I am not a literary giant

Chapter 94 The Vanished Lover

Gou Yingbiao asked, "What do you mean?"

Shen Qingfeng said, "If he gets married, you should create some gossip, give him more responsibilities, and make him work overtime. Arrange for female colleagues to work overtime with him. Pretend to accidentally leak it to his wife, and within a week, his house will be in chaos."

"If his wife is restless, then let her play cards. Let her win some money in the first couple of days, then make her give it all back with interest. Then teach her how to play stocks and make her speculate heavily. Even if the couple's relationship doesn't break down, it will give him a headache for a while, and it's not impossible for his family to be ruined."

"If his wife is content with poverty and doesn't care about honor or disgrace, I'll treat her to a meal. You can bring your work unit to my place. I'll drive over and park a row of Mercedes, BMWs, and Audis. I'll also have a few handsome men take special care of her, play cards with her, go fishing and barbecue with her, help her skewer food, eat at banquets, and help her fend off drinks. We'll have a bonfire party and champagne all night. When it's time to pay the bill, I'll show the bill and not let her pay a single penny. Even if his wife is Tao Yuanming reincarnated, she'll still feel unbalanced and make trouble."

"If he's not married, introduce him to someone. Don't introduce him to girls who are missing limbs or have some kind of problem. Introduce him to the kind who asks for an exorbitant price but is willing to haggle, the kind who has the body of a young lady but the life of a maid. Most importantly, she has to be beautiful. I guarantee that he'll be mentally and physically devastated, and from then on, he won't dare to say a word at work, and he'll have no heart for writing."

"Don't worry about not finding resources. I have plenty of girls like this! They're the kind of girls that young men from all over the country would fight over, showering them with countless bolts of silk. They'd be too good for even if they were rich to work. You can package him up as a diamond bachelor in the system and introduce him to me. Once you make the connection, I guarantee he'll develop hyperthyroidism within half a month."

"If you ask me, Director Gou, you're just too kind-hearted. You don't know how to make things difficult for people. You're my boss, I have money. It's not hard for me to take down a lowly clerk. Why would you let someone get angry? If you ask me, you should get your revenge quickly and not let it linger overnight, otherwise it will keep bothering me."

At this point, Shen Qingfeng had actually let slip that the story of Gou Yingbiao being slammed on the table by Wang Zixu at the bureau was already common knowledge in Xihe, and Shen Qingfeng had been pretending not to know. However, Gou Yingbiao was engrossed in listening and didn't realize this, asking:

"Mr. Shen, these are all clever, ingenious, and brilliant strategies, but they can only work temporarily and may not necessarily bring him down."

Shen Qingfeng said, "Isn't holding out for a while enough? Tell me, what does Wang Zixu rely on? Isn't it just the favor of the big boss? But look, he's not even related to the big boss. Why would the big boss favor him? Isn't it just because he has a little talent? If he stands out at the Xihe Literary Conference this time, won't the big boss value him even more? How will you keep him in check at work after that?"

Gou Yingbiao's goosebumps first crawled up his arms to his neck, then his back started to tingle and itch. A layer of cold air and a layer of heat alternated, rushing from his tailbone to his forehead.

Yes, why didn't he think of that before? What if Wang Zixu stood out in this writing contest? If his work was shortlisted or even won some small prize at the Xihe Literary Festival, wouldn't that make him look even more short-sighted?

Gou Yingbiao said, "President Shen, I just remembered. He recently took a long leave of absence. If we calculate the dates, the day he returns to work will be exactly the day of the Xihe Cultural Conference, won't it?"

Shen Qingfeng slapped his thigh: "That's it! He's definitely planning to go into seclusion and write, intending to put all his effort into preparing an article to shine at the literary conference. Maybe Director Mei even gave him a task to win a prize. This is a crucial period, you absolutely must seize it!"

Gou Yingbiao's forehead was covered in cold sweat: "President Shen, I'll be frank with you. To be honest, this Wang Zixu isn't a minor ailment; he's a major worry for me. Lately, he's been keeping me up at night. If he shines at the Xihe Literary Conference, I'll be in a very difficult position."

Shen Qingfeng laughed: "It's alright, Brother Biao, just come to me. You've asked, and even if I can't help you with something big, I can handle a mere clerk, right?"

