The man's purchasing behavior really surprised Le Jing. He knew that a Shanghai newspaper had reprinted "The Rise of Dynasties" and he had received a large sum of reprint fees. But he didn't expect that "The Rise of Dynasties" was so popular in Shanghai that it even gave rise to the business of purchasing by human agents.

Le Jing was somewhat happy.

Writing is a lonely and long career. As a Buddhist like Le Jing, I also hope that the content and ideas I convey through my works can be read by more people. As long as reading leads to thinking, thinking will make people sober, and sober people will have independent thoughts.

He hopes that his work can trigger people's thinking, become the spark that ignites some kind of horrific ideology, and push the wheel of history forward a little bit.

Le Jing didn't know how big a storm this little butterfly that strayed into the world would cause in the future, but he did everything he could. To borrow the words of a French emperor: After I die, even if there is a flood behind me.

The three of them walked and stopped many times, and the original two-day journey was stretched to more than a week.

By the time they found Ji Qi in Shanghai, Director Ji Qi was almost going crazy.

"Why are you so slow!" Ji Qi said helplessly: "I was thinking of inviting you to watch the premiere together."

"It's not too late now." Le Jing smiled and said, "The movie is on now, right? How is the response?"

Li Shuran also looked at Ji Qi curiously. This time, she heard that her brother's novel was adapted into a movie. The little girl was very excited and urged Le Jing to hurry up. Le Jing wanted to take her to play for a few more days but she refused. She only wanted to go to Shanghai to watch Le Jing's new movie.

Upon hearing this question, Ji Qi's eyebrows immediately danced with joy: "The response was extremely good! The cinema was packed with people, and even many illiterate audiences memorized the movie lines by heart. Many people walked out of the cinema with swollen eyes, and a weak female student even fainted from crying!"

Le Jing raised his eyebrows, a little puzzled: "Crying? Didn't you change the ending? I thought the audience should leave with a smile."

It would be fine if this question was asked by someone else, but it was asked by Le Jing, the author. Ji Qi's expression suddenly became complicated: "...My changes are also based on the original work." The implication is that sir, your work itself is a tragedy, and even if he changes the ending, it will not become a comedy that can make people laugh.

Le Jing also knew the general idea of Ji Qi's adaptation of the work, but he only knew the general idea. In order to maintain his lasting curiosity and interest in the film, Le Jing did not read the complete script. He wanted to experience this new story based on his work himself.

That night, Le Jing finally sat in the cinema. With Ji Qi's presence, they naturally sat in the best seats in the cinema, and the tickets they used were also internal tickets given by the cinema. So a small episode happened before watching the movie.

The cinema's boss knew Ji Qi, and when he heard the staff say Ji Qi was here, he came out enthusiastically to greet Ji Qi. After the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, Boss Deng couldn't wait to cast his eyes on the three people beside Ji Qi, Le Jing, and asked, "Who are these people?"

Ji Qi answered vaguely: "These are my friends. I am here to watch a movie with them."

Boss Deng's eyes lit up when he heard this. He asked tentatively, "Excuse me, but I've heard that Boss Ji and Mr. Night Watchman are friends. Could it be...?"

Le Jing glanced at Ji Qi, and Ji Qi immediately said, "I'm afraid I'm sorry to disappoint Boss Deng. Mr. Night Watchman is not in good health and didn't come this time."

Boss Deng's eyes dimmed visibly. "Indeed, Beijing is still too far away from Shanghai." He sighed, smiled bitterly and said to Ji Qi, "Don't worry if you laugh at me. I cry every time I watch the movie and novel Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan. Bai Moli is a good woman, but her life is too hard."

Boss Deng paused, looking a little excited. “Later, I did everything I could to collect other novels by Mr. Night Watchman. I even got the book The Last Non-Drug Addict, which had been banned by the Peking government. The more I read, the more I admired Mr. Night Watchman! In my opinion, only people with great wisdom and compassion could write such articles!”

After that, he shook his head and sighed, "It's a pity that Mr. Xu has been living a secluded life. Apart from the time he was released from prison, he has never been interviewed again. I have never had the chance to meet him. I thought this was still a chance, but I didn't expect that Mr. Xu was too weak to endure the fatigue of traveling. Alas!"

