Chapter 483 Secret Base

Chapter 483 Secret Base

Chapter 483 Secret Base
[Gu Lu's agent said: The writer doesn't think highly of the American market. So his works will not appear in the American market.]
This is CNN, which quoted Yao Xiaoju's words out of context. It is said that Britain and the United States are inseparable, and the two are like father and son. Traditional arts are the same.

Washington Post: [Arrogant Chinese talent learned a lesson in New York. Serial works such as "White Bear", "Snap Down", "Dance of Blackmail" and "The Whole Story of Your Life" received mediocre response. The Los Angeles Times had no choice but to close the novel serial section.]
Yahoo News: [A Johns Hopkins University professor said frankly: "A Man Called Ove Decides to Die" is like KFC's plain burgers, which can only be used to fill hunger. If there is a better choice, even a salad, I don't think anyone would be willing to consume it.]
Wait, the American media found every angle to belittle Gu Lu, just like diners picking up their knives and forks, staring at the meal on the table with red eyes, waiting to share.

Some media also reposted the rumors about Gu Lu published by The Sun a few years ago. Anyway, the campaign to "attack Gu Lu" is not about falling behind.

In the parallel world of 2020, the Sino-US reconciliation has not yet begun. American netizens do not have information cocoons, but most of the news is still spread through print media.

Let me explain a little here. For example, the Washington Post is a print media, but its website is also very famous. Therefore, even if traditional media comes to an end in the Internet era, the overall right to public opinion is actually still in the hands of print media and television stations.

Therefore, Gu Lu was resisted by many American netizens, and the news that his new work was selling well in other countries could not be spread.

Yao Xiaoju was still in America. When he saw this, he thought, "I wonder if Brother Gu has any other works similar to the Weymouth series, so that America can learn more about them."

The isolation effect was not good, and it actually lost the popularity accumulated by The Shawshank Redemption and the short story series.

So I thought of another way.

"No, I don't care about discrimination. I just wrote about it, and there are many people who just want to watch the fun. But if this kind of article is published in America today..."

It feels like there will be a real uproar, because America is serious about this.

After picking up his phone and fiddling with it for a while, he booked a flight to Daying. Judging from the current situation, there was no point for Yao Xiaoju to stay here any longer.

The conflicted Yao Xiaoju actually didn't know that Gu Lu would never think that one book could make American readers stand on his side.

Instead, it is one wonderful work after another.

For example, next year's Lord of the Rings...

While Yao Xiaoju is not going to the airport yet, let me tell you something about what happened in New York.

"Mr. Morden Hughes, the Chinese writer Gu Lu was hailed as Little Morden by the Chicago Tribune. What do you think about this?" A TV station conducted an interview.

Morden, who is in his thirties, earns tens of millions of dollars a year from writing and is definitely a successful person.

Having said that, no matter how successful one is, one certainly wants to make progress. Taking advantage of the popularity of "sharing Gu Lu", Morden also specially invited reporters to interview him.

He won't miss a good opportunity.

"I'm sorry, I've only read Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Who Moved My Cheese?" Morden said. "From these two works, Mr. Gu Lu's writing skills are still very good, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in plot portrayal and the beginning, development, and ending. When I was as young as he was, I couldn't do better."

"Mr. Morden, do you think he can become a writer like you in the future?" The reporter was paid, and the questions he asked were definitely what Morden himself wanted to hear.

"If he keeps moving forward, you know, God will tell us the right direction. If he continues like this for a few more years, he may be able to write works that will satisfy American readers," said Morden.

This statement seemed to be an encouragement to the younger generation, but in reality? It was saying that Gu Lu still needed to work hard for several more years to reach his position.

So what benefits can he get by doing this?
When Morden is expected to release a new book next year, let alone in North America, he has a well-known name. When it is released abroad, "Gu Lu knows that he is known as the little Morden. Do you know the value of Morden's works?"

