At the beginning of 2013, my novella "Serial Robbery" became an Internet sensation. Since his appearance on Tianya and Maopu forums on New Year's Day, he has received great attention and enthusiasm from netizens. After analysis, in addition to the ideological nature and readability of the novel itself, the novel structure is also an important reason why "Lian" became popular on the Internet.
"Serial Robbery" is a novel that is rare nowadays, with a completely open and brand-new structure, with multiple clues intertwining, ups and downs, and progressing in parallel. The most personal, most subversive, most outstanding, and most valuable thing is that I constructed the overall story through the narrations of different characters, reportage-like criminal investigation notes, and kaleidoscope-like online posts. It not only reflects the great space and possibility of online novel creation, but also demonstrates the principles and unrestrainedness of pure literary novel creation. The author "Lao Jiu" appears at the same time as the "Old Jiu" in the novel, similar to Pamuk's "Snow", and the role change is smooth and easy. At the same time, narratives, criminal investigations, and posts contradict each other, question each other, construct and deconstruct each other, making the form itself and the story itself full of opposition, fragmentation, questioning, chaos, weirdness, and incongruity. The overall art form of "Serial" is a bit like Akira Kurosawa's film "Rashomon", like Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "Repaying a Favor" and "In the Bamboo Forest". The lines are a bit like Kafka's long drive, Borges's weird simplicity, Kawabata Yasunari's softness and restraint, and Liu Qingbang's pure and innocent colors, but it is completely Chinese, miner-like, popular, and "Lao Jiu" style, and there is no strong one that cannot be eliminated.