Chapter 213 Round Characters

Chapter 213 Round Characters

Chapter 213 Round Characters
The mist passed through the innocent poet's green hair. She reached out and lifted the scarf around her neck. "See what happened to Wang Zixu?"

Ye Zhihan said: "Didn't they say that this person has a bad character? Why do you still watch his works?"

The innocent poet twitched his lips and said, "I am reading a book, not marrying anyone. What does his character have to do with me?"

"But don't you feel disgusted? There are so many good books to read, why would you want to read a book by someone with bad character?"

The innocent poet was speechless and turned to the boss and said, "No need for a bag."

Seeing that she ignored her, Ye Zhihan raised her head and her eyes rolled.

"Well, if the author of a book is not good, I will feel uncomfortable."

It was rare for He Yangyuxiao to reach a consensus with Ye Zhihan on this point:

"I'm not a big fan of him either, so even though Fire in the Stone was a hot topic at the time, I didn't even watch it. By the way, is there going to be a seminar on him soon?"

"Ah? Is he also qualified to hold a seminar?"

Ye Zhihan had a very high-class impression of literary seminars. When Shi Shuqiu's "Yesterday's Star" was held as a seminar, it was promoted as being very awe-inspiring, so students generally had a very high impression of it.

A smiling middle-aged man next to them suddenly asked them in a polite tone:

"Excuse me, may I ask you, why do people say that Wang Zixu has a bad character?"

The man had a crew cut, wore a pair of scholarly glasses, a brown suit inside and a thick woolen coat outside. He looked like a school lecturer, but he looked unfamiliar.

He had been standing nearby before, neither buying a book nor leaving. He seemed to be waiting for someone, and no one knew what his relationship with Wang Zixu was.

The two girls looked at each other. Then, He Yangyuxiao replied:

"He is a little famous in our Nanyang University. Everyone thinks he has a bad character."

She is not the kind of person who is very cunning and does not hesitate to speak.

"Then why do people think he has a bad character?"

"because……"

He Yangyuxiao was suddenly stuck.

The judgment that "Wang Zixu has a bad character" was the result of many discussions within the school and the spread of the meme, which created a bad impression silently. However, she could not cite any specific examples of his bad character.

It's like a math formula you learned in elementary school, and you are suddenly asked to prove it. You have used the formula thousands of times, and it has become "obvious" and you have never thought about how to prove it.

Finally, she said, “That’s what everyone thinks anyway.”

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Isn't this a reason?"

Ye Zhihan said: "He hasn't even been admitted yet, but he's already causing such a big conflict with us students. How can he be a good person?"

At the counter, the innocent poet had already paid the bill, took the "Obtained", turned around and said expressionlessly:
"It is not okay to judge people behind their backs without any evidence."

Ye Zhihan raised her eyebrows: "You mean, all of us Chinese department students have bad character?"

"I'm not that diode."

Ye Zhihan grinned and blurted out: "I always thought you were pretentious."

"People with low self-esteem will think others are pretending when they say something normal."

"I have low self-esteem? Ha, you're laughing! I am more or less a well-known literary blogger. If you don't have low self-esteem, how could I?"

"Using false fame and gain to cover up one's inner emptiness is precisely a manifestation of inferiority complex."

Ye Zhihan's face flushed red and she was about to get furious. He Yangyuxiao saw that something was wrong and felt that it would be bad to let outsiders of the school laugh at them. He thought it was time to stop the quarrel between the two from escalating.

"Alright, alright, stop talking. You know Du Kezhu's personality. She has always been like this in school. The more you argue with her, the angrier she will get."

After that, he turned to the innocent poet and said, "You are too blunt. There is no need to hurt the harmony among our classmates for a stranger."

Then, she turned to the middle-aged man and said, "As you can see, Wang Zixu is very controversial in our school. People like Du Kezhu who agree with him are a minority among the minority. Personally, I don't like him."

The middle-aged man watched all this with a smile on his face. He seemed to be completely unaware of the quarrel between the young female students.

Or maybe he sensed it, but he didn't care at all. At his age, watching them quarrel had become an interesting thing, without causing any interpersonal troubles.

"So, even though you don't know what specific 'bad character' things Wang Zixu has done, public opinion generally agrees that he has bad character, so you just follow the crowd, right?"

This made them seem a bit arrogant. He Yangyuxiao didn't think she was so arrogant. She thought for a moment and said:
"Although I don't know what he did specifically, a large number of NTU students hate him and even made memes out of his deeds, so I think he must have done something that angered the public."

