I'm not a literary giant

Chapter 247 New Year's Gathering

"It's not what you think."

After that brief explanation, Wang Zixu never found another opportunity to speak with Chen Qingluo alone.

On the surface, he appeared calm and collected, but inside he was suffering terribly, as if being slowly boiled over a low flame. He wanted to find an opportunity to talk to her again, but Ning Chunyan's gaze was sharp and fixed on his back.

Contrary to Chen Qingluo's expectations, he didn't leave behind only seven words out of a sense of magnanimity or a clear conscience. He only managed to squeeze out those seven words in a hurry.

He was completely unaware that Chen Qingluo had rebuilt a spiritual connection with him using only these seven words. He didn't know that all she needed was this one sentence.

As soon as she got out of the car, Chen Qingluo deliberately kept her distance from him, standing far away. Wang Zixu felt troubled. Lin Feng leaned closer and whispered in his ear:

"Brother, I forgot to tell you, Teacher Li Tingfang has been asking you to come several times. She's been waiting for you to come this time."

"Wait for me to go?" Prince Xu couldn't quite grasp the weight of those words and repeated blankly.

"You've now become a rising star in Xihe's literary scene, and she's waiting to test you," Lin Feng said, patting him on the shoulder.

"The standard bearer?" Prince Xu's expression was somewhat uncontrollable.

Raymond Lam is kind to the point of being naive. While Wang Zixu's current image in the literary world can't be described as "evil and heretical," it's certainly one that "everyone should condemn." But in Raymond Lam's words, he becomes a "standard-bearer."

Teacher Li and Shi Tonghe are both literary elders. If Wang Zixu criticizes Shi Tonghe like that, she might not necessarily stand on his side.

Taking an exam? You'll be lucky if you don't get roasted on the spot!
Prince Xu felt despair. He felt despair not only about today's itinerary, but also about his clumsy pun.

An Younan took off her snow-white cashmere beret, looked around, and it took her about ten seconds to realize that she had arrived at her destination.

The old residential building in front of me has oil stains under every window, like indelible black tear stains; the external elevator added during the renovation of the community stands there out of place, like a brand new fountain pen casually stuck on a broken pen holder.

She began to suspect that this was the place where Wang Zixu had said "the living figures who were written into literary history" lived.
That would be too low a cost-benefit ratio to be included in literary history, wouldn't it?

Ning Chunyan stood beside her, and as if sensing her disdain, explained:

"Professor Li's husband is a specially appointed professor at Yenching University, and her daughter is a PhD graduate from overseas. They are not short of money at all. But she insists on living in an old, dilapidated apartment in Xihe. Do you know why?"

An Younan raised an eyebrow and said, "We can't just wait for the demolition, can we?"

"Because her hometown is the root of Ms. Li's literature. Ms. Li's Xihe is like Mo Yan's Gaomi Township. Her person and her words are both rooted here."

Ning Chunyan slowly turned her face to An Younan: "And you? You don't belong here. Why are you here during the New Year?"

After listening, An Younan chuckled softly: "'You don't belong here,' haha, you're the second person to say that to me."

"Who's the first one?"

“Him.” An Younan pointed to Wang Zixu’s back. “I don’t really belong here, but he does, so I had no choice but to come along!”

Ning Chunyan asked urgently, "Then tell me, why did you suddenly become interested in him? What are you planning?"

In her mind, An Younan was a high-society lady, a wealthy heiress. It was highly suspicious that someone like her would suddenly become interested in an ordinary, honest-looking prince.

After much thought, the only explanation is that Wang Zixu has recently become incredibly popular. An might want to capitalize on this popularity and create some hype.

Even so, was it really necessary to chase them all the way to Xihe?

An Younan didn't intend to answer her question, and walked forward on her own, turning back to make a face at her: "Just keep guessing!"

Ning Chunyan stomped her foot in anger and turned to Chen Qingluo, asking, "What do you think she's trying to do?"

"Well……"

Chen Qingluo's voice seemed to float in the clouds. Ning Chunyan turned around and found that she had entered the detached state unique to literary creation, her eyes wandering, as if her body was here, but her soul was elsewhere.

