Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 86 (First Update) Dimensionality Attack
At the Shanghai Book Fair, Huacheng Publishing House's booth was relatively simple. It did not rent a large venue to hold any press conference. It just reserved a relatively large area next to the booth and made a billboard as a background for Zhang Chao to sign "Your Name".

After all, this novel was serialized in "Youth Literature" more than two months ago, and there is no mystery about it. Huacheng Publishing House estimates that the sales volume should not exceed 60 copies. Although it is also a super bestseller, there is still a certain gap with "Better Days Like You".

But the situation soon changed. At 8 o'clock in the morning, before the book fair opened, the organizers received several calls, and then, as if facing a major enemy, they quickly sent people out to find a large printing shop with a banner printing machine.

At 10 o'clock, a big red banner was hung on the Huacheng Society's booth:

Guangdong Huacheng Publishing House, Hong Kong Mingchuang Publishing House, young writer Zhang Chao's "Youth Like You" authorized publishing and strategic cooperation signing ceremony
The reporters who were originally lazy and slack immediately became energetic. Other publishing houses cooperate with Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, importing more works and exporting fewer works. It has been half a year since the publication of "Youth Like You", but it can still produce such news value.

Before long, more and more journalists who had received the news gathered in front of the Huacheng Press booth. The staff of the book fair began to add tables and folding chairs, and even covered the first two rows of tables with red tablecloths.

A leader is coming! The reporters immediately started calling people.

Not long after, Xiao Jianguo, the president of Huacheng Publishing House, and Zhang Chao arrived at the scene; after a while, the leaders of Guangdong Publishing Group, the superior unit of Huacheng Publishing House, also arrived at the scene with a few people and sat in the first row.

The signing ceremony began soon. As the host, Xiao Jianguo first invited Pan Yaoming, made a grand introduction to him, and asked him to speak.

Pan Yaoming said: "The purpose of strengthening cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and Guangdong is to enable the young generations of the two places to know and understand each other. Mr. Zhang Chao's "Youth Like You" focuses on the common problems in education, and I believe it will resonate with young people in Hong Kong Island..."

Xiao Jianguo asked Zhang Chao to say a few words. Zhang Chao really had nothing to say, so he just perfunctorily said "honor", "expectation", "thank you"...

The leader of Guangdong Provincial Publishing House made a summary speech: "Our group has always hoped that the mainland book market can both 'invite in' and 'go out'. This signing not only represents..., but also explains..., and at the same time leads..."

Just when Zhang Chao was about to fall asleep, the signing process finally officially began.

First, Huacheng Publishing House and Mingchuang Publishing House signed a strategic cooperation agreement, and then Zhang Chao personally signed a publishing agreement for "Young Like You" in Hong Kong with Mingchuang Publishing House.

Finally, the parties took a group photo holding the agreement, and the reporters took a lot of photos.

The ceremony was over, but the crowd did not disperse. The staff climbed up and down to take down the banner, and then hung a new one:
Signing ceremony for the authorized publication of the manga "Your Name" by young writer Zhang Chao held by Shueisha

The leaders of Guangdong Provincial Publishing House did not leave, but moved from the middle seat to the side. Soon, the leaders of the relevant departments organizing the book fair arrived and sat in the middle of the rostrum.

At this time, the reporters who had rushed to the scene had already surrounded the place. The host on the scene was also replaced by Yan Baohua, the editor-in-chief of "Yanjing Cartoon".

Shueisha's president Taniyama Naoyoshi made a grand appearance in Yan Baohua's introduction. With the help of a translator, he recounted how he became involved with Your Name: "... I was first attracted by the painting style of Your Name. Later, I asked someone to translate part of the content and found that the story was also excellent. Introducing such a comic work can not only bring fresh blood to our magazine, but also inspire cartoonists in our island country.

Culture needs communication to innovate. 20 years ago, Akira Toriyama created "Dragon Ball" with the original intention of drawing a Japanese version of "Journey to the West", so the protagonist is called "Sun Wukong". Today, Zhang Chaosang's story and Xia Dajiang's painting also show us the charm of Chinese culture in the context of modern cities..."

