Restart life

Chapter 259 0256 [An Unexpected Incident at the Book Signing Event]

The book signing event in Beijing will once again be held at Oriental Plaza.

Unlike last time when I was worried that no one would come, this time I didn't need to spend money to ask people to queue up.

Chen Guiliang already had many fans, not to mention he had just been caught in a media storm. His fame reached a new level.

Even the property management company of Oriental Plaza took the initiative to pay for a banner that read: "Warmly welcome renowned historical writer Mr. Chen Guiliang to visit Oriental Plaza for a book signing."

"After the book signing, I'll arrange a few TV programs for you to promote the upcoming book sales, how about that?" Li Xunhuan said.

Chen Guiliang said, "This time it's not the eve of the Spring Festival, so good programs won't be easy to get on the show."

Li Xunhuan laughed and said, "Now you're choosing the shows, not the other way around. Especially after the controversy, many TV programs want to invite you."

Chen Guiliang asked, "What kinds of programs can we choose?"

Li Xunhuan listed: "Dialogue, Face to Face, Yang Lan Interview, Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing, Yi Hu Yi Xi, Lu Yu A Date with Luyu..."

"Haha, I thought there would be 'Art Life' and 'Happy Camp'," Chen Guiliang joked.

Li Xunhuan said, "If you want to be on these two shows, I can help you get in touch. You can definitely go on 'Happy Camp,' your status and influence are already enough. But you have to wait in line for 'Art Life,' their guests are already booked for next month, it's very difficult to cut in line."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Why didn't you mention Liu Yiwei's 'Oriental Night Tales' this time? I thought I had a very pleasant chat with Liu Yiwei."

Li Xunhuan explained, "The 'Tales of the East' series has been suspended this summer."

"Wasn't this show supposed to have incredibly high ratings? Why was it canceled?" Chen Guiliang was slightly surprised.

Li Xunhuan shook his head: "I don't know why it was suspended. There are all sorts of rumors. The mainstream view is that it was to make way for talent shows, but it may also be related to declining ratings. It should be a combination of various factors."

Chen Guiliang said, "Help me choose three programs. Too many programs are boring. Focus on Beijing and Shanghai. I'll record them when I go to Shanghai for a book signing."

Li Xunhuan said, "Then let's talk about 'Dialogue,' 'Yang Lan's Interview,' and 'Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing.'"

"Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing?" Chen Guiliang hesitated.

He liked it a lot when he was young, then became somewhat resistant to it. Later on, he neither liked nor resisted it, and took it in stride.

Li Xunhuan assumed he was worried about something else and explained, "Many of Phoenix TV's programs have moved to Beijing for recording in the past two years. Now, 70% of 'Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing' is recorded in Beijing and 30% in Hong Kong, so the focus has shifted to the mainland. I'll arrange one episode for you to be recorded in Beijing."

Chen Guiliang thought for a moment and said, "Okay. But you have to pair me with a beautiful female guest."

Chen Guiliang didn't want to chat idly with greasy middle-aged and elderly men; many of them were crooked.

Li Xunhuan is a loyal viewer of "Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing" and knows the guests on the show quite well. He asked with a smile, "Do you remember Chang'e from 'The Lotus Lantern'?"

Chen Guiliang nodded: "I remember, Yan Danchen."

Li Xunhuan said, "This year she's been on 'Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing' every few days, she's almost become a regular female guest. When Dou Wentao is recording in Beijing, if he can't find a female guest, he'll pull Yan Danchen in to fill in."

"Sure," Chen Guiliang readily agreed, as it would be best to have beautiful women to feast his eyes on.

Li Xunhuan immediately called Dou Wentao, and the two chatted for a while, agreeing to record the episode three days later and broadcast it the following week.

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "President Lu, you have such a wide network of connections."

Li Xunhuan said, "We met through a mutual friend. That friend is also a writer named Feng Tang. And like you, Feng Tang writes books while doing business. He is a managing partner at McKinsey & Company."

Chen Guiliang thought to himself: Of course I know Feng Tang. Later, he even became the CEO of China Resources Healthcare Group, which was actually founded by him. Then, his good friend and mentor fell from grace, and Feng Tang left China Resources in disgrace.

Li Xunhuan said, "Feng Tang is a very interesting person. I'll take you to visit his courtyard house in Beijing another day."

"Wow, they have a courtyard house!" Chen Guiliang said with genuine envy.

“He also has a villa by the bay in the United States and is doing very well,” Li Xunhuan said. “This man is very arrogant when he writes. He criticizes Shen Congwen for lacking scientific spirit, criticizes Cao Yu’s later plays as being no good, accuses Bing Xin of having a too weak translation style, and even angered Li Yinhe when he commented on Wang Xiaobo. But in reality, he is very humble. When friends visit his home, he always stands at the door to greet them.”

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "Don't talk so much nonsense. He's most famous for his erotic writing in his books. Do you think I haven't read his books?"

"Hahaha." Li Xunhuan laughed loudly.

The signing time was approaching, so the two headed to the venue together.

Halfway there, people greeted them.

"Holy crap, so many people?" Chen Guiliang felt a chill run down his spine, and his wrist involuntarily twitched.

My hands are definitely going to cramp from signing all the lots today!

Li Xunhuan also invited some reporters, mainly from the supplements of well-known newspapers and the literature channels of portal websites.

