1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 588: Suffering Before Sweetness!

Where to?

Feng Xiaogang was stunned.

Go to America?

Is there really such a good thing?

"Sure, boss, no problem. I'll go back and pack my things right away. Um, when can I go and experience it?" Feng Xiaogang's eyes were filled with anticipation.

A publicly funded trip abroad!

Let's go to the country that everyone in the world desires most right now!
This is wonderful!

"hehe."

A barely perceptible smile flashed across Jiang Xian's face. "Here's what you'll do: go to America and experience life there, especially the life depicted in novels, and experience the kind of 'disillusionment' described in those novels."

"Disillusionment?"

Feng Xiaogang was stunned. "What disillusionment?"

“It’s alright, you’ll understand after you read the novel. In short, you should experience the kind of life the protagonist goes through in the novel, like living in a basement in a slum or washing dishes in a restaurant. Creation is about creating something profound based on life experiences,” Jiang Xian said in a calm tone.

"ber?"

Feng Xiaogang was stunned. "Living in a basement and washing dishes in a restaurant? Wasn't my trip to America just pure suffering?!"

"if not?"

Jiang Xian gave him a strange look. "Or should I let you enjoy yourself?"

"Ok?"

Feng Xiaogang wanted to retort, but then felt that Jiang Xian's words seemed to make some sense.

"Old Feng."

Jiang Xian patted Feng Xiaogang on the shoulder, "Don't you know a line from Tolstoy's Anna Karenina? 'God gives each man a cup of sweet wine and a cup of bitter water. Some people experience the sweetness first and then the bitterness, while others experience the bitterness first and then the sweetness.' This time, you'll experience the bitterness first and then the sweetness. If you do a good job with this play, do you think I'll treat you unfairly?"

"I"

Feng Xiaogang was extremely anxious, but he really couldn't come up with any rebuttal, since Jiang Xian's words sounded so reasonable!

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of all the formalities for going to the United States. But once you arrive, you'll have to rely on yourself for everything. Old Feng, I know you're a hard worker. Take care."

"."

Feng Xiaogang really wanted to say thank you for helping me with the paperwork.

What kind of leader is this?
Let him go to America and fend for himself!
But he was also familiar with Jiang Xian's way of doing things. He was truly inhumane, willing to exploit them to the death to achieve his goals. But as long as the job was done well, the rewards Jiang Xian gave were far more generous than those of any other leader in any organization.

Looking at it from another perspective, isn't this also an opportunity to change one's destiny?

Feng Xiaogang suddenly recalled a famous line from Lu Yao's novel "Life":
"The road of life is long, but often only a few steps are crucial, especially when one is young."

Now, the opportunity is right in front of us, so how should we choose?
"Okay, I'll go back and make preparations. Please arrange for me to go there as soon as possible."

They didn't say anything like "go back and think about it."

Feng Xiaogang readily agreed.

He was so eager for success and to change his current situation that he was willing to fawn over any capable person he met.

Now that such a tempting opportunity is right in front of him, how could he possibly expect Jiang Xian to give him any time to consider it?

There are many talented people here at "Seahorse," and Jiang Xian might just hand this job over to someone else.

To put it in popular parlance, it's like saying, "I have so many people here, if you don't do it, there are plenty of others who will!"

The thought of his unknown life experience in the United States filled Feng Xiaogang with deep confusion and fear.

Can.
All of this is absolutely worthwhile.

Bitter first and then sweet.

Feng Xiaogang could only console himself with this thought.

Even if it's tough, isn't it still America? Everyone says it's a paradise, so surely we won't starve or freeze to death?
Sanlian Bookstore.

"Comrade Feng Mu!"

Shen Changwen, the general manager of Sanlian Bookstore, was very excited when he saw Feng Mu. "Please sit down, please sit down."

Shen Changwen is over fifty years old. When he was young, he was an apprentice in a Shanghai silver shop. Later, he passed the exam to work as a proofreader at the People's Publishing House, which led him to Beijing.

For the next thirty years, he worked in editing, progressing from proofreader to secretary, editor, director, and deputy editor-in-chief.
Until two years ago, in 1986, Sanlian Bookstore completed its separation from People's Publishing House, and Shen Changwen became the general manager of the independent Sanlian Bookstore.

