Chapter 324 I Didn't Provoke You
Chapter 324 I Didn't Provoke You
The story of Dagon is very simple, it tells what happens to people who commit suicide.
The protagonist accidentally entered a mysterious place in the ocean - it's not really called accidentally, he fell asleep on a small boat, but when he woke up the next day he found the boat stranded in a swamp.
The dark swamp was littered with animal carcasses, some familiar animals and some completely unknown animals. The swamp was so large that it looked as vast as the ocean.
When the tide receded and the swamp became hard and walkable, the protagonist headed towards the black hill. If you are lost, you must first go to a higher place to check the situation.
When he climbed up, he saw...
In general, this story is not tainted with discrimination, but simply enriches the Dagon cult that appeared in the previous "The Shadow over Weymouth".
"So Dagon is the god worshipped by the frogmen in Weymouth?" "I'm jealous of Gu Lu's talent. It's just an anti-discrimination novel that came to mind on a whim, but he still conceived such a huge worldview." "Is Dagon the Old One? He existed on this planet tens of millions of years ago." "So the frogmen in Weymouth are called Deep Divers." "Just seeing Dagon drives people crazy"...
Readers discussed this, and as there were more and more readers from the UK, some analyzed Dagon's appearance, which was actually very similar to the Weymouth Deep One. He did not look like a worshipped deity, but more like a giant Deep One.
Wait, Ai Shouyi’s short stories are really amazing. He can achieve such results with just two or three stories.
Back to the topic, it was "Weymouth Asylum" that broke Bournemouth's defense.
The story describes that the villain (the heroine's father Ephraim) is from Weymouth and controls the hero's body, and the hero is from Bournemouth. According to the book, there are many people in Bournemouth who are controlled...
"First of all, we from Bournemouth have no opinion on Gu Lu at all!" Alan from Bournemouth was almost going crazy. He was clearly at home watching the jokes of the people of Weymouth before, but in the blink of an eye he saw the name of his hometown.
Alan's confusion was quickly answered on the Bournemouth forum, as they are friendly cities with the evil Weymouth.
The friendly cities in the UK and internationally are different between the two countries.
For example, the Fog City has established friendly city relations with more than 30 cities, including Seattle, Toronto, Chiang Mai, etc. The purpose is to actively carry out exchanges between the two cities.
The "friendly" cities of Bournemouth and Weymouth are actually a support system, which is to let the well-developed cities help the poor. Of course, the help will not be great, but it can only be said that it is better than nothing. After all, the autonomy of municipal governments abroad is very large.
For example, Bournemouth is a popular bar-hopping destination for the British, and people from Weymouth can enjoy a discount if they come here.
"I know Weymouth is evil, why should we be its friendly city?"
"I heard that Bournemouth provides a lot of supplies to Weymouth every year. Why does the town hall use our taxpayers' money like this?"
This statement is obviously overthinking. In a socialist country, this situation is possible, but in capitalism, this is the only way to do it unless the town executive doesn't want to do it anymore.
However, there were actually a lot of people who believed this rumor, and Allen, who was still a college student, seemed to feel betrayed.
Alan started calling the town hall, but the call was unsuccessful.
"We are like Edward, the protagonist in the book, who was hurt by the Deep Ones of Weymouth. We are also hurt by the evil of Weymouth."
"We must cut off the friendly city relationship immediately, otherwise our town will definitely be the protagonist of the next article by the Chinese author."
Wait for the remarks.
It makes sense. Allen decides to protest at the town hall. Cardboard and markers, these basic props of protest, are prepared by every household.
"By the way, ask Kang to come over and help..." Alan was about to call his younger brother, but his fingers failed to press the dial button.
Kang Siyuan was an international student from China who came to Bournemouth University. To put it in a positive way, he was Alan's little brother. To put it in a negative way, Alan often bullied him, asked him to run errands to buy things, and took the blame for him, more than once.
"Kang is also Chinese. He seems to love writing and has submitted articles to newspapers..." Alan suddenly felt a chill on his back.
