I am not a literary giant

Chapter 176 The Power of Insensitivity

Wang Zixu was again judging others by his own standards. After hearing Wang Zixu's lament, Zhao Peilin's expression shifted slightly, and he spoke after a long pause:

"Junior brother, you must know that this world is very tolerant of the successful, but conversely, it is quite harsh on the unsuccessful."

"The fact that Alexandre Dumas fils was the son of Alexandre Dumas père will only be celebrated; on the other hand... well, let's not go back to the other way around. In short, this world is very cruel."

Prince Xu said, "I know, I know. I know this world is as cruel as the law of the jungle, however, however..."

"But you always hope that the big shots can be reasonable, right?" Zhao Peilin smiled wryly.

"Then we can only hope that once you become big shots, you can change all of this."

Xu Rongrong's slightly loud voice came from behind the two of them, and they both turned around.

Xu Rongrong, wearing a purple dress, walked over with a girl in a white dress.

The woman in the purple dress was alluring, while the woman in the white dress was elegant. Both of them wore makeup, and in the early autumn season, they exuded an ethereal and charming aura, as if surrounded by fragrance.

Xu Rongrong had a slightly large face, but a very good figure. After makeup, her temperament and appearance instantly improved by two levels, and her sex appeal increased dramatically. Zhao Peilin said in surprise:

"Why is He Xingxian acting like a spoiled little girl?!"

Xu Rongrong punched him: "What day is it today? Only you chauvinistic straight men would dress like this and run out like this."

The two men glanced down at themselves. Zhao Peilin was wearing a black mandarin jacket, and Wang Zixu was wearing a brown casual suit. Both felt that their attire was fine.

"What day is it today?"

Xu Rongrong rolled her eyes, not wanting to talk to them. The girl next to her, with a gentle voice, spoke up to them:

"There will be many reporters here today. Some people have already started saying that Shi Shuqiu is the youngest writer to become famous since the founding of New China."

"That's an exaggeration? How old is he? Is he even more remarkable than Eileen Chang?"

Xu Rongrong said: "Firstly, Eileen Chang was a writer before the founding of New China. Secondly, he was 20 years old, while Eileen Chang's famous work was written when she was 23."

Zhao Peilin was shocked twice: once by the media's overreaction, and once by the fact that Shi Shuqiu was younger than he seemed.

"They were just saying that important people should have some self-respect, but how come they're so shameless when they're trying to create hype? The youngest writer to achieve fame—how dare they say such a thing?"

Zhao Peilin became somewhat indignant, while Wang Zixu looked at him speechlessly. Just now, he had an air of otherworldly wisdom and detachment, but it turned out he still had to break down.

Xu Rongrong blushed slightly, clearly disagreeing with her senior's statement, and retorted, "Zhao Peilin, don't deliberately belittle your junior. You've chosen the wrong opponent if you want to compete."

"How am I competing with him? Do you think I'm jealous of him? I'm not targeting Shi Shuqiu personally; I'm angry because I'm indignant at the media's distortion of literary values! Of course, if he's the one who's hyping it up, then I'll curse him along with him."

"You're just jealous," Xu Rongrong pointed out sharply. "You see your junior as too outstanding, more outstanding than you, and you're just jealous."

Zhao Peilin sneered: "Xu Rongrong, you underestimate me. Let me ask you, what makes Shi Shuqiu worthy of being called a 'famous writer'?"

The girl in the white dress next to Xu Rongrong spoke up: "Shi Shuqiu is a member of the Chinese Literature Association. She started writing at the age of 12 and has published many novels. Her novel, 'Yesterday's Star,' has just been published in 'Modern' magazine."

Xu Rongrong said, "Did you hear that? Did you hear that? They're even holding seminars now. What's wrong with hype? Hype only works if it has value. Look at Wang Zixu, can he even generate hype?"

Wang Zixu felt like he was just passing by, did nothing, and was inexplicably looked down upon, which made him extremely aggrieved.

Zhao Peilin stretched out his hands: "Okay, let's put aside Father's influence and not even talk about how much personal favors were involved in the seminar. Let's just assume they actually held a seminar and came up with some results. But I'll ask you, did Shi Shuqiu ever appear in 'Get' magazine?"

Xu Rongrong fell silent.

Zhao Peilin then asked, "Besides 'Yesterday's Star' published in *Contemporary*, what other representative works can he speak of?"

Xu Rongrong rummaged through her bag: "There must be one, otherwise, how easy would it be to get into the Chinese Literature Association?"

"Stop looking. If you can't name one and still have to look, then you don't have a representative work. Wang Zixu has a novel called 'Wild Grasses,' which I'll still remember ten years from now. I'm just asking one question: was it published in 'Get' magazine? If it wasn't, what kind of famous writer are you talking about?"

Prince Xu got shot again, but this time it was a good gun.

"Have you read his 'Yesterday's Star'? It's really well-written."

