I am not a literary giant

Chapter 167 Infernal Affairs (6000 words)

A week has passed since Ning Chunyan issued the strictest gag order to Lu Qingxuan, and the postgraduate entrance examination has arrived as scheduled.

The examination center at Nanjing University was located in Chongwen Building on campus. Lu Qingxuan, as the student union president, was hired as an invigilator (she could receive a stipend of 480 yuan per day for invigilating).

But at that moment, she was preoccupied with something else.

Putting that matter aside for now, let's talk about the so-called "strictest gag order": Ever since they witnessed the miserable state of contemporary novelists during their creative process, adhering to the principle of not airing dirty laundry in public, Ning Chunyan respectfully instructed her colleagues who went with her not to tell anyone about it, and everyone was to keep quiet and never spread the word.

Chen Qingluo naturally wouldn't tell anyone, so the gag order only applied to Lu Qingxuan. Lu Qingxuan also didn't want to bring it up; she even wished time would wash away her memories like a waterfall.

However, in the dead of night, the image of a naked man wearing adult diapers still frequently appears before her eyes, and she always gets up and sits on the bed for a long time, unable to calm her mind.

However, what was giving her a headache at the moment was something else entirely, something concerning Du Kezhu.

Du Kezhu is quite well-known, and her popularity within the Faculty of Arts is roughly between that of Haruki Murakami and Bob Dylan.

Her most famous achievement was giving a speech as an outstanding student representative at the freshman orientation ceremony with pink hair. After that, according to incomplete statistics, more than 26 boys publicly confessed their feelings to her, and countless others did not.

Lu Qingxuan has always regarded her as a rival.

This rival is not a romantic rival, nor does it involve competition in any specific area. "Viewing someone as a rival" is a way of life for Lu Qingxuan.

In a broad sense of "excellence," she sees Du Kezhu as a worthy rival to surpass. Since junior high school, she has consistently used this method to spur herself on. In other words, Du Kezhu is her whetstone.

Her attitude towards her rivals was quite subtle: she didn't want them to be too outstanding, making it impossible for her to catch up; yet she also didn't want them to crumble at the first sign of trouble, robbing her of the joy of the chase. She always maintained a distant relationship with her rivals, like birds in flight, blue fish in spring, trees in spring, and clouds in the evening.

Most importantly, once you decide on your opponent, you cannot change them arbitrarily.

Changing opponents is like cheating in a game; it destroys all the rules and fun of the game, turning your past persistence into a meaningless obsession. She only changes opponents after "defeating" them.

Du Kezhu, her eighth rival, had recently shown signs of disappointing her—first losing her attitude towards learning, and then taking a long leave of absence for unknown reasons. Just when she thought this rival's shelf life was running out, a bolt from the blue brought her game to the brink of collapse.

A few days ago, she met Duan Xiaosang through Zhao Peilin's introduction.

Duan Xiaosang is a well-known book editor and marketing planner. Her reputation and infamy are equally notorious. Her ability to create hot topics and incite conflict is equally astonishing. She also maintains a good relationship with Lu Qingxuan's cousin.

When Zhao Peilin found her, he told her that Duan Xiaosang had proposed something very tempting to him, but he was unwilling to do it. So he recommended the person who was capable of doing it—that is, her—to Duan Xiaosang.

Lu Qingxuan was taken aback after hearing Duan Xiaosang's opening remarks:

"Du Kezhu is not the emperor?!"

She used to be engrossed in reading "The Emperor's Son" and even fantasized about what kind of person the author was. She never expected that it would be her classmate, and Du Kezhu at that.

"The key is the name at the end." Duan Xiaosang tapped the table with her fingers. "The Innocent Poet, that's the ID she used in Wen'ai."

Lu Qingxuan frowned: "Wen Ai? In my memory, isn't that a...flirting app?"

"Yes."

"Can girls do this too?"

"Why not?"

Lu Qingxuan nervously added, "This matter must not be known to any of your classmates at school."

Duan Xiaosang smiled: "I have no interest in ruining a student's reputation. What I care about is the person behind her, the Little Prince."

Lu Qingxuan looked puzzled. Duan Xiaosang said, "The Little Prince is the scriptwriter behind Wen Ai. In other words, Du Kezhu, as Wen Ai's head speech therapist, must know the Little Prince."

