First update
"Yuan Qun? Who is this? I am not..." Gu Cheng frowned. He hated being looked at with such "fanatic" eyes. This was different from the way officers and soldiers looked at him. Those eyes were eager and bright, while the eyes of these people around him were like those of a gorilla in a zoo.
"No? Then you must be a poet too?"
Gu Cheng said calmly: "Yes."
The person who asked the question's eyes lit up: "I want to read your masterpiece!"
"I refuse." Gu Cheng crossed his arms and said, "My works are only for those who are destined to see them."
Gu Cheng's refusal was very blunt, almost like saying "You are not the destined one, you have no chance to read my book". The person felt very lonely, but the look in her eyes when she looked at Gu Cheng became even more burning.
Oh my god! What a unique poet!
"He will become a great poet."
"My God, he has such a unique personality. I like his temper. I am the same. I hate it most when others point fingers at my works. I only read the poems I write to people who are destined to hear them."
…
Qin Yao: “…”
We have to admit that sometimes the hype of "personality" is more attractive than the "content" itself, just like when literary journals were flooded in the future, some editors asked their authors to create personalities, find a few handsome men and beautiful women, write some meaningless petty bourgeois life content, add some comics, and they would publish a book, which would still be bought by a bunch of naive middle school students.
If Gu Cheng had "debuted" in the literary circle in the early 2000s, he might have been able to create a few "high-end personalities" and become a best-selling author by writing some diary entries.
Gu Cheng leaned over and whispered in Qin Yao's ear: "Wife, these people are so annoying. They are like flies, all wanting to read my poems, but I only want to read my poems for you."
Qin Yao squinted her eyes: "You are secretly happy, right? Isn't it, Brother Anshuang?"
People who are introverted and reserved are often like this. Gu Cheng didn't want to come to this poetry reading at first, but now he can come to the poetry sharing session and pretend to be a "great poet". He doesn't know how happy he is psychologically.
"Qin Yao!" Xu Zhehua saw Qin Yao and his wife not far away and raised his hand to greet them.
Qin Yao turned around and called her. Xu Zhehua was wearing simple casual clothes, a very neutral outfit, looking like both a man and a woman. He was tall and had a hat on his head. His skin glowed in the sun.
Xu Zhehua came over and said a few words to Qin Yao. She said anxiously: "I can't say more to you now. I will go on stage later--"
As Xu Zhehua said this, he noticed Gu Cheng beside Qin Yao out of the corner of his eye. He thought he was a decadent and free-spirited male poet, but his appearance was too eye-catching and he didn't look like a good family man. Maybe he was very dissolute in his emotions.
She opened her mouth, wanting Qin Yao to be more careful. After all, Qin Yao had a family, and their passion for literature would easily spark some sparks.
Poetry gatherings have a rule that men and women cannot date each other, but many people are still attracted to each other in private.
Alas, how could she persuade him at this time? I just hope Qin Yao stays away from the male poets she met at the poetry meeting and doesn't go down a path of no return. What's more, most good-looking men are just empty talk.
Just like people like Yuan Qun, who is very famous and tall, even though he looks ordinary, he is already a "handsome man" among poets.
As for people like Gu Cheng, I have never seen such a person before, and he doesn’t look like someone with real talent or knowledge.
"Okay, then you go ahead and do your work. I'll look around by myself." Qin Yao said to her with a smile. She saw Xu Zhehua walk forward and come to a shorter man in black clothes. The two of them were talking and laughing, and seemed to be discussing the contents on the white draft paper.
The man in black was shorter than Xu Zhehua, had a round face, and long, greasy hair, which made him look a little sloppy. His hair stuck limply to his forehead. He was definitely not a man who cared about his image.
Qin Yao looked at this ordinary round face and felt that it seemed familiar, as if she had seen it there before.
Gu Cheng asked her quietly, "Are they also a couple?"
Qin Yao opened her eyes wide, and a flash of inspiration came into her mind, as if she had grasped something, but the truth could not emerge no matter what. She could only try hard to figure it out in her mind.
There was no way they were husband and wife, but it was no wonder that Gu Cheng said so. When Xu Zhehua chatted with the man in black, she no longer had the androgynous aura that was hard to tell whether she was male or female. Instead, she spoke with a surprisingly shy tone and flirted with the man.
If this man is not her husband, then he is——
Qin Yao's heart skipped a beat, and snowflakes flew in her head. The information that poured out swallowed her up like an avalanche. She finally remembered. No wonder she always felt that the name Xu Zhehua was very familiar. A female poet, she cheated on her husband, committed suicide, and was betrayed by a scumbag...
This round-faced man is not a good guy. He is a future famous male poet, Jin Hao. He had great literary talent but a poor character. He abused his original wife, cheated on him with three women, and a female poet committed suicide because of him. Even so, good people don't live long, but evil people leave their mark for thousands of years. Jin Hao, who was in his fifties or sixties, married a young girl in her early twenties and lived a comfortable retirement life.
At this time, Xu Zhehua had a family, and Jin Hao also had his own family. The two met at a poetry reading and developed an unexpected relationship. They both betrayed their families, and later the truth was exposed. Xu Zhehua couldn't stand the pressure and committed suicide.