Isn't it just the small version of Gu Lu? !
Thinking of this, Alan immediately called Kang Siyuan.
beep-
The phone rang three or four times, and Kang Siyuan answered it.
When he saw the caller, disgust appeared on his face, as if he was disgusted with British food.
"Dear Kang, do you have time today? If so, could you please do me a favor? If not, forget it, but I'm inviting you to dinner tonight, and you must come."
The other party's first sentence left Kang Siyuan confused.
What new tricks are you going to play?! Kang Siyuan responded that he had time, but he was also worried that the other party would cause trouble later.
"That's great, man, I know, you're my best friend." Alan said on the phone.
Ten minutes later, Kang Siyuan cautiously arrived at the agreed park.
The park is quite large, with people gathered on the lawn, some bringing picnic mats to eat, and some playing with their pets.
"Thank you so much, Kang, my good brother." Alan came up and gave him a hug. He was half a head taller than Kang Siyuan, and he was on the school football team and was also very strong.
"Good brother, I remember you were submitting an article to a newspaper. Can you let me see your work? I must support you." Alan said again.
"I have published two or three articles. I will give them to you when I get back." Kang Siyuan felt that Alan was possessed by evil spirits, or it would be very difficult to ask him for help.
Thinking of this, Kang Siyuan's face turned grim.
But just the opposite of what he thought happened, he went to the town hall to protest and demanded that aid to Weymouth be interrupted.
The protests in the UK were not as frequent as those in France, but they were also common. Kang Siyuan had long been accustomed to them. What really shocked him was that it was all because of a novel by a Chinese writer?!
The Town Hall is located in the Westcliff area and is a single-family yellow mud-colored building.
When we arrived, seventy or eighty people had already started protesting.
"James, Clooney, Brown, you are here too." Alan went up to them and saw a few familiar faces.
"Of course, we have to save Bournemouth," "We can't have anything to do with Weymouth anymore," "Protest for Bournemouth!" three people responded.
Allen then joined in, holding up a protest sign and chanting: "Save Bournemouth, abandon Weymouth!"
Holy shit, is Gu Lu that awesome? When did Chinese writers have such influence abroad?
Actually, most of the more than 100,000 people in Bournemouth don't pay attention, such as the family breadwinners in their 40s and 50s, who are more concerned about football.
But the problem is that the people who pay attention are the ones who will speak out, which directly leads to the minority representing the majority.
It seemed like the whole town hated Weymouth because of Gu Lu.
"Wait, Alan was so nice to me today, could it be because he's scared?" Kang Siyuan suddenly thought.
"After all, Gu Lu is such a bad person. If he says something wrong, he will target the reporter's family, clan, and even his entire hometown."
What Kang Siyuan was thinking at that time may now be illuminated by everyone, and he feels that "Gu Lu is really a great man. At least he let the British know that Chinese people also have hot tempers."
Kang Siyuan thought to himself that he must buy two of Gu Lu's works after returning to China.
According to the next day’s Bournemouth Daily, “There was a large demonstration in the city, and the people’s dissatisfaction with Weymouth was difficult to vent!”
The mayor of Bournemouth also needs to listen to public opinion. To be precise, the opinions of dozens of people are not important, but the opinions of dozens of marchers are very important!
Local newspapers and Dorset newspapers also added fuel to the fire.
Therefore, the mayor could not bear it anymore, and unilaterally announced at a press conference the next afternoon, "Weymouth has been developing very well since it became the venue for the sailing competition of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Therefore, there is no need for the sister city to exist..."
Good guy! Good guy!
Portsham is a small village, so the police were very busy and even went directly to find the Vanzelstone family.
Weymouth is a large town, so the town hall will not lose its composure because of two or three novels. It is very calm. What level of situation requires the town hall to respond?
To sum it up in one sentence: “It’s included”.
But now, the governor of Weymouth Town Hall could no longer sit still and cut off diplomatic relations with a friendly city. Although he did not gain any benefits, he was embarrassed to be cut off by someone else!
