Reborn Bao Guowei, I really didn’t want to be a great writer!

Chapter 450: Literature is also a weapon? The birth of "No Longer Human"!

"Traitor Bao Guowei! Come back to your master as soon as possible!"

Throughout history, Zhang Taiyan could be considered gentle and refined, but he was certainly a man of great talent.

Especially when scolding someone, one usually has to quote from classics and write the article in a logical and beautiful way.

Even Zhang Nianyue had never seen such harsh words expressed.

She turned and looked at Bao Guowei with confusion.

"What did you do to make the old man so angry?"

Bao Guowei looked very innocent and spread his hands.

"I have been in Europe all the time. What could I have done to make Master so angry? Maybe he heard some bad news?"

So, with doubts in mind, the two people opened the contents of the letter and read it carefully.

It doesn't matter if you don't look, but once you look, Zhang Nianyue's face suddenly becomes flushed, and a blush spreads from her cheeks to her neck, and the whole person looks like a cooked braised prawn.

Zhang Nianyue stamped her feet and said, "What did the old man write in the letter? He is so disrespectful to his elders! Now that he is feeling better, he has started to act out of tune again!"

Bao Guowei had a strange look on his face. He stroked his stubble and read the contents of the letter again, focusing particularly on words like "don't get married with a baby".

Nowadays, in China, although due to the influence of open-minded Western ideas, there is no such taboo about issues between men and women.

For example, there are two talented men in Shanghai who are "romantic by nature" and have always been talked about.

Let’s not talk about the various things that Xu Zhimo did, such as abandoning his pregnant wife, failing to pursue Lin Huiyin, and instead poaching his good friend Wang Geng and marrying his wife Lu Xiaoman.

Shao Xunmei, who is known as the "twin gems of poetry" together with Xu Zhimo, also had various romantic affairs. He fell in love with his cousin Sheng Peiyu at the age of ten, had an affair with an American female writer during his marriage, and later had an affair with the maid Chen Yinmei.

All I can say is that the talents of these talented men are different, but their romanticism is the same.

If this were put on some social media platforms in the future, it would definitely be a huge disaster and a devastating existence.

However, during the Republic of China period, which seemed "literary" and "gentle" to many people, this was a common occurrence.

Bao Guowei disdains to associate with them; he is a person who is free from vulgar tastes.

However, getting pregnant before marriage was also a very embarrassing thing in the Republic of China.

Although there are precedents, such as Tan Xueqing, a famous socialite in Shanghai, and She Aizhen, one of the three major female gangsters in the Republic of China.
There is also Xiao Hong, who is known as one of the four great talented women of the Republic of China. She also experienced pregnancy before marriage. However, the experience of this literary Luoshen was too tragic. She eloped twice and got married twice in her life, married twice while pregnant, and abandoned her children twice. Her experience in her later years can be described as miserable.

Her tragedy may have been influenced by the pressure of the times, or may have had some personal reasons, but no one can really judge her merits and demerits.

Bao Guowei and Zhang Nianyue looked at each other and saw embarrassment in each other's eyes.

It is really difficult to ask this question when Zhang Taiyan, who is both a master and a father, raises it.

After all, this was still during the Republic of China, and there was no gradually open-minded concept like in later generations influenced by TV dramas and various open-minded ideas.

In private, many "talented people" naturally do everything, but they still have to maintain their decency in public.

Zhang Nianyue is usually carefree, but once he encounters something like this, he becomes completely panicked.

She didn't even dare to look at Bao Guowei. She avoided his gaze and ran out the door.

"I'll go ask for you if there are any other newspapers or magazines."

Before leaving, Zhang Nianyue did not forget to say something scolding.

"The old man is the same. He loves to discipline me every day. Even after my aunt came out, he still wants to point fingers! ~"

Zhang Nianyue quickly disappeared into the room while cursing.

Looking at his fiancée who was avoiding him like a plague, Bao Guowei felt helpless. He was not a devil, so how could he eat her?
Afterwards, Bao Guowei's eyes fell on the letter sent by Zhang Taiyan.

If Old Zhang hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have thought about this.

Isn't this trip to Europe the best opportunity to win over Zhang Nianyue?

Unfortunately, since coming to Europe, all kinds of things have come my way, and later I was involved in the political turmoil in the UK.

Bao Guowei really has no time to care about matters between men and women.

On the other hand, Bao Guowei didn't want to force the other party. After all, this was a matter between two people, and it still needed a sense of atmosphere to develop naturally.