After all, Morden recognized the influence of this Chinese writer in Europe and Asia. So, he published it directly on the Legal News, and the sales volume exploded!
For example, the sales of "A Man Called Ove Decides to Die" in Europe exceeded 800,000 copies in the first week. Judging from the current trend, it will easily exceed one million in a single month.

Compared to America, the scene in China is completely different. Platforms from all over the world are celebrating the good sales of Gu Lu's new book.

Southern Metropolis Daily: It's a blast! Gu Lu is indeed the real deal. The export of Chinese culture is amazing.

Financial Magazine: A Man Called Ove Decides to Die topped the charts in many countries, marking the sixty years in which Chinese literature has been invisible.

Youth Daily: With sales exceeding 300 million copies (in the first week), Ovi has become popular overseas. The Finnish Foreign Minister called out to Gu Lu after reading the book.

Renren Daily: How many Finnish elements appear in “A Man Called Ove Decides to Die”, and why did Gu Lu create it in this way?
The situation is very good.

If something is too good, problems will easily arise. Fortunately, the problem was not with Gu Lu, but with the person in charge of the sales department of the New Youth Publishing House.

"Manager Xiao, you..."

His complexion is too bad. President Wang looked at the ground. He looked as if he had been glued 17 times in one night. He looked very weak.

This made him very worried. It didn't matter if something happened to someone, but who would be in charge of the project?

"President Wang, please find someone to assist me." Manager Xiao said.

The headquarters has set up a special team to be responsible for the sales of Ovi. Originally, President Wang was worried that the situation was too complicated, so he divided it into two teams, north and south, for management.

But Manager Xiao thought that he had no problem managing the entire sales department, so what could go wrong if he personally led the team for a book?
Who would have thought that Ove could be so violent.

"The previous book, The Borrower, also had high sales, but it is still a fairy tale novel, and it is written for children, not adults," said President Wang. "So the sales volume is limited, and the limitation is huge."

Limitations - Manager Xiao is also a capable person, but he was too excited at first. He only reacted after the situation was pointed out.

Take the most common example, after reading The Borrower, how many people, whether pretenders or true readers, would share it on their Moments? Most would not.

When I share fairy tales that kids read, there’s always a sense of lack of class.

Ove would not be like that.

Immediately afterwards, President Wang arranged the backbone members of the publishing house to fight this battle well.

After talking about adding helpers, Manager Xiao had another thing to do.

"We can organize an event on Amazon," Manager Xiao said. "For the New Youth series of books, Amazon guarantees that the event will have A-level promotion."

"So what is the price?" asked President Wang.

"I hope there will be another 100 autographed copies," said Manager Xiao, "or an online interview with Mr. Gu Lu."

President Wang rubbed his eyes. The publishing house had a total of 1,000 signed copies of the book, which was what Gu Lu had asked for before. The number of 1,000 copies also indirectly reflected people's expectations for the sales of this book.

After all, the number of personal signatures prepared in advance (excluding book signings) should be one thousandth of the estimated sales.

"We don't have many in-person signatures left," said President Wang. "Xiao Gu has a task to do - forget it. Amazon is no match for Dangdang in China."

I decided to use my superior forces to do something else.

"If you are not too busy, you can go to the seminar in Chengdu," said President Wang.

Generally speaking, it takes a certain amount of time to organize an official seminar on a book or a writer. But Ovi is different. He has a diplomatic unit to endorse him and the Chinese government to promote him, so he must follow up immediately.

Manager Xiao pointed at himself and thought, "I'm so busy that I need to hire more people, and you still want me to go on a business trip? How inhumane!"

"I'm going to attend the discussion of outstanding works held by Zhong Yang this afternoon. Ovi is the latest outstanding work, and I haven't finished writing the manuscript yet." President Wang said in a very calm voice, "Tomorrow there is an event organized by Modou, which is also related to Ovi. I haven't started writing the speech yet."

"It's not over yet. The day after tomorrow morning, the Communist Youth League of Heilongjiang Province will hold a celebration meeting to warmly congratulate the outstanding talent trained by our Communist Youth League of Heilongjiang Province, Teacher Xiao Gu, whose works have been recognized by many countries." President Wang said, "I won't talk about the activities in the future. In short, these invitations were too sudden, and I didn't even write them down. One after another."

