Chapter 78 Norwegian Woods
Chapter 78 Norwegian Woods
Ye Lan was very active. The next day, she brought Wang Zixu to the "base" she had found for the "Wen Ai Club" and changed into a pair of stockings.
The so-called "base" is a loft-style apartment building located in the suburbs. The suburbs of Xihe is a very large concept, and the location of this place, even in the suburbs, is the most remote one.
Wang Zixu sat in the passenger seat of Ye Lan's Audi. It took a full 40 minutes to reach the destination. As soon as he got off the car, he felt the wind with gravel blowing on his face. He stepped on a cement road that seemed to cut through the world. There was endless loess on both sides of the road. The city in the distance shrank into a ball at the end of the field of vision. The high bucket of the crane became the only embellishment on the skyline.
On the left side of the road, there is an unattended strawberry greenhouse, reflecting the bleak white light, and the plastic film trembles in the wind. It is past the strawberry season, and there are only drooping grass stems on the stalks of the field. Further away, there is a lonely toilet that looks very perfunctory, and on the dilapidated red brick wall, "male" and "female" are written in chalk.
The apartment is hidden in such a desolate place. Its exquisite light green walls, Baroque columns and very bourgeois courtyard make it look very classy and out of tune with the surrounding environment.
Ye Lan said: "This place is the product of failed investment. Previously, it was rumored that this area would be connected to the East China Sea and built into a digital industrial park. Someone planned ahead of time and built something like this here, but the planning was delayed and the project was abandoned. Come in."
Wang Zixu followed her into the house. The apartment was a pseudo-duplex structure. It was straightforward. There were eight single rooms on the upper floors, and a large living room downstairs that could be used as an office. The decoration style was industrial and cold (like a rough shell), but the soft furnishings were very sophisticated. The living room was fully equipped with sofas, coffee tables, and bookshelves, and there was even a wide-screen TV hanging on the wall.
Wang Zixu was very satisfied.
"How is it?" Ye Lan asked. "The monthly rent here is only over a thousand. With such a large area, you can move in with just your luggage. It's a good deal, right? I also hired an aunt to take care of three meals a day, including buying groceries, cooking, washing dishes and mopping the floor. It only costs two thousand. It's just too far from the city center. It's surrounded by wilderness and there's not even a 24-hour convenience store."
Wang Zixu said: "This is better. Without the glitz and glamour of the world, I can reduce the messy desires in my heart and focus more on literature."
Ye Lan said: "It's mainly because it's not very convenient to go home."
Wang Zixu said: "I won't go home. I won't go home since I came here. In these 20 days, I don't have time to go home. Otherwise, why would I ask for free food and accommodation?"
Ye Lan was a little surprised: "You haven't been home for 20 days? Does your wife have any objection?"
Wang Zixu said: "I told her that my unit had organized a group of people to go to Hongzhou for a 20-day party character training class. Generally, those who are about to be promoted must take this class once. She happily agreed. My mother-in-law will go to my house to take care of her. I don't have to go home."
Ye Lan crossed his arms and could not agree with Wang Zixu's behavior of lying to his wife.
"I feel like the way you and your wife get along is a little weird."
Wang Zixu asked: "Is it strange?"
Ye Lan nodded: "For this kind of thing, it's better to just say no. It's all about making money, and it's not disgraceful. Why hide it from her? Normal couples usually support each other, but it feels like you are just wasting each other's energy."
Wang Zixu asked: "Are you married?"
He originally thought that Ye Lan had a lot of insights into marriage, so he asked this question subconsciously, but Ye Lan was instantly defeated, stamped his feet and said:
"What's wrong with not getting married? Can't you express your opinion on marriage if you're not married? I have married friends too! I've seen many different types of marriages! Forget it, I won't talk to you anymore. I'm leaving!"
Her style of breaking down defenses was very similar to that of a talented woman Wang Zixu knew. Ye Lan went out, and after a while she came back, this time with a calmer tone:
"Oh, there's something I forgot to mention. I've contacted Cheng Xing."
Wang Zixu asked: "What did he say?"
Ye Lan rolled up her hair and said, "He said that he is very interested in the literary club you are going to set up. He wants to join."