"Comrade Feng Mu, please have some water." Shen Changwen poured Feng Mu a cup of tea.

"No need to trouble yourself, no need to trouble yourself."

Feng Mu waved his hand, gesturing for Shen Changwen to sit down. "Old Shen, don't stand on ceremony. I'll get straight to the point. I've come here today for one thing."

"You tell me."

“I would like to arrange for your Sanlian Bookstore to publish a book,” Feng Mu said.

"Publish a book?" Shen Changwen scratched his head, unable to contain his curiosity.

Publish a book?

what book?

It's astonishing that Feng Mulai personally arranged the publication of this book!

Shen Changwen immediately thought of two possibilities: either the book was very well written, or the author was very influential.

But regardless of the possibility, since it was arranged personally by Feng Mu, Shen Changwen could not possibly refuse.

“Great! That’s exactly what Sanlian Bookstore does. The fact that you’ve assigned us to Sanlian shows that you trust us.”

"hehe."

Feng Mu smiled and said, "Old Shen, the book I gave you hasn't treated Sanlian unfairly. You're right, I asked you for this book because I truly trust Sanlian. I don't know how many publishers will be envious of you if you give me this book."

"Oh?" Shen Changwen was even more curious. "What book is it? Has it been published?"

"It's been published. You've probably heard about it recently. It's called 'The Little Prince'."

"The Little Prince?!"

Shen Changwen froze, looking at Feng Mu with disbelief in his eyes, "Is it...is it Jiang Xian's 'The Little Prince'?"

"Yes, it's him."

"."

Upon receiving a positive reply from Feng Mu, Shen Changwen felt an overwhelming sense of excitement, like winning the lottery.

This is amazing!
How could he not have heard of Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince"? It has been so famous in the literary world lately, generating so much discussion and causing quite a stir!
Even Shen Changwen himself has read this novel and thinks Jiang Xian wrote it so well!
It uses a childlike perspective to interpret the complex adult world, and the pure heart of the Little Prince to examine every boring and strange adult.

When Shen Changwen read it, he couldn't help but applaud in admiration. Jiang Xian's writing was so good that it made him, an adult, pay attention to "Children's Literature". This was one of the few times in his life that he had ever read "Children's Literature".

Unexpectedly, Feng Mu brought the novel to their Sanlian Bookstore and asked them to publish it.

This is like a windfall!
Shen Changwen didn't know the circulation of the issue of Children's Literature that published The Little Prince, but based on the reactions of the people around him and the market activity, he could roughly guess that this article on The Little Prince must have set a new record for the circulation of Children's Literature.

It's easy to imagine how popular "The Little Prince" became after Xinlian Bookstore published it.

So this really is like a pie falling from the sky.

"Please wait a moment, I'll call Editor Fan Yong over."

Shen Changwen began, “I mainly work in translation and publishing. My team consists of translators. Over the years, the famous works published by Sanlian were all Fan Yong’s ideas. To publish Jiang Xian’s ‘The Little Prince,’ I have to ask him to take the lead.”

The Sanlian Bookstore's "Reading" magazine is most famous for translating and introducing a large number of foreign books, including "On Love" (Vasilev), "How I Learned and Wrote" (Gorky), "The Stars of Humanity" (Zweig), and "The Right of Heretics" (Zweig). Most of these books were translated by Shen Changwen.

Fan Yong, an editor at Sanlian Bookstore, was responsible for handling many works by famous authors. For example, the selection of the very sensational book "Fu Lei's Family Letters" relied on Fan Yong's network. He knew many veteran writers, such as Ba Jin, and connections are a very important part of the editing work.

When Fan Yong arrived, he was overjoyed to hear that Feng Mu was going to hand over the publication of Jiang Xian's novel "The Little Prince" to Sanlian.

Regardless of how popular "The Little Prince" was, in recent years, every book by Jiang Xian has been a bestseller, with no book ever failing to meet readers' expectations. Jiang Xian's name has become a guarantee of "bestseller status." In the publishing industry, this author is a coveted brand.

Fan Yong had no idea how much his editor-in-chief had given Feng Mu that Feng Mu would personally come to arrange for their Sanlian Bookstore to publish the novel.

