I am not a literary giant

Wang Zixu's words were tantamount to a self-destructive attack, extremely aggressive. Those present felt as if they were in a sauna, their heads steaming, truly achieving the effect of blushing and sweating.

Actually, he held back. When it comes to the sharpness and biting satire of Lu Xun, no one can surpass him. He read Lu Xun's complete essays from a young age, developing a sharp tongue and the ability to make someone cry when he was only 10.

However, the workplace doesn't value troublemakers; it values ​​moderation. In addition, he used to argue with his wife and always made her cry, so he changed his ways, blended in with the crowd, and concealed his sharp edges for the sake of love.

Ten years have passed, and his blade remains untested, yet it hasn't rusted either. His literary scripts are also full of aggression. If he can write, he can speak. He doesn't usually speak, simply because he doesn't want to.

Song Yinglian's face darkened. He said, "Brother Wang, I understand how you feel, but what we said is the truth. You're usually so aloof, right? It's hard for us to get close to you. You think we don't understand you, and we can't understand you either, right?"

Wang Zixu sneered: "Aloof? Last time I was in Xiao Guo's office working on inspection materials, I wanted to have a chat, but Xiao Guo was always looking down at his phone, only looking up to talk to me when there was a business issue. So who's aloof here?"

Guo Ranran hurriedly replied, "I was busy at the time! I didn't have time!"

Wang Zixu then sneered, "You're busy, but I'm not? Do you come to work to work or to make friends? Just because I don't befriend you doesn't mean you can gossip about me behind my back. If you really want to connect, why don't you come to me on your own initiative? Have you ever come to my office on your own initiative?"

Song Yinglian said, "Brother Wang, that's not what I meant..."

"What else could it be? Has Director Xu talked to you much? Has Director Gou had a heart-to-heart talk with you? Why don't you blame them for being aloof? Not only do you not blame them, you even fawn over them. But when it comes to me, it's me who's aloof. It's just that they think I'm easy to bully because I don't have an official position!"

Wang Zi glanced at them and continued, "Does this mean that everyone in the unit without a position has to regularly pay their respects to you and report their thoughts, otherwise they're considered aloof? You think you're so great? You're the ones who act like leaders! It's a good thing you're just clerks; if you were really leaders, would the whole unit have to fawn over you to survive?"

Diao Yiwen lowered her head and began to sob softly.

Prince Xu struck at their Achilles' heel. In fact, the moment they were caught red-handed speaking ill of Prince Xu behind his back, they had already lost, and their attempt to persuade him was a complete failure.

Wang Zixu's words weren't just for them; they were also for his other colleagues. To them, they were like a knife to the heart—today they might speak ill of Wang Zixu, and tomorrow they might speak ill of someone else. His colleagues had their own thoughts.

She had no choice but to cry. But Prince Xu showed her no pity whatsoever. He showed no pity for anyone now.

Guo Ranran retorted angrily, "What exactly do you want by being so persistent?!"

"What do you want?" Prince Xu stood up. "Is it so hard to apologize? Didn't you all have mothers who taught you?"

"I'm sorry!" Diao Yiwen stood up first and bowed slightly to him, wiping away her tears as she did so.

Wang Zixu took a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to her. Song Yinglian, who was next to her, also mumbled "I'm sorry" in an extremely reluctant tone.

When his gaze shifted to Guo Ranran, the girl turned her head away, her face stern, and said, "I didn't apologize! I didn't say anything. I just repeated what Shen Qingfeng said. Why don't you make Shen Qingfeng apologize to you?"

Last time, when Prince Xu said Sartre was ugly, Guo Ranran overheard it and assumed he was talking about her. Although she didn't say it aloud, she already harbored a deep-seated grudge in her heart. That's why she's a staunch supporter of the "anti-King Xu" faction and there's no way she'll apologize.

Wang Zixu said, "Shen Qingfeng will apologize one day."

Guo Ranran, enraged, laughed coldly at him, "Ha, you?"

