Chapter 200: Being the King of the Wind

Chapter 200: Being the King of the Wind

Chapter 200: Being the King of the Wind (6000 words)
"Miss An Younan said that she wants you to come over. Miss An Younan also said that after you hear this, you will definitely accept this proposal with pleasure."

After the thin man finished speaking, he clasped his hands and shook his body slightly, as if he was proud of what Miss An Younan said.

But after listening to what Wang Zixu said, he felt that An Younan either had an unclear self-awareness or an unclear understanding of Wang Zixu. He didn't feel "happy" at all, but rather a little horrified.

However, An Younan at least predicted one thing correctly: even if it was scary, he had to accept the proposal scary.

"Look," Sartre poked his head out from the opposite side of the black car, "I told you it happened! Run away!"

"Escape? Where can I escape to?" The little prince in a windbreaker stood on the street corner. "You can escape from your body, but you can't escape from social relations."

"That's right. If you don't go today, she will look for Ning Chunyan tomorrow," Sartre turned to Wang Zixu and said, "You'd better go. If Ning Chunyan knew that you gave Miss An an essential oil back massage while he wasn't paying attention, it would be a big deal."

In fact, Wang Zixu did not give An Younan an essential oil back massage. But he had no time to correct his wrong view. In any case, he had already gotten into the thin man's car.

The thin man was the driver. After getting in the car, he adjusted the rearview mirror, fastened his seat belt, and looked back at Wang Zixu.

"Miss An asked me to invite you politely. I am a rough person and don't know how to be polite, but you can relax and don't be so reserved."

Wang Zixu put his hands on his knees: "I'm not restrained."

"Then why are you sitting in the middle?"

Wang Zixu was sitting in the middle of the back seat. He looked left and right and saw Sartre and the little prince sitting on either side. Then he realized that the driver could not see them.

"It's okay, I'll just sit in the middle. I like this feeling of being limited."

The driver looked at him suspiciously and started the car.

Sartre said: "Miss An is quite rough in her work."

"How do you know?" asked the little prince.

"She just sent one person over here. What can he do? For example, if he wants to jump out of the car now, he can't stop him."

"Have you watched too many police and gangster movies?"

Wang Zixu didn't want to listen to their nonsense, so he asked the driver, "How did you know I was here?"

"Miss An gave me the address," the driver said. "She asked me to come, so I came. I don't know anything else."

"No, I mean, how did you know I was going to take out the trash at this time?"

"I was squatting at the door waiting." The driver said, "I saw you go upstairs, chased you, missed the elevator, and then I waited downstairs."

"What will you do if I don't come down?"

"I'll leave at ten o'clock. I only get this little salary, so I won't stay up late."

Wang Zixu felt that it didn't fit in with his worldview and the conversation was disjointed. Although this was not what he wanted to ask, he still felt a little relieved.

When the thin and tall man suddenly jumped out just now, he really thought that An Younan was omnipotent and elusive like the ghost in Gu Long's novels, who even calculated the time for him to take out the garbage.

"Miss An, why did you ask me to come over so late?"

After Wang Zixu asked this question, he saw from the rearview mirror that a strange smile appeared on the driver's face.

"Hey, I never ask about the boss's private affairs."

Wang Zixu was very curious about what he had misunderstood, and at the same time was very shocked, and said:

"If it's a private matter, I won't go."

"I don't ask about official business. I don't know what it is about." The driver quickly changed his words and showed no intention of stopping the car.

……

The car stopped at the entrance of the "Floating Star Shangpin" community. This is one of the two most famous upper-class residential areas in Qingshan District of Donghai, the other one is Yunchi Villa.

The residents here cannot be said to be either rich or noble, but they are full of extremely wealthy people and celebrities. In the past, Wang Zixu had only heard of these two places, and considering the land prices, he never thought that he would have any connection with these two places in his life.

Unexpectedly, he visited both communities within just one day.

The driver drove into the underground parking lot, pointed out the building number, and let him go up by himself, telling him to look for it there when he came down.

So Wang Zixu took the elevator upstairs as he said. The sightseeing elevator car rose from the underground, and the night view of the community was in full view. Except for the dark greenery and small lights dotted on the side of the road, Wang Zixu looked left and right, and felt that it was still like a maze, just like Yunchi Villa.

Nowadays, high-end residential areas have separated pedestrians and vehicles to keep the ground clean and tidy, and then the roads on the ground are made winding, with various mountains and ridges to hide the sight.

Wang Zixu couldn't help but sigh: The richer people are, the more they value privacy, and even regard privacy as a virtue. People who live on the first, second, and third floors of small flats facing the street, where even the underwear they dry out to dry that day is known to passers-by, are certainly not qualified to possess this virtue.