She asked in a low voice, "Did you suddenly have an inspiration?"

Chen Qingluo shook her head, lightly followed the group, and fell to the very back.

Ning Chunyan couldn't help but complain, "What's wrong with everyone today? They're all acting so strangely!"

The group followed Lin Feng into the elevator. This disciple, with practiced ease, led them upstairs and then knocked on the Li family's door.

The door opened, and warm air, carrying the scent of books and ink, wafted out.

The person who opened the door was Mr. Tian, ​​Li Tingfang's husband. He seemed completely unsurprised that a large group of people had come to wish them a Happy New Year.

Li Tingfang herself was quite surprised by the lineup of people who came to pay New Year's greetings. She put on her reading glasses and carefully looked them over one by one, her gaze lingering on Wang Zixu's face for quite a while.

"Teacher, what's wrong?" Lin Feng asked.

"Hehe, it's nothing," Li Tingfang said kindly, stepping aside to let the door open. "Come in quickly."

As everyone entered the room, An Younan couldn't help but look around. The room was furnished in an elegant and refined style, with all sorts of books crammed into every corner, even the coffee table had several thread-bound books scattered about.

Everyone entered the room and took their seats, and the clerk presented the gifts at the appropriate time. After Li Tingfang invited everyone to sit down, she suddenly sighed softly.

"Speaking of which, Lin Feng, is this your first time leading a group to offer New Year's greetings?"

Others might not understand her feelings, but Raymond Lam was deeply moved and sincerely said:
"Yes! I remember when I first joined the Writers Association, I went with you to pay New Year's respects to Mr. Fang Bozhou. I was so nervous that I didn't know what to do with my hands and feet. You said to me at the time: What are you nervous about? You will be leading the team from now on."

Li Tingfang laughed and said, "You didn't expect it to happen so quickly, did you?"

Lin Feng said, "How could I have imagined that! Who would have thought that your words would come true in just a few years?"

"This is the way of the Yangtze River, where the new generation surpasses the old; time flows like a river, one generation pushing the next." Li Tingfang smiled and looked at Wang Zixu's group. "There are a few new faces this time. Aren't you going to introduce them?"

Lin Feng quickly stood up and introduced, "This is Wang Zixu, our newly appointed vice chairman of the Writers Association, and the winner of the first prize at the last Xihe Writers' Conference."

Strictly speaking, this wasn't their first meeting; they had met at the last literary awards ceremony. However, this was the first time Wang Zixu, in his capacity as vice chairman, had met Li Tingfang.

Mr. Tian, ​​Li Tingfang's husband, smiled, fiddling with a walnut in one hand and pointing at Wang Zixu with the other, saying, "I've seen this person before."

He paused for a moment, then slowly continued, "The internet says he's a 'literary assassin'."

Sweat poured out of Prince Xu's back in an instant.

The word "assassin" carries a slightly mocking tone online, but when an older person says it seriously, it sounds particularly sinister and malicious.

Lin Feng chuckled twice: "Wang Zixu... he's been quite a hot topic online lately. But online, it's all a mix of truth and falsehood, you can't believe everything..."

Grandpa Tian chuckled as he played with the walnuts, "Truth or false? Is the 'literature' real, or the 'assassin'?"

Ms. Li's daughter, who had returned from studying abroad, chimed in with a smile, "I really didn't expect that an internet celebrity would grace my humble abode with their presence."

Lin Feng was speechless for a moment and could only continue to laugh awkwardly.

Li Tingfang, however, had no smile on her face. She stared at Wang Zixu and said, "Wang Zixu, I've heard your name countless times lately. To be honest, I'm tired of hearing it."

The prince, whose name was called, felt a sudden tightness in his chest and blurted out, "...I'm sorry."

That was a ridiculous answer, as if it were Li Tingfang's fault for having calluses on his ears. An Younan, standing nearby, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Li Tingfang turned to her and asked, "Who is this young lady...?"

An Younan straightened up, stepped forward, and said sweetly:
"Hello, Teacher Li. I am Wang Zixu's sister. I am not a writer. I am just accompanying him to meet his literary idol."