"He wasn't published in 'Get' magazine."

Even Professor Gu praised it in class, saying it was truly excellent!

"He wasn't published in 'Get' magazine."

"Then give me an example of a well-known young writer born in the 00s! Are there any others besides him?"

"He wasn't published in 'Get' magazine."

Xu Rongrong got annoyed: "Is all you can say 'Gain'?"

Zhao Peilin said nonchalantly, "But he just wasn't published in 'Get' magazine."

Xu Rongrong said, "So what if I didn't get published in *Get*? Is *Get* so easy to get published in? Even the editor-in-chief, Ning Chunyan, didn't publish in *Get*, and isn't she a famous writer?"

Zhao Peilin said, "Don't try to intimidate me by bringing up someone you know, huh? Sister Ning can't really be called a famous writer; her future battlefield is the editing industry."

"How do you know that Shi Shuqiu will no longer be able to publish in 'Get' magazine?"

"Does that mean I won't be able to get published in 'Get' in the future? How do you know that Wang Zixu won't be able to get published in 'Get' in the future? How do you know that you yourself won't be able to get published in 'Get' in the future? If you didn't get published, you didn't get published. Just stop bragging about being a famous writer."

He was shot again.

Prince Xu felt it necessary to stop their endless arguing, and said:

"Let's not discuss this topic anymore. You just have different definitions of what constitutes a famous writer, and there's no point in arguing about it. Besides, the seminar hasn't even started yet, so there's no point in talking about this."

"Yes, I think so too," the girl in the white dress voted.

The two then stopped arguing. After watching Shi Tonghe's car enter the campus, Xu Rongrong joked:

"Wang Zixu, aren't you going to attend a seminar? What will it look like if people take news photos of you dressed in rags in front of the whole country?"

"Why should I dress so extravagantly for someone else's seminar? I'm not the main character."

Zhao Peilin immediately chimed in, "Yeah, Qiu Ya is getting married, and you, Xia Luo, are here singing and dancing, what are you doing?"

"Are you never going to stop?!"

Xu Rongrong was furious at his provocation (because she was dressed up), and the two started punching each other in mid-air, while the girl next to them covered her mouth and laughed.

"Brother Chang." The girl stood up demurely next to him and whispered.

"My name isn't Intestine Bro."

"Oh, they've said so much that I don't even know your real name anymore."

"Prince Xu".

"Brother Zixu," the girl said, "I'm so envious that you were invited to the seminar."

Wang Zixu was taken aback, but then smiled with relief and said, "Yes, I've made something of myself. I'm even qualified to be invited to Shi Shuqiu's seminar."

The girl blinked blankly, completely oblivious to the sarcasm in his words, which left Wang Zixu feeling utterly powerless, like he had delivered a perfectly executed punch only to hit nothing.

"Could you do me a favor?" The girl took out a form from her bag. "Our school newspaper is preparing a news report, and we've compiled a list of some celebrities attending the event, but it might not be complete. When you go in, could you please keep an eye out and fill in any names that aren't on the form?"

Wang Zixu then remembered that the girl was from the press corps and he had met her once before; her name was Han Fei.

"Why don't you go to Shi Shuqiu? He probably knows more," Wang Zixu said.

"He must be very busy today, he might not have time."

After Han Fei finished speaking, she blinked and added, "There's a fee for the manuscript."

"Payment for articles?" Wang Zixu wasn't as excited about payment for articles as he used to be. He asked, "What's the standard for payment for articles in your school newspaper?"

"Two hundred for a thousand words, one hundred for a news report."

Prince Xu politely declined her request.

He wasn't complaining about the low royalties—though of course, the low royalties were a factor; if the royalties were as high as those of "Get" magazine, he would have considered it for longer—but he felt that if he were to run around looking at celebrities at a seminar, he would appear very unsophisticated, and he couldn't do that.

Han Fei looked quite disappointed.

Glancing at his watch, Wang Zixu realized it was almost time. Still unsure how to bring it up with Chen Qingluo, he turned and said, "I should go."

Zhao Peilin, with her sharp eyes, noticed a corner of the magazine "Get" peeking out of his briefcase and said, "Okay, go ahead. By the way, did you get the new issue of 'Get' today? Can I borrow it after you've read it?"

Upon hearing the word "obtain," Xu Rongrong shuddered as if in response, staring at Zhao Peilin with wary eyes.

"What? Can't I read 'The Gain' magazine anymore?"

Xu Rongrong said, "You still want to argue, huh?"

"In no mood."

"If you don't want to talk, then shut up," Xu Rongrong said. "Only when you submit an article to be published in 'Get' will I respect you."

Zhao Peilin knew it would be difficult, but he didn't care and said, "Sure, I'll respect Shi Shuqiu when he gets published in 'Get' magazine."

