Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

Chapter 324 The Philosopher's Stone
It was indeed Rowling.

Originally, Yu Dong was really not sure, because there were people like Rowling everywhere in London, and he was afraid that he might have misidentified the person.

While signing her autograph, Yu Dong asked, "Which book do you like? Is this "Resident Evil"?"

"My favorite is Second World," Rowling replied.

"Why do you like "Second World"?" Yu Dong asked again.

Maybe it was because of the bright smile on Yu Dong's face, so Rowling didn't find it strange that he asked herself this question.

"In addition to the sci-fi part, what attracts me is also the description of superhumans, which is very wonderful."

"It seems that you prefer fantasy novels, such as some magic..."

Rowling was surprised, "YU, you are right, I really like these things, in fact, I have been thinking about a book for a long time, and even started writing it."

"Do you still write novels?" Yu Dongrao asked with interest.

He found that his acting skills had improved. When he asked this question just now, he even deceived himself, as if he was really surprised that Rowling wrote a novel.

"I'm writing it, but I haven't finished it yet. As you said, I'm interested in magic, and this book is about magic. I..."

Yu Dong interrupted her with a smile, "Ms. Rowling, I'm afraid I don't have time to talk to you about this now."

Only then did Rowling realize that she was a little too excited, and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

After speaking, she turned to leave.

Yu Dong called her from behind, "Ms. Rowling, your book."

Rowling hurriedly turned her head to get the book again, only to hear Yu Dong say again, "If you don't mind, you can wait for me in the bookstore for a while, and after my autograph session is over, let's talk about the book you are writing. I am very interested in the book."

"Really?" Rowling asked in surprise.

Yu Dong nodded, "Of course, but it may take me a long time to finish."

"It's okay, no matter how long I will wait for you, then I won't bother you now."

After speaking, Rowling took the book and left. At that moment, her mood was like a roller coaster. She never expected that YU would stop to chat with her, nor did she expect that she would tell Yu about her novel, let alone that YU would listen to it. After reading it, he expressed great interest.

Too many unexpected.

The kind of unexpected that can't be dreamed of.

……

Signing will continue until seven o'clock in the evening.

It was originally planned to end after five o'clock, but there were too many people who had no choice but to come, so Yu Dong deliberately asked the bookstore to extend the time.

During this day, apart from eating and resting for a while at noon, Yu Dong sat on the chair for more than ten hours. William was a little moved when he saw Yu Dong working so hard, and he was so dedicated.

And YU's dedication is not just for money.

William has received many writers who held book signings, and he has encountered all kinds of writers.

Some writers are lazy. They come to the bookstore for less than an hour, and then leave, leaving the readers here.

Some writers will get angry and angry when encountering a relatively cold signing scene, and will end it early.

Some writers are very fast in signing and selling, and they are very perfunctory, purely for making money.

YU is different. It can be seen that he really wants to give back to his book friends, he often signs special books for them, and even chats with them.

Although it was signed for a day, YU's signature remained unchanged from the beginning. Although William did not understand Chinese characters, he could tell that YU's handwriting was beautiful.

After the signing session, William wanted to take Yu Dong and the others to dinner, but Yu Dong waved his hand and said, "You're welcome, William, go get busy, I still have something to do."

"How can this be..."

"If there is anything else, you can tell Jiang Jie." Yu Dong smiled, and then pulled Cheng Yanqiu to go downstairs. He just saw Luo Lin going downstairs.

When he got downstairs, Yu Dong saw Rowling at a glance.

In order to be equal to the east, Rowling deliberately found a place where she could directly see the stairs. After all the readers came out just now, Rowling kept staring at the stairs.

Seeing Yu Dong, she smiled and stood up.

Yu Dong took Cheng Yanqiu over and introduced her, "Luo Lin, this is my wife, Cheng Yanqiu."

"Hello."

"Luoluo, this is..."

Yu Dong briefly talked about Rowling's situation, and then the three of them sat down.

"You said before that you wrote a novel about magic, can you tell me more about it?"

Rowling nodded, "Of course, this is what I was doing a few years ago..."

She told Yu Dong how she was inspired, how she prepared for this book, and the general content of the novel.

After she finished speaking, Yu Dong smiled and said, "Sounds very interesting, do you mean you haven't finished writing it yet?"

"It's actually finished, but there are still some places that may need to be revised."

