Literary Master 1983

Chapter 301 Bombshell
"2666" is becoming increasingly popular in the Spanish-speaking world; it is indeed a bombshell.

In Argentina's capital, the first 5,000 copies sold out within two weeks, followed by several printings; in Colombia, 2666 was featured as an official recommended book, with Márquez writing a lengthy recommendation; in Spain, influential literary journals selected it as "the best Spanish-language novel of the last twenty years."

So, who received this crown twenty years ago?

It happened to be the day the first edition of *One Hundred Years of Solitude* was printed. It helped Gabriel García Márquez win the Nobel Prize more than a decade later; at the time, the book was so popular that any translated version would rank among the top literary publications in its country.

This novel employs almost all of humanity's literary techniques to date, making it a work of technical virtuosity in itself. Following Carmen's recommendation, some local writers interested in Latin American literature were astonished after reading it and subsequently recommended this "Latin American literary work" written by a Chinese author to their readers.

“Prometheus! He is indeed Prometheus.”

The name Yu Qie began to become popular among writers.

Now, the title has taken on a new meaning: "Even the wonders of other types of literature can be used by Yu Qie and displayed in his own novels. No matter how impossible those things seemed before, he is able to integrate them."

Am I now Xiao Yan?
If literature is a kind of extraordinary flame that mortals cannot touch, then Yu Qie has already collected his first few pieces of that extraordinary flame.

Carmen flew to the United States again for a multitude of publishing contracts. She decided to stay in the US for the rest of the year.

"McGrawhill (the American publisher) wants to translate your novel into English and recommend it to Spanish-language literature lovers across the United States!"

McGraw-Hill is a well-known American science publisher, specializing in textbooks and reference books, but it also has a world literature series. Of course, their prices are often more expensive than those of other publishers.

Yu Qie suddenly remembered, wasn't this the publishing house where Lucy worked?

Could that American white woman have played a role in it?

Yu Qie asked, "Was it an American woman named Lucy who contacted us?"

Carmen asked, "Who is Lucy?"

“A white international student at a Chinese university, she supposedly has a father who is an executive at McGraw-Hill. She’s beautiful and, being a white American girl, is very popular at the Chinese university. Many people think it’s an honor for me to be liked by this Lucy.”

"After she returned to the United States, she heard that she had joined McGraw-Hill."

“Who is Lucy?” Carmen said. “Let this person lick the soles of your shoes! It should be her honor.”

"What?" Yu Qie was surprised by Carmen's rudeness.

“That’s true, and that’s what I and others have said too.” Carmen didn’t find her words offensive.

“The people I contact every day are at least senior managers; ordinary employees are not in my social circle. As far as I know, McGraw-Hill does not have such a person.”

In Carmen's social circle, McGraw-Hill did not have Lucy.

Carmen mentions a down-on-her-luck female writer named Allende.

I also knew this female writer, Yu Qie, who later became a frequent Nobel Prize nominee. When she was discovered by Carmen, she was poor and destitute, and the people around her didn't pay much attention to her. After that, Allende suddenly became successful and lived a life of flying first class. Everyone around him praised Allende.

Allende was deeply grateful to Carmen, but Carmen always said: You deserve everything.

Publishers shouldn't be compared to Nobel Prize-winning authors.

There was a time when international writers often faced difficulties in other countries, a situation particularly pronounced among writers from Third World nations. Publishers routinely signed inhumane lifetime contracts with writers, imposing numerous restrictions, and writers received no royalties from their books…

Carmen fought for the interests of her writers, demanding royalties from book publications and posthumous payments. This series of struggles helped Latin American writers become wealthy and indirectly led to more lucrative contracts for other international writers.

This is one of the reasons why Carmen holds such a revered position in the industry. Some call her the "Queen," others the God of the Spanish-speaking world. Carmen also has her own story.

What is the significance of this matter, she said?

“You are the Prometheus of the Chinese world!” Carmen also learned of the title given to the reporter from the World Journal. “You have accomplished such a feat that no matter who this Lucy is, even if her father or her boss came to you, they would only be able to lick your shoes! Do you know that? It was McGraw-Hill who took the initiative to request the publication of the novel!”

Carmen said a series of things.

This became another source of regret for Yu Qie: he had been searching for Lucy everywhere, but had never seen her, and he no longer needed Lucy.

