Chapter 241 To be updated tomorrow

Chapter 241 To be updated tomorrow

Chapter 241 To be updated tomorrow

After boiling water three times, the tea master opens the cup, pours tea into it, and lifts the pot. Suddenly, water lines form like pillars. Stop the water, scrape the foam with the tea cover, rub it with water, and the tea fragrance will burst out like a burst.

The afternoon sun shone through the carved wooden windows, and was softened by the mist wrapped in the rich aroma of tea. So, Ning Chunyan was reasonably a little sleepy.

She turned her back and yawned secretly.

Shi Tonghe's eyes seemed half closed. When the tea was poured on the table, he picked up the saucer, sniffed it first, then sipped it, and tapped the table three times with his index and middle fingers. This was a way of expressing gratitude, and only experienced tea drinkers would understand the etiquette.

Diao Yiwen, who was standing next to her, quickly followed suit and knocked on the table three times, but then she burned her tongue and became flustered.

At the awkward moment, Shi Shuqiu handed her a tissue in time, and Diao Yiwen hurriedly thanked him in a low voice.

"Freshly brewed tea is very hot, so it's best to let it cool down before drinking." Shi Shuqiu reminded gently.

Diao Yiwen lowered her head and whispered, "Thank you, thank you..."

"You're welcome."

Shi Shuqiu opened the lid and blew gently. His movements were methodical and it was obvious that he often went to such places, and his elegant temperament had been ingrained into his bones.

Diao Yiwen's face turned slightly red.

Before, she had confronted Shi Shuqiu in person, causing him to flee in panic. Now that they met, and it was Shi Shuqiu's home turf, he was calm and composed, showing no emotion at all.

It seems that I don't know what's good for me.

Ning Chunyan saw this, and a disdainful arc appeared at the corner of his mouth——

Before coming here, he said he was as firm as a rock! But he wavered in less than ten minutes. His stance is too unstable!
On the other side, Lu Qingxuan was so calm, his eyes on his nose, his nose on his heart, facing the curling tea mist, like an old monk in meditation.

Ning Chunyan took a closer look and realized that she was not calm at all. She just shut herself off because she didn't know how to face Shi Tonghe.

This is an elegant teahouse on the outskirts of Donghai City. The owner specializes in doing business with high net worth individuals. The entry fee alone starts at a thousand yuan, and the main focus is on low cost-performance, so it has become a well-known elegant place in a small circle.

Sitting in a row on the seat to her right were: Chen Caomu, Yi Shuangxue, and Shang Piaoping, gold medal winners of the online literature competition, martial arts writer Qi Jian, and Zhou Siwei and He Dong, big-V writers on a certain blog.

Sitting on the left side were: Li Yan, Qiu Moke, Liu Yinghe, who were nominated for the Red Pepper Reading Award, and Shi Shuqiu.

Ning Chunyan and his two companions were surrounded by this group of new literary stars, and sat at the same table with Shi Tonghe, Shi Shuqiu, and Wang Zhongxing.

No wonder Diao Yiwen and Lu Qingxuan were so nervous and out of control.

Today's bureau was organized by Shi Tonghe in the name of Shi Shuqiu.

Grudges.

Or, according to Shi Tonghe's meaning, today's situation is not called a "grudge situation", but should be called a "grudge resolution situation".

The starting point of the conflict between Shi Tonghe and Wang Zixu was the banquet when Wang Zixu helped Ning Chunyan block the drinking.

Shi Tonghe said that the person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it. To clean up the current situation, they should first deal with Ning Chunyan and then deal with Wang Zixu.

Coincidentally, the Ancient Xuan Salon was held, and Shi Tonghe was inspired, so he asked Wang Zhongxing to invite these new generation young writers.

This is a strategy that kills many birds with one stone.

On the one hand, Ning Chunyan's "New Appreciation" was suffering from a lack of manuscripts by famous writers, so inviting these people to help her make connections was a favor to her;

On the other hand, the Guxuan Salon is a place that many young writers yearn for, but they cannot get in. He organized a corresponding network bureau to cater to the needs;
Furthermore, he invited these young writers to come and support them, making a gesture to counter the image of him as a "literary clique" in public opinion;
Finally, Shi Shuqiu said that he did not want to pursue a literary career. But if he did not choose this path, what path could he choose? Inviting these people to come here was to help pave the way for him.

Reputation, like power, must be cashed in in time, otherwise it will become invalid. He wanted to take advantage of his influence to help Shi Shuqiu make friends with more young writers and consolidate his network of contacts.

Of course, simply inviting some young people was not enough to prove Shi Tonghe's face, so he also invited two heavyweights to maintain order.

The door curtain was lifted, and a man walked in. He had neatly combed hair, gold-rimmed glasses, and was dressed in a suit and leather shoes. Wang Zhongxing quickly stood up to greet him.

"Director Lu is here, come on! Please take a seat!"

Lu Chaoyuan pushed up his glasses, glanced around, and said, "Sorry, I'm late because of something."

