I am not a literary giant

Lin Feng suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Wang Zixu, "Oh right, I forgot to introduce you. This is Minister Ma from the Liaison Department of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles."

A slightly dark-skinned man looked at Prince Xu.

"This is Director Yang from Xihe TV."

A middle-aged woman nodded and smiled at Prince Xu.

"This is Deng from the publishing house..."

Lin Feng introduced each of them to Wang Zixu one by one. They were all prominent figures in the Xihe literary and artistic circles. Now that they were all gathered at this table, the "Old Village Chief" suddenly exuded the grandeur of the Liangshan Marsh Loyalty Hall.

Xie Cong waved his hand and said, "President Lin, we agreed before we came here today that we're here to shed our social identities and simply reminisce about our youth. After you've introduced yourself, please stop calling me President Xie. It sounds too formal."

Lin Feng said, "Oh, no wonder you came to the old village chief's place, a place full of memories."

"That's right! Otherwise, with our status, wouldn't we need to find a private restaurant? We can just come here, what's that saying again?"

"Remember the bitter past to appreciate the sweet present!"

"wrong!"

"Remembering Youth!"

Xie Cong raised his glass: "Yes! Let's reminisce about those glorious years!"

Everyone raised their glasses in a toast, and the atmosphere was pleasant.

The barbecue was served at just the right time, and everyone began to eat with great enthusiasm. Lin Feng winked at Wang Zixu, signaling him to seize the opportunity.

In the past, Wang Zixu would have considered this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as everyone present was a giant in the literary and artistic world of Xihe. If a meteorite were to fall from the sky and hit the old village chief precisely at that moment, the literary and artistic world of Xihe would immediately regress fifty years.

But now he was completely preoccupied with news of Chen Qingluo, somewhat absent-minded. He'd barely finished introducing the person next to him when he forgot their last name. No matter how powerful someone was, compared to Chen Qingluo, they were just nobody—just an ordinary person, utterly insignificant.

Xie Cong began telling the people at the table about Chen Qingluo. Some of these stories were familiar, some were unfamiliar, and some were completely unknown to him. Yet Xie Cong recounted them as if they were his own treasures. Wang Zixu suddenly realized that Chen Qingluo wasn't just his own youth.

Xie Cong said, "To be honest, the reason why I, a science student, came to work in the cultural industry was also due to Chen Qingluo's influence. Over the years, I've followed her example and walked step by step."

Someone asked, "No wonder you're still unmarried; is it because you're still chasing after your ideal woman?"

"No, that's not it." Xie Cong shook his head. "The main problem is that I can't afford a house in Donghai, haha!"

The group of people at the table were all hit where it hurt, and they started shouting: "The housing prices in Donghai are outrageous. You'll either work for the landlord for half your life or work for the bank for half your life."

When this topic came up, Lin Feng and Wang Zixu had no say. They were both native Xihe people and had never even considered leaving. While the others at the table could at least consider buying a house, they didn't even have the right to think about it.

Xie Cong said, "Who can argue with that? Besides, not getting married means no one's controlling you, isn't it more carefree and happy? I often hang out with two college girls, we play the odd-even lottery, who'd be crazy enough to get married?"

Some people say, "Let's talk about odd and even numbers in detail."

Xie Cong said, "There are women at the table, how can I go into details?"

Director Yang, the only woman at the table, raised her glass: "President Xie is also a man of strong character."

Xie Cong also raised his glass: "It's not about temperament, just about food and sex."

Director Yang said, "Life can't just be about food; it also needs a bit of poetry and distant places."

"The distance is too far, and writing poetry is too difficult."

"Mr. Xie is too modest. I can see that you are also very talented, and you can speak poetry off the cuff."

"It's because I've been exposed to too many cultured people and have been unconsciously influenced by them. I still haven't changed my ordinary, down-to-earth nature."

A person nearby said, "Food and sex are human nature. It's not vulgar, it's romantic. Are artists not romantic? Are all artists romantic! Passion produces poets. If life has no passion, how can you captivate others?"

"That's right."

Raymond Lam and Prince Shu both lowered their heads, behaving like obedient children, barely daring to breathe. They were both law-abiding citizens, and thus disqualified from pursuing artistic interests.

At the table, a man named Wang Zixu (whose surname I can't recall, but who was a big shot in the Xihe literary and artistic circles) said:

"If you ask me, this era is romantic, and that romance comes from the abundance of freedom. Especially in the arts, freedom brings fresh air. Have you heard of that guy who's been all the rage lately? What's his name...?"

Xie Cong asked, "Who did you say?"

"That's the guy who became famous by flirting with girls." The man scratched his head.

Prince Xu tilted his head and asked, "Shen Qingfeng?"

"It's not Shen Qingfeng."

The man finally remembered the name, clapped his hands, and exclaimed, "The Little Prince!"

……

Is the Little Prince your idol?

On the other end of the phone, the girl's voice sounded a little strange, her tone suggesting she had guessed it, yet also seemed surprised, with a hint of suppressed amusement.

Ning Chunyan's face darkened: "Don't laugh at me! Yes, that's right, I did use Wen'ai, and I'm a heavy user of Wen'ai, so what? Everyone has a niche hobby, right?"

The girl said, "Niche hobbies are common, but it's rare to turn a niche hobby into your idol."

"Rare? That's a joke."

Ning Chunyan kept typing as she complained.

"Isn't it normal for him to have a wife? He must have emotional intelligence to be able to flirt with so many people, so why can't he get married young?"

Ning Chunyan said, "No, I'm actually not quite sure yet. Actually, the thing is, I obtained a manuscript by accident, and I found that the way this manuscript uses words and sentences... no, how should I put it, the style is very similar to The Little Prince."

The person on the other end of the phone said casually, "And then the owner of this manuscript got married, right?"

Ning Chunyan said, "Qingluo, you are indeed incredibly intelligent."

"Not at all, you two from Xihe are not much different."

"Let's stop with the mutual flattery."

Chen Qingluo squatted on the sofa, her snow-white feet moving around, holding nail clippers in her hand.

"So you want me to take a look at that manuscript, so I can confirm if it's the same style, right?"

"The clever and intelligent Qingluo!"

Chen Qingluo carefully wrapped the cut-off toenail in toilet paper and said, "Okay, then send it to me."

"I'm still typing," Ning Chunyan said. "I only have a paper version of the manuscript, and I'm typing it into an electronic version."

"You're going to type it out word by word? Are you stupid? Why don't you just scan it?"

"I like to understand the author's original intention in the novel by repeating its paragraphs word by word."

Chen Qinglu rolled her eyes dramatically, but unfortunately no one saw it: "So you're a master craftsman, huh? You embody the spirit of craftsmanship, huh?"

"That's one way to look at it, so why don't you go see the Little Prince first!"

In the end, it's still Amway.

"whee."

Chen Qingluo opened her phone and, while still on the call, asked, "Where can I watch it?"

I'll send you a link in a bit.

Chen Qingluo clicked the link, trying her best to remain patient and not lose motivation: "Actually, if you can't finish typing it, you can show me the original draft tomorrow."

Ning Chunyan was surprised: "You've gone back to Xihe?"

"Yeah." Chen Qingluo stood up and threw the toilet paper into the trash can. "I'm at my hometown."