Book excerpts: The Press РZhu Huaxiang (朱华祥)

 20070131 02 From EastSouthWestNorth blog:

The following is the translation of The Press by Zhu Huaxiang (朱华祥). This book is one of the eight books that were banned by the General Administration of Press and Publications. The Press is a novel about the lives of certain newspapers workers in a hypothetical place known as Oriental City.

In the evening, Niu Wenguang went to his regular gambling den. Perhaps he was in a bad mood, or perhaps he was just unlucky. In less than three hours, he had lost 8,000 RMB. He did not gamble big, but the game of nine-and-a-half points goes very fast. Before Niu Wenguang even realized it, the money was gone.

As he walked out of the gambling den, he looked back and wondered how he could have lost so quickly? Perhaps someone was cheating? He had not looked at this gambling den closely before. Tonight, he took a close look and he thought that the boss was awesome. This place was located in a residential district. Next to private residences, there was a two-story house. In front, there was an Internet cafe called “Infernal Affairs.” The gamblers were regular customers who walked through the Internet cafe and went through a small door in the rear to enter a residential apartment with four bedrooms and three living rooms. That was the gambling den. It was normal for people to come and go from an Internet cafe, and so the local residents did not find this suspicious. By using the Internet cafe as cover, this gambling den had survived through many crime sweeps.

“Great! You made me lost so much money. So I’m not going to take mercy on you.” Like many gamblers, Niu Wenguang only remembers when he loses but not when he wins. Today, he remembered that he lost. He came out of the gambling den and he proceeded directly to the district police station to file a report. He identified to the police chief that he was a reporter and he had just completed an undercover investigation. Everything was sound and logical. That night, Niu Wenguang took more than ten police officers to raid the gambling den. The police station chief handed 8,000 RMB right there and then, and said that he hoped to see a good report. [Full Text]

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