I am not a literary giant

Chapter 148 The Empty Sky Slash

Prince Xu was quite surprised.

He's been very busy lately. Ning Chunyan is a very considerate person and has taken his busy schedule into account, so she rarely bothers him. But she made an exception and came to see him today, which shows how busy she really is.

He asked, as if waking from a dream, "Has the inaugural issue of *New Appreciation* received enough submissions? Is it ready for publication?"

As a member of the magazine's staff, asking this question now feels a bit like Wang Huizhi becoming an official. Fortunately, Ning Chunyan didn't seem to mind; her end was extremely noisy.

"Oh dear, what are you still talking about at this hour? ... Yes, 5 copies, and please schedule the auditorium for me at 2 PM. I'll talk to the professor... Hey, is it alright if I take up half a day of your time? I'm really swamped here, Lu Qingxuan even skipped class."

"Okay, when are you coming?"

"Tomorrow morning. Oh, that's not our reprint; we were scheduled to print first..."

Wang Zixu said, "Then you go ahead with your work. I'll come over tomorrow."

Ning Chunyan said, "I've already paid the cover designer. The designer wants a sample copy? You need to ask me about something like that... Just send it to her directly. What? We don't have a single copy left in our office...?"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Zixu felt a little lost. The scene of Ning Chunyan's troubles in the magazine was still vivid in his mind; had the magazine already been published with great success?

What eve is this eve?

He pushed open the door and walked out of the workshop, holding a teacup and standing on the balcony, when he suddenly felt a slight chill on his shoulder.

Looking out, the autumn sky stretches for miles, the water flows with the sky, and a riverside road in front of the door embraces the jade-like river as it winds eastward, with traffic flowing as endlessly as the water.

Time flies like an arrow.

A strange thought suddenly popped into his mind: what was this ceaselessly flowing river brewing? Flowing so diligently, there must be a purpose, right? It couldn't possibly be just to flow into the sea, evaporate into the air, and then drift back on the clouds, could it? Prince Xu glanced at the drooping white clouds and suddenly realized that it was indeed possible. How wonderful it would be to become a cloud! He wanted to become a cloud, but he couldn't even dream of it. Being the river was much better; after suffering the wrath of humans, it could at least turn into a typhoon and be blown back.

After a while of this random thinking, Wang Zixu realized that it wasn't Jiang Shui who was exhausted from working day and night, but rather he himself who was exhausted. So he quickly returned to his workroom, gathered all the draft papers, organized them again, saved the documents, and then shut down the computer.

When he came out, Ye Lan had just entered, with a cup of milk tea hanging on her left wrist and her right hand hooking down her high heels as she crossed her legs.

She was wearing a white shirt over a short camisole dress, and no stockings on her legs—all white. Seeing Wang Zixu, she laughed, "Did you stay up late again last night? You look so silly."

Wang Zixu yawned: "I don't have to stay up late tonight."

"Finished writing?"

"Almost there." Wang Zixu yawned again. "It's just that I didn't do a good job with my review."

Ye Lan said, "You should get some sleep first!"

She put on her slippers and went into the kitchen. The prince asked casually, "You're off work so early today?"

Ye Lan's voice came from the kitchen: "I'm really scared of that Zuo Ziliang guy. All he can think about now is expansion. He wants to talk about it as soon as he sees me. I'm so annoyed, so I made an excuse to come back."

Prince Xu said, "Shouldn't we expand?"

Ye Lan's face popped out from the kitchen doorway, full of surprise: "You just sit there writing articles all day and you can earn hundreds of thousands a month, aren't you satisfied? If you expand any further, you'll have to restructure the company, raise funds, dilute equity, and a whole bunch of other messy things will come knocking on your door. Can you handle it?"

Wang Zixu said, "The fundamental logic of capitalism is expansion. I am only saying that expansion is theoretically necessary, which does not mean that I support expansion."

Ye Lan stared at his face as if it were a rare and wondrous object: "You're really strange!"

The prince shrugged. "Leave me alone. My mind is a mess right now, so don't worry about what I said."

"Don't worry, I didn't interfere."

Ye Lan changed the subject, saying, "But I'm so bored right now. I can't just stay home and watch TV all afternoon, can I? What are you planning to do after you finish writing your article?"

Wang Zixu said, "I plan to go to Nanjing University."

Ye Lan became excited: "Great! I want to go for a walk at Nanjing University too!"

Prince Xu said, "I have something to do."

"I'm fine, I'm going for a walk."

Although he had promised Ning Chunyan he would go help again the next morning, a single phone call was enough for him to see just how busy they were. He felt embarrassed to pretend he was unaware and remained uninvolved any longer. He decided to go and lend a hand and see how things were going.

After all, this magazine wouldn't have been able to be launched without my own encouragement.

