Chapter 400: Matthew's Day
Chapter 400 Matthew's Day
Hachette Publishing Company has also entered the University of Tokyo. Magazines such as "World Fashion Garden", "Beauty", "Fitness Women", and "Famous Cars" are the output of this company.
In terms of journals, there is no rival in France, so the parent company issued a task.
The First French Publishing Company is like a blender, with the Internet, print media, radio, television, and offline billboards thrown in like cement. What it looks like after it comes out depends on the shape of the mold.
Today’s “mold” is [the new work of Chinese talented writer Gu Lu], and the city and suburbs of Paris are full of related publicity.
In order to let the French understand how talented this Chinese writer is, the propaganda is mainly divided into two aspects.
First of all: the identity of the writer of "Overnight Genius".
The second is: the youngest writer in the Guinness Book of Records whose cumulative book sales have exceeded one million copies.
When did you get the Guinness record? Oh, just two days ago, and it was Hachette Publishing Company that helped me apply for it.
To be honest, even the phrase “shut up,” which won the Nobel Prize in Literature, has never been promoted on such a large scale abroad.
SS-level publicity and promotion, there may not be such a book in a year.
As the fifth generation of an elite from a political family, if he were thrown into the world of cultivation, he would definitely be among the top few on a certain list. Dibo has been sick at home these days. In addition to translating "Who Moved My Cheese" into French, he has also arranged some small actions.
"Gobolan District, Vaugirard District, Marignana District, Fontignano County, are all arranged?"
"Mr. Peng Pang will definitely see a good show."
“Then I am very much looking forward to it.”
"With a plan B as a backup, we will definitely not fail."
"Plan B is like a comedy sketch, so this scene is not exciting."
The programs of foreign circuses generally include magic, horsemanship, acrobatics, animal training, etc., among which the comedy sketches are very useless, and many audiences choose to watch them.
The above conversation is the conversation between Dibo and Jimmy, the head of "Operation Rebuilding Hope".
Jimmy, the person in charge, had a little doubt, "Can we not choose a small room with no lights next time we meet? I am quite disgusted by the dark environment."
"Oh? Really? Sorry, I just think it's more mysterious this way." Dibo turned on the lights in the room and pulled open the three layers of curtains. Even though there was no sunshine in Paris in August, the small room of more than ten square meters was much brighter.
Jimmy hesitated to speak, and Dibo saw his dilemma and said that they were political allies who grew up together, so they could talk directly if there was anything.
"People like to use the word mysterious to deceive others and make them believe that we are more profound than they are." Jimmy added, "This is what the Romanian philosopher Cioran said, not me."
"...This sentence is not appropriate here." It's been a long time since I last saw this ally. Dibo almost forgot that Jimmy, who looked normal and capable, liked to quote classics when he spoke. He liked Goethe before, but why did he change to the most famous nihilistic philosopher of the 20th century? Was it because he was transferred to the News Department?
"Ciolan also said that the difference between us and our ancestors is that we are not shy about facing the mystery. We even renamed it: thus the absurd was born..."
"Okay, Jimmy, let's decide it this way." Dibo originally wanted to invite the other party to dinner. After all, they grew up together and had feelings for each other.
But it's really annoying when a famous quote suddenly pops up during a conversation.
Therefore, Dibo sent Jimmy away.
Jimmy didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he sat in the driver's seat.
He used to love cheese, so he often traveled to the Netherlands, but he didn't expect that a few years ago, Dibo didn't know what was wrong and insisted that he knew that cheese was better than cheese. What's the difference between this and turning a straight man into a gay?
"After working in China for five years, you have become very skilled and know how to build momentum for yourself." Jimmy was a little surprised.
As for whether it can succeed?
Can a book really inspire people?
Of course you can, as this is a tried and tested method.
There was once a work called "Seabiscuit: An American Legend", which tells a true story that took place in the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s.
