The literary era since 1979

Chapter 275: A Great Scholar Will Debate for Me (Two in One)

Since May, Fangyan has been concentrating on "Guns, Viruses, and Steel".

There is not only the huge library and database of the University of Iowa, but also a large amount of information and data provided by history professors such as Sean Michael, such as Native Americans, African natives, etc.

It’s all densely packed with foreign words.

Fortunately, Bai Ruoxue was there to help, and she could translate the parts I didn’t understand into Chinese.

Apart from the weekly seminars they had to attend and shopping for supplies at the Asian New Goods Store, the two of them basically stayed in the library.

In the evening, Fangyan returned to Mayflower Apartments as usual.

I saw my roommate Pan Yaoming sitting at the table, holding a newspaper in both hands, with a look of depression on his face.

"What are you looking at?"

"Ouch, you scared me! How come you're walking without making any sound?"

"You were just too engrossed in it."

Fangyan leaned over and saw stock market data such as the US stock market and the Hang Seng Index.

"You don't understand? This is called stocks."

Pan Yaoming smiled and said, "I don't think you have stocks or stock markets in the mainland."

Just kidding! Big A leeks are here!

Fangyan pretended to be ignorant even though he knew the truth, and acted like a novice, and asked Pan Yaoming for advice on Hong Kong stocks.

After a while, he asked curiously, "So you are investing in stocks now?"

"I can do some work occasionally to earn more money and support my family."

Pan Yaoming smiled and said, "By the way, I can also earn some extra money for my study abroad."

"You didn't put all the agency fees for "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong" into it, did you?"

After receiving Zhang Guangnian's reply, Fang Yan formally hired him as his copyright agent for Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Pan Yaoming smiled and said that he only took out a little from Hong Kong's agency fees.

Fang Yan asked, "Is there any news from the Formosa?"

Pan Yaoming said: "Speaking of this, it's really strange that no publisher in Taiwan has contacted me so far."

“It’s not surprising at all.”

Fangyan was not in a hurry. After all, "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong" had not yet been released in Hong Kong, and the publishers in Formosa had no way of knowing about it.

"So I packed up all the newspapers that reported your news these days and mailed them to Hong Kong."

Pan Yaoming said: "If nothing unexpected happens, it should be reprinted in newspapers such as Ming Pao and Bai Xing Ban Yue Kan."

"Really!"

Fangyan packed up the things in his hands, moved a chair and sat down.

"By then, the news that you are famous in the United States will spread across Hong Kong, and naturally, publishing companies will come to you to seek your help."

Pan Yaoming said: "Maybe there is a company willing to publish Saving Private Ryan!"

“Isn’t it time for manuscript fees and royalties to increase?”

The dialect was not surprised at all.

After all, Saving Private Ryan is now on the New York Times bestseller list this week and is an undisputed bestseller.

"It's more than just an increase."

Pan Yaoming's tone was full of excitement. "Yanzi, you are now a best-selling author in the United States. Don't you know how valuable this is?"

"How tall is it?"

Fang Yan jokingly said, "Is it as high as three or four floors?"

"Too low, too low, it must be at least six or seven floors high, the same level as Ni Xun and Yi Shu!"

Pan Yaoming said seriously: "It must be the highest level!"

Fang Yan joked, "Then your agent is also the best in Hong Kong and Taiwan, right?"

"TOEFL, TOEFL. I just benefit from your help."

Pan Yaoming felt a little excited when he thought of the generous commission.

After chatting for a while, Fang Yan flipped through the news reports on the Hong Kong stock market and asked, "According to you, the Hong Kong stock market is in a mess now?"

"It's not just a mess, it's a complete mess!"

Pan Yaoming said that Hong Kong's stock market has been volatile since the two countries began negotiations on Hong Kong's future last year.

The Hang Seng Index fluctuated between 676 and 1000 points, and Hong Kong investors and stockholders were in a state of panic.

Fangyan watched it from beginning to end and found that the Hang Seng Index did not fall significantly, but it could only keep struggling at a low level.

The dead memories suddenly attacked me again. If I remember correctly, Hong Kong would usher in a big bull market in the 80s.

