Chapter 214: The Sutra

Chapter 214: The Sutra

Chapter 214: The Sutra
Compared to when Wang Zixu left Xihe, Shen Qingfeng has changed a lot now.

I heard that he recently started working out and strictly controlled carbohydrates. His body lines became tighter and his belly became smaller.

But when people lose weight, they look darker, and the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes cannot be hidden, making their faces look older.

Not only has the appearance changed a lot, but the psychological changes are also huge.

Ever since he was hit by the Xihe Literary Society, his mental journey has been like that of a cancer patient, following the path of "denial, anger, negotiation, depression, acceptance" and is now in the stage of "acceptance".

He psychologically accepted the fact that he was ranked below Raymond Lam as the vice chairman, otherwise he would not be willing to ride in the same car with Raymond Lam.

But to Lin Feng, he was always like a muffled thunder, and no one knew when it would explode.

Just like today.

Lin Feng came here specially to send Shen Qingfeng to attend the seminar today. He came here because he was afraid that Shen Qingfeng would cause trouble at the seminar.

Lin Feng didn't want to come, and shouldn't have come.

The vice chairman of the Cultural Association attended a seminar, and the chairman came to see him off. This was totally against the grain, and if anyone knew about it, they would laugh at him. But he still came.

He wanted to use the time on the road to have a heart-to-heart talk with Shen Qingfeng, asking him to let go of this grudge and stop looking for trouble with Wang Zixu. Even if he wanted to find trouble, he shouldn't do it at the seminar.

But he opened his mouth several times along the way, but was rejected by Shen Qingfeng neither softly nor hard, and his meaning was not conveyed.

When he arrived at the Nanyang University campus, he knew that if he didn't speak up, he would have no chance, so he could only bite the bullet and say:
"Chairman Shen, I have something to tell you."

Shen Qingfeng responded indifferently: "Then please make your long story short."

Lin Feng blushed: "I hope you...put the overall situation first."

Shen Qingfeng squinted at him and said, "You've been holding it in for the whole journey, and this is all you can say?"

The driver opened the door and said tactfully, "I'll get off to smoke a cigarette."

After the driver left, only Lin Feng and Shen Qingfeng were left in the car.

"People say that writers are pretentious. I am also a writer, and I never act pretentious, but my reputation has been affected by them, so I hate pretentious people the most. Don't be pretentious, just tell me what you want to do."

Lin Feng sighed and said, "Today's seminar, to put it in a broader sense, will determine the fate of the work "Fire in the Stone". The conclusions discussed at the meeting are very important."

"so what?"

“I hope that at the meeting, you can take the overall consideration of our Xihe Literary Association into consideration and speak more positively of Fire in the Stone.”

Shen Qingfeng's mouth became a line: "Do you think, given my relationship with you, I should say something good for him?"

Lin Feng said: "No matter what conflicts we had before, we are now all members of the Xihe Literary Association. In the eyes of others, we are all a whole.

"If you were to criticize his work today, people outside would think we are not united, and their impression of Xihe literary world would also be soured."

Shen Qingfeng smiled contemptuously: "A whole? Who is a whole with you? If you put all the other members of your literary association together and add up their royalties, will it be as high as mine alone?

"I have gone from being penniless to being famous all over the world. What contribution have you made to me? How has your association helped me? Why should I be part of your team?"

Lin Feng said: "You were not in the Writers Association before. If you write a great work now, we will also say that you write well."

Shen Qingfeng smiled coldly: "You say that because you think I can't write a masterpiece?"

Lin Feng said hurriedly: "No."

Shen Qingfeng said: "Do you know what I hate most about you? Pretentiousness. You are too pretentious."

Lin Feng didn't care what he thought of him. He knew Shen Qingfeng was a real villain, and those illusory honors and responsibilities were shit to him.

If you talk to him with that mindset, you will never get any results. He only cares about the benefits he gets.

But what benefits can Lin Feng give him?
"When will the cycle of revenge end?" Lin Feng said, "If you target Wang Zixu, there's no telling if he won't repay you in the same way in the future."

Shen Qingfeng smiled.

"You finally said something strong. Well, now it looks better. It's much better than before."

After that, he added: "But, if, I mean if, if after today, he really can't stand in the literary world, may I ask, how will he retaliate against me in the same way in the future?"

Lin Feng was speechless.

