I am not a literary giant

"I have some good news to tell you."

An Younan changed the subject abruptly, her eyes lighting up instantly, and a smug smile crept onto her lips.

Regarding the publication of "Fire in the Stone".

Prince Xu's expression shifted slightly.

He knew that An Younan had been helping him connect with publishers both at home and abroad, but he had never heard her mention any progress, so he figured it wasn't going well.

"I contacted several publishers before. The large domestic publishers either tried to lower the price or wanted to change the content to cater to the market. The overseas publishers were stuck on the copyright revenue sharing issue. None of them could offer me a satisfactory contract," An Younan said. "I was thinking that if it really didn't work out, I could wait and see. At worst, I could do my own publishing. I couldn't let 'Stone Fire' suffer."

Xiao Mengyin raised an eyebrow: "Has the situation changed now?"

"It's like a complete turnaround," An Younan's voice became excited. "My phone has been ringing off the hook even before the live stream ended tonight."

She raised her hand and gently shook her phone; the pink phone charm clinked softly, producing a delicate, crisp ringing sound.

"Shanhe Bookstore, they ignored me before, but now they're asking 'Are you there?' Wildfire Publishing House said they'd think about it, but now they're telling me their boss approved it at lightning speed."

"The funniest thing is Changfeng Publishing. They had already rejected it before, but they just came back with a different account to chat with me. I said, 'Didn't you reject me?' They pretended not to know. It's hilarious."

Xiao Mengyin said, "Because 'Stone Fire' became a hot topic during the live stream, everyone wants a piece of the pie." "Yes," An Younan said with a hint of triumph, "Brother, well done! You finally gave me some satisfaction!"

Since the selection meeting, some people have comforted him and others have advised him. This is the first time that someone has told him "Well done".

Prince felt a slight warmth in his heart.

"Have you decided which company to sign with?" Xiao Mengyin asked.

"I only had my eye on one company from the beginning: Jiuzhou Wenhui," An Younan said. "The others were just a front."

"Their overseas distribution is quite good, but compared to major publishers like Shanhe Bookstore and Wildfire, their advantages aren't particularly outstanding, are they?"

"I've got my sights set on overseas distribution," An Younan said. "They have established overseas translation and distribution channels, as well as top-notch translators, enabling them to simultaneously promote the book in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia. Our goal is to get *Fire in the Stone* out of the world and establish a firm foothold globally!"

Every time Wang Zixu listened to An Younan speak, he felt deeply aware of his own shortsightedness and low aspirations—he had never thought about "going global." At least, he felt it was not something he could think about at this stage.

Xiao Mengyin said, "You think that with Shi Tonghe keeping you in check domestically, the pressure would be much less if you could make a name for yourself abroad."

“Yes,” An Younan said, “I even thought, what if we win some award abroad? Then we wouldn’t have to depend on Fei Shi’s attitude anymore, right?…”

"That's quite thoughtful."

Xiao Mengyin turned to Wang Zixu, her words tinged with a hint of bitterness: "You should thank yourself for having such a good sister." Wang Zixu didn't catch the bitterness at all; he only felt that An Younan had pushed him and "Fire in the Stone" along the way, and must have gone through a lot of hard work and perseverance that she hadn't mentioned in her words.

:

He turned to An Younan and said sincerely, "Thank you."

"Why are you being so polite with me?" An Younan waved her hand, the smugness on her face fading. "Get ready, you'll be signing the contract at Nanjing University the day after tomorrow."

"Why Nanjing University?" Wang Zixu was taken aback.

An Younan's expression changed to a strange one: "Isn't the day after tomorrow the start of the graduate program at Nanjing University? Didn't you get accepted into graduate school? You have to go and register, right?"

Xiao Mengyin's body stiffened.

The room suddenly fell silent.

"Oh right." Wang Zixu suddenly realized, "I've been so busy at the Wen'ai Base these past few days that I almost forgot about the graduate students."

