A healing writer? No, it's a depressing writer!

Chapter 298 Guinness World Records! "Forty Views of the Old Summer Palace"! Don't forget the heavy history!
Reading makes people wise.

But there is actually a hierarchy between books.

More general literary works, such as popular novels, may be enjoyable to read, but they will give you a strong sense of loneliness after you finish reading them.

A slightly higher-level literary work will make you reflect on your past life after reading it.

"Why am I who I am now?"

A truly meaningful and philosophical classic literary work will not only make you reflect on your past life after reading it, but will also lead you to have a strong thinking about the world -

Why should we live?

What is the meaning of human life in this world?
If death is the destiny of human beings from birth, then what are people pursuing in this life?
At this moment, the entire Palace of Versailles in France fell into an unprecedented atmosphere of silence.

If someone still doubted Jiang Hai's performance before watching:
"Cheating!"

"How can an Asian who doesn't even understand English grammar write a masterpiece that breaks the sales record of European literary circles?"

Well, after watching "The Old Man and the Sea", no one in the audience raised any doubts.

The scene at this moment can be described in one sentence -

"If you don't practice, seeing me is like a frog in a well looking up at the moon; if you practice, seeing me is like a mayfly seeing the sky."

If "genius" is concrete, then the concept of "genius" should be described by the two words "jianghai".

As others have questioned:
"Jiang Hai is an Asian who is not even familiar with English grammar. How can he write the gorgeous words used in English sentences?"

In the concept of European and American literary circles, so-called literature——

Sentences should be beautiful.

Words should touch people's hearts.

An Asian who doesn't understand the beauty of English at all, how can he write inspiring words?

Just as these people questioned, the description of "The Old Man and the Sea" is straightforward, and the words and sentences throughout the book are simple and straightforward, but Jiang Hai has proved it with his strength.
Using sketching writing techniques, you can still outline the wonderful world of the book.

Using simple and plain language, you can still touch the readers' complex and sensitive hearts.

[An old man with thin and gaunt figure, deep wrinkles on his neck and brown spots on his face and cheeks jumps into the reader's sight. Everything about him is very old, as old as the ancient erosion in the desert. He is lonely and has almost no friends except a little boy. But his eyes are as blue as the sea and full of joy]

This is a story about courage.

This is an opportunity to tell about risky behavior.

The best interpretation of courage for human beings is to do something knowing that it is impossible.

Repeated battles and defeats!

But still keep fighting despite failures!
No matter how strong the wind and waves are, they can't affect my yearning for the surging sea.

No matter how brave the sharks are, I am determined to fight them to the death!

Twenty thousand words is not too much, but not too little either.

Although 20,000 words is a short novel, it took the famous French writer Clezio two full hours to read these short 20,000 words!

If he still had doubts about Jiang Hai in his heart before reading it, how could a kid who was still wet behind the ears and had no experience write a cross-century work that was popular in both Asia and Europe? How could he be better than himself?
At this moment, after reading the entire book, he had only one thought in his mind:
"It's not unfair to lose"

Courage is the most beautiful hymn of mankind.

Regarding this sentence——

Jiang Hai’s "The Old Man and the Sea" has given the best interpretation.

To be honest, before coming here, Clezio had never read any literary works about rivers and seas.

Today was the first time he read Jiang Hai's book.

However, even without adding any author filter, after appreciating Jiang Hai's description of [realistic] things, he already knew that just relying on this "The Old Man and the Sea" alone would be enough to make Jiang Hai famous in the European and American literary circles, and even in the world literary circles.

Leave a strong and colorful mark!
Obviously, Clezio was not the only writer who was shocked by the story of "The Old Man and the Sea".

The scene fell into an unparalleled silence.

It was like savoring the reflections and philosophy that the old man's experience brought to me.

The entire palace hall was eerily quiet.

After a while.

No more dissenting voices were heard.

The Nobel Prize winner in literature, also a famous French writer who was highly expected, was the first to stand up from his seat:

"We lost"

After saying this, he walked towards the entrance of the hall without looking back.

Then, the second, third, and fourth writers stood up.
There was no longer any doubt.

They left with their heads down, feeling a little ashamed.

"You say a writer who can write a story like The Old Man and the Sea cheated?"

"This is a humiliation for such a 'tough guy' writer."

"This is a blasphemy to the sacred and noble literature."

There is no doubt that judging from the quality of the story of "The Old Man and the Sea", this terrifying achievement is shocking enough.

It definitely deserves it!

As French writers left one after another.

I don’t know when it started, but the writers from other European countries looked at the Chinese writers’ delegation with less contempt and more respect:
“This incident may just be the beginning?”

"With a pillar like Jiang Hai, the rise of Chinese literature is probably unstoppable."

Sales data is counted every four hours.