When they arrived at the door, a strange woman opened it. She had a cold expression and was wearing a black hip skirt, black stockings, and cotton slippers. Seeing Wang Zixu coming, she simply said:

"There are shoe covers in the shoe closet."

The shoe covers are made of white fabric, very thin, without the rustling sound of plastic bags that would lower the style. The interior of the house is well decorated in a high-end modern style. When you enter the living room, you will feel it is even more magnificent.

An Younan sat on the brown leather sofa, hugged her legs, and stared at Wang Zixu with her eyes rolling around.

"It's presumptuous of me to invite you here so late, Teacher Wang," said An Younan.

When Wang Zixu saw the strange woman, he felt a little bit of luck in his heart, thinking that his secrets might not have been exposed. He tried to pretend to be serious but reserved like he did yesterday:

"It's such a nice night, I should go to bed early. If you feel it's presumptuous, you shouldn't have invited me here like this; now that you're here, don't say polite words."

An Younan laughed, his mouth wide open, revealing his white teeth. His smile was very sweet:

"I said that Mr. Wang is a very cool person. He is worthy of being an author praised by my teacher."

The strange woman next to him took a sip of tea, nodded slightly, and stared at Wang Zixu, her eyes seemed to be weighing a product.

An Younan kicked off his slippers and put his legs on the sofa: "Sorry, I feel more relaxed at home. I just don't want to discuss things with you seriously, so I invited you to my house. Do you mind?"

"do not mind."

"That's great." An Younan pointed to the woman next to him and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Duan Xiaosang, a well-known matchmaker in the industry."

"matchmaker?"

Duan Xiaosang spat at her: "What matchmaker? You are talking nonsense again."

"To match writers with organizations, what else can you be but a matchmaker?" An Younan chuckled as he lay on the armrest of the sofa. "I don't like the term broker."

"I'm not a broker either. I just put the right resources in the right place."

An Younan said, "Okay, let's be serious. Teacher Wang Zixu, let me be honest. I think every author should have a friend like Duan Xiaosang. Making friends with her can change the life trajectory of a writer."

"That's a bit too much." Duan Xiaosang pushed his glasses.

"No. If I have to give an example, Xiao Sang herself is an example." An Younan leaned lazily on the sofa and said, "Most of the new generation of martial arts who were popular all over the country 10 years ago have fallen to the point of worrying about their children's schooling and saving a few gasoline dollars. Look at how cool Xiao Sang is. She can live in the same community as me, have access to top resources, and have an annual income of seven figures. Do you know why she can do all this?"

Hearing the other party's annual income, Wang Zixu unconsciously lowered his head and asked cooperatively, "Why?"

"It depends on copyright operation." An Younan said, "Books, movies, peripherals, audios... these are the core competitiveness that make your writing valuable. How much money can you make just by writing? Which writer survives on royalties?"

Wang Zixu asked softly, "Miss An, do you want to introduce Miss Duan to me?"

"I can only introduce her to you. As for whether we can become friends, it depends on whether you can provide corresponding value."

Duan Xiaosang took the initiative to extend his hand to Wang Zixu: "Let me formally introduce myself. I am the editor-in-chief of Fenghua magazine, and I am also in charge of copyright management."

Wang Zixu shook hands with her in confusion.

Duan Xiaosang added: "I have a good relationship with Xiao Mengyin, and she often talks about you to me."

An Younan's eyes widened: "Xiao Mengyin also knows him?"

"Yeah, didn't I say that?" Duan Xiaosang drank water.

"No wonder." An Younan blinked, a glimmer of cunning flashing in his eyes.

Wang Zixu clenched his fist and asked, "I don't know much about copyright operation. What value do I have that Miss Duan would like to see?"

An Younan adjusted his sitting position: "Don't you want to talk to Miss Duan about the publication of Fire in the Stone?"

Prince Xu asked calmly, "Isn't it too early to talk about publishing now?"

"It's getting late. You could even say it's a little late." Duan Xiaosang said, "Is your work seminar about to start?"

Wang Zixu was stunned: "How do you know?"

He had to rely on his classmate Pu Yuyang to learn about the recent decision made by the editorial department of "Get" in advance. How did she know?
Duan Xiaosang took a sip of coffee nonchalantly and did not answer Wang Zixu's question. It seemed that she just mentioned something unimportant. She said:
“It’s hard to get a book number nowadays. If an amateur like you who has never published a book wants to go into publishing, besides paying for it yourself, you either have to win an award or be praised and recommended by an authoritative magazine.

"Some newer publishing houses must have set their sights on you. The reason they haven't come to you yet is because the seminar hasn't started yet and they are still hesitating. Once the seminar starts, they will be able to negotiate a contract with you."