It was in 84, after the Joint Statement on the Future of Hong Kong was made public, that the Hang Seng Index immediately bottomed out and rebounded. The Hong Kong stock market thus began a new round of a four-year bull market. The highest peak during its peak period seemed to be approaching 4 points.

If you were to buy the bottom at this time and choose to copy the futures index, the increase would be from 670 points to 4000 points, a full 3000 points!
In fact, it was Big Ying who was behind all this, secretly manipulating the Hong Kong stock market, pushing up the price continuously, creating bubbles, and attracting a large number of fanatical investors to speculate in stocks. They took the opportunity to make a fortune crazily, reaping the benefits, and plundering Hong Kong's wealth.

The result was three major stock market crashes and economic recession in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

With this thought in mind, he asked Pan Yaoming about how to trade the Hang Seng Index in the Hong Kong stock market of this era.

“Speculate on the Hang Seng Index?”

"You want to trade index futures!?"

Pan Yaoming was startled, then shook his head: "There is no Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong's futures market yet."

Fangyan was stunned, "No Hang Seng Index futures?"

"Yes, no."

Pan Yaoming said that since the establishment of the Hong Kong Commodity Exchange, the current futures commodities are only cotton, raw sugar, gold and soybeans.

The plan to make a fortune is gone just like that? !

Fangyan's mouth twitched. My money! My money!

"In my opinion, even if you want to speculate on futures, you should never speculate."

Pan Yaoming advised him to give up the idea, "Investing in futures is different from investing in stocks. If you are not careful, you may die!"

Fangyan sighed softly and had to make other plans.

"In my opinion, instead of wasting money speculating in futures, you should lend me the money for tuition."

Pan Yaoming then asked about the current royalties from "Saving Private Ryan".

Fangyan made a rough calculation and found that the royalties received so far were based on 3.25 copies, which is US$6.525 before tax.

Even if Old Mike helped to avoid taxes before, only 54.5% is left, which is about 3.56 US dollars.

When he thought about his money being "stolen" by the IRS, he couldn't help but want to go to California to find Old Mike to talk about registering a company in the Cayman Islands and how to avoid taxes by 70% to 80%, preferably like Dong Jianguo.

A maximum of US$750 is enough per year.

"I think if you really want to invest in stocks, you might as well invest in U.S. stocks and test the waters first."

Pan Yaoming flipped a newspaper out of the pile and said, "For example, the IBM computer that Ruoxue wanted to buy before, IBM's stock is pretty good."

Fangyan took it, looked at it, and flipped through it absentmindedly.

IBM, Coca-Cola, Apple, Disney, Cisco, Microsoft... have already emerged in my mind.

At this moment, Bai Ruoxue's voice came from outside the house:

"Teacher Fang, there is a letter for you!"

"letter?"

Fangyan walked out quickly. He originally thought that it was a letter from Gong Xing, but when he saw the sender, he was stunned.

Seeing him in a trance, Pan Yaoming asked curiously, "Yanzi, who sent the letter?"

"Jason Epstein, editor in chief of Random House."

Fang Yan said, "He said he would personally deliver the invitation to the American Library Association's annual meeting to me, and also said he wanted to talk to me about novels."

…………

Three days later, Iowa City.

Jason Epstein took a car with an interpreter from the airport and finally arrived at the university town after more than 30 minutes.

The campus is still filled with speeches promoting identity labels such as feminism, environmentalism, and equal rights movements.

The words are full of strong and extreme emotions, including resentment, anger, and yearning for equality.

Jason Epstein is no stranger to this.

But when I heard them mention "geopolitical determinism" and "dialects" from time to time in their speeches, I became very interested.

So, I found a few students on the street, some black, some white, and some Chinese, and asked them and found out -

In just over a month, Fangyan has become a celebrity at the University of Iowa!
“No wonder Saving Private Ryan sales are suddenly skyrocketing in Iowa.”

The translator spoke softly, looking around.

In sight, there were several students in the crowd holding "Saving Private Ryan".

Seeing this scene, Jason Epstein became even more eager to meet this Chinese writer whom he had never met before.