Lu Qingxuan asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I'd like to meet the Little Prince."

Lu Qingxuan tilted her head and thought for a moment, then realized that it was no wonder Zhao Peilin was unwilling to get involved. Just confessing Wen Ai's affair to Du Kezhu was already extremely difficult, let alone getting her to reveal the Little Prince's identity.

"If you want to schedule an interview with The Little Prince or something, you can contact our magazine. Our editor-in-chief, Ning Chunyan, knows him, and our editor, Wang Zixu, can also be reached."

Duan Xiaosang laughed at her naivety: "How could I reveal something like this to your magazine? You're Xiao Mengyin's cousin, so I'll be frank with you. I want to bring Little Prince to our company and make him the next generation of bestselling author."

"Isn't this a bad idea? The Little Prince himself doesn't want to reveal his true identity."

"That's fine. This is a good concept, and we can create a series of trending topics around it. The key is that we need to connect with them, sign contracts, and establish agreements. Once we establish cooperation, how to package it is a matter for later."

Lu Qingxuan then said, "Do we really have to cooperate with the Little Prince? Why go to such lengths and just cooperate with someone who isn't even the Emperor?"

Duan Xiaosang said, "She is indeed a talent worth exploring, but I have been in contact with her. The copyrights of her past works are all held by the platform, and her writing style is not suitable for physical publication. Her potential is limited. The real big fish is still The Little Prince."

Lu Qingxuan's heart rate quickened slightly. She asked cautiously, "I heard that the copyright for 'Not the Emperor' sold for 80. Is that true?"

Duan Xiaosang laughed: "What's 80? If Little Prince signs a contract with our company, the copyright could easily sell for 800 million. Have you read his 'The Lost City'? At least three production companies have already inquired about the copyright with me."

Lu Qingxuan said, "The copyright of 'The Lost City and the Slash' belongs to The Little Prince himself; our magazine is only responsible for publishing it."

"I know. Otherwise, Ning Chunyan would be sitting in your seat." Duan Xiaosang finished speaking, then lowered her voice, "We estimate that the copyright of 'The Lost City' can sell for 150 million."

"That's just a short story of less than 3 words!"

"That's right, this short story. That's the price someone offered."

Lu Qingxuan felt a sense of awe and reverence.

Duan Xiaosang then said, "I heard from Xiaomeng that you also want to pursue a career in publishing?"

Lu Qingxuan's expression was somewhat indignant. Which literature student doesn't dream of publishing? Of course, she did too. But after learning that Du Kezhu was Fei Tianzi, she suddenly felt that her dream was a joke.

Her rivals had already made a name for themselves through writing, while her dream remained just a dream. Duan Xiaosang's question was tantamount to an insult to her.

Duan Xiaosang understood what was going on from her expression and smiled slightly: "If you help me this time, I can recommend your future works for publication in magazines."

Lu Qingxuan's mind flashed to an image of someone wearing an adult diaper: "Really? We have an editor at our magazine who had his work rejected by magazines recommended by Shi Tonghe."

Duan Xiaosang laughed: "You mean that author surnamed Wang? He got scammed; he offended someone he shouldn't have. My guarantee to you is that you won't be in that embarrassing situation. You see how damaging it is to be rejected twice? It directly led to no hope for this year's Fei Shi magazine, and he can't even find a magazine to publish in."

Out of a desire to protect her own people, Lu Qingxuan stubbornly replied, "That's not necessarily true."

Duan Xiaosang added, "Your sister Sang has some connections in the industry, so my guarantee is quite valuable. As long as you can help me with this, whether it works out or not, I can guarantee that you can publish a paper in a core journal. If I get in touch with Little Prince, I can even guarantee that you can publish a paper in a top-tier core journal."

After saying that, she winked at her again: "And, aren't you really even a little bit curious about the Little Prince's identity?"

Lu Qingxuan remained silent.

The answer to this question is curiosity. She is very curious.

Although she always appeared aloof and cold, like an ice plum blossom, a cold moon defying frost and snow, and an unchanging jade dragon atop Mount Kilimanjaro, her inner curiosity burned like a raging fire.

People often ask her enviously when they talk about her work, "You work at the New Appreciation magazine, you must be able to meet the Little Prince, right?"

