Chapter 228 Little Prince, See You After Heat Death
Chapter 228 Little Prince, See You After Heat Death
Shi Shuqiu slowly rode his bicycle towards him with an ambiguous smile on his face, as if he had farted in the crowd and was vaguely located.
"Qingxuan, what a coincidence, I was just thinking about you."
Lu Qingxuan asked: "What do you miss about me?"
"I miss you..." Shi Shuqiu stretched out his tone, and before the meaning of the words completely turned to verbal teasing, he continued, "You were also there yesterday, right?"
"What scene?" Lu Qingxuan played dumb.
"It was at yesterday's seminar." Shi Shuqiu said, "Didn't the video go viral online? Did you find any problems?"
"What problem did you find?" Lu Qingxuan continued to play dumb.
"The person who filmed that video is among those present!" Shi Shuqiu said in the decisive tone of a detective novel.
Lu Qingxuan was indifferent: "Oh."
Shi Shuqiu then said angrily: "That Wang Zixu obviously set up a trap, planted spies among the attendees to film, and then hyped up the video and triggered public opinion... Don't you think it's shameless?"
Lu Qingxuan blinked: "I don't think so."
Shi Shuqiu looked incredulous: "No, when you see him acting out this, and think of his usual face, don't you feel terrified?"
Lu Qingxuan said: "No, it was quite refreshing."
After saying this, she continued to speak to Shi Shuqiu's shock:
"At least your father offered him generous conditions to withdraw from the competition. This is definitely not something he staged, right?"
Shi Shuqiu took a deep breath and said slowly: "Qingxuan, which side are you on?"
Lu Qingxuan was very surprised: Where did he get the confidence to think that I should stand on his side?
Not to mention the fact that they were on the right side rather than their relatives, Wang Zixu's debate with the scholars was heart-wrenching, and Shi Tonghe's conspiracy with others was irrefutable evidence;
Even if he is helping his relatives instead of helping others, Wang Zixu, a colleague in the editorial department, is definitely closer to him than him, right?
Diao Yiwen said, "Mr. Shi, you are not jealous, are you?"
Shi Shuqiu jumped up like a toad that had been poked: "I'm jealous? What am I jealous of?"
"Your seminars were sparsely discussed, but his seminars were very exciting. Don't you feel jealous?"
Diao Yiwen asked this question casually, but it deeply hurt Shi Shuqiu. He had never suffered such a great humiliation before.
"You're mistaken, right? No matter how you think about it, he must be jealous of me. He spent so much effort to organize this seminar, but I just wrote a piece of work and got it presented at the seminar. How could he do that?
"Besides, the reason why he became popular because of my dad's popularity! If I wanted to become popular, I could also become popular. Would I be jealous of him?"
Diao Yiwen laughed: "Mr. Shi, don't be anxious, I was just joking."
Shi Shuqiu frowned and said, "Do you think this is a joke? Whether it is a joke or not is determined by the listener, and do I know you well? You are joking with me like this."
Diao Yiwen also stopped smiling and said in a stern tone:
"I'm not familiar with you, because I don't need to be familiar with you. In my opinion, you are just furious because your book lost to Fire in the Stone in terms of popularity. Come on, if you lose, you lose. It's really clownish to make up stories about others behind their backs."
After that, Diao Yiwen asked again: "By the way, what is the name of your book?"
Shi Shuqiu was completely defeated. He pushed his bicycle aside, and the poor bicycle fell to the ground with a clang. He turned around and walked around again, then came back, with his hands on his hips, and said:
"Okay, fine. You are no different from the mob on the Internet. You are all fence-sitters. You will side with whatever side attracts the attention and traffic. You think he won, right? Wait and see. Do you think attention represents everything? You will see who wins the Feishi Literature Award."
After that, he picked up the cart, pushed it away proudly.
After he walked away, Lu Qingxuan looked at Diao Yiwen and silently gave her a thumbs up:
"Sister Wen, you are so majestic and domineering!"
Diao Yiwen shook her hair and said, "What's wrong? Did I say something too much?"
"No, it was said very straightforwardly and I felt very happy listening to it," said Lu Qingxuan.
"That's right. He's giving me the cold shoulder, so I don't have to indulge him anymore."
Shi Shuqiu's father is Shi Tonghe. He grew up listening to praises. Before he met Wang Zixu, his life had been smooth sailing, so he was a bit self-centered.
But wasn't it the same for Diao Yiwen? She had never been bullied before she met Wang Zixu. Who wasn't a little princess?
Diao Yiwen became angrier the more she thought about it, and imitated Shi Shuqiu's tone and said:
"Do you still mean 'I know you well?' Why should I know him well? Wang Zixu relied on himself to single-handedly break into the seminar held by Get. If he wasn't his father, would he be able to hold a seminar? He thinks that he has some connections and background, but he thinks it is his own ability!
