Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 312 Returning to the old business
That evening, the group, led by Niki Noyce, arrived at her parents' home and met her father, Hunter, her mother, Goth, and her brother, Coe Noyce.

Their house is a two-story villa in the countryside, surrounded by trees, and you can't see any other houses, perhaps because they live a bit far away.

"Mr. Hunter, we've finally met!"

"Hello, Comrade Zhang Guangnian!" Hunter greeted everyone in fluent Mandarin, with only a slight Cantonese accent in his voice.

Although Hunter was born and raised in China, he left China at the age of eight. Liu Yimin thinks it's unlikely that an eight-year-old child would have a particularly deep and specific impression of China, or that he would still have a Chinese imprint on him decades later.

This Chinese text was probably modified by various Chinese people later on.

Hello, Liu!

"Hello, Mr. Henry, thank you for your contributions to Sino-US cultural exchange!"

"China is also my hometown!"

Henry and Goth led the group to his home to visit his study, which contained photos of Henry as a child in China. In the grayed-out photos, a child with a foreign face was squatting next to a church.

The rest are photos from when Hunter founded the China Book and Periodical Publishing House. Hunter bought a Greyhound bus ticket for a few dozen dollars that allowed him to travel all over the United States, and began to promote Chinese books and periodicals across the country with his luggage.

On the bookshelf were gifts from various delegations to Hunter, and Zhang Guangnian presented Hunter with a wooden boat symbolizing friendship.

Mrs. Gothic laughed and said, "You are too kind. You are the greatest gift to us!"

“Yeah, this young man is a sweet treat!” Hunter said with a smile, putting his hand on Liu Yimin’s shoulder.

"Hahaha!"

Everyone sat in the restaurant, and Hunter thoughtfully arranged for someone to cook Chinese food, as well as sandwiches and roast beef.

"Come on, let's toast to the friendship between China and the United States!" Hunter raised his glass of red wine and smiled at everyone.

After dinner, Henry talked about the influence of "Green Book" in the United States and believed that the award was well-deserved.

“I am white, but I am not a racist, and I hope the divisions in American society can be healed!” Henry said.

They chatted until about 10 o'clock before returning to the hotel to rest.

The next morning, a California newspaper was placed on Liu Yimin's desk. It read "The Young Man Has Arrived in San Francisco" and included a photo of Liu Yimin.

"This one is even worse. It says that a delegation of Chinese writers visiting the United States lingered on the streets of San Francisco, their eyes full of envy." Xu Chi was so angry that he poked a hole in the newspaper with his finger.

"How can American media be so vulgar?"

"We've already taken the photos, what else can we do? We just need to be careful from now on!"

They spent a day in San Francisco, where Wei Junyi and Chen Yuan visited the headquarters of the China Publishing House and met with American publishing professionals in San Francisco.

Zhang Guangnian took Liu Yimin and the others to an exchange meeting with a local Chinese association in the United States. The meeting didn't have any substantial content; it was just a chance for everyone to catch up, talk about the country, and talk about the United States.

This visit was mostly an official itinerary. Unlike Ba Jin, who had many old friends in France, Zhang Guangnian didn't have many in the United States, let alone the others. Therefore, the conversations weren't very in-depth. "Hello, Liu? I heard you were captivated by the sights of San Francisco yesterday? I believe every Chinese person who comes to San Francisco will fall in love with it; after all, it has so many skyscrapers, something the mainland certainly doesn't have. Actually, San Francisco is most beautiful at night."

"Why is it most beautiful at night? Is it because it's not presentable during the day?" Liu Yimin said bluntly.

This guy was of Chinese descent, and judging from his tone, he was probably from the island. Seeing that the other person hadn't recovered yet, Liu Yimin didn't waste any more words with him.

After the association's exchange meeting, everyone quickly packed their luggage at the hotel and began their flight to New York.

Niki Noyce accompanied everyone and brought many sample copies of "Triumph at Midnight".

San Francisco and New York are located on the east and west coasts of the United States, respectively. Sitting on the plane, you can get a good panoramic view of the country.

"Ms. Nie Hualing is scheduled to meet with us in New York, accompanied by her husband. Ms. Nie Hualing has made great contributions to Sino-US exchanges, and we cannot neglect her," Zhang Guangnian whispered to himself as he sat on the plane.

The Iowa International Writing Training Center was proposed and established by Nie Hualing. Since its establishment, it has become an exchange program that writers from all over the world frequently participate in, including Chinese writers.

After the reform and opening up, a large number of domestic writers came here to study and give lectures. Over the decades, Wang Meng, Xu Chi, Feng Jicai, Zhang Xianliang, Yu Hua, Wang Zengqi, and Mo Yan have all visited this place.

Many writers' first trip abroad was by invitation to participate in this program, with the expenses covered by the University of Iowa.

Therefore, Nie Hualing is highly respected in the domestic literary circles.

The plane flew across the United States and finally arrived at New York Airport. The local Chinese community association arranged accommodation for them, and the group checked into an apartment.

Niki Noyce stayed at a nearby hotel. She was going to contact the media in New York, where the autograph session would be held. The marketing should begin before the awards ceremony.

On the day he arrived in New York, the O. Henry Award committee sent someone to contact Liu Yimin.

"You're quite the young man. Hello, my name is Edward, and I'm the liaison for the evaluation committee. Liu, it's a pleasure to have you in America!"

Edward handed Liu Yimin a schedule that detailed the proceedings of the awards ceremony, along with an authorization document that granted them permission to publish the Green Book.

“The anthologies of literary awards are not for profit. We give the same royalty share to all the winning authors, which is 15%,” Edward explained.

15%, higher than what China Book and Periodical Publishing House offered. Liu Yimin checked the terms and found no problems, then had Xu Chi verify them again. After confirming everything was correct, they officially signed the contract.

"Hello, Mr. Edward, I am Zhang Guangnian, the head of the delegation visiting the United States!"

Edward sized up Zhang Guangnian, then pulled out a few tickets from his bag and handed them to him: "On behalf of the association, I invite the gentlemen of the Chinese delegation to attend this grand event."

"Thank you, we'll be there on time!" Zhang Guangnian just wanted a few tickets, otherwise it would be awkward if everyone couldn't get in.

Edward said to Liu Yimin, "Liu, many American journalists are interested in you now. Would you like to meet with them? Or write a few articles for them?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Chi's eyes lit up. This was a great opportunity; his family was currently missing a washing machine!

Liu Yimin and Xu Chi exchanged a glance and went back to their old ways!

(End of this chapter)