Chapter 415: People’s Reactions

Chapter 415: People’s Reactions

Chapter 415: People’s Reactions
There are too many heated discussions on the Internet, so I will mainly talk about the feedback from the smallest offline units. Discussions on Twitter and certain forums are only used as auxiliary supplements.

The Los Angeles Times is the third-largest newspaper in Hollywood by sales, with over 50 copies sold daily.

Those who used newspapers as tissues when they were young know it well - it hurts your butt. No, that's not important. What's important is that 500,000 copies were sold, but the number of viewers doubled.

On a small scale, newspapers are subscribed by families; on a large scale, newspapers are subscribed in public places such as companies, stations, airports, etc. As long as they are not borrowed in the toilet, a station newspaper can be circulated to at least seven or eight people, so the "smallest unit" covers men, women, young and old.

As young as a college student, as old as an executive in his sixties.

“Excuse me, do you have snow beer?”

"I'm sorry, but we don't have that brand. But we have Bud Light, Coors Light, and even Michelob Light, which are very popular and taste great."

"I still want Snow Beer."

"gentlemen?"

"Thank you. I'll have a Bud Light, then."

The above conversation is from a Walmart supermarket chain. The customer is a corporate adult in his thirties.

Light beer is a type of beer with relatively fewer hops. It is the favorite of Americans and less popular in China.

Walmart, other supermarket chains and convenience stores across the United States have seen many inquiries about unfamiliar beer.

To be precise, they started to appear sporadically at noon, and the number of people started to increase after get off work and at dinner time. The staff of some stores were questioned again and again, and their attitudes became distorted.

BeerAdvocate is a large regional beer online community in America that provides beer-related news, gossip, and comments from netizens.

It is similar to the domestic Jiuhuaer.com.

“Is Snow Beer really not a beer made up by the author? There is no rating on RATEBEER, and Shawshank Prison is fictional.”

"I searched on Google and it seems to be Huaxia beer. From the description, the prototype of Shawshank Prison is Thomaston Prison in Maine. Why would the prison guards in America buy Huaxia beer? The key is that it is not available in reality."

"If you search a little more, you will know that this writer is Chinese and that Mr. Holmes, which was released this year, is adapted from his work."

Wait, just as Gu Lu expected, things that appear in key plots only need to be mentioned once to be enough to impress readers!
There were quite a lot of people looking to buy Snow Beer. One of them was an American in his fifties, and he was very smart. He found a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown in the southern part of Manhattan.

"Sir, do you have any Snow Beer?"

What the hell? The shop owner suspected that he had misheard. Usually, foreigners who came in asked for General Tso's Chicken or Kung Pao Chicken.

The foreigner repeated, gesturing with his hands in the air, "Snow Beer, that should be your Chinese beer, right?"

“Yes, but we drank it ourselves.”

"I'll add money!"

"Sir, that's not what I meant. We are not rich."

“I’m offering a 50% premium.”

"How many cans do you want?"

……

Snow Beer is the second best-selling beer brand in the world. It sounds like it should be sold all over the world like Budweiser. But in fact, it is hard to buy outside China, because Snow Beer has never been sold overseas! The second place in sales is purely due to the fact that its own friends drink it.

Because it is basically not available overseas, the price is really a bit expensive. If you want to purchase it on behalf of someone else, a box of 24 bottles of Snow in the United States costs about US$52.

With a 50% premium, Chinese restaurants made a lot of money! Many Americans who bought Snow Beer through Snake Road and Rat Road were drinking Chinese beer for the first time.

The moment the wine enters the throat, most people frown.

The reaction of a foreigner who is used to drinking light beer is very real, but when the cool breeze blows at night, he looks at the snowflakes in his hands, and thinks about the works he saw in the newspaper during the day, he feels that he can get it just by scratching.

"You know, some birds are not destined to be kept in cages. Every feather of theirs shines with the glory of freedom..." When he was excited, he recited the most impressive lines in the book.

Some readers who live in single-family houses in the suburbs also want to climb onto the roof with wine, although not many people actually do it.

For the sunshine on my shoulders, I feel like a free man...

Shawshank Prison looks like a prison, but in fact, any reader who has read the novel today can understand that Shawshank Prison is written as prison and read as "system".

Even though most Americans only work 35 hours a week and have two days off a week, they still feel they lack freedom.

In comparison, the weekly working hours of the five major gangsters are China (48.9 hours), Russia (39.5 hours), Britain (36 hours), and France (28 hours). We are far ahead!
Back to the point, even in France, where the average working hours are the shortest, people are still not satisfied and hold demonstrations every now and then. People’s pursuit of a better life is never satisfied.

