1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 367 "Mice" and "Futurist Fiction"

This scene is really too elusive.

Hamilton couldn't understand.

A crazy guy rushed into the other person's house early in the morning, shouting that he had read his novel, and then bowed down to him.

Hamilton couldn't help but suspect that the two people were colluding to take the opportunity to raise the royalties collected by Jiang Xian.

The acting is pretty poor.

This kind of thing has happened before.

Hamilton has been working in the publishing industry for many years and has met countless authors. Their life experience is basically zero, but they have extremely naive imaginations. They want to increase their bargaining chips in negotiations with publishers by weaving absurd lies and illusions that are easily exposed.

Hamilton was unmoved.

The amount of royalties depends on how much value the other party’s work can bring to the publishing house.
These require sufficient data to support them, such as market research, the standards for royalties for similar works, and the potential benefits that the works may bring.

In the United States, everything is based on data.

Even though this process may be a bit tedious.

"Jiang, if you want to rely on tricks like this to win the negotiation with me and increase the royalties you can receive, I will feel very sad." Hamilton said seriously with his arms folded across his chest.

"."

Jiang Xian could of course guess what Hamilton was thinking, and shrugged helplessly, "Mr. Hamilton, if you think that this scene was planned by me in advance, then perhaps that is the real sadness."

"what?"

Fei'er heard what the two people said and looked at Hamilton. "Arranged in advance? No, no, no, you don't understand what kind of novel this is. Sir, I swear in the name of God that all my actions are driven by my heart. It's an instinct.

Who wouldn’t jump for joy after reading a good book? "

Seeing Fei'er speaking sincerely, Hamilton began to waver again.

Is this really the reaction after reading a novel?

Can a novel written by a Chinese be this good?

"Okay, Jiang, before the next detailed negotiation, I need to take your novel back and read it first."

"Of course, that's what I should do." Jiang Xian said with a chuckle.

Hamilton left with the manuscript of The Drifter, and Fei'er used his annoying talent to whisper in Jiang Xian's ear: "Americans don't understand literature at all. Americans have no culture and no history."

Jiang Xian was too lazy to pay attention to him. He saw Rao Yuemei starting to tidy up the house and complaining, "It takes a whole day just to clean such a big house, both upstairs and downstairs."

"Hey, Jiang."

Fei'er called out, and said flatteringly, "There are a few parts of the novel that I would like to discuss with you."

"Which parts?"

"Too much!"

Fei'er felt that this novel was full of points worth discussing, and he immediately thought of a detail that he was very concerned about: "In your second story, the hyena, zebra, gorilla, and tiger can correspond to the cook, the sailor, the mother, and Fu Sanming himself.

But when I watched it for the third time, I noticed that there was another creature on the ship: a rat. Does the rat also correspond to a character? "

Jiang Xian glanced at Fei'er's eager eyes for an answer, and smiled noncommittally, "I don't know, maybe it's what you think."

"How could you not know?"

Fei'er was a little mad, "You are the author of this novel, the god of this novel."

“Can God know everything?”

Jiang Xian stood up and said, "Okay, Fei'er, I'm going to help my mother clean the house."

"No."

Fei'er stood up anxiously, following him. "Jiang, I think we should cherish this opportunity to discuss literature together more than cleaning the house."

"it is good."

Jiang Xian nodded, "But let's wait until I finish cleaning the house."

"."

Fei'er saw that Jiang Xian had picked up the broom and slowly started sweeping the living room. Judging from the speed, it would take more than an entire morning to finish sweeping one floor.

Impatiently, he ran over and snatched the broom from Jiang Xian's hand.

"Jiang, let me do it for you."

"How can this work?"

Jiang Xian deliberately moved closer and said, "You are a guest, this is impolite."

"God, please let me do it, I'm willing." Fei'er said while cleaning diligently.

".Thank you for your hard work, Fei'er, you are such a good person."

Jiang Xian sat comfortably on the sofa, looking at this free laborer, and picked up an apple to eat.

"I can't believe you're so good at this, Faye."

“Of course, we Jews are the world’s most powerful defenders of the environment.”

