xianliang could be sent.

Zhang Xianliang replied in the letter: "It's too late for you to turn back now. You'd better take care of yourself."

"Commander Yu's words are exactly what we think right now. You shouldn't try to contact other parties either. Yu Qie is the leader of all of us. Some writers on the other side won't admit it, but I can see it."

This is indeed the case.

The unexpected success of "2666" in the US after its release was a huge shock to domestic writers. Yu Qie, with his reputation as a spokesperson for "nuclear literature," frequently participated in interviews with American media, which also surprised many writers.

Especially the photos with Márquez, and the messages exchanged with Argentine fans and Brazilian readers... all amazed the writers.

Yu Qie has already made his mark in the Western world; he is no longer unknown.

He suddenly became a different kind of person, the kind of world-renowned literary giant who lived in textbooks, someone no one recognized. Everyone felt inferior to him.

In a completely unfamiliar literary world, he used the most direct and violent methods to be more American than Americans and more Latino than Latin Americans, but upon closer examination, he can actually explain where his novels come from.

Ah!
The Lesser Formless Skill, isn't this just the Lesser Formless Skill?

I'll learn from your work, write on your topics, and write even better than you!

Liu Xinwu, an opponent from many years ago, must have made some comments: This skill is invisible and traceless. As long as one possesses this skill, one can imitate or even surpass the unique skills of others and defeat all the martial arts masters in the world!
Unlike mainland Chinese writers, many Taiwanese writers have worked in the United States and therefore know best how difficult it is to make it there.
Yu Guangzhong traveled to the United States many times. He studied in Sichuan Province during his high school years, and the province's numerous mountains left a deep impression on him. In the 1960s, he lived in the United States for two years, studying at the University of Iowa and earning a master's degree.

He drove through the Rocky Mountains in the United States, comparing the differences between the mountains of the two countries in his mind, and finally concluded that the mountains in China were better.

(End of this chapter)