Wang Zhongxing pulled him and raised his head to the young authors here and said:

"Everyone knows Director Lu, right? He was supposed to go to the Guxuan Salon today, but when he heard that Mr. Shi was inviting him, he specifically turned that place down and came here in person."

After saying this, he looked proudly at the various expressions that flashed across everyone's faces, including surprise, envy, nervousness, and awe.

Lu Chaoyuan did not respond to this. He strode to Shi Tonghe, lowered his head, and said, "Teacher Shi."

Shi Tonghe waved his hand: "Hurry up and sit down."

Lu Chaoyuan said: "Teacher Shi said he wanted to invite some new literary talents, so I came right away. In my opinion, Teacher Shi's knowledge, reputation, and background are much richer than Gu Xuan, who came from a business background. This gathering of Teacher Shi will definitely be more interesting than Gu Xuan's salon."

Shi Tonghe said with a smile: "Why are you talking about this? Come and sit down."

That being said, Lu Chaoyuan gave enough face to this senior in front of so many people, which made him very happy and he kept smiling for a long time.

After Wang Zhongxing invited Lu Chaoyuan to sit down, he said to everyone: "When I heard about Mr. Shi's idea, I said that if we keep doing it every year, it will be comparable to or even surpass the Ancient Xuan Salon in the future."

Lu Chaoyuan nodded: "Of course, I think these authors have great potential and will definitely be qualified to participate in the Ancient Literature Salon in the future."

Wang Zhongxing said: "Not only does it have potential, it already has great strength, but it has not yet been discovered."

Shi Tonghe cleared his throat, and everyone at the scene immediately quieted down and listened attentively.

Shi Tonghe said: "The golden creative age for writers is in their twenties and thirties. My best works were written during this period. It is not wrong to say that they have the ability to do so."

Wang Zhongxing turned around and looked at everyone: "Did you hear that? Teacher Shi thinks highly of you, the younger generation."

"Teacher Shi is indeed different from other veteran writers. He is particularly kind to the younger generation. I attended your class at Luyuan last time and it is still fresh in my memory."

"Teacher Shi has always been my idol in the literary world. I am so honored to receive this invitation."

"Yes, I was chatting with my mom yesterday. When I mentioned that I received the invitation and won the award, my mom was always critical of me. But when she heard that I could have tea with Teacher Shi, she said that I finally made it."

Several young writers echoed and talked at the same time, which made Shi Tonghe smile even more.

Sitting in the seats on the left were authors from the serious literary circle. All of them graduated from prestigious universities and had been to Lu Xun Academy of Literature. They had a lot of common topics with Shi Tonghe, and it seemed natural for them to flatter him.

The situation on the right side was different. Some of the people were from online literature backgrounds, while others were Internet celebrities. They were somewhat alienated from them. Chen Caomu, who was sitting in the middle, racked his brains to come up with a subtle compliment. Suddenly, he had an idea and said:
"There are also rumors online that Teacher Shi suppressed that Wang Zixu. Today, I see that it is pure nonsense. Teacher Shi is such a good person, how could he suppress others?"

As soon as he said this, the originally happy and harmonious atmosphere suddenly became dead silent.

Chen Caomu realized that he had said something wrong, but he didn't know where he was wrong. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead.

What is Chinese horror? This is the real Chinese horror! At this moment, he just wanted to slap himself hard: Why do you have to make connections when you can't speak!

Shi Tonghe's expression did not change, but he was shocked.

Although today's gathering was rooted in the name of Wang Zixu, he was absolutely unwilling to mention the name Wang Zixu.

If I don't respond to this name, it would seem that I am trying to cover up something; but if I respond, it would seem that I am lowering my own status.

Just as he was struggling, his son Shi Shuqiu spoke:

"Wang Zixu has a very high opinion of himself. He regards his own works as the most precious and precious works, and is fully confident that he can win awards on his own. My father intended to support him, but he regarded it as suppression.

"In fact, considering his ability, it is wishful thinking for him to win the first prize. Because his opponent is me."

Shi Tonghe remained calm and sipped his tea.

Although Shi Shuqiu avoided the embarrassment of answering directly by saying this, his answer was not good. He was too full of himself.

However, most of the authors present were relatively young and not as cautious as Shi Tonghe.

They liked people like Shi Shuqiu who were flamboyant and domineering. When Shi Shuqiu acted a little pretentiously, they felt that he was down-to-earth and the atmosphere became more lively.

Liu Yinghe is a female author with short hair and an average figure. She said:

"Who is Wang Zixu? Why is he so popular all of a sudden? He is everywhere in the world. Does he have any works in the past?"

"No, Fire in the Stone is his first work," Zhou Siwei next to him said, "To be exact, before that, he only had short stories."

"Then why is he so angry? Is it because he criticized Teacher Shi in public?" Liu Yinghe asked.

"Yes, because he challenged Teacher Shi in public." Zhou Siwei answered, "So essentially, this incident is not because he became popular, but because of Teacher Shi. He just took advantage of the traffic."