Isn't this like a fable where a famous master spends his whole life searching for a divine martial arts manual, only to find out that the manual is just a beginner's "basic martial arts" manual?

But Yu Qie suddenly wanted an answer; he was curious about how Lucy was doing in America.

Just like those international students who come to the United States and settle down, they want to know how Sanmao, Bei Dao and others are doing in the United States—and often find that these literary figures have made a mess of their lives in the United States.

Therefore, Yu insisted on participating in the subsequent contract negotiations between Carmen and McGraw-Hill.

He didn't understand the Western booksellers' copyright negotiation tactics; Carmen was already very professional. Yu Qie's only reason for participating was to ask in person at the end, "Does McGraw-Hill have a person named Lucy?"

As a result, the McGraw-Hill publishers were completely baffled: "Who the hell is Lucy? Never heard of her."

Yu Qie explained again. "She is one of my classmates."

The publishers immediately changed their tune: "Lucy must be inside the company; she's a hardworking and promising talent."

The publishing house went to great lengths to find "Lucy," searching high and low for her. Lucy is an overused name in the United States, but fortunately, there was a condition that she had studied in China.

It was eventually discovered that one of the company's lower-level salespeople had a daughter named Lucy who had studied in China.

Currently, this person does not work for McGraw-Hill, and strictly speaking, Lucy's father is a contract worker and does not belong to McGraw-Hill.

Because of Yu Qie's inquiry, the publishing house decided that Lucy was a good candidate for employment, since she and Yu Qie were classmates.

Carmen is an exceptionally difficult agent. If it's possible to bypass Carmen and cultivate a relationship with Yu Che, it would be better in the long run. There are 30 million English-speaking Chinese people worldwide, forming Yu Che's international base. Moreover, Yu Che's base is growing; now, Spanish-speaking people and some Southeast Asians are also part of his base.

Although the absolute number is not large, a solid base guarantees a future. And let's not forget the billion increasingly wealthy citizens of our own country.

Lucy's father was overjoyed when he heard the news, wondering how such a wonderful thing could have happened to him. When he learned what had happened, he naturally came to thank Yu Qie, but Yu Qie didn't care and was too lazy to meet his old classmate.

The publisher was somewhat confused by Yu Qie's capricious attitude and spent a long time investigating what was going on. They then discovered that the incident stemmed solely from Yu Qie's curiosity, and that Lucy and Yu Qie had no significant relationship whatsoever.

On the contrary, Yu Qie might find this person a bit annoying.

So, Lucy was in trouble again. The publisher assigned her a ton of work, and Lucy was miserable.

When Lucy finished writing Volume 3 of "2666" and was negotiating the publication of the standalone edition, she met with Yu Qie and apologized to him in person. "I apologize for my rudeness a few years ago! Mr. Yu, you have become such a wonderful writer!"

“You don’t need to apologize!” Yu Qie said. “Just like when you insulted Wang Qiang, but then gave him a treat, you didn’t care about him at all. I’m the same way now.”

"I don't care."

After the three volumes were completed, the publisher was generally concerned about the ending of the final volume. Yu Qie arranged for "Márquez to finally discover the truth." How did he discover it? Márquez dug it out himself with a shovel.

The publisher felt that the ending was too bizarre and beautiful, and did not fit the tone of the preceding massacre.

Yu Qie said, "Through this book, I hope that Gabo can truly find the truth."

Did Mr. Márquez himself agree to this?

"He hasn't seen it yet, but he'll agree."

“Then there’s no doubt about it,” said the McGraw-Hill man.

Afterwards, there was a bookseller's signing ceremony. Because they were very optimistic about the book's future, they gave it a high budget, and everyone ate and drank to their hearts' content. The taps were turned on and kept running, and expensive red wine was used for spraying—it was pure extravagance.

No wonder writer Vargas Llosa is so eager to find a new wife.

Based on the principle of splitting assets in half upon divorce, he was left with only one-eighth of the property, yet he still lives a wealthy life, marrying a model more than ten years his junior in his seventies. Writing books is incredibly lucrative these days.

An executive came to see Yu Qie, hoping to see the "Columbia Gun" in Yu Qie's possession.

"What is the Columbia Gun?" Yu Qie was still unaware of the name of that revolver.