His last heavy sigh was like a heavy hammer that hit many people's hearts. Ji Qi couldn't help but look at Le Jing: "Readers like you so much, why don't you express your appreciation?" Even Li Shuran and Yang Jinglun looked at Le Jing.

Le Jing: ...

Although Le Jing is very grateful to Mr. Deng for his love and affirmation of his work, he does not intend to reveal his identity. He always believes that the best relationship between an author and a reader is one that begins and ends with the work. As long as the reader likes the work, there is no need to transfer their love for the work to the author.

So he smiled and said to Boss Deng: "In that case, you can write a letter to the Night Watchman and ask Director Ji Qi to pass it on."

Boss Deng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he looked at Ji Qi expectantly: "Wouldn't this be too much trouble?"

Ji Qi gave a meaningful smile: "It's not a big deal. Don't worry, the night watchman will definitely write back to you."

Boss Deng misunderstood, thinking that Ji Qi wanted to use his connections to get the night watchman to write back to him. He was so moved that he thanked Ji Qi repeatedly and even wanted to treat Ji Qi to a meal, but Ji Qi declined. The two of them exchanged pleasantries for a while before Ji Qi got rid of the particularly enthusiastic Boss Deng.

He rolled his eyes speechlessly at Le Jing who was watching the show nearby, "Just enjoy your happiness in secret!"

…

The movie screen lit up, and Le Jing collected his wandering thoughts and focused all his attention on the movie.

Unlike the novel, which begins with Bai Shaoyao's near-death scene, the movie opens with several prostitutes drinking tea and chatting. Then one of the prostitutes said to her companions while eating melon seeds: "Hey, do you know that a famous prostitute named Bai Moli also lived in this room of mine ten years ago."

The companion rolled his eyes nonchalantly, "Famous prostitute? How famous? Xiao Juhong is famous, right? In the end, wasn't she just rolled up into a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave?" The companion curled his lips and revealed a cold sneer, "For people like us, no matter how glorious we were in our lives, how many of us can have a good ending in the end?" This remark was echoed by several other prostitutes.

The prostitute who spoke first raised her lips mysteriously: "The white jasmine I told you about is different."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that she successfully redeemed herself and is now free..."

Then the movie scene jumps and begins to tell the story of Bai Moli's legendary yet ordinary life.

The early life of Bai Moli in the article basically continued the plot of Le Jing in the novel: she contracted a genital disease and gradually fell from the Qingyin class to a fourth-class brothel. The money she saved was repeatedly stolen by the madam and the waiters. She was insulted by the prostitutes she knew and beaten by the clients. Her dream of redemption was shattered again and again...

As the plot progressed, crying sounds were heard one after another in the cinema. Li Shuran also started to hiccup while crying. In the flickering light and shadow, Le Jing discovered that even Yang Jinglun was secretly wiping away tears.

Le Jing also felt a little emotional. Qiu Ju, who played Bai Moli, really brought the character of Bai Moli to life. Especially the desperate and helpless look in Bai Moli's eyes after she found out that her money was stolen by the madam again. It was amazing!

Compared with the original novel, the movie has made a lot of changes, the biggest of which is the girl adopted by Bai Moli. This girl, Le Jing, only has a few words in the novel, but she has a lot more roles in the movie. The scene where she and Bai Moli snuggle up to each other and lick their wounds is also a rare warm scene in the early part of the movie.

Then the plot took a turn when the seriously ill Bai Moli was dragged to a mass grave by the madam and her servants to be buried. The little girl has grown into a big girl. Thanks to Bai Moli's support, she went to school smoothly and passed the examination for a government-sponsored overseas student. She lived frugally and worked hard while studying in the United States, and finally saved enough money to redeem Bai Shaoyao.

She had returned to China without telling Bai Moli because she wanted to give her a surprise, but she didn't expect to hear from a prostitute she knew that the brothel owner wanted to kill Bai Moli. She desperately ran to the mass grave and saved Bai Moli at the critical moment.

Later, after Bai Moli was cured by the doctor hired by her sister, she went to study in the United States with her sister. The last scene of the plot stayed on Bai Moli, dressed in a white nurse uniform, walking around the ward in a decent manner, smiling and caring for the patients, and being respectfully called "Nurse Bai!" by the patients.