When I arrived at the door of the writers' workshop, I ran into Bai Yang, who was leaning on a crutch.

The translator thought it was Fangyan who came out to greet him, so he asked tentatively, "Fangyan?!" "No, I'm not." Bo Yang shook his head and said, "You are from Random House, right?"

"This is the editor-in-chief of Random House, Mr. Jason."

The translator nodded and introduced himself: "I am his translator. May I ask if Fang Yan is here now?"

"Yes, he is in there."

Bo Yang's eyes widened as he looked them up and down.

Jason Epstein thanked him and prepared to go inside with the translator.

"I'll take you there."

Bai Yang sighed softly, took the initiative to act as a guide, and limped with them to the meeting room.

When Jason Epstein saw the dialect with his own eyes, he was shocked. He never expected that the person who could write "Saving Private Ryan" and propose "geopolitical determinism" would be so young. It was beyond his expectations.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Fang Yan smiled and said:

"Water or coffee?"

"Coffee, thank you."

Jason Epstein said, "On my way here just now, I heard many students discussing you, including history, geography, anthropology, and archaeology. I think the views you put forward are very interesting. Can we talk about this first?"

"of course can."

Fang Yan and Bai Ruoxue looked at each other.

Bai Ruoxue understood and acted as a translator.

The topic started with "geopolitical determinism", and the conversation immediately became more and more harmonious.

"Wow, these insights are really groundbreaking." Jason Epstein said, "If Guns, Viruses, and Steel is published, I will definitely buy a copy."

The subject immediately changed and he started thinking about this book.

"I'm sorry, I've already agreed to hand it over to the University of Iowa Press." Fangyan shrugged.

"That's really a shame."

Jason Epstein's tone was full of regret, and he glanced at the translator.

The translator understood what I meant and took out an invitation to the American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition from his bag.

Fang Yan said, "Mike will also have an invitation, right?"

"Of course, there are both the author and the translator." The translator handed it over and said that Mike's invitation letter had already been sent to China.

Bai Ruoxue took the invitation and was surprised.

Especially when I heard Jason Epstein say that this annual meeting is the pinnacle event of the American book industry.

Several of the most prestigious awards in the literary world, such as the Caldecott Medal, the "Oscar of picture books", the Newbery Medal, the "Oscar of children's books", and the National Book Award, which is as famous as the Pulitzer Prize, are all awarded by the American Library Association.

"So, Saving Private Ryan was nominated?"

Fangyan stared directly at Jason Epstein.

"Yes, and I'm nominated for two awards, the first novel award and the translation award."

Jason Epstein held up two fingers.

Fangyan was surprised and asked, "Translation award?"

The translator explained that the four categories of the National Book Awards are fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature, but these four awards are limited to American writers. Only the debut novel award and the translation work award are not restricted by nationality, but must be published by an American publishing company.

"If Saving Private Ryan had become popular earlier, it might have been able to catch up with this year's Pulitzer Prize."

Jason Epstein shook his head and laughed, "It's a pity that I'm a step too late. Now I can only apply for the Pulitzer Prize in History next year."

"Do you think Saving Private Ryan will win an award, I mean the National Book Award?"

Fangyan asked curiously.

"I can't say I'm 100 percent sure."

Jason Epstein asked back: "But I am curious, why did you, a Chinese writer, think of writing this novel?"

When asked about his motivation, Fang Yan frankly started by talking about guiding Mike in writing, and slowly talked about the anti-fascist war.

"In World War II and the Anti-Fascist War, China was the main battlefield in the East. We paid a huge price and made great sacrifices and contributions to the final victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. Forgetting history is tantamount to betrayal. Only by remembering history can we create the future."

"We Chinese have a saying, 'A country may be great, but it will perish if it loves war; the world may be peaceful, but it will be in danger if it forgets war.'"

"..."

“A promising country cannot be without pioneers, and a hopeful nation cannot be without heroes.”

"I think I understand why you wrote Saving Private Ryan."

Jason Epstein smiled with satisfaction and said that Random House has a series of marketing strategies for best-selling books.

