This unexpected face to face made Wang Zixu feel dizzy for a moment, and he felt the blood rush to his face.

Surprisingly, Chen Qingluo's face at the door was also red. The two looked at each other, and time froze for ten seconds. Wang Zixu felt as if he had just woken up from a dream.

"Ah, it's you."

"Yeah." Chen Qingluo said in a small voice from her nose, "Let me in, a good dog won't block the way."

Wang Zixu suddenly went back to ten years ago, and found himself in that bustling classroom, with his legs spread like a flood dam, completely blocking the distance between the two desks.

"A good dog doesn't block the way, let me in!"

At that time, Chen Qingluo also said the same thing.

He will next say, you are awesome, jump over my head.

So Chen Qingluo said, I'm not Liu Xiang, how can I jump over? Come on, lower your head and I'll step over.

The world of mortals was turned upside down, and time was reversed. Wang Zixu returned to the dusty magazine office, standing in front of Chen Qingluo without making a sound.

If he was still young, he would be able to say teasing words to her without shame, but now that he is a grown man, those words seem too childish.

He moved away clumsily, and Chen Qingluo walked past him haughtily.

Wang Zixu held out the manuscript in his hand: "Your new work?"

"Um."

Chen Qingluo took the manuscript, smoothed her skirt and sat down in front of the editor's desk, her back straightened too straight.

"It's very well written." Wang Zixu scratched his face in embarrassment, "I haven't noticed it yet. Your writing style is so easy to recognize. Logically speaking, I should be able to spot it at a glance."

Chen Qingluo looked at him: "How many of my books have you read before you can recognize my writing style?"

"Seen it all."

"Um?"

"You have read everything that has been published," Wang Zixu said. "There may be some short stories published in places I don't know about that I have not read. I have read all the novels and short story collections as long as they have been published in books."

Chen Qingluo pursed her lips and wanted to smile: "It cost you so much, why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have sent you a signed book."

Wang Zixu said: "Earlier, I didn't know you still remembered me."

After saying that, he regretted it. Chen Qingluo stopped talking, and he stopped talking.

For both of them, this is an untouchable topic.

Chen Qingluo cleared her throat for a long time, as if to cover up her embarrassment. After a while, she asked: "I seem to have heard that there is such a thing, but I'm not sure - you wrote a new article recently.

Are you going to take your work to participate in some competition?"

Wang Zixun nodded: "Yes, I am going to take it to participate in the Feishi Literary Award."

"Oh, I didn't get this award when I became famous, so I didn't have much impression."

Wang Zixu: "..."

Chen Qingluo glanced at him sideways: "I'm a little interested, please show me the manuscript."

Wang Zixu said: "There are too many manuscripts and they are too heavy. I didn't bring the paper version with me. Will you come back tomorrow? If you come back tomorrow, I will bring it to you."

"No, you brought the electronic version, right?"

"Oh, I brought it."

"Bring it here." Chen Qingluo stretched out her hand and showed him her lovely palm prints.

Wang Zixu sent the manuscript to him via email. Chen Qingluo downloaded it and started reading it without saying a word. Wang Zixu suddenly broke into sweat——

He thought that Chen Qingluo was just being polite when she said she wanted to see him, but he didn't expect that she would immediately demand execution, which made him feel a little bit pained by being publicly executed.

Chen Qingluo's eyes scanned and she read very carefully. Only the sound of birds and no human words could be heard in the room.

Wang Zixu sat blankly, suddenly feeling very happy, and suddenly thinking that this seemed to be the first time in his life that he and Chen Qingluo were alone in a space.

After he savored this comfortable time for a while, there was a sound at the door. Ning Chunyan opened the door and walked in. She saw him at first sight and said, "Wow, you came so early again." Then she saw Chen Qingluo at the second time and said louder:

"Wow! You're actually here too!"

Ning Chunyan came over, Xiaoniao stood beside Chen Qingluo and asked softly: "Whose manuscript are you reading?"

Chen Qingluo naturally said nothing, and Wang Zixu kindly answered for her: "Read my manuscript."

"Is she watching your Chinese version of One Hundred Years of Solitude?"

"Um."

"By the way, have you handed your manuscript to the editor of "Ancient City"? Why haven't you heard from it for so long?"

Ning Chunyan's unintentional words aroused the worry in Wang Zixu's heart: "I handed it over, and they kept telling me that they were still in trial, or they told me to wait for news. Sigh."

Wang Zixu sighed, and Ning Chunyan also became anxious. He frowned and said, "Oh no, is this really Shi Tonghe's trick?"

