Al Press, in the office.

Still holding "Shadow Empire" in his hand, Al temporarily stopped continuing to read the book,

The expression on his face was a little solemn, as was his wife Penny, who was sitting next to him.

Both felt a kind of pressure.

Although I have full confidence in Mr. I's "Ordinary and Great",

But there is no doubt that "Shadow Empire" is also no worse than "Ordinary and Great".

Moreover, the popularity of this book is so high, like a mountain and a sea, that the readership is now far larger than that of "Ordinary and Great".

With the enthusiasm and carnival of the readers of "Shadow Empire" and ABC's readers, it is difficult to guarantee that it will not affect "The Ordinary and the Great", which is now on the rise.

At the very least, a large number of readers will have their attention snatched away.

Al turned his head and made eye contact with Penny.

Could it be that when single-day sales have begun to climb rapidly, this trend can be stopped again by this "Shadow Empire"?

"Shall we do something?"

Penny looked at Al and said aloud.

Al paused, turned his head, put down the "Shadow Empire" in his hand, and re-lit the computer in front of him that had turned off the screen,

The computer screen lights up, and the web page that was not closed before is displayed.

Refreshed.

saw some news on the Internet and social platforms,

"Shadow Empire is expected to sell more than five million copies on the first day, will "Kite" be able to achieve this result in global online subscriptions?"

"Kite" has been serialized online, "Shadow Empire" has been officially released, and the showdown between ABC and the dog author has begun."

"The Europa Prize for Fairy Tale Literature has been confirmed to be awarded to The Kite."

"The German Literature Prize is about to announce this year's winners, and the selection committee revealed that it is likely to be awarded to "Shadow Empire""

"A magical realism masterpiece not to be missed, the total sales of "Ordinary and Great" exceeded 200,000."

Browsing these messages on the Internet and social platforms,

Some smiles gradually appeared on the face of Al, who was originally solemn,

Even in this case, the dog author and ABC's new work is surging with popularity, and you can still see news about "Ordinary and Great" from time to time,

Not only these news headlines, but also the related comments underneath,

The news about "The Ordinary and the Great" doesn't come so much, but it always stubbornly keeps coming.

Even in this case, the loyal readers of "Ordinary and Great" are still working hard to keep the small popularity of "Ordinary and Great".

That's enough!

Al's gaze became more and more determined,

He didn't believe that there was such a group of loyal readers, and the number was still growing.

To this extent, the trend of single-day sales growth of "Ordinary and Great" can still be stopped!

No more!

As he said to Mr. I before, there are no more works, and any writer can prevent Mr. I's "Ordinary and Great" from exploding, blooming in front of more people, and achieving more remarkable results.

Even if this is a human ABC, even if this work is "Shadow Empire", then it can't!

"Penny, did you see that?"

"See! Even "Shadow Empire" can no longer drown out the popularity of "Ordinary and Great". ”

"Well, moreover, now we don't need to beat "Shadow Empire" in popularity, we just need to always see the name of "Ordinary and Great" on the Internet, and it is enough to always have the popularity of "Ordinary and Great"."

"Most readers, don't read just one work, it's like there used to be, the competition between ABC and dog authors! As long as "Ordinary and Great" can hold on to the current popularity and become the opponent of "Shadow Empire" or "Kite", it has already won. ”

"And I have undoubted confidence in "Ordinary and Great"!"

"Me too! I think all the readers who have read "The Ordinary and the Great" are! ”

……

"My dear wife, do you see that?"

As a literary translator of the White Flag Chinese version of "Ordinary and Great", the Russian version,

Voss was looking at his laptop at this moment, browsing the news on the Internet, and his face was a little happy,

But Voss's wife, who is a little anxious at this moment,

"See? What do you see? What do you have to be happy about, the popularity of your translated work "Ordinary and Great" has been stolen by "Shadow Empire"! ”

"It's really uncomfortable to watch "Ordinary and Great" just get a little better, but it happened to such a thing again."

My wife has also read "Ordinary and Great", and she likes this work very much, so she pays special attention to the situation of this book.

"Haha......"

Seeing his wife's anxious appearance, Voss laughed even more happily,

"Are you still happy? I remember that you didn't seem to be involved in the translation of the Shadow Empire, right? ”

"No, just my dear wife, look at this...... Look at this ......"

Voss pointed to his wife as he pointed to several comments on the Internet that appeared on the computer screen.

