British writer

Three days later, early morning.

New York Harbor Pier.

Lu Shi said goodbye to several American friends with two heavy dark circles under his eyes and a chicken coop.

Mark Twain, however, had piercing eyes and a vigorous appearance, as if he had absorbed a lot of essence from the depressed Lu Shi and had achieved great success.

He held Lu Shi's hand tightly,

"Lu, thank you so much!"

Lu Shi was speechless,

"..."

He deserves the other person's gratitude.

In the past two days, he had basically no chance to rest. He was completely dragged by Mark Twain and O. Henry to study the creation of plays and novels.

How to speed up the pace?

How to capture readers’ emotions?

How to enhance the reading experience?

…

Their problems can be summed up in one sentence:

How to write a good article?

Before Lu Shi traveled through time, he was a translator and did not write cool articles.

But modern people are influenced by various media and platforms. They have never eaten pork, but they have seen pigs running, and they can always express unique insights that transcend the times.

Mark Twain and O. Henry were inspired by knowledge and followed Lu Shi all the way from Boston to New York, completely refusing to let Lu Shi sleep.

Until now, Lu Shi was about to board the ship, but he still did not give up any opportunity to communicate.

Mark Twain said: "Lu, you have talked to me about such excellent novels before, such as "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". I have already read them and I was very shocked."

Lu Shi yawned,

My mind was confused and I didn't hear what the other party said clearly.

"Samuel, what did you say?"

Mark Twain was not angry and repeated it.

Lu Shi:! ! !

He was shocked: "Are you an iron man? You pester me to discuss every day, and even occasionally try to write exercises, but you still have time to read a long novel?"

Mark Twain spread his hands,

"I have read The Count of Monte Cristo a long time ago."

The implication is that I only read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" recently.

Lu Shi still found it incredible.

No matter how fast a person reads, he will not be able to finish "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in two days.

Not to mention the cultural barrier!

He pondered for a moment before remembering what was going on.

The earliest translation of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was translated by the Englishman Dun Luo (actually C.H. Brett Taylor).

At first, he only translated some chapters;

For example,

The death of Sun Ce, borrowing arrows from a straw boat, killing Hua Xiong with warm wine...

Lu Shi understood,

"So, Samuel, you just read a few chapters?"

Mark Twain was stunned for a moment;

"No wonder I feel something is wrong. However, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is indeed very enjoyable to read. Warming wine to kill Hua Xin, borrowing arrows from a straw boat, and the strategy of an empty city... are real and enjoyable. Especially the part about borrowing arrows from a straw boat is great! "

Lu Shi was a little surprised,

"I thought you would like Guan Yu warming the wine and killing Hua Xiong."

Mark Twain was embarrassed,

"It turns out to be Hua Xiong, not 'Hua Xin'? However, that section is indeed a classic and demonstrates Guan Yu's military power."

He changed the topic back,

"But I prefer the part that shows wisdom. Zhuge Liang used straw boats and fog as cover to successfully borrow a large number of arrows from Cao Cao. This method of borrowing gives people a more satisfying feeling than directly robbing them."

Lu Shi nodded,

In just a few hundred words, Luo Guanzhong blends rhythm, plot setting, contrast, conflict, and suspense.

This profound skill is the envy of many Internet writers.

Lu Shi glanced at Mark Twain, worried that the other person would go too far while studying cool articles, and quickly said: "I want to make it clear that "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a historical novel with a serious theme."

Mark Twain was stunned for a moment;

"Ha ha ha ha!"

He smiled and said: "Lu, I know what you are worried about. Don't worry, I can distinguish the good ones."

Lu Shi was curious,

"What do you think I'm worried about?"

Mark Twain gently twirled his beard,

"The kind of novel that only arouses emotions. Every chapter and every section is just to entertain readers. It doesn't talk about the theme or narrative, and the mode is relatively simple. Therefore, in the end, it will make people feel routine and boring."

He stretched out his index finger again,

"Serious novels, on the other hand, have serious themes, but they can use techniques to enhance the pleasure of reading."

Lu Shi nodded,

It seems that my worries are unfounded.

After all, Mark Twain was a master at the palace level and would not make stupid mistakes.

Welty next to him smiled,

"I said before that if it's purely for fun, then I might as well take adrenaline shots every day."

This kind of joke can only be told by people doing scientific research.

After all, it’s only been in recent years that scientists have been able to successfully extract adrenaline.

A few people exchanged pleasantries.

Lu Shi shook hands with them one by one, said goodbye, and then walked towards the gangway.

Suddenly, someone called him from behind:

"Sir Lu!"

It's Cantonese.

Lu Shi turned around,

I saw Situ Meitang walking quickly, followed by two followers carrying plaques.

The plaque is empty.

"Tsk..."

Lu Shi was speechless.

Instinctively, I feel that the other person will let me inscribe.

