1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 451 International Long Distance

Jiang Xian waited in the yard of Cuihua Hutong until 11 o'clock before making an international long-distance call.

A few years ago, it was impossible to make international long-distance calls.

There was a popular saying at that time, "First ask for the phone number, second ask for directions, and third discuss the project."

What do you mean?

A comrade once said that when foreign businessmen were enthusiastic about investigating, the government warmly received them, and the project was struck while the iron was hot, they hit it off immediately, but when the foreign businessmen wanted to contact their superiors or the company, they found that the phone could not be reached.
Some investment projects worth millions or tens of millions often end in failure because of this.

There is no way, communication with overseas is not smooth.

If you want to make a long-distance overseas call in China, you might as well go to Tokyo or Hong Kong.

However, with the reform and opening up, the higher authorities, after learning from their mistakes, decided to develop postal and telecommunications services even if they had to serve as the pants.

This provides the opportunity to make international long-distance calls.

But even so, these days, ordinary people are not qualified to make international long-distance calls. They have to go to the post and telecommunications bureau to apply for qualifications.

In addition, ordinary telephones cannot connect to international long-distance lines. If you want to contact your relatives overseas, you have to queue up at the call center of the corporate telephone office.

Fortunately, Jiang Xian's phone, as the unit phone of People's Digest, had already applied for qualifications, so there was no need to go to the telephone bureau's call center to queue up.

Moreover, although People's Digest moved away, the phone could not be taken away. This could be considered a small benefit he got from lending the yard to People's Digest for use as the editorial office.

After dialing several times, Jiang Xian's hands were a little sore before the call was finally connected. The call quality was not high, but he could vaguely hear Zhao Zhenkai's voice coming from the other end.

"Just woke up?"

"It's morning here."

This was the time he and Zhao Zhenkai agreed to call each other. It was 23 p.m. in China, which was about 10 a.m. there.

"I have some good news for you."

Zhao Zhenkai is in a very good mood. After nearly a year of hard work, the sales of Today magazine exceeded 50 copies last month, and each issue now has a fixed subscription volume of 20.

“We made our money back!”

Jiang Xian didn't expect that Zhao Zhenkai and Zhong Acheng would be able to recover their costs so quickly.

"Sure, you two did a great job."

"It has nothing to do with us. You are too famous in the United States. We have always promoted you as the biggest gimmick of the magazine." Zhao Zhenkai said.

Most of the readers who bought "The King of Fairy Tales" did so because of Zheng Yuanjie.

Most of the readers who bought "Today" did so because of the author Jiang Xian.

"The circulation of the first issue has exceeded one million. You have no idea how popular your article "War Horse" is in the United States now." Zhao Zhenkai said.

"War Horse" is a children's literature novel that Jiang Xian gave to Zhao Zhenkai, and was published by Zhao Zhenkai in the inaugural issue of "Today" magazine.

"Do you know Raymond Carver?"

"Ah."

Jiang Xian nodded, "I've read his "Can You Be Quiet, Please?" and "What Are We Talking About When We Talk About Love?"

Raymond Carver is regarded as the most important American novelist in the second half of the 20th century.

He was good at writing short stories, and the American literary community praised him highly, calling him the most influential short story writer in the United States after Hemingway. After his death, the London Times even called him "the American Chekhov."

As the founder of the "New Novel", this writer has profoundly influenced Haruki Murakami of Japan, Wang Shuo, Su Tong, Han Dong, Zhu Wen, and Li Er of China.
Su Tong himself said that he particularly admired Raymond Carver. Li Tuo even had a quarrel with him because of this, "Your novels are no worse than Raymond Carver's, why do you admire him?"

But Su Tong just admired him.

Incidentally, this writer was poor all his life, declared financial bankruptcy many times, was an alcoholic, gave up drinking for his entire life, and finally died from smoking.

"That's Raymond Carver. He wrote a literary review of your book War Horse. Let me read it to you."

Zhao Zhenkai said: "This is a touching story about humans and animals, but it is a true anti-war literary work."

"The sincere emotion of a horse always connects to the most beautiful part of human feelings. In the bloody storm, soldiers, farmers, children, and all the little people in the war, when Joey was suffering, did their best to help and guide him. Peace in war, love and courage in suffering, Jiang Xian used these most important beauties of human nature to condense the crystal poetry of the whole film.

