"A Fantastic Journey of Food" was written by Robert Gottlieb, who praised Lin Chaoyang and "A Bite of China" in the article.

The article reads:

Personal anecdotes, historical stories and cultural insights are intertwined to weave a colorful picture, leading people into the world of food and appreciating the culture and history of a nation.

In the past thirty years, the American publishing and television industries have produced numerous food articles and programs, but "A Bite of China" is unique. It is a true masterpiece.

It not only tantalizes the taste buds of readers, but also opens a profound door to the core and soul of foreign cultures for everyone, forever changing our understanding of food and its place in the structure of human life.

"A Bite of China" was published in the last issue of The New Yorker. The editor-in-chief personally wrote an article and spoke highly of the content of the column, which represents the respect that the New Yorker editorial department has for this work.

And "A Bite of China" gave "The New Yorker" even more.

The column was serialized for three months. The New Yorker went from an average sales volume of 963,000 copies in June to over a million copies in a single issue in July, to an average weekly sales of 1.156 million copies in August, and to the last article in the column.

"Three Meals" was serialized, with peak sales of 1.278 million copies——

A 32% sales increase in three months may be a headline-grabbing event for some newspapers, but for a long-established magazine like The New Yorker, it is not that difficult.

After ten years, "A Bite of China" has brought "The New Yorker" back to the dream of a prosperous age they dreamed of. Although this dream of a prosperous age cannot be compared with their peak in the 1950s and 1960s, it is enough to make all "New Yorkers"

employees are proud.

Looking at the American periodical industry, no magazine can achieve such an incredible growth in sales at a time when the industry is generally in decline.

Today, when the periodical industry is stagnant, the emergence of "A Bite of China" has made The New Yorker

It was a long-awaited roar in the American cultural world, attracting the attention of the entire cultural world and attracting the attention of millions of readers.

If the growth in sales represents readers' recognition of the column content, then "A Bite of China"

The increase in the magazine's advertising fees since its serialization is the recognition of the New Yorker magazine by the social and cultural circles, and is also a concrete manifestation of the column's contribution to the magazine's brand.

According to estimates by the business department of The New Yorker, the influence of "A Bite of China" will bring tens of millions of dollars in incremental advertising fees to the magazine.

If "A Bite of China" can continue to be serialized and its influence continues to grow in the future, the value this column brand will bring to "The New Yorker" will be astronomical.

The respect "The New Yorker" gives to "A Bite of China" and Lin Chaoyang is more of a feedback. Now the only hope of everyone in the editorial department is that Lin Chaoyang can bring new column content as promised next year. This is also

The hope of all readers.

The serialization of "A Bite of China" has ended, but the aftermath of its influence is still there.

Not even halfway through the series, Random House's Luann Walter contacted Lin Chaoyang and wanted to get the publishing rights for the column, but Lin Chaoyang did not agree.

After that, invitations from many American publishing houses came one after another, and they contacted Lin Chaoyang hoping to cooperate with him, but Lin Chaoyang rejected them one by one.

During the earlier gathering at Robert Gottlieb's house, although his promise to Judith Jones was somewhat joking, Lin Chaoyang never thought of breaking his promise.

So when Judith Jones called and asked with some trepidation if he could hand over "A Bite of China" to her Knauf publishing house, Lin Chaoyang agreed without hesitation.

Judith Jones was overjoyed when she heard Lin Chaoyang's straightforward decision.

After being serialized, "A Bite of China" received huge popularity in the United States, far exceeding her expectations.

She was prepared for difficult negotiations and even rejection before she made the call.

Judith Jones never expected that Lin Chaoyang would still remember their joking promise, which made her heart full of gratitude.

After lunch, after a long flight of more than ten hours, Judith Jones's plane landed in Xiangjiang.

As soon as they met, she couldn't help but give Lin Chaoyang a warm hug to express her inner excitement and gratitude.

Then she introduced the two photographers behind her to Lin Chaoyang.

Judith Jones brought two photographers, Joe and Danny, to Hong Kong this time, both of whom have been cooperating with their publishing house for many years.

She used to make food books, which inevitably included some pictures of food, which was inseparable from the work of a photographer.

The tone of "A Bite of China" is much higher than that of ordinary food books. Simply photographing food is not enough. According to Judith's plan, she needs Lin Chaoyang to recommend several dishes that are suitable for American readers in this book.

American-flavored, simple and easy-to-learn dishes, like the cucumber he showed before, as a little surprise for readers.

She even had a special name for this column - Lin's Choice.

After hearing Judith Jones say this name, Lin Chaoyang looked disgusted, "You might as well call it 'Follow Lin's Family Cooking'."

"This is a good name too!"

Judith Jones did not hear Lin Chaoyang's sarcasm, mainly because the names she gave to those food books in the past were not as good as this.

"Judith, I still don't understand why the kind of stuff you publish sells so well?" Lin Chaoyang couldn't help complaining.

Judith Jones smiled and said: "Lin, you have to understand that not everyone is an artist like you! Those food books have helped many people who have never cooked before achieve dietary freedom."

Reaching out to avoid hitting the smiling person, Judith Jones's compliments made Lin Chaoyang unable to bear the harsh criticism.

"Forget about that column. I'm not a famous chef and have nothing to show readers." Lin Chaoyang said that Judith Jones was originally very proud of her plan, but she didn't expect to be rejected so ruthlessly by Lin Chaoyang.