She would always answer with a faint smile, "No." Not only could she not, she couldn't even speak.

"But at least you have the opportunity to communicate with the other party about the draft," people say.

People envied her for working in the place closest to the Little Prince in the world, and admired her composure in the face of this privilege. But how could she not be curious at all?

As the student council president of the Faculty of Arts at Nanyang University, she could have easily secured internships at magazines like "September" and "Modern," but she chose "New Appreciation," partly because of The Little Prince.

Lu Qingxuan agreed to consider it, but Duan Xiaosang urged her to think it over quickly, otherwise she would have to find someone else.

This decision was extremely difficult for Lu Qingxuan.

She always felt that revealing the Little Prince's information was a bit unfair to Ning Chunyan. After all, the Little Prince was the publishing house's top author, and if he were poached, the company might have less energy to contribute to the publishing house.

Duan Xiaosang was aware of this, so she preferred to bypass Ning Chunyan and start with Du Kezhu.

But in the end, she convinced herself: if she succeeded, she could harmlessly contact the Little Prince. She could tell him that Duan Xiaosang had extended an olive branch to him, and whether he accepted it was up to him to decide.

She would never sell his contact information if he didn't want to.

After waiting for several days, she got a good opportunity. The postgraduate entrance examination is usually held at the university, with three examiners in one classroom. Since there weren't enough faculty and staff members to register, students could also fill in, and she had a few spots available.

She persuaded Du Kezhu to take an exam proctoring opportunity in the college (this was no easy feat, given that the teachers still vividly remembered the pink hairpin on her head), and then, in the name of the college, she forced Du Kezhu to participate in the proctoring (this was also no easy feat, given her extremely unconventional personality).

After some maneuvering, it actually worked. She deliberately arranged for Du Kezhu to be in the same examination room as herself. By creating an opportunity to be alone, she was more confident that she could extract some information from her.

The day before the exam, Diao Yiwen called her:

"Xiao Lu, are you at school? Could you check out my exam room for me?"

Lu Qingxuan responded enthusiastically: "Okay, I'll take a look for you and Prince Xu."

Diao Yiwen said, "Thank you for your help. But, could you please get in touch with Wang Zixu?"

"Uh..." Lu Qingxuan was speechless.

She truly couldn't. Everyone was even worried that he would die, but Chen Qingluo wouldn't allow anyone to disturb his seclusion.

She said this is the writer's nirvana. Because of the perfection of wisdom, the mind is without hindrance; because there is no hindrance, there is no fear; far removed from distorted views and dreams, one attains ultimate nirvana. Amitabha, Amitabha.

Lu Qingxuan didn't quite understand.

Diao Yiwen's tone was a little complaining: "He's obsessed. The situation is already so bad this year, wouldn't it be better to give up and wait until next year? Why does he have to publish the manuscript this year? What if he doesn't study well and fails the exam again? Let's see what he does then."

Lu Qingxuan said weakly, "The editor-in-chief trusts him a lot."

"Of course Chen Qingluo believes him, but I've always had my doubts..." Diao Yiwen recalled the image of Chen Qingluo standing in front of Wang Zixu during the Xihe Literary Gathering. "Never mind. It's nothing."

Lu Qingxuan said, "I think he will pass the exam. Although he is switching fields, he has a very good foundation and knows more about literature than I do."

Diao Yiwen said, "I hope it goes well for him."

That's just polite talk.

Even Lu Qingxuan's Border Collie could hear the perfunctoriness in her tone.

Anyway, she felt that Wang Zixu's situation was definitely not going to improve. She could already foresee his impending predicament:

If he failed the exam, he would become a laughingstock within the academy, a laughingstock among Shi Shuqiu's group; if he passed, he would also become a laughingstock—because his manuscript had been rejected twice and failed to receive a nomination from Fei Shi. Never before in history had the top scholar of the Xihe Literary Society suffered such humiliation.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Qingxuan went out to check out the exam room for Diao Yiwen. At the entrance of Chongwen Building, in front of the seat number plaque, she saw a green head float over.

"Du...Du Kezhu." Lu Qingxuan greeted her somewhat awkwardly, "What a coincidence."

"Um."

After learning about Du Kezhu's pseudonym, Lu Qingxuan suddenly didn't know how to get along with her, but because of tomorrow's plans, she had to maintain a good relationship with her.

