Chapter 215 Meeting

Chapter 215 Meeting

Chapter 215 Meeting

Six red-lacquered square tables were put together tightly, covered with dark green tablecloths, and with a wooden ruler, they became as smooth as the surface of a lake.

Twelve high-backed chairs were arranged in two rows, with the spacing between them being exactly 15 centimeters. At the end of the long table, a chair of a different size stood like a cliff.

On the center line of the table in front of the chair, there stands a brass nameplate with the three characters "Shi Tonghe" in red regular script overlooking the venue.

With this sign as the central axis, the nameplates of the participants are on both wings and arranged in a row according to administrative levels.

In Chinese seating order, the left hand is the most honorable. On Shi Tonghe's left is Kong Huaifang, the vice president of the Provincial Literary Association.

Kong Huaifang is not known for his novels, but he has made great contributions to Chinese culture. Over the years, he has written many books on various topics, ranging from health preservation to wisdom, as well as miscellaneous essays and collections.

Opposite the hole is Professor Zhong Junmin's position. As the vice dean of the Faculty of Arts of NTU, Professor Zhong has a high administrative level.

The person who took action next to Kong was Wang Zhongxing, a well-known scholar, cultural figure, literary critic, president of the Calligraphy Association, and relative of Wang Zixu.

A few days ago, this gentleman wrote an article criticizing "Fire in the Stone" for its immature writing style, which ruined the subject matter and made Wang Zixu feel disgusted for a long time.

Seven radio microphones were placed in the center of the table, with metal stands crisscrossed to the left and right like street lamps, casting ferocious shadows on the green tablecloth.

A black leather notebook and a 0.5mm water-based pen are placed in the center of each seat, and a celadon teacup is placed on the right hand side, with a thin layer of Tieguanyin on the bottom of the cup, waiting to be favored by boiling water.

The sound of an electric motor penetrated the room, and the red ribbons on the central air-conditioning windows were raised, announcing that the final preparations for the "Fire in the Stone" seminar were completed.

Duan Xiaosang followed the two editors into the room. He used the camera on his chest to scan the nameplates on the table. An Younan's voice came from the headset:
"Where is Wang Zixu's seat? Why can't I see his little card?"

Duan Xiaosang whispered, "According to the rules, the author should be present."

Tian Zhenlei, who was standing in front of her, heard her words, but thought she was asking a question, so he turned around and replied:
"In previous seminars, the writers themselves were not present. They were either waiting for news at home or squatting outside smoking. In the past, seminars were genuine criticisms, but now they have become harmonious and not as sharp as before."

Ji Shaofei whispered, "Will today's seminar regain its former glory?"

Before Tian Zhenlei could answer, there was a loud bang behind him. He turned around and saw Shi Tonghe pushing open the door and walking in quickly.

Shi Tonghe's image is completely different from before.

His originally gray hair was dyed black and applied with hair wax, forming neat vertical lines between the hair like the teeth of a comb.

He was wearing a black suit, a blue striped tie, and the top button of his shirt was buttoned tightly. It seemed that he was here to fight a lawsuit rather than to attend a seminar.

Behind him followed Kong Huaifang, vice president of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Wang Zhongxing, a well-known scholar. The three of them formed a group, and their footsteps were sonorous, creating a gust of wind as they passed by.

An Younan saw this scene on the live broadcast screen, and was moved, and recited softly:

"Two mountains open their doors to welcome the green... What's the next line?"

Duan Xiaosang was speechless for a while.

She had never expected Miss An's literary talent. The use of this poem here gave off a sense of absurdity, like Guan Gong fighting Qin Qiong. But when the three giants passed by, it seemed strangely appropriate.

"…The previous sentence is: A stream surrounds the fields with greenery."

"President Shi."

"Teacher Shi."

Tian Zhenlei and Ji Shaofei took the initiative to say hello, and Duan Xiaosang reacted and nodded quickly.

Shi Tonghe turned around and smiled, but he kept walking and chatting with Kong and Wang.

"The central bank is going to lower the reserve requirement ratio again. I heard that this time the focus will be on infrastructure. Lao Kong, if the cultural ancient town renovation project in your hometown is approved, how many surrounding real estate projects will be popularized?"

"That project has no plan yet. Whether it can be completed depends on the opinion of the Department of Culture and Tourism. Besides, I would never dare to touch the property market in recent years."

"Listen to me, Mr. Shi, just buy gold. No other investment is reliable now, just buy gold, it is the most stable one."

The three of them walked to the end of the long table. Shi Tonghe sat at the top seat, Kong Huaifang sat on his left, and Wang Zhongxing followed behind Kong.

Although Kong Huaifang has a gentle name, he is actually a fat, half-bald middle-aged man. His head is like a hairy boiled egg, which does not look gentle at all.

