Years of accumulation turned into nothing. After suffering losses exceeding 300 million yuan due to disaster, the CEO of China Literature Network (Zhongtu Wang) embarked on a live-streaming sales journey for self-rescue.

Four million books, worth over 300 million yuan, turned to nothing overnight. Speaking of the employees trapped by the flood and the books turned into waste paper, Huang Ping, founder and CEO of China Literature Network, couldn't help but burst into tears.

On August 4th, in the Taobao "Zhongtu Wang Bookstore" live-streaming room, Huang Ping conducted his first-ever live stream. From founding the company in 1998 to facing the camera for the first time, after years of being accustomed to working behind the scenes to manage the book business, he faced numerous online users who were concerned about the future of China's book industry. "For the first time in 25 years, we have encountered such a calamity, things happened very quickly, and I feel very sorry for my colleagues."

The calamity he referred to was the recent floods and floods in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which submerged the largest national book logistics and warehousing base located in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province. A large number of books stacked in the warehouse were submerged due to the inability to transfer them in time, resulting in significant losses for nearly a hundred domestic publishing institutions, including China Literature Network.

This flood almost destroyed the efforts and savings of China Literature Network over the past twenty years. The official statement from China Literature Network stated, "This is the most deadly loss and blow the company has suffered since its founding 25 years ago." Huang Ping said the next step is to find a way to keep the company alive.

Years of effort gone in an instant

On August 3rd, when interviewed by the media, Huang Ping calmly and restrainedly described the damaged books and estimated economic losses on camera. A day later, still on camera, he recounted slowly and with controlled emotion in a quiet live-streaming room, until he couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

Huang Ping recalled that at the time, in order to prevent the disaster, he stayed in Beijing to coordinate while an executive responsible for daily operations went to Zhuozhou. However, due to road closures, they could only get near the warehouse, and personnel were arranged at the scene to coordinate. Based on feedback from various sources, they anticipated some risk, but not necessarily a significant one. Later, they organized manpower to move the lower books to higher ground, but due to the large number of stocked books, limited remaining space in the warehouse, power outage, and elevator suspension, the efficiency of moving them was very low, resulting in books being unable to be relocated in a timely manner. Later on, they managed to gather 2,000 sandbags. Before this, Huang Ping had asked for help from the Zhuozhou municipal government, but due to the flood and insufficient manpower, some sandbags couldn't be transported. "In the face of such a major disaster, everyone did their best. We did what we could."

Upon learning that the flood was imminent, employees worked tirelessly to stack sandbags and move books, but the floodwaters came too quickly. Everyone could only watch as the warehouse was inundated, and the books were soaked. When the water became too deep and they had to abandon the warehouse and evacuate, employees retreated to the fourth floor of the office, spending the night in the solitary building surrounded by floodwaters.

Huang Ping still remembers what a young colleague said when they were trapped. During the rescue, this young man escorted pregnant women and children and other colleagues to leave first, and he left last. Watching the water level rise continuously, he said he was prepared to sacrifice himself at that moment.

Huang Ping is grateful that all the trapped employees were safely evacuated on August 2nd. "If any colleagues had lost their lives trying to save the books, we would carry that psychological burden for the rest of our lives." Taking advantage of the live stream, Huang Ping thanked the rescue teams and friends who provided assistance.

On August 2nd, the office building of China Literature Network submerged in the flood. Photo provided by interviewee.

China Literature Network, founded by Huang Ping in 1998, is one of the earliest online book sales platforms in China. Initially, it was a personal online bookstore. Later, the team grew, and more and more people joined.

"All book lovers actually have a dream, which is to open their own bookstore. I thought I had the Internet (technology), so I opened an online bookstore," Huang Ping said.

After being marginalized in competition with mainstream internet platforms, China Literature Network began to focus on selling surplus books from 2002 onwards, gradually stabilizing and developing its own sales channels and reader base.

Because of its position as a surplus book sales company, China Literature Network's warehouse stores a large number of books purchased from various sources over the years, many of which are scarce, out-of-print, and older editions that cannot be replicated or reprinted.

"None of the setbacks in the past development of the company compares to the fatal blow of this flood disaster," Huang Ping said in a low voice and gentle tone in the live-streaming room, repeatedly explaining the books and creative products at hand.

Data shows that nearly 100,000 netizens watched the live stream. At the end of the broadcast, Huang Ping expressed his gratitude to the netizens who supported and helped China Literature Network in these days.

Huang Ping interacting with netizens in the live-streaming room. Screenshot from the video.

Professor Luo Xiang's WeChat public account "Luo Xiang Shuo Xingfa" also reposted a call for help for China Literature Network, hoping that the warehouse, including China Literature Network, and more affected companies can safely weather the difficulties.

Mutual Assistance Among Peers to Overcome Difficulties

Late on the night of August 4th, China Literature Network's official WeChat public account published a post titled "Colleagues Affected by the Flood," stating that 10% of the sales from the creative product support package would be used to help colleagues recover their production.

The post listed the names and situations of the affected colleagues who are currently facing the same difficulties, calling on everyone to provide help: "Mutual assistance at this time is also a form of self-help. When the flood comes, we gather together for warmth, just like in the era's torrential currents, we unite and help each other, we can definitely find a way out and overcome difficulties together!"

According to the information provided by China Literature Network, Beijing Rentian Bookstore, located in Matou Village, Zhuozhou Dock Town, at the center of the flood disaster in Zhuozhou, the water depth reached over 2 meters during the disaster. All journals and books remained submerged in the floodwaters as of 3:00 p.m. on August 3rd, and they were completely damaged. The warehouse is expected to be unable to ship normally within 20 days, and existing orders cannot be processed. The company is urgently coordinating with printing factories to reprint high-demand books for self-rescue.

Jiayouyuan Cultural Development Co., Ltd.'s 6,000 square meter book warehouse was submerged, with losses exceeding 20 million yuan. Over a million books were completely destroyed. Xiaohongfan Children's Books' 8,000 square meter warehouse was affected, with over 3 million sets of books destroyed. Over 500,000 books from Guangchen Culture were damaged, with a value of over 30 million yuan.

Zhishang Shengyin Bookstore's 3,000 square meter warehouse was affected, with 4/5 of the books scrapped. The 300 square meter Xizhimen store urgently needed stocking and opening but had to be postponed due to being soaked in water. The store was unable to supply goods, and online orders couldn't be delivered, estimating losses of 50 million yuan. This company plans to use low-price storage value activities and free water-soaked book delivery activities through the online store for self-rescue.

"All the people are here, and everything will be fine." China Literature Network said in the post, "Not only are those willing to help us here, but also those who love physical books. The tomorrow we can share is still there."

The situation of book companies affected by the disaster. China Literature Network official WeChat public account. (End of translation)