Reveal the "2 Channels" -- Bookstores

Author: Zhou Xinjing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: "The poor become rich because of books," and this phrase is never truer when applied to the protagonists of this book. Of course, they didn’t get rich by reading, but by selling books: Hong Kong bookseller Huang Ping, documentary writer Xiao Weiwei, General Manager of the Book City Xu Zhilun, the beautiful Xiao Yumei, and the exquisite Xue Yueyue. They either wrote, published, or sold books, all entangled together because of books. They all longed to get rich and indeed profited greatly from selling books, but conflicts of interest and the of desires ultimately led to their moral downfall. In a sense, the novel vividly portrays a small society, a treacherous and decadent world of material desires! A mere "" (documentary) paper throws everything that can pique people’s curiosity into the market in an overwhelming manner. Hong Kong "publisher" Huang Ping, who is mining for gold in the sea of books, strikes a deal with Xiao Weiwei, one of the main figures behind the documentary literature wave, over a manuscript titled The Five Amazing People, but later turns against her lover Wu Yimin, who exudes the aura of a two-channel "leader." The beautiful Xiao Yumei hooks up with General Manager Xu Zhilun of the Great World Book City with a "Five Willow Live Fish" at a dinner table, securing 600,000 yuan. Huang Ping boldly tells her own story, which is written by a "ghostwriter" into A Dream in the Red Dust. Under her temptation, Xiao Yumei’s boyfriend Yang Yaping falls into a "critical state." Assistant General Manager Chu Wei of the Great World Book City, unable to resist the persuasion of her brother Chu Bin and ex-boyfriend Liao Xiong, lends the 600,000 yuan Xiao Yumei "hooked" to them to "play the stock market for a week," only to end up with worthless stocks. Chu Wei realizes that in business, even a small amount of familial sentiment often leads to ten times the mistakes. The exquisite Xue Yueyue, like a valley orchid, dedicates herself to translating Xiao Weiwei’s The Devil’s Gate day and night, yet opens a true "devil’s door" for herself. Her cousin’s husband Wu Yimin sees the translation manuscript and, driven by both profit and lust, descends into moral depravity, even raping her. To "save" Chu Wei, Xiao Weiwei sells the manuscript that Xue Yueyue had painstakingly translated, sacrificing her own body to protect it. Xue Yueyue is heartbroken. General Manager Xu Zhilun of the Great World Book City is both envious of Huang Ping’s wealth and covets Xiao Yumei’s body, which triggers a "big explosion."