Rao Yuemei was watching this scene upstairs, secretly feeling guilty that such a naive foreigner had been fooled by her eldest son again.

After Fei'er had done all the cleaning that Jiang Xian needed to do today, Jiang Xian poured him a glass of water.

"Fei'er, you are so kind. What did you ask me just now?"

"mouse."

Fei'er panted and said, "Jiang, does the mouse in the novel also represent a certain character?"

"."

Jiang Xian did not answer directly, "Fei'er, the author of the novel only brings the story to this world. How to understand it is the reader's right.

As for the question you want to ask, I can only answer you with the story I have guessed from the reader's perspective. After all, there are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand readers."

"Of course, of course, I understand."

"What I am going to tell you is a possible truth, a truth that I speculated. You can just treat it as the third story."

When Fei'er heard that it was the third story, all her fatigue disappeared. She sat up straight and listened attentively.

Jiang Xian said: "To share objectively, the story of the first animals was obviously carefully compiled by Fu Sanming.

He drifted at sea for more than 200 days, giving him plenty of time to reconstruct his memories. In the monotonous and difficult environment, he did many incredible things. After being rescued, he had to rationalize his motives, so he had to carefully design a beautiful story.

The novel's survival guide repeatedly emphasizes a sentence: You can survive by telling stories.

Therefore, if we are more careful and patient, and peel off the beautiful shell of the first story, we should be able to discover the true inner story:
All the animals that came onto the lifeboat were from Fu Sanming’s family.”

"Are they all Fu Sanming's family?"

Fei Er was struck by lightning, "You mean"

"That's right. Fu Sanming's father suffered from polio since he was a child, so he walks with a limp, which just happens to correspond to the lame zebra."

Jiang Xian whispered like a demon, "The hyena is Fu Sanming's brother Fu Sanli, the orangutan is Fu Sanming's mother, she came to the lifeboat on a banana boat, and the tiger is Fu Sanming himself."

"boom."

Fei'er felt that an old world was collapsing, and at the same time, a new world was being rebuilt.

"My elder brother Fu Sanli sawed off my father's leg and used it as bait. My father died of his injuries. Facing my mother's anger, my elder brother killed her in the fight. This aroused the evil in Fu Sanming's heart, and he killed his elder brother in a rage.
At this point, all of Fu Sanming's family members died.

He drifted alone on the sea, in extreme hunger, eating the corpses of his family members, and spent more than 200 days in hardship. In the end, he survived. He was the most powerful tiger. "

"God, please forgive me."

After hearing this story, Fei'er felt her body trembling.

"What about the mouse? Jiang, you still didn't tell me."

"Don't you already know, Fei'er?" Jiang Xian said coldly. "."

Fei'er didn't speak for a long time.

He thought quietly.

If the animals represent all the characters in the novel, which character has been neglected?
Fei'er couldn't help but recall the end of the novel, where Mr. Okamoto asked Fu Sanming what his next plans were.

Fu Sanming said that he was going to the United States and he no longer had any memories of China.

Really not?
Fei'er recalled the beginning of the story.

There is another person who is so important to Fu Sanming——

Fu Sanming's confidante Lan Xin.

The passage about Lan Xin is the strangest part of the novel.

Fu Sanming is obviously such a smart person. He has an excellent memory and can even recite more than 200 decimal digits of pi.

But about Lan Xin, he said:
"I remember everything about the last day, except the part about saying goodbye."

This is so unreasonable!

How could someone with such an extraordinary memory, who could tell the story of drifting in such detail, not remember the part about saying goodbye?

Let alone Fu Sanming.

Even Fei'er himself would remember so clearly the farewells to the most important people.

After Fu Sanming finished his drifting, he received a huge amount of compensation. Now he was fully capable of returning to China from the United States to find Lan Xin, the last person he cherished in the world.

But why didn't he do this?

An astonishing guess soon appeared in Fei'er's mind.

What if Lan Xin is no longer here?

If the story was reversed.

Fu Sanming didn't even say goodbye to Lan Xin!

