The publication date of "Great Times" in Xiangjiang is exactly two days different from that in the mainland, both in early October.

Over the past few years, Lin Chaoyang has gained a group of loyal readers in Xiangjiang.

Although the size of these readers is not comparable to the audience of popular books such as martial arts novels and comics, the number is still considerable. They include not only ordinary citizens, but also a large part of Hong Kong's elite.

Before "The Great Era" was released, Ming Pao Publishing House had been pre-heating it in several of its own newspapers for more than half a month. As soon as the novel was released, many readers rushed into bookstores to buy the book and couldn't wait to take a peek.

The story of "Big Era" mainly revolves around the stock market. Compared with Lin Chaoyang's previous novels, the plot is more popular, including the revenge of killing his father, the love between children, and the ups and downs of the stock market...

Even readers who are not familiar with the stock market and stocks can easily read it and become addicted to it without knowing it. They are moved by the joys and sorrows of the characters and worried about the ups and downs of the story.

But everything has advantages and disadvantages. The easy-to-understand plot has won the love and support of some readers, but also disappointed some readers. This type of readers basically have some common characteristics, and most of them are from elite backgrounds or have relatively low educational levels.

high.

Lin Chaoyang's favorite works are "The Death of Van Gogh", "The Ferry" and "The Truman Show". They usually prefer to listen to calls for help from a distance, but turn a blind eye to the suffering nearby

They are not too interested in works such as "Enter Guandong" and "Parasite".

Although "The Great Era" is very popular, both the theme and the ideology are very localized and very close to the people. For them, such works can be used for entertainment, but they really can't bring any spirit.

The joy of the world and the baptism of the soul.

Therefore, a few days after "The Great Era" was released, the novel gradually formed two completely different reputations among readers in Xiangjiang.

Corresponding to this is the love and praise of most readers. In the eyes of these readers, Lin Chaoyang's profound insight into human nature displayed in "The Great Era" is extremely rare in the Hong Kong literary world.

Many people hate and love the villain Ding Xie in the novel. What they hate is his paranoia, selfishness, and ignorance, but what they love is Lin Chaoyang's penetrating portrayal of this character. He has been shaped into a person who lives in his own world.

, a person with a set of absurd logic, he always thinks that he is right.

Even if his behavior brings great pain and disaster to others, it is still their fault.

The existence of Ding Xie is like a mirror. Such characters may seem contradictory, but in fact they are everywhere in reality. In addition to the in-depth portrayal of human nature, the profound criticism of social reality in "The Big Era" is also unforgettable.

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The gap between rich and poor and the solidification of classes depicted in the novel are only stronger than those in "Parasite". It may not make people feel as desperate as in "Parasite", but the injustices exposed are more confusing.

The poor rush into the wealth-making game of the stock market with their hard-earned money, thinking that they can realize their dream of getting rich overnight.

In fact, they just become the fat on the chopping block of the rich and evil people. They easily extract their hard-earned money through fraud, manipulation and speculation without having to bear any legal consequences.

This cannot even be called a fraud, but an organized and premeditated social robbery.

These tragic depictions in "The Great Era" are not only aimed at the unkindness of wealth, but also criticize the chaos in Hong Kong's financial market.

The reason why those rich and evil people dare to be so rampant, able to control the situation, harm countless investors, and obtain huge wealth is ultimately because of the connivance, cover-up, and even conspiracy of corrupt officials.

Compared with the rich and evil people, those insects cloaked in hypocrisy are even more detestable.

The hateful thing about these people is that the evil they do is all serious evil, but their purpose is often just their own petty profit. Of course, what the novel wants to express is not just a simple criticism of negative characters.

In Lin Chaoyang's writings, these people are just ants in the great era. In the face of the unpredictable fate, people are powerless to change anything.

Ding Xie thought he could change, but he jumped off the building; Long Chengbang thought he could change, but his life was miserable; Fang Zhanbo thought he could change, but lost the love of his life.

These characters are different but have the same fate, which gives the readers the strongest spiritual shock and naturally wins the love of these readers.

The reading atmosphere in Xiangjiang society is not strong, especially for serious literary works. Whether it is on sale or discussed and evaluated, "The Great Era" was only limited to the readership group at the beginning.

The Hang Seng Index plummeted on October 19, and readers were not aware of the problem.

A week after the Hang Seng Index plummeted, the media exclaimed that the stock market crash of 1973 had reappeared. Some readers who played stocks themselves finally discovered belatedly that the third stock market crash described in "The Great Era" seemed to be in line with the real trend.

And together.

This discovery immediately excited them.

The news spread quickly, and then it was noticed by newspaper reporters.

After some investigation, I found that they were indeed somewhat similar.

These days, the stock market has affected the nerves of almost every citizen in Hong Kong. Even the dullest reporter will realize that this is likely to be another hot news.

In just two days, the "accurate predictions" in "The Great Era" appeared in newspapers of all sizes in Hong Kong.

Twenty or thirty newspapers reported one after another, and the articles were overwhelming. The popularity was even higher than when Xu Guanwen attacked the Free Association a dozen days ago.

With the help of media reports, "Big Times" came to the people of Xiangjiang with ease.

Affected by the skyrocketing Hang Seng Index over the past year, the number of stock investors in Xiangjiang now accounts for one-third of the total population.

If calculated on a family basis, the number of investors almost covers the entire city's population.

Now that the stock market crash is in full swing, investors are in dire straits. The media suddenly exposed the "accurate prediction" of "The Great Era", and investors immediately flocked to it.

People flocked to bookstores on the streets and alleys, wanting to buy a copy of "The Great Era" to find out.