"It's the gun that Betancur gave you. We call it the Colombian Gun."

This is another common practice among Latin American writers—most of them own guns, which has evolved into each person having several good guns. They are often gifts from other important figures.
Vargas Llosa has a gun, a gift from the Argentine president; Gabriel García Márquez has a gun, though the specific donor is unknown; Pablo Neruda also has a gun, a gift from Big Brother, the man whose name represents steel.

Yu Qie shook his head: "That's just an ordinary revolver."

Carmen heard this and immediately came over, saying, "No, from now on, this gun will be called the Colombian Gun! Although it's not working yet, it's definitely part of your story. You don't need it, but the readers do, and believe me, you will need it someday!"

Mid June.

Yu Guangzhong and others left the United States. Some members of the mainland delegation also returned home. Qian Zhongshu, a man who liked to show off but was afraid of being punished, put on an unprecedented show this time. He originally wanted to stay in the United States longer, but recently he received a letter from his daughter saying that she "sometimes feels pain in her back, but no matter how she is examined, nothing is wrong."

Yu Qie cautioned, "This could be a tumor (cancer)."

Qian Zhongshu was shocked: "It can't be that powerful!"

Historically, Qian Zhongshu's daughter predeceased him. His daughter was unlucky; she was not only physically weak and sickly, but also experienced a very difficult emotional life, remaining childless throughout her life. Qian Zhongshu loved his daughter dearly and wrote her many letters.

When his daughter was very young, Qian Zhongshu drew on her belly. When she woke up, she cried loudly, but Qian Zhongshu found the moment adorable and said something like, "My daughter must have been her father's lover in her past life."

After his daughter's death, Qian Zhongshu's own condition worsened, and he passed away in less than a year.
Yu Qie's words are quite accurate.

After much deliberation, Qian Zhongshu decided to go back to see his daughter first. He wouldn't feel at ease until he saw her at the hospital for her full checkup. Qian Zhongshu is not only a cat lover, but also a doting father to his daughter.

As a result, this deputy head of the delegation ran away, and the entire delegation simply went home.

Yu Qie will stay in the United States and Columbia for a while longer.

Everyone was deeply moved, as the past few months had been nothing short of miraculous, and they had witnessed firsthand how Yu Qie had established himself in the United States.

Yu Guangzhong invited Yu Qie to visit Taiwan, but Yu Qie did the opposite and asked Yu Guangzhong to come first.

Yu Guangzhong said, "Do you think you can't visit your relatives? Don't worry, you are naturally different from others."

Yu Guangzhong also implied: Even if you have written some articles, it will not affect other people's liking for you or welcoming you.

Yu Qie, however, was unmoved: "I don't care about this difference; I'd rather be treated the same as everyone else."

"Who comes first is one question, but I think the great rivers and lakes should be more magnificent than Sun Moon Lake," Yu said.

In the original timeline, Liu Shahe went there first, and then Yu Guangzhong came to the mainland a few years later—no wonder Liu Shahe was a bit confused. Now, if Yu Qie were making the decisions, it would never be in this order.

This was not something Yu Guangzhong could agree to on the spot, so he had no choice but to drop the matter.

Soon, Li Ao and Qian Zhongshu quarreled again: Li Ao felt that Qian Zhongshu knew a lot of things, but was not proficient in any of them, and thought he was showing off too much; while Qian Zhongshu felt that everything Li Ao knew was wrong and was simply talking nonsense.

On the other side, in the Taiwanese writers' group, there was a woman named Xi Murong who, for some reason, started promoting Genghis Khan. When she got excited, her whole face turned bright red with excitement!

Her move caused the writers to take sides again, and because there was no longer the overarching goal of "thawing the ice," everyone spoke freely, almost escalating into arguments.

Then, the Taiwanese writers themselves started arguing. Li Ao and Yu Guangzhong began to accuse each other, with Li Ao saying that Yu Guangzhong was "flattering others in order to get an official position," while Yu Guangzhong said that "Li Ao was just trying to attract attention."

Liu Shahe remained out of sorts, instinctively supporting whoever spoke for the longest time.

Strangely, everyone tacitly avoided pointing the finger at Yu Qie, even Li Ao. Because Yu Qie's methods were too frightening.

(End of this chapter)