The suspensory ligament of the left front leg of the racehorse was ruptured, and the horseman Paula's leg was broken and reattached several times. No one was optimistic about this combination, but the next year he ran the best result in the history of the Santa Anita Stakes.
Look at the report of the New York Times in the 21st century: Seabiscuit's miracle inspired countless people who were in anxiety and panic. Then the US economy began to recover. From this perspective, Seabiscuit not only changed the fate of him and his owner, but also inspired the entire country...
Why is it still reported in the 21st Century? Because of the remake of "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" into "Sea Biscuit".
During the Great Depression, a horse could inspire people, let alone "two mice"?
Gu Lu had no idea of the enormous wealth of France. After several days of hard work, the long work "From the New World" was finally completed.
"Eh? Will the rat become my symbol in the future?" Gu Lu remembered that the work he made for Dibo was also a rat.
But the work is finally finished.
Once he has corrected the typos, he can send it to Uncle Jian.
People who have strong imagination have this bad point. When they find missing words or typos in the text, they will correct them consciously. Therefore, even if the writer checks it twice, there will still be many omissions.
"After writing From the New World, it will probably be hard to get a work related to animation." Gu Lu incorporated a lot of Chinese culture into his new work From the New World. Originally it was all about Neon gods and ghosts, but now it's all about Chinese gods and ghosts.
Anyway, many of Japan's myths originated from China, so there is not much incongruity in the modification.
Gu Lu currently plagiarizes, and still follows the principle of "minimum change", but coming from the New World is very special. He is now a think tank expert in diplomacy, and he can't promote Japanese things.
Oh yes, there is one more thing that must be done before going abroad.
He used scissors to open the package in the living room, which was delivered to his door. Inside was 50 Chinese copies of "The Devotion of Suspect X".
All you have to do is sign them all.
There were only fifty names, and they were quickly sorted out. Then, Gu Lu had to record a short video to recommend his new book. Even if the suspect's work had created a sales miracle in Japan and had enough gimmicks, it still had to be released through the right channels.
"Suspect X's dedication is a very healthy... no repeat."
“It is a very wonderful book, a detective novel between the neo-orthodox school and the social school.”
Indeed, Higashino Keigo's style was described by a professional name in his past life, the realist school. Like the social school, he reveals something that causes deep thought, but the mystery is hardcore.
"Hope...what is it? I give up."
Gu Lu forgot the words again. Obviously, he had good shorthand ability in private, and he could remember most of the ancient poems in the textbook after reading them once or twice (but he also forgot them quickly). However, when facing the camera, his brain would forget faster.
He was a little hungry, but Gu Lu decided to give himself an intensity and eat after finishing the recording.
As for Uncle Jian’s status, we can imagine it, right? He must be very busy. The Chinese version of “The Devotion of Suspect X” was released together with the anime “Peak Battle”. The discussion was covered by the two-dimensional anime, but the sales were very gratifying.
Sales reached 61 copies in one week.
The current domestic book market... President Jian responded in an interview, "The sales of Gu Lu's new book easily exceeded 500,000 copies in the first week, which does not prove that the book market is recovering. First, (The Devotion of Suspect X) is very special. It has left a very deep impression on readers long before it was released, and has a good reputation. Second, even if Gu Lu himself has not published a new book for several years, the students who read The Little Prince have grown up."
Another issue that President Jian also disagrees with is that the Chinese market is not as good as the Japanese book market.
He said: "Although the first-week sales in China are not as good as those in Japan, the long-term cumulative sales in China will definitely be higher."
As for readers' feedback on the suspect, a lot has been written about it when it was first released in Japan, and it is pretty much the same in China.
The only difference is that the Vest King is back.
President Jian didn’t know whether he was nostalgic or something, but he went to Douban with the ID “Kelu is garbage” and made a comment: Who is better, Daruma Ishigami or Wu Mingzhi (Akechi Kogoro)?
Many people joined the discussion, but most Douban readers didn't know who Wu Mingzhi was. The few who did know felt like they had grasped the truth and started arguing again.
