British writer

Lu Shi publicly revealed at LSE that he was preparing a new work, and the news spread like wildfire.

Meanwhile, the Mirror's serialization of Mandy Miracles comes to an end.

Therefore, the citizens are eagerly looking forward to it.

The feeling is like standing on a rugged mountain road and anxiously looking at the distant mountain tops.

So it’s Wednesday of the new week,

The atmosphere of anticipation is full,

London is like a boiling soup pot, and the fire underneath is still burning hotter and hotter.

This morning,

Arthur Conan Doyle woke up from his sleep, stood up and opened the curtains,

The sun then shines into the house,

Everything in the room is illuminated.

Spread out on the desk is a handwritten copy of "The Little Prince" with many marks marked.

Because there were so many alterations, it looked like a newspaper.

Next to the book is a thick stack of notebooks.

Those are Doyle's study notes,

Looking at the titles, it is not difficult to find that it has begun with "No One Survived" and has recently been "The Moon and Sixpence" and "The Little Prince", which are at least 20 pages long.

Doyle stretched, yawned and continued reading "The Little Prince."

This fairy tale is so excellent,

Compared with it, even "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" seems a bit eclipsed.

Doyle finished reading a section and walked out of the bedroom,

As a result, he was surprised to find that his wife, Louise Hawkins, was not there.

At this time in the past, my wife should have put breakfast on the dining table.

Doyle called out tentatively: "Ruth?"

As expected, no one in the room answered.

At the same time, a woman yelled hysterically outside the window: "What's wrong with the security in London!? There are thieves who openly break into mailboxes!? No, you must give me an explanation!"

It was Hawkins' voice.

Doyle ran to the window and looked out.

I saw a mess in front of my house.

The mailbox's "mouth" was wide open, and the originally strong lock was now drooping, looking helpless and embarrassed.

The floor was littered with pried-off mailbox doors and letters, which appeared to have been violently dismantled.

Hawkins' state is very similar to that of a mailbox;

She was obviously panicked and a little crazy. Her home clothes were in a mess and her hair was in clumps. It looked like she hadn't washed it for a long time.

Opposite her, a patrolman held a book in his hand and tried to comfort her.

"Madam, please calm down..."

Doyle quickly put on his clothes and went downstairs.

At this time, the patrolman's consolation was not over yet, and he said seductively: "Madam, at least the loss must be determined before we can help you find the murderer. Is there a check in your mailbox? Or a stock delivery receipt?"

Hawkins shook his head and was about to answer,

Unexpectedly, before she could say anything, Doyle rushed over.

"Yes! But it's not stocks, it's bonds."

Hawkins:? ? ?

"When did you buy a bond?"

Doyle blushed.

"Then what...just that time...those few days~"

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became a little weird.

The patrolman looked at the two people repeatedly, suddenly became interested in the crime scene, and squatted down to check.

Hawkins moved closer to her husband.

"You actually bought bonds behind my back?"

"Gu..."

Doyle swallowed.

Like all husbands who hide money and are discovered by their wives, he quickly explained: "Isn't this because I want to make a lot of money? I want to give you a surprise~ You also know that the current sales volume of the Sherlock Holmes series...sigh..."

I can't talk anymore.

I will cry if I continue.

Hawkins' face turned black when he heard this, and he asked, "Did you make a lot of money?"

Doyle nodded,

"The big one is coming."

Hawkins's face turned darker;

"loss?"

Doyle couldn't help but look up at the sky and muttered: "Today's weather is really nice, just right to go out and bask in the sun."

Hawkins wanted to kill this guy.

Fortunately, the patrol came to the rescue.

"Mr. Doyle! Come and take a look! Is this a bond?"

Doyle hurriedly stepped forward, then nodded and said, "Yes! That's it!"

"hiss……"

The patrolman took a deep breath.

"At this price...did you buy it at a higher price?"

Doyle looked back at Hawkins and found his wife looking at the two of them doubtfully. He quickly said, "Mr. Policeman is really a detective comparable to Sherlock. He helped us find the lost property so easily!"

The patrolman spread his hands,

"I like Poirot better. But it's not that I can't accept your compliments."

"puff!"

Doyle vomited blood on the spot.

The patrol officer continued: "However, you haven't counted the losses yet, so it's too early to say 'the lost items were found'."

He knelt down and continued to inspect,

"Did you buy any other stocks or bonds? Or, was there a check in the mail?"

Hawkins also slowly approached,

"Yes, there are still, are you?"

She word by word,

If sound could kill, Doyle might have died ten thousand times.