Although his hair was few in number, every strand was carefully groomed, long and straight, fluttering in the cool breeze from the air conditioner, giving him a somewhat immortal look.

Wang Zhongxing, however, was dark and thin, with triangular eyes and a lot of white in his eyes. Even when he was staring at the teacup in front of him, he looked vicious, as if the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup owed him money.

Shi Tonghe sighed and said, "I'm not trying to make money. I just want to preserve the value."

Kong Huaifang said: "That's easy. Just buy government bonds. I know a vice president who will recommend it to you later. Just go find him."

"Thank you, Brother Kong."

At this time, a student who was distributing seminar materials was walking over and carefully placed the materials in front of Shi Tonghe's desk. He was still silently thinking about how to put the materials straight, but Shi Tonghe took them directly away.

He took a closer look, then tapped with his fingers and said:

"We said we were going to collect reviews from many aspects so that everyone can have a clearer understanding of this work, but why are we only putting up superficial analysis materials?"

The student was asked a question by such an important person for the first time. He was sweating profusely and stammered:
"No, it's not our organization's material. It was provided by the editorial department of Obtain..."

Shi Tonghe ignored him and turned to Wang Zhongxing and said, "Your last review article was very well written. It should be included in the collection."

Wang Zhongxing waved his hand: "These are all offensive words. They are quite offensive. Putting them up here will offend people."

"Why should you be afraid of being offended when writing? If you are afraid of criticism, don't write." Shi Tonghe said it in a sonorous and powerful voice, and everyone in the room heard it.

While they were talking, two people walked in from the door.

The person in front, with his hands behind his back and a tall and thin figure, is Li Minyang, the editor-in-chief of "Get", and Pu Yuyang follows behind him.

Pu Yuyang found a seat among the attendees and sat down, while Li Minyang walked straight to the front and sat down directly opposite Wang Zhongxing.

When he sat down, Shi Tonghe just finished speaking, looked up at him, and shook the seminar materials in his hand:
"Teacher Li, I heard from students that you decided on the seminar materials?"

Li Minyang slowly took out a large thermos cup from his bag: "These are all pure content analysis based on the published content. There is no question of whether it is certain or not."

Shi Tonghe glanced at Wang Zhongxing and said, "We just talked about how the seminar materials are not very substantial. Can you select some of the critics' articles that have been published and include them in as well?"

Li Minyang chuckled and said, "The materials only contain objective analysis and literary evaluation. We can discuss them during the discussion. Otherwise, what's the point of holding a seminar?"

Shi Tonghe stared at him and smiled, "Editor Li, don't be too protective of your child. If the seminar turns into a friendly and flattering meeting, it will be meaningless."

Li Minyang remained calm: "Praise when it is necessary and criticize when it is necessary. When appreciating literary works, it is not appropriate to be one-sided."

While the two were talking, the college student who was distributing the materials was left standing there. How could he have seen such a scene of intrigue? Because Shi Tonghe did not let him go, it was not right to leave at the moment, nor was it right to stand there, he was at a loss as to what to do.

Kong Huaifang noticed his embarrassment, waved his hand and said, "Go and do your work. Teacher Shi will come back to you if he has any requests."

The college student fled the scene as if he had been pardoned. When he reached the door, he ran into Lu Qingxuan who was rushing over.

Lu Qingxuan grabbed him and asked, "Is Wang Zixu here?"

"No." "Not here yet?" Lu Qingxuan frowned.

Today is such an important day, Ning Chunyan thought he had arrived a long time ago and asked her to come and check the situation.

He hadn't arrived yet. I checked the time and saw that the seminar would start in 10 minutes.

The student who distributed the materials pondered over the experience just now, cupped his hands around his mouth and said, "The current situation doesn't seem to be very favorable to Wang Zixu."

"How do you know?" Lu Qingxuan raised her beautiful eyes and looked at him.

The student analyzed: "From what I heard from Professor Shi Tonghe, he felt that the negative content in the seminar materials was not enough. Doesn't that mean he didn't like Fire in the Stone?..."

"Okay, okay, I got it." Lu Qingxuan waved her hand to stop him from continuing.

Even though he was left out by Shi Tonghe just now, the young man said this with a sense of gloating. From an outsider's perspective, Wang Zixu felt that he had overestimated his own abilities and was beaten by reality, so it was very funny.

Unfortunately, Lu Qingxuan had no interest in his reasoning. He was left out in the cold just now, and he found 50 pieces of evidence to prove that the teachers were not interested in "Fire in the Stone".

After being sent away by Lu Qingxuan, the boy went to gossip with other classmates. Duan Xiaosang sat next to Pu Yuyang calmly in the audience seat.

"Excuse me, are you the editor of Get?"

Pu Yuyang raised his eyes and looked at her, nodding repeatedly: "Yes, my name is Pu Yuyang, you are..."

"My name is Duan Xiaosang."