Finally, he added, “Oh, as for Vice President Lian, he will guide and participate in the entire [publishing house conference].”

"..." Suddenly, I realized that there seemed to be no one else except him. Manager Xiao could understand that he was busy holding a meeting. If he didn't express his opinion while the atmosphere was at its peak, it would be the same as not holding the meeting.

But how can the Communist Youth League of Heilongjiang Province be so shameless? Saying that Gu Lu was trained by us? Will Wudu and Sijiucheng agree?
President Wang and Manager Xiao both adhere to the principle of not bothering Gu Lu no matter how hard or tiring the work is. In their opinion, writers do not need to be busy with various diplomatic matters.

Not absolutely.

Actually it is not.

Gu Lu is in a relationship, waiting in the small flower bed outside the development zone, where the vegetation is more concentrated.

"Are you so tired every day?" Gu Lu looked at the busy girl with super strength and hurriedly took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe the sweat off his face.

Carry tissues with you, this habit is formed from the environment when I was young. There are many public toilets without tissues in Fog City, and if I suddenly want to go to the toilet, I have to... Of course, it is much better now. Last year, when I returned to Fog City on Little Prince Day, although there were still many toilets without tissues, there were toilets for sale.

Zhou Lin tilted his head back and responded, "I'm only tired temporarily. Once I'm on the right track, I won't have to do it so much myself."

This sounded familiar. It seemed that before, the company would not be so busy after it opened... There was no trash can nearby, so Gu Lu temporarily put the trash in his pocket.

"You've waited too long," Zhou Lin said, "I promise to come out earlier next time."

It's okay to wait, but I feel like the effort and reward are not proportional.

"What secret base are you planning to take me to?" Zhou Lin blinked, trying to get away with it, and then quickly threw out the question.

"A place you would never expect," Gu Lu said, "Would you like to guess?"

"You're so confident, it must be hard to guess - whether you bought an ice rink."

“Why should I buy an ice rink?”

"Because didn't you like figure skating, badminton and basketball before? The ice rink is more expensive than the other two venues, so I must guess the more expensive one."

Hearing his girlfriend's response, Gu Lu paused. Because of his hobby of sports, he couldn't stick to it for long, and he even forgot about it.

"No, no, keep guessing." Gu Lu said.

Being in love means two people doing boring things together and never getting tired of it.

Zhou Lin thought of many outrageous situations, even guessing that he bought a courtyard house.

I didn't guess it, but while the two were talking, the car had already driven towards the courtyard.

As the car got closer to the destination, Zhou Lin's guesses became more and more outrageous...

After getting off the car, Zhou Lin looked around and asked, "Are we there yet?"

"Yes, this is it." Gu Lu said, "It's the yard in front, follow me."

Isn't this Exhibition Road? Zhou Lin thought. He walked through the alley. When he saw Gu Lu opening a door, Zhou Lin thought that he didn't buy a courtyard house, but a small yard.

Is this courtyard a protected building that cannot be demolished? The bamboo forest in the garden cannot be contained, and it is particularly obvious among the buildings.

Before Zhou Lin could open her mouth, her attention was drawn to the black and white objects in the yard. The objects made a DuangDuang sound, and their short legs looked like rolling sesame-filled dumplings as they walked.

ha?
Rubbed his eyes.

“Panda?” Zhou Lin’s mouth was big enough to swallow an apple. “Gulu, you secretly raised a panda?!”

"What are you talking about? I'm an external panda researcher." Gu Lu said, "This is the panda pilot base. There are so many staff members here."

All the staff around him called him "Teacher Gu" respectfully.

Zhou Lin then noticed that there were about four people in the courtyard, three security guards and a breeder wearing a mask, gloves and protective clothing. Well, actually they were quite conspicuous, mainly because they and the flowers were too eye-catching.

"Guxi, is Huahua in good spirits today?" Gu Lu asked.

