1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 372 The truth behind the name “Richard Parker”
"You're not selling it anymore?"

Weinstein practically shouted this.

He was really a little crazy, like a spider that had been working hard for a long time to weave a web, and was just waiting for a little insect to flap its wings and fall into the web, but this little insect did not play by the rules, and it clearly flew to the web, but then turned around and flapped its wings and walked away.

"Jiang, you are too impulsive. We have been working hard for our cooperation for so long. Well, actually I didn't say before that 40 US dollars is not the limit. We can offer a higher price." Weinstein said hurriedly.

He observed Jiang Xian.

He really couldn't control Jiang Xian, the Chinese man, so he had to raise the other party's expectations even higher. If that didn't work, he would temporarily draft an unequal agreement with Jiang Xian to make everything seem as if it was on track.

"Um"

Sure enough, a trace of confusion immediately appeared on Jiang Xian's face, and after a long while, it turned into a look of guilt.

He sighed and said, "Mr. Weinstein, I also want your higher price, but I'm sorry, I've already sold the copyright of the novel."

"Sold?"

Weinstein stood up suddenly and looked at Jiang Xian in a somewhat inappropriate manner.

“Which novel did you sell?”

"Two."

“All sold?”

“All sold.”

Weinstein felt his blood pressure soaring. "Jiang, can you tell me who you sold it to?"

"It's also an independent production company in Hollywood, MGM. Big Hollywood companies are really bold. They offered me a high price right from the start. And I'm a foreigner after all. I've only heard of these famous companies. I feel more at ease when they come to talk to me."

"."

Weinstein was like being fed shit again.

He really wanted to pull out his belt and beat him.

What you are implying is that companies like us with little reputation are just fake companies! So there are risks!
“Is our partnership irreversible?” Weinstein asked.

"I think so."

Jiang Xian had a look of regret on his face, as if he was simple and innocent and didn't know or understand anything about this.

"Thank you for your hospitality these days, Mr. Weinstein. You are really a good man."

"I've always been generous to my friends."

Weinstein gritted his teeth and said politely, "The fact that MGM took a fancy to your novel shows that your novel is really of high quality. I hope to see your novel on the screen soon."

"Oh, thank you. I'm really sorry for this. We may have a chance to work together again next time. I'm on a flight back to Iowa this afternoon. You can check out the room. Thank you for your hospitality these past few days."

"See you next time, Jiang."

Weinstein felt particularly upset, even though this was not a big deal for him. It was just that he didn't get two novels he had his eyes on.

But it just made him feel uncomfortable.

It’s like you’ve been in an online relationship for a long time and decide to meet in person, but the other person turns out to be ugly and dislikes you, and all your good mood for the past few days is ruined.

After Jiang Xian left the room, Weinstein lit a cigar and thought for a while. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was not right.

"Bring me the bills for Jiang Xian's spending in the past few days." He said to an assistant.

Soon someone brought Jiang Xian’s recent spending records to Weinstein. He looked at it for a while and his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

"How can he eat so much by himself?"

"He's not alone. He's often with Smith from the publishing house."

"What about this meal? Can two people finish all this? As far as I know, Jiang Xian doesn't have many friends in New York."

The assistant thought for a while and said, "It seems that a producer from a production company came to visit him that day."

"So what you mean is that he spent my money to eat with producers from other production companies?" Weinstein's voice became colder and colder, like a dead volcano with lava lines spreading all over it, and gushing molten lava was about to erupt from it.

After realizing what was happening, the fat on Weinstein's face began to tremble. He threw the cup to the ground and kicked the trash can at his feet away.

"FUCK!"

"What about conscience? Do you still have a conscience?"

"These damn Chinese people have absolutely no moral bottom line!"

If Jiang Xian just didn't want to cooperate with him, then Weinstein's mood was probably that the other party was not satisfied with the result of their online romance and unilaterally refused to continue the relationship with him.

At most it would make him depressed for a short while.

But now, Weinstein feels that the person he has been dating online for a long time not only refused to continue the relationship with him, but when he checked the bills, he also found that when the two were together, she was spending his money to have an affair with someone else. The money for eating, watching movies, staying in hotels, and even buying family planning products were all paid by him, Weinstein.

