Chapter 235 How to Pretend to Have Read a Classic Book
Chapter 235 How to Pretend to Have Read Great Books
Chen Qingluo didn't quite understand why An Younan could smile like that: the two earrings on her small ears swayed gently, her knees were half bent, and the thin dress outlined two thrilling curves at her waist and hips.
Gu Xuan walked over and greeted her as if nothing had happened: "Miss An, what makes you so happy?"
An Younan wiped the tear from the corner of his eye with his fingertips and slowly stood up: "Well, Mr. Gu, you're here just in time. Come and see how my friend debates with the scholars."
Gu Xuan glanced downstairs and said, "Is your friend this Wang Zixu?"
"Yes," An Younan smiled as bright as a flower.
Gu Xuan looked back at Chen Qingluo, who seemed to want to say something but stopped herself.
The host's voice sounded downstairs:
"Teacher Wang Zixu! Teacher Wang Zixu, please limit the length of your speech. There are other teachers who will speak later."
"Let me finish this paragraph."
"Teacher Wang, our discussion is limited in time," the host said with a smile, "Shall we let the next teacher speak? You have been speaking for 30 minutes."
Xiao Mengyin raised her hands and said, "He can continue to speak. I have no objection."
She wished Wang Zixu would keep talking until the end of the discussion so that she wouldn't have to speak.
According to Wang Zixu's standard of hitting everyone with a punch, she suddenly became very unconfident about the content of her speech and was sure to stutter when she spoke later.
The pressure is too great.
The host said: "Sorry, but we have other procedures later."
The prince was imagining the whole thing, and it would be too uncomfortable if he was interrupted in the middle and couldn't breathe. He said in a tone that was almost pleading:
"The next speech won't take much longer, really."
The host shook his head silently.
On the second-floor stand, An Younan frowned and complained loudly: "Oh, it's boring!"
Gu Xuan glanced at her, dialed the phone, and said, "Let Wang Zixu continue speaking.
"Well, let him talk... let him talk as long as he wants."
An Younan cast a grateful look towards Gu Xuan: "Thank you!"
Gu Xuan put away his phone and smiled softly: "You're welcome. I just want to appreciate how your friend debates with the scholars."
After a pause, he continued, "I also want to see what charm he has that can make you two come to help him."
An Younan immediately caught the information in these words and looked at Chen Qingluo in surprise:
"She came to ask you for help because of Prince Xu?"
Gu Xuan smiled but said nothing.
Chen Qingluo turned her head away and didn't want to talk.
Not answering is the same as having already answered. An Younan raised his head with a mischievous look.
At this time, downstairs, the host pressed the headset, nodded repeatedly, looked embarrassed, and then said:
"Teacher Wang Zixu, we have received the opinions of the organizing committee. You can continue to speak..."
Wang Zixu was about to sit down, but was startled when he heard this. He immediately stood up and said without any hesitation:
"Really? Then let me continue. By the way, do you have any water? I feel a little thirsty now."
If the host wasn't facing the camera, he would have rolled his eyes to the sky - do you want to listen to what you are saying? Do you know that you are thirsty after talking so much?
But I just received a command from the main control dispatcher, and a big shot spoke. I knew that the person in front of me might have an important background, so I could only try my best to hold it together and said to the waitress next to me:
"Is there any water? Please give him a glass."
The lady in cheongsam said: "There is no water, only drinks, is that ok?"
Wang Zixu said, "Let's have a Coke."
"No Coke. Dry Martini."
Wang Zixu said: "Then let's have a Dry Martini."
He rinsed his mouth with a sip and realized that he had been fooled. This was wine, and wine did not quench thirst. But at this point, he was too embarrassed to ask others to change another glass, so he had to continue speaking.
An Younan on the second floor saw his country bumpkin way of drinking and laughed so hard that she almost fainted. She leaned on the railing and gasped for breath, looking very unladylike.
Chen Qingluo finally couldn't help it and asked, "Excuse me, what's so funny?"
An Younan straightened up: "If I think it's funny, then it's funny."
Chen Qingluo was quite unhappy: "Miss An, I think you treat him as your toy."
"Whether I treat him as a toy or a friend, does it have anything to do with you?"
"It does matter. As an old friend of his, I don't want him to be treated as a toy by anyone."
The two of them were arguing with each other, and Gu Xuan found that the topic was becoming more and more awkward.
He took a sip of coffee, made an excuse to meet an acquaintance over there, and slipped away.
Chen Qingluo and An Younan stared at each other, and at the same time met each other's gazes without fear.
An Younan said: "I can't control you liking him. But it's uncomfortable to control me in the name of friendship."
Chen Qingluo's breathing suddenly became disordered, and she asked, "Who told you that I like him?"