“…… Cool, "Shadow Empire" is so good, by the way, I also bought another book, "Ordinary and Great"

"I bought "Ordinary and Great", "Shadow Empire", and I feel like the next few days will be wonderful and happy days!"

"Friends, what is the book "Ordinary and Great"? I see a lot of people mentioning it. ”

These reviews of "Ordinary and Great" are mixed with those news about "Shadow Empire",

Mixed in and can be seen from time to time.

The wife followed Voss's gaze, and the anxiety on her face gradually faded, and she became a little hesitant.

"It seems that "Ordinary and Great" is still hot."

"Yes, and that's what I saw directly when I clicked on the related topic, and I didn't directly search for news about "Ordinary and Great......"

"Haha...... There is no work that can stop "Ordinary and Great" from blooming with his brilliance! ”

"Everyone will see this work!"

Voss laughed again, rejoicing at the expected results of "The Ordinary and the Great",

"I seem to have seen that in the future my epitaph reads that I have completed the first translation of "The Ordinary and the Great"!"

His wife was next to her, and she smiled.

……

Also in the White Flag Country,

There are also a group of people who are having a headache at this moment.

They are members of the selection committee for the Europa Writers' Prize.

The Europa Writers Award is an award on par with the Europa Literary Award.

It rotates annually to be hosted by several major countries in Europa, and this year it is in the White Flag Country.

The influence of the award is not big, but it is not small.

If it is compared with the Booker Prize and the Goncourt Prize, it is a second-rate award.

But it's good to take it out alone.

Originally, their selection was not so troublesome,

But the bad luck is the bad luck, they will be the first awards after the release of "Shadow Empire" and "Kite",

This premise has given them the attention they shouldn't have, and they also have a huge pressure that they didn't have.

You don't see, that is, when the previous Goncourt Literary Award faced these two writers, the selection committee members of the two factions quarreled fiercely, and the quarrel between the two selection committee members on the Internet continued until the end of the award, and the two parties were eager to fight directly.

The Europa Writers' Prize does not have the same confidence as the Goncourt Literary Prize, and the sheer number of readers on the other side can make the jury feel the pressure on their faces.

What's more, there is still controversy among the selection committees.

Now

A group of selection committee members, sitting around a conference room,

The person presiding over the meeting did not speak, and the judges sitting on both sides did not speak.

It's just that they all turn their eyes and look at the other judges around them quietly, as if they want to see each other's tendencies, and at the same time prevent people who disagree with them from suddenly 'erupting'.

"Friends, I know it's a tough decision, but we still have to make a decision about who to give the award to."

"Although I am a person from North Comprehensive Publishing and have a certain relationship with Bert Press, which publishes "Shadow Empire", you can rest assured that I will never be deliberately biased, and of course, I will not support "Shadow Empire" in order to deliberately avoid suspicion."

The person presiding over the meeting coughed dryly, and then broke the silence in the conference room.

I saw that the other judges in the conference room all turned their eyes to the person who presided over the meeting.

Someone continued to be silent, silent,

Someone moved, ready to speak,

But there's a faster one,

"Bang! What do you mean by that? I want to make a shady scene! What if you're from North General Publishing! I will not agree with such an act of yours! Although "Shadow Empire" is excellent, it is still worse than "Kite"! ”

An older jurator's face turned red, and he slammed the table with the book in his hand, and stood up to retort,

The first half of the sentence is nothing, and the second half of the sentence also reveals its own tendencies.

"I also think it's more appropriate to give the award to "Kite", we are the Europa Writers Award, and the authors of "Kite" have significantly richer creative works than ABC, and there are more works, obviously the author of "Kite" is more suitable for our award!"

"Fuck you! If you say so, what else do we judge! Count the number of works of that writer every year, and give it to him! ”

Someone roared even more angrily, and then there was an even louder roar,

In the conference room, the judges of the two parties come and go, arguing so much that they are red-faced and inextricable.

“…… Friends! Friends! There is no point in arguing like this, we have to come up with a unified decision. ”

After arguing for a while, seeing that the quarrel was getting more and more intense, the person presiding over the meeting quickly slapped the table and shouted several times to stop this endless and meaningless quarrel.

"We made a choice, and we chose one of our works to win the award!"

The conference room finally fell silent,

But if you look closely, you will find that many judges have changed positions.

The judges who supported the two writers stood together with the judges who supported the same work.