Le Jing heard Li Shuran let out a long sigh of relief, and even Yang Jinglun excitedly waved his fist and whispered, "That's great!"

Their reactions were by no means isolated. A girl in the theater even stood up and led the applause: "Bai Moli is awesome!"

The applause in the cinema came to an abrupt end because of the next shot of the movie.

The prostitutes who had been chatting before reappeared on the screen. After listening to Bai Moli's long and bizarre life, the prostitutes sighed in unison after a brief silence.

"How many of us are as lucky as Bai Moli?"

Then the screen went dark again, and the movie was completely over.

In the deep silence, a few loud sobs suddenly sounded, and were quickly crushed by the noisy voices.

As he walked out of the cinema along the surging sea of people, Le Jing could see many people were silent with red and swollen eyes, but there were also many people who were laughing and talking about the plot with their friends.

Li Shuran was also silent along the way. It was not until they were almost at the hotel that she could not help asking Le Jing: "Brother, how can we make all prostitutes as lucky as Bai Moli?"

Le Jing lowered his head and answered seriously: "When the profession of prostitute no longer exists."

Li Shuran asked again: "Then how can we abolish the profession of prostitutes?"

Ji Qi sighed and joined the conversation: "This matter is difficult and easy at the same time."

Yang Jinglun also said: "Yes, it depends on whether the people in power have the courage and determination. Otherwise, relying on the sympathy and anger of the people..." He smiled and shook his head, saying bluntly: "It's harder than climbing to the sky."

Le Jing also sighed in his heart. Since ancient times, any reform is easier from the bottom up. Le Jing is more inclined to call this bottom-up reform a revolution.

The reason why drugs and prostitutes, the two cancers of the old society, were eradicated after the founding of the People's Republic of China was simply because the new political parties overturned the table and started a new business.

All of this is based on a strong central government led by idealists and a strong and loyal army that obeys orders. If any of these factors are missing, this dying country will not be able to recover so quickly.

The three adults fell silent, and only Li Shuran said innocently: "Then I will study hard and become a high-ranking official in the future, so that the prostitutes can live a good life."

Le Jing raised his lips because of this naive and somewhat ridiculous dream, touched the little girl's soft hair, and encouraged: "Come on."

Women's rights have been won bit by bit through the unremitting efforts of generations of pioneers.

In the not too distant future, it is precisely because millions of women went to the battlefield, fought and killed like men in traditional concepts, were brave and iron-blooded, and used countless blood and lives that they finally promoted the legislative power of various countries and gave women the right to participate in politics.

In the following decades, women have been involved in all aspects of life, including politics, scientific research, economics, literature, and even space has left their footprints.

Only then will history remember women's faces bit by bit.

However, if you don’t fight for your rights, no one will cherish them. Under the instigation of some greedy and short-sighted people, the evasion of some selfish people, and the oppression of some people who enjoy superior gender power, women’s rights have suffered various stigmatizations in modern times, and social trends have even reversed.

History is a spiral. Human beings are a race that never learns from their mistakes and repeats them.

Le Jing is not worried about the future of women's rights.

Because human nature is to seek benefits and avoid harm. When most women find that their living space is being squeezed, they will naturally start to speak out for their own interests. Before that, there may be a lot of suffering and sacrifice, but every struggle is valuable. Because history is a spiral, but it is also upward.

After sitting in Le Jing's hotel for a while, Ji Qi soon said goodbye and went home.

However, a few hours later, when Le Jing was about to turn off the lights and go to bed, there was a sudden knock on his door.

Ji Qi's anxious voice came from outside the door: "Li Jingran! Get up quickly, something big has happened!"

Le Jing put on his clothes and checked into the room. "What happened?"

Ji Qi was sweating and panting. "A telegram from the Literary Newspaper was delivered to my house. The telegram said that an editor of the newspaper had revealed that you were republishing a novel under the new pen name Mai Tian. Your new address was also dug out. I don't know how many reporters were gathered outside, and many people wrote in the newspaper that they wanted to ban you in Beiping!"

He wiped the sweat off his head and said, "Why don't you stay in Shanghai and don't go back."