I am not a literary giant

Chapter 273 Why Need Light Green and Deep Red?

Amidst the clamor of the entire live-streamed selection event, Yanzishan consistently played a relatively silent role, like a sculpture in a medium shot—serious, quiet, and easily overlooked.

But the moment the spotlight shone on him, his silence suddenly gained immense presence, like an elephant in a room suddenly being noticed.

The book *Fire in the Stone* was met with blunt rejection from Lü Qinghou and Cheng Wu, while Jia Siming and Hu Yezhou's affirmation was more ambiguous. In any case, its evaluation at this point was polarized, a tie of 2 to 2, with only Yanzishan's crucial vote remaining.

Ning Chunyan was extremely nervous, even more so than before Jia Siming spoke.

The reason why Yanzishan's opinion is so important is not only because he is famous, but also because, compared to the other judges, he is the only "active writer" who is at the forefront of creative work.

Lü Qinghou, an academic, sits alone in his ivory tower; Hu Yezhou, a pan-entertainment witty remark: Jia Siming's stage is on the screen; he can't see the words, only the light and shadow; Cheng Wu is running wildly down the path of feminism, with form outweighing content.

Only in Yanzishan is he still writing. Whether in the past or present, it is his livelihood and his writing.

He is a fellow writer. He has personally experienced all the ecstasy, struggles, and self-doubt that writers encounter. He is an "insider" who can feel each other's ambition, desire, and creative pulse through the pages of a book.

His titles may not sound as impressive as "Nth Generation Director" or "Academic Godfather," but for the vast majority of creators, his opinions are the most valuable.

In the silence of Yanzishan, even the whispers of the students in the lecture hall ceased.

Everyone began to realize that Yanzishan's vote was the key to determining whether the book "Fire in the Stone" was a dragon or a worm.

After a long silence, Yanzishan finally spoke.

"I was one of the judges for the author Wang Zixu's first formal literary competition."

In the lecture hall, someone exclaimed "Huh?" Many people looked at each other, completely unprepared for his opening remarks.

"That work is called 'The Road Ahead Is Safe,' yes, that's the name," Yanzishan said.

"It's very long, but there's no fluff. It's a very extreme work. I gave it the highest score."

He paused, then said, "We have this kind of relationship, so when I saw 'Fire in the Stone,' I was a little moved. This writer is still so extreme, and he has turned this extreme into a creative weapon. I didn't expect him to go this far."

He opened his mouth, then frowned, making a thoughtful expression, as if weighing his words, and finally decided not to say them.

He said, "Well, that's it, I'm done."

Wenren Zao was stunned.

"Teacher Yan? Are you finished speaking? Would you like to comment on the book's writing quality, its creative breakthroughs, or simply point out its strengths and weaknesses?"

Yan Zishan said, "I did have some ideas about the creation of this book, but I won't talk about them this time."

"Why?" Wenrenzao asked subconsciously.

"To avoid suspicion," Yan Zishan said. "I know this author, though we're not exactly friends, but we know each other. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to say too much or too little, so let's leave it at that."

He leaned back in his chair.

"This can be interpreted as me abstaining from this round."

The lecture hall erupted in uproar.

Zhang Chou blurted out, "There's such a thing?"

He Yangyuxiao opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

First row. Chen Qingluo's lips moved, and finally she said, "Slippery."

Ning Chunyan rubbed her temples, her head aching from being so tense: "I thought he was going to say something, but that's all!"

'

"Pretending to be profound." Chen Qingluo continued her sharp critique, "They look very serious, but in reality, they don't dare to express any attitude."

In a secluded corner where no one paid any attention, Diao Yiwen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been on tenterhooks, thinking that Yanzishan was going to recount in detail what happened at the Xihe Literary Gathering.

It turned out that her nervousness was unnecessary, and few people even remembered her as the "second place" at the time.

Wennuan base.

Xiao Mengyin scoffed dismissively: "It seems that Teacher Shi Tonghe is putting a lot of pressure on him."

"Given his relationship with Shi Tonghe, it's already quite impressive that he's done this much," Cheng Xing said.

The black dog scratched his head: "I don't understand. Is he helping the Little Prince teacher, or not?"

The believer succinctly summarized it as: "Not helping the opponent is helping."

"He helped," Cheng Xing said.

The black dog looked at him.