"Oh, I've heard of your name!" Pu Yuyang's eyes widened. "You are Duan Xiaosang, who used to write new-style martial arts novels. I've read many of your books!"

Duan Xiaosang smiled and said, "That's a coincidence."

"Nice to meet you." Pu Yuyang grabbed her hands with both hands and shook them up and down.

"Did you receive the manuscript of Fire in the Stone?"

"Yes," Pu Yuyang said, "Come to think of it, Wang Zixu was my high school classmate."

An Younan's voice exploded in the headset: "What do you want to ask?"

"High school classmate?" Duan Xiaosang raised his eyebrows.

Pu Yuyang waved his hand: "Don't get me wrong, it's just a coincidence. I didn't accept his manuscript because of this relationship. I don't have that much power."

Duan Xiaosang followed An Younan's instructions and asked, "What was Wang Zixu like in high school?"

Pu Yuyang smiled: "To be honest, I didn't have a deep impression of him when I was in high school. I just knew that he loved literature since high school."

After hearing this answer, An Younan was disappointed. This kind of literary youth growth history is as standard as the character template generated by AI, which makes people lose interest.

Pu Yuyang showed a nostalgic expression: "At that time, Chen Qingluo was our classmate for a period of time. Many of our classmates were inspired and had literary dreams from then on..."

Duan Xiaosang asked: "Were you classmates with Chen Qingluo?"

"correct."

"Where's Ning Chunyan?"

"Ah? Ning Chunyan is relatively young, right? Why are you suddenly mentioning her?"

"nothing?"

An Younan frowned, "Wang Zixu was actually a classmate of Chen Qingluo? This is the first time I know this. Ning Chunyan protected him so much, I thought they were old friends."

As the time was approaching, more and more people came into the venue. Gu Zao, Shen Qingfeng, and Xiao Mengyin entered one after another. The long table was full, and there were not many empty seats for the observers. The venue gradually became quiet.

Shi Tonghe stopped chatting, checked his watch, and turned to ask, "Is the meeting about to start?"

After receiving a positive answer, he asked again: "Where is Wang Zixu? Hasn't he come yet?"

No one said a word. Professor Zhong Junmin had just arrived, put down his briefcase, and sat down on his right.

Shi Tonghe glanced at his watch again: "It's about to start in three minutes, why hasn't Wang Zixu come yet?"

Zhong Junmin said expressionlessly: "It doesn't matter if he comes or not. Once a work is written, it no longer belongs to the writer. How to interpret it is up to the readers."

There was a burst of laughter.

Shi Tonghe also laughed, but then he said, "How can he not come? This is his first time to attend a seminar on his own work, so it would be better for him to listen to it in person."

After that, he glanced around the long table and asked, "Where is Wang Zixu's seat?"

Kong Huaifang leaned forward and whispered, "The writers are only present and will not speak."

"Whether you speak or not, let's sit together. It's closer so we can talk closer and more intimate."

Li Minyang had long felt that Shi Tonghe's attitude was problematic, and after hearing what he said, he finally couldn't help but ask, "It doesn't have to be like this, does it?"

Wang Zhongxing looked at him and said, "Master Shi is planning to instruct the younger generation face to face and give them close guidance. Others cannot have this blessing even if they want it!"

Zhong Junmin frowned secretly. He felt that Wang Zhongxing's words were very spineless and he was unhappy, but he didn't refute them in the end.

The student in charge of the meeting dragged a chair to the front of the long table, looked around, and saw that there was no place to put it. Shi Tonghe instructed: "Put it at the end of the table."

After the chair was placed, the seat was exactly ten meters away from Shi Tonghe, face to face.

Shi Tonghe glanced at his watch again. There was only one minute left before the meeting. He turned around and asked Zhong Junmin:
"Mr. Zhong, how about you speak first later?"

Zhong Junmin shook his head: "I won't speak. Wang Zixu is half of my student. I won't comment on his work."

Shi Tonghe glanced at his watch again and said with a smile, "This Wang Zixu hasn't come yet. Is it because he is under too much pressure and is not ready to come?"

"Hmph." Wang Zhongxing sneered and shook his head.

Xiao Mengyin glanced at the door, then shifted her gaze back to look at the table in front of her, her mind empty.

Duan Xiaosang looked back at the door, but no one was there. An Younan said in the headset:

"I know Wang Zixu's plan. Shi Tonghe obviously wants to deal with him. If he doesn't come, at most he can ask for leave later, so he doesn't have to be embarrassed in public."

Duan Xiaosang whispered into the microphone, "If he doesn't come, his work will be criticized, not a word less."

An Younan said: "Even if I'm going to be criticized anyway, at least I don't have to make a fool of myself in public..."

Before An Younan could finish his words, the clock ticked down and the door to the conference hall opened.

Wang Zixu appeared at the door on time.

(End of this chapter)