Literary Master 1983

Chapter 306 This is only part of my story
The article was serialized in Colombia's El Observador, where Márquez once worked as an investigative journalist.

Yu Qie wrote "The Death of Neruda" as a news series investigation, and he wrote about each new development in it.

The "Cardinal in Cardinal" has begun to act!

Latin American writers realized that Yuche was serious.

Those who believed Neruda's death was indeed suspicious reprinted Yuche's research in their newspapers, while those who didn't believe remained silent for the time being. They dared neither speak up for Neruda nor disobey the Cardinal.

Yu Che's two bodyguards began to follow him around like shadows. Márquez said, "You are getting involved in the most secretive side of Chile. I wouldn't be surprised if they assassinated you one day."

“Would you write an article titled ‘A Premeditated Murder’ to commemorate me?” Yu Qie asked.

“I’ve reached the end of my literary career. Now I don’t need to write any better novels. I just hope you’re alive.” Márquez blinked.

Clearly, the situation was more serious than Yuche had imagined. Betancur was taken aback by Yuche's sudden outburst against the Chilean government and suggested that Yuche stay at Márquez's home or the presidential palace.

The latter goes without saying, while Márquez, as the most famous figure in the country, owns a luxurious villa on a hilltop in Bogotá after he became wealthy, with a very high level of security.

Yu Qie moved into Márquez's house.

He saw the layout of Bogotá for the first time. It was just like the city in the movie "City of God". The whole city was built on a mountain at an altitude of 2600 meters, and the air was so thin that it made him dizzy.

Looking north, the city's mansions and office buildings gleam in the sunlight, like a futuristic city from a science fiction movie; looking south, the slums' tin shacks are densely packed on the hillside, looking like a moldy rag from a distance.

The most surreal thing is that these two worlds are separated by only one street. Therefore, this situation occurs: on one side of the street, wealthy women are drinking expensive coffee, while on the other side, barefoot children are picking up trash.

Why do corpses always seem to be washed out during heavy rainstorms?

Because the city is like a giant drainage ditch, once a heavy rainstorm occurs, limbs are washed down the mountain like garbage.

The alleys of the slums were so narrow that one could only pass sideways, and sewage flowed down the hillside. The homes of the poor were often tiny tin shacks of less than ten square meters, where five family members crammed together. Their beds were just a few planks of wood, and their stoves were made from recycled oil drums. Gunshots were frequently heard at night, but people had become accustomed to them.

When he visited the slums, the government hired a young man named Carlos for him. This man's name is exactly the same as the left-back of Real Madrid football team in the future.

Carlos also loves playing football and can sing and dance. His salary is very meager, while the local prices are ridiculously high.

For him, all he needs is a tortilla to eat.

Forty years later, when Yuqie's motherland rises, this place remains largely unchanged, but at least these people have access to cheap industrial products and can watch short videos for entertainment. Now they have nothing, so what do they do all day?

Yes, reading novels.

In terms of spiritual poverty alone, it is somewhat similar to mainland China in the early 1980s.

One Hundred Years of Solitude sold millions of copies in Colombia. Considering the population ratio, that's equivalent to a certain novel selling one or two hundred million copies in China!
“I believe Mr. Neruda was not a poet who died of grief; he wouldn’t be so fragile. Mr. Yu, I read your novel ‘Lurking.’ Yu Zecheng had three wives! These three wives left him at different times, but he never gave up on his life. No matter how great the grief, it did not break him!”

These are the words Carlos said to Yuche.

Yup!

Yu Qie suddenly realized that during the cultural exchange between China and Colombia, his novel "Lurking" was translated into Spanish and sold in Latin America. After reading his novel, some people had a new understanding of the image of the revolutionary.

Revolutionaries are resilient and strong. How could Neruda, a world-renowned literary giant and an early party member, be so heartbroken that he died on the spot?
Yu Qie's creative drive soared to unprecedented heights, and he published several research papers in succession. Furthermore, he tirelessly lobbied and promoted his views at regular gatherings of Latin American writers.

The female writer Allende was curious: "How do you know that Neruda died of poisoning? What if you're wrong?"

Because I've read related reports. Neruda died of thallium poisoning.

The Chinese are no strangers to thallium.

This is a toxin that is almost impossible to detect visually through symptoms while the person is alive. And there was a highly sensational case in China that occurred at Tsinghua University, located opposite Yenching University.