Situ Meitang stepped forward,

"Sir Lu! You were going back to London, why didn't you tell me in advance and let me implement it for you."

He waved his hand,

"You should pay more attention to the affairs of the Global Overseas Chinese Association."

Two attendants brought the plaque.

Situ Meitang thought very thoroughly,

Sir Lu is a great writer, and giving him money is an insult.

Then why not play something elegant and ask him to write an inscription to help him become famous?

There will be good talk from now on.

Lu Shiwen: "I have always been very concerned about overseas Chinese, but this is... Let me start by saying that my calligraphy is particularly bad."

Situ Meitang waved his hand,

"You are so humble again. Previously, a fellow from Kaiping came from Japan and brought several issues of "Xinmin Congbao". There was an article praising your cursive script, saying it was 'continuous and closely echoed'. The author also quoted Many celebrities’ comments are full of praise.”

Lu Shi was curious,

"Celebrities? Who are they?"

Situ Meitang counted on his fingers: "Gu Hongming, Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei... the author of that article was the editor of the newspaper, named Jiang Guoliang."

Needless to say, the reasons why Gu and Liang are famous are:

Cai Yuanpei has recently launched a new school and has begun to stand out.

"Ah this..."

Lu Shi knew which character the other party was talking about.

It should be the plaque of the Mingfa Building built by the University of Paris, which "Mirror" took the lead in donating money.

He lowered his voice,

"I think Guanyun...er...is Jiang Guoliang. I think he misunderstood. The calligraphy he praised so highly was not cursive."

Situ Meitang was shocked.

"ah?"

There are so many well-known calligraphers, how can they get the font wrong?

Lu Shi continued: "I write yes in regular script."

As soon as these words came out, the scene fell into silence.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The two looked at each other.

After a while, Situ Meitang said: "It doesn't matter, foreigners think it looks good anyway."

Lu Shi said: "They can't appreciate calligraphy at all."

Situ Meitang chuckled,

"Chinese culture is vast and profound. The distance between 'finding it good-looking' and 'being able to appreciate it' is at least a history of calligraphy. Just being able to calm foreigners is enough."

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"Okay, it can calm foreigners. But there are also knowledgeable overseas Chinese. They may find it difficult to accept my words."

Situ Meitang waved his hand,

"No matter how knowledgeable they are, can they understand better than Mr. Liang?"

Lu Shi was speechless.

Now that the matter has come to this, it would be rude to push back any further.

He rolled up his sleeves,

"Here comes the pen! Comes the ink!"

Situ Meitang was a disciple of the Lian family, and he could hold the plaque by himself.

The two followers have their hands free to serve the pen and ink.

In an instant, the foreigners around him were all attracted, and they were full of curiosity.

Lu Shi picked up his pen and splashed ink,

Leave six characters on the plaque——

Overseas Chinese Association.

Situ Meitang took one look and was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

"This word... hiss..."

He took a breath,

Thought,

It’s different from what was said in Xinmin Congbao!

Could it be Mr. Ren...

No no no!

How could Mr. Ren go wrong!

What Sir Lu wrote must be in a new font,

A new, great font that has never been seen before!

Situ Meitang's anger sank into his Dantian,

"Okay! Good words!"

He shouted so loudly that he startled the Americans around him.

Mark Twain was the first to recover,

Bang bang bang——

Regardless of whether he understood it or not, he applauded wildly.

After that, the foreigners watching the excitement also applauded.

Some people even curiously inquired about Lu Shi’s identity.

Because Lu Shi gave many interviews and his photos often appeared in newspapers, he was quickly recognized.

Discussions arose everywhere,

"As expected of a great writer, his calligraphy is also great."

"It would be great if I could collect one."

"What's that plaque about? Is it the name of the Chinatown Theater? That play is very popular recently!"

…

Lu Shi muttered to himself:

"These people are so good at supporting us."

He patted Situ Meitang on the shoulder,

"finished."

Situ Meitang said "Ah..." as if he had just woken up from a dream, and replied: "Thank you Sir Lu...uh...President Lu. From now on, the Chinese will definitely be united, just like this cursive script, 'Continuous and close' echo'."

How else can we explain it this way?

Lu Shi really couldn't imagine it.

He coughed lightly,

"Yes, I believe so too."

After saying that, he shook hands with the other party solemnly and said, "Please take care of what happens next, Mr. Situ."

He said goodbye to several people, turned towards the gangway, and boarded the ship in front of everyone's attention.

Early September,

The morning breeze in New York Harbor carries the smell of salty seawater, gently blowing across the pier.

The sun shines on the sea,

The golden light intertwined with the blue water, like a flowing oil painting.

Even though it's autumn, it's still a bit hot to stay on the deck.

Lu Shi waved goodbye to his friends who were seeing him off, motioning them to leave, and then headed to the club.

At this time, many people have come here,

The gentlemen sat together, chatting and laughing,

The air is filled with the aroma of champagne and cigars, intertwined with the freshness of the sea breeze.