The writing style of "War Horse" is very classical, without the alternative rhythm that is popular nowadays. It is meant to hit the flesh and make you feel pain, beauty, suffering and excitement. In many clips, it seems that the classic memory of the movie "Gone with the Wind" rises before my eyes. And this hearty dream makes people feel bitter and fragrant when they wake up. "

"."

"This commentary was published in The Atlantic Monthly and received a lot of attention. I heard a lot of people talk about it in Iowa."

The Atlantic Monthly knows this, right?
In later years, the editor-in-chief of this publication, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote that he was accidentally pulled into a chat group that was full of "fascinating zz discussions."

Yes, it is this publication. Although it was on the verge of bankruptcy in later generations, it is now in its heyday. It is an extremely influential publication in the hands of conservatives and can be compared with The New Yorker controlled by liberals.

"Reagan is always shouting about 'making America great again'. Since your novel was published, people's anti-war sentiment has been rising. I've seen several of their protests, and many people were holding up 'Joey' signs."

"'Joey' has become everyone's anti-war slogan!"

"Reagan is probably going to be pissed."

As Zhao Zhenkai spoke, he couldn't help laughing.

Joey is the protagonist of War Horse.

Although Reagan was a Hollywood star, his style of office was very strong.

As soon as he took office, he vowed to reverse the weak image of his predecessor that had led to him being beaten everywhere.

Even recently, he gave a televised speech to publicly introduce his strategic defense plan to the public.

In short, it was full of the smell of gunpowder.

Reagan tried every possible means to gain public support for his plans.

However, the publication of Jiang Xian's "War Horse" incited anti-war sentiment among the American people, which undoubtedly added to his frustration.

"Did you receive the novel I sent you?" Jiang Xian asked.

"received."

Zhao Zhenkai said: "With this, I estimate that our magazine subscriptions will soon exceed one million."

"One million is nothing. You need to be like National Geographic."

"National Geographic?" Zhao Zhenkai was dumbfounded.

You all know National Geographic, right? It’s basically the most famous geographic magazine in the world.

Although the magazine also fell into decline in the later Internet era, during this period, the subscription volume of National Geographic in the United States reached 1300 million copies per issue, and even overseas it had 150 million copies.

Jiang Xian asked Zhao Zhenkai to catch up with National Geographic, that is, to reach 1300 million subscriptions.

This sounded like a dream to Zhao Zhenkai.

"It's too difficult to catch up with them."

"What's so difficult about it? If you don't have confidence in yourself, then you don't have confidence in me either?" Jiang Xian said jokingly.

"."

Zhao Zhenkai said nothing.

He vaguely felt that it might not be impossible to catch up with National Geographic.

Because if Jiang Xian's novel is serialized in "Today", the circulation will definitely increase sharply again.

Because what Jiang Xian gave him was the third part of "The Hunger Games", "Mockingjay".

After Zhao Zhenkai came to the United States, he had already read the first two parts of "The Hunger Games". After Jiang Xian sent him the third part, "Mockingjay", Zhao Zhenkai immediately couldn't wait to read it.

In the first two films, Katniss has participated in two "Hunger Games". At the end of the second film, Katniss was rescued and taken to the mysterious District 13. In this finale, the civil war in Panem breaks out completely, and the love scenes that were the focus of the first two films are basically gone, and the relationship between the male and female protagonists is put to the test.

As for the heroine Katniss, the rebels in District 13 are shaping her into a "Mockingjay", their spokesperson.

The male protagonist Peeta was tortured and brainwashed by Congress, his memory was erased, and he became the enemy of the heroine.

The confrontation between lovers is intense and heart-wrenching.

In addition, the ridicule of the media in the first and second parts is laid out openly in the third part.

All in all, Zhao Zhenkai believes that this is definitely a masterpiece, a masterpiece that definitely surpasses the previous two.

At the end of the novel, the rebels successfully overthrow Congress, but Katniss also realizes that the real enemy is not just Snow, but the power manipulators including the rebel Coin.

In the chaos of Snow's execution, Katniss chooses to shoot Coin with an arrow, ending the cycle of power violence once and for all.

As for Peeta, through treatment and Katniss's persistence, he gradually recovered his memory and emotions, and fell in love with Katniss again. The two decided to stay away from the political center and return to District 12 together to live a warm pastoral life.

The story stops here.

Jiang Xian brought a perfect end to this science fiction story that has become popular all over the United States.