The Weymouth executive first accused Gu Lu, "The Chinese writer Gu Lu is like a witch, and the pen in his hand is like his magic wand, attacking us Weymouth. The content of the novel is all malicious slander. There is no [Weymouth Face], and we don’t have Devil Reef here..."
It was a long list, and the executive was furious, so he just clarified it and asked Gu Lu to apologize.
Then the executive officer changed the subject and continued:
"Mr. Kane Vanzestone, although you are now settled in London, you are also a Weymouth native. Please don't hurt your hometown." That is, if there is no such pressure, how can there be so many things? The executive officer criticized by name.
How many people can get criticism from their hometown leaders? This heavy "honor" made Kane anxious and angry.
"Why are you blaming me? This is all the fault of that evil Chinese man!" Kane saw the news in The Guardian.
With so many people paying attention to this hotly debated issue on the Internet, it is natural that major British media outlets will follow up on the report.
"Now it's not the Chinese who are evil, it's not Weymouth who is evil, it's our Vanzerstone family who is evil!" The anger contained in Father Quinn's voice can ignite people.
"I asked you to apologize last week, but you refused to listen and said that the Chinese had no new tricks. What about now?" Quinn said, "You have become the sinner of Weymouth."
As he spoke, Quinn threw the newspaper next to him at his son. The stack of newspapers was rolled up and was quite heavy, and there was a "pop" sound.
"Quinn, what are you doing? Don't do that." Mrs. Vanzelstone said.
"Don't be like this? Tell me yourself, what did Aunt Alice say to you last night?" Quinn's voice got louder instead of lowering.
"What did Aunt Alice say?" Kane asked.
Aunt Alice lived very close to him in the village of Portsham and was very fond of him when he was a child.
Mrs. Vanzeston was silent for a while before she said, "Our house was splashed with paint, and the flowers and plants in the front yard were also destroyed."
Why do they do that? This is a crime! Kane didn't finish his words. He took a deep breath and picked up the newspaper on the ground.
The Sinner of Weymouth: Kane Featherstone
"..." This title became the last straw that broke the camel's back for Kane, who said to his parents, "I know what to do."
Kane picked up his jacket from the sofa and drove to the newspaper office.
I wrote a manuscript and gave it to the editor-in-chief, Mr. Monroe.
Then I was called to the editor-in-chief's office.
"No, no, no, Kane, why should you apologize to the Chinese? You shouldn't apologize." Monroe said, "We all support you in the newspaper. You should declare war on him."
I was very touched. When the whole world gave up on me, my boss still supported me. I used to scold Monroe for being inhumane, but now Kane realized that I had completely misunderstood him.
Now that he thinks about it, his articles have been published more frequently since the book signing event. Kane realized later that it was the editor-in-chief's care that made him famous!
Mr. Monroe's big forehead feels much more pleasing to the eye.
but……
If it was his own endurance, Kane could still handle it, but his family members couldn't.
"Thank you, Mr. Monroe. I can't be so selfish. I should apologize to the Chinese people." Kane said, "I can't let my parents bear the bad consequences for me."
"So please, sir." Kane said sincerely.
"No, The Sun doesn't allow you to apologize." Monroe stopped pretending and turned the computer screen towards Kane.
[“I like Gu Lu’s stories, so I bought The Little Prince, but the story is not good.”
"We also have to thank Kane from The Sun, if it wasn't for him stepping on a landmine we wouldn't be able to see these works."
"Portsham Asylum is so well written. It's so despairing to find that you can't control your body and your mind is controlled. I swear I will never find a girlfriend in Weymouth unless she is as beautiful as Kate Beckinsale."
"The Sun hit a wall. Hahahaha. I bought the Sun today. Vanzestone Kane is still alive and has written an article [Gu Lu's crimes as a writer]."
"Will you publish two more stories next week? Weymouth and the reporter must not apologize. You will only lose your reputation, and we readers will lose interesting stories."