As mentioned before, "The Shawshank Redemption" hits the American psyche.

There are so many smallest units affected, some of which called newspapers to inquire about the writers' information, which is a common behavior in Europe and the United States.

Yao Xiaoju called and sent a message to Gu Lu, and it was the good news from the Los Angeles Times.

Long story short——

“The Shawshank Redemption is the best work published in newspapers and magazines recently, and it also has the best reader feedback.”

"In addition, Anheuser-Busch InBev wants to negotiate whether it is willing to replace Snow Beer with Budweiser when compiling and publishing."

"If Mr. Gu Lu wants to publish articles in the United States for a long time, our Times is willing to pay better serialized manuscript fees and sign a columnist contract."

Agents cannot make decisions for writers, because creation is a very personal thing. Yao Xiaoju will only arrange for Gu Lu's works to be created, and future creations...are "loans" and cannot force writers, even if he realizes that now is a good time to enter the United States.

Yao Xiaoju stabilized the Los Angeles Times, and whether to enter the world's largest market so quickly needed to discuss with Gu Lu.

London, company meeting room.

When the call was connected, Yao Xiaoju was presiding over a meeting. The overseas hair company was expanding and was currently dividing the work, and he returned from the corridor.

"The promotion plan for the Cthulhu series in the UK has been temporarily shelved. Now we will discuss The Shawshank Redemption serialized in the Los Angeles Times," said Yao Xiaoju.

Yao Xiaoju then shared the news he had just searched, saying that Shawshank's popularity in America is far more exaggerated than Cthulhu's new work in Britain.

The simplest example is the private impact on readers. The numerous descriptions above are enough to show the gap.

The data projected was so good that it was unbelievable to all the staff present. It would be impossible to have such a good situation without publicity and commitment of staff.

"Brother Yao, you know me well. Although you asked me to explore the American market, I don't have the ability to do so..."

"Brother Yao, you know me well. If this were a promotion by me, I would be able to show off and ride on your head."

"Brother Yao, you know me well. I am the most obedient person in the company. You ask me to kick a dog's ass, but I won't kick a cat. I won't do anything you don't arrange for me to do."

The talented people spoke one after another.

"Okay," Yao Xiaoju knocked on the table, "I know the company is full of talented people. "I just talked to the deputy editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. The work is so good that even the newspaper itself didn't invest any special resources in the early stage. "

The look on Yao Xiaoju’s and everyone else’s faces was probably, “I knew the work was good, but I didn’t expect it to take off!”

The most important thing at the moment is to maintain the popularity, and to put it more bluntly, how to convert the traffic into money.

The theme of the meeting has changed slightly. It was originally about overseas market development of the Asian branch, but now America has been added.

The meeting lasted three hours, brainstorming. Lunch and lunch break were skipped. The body was exhausted, but the spirit was excited, because the company's key asset "Gu Lu" has achieved great success, the company's prospects are visible to the naked eye, and the employees can also feel the money.

"Little Brother Gu, please answer the phone!"

After the meeting, Yao Xiaoju called Gu Lu every ten minutes, but no one answered. With such good news, he was able to calmly organize the three-hour meeting and walk back to his office. He was quite calm.

"only……"

After knowing each other for so many years, Gu Lu has always been reliable. What about today? Yao Xiaoju had a bad guess in his heart.

Could it be that the phone was stolen?

"No, I can't think like that. I have to think positively. What if I was hit by a car, or I got sick?" Yao Xiaoju thought.

Fortunately, Gu Lu finally returned the call, preventing Yao Xiaoju’s thoughts from continuing to wander.

Gu Lu said on the other end of the phone, "Brother Yao, I'm sorry, the teacher had a last-minute arrangement and forgot to turn my phone to silent mode."

To be honest, Gu Lu was called over when he was halfway through eating the spicy hot pot.

"I'm glad you're okay." Yao Xiaoju stopped walking back and forth in the office to count his steps and sat back in his chair. The backrest was a little elastic, and he pressed back and forth.

"Very good, no problem." Gu Lu asked straight to the point, "Brother Yao made so many calls, is there something urgent?"

Yao Xiaoju summarized the achievements of "The Shawshank Redemption" in the United States, and concluded by saying, "Brother Gu, do you have any other short stories suitable for serialization in America? This is a rare opportunity." Yes, there are, even long stories.

The novel is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas from the Arsenal, and the short stories are the other three from Stephen King's Tales of the Four Seasons.

But long articles are good for writing about Jews.