In twelve hours, The Old Man and the Sea sold a total of 736 million copies.

In sixteen hours, The Old Man and the Sea sold a total of 856 million copies.

In eighteen hours, sales of "The Old Man and the Sea" totaled 1032 million copies.

In 24 hours, the cumulative sales of "The Old Man and the Sea" in Asia and Europe finally stopped at——

1372 copies!

In one day, sales reached 1372 million copies, which is a high figure in the history of world literature.

Absolutely one-of-a-kind!
unprecedented!

After getting this specific number, the staff from the French organizing committee began to analyze the reasons why Jiang Hai's "The Old Man and the Sea" set such a sales record. In summary, there are roughly three reasons:

Firstly, this event was initiated by France, which is known as the "world's first literary power". The whole world is focusing on it. This extremely terrifying exposure has laid a prerequisite for the best-selling of "The Old Man and the Sea".

Secondly, The Old Man at the Sea is a short story, with a total of only 20,000 words. It is very easy for publishers to print such a short story. You should know that there are hundreds of publishers in Europe alone, and on this basis, there are also publishers in Asia.
Not to mention printing tens of millions of copies in one day, even if you add another zero at the end it is not impossible.

Thirdly, and most importantly, because it is a short literary work, the price of "The Old Man and the Sea" is very low. Converted into RMB, an authentic copy of "The Old Man and the Sea" only costs 2 yuan in China. Converted into US dollars or even euros, it only costs 3 to yuan.
For only two dollars, you can buy a high-quality copy of "The Old Man and the Sea", which is a climax of praising human courage, for these three reasons:

"The Old Man and the Sea" set an unprecedented sales record!
Single-day sales exceeded 10 million copies!

This day is destined to be recorded in the history of world literature!
The next morning.

The magnificent Palace of Versailles.

The Guinness World Records adjudicator, the French event organizing committee, and hundreds of writers on site witnessed the event.

In front of the camera, he announced directly:
"Certified by a Guinness official—"

"The Old Man and the Sea broke the single-day sales record of 5.72 million copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and successfully topped the charts with a single-day sales record of 13.72 million copies."

"Chinese writer Jiang Hai holds the record for being the fastest person to break the 10 million-copy sales mark in the world's best-selling book rankings."

That is the moment when the words fell.

Everyone's eyes turned towards the Chinese writers' delegation. Do you want to ask Jiang Hai how he feels now?
To be honest, I didn't feel anything.

He looked so indifferent.

It seems like all this.
Is this all reasonable?
Jiang Hai was not as excited as he had imagined. He silently took out a pack of Bailiquan from his pocket, took a cigarette from the box, put it in his mouth, and lit it up.

He took a deep breath and then exhaled a thick white mist from his mouth:

“Hiss, huh”

This time, no one stopped Jiang Hai.

Everyone was looking at Jiang Hai with extremely shocked and admiring eyes.

"This Jianghai is truly incredible, incredible."

Although writers look down on each other, there are still some writers who are quite dissatisfied with Jiang Hai.

However, at this time, no one jumped out to criticize him.

The reason is nothing but the river and the sea——

Prove yourself with your strength!

This situation is somewhat similar to
When you were unknown, you went to a high-end western restaurant for dinner. Because of your shabby clothes and your poor temperament, you were stopped at the door by the waiter:
"I'm sorry, sir. Our restaurant has a dress code. People who are not dressed properly are not allowed to enter."

However, when you become successful and famous one day, and become approachable, even if you pass by the door wearing a cheap short-sleeved shirt and cloth shoes, even if you don’t want to eat, you will be forcibly pulled into the restaurant by the boss to eat, and treated with the highest etiquette:
"No entry without formal attire?"

"That's for others!"

“It is our honor to have you dine with us.”

Even so, Jiang Hai was smoking in the most luxurious bedroom of the Palace of Versailles.

However, what is different from before is
This time no one came forward to stop him.

Even though there is a [No Smoking] sign next to the river and the sea, everyone subconsciously ignores the no-smoking sign.

After all, rules are meant to be broken.
"This Liqun is strong, isn't it better to smoke than a cigar?"

"shuang"

To be honest, the most embarrassed people at this moment are not Chinese writers, but French writers.

Before the creation of the topic began, most writers in the French literary world were eager to try out this competition.

"Improvisation is the strength of our European and American literary circles. I am at home and have the advantage."

“I don’t even know how to lose.”

However, France has dispatched the most competitive and influential writers in the country to participate in this literary competition.

However, the final result——

But it is not satisfactory?
The best-selling writer in France during this literary improvisation was Clézio, whose final sales were 1.26 million copies. Of course, this 1.26 million copies is a very impressive achievement no matter which country's writers' delegation is placed in, but who would have thought
But he ran into a monster like Jiang Hai?
It is no exaggeration to say that the total sales of the entire French writers delegation is not even half of Jiang Hai's, or even one-third?
Just from this point of view.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jiang Hai suppressed the entire French literary world by himself!

