I am not a literary giant

Ning Chunyan had been waiting for Chen Qingluo to realize a truth: it is very impolite to suddenly and inexplicably stay in someone else's house.

This is Chen Qingluo's second day staying at her house. Chen Qingluo has already begun to learn to sit at the table to eat on her own without being called.

At night, Chen Qingluo would sleep in the same bed as Ning Chunyan, but she usually only went to sleep when she was tired from writing, and she would often get tired very late, waking Ning Chunyan up when she climbed into bed.

But Ning Chunyan didn't want to reason with Chen Qingluo directly. She felt that doing so would seem unfriendly and unwelcoming. Besides, she doubted that Chen Qingluo would listen even if she did.

This woman is now possessed. Aside from creating, whatever you say to her first lines up to enter her brain, then flow out like water. She doesn't care at all.

Chen Qingluo had a reason for staying at her house. The beginning of the novel Chen Qingluo was currently working on was written at her house, so she would be staying there until the novel was finished.

She claimed that if she were to abruptly change her creative environment, her state of mind would also change, and the flavor of her writing would change, making it impossible to form a consistent creative style, which would lead to the complete collapse of her novels.

Ning Chunyan didn't know if this was true, but she didn't dare let a work worthy of the Mao Dun Literature Prize falter for such an absurd reason. So she could only accept it, while silently praying that she could write faster.

Fortunately, Chen Qingluo's beauty made things seem less bad. The Ning family quickly accepted this uninvited guest, and Ning's mother would even inquire about Chen Qingluo's tastes and serve her favorite dishes.

Chen Qingluo remained unmoved by these good intentions, muttering to herself and talking to herself all day long. Sometimes she would frown, sometimes she would laugh, sometimes she would mutter to herself, sometimes she would walk around the room, and sometimes she would repeatedly do some simple actions.

Ning's mother was very worried about her mental state and wanted to ask about it several times, but Ning Chunyan stopped her each time.

She told her that this is what it's like to be a writer. Because of the creative process, one needs to place oneself in another world. She may appear to be eating at the table or walking on the ground, but in reality, she is elsewhere, doing something else.

In other words, her physical body still lives in this very moment, while her soul dwells in some distant, possible universe. This is the creator's privilege. And also the creator's curse.

Every time Chen Qingluo wrote a draft, Ning Chunyan would print them out and pass them around to his parents. After finishing their own work, Ning's parents would set aside time to read and discuss the work, and would also raise some questions and opinions.

The three members of the Ning family became the first readers of Chen Qingluo's story.

Chen Qingluo's work is titled "The Dedication of Simone de Beauvoir." Simone de Beauvoir was Jean-Paul Sartre's soulmate and lifelong lover. The two lived in a wondrous relationship.

Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre loved each other, but both were staunch non-marriage advocates. Sartre, who also craved passion, told Beauvoir, "Although we are soulmates for life, I hope I can have other lovers."

Simone de Beauvoir suggested that, in that case, she should also have other lovers. To her surprise, Sartre agreed.

So, both of them had their own lovers. But they always believed that they were each other's one and only.

In her later years, Simone de Beauvoir said, "I have never been happy with such a relationship." She loved only Sartre, and like a traditional woman, she wanted to be with Sartre forever.

But whether she liked it or not, she was called a slut and whore at the time because of her scandalous affairs and chaotic relationships.

Although they were doing the same thing, she received far more criticism than Sartre.

Later, she published several books on feminism and was regarded as a pioneer and standard-bearer of the feminist movement. Sartre's theory of the "gaze" also gave rise to a well-known and widely used term in the future—the male gaze.

However, Chen Qingluo's book doesn't mention Simone de Beauvoir, Sartre, or male and female rights. It's simply a love story. In academic terms, Beauvoir is merely a symbol; in layman's terms, it's a case of false advertising.

In Chen Qingluo's book, the male and female protagonists are a couple who vow never to marry. Their relationship is platonic, and they maintain a close yet distant connection. Until one day, the female protagonist receives an invitation to the male protagonist's wedding—and the story begins from there.

The female protagonist felt betrayed, but she still chose not to marry. However, her feelings about not marrying the male protagonist before and after their marriage were completely opposite. She began to feel that she was preserving her virginity for the male protagonist, rather than doing it out of her own free will.