"In this kind of situation, it's harder to stay silent than to speak," Cheng Xing said, "especially for someone of his status. As Shi Tonghe's student, not speaking well of Shi Tonghe's son, nor speaking ill of his opponents—that in itself is an attitude."

Xiao Mengyin gave a soft "Mmm".

She didn't say anything more.

But she was leaning back on the sofa in a slightly more relaxed posture than before.

"But whether we win or not ultimately depends on the votes, right?" Black Dog said. "Looking at the competition rules, it seems there are no abstention votes?"

Xiao Mengyin's body, which had just relaxed in the recliner, stiffened slightly again.

The believer rolled his eyes at him and sighed, "I've noticed that you're always sharp when you shouldn't be."

"Did I say something wrong?" Black Dog pointed at the screen and said, "Didn't the rules say it? Selection is based on the number of nominations."

In the studio, Lü Qinghou picked up his teacup and calmly blew away the foam on the surface of the water.

"Your worries are unnecessary. Everyone in the industry knows each other to some extent. If everyone avoids suspicion, there's no way to make any analysis."

Hu Yezhou winked and said, "Teacher Yan is leaving us in suspense! But to be honest, his concerns are reasonable. These days, all sorts of things are said online. Netizens don't care about this or that. If you say something that makes people unhappy, they'll just lash out."

Yan Zishan's expression remained unchanged as he said, "I know this author's past, which is why I was more moved when I read 'Fire in the Stone.' This emotion shouldn't be brought into public judgment, especially given the current polarized opinions."

Down."

Hu Yezhou said, "Yes, the main problem is that evaluations are now polarized."

As the camera panned across the live stream, Cheng Wu remained expressionless, while Jia Siming's lips curled into a smile; everyone's expressions were quite subtle.

Lu Qinghou coughed lightly and said, "I'd like to make a supplementary statement. It won't take too long. Is that allowed by the competition rules?"

Wenren Zao quickly replied, "Of course."

His gaze swept across the camera, his tone calm, as if he were lecturing a class of students: "When we talk about magical realism, when we talk about allegorical narratives, the core is never the bizarreness of the form," but the truth of the core.

"Gabriel García Márquez used flying carpets and insomnia to depict the loneliness and absurdity of Latin America; William Faulkner used Yoknapatawpha County to portray the decline and redemption of the American South."

The form of these works always serves the core; it is the outer garment that naturally grows from the content, rather than forcibly wrapping the content in an outer garment.

"Looking back at 'Fire in the Stone,' it is a pre-existing framework rather than the result of the natural evolution of the narrative. Its so-called modernist turn" has also failed to effectively deconstruct reality and illusion, instead falling into the hollowing out of meaning.

"This book does not possess the resilient core of a great epic work, nor does it possess the aesthetic self-confidence that a writer should have."

"Awareness is merely a simple pasting of event labels, placing ideas above aesthetics."

He reached out and patted the book "Fire in the Stone" on the table, making a soft sound like a tuning hammer: "Undeniably, 'Fire in the Stone' has its local brilliance, such as the double delivery room that Professor Hu Yezhou just praised," and Professor Jia Siming's deconstruction of psychological montage. But this brilliance is ultimately like broken jade scattered on the beach, rather than a complete jade disc.

Good literature is like grinding the dust of the times into pearl powder. It is refined through countless trials and tribulations, and purified by removing the dross and keeping the essence. But "Fire in the Stone" is like forcibly gluing together fragments of the times into an outline, lacking inner texture.

"So, my additional comment is simple: it's not a bad work, but it's definitely not an important one, and in my classification, it falls into the 'very unimportant' category."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lü Qinghou took off his glasses and calmly placed them on the table, as if he had finished a set of moves and sheathed his sword.

Silence reigned in the room.

"What are you babbling about?" Xiao Mengyin said. "Did you understand?"

She looked at Cheng Xing. Cheng Xing shook his head.

To be honest, I don't really understand it.

Those sitting behind the two men, including the believers, breathed a sigh of relief.

"So none of you understood? That's great! I thought it was because I'm uncultured."

"I was too embarrassed to ask just now, I thought you all understood."

Xiao Mengyin said, "This is using a high-dimensional academic framework to dissolve the previous discussion; it's still the same old trick of manipulating discourse."

Cheng Xing nodded: "I can sense it. It's as if he's saying, 'You're all arguing about trivial details, but I see the fundamental problem.'"

