The professor felt a chill run from his feet to the top of his head. He snorted coldly, suppressing his shock, and demanded sharply of Xu Kuo, "Did you hear me? Get out of here now!"
Wenwen was even more confused now. She blinked her big eyes and asked the professor in bewilderment, "Professor, what's wrong with you? Why did you tell Brother Xu Kuo to get out?"
The professor was furious. Pointing at Xu Kuo, he gritted his teeth and said, "This shameless scoundrel actually impersonated the author of this textbook! It's utterly disgraceful!"
The onlookers glared at Xu Kuo again, and all sorts of harsh words rang out once more.
"He was a fraud! How shameless!"
"This kind of person should be dragged out and publicly criticized!"
"What are you all standing there for? Get him out of here right now!"
"Shut up!" Wenwen suddenly shouted, interrupting the clamor of the crowd. She walked in front of Xu Kuo, blocking the disdainful looks of the crowd, and said firmly, "This textbook was written by him! He is Brother Xu Kuo."
Everyone was stunned, staring at Wenwen in disbelief.
The professor stood there dumbfounded.
His voice trembled as he pointed at Wenwen and stammered, "Wenwen, you...you must be mistaken? Think about it again, did he really write this textbook?" He simply couldn't accept the fact that this textbook, which he found so amazing, was actually written by a country bumpkin he looked down upon.
"Xu Kuo is the one who wrote the textbooks." Wenwen's voice clearly reached everyone's ears.
The once bustling publishing house fell into an eerie silence. All eyes were on Wenwen.
Professor Li, in particular, felt a burning pain in his cheeks. Just moments before, he had confidently mocked Xu Kuo, saying he was a toad trying to eat swan meat and unworthy of writing textbooks.
But now, Wenwen has personally confirmed that the textbook he praised so highly was written by the "poor slacker" he looked down on.
Professor Li felt his throat go dry, and his lips trembled a few times, but no sound came out. He lowered his head in embarrassment, wishing he could disappear into the ground.
"Wenwen, you...you must have misremembered?" Professor Li still clung to the last glimmer of hope, wishing that this was just Wenwen's momentary lapse of memory.
Wenwen shook her head, her eyes clear and firm: "I remember it very clearly."
Professor Li's last glimmer of hope vanished. He sighed dejectedly, his face filled with shame. He slowly raised his head, looked at Xu Kuo, and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, Comrade Xu Kuo, I was blind to your greatness and misunderstood you."
Xu Kuo waved his hand dismissively, appearing nonchalant: "It's alright, ignorance is no excuse."
He turned to Professor Li and asked directly, "Professor Li, what exactly do you need me to do in this textbook writing project?"
Professor Li hurriedly called to the staff around him, "Quickly, quickly pour tea for Comrade Xu Kuo! No, brew the best Longjing tea!" He turned to Xu Kuo with a big smile and said, "Comrade Xu Kuo, we would like to ask you... to bring the manuscript of this textbook for rubbing, and to check if there are any problems."
"A rubbing of a manuscript?" Xu Kuo raised an eyebrow, a hint of doubt in his eyes. "This teaching material was written casually and is not formal. There are still many things missing in it."
"You just wrote it down casually?" Professor Li was so shocked he almost jumped up, staring at Xu Kuo in disbelief. "This... this is something you just wrote casually?"
This level of skill, this quality, and it was just something written casually? If he were to take it seriously, wouldn't he produce something amazing? Professor Li felt his worldview had been severely shaken.
He originally thought that this textbook was the pinnacle of English textbooks, but he never expected that it was just Xu Kuo's "draft"!
"Comrade Xu Kuo, you...you are truly amazing!" Professor Li was so excited that he was incoherent, and he no longer knew what words to use to describe his feelings at that moment.
Just then, a discordant voice broke in: "Hey Lao Li, aren't you overestimating him? It's just a textbook, how amazing can it be?"
The speaker was a tall, thin middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. His surname was Wang, and he was also an editor at the publishing house. He usually had a good relationship with Professor Li, but deep down he looked down on people from the countryside.
Professor Wang glanced at Xu Kuo, his eyes filled with disdain. He had long disliked this country bumpkin; a peasant like him, daring to write textbooks? It was utterly ridiculous!
He pulled a thick manuscript from his briefcase, slammed it on the table, and said proudly, "Old Li, what do you think of my textbook?"
This was an English textbook that Professor Wang had written long ago, intending to make a splash within the publishing house. Today, it came in handy. He believed that as soon as his textbook was published, Xu Kuo's "tattered junk" would be immediately outclassed.
Upon hearing the sound, everyone gathered around and began to look through Professor Wang's textbooks.
"Wow, Professor Wang's textbook is really well written!"
"Yes, it's well-organized and detailed; you can tell a lot of work has been put in!"
"This is much better than the previous one!"
Hearing the praise from the crowd, Professor Wang proudly raised his chin. He glanced at Xu Kuo and said sarcastically, "Old Li, I think you should just make copies of my textbooks directly. There's no need to waste time on some people's 'drafts'."
He deliberately emphasized the word "draft," his sarcasm evident in his words.
“Young man, don’t be so arrogant.” Professor Wang turned to Xu Kuo. “I’ve taken a quick look at your textbook, and there must be quite a few grammatical errors, right?”
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately echoed their agreement.
"Exactly, the young people are still too inexperienced!"
"Professor Wang is one of the best writers at our publishing house. His textbooks are definitely much better than this country bumpkin's!"
"I think this kid is just jealous of Professor Wang and is desperate to show off!"
Professor Li also felt that Professor Wang's textbook was better, after all, Professor Wang was a professional, and this textbook did indeed look more systematic and complete. He nodded and was about to speak when Xu Kuo interrupted him.
"etc!"
Xu Kuo took Professor Wang's textbook, flipped through a few pages casually, and suddenly laughed.
That smile left everyone present feeling utterly bewildered.
Professor Li frowned and asked, puzzled, "Comrade Xu Kuo, what are you laughing at?"
Xu Kuo closed the textbook, looked up, and stared intently at Professor Wang. He said, word by word, "Professor Wang, your textbook is full of grammatical errors. It's simply misleading students!"
"What?!" Professor Wang jumped up in shock, pointing at Xu Kuo's nose and angrily rebuking him, "You're talking nonsense! You're slandering me! This textbook is the result of my painstaking efforts, written over countless days and nights! How could it possibly have any errors?"
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