"I saw it myself," An Younan said, "I had a friend who once said that women in love would become famous detectives. I used to be very disdainful of her, but now I realize that what she said is true.
"If you like someone, you can tell what he's thinking, what he wants, and the attitudes of people around him...all at a glance, without even having to think about it. So I can tell that you like him."
Chen Qingluo held her breath and said, "So, you like him too."
"Yeah, isn't it obvious? I'm not hiding anything."
"Then I have to remind you that he is married."
An Younan said with a nonchalant expression: "I know. What's wrong?"
Chen Qingluo frowned: "He's married and you're still clinging to him. That's the behavior of a mistress."
"Then I'll be the mistress."
Chen Qingluo slightly widened her eyes, and An Younan tucked her hair behind her ears:
"What's wrong, do you look down on Xiao San?"
"Everyone looks down on Xiaosan."
"I look down on you," An Younan said, "You dare not say what you want, and you dare not do what you want to do. You use all kinds of excuses to cover up your weakness and cowardice. You can't even satisfy your own desires. Are you worthy of being called a human being?"
An Younan's eyes sparkled and his tone was firm:
"I swore since I was a child that I must get what I want. I live the way I want to live, and no one can stop me!"
……
When Zhuang Die came to the Gu Xuan Salon to attend the discussion meeting, she was just 25 years old.
When a person is 25 years old, his brain is flexible, his metabolism is fast, he will not gain weight no matter what he eats, and he will not catch a cold even if he does not cover himself with a blanket at night. This is the age when a person is most confident. But there is also a disadvantage, that is, he has not experienced any hardship. If you suddenly give a person who has not experienced hardship a blow, it is like telling him that you have cancer. His first reaction is definitely not to believe it.
How could I get cancer? How could I suffer? My body is healthy and long-lived, and my life is smooth sailing - it is inevitable to have such inertia of thinking. Wang Zixu was also like this when he was 25 years old.
So when Zhuang Die heard Wang Zixu's speech, her first reaction was: He must be crazy, he actually dared to go against everyone.
My second reaction was, everyone clicked on him, he couldn't possibly respond to them one by one, right? ... Shit, he really responded to them one by one?
Then he changed his mind and thought, it's impossible that he has read all the books he mentioned?
If the prince's remarks only touched upon one or two aspects, they might have really hit upon his research direction.
But he is very comprehensive and can comment on everything that everyone says. The biggest possibility of being comprehensive is that he is not comprehensive at all.
Zhuang Die suspected that he might just know a few names and use a strong attitude to attack everyone, thus scaring everyone. In fact, he himself did not understand.
It is difficult to pretend to be an engineer, but it is easy to pretend to be a writer. There is even a book called "How to Pretend to Have Read 100 Classics" which sells very well. Readers only find out they have been fooled after buying it. But at least it shows that the general public has this demand.
The more he listened, the more he felt that his suspicions were justified.
Zhuang Die was just planning to organize her words so that she could question Wang Zixu harshly after he finished speaking, but Meng Xin beside her spoke first.
"Excuse me, excuse me... I have to interrupt you for a moment," Meng Xin said to Wang Zixu, "Can I ask you a question?"
Wang Zixu was talking freely and his train of thought was going smoothly when he was suddenly interrupted. He tilted his head and asked, "What's the problem?"
Meng Xin said in a cold voice: "I accept your criticism just now, but you mentioned Sully Prudhomme, who is the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. If you are not a professional researcher of 18th century poetry, you may not even know his name. You said that I read too little German. I want to ask, have you read his poems yourself?"
Wang Zixu was stunned, and Meng Xin continued: "I think that if you haven't read it yourself and still use these names to criticize me, I won't feel uncomfortable, but I just feel a little, a little..."
She pondered the words for a while, then found an appropriate but not very elegant word: "It seems a bit pretentious."
There was an uproar at the scene, and whispers came from all directions. On the one hand, it was because the beauty used vulgar words, and on the other hand, it was in response to her doubts.
As soon as Meng Xin finished speaking, the writer who was sitting next to her and had just been mocked by Prince said:
"I agree with Meng Xin's opinion. It's not that I disagree with questioning, but you can't prove that I'm wrong just by reciting a bunch of names. You said I haven't read it, have you read it yourself?"
"I have read it," Wang Zixu said. "I have read it, my friend."
Zhuang Die raised her voice and joined the battle: "Friend, how many writers have you read? Ten? Twenty? Is this a normal reading amount for a writer?
"But the number you just listed is more than that. Do you dare to say that you have read them all?"
Wang Zixu said seriously: "I have read them all."
"I'm not doubting you, but what's your major? As far as I know, you're a latecomer, not a professional. Have you really studied all of them? How did you find the time to study?"
