Chapter 135: The Illustrated Dragon Maiden

Even in Jin Yong’s era, novels were often written in haste to meet serialization deadlines, resulting in countless oversights. Although Master Jin revised his works several times, many minor errors still remained unresolved.

For instance, Yang Guo, despite having lost an arm, could still be described as having “both hands trembling slightly” or “cupping his fists.”

There were many similar inconsistencies in The Return of the Condor Heroes. For example, what era did Dugu Qiubai actually belong to, and where had he come from? Yang Guo had already visited the Iron Spear Temple as a child, yet when he returned there as an adult, it was treated as his first visit. And when Yang Guo was young, he somehow managed to find corn, a crop that was not introduced to China until the Ming Dynasty.

And so on.

These were all harmless little flaws. A novel of a million words, written as a serial, could hardly avoid a few oversights.

The greatest flaw, in fact, was a historical one. Although the Southern Song had retreated to the southeast and held only a corner of the realm, it had also launched several impressive northern expeditions. Jin Yong may have read too many popularized historical tales and been influenced by them. In his novels, the chronology of many historical events was reversed, leaving the truth blurred and distorted. Once the stories were written according to actual history, the entire narrative would fall into disarray.

Of course, fiction had always been a mixture of truth and invention. Historical events were woven into imaginary stories to enhance their sense of reality. Literature was a form of reworking history and life.

By the same token, Zhang Tan’s Return of the Condor Heroes naturally contained a great many oversights as well.

Fortunately, the publishing staff helped proofread the manuscript, checking for omissions and correcting errors, making the work more polished.

At the publishing house, Zhang Tan met the illustrator responsible for drawing pictures for the novel.

The illustrator was a woman named Gou Caiyun. She was in her thirties and rather plain-looking, but her black-and-white illustrations were remarkably vivid. With only a few simple lines, she could imbue her characters with extraordinary spirit.

“Caiyun, discuss the characters in the book carefully with Little Zhang. You must capture the distinctive traits of every character,” the publishing house director instructed.

Gou Caiyun nodded in agreement.

Curious, Zhang Tan picked up a pencil sketch from the table. It showed the back of a woman sleeping on a rope, apparently Little Dragon Girl, and he asked, “Have you read The Return of the Condor Heroes?”

“Yes.” Gou Caiyun was a woman of few words. “It’s excellent.”

“Is this Little Dragon Girl?”

“Yes. And there are these as well.” Gou Caiyun handed him another stack of drawings. “Tell me what you think. I still haven’t settled on the final appearances of Little Dragon Girl and Yang Guo.”

Zhang Tan looked through them. Gou Caiyun had already drawn dozens of illustrations, many of them featuring Little Dragon Girl and Yang Guo.

Some portrayals of Little Dragon Girl had the bearing of a heroic swordswoman; others made her look like the girl next door. Some were adorable, some cold and aloof. Some gave her a curvaceous figure, while others made her as flat as a tablet computer.

“I think Little Dragon Girl looks very striking in this one, but she should appear a little more innocent.” It did not take Zhang Tan long to select a picture of Little Dragon Girl practicing martial arts.

In the drawing, Little Dragon Girl wore plain white robes that fluttered in the wind, and her face bore a slight resemblance to Liu Yifei.

That was why Zhang Tan chose this particular image as the model for Little Dragon Girl.

In his previous life, The Return of the Condor Heroes had been adapted into numerous television series. Li Tongming, Weng Jingjing, Pan Yingzi, Chen Yulian, Li Ruotong, Wu Qianlian, Fan Wenfang, Liu Yifei, and Chen Yanxi had all played Little Dragon Girl. Among them, the three most successful versions were undoubtedly Chen Yulian’s 1983 portrayal, Li Ruotong’s 1995 portrayal, and Liu Yifei’s 2006 portrayal.

When it came to the most successful, most classic, and most frequently rebroadcast version, there was no doubt that it was Li Ruotong’s Little Dragon Girl. She was widely recognized as the definitive portrayal.

Perhaps it had something to do with Zhang Tan’s age. Li Ruotong had been the actress who dazzled him in childhood, while Liu Yifei had stirred his heart when he was eighteen or nineteen. In those days, Liu Yifei’s pure beauty struck the heart of every young man at once. Although she was young and her acting was still somewhat inexperienced, she had undoubtedly brought Little Dragon Girl to life: innocent and beautiful, pure as ice and jade, capable of both tears and laughter, gentle toward Yang Guo yet indifferent to worldly affairs.

