Literary Master 1983

Chapter 313 Return of the King

Yuqie was taken to the hospital, and Betankul deployed a squad to protect him, while he gave a speech outside the hospital:
“We have a writer with a conscience here. He had nothing to do with all of this, but he decided to go through fire and water for it. I can’t express my gratitude to him in words. I love him as president and as a Colombian!”

"Yes, I would use the word 'love' to describe him. He was like a saint, a love that stemmed entirely from his appreciation of transcendent virtues and outstanding character, without a trace of selfishness. His kindness was innate... It was precisely because he was so great that the security guard's sacrifice was not in vain."

"Let us observe a moment of silence for him tonight."

Hundreds of citizens, reporters, and local book fans gathered outside the hospital. Everyone watched Beitankul silently, wondering about Yuqie's condition.

Some people were in tears, thinking that Yuqie was about to die.

They would at least be missing an arm or a leg, because Chile has a notorious reputation for assassinations; they are even more Colombian than Colombians.

A university student member of the "China-Colombia Friendship Association" burst into tears on the spot. In April, he had performed the boatmen of his hometown for Yuche. The boatmen need to wear only their underwear, shout rhythmically, and fall down to exert force in accordance with the shouts, almost lying flat on the ground.

When he rehearsed the show, many of his colleagues couldn't help but laugh, thinking it was some kind of witchcraft; but Yu Qie, the guest from China, was moved to tears on the spot and specifically sought out the management to praise his performance.

He was then given a signed copy of the book. This solidified his resolve to follow the writer Yu Qie for life.

There are quite a few people like this in Colombia, and thanks to extensive media coverage, Yu is one of only two Chinese people they know.

"Fellow citizens, friends... I have something to announce, I simply cannot bear it any longer..."

Bertancur felt the time was right to award Yuche the "Grand Cross of the Order of San Carlos," one of Colombia's highest honors for foreign friends, second only to the Gold Medal. It is typically awarded only to heads of state or internationally renowned scientists and artists.

The members of the delegation at the time were all honorary citizens of a coastal city in Colombia, but that was far from enough to express their respect for Yuche.

At this moment, someone else arrived from Eldorado Airport to explain to Betancourt the major events that had occurred at the airport.

"..."

"..."

Like a future US president encountering 9/11, Bertancur's eyes visibly trembled, his speech became incoherent, and he frequently pondered how to characterize the incident.

How could an airport hangar contain thousands of corpses? And perhaps even more?

Damn it, why is there such a huge scandal right after I leave office? How could this be my fault?
Did Gabriel García Márquez himself uncover the truth?

Is the ending exactly the same as that of "2666"?
This book is competing for the Cervantes Prize, the highest literary award in the Spanish-speaking world, and apparently some other American award as well... Doesn't that mean it's bound to win?

"Fellow citizens, friends... A great thing has happened in El Dorado. We have unearthed many bodies there, which have been identified as our fellow Colombians. But when it happened and who did it still requires more time... Márquez is there, praying for all of Colombia. He is unaware of what has happened here."

"Let us pray together for the dead. Today is a day of humiliation for this nation, but it is also a day of moving towards the light."

Ultimately, Bertancur chose to award Yuche the Grand Cross of the Order of San Carlos, but this medal required congressional approval, so Bertancur only made the offer verbally that evening. Bertancur visited Yuche with a large media presence, and in the hospital, he shed tears, half genuinely and half insincerely.

This scene naturally left behind countless photos, and the entire country will be repeatedly broadcasting this news from tonight until six o'clock tomorrow morning.

The discovery of a body at El Dorado Airport swept onto the international stage like a whirlwind, followed by the news of a Chinese writer being shot and having predicted a massacre. Tonight's news is so plentiful it's overwhelming; so many things have happened tonight.

Yu Qie, on the other hand, heard that Márquez was still kneeling at the airport.

This old man's mental world has collapsed.

How could I not break down?
The total number of corpses found in the Eldorado hangar eventually reached 20,000. This was the last international news Yu Qie saw before his transmigration, shocking the world. Márquez had spent his entire life investigating, only to be told that the number had been exaggerated to 3,000, but these 20,000 were truly devastating.

It's like someone spending their entire life practicing martial arts, finally ascending to the heavens, only to discover that the heavens are a lie, and this place is another, even more insane, boundless hell.

