I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 272 Backlash!

On June 18, the United States and Italy met in the round of 6.

During the match, the Chinese players' actions were extremely brutal, with frequent fouls, but the referee seemed to be blind to it.

During extra time, Totti was brought down in the penalty area by a foreign player.

The referee, however, ruled that Totti had dived and showed him a second yellow card. Two yellows resulted in a red card, and Totti was sent off.

In addition, Tomasi's offside-beating one-on-one opportunity was disallowed.

In the end, the United States won 2-1, and Italy was eliminated!

This caused an uproar throughout Europe!
Portugal had experienced a similar situation before, but the European response was relatively calm at the time.

Occasionally...

Italy!

It's not comparable to Portugal.

Immediately, the sports communities of various countries launched a campaign to criticize the country for stealing the prize.

There's a program on Italian TV channel 5 called "Secret Revealed".
The presenter was a contestant in the 01 Miss World pageant; her name is Georgia Palmers.

She was a newcomer, but the day after she was eliminated in Italy, she pulled out a book on the show "Secrets Revealed".

"A country that steals another country is an extremely despicable country."

This country has an extremely dark side. If you've read this book, *The Crucible*, I'll understand what it means to steal a country. That's their nature, so I'm not surprised they did such despicable things. Mr. Amos, as expected of a Chinese, has a very deep understanding of those who steal countries…”

The male host who was paired with her was a little confused.

This part wasn't included when we went over the script.

He asked instinctively, "Which Amos?"

"Amos Liu Jin, author of The Old Man and the Sea, a great writer."

"So this book..."

"This is a work that reflects the current state of the stolen country. If we had read this book in advance and had a better understanding of the stolen country, we might not have encountered this disaster."

The director was also confused at first!
But soon, he reacted.

Furthermore, according to real-time feedback, the show's ratings surged when Georgia was furiously denouncing the theft of the country.

This made him immediately realize that criticizing the theft of the country at this time was politically motivated!

"Let her talk, let her keep talking... Georgia, curse her even harder."

The director reacted quickly and immediately gave instructions.

But to be honest, even Georgia didn't know much about the theft of the country.

But it's okay, when emotions reach this point, it's okay to yell!

So she began to write a story based on some plot points from "The Crucible".

Oh right, that Ahn Jung-hwan, the one who scored the final goal to win, I think he played in the Italian Serie A.

Georgia got her revenge!

At the end of the program, the male host suddenly asked, "I see this book is in French?"

"Yes!"

Why is there no Italian version? Why haven't our Italian publishers found such a book?
This is the latest book by the author of The Old Man and the Sea.

Damn it, there's no Italian version of Life Is Beautiful, and now there's no Italian version of The Crucible either.

Italian publishers are so poor they can't even get a decent meal!

Georgia nodded repeatedly in agreement.

……

This show is a hit!
Starting the next day, countless Italians began discussing the theft of their country and the melting pot.

Mela almost burst out laughing.

She had been in a bad mood ever since the French team was eliminated in the group stage.

As a result, Italy has now been eliminated as well!
Even though I was eliminated in the round of 16, it was by my fellow countrymen in such a despicable way that I felt much better!

"You wouldn't believe it, the faxes and emails have been coming in non-stop since early this morning."

About a dozen Italian publishers have inquired about importing "The Crucible," even the French version.

"Have the Italians gone mad?"

Liu Jin looked confused.

He knew Italy had been hacked, but...

"You don't know, Italians now grit their teeth when they talk about thieves."

Twenty-three percent!

Even your royalties for *The Old Man and the Sea* weren't this high.

"Hahahaha!"

Liu Jin couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This is nothing. The real climax will come when Spain gets hacked.

"Signed?"

"Of course, the first print run is 300,000 copies."

"Fantastic!" Another large sum of money in hand.

Liu Jin estimated that 300,000 copies would definitely not be enough.

It's worth noting that Italy's population is similar to France's, nearly 60 million.

The fan base is very large.

This time they were attacked without any explanation. I guess as long as they are accused of stealing works by Chinese people, they will buy them.