Except for those weirdos who love ntr.

This would drive any man crazy.

"asshole!"

"jerk!"

Weinstein roared and screamed, and at that moment he felt more crazy than losing a big order worth millions.

"Hello, sir." The door was knocked open and the hotel waiter walked into the room. "Check out the room downstairs. Do you want to settle the bill now or later?"

"."

Weinstein looked at him, covered his stomach for a long time and couldn't speak. He was so angry that his internal organs ached.

What does this bastard Jiang Xian take me for?

ATM?!

Oregon State University is located in Corvallis, Oregon on the west coast of the United States, about 90 miles from Portland, the state's largest city.

This is one of the most important high-tech and financial centers in the United States.

HP, Intel, and Apple have many R&D centers here, and world-renowned financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley and Citibank also have important offices here.

Huang Renxun is a Chinese American who likes to wear black leather jackets. He is just 20 years old and is a student at Oregon State University.

He was a true genius with excellent grades. He skipped two grades and entered this university at the age of 16.

"Hi, Huang."

A white student patted him on the shoulder and said, "That game you taught me is really good."

"Joey, it's just playing games on the teletype terminal. It's nothing special. A lot of people can do it."

"What are your plans for tonight? Do you want to go for a drink with us?"

“No, I have to go back and do my homework,” Huang Renxun said.

Joey was dumbfounded. "Oh my god, are you kidding me? I have never seen a college student who can do homework. Not even one."

"It's true, Joey, I have homework to do."

"Huang, you are really different." Joey was speechless, "Most students in the United States just get passing grades."

"."

Huang Renxun didn't know how to explain it to him.

In fact, he also has his own little tricks.

He had a girlfriend who was two years older than him. When Huang Renxun was pursuing her, he said to her:

"If you do your homework with me every Sunday, I promise you'll get straight A's."

So they can have a date every Sunday.

The most important thing is that in order to make his girlfriend think he is very smart, Huang Renxun will complete his homework the night before.

This way, when he and his girlfriend do their homework together, he already knows all the answers.

Whenever his girlfriend has a problem, he can pretend to be a top student in front of her.

There's no way. In this engineering school and engineering major, there are only 250 girls among 3 students.

If Huang Renxun doesn't secretly try to roll it up, he will really have to be an arhat for four years.

"Okay, then I'll use this to repay you for teaching me how to play games." Joey took out a book from his bag and handed it to Huang Renxun.

"Joey, what is that?"

"Good stuff." Joey said mysteriously.

“I don’t watch that kind of stuff,” Huang said.

In the United States of this era, pornographic magazines that used the female body as a selling point were everywhere, attracting a large number of regular male readers.

Men could buy a magazine at any time and legally vent their sexual desires, and there were dozens of hot blondes waiting for them to choose from on the newsstands.

"Hey, it's not what you think."

Joey smiled and pushed the book back into his arms, "Take it and read it, Huang. Believe me, this is a serious novel."

Huang Renxun glanced down.

"Drifter?"

“A truly great novel!”

Joey said with great joy: "Believe me, this is definitely the most amazing novel I have read this year."

"Ok."

Huang stuffed the book back into his bag.

After returning to his residence, he took out his books to finish his homework as usual, and the novel titled "The Drifter" fell out of his bag.

Joey's words appeared in Huang Renxun's mind again. He took a sip of soda and opened the title page of the novel.

Huang Renxun is a person who loves reading.

He came to the United States when he was 9 years old. His parents spent all their money to send him to boarding school. As a result, he soon became the target of bullying. He was often beaten in the first few months of school and was assigned to clean the dormitory toilets.

But he soon overcame his fear and became friends with his roommate, and they shared a common hobby: reading.

"Jiang Xian?"

It was a bit strange to see the author’s name, Jen-Hsun Huang. I actually saw the name of a Chinese writer in a novel recommended by Joey.

"Those who fight against demons must be vigilant lest they become demons themselves. If you stare long into the abyss, the abyss also stares into you. - Nietzsche"

This is the title of the novel.

