My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

Gu Long narrowed his long eyes, adding a touch of brightness to his sallow face.

He hefted the bottle and placed it heavily on the low table. The amber-colored liquid inside swirled gently. "I just uncorked it, and you recognized it from the smell alone, without even seeing the color?"

Even an ordinary drunkard might not be able to identify a wine by its aroma after drinking it a hundred times, and Zhao Wen doesn't seem to be a heavy drinker. How did he manage to do that?

"I had it once before, and the taste was unique. I have a good memory, so I remembered it."

Gu Long sat down and, without using a wine dispenser, poured half a cup each for Zhao Wen and Chen Erfeng, and then poured himself a small half cup. Ding Qing did not add water to his master's wine, because he knew that even if the great hero died, he would never allow anyone to add water to the wine!

"With your skills, this bottle of wine won't be diluted with soda water today."

Sigh, whether you dilute it or not, does it have anything to do with Ah Wen's abilities, Master?

"How good is my memory? I have a very good memory, but I can't even remember the things I've written before..."

"I remember... a lot..." Zhao Wen almost blurted out "I remember everything."

"I, I remember too! His sword was cold. His hands were cold. His heart was cold too! And, Tianya... people..." Chen Erfeng did remember, but "Tianya·Mingyue·Dao" didn't suit her taste, so she didn't remember it clearly.

Gu Long smiled contentedly once again; he felt this was the day he had laughed the most all year.

"Mr. Gu Long, I believe that the following sentences will remain golden sayings in the hearts of young people even decades from now—'A girl who smiles often is never too unlucky,' 'When you're in the martial arts world, you're not in control of your own destiny!'..."

"I just wanted to say this, but you took it from me..." Chen Erfeng regretted not saying this first. She often said this, especially after she beat someone up a few years ago.

Ding Qing almost laughed until tears streamed down his face. He knew that his master was truly happy today. From the bloodshed at Yinsong Pavilion until now, it seemed that his master had laughed out most of his pent-up frustration.

"Ah-Wen, I saw you in the newspaper and felt like we were destined to meet. Next time you come to Taipei, remember to come... and have a drink with me."

"Of course! Here, let me toast you, sir. Just a small sip is enough; too much of a gulp would be too much..."

Zhao Wen knew that Gu Long, the great martial arts master, couldn't actually drink much more...

As the autumn wind rises, the room is filled with the aroma of wine. A martial arts master and a plagiarist, separated by two generations of writing, find mutual appreciation.

......

Zhao Wen had to say goodnight to Zhao Wenwen every day before the little girl would go to sleep.

Now, Snail Literature has invited six top female special agents from ZTE Security to work in pairs, on 8-hour shifts. When Zhao Wen left home, the two agents stayed with his sister, which put Zhao Wen at ease.

The reason Zhao Wen was so concerned about security was that he knew that 1982-1983 was a period in which major crimes broke out in Taiwan, which happened to fall on the eve of 1984. This was a vacuum period in which chaos reached its peak and rectification had not yet been implemented.

The first armed bank robbery in Taiwan occurred this year.

Veteran Li Shih-ko killed a policeman and seized his gun, then broke into the Taipei Land Bank and stole NT$531 million. The famous line that still circulates decades later, "The money belongs to the government, but your lives belong to you," was uttered by him.

Lin Bowen kidnapped wealthy businessman Zheng Guoxin in broad daylight in front of a department store in Taichung, demanding a huge ransom. This incident made wealthy businessmen across the island feel insecure, and it was from this point on that the rich began to commonly hire bodyguards.

In recent years, Taiwan's economy has taken off, and a large number of rural residents have flocked to Taipei and Taichung. The management of the floating population has become lax, and more and more people are taking risks. Moreover, the migrant population is very quick to flee after committing crimes, resulting in an extremely low crime-solving rate.

So during this period, Zhao Wen, as a nouveau riche writer, hiring six security guards in shifts was not a show of extravagance, but a necessity. No one could predict who the next bullet would hit.

-

On October 8th, the day after tomorrow, is the award ceremony for the United Daily News Novel Award. According to Editor Lou, he has submitted all of Zhao Wen's published novels for the competition. In Editor Lou's words, "I personally believe that every single one of Mr. Snail's works is worthy of being selected!"

Zhao Wen received confirmation that the short story "Moon Shadow" had been finalized, while the novel "Norwegian Wood" was still under debate...

The United Daily News's Best Novel Award is a prestigious award open to the entire Chinese-speaking world. It is the precursor to the future United Daily News Literary Award. To date, only one book, "A Thousand Rivers, A Thousand Moons," has won this award.

The United Daily News is all about quality over quantity!

The current judging panel for this major award consists of more than ten literary veterans, including Sima Zhongyuan, Qi Bangyuan, Peng Ge, and Zheng Qingwen. Each of them is extremely stubborn. You tell me, how easy is it to win this award?

October 6, evening, United Daily News building, top floor conference room.

The literary elders were arguing overtime for almost two hours, and their voices were almost hoarse.

Peng Ge, a conservative, had a long face: "Rules are rules! The novel award has been established for five years, and there has never been a precedent of a novel winning the top prize within three months of publication! We've already gone two years without a winner, one more won't make a difference. We can't let the United Daily News ruin its reputation!"

"Yes! And he refused the grand banquet we hosted without hesitation. That's arrogance and conceit!"

Several veteran judges nearby nodded in agreement, repeatedly praising "quality over quantity" and "the proper conduct of the literary world."

"Mr. Snail dislikes socializing. You guys are too vulgar. How can you use social etiquette to hold the quality of your work hostage? Have you no shame?" Sima Zhongyuan said with a gentle smile.

The supporters, such as Sima Zhongyuan, Zheng Qingwen, and Editor Lou, would wait until the conservatives had shouted themselves hoarse before making a few sarcastic remarks that would provoke them into a rage.

Just then, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open, and the female president, Nangong Nan, walked in with an angry expression.

She took a financial statement in her hand and gently placed it on the table.

The room fell silent.

Editor Lou thought to herself, "The editor-in-chief is awesome!"

Peng Ge cleared his throat and said with a fawning smile, "President, you've come at the perfect time. Although 'Norwegian Wood' is a bestseller, it's still too inexperienced. Our United Daily News literary award can't be judged solely on sales figures; that would lose its prestige—"

"Let's not talk about style yet!"

President Nangong Nan glanced at Brother Peng and poked at the report with his finger:

"In less than two months since its release, our joint publishing department printed 1.2 million copies of 'Norwegian Wood,' and actually sold 1.12 million copies. Apart from the initial printings where Jiuge Magazine shared the profits, all the subsequent sales were our profits. As of yesterday, it has earned the newspaper more than 77 million New Taiwan Dollars. That's pure profit."

She paused, then became even more direct:

"Your travel expenses, bonuses, editorial subsidies, and funding for expanding the supplement this year all came from this book. Also, the profit from *The Alchemist* hasn't been settled yet because it was a joint publication, so it's not included in this report!"

"..."

Peng Ge's face turned bright red, and he still tried to struggle: "President, you can't say that. A literary award has its own dignity—"

"Can dignity be used as funding? You all follow the rules, even if it means going two years without any funding, and no one will say you're wrong. But I have only one thing to say—Zhao Wen's one book has earned us more money than all the award-winning authors combined have earned for the newspaper in the past three years!"