Literary Master 1983

Chapter 371 Yu Qie Harmed Me

At first, Paul and the others didn't think Gu Hua was crazy.

He seems normal.

Because of the intense labor and the humiliation he suffered, Gu Hua did become somewhat taciturn, but with the comfort of Paul and others, he regained confidence in his life after returning to China.

"Everything will be alright once I return to China!" Gu Hua encouraged herself. "I can still write; my brain hasn't rusted yet."

"Yu Qie? He can't stop me! I'm still young!"

Paul smiled, thinking that Gu Hua had a good attitude.

If you pray that your suffering will eventually end, you will suffer endlessly.

They eventually contacted Ambassador Han and explained Gu Hua's situation.

“We hope to send this person back. He betrayed his country and Yu Qie, who was the head of the delegation at the time… Now we have found him.”

"We have no right to decide how to deal with him! By the way, we hope you can tell Yu Qie that we are the ones who found him!"

Unexpectedly, Ambassador Han started pacing around the room, finding the situation extremely troublesome.

Gu Hua is currently an "unregistered resident." He could be an American refugee, a Chinese citizen, or neither.

At that time, there was no immigration repatriation system between the two countries, and China did not recognize dual citizenship. Therefore, those who defected essentially lost their identity and needed to register again.

Politically speaking, Gu Hua is no longer a person in China.

Accepting him would require paying for his airfare and reconsidering his lifestyle... No country would like someone like that.

Therefore, most of the traitors were refused repatriation and left to fend for themselves.

However, Gu Hua is quite different. He once served as the vice chairman of the provincial literary association, and his novels won the Mao Dun Literature Prize... He is an intellectual with a distinguished record. Rejecting him could trigger a chain reaction.

Many people know that Gu Hua and Yu Qie have a rift—if Gu Hua is refused deportation, it will give the impression that Yu Qie is interfering, which would be detrimental to Yu Qie's reputation. Now that he is a professor, he shouldn't give the impression of being domineering anymore.

He should have many friends and few enemies.

Ambassador Han said helplessly, "This foreigner is practically putting me on the hot seat."

After thinking it over, he had no choice but to ask Yu Qie what he thought: Professor Yu, do you want to give Gu Hua a way out?
Yu Qie, of course, wouldn't take the bait: "I'm a citizen, I have no right to dictate other people's fates! The law should be what it is."

Ambassador Han continued, “Yu Qie, don’t you have any stance? I spent a long time with you last year, and you know I’m reliable… After your documentary was made, I never said a bad word about it to anyone.”

After listening, Yu Qie expressed his true thoughts:
“Although I cannot decide his fate, as a Chinese person with simple feelings, I feel that such a person should not continue to be the vice chairman of the provincial writers’ association. He should not be given any more of those allowances or subsidies, and he should even be convicted.”

"Otherwise I won't agree, and I believe other Chinese people won't agree either."

Ambassador Han immediately understood Yu Qie's opinion.

He wants Gu Hua dead.

Gu Hua's health is already failing. If he can't write novels after returning to China, he won't be able to enjoy those benefits anymore... What's the difference between that and taking his life?
But shouldn't it be like this?
Bah! Traitor!

Old Han submitted a report to the Chinese authorities and received a reply in less than 24 hours: Yu Qie was still the head of that delegation, and it was his duty to write a report on Gu Hua's performance during his time in the United States.

The leader's method is still the best!

Gu Hua is probably finished!
Ambassador Han felt a surge of secret delight: Yu Qie was unlikely to write him a good report.

Gu Hua went crazy immediately after receiving the news.

He started rambling incoherently, like a drowning person struggling desperately: Yu Qie wants to harm me, Yu Qie wants to kill me!
A moment later, she said, "I knew I shouldn't have come to America. Really, I was so stupid! I only knew that Chinese restaurants in Iowa wouldn't accept me and would bully me, but I never thought Mexicans would be like this too!"

Gu Hua was half-coaxed and half-tricked into going to New York to await his fate. He was arranged to be on the same flight back to China as Yu Qie.

A week had passed by then, and Gu Hua's hysteria was getting worse.

He saw on the news that Yu Qie had won the Cervantes Prize and remained silent for a long time; he discovered that the people Yu Qie had taken care of were receiving subsidies in the United States, and he gritted his teeth until they were broken, his eyes turning red.

