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Chapter 138-0135 [An Even Larger Whirlpool of Public Opinion]

Two days before the Lunar New Year, Chen Guiliang received a phone call from Tie Yi.

“You’re being too impulsive,” Tie Yi said.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Wolf Totem?"

Tie Yi said, "Yes, the public opinion is quite strong. Next time you are interviewed, you don't need to apologize or anything, but you should be more tactful in your words."

"Thank you for reminding me, Auntie, but I've already said something even harsher," Chen Guiliang said.

Tie Yi paused for a moment: "Then... you'll have to bear it."

Wolf Totem is incredibly popular, selling over 100 million copies in just 8 months. It has also been translated into more than 10 languages, with overseas advance royalties exceeding $100 million.

Its global sales later reached 2000 million copies!

Chen Guiliang's participation in the recording of "Oriental Night Tales" is the highest-rated variety show in the Yangtze River Delta region, and many writers and journalists living in Shanghai watch it.

Just two days after the program aired, it attracted the attention of four or five media outlets.

Subsequently, more than 20 media outlets across the country reported on the matter.

Of the media outlets and celebrities involved, over 90% supported and praised "Wolf Totem." The remaining 10% did not dare to publicly support Chen Guiliang, but only offered objective evaluations of "Wolf Totem."

For example, the China Environment News published an article questioning the scientific validity of the ecological logic in Wolf Totem.

For example, Guo Xuebo, a writer from the grassland people, believes that "Wolf Totem" is a romanticized misinterpretation of nomadic culture.

The literary journal *Literary Debate* criticized *Wolf Totem* for lacking literary merit and instead stating that it resembled a sociological paper.

Who are the authors who praise "Wolf Totem"?

It includes publications such as *Renri*, *Guangming Daily*, *Southern Metropolis Daily*, Phoenix TV, Master Zhang, Director Chen, Professor Chen, Writer Zhou…

Professor Chen was from Peking University, so Wu Meng chose his course.

Chen Guiliang was almost killed by the spittle!

"Tomorrow is the New Year, what are you doing at the bookstore?" Bian Guanyue asked curiously.

“Buy books.”

In the bestseller section of Xinhua Bookstore, "Wolf Totem" and "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty" are right next to each other.

Chen Guiliang asked the shop assistant, "Which one sells better?"

"In the last two weeks, 'Those Things About the Ming Dynasty' has sold even better," the clerk replied.

This is because "Wolf Totem" has been on the market for eight months and is starting to lose momentum. It will take some more time for news of its overseas success to reach the domestic market, which will then trigger another sales surge.

Chen Guiliang bought a copy of "Wolf Totem" and called Li Xunhuan on his way back to his rented room.

"You're something else, making such a big fuss." Li Xunhuan wasn't flustered at all; on the contrary, he was very happy because Chen Guiliang had successfully piggybacked on the success of "Wolf Totem."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Something's not right. Is the publisher of 'Wolf Totem' making a move?"

“Of course,” Li Xunhuan said.

Chen Guiliang said, "I just bought a copy of 'Wolf Totem' and will critique its contents page by page. The articles will be published on my blog, and you can select some of the most interesting parts to give to the media."

Li Xunhuan immediately agreed: "No problem. As long as you provide the firepower, many newspapers are waiting to enter the scene."

hang up the phone.

Chen Guiliang then called Professor Wang: "Happy New Year, Professor Wang."

Professor Wang laughed and said, "You've made quite a big deal out of this."

Chen Guiliang said, "I don't know much about the history of the grasslands and would like to study it seriously. Could you recommend a professor who studies the history of the Yuan Dynasty?"

"I'll give you Xiao Zhang's phone number," Professor Wang said after thinking for a moment.

Professor Zhang is not yet 40 years old, and all of his academic papers in recent years are related to the Yuan Dynasty.

Chen Guiliang brought his girlfriend, a bag of fruit, and physical cards of the card game "Three Kingdoms Kill" and a copy of "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty" as gifts, and visited Professor Zhang on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Professor Zhang joked, "Wow, your New Year's gift is quite lavish."

“I just started the company and I’m still heavily in debt,” Chen Guiliang said. “I’ll come to wish Professor Zhang a Happy New Year when I’ve made some money, and I’ll give you a Mercedes then.”

Professor Zhang's wife said, "We can't accept that; we'll be reported."

The couple were both very approachable, and there were no communication barriers between them.

Bian Guanyue learned to make dumplings from Professor Zhang's wife, while Chen Guiliang asked her some questions about it.

Professor Zhang quickly got to the point: "While nomadic peoples of the grasslands do have wolf totems, they also have various other totems such as eagles, deer, sheep, cattle, horses, monkeys, and lions. When Temujin succeeded to the throne, he erected a nine-legged white banner, the specific design of which is now lost to history, but it is almost certainly unrelated to the wolf totem."

"The Yuan Dynasty ruled over an excessively large territory, absorbing all kinds of beliefs and totems. For example, Nestorianism, Taoism, and dragon and phoenix totems." "From the pre-Qin era until the Qing Dynasty, the totems of the northern nomadic peoples were never unified."

Chen Guiliang quickly jotted down notes in his notebook, then asked, "What about the legend of the gray wolf and white deer?"

Professor Zhang said:
"First, according to legend, Temujin's ancestors were born from the heavens, not from wolves."

"Secondly, I also read 'Wolf Totem,' but I didn't finish it. The wolf totem documents cited in the book are too ancient and cannot prove that the nomadic tribes of the Yuan Dynasty worshipped the wolf totem. In fact, if the Yuan Dynasty wanted to rule such a large territory, it would not have adopted primitive totem beliefs, but rather through more advanced Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Nestorianism, desert religion, Zoroastrianism, and so on."

