Chapter 111 Pony Crossing the River

Chapter 111 Pony Crossing the River

Chapter 111 Pony Crossing the River
In Wang Zixu's memory, Ning Chunyan has always been presented as the muse of literature. She was too stunning when she first appeared on the stage. Even when she later wore denim shorts, plaid skirts, and knee-high socks, she did not lose the bookish temperament that shocked him the first time he saw her. The grace and charm between her eyebrows and eyes can be clearly seen in front of him even with his eyes closed.

However, when we met today, her scholarly air was more tangible in her attire: she was wearing an elegant and solemn Hanfu, her hair was decorated with golden hairpins, she held a small silk fan in her hand, and her skirt fluttered in the wind, looking slender and graceful.

Seeing Wang Zixu's gaze, Ning Chunyan narrowed her eyes and smiled, then waved her small fan at his face: "Is it so beautiful?"

The prince said honestly, "It suits you very well."

Hanfu is no longer considered a strange and outrageous costume these days. Wang Zixu has seen many girls wearing Hanfu. But it must be admitted that Hanfu is not suitable for everyone. Hanfu does not show the waistline very well, and some girls are too big and do not look good in it. However, Ning Chunyan has a slim figure, so it is perfect for her.

Ning Chunyan's slenderness is different from the sickly beauty of "weak willows swaying in the wind" as described by the ancients. She is very healthy. Even her makeup is not completely ancient. She organically integrates modern self-confidence, self-reliance and generosity into this ancient style dress, and the effect is surprisingly excellent, even with a bit of the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Ning Chunyan smiled and said, "When we attend the literary gathering this time, Teacher Li Tingfang specifically told us to wear Hanfu as much as possible if we can. Teacher Li Tingfang herself also wore Hanfu, which is very interesting. You will be able to see it when the awards are presented. In addition, there is also a great beauty among the guests this time, and you will be able to feast your eyes on her then."

The prince shook his head: "Just looking at you is enough."

"What truth are you talking about? You married Wang Zixu! By the way, did you know that your novel was published in Yangtze River?"

Wang Zixu nodded: "I know, I just came here to buy a copy of Yangtze River."

"See, I told you that you could be on Yangtze River."

Wang Zixu said sincerely: "Thank you. You have helped me a lot."

"That's right. He owes me a hundred meals in total."

Diao Yiwen squeezed in from behind Wang Zixu and came to the front, speaking modestly and with eager eyes: "Excuse me, are you Miss Ning?"

"It's me, you?"

Diao Yiwen smiled shyly: "I am your fan, can you sign an autograph for me?"

She handed over a book called "When the Black Hair Dyes Snow, We Say Goodbye Again" which she had taken from the bookshelf at some unknown time. Ning Chunyan has not published many books, and this is her first physical book, a collection of short stories. She just showed up, and Diao Yiwen happened to have this book in her hands, which shows that she is definitely her fan.

Ning Chunyan raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a very businesslike smile, and asked, "Are you guys together?"

Wang Zixu said: "Not together."

After a pause, he added: "They are my colleagues."

Ning Chunyan showed an expression of sudden enlightenment (no one knew what she had realized), and asked, "What should I sign for you?"

Diao Yiwen said, "Just sign whatever you want."

Diao Yiwen stood beside Wang Zixu stiffly with her hands clasped in front of her. She didn't turn around to look at him, and her expression was a little awkward. Behind her, Song Yinglian and Guo Ranran looked at each other and exchanged surprised glances.

They had worked in Xihe for so long that they all knew who Ning Cainu was. Even if they didn't know what she looked like, they knew it after Diao Yiwen told them. They were surprised why Ning Chunyan and Wang Zixu acted so familiar with each other? In other words, why was Wang Zixu qualified to be so familiar with her?
Their impression of Wang Zixu still remained 20 days ago, when he was criticized in meetings but kept his head down and didn't dare to say a word, when he was angry but could only bang the table and rage but had nowhere to go. 20 days later, this Wang Zixu suddenly drove a car that they couldn't afford, and chatted with people they couldn't imagine, like old friends.

20 days is less than a month, and even wages are only paid once, not to mention that they work in government offices for ten years and have no sense of time. The difference between Wang Zixu before and after this was so great that it seemed as if several years of time had been squeezed into these extremely short 20 days, secretly rushing through him.

Ning Chunyan returned the book to Diao Yiwen. Diao Yiwen hugged the book and said thank you. Finally, she couldn't help but asked, "Did you...know each other before?"

"Cough, cough, uh..." Ning Chunyan cleared his throat and kept glancing at Wang Zixu.

Because she didn't know the relationship between them, she didn't know how to answer, nor did she know whether she should answer. Wang Zixu saw her dilemma and said, "Yes, Ms. Ning and I have known each other for almost two months. We are old acquaintances."

"We've only known each other for less than two months. Who says you're an old acquaintance?"

After saying this, Diao Yiwen and the other two were even more confused about their relationship. Wang Zixu didn't care what they thought, he just handed the magazine in his hand to Ning Chunyan and said:

"You should keep this magazine. It has commemorative value."

Ning Chunyan glared at him: "You changed your career to become a salesman, right?"

She looked down at the book cover and saw the three words "The Little Prince" standing out. She was immediately surprised and said, "Really? How do you know I admire the Little Prince?"

Wang Zixu didn't know how to answer, so he could only silently give her a mysterious smile. Ning Chunyan said, "I'll take this, but come here, I'll show you this..."