Divide on both sides, staring at each other.

“…… It looks like we don't have to vote anymore, do you guys have anything to say? What advice will allow us to make a decision as soon as possible? ”

The person presiding over the meeting looked back and forth, and the judges on both sides could be said to be distinct.

It is not said that the number of judges on both sides is the same, but the difference is very small, and it is not enough to reach a consensus.

“…… Why don't we learn from the previous British Literature Prize and give it to these two writers at the same time? ”

One of the judges hesitated and made a suggestion,

Many judges were also a little hesitant.

"No! To whomever the measures are given, to whomever they are given, and if so, what else do we want us to do? And this method has already been used by the British Literature Award, what will we do if we use it again? ”

Another jury vehemently objected.

The two judges, who were originally wavering and hesitant, were firm again.

"Then the British Literature Award can be like this, why can't we?"

The judge who had just proposed spoke up again.

The room was quiet again, with judges staring at each other and no one talking.

“…… In that case, we ......"

The person presiding over the meeting wants to settle down like this,

But immediately after, another judge spoke,

"I have an opinion, since you can't make a decision for a long time, why don't you take a look at another work?"

As the judge spoke, he hesitated,

The other judges looked at him with strange eyes.

"If you can't choose between these two works, just choose a work that is not as good as these two works? It is better to choose one of these two works at random, and bear the pressure of at least one writer and reader, which is far better than being scolded by readers on both sides at the same time and losing the credibility of the award. ”

"Whew...... That was not what I meant. ”

When the proposed judge heard the words of the person next to him, his eyes became firm,

"I'm not saying that I will pick another work at random, but in addition to the new books of these two writers, there is another work that I also think is excellent, at least not worse than the new books of these two writers."

"The name of this book is "Ordinary and Great", it is published by a small publishing house in White Flag China, and it is also on our shortlist."

"I highly recommend this work, and I think he deserves the award. It's just that his sales and popularity are not as good as those two works, but shouldn't we discover such excellent but not widely known works for more readers to see? ”

This judge said a lot in a row, recommending "Ordinary and Great".

"I don't necessarily have to have the same opinion as me, but before the re-selection, can the judges read this work carefully?"

Before that, the attention of the judges was on "Kite" and "Shadow Empire",

After all, the choice between these two books is what makes them the most distressed.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy this work as much as you read it."

Listening to this judge,

Other judges were hesitant, but others agreed.

"The Ordinary and the Great? yes, this work is also very good! I'm sure anyone who has actually read him will give the same assessment. ”

"It's just that he has fewer readers and less popularity."

"This work is good...... I stayed up late last night to watch ......"

The words of the previous judge broke the shackles, and soon many of the judges had different opinions other than "Kite" and "Shadow Empire".

Support The Ordinary and the Great.

"So what's the case...... Let's take some more time and read "The Ordinary and the Great" one more time, and then start voting again. ”

The person presiding over the meeting said again.

None of the judges said anything, but they all nodded, and the ones who had stood up sat down again,

I opened "The Ordinary and the Great" one after another, and sat in the conference room, reading.

Soon, the judges in the conference room quieted down and gradually immersed themselves in the story of "Ordinary and Great".

Even the person who presided over the meeting lowered his head and opened "Ordinary and Great" again.

Time passed quietly in the pages of this conference room.

This time

Looking at "Ordinary and Great", the judges kept seeing the sun outside the window, and saw that the lights had to be turned on in the conference room.

Until late at night, some judges have finished reading, and some judges still have a lot of content that they haven't finished reading.

But they all stopped reading this work one after another,

One individual stared at each other, but no one spoke.

"It seems that after reading this work, you all have some new opinions."

"So be it, let's vote directly."

"Those who support the award of "Ordinary and Great", please raise your hand."

“…… It seems that most of the judges have agreed on the same page...... Well, Mr. Villard, do you have any other comments? ”

"I have no opinion, I love this work, and it was a good decision to choose this equally good work when I couldn't choose one from 'Kite' and 'Shadow Empire'."

"But I'm worried that readers of "Kite" and "Shadow Empire" will have an opinion on this choice, after all, compared to these two works, "Ordinary and Great" has received too few readers who have read it."

"The excellence and greatness of "Ordinary and Great" will dispel their doubts."

"Then I'm okay with that."

"Well, I announce. "Ordinary and Great" passed unanimously! ”