...]
"This is the current public opinion on the Internet. You should follow the will of the people," Monroe said.
You apologized, and Gu Lu stopped writing, so the popularity was gone, right?
Monroe can still distinguish between a one-time explosion and a sustained heat.
As for the bad reputation - it's funny, does The Sun have a reputation? For The Sun, it's enough to have hot spots and sales.
"?" Kane looked up at Monroe. His forehead was eye-catching. It must be because he had done too many evil things that his hair could not grow, which made his hairline so high.
"Take the apology back and you can continue to write the same content as you did the past two days," Monroe said. "The readers will thank you, and we at The Sun will thank you too."
"What about my parents?" Kane asked back.
"We'll thank your parents, too," Monroe said.
"If you don't let me publish it, I'll go to other newspapers." Kane tried to calm himself down.
"Mr. Kane," Editor-in-Chief Monroe's tone turned cold, "You will be fired, and the newspaper will be held responsible because your wrong speech at the book signing event has had a negative impact on the reputation of our The Sun."
Fuck! Does The Sun still have a reputation?
Kane wanted to strangle Monroe in front of him because he knew that if the newspaper really sued him, the chances of him losing the case would be too high.
Sooner or later you will become bald!
The effect was achieved. Editor-in-Chief Monroe stopped pressing and said in a gentle tone, "Mr. Kane, you are still young, don't worry."
I am young? Isn't the Chinese author younger than me? Kane stared at Monroe.
In the end, Kane retracted his apology. For the first time, he regretted joining The Sun. He was once an idealistic journalist and a person who could make choices...
There was an unknown town that had some evil intentions - but when Bournemouth cut off its friendly city relations, it immediately became obedient.
Yes, if Gu Lu only wrote about one city, it wouldn't be scary at all. What's scary is the collective punishment!
We have entered the modern era and are all civilized people, so why do we still engage in such feudal behavior?
The attack on Bournemouth in "Weymouth Asylum" is just a brief one. If you don't know what's good for you, I believe you will be the next dilapidated town.
"This Chinese man relies on his talent in writing to do evil things!" The executives thought so after giving up their little thoughts.
Things abroad were similar to what Gu Lu thought, and action was also started in China.
"The kitchen is very dangerous, please move over." The kitchen staff saw Gu Lu and others blocking the door and started to chase them away.
"It hurts when oil splashes on your body," the staff member continued, "and there are knives and other things."
"We want to see the ingredients used in the kitchen," said Zhang Liru, who was standing behind Gu Lu.
"What's there to see? Let's go." Upon hearing this, the staff's face turned gloomy, as if there was a big door closed in front of them, and his tone was full of resistance.
At this time, Lao Gou, the person in charge of the kitchen, also came over and interrupted, "What are you making a fuss about here?"
"We students eat in the cafeteria, and we have the right to see what we eat," Zhang Liru said firmly.
"Having power is nothing but a bullshit. People who are little bit older have so many problems to deal with." Lao Gou scolded. The wrinkles on his forehead were like hard black whetstones, sharpening his eyes.
This expression and this look were so scary that Zhang Liru took two steps back.
Gu Lu took out a red school badge and said, "This is the supervisor badge. You should recognize it."
That's right, King Guru's school badge can supervise and inspect the safety of the canteen meals at any time. Gu Lu had specially asked Director Hu to confirm this yesterday, and Director Hu assured him that the supervision and inspection rights were clearly explained to the contractor.
It was indeed clear. Lao Gou's face changed, and he remembered what Director Hu said, "The previous canteen contractor was blocked because he was not satisfied."
"I don't know, I don't know, what is it, go go go go." Lao Gou said, we can't put it in today, at worst we can apologize tomorrow. We can fool around today and check it tomorrow.
There is so much that can be done in one night.
"Are you sure?" Gu Lu clearly saw the change in the other person's expression.
The argument was so loud that it attracted the attention of fellow students.
(End of this chapter)