Back to 80: My Literary Life

Amazon COO Jack has been a little troubled recently. He didn't expect that the war in traditional media would spread to the Internet, and even to Amazon's website.

The reason is still the novel "Road Spike" written by the writer Minghua.

This novel is published by Ashley Press and appeared on Amazon for the first time.

Although this is a serious novel, it is not a bestseller. However, because it is written by the famous writer Minghua, and the Harry Potter series of novels he is writing are selling well in the United States, many fans of Minghua also bought this book on the website, and the sales were pretty good.

However, because the theme of "Chinese workers are the main force in building the Pacific Railway" in the novel goes against the mainstream American understanding that the Pacific Railway was built by Americans, it has attracted criticism from many people, especially those white supremacists who came to this book. Leave comments, criticize or even abuse, and encourage readers not to buy this book.

That's all. Some people even left messages on the "Harry Potter" series of novels, calling on readers to boycott all novels written by Minghua!

This made Jack very angry. The Harry Potter series can be said to be the best-selling series on the website. How could he just watch these people make trouble?

Of course, he personally was not very fond of this book. He felt that Minghua's writing was a bit exaggerated. Is it all the credit of you Chinese workers? What do we Americans have to eat? !

So he decided to take the book off the shelves once and for all.

As a result, within two days, he received a call from Ms. Demi, the president of Ashley Press, asking, "Mr. Jack, "Tail Spike" written by Mr. Minghua was suddenly removed from your website. It is said that it was your order. Is that so?"

Demi's aggressive tone made Jack feel uncomfortable, but he still answered patiently: "Ms. Demi, this book has caused huge controversy in the country, and I think you know it, and it has affected the operation of our Amazon website. It has been removed from the shelves. The website is beneficial to Minghua personally. Are you willing to see the sales of the Harry Potter series drop?”

Unexpectedly, Demi's answer was unexpectedly tough.

"Mr. Jack, let me remind you that according to the contract signed by both parties, unless the federal government explicitly orders a ban on the sale of a certain book, your website has no right to remove it!"

Jack became angry when he heard this: "Ms. Demi, don't forget that we have additional terms and conditions: If the sales of a certain book seriously affects the normal operation of our website, we have the right to remove it from the shelves!"

“Do you think this book affected Amazon’s operations?”

"Isn't it?!"

"OK, I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Bezos!"

"Whatever." Jack shrugged.

It doesn't matter.

Bezos is currently busy acquiring websites and will never be interested in this trivial matter.

Indeed, Bezos has been very busy recently, and the website is undergoing rapid expansion.

Just this year, Amazon acquired three companies in one go!

In April, it acquired IMD, an Internet movie database company.

In August, with 1.8glee, data mining company

Also in August, it acquired Planetall (a social network company) for US$93 million.

He was very busy with recent things, but when he heard Demi's phone call to complain, he still listened patiently.

"OK, Ms. Demi, tell Mr. Fang that his book will be on the shelves soon and wish him a happy life."

Putting down his cell phone, Bezos paused, then picked up the landline and dialed a number: "Jack, come to me, right away."

Three minutes later, Jack appeared in Bezos' office.

"Minghua's book "The Road Spike" will be on the shelves soon." Bezos spoke crisply.

"This book is very controversial in China. It is said that it has alarmed some federal lawmakers. I am worried that it will affect the reputation of our website." Jack explained quickly.

"Our website sells books, adhering to tolerance, neutrality, freedom, and not participating in any political topics. Jack, I think you know." Bezos explained patiently.

"But."

"No buts!" Bezos seemed impatient. Looking at the stubborn Jack, he asked angrily: "Do you know who the author of this book is?"

"Chinese, Minghua." Jack was a little surprised, not knowing why the other party asked him such a childish question.

"Minghua, what's your original name?"

"Fang Minghua."

"Jack, go check out our top ten shareholders' information!"

See shareholder information?

Jack was stunned for a moment, not knowing what Bezos meant by suddenly saying this.

Suddenly, the name of one of the top ten shareholders crossed his mind.

Fang Minghua, a natural person ranked second, owns 30% of Amazon.com.

Oh my god.

Minghua from this side is Minghua from that side? !

Jack suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

He actually removed the second largest shareholder’s book from the shelves!

Fortunately, Fang Minghua is in China and probably won't be able to see the situation here for the time being.

"Bezos, I will order the book to be put on the shelves immediately." Jack replied immediately.

"OK, go ahead, keep this matter confidential."

Jack hurried out of the office. He now understood why the woman named Demi had such a tough attitude and was almost confident. This was the reason.

Soon, the book "Road Spike" appeared in the best-seller recommendation column on Amazon.com, and there were a bunch of comments below, with support and opposition, and they were very noisy.

Jack no longer cares about what he likes.

The experience of "Railroad Spike" on Amazon is just a small episode of the book's experience in the United States. In the United States, many people have joined the ranks of criticizing the book, including some right-wing media figures such as Rush Limbaugh, one of the hosts of Talkshow, and well-known writer Kurt Gangkai, who criticized Minghua's novel for fraud.

"His novel is full of lies and disgusting. How could the builders of the great Pacific Railway be a group of Chinese workers who smuggled from China?!"

Even Senator Orrin Hatch publicly criticized the novel: "I think that the most important thing for a writer, whether American or Chinese, is conscience and honesty. It is a pity that Mr. Minghua, a famous writer, forgot all this when he wrote this book."

He even declared that he would propose a bill in the Senate to ban the publication of this book.

Fang Minghua, who is far away in China, naturally does not know what happened in the United States.

The weather is good today. The northwest wind that has been blowing for several days has finally stopped, and the sun has also shown a long-lost smile.

It is now the beginning of December, and the submission of the online literature competition has ended. In a few days, we will go to Shanghai for the final evaluation.

Fang Minghua had been feeling dizzy from reading articles for days. It was a rare good day, so he sat in the courtyard, basking in the sun, drinking tea, stroking his dog's head, squinting his eyes and humming a song.

The boat I'm waiting for hasn't come yet

The person I'm waiting for doesn't understand yet

Loneliness sinks silently into the sea

Richie Jen's "Sad Pacific".

Richie Jen is so popular, this song and "Too Soft Heart" are sung all over the streets of Xijing.

Just at this moment, the phone in the living room rang, and Fang Minghua had to stand up and go to the living room to answer the phone.

It was Li Li calling.