My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

September 3rd, 9:00 AM, Sanseido Bookstore.

The Sanseido Bookstore in Jimbocho, Tokyo, which was just completed last year, is undoubtedly the landmark of the entire neon book district.

The entire building occupies more than 1,000 square meters, which is more than 3,000 square meters. The first to third floors are open-air sales areas, which can usually accommodate thousands of readers without any problem. But today, Sanshengtang has been completely swallowed up by the surging crowd.

The entire Jinbocho reading street, the intersection of Yasukuni-dori and the streets on both sides were densely packed with young people.

Thousands of book fans crowded around the bookstore's main entrance and the plaza, their heads bobbing shoulder to shoulder. Everywhere you looked, there were readers holding up copies of "Norwegian Wood," posters, and handwritten support signs.

The streets outside the line of sight were also filled with dense crowds, only separated by barriers.

Not only did officers from the local police station arrive, but reinforcements from other districts also came to help. They set up barriers and controlled the flow of people in sections, but they still couldn't control the surging crowd.

A stage was specially set up on the first floor of Sanshengtang. Zhao Wen and Deng Ge stood behind the stage, looking at the endless crowd outside through the floor-to-ceiling glass. Their hearts were pounding and they felt a tightness in their chests.

That's seriously too damn dangerous.

Brother Deng exclaimed with emotion, "Ah Wen, you've made a name for yourself overnight, your fame has soared! You're truly adored by the masses!"

Thousands of enthusiastic book fans were crammed into the narrow street, standing shoulder to shoulder, making it difficult to even turn around. If anyone panicked and pushed, a stampede or chaotic accident could break out at any moment!

Zhao Wen now understands why Haruki Murakami went into semi-seclusion back then; this book is truly addictive!

Today's schedule was finalized with the Lecture Hall a few days in advance over the phone: a large-scale reader meet-and-greet in the morning, and a special book signing event for "Norwegian Wood" in the afternoon.

The morning session focused on interaction and a sense of ceremony. Zhao Wen had instructed in advance that the original Beatles song "Norwegian Wood" must be played on a loop before the meet-and-greet began.

The gentle, languid, and slightly melancholic old British songs were surprisingly recognized by most of the audience as classics from The Beatles, who disbanded more than a decade ago!

The noisy crowd gradually quieted down, and everyone looked up at the stage.

After the final loop of "Norwegian Wood" was over, Zhao Wen didn't ask the host to warm up the audience. He simply took the microphone and slowly walked onto the stage, and the entire audience was silent.

"Many people are familiar with this song, right? They all know its name, right?" Zhao Wen casually stood on the step closest to the emergency exit, without even going to the makeshift stage that had been set up.

"Norwegian Wood!" most of the book fans shouted in unison.

"Many readers have asked me where the inspiration for 'Norwegian Wood' came from, given how young I am—the answer is this old Beatles song."

The naivety of youth, the tenderness missed, the silent regret. I simply wrote down, word by word, the unspoken thoughts within the melody, creating a complete story.

In fact, when Lennon and McCartney wrote this song, as netizens have pointed out decades later, Lennon was simply stood up by a playboy and wrote the song out of spite. So the bitterness and regret are absolutely 100% real, otherwise it wouldn't have resonated with fans around the world.

The core of the book meet-and-greet was answering readers' questions. One young fan immediately raised his hand: "Mr. Snail, I heard that this song, 'Norwegian Wood,' is basically Lennon's rant about being stood up by a girl and writing it in a fit of pique? Is that true?"

The book lovers don't need a translation of what the book fans say, because they know that Mr. Snail can only listen, not speak.

As expected, netizens' divergent thinking is contagious; it has even spread back decades.

Zhao Wen smiled and nodded: "That's pretty much the idea, but if you only understand this one layer, you're underestimating it. This song hides a loneliness that no one can escape—no matter how close you get to someone, you can never truly possess that hidden world in their heart."

This is the core idea of ​​"Norwegian Wood." Upon hearing the translator utter this sentence, the emotions that had been suppressed for so long exploded outside the venue. Countless young people, with tears in their eyes, silently but forcefully waved the books in their hands.

Zhao Wen quickly pressed his hands down, saying, "Don't get excited yet. If you're not so excited, our meet-and-greet can last a little longer, and I'll give you all a small gift at the end. But if you get too excited, for everyone's safety, the meet-and-greet may have to be canceled at any time."

Looking at the countless raised hands below, Zhao Wen pointed to the asthma patients in the front row.

Konoe Kazuma's face wasn't so pale anymore, otherwise Zhao Wen really wouldn't have dared to call on him to ask questions.

"Mr. Snail, I've read all your books and listened to all your songs. Could you write a song for 'Norwegian Wood'?"

"Of course, and very soon." Zhao Wen smiled. Of course, very soon, just a little while.

Having received an affirmative answer, Konoe sat down with genuine satisfaction. Yes, he sat down, on a specially made small stool provided by the black-suited man beside him.

"Mr. Snail, do you have a girl you love? I mean, in that sense." A Japanese girl poked her index fingers together a few times and asked.

"In a sense, I'm still a child, so no."

"So, Mr. Snail, what kind of girl would be your partner?"

"I find this question very difficult because I only believe in fate. I think that destiny has the greatest power, and when the time is right, you'll meet the right person, and things will happen naturally..."

I noticed a girl in a Japanese high school uniform raising her hand the highest, so I pointed at her. After all, she had skipped class to attend the meet-and-greet, so I had to give her face.

"Mr. Snail, our entire girls' dormitory has thoroughly investigated the rules of the murder mystery game you created, and we've even figured out the modified version of Werewolf! May I ask, Mr. Snail, what was your original intention in inventing this game?"

The girl proudly declared, "You foolish humans never get to the point!"

"As for this murder mystery game, I think that when we were kids, we all had at least three to five games we played often, some of which were even quite silly. They made us grow up happily, but when we look back as adults, those games are long gone, and what awaits us is the pressure of life. So I designed this game, a game for us adults!"

After the translation was finished, there was a buzzing sound from the audience, with some people muttering things like "adult games" and "adult books".

Zhao Wen was speechless. "Have you misunderstood something? And what's wrong with your translation, you lousy translator? I'm talking about legitimate adult games! What on earth is going on in your little Japanese brains?!"

In this day and age, most authors' book signings last no more than an hour and a half. Today, Zhao Wen talked about his writing and games, and the readers who asked questions were also very imaginative and made up all sorts of random ideas, so the two hours passed very quickly.

Zhao Wen didn't dare let them dawdle any longer and said directly, "Then next is the little gift I mentioned earlier, a song, 'Norwegian Wood,' for everyone!"

Zhao Wen guessed that the guy had added something extra to the translation, which was full of passion, because the audience below the stage finally couldn't help but shout and stir.