Thinking of this, Bao Guowei suppressed his inner restlessness and decided to propose to Lao Zhang as soon as he returned to Gusu.

Two or three months later, both of them were over 18 years old, and Bao Guowei wanted to arrange their wedding before the September 18 Incident.

Because he knew that after the spring of 1931, time would become more and more urgent every day!

The weather was cold, the cruise ship was humming on the sea, and black smoke was rising from the chimney.

There was no other sound on the sea except the surging waves and the roar of the steam ferry's engine.

The sky was gloomy, as if it would fall any moment.

Unlike the time we came here, when the deck was often filled with passengers basking in the sun, the deck on the return trip was very quiet.

Bao Guowei also did not go to the deck again. He hid in the room alone, leaning against the lit oil lamp, thinking and writing in front of the typewriter.

The typewriter clattered away, and Bao Guowei would stop from time to time to think, then pull out a piece of manuscript paper from the side, write and draw on it, and then go back to his creation.

If Zhang Nianyue was here at this moment, she would definitely be very excited, because the work being written on the typewriter was exactly the "The Return of the Condor Heroes" that she had been thinking about all along. As the second part of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", this work has been delayed for too long.

There are even rumors in the country that Bao Guowei has run out of ideas when it comes to martial arts novels and cannot create a second work.

There are already some people among the public who have written some "pseudo-ancient novels" based on the original novel of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which have achieved some sales in the market and have supported some unknown third-rate novelists.

However, if Zhang Nianyue was more careful, she would have discovered that the manuscript paper that Bao Guowei took out from time to time did not contain content from martial arts novels at all.

The "Return of the Condor Heroes" on the typewriter has been almost half written.

The original work has a little over one million words, and after leaving China, Bao Guowei wrote it almost every day when he had free time.

On the one hand, Bao Guowei spent money like water in Europe, setting up foundations one after another to support radium laboratories. On the other hand, Bao Guowei was also thinking about making more money from this book "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

Bao Guowei used to think he had no shortage of money, but after 1931, he felt it very much.

I am short of money!

With Bao Guowei's current typing speed, plus the fact that he basically doesn't have to think when creating and he has unlimited free time during travel, it wouldn't be outrageous for him to finish half of The Return of the Condor Heroes, which has a word count of just over one million.

Next, as Bao Guowei became more and more proficient at typing, he believed that "The Return of the Condor Heroes" would be able to be published immediately when it arrived in China.

During the creation process, Bao Guowei also deleted many personal opinions and unreasonable aspects of the original work.

Bao Guowei also made a reasonable adaptation to the most "poisonous" plot, the part where Xiaolongnu was defiled, making the plot less "disgusting".

He doesn't want to be sent razor blades by angry readers!
Of course, the creation of The Return of the Condor Heroes was a natural progression, but Bao Guowei's desire to create another work was a sudden inspiration.

Compared with the economic income brought by The Return of the Condor Heroes, Bao Guowei also needs the influence brought by literary works. He needs to grasp both hands and do both well.

Bao Guowei has always held the view that literature must first lower its reading threshold and then allow more people to recognize the meaning and value embodied in literature.

He advocates popularity, but has never given up on the influence of literary works on the general public. In his previous works, Bao Guowei undoubtedly achieved this goal by relying on more than a hundred years of experience and a super brain.

And now, he wants to go even deeper.

Use literary works as weapons to influence your enemies!
This may sound like a pipe dream, but it has actually happened after various literary works appeared in the world.

For example, after the publication of the book How the Steel Was Tempered, it inspired countless young people in Red Tsarist Russia to devote themselves to spiritual causes, and many people were spiritually inspired by this book.

It can be said that the spiritual value provided by this book must have contributed to the later achievements of the Red Tsarist Russia.

Moreover, in history, the two books "1984" and "Animal Farm" explored and criticized the social system and power structure, which also influenced the changes in the social system.

Of course, these two works have not yet been released.

And George Orwell decided to follow Bao Guowei.

Now he was looking at the writing practice questions that Bao Guowei had given him, scratching his head in the room.

It can be said that literary works are powerless. They cannot kill enemies like guns and give people an intuitive feeling of destruction.

But literary works are also powerful. Over the long term, they can have an influence far beyond that of the author himself.

Just like the book "How the Steel Was Tempered", it is still being read and still providing spiritual nourishment to countless people.

