I'm not a literary giant

Chapter 216 Trial
From the end of the long table to the seats, all eyes converged on the person at the door; this figure, blurred by the sunlight, became the vanishing point of the entire conference hall.

Wang Zixu raised his eyes and looked past Tian Zhenlei and Ji Shaofei, past Duan Xiaosang who had a playful look in his eyes, past Gu Zao who was staring at him thoughtfully, past Xiao Mengyin who had a complicated expression, and Zhong Junmin who was resting with his eyes closed, and straight to Shi Tonghe's face.

Their eyes met, and Shi Tonghe gave him a smile that wasn't really a smile.

A bit ugly.

After An Younan's analysis, Wang Zixu was still standing here unharmed, which made her feel a little hot.

An Younan has been smart since she was young. There are only two types of people whose minds she cannot guess: a stupid person, and a ruthless person.

When she saw Wang Zixu appear at the door, she couldn't tell for a moment whether he was stupid enough or cruel enough.

He is undoubtedly stupid. If he were not stupid, he would know not to go to a tiger mountain when you know there are tigers there.

But he is also cruel enough. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have had such a bad relationship with Shi Tonghe, just for his boring ideals and self-esteem.

He is not like a dog, which cannot be adopted, nor like a tiger, which can sit alone in the mountains. He is like a wolf.

He was like a lone wolf with its hair shed, taking cautious and minute steps, moving towards his goal without stopping.

Shen Qingfeng crossed his legs, stared at Wang Zixu with a mischievous look, and was the first to speak:
"Wang Zixu, why are you here just now? You can show up at such an important event. It seems like you don't care much about this seminar."

I haven't seen him for a long time, but this guy is still so annoying.

"Vice President Shen, you actually came to the venue early. Do you care about me too much?"

Everyone laughed. Only Shen Qingfeng looked at him with a strange look, feeling that this boy was a little different.

Someone at the long table smiled and called out, "Come here, your seat is here."

He pointed to the last chair at the end of the long table.

Wang Zixu glanced at the chair, which was facing Shi Tonghe. If he were to draw a line between Chu and Han on the table, he would fly over and eat him.

"Shouldn't I be sitting in the audience seat?"

The man at the long table had a kind expression on his face: "Mr. Shi has high expectations for you, and he specifically asked them to move your seat over here, just to make it easier for him to give guidance."

Wang Zixu sat down on the chair and looked forward. Experts and scholars were sitting in two neat rows, extending all the way to the Shitong River at the end of his sight. The feeling of oppression was very strong.

Almost everyone at the table was staring at him. This didn't seem like a seminar, but more like a trial.

"Cough cough."

Xiao Mengyin, who was sitting at the last seat not far from Wang Zixu, coughed twice lightly. She moved her arm and knocked the pen on the table to the ground. She bent down to pick it up, and when she raised her head, Wang Zixu saw that there was an extra piece of paper on the ground.

Shi Tonghe said, "Now that everyone is here and the time has come, let's get started now. Editor-in-Chief Li Minyang, please give the opening remarks."

Li Minyang cleared his throat and said, "First of all, thank you very much for coming to this seminar..."

Xiao Mengyin put her hand to her mouth, and slowly moved her legs under the table. She stepped on the paper and slowly pushed it to Wang Zixu's feet. Using Li Minyang's voice to cover her movements, she did not expose her movements.

Wang Zixu didn't know what Xiao Mengyin was up to. He glanced at her and met her eyes. Xiao Mengyin knocked on the table with her index finger, and when Wang Zixu didn't respond, she kicked him in the calf with her toes.

Wang Zixu had no choice but to bend down, crumple her paper into a ball and pick it up from the ground.

I put it on the table and unfolded it gently. I saw only one line of words written on the paper:

"Please control your emotions!"

The exclamation mark at the end of this sentence was heavily thickened with a fountain pen and repeated on the outline, making it extremely glaring.

He glanced back at her, and she immediately looked away, concentrating on her seminar materials.

Wang Zixu knew what she meant.

Xiao Mengyin didn't ask him to think about how to refute, nor did she ask him to be mentally prepared. She only said to control his emotions.

Because the results of this seminar will inevitably leave a mark on "Fire in the Stone", and this mark will accompany this work for the rest of its life.

But a work is just a work. To readers who don’t know the truth, it is just a new author writing a novel that is not well received - isn’t that natural?

Therefore, he must control his emotions.

He still has a chance. If he can't control his emotions, he will have no chance at all.