When the reporters arrived, they were also taken aback by the long queues.

"Did you hire someone to queue up?"

"Probably not. With so many people, there's no need to hire shills. If they were all shills, there wouldn't be a need to hire so many."

"That's amazing! Even Han Han and Guo Jingming couldn't create such a spectacle!"

"Chen Guiliang became particularly famous due to the recent controversy." "He could become a millionaire just by selling books."

"The Hurun Rich List will be released in a little over a month. I wonder where Chen Guiliang will rank."

"I estimate it will make the list. As long as a company has disclosed its financing information in mainstream media, its stock price, even if it is not publicly listed, will be included in Hurun's statistics."

With Chen Guiliang's current net worth, he would probably rank around 200th on this year's Hurun Rich List.

There are a lot of billionaires in this category. A net worth of 10 billion yuan only ranks 325th, while a net worth of 20 billion yuan ranks 152nd.

Chen Guiliang said to Li Xunhuan, "Let's start early, finish signing early and we can finish early. There are just too many people."

"Row."

Among those queuing were many students and young people who had graduated a few years prior. These were people genuinely buying books to read.

There were also many white-collar and gold-collar workers who frequent Xintiandi, especially female white-collar workers. They were shopping in Xintiandi today, going in and out of high-end brand stores and cafes, and when they heard that Mr. Chen was holding a book signing, they came to queue up.

With the news broadcast and the local media's heated discussion, how many white-collar workers in Beijing don't know Chen Guiliang?

In the eyes of those female white-collar workers, Chen Guiliang's primary identity is that of a company CEO, while his identity as a writer is a cultural bonus. They like either identity, but they like it even more when it's combined.

Purchasing a signed copy of Mr. Chen's books is enough to demonstrate their refined taste!
Whether or not you'll actually read it after buying it is another matter.

There were actually fewer tourists from other places queuing up than last time. This was because the queue was too long today, and the tourists felt it was a waste of their time.

"Brother Liang, can you sign this set of Three Kingdoms Kill?" A boy who looked like a student had arrived early to queue up, carrying a set of Three Kingdoms Kill in a metal box.

Chen Guiliang really likes this kind of fan. While signing autographs, he said, "You should read less leisure books and play fewer games. You should focus on studying."

The child smiled and said, "I attend Beijing No. 4 High School, and my grades are pretty good."

"Then forget I said anything. You can do whatever you want." Chen Guiliang took back what he had just said.

Even the youngest master in Beijing is still a master in Beijing, let alone the young master from the Fourth Middle School in Beijing.

The kid received the new book and autographed cards and said happily, "Brother Liang, when the champion skins come out, I'm definitely going to buy the whole set."

"Thank you for your support," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

The first two or three hundred people in the line can all be called die-hard fans, because they arrived so early.

The book signing continued until mid-morning when suddenly a group of middle-aged women arrived at the venue.

They tried to push their way in, but staff members quickly stopped them, saying, "Please go to the back and queue up."

“We’re not buying the book. We came here today after reading the newspaper to demand an explanation from Chen Guiliang,” an angry woman said.

The staff reacted as if facing a major threat: "Please do not cause trouble, or we will call the police!"

The people queuing nearby, as well as the reporters on the scene, were all attracted by the middle-aged women.

The reporters ran quickly and immediately interviewed the middle-aged women.

"Hello, I'm a reporter from the 'Five-Colored Soil' supplement of the Beijing Evening News. May I ask what brings you here?" one reporter asked.

Upon hearing that it was a reporter, the women immediately became even more assertive: "It's perfect that a reporter is here too. We all come from a QQ group that specifically opposes online games and advocates for the protection of children's healthy growth! We read the newspaper and know that Chen Guiliang is signing books here today. So we've come to have a word with him!"

Reporters love a good show.

If it's not a big deal, they can help make it bigger.

Another reporter asked, "I'm a reporter from the 'Square' supplement of the *Beijing Daily*. Do you think *Three Kingdoms Kill* negatively impacts children's studies?"

Another older woman said, "It's not just affecting their studies, it's affecting their lives! Some students just spend all day at internet cafes playing games. They go to the internet cafe in the morning and don't even eat lunch while playing games. They're at the age when they're growing, how can they not eat lunch?"

"What are you talking about eating? Is this about eating?" another middle-aged woman said in an unfriendly tone. "It's mainly affecting his studies. My child could have gotten into Tsinghua or Peking University, but he ended up going to a second-tier university. Wasn't it because he was held back by games? Even in college, he's still playing games and doesn't even know how to have a girlfriend!"

Li Xunhuan came over to inquire about the situation, his brows furrowed as he didn't know how to respond.

These older women are so difficult to deal with; you can't reason with them at all.

Moreover, there were reporters present.

Sigh, how could such a mess happen at a perfectly good book signing event?

Li Xunhuan returned to the autograph table and whispered in Chen Guiliang's ear, "A group of middle-aged women from Beijing have come to talk to you about online games."

"what?"

While Chen Guiliang was surprised, he didn't stop signing mechanically.

Li Xunhuan said, "A dozen or so middle-aged women, they don't look like troublemakers. The reporter is interviewing them right now, and they probably won't leave until they see you today."

Chen Guiliang smiled and said, "Please invite them over."

(End of this chapter)