These international students regard Lin Chaoyang as a means of showing off, just like some people show off at the wine table that they have a rich or executive relative, mainly to increase their own value.

Of course, there is also some nostalgia in this, "I'm a relative or not, I'm from my hometown."

Since the late 1970s, the trend of studying abroad in China has gradually emerged, and by the mid-1980s it had become a common trend.

Lin Chaoyang's family discussed this issue at the dinner table during the Chinese New Year last year. Even the school organized TOEFL classes.

Considering studying abroad as an industry, it is no wonder that more and more people are going abroad.

There are not many Chinese students on the Columbia campus now. There are more than ten people in total, and they are all here today, and there is even a teaching assistant who has stayed at the school.

But this number is much larger than the number of Chinese students at the University of Oklahoma. There are 20,000 students in the entire university, but there is only one Chinese student named Cao Guowei. Lin Chaoyang went out of his way to chat with him a few more words.

A few days ago, the news that Lin Chaoyang received the Neustadt International Literature Prize has appeared in the newspapers, and these international students at Columbia University have also paid attention to it.

At this time, Columbia University began to publicize the news that Lin Chaoyang was going to give a speech, and these international students immediately became excited.

To this day, everyone who is in a gang has come here,

After the noisy scene, more than a dozen Chinese students gathered around Lin Chaoyang did not leave because he said he wanted to treat everyone to lunch.

Several people had classes in the afternoon, so Lin Chaoyang chose to have lunch at the Columbia campus restaurant.

Just as Lin Chaoyang was preparing to have dinner with the international students, two white students found Lin Chaoyang.

The two claimed to be students from Columbia University's School of Journalism, and they hoped that Lin Chaoyang would allow them to compile the content of today's speech and publish it in the Columbia Journalism Review.

Columbia University is world-famous for its journalism and media majors. The School of Journalism is naturally the most powerful school in the school. The famous Pulitzer Prize selection agency is established in the Columbia School of Journalism. The results of each selection are also determined by the president of Columbia University.

Announce.

As the flagship major of Columbia University, the School of Journalism not only has its own publication, but also has more than one.

There is the second officially published student magazine in the United States, the Columbia Daily Observer, the bimonthly literary and artistic magazine Columbia Journalism Review, and the annual publication In New York.

"Of course that's no problem."

After receiving Lin Chaoyang's authorization, the two of them were very happy and even took a photo with Lin Chaoyang before leaving.

After the interlude, Lin Chaoyang and the international students walked to the restaurant. Along the way, the international students enthusiastically introduced Lin Chaoyang to the buildings and allusions on the Columbia University campus.

When walking with Lin Chaoyang, their faces were more proud than usual. Especially when a Columbia University student who attended the lecture recognized Lin Chaoyang next to them, their pride reached its peak.

During the meal, the international students were very chatty and shared with Lin Chaoyang the ups and downs of studying abroad.

After lunch, Lin Chaoyang left Columbia University with the reluctant eyes of the international students.

"Lin, if I had known that your speech level was so high, I should have arranged more activities for you."

Luan Walter marveled at the response that Lin Chaoyang's speech today had among Columbia students, and even more marveled at these students' pursuit of Lin Chaoyang.

"I don't have that many stories to tell." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Luan Walter immediately remembered the story Lin Chaoyang told in his speech and the request made by the girl named Kim Claire at the end.

"That Ron story, do you really want to write it into a novel?"

"No?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

"Of course there is no problem." Luan Walter looked thoughtful, "It's just that in many novels, the words 'adapted from real events' are often troublesome. Have you really thought about it?"

"What do you think of this story?"

Lin Chaoyang did not answer his question, but asked instead.

Luan Walter pondered and said: "It's very tense. It's excellent as a novel material. It even has such an excellent structure."

"I thought the same thing when I saw a report about it in the Dallas Morning News that day. It was perfect for writing a novel.

Doesn’t your publishing house hope that I can try an American story?”

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's firm expression, Luan Walter knew that he had made up his mind, so he stopped trying to persuade him.

"However, Ron Woodruff is still alive, and if you want to write his story, you must ask for his opinion."

Lin Chaoyang patted Luan Walter on the shoulder, "You said you would provide me with help. You won't regret it, right?"

Luan Walter smiled bitterly, he didn't expect Lin Chaoyang's mission to come so quickly.

"Okay, I'll contact him first. If you have any other requirements, you'd better tell me first, and I'll make arrangements."

"Well——" Lin Chaoyang thought for a while, "The rest is to collect the wind. After understanding it on the spot, let's wait until you make arrangements."

"good."

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang came to the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Union Square, Manhattan.