Shi Tonghe specially set his seat here just to make him lose control of his emotions and to see him fail.

If he lost control and started a rebellion, it would be exactly what Shi Tonghe wanted.

Wang Zixu raised his head. Li Minyang had just finished speaking when Shi Tonghe took over the conversation:
“Teacher Li Minyang just said that we are witnessing the rise of the flame of Fire in the Stone today, but we must also realize that a seminar is not a place to replace publicity with research.

"Our discussions cannot become about being harmonious, flattering the group, only saying nice things and not daring to offend people. As the night watchmen of literature, we must always hold high the sacred flame of inheriting the literary tradition, and use collective wisdom to define the burning trajectory for the reckless sparks."

After saying this, he smiled and said, "That is to say, we can't let this fire burn in the wrong direction."

After a pause, Shi Tonghe continued: "I hope that everyone present here can use the style of the Spring and Autumn Period to sculpt the younger generation, preserving literary courage while maintaining the standard of literary reverence."

After Shi Tonghe finished speaking, several people in the room frowned.

At first glance, what he said seemed to be clichés, but upon closer inspection, they were extraordinary and every sentence had a subtext.

The seminar hasn't even started yet, but he's already said that a seminar is not the place to replace publicity with research.

Which seminar nowadays is not opened with the intention of publicity?
Even the seminar for Shi Tonghe's son was held to promote his works.

Later it says, "Don't be afraid of offending people", which means don't be afraid of offending Wang Zixu; "mark a trajectory for the reckless flames", which means the flames have already burned crookedly; "use the writing style of the Spring and Autumn Period to sculpt the younger generation", which means feel free to scold and criticize harshly.

In short, after saying so much, my attitude that "this work should be criticized mercilessly" has been made clear, and every sentence is a preventive measure.

At this point, even those who didn’t understand the argument between the two could sense the undercurrent in this seminar.

Shi Tonghe continued: "Now, the first step is to introduce the work."

After saying that, he put down the materials in his hand, looked up and said: "Since this work is quite long, we can just ask one representative to introduce it. Not everyone needs to come."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Mengyin immediately raised her hand and said, "Teacher Shi, let me do it."

Shi Tonghe raised his eyes to look at her: "Do you have any feelings?"

Xiao Mengyin whispered, "I, I have already written my speech and I don't want to waste it." When introducing a work, there is no need to give a detailed analysis, just summarize the plot, which avoids directly commenting on the work itself.

Xiao Mengyin was already worried about how to "criticize freely" later. If she spoke now, she wouldn't have to speak later.

Shi Tonghe was about to speak when Gu Zao raised his hand again and said:

"Teacher Shi, let me do this part. I read the works in detail and even stayed up all night last night."

Shi Tonghe nodded: "Then let Gu Zao come."

Xiao Mengyin glared at Gu Zao with resentment.

Gu Zao picked up his speech and said loudly:
"No nonsense, let's get straight to the point. This book covers the period from 1913 to 2013, focusing on the fate of five generations of the Liu and Zhou families in East China. From the blood feud at the end of the Boxer Rebellion to the commercial boom after the reform and opening up, the two families have experienced betrayal, redemption and forgetfulness in a century of upheaval...

"The author uses the metaphor of 'sparks bursting from stones' to embed individual fate into the national epic. Through the struggles of five generations between the patriarchal system, revolutionary beliefs and the logic of capital, he explores how historical violence tempers the resilience of human nature and the possibility of reconciliation...

“The work reconstructs folk memory with multi-line narratives, and is very ingenious in its textual research on historical details. Some chapters show an astonishing narrative density…”

As Gu Zao was speaking, Shi Tonghe's expression became more and more strange.

Wang Zhongxing looked at him several times, as if waiting for him to interrupt, but Shi Tonghe said nothing in the end.

Gu Zao's speech was different from what he expected. He thought that this young writer should be smart enough to hear the profound meaning behind Shi Tonghe's words.

He was also chosen by Shi Tonghe to give the opening remarks, but from his introduction, it seemed that he had a very high opinion of "Fire in the Stone".

The opening was off track and did not conform to Mr. Shi's intention, so Wang Zhongxing kept looking sideways at Shi Tonghe.

Shi Tonghe is as still as a mountain.

Gu Zao continued:
"Wang Zixu is a young, new author. New authors tend to be immature when handling grand historical themes.

“For example, in this book, there are problems such as minor characters being stereotyped and some twists and turns relying on coincidences.

“But we need to note that these problems are not serious, even if they exist, because the advantages are large enough to cover the disadvantages.

