Chapter 111 Pony Crossing the River
In Wang Zixu’s memory, the Ning Chun Banquet has always been shown as the muse of literature. The first time she appeared on the scene was so stunning that even if she later wore denim shorts, a plaid skirt, and knee socks, she still didn't lose the aura of being inspired by the aroma of books that shocked him when he first saw her. The grace and charm between her eyebrows and eyes can be vividly displayed in front of her eyes even if she closes her eyes.
However, when we met today, her bookishness was further embodied by her clothes: she was wearing an elegant and solemn Hanfu today, with a golden hairpin swaying across her temples, a small fan with a light handle, and a fluttering skirt with a slim figure.
Seeing Wang Zixu’s gaze, Ning Chunyan narrowed his eyes and smiled, and waved a small fan at his face: "Is it so good-looking?"
Wang Zixu said honestly: "It suits you very well."
Hanfu is no longer a rebellious fancy dress these days. Wang Zixu has seen many girls wearing Hanfu. But it must be admitted that Hanfu is not suitable for everyone. Hanfu doesn't show off your waist very much, and some girls are too big to look good in it. However, Ning Chunyan has a slim figure, so it suits her perfectly.
Ning Chunyan’s slenderness is different from the morbid beauty of “a weak willow supporting the wind” as the ancients said. She is very beautiful and healthy. Even her makeup is not completely ancient. She organically integrates modern self-confidence, self-reliance, and grandeur into this ancient style dress. The effect is excellent, and it even has a bit of a Tang Dynasty atmosphere.
Ning Chunyan smiled and said: "We are participating in the cultural gathering this time. Teacher Li Tingfang specifically said that we should wear Hanfu as much as possible if we can. Teacher Li Tingfang also wore Hanfu himself. It is very interesting. When the awards are given, Then, you will be able to see it. In addition, there is a beauty among the guests this time, and you will be able to feast your eyes on her."
Wang Zixu shook his head: "It's enough to see you."
"What are you talking about? You married Wang Zixu! By the way, do you know that your novel has been published in "Yangtze River"?"
Wang Zixu nodded: "I know, I just came here to buy a copy of "Yangtze River"."
"Look, I said you can read "Yangtze River"."
Wang Zixu said sincerely: "Thank you. You helped me a lot."
"That's right. In total, you owe me a hundred meals."
Diao Yiwen squeezed in from behind Wang Zixu, with a humble tone and eager eyes: "Is this Ning Cainv?"
"It's me, you?"
Diao Yiwen smiled sheepishly: "I'm your fan, can you sign it for me?"
She handed over a copy of "Goodbye When Green Silk Dye Snow" that she picked up from the bookshelf at some time. Ning Chunyan has not published many books. This is her first physical book, which is a collection of short stories. She had just appeared, and Diao Yiwen happened to have this book in her hand, which shows that she is truly a fan of hers.
Ning Chunyan raised the corner of his mouth, showed a very business-like smile, and asked: "Are you together?"
Wang Zixu said: "Not together."
After a pause, he added: "They are my colleagues."
Ning Chunyan showed an expression of realization (I don’t know what she realized) and asked: "What should I sign for you?"
Diao Yiwen said: "You can sign whatever you want."
Diao Yiwen put her hands together in front of her body and stood cautiously beside Wang Zixu, without turning her head to look at him, her expression a little embarrassed. Behind them, Song Yinglian and Guo Ranran looked at each other and exchanged surprised looks.
They have worked in Xihe for so long, and they all know who Ning Cainv is. Even if you don’t know what it looks like, Diao Yiwen will know it once you tell her. What surprised them was why Ning Chunyan and Wang Zixu seemed so familiar with each other? In other words, why is Wang Zixu qualified to be so familiar with her?
Their impression of Wang Zixu was still the same as 20 days ago. They were Zizixu who kept his head down and did not dare to say anything even when he was criticized in meetings, and Zizixu who was so cruel that he could only bang the table and get angry and had no one to look for. 20 days later, this Wang Zixu suddenly drove a car that they could not afford, and chatted with people they could not imagine, as if they were old friends.
20 days is less than a month, and even the salary is only enough to be paid once, let alone in an agency that has been working for ten years, they have no sense of time. The difference between Wang Zixu before and after was so great that it seemed as if years were squeezed into these short 20 days, secretly passing by on him.
Ning Chunyan returned the book to Diao Yiwen. Diao Yiwen hugged the book and said thank you, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Have you... known each other before?"
"Ahem, uh..." Ning Chunyan cleared her throat and glanced at Wang Zixu.
Because she didn’t know the relationship between the two, she didn’t know how to answer or whether she should answer. Wang Zixu noticed her predicament and said, "Yes, Ning Cainu and I have known each other for almost two months. We are old acquaintances."
"We have only known each other for less than two months. Who is an old acquaintance with you?"
After saying this, Diao Yiwen and the other three were even more unclear about their relationship. Wang Zixu didn't care what they thought, he just handed the magazine in his hand to Ning Chunyan and said:
"You can keep this magazine, it is of commemorative value."
Ning Chunyan stared at him: "You have changed your career to be a salesman, right?"
She lowered her head and looked at the book cover. The three words "Little Prince" were prominent on it, and she was suddenly surprised: "It's true! How do you know that I admire the Little Prince?"
Wang Zixu didn't know how to answer, so he could only silently show her a mysterious smile. Ning Chunyan said: "I'll accept this, but come here and show you this..."