Lin Chaoyang has many readers in Xiangjiang, but the stockholder group is even larger. The public opinion attention brought by the news boom has even surpassed the stockholder group, and has become a cultural phenomenon of national concern.

Going to the bookstore to buy "The Great Era" has become the most fashionable thing among Hong Kong citizens in recent days.

The crowds of citizens crowded the major bookstores in Hong Kong. The inventory of "The Great Era" lasted for less than two days before being emptied by the enthusiastic citizens.

In the past two days, Cocoon Bridge has been crazy happy, and the printing factory has been arranged to print more copies day and night.

However, it always takes time to print, ship, and put it on the shelves. The bookshelf in the bookstore is still empty. Many citizens who heard about it cannot buy "The Great Era" and complained.

Such a scene actually increased the media's enthusiasm for reporting on "The Great Era" and citizens' enthusiasm for discussing "The Great Era".

In less than a week, the words "big era" can be heard everywhere in Xiangjiang.

Since the news wave appeared, the sales volume of "The Great Era" has remained high for many days in a row, and readers are rushing to buy it with such enthusiasm that even the new work of Huang Yulang, the top figure in the Hong Kong comics industry, is hard to match.

It took less than four days to achieve the 100,000 copies that previously took a year or two for works such as "The Legend of Guandong" and "The Truman Show" to be sold, and sales are still soaring like a rocket.

150,000 copies, 200,000 copies, 300,000 copies...

Since the publication of pure literary works in Xiangjiang, there has never been such an exaggerated situation. It attracted the attention of Xiangjiang's literary circles and at the same time fell into a state of envy and aphasia. After the initial wave of news reports, media reporters began to contact Lin

Chaoyang tried to interview him, but was unable to contact him without exception.

These reporters did not give up and went to the gates of Lin's Pictures and Jiahui Garden in Mid-Levels to crouch down at Lin Chaoyang.

As a result, they stayed there for two days and chatted with Tao Yumo who was yawning before going to work early that morning, and then got some bad news from her.

Lin Chaoyang went abroad two days ago!

This sudden news almost broke the hearts of the reporters who had been waiting for two days.

"You reporters are too ill-informed!"

Tao Yushu's ridicule was like arrogantly adding salt to the reporters' wounds, and the reporters' faces turned green.

But adhering to the professionalism of journalists, someone still asked desperately: "Ms. Tao, is Lin Sheng going abroad this time for business? Or is it a vacation?"

"Why are you taking a vacation? Go and receive the award!" Tao Yumo said casually.

When the reporters who were originally frustrated heard her words, their eyes immediately brightened. With their sense of smell from being in the news all year round, they concluded that this award must be extraordinary. Otherwise, who would go abroad to receive the award for nothing!

"Ms. Tao, can I ask Lin Sheng what award he is going to receive this time?"

"Do you know about a literary award in France called the Renaudeau Prize for Literature?" Faced with Tao Yumo's rhetorical question, the reporters remained silent.

If you answer "I don't know" at this time, will it appear that everyone is ignorant? "I know, I know! It's a very famous award in France!" Some reporters cheered.

Tao Yumo clapped his hands, with a proud smile on his face, and praised: "You reporters know better, this is the second most literary award in France after the Prix Goncourt!" The reporters were immediately surprised, how famous it is?

Fortunately, I didn't say I didn't know just now, which was almost embarrassing.

Fortunately, they immediately put aside the issue of face and asked about the specific details of Tao Yumo and Lin Chaoyang's award. "No, no, I still have to go to work."

Tao Yumo said a few words to the reporters, suddenly glanced at her watch, and left in a panic despite the reporters' obstruction. As soon as she left, the source of information was gone. The reporters stared at each other for a while, and then they split up to think of solutions.

"The Great Times" is now very popular. The whole city is paying attention to the author Lin Chaoyang. Any news about him will enjoy headline treatment. What's more, from what Tao Yumo means, the award he won this time seems to be quite extraordinary. They

You have to investigate carefully.

At the same time, France, Paris.

Paris in early November is already a scene of early winter.

The weather was gloomy and it looked like it was going to snow, which added to the chill. Lin Chaoyang stood at the window and admired the street view of Paris for a few minutes.

He landed in Paris yesterday afternoon. Clement Meteye, on behalf of Gallimard Publishing House, picked him up at the airport and arranged for him to stay at the Lenox Hotel next to the University Street in Paris. It was said to be a hotel, but Lenoch

The scale of Si Hotel is not small. It not only has accommodation business, but also has restaurants and bars.

According to Clermont Meteille, the area where the Lenox Hotel is located is the Latin Quarter.

For more than a hundred years, this area has been called the "Literary Quarter" by Parisians. Countless writers, poets and cultural scholars have lived here. "The Rulian who won the 'Julian Award' also lived here."

This was the only connection that Clermont Meteille could find between the Latin Quarter and Lin Chaoyang. Stanislas Julien was a well-known French sinologist. On the first night in Paris, Lin Chaoyang did not sleep very well.

, I got up and calmed down at the window for a while.

After washing and getting dressed, he went downstairs to have breakfast.

The breakfast at the hotel was very simple, with milk, coffee, baguette, croissant, and jam. These five baguettes were as hard as rocks. Lin Chaoyang decisively chose the croissant.

But he escaped the baguette, but he didn't escape the coffee, which was worse than a working man's life.

After a difficult breakfast, Lin Chaoyang sat in the lobby of the hotel and waited for someone. He was not familiar with Paris and needed a guide. "The weather is good today, but it's snowing."
To be continued...