Why use this paragraph as the title?
Huang Renxun looked at the introduction on the pages in front of him again:
“A 16-year-old Chinese boy’s miraculous experience of rebirth after drifting in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. The realistic sea adventure and the contradiction between innocence and cruelty in human nature are not only cleverly matched in the book, but also arouse constant climaxes and surprises in the reading.”

Huang Renxun's interest was piqued.

With the idea of ​​just reading it and doing his homework, he dove into the novel.

A few hours later.

When the tranquility of the azure sea was broken by the gray lightning, Huang Renxun suddenly woke up. He looked at his watch and it was already late at night.

"I totally forgot about doing my homework!"

During that period of time just now, Huang Renxun was completely immersed in the novel and couldn't extricate himself, reading the entire novel in one breath.

This story at sea is so shocking!

From the fantasy survival in the front to the repeated revelation of the deep inside story later.

Huang Renxun didn't know how to describe his feelings at the moment.

Even though he had finished reading the novel, he could not focus on his homework at all. He was only concerned with analyzing and thinking about the various images and puzzles in the novel. The creepy feeling of fear continued to stimulate his nerves.

Animality, humanity, divinity.
"Joy."

Huang Renxun found Joey who had just returned to his residence. Joey was drunk and looked confused.

"Huang, what's wrong?"

"."

Huang Renxun didn't know why he came to find Joey, but after reading the novel "Drifter", he really had a lot to talk about and wanted to find a like-minded person to share.

"Is it about the novel?"

Joey seemed to have guessed something. He observed Huang Renxun's expression and saw that he was completely correct. He sat up excitedly.

"Have you read it? Isn't it great? That novel is so shocking! Jiang Xian, he is simply one of the greatest writers!"

Huang Renxun agreed: "I really can't figure out how this author wrote this novel. It is so exquisite that it doesn't seem to be created. It is designed more perfectly than BASIC language. Everything is so clever and beautiful, and it is unified and corresponding with the universe and the world."

“You should read the review.”

Joey pulled out a few literary review magazines from a pile of comics and erotic magazines. "I read the analysis of several critics, and I was shocked every time I read the analysis. I can't think of how many possible truths there are to this story."

Huang Renxun took a look and found that these magazines included The New York Review of Books, The Kenyon Review, and The Iowa Review. They are all literary review magazines with a considerable status in the American literary world.

Huang Renxun couldn't wait to read all the review articles in these magazines.

Every time a critic raises a possibility, the depth of the novel "The Drifter" rises to a new level.

In the end, Huang Renxun had nothing but admiration for the author Jiang Xian, an admiration that was completely conquered.

In Nie Hualing's commentary, Huang Renxun also learned the story of the Mignonette, the prototype of "Drifter".

Out of curiosity, Huang Renxun went to investigate the Osmanthus incident early the next morning.

Four crew members were stranded in the South Atlantic Ocean. After 4 days, three adult crew members decided to cannibalize another 20-year-old orphan crew member, which allowed them to survive.

However, one name caught Huang's attention.

Richard Parker!

The name of the crew member who was eaten by the three crew members was Richard Parker.

This is also the name of the legendary Bengal tiger in "The Castaway".

Huang Renxun almost jumped up with excitement.

It was as exciting as the fleet led by the Portuguese explorer when they saw the New World.

However, after the excitement, his eyes suddenly turned red.

What a warm and touching little design!
One hundred years have passed since the "Mignonette" incident, but justice for Richard Parker has yet to come.

The three criminals are at large and are even enjoying their old age.

The case that shocked the world at that time has also been forgotten by the world.

Jiang Xian hid the small detail of Richard Parker's name in the novel.

Isn't this also a commemoration of this young man?

In addition, Huang Renxun also saw a critic's interpretation:

When expressed in English, in certain contexts, "Richard Parker" is often associated with shipwreck, meaning drifting and cannibalism.

A name, with so many connections.

Huang Renxun's eyes flashed with shock.

Jiang Xian.

He remembered the name deeply.

Huang believes it completely.

In the near future, this name will surely become known throughout the world along with his works.

(End of this chapter)