I am not a literary giant

Chapter 180 Maintaining Existence

"Being featured in 'Get' magazine, you, as the vice president of the Xihe Association, truly deserve the title. I showed this issue of 'Get' to Shen Qingfeng today, and he couldn't say a word for a long time, haha!"

Raymond Lam grinned mischievously, like a petty bourgeois watching a tax collector being hanged during the French Revolution, his smile brimming with genuine joy.

Wang Zixu felt he hadn't heard the name Shen Qingfeng in a long time, so he quickly glanced at Ning Chunyan and asked in a low voice:

"You showed it to Shen Qingfeng?"

"Yes, not long ago Shen Qingfeng was still complaining that your position as vice president was too weak, and that it was the teacher's favoritism that put you in the vice president position..."

Wang Zixu interrupted him: "Why is he popping up again? Wasn't he quiet for a while?"

"How can he stay silent? His silence is fake; he's just playing dead. Once everyone forgets his embarrassing deeds, he'll naturally come out and regain control of the discourse."

Whether it was Gou Yingbiao or Shen Qingfeng, they had both vanished with the wind in Wang Zixu's eyes. He felt this was a kind of wisdom in life; forgetting contributes to longevity.

He just didn't expect that, with Shen Qingfeng, the previous matters had also been forgotten.

"Speaking of which, isn't it all your fault?" Lin Feng suddenly said.

"what?"

"Who told you, the vice president of the Xihe Writers Association, not to produce any new works in six months? If you don't maintain your presence in the literary world, he will naturally find ways to slander you."

Lin Feng's words carried a hint of complaint, which made Wang Zixu feel ashamed, as if it were his fault for not releasing any new works.

He exclaimed, "I now deeply realize that a writer's most valuable work is always the next one."

Raymond Lam said, "Hey! That's a great line. Can I use it in my work?"

"Okay," Wang Zixu said. "In addition, the reason I haven't been able to speak for six months is mainly because I wrote 60 words of this novel, which took up all my energy."

"6 to 60 words?" Lin Feng on the other end of the phone choked for a moment, then his voice became excited, "And then 'Get' magazine selected your manuscript and published it in full?"

"Um."

"Then I'll have to study your work even more carefully," Lin Feng said. "Such a lengthy novel is destined to leave its mark on the history of Xihe culture. This is a major event for our Xihe Writers Association. I'll go and report to my teacher to see if we can hold a seminar on your work."

Wang Zixu chuckled inwardly, "What, you guys are organizing a seminar too?" He hung up the phone, and the air suddenly fell silent.

He silently put his phone back in his pocket and awkwardly explained to Chen Qingluo, "Lin Feng, the president of the Xihe Writers Association, is a friend of mine. He called to say hello."

"60 words, impressive," Chen Qingluo said softly. "It took up all your energy; you didn't even have the energy to tell me you were accepted by 'Get' magazine."

"..."

Prince Xu fell into an embarrassing silence. Or rather, he feigned death.

Ning Chunyan forced a smile and said, "Qingluo, you're still bothered by this?...

"But you didn't use your energy to tell Ning Chunyan, so what happened?"

"..."

Another one fell silent.

The atmosphere was like a corpse slowly sinking to the bottom of the sea. Just when things were at their most critical, Wang Zixu's phone rang again.

"Hello, Section Chief Liu?"

A voice I hadn't heard in a long time came from the other end of the phone: "Wang Zixu, congratulations! I heard your novel was published in *Get* magazine? I heard they say it's the highest-level literary magazine, so doesn't that mean you've become a first-rate writer?"

Wang Zixu said, "You flatter me, you flatter me. It was just one article that was published."

Section Chief Liu said, "I was quite surprised when Director Mei mentioned it today. That Wang Zixu has grown up so quickly. Anyway, enough of that. This year, Xihe is compiling a list of cultural figures, and you might very well be on it. Come back and take a look, and say hello to Director Mei while you're at it."

Wang Zixu readily agreed and hung up. Then another call came in.

"Hello, is this Zhang Wei? Yes, yes, it's me. I'm the one in 'Get' magazine. You want to schedule another interview? Didn't we already arrange one for a previous article?"

Zhang Wei said, "That last interview was half a year ago. The more exposure, the better. You're from Xihe, so of course we should support our fellow townsman's cause! This time, let's use the title of the interview to highlight the theme of the super-long article published in 'Get'. What do you think?"

"Well……"

Wang Zixu was still hesitating when Ning Chunyan whispered, "Just say yes! Even Shi Shuqiu can promote himself, why can't you?"

Wang Zixu said into the phone, "Okay, okay, we'll have a good chat next time we meet." After hanging up, he asked Ning Chunyan, "You could hear me on the phone just now, right?"

Ning Chunyan said, "It's so quiet, it's hard not to hear."

Chen Qingluo then said quietly, "Even people tens of thousands of miles away know about this. If I hadn't come to the seminar today, I would probably be the last person to send you my blessings, Lord Prince Xu."