He took Lan Xin aboard and hid her in the lifeboat.
Fei'er felt more and more that her guess was correct.

He remembered a detail mentioned in the novel: Fu Sanming encountered his father giving tranquilizers to animals at night, and his father explained that it was to prevent the animals from seasickness.

But why did Fu Sanming meet his father at night?

What was the reason that made him stay awake at night and leave the cabin alone to go to the place where the animals were stored?

Phil quickly remembered that in Western culture, rats mean stowaways.

So who the mouse is is self-evident.

Fei'er remembered another detail about Fu Sanming on the Seaweed Island. He untied the red rope in his hand and tied it to the roots of the plants.

The red rope that his girlfriend Lan Xin tied around his wrist when they broke up has been corroded by sea water and turned white.

Red represents joy.

White is mourning.

From red to white.

Does this mean that their love ends tragically and extreme?
I love you, and finally I eat you.

You truly become my hand, my flesh and my bones.
"His."

Fei'er couldn't help but shudder. He suppressed the fear in his heart and couldn't help but admire:
"Jiang, I think the name Satan is more suitable for you than God."

"Fei'er, I still say the same thing. The author is just the one who brings the novel into this world. How to understand it is the reader's right."

After chatting for a few more sentences, Fei'er said goodbye. His endurance could not allow him to accept too much shock at once, and the level today was enough.

Before leaving, he asked:

"Jiang, can I write about our conversation today in my literary review? I mean, I'm waiting for your novel to be published."

"Of course, that's the critic's freedom."

"Will you go to the lecture this afternoon?" Fei'er asked again.

"What lecture?"

"In the EPB building."

Fei Er said, "I heard it's related to futuristic novels, which is what Americans often call science fiction."

"Science fiction?"

"Yes."

Fei Er said, "This is a genre that has been cultivated by American magazines since the 20s. It predicts future technology and society. Anyway, I'm not very interested in it."

"Maybe I'd go and listen. Who's going to be the speaker?" Jiang Xian and Phil asked.

Fei'er told him a name.

Jiang Xian's spirits lifted.

“Then I’ll go and listen.”

After noting the time, Jiang Xian went out after lunch and took the school bus to the EPB building.

The journey is not short, and sometimes Jiang Xian feels that Iowa City is not like a city, but rather like a super large university.

He was bored on the school bus, and sometimes some foreigners would cast curious glances at him, after all, he was the foreigner here.

At this time, a conversation attracted his attention.

"Flake, where are you going?"

"Library, I have a borrowed book to return."

"what book?"

"ST's novel, "Letter from an Unknown Woman".

"Oh, I've read it before. It's really well written, isn't it? Such a touching love story."

"Yes, I am about to fall in love with the author of this novel. How could he write such touching words?"

"."

Jiang Xian listened to the two of them bragging about him all the way. After they arrived at the destination, he got off the school bus with some reluctance.

I found Edwin on the fourth floor of the EPB building, exchanged a few words with him, and asked about the details of the lecture.

The writer invited by Iowa this time was named Heinlein.

Although Jiang Xian is not a science fiction fan, he knows this famous science fiction writer.

Heinlein is one of the three great science fiction masters in the world.

He is as famous as Asimov, the author of "Galactic Empire", and Clarke, the author of "A Space Odyssey".

As we all know, science fiction often predicts the future.

Heinlein's novels include the direction of World War II, the outbreak of the Cold War, and even the Internet and mobile phones.
George RR Martin, who wrote "A Song of Ice and Fire", was inspired by Heinlein.

Gene Roddenberry, the father of "Star Trek", asked him to write the script, but was rejected.

Musk, who was later known as "Follow the Dragon", developed his ambition for space because of reading his novels.

Asimov, the most arrogant and eccentric god in the science fiction world, said with sour eyes that he had always been severely trampled under the feet of Heinlein.

Also, the concepts of "space Zerg" and "power armor" were created by him.

Hence, there are "Starcraft", "Mobile Suit Gundam", "Star Trek", "Star Troopers", "Predestination" and "Ender's Game".
(End of this chapter)