Yu Dong thought for a while and said, "Well, I'll ask my assistant to contact you. If you want to publish it in the future, we can help. By the way, have you thought about the title of this book?"

"Think about it, it's called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"."

"..."

The American version that Yu Dong has read should be "Harry Potter and the Wizard's Stone", which is directly translated into the Sorcerer's Stone in China. The word philosopher is indeed a bit advanced, and it does not fit the market that this book is facing.

"Harry Potter" is not a literary masterpiece, but it has all the commercial elements that can become popular. Compared with "Song of Ice and Fire", the Harry Potter series is more like a juvenile adventure novel.

But there is a market for such books.

Some people say that the Harry Potter series is nothing but good marketing.

This statement is a bit too taken for granted.

If it was just marketing, then Harry Potter's performance should be easy to replicate, but it is not.The success of this series is inseparable from strong marketing and modernity, but it is also absolutely inseparable from its own advantages.

Otherwise, Warner is not a fool, spending money desperately to market it.

In fact, this book was already on the bestseller list and won many awards before it received the attention of capital, and it was only then that it was picked up by American publishers.

At this moment, Jiang Jie had finished talking with William, so Yu Dong introduced Rowling to him, "This is Rowling, a fantasy novelist. She has a new book she wants to publish. You can contact him later." For a moment, tell Campo about this too. Rowling, this is my assistant, Jiang Jie."

"Hello, Ms. Rowling."

"Hello, Changjie."

……

Later, Yu Dong and the others went to have a meal, and Rowling didn't eat at all, so they went together.

After eating, they went back separately.

Yu Dong didn't explain too much, he was going to let Campo and Rowling talk first, and if there was any problem in the middle, he would come forward.

The London signing was over and they went straight to Manchester the next day.

After arriving in Manchester, they didn't go anywhere, they just rested in the hotel for a day, and at night Yu Dong played cards with Yu Hua and the others for a while.

When leaving London, Jiang Jie deliberately searched for local newspapers, wanting to see how the news reported the signing, and later found that many newspapers actually focused on Yu Dong's evaluation of Arsenal and Chelsea's two signings this summer.

According to the newspaper, YU is very optimistic about the two aids from Arsenal and Chelsea.

The results of these two clubs were mediocre last season, with 22 teams, they ranked No.10 and No.11 respectively. Perhaps these two aids will also become a symbol of the two clubs' take-off.

Yu Dong also found it interesting, as a layman, when would he be able to influence the Premier League? These media really dare to write any news.

But what Yu Dong never expected was that there was something even more outrageous behind.

On August 20th, after Yu Dong held a signing meeting in Manchester, the Manchester United coach invited him to watch the game at Old Trafford.

Manchester United lost 18-[-] to Aston Villa in their first league game on the [-]th. Now that they are back at home, they hope to invite Yu Dong to cheer them on.

Just in time, Yu Dong and the others passed by.

When they heard the invitation from the head coach of Manchester United, Yu Hua and Bi Feiyu were very excited, because they were old fans, and of course they wanted to see what the scene of this top club was like.

In fact, they don't know much about the Premier League teams.

In recent years, Chinese people generally pay more attention, or what they can pay attention to is Serie A.

On the contrary, Yu Dong has a better understanding of this Manchester United team. After all, there have been many legends in Manchester United's lineup in recent years, such as Schmeichel, Scholes, Keane, two Nevilles, Beckham, Giggs, Kane Tonner...

The result later was that Manchester United beat West Ham United four to one.

Now, various media outlets have reported again, even saying that YU is a lucky star.And they also said that Manchester City in the same city lost because YU didn't go.

There is no reason to say this, because the current strength of Manchester City is indeed weak.

Mainly, Manchester United seems to want to regard YU as their lucky star. Ferguson also told reporters that although the last game was a disastrous away game, after YU came this time, the boys on the team were full of energy, so there was such a game. Perfect win.

He also said that many people in the team are fans of YU's books.

It has to be said that Manchester United is really better at marketing than other teams. Otherwise, Yu Dong would not have thought of inviting Yu Dong to watch the game just because of Manchester United.

It's not a bad thing to please Yu Dong. If Yu Dong is in a good mood, writing an article later to praise Manchester United is not better than some advertisement?
……

After leaving Manchester they went to Paris.

They don't have any important things to do in Paris, the main thing is to meet He Biyu, the newly appointed editor-in-chief of Actes Sud.

