A Different Jianghu

Name: A Different Jianghu
ISBN: 9787020077120

Kong ErgouPeople's Literature Publishing House2009

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Chapters: 40
Series: The Business Novel Series
ISBN: 9787020077120

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Summary

Xiao Kaiyuan graduated from a prestigious Shanghai university and rose to a well-paid white-collar position at a consulting firm. During the stock-market frenzy of 2006–2007, his excessive hunger for money clouded his judgment and drew him step by step into gambling; he ended up a million in debt, his life at rock bottom. Yet he did not sink for good: gritting his teeth, he pulled himself together and fought his way back into the workplace, landing a job at a foreign-funded consulting firm. Back at work, he meets a fairly reliable boss, subordinates who leave him torn between laughter and tears, and all manner of “difficult” female clients; while in charge of a software engineering project, he juggles the open and covert struggles within the project and the tangled web of office and romantic relationships. Just when everything seems to be going smoothly, Xiao Kaiyuan suddenly realizes he has long since stepped into a true “jianghu”—a world of interest exchanges, factional power struggles, and also loyalty and conscience. This is Kong Ergou’s first full-length novel after The Northeast Past—Twenty Years of Underworld Storms, turning to the workplace; drawn from his experiences in Shanghai’s consulting industry, it uses black humor to write about business warfare, the workplace, and a man’s trials and growth. The author himself says he cannot quite tell whether this is the most thrilling business-war story or the most poignant love story.

Editor's review

孔二狗靠《东北往事——黑道风云20年》成名，这次他把镜头从东北的黑道转向上海滩的写字楼，把“江湖”二字从街头搬进了咨询公司的会议室。全书以肖开元的负债翻身为主线，把项目厮杀、派系倾轧、客户周旋、情感拉扯织在一起，节奏快、台词损，黑色幽默随处可见；不少细节来自作者在咨询行业的亲历耳闻，读来有一种“身边人写身边事”的鲜活感。章名起得极为跳脱，从“以‘闷骚’惊天下”到“我花开尽百花杀”，先不论好坏，至少不闷。刘震云、宁财神联袂推荐，一个说“把它和江湖放一块儿本身就挺让人意外”，一个说“不管是哪个，都有男人、有女人、有爱情、有义气”。想找一本轻松又不失真实的职场小说，这本值得翻。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢孔二狗、读过《东北往事》系列，想看他一改笔路的读者
对咨询行业、外企职场、商战题材感兴趣的在职白领
偏好快节奏、对话多、带黑色幽默的都市小说的读者
刚入职场或经历了挫折，想找一本“翻身”故事给自己打气的人

Not a good fit for

偏好严肃文学、讲究结构与文笔雕琢的读者
想读纯硬核商业案例或管理学干货的人
对粗口式调侃、网络化叙事风格反感的人

Reading tips

先读前两章“沉沦”“入职”，弄清肖开元跌落与重启的因由，后面的人物关系才好跟上。
把项目线（软件工程项目、第一战、这是个局等）当成一条主线连着读，能看清职场的博弈逻辑。
留意穿插其间的感情线与兄弟情，作者有意让“江湖”不只有算计，也有情义。
读完后不妨对照自己的职场经历做点笔记，看哪些招数可借鉴、哪些坑要绕开。

About the publisher

People's Literature Publishing House China · Founded in 1951

People's Literature Publishing House publishes across classical literature, foreign literature, documentary writing and folk literature, with 492 titles in its catalogue. Representative books range from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms to Lao She's Teahouse and Longxu Ditch in the Selected Works of Lao She, as well as translated foreign literature such as Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Dante's Divine Comedy and Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, alongside documentary and fictional works including Primo Levi's If This Is a Man and João Guimarães Rosa's The Devil to Pay in the Backlands. Its authors include Chinese writers such as Lao She, translators such as Shen Emeri and Li Wenjun, and foreign authors such as James Wood. Overall, the house has a strong record in editing classic works and translating foreign literature, with a publishing character that bridges Chinese and foreign writing and values textual quality.

Chapter One Sinking (1)
Chapter One Sinking (2)
Chapter Two Joining the Company (1)
Chapter Two Joining the Company (2)
Chapter Two Joining the Company (3)
Chapter Six Is This an Internet Café?
Chapter Seven Work Begins
Chapter Eight Stunning the World with “Smoldering Passion”
Chapter Nine Beautiful Mind
Chapter Ten My Name Is Red Scarf
Chapter Eleven A Mad Dog Off the Leash
Chapter Twelve I Want to Give Up the Right to Dream
Chapter Thirteen Goodbye, A Nan
Chapter Fourteen The Interview
Chapter Fifteen Not a Mere Ornament
Chapter Sixteen Subway Line One
Chapter Seventeen Beautiful Nonsense
Chapter Eighteen Cold Little Hands
Chapter Nineteen Special Case, Special Handling
Chapter Twenty The First Battle
Chapter Twenty-One Dancing Partner
Chapter Twenty-Two Translation
Chapter Twenty-Three Governor of Fujian
Chapter Twenty-Four The Queen
Chapter Twenty-Five To Beijing?
Chapter Twenty-Six Cross-Stitch
Chapter Twenty-Seven Pimping
Chapter Twenty-Eight The Ring of Many Loves
Chapter Twenty-Nine 34D
Chapter Thirty Brain Platinum
Chapter Thirty-One Clear Skies on July Seventh
Chapter Thirty-Two Half a Day of Leisure in This Floating Life
Chapter Thirty-Three Equatorial New Guinea
Chapter Thirty-Four This Is a Trap
Chapter Thirty-Five We Need to Save Money
Chapter Thirty-Six Now That’s Real Skill
Chapter Thirty-Seven Loser
Chapter Thirty-Eight Found Without Any Effort
Chapter Thirty-Nine A Few Wild Geese Honking in the Vast Sky
Chapter Forty When My Flowers Bloom, All Others Fall

FAQ

《别样的江湖》讲的是什么故事？

讲咨询顾问肖开元在股市中投机失手、误入赌海负债百万，之后振作重返职场，在外资咨询公司做项目的过程中卷入商战博弈、派系角力与情感纠葛的故事。

这本书是《东北往事》的续作吗？

不是。《东北往事——黑道风云20年》写黑道，这本《别样的江湖》是孔二狗转型后的职场题材长篇，属于他规划的“商小说”系列第一部，两者没有情节上的承接关系。

书里的故事有原型吗？

作者孔二狗大学毕业后到上海，从事过咨询行业，也尝试过创业。据其自述，本书正是取材于他在咨询顾问行业的见闻与职业经历。

适合没进过职场的学生读吗？

可以读，当作了解外企与咨询行业氛围的入门读物；但书中不少职场博弈和人情往来需要一点阅历才能品出味道，学生读者可能只读到热闹。

这本书有多个版本吗？

据可查资料，中文简体版为2009年11月人民文学出版社出版，ISBN 978-7-02-007-712-0，平装，约284—285页，定价26元。

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