Gou Yingbiao said, "Just as you just said. He's married, so start with his wife. Make him miserable lately, causing a small disturbance every three days and a big one every five days, so that he can't write a single word. It would be best if he backed down at the Xihe Literary Gathering and disappeared from the public eye."

Shen Qingfeng said, "Yes, if he can't produce any works, won't he naturally become discouraged? Then you can seize on that point and talk about him until he becomes disheartened and withdraws from the literary world, never having the courage to pick up a pen again. All you need to do is give me a phone number, and you don't need to worry about anything else."

Gou Yingbiao said, "We have to fill out personal information every year, and the family section is mandatory. I contacted Hu Xiaoping, who is in charge of political work, and she definitely has our contact information."

The two hit it off immediately. Lin Feng, standing outside, trembled with fear, cold sweat beading on his back; despite the sweltering heat, he felt a chill run through him. How could human nature be so wicked?

He used to be quite oblivious to things, thinking that Shen Qingfeng's targeting of him was just about the issue and not about the person. Although they were openly at odds, they could at least maintain the relationship between Guo Moruo and Lu Xun in private.

Unexpectedly, he resorted to such unscrupulous means. He not only sought to ruin the person in the literary world, but also to destroy their life.

If I didn't have a certain status in the literary world and had Teacher Li Tingfang looking after me, would he have also targeted me? If I were to be treated like that, could I survive? The thought is absolutely terrifying.

He gripped his phone tightly, intending to preserve evidence so he could report back to Wang Zixu and his wife as soon as possible, lest they fall into Shen Qingfeng's trap.

Suddenly he remembered from TV shows how eavesdropping was always exposed when a cell phone suddenly rang. He broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly held the phone up to his face to turn up the volume, but the phone remained black and motionless. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it had run out of battery.

The phone in the room was already connected. Gou Yingbiao said into the phone, "Xiao Hu, I have a question for you. Do you have Wang Zixu's family's contact information?"

On the phone, Hu Xiaoping asked, "What's wrong?"

Gou Yingbiao said, "Didn't he take 20 days off recently? There's something I want to ask him at work, but I can't reach him. I'm thinking of calling his wife to ask."

Shen Qingfeng secretly gave him a thumbs up.

On the phone, Hu Xiaoping said, "Oh dear, that's unfortunate, his wife isn't listed in his personal information."

Gou Yingbiao was taken aback: "Why?"

"I just filled it out recently. I also asked him about it. He said that he and his wife had a wedding ceremony first, but did not register their marriage. They were presented as married to the public, but they did not actually register their marriage. Therefore, his wife's name was not written in the personal information section."

Gou Yingbiao was filled with doubt: "Doesn't that mean they're just ordinary boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"No, that's not the case. Many young people are like this nowadays. Their parents are pressuring them, but they're not mentally prepared. I have a relative who didn't get a marriage certificate either. It's not unusual."

Gou Yingbiao and Shen Qingfeng exchanged glances, then turned to ask, "Does nobody know which unit his wife works for? Did no one from our unit attend his wedding?"

"No, these days discipline is so strict, we don't even invite colleagues to family events anymore. I still have a ton of money I haven't collected from my wedding gifts. But he did come to my workplace to hand out wedding candy on his wedding day, and gave everyone a gift bag. I'm still using that cup."

Gou Yingbiao thought about it and realized that it did seem to be true.

He then asked over the phone, "Are there any other members in his family?"

"No, he only has one father, but his father doesn't live with him. If you call his father, you probably still won't be able to reach him."

"All right."

A beam of light shone on him, and Lin Feng turned around to see a security guard holding a flashlight and peering in his direction. He crouched low and quickly slipped through the bushes, startling the guard, who then tried to catch up, but the flowerbed path was winding and he couldn't keep up.

After confirming that no one was following him, Lin Feng climbed into his car, panting heavily. With trembling hands, he plugged in his phone, then reversed the car and drove off without even getting his deposit back.

When he got to his building, his phone was finally charged. He looked through the recordings and found that before the phone ran out of battery, he had only recorded the part where Gou Yingbiao recited his poem. He was so angry that he slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

He turned up the air conditioner, which relieved the heat in his heart a little. Then he started dialing Wang Zixu's number. It took him two tries to get through.