Wang Zixu nodded: "I see."

Duan Xiaosang said: "But if you rashly start negotiating a contract with someone at that time, you will definitely fail, and the terms you get will definitely not be good."

Wang Zixu asked: "Why?"

Duan Xiaosang didn't answer. He stood up, took a new book wrapped in plastic from the bookshelf next to the TV, and handed it over.

Wang Zixu took it in his hand and looked at it. He saw the following words printed on the spine of the book:

"Yesterday's Star" - "Xiangxiao Reading Annual Award, First Prize"
"Yanzishan (writer), Zhang Qiaoyun (writer), Gu Zao (writer), Xiao Mengyin (writer), Murong Yan (writer) unanimously recommended

"Shi Shuqiu may be the most anticipated young writer this year. - Yanzishan"

"..."

After reading it, Prince Xu raised his face expressionlessly.

Duan Xiaosang came over, pointed at the words with his finger and said:
"Awards, celebrity recommendations, and praise from heavyweight writers are necessary conditions for selling books well, and good contract terms. Otherwise, it is impossible to sell well."

Wang Zixu woodenly placed Shi Shuqiu's "masterpiece" on the coffee table. An Younan sat diagonally on the sofa, legs elegantly folded to one side, looking at him with a smile.

"I've never heard of the Xiangxiao Reading Award."

"This is a small prize. You can hold one with 20 yuan of funding. Just invite a few people with low appearance fees to come out and give them some praises." Duan Xiaosang said, "But it is necessary. Do you think that if you don't care about anything and just rush up to get a Feishi, everything will be fine?"

Wang Zixu sat down obediently. He really believed so.

"It's not easy to win the Feishi Literature Award," An Younan said with a smile. "Feishi is a highly commercial award. They spend millions to organize a competition. If they can't make back their investment, they will definitely not do it."

Duan Xiaosang continued, "It means that when they judge the award, they must nominate works that have considerable traffic and popularity. You can go and have a look now. Several of the recommended candidate works are either about to be published as physical books or have already been released."

An Younan added: "I heard that many people would spend a lot of money to get this award. I have a lot of money too. What do you think? If I use my pocket money to get it, can I get the first prize next year?"

Duan Xiaosang said, "Just get a nomination. The competition team has to save face. Last year, someone spent two million on the event, but in the end, didn't Xiao Mengyin win the first prize alone?"

An Younan smiled and said, "Isn't that because you and she are good friends?"

"If you want to win an award, you can't just rely on activities without real skills; it won't work if you don't participate at all." Duan Xiaosang said, "After all, whether your writing is good or not is up to others, don't you understand?"

Prince Xu rubbed his hands on his thighs, his palms a little sweaty: "Then how do we move?"

"There is a method to the activity, it's not just a foolish way of throwing money around."

Duan Xiaosang said something ambiguous, which sounded correct but actually contained no information at all.

Wang Zixu thought about it at first, and then he came to his senses. The previous contents were all free, and the following contents were unique secrets. If you were not an expert, you would not be able to hear them easily.

An Younan said to Wang Zixu with a smile: "Teacher Wang Zixu, let me interrupt you. It just so happens that Duan Xiaosang and I are both looking for someone recently."

Here it comes. Wang Zixu perked up. It seemed like the main part of the play was about to begin.

"We searched for a long time and finally found that the clues are all on your side. I would like to ask, can you share them with me?"

Wang Zixu asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Little Prince." An Younan's smile remained unchanged.

Wang Zixu tried hard to control his expression and asked, "Why are you looking for him?"

"Of course it's a good thing." An Younan said.

"Oh..." Prince nodded, "The little prince is also what you call an 'amateur'. He may need copyright management more than me."

"Yes. That's right." An Younan nodded, smiling even more. "You must have his contact information, right?"

Wang Zixu said: "I'm just an ordinary editor. Contacting the little prince has always been the responsibility of our editor-in-chief Ning..."

"You are more than just an ordinary editor." Duan Xiaosang said, "Zhang Xixi, do you know her?"

"……know."

"She told me that she had arranged a text interview with the little prince, and it was you who introduced her."

Wang Zixu was sweating a little: "Is this true? I should ask Editor-in-Chief Ning to..."

"What a coincidence, I talked to Ning Chunyan, and she knew nothing about this." An Younan said.

Wang Zixu fell silent.

"Teacher Wang Zixu," An Younan suddenly said, "Do you like Miss Ning Chunyan?"

"Ah?" Wang Zixu looked up in surprise.