"In any case, this subject matter and structure are extremely difficult and challenging. It is a writing style that has never been challenged in the history of our country's literature, or even in the history of human literature. The author's ambition should be affirmed..."

"That's enough." Shi Tonghe suddenly interrupted Gu Zao, "Now is the introduction session. Your personal appreciation can be discussed freely later."

Gu Zao put down the materials expressionlessly: "I'm done."

Shi Tonghe picked up the celadon teacup, the emerald green liquid rippled, he blew twice, took a sip, and spit out the tea leaves. No one spoke in the room, only the sound coming from Shi Tonghe's lips could be heard.

To those who didn't know the inside story, Gu Zao's speech didn't sound anything special, but to Wang Zhongxing, it sounded like a direct counter-attack to him.

Before the seminar, Wang Zhongxing wrote an article titled "A Brief Review of the Chinese Version of One Hundred Years of Solitude", which had already started with Wang Zixu's age and qualifications and thoroughly criticized Fire in the Stone.

In Gu Zao's speech, he also said that "Wang Zixu is a new writer" and repeated the problems pointed out by Wang Zhongxing, but then he changed the subject and made the judgment that "the flaws do not outweigh the merits".

He even pointed out a key point: before Fire in the Stone, no one in human history had ever written in this form. Wang Zhongxing's statement that he "wrote a bad subject" was self-defeating.

To "write a subject badly", the subject itself must exist and someone must write about it. No one has ever written about it this way, and it is extremely difficult. So who are you to blame the writer for wasting this subject?
Gu Zao spoke first and took the initiative, which undoubtedly helped a lot. Wang Zhongxing could not make a fuss about this point afterwards.

Even if he brought out the views in his review and stated them again, not only would their persuasiveness be weak, but Gu Zao would not have to refute them face to face and offend them.

They are all smart people.

An Younan said leisurely in Duan Xiaosang's earphones:

"This Gu Zao, he didn't say a word yesterday, but today he rushed to help Wang Zixu. He is also a fool."

After saying that, she thought for a moment and corrected her words: "It wasn't like they didn't say anything yesterday. Maybe Eileen Chang is really pregnant with Kafka's child."

She had finally brought two people together yesterday, but one refused to ask for help and the other wanted to show off, so they didn't establish any friendship at all.

As a result, when they arrived at the scene today, Gu Zao actually tacitly helped Wang Zixu cover up, which was like the style of ancient knights - you don't have to say anything, I will help you, no need to be verbose.

Lu Qingxuan stood at the door and eavesdropped. She quietly slipped out and took out her cell phone. There was a message from Ning Chunyan on the other end:

"How about it?"

Lu Qingxuan raised his head to think, then lowered his head to type: "It seems... okay?"

"What do you mean okay?"

"Gu Zao gave a pretty high evaluation, but unfortunately Shi Tonghe interrupted him halfway through."

Ning Chunyan seemed very happy: "Beautiful. Shi Tonghe is becoming more and more shameless!"

In the meeting room, Shi Tonghe finished his tea and said:
"Then let's start the free criticism. Editor-in-Chief Li, as the inviter, do you have any comments on this work?"

Li Minyang waved his hand and said, "I won't comment on it."

Shi Tonghe glanced at Zhong Junmin again. He had previously said that he would not speak, so he simply ignored the question and said to Kong Huaifang beside him:

"Teacher Kong, let's start with you."

"Cough cough."

Kong Huaifang cleared his throat and unfolded his materials.

From the moment he coughed, Wang Zixu had a bad feeling in his heart, and Kong Huaifang's speech confirmed this.

“We would like to thank Gu Zao for introducing this work to us and for his comments.

“It is indeed as he said, it is extremely difficult to create with this kind of subject matter and style. He suggested that we need to affirm this kind of literary ambition.

"But what I want to point out is, should we affirm ambition as long as it is there? Should we praise it as long as it challenges difficult themes?
“The answer is obviously: no.

“Imagine a child putting his hands on the fire to roast. He certainly wants to explore the mysteries of the world. Perhaps in time, he will learn profound scientific principles from the burst of light and heat.

"But when he reached out to touch the flame, what we should have done was obviously not to encourage his ambition and thirst for knowledge, but to shout: No! and stop him immediately!
"My opinion on the work "Fire in the Stone" is that we should immediately shout: No! And then stop the author!"

After saying that, Kong Huaifang shot a sharp look at the prince, with a sinister cold light flickering in and out, like a sticky and wet jungle python.

(End of this chapter)