At least in Zhao Zhenkai's opinion, this ending is the best and does not seem anticlimactic at all.

In particular, Jiang Xian's portrayal of human psychology makes this cold future world and the fictional country of Panem seem not far away from this era.

"Once this novel is released, American science fiction fans will probably be excited for a while."

Zhao Zhenkai said with a little regret, "It's a pity that the serialization started from the third part of this novel. If it could start from the first part, Today would definitely be a best-seller in the United States."

"Then don't be ungrateful."

Jiang Xian smiled and said, "You can continue the series first. I haven't finished writing this story yet. I'll send you another one later."

"Not finished yet?"

Zhao Zhen was confused. "Isn't this the ending? How else are you going to write it?"

"If I can't write about the future, can't I write about the past? I'll write a prequel."

"."

Zhao Zhenkai was stunned.

Among all the writers he had met, Jiang Xian was definitely the one with the most business acumen.

Even American writers are not as good at playing with "capital" as this guy.

Did this person grow up under the red flag?

Why are you so sneaky?

"Oh, by the way, there is one important thing I forgot to tell you."

Zhao Zhenkai suddenly remembered, "Recently, several investors have contacted me, all wanting to invest in our publication. I asked someone to confirm that they are not scammers. What do you think?"

“Investment”

Jiang Xian was silent for a while.

"Today" magazine has risen so fast in the United States, and with Jiang Xian's golden signboard, those guys who are active in the American capital market have a keener sense of smell than a dog, and of course they will not miss such a promising publication.

"What conditions did they offer?"

"There's a guy called Ivan Boesky who wants to use $120 million to buy 40% of our equity."

"too low."

Jiang Xian said: "Don't accept the financing for the time being. Our company is definitely worth more than this price. Wait until "Today" is released for a while, and then the commercial value will definitely be higher than it is now."

"it is good."

After hanging up the phone with Zhao Zhenkai, Jiang Xian looked at the time and it was already past two in the morning.

He closed the door and went out. The driver, Xu Chenhui, was sitting in the car and had fallen asleep.

"Xiao Xu, Xiao Xu." Jiang Xian knocked on the car door.

Xu Chenhui woke up with a start and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, Brother Jiang, you're fine."

"I've kept you waiting for so long, so I told you not to wait for me and I'll ride back by myself."

"That won't work. It's dark and windy this night. If you get bumped on the way, it will delay your work. Besides, this is my job. I have to wait no matter how long it takes."

"Okay, let's go back."

The black Volga slowly drove out of the alley.

Jiang Xian sat in the back seat, looking at the quiet and peaceful capital city, feeling a sigh in his heart.

He just refused the investment of millions of dollars.

The cow is getting rich.

However, Jiang Xian is not distressed. He fully believes that with the support of "The Hunger Games 3", the circulation of "Today" will definitely skyrocket and its influence will continue to increase.

By then, the investment of one or two million dollars will really be nothing.

Of course, no matter how awesome Jiang Xian is, he still has to wash the urine for the little emperor when he returns home.

"I've discovered everything about this child. Now, whenever she wants to poop, she finds a place to hide by herself. Next time I see her hiding, I'll catch her." Zhu Lin said angrily.

"See? You've made your mother angry." Jiang Xian pinched Jiang Niannian's face lovingly.

Jiang Niannian looked at him innocently, with her little lips pouted high.

Nowadays, other children look very rustic, but Jiang Niannian is dressed up like a doll by Zhu Lin.

"Who am I?"

"Dad~"

"Hey."

After hearing his daughter's shout, Jiang Xian no longer felt it was hard to wash the urinal. Looking at their lovely daughter, he felt like he could wash ten more.

"Come here, go to bed."

Zhu Lin waved to Jiang Niannian, and she walked towards Zhu Lin with her little butt twisted.

She is almost two years old and can already walk.

However, once Zhu Lin picked him up, he would still go looking for "delicacies" out of habit.

"Oh, this child, he still eats at such an old age."

"Which day did we buy our ticket for?" Jiang Xian asked.

"Tomorrow." Zhu Lin reminded.

"tomorrow?"

Jiang Xian slapped his forehead and said, "I forgot everything."

Their whole family is going on a long journey.

Because the episode "A Fun Journey to the Kingdom of Women" in "Journey to the West" was filmed in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

(End of this chapter)