The middle-aged man nodded slightly after hearing this: "Is that so..."

"So, you guys just had such a boring fight over prejudice and stereotypes?"

A clear voice came from the fog. People looked in that direction and saw a figure in white emerging from the fog.

It’s Lu Qingxuan.

Lu Qingxuan was wearing a white down jacket, a red beret, black leggings and snow boots, which made her legs look straight and long.

But from her tone, it was obvious that she was in a bad mood. A little-known fact of Nanjing University: when Lu Qingxuan is in a bad mood, it is best not to provoke her easily.

Ye Zhihan said: "I didn't intend to quarrel, it was classmate Du Kezhu who had a problem with it."

After she finished speaking, she didn't expect Lu Qingxuan to roll her eyes at her: "You are allowed to be prejudiced, but others are not allowed to have opinions?"

Ye Zhihan didn't expect that the "prejudice" she said was actually referring to herself, and her face suddenly turned red.

Lu Qingxuan turned to the middle-aged man and said:
"I've worked with Wang Zixu for such a long time. Apart from not coming to work often, I haven't found anything wrong with him. Don't listen to them just repeating what others say."

The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows: "You work with him? You are..."

"I work part-time as an intern editor for New Appreciation magazine."

The man immediately smiled and said, "Nice to meet you. Please give my regards to your Editor-in-Chief Ning."

Lu Qingxuan raised her face: "Who are you?"

"Just say that Mr. Tian from Lu Ning Lane sends his regards to her."

The middle-aged man spoke in a mysterious way, but Lu Qingxuan was very cool. She never asked questions that others didn't want to hear, so she just remembered this sentence silently, then nodded and said:

"Well, I'll bring it to you."

Then, she also picked up a copy of "Obtained", turned her head and glared at the innocent poet: "Let's go."

There was a hint of resentment in her eyes, as if she was saying, "Why are you arguing with them?"

The innocent poet was stared at with innocence and thought to himself, "I don't want to argue with them."

But she still followed Lu Qingxuan obediently, pushing and shoving her way along the way.

After Lu Qingxuan and Du Kezhu left, the scene suddenly became boring, and Ye Zhihan quickly found an excuse to leave.

Although He Yangyuxiao was very curious about who this "Mr. Tian from Lu Ning Lane" was, the other party looked unfathomable, so she was embarrassed to ask and left.

"Mr. Tian" did not leave. He stood at the door of the study, stamping his feet from time to time to get rid of the coldness in his lower body, and then raised his wrist to take a look.

A few minutes later, Cheng Xing, who was exhausted from the journey, came running over, his eyelashes still wet with dew, and he panted and said:

"I'm sorry Mr. Tian, ​​I'm late."

"No, I came too early. I heard that the New Appreciation was on sale today, so I wanted to buy a copy early. That's why I came half an hour early."

Cheng Xing smiled when he heard it: "Did you buy it?"

"No, but I have seen how enthusiastic your students are about the little prince. I am really embarrassed to compete with them for him."

Cheng Xing laughed "as expected":

"Haha, our Nan Da can be said to be the base camp of the little prince. There is no place in the world more crazy about him than here. It would be easier for you to buy it in Lu Ning Lane."

Mr. Tian smiled and shook his head: "Yes, if I had known this, I would have slept a little longer. However, although I didn't buy the magazine, I did witness an interesting story."

Cheng Xing raised his eyebrows: "Oh? Tell me about it?"

So Mr. Tian told Cheng Xing about the dispute the girls had just had about Wang Zixu. After hearing it, Cheng Xing's ears turned red.

"It's really... I'm ashamed. We Nan Da students shouldn't be like this. When I was studying, everyone was ashamed of judging others casually, but now there is no such trend."

Mr. Tian smiled and said, "This shows that Cheng Xingjun was a kind child when he was in school."

After saying this, he sighed and said, "Where in this world is there any way to make the king as good as Yao and Shun and then make the customs pure? People in the past were also very treacherous, it's just that everyone has a filter on their memories.

"When I was young, there were many flatterers and two-faced people among my classmates. Gossiping about others behind their backs is not a crime. Who doesn't talk about others behind their backs?"

Seeing that Mr. Tian was magnanimous, Cheng Xing said nothing more and asked again:

"Then, have you revealed your identity to them? You are the editor-in-chief of Literary World, and you are Tian Zhenlei, the first person in China to make the decision to publish the Little Prince's works?"