He Dong is a long-haired man with a strong literary temperament. He said in a frivolous tone:
"There are many people who try to take advantage of celebrities' traffic on the Internet now, such as those who look like celebrities, which makes the celebrities very annoyed. The celebrities have to act magnanimous, otherwise netizens will definitely criticize them. It's like a toad lying on the back of a foot, disgusting."

Qi Jian said: "This is a very bad direction. If he does this and becomes famous, others will follow his example. How will the senior literary figures appear in public? How will it affect the stability and prosperity of the literary world?"

Zhou Siwei said: "That's right, so all writers should boycott people like Wang Zixu. I know a writer friend who talks about this incident with great relish. I say, are you crazy? Someone overturned your dinner table, and you still helped them count the money."

"Who is it? Is there such an author?" Liu Yinghe asked curiously.

Zhou Siwei said vaguely: "You don't know him."

Shang Piaoping said, "There are so many authors like this, and there are also authors like this in our online literature industry. Most of them are failures, and they like to regard authors who challenge authority as leaders. In fact, they have failed too many times and cannot make money. They think that everything is suppressed by capital, and they just want to overturn the table."

"Cough, cough!"

Everyone's eyes turned to Ning Chunyan who was coughing loudly.

After everyone else fell silent, Ning Chunyan said slowly and firmly:
"The 'notorious' author you are talking about, Wang Zixu, is my editor."

After a pause, she continued, "Wang Zixu is a bit stubborn, but his character is absolutely flawless. When you speculate about others behind their backs, don't judge them by your own standards."

After she finished speaking, the scene fell silent again.

Diao Yiwen beside her shouted in her heart: Editor-in-Chief Ning! Do you want to look at what you are saying? Can you look at the atmosphere! !

This is someone else's territory after all! You risked the world's disapproval to speak up for Wang Zixu and go against everyone. Were you infected by him? ?
Lu Chaoyuan looked at Ning Chunyan with sharp eyes: "Teacher Shi, of course, knows that Wang Zixu is your editor. I heard that your magazine is short of manuscripts, so I invited you to come here today to get to know more young authors."

The card that Lu Chaoyuan played is called "A man who eats someone's food should be grateful to him."

In front of so many young writers, Ning Chunyan couldn't possibly say that he would rather not accept your submissions. If it got out, it would be to protect his own editors and offend the contributors. Would Xinshang still be able to run in the future?
Ning Chunyan said, neither servile nor overbearing, "So I am naturally grateful to Teacher Shi for setting up this situation. But let's be honest, time will tell the right and wrong of the conflict between Wang Zixu and Teacher Shi. But since I know what kind of person Wang Zixu is, I can't let you speculate."

Lu Chaoyuan stared at her and said, "Ms. Ning, I have something to say to you. You can't know a person's heart by looking at his face. You can't treat a work relationship as a personal relationship. Don't be too close to him."

Ning Chunyan laughed inwardly, thinking, what do you know? Wang Zixu has always been my personal relationship. I know a person's face but not his heart. How can you understand him better than me?

But she didn't say so on the surface, maintaining her politeness, and said, "Thank you very much, I accept it. I also want to say something in return to Director Lu, but I won't comment without knowing the full story."

Diao Yiwen shuddered.

Editor-in-Chief Ning was too tough today.

Lu Chaoyuan nodded without changing his expression, but he knew that Ning Chunyan had not heard a word and would not stand on their side.

Shi Tonghe felt a little tired. They were so aggressive when they spoke, weren't they forcing people to stand on the opposite side? Today's game was in vain.

"It's a good idea not to comment without knowing the whole story." Shi Tonghe said, glancing at Ning Chunyan, "It should be so. Otherwise, you will develop prejudice. If you have prejudice, you will have attachment and karma."

He looked back at the table and said, "I invited you here just to get together, nothing else. I didn't ask you to take sides, so don't be so hostile!"

Ning Chunyan pursed her lips and slid to her knees decisively: "I'm sorry, Teacher Shi, I spoke too quickly."

Lu Chaoyuan also quickly apologized.

Zhou Siwei raised his glass and said to Shi Tonghe: "Teacher Shi, we know what you mean and your character. We seek common ground while reserving differences. But in our hearts, we all know how to make choices."

After saying this, he drank the tea in one gulp as if it were wine.

At this moment, the door curtain moved again, and a face with dark circles under the eyes appeared at the door.

"Hey, are you drinking? Why didn't you wait for me?"

Everyone looked over and saw Gu Zao walking in in a nonchalant manner.

Wang Zhongxing immediately played the role of a guest informant and stood up to introduce: "This is the other heavyweight person I invited today, Mr. Gu Zao. He also promoted the Ancient Xuan Salon and came to participate in our event."

Gu Zao waved his hand: "I didn't really push it, I just went to take a look and then wandered off."

After a pause, he continued, "Hey, if you don't go, you really don't know how exciting it is. I was there watching the prince's empty tongue battle with the scholars, and it was really enjoyable for me."

(End of this chapter)