"The main problem is that everyone is impressed but doesn't really understand," Xiao Mengyin said. "People just think this old professor is insightful and has a high level of understanding. This kind of 'high-level denial' is the most damaging."

In the studio, Hu Yezhou wore a half-serious, half-foolish smile throughout Lü Qinghou's speech. After Lü Qinghou finished speaking, his smile widened.

Or perhaps he just laughed even more sheepishly.

"Ahem," Hu Yezhou coughed twice, "May I also request to speak next?"

"Uh—" Wenrenzao hesitated subconsciously.

It's rare for a literary live-stream program to have controversial points, and it's a good thing that the guests are willing to argue.

But there are still 10 books to review, and each judge has to add more and more information, so the show can't continue.

Upon hearing the director's instructions through the earpiece, Wenrenzao said, "Of course, but please limit your speaking time to within 5 minutes, Mr. Hu. Also, each guest only has one opportunity to add a comment."

"Then I'll get to the point," Hu Yezhou straightened his posture. "I'm different from Professor Lü. I'm not an academic researcher, and I don't understand anything about literary lineages or aesthetic constructions."

His pronunciation was a bit strange; the word "genealogy" sounded a bit like "pussy."

"I have a very simple standard for reading books: can I get into it? Can I keep thinking about it after I finish reading it? Can I feel that I didn't waste my time reading this book?"

He paused, his tone carrying a firm sincerity: "Fire in the Stones perfectly meets my requirements. Many of the books selected this time did not even reach the passing grade."

He finally smiled and said, "Of course, Professor Lü has a high level of expertise and profound insights, so what he said must be reasonable. I can't refute it. But those advanced theories are left to experts like Professor Lü to study; I'll just worry about whether I like them or not!"

After speaking, he bowed slightly, a simple, honest smile still on his face. But Lu Qinghou glanced at him, his brows furrowing slightly, his heart filled with apprehension.

Scholars are known for their subtlety in speech. Hu Yezhou spoke subtly, but the meaning was clear to everyone: "I like what you, Lü Qinghou, said, but I don't like what you said, so what you said is utter nonsense."

"Let me say something too," Cheng Wu said, turning to Wenren Zao.

"————Okay." Wenren Zao gestured for him to enter.

The director was ecstatic, his voice coming through the headset.

The noisier you are during a live stream, the higher your viewership will be.

Cheng Wu raised her hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear and said in a flat voice, "Professor Hu's feelings are very real. Literature can indeed bring strong individual resonance, which is its charm. But we don't seem to be able to equate personal pleasure with the entire value of literature."

Her dark eyes met the camera's: "Think about it, everyone. Those online novels don't care about value; they just provide entertainment. How many people read them? Do you think those online novels have any value?"

After he finished speaking, a murmur rippled through the lecture hall.

Cheng Wu further stated, "Literature is never an isolated private expression; it is a public narrative. It carries a mission. We cannot merely remain at the superficial experience of 'enjoying reading and having a lingering impact,' but must also ask: Does this feeling conceal a bias in ethical narrative?"

The section where "Teacher Hu praised the double delivery room" is one I remember vividly. You might be focusing on the challenges faced by individual men.

The absurdity lies in the tearing apart, but I only see two women struggling on the line between life and death. Where are their pain, their cries, and their subjectivity placed?

"They remain background figures, props. Their pain of childbirth becomes a footnote to the male spiritual epiphany. In this work, women remain silent."

She reached out and tapped the cover of "Fire in the Stone," her voice becoming sharp: "Teacher Hu said he doesn't mind minor flaws in a work. But some flaws are the bottom line of literary ethics."

"From the perspective of the public value and ethical responsibility of literature, 'Fire in the Stone' has unavoidable shortcomings. I must give it a veto based on this, which is why I am sitting here."

"Personal feelings are the entry point to literature, not the end point. If literature can only focus on expression without considering its significance in the public narrative, why are we still sitting here? Why do we need to select a group of elites to judge outstanding works? Everyone can just sit at home and read online novels and watch short dramas."

After Cheng Wu finished speaking, scattered applause rang out in the lecture hall. But it was quickly followed by silence.

It was clear to everyone that the tension was escalating and the situation was becoming increasingly difficult to resolve.

Just as Wenren Zao opened her mouth, Jia Siming cleared his throat and said, "Then I'll join in the fun too."

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