Tian Zhenlei smiled mysteriously. This statement was not Cheng Xing's way of flattering him. When the little prince first became famous, the voices criticizing him were louder than those supporting him.

At that time, in addition to Cheng Xing who was under pressure to update "The Love Letters of the Little Prince" at Hongjiao, in the serious literary circle, it was Tian Zhenlei who insisted on having "The Love Letters of the Little Prince" published in "Literary and Art Circles".

Although "Literary World" is not a top literary magazine, it represents the attitude of part of the mainstream academic community. The recommendation of "Literary World" gave great encouragement to the supporters of the little prince.

So at Nanjing University, the names of the editors-in-chief of "Acquire" and "Modern" may not be well-known, but Tian Zhenlei's name must be widely known.

Tian Zhenlei smiled and replied, "If I were 20 years younger, I would have hugged girls left and right and boasted to them how I accepted the little prince's manuscript. What else is there to brag about now?"

He added: "But coming to think of it, the popularity of the little prince among girls is really explosive."

"Yes."

"Just now I eavesdropped on the girls' review of the book and thought it was a really interesting story. I really wanted to go over and take a look, but I was a little embarrassed."

Cheng Xing laughed again: "Would you feel embarrassed? I believe that as long as you ask, they will definitely be willing to lend it to you."

Tian Zhenlei shook his head: "That may not be the case. Oh, no, the more I think about it, the more itchy I feel. I am really curious about the little prince's new work this time."

"In my experience, it's better to lower your expectations. After all, the higher the expectations, the easier it is to be disappointed."

Tian Zhenlei shook his head: "I believe that we can raise our expectations this time. Haven't you noticed? The little prince is also improving. Just some of the clips I just captured, I think they are very tempting."

After chatting for a while, Cheng Xing suddenly became serious and said seriously:
"Teacher Tian, ​​I want to ask you a favor."

"Is it related to today's seminar?"

"Correct."

"Could it be related to Wang Zixu who caused the quarrel among the girls?" Tian Zhenlei laughed.

Cheng Xing said, "That's why I came here. Teacher Tian, ​​I'd like to ask you to help me and say something good about Wang Zixu at the seminar."

Tian Zhenlei stopped smiling and asked, "Is it that prince who asked you to come here?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xing hurriedly explained, "No, no, he didn't tell me about this. He's a very stubborn person, and he would never ask anyone else to do this. I just wanted to help him myself."

Tian Zhenlei looked into his eyes for a long time before nodding and saying, "Well, I understand. But I'm sorry, I can't help you."

Facing Cheng Xing's disappointed look, he explained, "Even Professor Shi Tonghe is attending today's seminar. How can I have the right to speak at a gathering of this magnitude?"

Cheng Xing was a little unhappy. However, he was mentally prepared for this result. He sighed and said, "I understand. Then please don't tell Wang Zixu about this. With his personality, he definitely won't like me doing this."

Tian Zhenlei asked, "Is he so unemotional?"

"He... He's not without emotional intelligence, he just... has a bit of a temper."

Tian Zhenlei nodded: "No wonder he is not popular among the public."

From Cheng Xing's perspective, the dilemma that Wang Zixu is facing now is actually very easy to solve. He only needs to declare that he is the little prince, and everything will be solved.

He doesn't even need to expose himself. He can just say a few good words for "Fire in the Stone" as the little prince, which can greatly alleviate the current reputation crisis.

But he just won't do it. It's as if he's competing with himself, not doing something that's so easy as pie in the sky, and making it more difficult for himself.

It is because of this that Cheng Xing feels that... life is so cool.

Instead, he wanted to take the initiative to help him do some things to maintain his current survival posture.

Tian Zhenlei continued, "I'm a little curious. Are you close to Wang Zixu? As far as I know, he's a serious writer who's just starting out. You two don't have much in common, right?"

Tian Zhenlei was very perceptive. Cheng Xing didn't expect him to realize this problem. After a moment of shock, he said, "We just met by chance."

"Just because we met by chance, can you take the initiative to help? Considering his poor popularity, it seems that this person is quite interesting."

For various reasons, Tian Zhenlei developed a strange and subtle impression of Wang Zixu, but Cheng Xing did not dare to correct it.

Tian Zhenlei added: "I will pay attention. If I have the opportunity to speak at the seminar, I will express my views."

Cheng Xing quickly bowed to him respectfully: "Thank you!"