"You are the online bullies, are you still planning to post a message like 'Please stop the online bullying, I want Yu Yu'? If his father hadn't done something behind the scenes, would he have been bullied online?
"You know that you did something wrong, but instead of staying at home, you dare to come out and make up stories about others. You can't even listen to the truth, and you dare to vent your anger on me! I'm so amused! You really think your background is your own ability. Who doesn't have some background?"
Lu Qingxuan quickly stroked her back: "Sister Wen, calm down, calm down."
Diao Yiwen pulled her hand away: "I'm not angry. I just complained a little bit because I was really unhappy."
Lu Qingxuan said: "It's fun to complain, but what if he really wins the first prize of Feishi and mocks you in return?"
Diao Yiwen said: "It's not me competing with him. If I lose, the pressure will be on Wang Zixu."
Wang Zixu didn't do anything, but someone helped him to attract a wave of hatred. He is innocent enough.
Lu Qingxuan observed a moment of silence for him.
……
Every 20 minutes, Shi Tonghe would lie on the bed and observe a three-minute silence for his spine. If he did not follow this procedure, others would observe a silence for him. So he asked the nanny to move a mattress to the study.
The bed was 30 years old. The last time I slept on it was when I was teaching at Lu Xun College. At that time, Huimin came to visit once a week, and it was on that bed that Shi Shuqiu slept. Later, the bed board became moldy and was thrown away, leaving only the mattress.
The mattress was a Simmons brand, and when he lay on it, the springs creaked, the sound hoarse but strong, like small hands holding firmly against his back, making him sigh in comfort.
It's an American brand indeed, he thought.
Simmons is a spring bed. He continued to think. Just like Jeep is an off-road vehicle and Santana is a car. A brand has become a synonym for an item, entered the dictionary, and formed an era.
That era was simple, and not many items were allowed into the country. Now, there are so many brands that it is hard to ignore them, but back then, when we talked about spring beds, we meant Simmons, just like when we talked about Chinese writers, we meant Shi Tonghe.
Royalties, book signings, interviews with authors, millions of box office… Recalling the glorious past, it is a pity that flowers may bloom again, but people will never be young again. He thought of yesterday's seminar and Wang Zixu again.
Human voices, the sound of a recorder, Kong Huaifang's loud but timid shouting, Wang Zhongxing's stuttering reprimands, and the dense whispers all reflected randomly in the room, echoing in the air and being extremely harsh.
Shi Tonghe pressed his forehead and frowned hard, as if trying to force out the memory.
After a moment, he got up, searched for his slippers on the cold floor, stood up, went to the computer, and put his hands on the keyboard.
The screen glowed blue and the console hummed softly.
He rubbed his palms to soothe his gradually shrinking eyeballs, then squinted hard. The words on the screen jumped up and down, sometimes in a row, sometimes in two columns.
He typed. Slowly. But the words appeared firmly on the screen. For a few minutes, he felt that he was getting better. But it was an illusion. The pain in his lumbar spine came fiercely, and he rolled over and crawled onto the mattress and lay down with a bang.
Just after I lay down for a while, Shi Shuqiu's voice was heard at the door.
"dad."
His son walked in, looked at him on the mattress, then looked at the computer, and asked in shock: "What are you doing?"
Shi Tonghe didn't want to be seen like this, so he forced himself to get up and sat in front of the computer: "I'm almost done with the third draft. I'll print it out later and you can recite it again."
Shi Shuqiu asked in astonishment: "Um, um...where is the scribe?"
He failed to address the others by name and ended up adopting an inappropriate title.
Shi Tonghe said: "Xiao Liang has his own things to do, and he can't always work at my house."
Shi Shuqiu said, "You can't write it yourself. Can they send someone else?"
Shi Tonghe said: "What's wrong with me writing it myself? I'm not the emperor, and writing is not like the emperor's personal work. I feel better when I write it myself."
After that, he paused and said, "I asked you to recite the first draft before. Did you recite it?"
"Yes."
Shi Shuqiu answered with a guilty conscience. No one knows a son better than his father, Shi Tonghe could tell the difference as soon as he heard it.
"You are asked to memorize it well. After this work wins the award, you will face many interviews. You need to quote the contents of the book fluently. Otherwise, what will you say when you are in front of the camera?"
Shi Shuqiu looked around and said, "Okay, I understand. I will recite it."
Shi Tonghe pointed at him and said, "Then recite it now, and I will check it on the spot."
Shi Shuqiu finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Oh, Dad! What era is this? Still doing this! Writers are no longer the center of attention like they used to be!"