Du Kezhu didn't notice her strange behavior, just nodded slightly, walked to the seat number display board, and stared at it.

"Are you here to help watch over the exam venue too?" Lu Qingxuan asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Um."

"Do you have any friends taking the postgraduate entrance exam tomorrow?"

Du Kezhu turned to look at her, a look of confusion in her eyes.

Lu Qingxuan found her gaze strange; she didn't understand what she had said wrong.

But in reality, Du Kezhu was just weighing her relationship with the Little Prince to see if they could be considered "friends".

How do we define their relationship? Teacher and student? Superior and subordinate? Master and servant?

"I guess so," Du Kezhu said simply at the end.

"You're taking the exam in the same room as me tomorrow, don't be late," Lu Qingxuan said. Then she turned to look at the notice board, "Oh, what a coincidence, Sister Yiwen is taking the exam in the same room as me..."

"...Ah, Prince Xu is also in the examination hall."

Du Kezhu turned and stared at her with a strange look, making her feel guilty.

"W-what's wrong?" Lu Qingxuan asked somewhat haltingly.

Du Kezhu was just puzzled: why would Prince Xu rather ask her to watch the exam room for him than ask the very useful Lu Qingxuan?

Du Kezhu asked bluntly, "How much do you know about Wang Zixu?"

"Uh, I know a little... roughly... to be precise, my understanding of him is only superficial. You ask how superficial? Well, it's probably the layer below his clothes and above his adult diaper..."

Under Du Kezhu's aggressive gaze, Lu Qingxuan finally admitted, "It's probably somewhere between my understanding of Orhan Pamuk and Han Jiang."

"That means complete lack of understanding."

"You can't say that... well, it's more or less the same," Lu Qingxuan said. "Why did you ask that?"

"You didn't even tell me."

"What did you say?" Lu Qingxuan asked curiously.

Du Kezhu's dark eyes flashed with an unusual light. She didn't say anything, but simply patted her shoulder.

She had read "The Lost City and the Empty City". She originally thought that since the magazine "New Appreciation" published Little Prince's work, Lu Qingxuan, the temporary editor, was in the magazine (and even sat next to Prince Xu himself), she must also be someone who knew about it.

But judging from her behavior, she seemed completely unaware.

How much self-control does it take for someone to stay in such a frenzied environment and keep the fact that they are the Little Prince a secret?

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that the Little Prince was incredibly resilient.

At the same time, she was also very curious about what it would be like when the Little Prince's identity was revealed. Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Du Kezhu's lips.

Amidst puzzled gazes, she drifted away.

……

the next day.

The day of the postgraduate entrance examination.

The office of the "New Appreciation" magazine was deserted.

Ning Chunyan asked, "Today is exam day."

"Hmm," Chen Qingluo hummed.

"Xiao Wang and Xiao Diao both went to take their exams."

"Um."

"Xiao Lu went to proctor the exam."

"Hmm."

"Should we hire a few more people?"

"Summon him." Chen Qingluo said succinctly.

But this didn't shut Ning Chunyan up. She added, "Don't you think we should go see them?"

"I'm not going."

Ning Chunyan said, "I meant to go and offer my encouragement. What if Wang Zixu doesn't pass the exam?"

"If he doesn't pass the exam, let's fire him. We can't afford to lose face like that."

Ning Chunyan's face paled as she said, "He invested 80 yuan in me, how could I dare to resign?"

Give it back to him.

"I don't have any money!"

"Let's figure something out," Chen Qingluo said. "In short, if he doesn't pass the exam, we're not going to hang out with him anymore. We have to quit; we can't afford to lose face like that."

After she finished speaking, she drew a big X on the manuscript paper with her pen.

Shi Shuqiu put down his pen, returned the notebook to the girl in front of him, and continued stretching.

My roommate came running over with his arms crossed: "Old Shi, today is supposedly the day of the postgraduate entrance exam."

"Yes, I know. What's wrong?"

"Isn't Brother Chang taking his exam today?"

Shi Shuqiu smiled after hearing this.

"Brother Intestine" was the nickname they gave to Prince Xu. Because on that day at the banquet, Prince Xu used a dozen or so couplets to get Shi Shuqiu drunk and passed out, they called him "the one who can drink through intestines," and over time it was simplified to "Brother Intestine."