As soon as Lu Shi entered the door, someone immediately noticed him.

"Sir Lu!"

They all said hello to Lu Shi one after another.

"Your calligraphy is so good! It made me see the breadth of Chinese culture."

"Haha, calligraphy is good, but I prefer drama."

"If you ask me, it has to be novels! The recent novels are also very good. I have read them several times."

…

Lu Shi was surrounded and sat down.

The table in front of him was immediately filled with whiskey and cigars.

Lu Shi smiled and said, "You all like Harry Potter? I thought most of them were young people reading it."

Now, the "Mirror" novel version has been serialized into the second part of "The Secret Room\

,"The comic version is also cooperating.

A few days ago, Margarita even sent a telegram saying that newspaper sales had reached a new high. The Times and the Daily Telegraph combined could not beat the sales of the Mirror.

Someone was curious: "Sir Lu, you mentioned a new species in the second part - house elves. They are powerful, but they are kept in captivity. Are you implying something by creating this creature..."

Before he finished speaking, he was pushed by the person next to him.

"What did you say?"

Someone else echoed: "Creatures like house elves are bound by ancient magic and cannot attack their owners. "Harry Potter" is a fairy tale. Don't lead on those who have and have not."

The person who asked the question couldn't help but feel annoyed,

"The book was written by Sir Lu, but that doesn't mean we can't interpret it."

This is equivalent to:

"Lu is just a bad writer of novels, and he knows a lot about Harry Potter!"

Everyone rolled their eyes at him:

(ˉ▽￣~)Cut~~

Lu Shi said with a smile: "'In the eyes of a thousand readers, there will be a thousand Hamlets.' Let's seek common ground while reserving differences."

This open attitude was praised by everyone.

Someone else came forward,

"Sir Lu, "Harry Potter" is certainly very good, but I like your "The Haze of Truntemutter" better. And, thanks to your expertise in multiple languages, the French version of this novel is better than the English version. It has charm.”

Lu Shi:? ? ?

When have you ever written a book like this?

He asked, "What is Trontemute?"

Everyone at the scene was stunned.

After a while, someone said: "That is a small town in Nantes, located on the left bank of the Loire River. The town is a labyrinth-like village."

Lu Shi didn't know what was going on.

I have never even been to Nantes, let alone the little-known Trontémout.

He said: "Am I the author of that novel? Show me!"

The other party immediately went back to the house to check his suitcase, and soon came back with a French magazine called "Monster Night".

"There are many of your horror novels on it. Like "Call of Cthulhu", "The Haze of Trontemute", "Jude's Song"..."

Lu Shi took the magazine,

There are nine short stories in the book, all of which have one characteristic——

Author: Lu.

But Lu Shi only wrote three parts of the Cthulhu Mythos:

"Call of Cthulhu", "Brain in a Vat", "Color of the Stars\

,"I've never heard of the others.

He opened Jude's Song,

The novel begins with a ballad:

——

In the dark night, the stars disappear,

The long shadow fell down, right in that hidden shrine,

The songs among the stars, no one knows,

The song died silently in Karnizoye...

——

"that,"

Lu Shi was a little unsure,

“Is there a place like Karni Zoye in reality?”

Everyone exchanged glances, and after a moment they came to a conclusion, saying in unison: "I haven't heard of it."

So, this is indeed a fictional place.

Lu Shi began to read,

The novel records ambiguous, real and illusory dreams.

Because both the songs and the writing are very Cthulhu-like, when reading, the reader will have the feeling of being gradually dominated by the dreams sent by Hastur (the King in Yellow).

Lu Shi pondered,

The only ones who know about the setting collection are those French writers,

The range of “suspects” is small.

So, he read it carefully again, looking for any clues.

After a while, he said: "It is basically certain that this is the work of Mr. Marcel Proust."

In fact, it is not difficult to judge,

Proust is currently moving towards stream-of-consciousness literature, and the dream described in "Jude's Song" has obvious characteristics.

Moreover, Lu Shi had previously been a judge for the Jules Verne Prize and had read Proust’s submitted works in depth, so he had a good understanding of his writing style.

People at the scene were a little confused.

"Sir Lu, you mean that "Jude's Song" is not your work?"

Lu Shi smiled,

"It's not just this one."

He began to read other articles,

"

I'm not sure about "The Haze at Trauntermute". I feel it was written by Mr. Poincaré;

This piece is simple and must have been written by Jules;

This article... This article looks like it was written by Mr. France. Although he deliberately imitated the repetitive rhetoric of "Call of Cthulhu", his rigid writing style is difficult to hide;

…

"

The people present were speechless.

It feels like these French writers are engaging in performance art.

Lu Shi knew the reason well.

Verne and the others probably felt that they were inspired by the Cthulhu setting collection, and the setting collection was Lu Shi's idea, so they all signed it together.

Lu Shi sighed,

"Brother, you are so generous..."