A similar tragedy occurred in a girls' dormitory there. Out of jealousy, a girl poisoned her roommate, causing her death. The hospital was helpless because they had no idea what had happened and could only watch the victim die. This case had a significant impact, spanning decades, and is known to almost every intellectual in China.

Thallium is so amazing, how could I not know about it?
Yu Qie gave a speech at a writers' gathering: "People often summarize the Latin American literary storm as Latin Americans first proving themselves to be Latin Americans before they are writers. This means that we ourselves are also part of creating Latin American stereotypes."

"When people talk about Latin America, all they can think of is sex, killing, corruption... Is it going to be like this forever? Latin Americans have courage, let me see your courage."

"Yu, what do you plan to do?" A Spanish writer named Vázquez became interested in Yu's question.

Yu recognized him; Vázquez was the greatest Spanish detective novelist of the 20th century, who had been imprisoned for eighteen months in his youth for opposing the dictatorship. Furthermore, he was a member of the Communist Party.

Yu Qie said, "I am gathering evidence about Neruda's death. If you support me, please reprint my words in newspapers you know; if you do not support me, I hope you will remain indifferent to me this time."

“How could I not support you? Of course I support you,” Vázquez said.

Donoso, the "fifth general of the Latin American literary boom," also expressed his support for Yuche: "I have always thought that Mr. Neruda's death was suspicious. I believe that he was romantic and sensitive to life, and strong enough for his cause."

After these two made their statements, some people broke their silence and proactively provided Yu Qie with materials from that time:

In Chile, there have always been huge dissenting voices, but they have all been suppressed by the authorities. Few prominent figures abroad can logically analyze the death of Neruda; perhaps Márquez had that status, but he couldn't even play bridge properly.

Márquez was a fool in this respect. He initially believed his old friend died mysteriously, but in his later years, he also believed his friend died from excessive grief. Then Neruda's body was exhumed and an autopsy revealed toxins, and Márquez, who had by then developed Alzheimer's disease, couldn't remember anything.

It's as if he never knew how his old friend died, let alone helped Neruda overturn his conviction.

What information did Yu Qie see?
After Neruda's death, his residence was ransacked. In addition, former Chilean President Frei died in almost the same hospital, and the hospital's records were completely lost. His death was similar to Neruda's, but Frei was healthy and had no obvious chronic diseases.

This person died a sudden death, without even having a chance to say anything.

The then-Minister of the Interior also died in his home, with Chilean official reports stating he "died by hanging." How could a Minister of the Interior, who was supposed to be enjoying his old age, commit suicide?

This is impossible.

Both female writers Allende and Márquez knew Neruda, and they each revealed a little-known secret.

First, Allende: "Mr. Neruda's driver is still alive, and he has always believed that there was something wrong with Neruda's death. I'd like to introduce him to you."

Yu Qie spent two days contacting Neruda's driver, who stated definitively, "Mr. Neruda could not have died of natural causes. Someone, at the behest of the authorities, injected Neruda with a deadly poison, causing the poet to die." "How do you know this?" Yu Qie asked.

The man said, "Because I was outside the hospital with Mr. Neruda at the time. He was asleep, and the doctors were coming and going. I didn't know what they were doing... They chased me away, and when I came back, Mr. Neruda, barely able to speak, told me that they had injected him with something..."

"Didn't you think of any solutions?" Marquez, who was accompanying Yu Qie, was immediately furious.

The driver said, "I'm just a driver. Even the president was driven to suicide, what can I do?"

Well, all Márquez could do was sigh deeply.

Later, Márquez mentioned a secret about Neruda: Neruda was a rather cold person.

Neruda had a disabled daughter. At first, Neruda loved her very much, but after she showed signs of her disability, he stopped liking her and even left his wife because of it.

In this respect, he is a complete scumbag and an incompetent father.

In his early years, Neruda loved to introduce his daughter to his friends. However, as time went on, his friends noticed strangely that the little girl's head was getting bigger and bigger and her appearance was becoming more and more deformed. As a result, his friends all showed "pitiful and speechless expressions".

Neruda gradually mentioned his daughter less and less, until it was as if she had never existed in his life.

He believed that "this child will die. She has suffered greatly." Therefore, no further care was needed, and she should be left to fend for herself.

What does this mean?

