Literary Master 1983

Chapter 389 Carmen's Surrender

Although Márquez was unaware of the unusual relationship between Yu Che and Watson, he did know that Yu Che was a persistent person.

“He possesses some of the traditional virtues of this country. He is willing to repay those who have helped him a hundredfold; and he will remember those who have wronged him and take revenge one day.”

This is how Márquez described Yu Qie.

During his time in China, Márquez devoted himself to research and writing. In his later years, after suffering from cancer and Alzheimer's disease, he ceased to be a "magical realist" writer and turned to become a realist writer.

His writing has become increasingly simple, and his stories are no longer extremely absurd. But the emotions that flow between the lines are still very rich.

On their way to the Chinese capital, Márquez and Carmen stayed together the whole way.

The two had many in-depth conversations.

As he left the Yangtze, Márquez threw a stone into the river, watched the ripples spread across its surface, and said, "I once threw a pebble into the Magdalena River, and I watched the ripples disappear completely, just like the Yangtze now."

"Have the ripples on the river disappeared? Yes, they have."

"But did this stone never come? It did come."

The Magdalena River is the river in Márquez's hometown. Among the countless rivers in the world, its length, volume, and drainage area are insignificant, but it is the mother river of tens of millions of people in Colombia.

It is famous worldwide because the South American liberator Bolívar traveled along the Magdalena River during the last three months of his life, a section of which happened to be in Anla Calaca, the hometown of Márquez. Márquez mentioned this river many times, and he himself visited it more than ten times.

When Bolívar liberated South America and swept through the country with unstoppable momentum, the Magdalena River witnessed his great achievements. When Bolívar fell into despair, he walked into town along the muddy road on the riverbank.

"The great Magdalena, the little Bolívar; the great Yangtze, the little Márquez and Yuche."

Marquez couldn't help but exclaim: "On the Magdalena River, on the surface of the Yangtze, how many heroes throughout history have cast their lives into the waters, yet the rivers have never changed."

"Even so, we little stones did not come for nothing."

In "The General in His Labyrinth", Márquez also prepared to write about Colombia's mother river once again.

The BBC documentary mentions the Wanxian massacre right from the start, which was at Yu Qie's insistence; Márquez was also inspired by this, and he hoped to leave more of his own mark on the world.

Like those stones thrown out, he didn't want to have come all this way for nothing.

Carmen listened intently, eager to know how Márquez would "make the most of his trip."

But then, Márquez began to reminisce again.

"Five years ago, I had just won the Nobel Prize in Literature... I thought my life was in jeopardy and I would never be able to be a creative writer again."

"Because fame and adulation can lead people astray. Look at Vargas Llosa, ever since he returned to Peru and became a member of Congress, he has become obsessed with real power and has lost all interest in writing on paper."

Carmen, of course, knew about this.

Therefore, Yuche's position became increasingly important within the literary empire built by Carmen. This is because Márquez lost his creativity, and Vargas Llosa simply ceased to be a writer.

However, Yuqie cannot be said to be entirely pure.

Carmen said regretfully, "Yu Qie is an economist, but he doesn't really do his job properly. And now he's very rich, I wonder if he still has the motivation to create."

“When we discussed the copyright of his novel with Yu Qie this time, he was sure to be very meticulous and wouldn’t give us a single penny.”

"It's you, not me, and not us."

"All right!"

Faced with Márquez's accusations, Carmen dared not refute him.

As for whether Yuqie will change, Márquez remained noncommittal, though he was also somewhat worried about it.

Upon arriving in the Chinese capital, after hearing about Yuche and Watson's situation, Márquez felt relieved.

"Yu Qie is still that person."
-
After months of travel, with Carmen as his representative, Márquez officially granted the copyrights of his novels to mainland China.

At Márquez's request, the copyright price was quite low; the entire copyright was negotiated for less than a million US dollars, for a period of twenty years, a one-time buyout. A group of Hong Kong businessmen and wealthy Southeast Asian enthusiasts of literature participated. Yu Qie didn't contribute a penny. When Márquez learned that Yu Qie's wife might go into business in the future, he granted Yu Qie's family permission to publish his novels in the future.