The name He Biyu sounds like a Chinese, but in fact she is an out-and-out French.Her original name is Isabel, and she is a professor of Sinology at the Paris Institute of Oriental Languages, so she has a good understanding of Chinese literature.

He Biyu was very happy when he saw Yu Dong and the others.

She said with a smile, "I have met half of my favorite contemporary Chinese writers today."

Yu Hua asked, "What about the other half?"

"The other half, I haven't found yet."

Several people laughed, it seemed that this was just a French joke made casually by He Biyu.

He Biyu is about 40 years old, petite, with short hair, capable and elegant.She had taught at the Yanjing Institute of Foreign Languages ​​before, and she has a deep understanding of China and Chinese literature. She herself highly admires Shen Congwen, and has done special research on Shen Congwen's works before.

Later, when we talked about contemporary Chinese writers, she mentioned Mo Yan and Chen Zhongshi, and it was obvious that she was also very interested in these two.

Yu Dong joked, "I knew I should have brought Mo Yan here."

"Of course, next time if you have a chance, you must bring him with you." Then He Biyu talked about their novels again, "The works of the three of you have performed well in the local area. Whether it is sales or reader feedback, It’s all okay. Of course, this is just the beginning, and it should be better in the future. The agency and the deep space company are ready to start some promotion.”

He Biyu didn't know that Yu Dong was the owner of Deep Space Company, so he deliberately said a few more words to them, "Especially when Yu Dong's novel, "Xiang Xi" was published, I asked for my opinion, should I borrow the book you relied on before? The popularity of "Resident Evil" and "Second World" has accumulated, but Deep Space Company said that it will not be used for the time being, and it can be seen that they have their own plans."

Yu Dong smiled and nodded, "Actually, it's mainly for your publishing house's consideration. Isn't your Chinese literature series just started? Deep Space also wants to promote your series together after it grows, which is conducive to the development of more books. Chinese works."

"Then you three will be wronged, and you have to wait for others. But I believe that even if there is no promotion, let these books grow naturally in the French book market, and there will be a good result."

He Biyu comforted Yu Dong and the others with a smile. In fact, she was also under a lot of pressure.

On the side of the publishing house, she was an airborne soldier. The deputy editor-in-chief Barr was originally considered to be the most likely candidate to be promoted to the chief editor. Once she came, Barr would have no chance.

Therefore, Barr has been watching the Chinese literature series she presided over. If the development of this series is not good, Barr will definitely attack. It is normal to go to the president to put some eye drops.

Now that the series has just come out, it can only be said that his performance is mediocre. Although Barr will sometimes say something weird, he will not go too far.But if there is no improvement one after another, it will be difficult to say later.

At first, he wasn't too worried. After all, with Yu Dong around, no matter what, the book sales would not be bad.However, the deep space side has been slow to move, and her pressure is getting bigger and bigger.

"Editor-in-Chief, are you here as a guest?"

He Biyu looked at the door, couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and said that Cao Cao...should be thinking of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will be there soon.

The deputy editor-in-chief Barr is tall, middle-aged, fat, brown-haired and blue-eyed. He walked in with a smile, looked at Yu Dong and the others and said, "They must be those Chinese writers, right?"

At this time, the translator Yu Dong and the others brought worked, and he translated Baer's words to Yu Dong and the others.

He Biyu also introduced to Yu Dong and the others, "This is the deputy editor-in-chief of our publishing house, Barr."

Then He Biyu introduced to Barr, "These three are Yu Hua, Bi Feiyu, and Yu Dong."

Barr nodded as a greeting, and then said to He Biyu, "I'm just passing by to have a look, so I won't disturb you."

He came suddenly and left quickly, staying in this room for no more than a minute.

After he left, Yu Dong and Bi Feiyu looked at each other a few times, but they didn't speak.

But all three of them had the same idea, that this Barr might be in trouble, and He Biyu was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

It can be clearly seen that the deputy editor-in-chief Barr has no idea that Yu Dong is YU's business.

It is reasonable for an airborne editor-in-chief to fire the deputy editor-in-chief first.

Of course, He Biyu's ability to do this also proves that Barr, the deputy editor-in-chief, has indeed been excluded from the core level of the publishing house. Barr revealed.

Later, after leaving the publishing house, Yu Hua sighed, "The palace fights in France are not weak."

"Let's leave it alone." Bi Feiyu smiled, "How about we see if there are any football games in Paris, and also pay attention to the level of the French league?"