Shi Tonghe's lips trembled: "What did you say?"
Shi Shuqiu knew that what he said was not pleasant to hear, especially for his father who used to be so proud. A drop of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his tone became weaker. He tried to make excuses for himself:
"Besides, you don't need to write a sequel. It's totally superfluous. Your first novel was amazing and had such a good image. If you suddenly say you want a sequel, it will lose all its style."
Shi Tonghe knocked on the table: "What kind of prestige do you want? What you want is to win an award! Are you sure you can win an award with your mediocre stuff?"
Shi Shuqiu smiled and said, "Aren't all the judges my uncles?"
Shi Tonghe slammed the table and said, "You don't act like a writer at all when you say that!"
Shi Shuqiu jumped in fright, his eyes slightly red. Shi Tonghe softened his tone and said:
“A writer speaks through his works. You can be arrogant to others, but you must respect your own works. Otherwise, you are not worthy of being called a writer.”
Shi Shuqiu said loudly: "But I don't want to be a writer!"
Shi Tonghe suddenly became speechless.
"What's so good about being a writer? I don't think it's cool at all. It's you who wants me to be a writer. Have you ever asked me how I feel?"
Shi Tonghe was unusually panicked: "But I asked you what you wanted to do, and you said you wanted to be a writer..."
Shi Shuqiu showed a desperate expression: "I also hate that you keep repeating what I said when I was five or six years old. What do children know? You can't just say whatever you want to make adults happy."
Shi Tonghe suddenly felt very confused.
It's not anger, sadness, loss, or discomfort, it's just confusion. Confusion without knowing what to do.
……
If there is a person in China who is most suitable for guiding confused new authors, that person is Duan Xiaosang - this is An Younan's evaluation.
Her evaluation was not an exaggeration, but rather appropriate. Otherwise, Wang Zixu, Ning Chunyan, and Lu Qingxuan would not have thought of her name at the same time.
The place where she and Wang Zixu had agreed to meet was on the top floor of Qingshan Square. This was An Younan's territory, and Wang Zixu walked through the halls and rooms, feeling nervous at every step.
He was not afraid of running into An Younan, he was afraid of running into those celebrities again. When he came here before, those "talented ladies" had already overwhelmed him, and now that they were popular on the Internet, and they didn't have a good reputation, he didn't know how to face them.
Fortunately, today does not seem to be an activity day. There is neither An Younan nor Cai Yuan here. There is only Duan Xiaosang, who is sitting in the separate reception room waiting for him like a godfather.
Wang Zixu sat down in front of her. She didn't waste any words, opened her notebook, and got straight to the point:
"I saw your film Fire in the Stone."
"How is it?" Wang Zixu was a little nervous.
"Very professional." Duan Xiaosang's evaluation was beyond Wang Zixu's expectations. "Or rather, it's too obscure. There aren't many publishers suitable for such a serious work. If the wrong publisher is chosen, the final result will be very bad."
The prince showed a worried expression.
Duan Xiaosang tapped his pen on his notebook. "Don't worry. I'll analyze them one by one. As long as you choose, I can help you find a way. The key is to make the right decision."
Wang Zixu nodded.
"I have selected ten publishing houses in total, which fall into two categories: literary authority and emerging marketing. I will introduce the former first.
"First is People's Publishing House. It is undoubtedly a national-level, established literary publishing house and the most prestigious choice. But precisely because they are the most authoritative, they will pay more attention to the author's reputation and...controversy."
The prince humbly understood: "They will definitely avoid authors like me who have just caused a big mess on the Internet."
"It's hard to say, I haven't come into contact with it," Duan Xiaosang said, "The second is Donghai Literature and Art, which is a cooperative publisher of Obtain. It is authoritative and more suitable for you.
"Then there's Writers Publishing House. They support new authors and are the best publishing house for you, but there's a problem - they're affiliated with the Writers Association."
Wang Zixu shook his head: "Unfortunately, the Cultural Association seems to dislike me."
"It's more than just unpleasant!"
The side door of the reception room suddenly opened, and An Younan, wrapped in a bathrobe and stretching lazily, appeared.
The prince looked over and saw that the collar of her silk nightgown was slightly open, revealing half of her soft collarbone. She seemed to have just applied a facial mask, her face was shiny and moist, and there was a spot of white light on the tip of her straight nose.
She walked lightly like a cat, and the fluttering hem of her pajamas occasionally revealed her white ankles. She walked over casually, with her usual not-unpleasant arrogant expression on her face. When she met the prince's gaze, she touched her lips meaningfully with her finger.
Seeing his action, Wang Zixu felt a dull pain in his mouth again and felt very troubled.
There’s no heat death yet, so how come we meet again?
(End of this chapter)