Chapter 19 93 years
Chapter 19: Ninety-three
Wang Zixu took a bite of food, thought for a moment, and said, "If I had to choose only from his works, my favorite would be 'Ninety-Three'."
Lin Feng said: "I seem to have heard of this book. What exactly is it about?"
Wang Zixu is the type who has no interest in talking about other things, but can talk about things that interest him for a whole day. When Lin Feng asked about this topic, he immediately started talking about why the book was titled "Ninety-Three Years", then talked about the French Revolution and the Royalists, and then talked about the Marquis of Landernac and the Vendée Rebellion. He talked for three minutes before he stopped.
After he finished speaking, the whole table fell into silence. Wang Zixu was slightly startled, thinking that his old problem had come back again and he had made the situation awkward again.
While he was thinking about how to remedy the situation, Lin Feng touched his chin and said, "So, this novel is mainly about the revolutionary sentiments of the French during the war, right?"
Wang Zixu was just about to say more, when the leader suddenly clapped his hands and gave Lin Feng a thumbs up: "Good! Mr. Lin is really insightful. In just a few words, he summarized such a profound thought. Come, let me toast you."
Lin Feng smiled and waved his hands repeatedly. The two of them drank a glass and the atmosphere at the table became lively again.
Guo Ranran held his chin up and said, "Brother Wang, I'd like to ask you, did you deliberately tell us about a very unpopular novel so as to show off your knowledge to everyone?"
Wang Zixu was speechless. He looked at her and said, "Ninety-Three is not unpopular. This book is the last novel written by Hugo when he was 73 years old. It is a masterpiece that is a culmination of his career. It is just not well-known in China."
Guo Ranran stuck out her tongue and said, "Is it because I am ignorant? Come, Brother Wang, I'll toast you a glass."
Wang Zixu had no choice but to raise his glass and drink with her. Everyone at the table stood up and toasted each other.
The leader turned around and said to Wang Zixu from across the seat: "Xiao Wang, you are indeed very knowledgeable, but learning and cultivation require not only knowledge but also cultivation. Don't be too proud, be humble, listen more and talk less."
Wang Zixu was so depressed by this that he lost his temper. He knew that the leader was pointing a finger at him, saying that he talked too much and stole the limelight from Lin Feng. At this table, Lin Feng should be the protagonist now.
Zhang Cangnian beside him said with a smile: "Leader, you are asking too much of Xiao Wang. He usually doesn't talk much at work. If you ask him to talk less, he will be silent at work when he goes back."
Perhaps it was the effect of alcohol, the leader's face turned slightly red, and he said, "You can't just stay silent on the table and talk, right?"
Zhang Cangnian chuckled and said, "I probably don't drink enough with him usually, so he's not used to it. Right, Xiao Wang? I think you should have a drink with General Manager Lin. You two have made our table feel your literary spirit today. If you two have a drink, you will definitely resonate more."
The leader said, "Yes, you two should quickly come to the same conclusion so that we can learn more."
The prince raised his glass in vain and said, "Boss Lin, I toast to you."
Raymond Lam also raised his glass: "No, I should toast you too, let's drink together and resonate with each other."
After they finished drinking, Wang Zixu had already drunk three cups, and his head was buzzing. Lin Feng put down the cup and said, "Brother Wang, you have a wide range of knowledge. How many books have you read?"
Wang Zixu looked up and saw his leader winking at him, not knowing what he was trying to say.
He saw Guo Ranran's eyes flickering again, staring at him like needles, and then looked away when he saw her;
I saw Zhang Cang, with his balding Mediterranean hairdo, sitting there with a big belly, picking food for himself without caring about anything.
In a trance, he seemed to see his wife putting pressure on him to "perform well."
He said, “I’ve seen them all.”
"Hmm?" Lin Feng raised his eyebrows.
"I have read all the major works of yours that you can name," said Wang Zixu.
After that, there was a silence at the table.
The leader knocked his glass on the table and said, "Xiao Wang, what did I just say?"
Lin Feng waved his hand to stop his leader from getting angry: "Don't."
He turned to Wang Zixu and said, "Brother Wang, are you really so confident?"
Wang Zixu said: "It's OK, just average confidence."
Guo Ranran said quietly, "If you blow your own trumpet, it will bring shame to our company."
"It can't be blown." Wang Zixu said as he lowered his head to eat, trying to suppress his drunkenness. Lin Feng said, "Okay, then why don't I test you."
"How to take the test?"
Raymond Lam said: "I'll name an author, you name his works, and let Xiao Guo search on Baidu. If you can name one of his works, I'll have a drink. If you can't answer, you'll have a drink. How about that?"
Wang Zixu put down his chopsticks and said, "This is too easy. You name a writer and I'll name all his novels. If you get all of them right, you drink. If you get one wrong, I drink."
The leader next to him agreed immediately: "Great! This is a good suggestion. We can just broaden our horizons, right?"
The purpose of his hosting Lin Feng this time was to make Lin Feng drink well. As for how to make him drink well, it didn't matter.
This work guessing game sounds fun, and Raymond Lam is in high spirits. It is also another opportunity for him to show off his reading volume. From his perspective, he would definitely welcome it.
If Wang Zixu lost face and failed to answer, it would be exactly what he wanted - it would be better if Wang Zixu said less after drinking too much.
A colleague next to me said, "Isn't this more exciting than finger-guessing?"
"Yes, it will be a good story if it gets out."
"If General Manager Lin drinks, we will also have a drink with him. If Comrade Wang drinks, how about your unit have a drink with him?"
The leader waved his hand and said, "Xiao Mao, please write down who drank how many cups today. We will decide the winner in the end."
The others at the table applauded loudly.
The corners of Prince Xu's mouth curled up, he smiled slightly and said, "Okay, let's get started?"
Lin Feng crossed his arms and said, "Let's start. We just talked about Hugo, but we don't want to start with Hugo. Let's talk about another French writer first - Balzac."
……
In the KTV, Zuo Ziliang's investigation is still in progress.
Cheng Xing looked at him silently. He was quite confident in his script, so he was not nervous at all.
After a long while, Zuo Ziliang suddenly raised his head, took a deep breath and said:
“This level is still a little bit lacking. Although it has its own style and characteristics, it is still a long way from our previous scriptwriters.”
Cheng Xing suddenly became a little impatient, took back his manuscript, and said, "Really?"
Ye Lan immediately expressed his opinion: "How could that be? Cheng Xing has published a book, how could he be worse than the script writer you randomly found? Zuo Ziliang, everyone has their own preferences, you can't just reject someone just because you think he's not good enough, right?"
Zuo Ziliang frowned and said, "Level is a very objective thing. If you ask me to give a specific reason, I can't give one, but I can only say that this script is not enough to replace the little prince."
Cheng Xing didn't say anything and drank the water again, but everyone could see that he was not convinced. After all, he was still a college student, and his face was not easy to hide.
Ye Lan slapped the sofa and said, "Zuo Ziliang, if you keep finding faults, then we can't talk about this matter anymore."
Zuo Ziliang pursed his lips, a little impatient. Ye Lan was good at social management, but to be frank, she had no literary appreciation. It was difficult for him to discuss literary appreciation with her.
"Ye Lan, have you shown him the script of The Little Prince?"
Ye Lan shook his head: "No!"
Zuo Ziliang took out his cell phone, flipped through it for a while, handed it over, and said:
"This is our original scriptwriter's script. You can see how he wrote it."
(End of this chapter)