"French football is okay, let alone the league. I pay more attention to French food, such as foie gras, snails, red wine, macarons... Yu Dong, you said you want to treat us to dinner?"

"Did I say so?"

"Of course you said it, didn't you, Feiyu."

"That's natural."

Yu Dong laughed and said, "I see that you two don't care at all about how your book is received in France."

Bi Feiyu curled her lips and said, "Why do you care?"

"Go to the bookstore and have a look. When "To Live" was released in China, didn't you still read it?"

Yu Hua waved her hand, "Don't watch, didn't you understand what Editor-in-Chief He meant? She said that the performance was not bad, but she wanted to make a discount, but the performance was not satisfactory, as French people always speak like this."

……

In fact, Yu Hua was wrong, He Biyu said it was okay, it was really okay.

The series even has a small but loyal readership.

Anna is one of them. She is a student at the Sorbonne University. She found this series of books published by AS Publishing House in a bookstore a few days ago. Now there are only three books, two novels, and a collection of novels.

"To Live", "Westward", and "Frantic Finger", and the names of the three writers all have YU in their names. She thought that the names of Chinese writers all have YU in their names, because the author of "Second World" is called YU.

At the beginning, Anna read these three books out of curiosity. He didn't know much about Chinese literature before, but after reading it, she found that she actually liked all the novels in it, no matter whether it was long or short.

The novels of Chinese writers give people a special feeling. Although the things described are far away from her and do not exist in this era, they can make her feel close at hand and within reach.

Those worlds that seem to be very different from her real life can resonate with her anytime and anywhere.Perhaps the charm of literature lies in this, even if the culture is different, it can stir up the string deep in human nature.

Since then, Anna has been fascinated by Chinese literature. She wanted to find some books by Chinese authors in the bookstore, but found it was not easy.

She even wrote to AS Publishing House, asking what other books are at the end of the series, and whether there are any books by this author.

During this time, Anna read "Westward" twice, "To Live" three times, and the short stories in "Frantic Fingers" when she was free.

The themes of these three authors' books are very bitter, but they are written with a vague sense of humor, which makes people want to laugh, but they don't know why they laugh.

In terms of style, "To Live" reminds Anna of Hemingway, "Flustering Fingers" reads a bit elegant, and "Westward" has a touch of magical realism... But the three novels are all There is a characteristic, that is, love to tease.

They seem to tease everything, and they always do it inadvertently. The teasing is plain, the suffering of life, the Zhang family's strengths and the Li family's weaknesses.

For example, in "Alive", the protagonist's father is shitting by the cesspit at the head of the village—in fact, Anna doesn't know what that kind of cesspit is, and why the protagonist's father is shitting next to it—but the picture in the book is not difficult. Imagine that the protagonist's father defecated by the cesspit at the head of the village, then fell into it and drowned.

For another example, in "Xiang Xi", Dadan will ask Hongzi to pretend to be a villain to bully elementary school students, and then he will act as a hero himself.

They are all very sad things, but they can write different feelings, so that people can feel the power of life from these sorrows.

"Anna, are you still reading Chinese novels?"

Anna's good friend, Olivier came from behind, he stretched his head to look at the book in Anna's hand, and said with a smile, "It really is."

"Why are you here?" Anna asked strangely.

Olivier is an athlete and rarely appears in the study room.He also reads books sometimes, but they are popular novels, and even children's literature. His favorite novel is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", a British children's novel.

"Our Zombie Research Association has an event today, which is nearby, so I came to see you, how about it, do you want to go and have a look?"

By the way, Olivier also likes "Resident Evil", and they even set up a zombie research association. Sometimes people in their association will dress up as zombies to scare people in school.

Anna shook her head, "I still won't go."

"Why? Don't you also like YU's "Second World"?"

"I really like "Second World", but I'm not very interested in "Resident Evil", and I like these three YUs more now."

"These three YUs? Are they all called YUs too? Are all Chinese people called YUs?"

"I've inquired. YU is a surname, and many people in China have the surname YU."

Olivier shook his head, expressing his incomprehension, "It's strange that Chinese people have surnames, so many people have the same name."

In France, the situation is just the opposite. There are many people with the same name, but relatively few people with the same surname.

In fact, Anna also made a mistake, because Bi Feiyu's YU is not a surname, and his surname should be Bi.

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(End of this chapter)