Neruda was a perfectionist; such a person, even if he committed suicide, would not die from excessive grief. In other words, when faced with a dead end, he would take his own life and death into his own hands.

He's the kind of person who's equally cold-blooded towards his daughter and towards himself.

Of course, Neruda was sincere and enthusiastic towards people in other parts of the world, because that was another side of him as a poet and politician.

Yu Qie wrote about all of this in "The Death of Neruda," a research paper that ignited the Latin American literary scene and brought to light a long-forgotten aspect of history: people began to think that it was impossible for someone like Neruda to die from excessive grief.

After all, he was a completely different person from the "love poems" he wrote.

There's a lot of discussion in Colombia; Neruda is a hero in the hearts of Latin Americans, even though he was Chilean and also wrote Spanish novels. His novels are easy to read.

Yu Qie is a rising star writer who has recently gained some fame for his "nuclear literature" and sharp commentary on infrastructure.

Now the two have come together, and the latter is determined to open the former's coffin and explain to people what happened in the twenty-four hours before his death.

In the favela of Bogotá, Carlos, who had been a guide for Yuche, boasted to his friend, "I know that Chinese man! I've spoken to him!"

His friends stared at him in surprise, then pulled out a copy of The Observer: "Are you talking about the people in this picture?"

The photo above is of Yu Qie giving a speech at the Grand Theater; the image is not very clear.

But Carlos recognized him: "It's him! He's exceptionally tall, just like one of the elite honor guards selected from the presidential guard!"

In Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and many other countries, numerous newspapers reprinted Yu Qie's research. In Chile, the epicenter of the incident, the government ordered a nationwide ban on the research paper and also confiscated Yu Qie's novels, declaring him "persona non grata."

When Márquez asked Yu Qie how he felt, he replied, "You are now suffering the same fate I did back then, being blacklisted by a country."

Yu Qie said, "This is just part of my story."

"What if you die? I fled to Mexico back then."

“I am now living in the home of one of the most famous people in Latin America. The president has assigned two bodyguards to accompany me 24 hours a day. I am confident in my safety.”

"The Death of Neruda" has become Yu Qie's recent representative work. The Observer Daily published Yu Qie's research paper in full, which has been widely discussed.

Nobel laureates could be assassinated?

The fact that Gabriel García Márquez was once wanted and attempted to assassinate has contributed to his legendary status in the public eye, while now a Nobel laureate named Pablo Neruda seems to have been assassinated.

Another writer named "Yu" investigated this "friend he had never met," and was subsequently banned by a country, which gave Yu Qiexin a legendary status.

A Colombian publishing house called "Black Sheep" compiled and published "The Death of Neruda." The first print run of 100,000 copies sold out within a week. Subsequently, a Mexican publishing house also applied for the copyright and printed 300,000 copies.

At the same time, Argentine publisher "South America" ​​and Spanish publisher "Brugla" also printed large quantities. These are both well-known publishers in their respective countries.

Carmen also came to find Yu Qie.

“You’ve gone too far. Someone told me to warn you. Yu, that’s enough, really enough.”

Carmen has connections in both the legal and illegal worlds, and the authors under her wing often get into huge trouble that requires her to resolve. A newspaper, *The New Yorker*, quoted a European publisher as saying, "She's like James Bond, a super literary agent with a license to kill."

It means that Carmen is rampant in the publishing industry and can kill whoever she wants.

However, even someone like her couldn't handle Yu Qie's current troubles, so she had to come and persuade Yu Qie to give up.

Yu Qie would certainly not agree.

Carmen asked, "Why do you want to find out the truth?"

“I read Neruda’s poems. Neruda is my friend.”

“Yu, if you want to add more drama to your story through this, then you can stop now. People will know about your achievements, and you won’t be hunted down. The truth about Neruda’s death will come out sooner or later, and you’ll live to see it.”

Yu Qie replied to her, "You've mistaken me for an opportunist. Perhaps my past actions have led to this misunderstanding. But every single thing I've done has been done with my own sweat and blood."

Yes, why does Carmen value Yuqie so much?
Besides Yu Qie's exceptional talent, it is also because of his unparalleled storytelling ability, which cannot be taught or easily packaged; it is a writer's innate talent and keen sense of smell.

Is there really such a big difference in skill level among top writers?
Why are some people etched in the annals of civilization, immortalized for millennia, while others are forgotten after a few decades?

Because the latter lacks a narrative.

(End of this chapter)