"It seems that the cumulative sales in Japan have exceeded three million copies, and it will even exceed that in China." Mao Sanning smacked his lips. President Jian was really confident in the new work.
Mao Sanning, who has not been seen for a long time, has been writing non-stop in recent years, focusing on mystery themes, and is currently the vice president of the National Mystery Fiction Association. Even if this title is useless, it can prove that Mao Sanning's status in the industry has been upgraded.
The level may not be higher, but the age is definitely older.
"Kill one and save one, Daruma Ishigami, it's a pity that he doesn't write detective novels." Mao Sanning bought and read it as soon as possible. He believes that this is the first detective novel in the true sense, and the previous "Mr. Holmes" has too weak detective attributes.
Mao Sanning took out his phone, ready to blackmail him for a meal, but he froze before he could send the message. He hadn't contacted Gu Lu for at least three years, mainly because Gu Lu hadn't released any new works in the past few years.
It's not that he looks down on me just because I don't write books. It's mainly because Mao Sanning and Gu Lu are more than ten years apart in age, so they don't have much to chat about.
The opportunity for the chat was to see what miracle Gu's new book had created, such as "xxx's sales are incredible, I must treat you", "that's awesome, I would be overjoyed if I had half of xxx's sales".
Now that I am writing a book again after several years, Mao Sanning feels that it seems a bit abrupt to publish it like this.
"Be more awesome and become a world-famous writer like Rowling. Then you can brag to others about it. Gu Lu and I used to eat at the same table, and our book sales were evenly matched." Mao Sanning finally decided not to publish it.
It would be embarrassing if the other person can’t remember who you are, or if you see a red exclamation mark in the WeChat message.
So what is the real situation? King Guru currently has only about 100 WeChat friends, and he does not add or delete people casually.
Tomorrow, the flight to Singapore is at 7:30, so Gu Lu went to bed early today.
There is still a big time difference between China and France. People here go to bed early and get up early there.
The correct name of the Vaugirard district is the 15th arrondissement of Paris. The most special place is the Statue of Liberty. The statue in New York is a larger version of the small statue on the Seine River, which was given to America by France. The Montparnasse Tower in this area is the only high-rise building in the city. Rich people drink coffee on the rooftop of the ninth tallest building in the European Union (there is a cafe) and look out over the Seine River, the Eiffel Tower, and the maze-like city.
The poor are not seen at all by the rich. Even if you stand more than 200 meters in the air, you cannot see the people under your feet.
"It's a pity that the world didn't end today." Matthew sighed. When he opened his eyes, he felt like he was carrying a 30-pound weight, and he was a little breathless.
Since he was fired five months ago, he must have looked for a lot of jobs in the meantime, hoping to maintain the same standard of living and salary, but it didn't work. Then he lowered his requirements, but it still didn't work...
The six-month rent payment was about to expire, and if Matthew couldn't find a job, he felt like he would soon be homeless.
Matthew was dressed appropriately when he went out. When he saw the streets, he felt very unfamiliar even though he had lived there for a long time.
I skipped breakfast and went directly to the interview location.
Riding the subway and passing through the intricate tunnels, Matthew lowered his head and heard all kinds of sounds.
"You can't do that, my dear. I just made a French mistake. Please forgive me."
"I read a book yesterday called 'Who Moved My Cheese?' It really makes sense: Always smell your cheese so you know when it starts to go bad. People who don't adapt all the time are easily abandoned by society."
"This request from the employer is unreasonable. I will not lower my professional ethics for unreasonable demands, absolutely not!"
……
There were men and women, young and old, some begging, some excited, all kinds of voices, but Matthew let them go in one ear and out the other, not taking them to heart at all.
When he got off the subway and passed by a bookstore, a couple walking out happened to bump into him.
Kuala Lumpur - two books that the couple had just bought fell at his feet: "Les Miserables" and "Who Moved My Cheese?"