Reporters wrote furiously: "Shueisha's president praised the Zhang Chao and Xia Da duo as comparable to Toriyama Akira!"

Zhang Chao: "..."

This time, Zhang Chao spoke more seriously. He said: "The fact that "Your Name" attracted the attention of Shueisha's President Taniyama should be mainly attributed to our cartoonist Xia Da. It is her excellent painting skills and deep understanding of the work that have given the text new life. This comic proves that domestic painters are also capable of comparable to the first-class painters in the island countries. I believe it can also be successful in the island countries. You should interview Xia Da and promote our domestic comics." The leader still made a summary speech: "The Shanghai Book Fair, in addition to 'bringing in' excellent foreign works, must also help excellent domestic works 'go out'. This signing represents..., explains..., and leads..."

Finally, Zhang Chao and Taniyama Naoyoshi signed the publishing agreement for the comic version of "Your Name" and took a group photo.

Just when the reporters thought the signing ceremony was over and they could interview Zhang Chao, the staff put up a new banner:
Kadokawa Group of Japan·Young writer Zhang Chao's novel "Your Name" authorized publishing signing ceremony

The leader of the Guangdong Provincial Publishing House led his people to sit in the second row, the leaders of the relevant departments organizing the book fair moved to the side, and then the leader in charge of culture in Shanghai sat in the middle of the first row.

There was no room for reporters in the venue, and many people could only stand outside with their cameras held high and take pictures.

The host was naturally changed to Li Shidong from Youth Literature, and the person who came was none other than Kadokawa Koyomi, the president and helmsman of Kadokawa Bookstore.

Kadokawa Toyohiko's speech was similar to Taniyama Naoyoshi's, and he concluded: "Zhang Chaosang's youth reminds me of Kawabata Yasunari, who was also less than 20 years old and had beautiful brushstrokes and keen feelings..."

The reporters continued to write furiously: "The president of Kadokawa Bookstore praised Zhang Chao as being comparable to Kawabata Yasunari!"

Zhang Chao: "..."

What followed was nothing more than Zhang Chao's speech, the leaders' speeches, the signing of contracts, and group photos.

After going through the whole process, not only Zhang Chao, but even the reporters were numb. The biggest problem they faced was: how to write today's report, how to cram the content of three reports into one report...

But just when everyone thought it was over, news came from Chunfeng Publishing House: At 2 o'clock this afternoon, a ceremony will be held for our publishing house and Zhang Chao to sign the publishing agreement for the novel "Dwelling Narrowness". Please come and support us.

Next, Lu Jinbo of Beirong Culture informed the reporters that at 2 pm today, Beirong Culture will grandly launch Zhang Chao’s new book "Undercurrent Collection", and everyone is welcome to come.

Regardless of whether Zhang Chao can be divided into two, these two pieces of news alone are not enough to excite the reporters. As for the two large press conferences held by Chunfeng Society and Beirong Culture, they have become a complete joke.

Xiao Si, Han Han, Lu Jinbo... No matter how hard they try, they are just bullies in their own circle. Who has the ability to sell his books to Hong Kong Island and other island countries like Zhang Chao?

In the past, many "books going overseas" activities were well known to reporters in the cultural field. They were basically the result of multiple operations, and most of them were a business that lost money but gained publicity. How could there be such a good thing of rushing to find domestic authors to sign contracts?

That’s why leaders at all levels attach so much importance to it and want to show up on site.

Now, whether from the perspective of news value or from the perspective of cultural value, Zhang Chao alone has crushed the so-called "Youth Literature Dream Team" and "Youth Literature Array" into nothingness.

If we use a word that became popular more than ten years later to describe it, it would be: dimensionality reduction attack!
It is hard to imagine that there will be any other media reports about the Shanghai Book Fair today and tomorrow. Now they are only thinking about one thing, that is, interviewing Zhang Chao!

Zhang Chao didn't actually plan to schedule the signing ceremony so tightly at first, but he was anxious to go back to Yanjing to attend classes. He didn't want to take a leave for the first class at the beginning of the semester, so after some communication, the situation became what it is today.

(End of this chapter)