In response to this situation, many French masters can only express helplessly:

"It's not that we are incompetent, but that the enemy is too strong."

Losing is not scary.

Victory or defeat is standard issue.

Winning and losing are very normal no matter in which industry or field.

but
Before the event started, Jiang Hai had made a bet with a delegation of French writers headed by Julie Morgane, daughter of the French president:
"If the French writers' delegation loses this literary competition, Jiang Hai will have to choose a cultural relic to return to China."

To be honest, when agreeing to this bet, everyone thought that they would lose.

Who would have thought that a young writer from China who was just ordinary would...
How could he defeat so many famous French and even world-famous artists?
This situation was something no one had expected.

You mean returning the cultural relics?

Every Chinese cultural relic stored in the Louvre in France is priceless, and it is a bit hard to give it back.
But you're going to say no?

Who is Julie Morgana?
That’s the daughter of the French president and the spokesperson for the French government.

If you regret something you have promised in public under the watchful eyes of everyone.
So how should France, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, gain a foothold?
How should we deal with it?

Reputation is extremely important for a big country.

Cultural relics are indeed precious.

However, because of a cultural relic, France's international reputation has been left with the excuse that it "can't afford to lose."

This is obviously not worth it.

Palace of Versailles, banquet hall.

Under the gaze of several media reporters.

Julie Morgana, wearing a black dress, looked like a noble black swan, and looked at Jiang Hai calmly and seriously:

"Have you considered it?"

"Which artifact do you want us to return?"

The translator beside me was translating Julie Morgane's French into English verbatim.

Hearing this, Jiang Hai fell into deep thought for a long time.
To be honest, when France invaded the Old Summer Palace, it looted many cultural relics from China. All the treasures left over from China's five thousand years of history were looted by France, which was like a robber. Among them -

A priceless bronze ware.

There is exquisite ceramic white.

There are vivid and colorful ink paintings.

There are lifelike landscape paintings.

No matter which cultural relic it is, it is priceless.

No matter which cultural relic, it carries the unique weight of history.
If possible, Jiang Hai actually wanted to shout to Julie Morgana:
"I want it all."

"Give me all back."

But obviously, that's definitely not possible.

The return of this cultural relic was agreed upon only because France did not want its reputation to be affected.

Unless there is a war, do you want France to return all the cultural relics that were illegally seized from China?
This is not just daydreaming.
In fact, judging from the value of cultural relics, the collection value of bronze ware far exceeds that of other cultural relics, especially bronze ware with inscriptions, such as the Shang Dynasty bronze elephant statue, which is treasured in the Louvre and is known as the treasure of the museum.
That was known as the pinnacle of human smelting technology during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The historical value it carries is immeasurable!

However, Jiang Hai did not want to ask for this cultural relic.

In Jiang Hai's opinion, a bronze ware is indeed precious, but compared to the preciousness of bronze ware——

The most important thing is to let the descendants of Yan and Huang remember that humiliating history!
Want to avoid getting beaten?
The only way is to become stronger!

Want to take back everything you have lost?
Then the only way is to take the path of national rejuvenation.
After thinking it over, Jiang Hai tapped the table with his fingers, then raised his head and looked directly at the beautiful Julie Morgana:

"I want you to return the 'Forty Views of the Old Summer Palace'."

"Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace" is a colorful meticulous painting by Tang Dai, Shen Yuan and others, which was ordered by Emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty. It is just like the popular "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painted by painter Zhang Zerui during the Song Dynasty.

"Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace" consists of a total of 40 paintings, which truly record the architectural style and garden features of the Old Summer Palace during its heyday.

Each of these paintings is accompanied by "Forty Scenes in Couplets Poems" written by Emperor Qianlong himself. The buildings, rocks and other landscapes depicted in the paintings are all realistic in style. The poems are profound in artistic conception, and the calligraphy is timeless and elegant. Poetry, calligraphy and painting have achieved a near-perfect unity. This is the longest colored fine brush painting on silk in my country to date.

If you talk about age, this painting is indeed not as old as the bronze ware.

However, in terms of the historical significance of cultural relics, this painting is much more important than bronze artifacts.
It can only be said that it is even better than before!

"The Old Summer Palace is gone. Now only its ruins remain." Jiang Hai raised his head and looked at Julie Morgana firmly. "If this painting can bring the Old Summer Palace, an architectural treasure that once disappeared in the torrent of history, back to the public's vision, everyone can imagine the beauty and grandeur of the Old Summer Palace through the painting."

"Then I think, for the Chinese nation, this transaction——"

“Very worth it”

(End of this chapter)