The latter's short story collection has three stories left, and the only one that can be compared with Shawshank is "Summer's Destruction: Nacui's Pursuit of the Murderer". After all, I just got my tone right, so I can't let it down.

But Xia Ri's decadence revealed a temperament of sympathy for the Jews... Gu Lu saw clearly the anti-human behavior of this nation on Earth.

Therefore, I won’t write it down.

Even though it's a waste, Gu Lu said, "I'm recently thinking about a novel with the background of World War I. If it succeeds, it will be suitable for sale in America."

I'm being modest, but "The Fall of Giants" is a bestseller in Europe and the United States.

I see, that means there is no suitable one at the moment. Yao Xiaoju sighed slightly, it's a pity. "Concept" and "if" mean it's too early to finish the book, and he won't be able to benefit much from this wave of traffic.

Unfortunately, it didn't show on the phone. A qualified agent won't put pressure on writers.

"Then I'll wait for Brother Gu's masterpiece." Yao Xiaoju said, "Is the inspiration for this work from the diplomatic mission?"

"What?" Gu Lu didn't quite understand.

"I remember that Xiao Gu also wrote short stories about Norway, France, Spain and other countries. They were official articles." Yao Xiaoju said, "According to your habit, Xiao Gu, you must have looked up a lot of information. The inspiration for the book about the background of World War I should have something to do with this."

"That's right, Brother Yao's reasoning and logical ability are really strong." Gu Lu felt that the other party understood creation better than he did.

"Then I won't bother you anymore..." Yao Xiaoju was about to hang up the phone.

"Wait, it seems I have two articles suitable for sale." When the other party was about to hang up the phone, Gu Lu found a sharp weapon from his arsenal - the novel version of "Black Mirror".

Although the Black Mirror series is a British drama, it is also very popular in the United States. It has won the Emmy Award (the highest award for American TV dramas) for two consecutive years, proving that it has great potential.

"Hmm? Brother Gu, you don't have to force yourself." Yao Xiaoju responded.

"Not at all. I'll revise it today or tomorrow and send it to you," said Gu Lu.

It was also Brother Gu’s good intention, so Yao Xiaoju agreed.

After finishing the serious business and hanging up the phone, Yao Xiaoju felt a little bit guilty about himself.

The words were still not tactful enough, Yao Xiaoju thought, "It still puts pressure on Brother Gu."

He stopped pressing and releasing the force of his back on the backrest and looked at his phone.

There have been comments by American literary critics praising and criticizing The Shawshank Redemption. To be honest, the criticism is a bit tricky, saying that the protagonist Eddie was wronged and that foreign writers were smearing the American judicial system.

“Does the American judicial system still need to be smeared and attacked?” Yao Xiaoju changed the subject, “But the fact that it is controversial also means that the influence of the work has gone beyond the newspaper. In other words, it has gone viral!”

"From the perspective of cultural output, The Shawshank Redemption + Colours of a Star, even if multiplied by three, cannot compare." Yao Xiaoju has been in the publishing industry for so many years that he can clearly distinguish between what is real fire and what is false fire.

Americans are influenced to buy Snow Beer one by one. The popularity of Shawshank is too real.

"Will this article help the Snow Beer brand to go global?" Yao Xiaoju suddenly thought of the news from the deputy editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times that Budweiser was willing to pay a fee to change the beer that appeared in the article.

The money of big brands doesn't come for free, which proves that Budweiser does feel threatened.

"Who would believe it if it wasn't experienced personally? A short story of 20,000 to 30,000 words can actually have such an effect." Yao Xiaoju has seen a lot of things in the world, but he has never seen a scene like this before.

The output of Call of Cthulhu shows that words can really achieve a strong power. For example, if you were in Ireland when you finished Dubliners, you would definitely want to wander the streets on a snowy night.

After reading Haruki Murakami's works, some people even eat according to the recipes in the book, such as cucumber, ham and cheese sandwiches, Strasbourg sausages stewed with tomato puree, etc. Everyone who has eaten them says they are unpalatable.

As for domestic examples, there are even more. After watching the early works of Jia Qianqian's father, I would especially want to go to Shaanxi Province, listen to what the famous Qinqiang actor Bai Xue sings, and see the small mountain village that produces porcelain in "Ancient Furnace". Even though Pingao is much less well-known than his daughter Qianqian, his early works are still quite good. The Shaanxi Province described does not make people feel fascinated, but a kind of... worry that it will disappear if I don't watch it again.

Perhaps some people have discovered that, in any case, Snow Beer has nothing to do with culture, because the cultural elements exported by The Shawshank Redemption are something else.

Inside the University of Michigan.