Upon hearing the word "younger sister," Ning Chunyan's expression turned strange as she scanned An Younan and Wang Zixu's faces several times.

"Sister?" she asked silently with her eyes.

Prince Xu quickly looked away, pretending not to have seen it.

Li Tingfang laughed and said, "A literary idol? You've read my books?"

An Younan blinked: "Although I haven't read your masterpiece yet, you are my brother's idol, so naturally you are my idol too!"

Li Tingfang glanced at Wang Zixu: "I'm his idol? How did he praise me?"

He said, "You are a monument in literary history, a person who will be remembered in history."

"Heh," Li Tingfang chuckled, "That's all just polite talk. Your brother doesn't even respect Shi Tonghe, so what kind of idol am I?"

Wang Zixu hurriedly explained, "Teacher Li, about Shi Tonghe..." Li Tingfang waved her hand, interrupting him directly, "I don't want to hear explanations. I only ask you, Shi Tonghe now sees you as a thorn in his side, and as long as he has any standing in the literary world, he won't let you have an easy time. What do you plan to do about being suppressed by such a senior?"

The prince repeated listlessly, "...What should we do?"

Li Tingfang picked up her teacup and took a sip, her tone calm yet carrying an invisible pressure: "To put it bluntly, haven't you ever thought about resigning as vice chairman and simply leaving this industry?"

The once lively house fell silent, and the kettle in the kitchen began to hum softly.

This is not a topic that should come up at a Chinese New Year gathering.

The accompanying clerks and reporters were all surprised by Li Tingfang's bluntness and had only a vague understanding of Wang Zixu's situation. They listened to the conversation with a mixture of tension and excitement.

Upon hearing Li Tingfang's question, Wang Zixu's previously anxious heart calmed down, and he said:

"I don't need the position of vice chairman. I don't necessarily need to squeeze into the literary circle."

He paused, then continued, "But I will not stop writing."

Li Tingfang said, "Even if we can't win awards or publish our work in the future, will we still keep writing?"

"Keep writing."

Li Tingfang asked, "Since you're so persistent, why didn't you avoid Fei Shi's son when you invested in him? Then things wouldn't have gotten so tense now."

Wang Zixu said, "If he wasn't confident that his son would win the award, then he should be avoiding me."

The walnut in Mr. Tian's hand cracked.

“Good,” Li Tingfang said, “You have this ambition, which shows that the position of vice chairman has been well arranged.”

Before Wang Zixu could react, Lin Feng, standing next to him, breathed a sigh of relief: "Teacher, you scared me to death!"

Li Tingfang said with a smile, "Some time ago, the provincial government called me several times, and they were talking about this Prince Xu."

Lin Feng was startled: "The province? The provincial literary association? Why didn't you tell me?"

Li Tingfang said, "Didn't you tell me this? Shouldn't they have asked you to punish Wang Zixu and suspend him from his post?"

Lin Feng's forehead was covered in sweat: "Yes..."

Li Tingfang said, "I know you have a good relationship with him, and you've already taken on all the pressure, so there's no need for me to tell you anything more, it would only cause you more trouble."

After saying that, she smiled again: "Besides, what's the point of them pressuring a retired old woman like me? I'll just ignore them and let it all pass by."

Wang Zixu was somewhat surprised. It was the first time he had realized that so many people had shared the burden for him behind that incident.

He expressed his gratitude to Lin Feng once again.

Lin Feng asked, "Teacher, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

Li Tingfang said, "I don't know the inside story of what happened, so I won't comment. But just about the suspension, they didn't suspend Shi Tonghe, so why should we suspend Wang Zixu?"

After saying that, she rolled her eyes, displaying a liveliness beyond her years.

Upon hearing her words, Ning Chunyan raised her hands and clapped lightly in approval: "Teacher Li speaks with such authority! It's refreshing to hear!"

Li Tingfang said, "That's exactly right. They said that there's a lot of public opinion online, and regardless of who's right or wrong, Wang Zixu should be suspended first to give the public an explanation."

“I immediately retorted, why don’t you suspend Shi Tonghe? We’re a small place, but we’re not spineless and will let you bully us. Only talk about suspending Wang Zixu after you’ve suspended Shi Tonghe!”