Ye Lan insisted on going with him, so he had no choice but to take her along. Sitting in his car, Ye Lan was as excited as a primary school student going on a school field trip. While fastening her seatbelt, she said, "I think your story is really well written. How did you come up with that ending?"

Prince Xu did not answer.

Fortunately, his residence wasn't far from Nanjing University, less than a 20-minute drive. He parked his car outside the campus, and just as he opened the door, a passenger electric scooter whizzed past, leaving a message on the wind:

"Dude, you're blocking the newsstand from getting supplies!"

Wang Zixu wasn't sure if the words were directed at him, but there was definitely a newsstand by the roadside. Turning his head, he saw a group of students rushing towards him, and the one in the lead was none other than Zhao Peilin.

Before Zhao Peilin even saw Wang Zixu, he rolled up his sleeves, looking rather sleazy, and pointed at the newsstand owner, saying:

"You promised to reserve a batch for our Chinese Literature department, but you didn't keep a single copy? Let me tell you, you're going to lose me, a loyal customer! You can't do business like this in the long run!"

The boss said, "Student, calm down. Even if I can't stay in this business for long, I've already been doing it for 10 years. I understand how you feel, but if it's not available, it's not available. If it sells out too quickly, I can't keep people here!"

Zhao Peilin's group of five or six students were all boys, full of youthful vigor. Upon hearing this, they all started shouting, raising their voices and causing the scene to get a little out of control.

Wang Zixu stepped forward and patted Zhao Peilin on the shoulder. When Zhao Peilin turned around, he immediately beamed with joy.

"Hey, Prince Xu! Long time no see, you've come at the perfect time!..."

As he was speaking, Ye Lan stood next to Wang Zixu with the milk tea in her arms. Zhao Peilin immediately became mute, his lips opening and closing without making a sound, staring at Ye Lan and trembling.

Ye Lan had cherry-red lips, fair cheeks like snow, bright eyes, and white teeth. She wore a revealing tank top that showed off her collarbone, looking quite cool, and her mature aura was incredibly alluring to young men. She looked at Wang Zixu with a strange expression and asked:

"What happened to your friend?"

"He was stunned by you."

Zhao Peilin pulled Wang Zixu aside: "Why didn't you introduce me to such resources sooner?"

Wang Zixu said, "Don't even think about it, you can't handle it."

After saying that, he asked again, "You just said I came at the right time, so what are you all doing here?"

"Yes, yes, you've come at the perfect time," Zhao Peilin said. "Aren't you an employee of the 'New Appreciation' magazine? You have inside connections, could you bring me a few copies of the inaugural issue? The new kind."

As soon as Zhao Peilin finished speaking, the students who had been surrounding the newsstand gathered around Wang Zixu again.

"There are internal employees? Lao Zhao, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Bring me a few copies too, lots of people have asked me for them!"

"I already boasted that I'd get a copy for my girlfriend, but since we're classmates, I'll lend my buddy a hand!"

Wang Zixu poured cold water on their enthusiasm: "First of all, I am not an internal employee."

He paused, then said, "I'm the editor."

After he finished speaking, the crowd became even more indignant. He continued, "Even if I were the editor, I wouldn't know what you're talking about. I've been studying at home this month and haven't been to the magazine office at all. I only just found out that the inaugural issue of 'New Appreciation' magazine has been released."

After he finished speaking, the group of students were immediately disappointed, and Zhao Peilin said even more hurtfully, "What use are you?"

"What's going on? Why are they even fighting over it?" the prince asked humbly.

Zhao Peilin said, "Do you really not know?"

"Know what?"

The magazine "New Appreciation" has become a hit online.

To be precise, it wasn't the magazine that became a hit, but the first novel by The Little Prince.

The news leaked a week ago, and the magazine was released five days ago. Therefore, many people knew in advance that the Little Prince's first short story would be published in *New Appreciation* magazine. Many were waiting for it.

For everyone, whether they are fans or haters of The Little Prince, this kind of event is unprecedented.

After all, the Little Prince never wrote a novel. Even when his writings are labeled "love letters," they are seen by the public more as "quasi-literature." Therefore, a prevailing opinion is that the Little Prince doesn't actually have the ability to write proper literature.

Now that someone has written a proper novel and it's being published in a proper magazine by two truly talented women, Chen Qingluo and Ning Chunyan, the level of its popularity is on par with the seriousness of the event.

Attention generates buzz, and buzz attracts media attention. A few online editors can easily create viral content by using formulaic language. Small media outlets start by hyping up the topic, then larger media outlets join in, and then smaller media outlets follow suit. Soon, news from all sides spills over from social media, making the whole world aware that The Little Prince has written a novel.

