I am not a literary giant

The black dog lay by the window, its neck stretched out as if it wanted to embed itself into the window frame.

"She got off the bus... She's walking this way!... She's looking at her phone..."

"Are you broadcasting live?" The believer pushed him aside and joined in. "How much is this car?"

"You can't afford it," Xiao Ba said from behind.

"I know I can't afford it, I want to know how much more I need."

"Over thirteen million." Xing Sheng walked over from behind, carrying a thermos. "An Aston Martin Valhalla isn't something you can just buy with money; you also need a certain social status. By the way, how much savings do you have? Let me calculate how much you're short."

"No need to calculate anymore, I've already figured it out, it's still more than 13 million short."

"Holy crap," the black dog muttered, "one of these cars is worth more than my entire life's salary."

"Little-known fact: even if you earn 10,000 a month and work until retirement, you can only earn 5 million in your entire life," Xiao Ba said again, seemingly out of place.

Xing Sheng added, "Her dress is a MM haute couture piece, and her shoes are a limited edition collaboration with JMMY artists. This outfit alone is enough to make you work hard for ten years."

He paused, then added, "She looks like a wealthy woman from the A8 or A9 social circle."

"What are A8 and A9?" the black dog asked blankly. "It's a wealth classification on the internet. A8 means a net worth of tens of millions, and A9 means a net worth of hundreds of millions," Xing Sheng explained. "I was being conservative earlier. To be able to buy a sports car worth tens of millions, your liquid assets must be at least several times the price of the car. So it's not surprising that you're A9."

Xiao Ba stuffed a slice of whole wheat toast into his mouth, chewed it twice, swallowed it, and said quietly:

"If I had a girlfriend as beautiful as her, and she let me live in a villa and drive a sports car every day, I would be willing."

"If you're having a dream, go to bed. It's working hours now," the believer rolled his eyes at him.

"Rich and beautiful, God is so unfair!" the black dog said, feeling a little bitter and a sudden sense of inferiority rising in his heart.

Cheng Xing leaned against the table with his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow. "The question is, why would such a big shot from this circle come to our base in the middle of nowhere?"

The believer wanted to turn around and ask Prince Xu for his opinion, only to find that the two people who were originally sitting in the center had disappeared.

Prince Xu and Xiao Mengyin had left the lounge at some point.

……

Downstairs, Wang Zixu opened the door.

Before I could say anything, a figure pounced on me.

An Younan moved faster than expected. Her high heels clicked sharply in the entryway, her skirt billowing in a small arc with her movement. "Tie Tie!"

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"Don't do that, it'll be misunderstood..."

"I don't care, it's been so long, let's stick together!"

An Younan wrapped her arms around his waist without warning, buried her face in his chest, and hung on him like a cat that had found its den.

"It's just half a month..."

Prince Xu's hands were suspended in mid-air, unsure of where to put them, and his body involuntarily shrank back.

"It feels like an eternity!"

"Even a day that feels like a year hasn't lasted a century," Prince Xu reminded him.

"Cough! Cough!"

Xiao Mengyin's voice suddenly rang out from behind. An Younan peeked out from under Wang Zixu's shoulder.

Upon seeing that it was Xiao Mengyin, her expression quickly switched to cold indifference. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Can't I be here?" Xiao Mengyin raised an eyebrow.

Wang Zixu then realized a problem: An Younan and Xiao Mengyin knew each other.

Duan Xiaosang was a frequent visitor to An Younan's home, and Xiao Mengyin was also a good friend of Duan Xiaosang. Despite having such a mutual friend, they were rarely seen interacting directly.

Women's relationships are really complicated.

Just then, the believer and the others came downstairs and were greeted by this scene: the mysterious rich woman was holding the little prince's arm and confronting Xiao Mengyin.

Their positioning is similar to Zhao Min's role in the TV series "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" when she tries to steal a bride.

"What's going on now?" the black dog asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. Let's see," the believer said.

"Miss An, didn't Xunyi Galaxy just adjust its strategy? Shouldn't you be working overtime right now?" Xiao Mengyin's voice was sour. "Besides, when did you two get together?"

An Younan finally released Wang Zixu.

"I should be asking you that! What are you doing here? Aren't you writing your new book?" She flicked her bangs. Luo Niang placed her hand on her chest: "Let me introduce myself, I'm now a top scriptwriter at Wen'ai Company."

An Younan blinked.

"Oh. Congratulations."

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"What level is a top-tier scriptwriter? Do they earn more than us?" Black Dog asked in a low voice.

"She probably added the word 'gold medal' herself," Cheng Xing said. "The important thing is the momentum."