Shen Qingfeng smiled, opened the car door and went out. Lin Feng was still in the car in a daze.

After a long moment, he took a deep breath.

"Old Wang, I hope you can turn danger into safety and overcome the difficulties today."

……

When Lu Qingxuan handed "Obtain" to Ning Chunyan, Ning Chunyan was communicating with the publishing house about reprinting.

Today is the release date of the latest issue of "New Appreciation", and she is extremely busy.

After hanging up the phone and tearing open the transparent plastic packaging bag of "Get", Ning Chunyan asked:
“How is the sales of New Appreciation?”

"It was gone in seconds," Lu Qingxuan replied, "Many students squatted on the roadside and started watching."

Ning Chunyan raised his hand and made a V sign: "It seems that my judgment was correct. This issue will definitely be a hit. If I had known, I would have printed tens of thousands more copies... However, we can't celebrate too early. It's impossible for it to sell poorly on the campus of Nanjing University."

Lu Qingxuan said: "I think it will definitely sell well in other places. I heard that they were discussing it very heatedly. The Little Prince's work will definitely go viral. I wish I could write as well as the Little Prince."

Ning Chunyan glanced at her with a smile and said, "The writing skills are the least noteworthy merit of the little prince."

Lu Qingxuan asked: "Today is Wang Zixu's seminar, aren't you going to attend?"

Ning Chunyan paused for a moment as he turned the pages of the book, then whispered, "He didn't invite me."

"Isn't that his character always like this? He wouldn't even say a word even when he was almost beaten to death."

"I can't always take the initiative to help him, right? He might even think I'm causing trouble."

"Not really." Lu Qingxuan felt that she was overthinking.

Ning Chunyan put down the book and said, "Besides, even if I go, what can happen? Chen Qingluo is still in seclusion, and I'm alone... No, even if she is there, what can happen to the two of us? That's Shi Tonghe across the way!"

Lu Qingxuan thought thoughtfully: "Would Shi Tonghe really have the nerve to lower himself and embarrass a junior in public?"

A familiar voice came from the door: "Shi Tonghe has already attended the seminar, what's the point of not being polite?"

Ning Chunyan looked over and his face darkened: "Xiao Mengyin, why do you always appear like this? What are you doing here again?"

Xiao Mengyin was dressed very formally today, but she looked unhappy. She said in a low voice:
"Oh. Just take a walk."

Ning Chunyan's pupils shrank slightly: "Wait a minute, you are wearing formal clothes, you are not going to attend Wang Zixu's seminar?"

Xiao Mengyin nodded: "Yes. In principle, we should go."

"Huh?! What are you doing there?"

“I’m invited.”

"Then you won't refuse?"

"Why should I refuse?" Xiao Mengyin said, "I can just sit next to you and eat melons."

Ning Chunyan bit her lip. She didn't go at first, and she just felt a little guilty. But now that she knew Xiao Mengyin was going, she didn't know why she felt particularly unhappy.

Xiao Mengyin looked at her expression and waved his hand: "Alright, alright, I was just teasing you. I don't really plan to go. I plan to stand you up like last time."

Ning Chunyan was stunned: "Why?"

"If I go, the little boy who I stood up last time will be very upset."

"I'm asking why you accepted the invitation in the first place?"

"Because it's interesting."

Ning Chunyan still couldn't understand this person's train of thought, so he waved his hand and told her to stop bothering him. Xiao Mengyin took a copy of the "New Appreciation" magazine and turned to leave.

She went downstairs and walked into the yard. Suddenly, Ning Chunyan called her from upstairs, holding the railing.

"Hey!"

Xiao Mengyin turned around: "What?"

"If you go, help him!"

Xiao Mengyin thought about it and shook his head: "Help the superior and not the inferior. If I help him, I will only be killed by both of them."

Ning Chunyan doesn't play games, so he didn't understand.

After Xiao Mengyin left, Ning Chunyan returned to the room, and Lu Qingxuan asked, "How was it?"

"I feel very desperate," said Ning Chunyan.

"Is it really that serious?" Lu Qingxuan blinked.

"If he could be more tactful and say a few nice words, maybe Shi Tonghe would show mercy." Ning Chunyan's expression became serious. "So, you must be more tactful in the future and don't learn from him."

Lu Qingxuan nodded ignorantly.

"I hope Wang Zixu can pull through."

