Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 114 I would rather be broken than jade
Zhang Chao was very polite when he saw Shan Yingqi off, because he knew that this matter had nothing to do with her and she was just relaying the president's instructions to her and did not try to persuade him herself.

But Zhang Chao's heart could not calm down for a long time. The tactics used by the other party were quite clever. On the surface, they put pressure on him by literary criticism, and secretly bribed him through the publishing house.

The other party proposed to buy out all the inventory of "Dwelling Narrowness", which was actually asking me to name my price. The retail price of this novel is 26 yuan, and the royalty is 15%. Excluding the first print run that has been sold out, if I take the initiative to say "I think this book can sell 100 million copies", then I may have an extra 200 million yuan in my bank account tomorrow.

There is no need for Chunfeng Publishing House to even print the remaining 50 copies.

But the problem was that the other party really didn't leave any handle for him - after hearing that Zhang Chao was unwilling to make changes, Shan Yingqi put away the revision suggestion. Zhang Chao regretted that he didn't look carefully at what content was to be changed, otherwise he might have guessed a little clue.

If I start complaining now without any basis, not only will few people believe me, but I will become a clown if the other party releases tens of thousands of copies of "Snail House" on the market.

It seems that we can't defend against hidden arrows for a while, so we can block the opponent's open attacks - those literary criticisms. But the starting point cannot be that our works are not allowed to be criticized, even if it is a completely negative criticism like the current one.

So we can only discuss the matter objectively, and deal with the grudges in literature.

Zhang Chao returned to his study and began to write his first battle manifesto, "One Kind of Reality, Still Another Kind of Reality - Arguing with "Literary Debate""

[When my critics accuse me of being narrow-minded and vulgar, they never seem to notice that the story in "Dwelling Narrowness" is being repeated in reality...]

[They first carefully selected some fragments from the novel, then carefully cut out the context related to these fragments, and then exclaimed like Columbus discovered the New World: Look, there is a bad guy! ]

[Novels record only a small part of the extremely rich and fragmented silhouette of the real world, but literary critics intentionally magnify it into the author's view of the entire world...]

As he wrote, Zhang Chao seemed to have regained the passion he had when he sneaked into the computer room in the middle of the night to write, so his writing became more and more sharp.

[These criticisms really made me realize the powerlessness of novels in reflecting reality, because novels need to be logical, while reality does not.]

[In these criticisms, I don’t see the so-called “literary debate”, I can only see a few repeaters huddling together for warmth…]

After typing the last punctuation mark of the entire text, Zhang Chao breathed a sigh of relief, checked it again, and when he thought there was no problem, he decided to publish it on the Internet.

Xinlang Blog will not be online until next month, so I can only log in to the long-lost "Blog China" and fight again with my "Midnight Tide" account!

[Sorry, your password is wrong, please re-enter it or click "Retrieve Password"]

Zhang Chao: “……?”

There is absolutely no way I could have entered my password incorrectly. This is the password I have used for all my important accounts in my past and present lives, so even if I haven't logged in for two months, I won't have remembered it incorrectly.

Enter again...

[Sorry, your password is wrong, please re-enter it or click "Retrieve Password"]

This time Zhang Chao felt a little uneasy. He clicked on "Retrieve Password" and the prompt changed to:
【System error, please try again later】

"Damn!" Zhang Chao couldn't help but throw the mouse. The other party's hand was too long, and he didn't expect Dongfang Xing to be so spineless. He restrained his urge to call Dongfang Xing and scold him. Anyway, if he called him, the other party would either play dumb or play pitiful. He didn't have time to play this kind of game with him.

Since the blog platform was banned, let's try the print media platform. Although the Nan Guo faction had fallen out, Zhang Chao had made some good connections with other media before, and he believed that this matter was topical enough.

After careful consideration, Zhang Chao chose to delete some overly explicit words in the article - after all, he had to consider the standards of print media - and then sent it to an editor he was familiar with at Reading Newspaper.

Although the China Youth Daily has a greater influence and a good relationship with Zhang Chao, it is not a professional literary newspaper after all, so the Reading Newspaper is more suitable.

The next morning, Zhang Chao received a call from the editor, who said that Zhang Chao's article was well written, but Reading Newspaper was not a specialized literary theory journal and did not participate in such debates, so it could not be adopted.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Chao's inner anxiety was magnified again. He tried two more newspapers, but without exception, they were rejected immediately.

What about Huacheng and Qingnian Literature? Let’s not talk about whether Zhu Yanling and Li Shidong were also warned, but if these two, a bimonthly and a monthly, were really published, it would be too late.

Zhang Chao thought he might as well post it on his QQ space - he opened QQ and studied it, well, this feature wasn't available yet.

An invisible net seemed to be covering Zhang Chao's head.