On the contrary, what Bao Guowei wants to give is not the reflection, strength or hope like his previous works.

He hopes to bring despair to his audience, and make them gloomy, dull and even deformed.

Using the work as a spear, it pierces directly into the darkness in the reader's heart, making them want to sink into depravity.

This work will be based on the living environment of this group of audiences, in line with the traditional spirit of dedication and their belief that life should end with "dignity".

Furthermore, it shapes the audience's entire society's worship of "death", that is, seeing death as a kind of aesthetic.

The work that Bao Guowei wanted to write was "No Longer Human" by Japanese novelist Dazai Osamu!
This is a truly depressing and decadent work. After writing this work, the author Dazai Osamu committed suicide by jumping into a river in June of that year.

This is enough to show the true tone of this work.

Bao Guowei wanted to use this work to enter the Japanese literary market in one fell swoop and let them know what real literature is!

I also want to plant a nail in the Japanese literary world through this work.

The work is indeed by Dazai Osamu, but in the hands of Bao Guowei, it becomes a little girl who can be manipulated at will.

As for whether "No Longer Human" can produce the expected influence, Bao Guowei has no doubt.

It's not just about confidence in my current creative ability, but also confidence in the original work.

The true extraordinaryness of "No Longer Human" can be seen from the life of the author Dazai Osamu!

This gentleman was born into a wealthy family, but he was determined to die and attempted suicide five or six times in his life.

Since he was a child, Dazai Osamu has been a person that no one cares about. He is sensitive and lacks love.

In the big family, he had a good life, but he was never taken seriously. He didn't even know who his mother was until he was seven or eight years old.

The only way he could get attention was to dress up as a clown and amuse his family.

This kind of identity where one has to sacrifice dignity in order to gain attention makes Dazai Osamu feel that life is painful.

So he chose to commit suicide.

Later, when he came into contact with Marxist thought, he felt that being a landlord was a sin.

After the suicide of Akutagawa Ryunosuke, whom Dazai admired, his thoughts on death deepened.

It can be said that from adulthood until the age of 39, Dazai Osamu had been trying to commit suicide, but failed dramatically every time.

His studies were not going well, he was expelled from the family, his socialist career was frustrated, his job search was thwarted, he was admitted to a mental hospital for treatment, and his wife cheated on him.

Until Japan's defeat in the war, Dazai Osamu's life seemed to be filled with despair and pain.

It is precisely because of this experience that I can write such works.

It can be said that "No Longer Human", a literary work of extreme decadence, is a portrayal of Dazai Osamu's life.

In a sense, this work can be regarded as the most "pessimistic" literary work.

In the past, when Bao Guowei copied works, he would always make some local changes. For example, in "The Old Man and the Sea", he changed the background to domestic.

There are benefits to localizing the adaptation, which can deepen the influence of the work to a certain extent and enhance the sense of identity among domestic readers.

But this time, Bao Guowei didn't intend to do so.

His film "No Longer Human" is going to be set in Japan!

Bao Guowei even incorporated plots from some classic works related to later generations, such as "The Life of Misfits" and "Manchester by the Sea".

It brings together many pessimistic views and shows that under the background of economic depression, under the oppression of the Bushido spirit, and under the morbid rule in Japan, ordinary Japanese young people are confused about human nature, fearful of human nature, and even deny themselves!

Of course, criticism of militarism must be included, and the spark of socialist struggle must also be integrated into it!

When he thought of this, Bao Guowei felt energized. He stopped typing, took the manuscript paper and continued to record his inspiration on it.

As for "No Longer Human", will it have any impact on Chinese people?

Bao Guowei had thought about this problem from the beginning.

That is why the setting is set in Japan to reduce the influence of readers from other cultural backgrounds.

Bao Guowei even planned to publish a Chinese version to reduce the impact of despair through some dramatic techniques.

You know, our cultural background is completely different from that of the Japanese.

The latter is a small country with a small population, facing long-term natural disasters and even scarcer resources. In addition, it is devastated by the traditional Bushido spirit and the worship of death.

Under the influence of the work, it is bound to become extreme.

In previous lives, many Japanese committed suicide due to the influence of this book!

There are few similar problems in China.

Moreover, Bao Guowei had also made up his mind that "No Longer Human" must be published and circulated in Japan first!
The Japanese are not fools either. After the circulation of "No Longer Human", it is likely to be listed as a banned book.

However, Bao Guowei has already thought of a way to deal with it.

(End of this chapter)