1987 My Era

Chapter 51, Detonating the Powder Keg
At this moment, the living room was plunged into a strange atmosphere.

Li Heng looked at her leisurely and sized her up with ease.

His eyes fell on her, as if he was still mocking her shamelessness.

In fact, he also wanted to be more generous and didn't want to hold on to grudges.

But this bitch always liked to scold him in front of Chen Zijin and Chen's relatives and friends in her previous life: Our Zijin has been beautiful and outstanding since she was a child. If she was willing, there would be a lot of children of high-ranking officials, doctoral students and overseas students. I don’t know what’s so good about you, so why did they choose you?

Listen, is this human talk?
Forget about the two times, I just gritted my teeth and endured it for Chen Zijin. But if I talk too much, what man doesn't hold a grudge?
In his 28 years of life, Chen Xiaomi had never experienced such irony.
She was so angry that she almost vomited blood.

She racked her brains but couldn't figure it out. Only half a year had passed since last summer vacation, so why had Li Heng changed so much?
In the past, Li Heng was as obedient as a sheep in front of him, and he hardly ever fought back or retaliated when he was beaten or scolded.

He didn't even dare to look up at himself.

But now, Li Heng's words were so sharp that she found she couldn't argue with him at all.

The role is changeable, and with her hands tied, she herself becomes the lamb to be slaughtered.

She even had a thought just now: If Li Heng had shown such incredible writing talent last summer, would she have stopped him?
Answer…?
She didn't dare to give an answer, let alone think deeply about the answer.

She discovered that human nature was something that even she couldn't control!

Unable to bear his unscrupulous gaze, Chen Xiaomi took a deep breath, straightened her head, and decided to try to break her embarrassment through conversation.

She asked a question she really wanted to know and was very curious about: "You are only 17 years old, how did you write this novel?

Hearing this, Li Heng asked calmly, "Ms. Chen, are you questioning me? Do you think a country boy like me can't write such a work?"

Chen Xiaomi held her lips and said nothing, she was indeed feeling doubtful.

In other words, it's not just her. If Li Heng's age were made public, I believe everyone would be as confused as she is and look forward to finding the truth.

However, Li Heng was not so easy to deal with, and retorted: "That's right, according to the ancient standards of the gentry, the Chen family is also considered a high-ranking family.

In addition, Miss Chen is a top student at Renmin University, and her eyes are always on the sky. I am afraid she has long forgotten the old saying "A noble son comes from a humble family, and a noble official comes from a humble family."

At this point, he changed his tone and continued to criticize without mercy: "But you are a high-level intellectual after all, how could you ask such a stupid question?"

Hearing the word "stupid", Chen Xiaomi's anger rose again, and his chest heaved violently.

However, Li Heng would not give her a chance to talk back and continued to attack:

"Wang Bo wrote the famous "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" at the age of 26. Why don't you question it?
Huo Qubing was the bravest of the three armies at the age of 21. He was granted the title of Marquis of Langjuxu and was very arrogant. Shouldn't you dig up his body and put him on trial?
Actually, in my opinion, age does not represent everything.

Don’t think that you will become better at everything as you get older. If you don’t believe me, just listen to the old man Sun at the school gate. He is over 60 years old, illiterate, a fool, and can only curse. "

Chen Xiaomi was so angry that she fainted. She knew that Li Heng was making indirect accusations and was avenging what happened last summer. He called her a fool and said that she only grew older but not more knowledgeable.

She unconsciously grabbed her bag with her right hand, wanting to get up and leave, not wanting to suffer humiliation here for the sake of "To Live".

But at this moment, another voice in her mind advised her: Be patient! Be patient! Be patient again! Be patient! Get through this difficult time first.

Just when Chen Xiaomi was having a fierce ideological struggle, there was a sudden noise outside the door.

Then there was a knock on the door, accompanied by a shout: "Li Heng, open the door."

It's the English teacher's voice.

Li Heng didn't think much about it and stood up to open the door. At this time, there were two people outside the door, one of them was Wang Runwen.

The other one was a man, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a middle part in his hair, and his clothes were neat and tidy, very well-dressed.

As soon as they met, Wang Runwen introduced the two:

"Li Heng, this is Zouping, the editor of Harvest magazine."

"This is December."

Before coming to Zouping, I never thought that the author of "To Live" was so young, even a high school student. I was shocked.

Chen Xiaomi was originally hesitating whether to leave or not, but the moment she saw her competitor, all her distracting thoughts disappeared completely.

She regained her fighting spirit.

Even if Li Heng has a grudge against her, he will never go against money. She still has a chance.

"Hello, Editor Zou. I was just discussing publishing matters with Editor Chen from People's Literature, so I asked you to pick me up. Please don't mind."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Li Heng threw aside his gentlemanly manners and directly set the pace, with the aim of making the two of them collide.

After all, when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.

He was afraid that his competitors would reach some kind of tacit understanding in order to save money, so he simply buried the powder keg and did not give the two a chance.

Sure enough, Zou Ping stared at Li Heng in a daze, then looked at Chen Xiaomi sitting on the sofa, and a sense of urgency suddenly arose in his heart.

I even secretly wondered: Have Li Heng and People's Literature reached an agreement? Do I still have a chance?
Before coming, "To Live" alarmed Mr. Ba, who was very concerned about the subsequent story and asked him to get it as close as possible.

After exchanging pleasantries and sitting down, Li Heng waited for the English teacher to pour them another cup of hot tea before he said to Chen Xiaomi and Zou Ping:
"I'm a senior high school student and will be taking the college entrance exam soon. I don't have much time, so I won't beat around the bush with you. Should we talk about the manuscript fee first, or should you two read the follow-up manuscripts first?"

Zouping was speechless again. He could write such an awesome work, but he was still a student and was still thinking about his afternoon classes.

Are you going to let people live?
In order to make sure his visit was not in vain and to have a clear idea in mind, Zou Ping said first: "If possible, I would like to read the manuscript first."

"Yes, of course no problem."

Li Heng was very generous. He found all the manuscripts in his schoolbag, which were in several stacks. He deliberately put the first stack of subsequent stories in front of Chen Xiaomi, letting her read it first.

It’s not that he favors Chen Xiaomi. He does this to stimulate Zou Ping, hoping that the other party will be nervous and will directly offer a high price to pressure Chen Xiaomi when he makes a bid later.

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Li Heng and seemed to see through his tricks, but she didn't expose him. Instead, she opened the first page of the manuscript and read it carefully:

"I have been hopeless since I was a child. That's what my father said. The private school teacher said I was a rotten tree that could not be carved. Now I think they were right. I didn't think so at the beginning. I thought I had money. I was the only descendant of the Xu family. If I died, the Xu family would be extinct..."

The exciting plot quickly and completely attracted Chen Xiaomi, allowing her to let go of the grudge with Li Heng in a short period of time.

As the book unfolds, she even inadvertently reveals various micro-expressions of worry and anxiety...

Seeing that his opponent was so absorbed in the book, Zou Ping became impatient, but there was nothing he could do as he could not get the manuscript in a short time, so he could only wait.

At the same time, he was thinking in his mind: seeing that his opponent was quickly fascinated, the story behind "To Live" must be good. I am late today and at a disadvantage. How can I turn the tide later?

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(End of this chapter)