Although it was clear she had used all her Yin-Yang power, Chen Qingluo's tone when addressing "Lord Prince Xu" was incredibly cute. Prince Xu wanted to laugh but didn't dare, and cautiously replied:

"I didn't tell anyone; they all found out on their own and called to check on me."

Ning Chunyan said, "This is what they mean by 'When you're poor, no one cares even if you're deep in the mountains; when you're rich, distant relatives come to visit even if you're in a bustling city.'"

She deliberately said it backwards to try and be cute, but surprisingly, neither of the two people next to her criticized her, which made her feel quite bored.

Wang Zixu's phone rang again.

"Hey, Liu Fei? It's me... I remember you, old classmate. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the congratulations... Oh, you flatter me... What? 'Song of the Ballad' magazine? Never heard of it..."

……

Nanjing University's male dormitories are divided into three sections: East, West, and South, with the West section being the oldest. The dormitories here have an old European architectural style, which means they are low-rise, squat buildings.

The original design placed the living area on the second floor, with the first floor serving as a storage room and a hot water room. However, as the number of students increased, the first floor was partitioned off to make dormitories. At mealtimes, students going to the cafeteria could see through the windows whether the people inside were picking their toes or sleeping.

Liu Kairui, the moderator of the Nanjing University campus forum, lives here. Nanjing University is located on high ground, and since he is young and strong, he is unlikely to get rheumatism. The dormitory fee is also cheap, so he is quite satisfied.

When Shi Shuqiu rushed in, he was picking his toes in front of the computer. There was a loud bang at the door, and when he saw Shi Shuqiu panting heavily, he was immediately shocked.

"Old Shi, what are you doing?"

"Quick, help me edit a few posts."

He rushed in and was about to touch the computer when Liu Kairui snatched the mouse back: "Wait, wait a minute... who insulted you on the forum?"

"No," Shi Shuqiu pulled up a chair and sat down. "I'm at a seminar today, and their press corps wants to film a video. There might be some footage of the forum in it, and a few posts aren't very harmonious. I'd like you to lock them and make them invisible."

Upon hearing this, Liu Kairui rolled up his sleeves and said, "It's a small matter. You tell me which post is unacceptable, and I'll close it."

"Okay, you search for Prince Xu first."

Upon hearing this name, Liu Kairui turned to look at him.

"What's wrong?" Shi Shuqiu asked.

"Why is it 'Brother Intestine'?" Liu Kairui asked. "Shouldn't we be searching your name?"

"Never mind that, just search first. I'll explain after you're done."

"oh."

Liu Kairui found several posts, not many, and they were all rather unpopular. Only one was relatively popular, with more than seventy replies. The title was "[After reading Wang Zixu's 'Wild Grasses,' I think...]", and the poster was "Zhang Chou".

"Hey, Zhang Chou, it was your little brother who posted this," Liu Kairui said.

"Open this post and take a look," Shi Shuqiu said, pointing to the screen.

Liu Kairui opened the post, and the two of them glanced at it together. The gist of the post was that "Wild Grasses" had a clichéd structure and an outdated story, but the writing was decent.

Shi Shuqiu placed his finger to his lips and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Make this post invisible."

Liu Kairui said, "Huh? Why? What you said makes a lot of sense."

"No reason why, will you help me with this?"

Liu Kairui nodded: "Okay... let's turn it off."

After he made the post invisible, Shi Shuqiu said, "Take a look at the post Zhang Chou made."

Liu Kairui clicked on the link as instructed and scrolled down, finding nothing but content related to "Brother Sausage".

Shi Shuqiu slapped his forehead: "I remember now, no wonder there are so few posts about Prince Xu, they're all talking about 'Brother Intestine' on the forum."

Liu Kairui laughed and said, "Hey, Brother Chuanchang, everyone knows that you became famous overnight by drinking people under the table in front of the hospital leaders. Professor Huang even tells this story as a joke in class."

After he finished speaking, he noticed that Shi Shuqiu's expression was not good, so he quickly shut his mouth. Shi Shuqiu snatched the mouse, swiped it a few times, and immediately felt a headache coming on.

Zhang Chou was very loyal, or rather, overly loyal. Shi Shuqiu had previously suggested he "speak up for him" on the forum, and Zhang Chou had taken it to heart. He had at least a hundred posts related to "Brother Chang." Two or three of them shared the same theme as the previous post, "Wild Grasses."

Other posts dissect Wang Zixu from various aspects, including language, literary style, avant-garde style, character, appearance, personality, clothing, looks, family background, etc., using rather impolite language.

Because of that well-known incident, the replies under the post inevitably dragged Shi Shuqiu into the discussion and put him down. In comparison, Chang Ge seemed somewhat like a clown, and for a time, the atmosphere inside and outside the post was filled with a joyful feeling.