"Yuqie, are you injured?" Betankur grasped Yuqie's hand.

“Nothing happened here. I want to express my condolences for the innocent security guard who died while protecting me.”

A stray bullet hit Yu Qie, who was wearing a gold-inlaid jade medal worth 46,000 US dollars.

The bullet struck here, shattering the jade, leaving a small red mark on its chest from the impact.

The security guard was mistaken for Yu Qie by the agents, and bullets were fired at him. This man died entirely because of Yu Qie.

“He didn’t die in vain!” Betancourt said. “He didn’t die to save you, he died to save this country.”

Subsequently, Colombian media deliberately avoided reporting that Yuche was "uninjured," instead exaggerating that he was seriously injured. Many people thought Yuche was badly hurt, and then in the early morning, Yuche made a triumphant return, lying in a hospital bed with "bare blood" and being taken to El Dorado Airport.

Yu Qie was wearing those altered suit shorts. This made the scene slightly comical.

But the atmosphere quickly became extremely serious:
"Gabo!"

Yu Qie was pushed out and spoke to Márquez.

Márquez remained kneeling there, slowly turning his head.

This scene is a memorable moment in literary history, a moment in their lives.

The two writers rediscovered each other.

One uncovered the truth himself, the other predicted it, and then made a triumphant return after being "wounded".

Marquez has been informed of what happened to Yu Qie, and now his gaze toward Yu Qie is very different from before. This is not to say that Marquez really thinks Yu Qie is a "god"—he is not that foolish—but Marquez does believe that there is some unseen force that binds his fate to Yu Qie's actions.

“You anticipated it all; you knew it all along,” Márquez said.

Yu Qie denied it, saying, "Everything happened naturally. How would I know there was a tragedy here?"

"Rather than saying I expected it, it's more accurate to say there are many more Eldorados? There's more than one Macondo; there are Macondos everywhere here." Yu Qie offered a plausible explanation for his novel.

His point was that with these 20,000 people as a base, one could expect unforeseen massacres to occur all over the country.

According to a report by the United Nations Refugee Survey Agency, Colombia has never had basic household registration statistics, and the number of people who disappear without cause each year is between 8 and 12. These people may indeed have gone to other countries to settle down and live a peaceful life.

It may also lie quietly underground, waiting to see the light of day again in the future.

Who knows? Márquez did not argue with Yu Qie, but instead trembled all over. At that moment, he felt that his life had been so mediocre. Although he had won the Nobel Prize in Literature, he was like the Fool in his book, forever toyed with by fate.

He thought he had seen the truth, but he never expected it to be just a drop in the ocean.

In the instant he stood up, the elderly Márquez struggled too much and fell to the ground again.

Of course, others should help him up.

“No! I’ll do it myself!” Marquez said.

He tried this two or three times, but still couldn't get up. Finally, Yu Qie on the hospital bed reached out his hand to him. Márquez looked up as if he saw a beam of light. The two hands were clasped tightly together, and even the veins bulged.

"Kacha!"

Time magazine photographer Liu Xiangcheng pressed the shutter once again.

Pulitzer Prize!

Liu Xiangcheng roared inwardly!
If I can't take it, who has the right to?!

This is a legendary photograph comparable to the "Kiss of Victory," in which two writers from the East and West came together for the same cause.

And they actually dug it up! Although it's disrespectful to the dead...

Liu Xiangcheng seized the perfect opportunity and was in the perfect position. He had a premonition that he had captured a Pulitzer Prize-worthy news photo, a photo with countless stories to tell.

That evening, news about the "El Dorado Airport massacre" made international news, shocking the entire American continent. Television anchors were practically drooling with excitement, exclaiming, "My God! El Dorado is like a real treasure trove, only the 'treasure' is the dead!" Then came one thing after another: first, the two writers' "handshake of the century" made the front page of Time magazine, and then Betancourt said he would "use the power of the state to investigate the past massacres!"

The new president also stated that he would treat this matter as a top priority.

Of course he had to make a statement; the whole of Latin America is now focused on the massacre.

All parties have stepped forward to express their views:

Spanish writers have accused the warlord government and the former United Fruit Company of being inhumane, while the parties involved have tried to distance themselves from the situation.