She led Wang Zixu around the path formed between the bookshelves without stopping. If Wang Zixu were to comment, the route here would be very complicated, but Ning Chunyan seemed to have memorized the route by heart. Diao Yiwen and others followed them not far behind, and finally managed to avoid losing them.

"arrive."

Ning Chunyan suddenly stopped at a corner, turned his head slowly and solemnly, and walked backwards like a TV host. He stretched out his hand and pointed behind him, which Wang Zixu could not see:
"Dangdang, please enjoy!"

Wang Zixu looked over and saw a large group of people gathered in front of a square table. Needless to say, there were books on the table. As for what the books were, because there were so many people surrounding the table, it was impossible to see the contents at all. He said, "I have seen many crowds today."

Ning Chunyan was a little disappointed: "I'm not asking you to look at people, you'll know if you squeeze in and take a look."

Finally, she added, "There weren't so many people here just now."

There was some complaint in her tone, but she was not blaming Wang Zixu nor the people who were watching the fun.

When Wang Zixu approached the dense crowd, he discovered a characteristic of this group of people: the vast majority of them were women.

The few men who were there also seemed to be accompanying their female companions. They stood at a distance with their hands folded, unwilling to squeeze into the crowd and had no enthusiasm to extend their hands. Apart from that, there was only himself. The way he pretended to squeeze in did seem like he was being lewd.

In fact, Wang Zixu already had some guesses in his mind when he saw this scene, and when he saw the table was full of the same books, he was even more certain. He grabbed one and walked out, not as engrossed in reading as other customers.

Wang Zixu turned around and raised the book in his hand to Ning Chunyan, saying, "After all this time, you only let me read this?"

On that book, printed in gold-plated font was a title that Wang Zixu was very familiar with: "The Little Prince's Love Letter to the World."

Ning Chunyan said with his hands behind his back, "How is it? Isn't this also of great commemorative value? I tell you, the person who thought of filling up the entire booth with this book must be a sales genius."

Diao Yiwen came over and said, "This little prince is Wen... Is he the little prince who has become famous recently?"

Ning Chunyan nodded: "Yes. He finally published a book, and it is said that the first print run has 10 copies!"

She crossed her fingers and made a "10". She wanted to say, "One hundred thousand books, what does that mean?"

There are only three possible scenarios in the industry with this number: either the author is crazy, the publisher is crazy, or a publishing legend is about to be born.

The logic of the physical book industry is not as data-expanding as in the Internet era. Even for many celebrities, only 500 copies of their books are printed. For a newcomer, if the first print run can reach 1 copies, that is quite good. Even when Harry Potter was first introduced, the first print run was only 1000 copies, and it was reprinted because of the good response.

The Little Prince's first copy was printed in such large quantities that the publisher may have lost all its money. But even Xihe, a small town, could have such a grand occasion, so the publisher must be very happy.

Unfortunately, she was the only one among the people present who was well versed in the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and she did not show the slightest surprise at the number of 10 copies.

Wang Zixu saw that Diao Yiwen was eager to go over there, so he stuffed the book in his hand to her and said, "Read this one. You don't have to squeeze over there."

Diao Yiwen blushed and whispered, "Thank you."

Ning Chunyan was disappointed: "You don't want to buy a copy? Why don't you buy one? Learn from others' writing style, and you can also become famous. I tell you."

Wang Zixu said, "I'll just forget it."

He has a lot of books at home. I'll keep a few as souvenirs. The rest will be used as gifts for autographs.

He pretended to be nonchalant and said, "I heard that the book didn't receive very good reviews."

Ning Chunyan rolled his eyes and said, "I borrowed a phrase from Premier Zhou, 'The people like it, who do you think you are?' I'm not talking about you. Whether a book is good or not doesn't need others to guide it.

"Reading is a very personal thing, just like Little Pony Crossing the River. If you find it useful, then it is good for you. In this era of information explosion, there is no need for spiritual mentors to educate people. There are so many writers, how can we expect all of them to be spiritual mentors?
"Besides, the people don't need to be educated by writers. They all watch short videos. Who wants to read text? If we have to shoulder the responsibility of education, it shouldn't be the role of writers. As for physical books, if we can keep one reader, it's one. Look at this booth. Do you know how many years it has been since there have been so many people going crazy for text?"

Wang Zixu actually felt very comfortable after hearing what he said, but he still pretended to be worried, frowning and saying in a trembling voice: "It's really going downhill, people's hearts are no longer the same as before!"

Ning Chunyan stamped her feet in anger: "You and I have nothing in common."

After she finished speaking, she suddenly thought of something, cleared her throat, and whispered, "By the way, I forgot to tell you something just now. You still have to go to the Nanjing University delegation."

Wang Zixu really became worried: "Hmm?"

Ning Chunyan licked his lips, feeling a little guilty: "Well, after all, it's because of that thing...right! Anyway, Professor Zhong took such a big risk for you...right! It would be inappropriate for you not to go to him."

After saying that, she ran away like a butterfly, leaving only one sentence: "Go quickly, or don't blame me for not reminding you."

Wang Zixu thought for a moment, then turned to Diao Yiwen and said, "When you return to our volunteer site later, if Director Gou or anyone else asks about it, just tell them that I have to go to another delegation to receive guests and cannot go back."

Diao Yiwen asked, "Doing reception?"

She was puzzled as to why Wang Zixu was asked to take charge of the reception? What did Ning Cainu mean by what she had just said?
But she didn't have time to ask, because Wang Zixu didn't plan to explain to them. He took the last copy of "Yangtze River" from Guo Ranran, put it together with "Literary and Art Circles", paid, and then disappeared into the sunny place outside the door.

(End of this chapter)