My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

Chapter 96 Don't stop me, I'm going to Taiwan

South Korean university students have also fallen for it. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone opened their minds, allowing them to temporarily forget the present... Norwegian Wood doesn't mention Zheng Zhi at all, but every word says: I understand your pain.

Confusion, surname, death—words that the Quan Guanqing authorities considered "unhealthy" and "decadent"—are starkly displayed in the book. After reading it, the college students were silent, and after being silent, they began to read it a second time.

Then came the surprise attack on women by "Love Letter".

Pure love, unrequited love, nostalgia—it's so damn moving!

Korean women have been suppressed for many years in a patriarchal society, as all men know. They even have to be careful when expressing their feelings. A book called "Love Letter" made them cry from the bookstore to the kitchen, and they still had to cheer up and serve their men at night.

Finally, there's "You Are the Apple of My Eye," a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Who hasn't had a youth? Who hasn't had a crush? After watching this, the Korean man cursed "Damn it!" on the spot and cried about his own youth.

Spirited Away is the most magical book.

Some say it's a fairy tale, others say it's a fable by Zheng Zhi. But regardless of the interpretation, everyone agrees on one thing: this book is so beautiful, so beautiful that it makes you believe that even in the darkest places, there is light.

"The Devotion of Suspect X" has left the South Korean writers bewildered.

It's not that South Korea doesn't have mystery novels, but none have ever had one with such meticulous logic and intense emotion. The final twist was so powerful that it made them collectively exclaim, "Fuck!"

The six reader groups are like six sparks, erupting simultaneously in this winter through underground dissemination.

Without any promotion or censorship, the sales of the six books snowballed, growing bigger and faster.

However, Editor Gao noticed something was wrong. In the days following the release of the Korean version of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," he realized that his official copies hadn't sold many. According to reliable sources, pirate printing plants were printing more copies overnight!

In the 1980s, Taiwan was famous for two things: semiconductors and pirated goods.

From books to records to videotapes, anything available on the market can be stolen quickly, in good quality, and at low prices, and exported to Southeast Asia. The so-called "piracy kingdom" refers to Taiwan.

The writers were furious, and even Teresa Teng was constantly being scammed. That's why Deng Changxi was so exhausted. He not only had to promote the albums but also received a salary from the company. Wherever the diva's records went, he would follow up and contact the local anti-smuggling department to crack down on piracy and salvage some sales.

Zhao Wen's books were particularly hard hit, with pirated copies of six of his books already circulating underground. However, since most of Zhao Wen's fans are die-hard fans, the official copies actually sold better than the pirated ones.

But it's wrong for you to smuggle books to South Korea and then wholesale pirated copies!

Editor Gao turned a blind eye to piracy within the island—after all, everyone did it, and the law wouldn't punish everyone.

But if you sell pirated copies overseas, that's a different story!

Editor Gao made a phone call, and the Tainan Seventh Special Police Detachment followed the clues and busted several of the biggest piracy dens.

The Seventh Security Brigade had received instructions from above to handle "Mr. Snail" with "caution".

Everyone knows that Li Ao has been cursing the father and son for decades, from when he was in jail to when he was released. The more they messed with him, the more famous he became, causing them headaches for decades, and they still have headaches now.

However, no matter how influential Li Ao is, how many people are there in Taiwan?

Now that Mr. Snail has emerged, those in power know best what kind of influence he has. The role of news agencies is to collect information from all sides. Now Mr. Snail's works are almost sold all over the world. Have you thought about the consequences if you anger him?

Li Ao has been a headache for decades. If another Mr. Snail comes along, and an international version at that, how will we survive?

In the past, when the Seventh Security Brigade cracked down on piracy, it was really just a formality. Everyone else would do the same, and that was it.

This time, they really went all out to kill them.

Under orders from the Seventh Special Police Corps, police, customs, and the Investigation Bureau were mobilized to sweep up piracy dens throughout the island. Customs strictly inspected the exits, and any pirated copies of Mr. Snail's books were confiscated immediately.

The pirates couldn't get any information out of them and were completely bewildered. Why did they suddenly become serious?

With the piracy channels cut off, smugglers on the Korean side were dumbfounded. In the past, they got their goods from pirates at low cost and in large quantities. Now that all the piracy dens have been raided, where are they going to get their goods?

There was no other way but to bite the bullet and go to the publishing department of Snail Literature: "We want to buy the Korean version of Mr. Snail's works."

Snail Literature's marketing manager: "I really don't know what you're thinking. In our hands, it's not much more expensive, but you insist on finding those pirated copies with crooked printing. How much cheaper can that be, huh?"

"We were wrong. We won't do it again..." The smuggler was very remorseful and even pointed out a few hideouts that hadn't been raided yet.

They're in a hurry. Right now in South Korea, Mr. Snail's books are the hardest currency of all, with profits even higher than Bi Yao's Yun Jun Huo. Yun Jun Huo could easily lose his head, while transporting some books might just mean a short time in jail.

As for the high price, well, you get what you pay for. I'll just double the price when I get back, that should be fine, right?

The Seventh Security Brigade monitored the entire process, and not only did they monitor it, they also secretly allowed it to proceed.

After all, selling Mr. Snail's book is a good thing for Taiwan. More importantly, if Mr. Snail is happy, he might even promote Taiwan vigorously. But if he is unhappy and becomes the second Li Ao, that would be a real problem.

As expected, the black market wholesale price of the book was increased by 2000 won, from 8000 to 1 won. At its peak, a single copy of "The Suspect X" was being sold for 3 won, equivalent to 1500 New Taiwan Dollars!

Even if it sells for 3, people will still buy it; the hunger of the spirit is not much different from the hunger of the stomach.

The South Korean publishing industry has done the math:

Kim Hong-sung's "Human Market" took ten years to write and was published in ten volumes, selling a total of 560 million copies and is known as a "myth in the history of Korean publishing".

The underground circulation of each of Mr. Snail's six books is conservatively estimated to be over a million copies, totaling seven to eight million copies!

And it only took a little over a month.

What's even more frightening is that this is only the amount smuggled underground. What if the genuine products come in?

By the time the censors realized what was happening, the six books had already infiltrated every corner of the internet.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is children's literature, Love Letter is a romance novel, The Suspect X is a mystery, Spirited Away is a fairy tale... None of them touch on Zheng Zhi's red line, so we can't just ban them because they're "too good to be true," can we?

Mr. Snail never uttered a word of protest, but every book he wrote told the Koreans: You are free to imagine, free to be moved.

But what really made the South Korean government uneasy was not how many books were sold, but the number of people on the run.

Starting at the end of December 1982, a strange phenomenon emerged: South Korean university students began applying in large numbers to study in Taiwan.

In the past, when Koreans went abroad to study, the United States was the first choice, followed by Japan. Who would go to Taiwan?

But things are different now. Mr. Snail's six books have completely shattered the values ​​of young Koreans.

In their hearts, Taiwan is no longer just a place name; it's a sacred place, the hometown of Mr. Snail, a place where even magic can exist.

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