Because the number of people involved in the airport massacre was so large, no one wanted to bear such a huge burden of blame.

Furthermore, due to the prevalence of warlordism in Latin America, everyone has more than one bad debt and no one wants to be implicated.

Compared to such massacres, Neruda's poisoning seems minor. He had pancreatic cancer, died in his sixties, and didn't have many more years to live.

Colombia is insane! There were 20,000 people! Old and young, men and women, all buried there, like grass.

Colombia organized a thorough excavation of the hangar, the largest cargo airport in Latin America, which was shut down for three days. The final announcement revealed the discovery of approximately 20,000 bodies, a horrifying number that would shock anyone. The United States, to the north, immediately defended itself, saying, "This time it really wasn't me, but I express my condolences." Chilean authorities declared at the outset, "This has nothing to do with me; I was just assassinating Yuche," before being overwhelmed by criticism.

Chileans from all over the world have united to demand that the warlord government thoroughly investigate the truth behind Neruda's death.

Furthermore, he apologized to Yu Qie.

In an interview, former President Allende's niece said, "There are at least 20,001 innocent bodies here. We cannot view the Erdorado massacre and Neruda's death in isolation; in fact, they are both prophecies of Yuche."

When Vargas Llosa, who was far away in Paris, heard about this, he fell silent, and then said, "I believe there is a big problem here. Mr. Neruda's death was very suspicious. He once told me to write for happiness."

After recovering from his emotional breakdown, Márquez told the media: "I am a sinner, I am an ignorant man, I was arrogant, and I deserve to be punished. Twenty thousand people are buried right under the noses of the whole country, and no one in the world has noticed; Neruda's death was even stranger, at least there were clues to follow. Would Yuche lie?"

Yes, that's something anyone could have imagined.

If even a massacre, something that has no basis in fact, can be miraculously unearthed, then how could the death of Neruda, shrouded in mystery, be considered normal?

Yu Qie wouldn't lie. Since he said that, it must be true.

Besides, he was assassinated. If you didn't do it, why would you assassinate someone else?

The Chilean government is overwhelmed. The massacre of 20,000 people is too horrifying. If no investigation is conducted soon, who knows how far the story will be fabricated?

The craziest thing I've ever done is kill and bury seven thousand people in a stadium, send my political enemies flying in a car bomb in front of the embassy, ​​or send someone to assassinate a writer. How can you slander me like this?

Twenty thousand people! Can I really do that in my own country?

Three days later, the Chilean government announced that it would reinvestigate the death of Neruda. To avoid a situation where they would "investigate themselves," a team of medical personnel from Spain, the United States, Argentina, and other countries went to Chile to conduct a joint investigation.

During this period, all of Márquez and Yuche's experiences were repeatedly reported by the media, resulting in many versions. Major newspapers such as Time Magazine and The New York Times flocked to Colombia to take photos; "El Dorado" became a taboo name, representing an ominous sign.

Yu Qie truly opened up the North American book market.

He is going through what Márquez did back then: first gaining widespread fame in Latin America, and then entering the Western world because of a major event.

Seventeen publishing houses are preparing to release a new edition of "2666", which will detail in the opening how "the Chinese writer gradually uncovered the truth" and project his story onto reality.

The ending features photos of the massacre scene, as well as the historic handshake between Márquez and Yuche.

Carmen flew in from Spain. When she saw Yu Qie in the hospital bed, she burst into tears and hugged him, crying, "Yu, the Cardinal no longer explains you, you're an alien too! Is your heart still beating?"

Yu Qie could only tell her, "The bullet didn't hit me, nothing happened to me."

“In my heart, you are someone who has already died once,” Carmen said. “All living Spanish writers should do their part for this; it is a miracle of life.”

According to Carmen, writers often undergo a mysterious ritual to ascend to the status of literary giants, which allows them to concentrate the power of heaven and earth upon themselves... and Yu Qie's story became the most unparalleled among all writers after World War II.

It was so perfect that it was flawless; the enemy, the comrades, and the objective were all achieved.

Doesn't that mean the minimum requirement is a near-literary giant? Or a Nobel Prize-winning author?

Yu Qie laughed at Carmen's statement, then said seriously, "Actually, there is still one thing I haven't accomplished."

(End of this chapter)