Doyle shook his head repeatedly.

"It's gone! I'm pretty sure it's gone!"

The patrolman said in surprise: "That's really strange. I can't think of anything valuable that could be received in the mailbox. Could it be that, like in "Roger's Mystery", there is..."

Before he finished speaking, a patrol captain came from the end of the street.

The captain shouted to his younger brother: "Look quickly! Is the Mirror missing?"

The patrolman was stunned for a long time.

"Mr. Doyle, does your family subscribe to the Mirror?"

Doyle and Hawkins looked at each other;

Among the "ruins", there was indeed no sign of the "Mirror".

The captain knew what was going on by looking at their expressions, and said, "It's true! I've received hundreds of reports today, and they're all from the Mirror!"

Doyle was puzzled;

"how so?"

The captain said: "Why else? The Mirror is out of stock! Now it's 1 shilling a copy!"

This news is too shocking.

The Mirror has been out of stock twice before.

The first time was due to the lack of preparation due to borrowing printing presses from other newspapers when it was just established, plus having first-hand news of the Queen's death;

The second time is the recent "Little Prince" incident.

Doyle asked: "Why this time?"

The captain spread his hands and said: "Why else? Of course it's because of Lu's new work~ The previous series of "Mandy Miracle" is so far away from "The Lord of the Rings" and "I Am Cat" that everyone is frustrated."

Doyle turned to look at Hawkins.

"Ruth, you should get up early and pick up the paper directly from the paper boy."

Hawkins' face fell.

“The person who bought the bond without telling his spouse has the nerve to blame me?”

Doyle is wrong, just shut up.

The captain came over, patted Doyle's shoulder with his generous palm, and then showed a warm smile of a man comforting him,

Then he turned to Hawkins;

"Madam, I'm afraid there's no chance of getting your newspaper back."

He didn't say the real reason,

First, the amount involved is low;

Second, there are too many cases and they simply cannot catch them.

Hawkins was helpless;

"All right."

The captain then left with his younger brother to deal with other police situations.

Seeing their figures disappear, Hawkins turned to Doyle and said, "Explain it~"

Doyle coughed lightly,

"Well, I think we should buy a newspaper first."

Hawkins couldn't help but snorted,

"go by yourself."

After saying that, she entered the door.

Doyle sighed for a while, and then walked towards the Mette Bookstore that he often patronized, hoping to try his luck.

The bookstore is only separated from the Doyle Mansion by a main road, so it doesn't take too long to walk.

Soon Doyle arrived.

The door of the bookstore was very busy. A newsboy was holding several copies of the Mirror and shouting: "1 shilling a copy, first come, first served!"

The people around were quite unhappy.

"It's too expensive!"

"No matter what, it's not even 1 shilling!"

"Isn't this newspaper still made of gold?"

…

The crowd was excited.

The newsboy said: "You are wrong! Every word of Lu's novels is worth a fortune, so it is not an exaggeration to say that today's "Mirror" is made of gold! Moreover, you know how much risk I took to get these newspapers. ?"

Doyle in the crowd was too lazy to listen to the children bragging about themselves.

He raised his hands and shouted:

"I'll buy!"

At the same time, he squeezed into the crowd, took out 1 shilling from his pocket, and handed it to the other party.

The newsboy was immediately happy,

"Okay! Finally someone who knows the goods!"

Doyle rolled his eyes at the other person, took the newspaper and prepared to leave.

However, his behavior failed to take the lead;

After all, 1 shilling is still too expensive compared to the original price of 3 pence.

People are a little hesitant.

The newsboy said: "You don't know how difficult it is to get these newspapers. There is a red mailbox with a lock, but I have lost all my strength... hum hum hum…"

Doyle:? ? ?

Red paint and a lock?

Isn't this your home mailbox?

So, he spent money to buy back his own newspaper?

He turned around,

"Shiit! Did you smash my mailbox?"

The newsboy was startled, then dodged to the side, slipped through the crowd like a fish, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Doyle's head is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

I hate it so much that my teeth itch.

But it has happened, and there is nothing we can do about it.

He could only take the newspaper and go home.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I entered the house, I smelled the aroma of fried eggs.

Corn soup and toast were also on the table.

Hawkins was taking off his apron when he saw her husband coming home and said, "Arthur, I believe you just once, you can make money buying bonds. The big one is coming."

Doyle was very moved.

"good!"

He sat down, took a sip of corn soup, and then let out a sigh of contentment.

Hawkins asked: "Is it difficult to buy newspapers?"