The man apologized and the woman picked up the book.
"It doesn't matter, you two are very affectionate, maybe I will find my lover soon." Matthew said. French humor? Probably to express that he can get lucky with love.
He must have read Les Miserables, as almost every French person has. But Matthew just glanced over the other book and didn't pay any attention to it.
I didn't stay there for long because I couldn't be late for the interview.
Matthew turned and left. The couple behind him were discussing, "Who Moved My Cheese? It was a work that was recommended on the radio a few days ago. It's changed a lot..."
As the distance between Matthew and the couple increased, the sound must have gradually faded away.
The interview this morning was another failure.
Reason for failure - Matthew knew it very well, because his resume was a bit outdated and did not meet the interviewer's requirements.
On the way back home, he saw the new work of Gu Lu, a talented Chinese writer. It was a cafe, Matthew ordered coffee and a sandwich and was waiting for the food.
The lady across from me is reading this book. The cover is too eye-catching, with a yellow cheese pattern on it.
Overnight genius... Matthew seemed to have seen this article. If possible, he hoped to get the food himself without the waiter delivering it. This way, he could save tips with a clear conscience.
"It seems like people all over the world are reading this book?" Matthew had this thought in his mind.
After dinner, Matthew went to the bookstore to buy the book, which was above average in price. It didn't have much content, but the paper was good enough, and the book was in good condition.
"Send a book to Dibo?" What a strange subtitle.
The preface written by Dibo was even stranger. Matthew wondered, who is this Dibo Pumbam?
Starting to read the content, the content of this book can even be described in two sentences. It tells some truths through the comparison between two mice and two villains.
These principles are easy to understand, and after reading them, Matthew felt like he had drunk a bowl of chicken soup for the soul - they were completely useless.
Novels cannot change real life. Matthew felt that he had wasted a lot of money, but...
Come out of the cafe.
"Recruiting new painters?" Matthew saw a sign.
The largest art exhibition project in Europe seems to be recruiting potential but unknown painters.
Matthew had a great talent for painting when he was in school, and he even won the second place in the French Student Impressionist Painting Competition. He did not give up art even after he started working. The main reason was that he had days off, and the salary was good, so he could pursue his hobbies.
After a quick glance, Matthew left. His interview in the afternoon still failed.
Although his body was not tired, his mood was very tired. On the subway... Matthew suddenly had an illusion that he was a villain in the book.
Once you have a stable job, you will stop striving for progress and wait until the cheese is finished. It is not that easy to find the next piece of cheese.
“Go in new directions and you’ll find new cheese.”
“Only by discarding old ideas can we find new cheese.”
In Matthew’s mind, two sentences from the book were spinning in his head. He didn’t know why these two sentences left such a deep impression on him… In fact, he had heard them many times by accident.
Since he couldn't find any professional advertising design-related jobs for the time being, then... Matthew decided to take his paintings to have a look tomorrow.
No matter whether Matthew's experience today was accidental or someone deliberately arranged it, you don't need to pay attention to it. Because what you encounter on the Internet is no different from Matthew's day. They are all things that advertisers, self-media, and big data have instilled in you and want you to see.
Anyway, "Operation Rebuilding Hope" is halfway successful!
"Promoting his paintings will send a signal to painters and art critics that they can start taking action." Jimmy believes the time is ripe.
"Who Moved My Cheese? It's a very good piece of writing, easy to understand, and sometimes it can really give people the motivation to move forward." said a painting dealer.
It doesn't sound cool to call him an art dealer, but he is one of the largest art exhibition dealers in Paris and has discovered many potential painters.
"The best literary styles of mankind are: swear words, telegrams, and epitaphs. The allegorical "Who Moved My Cheese?" is concise, but still a little off." Jimmy commented, and added, "Oh, this is what the Romanian philosopher Cioran said."
Oh my old friend, how can anyone respond to your words like this? The exhibition dealer did not respond, but made a phone call.
(End of this chapter)