The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Chatting all the way on the train, Zhou Hexuan finally found out that the friend Chengshe and I met in Nanjing was none other than Zhang Henshui, a great novelist of the generation.

Cheng She and I are old acquaintances of Zhang Henshui. This time he wanted to start a new newspaper. He not only invited Zhang Henshui to be the editor-in-chief, but also hoped that Zhang Henshui could invest money and become a shareholder.

Zhang Henshui had lived in Peiping for the past few years, but Zhou Hexuan had never met him, so he just got off the train at Nanjing Xiaguan Railway Station with Cheng She and me.

Although the distance by train from Shanghai to Nanjing is short, it takes six hours. The old-fashioned train took eight hours. When the two arrived at Xiaguan, Nanjing, it was already evening and the sun was almost setting.

Zhou Hexuan plans to stay in Nanjing for one night, wait until tomorrow to take a ship across the river, and buy a ticket at Pukou Railway Station to continue going north.

On the station platform, Zhang Henshui waved and shouted: "Lao Cheng, this way!"

Chengshe walked over quickly, hugged Zhang Henshui, turned around and said with a smile: "Xinyuan, do you think who is this?"

Zhang Henshui held up his glasses and looked carefully, and suddenly said happily: "Mr. Zhou!" He quickly walked up to Zhou Hexuan and shook hands warmly, "Oh, oh, hello, Mr. Zhou, I finally met the real person today."

"Mr. Zhang, I have long admired your name!" Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

I said cheerfully: "Both of us are masters in the novel world. We must have many topics in common. Why don't we sit down in a teahouse and chat."

The three of them were walking together. When passing by a bookstore, Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "I'm going to buy a set of "The Cause of Laughter" and ask Brother Xinyuan to sign it."

"That's just right, I'm going to buy a set of "Goddess" and "Dog Official" too." Zhang Henshui said with a smile.

Walking into the bookstore, Zhou Hexuan asked directly: "Boss, do you have "The Cause of Laughter"?"

"Yes, yes, there are sequels," the boss replied.

The first 22 chapters of "The Cause of Laughter" were written three years ago. Because the tragic ending left readers dissatisfied, there were more than ten versions of various sequels. Zhang Henshui couldn't withstand the pressure from readers, so he finally continued writing 10 more chapters and completed the publication at the beginning of this year.

There is also a very interesting anecdote about the sequel to "The Cause of Laughter".

Kenji Doihara treated pro-Japanese Chinese intellectuals with affection but no respect, just like a hunter raising a dog. On the contrary, Kenji Doihara deliberately curry favor with those intellectuals who hated Japan and treated them with great courtesy.

For example, there is a guy named Guan Yixian (the founder of "Shibao") who often publishes anti-Japanese remarks in newspapers. Since the circulation of "Shibao" once reached more than 100,000 copies, ranking first among all newspapers in the north, Guan Yixian's articles were very influential.

Not only did Kenji Doihara not send anyone to assassinate Guan Yixian, he instead tried every means to please him, and even saved a considerable amount of money at a cloth store that Guan Yixian's wife liked to go to. Whenever Guan Yixian's wife comes to buy cloth, the cashier will say: "Master Doihara has been paying for it for a long time."

After a few years, Guan Yixian finally became a traitor and became an accomplice of Dofeihara's cultural invasion. He talked about the "theory of national rebirth" and said that "the fall of Nanjing actually gave the general Chinese people a major opportunity to thoroughly reflect."

"The Continuation of Laughter" describes the anti-Japanese volunteers, and Zhang Henshui came into Kenji Doihara's sight. Just a month ago, he asked someone to bring "The Foreign History of Chunming" and "The Golden Fen Family" to see Zhang Henshui, and sent a message: "I will give you a signature and leave it as a souvenir to appease everyone's admiration."

Zhang Henshui kept the two books sent by Dofeihara, took out a copy of "The Continuation of the Cause of Laughter", and wrote on the title page: "Mr. Dofeihara asked me to give it as a gift. The author was traveling in Yanjing."

This word game is very clever. The word "gift" clearly indicates that Dofeihara requested it, not the author's voluntary gift. The signature only says "author" without his signature, which shows that Zhang Henshui does not want to be associated with Dofeihara.