Xiao Mengyin stood with her hands on her hips, staring at her: "And you? Who are you? Why are you here?"

An Younan turned her head and glanced at Wang Zixu. The glance was quick, as if she didn't want it to be noticed. Then she turned back to Xiao Mengyin and smiled.

"Then let me introduce myself. I'm his sister now."

Xiao Mengyin's eyebrows twitched slightly. The movement was so subtle that it was almost imperceptible, but An Younan noticed it.

"My god-sister?" Xiao Mengyin asked.

Her tone was subtle, somewhere between "I already knew" and "Don't give me that crap." An Younan didn't answer. She just smiled, neither denying nor admitting it.

Prince Xu finally couldn't take it anymore, reached out and patted An Younan on the shoulder, saying:

Unique address: ..., the site owner has one and only one site, other websites...

"She is indeed my sister. She's been helping me with the publication of 'Fire in the Stone' lately, so that's probably why she's here, right?"

"Um."

She took a step into the house, her high heels clicking crisply on the floor.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

Prince Xu paused for half a second, pushed open the door of the study next to him, glanced back at everyone, and told them to disperse.

An Younan went inside. Her skirt swayed gently at the doorway, like a fish's tail sliding into the water.

After a while, she poked her head out from the doorway and said, "Xiao Luoniang, would you like to come and chat with us?"

Xiao Mengyin crossed her arms, said nothing, and walked into the room in her little leather shoes.

Cheng Xing clapped his hands and said, "That's all for today. I'll send today's materials to everyone's emails later. Everyone, get some rest." The crowd dispersed, and Xin Zhe and the others returned to the lounge, but they didn't go to sleep.

In this situation, no one felt sleepy.

"She just said she's the Little Prince's teacher's sister?" the black dog asked first after they were seated.

"Do you believe it?" Xiao Ba shrugged. "I, for one, believe it."

"Whether you believe it or not, you can't catch up with him," the believer said somewhat harshly.

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"I'm not doing this to pursue anyone, I just genuinely believe." Xiao Ba patted his chest. "Hey, my water's boiling."

While Xiao Ba was getting milk, Xing Sheng said, "There's something I don't understand. Can I ask you about it?"

The believer said, "Speak."

Xing Sheng lowered her voice: "The Little Prince and that rich woman are so close—regardless of whether she's his sister or not—I don't think he needs to write pure literature; he won't make much money that way."

The believer said, "You don't understand. Writing pure literature is a hobby."

"Want to write a romance novel script?" "Writing romance novel scripts is a skill," Xiao Ba said, bringing over a bottle of milk. "Your skill is right here; you can't not write them. Not writing them would be a waste of your talent."

"Aren't you... reversing cause and effect?" the believer said.

"You don't understand," Xiao Ba said. "Talent is a divinely bestowed curse. If you don't refine it to perfection, it will burn you to ashes for the rest of your life. It's the principle that if you don't take what God gives you, you will suffer the consequences."

"So writing pure literature isn't just about ability?" the believer countered.

Xiao Ba was stumped by the question. After stammering for a long time, he said, "Writing pure literature is also a skill. But others don't recognize this skill."

"Not bound by worldly rules, writing whatever you want, and striving for perfection in everything...?" Xing Sheng nodded slightly, "I think I understand a little."

He enjoys observing people and places each person within his own "human framework."

Undoubtedly, the Little Prince enriched his evaluation framework. He could not categorize the Little Prince into any existing framework.

"So, does that mean I have no talent?" the black dog suddenly asked. "I've never felt any backlash from my talent."

Everyone glanced at him.

"Effort is also a talent," the believer concluded. "At least I can't work as hard as you."

Black Dog thought for a moment, then shook his head, but he couldn't help but think about it again. Finally, he decided to stop thinking about it, turned back to his seat, opened the email Cheng Xing had sent, and a question was still swirling in his mind:

Just how talented was the Little Prince?

……

The lounge was filled with the soft hum of the fluorescent lights.

An Younan sat on the small sofa with her legs together and crossed at an angle, her skirt spread out like a newly unfolded dark red flower bud.

She slowly looked around, her gaze sweeping over the cardboard box in the corner, the instant noodle bowl on the coffee table, the tangled cables of the projector, and finally landing on the old coat draped over the chair.

When her gaze fell upon Xiao Mengyin's pile of crumpled, fuzzy pajamas that looked like pickled vegetables, the corner of her mouth twitched very slightly, so quickly that it was impossible to tell whether she wanted to laugh or something else.

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Xiao Mengyin sat opposite her, her long legs crossed, holding a glass of cold water in her hands.