Doyle smiled bitterly and nodded.

"1 shilling."

This price shocked Hawkins, and then he said: "Think about it, the bookstore, newspaper deliveryman, and newspaper boy only sold newspapers at the original price of 3 pence at first, but later they found something was wrong. Too many people bought the newspapers, and the newspapers even ran out of stock. They I just started looking through the mailbox.”

It is said that the sales volume of "Mirror" has stabilized, so 220,000 copies are printed every day.

Even so, it will still be out of stock.

This shows how powerful Lu’s appeal is.

Doyle used to be very bright with him for a while, but now he has become a little transparent, which makes him feel a little sad.

Of course, at this time, Doyle no longer had the will to compete with Lu. He read Lu's books more for the fun of reading and at the same time with a learning mentality.

He turned the newspaper back,

did not expect,

"Novel version \u0026 children's literature version? Lu actually merged the two?"

Hawkins also approached and said: "'Harry Potter'? Judging from the name, it should be a novel. Therefore, it may be both a novel suitable for serialization and children's literature, so I simply unified the two editions."

Doyle turned over it.

Three full editions and five chapters were serialized. The readers were not shortchanged in terms of the number of words, and there was even a surplus.

but,

"Are there any risks in doing this?" Hawkins asked in a low voice.

What was serialized in the Mirror before?

"Lord of the Rings"!

Fantasy and magnificent adventure,

epic duel,

The battle between good and evil,

…

What if it were changed into children's literature?

That must be disastrous!

Therefore, there is a conflict between the novel version and the children's literature version. From the use of words to the construction of stories, they basically belong to two worlds.

Unless Lu is very confident that his novel can cover all ages.

Doyle couldn't help but become more curious.

He began to read,

"The Dursleys who live at No. 4 Privet Drive always say proudly that they are a very well-behaved family..."

As I read it, I admired it more and more.

What must be admitted is that Lu really does what he writes.

When writing serious literature, his words can be like "Animal Farm" and "Yes!" It can be as witty and sarcastic as "Prime Minister", or as gorgeous and dazzling (it can even be said to be showy) like "Lolita".

As for children's literature, his text became "The Little Prince\

,"There are very few rare words.

Doyle made a count and found that no long and difficult sentences exceeded fifty.

"Harry Potter" is in the middle of the two. It is not difficult or obscure for children, and it is not childish or dramatic for adults.

Unknowingly, the couple saw the end,

Breakfast can already be turned into lunch.

Hawkins looked excited,

"This 'Diagon alley' is quite interesting. 'Diagon' itself is meaningless, but the two words together make 'diagonally'."

Doyle glanced at his wife,

"Did you see it?"

Hawkins spread his hands,

"Do you really think I don't understand anything?"

Doyle smiled and said, "Actually, Lu used many similar techniques. For example, Ollivander, who sells wands, is obviously a variation of 'olive wand', and his surname and occupation perfectly correspond."

Hawkins was a little surprised,

"Would this be a little difficult for children to understand?"

Doyle waved his hand.

"That's it!? Compared with "Lolita", this novel is already very restrained. I can only see some of Lu's little thoughts, but I can't see any showoff."

He thought,

Perhaps, this is a return to nature.

He continued: “And, what is the most important thing about fiction for children?”

Hawkins replied: "Storyline."

Doyle shrugged.

"Isn't this it? The plot of "Harry Potter" is just right for children. At least, that's how I felt after reading it. In comparison, although "The Little Prince" is equally excellent, it is obviously shorter than plot."

Hawkins asked, "Did you like this book?"

Doyle shook his head.

"No, I prefer "The Little Prince" because based on my adult experience, I feel deeply about the sentences in it. But I can be 100% sure that "Harry Potter" must be more popular than "The Little Prince" ."

He walked to the window and looked down,

I saw many people walking on the street, asking where to buy today's "Mirror".

Sold more than 200,000 copies in the blink of an eye,

It's really scary.

Hawkins said: "Arthur, let's have lunch? I'll fry some fish?"

Doyle said: "Well, you go ahead. Call me later."

After saying that, he returned to his room, turned the newspaper back to the first chapter of "Harry Potter", and took out a blank notebook and started taking notes.

——

Lu seems to particularly like some interesting little designs,

alliteration,

Use names to reveal character,

The world created is extremely realistic,

…

Lu is really a great writer.

——

As he wrote this, Doyle was confused.

This is a study note, not a reflection on reading. How can I write down my true thoughts?

He crossed out the sentence "Lu is really a great writer."