"There are quite a few companies that want to sign contracts, so to save you the trouble of running around to each one, I simply invited them to meet at Nanjing University. They readily agreed," An Younan said. "Don't be late."

"Um."

The prince thought to himself, it seems like it's been a long time since he's been to school. ...

Two days later, Nanjing University.

Dusk filtered through the gaps in the sycamore leaves, scattering into pale golden spots on the ground. A few lights shone from the graduate student dormitory building, and figures dragging suitcases mingled below. The sounds of greetings, the rumble of wheels rolling on the concrete, and the navigation announcements from cell phones mingled together, creating a uniquely restless and bustling atmosphere of the start of the semester.

The classroom for graduate students majoring in Chinese Language and Literature was on the third floor. The door was open, and most of the seats were already occupied. Some people were looking down at their phones, some were catching up on sleep at their desks, and others, being very sociable, were chatting loudly between people two rows apart.

When Chen Wanghe walked in, he glanced around the classroom, his gaze sweeping over the rows of seats before heading straight to the third row by the window.

He put down his backpack, turned around, and reached out his hand to the boy next to him who was looking down at a book.

"Chen Wanghe".

Lin Yanzhou looked up, paused for a moment, then put down his book, stood up solemnly, and shook hands: "Lin Yanzhou."

"I've seen you before," Chen Wanghe said, his tone carrying a familiar confidence. "On the day of the interview, you sat in front of me, talking to people with such erudition and quotations, like a scholar. I thought to myself, this person will definitely pass the exam."

Lin Yanzhou smiled shyly and didn't reply.

Chen Wanghe didn't care, and sat down on his own, stuffing his schoolbag into the desk.

"You did your undergraduate studies at Nanjing University?" "Yes, at our university."

"I switched majors for my undergraduate degree; I majored in mechanical engineering," Chen Wanghe said. "My family all thought I was crazy, giving up a perfectly good engineering major to study literature."

Lin Yanzhou asked softly, "Then why did you choose to study literature? This major... isn't easy to find a job in."

:

"I can take the civil service exam," Chen Wanghe said. "I've already decided that I'll take the exam after I finish my master's degree. There are many civil service positions for Chinese Language and Literature, much more than for Mechanical Engineering."

Lin Yanzhou stared at him for a while, and suddenly felt a little envious of his clear life plan.

"And you? You're pursuing a combined bachelor's and master's degree in your major. Do you intend to continue working in literature? Do you plan to pursue a doctorate in the future?" Chen Wanghe asked.

Lin Yanzhou thought for a moment.

"I haven't really thought about what I'll do in the future," he said. "I've heard it's quite difficult to graduate with a PhD. My family isn't well-off, and a master's degree is probably the best I can do. Maybe I'll go into publishing... or... become a writer?"

Chen Wanghe's eyes lit up, and he said, "You want to be a writer? To be honest, who doesn't dream of being a writer? I tried writing online novels before, and I managed to squeeze out seven words in two days before realizing that I'm really not cut out for it."

Lin Yanzhou wanted to say that he didn't want to write online novels. However, he didn't say anything.

Because he had never actually written any online novels or the kind of works he wanted to write himself. Perhaps he chose to take the postgraduate entrance exam because he hadn't figured out what he wanted to do after graduating from university.

"However, you don't necessarily have to study Chinese literature to become a writer," Chen Wanghe said. "What's that saying? Chinese literature departments don't train writers."

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

"The Chinese Literature Department doesn't train writers," Lin Yanzhou murmured, repeating himself.

Another person walked over. He was short, wore round-framed glasses, and was holding a cup of milk tea. He sat down in the row in front of the two.

He placed the milk tea on the table, turned around, glanced at the two of them, and introduced himself: "Gao Chengyu. I'm applying to be Professor Pei Qingyan's graduate student."

The two of them crossed and shook hands with his outstretched hands.

"Chen Wanghe, under Professor Huang Xinghuo's command."