Yu Qieze guaranteed that after Márquez's death, his two children, who had no particular talents, would still be able to receive royalties from China.

This is very important to Márquez. Currently, Márquez's entire family lives around him; his brother is the curator of the "Márquez Museum," his wife has also been involved in the media business, and his two sons will become screenwriters for various film and television adaptations of their father's works.

Pirated novels that are popular on the market are about to be eliminated, and Chinese magical (Latin American) realism has taken root.

After the news spread, the literary world was filled with joy.

Piracy of a Nobel laureate's book is not exactly something to be proud of, so it's good that the matter has been resolved satisfactorily.

Now that Márquez had arrived in the capital, Yu Qie naturally accompanied him on his tour, visiting various places.

The reception delegation that welcomed Márquez was very impressive. In addition to Yu Qie, there was also Qian Zhongshu, the vice president of the Academy of Social Sciences, who had just come down from the operating table not long ago.

There was also Wang Meng, who, despite not understanding Spanish, insisted on introducing the achievements of Chinese literature.

Beijing is the stronghold of the domestic literary scene, and nowadays probably nearly half of the writers reside there. Gabriel García Márquez lived in a renovated courtyard house on Gulou Street, a vacant house bought by Yu Qie that had never been lived in.

Many writers assumed this was a place Márquez had temporarily bought, and they all came to visit him, which annoyed him greatly. He hung a photograph at the entrance of the house with the caption:

"Discussions about Márquez are forbidden here."

Therefore, writers dared not talk about Márquez, and could only talk about "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Chronicle of a Premeditated Murder" in a roundabout way... Writer Guan Moye came from his hometown to pay special attention to Márquez's appearance, praised him as "a handsome man", and asked him, "Isn't Vargas Llosa more handsome?"

Márquez never expected such a remarkable person to exist. He was utterly annoyed and finally wrote on it, "There is no Márquez here; he is dead."

Now finally no one came looking for Márquez.

Afterwards, Qian Zhongshu and Wang Meng went back to their own work, leaving only Yu Qie to accompany Márquez and the Spanish woman Carmen.

When the two arrived at Yu Qie's house, they met Chen Xiaoxu and Zhang Li. They were initially surprised, but then very happy.

"You've become a writer completely now," Márquez said. "That's what a man should do." Carmen suddenly realized why Yu Qie demanded such high royalties. It turned out he was also starting to support many people.

“Sigh, you writers brought this on yourselves!” Carmen whispered to Márquez. “Women spend a lot of money, and they’re never satisfied no matter how much they spend. They don’t know that all that money comes from the words that writers wrote… they think it fell from the sky.”

Marquez learned by chance that Yu Qie's money was deposited in various forms in accounts at home and abroad, and much of it had been converted into precious metals and fixed assets.

A significant portion of it was donated.

In reality, the family's daily expenses were supported by Yu Qie's two wives. Even while pregnant, Zhang Li still agreed with Yu Qie's donations to rural education.

Chen Xiaoxu also quietly donated some money.

Márquez was even more delighted: "He has two women like Basha, both of whom possess a virtue that is becoming increasingly rare among women—maternal love for their husbands. I should tell Basha about this."

Then, before leaving China, Márquez hoped to reconcile Yuche and Carmen.

This is what he has always wanted to do.

In reality, the Latin American literary empire led by Márquez and others is now in decline, and it contains too many politically asylum elites, middle-class writers, and fake "Latin American writers" with American or Spanish citizenship.

The authors are not even in their home countries, so it is naturally difficult for their novels to have an impact.

Why did Bolivar meet such a tragic end?
It was because his career was betrayed and he couldn't find a trustworthy successor. As a result, he witnessed the collapse of his career while he was still alive.

Márquez first persuaded Yuche to be his successor: "After Vargas Llosa and I are gone, you are essentially the heir to this literary legacy. We don't have many people, but we have two or three hundred, spread all over the world."