Wang Zixu sat down again and said, "Me. What's wrong? Do you think I'm not qualified, or do you think Shen Qingfeng is too high-class?"

"..."

Guo Ranran thought he was crazy.

Wang Zixu knew what they were thinking, and it was precisely because he knew that he felt a deep sadness. The books of this guesthouse owner were not even worthy of being placed on his bedside table, but his words, in this tiny Xihe River, became golden pronouncements.

He knew nothing about Wang Zixu, and couldn't even remember his name. He would probably just call him "Brother Caiming" if they met. Yet, his evaluation of him was regarded as gospel by a group of people who had worked with him for many years, as if they had only suddenly come to know Wang Zixu after Shen Qingfeng had made his evaluation of him.

There's a tremendous sense of absurdity in this.

"What's the difference between Shen Qingfeng's books and an old man bragging on a train? It's nothing more than 'I've eaten, seen, and slept with everything.' His greatest strength is that he has no sense of shame when he brags. If that counts as literature, then my two-hour chat with the taxi driver is literature, and buying two travel brochures in Lijiang is literature."

Guo Ranran sneered, "Arrogant and overestimating yourself."

Wang Zixu said, "Arrogant? Let me tell you why Shen Qingfeng said those things. The day before he went on TV, I ran into him and unintentionally offended him. The next day, he took the opportunity to retaliate by speaking out on TV. He's just a narrow-minded person."

Wang Zixu hadn't planned to talk about his experience in the government office last time. If it were someone else, being able to turn the tide in the government office, write a draft for the top leader, and even have a conversation with Shen Qingfeng and Ning Chunyan would probably be the talk of the town the next day.

But Wang Zixu wouldn't. He disdained to mention it. That small achievement that day was of no help to his fifty chances of winning the Nobel Prize; it wouldn't even be worth a single word on his resume. So what was there to say? His pride didn't lie there.

Moreover, Director Gou is quite a troublemaker. If he heard that Wang Zixu had been to the government office, he would probably have some reservations and might make things difficult for Wang Zixu somewhere. That's why Wang Zixu didn't say anything.

Because he hadn't said anything before, the sudden revelation of a few words elicited disbelief from others. Everyone was waiting for him to announce that he was joking.

But he didn't. He remained unmoved. Guo Ranran stared intently at Wang Zixu's face, confirming that he was serious, and said:

"Are you kidding me? Where would Shen Qingfeng possibly know you? And where did you offend him? Do you even even see him?"

Diao Yiwen said, "Shen Qingfeng runs a bed and breakfast in the suburbs. I heard he sometimes goes there. Where did you see him?"

Song Yinglian said, "How could that be? His place is always packed. Every time Shen Qingfeng comes back, a bunch of female fans come to ask for autographs. He's so busy he's practically invisible. How could we possibly see him? Even if we could, he wouldn't have time to get into conflicts with ordinary people."

Guo Ranran said, "Yeah, Brother Wang, this isn't something you're imagining, is it? Pfft... Sorry, I really think it's hilarious, hahaha..."

Prince Xu shook his head. He took out the box of bountiful harvest from his pocket, thought about lighting a cigarette, but then refrained.

"You people still only understand 'eating, seeing, and sleeping,' taking these as the sole measure of success. I finally understand why Shen Qingfeng is so popular."

No one could understand what he was saying.

The office door was pushed open, and Director Xu Shichao leaned in. Seeing Wang Zixu, he said:

"I've been looking for you everywhere! Oh, so you were here!"

He turned his head and saw the room was packed with people, and exclaimed, "So many people? This is quite a rare sight! Xiao Wang, when did you become so friendly with the guys? We have to take a picture of this to remember the occasion."

After he finished speaking, he noticed that the expressions on everyone's faces in the room were a little strange. He lowered his voice and said to Wang Zixu, "Director Gou wants to see you. Go to his office."

The prince asked tentatively, "You're not talking about the awards, are you?"