"Brother Zixu, I have something to tell you..."

As soon as the call connected, he spilled everything he had just heard to Wang Zixu.

Prince Xu remained relatively calm after hearing this.

"These people are simply insidious and vicious."

Lin Feng shook his head and sighed: "Who says otherwise? Before, I was thinking that we could resolve this peacefully through communication, but now they've started targeting you indiscriminately. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don't know anything."

"Right now, Shen Qingfeng is just a vice president. If he becomes the president of the Writers' Association, he can leverage that position to access more resources. At that point, our situation will probably become even more difficult. We'll either have to leave Xihe or give up writing altogether."

"We have to fight them. Damn it, even if we lose, we have to fight them fair and square!"

Lin Feng spoke passionately, but Wang Zixu on the other end of the phone sounded very calm:

"With such a large influence, can the Xihe Literary Association decide who becomes its president?"

Lin Feng said, "The literary gathering is an event personally endorsed by top leaders. Not only will the entire Xihe literary circle come out, but also some famous writers from all over the country will be invited to attend. If Lin Luo wins, the top leaders will personally present the award. It would be unreasonable not to promote him to vice president. Once he becomes vice president, the next president will definitely be Shen Qingfeng."

Wang Zixu said, "Then we shouldn't let him get first place."

Lin Feng laughed: "Brother, that's a good idea, but don't underestimate Lin Luo..."

Wang Zixu said, "No matter how strong he is, he won't get first place this time. I will participate."

Lin Feng was speechless, but he thought confidence was a good thing, so he didn't say anything more, only giving a thumbs up that Wang Zixu couldn't see.

"By the way, I heard from them that you and your wife didn't have a wedding ceremony?"

On the other end of the phone, Wang Zixu said casually, "Yes. My wife's grandmother was seriously ill before, and she said she wanted to see her in her wedding dress one last time before she passed away. My wife was raised by her grandmother, and we have a very deep bond, so we had a hasty wedding."

Raymond Lam frowned: "Then why haven't they registered their marriage after so long?"

Wang Zixu smiled bitterly: "Back then, I was poor and down on my luck, and I also had a mortgage. My wife said that if it weren't for my grandmother's matter, it might not have been me. She was afraid that if we broke up, we would have a divorce record, which would have a big impact on women, so we never got a marriage certificate."

"..."

Lin Feng felt it was difficult to comment, but he chose not to comment on other people's family affairs.

Wang Zixu's voice softened: "We've recently started trying to conceive, and I plan to bring up the marriage certificate with her again in a while. We've been together for so many years, we've long considered each other our one and only. Maybe she's already forgotten about the marriage certificate."

Raymond Lam said, "I wish you and your wife a happy and harmonious life together, and that you will soon have a healthy and chubby baby."

"Thanks."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Zi closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

Prince Xu has been driven to a dead end again.

Three hundred and sixty days a year, the wind and frost relentlessly assail us.

But it doesn't matter.

He not only possesses this life, he also possesses the whole world.

He closed his eyes, and in his mind's eye, magnificent and intricate buildings were constructed layer upon layer, standing firmly on the earth. At first glance, they resembled a finely constructed city, full of life and realism. But the bricks and stones that built those buildings were from fiction.

He has mastered the art of fiction to perfection, and he holds the reins of the story in his hands.

Next, all you need to do is ride the horse to the finish line.

As for the schemes of Shen Qingfeng and Gou Yingbiao, they are not worth mentioning.

Thinking of those underhanded tricks, Prince Xu almost burst out laughing.

How could his wife be fooled by such petty tricks? A row of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi cars parked there wouldn't even warrant her attention.

At least park a Porsche.

At that moment, the solemn and dignified sound of the wedding march rang in his ears, accompanied by applause, laughter, the crackling of sunflower seeds, and the shouts of children. The sound, amplified countless times by the microphone, boomed loudly:

"...Will you marry her?"

"I do," said Prince Xu.

Suddenly, the stage with its long red carpet stretched out in his field of vision, and the crowd moved away rapidly. He turned around and found himself completely alone.

He closed his notebook, put the pen back in his breast pocket, and walked towards the door.

(End of this chapter)