These people range from members of Congress and the former president's niece to newspaper reporters; they can all speak for you and promote your views, just as they did when you faced the ultimatum from Chile.

Sometimes, it might be your lifesaver.

Of course, the height of your career also represents the height of the careers of writers in the Third World. Otherwise, no one will listen to you.

On the surface, Yu Qie didn't show much interest in this matter.

As long as Carmen continues to dream of being the "Pope of Literature," she will never be able to return to that intimate relationship with Yuqie.

Márquez then turned to Carmen and urged her: Stop dreaming, surrender.

“I know you’ve always been worried that the Latin American literary storm will just die out, but it will definitely die out. It has nothing to do with the writers, but rather that Latin America is just like this, and it cannot occupy a central position in world literature for long.”

"Therefore, I don't know what will happen to Yu Qie in the future, but the literary super empire we have created will surely perish."

You need to realize this.

This was the first time Márquez mentioned the conflict between Carmen and Yuche to her.

Carmen was flustered and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

This place has a magical power. Could it be that after coming to China, Márquez, like James Watson, had ulterior motives?

If Márquez were to betray us, this literary empire would not even be able to survive; it would be utterly finished.

Carmen could only manage to utter one sentence: "Gabo, what do you mean by saying all this to me?"

"It means exactly what you think: I hope you can reconcile with Yu Qie. I'm fed up with being caught in the middle as a peacemaker. I think you two haven't recognized each other's position."

"Yu Qie is still very young, and he is irreplaceable."

Carmen was agitated: "Are you asking me to back down? I came all the way from Barcelona to faraway China for the publication of your novel, and I even learned some Chinese... China is not a country where you can make money immediately. What I'm doing is your future wealth!"

"When you're confused and remember nothing, you can still get royalties from the Chinese who have become wealthy at that time—I even hope you can hitch a ride on Yu Qie's coattails! I humbly asked him to translate your novel, why are you treating me like this?"

“Enough!” Márquez echoed Yu Qie’s words. “I have received favors from you in the past, but at least now you know clearly that I am not welcomed by the Chinese because of you.”

He took out the latest newspaper.

Although it's written in Chinese, it often features a portrait of Gabriel García Márquez. This is because his novels have cultivated a large following of empty followers in China over the years.

Márquez didn't care about these Chinese "magical realism" disciples who inexplicably came to claim kinship, but he felt they might be useful to Yu Qie.

Think about it, Yu Qie has become the interpreter of magical realism; there's nothing more surprising in the world.

“You should apologize to Yu Qie and at least consider him as someone on your level.”

Faced with a true master of magical realism, Carmen dared not act rashly. She simply couldn't understand how Old Ma could achieve such a level of mastery.
“Last year, you nominated Yu Qie for the Nobel Prize in Literature; this year, you did it again.”

"You sold your copyright to Yu Qie and his compatriots for a pittance, simply because you believed in his empty promises..."

Marquez said, "How can this be a pipe dream? If I were assassinated, there would still be someone in the world willing to speak up for me, and that person would be Yu Qie."

Carmen said, "Yuche will change too! He won't take risks like he used to."

This reminded Márquez of the early days of his literary empire, when everyone was very friendly.

Carmen was once a symbol of progress, representing the power of ordinary people. At that time, writers in Third World countries were in dire straits, and Carmen risked being shot to provide them with royalties and basic salaries, lifting them out of poverty.

Now, twenty years later, Carmen's company has become a symbol of backwardness.

Will Yuqie change?
Based on his understanding of James Watson after arriving in the Chinese capital, Márquez believes that Yu Che will not undergo fundamental changes.

The fact that Yu Qie was willing to write a novel for a villain like Watson shows that Yu Qie has always been reliable.

He presented Carmen with two novels, "The Village Teacher" and "The Way of Dawn."

"The answer you're looking for is here."

It's unclear whether Márquez was too resolute or Carmen came to a realization.

As Márquez and his party left Beijing, Carmen paid to publicly apologize to Yu Qie in a Chinese newspaper.

(End of this chapter)