Chapter 1596 - Gone with the Wind sells like hotcakes!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

At night.

At Zhang Ye’s parents’ house.

Zhang Ye and Wu Zeqing brought Sisi over.

When his mother came up to them, she held her hand over her son’s forehead.

Zhang Ye said, “What are you doing, Mom?”

His mother said, “I’m checking to see if you have a fever.”

Zhang Ye said, “Why would I have a fever?”

His mother asked, “So it’s true then, what they said on the news?”

His father also said in dismay, “You’re really trying to get the Nobel Prize?”

“Yeah,” Zhang Ye replied in a casual tone.

His mother said in a speechless manner, “Rascal, is something wrong with you?”

Sisi tilted her head in response and said, “Daddy is awesome!”

His mother rolled her eyes and said, “Your daddy might be awesome, but that’s the Nobel Prize. No Chinese person has ever gotten it before. All the online news articles are calling your daddy arrogant for wanting to get it.”

Sisi was having none of it. “They’re all baddies!”

Wu Zeqing laughed. She patted her daughter on the head and said, “Yes, your daddy is the most awesome. Just wait until Daddy brings home the Nobel Prize and show them.”

Sisi nodded happily. “Mhm! Mhm!”

Zhang Ye said happily, “Don’t give Daddy so much pressure. I’m only going to try for it. I can’t be sure I’ll get it.”

Wu Zeqing said, “Just give it a shot.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “That’s what I mean. Let’s see how the book sales do first.”

Even though the Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded based on a novel’s sales figures, since that would make the existence of the committee pointless, the sales figures would definitely still affect the consideration of who it was awarded to. Oh, so if your novel had a circulation of 10,000 copies around the world, and no one had even read it before or even knew who you were, how could the Nobel Prize possibly be presented to you? There would have to be at least a large enough basis in sales for the world to know about you, giving you the chance to break into the international scene. And this was exactly what Zhang Ye was lacking at the moment. And taking a 1,000 steps back, so to speak, even if Zhang Ye didn’t manage to get the Nobel Prize at the end of it all, if this book could hit a certain sales figure globally, it would still give Zhang Ye’s popularity a great boost and get him closer to the international scene.

There was still a month until the Nobel Prizes were given out.

But just how would the international audience react to this top ten masterpiece of a novel from his previous world?

Would they accept it?

Or would they reject it?

Would they give it recognition?

Or would they disapprove of it?

It would either silently fade away.

Or become a bestseller across the world.

Zhang Ye knew that these were the only two outcomes for Gone with the Wind in this world. There wouldn’t be a third possibility of it performing lukewarmly, so he was waiting, waiting for a result!

…

America.

At a college town.

“North, why haven’t I seen you around the past couple days?”

“Oh, hey, Alice. I’ve been reading a book.”

“What book? That has you so hooked?”

“It’s a great read! I recommend you read it.”

“What’s it called?”

“Gone with the Wind.”

“Eh? This book again?”

“What do you mean?”

“Ricky also recommended it to me.”

“He read it too?”

“Since so many people have recommended it, it should be pretty good. I’ll buy a copy too then.”

…

Canada.

On social media.

“Recommending a book! It’s a great read!”

“What book?”

“Gone with the Wind! It was recently published!”

“I’ve never heard of it. Who’s the author?”

“Someone called Zhang Ye. I’ve never heard of this person before either.”

“That’s an unknown writer, so it’s probably a newcomer, right?”

“But the book is so good. I’ve never read such an amazing book before! I have a feeling that this book will down in history!”

“Seriously?”

“It’s such a great book! You guys will understand after reading it!”

“I’ll go and buy a copy.”

“Where can I get it?”

…

New Zealand.

At a bookstore.

“Manager! I’d like a copy of Gone with the Wind!”

“I want three copies. My friends are asking me to buy it for them.”

“Sorry, it’s sold out.”

“What? Wasn’t it just published?”

“Yeah, the stock is limited, so it was already sold out by this morning.”

“When are you going to restock it?”

“I’ll call to the publishers later. Er, is the book really that good? I’ve had a lot of people coming in to ask about it these past two days.”

“I’ve not read it either, but a lot of people are recommending it online.”

…

The UK.

“Heavens!”

“This is a book that absolutely has a fight with The Pullus Family!”

“The Pullus Family? That’s one of the top ten famous works of the world!”

“Just read it and you all will know what I mean. That Chinese writer is absolutely incredible!”

“So this is the book that was written by the world’s number one hacker?”

“Yes. Lillian even sung with him during the Olympics.”

“Ah, so it’s that guy?! I know him!”

“Where’d you get your copy of the book?”

“It’s not sold anywhere anymore. It’s out of stock.”

…

Australia.

“Can anyone get a copy of Gone with the Wind?”

“Why are you asking as well?”

“Everyone’s recommending the book like crazy!”

“Yeah, my uni’s form teacher and everyone else are recommending I read it too.”

“I managed to get a copy of it. I only bought it with the mentality of giving the book a try. But I couldn’t have expected that by the end of the third day, I didn’t even want to go to work!”

“Is the book really that good?”

“It’s a rare work that only appears every 100 years!”

“There’s war and the impact that it has on the livelihood of the people. It’s so well-written!”

“Agreed, this is fucking the best novel!”

“The only problem is that I can’t buy it anymore. It’s out of stock everywhere!”

…

At an international publishing house.

One of the partners for the English edition of Gone with the Wind.

Within the office of the publishing house was a flurry of talking on phones.

“What’s happening?”

“It’s about Gone with the Wind again?”

“They’re asking us for a restock again?”

“We’ve already printed 50,000 copies, but it’s been sold out in only four days?”

“It’s such a popular book?”

“Chief Editor, what do we do now?”

“What else can we do? Print another run! Increase the supply! Give them however much they’re asking for!”

“Then how many copies should we plan for the second print run?”

“—Another 500,000 copies!”

“What? That many? Wouldn’t that be too risky?”

“Risky? My ass! I’ve been reading this book for the past three days! After today, this book will definitely have a place in history among the literature of the world! I guarantee it!”

“Understood!”

“We will step up the publicity as well!”

…

On the first day.

Gone with the Wind was unknown.

The next day.

The word of mouth surrounding Gone with the Wind picked up.

On the third day.

Gone with the Wind had blown up.

In just a few short days.

Its reputation.

Its sales.

The English edition of Gone with the Wind had experienced an explosion in countless English-speaking countries around the world!

There were almost no promotions, with very few advertisements run, and just a small initial print run for the book, so no one really knew about it. But just like that, a novel named Gone with the Wind that was written by a Chinese citizen was suddenly standing out from the rest of its competition and pushed to the forefront! It was as though the global literary field had been taken over by Gone with the Wind! This shocked countless people all around the world!

Additional print run!

Additional print run!

And another additional print run!

500,000 copies!

1 million copies!

2 million copies!

Gone with the Wind was selling like hotcakes!

It was so crazy that everyone was dumbfounded!

Following the CIH incident from years ago, Zhang Ye’s name appeared on the international scene for the second time!