Zhuang Die said he had no doubts, but in fact he did. As soon as he finished speaking, there was a commotion on the stage, and people raised the same doubts.
We are all intellectuals, and we would not normally behave in this way, as it is not very decent.
But this time, Wang Zixu almost pointed at their noses and scolded them. If it was dishonorable, he was the one who was dishonorable first.
You are all well-known figures with fans. If you don't fight back immediately on the spot and suffer a loss, you will be humiliated afterwards, which will affect your value.
It would be disgusting if someone said to you, "Wang Zixu questioned the reading volume of your family, why didn't your master say anything? He must be feeling guilty!"
Wang Zixu said: "But I have indeed read them all. Why can't I, who is not a professional, read these books? Don't you also claim that you have read 50 billion books?"
Meng Xin said, "Zhuang Die has been on The Brain. His reading volume was verified by the program crew. There is also the original video online. You can check it out. Your reading volume is what you 'claim'."
The scene was noisy again. Seeing this, the host had to interrupt and raised his hand and said:
"Everyone, everyone, excuse me for interrupting. We don't have a questioning session in this discussion."
Zhuang Die spread her hands and said, "So, he is allowed to fire at us who spoke first, but we are not allowed to refute him on the spot?"
Wang Zixu asked back: "Weren't you the ones who fired at me first?"
Zhuang Die's eyes were burning: "I didn't mention any names."
Wang Zixu said: "This is called hypocrisy."
The scene suddenly exploded, and several people started talking at the same time. Their voices were mixed with each other, and no one could hear what anyone said.
The crowd was completely attracted. It was unusual for writers to quarrel in public. The shutters of the cameras were clicking. The scene was in chaos. Xiao Mengyin hid aside, trembling.
The cameras were all facing Wang Zixu. She was sitting next to Wang Zixu, so half of the cameras were facing her. This scene today would definitely go viral on the Internet. She couldn't help but want this traffic.
"Calm down, calm down, everyone," the host said, "Let's at least let Wang Zixu finish his speech before asking questions, okay?..."
He was halfway through his words when the console's voice came through his headset again: "Let them quarrel."
"What?" the host asked in a low voice.
"Add an extra questioning session on the spot and let them argue," the controller said, "follow the order and question them one by one."
The host was immediately puzzled: just now the controller was obviously biased towards Wang Zixu, but now it is obvious that he is not going to have an easy time, but why?
He was very professional and did not show any doubts on his face. He said into the microphone:
"Uh, I just received a message from the organizing committee. Since all the teachers have opinions, we will temporarily add a questioning session. Please speak in turn."
After that, he paused, listened to the host's instructions, and then added: "Please let Teacher Zhuang Die speak first."
Zhuang Die immediately perked up, stood up and said:
“Teacher Wang Zixu, you question the teachers’ lack of education. According to your logic, if you haven’t read, you should shut up.
"Then can we question whether you have read the books you mentioned? This is mutual, right? It's considered mutual questioning, do you agree?"
Wang Zixu nodded, and Zhuang Die said, "Okay, you agree. Then let me ask you, when I was 23 years old, I was a graduate student in the Department of Literature at Peking University and participated in the "Super Brain". What were you doing when you were 23 years old?"
Wang Zixu said: "I just started working as a career staff member in a small unit in Xihe."
Zhuang Die laughed and said, "You work as a civil servant in Xihe. You don't do literature-related work, and you are not a literature major. Where do you get the time and motivation to read the books you mentioned?
"Also, if you really have read so many books, you wouldn't have done it in one day. You must have had some talent and fame long ago. Why did you become famous online at the age of 30 through hype, and you haven't published a single book to date?"
This is a heart-piercing statement. Even bystanders feel that his question is a bit vicious and really hurts their hearts.
Looking at Wang Zixu again, he was indifferent.
Wang Zixu's expression was a little strange.
His expression was three parts angry, six parts funny, and one part helpless.
"About a year ago, my boss also asked me this question," Wang Zixu said. "He thought that as a small character like me, why should I study? I'm just pretending to be cool."
Wang Zixu thought of Director Gou, Lin Feng, and Guo Ranran, and a crazy smile rose from his abdomen.
It was not a happy laugh, but a laugh of sadness, helplessness, and absurdity.
“Now, you ask me this question again, as if a man who is about to enter middle age must earn money honestly.
"Actually, I just like it. I like reading, so I read. Is this answer difficult to accept?"
He thought for a moment and then said, "My leader doesn't believe me either, so I said, you can test me. I have read as many books as you have.
"Now I can still say that I have read what you have read, and I have also read what you have not read. You are free to test me."
(End of this chapter)