Literary Master 1983

Chapter 54 American Publishers

"Yu Minhong, what are you busy with recently?"

"I'm busy memorizing. I have an exam."

"Then what are you doing here, Yu Minhong?"

"Yu Qie?! Didn't you pull me over to play table tennis?"

"What about Wang Qiang?"

"He is busy dating," Yu Minhong answered before Wang Qiang could answer, "Wang Qiang found an American female student who is very beautiful."

Wang Qiang was also very proud. He said, "Guess how I got close to her? I relied on the Little Red Book. The woman held the Quotations from Confucius in her left hand and Das Kapital in her right hand. The first thing she said was 'Only by destroying the old and rotten things can we build new and sound things'. The next sentence was 'American imperialism is a paper tiger!'..."

Yu Qi was stunned: "Don't you have an American girlfriend?"

"Americans can't oppose America?" Wang Qiang said, "In the middle of the T-shirt she was wearing, there was a picture of a man with long hair who looked like a rock singer... Do you know who that was?"

Yu Qie said, "Che Guevara!"

Wang Qiang was surprised and said, "You are right, it is Che Guevara! I knew it. My revolutionary comrade who I never met came. So, I talked to her about everything, about ideology, class, etc. She admired my noble revolutionary qualities, and our relationship was established."

Yu Qie was addicted to table tennis recently, so he invited two brothers from the Spanish Department to play. However, after just two rounds, they started talking about picking up foreign girls.

Indeed, it was always the foreign rifle teams that entered the city of Beijing, and it was rare for the Chinese rifle teams to have a chance to shoot at the American Wetland Garden.

Isn't that bragging?

Americans are a rather special group among the international students at Yenching University. They are terribly naive, and lack the moral values ​​of old Europe.

This may be related to the sexual liberation movement in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. These people are the generation where moral ethics and social order have collapsed.

It is not easy for international students from Europe, especially the Soviet Union, to build relationships. Only in America can you have the opportunity to try out all kinds of guns.

Yu Qie asked Wang Qiang: "Why did you talk so much with the American girl? Just to sleep with her?"

Wang Qiang shook his head like a rattle: "Of course not, I'm not that kind of person!"

Yu Minhong asked: "So you are looking for someone to practice speaking with for studying abroad?"

Wang Qiang said: “Not really. My spoken English is close to that of a local. I am a native speaker. Let me read you a passage…”

"--I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident - that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia--"

"Hey. Don't f*cking recite it. Everyone knows Martin Luther King!"

Wang Qiang recited a passage in a rhythmic manner, and then said, "I found a loophole in the immigration system that can allow me to immigrate there. I have studied it... As long as she is willing to take me to the United States and I have collected enough money for the plane tickets, once we get married, we can obtain American citizenship..."

Yu Minhong said: "What about your children?"

"Once my child is born in the United States, he or she will also be an American. There is a law in the United States that newborns automatically obtain citizenship...so many people are desperate to come to the United States to give birth to children."

Yu Minhong said: "You are so despicable, I never thought that your scheme could be so vicious!"

Wang Qiang disagreed: "The American girl gained revolutionary friendship, and I gained American citizenship. Isn't this fair? I will set up a gynecological hospital in the future, called New Oriental, to bring Eastern children to the West for birth." Did Americans in the 1980s hate their own country so much? Could it really be the lost generation after the Vietnam War?

Yu Qie was a little curious. "Have you ever come into contact with ordinary Americans? Do you think Americans think they are capable?"

"Not so good. Too free, too lax. Everyone has their own agenda and is unwilling to work for the American nation. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, their TV stations broadcast news every day that the Soviet Union was about to completely open up the Eurasian continent, saying that the United States was going to lose... and we were going to lose too. The people were really worried."

Yu Qi suddenly thought of an American novel called "American Psycho", which talks about the alienation of people under consumerism and how they become "mental patients". This novel was published in 91 and shocked the American literary world at that time, and it hit the nail on the head about the anxiety in the hearts of ordinary American people.

It was later adapted into a movie, with big directors and big stars co-producing it.

If Yu Qie wrote such a novel and published it in advance, it would probably have a great influence in this era when the United States is even less confident.

This is the second time Yu Qie wanted to write an English novel. The first time was when he read "The Man from Atlantis".

Unexpectedly, Wang Qiang continued, "There are very few Americans in China. It is said that one plane can transport them all. Americans in Yanjing know each other and are friends. If I become an American's boyfriend, I will also be their friend."

"So the visa officer is also my friend, so of course he won't make things difficult for me."

Wang Qiang had really thought of every possible way to go abroad, but Yu Qie was not interested in that. Instead, he asked, "Do you know any American publishers in China?"

"Yes, Lucy's family is a publisher. Her father is an executive at McGraw-Hill in the United States. This company sells novels in various languages ​​all over the world."

"Who is Lucy?"

"Lucy is my girlfriend. They also translated our Little Red Book."

Holy shit, this is outrageous.

It is hard to imagine Xinhua translating the Declaration of Independence, although it is possible that it happened.

Yu Qie immediately said, "Let's get to know your American friends and talk about literature in the future."

"Okay, that's what they love, but I tell you, they love the Little Red Book more than any other Chinese literature."

So, Yu Qi wrote the plot outline of "American Psycho" in his memo, and planned to write it out when he had the chance in the future to see if there was any way to publish it.

This Lucy is an international student at Yanjing University, has a favorable impression of China, and is the daughter of a publishing executive. She is absolutely the perfect match.

Comrades in the Spanish Department are indeed very useful.

He made a note of this incident and continued writing "Da Saba" in the remaining time. Soon, he began to review his subjects such as English and advanced mathematics.

New Year's Day was the first foreign festival introduced to China. Chinese people in the 1980s also celebrated New Year's Day. Yan University organized various cultural and artistic activities, but unfortunately the students had little time to enjoy them.

October magazine invited Yu Qie to participate in the activities of Beijing writers, but Yu Qie refused, which surprised other writers when they asked him the reason:

"Ah? Teacher Yu Qie is actually still a college student."

A few days after New Year's Day, Yu Qie received a sample issue of "Foreign Literature Studies". When he opened it, he saw his "Latin American Realism" right there, without a single word missing.

On the other side, Luo Yihe was holding a new issue of "People's Literature" and hurried over to find Yu Qie.

(End of this chapter)