Ning Chunyan's admiration grew even stronger, and she clapped even more enthusiastically: "Well said!"

Li Tingfang looked at Wang Zixu and said, "That's why I wanted to test you just now. We scholars of Xihe can be poor, but we must have a backbone. If we get scared by someone, what's the point of writing?"

Wang Zixu deeply felt that Li Tingfang lived life with great clarity and said, "What you say is absolutely right."

Li Tingfang said, "I'm not trying to protect my own. My friendship with Shi Tonghe is much deeper than my friendship with you. We were classmates in the same year at the Lu Xun Academy of Literature."

A nostalgic expression appeared on her face as she said, "That was 30 years ago. Shi Tonghe was about your age back then. He also came from a small town and had a stronger sense of self-esteem than anyone else. He was never willing to admit defeat. On the surface, he was humble and got along with everyone, but when it came to writing, he was like a different person. He was incredibly proud of his writing."

After saying that, she sighed: "To be honest, given his personality when he was young, I don't believe he would do such a thing. Maybe as people get older, they become greedy and narrow-minded. I don't know if everyone is like that."

She seemed to have thought of something else and suddenly stopped talking.

Lin Feng said, "Teacher Li, Shi Tonghe is like this because his son is good-for-nothing and he wanted to pave the way for his son."

Li Tingfang's daughter, who had returned from studying abroad, said, "Oh, you mean if I become a failure, my mother will turn into that too?"

"no no……"

Lin Feng was so amused that he didn't know what to do, and everyone burst into laughter.

Li Tingfang stood up, surveying the crowd like a general inspecting his soldiers, and nodded, saying:
"Good, very good, Lin Feng. The Xihe Literary Association is growing stronger and stronger."

Lin Feng said, "Yes, perhaps many years from now, when we look back on today, we will be surprised to find that everyone gathered here is a literary giant."

Li Tingfang ignored him and continued at her own pace: "With a genius like Xiao Ning, it's possible to run a magazine successfully in this era..."

Ning Chunyan stuck out her tongue and made a face.

"...And then there's Chen Qingluo, a genius; she's practically a born writer."

Everyone looked at Chen Qingluo, only to find that she seemed lost in thought and not paying attention.

"...And there's Prince Xu, a newcomer with unlimited potential. And then there's you, my last disciple."

Lin Feng touched his head shyly.

Li Tingfang turned to Wang Zixu and said in a serious voice, "Wang Zixu."

Prince Xu straightened up: "Yes, I am here."

“You must win the Fei Shi Literary Prize,” Li Tingfang said.

“Okay,” Prince Xu replied.

"The more Shi Tonghe tries to undermine you, the more you should step on his good-for-nothing son, win the Fei Shi Literary Award, and prove to everyone that you have the ability."

“Okay.” Prince Xu nodded.

……

After the New Year's gathering ended and everyone left, Li Tingfang's house returned to its quiet state.

Teacher Li's daughter said, "Mom."

"how?"

“I was really going to complain about this just now,” she said. “You’re saying Wang Zixu should win the award? Can he really win it? This award isn’t something you can just win on a whim.”

Li Tingfang pushed up her glasses: "What, you don't believe he can take it?"

The daughter smiled wryly: "It's not a matter of disbelief. No matter how well 'Fire in the Stone' is written, this award is given after considering many factors. If Shi Tonghe interferes, how can he win the award?"

Li Tingfang did not answer.

What she didn't reveal to everyone was that after Wang Zixu criticized Shi Tonghe at the seminar, they found "Fire in the Stone" and read it together. Their whole family had already become readers of "Fire in the Stone".

Two years earlier, she might have been able to exert some influence on the Fiesta Literary Prize. Even if she couldn't guarantee "Fire in the Stone" won, she could at least have made the selection process fairer.

But now she's retired, and the Fei Shi award is purely an award from Donghai. She's based in Xihe, so it's hard for her to have a voice there.

That's why she only said that one sentence to Wang Zixu.

She could no longer influence the selection results like she did with the Xihe Literary Society.

Prince Xu could only rely on himself.

……

(End of this chapter)