It's important to know that the China Writers Association not only has the renowned Writers Publishing House under its umbrella, but also the People's Literature Publishing House, which is considered a "holy land" by writers. Neither of them would refuse the publishing task assigned by Feng Mu.

But Feng Mu actually gave this copy of "The Little Prince" to Sanlian Bookstore!

This left Fan Yong feeling very confused.

However, Fan Yong could still connect the relationship to that between Shen Changwen and Feng Mu, and speculate that Shen Changwen and Feng Mu might have some deep friendship.

Shen Changwen was completely dumbfounded.

Fan Yong also had his doubts, but it was inconvenient for him to ask Feng Mu. Fortunately, Feng Mu quickly gave him his own answer.

"Sanlian Bookstore is an old bookstore with a deep heritage and a good brand. Most importantly, Sanlian has its own characteristics. It is neither official nor commercial. I believe you have also read 'The Little Prince'. In my opinion, the temperament of this novel is quite consistent with Sanlian."

More importantly, if the goal is to bring "The Little Prince" to Hong Kong and overseas in the future, Sanlian Publishing House likely has an advantage over any other domestic publisher in this regard.

"."

After hearing this, Shen Changwen and Fan Yong were both deeply incredulous and exchanged a glance.

Feng Mu really went to great lengths for "The Little Prince" and for Jiang Xian.

Indeed, as Feng Mu said, 80% of the books published by Sanlian Bookstore each year are translated series imported from abroad. Whether it is the connections with foreign countries or the translation staff under its command, these capabilities are unmatched by other domestic publishing houses.

So, from the very first domestic publication, Feng Mu was laying the groundwork for Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince" to be promoted to the world. This vision and foresight are truly worthy of a senior leader of the Writers Association!

Fan Yong, who took over the task of publishing "The Little Prince", quickly threw himself into the publishing work.

For him, the first thing to do was to truly become familiar with the novel "The Little Prince".

Fan Yong read "The Little Prince" carefully several times, and then looked for literary reviews of the novel.

He found that there was almost no need to look.

Literary reviews of "The Little Prince" can be found in any literary journal or critical publication.

This is extremely rare for children's literature novels.

These children's literature novels published in "Children's Literature" have rarely received attention from literary critics.

Literary critics are more enthusiastic about avant-garde and literary works, digging out viewpoints that others cannot find, and showing off their professional theoretical knowledge.

Children's literature novels have always had little room for interpretation, so they naturally don't attract much attention from literary critics.

But The Little Prince is different.

Literary reviews of this novel can be found in the *Wenyi Bao* (Literary Gazette):
Finding the "True Essence" of Life from a Child's Perspective: Reading 'The Little Prince'

Jiang Xian dedicated it to an adult, to the child he once was.

"Every adult started as a child, but how many of them remember that?"

The city I live in is young and busy. People always walk as if they're going to the toilet. Many people don't have time to stop and look at the starry sky or the sunset; they don't have time to wait for a flower to bloom and wither; they don't have time to ask what a child with their head down on the roadside is thinking; they don't have time to write letters; they don't have time to walk barefoot; they don't have time to practice blowing bubbles with their saliva.

"The Little Prince" made me realize that there were so many things I had overlooked, and that I had forgotten what I used to be like.

We've complicated many things that were originally simple. We've all left our hometowns, abandoned our parents, and started living seriously in unfamiliar places. Then, every year we spend a lot of time traveling between two or more different places, crammed together in one place.

When we hear someone say something, we have to think it over carefully before we dare to conclude that the statement has no other meaning.

Our existence requires a great deal of numerical proof. We take pride in possessing a great deal of numerical proof.

We've oversimplified many complex things. We've long lost our sense of novelty and curiosity about the world; we've become accustomed to everything. But in reality, there are so many things in this world we don't understand at all, so many things that aren't as simple as we imagine. It's just that we've lost the interest and time to dwell on them.

"I have a lot of important things to do!" This is the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard.

A friend told me that one day he saw two children racing. They threw a small stone into the air, and the children ran as soon as the stone landed. That was how they started the race.

Clever, right?
We grow up, and as a result, we become less intelligent.
This commentary was sincere and moving, but there was another reason why it attracted Fan Yong's attention.

—The author of the article is Ye Zhaoyan.

(End of this chapter)