Boris was immersed in the beautiful imagination constructed by the exotic food culture and forgot about time. It was not until his body was lightly touched by a passing reader that he suddenly came back to his senses.

Reading "A Bite of China" again is completely different from when I first read the column.

Perhaps because of the concentrated length and rich pictures and texts, Boris felt more moved and warm after reading this time.

Those delicacies made by pairs of hard-working hands contain countless efforts and wisdom.

They are not only delicacies that satisfy the taste buds, but also unique carriers full of ancient culture and human emotions.

"A very good book!"

Just as Boris was immersed in the emotion brought to him by the book, a soft voice suddenly came to his ears. When he looked up, he saw a young girl with brown hair and blue eyes.

A beam of light seemed to be cast in front of Boris's eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. He thought that this was probably the feeling of love at first sight.

He smiled and greeted the girl, "Hi! It's really a good book. I liked it when I read "The New Yorker" before."

"You also like The New Yorker?"

"Of course, who doesn't love The New Yorker?"

To make a pun, if it were placed in China, which is conservative in style, Boris would probably get a few looks at him, or even be called a hooligan, but this is the United States.

After realizing this, the girl in front of me showed a sweet smile.

Boris's gloomy mood because he lost his job was as clear as the sky after the rain after this smile.

"Boris Maxwell!"

The brunette gently held Boris's hand, "Lillian Greco!"

"Lillian, do you work around here?"

"I work at Rockefeller Center on Forty-ninth Street."

"Aha! NBC TV station, it seems we are half of the same industry -"

Halfway through his words, Boris's words stopped and he remembered that he had just lost his job.

"Today's weather is perfect for a cup of coffee!" Boris changed the subject and extended an invitation to Lillian.

"It really fits!"

Boris was excited when he received Lilian's response. He planned to check out, but Lilian also wanted to get a book from the bookshelf.

"Perhaps, after I read this book, I can lend it to you." Boris said.

Lillian lowered her hand, "What a good idea!"

The two came to the checkout counter. Ms. Sterov had silver hair, firm eyes, and a hint of dissatisfaction.

Young man, you can pick up girls, why do you want to mess with my business?

Boris settled the bill with some embarrassment, and opened the door for Lillian in a gentlemanly manner under Ms. Sterov's scrutinizing gaze.

After walking out of the bookstore, there was still snow in the sky. Boris looked at Lilian's back, and for some reason a scene from many years later suddenly appeared in his mind.

Villa, sunshine, green space, women, children, dogs————

What an intoxicating and beautiful picture!

He quickly climbed up to Lillian, and the two smiled at each other and walked in the snow.

Boris turned his head and glanced at the Gotham Book Shop, which had a sign outside its door designed by John Held Jr., the iconic prohibition-era cartoonist who had given Gotham Book Shop a line of wisdom.

The slogan of Wise Men Fish Here.

What a prescient philosophy!

But he was more grateful to Ms. Stelov than to John Held Jr.

Xian Ran, and Lin, great Chinese writers, I praise you!

If Lin Chaoyang knew that Boris on the other side of the ocean in New York City was grateful to him, he would definitely not be happy and would make the same complaint as Ms. Stelov.

In the winter evening, because of the snow, the sky is darker than usual at this time.

Looking west, the spectacular and fancy neon lights of Times Square glowed misty in the dim weather.

As a square, Union Square is far less prosperous than Times Square, but the Barnes & Noble Bookstore, which opened only last year, has added a lot of color to the neighborhood of Union Square.

The giant store with an area of ​​over 10,000 square meters was brightly lit in the evening this weekend, and there were a lot of readers.

Since its opening, Barnes & Noble has been warmly welcomed by nearby readers who love reading, and it is always busy on non-working days.

It would be even more lively when an author holds a book signing here, and it would be more like a "stop-in" than the Music Book Market two miles away.

But for the bookstore staff, they have long been used to it. Store manager Lawrence still has time to chat with cashier Emily in his spare time.

Another reader came to check out. Lawrence looked at the exotic cover of Book Spider and said, "The Chinese author's books are selling well!"

"Not only is it good, it will definitely be on the New York Times bestseller list next week!"

Emily's tone was a bit exaggerated, but it was not groundless.

Although the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Union Square only opened last year, she has been working as a cashier for four years. She handles dozens to hundreds of books every day, and she knows very well which imitation works in the bookstore are best-selling.

During this whole day, she had sold more than 70 copies of "A Bite of China", a number that had exceeded the average bestseller when it was launched.