Xu Rongrong sneered: "Hmph, I'll remember this. In seven or eight years, when he actually makes it onto the cover of 'Get,' I'll come back to settle the score with you. Just don't pretend you don't remember then."

"Okay, if you still remember in seventeen or eighteen years."

Even after Xu Rongrong and Zhao Peilin had such a big argument, she only dared to say "seven or eight years later." The girl in the white dress was a little curious and couldn't help but ask, "Is it really that hard to get published in 'Get' magazine?"

"Yeah, it's that difficult."

"Is it really that difficult?" Prince Xu asked.

"Otherwise, what do you think?" Xu Rongrong looked at him.

"..."

Wang Zixu hesitated for a moment, then felt that if he told his senior brother that he had been featured in "Get" magazine at this time, he might also embarrass him. How could he bear to do such a thing? So he simply took out "Get" magazine from his briefcase and handed it to Zhao Peilin.

"What? No rush. You can borrow it from me after you're done reading. There are some in the library too. I'm borrowing from you mainly for convenience."

"It's alright, senior brother, I don't need it anymore. You can keep it and keep it safe."

"collect?"

"Hmm, worth keeping."

Zhao Peilin felt that Wang Zixu was saying some strange and inexplicable things again, but he drifted away.

"Hey, let's not just wander around here, let's go check out the activity center," Xu Rongrong suggested to the girl in the white dress, though she didn't invite Zhao Peilin.

After the two girls reached an agreement, they hadn't taken more than a few steps when they suddenly heard a strange noise behind them. Turning around, they saw Zhao Peilin holding a magazine, baring his teeth, and then letting out a sharp, explosive sound.

"Prince Xu! You son of a bitch!"

"What are you doing?" Xu Rongrong shouted.

"Come and see!"

……

If Prince Xu has any weakness, it's that he can never learn to put on airs with a nonchalant air.

He felt he might need a kind of bluntness, which would both increase his thick skin (so he wouldn't be hurt by Shi Tonghe's behavior) and reduce the aggressiveness when showing off, just like wrapping a cloth around a stick when hitting someone, so he wouldn't lose all his friends because of showing off.

In any case, he has made progress compared to before. He has given "The Gain" to Zhao Peilin. Whether or not he should tell Xu Rongrong is up to him. Wang Zixu doesn't want to see Xu Rongrong's shocked expression with makeup on.

As he walked, Wang Zixu noticed another girl who looked quite familiar on the sidewalk not far from him, even more so than the girl in the white dress he had just seen.

She wore a black suit dress with a preppy women's blazer on top, which was tailored to fit her perfectly, showing off her slender figure. Her legs were covered in flesh-colored stockings, and her calves were very shapely and without any excess fat.

So Prince Xu couldn't help but take a second look.

It was during those two extra glances that their eyes met, and Prince Xu clearly saw the other person's gaze shift from confusion to fury, before they stormed towards him.

While the prince was searching for the camera, the girl had already rushed up to him.

"Was that really you?"

"what?"

Only when he heard her voice did Prince Xu recognize her.

"Xiao Mengyin?"

Her image has undergone a radical transformation compared to before. Her hair is no longer adorned with lace hair flowers, no messy hair accessories, and she is no longer wearing a flashy dress. She looks surprisingly normal.

"Is it really you?" Xiao Mengyin ignored his shock and took a step closer.

"What do you mean?"

"Fire in the Stone! Did you really write it?" Xiao Mengyin said. "I read today's 'Gain' and saw your name in the table of contents."

"It's me, what's wrong?"

"It really is you? I'm amazed!"

"What's wrong?" Prince Xu asked simply, with a hint of challenge in his voice.

"You've actually been featured in 'Get' magazine! Unbelievable! I've never been featured before!"

Xiao Mengyin clutched his clothes with both hands, her legs slightly bent as she spoke, almost squatting down. She was so close that Wang Zixu could smell the shampoo on her head.

The woman's resentment and shock were practically overflowing from every pore of her body. Recalling her earlier resolute assertion that Prince Xu couldn't win over Fei Shi, to be honest, it still felt quite satisfying.

The prince offered a half-hearted consolation: "It's alright, if you try your best, you can also get published in 'Get' magazine."

It took Xiao Mengyin a while to catch her breath. She raised her head, loosened his clothes, composed herself, and asked:

"You haven't given up on submitting to Fei Shi yet? Is this the one you submitted to Fei Shi? Tens of thousands of words? It shouldn't be that long, right? No, you're just a newcomer, and 'Get' probably won't serialize your particularly long articles."

Prince Xu asked curiously, "Haven't you read the contents of 'Fire in the Stone'?"

Xiao Mengyin said, "I only glanced at it. I was in a rush this morning, and I... I was a little flustered, so I didn't look carefully."

"I've published 20 words."

Xiao Mengyin paused for a moment, and Wang Zixu continued, "It's a total of 60 words. They plan to release it in three installments. This is the first installment."

(End of this chapter)