"To say that the grasslands of the Yuan Dynasty still worshipped the wolf totem is to show contempt for the Yuan Dynasty and to belittle the grassland peoples of that time. It's like saying that others are still using horse-drawn carriages when they already drive cars."

"Third, the nomadic peoples of the grasslands believe in Tengri, the spirit of whom returns to the Eternal Heaven after death. Their epic poems praise various heroic figures, but never the wolf..."

Chen Guiliang took careful notes and asked Professor Zhang to recommend some literature and its general content.

On Lunar New Year's Eve, Chen Guiliang had dinner with his colleagues who hadn't gone home.

I played cards in the afternoon, specifically the card game "Three Kingdoms Kill," and then started writing articles in the evening.

Bian Guanyue didn't disturb her and continued composing on her own. She had already written a piece, but felt it didn't sound good, so she was currently rewriting it.

Besieged by the media and celebrities?

Chen Guiliang was not flustered at all, because there were even more people who opposed "Wolf Totem," but they had not yet spoken out.

In another timeline, the author of "Wolf Totem" was very low-key. When signing the contract with the publisher, he requested "no photos, no recordings, and no interviews."

He never responded to any questions or criticisms he faced.

It wasn't until the educated youth who had worked with him on the grasslands held a seminar to collectively criticize "Wolf Totem" that the author finally broke down and rushed out to the media to "clarify" the facts.

On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Guiliang posted two articles on his blog.

The first part summarizes the fallacies of "Wolf Totem".

The second article provides a detailed analysis of the common-sense and logical fallacies in the first five chapters of *Wolf Totem*. At the end of the article, it states that it will continue to analyze the later chapters.

These two blog posts were widely shared in a short period of time. Countless netizens who disliked "Wolf Totem" engaged in heated online arguments with fans of the novel.

Chen Guiliang's article provided ammunition for the opponents. When supporters couldn't win the debate, they resorted to tantrums and throwing tantrums, while some quietly slipped away or switched sides.

Li Xunhuan also put in the effort, sending the two articles to multiple media outlets.

These media outlets were those that hadn't joined the fray before the Lunar New Year. They didn't have a firm stance; they were just focused on newspaper sales, reprinting articles and adding commentary.

Long Xingjian, an engineer-turned-poet and media professional, seeing the growing public outcry and disgusted by "Wolf Totem," immediately began writing a book. The book was titled "Criticizing Wolf Totem!"
Lao Gui (pen name), the son of the author of "Song of Youth," called each of the educated youth who had been sent to the countryside with him back then.

In a short period of time, he gathered 20 educated youth who had returned to the city, all of whom were accomplished individuals from various sectors of society. After the Lantern Festival, they held a seminar and invited media reporters.

In front of numerous reporters, Lao Gui said, "The nomadic peoples of the grasslands are very devout to the lama. When we were sent to the pastoral areas to work in the countryside at the end of 1967, the local herders told us that in every three or four herder families, one man had become a lama. They don't worship wolves. The novel 'Wolf Totem' forcibly imposes the worship of wolves on the herders, which is a kind of temporal misalignment and a resurrection of history!"

"Wolves do exist as totems in legends, but that's a very ancient thing. I dare not speak of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, but in today's pastoral areas, herders kill wolves on sight; I've never seen them have any affection for them. The author of 'Wolf Totem' deliberately distorted the facts and changed the subject in order to promote his so-called philosophy!"

"The book's praise of wolves is ironically placed around the necks of the Japanese invaders and the Eight-Nation Alliance. The author's contempt for the Chinese people is entirely based on the idea that the Han people will once again be enslaved and forced to accept 'blood transfusions.' Isn't this encouraging traitors? And yet, it's all disguised as culture. This kind of pseudo-culture will inevitably be rejected over time!"

(The above are all original words, not fabrications in this book. It's just that because Chen Guiliang opened fire, they stepped forward earlier than in the original timeline.)
The last paragraph was extremely serious, even more so than Chen Guiliang's attack.

He directly accused the author of "Wolf Totem" of encouraging traitors!

Chen Guiliang was just a newcomer who had just begun to make a name for himself, while this old ghost was a well-established writer and the son of the author of "Song of Youth"!

The media reporters were thrilled; they had more stories to tell and no more worries about sales.

Some journalists were indignant because they also disliked "Wolf Totem".

Old Ghost was still angry after saying those words.

He worked in the countryside and served in the army. In the past two years, he has been interviewing the families of 69 martyrs of the Production and Construction Corps and is preparing to write a documentary literature work.

Not long ago, a friend recommended that he read "Wolf Totem," but he got really angry after reading only a few chapters.

"Wolf Totem" not only insults his values, but also the youth he dedicated to the grasslands!
Furthermore, Lao Gui was criticized on the grasslands and underwent five years of labor reform before General Zhou personally resolved his issue. And the author of *Wolf Totem* happened to have been a leader of the Young Pioneers back then.

Public and private grudges have come together!
The other 19 educated youths gathered by Lao Gui were also sent to work in the grasslands back then, and they were also disgusted by "Wolf Totem".

After Lao Gui spoke, the other 19 people spoke in turn.

The words became increasingly heated, with some even slamming their fists on the table and standing up to hurl insults.

The public statements of these 20 influential former educated youth returning to the city instantly shifted public opinion. The media coverage of "Wolf Totem" is now evenly split between supporters and opponents.

And many of those celebrities have stopped speaking out.

More and more scholars are willing to express their opinions, questioning "Wolf Totem" from a professional academic perspective. Among them are scholars from nomadic tribes.

Chen Guiliang was no longer fighting alone, and the sales of "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty" soared.

Moreover, Wolf Totem has been the subject of numerous complaints from the public!
(End of this chapter)