At noon that day, Zhao Changtian of New Sprouts called Zhang Chao and said with regret: "Our application to add a supplement to the magazine has been taken back by the higher-ups. They said they would study it again and make a decision. They also asked us to organize the manuscripts strictly according to the existing columns and scale before the results of the study come out."

Zhang Chao said calmly: "Is there no room for turning back?"

Zhao Changtian said, "It had already been approved a long time ago. Who knew that the water that had been poured out could be taken back? Alas, I actually don't know what happened. Zhang Chao, who did you offend?" Zhang Chao said helplessly, "If only I knew... Now I only have some vague guesses."

Zhao Changtian said: "I have read the manuscript and layout design of the first issue of Youth Magazine. It is really well written... What a pity."

Zhang Chao interrupted Zhao Changtian and said, "Editor Zhao, as long as this supplement is still possible, these manuscripts belong to Youth."

Zhao Changtian said hurriedly: "Okay, I understand, New Sprouts will not intercept it."

Zhang Chao was in a terrible mood. He had just finished a poetry appreciation class at Yanda University in the afternoon when he was called to Cao Wenxuan's office.

In the office, Cao Wenxuan thought for a long time before he said to Zhang Chao worriedly, "Congratulations..."

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "Teacher Cao, you don't look like you're congratulating me. Just tell me, what's the matter?"

Cao Wenxuan sighed and said, "Do you know IWP? The Chinese name is 'International Writing Program'."

Zhang Chao had heard of this and said, "Is it the one organized by Chinese-American writer Ms. Nie Hualing? They invite writers from all over the world to the University of Iowa in the United States to receive professional writing training and exchanges. I remember that my class teacher Yu Hua from Yanshi University went there.

This writing project is so influential. Am I not qualified for it? "

Cao Wenxuan nodded and said, "That's right. IWP has cooperative relationships with the liberal arts colleges of famous universities around the world, and our Yanda University itself has recommended places. If, I mean if, IWP invites you to participate this year, will you go?"

Zhang Chao hesitated for a moment and asked, "When?"

Cao Wenxuan said: "IWP usually starts in August every year, but if you want to go, you can leave at the beginning of next month."

Zhang Chao was stunned and said, "Classes are in August, why should I leave so early? I don't have to attend classes in Yanjing?"

Cao Wenxuan said: "Participating in this kind of activities can be used to apply for credits for many courses; the course at Yanshi University is a writing course, which can be used to offset more credits. After you arrive in the United States, you will first be asked to take a language class for about 3-4 months to strengthen your oral and listening skills, so that you can communicate better with teachers and classmates in IWP without relying too much on translation."

After saying that, Cao Wenxuan sighed again, looking sad, and he didn't look happy for Zhang Chao at all.

Zhang Chao laughed. His anger made him calmer. He said to Cao Wenxuan, "There is no problem with you joining the IWP, but I will not agree to go to the United States in early April. Don't be embarrassed. This decision is made by me. It has nothing to do with you."

After returning home from Yanjing University, Zhang Chao called Shan Yingqi. He knew she must still be in Yanjing. Sure enough, Shan Yingqi answered the phone immediately.

Zhang Chao said: "Are you free? Come to my house."

Shan Yingqi said: "Have you made a decision? Okay, I'll go now."

In less than half an hour, Shan Yingqi appeared in Zhang Chao's living room. Zhang Chao placed a stack of papers in front of Shan Yingqi and said, "This is the publishing agreement for "Dwelling Narrowness" signed between us."

Shan Yingqi picked it up, took a look at it, put it down again and nodded.

Zhang Chao picked up the agreement and tore it into pieces in front of Shan Yingqi.

Shan Yingqi was stunned, then reacted and quickly said: "Zhang Chao, don't be impulsive..." Although she didn't know what Zhang Chao was going to do, a huge sense of uneasiness surged out like a tide.

Zhang Chao said in a voice without any emotion: "Since some people don't want to be polite anymore, then there is no need for me to be polite either."

Shan Yingqi asked in a trembling voice: "What are you going to do?"

Zhang Chao said: "Tonight, I will upload the electronic file of "Dwelling Narrowness" to the Internet, and will also serialize it on major forums. If it is deleted on domestic forums, I will post it on Hong Kong forums; if it is deleted on Hong Kong forums, I will post it on Taiwan forums.

In addition, I have contacted Mingchuang Publishing House in Hong Kong this afternoon, and "Dwelling Narrowness" will be published in Hong Kong as early as next month. I told President Pan Yaoming that I only want a symbolic 1% royalty for this book, just as a token of my appreciation.

If someone thinks that covering my mouth will save him from embarrassment, then he should be prepared to embarrass himself to the whole world."

Shan Yingqi said in disbelief: "You are murdering your own reputation! Do you know how much you have to pay?"

Zhang Chao said: "Do the people who did what they did today know what it means to 'rather die in glory than live in disgrace'?"

(End of this chapter)