, she felt very lost.

"Okay, then we'll go to the mainland tomorrow."

In addition to photographing Lin Chaoyang's cooking skills, Qiao and Danny's mission was to follow the footsteps of the "A Bite of China" article and photograph all the delicacies with national and regional characteristics.

A consistent feature of Judith Jones's curated food books is their rich illustrations and text.

This was also the reason why Lin Chaoyang was puzzled by the popularity of those books. They were obviously reference books for teaching cooking, but they could sell millions of copies. After thinking about it, he could only attribute this to the fact that the old Americans all have disabled hands.

But it's also a good thing for him, according to Judith Jones, who has been immersed in the industry for more than two decades.

"A Bite of China" definitely has the potential to be a super bestseller, and one million copies is just the beginning.

After all, it has been praised by millions of readers during its serialization period.

"Are you too hasty? You can spend two days in Xiangjiang and let me act like a landlord." Lin Chaoyang said.

"If possible, of course I want to enjoy the journey. But we have to launch this book quickly while the popularity of the column is still there."

Seeing that Judith Jones had made up her mind, Lin Chaoyang stopped trying to persuade her. They walked out of the airport and got into the car while talking.

As the car drove all the way to the Peninsula Hotel, the tall Danny looked at the rearview mirror and said, "That car seems to have been following us."

Lin Chaoyang glanced at the rearview mirror and said, "It's okay, there's no need to worry."

After hearing what he said, the people in the car didn't say anything.

When the car arrived downstairs of the hotel, Judith Jones noticed that not only the car behind them, but also a car in front of them had stopped together, and several men with strong temperament got out of the car.

These people looked agile in their movements and alert in their eyes, scanning their surroundings from time to time and focusing on Lin Chaoyang from time to time.

Judith Jones and the other three recalled that they had seen a few people at the airport just now, but they didn't pay much attention at the time.

Seeing that Judith Jones and the others kept their eyes on the bodyguards, Lin Chaoyang explained with a smile: "Kidnapping cases against rich people occasionally happen here in Xiangjiang, so the family hired a few bodyguards."

I see.

"Let's go." Lin Chaoyang said.

The three of them and Lin Chaoyang entered the hotel. Before leaving, they did not forget to take a look at the capable bodyguards, and curiosity arose in their hearts.

How rich is Lin Chaoyang, a writer, who needs so many bodyguards?

After settling in the hotel, Judith Jones did not choose to rest, but went to the hotel cafe with Lin Chaoyang to chat about more details about the publication of "A Bite of China".

The scale of her Knauw publishing house is far smaller than that of Random House, but its reputation in the American literary world is not inferior to Random House.

This publishing house was founded and run by the publishers Knauf and his wife, and has published the works of 13 Nobel Prize winners in literature, 32 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 18 National Book Award winners.

It has discovered and introduced a large number of internationally renowned writers to the American literary world, such as Camus, Beauvoir, Sinclair Lewis, Milosz, Thomas Mann——

When his wife Blanche Knauf, who was in charge of the publishing house's editorial work in the 1960s, passed away, Judith Jones, the editor whom Blanche had trained during her lifetime, took over the important role.

She became famous by editing "The Diary of Anne Frank" and successively edited Sartre, John Updike,

Works by Anne Tyler, Langston Hughes and many other famous artists.

After that, Judith Jones sharply focused on the food culture track. The many food books she edited and published brought huge profits to Knauf Publishing House. Judith Jones herself became a Knauf publisher.

The mainstay of Husband Publishing House.

This time for the publication of "A Bite of China", in addition to the normal editing and review procedures, Judith Jones also took two senior photographers, Joe and Danny, to the country to shoot material. The degree of importance it attaches to is self-evident.

In the evening, Tao Yushu came to the Peninsula Hotel as scheduled, and as landlords, Tao Yushu and his wife Lin Chaoyang hosted a banquet for Judith Jones and others.

During the dinner, Tao Yushu also asked Judith Jones about her experience in producing food programs.

Over the years, Judith Jones has edited food books and introduced many food writers to the American public. Therefore, she has also participated in the production of some TV food programs. She has been a producer and consultant and has rich experience.

She also thought that Tao Yushu was a program producer for a TV station, and she chatted with Tao Yushu about many behind-the-scenes experiences in food program production, and they had a great conversation.

Until the next day, Judith Jones, Joe and Danny were preparing to go to the mainland. While waiting for customs clearance, she was bored and went to the newsstand to buy a newspaper.

As an American, she would definitely not be able to read Chinese newspapers, so she had to choose from the few English newspapers and chose the South China Morning Post.

While flipping through the South China Morning Post, Judith Jones was stunned for a moment. She carefully checked the person in the photo in the newspaper and was sure it was Tao Yushu whom she had seen last night.

Looking at the content of the article, it was mentioned that Tao Yushu controlled several listed companies and was also the chairman of the board of directors of the TV station Star TV.

Judith Jones was very surprised. Even the smaller ones of the three listed companies should have a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars. She didn't expect Lin's wife to be so rich. No wonder he was accompanied by bodyguards when traveling.

After understanding Tao Yushu's identity, Judith Jones instantly imagined a drama about a prodigal talent and a wealthy daughter.

Her association is not excessive. It is difficult for ordinary people to imagine that Tao Yushu could have wealth of this magnitude at his age.
To be continued...