Xiaoxi, the assistant researcher, quickly responded, "Very good, very lively, but I don't know why I really want to climb a tree today. I tried more than a dozen times, but failed every time."

"Can't pandas climb trees?" Zhou Lin asked.

"Oh, that's right." Xiaoxi replied, "Huahua's hind legs were born with turned outward, so he can't climb trees. When he grows up and becomes stronger, he will probably be able to climb up a few times."

"oh oh."

Zhou Lin nodded, but her eyes were glued to Huahua. Huahua seemed to have secretly drunk "orange juice", and her white hair was shining. What a beautiful scene under the sunset. The girl with super powers had seen a lot, but she had never seen this before...

After a month or two, Gu Lu also understood why Huahua's running movements were so strange and slow, which made her look cuter, but in fact it was due to a congenital problem.

There is no doubt that with Huahua's fighting ability, it would never be able to survive in the wild.

"Do you have extra work clothes?" Gu Lu asked.

"Of course," Gu Xi quickly took out two sets of clothing. To get closer, or even touch it, you need to disinfect and wear work clothes.

When getting dressed, Zhou Lin became extremely impatient.

"Look at you, you're so naive. Why are you so anxious? Huahua is there and she won't leave." Gu Lu liked to see the other person's innocence.

"Yes, yes, yes—" Zhou Lin did not argue and put on his clothes as quickly as possible.

Zhou Lin took the food, wanting to use delicious food to ease Huahua's fear.

Gu Lu came here often, and the little fellow was already familiar with him. When he saw him, he would happily run over and hug his thighs, rubbing his little head against his legs, and then barking in the direction of the tree stump, as if to complain that the tree would not let him climb up.

It was the first time that Zhou Lin heard the panda's cry so clearly. He felt very novel. The cry was "Hmm~".

"Pandas usually make a variety of calls. When they are angry or aggressive, they make a woof, which is similar to a dog. The sharper yoyo is when they are in heat." Xiaoxi came over to explain, "Now the humming sound is Huahua wanting to play with Teacher Gu."

Guxi also wants to make progress. As the first outsider brought to the courtyard by Researcher Gu Lu, and a woman, the relationship must be special, and she must be a good guide.

Gu Lu rubbed Hua Hua and said, "Okay, okay, we won't play with it and we won't climb trees next time."

While speaking, Huahua stretched out her neck. Although it looked like she had no neck, she looked like she wanted to be hugged.

So far, Gu Lu was still able to hold her up. He held her up and said, "Do you want to lose weight? You eat too much."

Zhou Lin was looking forward to it eagerly. Ask yourself, who doesn’t want to hug Tuanzi?
"Come, let's hold Huahua together." Gu Lu walked towards Zhou Lin holding Huahua, and the latter also held her.

Huahua twisted her butt, then buried her head in Gu Lu's arms, leaving only her butt to Zhou Lin, but the latter was also very happy.

The two of them hugged the panda. Gu Lu naturally grabbed Zhou Lin's hand, then stretched out one hand and clasped his fingers with hers.

It looks like a family of three.

Good, good, really good, there is still dog food on the last shift. Guxi quickly ran into the house, took out the camera, and took a picture of this scene...

"Is this how the big guys fall in love? Being the big guy's girlfriend, I can pet pandas openly." Guxi thought to himself.

Apart from Gu Lu, how many people would do this!
The first date at the "secret base" ended successfully, and Gu Lu took a taxi to send Zhou Lin home.

"There's still one month left, and I'll be able to drive you back in another month." Gu Lu said.

"Then I have to work harder," said Zhou Lin.

"What?" Gu Lu didn't hear clearly.

"Hahaha, nothing." Zhou Lin went home.

Gu Lu stood below, thinking, work harder? Could it be that he also had to work hard, otherwise he would not be worthy of it?

That shouldn’t be the case, because Zhou Lin’s personality is basically not one that allows for internal friction. If she thinks this way, she is not a girl with super strength.

But...what if? Because I care about something, I tend to think about it a lot.