She led Wang Zixu around the path formed between the bookshelves without stopping. If Wang Zixu were to judge, the route here would be complicated, but Ning Chunyan seemed to have memorized the route and knew the route clearly. Diao Yiwen and others had been following them not far behind, and it was difficult not to lose them.
"We're here."
Ning Chunyan suddenly stopped at a corner, turned around slowly and solemnly, walked back slowly like a show host, stretched out his hand, and pointed behind Wang Zixu, which was invisible from his perspective:
"Dangdang, please enjoy!"
Wang Zixu looked over and saw a large group of people gathered in front of a square platform. Needless to say, there were books on the square platform. As for what books they were, it was because it was really a large group of people. They surrounded the platform and could not see the contents at all.
He said: "I have seen a lot of people today."
Ning Chunyan was a little discouraged: "I'm not asking you to see people, just squeeze in and take a look."
At the end, she added: "There were not so many people there just now."
Her tone was a bit complaining, but she was neither blaming Wang Zixu nor the people watching.
As Wang Zixu approached the crowd, he realized a characteristic of this group of people: most of them were women.
The only few men, from the looks of it, were also accompanying their female companions. They stood not far away but not near, unwilling to squeeze into the crowd, and had no enthusiasm to reach out. Other than that, it’s just yourself. The way he was squeezing in seemed a little bit clumsy.
In fact, when he saw this scene, Wang Zixu had already made a guess in his mind. When he saw the same book on the table, he made a final decision. He grabbed a book and left, not as fascinated as other customers.
Wang Zixu turned back to Ning Chunyan, raised the book in his hand, and said, "After working on it for a long time, you just let me read this?"
On the book, in gold-plated fonts, there was a title that Wang Zixu was very familiar with: "The Little Prince's Love Letter to the World".
Ning Chunyan put his hands behind his back and said, "How about it? Isn't this quite commemorative? Let me tell you, the person who thought of filling the entire booth with this book must be a sales genius."
Diao Yiwen came over: "This little prince, is Wen... the little prince who is very famous recently?"
Ning Chunyan nodded: "Yes. He has finally published a book, and it is said that the first printing has 100,000 copies!"
She crossed her fingers and made a "ten" sign. She wanted to say, what is the concept of one hundred thousand copies?
There are only three scenarios for this number in the industry. Either the author is crazy, the publisher is crazy, or a publishing legend is about to be born.
The logic of the physical book industry is not as data-intensive as in the Internet era. Even if there are many celebrities, they only print 500 copies of the book. If a newcomer can print 10,000 copies for the first time, that is quite good. Even when "Harry Potter" was first introduced, there were only 1,000 copies in the first print run. It was only because of the good response that more copies were printed.
With so many prints of the first copy of The Little Prince, the publisher may have already sold out the book. But even Xihe can usher in such a grand event, I am afraid the publisher is happy again.
Unfortunately, among everyone present, she was the only one who was well versed in the publishing industry, and she did not show the slightest surprise at the figure of 100,000 copies.
Wang Zixu saw that Diao Yiwen was eager to go there, and he handed the book in his hand to her: "You can read this one, there is no need to squeeze over there."
Diao Yiwen blushed and whispered: "Thank you."
Ning Chunyan was disappointed: "You don't want to buy one? You buy one, learn from other people's writing style, you can also become famous, I tell you."
Wang Zixu said: "I will forget it."
He has a lot of them at home. As a souvenir, just keep a few copies. The other books are prepared for signing.
He pretended to be casual and said: "I heard that the reviews of this book are not very good."
Ning Chunyan rolled his eyes: "I borrowed a sentence from Premier Zhou: 'The people like to read and read, who do you think they are?' I'm not talking about you. You don't need anyone else to guide you whether a book is good or not.
"Reading is a very personal matter, just like a pony crossing the river. If you read it yourself and think it is beneficial, then it will be good for you. In this era of information explosion, there is no need for soul mentors to educate us. There are so many literary workers, how can we all be soul guides?
“Besides, the people don’t need the education of writers. They all watch short videos. Who cares about reading text? It’s not the writers who have to bear the educational obligation. As for physical books, there is only one reader left. Look at this booth, do you know how many years have not seen so many people going crazy for words?”
In fact, Wang Zixu felt comfortable all over, but he still had to pretend to be worried, frowning and trembling: "The situation is really declining, and people's hearts are not as good as before!"
Ning Chun Yan stamped her feet angrily: "You and I have nothing in common."
After saying that, she suddenly thought of something, cleared her throat, and whispered: "By the way, there was something I forgot to tell you just now. , you’d better go to the NTU delegation.”
Wang Zixu became worried: “Huh?”
Ning Chun Banquet. Licking his lips, he felt a little guilty: "What, after all, it's because of that matter... right! In short, Professor Zhong took such a big risk for you... right! It's really inappropriate for you not to go to him."
After saying that, she ran away like a butterfly, leaving only one sentence: "Hurry up, otherwise don't blame me for not reminding you."
Wang Zixu thought for a while, turned to Diao Yiwen and said: "Please, if you encounter Gou Ju when you return to our volunteer point later, When asked by the director or others, he said that I had something to do with other delegations and could not go back. " Diao Yiwen said: "Reception? "
What she was confused about was why Wang Zixu was asked to do the reception? What did Ning Cainv mean by what she just said?
But she had no time to ask, because Wang Zixu had no intention of explaining to them. He took the last copy of "Yangtze River" from Guo Ranran, sandwiched it with "Literary Circle", went to pay, and then disappeared into the sunny place outside the door.
(End of this chapter)