If things go wrong, it could set a new record!
This excited Liu Jin, and when he got home that night, he even drank two ounces of tiger bone wine to celebrate.

……

And so, "Silenced" successfully entered the Italians' field of vision.

It wasn't just Italians who took notice of this novel.

People from other countries have also taken notice of this matter.

For example, Mr. Beckenbauer specifically asked someone to buy a copy of "The Crucible" from France.

In his words, we must plan ahead!
After all, Italy was eliminated, but Germany is still in the competition.

The Italians' enthusiasm, in turn, spurred the French on.

Many people bought the book "The Crucible" before, but due to the World Cup, most people didn't have time to read it.

Good heavens, this is incredible!

Is stealing a country really that dark?
So perverted?

In fact, similar incidents have occurred in various European countries.

However, it did not attract attention, and the higher-ups could keep it a secret.

just now……

Europe has been the birthplace of the Virgin Mary since ancient times.

America, as an exporter of human rights, doesn't even pay much attention to it, but it's flourishing all over Europe, with countless "saints" around.

This is especially true in France!

The incident of China protesting to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding its previous theft has been brought up again.

When asked about this at a press conference, a Foreign Ministry official replied with a sneer: "Those who steal from other countries should mind their own business. French internal affairs are not to be interfered with by outsiders. Freedom of creation and freedom of publication are the foundation of the civilized world."

Then, he spoke in a sarcastic and mocking tone.

This kind of thing should not happen in diplomacy.

But surprisingly, nobody cared.

Following the statement from the French WJ department, the Chinese embassy also released a message.

"China does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Mr. Amos's 'The Crucible' is a work of magical realism. It is published by a French publishing house and represents the results of cultural exchanges between China and France. It is not allowed for other countries to interfere."

Ambassador who stole from China: You two are having a cultural exchange, are you using our little affair to smear us?
Before they could retaliate, Singra Publishing suddenly released the fax that the embassy had sent to the publisher.

Originally, some traitors in the cultural circles who had taken money from the country had criticized Liu Jin's work.

but now……

The French cultural scene was instantly abuzz!
Do you expect those intellectuals to say anything good?
What sarcastic remarks, what veiled insults, what insinuations...

They're finding all sorts of ways to express their opinions!

The pen of a cultured person can be a knife that kills.

The entire French cultural community united to condemn the theft of their country, and neighboring Italy immediately followed suit.

The Portuguese, who had been silently licking their wounds in the corner, could no longer bear to see this.

In this situation, if you, a prominent figure in Portuguese cultural circles, don't stand up and criticize the thieves, you're not Portuguese.

The combined efforts of the three countries immediately made the topic even more popular!
Editorial Presena, Portugal’s largest publishing house, sent a fax to Singra Publishing House.

Two things were needed: introducing the French version of "Silenced" as a last resort.

At the same time, preparations began for the Portuguese translation of "The Crucible".

Similarly, the royalties offered to Liu Jin were as high as 25%.

Seeing the two countries' enthusiasm, Carmen Balces, who had already completed the Spanish translation of "The Crucible," had a bad feeling.

On June 21, she published an article in Mundo Deportivo urging the Spanish Football Federation to be wary of the despicable tactics used to steal from the country.

To be honest, she didn't initially take the novel "The Crucible" seriously.

However, because of Liu Jin, she obtained the copyright.

Seeing that all of Europe was beginning to condemn the thief, Carmen Balces decided to release "The Crucible" ahead of schedule.

But before the novel could be published, an infuriating message arrived.

At 19:30 Beijing time on June 22 (1:30 PM Spanish time), the quarter-final match between China and Spain began.

Two goals for Spain were disallowed by Egyptian referee Jamal Gandour.

One of the goals, an own goal by a Spanish player, was disallowed because it was a Spanish attacking foul. Morenstre's header was ruled out of play by the linesman.

In the final stages of extra time, just as the Spanish team was preparing to take a corner kick, the referee blew the final whistle prematurely.

Ultimately, in the penalty shootout, Spain was eliminated by the other side, losing 3-5.

The whole of Spain is in an uproar!
……

(End of this chapter)