If the author really wins the National Book Award of the United States, he will be arranged to participate in media interviews, book clubs and other activities.

As for "Saving Private Ryan", one of the preset plans was to give speeches and promotion activities at local veterans' associations, veterans' clubs and other organizations of World War II veterans.

"When will it be held?"

Fangyan took a sip of coffee.

"The time is tentatively scheduled for after the annual meeting."

Jason Epstein said: "If the novel doesn't win an award, then everything I just said doesn't count."

Fangyan looked at the date on the invitation letter and suggested scheduling the reader meeting around June 6.

"October 6th?"

The translator and Bai Ruoxue both looked confused.

Jason Epstein, however, clapped his hands in amazement: "You're really the one who thought of this. Indeed, that day was a good day!"

Bai Ruoxue cast an inquiring look at Fangyan, and then got the answer. It turned out that day was the anniversary of the Normandy Landing.

Not only is the Normandy Landing an iconic war on the Western Front in Europe, but the story of "Saving Private Ryan" also begins with the Normandy Landing. It is very appropriate to choose such a memorial day to publicize and promote the novel.

"You chose the anniversary of the Normandy Landings as one of the most brilliant marketing plans I have ever seen in my career!"

Jason Epstein extended his hand.

Fangyan shook hands with him: "No, no."

“I think we can keep in touch for a long time.”

Jason Epstein gave him a meaningful look.

………………

After returning to New York from Iowa, Random House began operations.

The National Book Awards are funded by the National Book Foundation, and a panel is responsible for selecting works in each category.

Each panel consists of five people, including a chairperson, selected directly by the National Book Foundation.

For each award, the five best works will be selected into the final, and the judges will then cast their votes for recommendation.

At this moment, a debate was breaking out in the translation group.

A female judge said: "I admit that the book Saving Private Ryan is very well written. It not only reflects on the cruelty of war, but also explores the inner humanity of ordinary soldiers. But please remember that this is a translation award. We need to consider not only the quality of the original work, but also the translation quality of the translator."

Another male judge echoed: "I agree that in terms of translation quality, both Milan Kundera's "Laughter and Forgetting" and Rilke's "Selected Poems of Rilke" are far better than "Saving Private Ryan."

"I disagree!"

Allen Ginsberg, a poet of the "Beat Generation", expressed his support for dialects. "If the translation award is based on the quality of the translation, it is simply putting the cart before the horse. A good translation can indeed make the original work better, but the premise is that the original work itself is not bad."

The female judge countered: "Alan, I know you have a good impression of the Chinese, but please don't let your personal emotions enter the award. In terms of the quality of the original work, Saving Private Ryan cannot be compared with Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting."

Before Allen Ginsberg could speak, American historian Samuel Newland retorted:
"But don't forget what Saving Private Ryan is about!"

"It's the Normandy Landings!"

"From the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the fall of Paris, from the defense of Stalingrad to the capture of Berlin, no battle in World War II was as significant as the Normandy Landing. Do you have any objections?"

Both parties seemed to have their reasons and arguments, and the negotiation eventually turned into a quarrel, with no one being able to convince the other.

So, the four of them turned their eyes to the chairman of the group and let him make the final decision.

The chairman of the group cleared his throat and said slowly:
"Forgetting history is tantamount to betrayal. Only by remembering history can we create the future!"

"Nearly 300 million soldiers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy in northwestern France."

"In World War II and the Anti-Fascist War, the Battle of Normandy was a turning point in the Western Front of Europe. It was the largest and longest landing operation in human history. The battle successfully opened up the second battlefield in Europe and brought about a fundamental change in the strategic situation!"

"Eisenhower called the landing day 'the longest day in history'!"

"Our U.S. military paid a huge price and made great sacrifices and contributions to the victory of the world anti-fascist war."

"........."

“A promising country cannot be without pioneers, and a hopeful nation cannot be without heroes.”

If Fangyan were present, he would curse.

You said my words!

In fact, these words were all modified by Jason Epstein and told to the chairman of the group.

"Clap clap."

"Okay, I've finished what I've said, let's vote now."

The Chairman clapped his hands and looked around.

(End of this chapter)