Question: What is the difference between American University and domestic universities?
"Hey, Bruce Zhang, look, I want to be LaoTze today." Dom held "Tao Te Ching" in his hand and found the only Chinese student he had a good relationship with.

"You——" Xiao Zhang didn't know how to respond.

"Don't you understand what this means?" Dom looked at the other person with a strange expression and felt bored.

Bruce's English name is obviously an imitation of a deceased Chinese Kung Fu star. Xiao Zhang was speechless, he just couldn't get American humor.

"I want to be your LaoTze," a strange male voice interrupted the two of them.

The two of them confirmed that they were the right person.

"Hahaha, man, I didn't expect you to see it too."

"I saw this yesterday when I was standing in the office of the director of the Life Committee as punishment. My God, I felt like I was Eddie and Shawshank was the University of Michigan."

"Do you like the character of Cullen?"

"I don't like him. I think he's a psychopath. Who in their right mind would like the character of Cullen? Do you like him?"

"Of course I don't like it!"

“But I want to be Lao Tze today.”

Hehe, the two looked at each other and smiled again.

Snow Beer is just a by-product, which Gu Lu filled in casually. It can be said to be a promotion or an experiment. The real export of Chinese elements is the Tao Te Ching!
The protagonist Eddie insisted on writing to the state legislature, requesting funding for the prison library to buy more books. Among the new books was the English version of Tao Te Ching. Then a prisoner named Kulun knew a little about Chinese culture (but not much), and knew that Lao Tze, a Chinese philosopher, means father in the context of Chinese. So he said to the jailer and a group of inmates, "I want to be Lao Tze today." The implication: I want to be a father today. It's a take-away statement.

Cullen only plays a very short role and is only a supporting character, but he leaves a deep impression on readers.

He bullied Eddie who had just been imprisoned, and took advantage of him verbally in Chinese. The jailer didn't understand Chinese, but he had worked in prison for so many years and understood human nature... No American readers like Cullen, but his quotations were really interesting.

Bruce Zhang had no idea what the two were whispering about.

"Oh Bruce, don't you support the work published by your compatriots?" Dom asked.

"It's quite interesting. A writer who can write such a wonderful work must be more interesting than ordinary people." The classmate who started the conversation also agreed.

The work of my compatriots? My God, what are you keeping secret? If you don't explain it clearly, I really want to kick you in the ass with my pointed leather shoes. Bruce Zhang's mind was full of translation, and he looked down at his sneakers.

Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered that the experts from the think tank have been concentrating on writing a report based on the example of the Tai Chi Yin-Yang diagram being promoted in the UK in recent days.

The report probably hasn't been finished yet, and Gu Lu has come up with this again. I wonder how the experts will react...

There is an old saying that goes, gold will always shine.

The next sentence is that the clown will always be exposed.

The clown exposed today is definitely Ponape, the editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune, and the shining gold is Gu Lu, or to be more precise, the writer who wrote "The Shawshank Redemption".

"Mr. Euler, are you so optimistic about Chinese writers?" Bonape was not too angry. The winner is king and the loser is a bandit. The outcome is already determined. It is somewhat undignified to be angry.

The Forum Group has announced a personnel transfer, with the editor-in-chief of the Forum, Ponape Udo, being transferred to Antenna TV as the editor-in-chief of the news department due to his "outstanding work ability and keen understanding of the news media trends." The appointment will take effect next week and the company is currently in the process of handing over his position.

"No," Ola responded, "It's not that I'm confident, but I can do it."

Ponapei understood that even if he failed, he would at most lose a little reputation in the editorial department. Then this deputy editor-in-chief was really simple and single-minded in targeting his immediate superior.

Needless to say, the headquarters must have put in a lot of effort to use this minor conflict to pry him away from the editor-in-chief position.

"Mr. Ola, let me give you a piece of advice," Ponape said, "Competition that harms the interests of the company will not have any real winners..."

"Mr. Ponape, only those who stay can give advice. Those who stay are the winners, and being transferred means being driven away." Ola interrupted, his eyes revealing arrogance.

This is true for the Tribune Group. The Chicago Tribune is not the most profitable, but it is the core of the brand. Even though they are all editors-in-chief, those who leave are indeed losers.

The relationship was torn apart without any face left, and Bonapé was not in a good mood either.

"Just wait and see." Ponape snorted and left.

Looking at the other person's embarrassed back, Ola was unmoved. He had done this kind of thing more than once or twice. Did he flip over?

Pohnpei, who was leaving, bought yesterday's Los Angeles Times, wanting to read the articles he hadn't been able to read last week.

(End of this chapter)