……

Xiao Mengyin said she would not go to the seminar, and walked out of the magazine office and headed for the venue without any hesitation. Compared to taking care of Shi Shuqiu's emotions, it was more exciting to eat melons on the spot.

The only trouble is that if I go, I will definitely have to speak, and once I speak, I will have to take sides.

Shi Tonghe was present at this seminar. Under his leadership, the atmosphere must have been very united - united in attacking Fire in the Stone.

Before attending the seminar, she looked at the list of attendees. Except for her, the other attendees were either related to Shi Tonghe or were unfamiliar with Wang Zixu.

After all the calculations, apart from her and Wang Zixu, who have some friendship, the only person who will stand on Wang Zixu's side is Professor Zhong Junmin.

Moreover, Professor Zhong Junmin is concerned about his status and probably won't speak.

This time they came here to strangle "Stone Fire", and they would definitely sentence this work to death at the seminar. So, even if she spoke for Wang Zixu, what would it matter?
These people control the discourse power in the literary and artistic circles, and they can set the tone for a work. If she stands up and sings a different tune, she will become the "guy with no taste and poor vision".

In short, speaking well of Wang Zixu is an act that will do no good and will incur great losses.

But what about the other way around? Together with Shi Tonghe's group, did they give special praise to Wang Zixu's works?

This made her ache somewhere deep inside, and she suspected that was where her conscience was.

After thinking for a while, she decided to go to Gu Zao to find out.

Although Gu Zao always appears to be cool, she knows that he is actually a bit honest and straightforward at heart.

He has no vested interests with Shi Tonghe and is most likely unaware of the situation. In A Qing Sao's words, "he is like a wall to block the wind."

After walking along the road for a while, I didn't see Gu Zao, but I saw another acquaintance - Duan Xiaosang.

Duan Xiaosang was alone today, wearing a thick down jacket, with his hands in his pockets and white Bluetooth headphones in his ears.

"Xiaosan, why are you here?"

"Ah? Oh...it's you."

Duan Xiaosang had a strange expression on her face. At first she didn't notice Xiao Mengyin and didn't know what she was listening to in her headphones.

Xiao Mengyin's eyes widened: "Are you here to attend the seminar?"

Duan Xiaosang was stunned and said, "Yes... yes. I asked my publishing friends for help and asked for a seat to attend."

"Why are you here? With your qualifications, do you still need to come here?"

Duan Xiaosang was a little distracted: "Just... come over and take a look."

Seeing that she didn't answer the question, Xiao Mengyin knew that she had something on her mind, but she didn't want to ask.

Just at this moment, she saw Gu Zao's figure flashing at the end of the road, so she took the opportunity to say goodbye:
"Well, I'll go over first. I have something else to do."

"All right."

Xiao Mengyin ran forward, and after watching her leave, Duan Xiaosang muttered:
"It's Xiao Mengyin."

An Younan's voice came from the headset: "Don't worry about her, this tasteless girl is not important. Have you seen Prince Xu?"

"No. I guess he's already gone."

"Then forget about him. Actually, I'm more curious about Shi Tonghe now. I'm looking forward to seeing what his condition is like."

"That's probably going to be difficult. He won't appear until the very end."

"Move the camera, it's blocked by your pocket."

"Oh."

Duan Xiaosang fiddled with his chest for a while, and after adjusting the picture, he couldn't help but yawned:
"Why do you do this?"

"What is 'this kind of thing'?"

"It's ok that you woke me up in the middle of the night, but why did you ask me to help you live broadcast the entire seminar?" Duan Xiaosang couldn't help complaining, "I didn't even have breakfast."

An Younan was silent, and Duan Xiaosang continued:
"You didn't reach any agreement with him, and he refused to reveal any information about the little prince. Just leave it to Shi Tonghe. Why do you care about him so much?"

An Younan seemed to have regained his original intention in the silence just now, and said happily:

"Is there anything more interesting in the world than admiring the failure of an adult man?"

"Hehe." Duan Xiaosang smiled bitterly and was unable to complain about An Younan's bad taste.

Not only did she ask Shi Tonghe to destroy Wang Zixu, but she also wanted to witness the scene of his destruction with her own eyes. This woman was a little too scary.

She walked up the mountain road and suddenly stopped: "I saw Shi Shuqiu."

"Really?" An Younan said, "Go and have a look, go and have a look at this young talent."

