Chapter 348: Chapter 348: 327 Must Read Classics_1

There’s a reason why Silver Blue Books didn’t immediately publish “The Murder on the Orient Express” and instead chose to release the novel a week later for a showdown with Leng Guang.

Two reasons, in fact.

Before we delve into those reasons, we should note the reading experience Silver Blue Books had the day they received “The Murder on the Orient Express” —

Stunning!

Praise-worthy!

Shocking!

As the first editor at the publishing house to complete “The Murder on the Orient Express,” Dezhi Cao, couldn’t hold back his astonishment when he got to the end of the novel. He even exclaimed in his office:

“Awesome!”

The outburst was so loud that it echoed throughout the mystery department, startling many of the editors there.

Not just in the mystery department.

In fact, his screams reached the magazine department next door and triggered some chatter.

“Is Dezhi watching another soccer game?”

“I don’t think there are any games on recently.”

“So why is he freaking out?”

“…”

The magazine department next door chatted for a bit.

It seems they were also taken aback by Dezhi’s loud outburst.

Everyone remembered the last time Dezhi had made such a racket at work – he was secretly watching a soccer game, and his team, which he had supported for many years, won the championship for the first time.

As a result, he had 1,000 yuan deducted from his performance bonus.

Unfortunately, due to the underperformance of Silver Blue Books’ mystery department, Dezhi didn’t get much bonus in the first place.

It was a big blow for Dezhi, already the poorest editor-in-chief at the company.

This time, with no passing senior executives, Dezhi got off scot-free.

Or so he thought that morning.

However, that afternoon saw the mystery department seemingly infected by Dezhi’s excitement, and they started shrieking. The ruckus spread throughout the entire company—

Affecting many departments.

How to describe it?

It’s like when you were a student, quietly attentive in class, and suddenly the class next door erupts into a frenzy, piquing your extreme curiosity.

What happened?

Did all the teachers in the class next door fall ill?

Is only the physical education teacher healthy enough to teach?

What happened exactly?

Why are they so excited?

Why do I feel a bit envious?

In any case, the editors of the magazine department next door were certainly curious.

A few even stealthily came over during their break to inquire.

“Our department’s performance this year is promising!”

The editor of the mystery department excitedly explained why they had just erupted into cheers, a faint blush still lingering on their faces.

“Which bigwig is leading the charge?”

Being editors themselves, they naturally knew that if a department’s performance was promising, it could often be attributed to a masterpiece by one of their authors.

In the literary world, supporting a department with a single masterpiece is not a problem.

“Does the mystery department have other bigwigs?”

The editor of the mystery department responded naturally: “Chu Kuang, of course! His new work … eh, you’re not into mystery, so let me tell you this way, Chu Kuang’s new work is destined for greatness!”

“…”

The magazine department editor stayed dumbfounded for a moment, then felt a pang of envy.

The specific reasons remain unmentioned for now.

Returning to the two reasons the novel can only be published a week later.

The first reason:

Dezhi Cao wanted a heavyweight from the world of mystery to write an introduction for “The Murder on the Orient Express” to help promote the novel.

This takes time.

The novel is too good, it must have a preface written by a very highly esteemed author.

Normally, if Dezhi Cao wanted to get a heavyweight from the mystery world to write a preface for a new book by one of their authors, he’d have to pull all sorts of strings, and it wouldn’t be easy.

After all, writing a preface doesn’t pay, and if an author’s status isn’t high enough, why would they go out of their way to write one?

But…

If it’s a preface for “The Murder on the Orient Express,” Dezhi Cao believes that even top-tier mystery authors would not refuse!

They might even be happy about it!

Who wouldn’t want to write a preface for a piece destined to become a classic? Writing a preface for such a work is also an honor for the author!

The second reason:

Dezhi Cao hopes that “The Murder on the Orient Express” can first be sent to the detective association under the Literature and Art Association for scoring. He wants the piece to dominate its rivals in the Literary Duel with its score even before its release.

This also needs a few days.

As for the department being too rowdy and consequently being reprimanded by the company for lack of discipline, Dezhi Cao doesn’t care.

When you’re standing in front of a mountain of gold and your boss calls to tell you that your bonus will be deducted this month, you won’t mind either, you might even find it amusing.

The analogy might not be perfect, but when Dezhi Cao got “The Murder on the Orient Express,” he did feel the joy of hitting the jackpot.

Dezhi Cao couldn’t help but recall the first time he read “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.”

While he knew Chu Kuang’s work was fantastic, he never imagined that he was witnessing the rise of a new god in the world of mystery!

It turns out that Narrative Trickery was just a warm-up for Chu Kuang.

The truly terrifying Chu Kuang is serious Chu Kuang after the warm-up!

In fact,

The publication of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” alone, has already made the performance of the mystery department less disappointing this year.

When averaged with the current annual sales of the company, everyone’s data looks pretty decent—

That’s right.

The sales of Chu Kuang’s works, combined with the sales of other mystery writers in the department, and then averaged, the results indeed look pretty decent.

This is the so-called one man supporting a department!

If you average the property of a group of poor folks with that of Jack Ma, the average wealth will look pretty impressive.

Chu Kuang is indeed the pillar that raises the average performance of the mystery department.

Meanwhile,

Chu Kuang’s new work seems to be taking the whole department to new heights! How can Dezhi Cao not scream in excitement?

Over the next few days,

News keeps coming back to Dezhi Cao.

“Professor Carter has written the preface for ‘The Murder on the Orient Express’. He personally sent it over and also expressed that if possible, he hopes that Mr. Chu Kuang could also write a preface for his work.”

“I see.”

Dezhi Cao smiled as expected.

Even Carter couldn’t resist the allure of “The Murder on the Orient Express” and even wanted Chu Kuang to write a preface for his work—

Of course, Carter wouldn’t just let anyone write a preface for his work.

“In addition,”

Dezhi Cao’s assistant looked a little stunned, “The detective association has also given a score for ‘The Murder on the Orient Express’, and their teachers have asked us to submit the work for next year’s mystery award.”

“We’ll talk about awards later. What score did they give?”

“See for yourself.”

The assistant handed over the document.

After glancing at the score, Dezhi Cao obviously started breathing more rapidly.

Mystery Novel “The Murder on the Orient Express.”

Detective Association Rating: 92.4

By the way, the score for “The Apartment” was 79.3, which is already a great score.

And another thing, every piece that has received a score above 90 from the detective association is universally recognized as a super masterpiece within the industry!

There’s a saying in the industry, “Mystery stories that received a score above 90 from the detective association are all considered must-read classics!”

And this is “The Murder on the Orient Express.”