The documentary produced by the BBC in the UK was even more infuriating, and Gu Hua requested that it be burned onto a copy for repeated viewing.

"There are subtitles on this. I know some English now, so I can use a dictionary to look it up."

Paul said, "English documentaries usually don't have subtitles, but do you know why this one has them?"

"why?"

"Because Yu Qie is a world-class writer, and this is a world-class documentary."

Gu Hua fell silent, then turned to Nie Hualing and asked, "Do you think so too?"

It was Nie Hualing who lured Gu Hua away from the delegation. Gu Hua knew that Nie Hualing didn't think much of Yu Qie.

Unexpectedly, Nie Hualing said, "I will hate this person for the rest of my life! I hate him! But he is indeed the most famous writer among Chinese people."

Gu Hua went even crazier.

He borrowed a secondhand dictionary and spent a lot of time looking through the documentary's narration sentence by sentence, hoping to find some harsh comments.

But documentaries are always positive, with very little criticism.

“Yu Qie, whom we now call Yu, is the most famous Chinese writer in the Western world. His name carries a connotation of ‘wealth,’ which is indeed the case now.”

"When he was twenty years old, after recovering from a severe cold, this young man from a county town in southwest China decided to take everything away from then on... God chose him, and he embarked on this extraordinary path."

What extraordinary! That's utter nonsense!

Gu Hua wanted to throw the dictionary away.

"Of course, he is an atheist who believes he has complete control over his own destiny... This is close to arrogance, but who can blame him when he is Yuche? Proverbs 16 says, 'Man proposes the plan, but the Lord decides,' and he is his own master."

Yu Qie is not as good as you all say!
He is hypocritical and domineering, and he likes to spend money to buy fame, so that he can appear the most noble and everyone else can be villains!

Gu Hua continued translating with red eyes:

"To the readers, Yu Qie was a close friend; to his enemies, he was an incomprehensibly belligerent man."

"Since he became a writer, he has thoroughly defeated many people."

Yes! That's it, that's it!

This guy is incredibly combative! He's not a writer at all!
Anyone could understand my defection except Yu Qie. He always wanted others to do things his way!

The usually taciturn Gu Hua was surprisingly animated while watching this documentary! Whenever the documentary criticized Yu Qie's personality even slightly, Gu Hua would become ecstatic.

But this documentary was originally intended to portray Yu Qie.

Paul said to Nie Hualing, "In documentaries, all the flaws are used to create a hero. This is a common technique in documentaries, but Gu Hua doesn't realize that... He'll go even crazier if he continues like this!"

How could Nie Hualing not know? Helpless, she could only burst into tears: "If I were him, I would have been driven mad too!"

Gu Hua continued translating, desperately searching for statements unfavorable to Yu Qie and copying them down.

He believes these words may be useful and could serve as evidence in the future of Yu Qie's damage to his international image.

"If anyone disobeys him, he will bring divine punishment. Forgive us for frequently quoting religious concepts, because although he himself did not think so, his legend is actually like an epic sung by wandering minstrels."

What kind of wandering poet? He's just a product of propaganda; he knows better than anyone how to flatter reporters! He loves to put on a show!

"In the Hispanic-speaking region where religious beliefs are strong, how many people worship him because of his story? We are talking about his story."

You're talking nonsense again!

"Yuche is the kind of person who is more troublesome than the Mafia, because the Mafia can negotiate things, but Yuche is an idealist who will always do whatever it takes to achieve his ideals—even if it sometimes hurts others, he will not back down," said Vargas Llosa, who is running for leadership.

This documentary is well made!

It has a bit of the meaning of "great loyalty appears as treachery".

Yu Qie flew from the UK to New York, watching the new BBC documentary intermittently along the way.

British documentaries are indeed impressive.

A value system was subtly instilled: anything detrimental to Yuqie is a soldier's weakness, and a soldier is still a soldier no matter how many weaknesses he has.

Everything Yu Qie did was his personal achievement; those who opposed him were all evil villains, and even the most perfect fly is still a fly.

The Vietnamese and Chileans definitely have something to say...

"Shao Qi, have you seen how the British make documentaries?"