"Lin Yanzhou, Professor Zhong Junmin's."

Gao Chengyu gave him a strange look: "Impressive, Professor Zhong Junmin's graduate program is very difficult to get into."

"Is...is that so?" Lin Yanzhou stammered, "Indeed, he has the fewest spots, only two..."

Lin Yanzhou wanted to add a surprising piece of news he had just discovered, but Gao Chengyu immediately changed the subject. "Did you guys watch the live broadcast of the Fei Shi Literary Award judging the day before yesterday?"

"I saw it," Chen Wanghe immediately replied. "I didn't expect it to be that noisy. And I heard that Professor Huang Xinghuo even organized a group of students from Nanjing University to watch it."

"Sigh, this is probably the most talked-about topic in the literary world lately." Gao Chengyu took out his phone. "And the shortlist is already out..."

"The Yesterday's Stars trilogy, Seven Days in the Enclave, Dizzying Circles..." Chen Wanghe rummaged through his memory, searching for the contents of the shortlist, "The Narrow Gate of Algorithms, and..."

"And there's 'Fire in the Stone'," Lin Yanzhou added.

:

Gao Chengyu nodded: "The controversy surrounding 'Stone Fire' is so great, yet it still made it in."

"I suspect that the judges are strongly supporting it," Chen Wanghe said. "I think Jia Siming and Hu Yezhou genuinely like this book, and their attitude is firm. Even if Lü Qinghou and the others don't like it, they won't reject it."

"No, no, no, you don't know the rules," Gao Chengyu shook his head repeatedly, "Even with two judges protecting him, there are only two votes. It's probably because Yanzishan also voted, or he was just lucky."

"Actually, it's just because he became popular online that the production team put the book on the shortlist for the sake of viewership," a woman's shrill voice interjected from the back row, "that's all."

Everyone looked over and saw a girl with no makeup. Her appearance wasn't outstanding; her features were rather delicate and sharp, with a straight nose, well-defined eyebrows and eyes, and her hair was neatly combed.

"My name is Xu Zhiwei," the girl added in her self-introduction. "Do you have inside information?" Gao Chengyu asked, looking at her.

"Do I need inside information? You can tell just by listening to the judges," the girl said. "'Female gaze' and 'ambition outweighs ability'—both judges criticized it like that, which indicates serious flaws. For it to make the shortlist, what else could it be but hype?"

"Cough cough."

Lin Yanzhou shifted his body slightly and coughed lightly. He had some important news to share, but before he could speak, Gao Chengyu interrupted.

"I didn't really like that book either. I don't like things where form outweighs content. But I did skim the beginning of 'Dizziness Circles,' which is on the shortlist this time, and it's quite good."

"Right, right!" Xu Zhiwei nodded enthusiastically. "I really like that book. The author, Shen Jing, is an incredibly interesting multi-talented person. He's worked as a journalist, a podcast host, and has also run a bed and breakfast, a coffee shop, and owns cats... His observations on human nature are very insightful..."

"Wow, that's impressive. I'll go check it out sometime," Chen Wanghe said, then casually changed the subject, "By the way, did you guys know? There's a big shot in our class."

Lin Yanzhou's mind raced, and he finally blurted out the bombshell he had been holding back for so long: "Prince Xu, right?"

Unexpectedly, Chen Wanghe asked, "Who is Prince Xu?"

"It's... the author of 'Spark in the Stone'," Lin Yanzhou said, "in our class."

"What kind of big shot is Wang Zixu?" Xu Zhiwei said. "If that's the case, there's also the author of 'Yesterday's Star' in our second year."

Chen Wanghe, however, was very interested in Lin Yanzhou's information: "The author of 'Fire in the Stone' is in our class? How did you know?" "I saw it on the admission form," Lin Yanzhou said, "He is, like me, a student of Professor Zhong Junmin."