After Kenji Doihara received the "signed novel", he was indeed very angry, but he even more "respected" Zhang Henshui. He asked someone to convey his respect to Zhang Henshui and praised "The Continuation of Laughter", which describes the anti-Japanese volunteers: "The description is vivid Such a picturesque, truly magical pen!”

On the shelves of bookstores, there are only two genuine copies of "The Destiny of Laughter" and its sequels, but there are more than 10 copies of various pirated sequels - some people make a living by writing the sequels to "The Destiny of Laughter", which shows how much this novel has. popular.

And Zhou Hexuan's works are even more terrifying, including the trilogy "The Condor", "The Condor", and "Yitian", "The Goddess", "The Dog Official", "The Dog Official", "Titanic", and "Black Soil" Single volumes, as well as a series of academic works such as "The Rise of Great Powers", fill more than half of the bookshelf.

Zhou Hexuan even saw a copy of "The Collected Works of Zhou Mingcheng". He curiously opened the catalog and found that the content was all kinds of current commentaries and poems he published in newspapers and magazines.

"Boss, this is a pirated book, not authorized by the author." Zhou Hexuan said while flipping through the "Collected Works of Zhou Mingcheng".

The bookstore owner smiled and said: "If readers like it, of course I will sell it. Whether it is pirated or not is a matter for the publisher to consider."

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Are this person's books easy to sell?"

"Of course, the "Condor" trilogy and "Titanic" are bought by the most people, and at least five sets can be sold in a month. "The Rise of the Great Powers", "The Goddess" and "The Dog Officer" can also be sold every month Publish one or two sets. Only his academic works are not popular." The bookstore owner took out a copy of "Guns, Germs and Steel" and sighed, "I can't understand this kind of book at all. Some people still bought it two years ago, but now I can't understand it at all. No one wants them. If no one comes to buy them anymore, I’m going to take them off the shelves.”

Zhang Henshui watched from the side until his stomach hurt from laughing, and reminded: "Boss, take a closer look, who is the person talking to you?"

Zhou Hexuan wore a white men's hat, the brim of which covered his eyebrows. The bookstore owner looked at it carefully and suddenly said in shock: "Isn't this Mr. Zhou...Zhou Mingcheng? Oops, disrespectful, disrespectful. I just talked nonsense, don't pay attention."

How can one person stand out in this kind of limelight? Zhou Hexuan pointed at Zhang Henshui: "This is the author of "The Cause of Laughter"."

"Mr. Zhang Henshui!" The bookstore owner was full of surprises.

There were several customers in the bookstore at this time. They immediately gathered around when they heard the shouting. Zhou Hexuan and Zhang Henshui were instantly surrounded. Moreover, the number of onlookers was increasing, and some pedestrians passing by the bookstore came running when they heard the noise.

The bookstore owner happily took out the pen and paper and said respectfully: "Gentlemen, please leave the calligraphy treasure!"

Mr. Zhou's calligraphy is no longer what it used to be. When he takes up the pen, he writes four big characters - Don't sell pirated copies.

"Good words!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Amid the praise and laughter of the onlookers, the boss seemed extremely embarrassed and hurriedly ran to put away Zhou Hexuan and Zhang Henshui's pirated books.

Zhang Henshui was much more tolerant. He took up his pen and wrote the words "Xiaguan Bookstore". This character can be carved into a plaque and used as a sign.

Neither Zhou Hexuan nor Zhang Henshui expected that their inscriptions would make the bookstore's business get better and better. Although the boss died in the Nanjing Massacre, his son reopened it after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. After decades of state-owned and private development, Xiaguan Bookstore has turned into a "century-old store".

Zhou Hexuan's four words "Don't sell pirated copies" were dug out and re-posted in the 1980s. In the 21st century, netizens intercepted photos of Zhou Hexuan and added these four words to make emoticons, specifically used to ridicule piracy and plagiarism.

There are also various combination emoticons, such as using Zhang Henshui's photo with the text "Mr. Zhou is right", and using Lu Xun's photo with the text "I never said that".