Chapter 360

Min Fude completed his task excellently; after hearing Wei Ming's translation, everyone felt this remark was deeply philosophical, so Wei Ming added several more passages: "In silence, one either explodes or perishes." "Tragedy is to show people the destruction of what is valuable in life." "In truth, there were no paths on the earth originally; but when many people walk, paths are made." "The brave, in anger, draw their blades against the stronger; the coward, in anger, draws his blade against the weaker."

He and Min Fude played off each other perfectly.

But unexpectedly, besides Min Fude, a professional shill, there were also spontaneous shills.

A white man, seemingly the same age as Min Fude, walked forward from the crowd and, with visible excitement, said in German: "He's right—Lu Xun is the greatest writer of modern China; we should know his works. But I think your translation of one phrase needs refinement…"

Seeing Wei Ming didn't understand, he repeated it in English and began debating with Wei Ming.

At this moment, Wei Lingling appeared and said to the puzzled Wei Anping: "He's Professor Wolfgang Gu Bin from the Free University of Berlin."

Wei Anping knew the Free University of Berlin was in East Germany; he asked: "You didn't arrange this shill, did you?"

Wei Lingling: "I don't know him well. He's purely driven by his love for Lu Xun. But I did consider asking him to translate your nephew's works."

Wei Ming didn't know Gu Bin either; this future giant of European Sinology was still young. Though he looked down on contemporary Chinese literature represented by Mo Yan and Yu Hua, he deeply revered Lu Xun.

He had translated some of Lu Xun's essays into German and led the compilation of the 1990s German-language Complete Works of Lu Xun; hearing someone discuss Lu Xun, he couldn't help but jump in.

Then Wei Hong brought another chair, and Wei Ming and Professor Gu Bin began discussing Lu Xun's literature in English.

Both were experts in Lu Xun studies; their passionate discourse moved the audience, who became even more convinced that Lu Xun was the undisputed titan of Chinese literature.

Several German publishers were tempted, but Wei Lingling remained unmoved—she had already used nearly all her available permissions on Wei Ming.

Moreover, the Complete Works of Lu Xun spanned sixteen volumes, plus countless letters; the translation difficulty was immense, likely impossible to complete within years or even decades. A selective translation of his classic works was far more practical.

Later, Gu Bin spotted a German publisher he knew, whispered two words in his ear, and the man immediately decided to sign a contract with the Chinese side.

Wei Ming was puzzled and asked what Gu Bin had said.

Gu Bin smiled: "I told him Mr. Lu Xun died in 1936."

This was highly attractive to publishers, because it meant no royalties would be owed to the author or his family after 1986—copyright law protected works only for the author's lifetime plus fifty years, after which they could be freely published.

But the U. . had recently extended it to seventy years after death.

That meant five more years of royalties—five years were far too short to complete the German translation of the Complete Works of Lu Xun, so the publisher would effectively save a huge sum in future costs.

And by successfully persuading them, Gu Bin likely secured himself a long-term income stream—his translator royalties would continue until fifty years after his death.

Some Chinese representatives near the bookshelves also realized this issue and thought Xiao Wei had made a mistake: the Complete Works of Lu Xun offered little profit.

But Wei Ming believed that getting Lu Xun's works to the world was achievement enough, and since he was familiar with them, he would lead with Lu Xun's collected writings.

Besides German publishers, publishers from other countries also became interested in Lu Xun's works and wanted to hear more, discuss further.

But Wei Ming directed them to Liu Ju, who handled specific business matters—he still had new products to present.

"The next book is incredible—it's this year's new release, and when it came out two months ago, it caused an earthquake in China's publishing and cultural circles!" Wei Ming dramatically picked up a book.

Mei Lina read aloud: "'Letters from Fu Lei'? Teacher Wei Ming, I'm not very familiar with Fu Lei—could you introduce him to us?"

Wei Ming took a sip of tea: "Everyone knows the famous French writer Balzac, right?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Even I, an Englishman, know him."

"A giant of world literature!"

"He's France's greatest novelist! France's Leo Tolstoy!"

"You're not suggesting he's China's Balzac, are you?"

Everyone burst into laughter; the atmosphere was light and lively, and they all waited for Wei Ming's introduction.

"No, no, no—Fu Lei was actually one of China's most renowned translators, perhaps the supreme authority in translating French into Chinese. He introduced the Chinese people to Balzac, to Romain Rolland, to Voltaire. The Chinese appreciation of French literary masterpieces owes everything to him. Sadly, he committed suicide over a decade ago."

Hearing he was a translator, interest dropped sharply—but hearing he committed suicide, the audience's curiosity surged again.

An unnatural death!

And over a decade ago—wasn't that when China was in the midst of the Cultural Revolution? Could it be?

Yes, exactly—similar to Mr. Lao She's case.

But Wei Ming didn't immediately reveal Fu Lei's cause of death; he returned to the content of the Letters from Fu Lei.

"This book contains Fu Lei's profound reflections on art, life, and education—it is both a father's guidance to his son and a sage's enlightenment for future generations."

Next, Wei Ming promoted the book from several angles.