Taking the bus home, I put this point aside for the time being. When I came to the study and turned on the computer, Gu Lu received many emails, all of which were tasks that needed to be completed.

The media attention paid to each country’s sales is different. For example, in Norway, which is also in Northern Europe, after Ove’s sales topped the country’s book sales charts in one week, the media in that country asked, “Why can’t Ove be Norwegian?”

Gu Lu was about to respond, and some media outlets urged him to update: "Will you continue writing the Cthulhu series?"

In other words, your new book is selling so well, so you should continue writing for the sake of money, regardless of the questions raised by readers (the media).

It was around four o'clock when they were busy. Gu Lu went to bed. Wait - he sent a message to the girl with super strength: [Just finished my work, and I can finally go to bed.]
This way, if he couldn't contact the other party tomorrow morning, the other party wouldn't be anxious. Gu Lu didn't set the alarm and slept until one o'clock in the afternoon.

What are the benefits of getting up early? Getting up early will only make you dizzy for a short while, but getting up late will make you dizzy for the whole day.

Just like Gu Lu now.

When I opened my phone, Zhou Lin sent me a question at 8 a.m. I had been busy for the whole morning, plus I had lunch.

Also go out.

"Is this Finland's unique gift?" Gu Lu picked up an international mail at school.

When I arrived at Peking University and saw people coming and going on campus, I suddenly felt a little sad. He will graduate this year.

"I didn't sleep well, and it really affected my mood. I felt depressed for no apparent reason." Gu Lu rubbed his eyes and took the box home.

There are quite a lot of things in it. How satisfied is Finland with Ove? One of the emails in it can be seen that it is a handwritten Chinese letter from the Finnish Foreign Minister.

It would be strange for someone who writes letters normally to write Chinese characters, but fortunately Gu Lu could still recognize it.

[Thank you Mr. Gu Lu.

Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world for the sixth consecutive year in the World Happiness Report.

The happiest thing in the world is not because of the clean, tidy and beautiful environment, but because of the people.

Finns make up the happiest country. Ove is like a microcosm of ordinary Finns, cold and unexpressive in diplomacy, but full of tenderness and love in his heart.

……

Thanks again to Mr. Gu Lu, we have designated August 8 as Ove Day. This is a holiday for every working person in Finland.

— Petri Pula, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland]

The grammar was a bit strange, probably because it was translated by a computer, but Gu Lu roughly understood what it meant.

"Very good." Gu Lu still remembered that the original book was about the Swedes, but what did that matter? On Blue Star, it was the Finns.

You see, the international influence of a literary giant is accumulated slowly in this way. A literary giant is completely different from a best-selling author. The latter only needs to sell a lot of books. Think about how many copies of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series have been sold!

But because of political correctness, Rowling was even expelled from the magical world she created.

When it comes to influence on the country, no best-selling author can match the literary giant.

Using the same example, the French and Finnish officials in this world may criticize and boycott Harry Potter, but it is almost impossible to boycott Gu Lu.

"The gift is precious but the sentiment is profound." Gu Lu opened it and thought about it, revealing such a reaction.

There are three souvenirs in the box: Iittala tableware, two large jars of cod caviar, and Arctic fox fur.

This gift is very sincere. First of all, Finnish fur is world-famous and is often attacked by animal protection organizations. Arctic fox fur is the most precious and is not even allowed to be sold at present.

As for the other two, one is a delicious specialty, and the other is a national treasure-level brand of tableware.

Don’t worry about whether Iittala’s national treasure status is self-promotion or not. At least the fact that Finland used it as a gift is a sign of recognition.

"Although caviar has a fishy smell, it is better than cheese." Gu Lu commented. As for the tableware, put it aside for now and replace it when the ones on hand are worn out.

"Has the takeaway finally arrived?" Gu Lu picked up the phone and was disappointed when he saw the caller.

"Brother Guo, what's the matter?" Gu Lu just opened his mouth when he was drowned out by the noisy voice from the other side.

"Teacher Gu, you are awesome. Really awesome!"

(End of this chapter)