Chapter 251: The Lower Court President, a Late Bloomer
Director Shen heard about my deduction and said he would make tea.
We swapped places.
I said: "Last time, you thought about the word 'Central' again. This time, you'll still use the same word, but with a different method."
"How about a different approach?" he asked.
I didn't answer him, but pressed the bell and the waiter came in after a while.
I said to her, "Go find a book and bring it over. Just bring a piece of paper and a pen."
"What book?"
"Anything, as long as it's a book."
In order to show off their scholarly atmosphere, some teahouses place a bookcase in the lobby with books inside. In some teahouses, not to mention having books, it is difficult to even find a piece of paper with words on it.
The waiter went away for a while and didn't come back.
I laughed and said, "I guess he went to buy some books."
Shen Chu sighed and said, "It's true that few people read nowadays. They're all just browsing their phones. My daughter, for example, hardly reads anymore. It's a worrying thing for young people."
"I still read. I always feel that the things on my phone are unreliable. A formal book must at least pass the first, second and third review before it can be published. Typos are basically eliminated. Online articles are full of typos."
As I was talking, the waiter came in, put down his paper and pen, handed me the book, and said with an apologetic look and a red face, "We don't have many books here, just this one, 'The Twelve Flavors of Tea and Zen'."
I nodded and the waiter retreated.
I flipped through the book. It was very thin, with each page consisting of a sentence or paragraph, arranged like a prose poem. There were only 127 pages in total, so I said:
"Since your question is so random, let's just randomly test a word. Within 127 pages, tell us the page number, the line number, and the word number, and we'll test it."
Director Shen was hesitating, and I said, "Hurry up."
He said, "Page 108, last line... second to last word."
I opened it and he leaned over to read it. The sentence was: The meeting between people is destined by past and present lives, and it is the encounter between people and tea.
I said, "The second to last character is the character for 'encounter', right?"
He looked at it several times and said, "Yes."
I said, "This word can be analyzed into four parts." Then I wrote on the paper: horn + knife + ox + walk.
"The four parts can also be said to represent four turning points. The horns represent competition, the knife represents struggle, and the ox represents someone rising up. It's called the Ox Man, and the moving ox represents someone being transferred."
Then, I helped him deduce the possible process in detail and said, "This character also contains the character 'Ding'."
Shen Chu asked, "Where is the T-shaped mark?"
I pointed to the character "邂逅" and said, "It implies the analogy of Ding butchering an ox. So, the first game is when Ding is in the top position, the fourth game is when Ding walks (walks away), and the two games in between are a struggle. Please keep in touch with me when the time comes."
I also told him how to deal with any situation.
Director Shen nodded repeatedly.
Finally, I said, "That's all I can say. As for whether this process will be confirmed or if there are any related details, please inform me promptly."
Shen Chu stood up and said, "It's so late, I'll take you there."
After getting on the bus, Shangzhou City was ablaze with stars. There were night snack stalls everywhere.
Director Shen accompanied me to the underground garage and gave me a gift bag.
I didn't refuse or say anything. I walked to the elevator, pressed the button, and the elevator went straight to the 17th floor.
I returned to my room, took a shower, and took out a copy of Yi Shu to read.
At this time, President Song called and said, "Shanhong, you haven't slept yet, right?"
"President, not yet. I'm a night owl."
"I thought you weren't asleep either, so I called you. Here's the thing, didn't I bring a few people to your place last time? Remember?"
"Of course I remember. The president's friends are my friends."
"Among them, there's a young man named Liu. He wanted to have his fortune told, but you said you didn't. He's been coming to me a lot these days, wanting to know why you didn't tell him."
I laughed and said, "Some things are hard to say in public, so I didn't test him."
"Then could you tell me and I'll relay it to him?"
"No. Some things can only be said between two people."
President Song hesitated for a moment and said, "I'll ask him to call you and talk to you directly. Is that okay?"
"Can."
About five minutes later, Writer Liu called. He exchanged a few polite words before asking, "I'm a full-time writer. What do you think of taking a 'writing' test?"
He reminded me because he was afraid that I would forget about it.
I said, "The radical on top of the character '寫' represents 家 (home), which is what we call a treasure roof. The radical below it is '与' (with), which represents giving by others.
The connection between the two means that if you want to write full-time, you'll end up relying on your family for support. Writing online novels seems easy, but it's actually not. If it were easy, wouldn't everyone be writing?
"What if it's the traditional Chinese character for 'write'?"
"The font you use depends on the era. If it was before simplified Chinese characters, I would use traditional Chinese characters to help you measure it.
Everything is inseparable from the context of the times. If you're planning to become the top scholar in Beijing, I can also help you with this test. In traditional Chinese writing, the character below is pronounced "希," meaning to place or move.
Together, it means to arrange things at home and move things. The overall meaning is: Sir, please don’t go to Beijing to take the exam for the time being, but come back home and do some housework.
After hearing this, he burst into laughter.
I said, "My friend, I support you writing. I can tell you're a talented writer, but I don't support you writing full-time. I believe you'll have a bright future."
"Teacher Wan, how did you know that?"
"You have a long lower face and a round chin. You are a late bloomer and will be blessed with good fortune later in life. As a person, one should not be impatient. If the heat is not right, the same seasoning will not make the dish taste good. When the time is right, even a lump of iron will turn into gold.
I'm going to give a talk about 'Li Huo Yun' in a few days. When I do, I'll send you the manuscript, and you'll know I'm a responsible person. You're almost thirty, so you must plan carefully before making any decisions."
He said, "Okay, okay, I'll wait to read your speech. I'll add you on WeChat now."
I sat down and carefully revised the lecture notes on "Lihuoyun".
Make it simpler, simpler, simpler, and more accessible. It must be easy to understand and profound. I kept revising until midnight.
If you speak too superficially, people will say you're ignorant. If you speak too deeply, people won't understand. This reminds me of a joke Lao Xiao once told: men must "explain in simple terms." Women must "repay a drop of kindness with a spring of water."
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