An Younan saw his expression and immediately had the answer: "You should be clear about what we just said, right? Xiao Sang can help you manage the copyright. You want to win the Feishi Literature Award, get a better publishing contract, and even continue to develop the copyright in the future. With her help, it will obviously be more beneficial to your personal development.

"But why don't you admit that you know the Little Prince? I know that the Little Prince is an important core competitiveness of your magazine, but your loyalty to your magazine is too high, isn't it? How much is your salary as an editor? So I think you must like Ning Chunyan to be so 'loyal', right?"

Duan Xiaosang was also quite curious about this conclusion. He looked at the two of them in a daze, then leaned over and asked, "Does he have it?"

"It doesn't look like it." An Younan put his hand on his chin.

"It has nothing to do with loyalty," Wang Zixu said. "The little prince doesn't like to be disturbed. He just wants to create quietly. He gave us his contact information because he trusted us. I don't want to betray this trust. That's all."

Sartre raised his fist and said, "You are confused! What's wrong with you agreeing to him?"

The little prince remained silent.

Sartre shook the little prince: "Hey, say something. Even the Physics Prize is so difficult to win. Do you really think he is qualified to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?"

The little prince remained silent.

An Younan sighed deeply.

"You are not from the same family. You and Ning Chunyan are so rigid that you look like they were cut from the same mold."

She jumped off the sofa, stood up, hooked her finger at the prince, and said, "Come with me."

Duan Xiaosang also stood up, but An Younan stopped her: "Xiaosang, please sit down for a moment. I want to talk to him alone."

Wang Zixu became even more nervous: "Is there anything that cannot be said publicly?"

"You understand clearly," An Younan turned around and stared at him speechlessly with his dark eyes, "It should be you who doesn't want to make this public, not me."

The glimmer of hope that Wang Zixu had just felt was shattered.

Following An Younan into the study, the woman turned around and closed the door. Then she turned around, leaned her back against the door, and stared into his eyes.

"Does it look good?"

"Ah?" The prince answered blankly.

"I'm asking you, is my body beautiful?" An Younan said, "It's smooth and white, and the lines are beautiful. Do you like it?"

The prince pretended to be stupid with the last hope: "What are you talking about?"

An Younan pointed at his own face with a mixture of anger and amusement: "Does it say idiot?"

"what?"

"Let me ask you, is there a word 'idiot' written on my face?"

"without……"

Wang Zixu was not shocked because An Younan knew about it. He was shocked that someone like her would actually say such a vulgar word as "idiot".

It's completely different from my previous impression.

"Then there's no idiot written on my face, so how could you think that I didn't know you sneaked into our spa room?" An Younan said, "You're the only man on the entire floor, do you really think you can hide it from the world?"

Wang Zixu's heart sank completely to the bottom of the sea and he could only look up at the sky.

"Can I explain, it was a misunderstanding..."

"No." An Younan said, "A philosopher, right? A dough kneading man, right? 'Press your weight into mine', right? 'I will let myself ascend the throne and become the king of the wind', right?"

An Younan stretched out his hand, repeated a sentence, and then slapped Wang Zixu in the face. After finishing the sentence, Wang Zixu's cheeks inevitably had a few red marks, and his eyes were full of shock.

"Why are you so surprised? Do you really think I'm so stupid that I didn't notice?" An Younan asked breathlessly.

"No, I just think that you actually memorized Adonis's poems," Wang Zixu said, "His poems are really well written. It's worth my reading."

An Younan had a strange expression, biting his lips, as if he wanted to laugh, but also wanted to be angry, but in the end he gave up and sighed, put his hands on his hips, pointed at him and said:

"I'm telling you, I seriously considered sending you to the police station. I felt sick at the thought of touching you with essential oils."

"I said stop," Wang Zixu said, "I didn't touch you. From beginning to end, I was just touching you through the towel. I didn't have any physical contact with you."

"I know! Otherwise you would be in police station now! I mean almost!" An Younan said in a bad tone, "How dare you? I am so screwed. This has never happened to me before. I was very kind to you by using courtesy before force. Don't be ungrateful!"

Wang Zixu was afraid that she would hit him again, so he put his hands on his chest. An Younan saw his cowardly look and laughed angrily:
"Hurry up and hand over the little prince's contact information. I am already honoring you enough by wasting so much time on a frivolous intellectual like you. Don't force me to use courtesy first, force second, force third, and finally an atomic bomb to kill you!"

An Younan clenched her fists and burst out with shocking and terrifying lines, but her voice was too soft, and there was a sense of misplaced funny when she said it.

Wang Zixu stood up straight and sighed: "I'm sorry, I really can't give you the little prince's contact information."

"You really want to go to jail, don't you?"

"No," the prince leaned against the windowsill, his body seemed to have lost weight, "because I am the little prince."

(End of this chapter)