When Zhang Tan watched Liu Yifei’s portrayal of Little Dragon Girl, it was as though he were seeing the Little Dragon Girl he had once imagined—a woman untouched by the mundane world.

Of course, Zhang Tan preferred Liu Yifei’s portrayal, but the illustrations were still somewhat crude and could not capture the spirit of a living actress. The illustrator was merely meant to give the plot a more tangible form, not produce publicity stills. As long as the general idea came across, that was enough.

Zhang Tan was not overly demanding in this regard.

Before long, he and Gou Caiyun had settled on the appearances of the principal characters. As for everyone else, he left her to use her own judgment.

…

The days were busy, but far from dull.

Publication of The Return of the Condor Heroes proceeded steadily, with the first volume scheduled to go on sale in August.

The Hefei Writers Association soon approved Zhang Tan’s application. He officially became a member and attended a charity fundraising event organized by the provincial federation of literary and art circles. Most of those present belonged to organizations under the federation: the Writers Association, the Quyi Association, the Calligraphers Association, and the Television Artists Association.

The fundraising event was quite grand. Two male and female hosts had even been invited from the provincial level to preside over it. Zhang Tan knew both of them; they were news anchors on Anhui Television.

Reporters also came to conduct interviews, making the atmosphere lively.

Most members of the federation’s affiliated organizations donated three to five hundred yuan, while some gave one or two thousand.

Zhang Tan had prepared one hundred thousand yuan, making him the largest donor of the evening. When he made his donation, the host deliberately kept him there for a few words.

“You’ve donated one hundred thousand yuan tonight, the largest amount of anyone here. We’re deeply grateful for your kindness. Does donating so much place a great burden on you?”

Zhang Tan replied, “It’s nothing. This is simply a token of my sincerity. I’ve earned some royalties from writing, and I wanted to give something back to society and do my part.”

“Once again, thank you for your generous donation. You’re so young, yet you’ve already joined the Writers Association. How do you feel about that?”

“Um, I’m very grateful to the senior members of the Writers Association for their guidance and support. I’ll work hard to create more works.”

He showed his face, then stepped down from the stage.

Zhang Tan’s one-time donation of one hundred thousand yuan still aroused considerable resentment. Some people felt he was flaunting his wealth, and their eyes grew noticeably less friendly whenever they looked at him. Zhang Tan did not care. The amount he donated was his own gesture of goodwill and had nothing to do with anyone else. Besides, he was only a nominal member of the Writers Association. He had no reason to fear anyone making things difficult for him.

A man with confidence did not need to concern himself with other people’s expressions.

After returning from the charity event, Zhang Tan received another call from the publishing house. They wanted to discuss promotional arrangements for the launch of his new book.

It was nothing more than inviting reporters to conduct an exclusive interview.

Or holding several book-signing events.

The previous signing event at Yuanyi Times Square had been a tremendous success and had shown the publishing house just how popular Zhang Tan was. They had therefore been planning for some time to arrange signing events in several other cities.

But then ** suddenly exploded, disrupting the rhythm.

It also dealt a heavy blow to the previously invincible and scorching-hot The Legend of the Condor Heroes, causing its later sales figures to plunge. Otherwise, the final volume of The Legend of the Condor Heroes would certainly have broken the record by selling one million copies in a single edition. It was precisely because of ** that interest in The Legend of the Condor Heroes declined so sharply, costing it a great deal of popularity.

One had to remember that before **, The Legend of the Condor Heroes had even become one of Lady Baidu’s ten most-searched keywords of the year.

Still, a good book could not remain buried forever.

The Legend of the Condor Heroes generated tremendous discussion across major online forums, bulletin boards, and websites. Reviews by experts and professors, readers’ impressions, and discussions of the plot appeared one after another. The Internet had not yet truly developed, so it had failed to become a massive hit phenomenon. Otherwise, its popularity would have been driven to an unimaginable height.

Even so, The Legend of the Condor Heroes had already attracted considerable attention because of its extraordinary popularity.

On this particular day, Zhang Tan was discussing plans for summer publicity with the directors of Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House when his assistant, Li Yan, received a telephone call.

The caller claimed to be the general manager of Big Beard Zhang’s Studio and said that he wished to purchase the film and television adaptation rights to The Legend of the Condor Heroes.