Shi Shuqiu was looking around, he seemed to have seen Xiao Mengyin just now. Duan Xiaosang came to him and patted him on the back, he was startled.

"Sister Xiaosang, why are you here?"

"Hello, Mr. Shi."

After Duan Xiaosang finished speaking, An Younan shouted fiercely in the headset: "Talk to him! Talk to him!"

"Are you here to attend the seminar too?" Duan Xiaosang asked.

"No... I just came over to take a look."

His answer seemed very familiar, and Duan Xiaosang had a strange expression.

Shi Shuqiu came back to his senses and asked, "Little Sister Sang, did you come here with Xiao Mengyin?"

"No, I came here by myself. I just bumped into her. Didn't you see her?"

"Really? Where? No?"

Shi Shuqiu certainly would not attend the seminar. His father was present, and it would be awkward for him to go and meet his father face to face.

He came here to hang out to confirm how many people were attending the seminar and to gauge the situation at the meeting.

More importantly, he wanted to confirm whether Xiao Mengyin would attend the meeting.

Last time, Xiao Mengyin stood him up at his seminar, which made him very disappointed. If she came to attend someone else's seminar this time... he would be even more depressed.

An Younan shouted in the headset: "Hurry up and ask him about Wang Zixu!"

Duan Xiaosang said, "Although I am here to attend the seminar, I don't know much about Wang Zixu. What does your father think of his book? I want to know more so that I can understand their discussion when I arrive at the meeting."

Hearing this topic, Shi Shuqiu perked up: "My father's evaluation of this book is not high."

Duan Xiaosang tilted his head, his eyes sparkling, "Isn't it high? But I heard that this book is the Chinese version of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Isn't that highly praised?"

"My father doesn't agree." Shi Shuqiu smiled. "My father said that the excessive praise and deification of some books in the literary and art circles is a bit unbearable. He wants to turn this seminar into a conference to correct the original intention and let literary evaluation return to normal."

Duan Xiaosang pretended to be surprised and raised his eyebrows, saying, "This is a very serious criticism."

"Of course. My father will explain his specific opinions more clearly at the meeting."

An Younan laughed in the headset: "This Shi Tonghe is quite good at bluffing. He obviously took so many benefits from me, but he was quite reluctant at the time. Now he is scolding me, using one little accusation after another!"

Shi Shuqiu continued, "By the way, Sister Sang, I recently wrote a sequel to Yesterday's Stars, which will be completed soon. Can you help me keep an eye out for its publication?"

This time Duan Xiaosang was really surprised: "You actually wrote a sequel? How long is it?"

"Yeah. About 200,000 words."

"Two hundred thousand words?! What's the last thing you wrote?"

"……Correct."

Duan Xiaosang nodded: "As long as the quality is good enough, there will be no problem with publishing. You don't have to worry."

"Don't worry, the quality will be even higher than before." Shi Shuqiu was very confident, or rather, he trusted his father very much.

As they were chatting, two people came up from the mountain road behind them. They saw Duan Xiaosang and greeted him, "Hey, Editor Duan, long time no see."

Duan Xiaosang turned around and saw that it was Tian Zhenlei, the editor-in-chief of "Literary World", followed by Ji Shaofei, the editor of "Huajian".

"Are you two here to attend the seminar as well?"

"Yes..." Ji Shaofei hesitated to speak, his eyes wandering to Shi Shuqiu beside her.

Shi Shuqiu said: "Then I will take my leave."

"See you."

After Shi Shuqiu pushed his bicycle away, Ji Shaofei said with an exaggerated expression: "Mr. Shi is still here to check the location!"

Tian Zhenlei was afraid that he would make mistakes if he spoke too much, so he coughed and said, "It seems that most of the teachers attending this conference really don't think highly of "Fire in the Stone"."

Duan Xiaosang asked: "Did you hear what we said just now?"

"I heard a little bit. We just discussed it and found that many of the participants have written articles praising or criticizing Fire in the Stone." Tian Zhenlei said, "Let's go and find a seat together."

On the fifteenth floor of the Fuxing Shangpin Apartment Building, a widescreen, high-resolution TV was projecting Duan Xiaosang’s first-person perspective, and the picture was shaking frighteningly.

An Younan stretched out her legs, her toes sinking into the fluff of the Persian carpet, and then excitedly turned over and climbed onto the sofa, raising her hands high, her white dress fluttering:

"The live broadcast has begun!"

(End of this chapter)