"What happened to his exam this time?"

"I can find out who the proctors are in their exam room, maybe I can put in a good word and ask them to keep a close eye on them."

"Come on," Shi Shuqiu said. "Even if you don't say anything, will the examiners stop watching?"

"Isn't this to prevent Brother Chang from cheating?"

Shi Shuqiu shook his head. Firstly, he wasn't worried about Wang Zixu cheating. Secondly, even if he got in, so what?

His article has already been published in Modern Times and received a very good response; he has almost secured a nomination.

Everyone knows that the prince has embarrassed him, but on one hand, he received a nomination and even won the first prize at the Fédération Awards, while on the other hand, his work was rejected twice and he was not shortlisted.

He was even more eager for the prince to get in through a false exam. The more successful he became and the further he went, the more the other party would appear as a clown.

"It's almost time."

Lu Qingxuan glanced at her watch, checked her hairstyle one last time in the mirror, hesitated for a moment, and finally tied it into a ponytail.

I greeted countless people along the way, and when I arrived at the dormitory building, I bumped into Du Kezhu, who was still sleepy-eyed.

"Hi!"

She waved and walked alongside her. They were in the same exam room, so there was no reason not to walk together. But Du Kezhu seemed a little uncomfortable, her whole body stiff and awkward.

After a long silence, Lu Qingxuan thought she had to say something to break the ice, so she cleared her throat and spoke in a casual tone:

Have you read *The Little Prince*?

Du Kezhu was taken aback and said, "I've read it."

"Isn't it well-written?" Lu Qingxuan said with a smile. "The first issue of our magazine has already sold 25 copies, ranking first in national magazine circulation for the month. It's all thanks to Little Prince."

"Congratulations," Du Kezhu said indifferently.

"Are you familiar with the Little Prince?" Lu Qingxuan asked abruptly.

Du Kezhu was startled and turned to look at her. After a long while, she said, "He told you?"

"he?"

Lu Qingxuan was taken aback, and quickly shook her head: "No, no, how could I possibly talk to the little prince?"

After saying that, a barely perceptible smile appeared on her lips. Goodness, she finally let it slip, didn't she? Gotcha.

What she didn't know was that the "he" she thought referred to was the Little Prince, but in reality, the "he" Du Kezhu was referring to was Prince Xu.

Du Kezhu frowned, looking surprised and uncertain, and subconsciously kept a certain distance from her. When they arrived in front of Chongwen Building, she suddenly saw a familiar figure from behind.

"Prince Xu!" Lu Qingxuan waved to him.

That figure was etched in her memory, forever linked to the diaper, shining brightly in Lu Qingxuan's mind. So she recognized him at a glance, even though there were slight changes—the weather was getting cooler, he hadn't changed his clothes, but his hair had grown quite a bit, and he had become much thinner.

The person behind the back slowly turned around, and Lu Qingxuan was startled. Wang Zixu was so thin that he was practically skin and bones. Compared to a month ago, he was much thinner.

Wang Zixu, now standing tall on the Nanjing University campus, exudes a much more composed demeanor. The Xuan Tie sword, which had previously seemed to have its sharp edge smoothed out, is now like a sword that has been sheathed. His face is very gentle, with a faint smile on his lips, though a glint of light occasionally flashes in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Lu Qingxuan asked cautiously.

Wang Zixu nodded: "It's alright. The manuscript was just sent out this morning."

Lu Qingxuan gasped: "Submitted to 'The Winning' journal?"

Prince Xu nodded.

At this point, a familiar feeling returned. Lu Qingxuan shook her head vigorously and said, "I wasn't talking about the manuscript. What day is it today? Have you reviewed it all?"

"It should be fine."

"Okay, I'll proctor you."

"You can proctor exams?" Prince asked, his mouth agape in surprise.

"You're being a bit rude. I'm the student council president, why can't I proctor the exam?" Lu Qingxuan said, quite displeased.

After saying that, she urged Wang Zixu to hurry up and wait at the entrance of the examination hall, as she was going to prepare to invigilate the exam.

Before leaving, she keenly noticed that Wang Zixu and Du Kezhu greeted each other.

"You two know each other?" Lu Qingxuan asked, then frowned. "How do you know each other?"

(End of this chapter)