Qin Yaot decided to persuade Xu Zhehua to stay away from the scumbag. This scumbag was not worthy of her. His talent and character could not be compared.
Xu Zhehua had already gone on stage to recite her poems, and Gu Cheng was listening nearby with Qin Yao. Everyone was respectful at this moment, and no one spoke in private. It was very quiet, and Gu Cheng and his wife did not speak either.
Gu Cheng noticed that Qin Yao looked absent-minded, as if she was not listening to the poem being read.
He himself is not interested in this kind of modern poetry, the pursuit of freedom, ideals, breaking free from the cage... He is now very satisfied with his life and has a deeper self-interpretation of freedom. Wherever he has his family, wife and children, that is his "freedom".
After listening to the poem for a while, the couple were both in a trance. After a while, when it was time to communicate, the people next to them began to talk in a intensive manner, like a swarm of bees buzzing out of a hive, or like a hornet's nest exploding.
Sun Yang found Qin Yao, walked over, and said provocatively: "Qin Yao, why don't you go up and read the poem you wrote? Let's see who is better."
Qin Yao said calmly: "I don't write poetry, and I'm not very interested in writing poetry. I just came here to take a look today. I prefer writing novels to writing poetry."
Sun Yang sneered: "Are you scared?"
"Boring." Qin Yao said unhappily, "Who do you think you are? I'm giving you face, but I've never claimed to be a poet. I'm the general manager and editor-in-chief of a journal. Our journal sold over a million copies last month. I have a lot of things to do, and I'm not interested in competing with you here."
"Don't rush to offend others. Do you think everyone will flatter you?"
Sun Yang snorted: "You are afraid after saying so much."
Qin Yao spoke slowly and calmly: "What am I afraid of? Are you a fool who doesn't understand what people say? Why are you biting around like a dog?"
"She doesn't write poetry, but you want to compete with her in poetry. Do you think your level is too low, so you are eager to compete with her? As expected, only the weak will want to challenge the strong." Gu Cheng said calmly from the side.
Qin Yao's words had already angered Sun Yang, and Gu Cheng's words added fuel to the fire. Sun Yang directed his anger at Gu Cheng: "Poetry gathering is not a place for you to flirt with others. Pay attention to the relationship between men and women. Don't be a hooligan or a pervert. You've fallen for her, haven't you? What a pity, she has a family."
Gu Cheng raised his eyebrows and said, "It's not a pity. My surname is Gu and I am her husband. Please stay away from her. Otherwise, don't blame me and my wife for bullying you."
Sun Yang was stunned for a moment. This handsome young man could be her husband. She laughed and said, "Qin Yao, you actually found a husband younger than you."
She thought that since Qin Yao could be an assistant and then editor-in-chief manager, she must be quite old, at least over 30, but she just looked young.
The man next to her, although he had an untidy beard, had bright eyes and white teeth. He did not have the yellow teeth and smell of cigarettes that middle-aged men have. He was probably still a young man pretending to be mature.
Unexpectedly, her words actually angered both Gu Cheng and Qin Yao.
Qin Yao has begun to doubt her life. Did Sun Yang say this on purpose?
Gu Cheng even felt that there was something wrong with the eyes of the woman in front of him. Qin Yao was obviously still in her twenties, but she said that he was younger than Qin Yao and lied with open eyes. She must be crazy.
"You need to go to the hospital to check your eyes. I'm forty."
Qin Yao: “…”
Sun Yang looked at Gu Cheng in disbelief. He is forty years old? Forty? This man is forty?
She knew many male poets and writers who were in their twenties and were used to smoking. Some of them smoked a pack of cigarettes every day. They had yellow teeth and their breath smelled of cigarettes. She thought that this was what a mature man should be like, so she forced herself to endure it.
It turns out that ordinary men are not like this. How can he still stay so young at the age of 40?
Skipping the episode about Sun Yang, seeing that the atmosphere here was not good, Lao Li and others came over. Lao Li wanted to ask Qin Yao for help, so he spoke up: "We have published a literary journal, can you think of a way to help us increase sales?"
Qin Yao shook her head and refused: "The public doesn't like to read these. What you write is just a carnival for a small number of people. But I can also help you with some things. For example, I can help you save some money with the relationship with the printing factory, and you can also print it in a formal way."
After hearing her words, Lao Li was overjoyed. Although Qin Yao did not agree to help, her words hit the pain point of their journal. Because there were no connections, the journal was printed in a mess, the quality was not high, and it was not presentable at all.
Yuan Qun is open-minded and thinks that as long as the content is good, nothing else matters. But Lao Li really wants to turn it into a business. He hopes that the seeds they have planted will bear fruit and that things will develop in a good direction.
"Comrade Qin Yao, thank you very much. I won't cause you any more trouble."
Qin Yao: "It's just a piece of cake."
Zhong Yueshan next to him joked, "As expected, if you become rich, don't forget each other. We have found a big ship."
“Haha.” Old Li laughed. “I just hope that one day I won’t die of hunger on the street.”
Qin Yao: "As long as you are willing to bend over backwards for a few dollars, come to me and I will accept the manuscript."
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