Gao Chengyu frowned slightly and said, "Same name, right? As far as I know, the author of 'Fire in the Stone' is already over thirty years old. Why would he take the postgraduate entrance exam?"

Lin Yanzhou said, "The age is also written on the admission form. Wang Zixu is thirty-one, so it should be him."

"Thirty-one and still going to graduate school?" Xu Zhiwei's voice shrilled again. "I don't understand. Why bother with all this trouble at over thirty?"

Gao Chengyu looked around: "Where are they now? Have they arrived yet?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't even know what they look like."

"I know, he had a video that went viral before. If it really is him, he shouldn't be here yet," Chen Wanghe said.

:

Just then, someone walked into the classroom.

To be precise, it was a child. She looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, with a high ponytail that bounced up and down with her steps, like a small flag fluttering in the wind.

She was wearing a VZ sweatshirt with sleeves so long they covered half of her hand, leaving only her fingertips showing. She wore jeans with the cuffs rolled up twice, revealing a pair of white canvas shoes.

When she looked directly at me, I was surprised to see that her face was exquisitely beautiful, her eyes bright like mountain spring water, her nose small and pert, still showing signs of childhood innocence, yet radiating a clear and intelligent spirit—it was clear at a glance she was a beauty in the making. She glanced around the classroom, plopped down in the middle of the first row, put her schoolbag on the desk, then pulled out a book bigger than her face, opened it, and began to read. The whole process took less than ten seconds.

The classroom was quiet for a moment when she came in, but the murmurs started again after she sat down.

"She's the big shot I was talking about," Chen Wanghe whispered to the crowd.

"Her?" Xu Zhiwei tilted her head and asked, "This child?"

"Yes." Chen Wanghe nodded. "Su Qingyuan skipped grades all the way, went to university at fourteen, graduated at sixteen, and was directly admitted to the graduate program of the Department of Literature at Nanjing University. She is known as a once-in-a-century genius girl."

Xu Zhiwei sniffed, her gaze shifting from Su Qingyuan's ponytail, her expression complex.

She was speaking loudly when she said "You're over thirty and still making a fuss," but now she suddenly doesn't want to talk anymore.

Chen Wanghe then turned to Lin Yanzhou and said, "If what you just said about Prince Xu is true, then our class is truly full of hidden talents. 'Fire in the Stone' making the shortlist for the Fei Shi Literary Award, he's definitely a big shot."

Lin Yanzhou remained silent.

For Xu Zhiwei and people online, "Fire in the Stone" may still need more practice, but for a young man like him who is aspiring to literature, being included in the shortlist of Fei Shi is already an unattainable dream.

The thought that such a person was actually from the same school as him, and even from the same year, made him feel a lot of pressure.

The twilight deepened outside the window. The streetlights cast a cool glow, and the shadows of the sycamore trees spread out in dappled patterns on the sidewalk.

Wang Zixu walked very fast, more than twice as fast as usual. His coat was draped over his arm, and his shirt cuffs were buttoned crookedly, as if he had just haphazardly buttoned them up before leaving the house.

Xiao Mengyin walked beside him, wearing the outfit that looked least like a Lolita girl, and her condition wasn't much better.

"If you hadn't parked your car in the wrong place, would we be in such a hurry?" Xiao Mengyin asked urgently, panting slightly.

Wang Zixu felt a little guilty: "I'm not from this school."

"If you can't even find your way around, what's the point of pursuing a master's degree!"

A patch of sweat drenched his back, casting a shadow: "But you didn't warn me, did you? Don't you know the way either?"

Xiao Mengyin was speechless for a moment, her face flushed red, before she said angrily, "Isn't that because I trusted you too much?!"

Wang Zixu glanced at his watch: "One minute left. I'm definitely going to be late today. I didn't expect to be late on my first day."

:

Xiao Mengyin quickened her pace.

"Hurry up! I don't want to be late!" Xiao Mengyin screamed softly. "It's okay for you to be late as a student, but I'm your homeroom teacher!"