First, he emphasized its educational value: "What a pity—if my father had read this book earlier, I wouldn't have failed to get into university. This is the ultimate model of family education. Fu Lei believed, 'The family is the child's most important school; parents are the child's best teachers.'"

Wei Anping smiled wryly: "Kid, you became a great writer even though your father never read this book."

Wei Lingling said: "You don't know—books on family education are now a hot new market. With the U. . Soviet rivalry, workers' living standards rose sharply, giving them more time to spend with their families, so investment in family education keeps growing."

Japanese publishers, who had lost interest in Lu Xun, now paused and listened intently as Wei Ming spoke of family education—not just the Japanese, but even Koreans stopped in their tracks and leaned in.

Gong Biyang, who had just arrived, immediately flipped through the sample copy of Letters from Fu Lei.

Then Wei Ming explained the book's value from the perspective of studying East Asian families and culture; several publishers specializing in East Asian literary translations fell into deep thought.

Finally, Wei Ming revealed Fu Lei's cause of death—and yes, it involved his son.

The letters included some written shortly before his death to his son; this collection held immense historical value for understanding that era, and interest surged further.

Of course, Wei Ming said nothing about the translation difficulties or the real relationship between Fu Lei and Fu Cong—only the strengths and highlights.

Soon, Gong Biyang secured the Traditional Chinese and English rights; several other European publishers also became interested and began speaking with Deputy Director Liu and Pan Yaoming from Sanlian Bookstore.

Chinese staff stared in disbelief—how could Teacher Wei speak so persuasively while still remaining accurate?

And the sales impact was undeniable!

Next, Wei Ming pulled out a book called The Journey of Beauty; its author, Li Zehou, graduated from Peking University's Philosophy Department. This was also a new release that had sparked a nationwide aesthetic craze in China.

Wei Ming quoted Professor Feng Youlan: "This book is incredibly valuable—it's the culmination of Chinese aesthetic history, Chinese art history, Chinese literary history, and Chinese cultural history. Buying one is like buying four!"

Mei Lina chimed in: "So impressive!"

She opened the book, revealing its exquisite copperplate illustrations, and invited the foreigners to admire them; all nodded in agreement: "So beautiful!"

The book was priced high—1. yuan in China, while Wei Ming's thick volume of The Righteous Path of Humanity cost only 1. yuan. The Journey of Beauty was expensive because of its illustrations.

The Journey of Beauty was divided into ten chapters, each analyzing an important artistic movement or the development of a specific art form.

Since foreigners were most familiar with the Tang Dynasty, Wei Ming began directly with Chapter Seven, "The Voice of the High Tang," covering Liu Xiyi, Zhang Ruoxu, the Four Talents of the Early Tang, then Li Bai and Du Fu.

Sometimes Wei Ming recited the original text directly, because no ready translation existed—or if one did, he didn't know it.

Besides poetry, the High Tang also produced calligraphy; Wei Hong had prepared his full set of tools. Wei Ming demonstrated a wild cursive script—chaotic and unrestrained yet full of beauty. Still, it was vastly inferior to the classic cursive calligraphy shown in the book's illustrations.

As Wei Ming explained Chinese aesthetics, the top publisher Random House emerged as the leader among the English-language publishers interested in the book.

Mei Lina, parched, grabbed Wei Ming's teacup and drank several gulps: "Go on!"

After expending so much energy during the day, Mei Lina would surely make up for it tonight.

But Wei Ming didn't return to the hotel until ten p. . he was busy selecting products.

Because the morning's sales performance was excellent and the exhibition feedback was strong, under strong requests from all sides, Wei Ming decided to hold two more sessions tomorrow morning and afternoon—for the family's benefit.

When he got home at ten, Wei Ming started on Mei Lina again: "A hundred million! A hundred million!"

As they were passionately at it, back in China, Gong Yu woke up in the overseas Chinese apartment—her spring dream left no trace. Some people were feasting on hundreds of millions; she could only savor the taste in her dreams.

Checking the time, though still early, Gong Yu wanted to do something good and prepared breakfast for the family.

But Xu Shufen had anticipated her and was already up, bustling in the kitchen; Gong Yu could only help reluctantly.

Soon after, her aunt-in-law returned from outside—she had anticipated Xu Shufen, risen even earlier, and bought groceries; the fridge was nearly empty.

When Grandma woke up, breakfast was nearly ready. Then the front door opened, and Wei Jiefang's voice rang out: "Shufen, whose motorcycle is parked beside us downstairs? It's so fancy."

Xu Shufen and Gong Yu both peered out—and when they saw Gong Yu, Old Wei froze, then rushed to the bathroom to wash his face and comb his hair. He'd just crawled out of his messy bed, looking disheveled.

"Comrade Gong Yu, what are you doing here? This humble home is honored!"

Old Wei was flustered. Though he chatted easily with Liu Xiaoqing, Gong Yu was different—she was a celebrity who might become his daughter-in-law!

Was she here because of his son? Was this about confirming their relationship?

Gong Yu: "Uncle, just call me Xiao Xue."