"I saw it, that's brilliant! But I won't use it."

"Why?" Yu Qie asked helplessly. "You can learn to write for others. Isn't that what you've always wanted—the human side of a hero?"

"It's not the same thing. I'm not writing about the controversial side of this person, but about the soft side of his heart."

"Then you can continue your research."

On the plane, Yu Qie completed his "Report on Gu Hua's Visit to the United States".

In short, Gu Hua is doomed.

Currently, the heads of delegations are required to evaluate the members and write post-trip reports, which often leads to members trying to curry favor with the head of the delegation.

Prior to this, all of Yu Qie's reports had used the same cliché: This comrade performed very well.

He didn't even criticize Zhang Xianliang for letting Gu Hua go; the whole thing was full of praise.

Only Gu Hua led Yu Qie to the opposite extreme. The organization actually gave Yu Qie the power to determine the nature of the case, so Yu Qie naturally wrote a scathing critique of Gu Hua.

HarperCollins' corporate headquarters are in New York, and the novel *Metro* is still a bestseller. Yu Qie has several interviews and fan meetings scheduled.

He also needs to personally endorse his new book, "American Psycho".

The book has already had a small initial print run of 3,000 copies, which sold out immediately.

Yenching University then asked Yu Qie to invite some prominent figures in American academia to China... Yu Qie had just become a professor, so he naturally had to take the university's affairs seriously.

A coffee shop, a makeshift interview venue.

Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times is asking a question:
"What is 'American Psycho' about? It's about a Wall Street elite, Bateman, who degenerates into a demon driven by materialism, killing people for pleasure... There are some straightforward criticisms of consumerism in it."

"But what we readers want to know more about is whether Batman actually killed anyone? Why did everyone ignore Batman's crimes at the end?"

Yu Qie said, “I’ll answer by quoting the last line of my novel: This is not the way out.”

"This isn't a way out? What do you mean?"

Whether Batman killed anyone or not is not important, I don't know either. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't... When you get hung up on whether he killed anyone, you're not finding a way out.

Michiko Kakutani immediately understood: "You mean, in a society like this, consumerism is far more prevalent than humanitarianism. People are simply less important than things."

Yu Qie smiled and raised his hand: "I didn't say that, you're the one who found out."

The audience, realizing what was happening, began to applaud.

……

At the end of the interview, Michiko Kakutani revealed that she hoped to establish a connection with Yokiri.

Yu Qie refused.

Michiko Kakutani was extremely disappointed. This chief book critic of The New York Times, known for her stoic demeanor, actually shed tears of frustration.

She looks a bit like a mature version of Ran Mouri, but her personality isn't gentle at all. Michiko Kakutani has made countless enemies in the United States; she has a notoriously foul mouth, and many writers dislike her, yet still need the massive traffic she generates.

The writers were caught in a dilemma, and some, driven to madness, called her a "goddess-like suicide squad," "a woman who has dedicated her life to smearing white male writers," and a "slut"...

Who would have thought that Michiko Kakutani would speak to Yokiri like that?

"Good heavens, I brought a recording pen! Professor Yu, I think this Japanese woman is completely captivated by you," said Chade, who was accompanying him.

Where is the voice recorder?

"in my possession."

"You're not allowed to record anymore, and you need to delete this part. Also, why do you think Michiko Kakutani was impressed?"

Chad said, “Okay. I’m French, and I know strong women best. When you’re far stronger than her, you’ll see her incredible, womanly side, which belongs entirely to you.”

"Good analysis. Don't do any more analysis in the future," Yu said.

“Okay,” Cha said humbly.

Michiko Kakutani has a father named Shizuo Kakutani, a mathematician whose theories are widely applied in mathematics and economics. Yukichi was quite enthusiastic towards Michiko Kakutani because he wanted to invite Shizuo Kakutani.

Unexpectedly, the iceberg melted—he had only heated it to thirty degrees Celsius.

Although he declined Michiko Kakutani's invitation, Yu Qie still extended an invitation to her through Harper, hoping that she could visit China and bring her elderly father with her.

Michiko Kakutani suddenly realized, and then Yenching University confirmed with Yu Qie that Shizuo Kakutani would be visiting Yenching University soon.

This has happened many times since Yu Qie won the award.

(End of this chapter)