Therefore, the book is titled "The Dedication of Simone de Beauvoir".

In fact, the plot is not the main point. Chen Qingluo is not a popular writer, or rather, the transcendent aspects of her work far outweigh her popular appeal.

The value of a writer lies not in the stories they can create, but in the unique perspective they offer. Solving problems is the job of a sociologist; the job of a writer is to point out problems. Moreover, raising questions is sometimes far more difficult than solving them.

Every day at lunchtime, the Ning family would discuss Chen Qingluo's work at the table. Chen Qingluo would sit at the same table, but she would always eat silently, completely ignoring what they were saying. Sometimes Ning Chunyan would have to remind her so she wouldn't get food up her nose.

Ning Bingru also read Wang Zixu's "Wild Grasses" and gave this short story a high rating, sometimes even comparing the two stories.

"Wild Grasses" is also quite impressive at first glance, but compared to Qingluo's work, it feels a bit less sophisticated, or rather, it has a lot of cunning elements. You can tell that this author wrote it with the aim of gaining recognition."

Ning Chunyan said, "But 'Wild Grasses' also has social value. I think 'The Dedication of Simone de Beauvoir' is like a response to this work."

"Or rather, the two works respond to each other," Ning's mother said.

Ning Bingru asked, "Where does Wang Zixu plan to submit 'Wild Grasses'?"

Ning Chunyan said, "He only wanted to submit to 'Xihe Literature and Art,' but I wanted to submit to 'Shancheng.'"

Ning Bingru nodded, then shook his head: "As for 'Mountain City,' its quality has actually declined in the last two years. I suggest submitting it to 'September.'"

Ning Chunyan frowned: "Will they accept 'September'?"

Ning Bingru said, "The quality is definitely good enough. Some articles in 'September' are not as good as this one."

Ning Chunyan said, "You're not talking about me, are you?"

Ning's father chuckled but did not reply.

Ning's mother said, "Why not submit to *Yangtze River*? It's a publication from our province, and its quality isn't bad. This Wang Zixu is just starting out; submitting to a local magazine might be better for his career development."

Ning's father and Ning Chunyan both looked at her at the same time. Ning's mother said, "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"Mom, you're absolutely right! How come I didn't think of that?"

Ning Bingru said with a wry smile, "It's mainly because his skill level is very high; I had completely forgotten that he's a newcomer."

Chen Qingluo suddenly tilted her head back, a strand of hair slipping from her mouth, her eyes wide, seemingly conversing inexplicably with someone in the universe of possibilities:

"You will eventually return to your wife, and I will eventually merge into the lives of others. The era of freedom is over. Everything is irrevocably heading towards mediocrity."

……

At the Wen'ai Small Base, a 40-minute drive from here, thousands of books are already in place, and the selected speech therapists have also arrived one after another.

In fact, when the idea of ​​forming a scriptwriter team was proposed, all the speech therapists in the group showed great enthusiasm and actively submitted their scripts to the operations team.

After a night of selection, Zuo Ziliang and Wang Zixu narrowed it down to 10 finalists, and then reduced it to five, including Cheng Xing.

In the end, it was these five people standing in front of Prince Xu.

Wang Zixu stared at the first man from the left, squinting as he sized up the muscular, 1.8-meter-tall man for a long time before finally asking:

"You're the cheerful and outgoing Sakura-chan?"

The burly man grinned: "My online name is now Clever and Witty Sakura-chan, you can just call me Sakura-chan."

Wang Zixu nodded, then looked at a fair-skinned boy next to him: "Are you Xiao Ba?"

The boy nodded timidly, seemingly extremely shy. His feet were slightly turned inward.

Wang Zixu then looked at the girl chewing gum next to him. The girl had long pink hair, skin as white as a vampire, a pair of large sunglasses on her face, and was wearing a leather jacket. She looked cool and glamorous.

"Are you a sinful poet?"

The girl said, "Now I am an innocent poet. Just call me a poet."

Wang Zixu looked at Cheng Xing, who was staring at him, with a hint of helplessness.

These people were a little different from what he had imagined.