Emily even thought that "A Bite of China" might top the New York Times bestseller list, but today was the first day it was released, so she didn't say what she was saying.

"It's not difficult to become a best-seller. His appeal among reading enthusiasts is not low, as you saw at the last book signing.

And this is New York, the home base of The New Yorker!"

Lawrence recalled the scene when Lin Chaoyang came to Barnes & Noble last time for a book signing and was still deeply impressed.

He has worked in a bookstore for many years and has met many popular writers, but this is the first time he has met a popular foreign writer here.

There are many foreign writers who may be very famous in the American cultural circle, but the sales of their works and the appeal among readers are far less than that of the Chinese writer.

Moreover, Lawrence found it interesting that the Chinese writer was able to open a column in The New Yorker. He had read those columns, which were not in line with his reading taste, but to be honest, they were indeed impressive.

Lawrence was born in New York and has been working in New York for almost 40 years. He knows the city of New York very well. It has a side of luxury and wealth, but also a side of prosperous cultural and artistic souls.

It is true that The New Yorker sells well in European and American countries, but nearly 1/6 of its sales of each issue are digested by intellectuals in New York City.

The huge influence "A Bite of China" brought to "The New Yorker" was indispensable to the contributions of the intellectuals in New York City, so he believed that the sales of this imitation book in New York would be unbeatable.

"Have you read this book? What do you think? It's hard to imagine that one day we Americans will be obsessed with foreign food culture written by foreigners." Emily said.

"It's so strange. Those intellectuals have always been like this. They always like to boast about something different from others, so that they can show their uniqueness and noble taste."

Lawrence disparaged those "high and mighty" intellectuals and changed the subject, "Emily, there's a movie called "Time to Die" playing in the cinema. Are you free tonight?

3

Emily gave Lawrence a forced smile, "Sorry, Lawrence, I have to go home and walk the dog after get off work!"

Lawrence was obviously used to being rejected by her. He shrugged, "Okay!"

After Lawrence left, Emily suppressed her smile and said that it was very stressful to refuse her immediate boss. Fortunately, Lawrence was still a gentleman.

The customer checked out and found another copy of "A Bite of China". Emily's curiosity about this book reached its peak.

Anyway, I have nothing to do after get off work, so I will buy a copy later and take a look. The New Yorker is one of the three major magazines in the American cultural field, and its influence is not small. "A Bite of China" has been published three times in it. Monthly, it has gained millions of readers.

Now it has been published together and will be available in bookstores in major cities in the United States during New Year's Day. In addition, Knauf Publishing House and bookstores have promoted it a month in advance, and it has quickly triggered a buying frenzy among American readers.

One week after it was released, "A Bite of China" sold 84,000 copies in its first week, ranking first among the New York Times bestsellers.

This championship includes all works of fiction and non-fiction, and is full of gold content.

The New York Times Bestseller has been counting best-selling books every week since April 9, 1942. The data comes from the weekly sales records of independent and exclusive bookstores and wholesalers in the United States. Its authority has long been beyond doubt.

Even with the influence of The New Yorker, the fact that "A Bite of China" achieved such exaggerated numbers in its first week really surprised many people in the publishing industry.

When "A Bite of China" was serialized in The New Yorker, some people questioned its popularity.

The reason can also be attributed to The New Yorker.

Now that the first week sales have been released, the American publishing industry is paying close attention.

You need to know the sales volume of this one in a week!

Even if there is a sales explosion period when a new book is released, it would be too scary.

Nowadays, many publishers who are paying attention to "A Bite of China" have only one question in their minds, that is, whether this book's bestseller is temporary, it will continue to grow, and it will become a book that is not only a bestseller, but also a bestseller.

"Damn! Lin, do you know? After the first week sales of "A Bite of China" were released,

I almost got fired!"

Luan Walter's voice was filled with resentment and lingering fear.

What he said was a bit exaggerated. "Getting fired" wouldn't be a problem, but getting stabbed was unavoidable.

The sales volume of 84,000 copies in the first week means that at the end of the day, it will sell one million copies a year. If it is more stable, it will not be impossible to sell two million copies a year.

Missing such a super best -selling book, Lu'an Walter has been scolding a few words, it is normal,

"Calm, Lu An. This first week of sales does not mean that Zizai." Lin Chaoyang said.

‘Like! You find me 84,000 volumes of sales in the first week, but the total sales volume does not have a million volumes. Let me see!"
To be continued...