"it's okay no problem."

Tian Zhenlei promised to pay attention, but it was just a witty remark. Although he has a tough personality, he still abides by the professional ethics of editors: do not participate in conflicts between writers.

Moreover, this seminar had already had undercurrents before it opened. Even if the name Wang Zixu was unknown before, everyone attending the seminar should have understood that he was no simple figure and would have been more cautious when speaking.

Tian Zhenlei had to attend a seminar in advance, so he said goodbye to Cheng Xing. He walked along the road of Nanjing University campus alone for a short distance before he saw a familiar face.

"Teacher Tian!"

Tian Zhenlei smiled at the person who greeted him from afar: "Teacher Ji."

The slightly younger man is Ji Shaofei, the editor of Huajian magazine.

They went to Paris together for a Chinese literature overseas promotion conference organized by the China Literary Association. They lived in the same room and were roommates.

At that time, Ji Shaofei left a deep impression on Tian Zhenlei with his liveliness and love of gossip.

"Teacher Tian, ​​that's great. I have a companion this time." Ji Shaofei trotted over.

"this time?"

Ji Shaofei said: "Yes, I met Mr. Fang Hanlin last time, but it's a pity that he didn't come this time."

Tian Zhenlei was a little puzzled: "When was the last time? Has Fire in the Stone ever held any other seminars?"

Ji Shaofei was startled, then smiled and said, "No, the last time was a seminar on Yesterday's Star written by Shi Shuqiu, also held at Nanjing University."

"Oh." Tian Zhenlei nodded, but still a little puzzled. "Are these two works related?"

Ji Shaofei walked with him and whispered, "It's not related, but it's somewhat related. The relationship here is intricate and indescribable..."

Tian Zhenlei smiled and said, "Don't keep me in suspense."

"It's about this..."

Ji Shaofei couldn't hold back his curiosity, so he leaned close to Tian Zhenlei's ear and whispered to him about the undercurrents behind the two seminars.

At the last seminar of Yesterday's Star, he and Fang Hanlin watched a large conspiracy scene -

Shi Tonghe actually passed a message to Hao Chengliang, the editor of "Ancient City", asking him to suppress the manuscript of "Fire in the Stone", and the reason was that Wang Zixu offended his son at the dinner table.

This time, before the symposium on "Fire in the Stone", a large number of literary critics came out and attacked "Fire in the Stone" as if by appointment. Moreover, Shi Tonghe, who had not appeared in public for a long time, actually moved again and personally attended the symposium of this "literary newcomer".

If you don’t know the inside story of the root cause behind this, it would be fine. But if you know the inside story, you can’t help but find it terrifying when you think about it.

Tian Zhenlei frowned after hearing this: "Is there such a thing? Shi Tonghe would actually do something to a newcomer for such a small matter?"

Ji Shaofei spread his hands and said, "I didn't believe it when I first heard it, but seeing is believing. Everyone knows that Hao Chengliang lost the manuscript of Fire in the Stone. Even Yang Yin of Yangtze River can testify to it.

"This time, Shi Tonghe even showed up in person. He didn't even show up in person for his own son's seminar. Just imagine what it means for him to be in charge in person this time?"

Tian Zhenlei stared and said, "It's really hard not to think too much about this."

Ji Shaofei said: "Anyway, I am worried about classmate Wang Zixu!"

Tian Zhenlei thought for a moment, and suddenly asked, "In your mind, what kind of person is Wang Zixu?"

"Hey?"

"This morning, I watched a quarrel," Tian Zhenlei explained with a smile, "There were several girls, half of them said that he had a bad character, and the other half said that he was not a bad character. In addition, a writer friend specially asked me to speak for Wang Zixu at the seminar."

Ji Shaofei clapped his hands: "I know, that writer friend must be Ning Chunyan, right?"

"No. It's Cheng Xing."

"Hey?"

Tian Zhenlei smiled and said, "So, I am very curious about what kind of person he is."

A black car slowly drove past the two of them.

In the car, Lin Feng closed his eyes, rested, put his hands on his knees, and sat upright.

The man next to him was sitting with his legs crossed, with an arrogant attitude, but also without saying a word.

The air in the car was strangely silent.

The driver in front said, "We're here."

Although he was very reluctant, Lin Feng had to open his eyes and turned to the person next to him and said:

"Chairman Shen... has arrived."

"Yeah." Shen Qingfeng narrowed his eyes and nodded.

(End of this chapter)