The prince was startled and asked, "How can this be possible?"
Ye Lan opened his eyes slightly, and his dark eyes widened: "Why not? A high reading volume, strong writing skills, and understanding of literature, don't they all meet your requirements? An author who is engaged in physical publishing comes to write a literary script with you, what else are you not satisfied with?"
She finished talking while counting on her fingers, and Wang Zixu remained silent. It seemed that Ye Lan's words could not be refuted, but she felt something was wrong.
Wang Zixu said: "I'm afraid we can't keep an author of his ability. What I want is not just a momentary passion, but a long-term wait."
Ye Lan said: "Who is not someone else's consumable? How can anyone stay together for life? Stay as long as you can, and the longer you stay, the more you will produce."
Wang Zixu said: "I didn't expect you to say something so philosophical."
Ye Lan tossed her hair proudly: "What a fuss. That's because you don't understand me."
"Good good."
The prince laughed from the bottom of his heart. After he finished laughing, he realized that he hadn't laughed like this for a long time.
Later, he suddenly realized that he was just like Watanabe in "Norwegian Wood" in the past few years. There were always many forces around him dragging him towards "death". But fortunately, there were some people like Midori around him. Midori represented the power of "life". After he floated up from under the water, he could cherish the beauty of "life" even more.
This is also the call of libido. It is the credit of literature.
Ye Lan said, "That's it. He has received a lot of business plans about you. People from all walks of life are squatting at the door of traffic like dogs, trying to bite off a piece of meat. When he comes, you can discuss with him in person to see how to convert this wave of traffic into real money."
Wang Zixu nodded. He pointed to the bookshelf and said, "I still need your help to buy some books."
Ye Lan said, "Okay, tell me to write, and I'll find a pen."
Wang Zixu sat down on the sofa: "The complete works of Borges, Vargas Llosa's "Long Talks in the Bar", Saramago's "Blindness", Camus's notes, the complete works of Eileen Chang, Wang Zengqi's "Notes from Da Nao", Zhang Xianliang's "Half of a Man is Woman", Su Tong's "The Yellow Bird", Yan Lianke's "They"..."
Ye Lan wrote these down on paper stroke by stroke, and asked Wang Zixu when she came across a word she didn't know. After she finished writing, she asked, "Are these all books you have read?"
Wang Zixu struggled for a moment, then decided to tell the truth: "These are all the books I wanted to buy before, and the books I couldn't afford."
Ye Lan looked up at him with a puzzled look on his face: "You just became a shareholder and you've learned how to take advantage of the company, right?"
Wang Zixu said: "I will call a Lalamove to bring all the books from my home. I have made a schedule, and within 20 days, about half of the time will be spent on reading. So I need to prepare a lot of books."
Ye Lan didn't dwell on the fact that he had taken advantage of her. It wasn't until the Huolala mentioned by Wang Zixu came rushing down the lonely road that Ye Lan realized how honest Wang Zixu was. The cargo hold of the small truck was almost full of books. It took the driver half an hour to move all the books.
The bookshelves on the entire wall were filled, and many books were placed on the floor. Ye Lan wondered how these books ended up in Wang Zixu's house. Did he rob a library?
Wang Zixu didn't think he had a lot of books, but he knew he had a lot of books. He paid 70 yuan out of his own pocket for the driver to unload the books, which showed that he knew how heavy these books were.
In the half hour that the 70 yuan bought him, he adjusted the speakers in the living room and tried to use the music software to play "Norwegian Wood" - the one by the Beatles, not the one by Wu Bai. Although the one by Wu Bai was also on the playlist.
He did this clumsy thing because he remembered an interesting fact - the original name of the Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood" was actually "I Know She Would (To Have Sex with Me)", but the record company thought it was too indecent, so they changed the name to a homonym, from "Knowing She Would" to "Norweigian wood", which suddenly became literary.
This incident seemed like a metaphor, a metaphor for some aspect of Wen Ai's spiritual core. Wang Zixu thought it was very interesting, but if he told it to Ye Lan, he probably wouldn't understand.
(End of this chapter)