"Have you seen enough?"

An Younan withdrew her gaze, looked at her, and said in a light tone, "You seem quite comfortable staying here."

"It's alright." Xiao Mengyin raised her eyes. "It's more comfortable than sitting in a sports car." An Younan smiled but didn't reply.

Prince Xu sat on the folding chair between the two, looking left and then right, like a paperclip caught between two magnets.

"You..." he began.

"Don't speak yet," An Younan interrupted directly.

The prince kept quiet.

"I'm here today to bring some important news for 'Stone Fire'." An Younan turned to him, her eyes instantly turning serious. "How much of today's live stream did you watch?"

"I didn't look at it at all."

An Younan's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Read a book."

"Is reading that important?"

"It's very important." An Younan, too lazy to argue with him about this, waved her hand and cut straight to the point: "Are you aware of your current situation?"

"I know a little," Wang Zixu said frankly. "I have about two and a half judges supporting me, so my chances of advancing are not optimistic."

"It's not that simple," An Younan said bluntly. "Do you know about nomination deals?"

Prince Xu was slightly taken aback: "A nomination deal?"

"You didn't even know that?" An Younan raised an eyebrow and turned to Xiao Mengyin. "You didn't tell him?"

Xiao Mengyin sat up slightly: "What kind of talk is that? Am I supposed to tell him everything?"

"Yes, that's right," An Younan said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, okay, okay."

Xiao Mengyin laughed in exasperation, too lazy to argue with her, and turned directly to Wang Zixu to explain:

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"Each judge has five nomination votes, and a book can only be nominated once. But some judges can't even gather five books they want to submit, yet there's one they absolutely want to protect—what do you do then?"

"What to do?" Wang Zixu asked subconsciously. "He discussed it with the other judges. You vote for the book I want to protect, and I vote for the book you want to protect. It's the same principle as NBA draft pick trading. That's a nomination trade, am I clear?" Xiao Mengyin said.

"I understand perfectly," Wang Zixu said. "I never expected it could be like this."

His tone was one of surprise. It wasn't so much that he disliked it, but rather that he hadn't expected the details of the rules to be so unexpected.

Xiao Mengyin leaned back in her chair: "That's perfectly normal. The judges' tastes vary greatly, and they often can't even gather five books. Rather than letting them engage in underhanded dealings behind the scenes, it's cleaner to put the transactions on the table and institutionalize them."

Prince Xu pondered for a moment, then asked, "For 'Spark in the Stone,' is this an opportunity or a problem?"

"It's an opportunity." An Younan leaned forward slightly. "I have another piece of news to tell you: Lu Qinghou and Cheng Wu have two books that they're determined to protect at all costs."

"Yesterday's Star?"

"No." An Younan shook her head. "Does 'Yesterday's Star' even need protection? All five of them know in their hearts that they'll all vote for it in the end. Why would I need to tell you this so mysteriously?"

Xiao Mengyin asked, "Then who are they going to protect?"

"The book Cheng Wu wants to protect is Shen Jing's 'Dizzy Drawing Circles'," An Younan said. "It tells the story of a female painter with prosopagnosia (face blindness) and her urban life; it's authentic feminist urban literature."

"Yes, I know this one," Xiao Mengyin said. "The author is an experienced writer pretending to be a newbie; he's just aiming for this kind of niche."

"What Lü Qinghou wants to protect is Lin Yuancen's *Seven Days in an Enclave*, which tells the story of a folklorist who goes to investigate a small island slated for demolition and land reclamation, written entirely in the local dialect." "A typical example of academic regional literature," Xiao Mengyin chimed in. "Why is he so interested?"

An Younan smiled faintly: "The author really studied folklore, and Lu Qinghou's wife happens to be a folklore teacher."

Xiao Mengyin raised an eyebrow: "There's this kind of relationship?"

"Yes." An Younan smiled faintly, "It didn't take me much effort to find out."

"Just because she's your student, you're going to protect her like this? Isn't that a bit... childish?" Prince asked slyly.

He felt a vague unease in his heart.

An Younan countered, "What do you mean by child's play? Wealth is passed on to children, and academic knowledge is passed on to students—that's the logic of how this world works."

Xiao Mengyin sarcastically remarked from the side, "You're the most qualified to comment on this."

An Younan ignored her and continued, "If they want to protect these two books, they'll need to gather at least two votes. If any judge is willing to protect your book, then..."

She paused, then said, "You still have a chance."

Prince Xu was momentarily lost in thought, then whispered, "A very slim chance."

"Let's not talk about that for now." An Younan suddenly changed the subject, her eyes brightening.

"I have some good news to tell you."

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