As a result, the magazine "New Appreciation" became a hit.

Wang Zixu was still confused after hearing this, but Ye Lan, who was next to him, burst into laughter and said with a grin, "The 'Lost Void Slash'? Isn't that you..."

Prince Xu quickly covered her mouth, and Ye Lan struggled free for a long time before shouting into the air, "It's the Little Prince! The Little Prince's work!"

"Right, I've heard of him." Wang Zixu pretended nothing was wrong and let go, then turned to Zhao Peilin and asked casually, "How's his writing?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Peilin became anxious again: "But I couldn't buy it!!"

His voice was so loud that it hurt Wang Zixu's ears, so he quickly comforted him, "I'll go to the magazine right away and ask for you."

"You should ask them right away."

After saying that, Zhao Peilin hugged his arm and said, "I've heard people who have read it discuss it, and The Little Prince's 'The Lost City and the Beheading' is really awesome."

"Is that so?" Prince Xu's voice was somewhat unsteady.

"Yes. That's pretty impressive. Otherwise, why would I be in such a hurry? Also, your car is blocking the newsstand's delivery area."

Ye Lan chuckled again, but thinking of Wang Zixu's behavior just now, she was furious and punched him in the waist. He was caught off guard and winced in pain.

He got into his car and moved it. Ye Lan whispered beside him, "Your novel became a hit? I knew it would be a hit. I was the first to see it, hehe."

"Yes, yes." Prince Xu replied casually, though he still found it hard to believe.

Strictly speaking, he had never experienced the feeling of "fire".

The time he was most closely associated with "fire" was at the Xihe Literary Gathering, when he stood on the top prize podium. However, his happiness was completely taken away by Chen Qingluo personally presenting him with the award, and he didn't notice the people's gaze at all.

His award ceremony video was even forwarded to the class group. Most of the classmates, including Xie Cong, didn't know how to speak properly and enthusiastically praised him in an exaggerated way, making it unclear whether they were praising him or criticizing him.

As for the Little Prince's "fire," he had no personal experience with it. He perceived himself as merely having written scripts. Scripts were meant for speech therapists, not directly for readers; he considered that a mistake.

This is Prince Xu's experience with "fire".

So now he's genuinely pleased to hear people discussing his novels.

He lowered his head and said to Ye Lan, "I'll say it again, don't reveal my identity to me. Even if you're dying to tell anyone today, don't say I'm the Little Prince."

Ye Lan said, "Alright, alright, you're still not done yet. I won't say anything more. By the way, what does the title of your novel, 'The Lost City, the Empty City, and the Slash,' mean? You told me, but I forgot."

The title "The Loss of Jieting, the Empty City Stratagem, and the Execution of Ma Su" doesn't mean much. It's a collective term for the play "The Loss of Jieting, the Empty City Stratagem, and the Execution of Ma Su," and is a well-known play.

The story written by Wang Zixu also happened to be a three-act structure, and the titles of the three parts could be summarized by the three words "loss, emptiness, and severance," so he used these three words in a rather flamboyant way. It sounds impressive yet somewhat childish.

He had just chosen the name casually, without thinking about the consequences, but now, hearing people on the street talking about "Lost Void Slash" all the time, he felt a bit caught off guard and began to feel apprehensive.

As he walked through the school gate, Wang Zixu felt the "explosive popularity" even more deeply. He passed by several people, including couples, singles, young people, and the elderly, all of whom were talking about "New Appreciation" and Little Prince's "Lost in the Void".

A small motorcycle sputtered up from behind the two of them, and as it passed Prince Xu, the boy on the back seat held up a black-covered magazine like a flag, shouting loudly:

"I managed to snag a copy of the magazine! The last one! Hahahaha..."

He stared in disbelief as the little motorcycle, puffing out black smoke, struggled to drift across the intersection and disappear from sight.

Ye Lan turned to Wang Zixu with a sense of pride: "How do you feel about seeing your work so popular?"

"Keep a low profile. I have a bad feeling about this. I need to go to the magazine office right away."

……

As soon as he stepped into the magazine office, he felt a wave of heat wash over him. The small magazine office was crammed with countless people, and the already dilapidated doors and windows now seemed even more vulnerable.

Among the crowd, Lu Qingxuan peeked out and, upon seeing it was Wang Zixu, ran over as if granted a pardon:

"Are you here to help? You've finally arrived! I'm so busy!"

In the corner, Diao Yiwen glanced up expressionlessly, then lowered her head again to continue her work, seemingly driven to the brink of death by the repetitive labor.

The prince asked tentatively, "Alright, how can I help?"

Lu Qingxuan pointed to the boy who was leading the group of students behind her and said, "Could you please get this guy out of here? I'm busy right now, and he's driving me crazy!"

(End of this chapter)