Shi Shuqiu rubbed his forehead for a long time. He hadn't thought much of it when he saw a few messages a day before, but now he realized that the situation was so serious, with so many messages accumulating.

"Delete this one, hide this one," Shi Shuqiu instructed, pointing at the screen.

Liu Kairui complied. While clicking the mouse, he said, "Old Shi, what's wrong with you? It's no big deal if these things go in. This is Brother Chang's business. You just focus on preparing for the seminar. Why are you bothering with him?"

Shi Shuqiu frowned: "Never mind that."

After saying that, he realized his tone wasn't very good, so he softened it and said, "Hurry up, the seminar is about to start. I'll go after you finish deleting it. If you're slow, I'll be late for the seminar. I'll treat you to barbecue later."

"Oh, I'd better hurry up, so as not to make you late for the seminar."

After deleting a few more posts that were comparing and belittling others, Liu Kairui beamed and said, "Old Shi, I know! You think that broadcasting these things would negatively impact our school's reputation? You even went so far as to cover for Brother Chang despite past grievances. You're so thoughtful!"

Shi Shuqiu didn't speak, but glanced down at his watch and said impatiently, "Could you set a keyword to hide all related posts with one click?"

"sure."

"That's settled then, there's no time left."

"What keywords?"

"Well..." Shi Shuqiu thought for a moment, "Brother Chang. Hide everything that mentions 'Brother Chang,' including comments."

Liu Kairui shook his head, sighing inwardly, "Shi Shuqiu truly deserves to be Shi Tonghe's son; he is a man of noble character and integrity."

Today was supposed to be his breakthrough day. After the seminar, his reputation and status in the Chinese literary world were firmly established. He's now the first name that comes to mind when young writers are mentioned. People like "Intestine Brother" are utterly insignificant, just a speck of dust, the kind that would be ignored if left in a corner. I never expected him to be so considerate of this kind of comparison. Isn't that a kind of kindness?

Shi Shuqiu watched as he hid all the posts mentioning "Brother Chang" before leaving the boys' dormitory with peace of mind. He then dialed Han Fei's number.

"Hey, Han Fei, where are you? South Gate? Okay, just wait there, I'm coming to find you... I need something."

He borrowed a bicycle and rode to the location. Han Fei, Xu Rongrong, and Zhao Peilin were sitting in the Luckin Coffee shop next door, drinking coffee. Shi Shuqiu was taken aback when he saw that there were outsiders there.

"Oh, look who's here!" Xu Rongrong greeted with a smile. "A big star is here?"

When Zhao Peilin saw him, he silently turned his head to the side.

He didn't want to talk. His throat hurt a little.

I had a fight with Xu Rongrong, and after seeing "The Gain," I yelled and cursed at the runaway Prince Xu, which hurt my voice a bit.

Looking back now, all those arguments must have been pure enjoyment to Prince Xu. When he threw "The Gain" at him and ran off, he clearly wanted him to slap him in the face.

He simply refused to help fight. After Wang Zixu left, he put away "The Acquisition" without saying a word, and wouldn't answer when Xu Rongrong asked him what was wrong.

He also wants to enjoy himself.

So Xu Rongrong made a few more sarcastic remarks to him, but he just sneered and didn't even argue back. This made Xu Rongrong feel it was pointless, so she temporarily called a truce, and the three of them went to drink cheap coffee together.

Shi Shuqiu walked over and said to Han Fei, "Han Fei, may I speak to you in private?"

Han Fei followed him to the side, and Shi Shuqiu asked in a low voice, "Do you remember Zhang Chou submitted a news article to your school newspaper before?"

Han Fei blinked: "It's 'our' school newspaper, not 'your' school newspaper!"

"Okay, our school newspaper. Do you remember that article?"

Han Fei said, "I remember, it was about how many students at the school had their manuscripts rejected, and how Wang Zixu had his manuscript rejected several times?"

"Yes, yes." Shi Shuqiu nodded. "Has that article not been published yet? If not, please help me remove it and stop publishing it."

Han Fei blinked: "Why?"

Shi Shuqiu frowned and said, "You know, Zhang Chou is my good buddy. He wrote this article and it's a bit provocative. I'm afraid he'll get into trouble."

Han Fei said, "But he said he read the manuscript and said it was very well written."

"He's talking nonsense! I didn't see it, I didn't say it. I had no idea he wrote this article. Is this what he told you? Then this article can't be sent to him even more. He's forging an imperial edict." Shi Shuqiu quickly denied it three times.

Han Fei said, "But we've already finished the layout, and we have to publish it today. If we withdraw this article, we'll have to redo it!"

Shi Shuqiu pleaded, "Miss Han, I'll treat you to milk tea for a month, okay?"

"One and a half months."

"Okay, okay."

Han Fei happily went back, just in time to run into Zhao Peilin and Xu Rongrong coming out. Seeing that she was alone, Zhao Peilin asked, "What did Shi Shuqiu say to you?"

(End of this chapter)