This bookstore is very large, covering an astonishing 14,000 square meters, making it a rare "Big Mac" in the bookstore industry.

From the outside, it looks more like a library.

Barnes & Noble Bookstore is part of the Barnes & Noble Bookstore Company. As early as the 1970s, this bookstore chain company was the first to use unheard-of promotional methods such as discounts and television advertisements to sell books, which caused an uproar in the industry.

shock.

By the end of the 1980s, Barnes & Noble Bookstore Company began to create the concept of large-scale self-selected bookstores, expanding the original small bookstore into a majestic building like a library.

This bookstore in front of Union Square in Manhattan has just opened. It has four floors, and each floor is filled with books, which is dazzling.

According to store manager Lawrence, the total length of the bookshelves here reaches an astonishing 20 kilometers.

Although it seems a bit funny to emphasize such boring data, we have to admit that it does play an important role in marketing.

At least Lin Chaoyang, who was a librarian by training, was very interested in taking a look inside.

Today is Saturday, and there are many readers in the Barnes and Noble bookstore.

Of course, a large part of them are here for Lin Chaoyang, whose reader meeting is being held here today.

The host of the readers' meeting was Luanne Walter, and the guest was Robert Gottlieb, the legendary editor in the American publishing industry.

As an editor, Robert Gottlieb is not well-known among the general public, but he is well-known in the American publishing world.

He single-handedly discovered and cultivated Joseph Heller, Toni Morrison, John Cheever, V.S. Naipaul, Doris Lessing, Michael Clayton, John le Carré, Anthony

Fraser and many other famous American writers.

Many of them have won Pulitzer Prizes and Nobel Prizes.

In 1960, Knopf Books, where Robert Gottlieb worked, was acquired by Random House, and he naturally became a member of Random House.

By 1987, Robert Gottlieb was invited by Samuel Newhouse to serve as editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, but he still retained his identity as an editorial consultant to Random House.

There were quite a few people attending the readers' meeting, at least not less than those held by some best-selling authors in the United States. It looked like there were at least a hundred people.

Lin Chaoyang also saw a few familiar faces among them, those international students from Columbia University. They came here specifically to support Lin Chaoyang today.

After the meeting began, Luan Walter's brief introduction was followed by a conversation between Lin Chaoyang and Robert Gottlieb.

The two of them are a writer and an editor, so the topic of conversation is naturally inseparable from creation.

Robert Gottlieb looks like a typical white elite at first glance, and he also behaves very forcefully during conversations.

Lin Chaoyang was just the opposite of him. He acted a bit meek, but every word he said was to the point.

"Lin, I've only read "The Truman Show" as your work. The resume Random House gave me said that you have written more than 10 novels so far.

At your age, this is unimaginable!"

There was a trace of doubt hidden in Robert Gottlieb's words, and he asked again: "Can you tell me the secret of your creation? You must know that your productivity and efficiency are rare among writers."

Lin Chaoyang looked relaxed, "Secret? If there is a secret, there is only one."

"What?"

"I keep writing." Lin Chaoyang threw out a short sentence.

Then he went on to say: "We in China have a saying that God rewards those who work hard. Many people regard literary creation as art. Of course literature is art, but before it becomes art, it first requires a combination of hard work and technology."

"Many people who are new to this industry always take inspiration too seriously. Inspiration is probably just a spark.

If you don’t reserve enough fuel, you won’t be able to ignite the raging fire of creation and keep it burning.”

"Being a writer is never a comfortable thing. We have to compete with the world and ourselves. Behind the birth of every masterpiece is the culmination of the writer's exhaustive efforts.'

"If you want to write good things easily, that only exists in boring fantasy."

Lin Chaoyang answered very seriously, and his rigorous attitude towards creation won Gottlieb's praise.

Gottlieb has been a workaholic since he was young, and there is no such thing as off work or vacation in his dictionary.

In his nearly 40-year career, he only had less than 10 days of complete vacation.

Such a perverted workaholic, even Tao Yushu would be resigned to it when he saw it. His work attitude also made the writers who had worked with him tremble.

"Lin, I really wish you were the writer in charge of me!" Gottlieb sighed.

Lin Chaoyang is just a salty fish, and those words just now were just rhetoric. Seeing Gottlieb admire him so much,

It seemed that he was about to ask him for a manuscript in the next second, so he quickly changed the subject.

The meeting lasted more than two hours. The first hour was a conversation between Lin Chaoyang and Gottlieb, the next hour was a conversation between Lin Chaoyang and readers, and finally there was a book signing session.

After the meeting ended, Gottlieb held Lin Chaoyang's hand and extended an invitation to him.
To be continued...