Wang Zixu shook his head: "I thought so at first, but I later checked that the editor Hao who contacted me was really a well-known editor. He was very confident that he would be published. Shi Tonghe specially mobilized this level of connections just to do something.

Let me ask, is he sick? If word spreads, won’t people laugh at him?”

Ning Chunyan said: "I know Bian Hao too, he is indeed very famous. However, this is the truth, but..."

Wang Zixu added: "Besides, what's the use of him suppressing my manuscript? The only rule is that you can't submit more than one manuscript within a month. If he doesn't reply, I will submit it to another company. It's reasonable for me."

Ning Chunyan said: "But it's only been a month, and your Fei Shi deadline is coming soon, and the time will be very tight."

"Of course, this is just the worst-case scenario, and I can't really wait for a month."

Ning Chunyan frowned and thought for a while, then clasped his fingers and said, "But this doesn't make sense. Look, if Shi Tonghe said it, if he really recommended it, why did "The Ancient City" go through such a long process without giving an accurate word?

"

Wang Zixu raised his head and thought, indeed, he couldn't figure out what they wanted to do.

Ning Chunyan slapped her thigh: "Oh no, they got your manuscript and wanted to plagiarize it, right?"

"How dare they!" Chen Qingluo, who had been reading seriously, suddenly spoke, "Copyright is so strict now. If they dare to plagiarize, they will be seen in court, which will ruin their reputation."

Wang Zixu said: "The three versions of my manuscript were all stamped and mailed to me. There were also emails exchanged with timestamps. If they want to plagiarize, I have enough evidence in my hand."

Ning Chunyan felt a little relieved: "I didn't expect that you still have a sense of self-protection."

“It’s essential to be on guard against others.”

Chen Qingluo finally broke away from the computer screen, frowned and said to them:

"I've finished watching the first part. This quality is more than enough than the previous "Ancient City". It's impossible for there to be no response so late. They must have been stuck due to off-site factors."

Ning Chunyan looked at Chen Qingluo, admiring her spontaneously.

Whenever such occasions occur, Chen Qingluo can always give her opinions categorically, and her opinions are always based on the quality of literature itself, which is very convincing.

Chen Qingluo said to Wang Zixu in a commanding tone: "Tell me in detail what happened when you met with Bian Hao, what words were said, his expression, and all the details.

"

Wang Zixu thought about it for a while, and then began to speak.

If he was asked to do anything else, he really couldn't do it. He only had a good memory, so he told everything that happened that day.

He first started talking about Editor Hao being late, talking about how he ordered the food (Chen Qingluo curled her lips in disdain, this delicious guy was going to die), and then talked about how he spoke after reading his manuscript.

At this point, Chen Qingluo frowned: "He said, 'You are still worried about the issue of publication.' Are you sure he used a rhetorical question?"

Wang Zixu said: "Yes, what's wrong?"

Chen Qingluo said: "Isn't this still inaccurate?"

Wang Zixu said: "I asked him if he could be published, and what he said at the time was, 'Are you still worried about publishing the recommendation recommended by Chairman Shi?' From the context, it was guaranteed."

Chen Qingluo sighed, as if she disliked his naivety:

"If you encounter a similar situation in the future, whenever the other party responds to you with rhetorical questions, hints, or insinuations, you have to ask, what exactly is going on? You must force him to use a declarative statement to guarantee it, otherwise it will not count."

Wang Zixu was stunned for a moment: "Is it that serious?"

"It's so serious," Chen Qingluo shook her head and sighed, "This is all my own fault. I learned the lessons of blood and tears. Forget it, I won't talk about it anymore."

Wang Zixu wanted to ask her what happened, but it was not the time at this time, so he kept his mouth shut.

"In short, this does not guarantee that you can publish it. At least this point is doubtful. You can continue."

Wang Zixu talked about the content of their chat again, and Chen Qingluo frowned again and said: "Looking at it from this, the situation of "The Ancient City" is getting worse."

Wang Zixu asked: "How can we see it?"

"He said that they generally don't submit articles now, but only invite them," Chen Qingluo said, "This is an unhealthy sign for the magazine!"

"Why?"

"Literary magazines need editors to establish flesh-and-blood connections and emotional communication with readers. Submissions from authors are also a form of communication. They don't read the submissions because the quality of the submissions is too poor. This is also because the manuscripts they publish do not touch their readers.

, a two-way cycle has not been established. They have cut off the contact with readers in this way, and they are all commissioned. How can it run healthily?"

Wang Zixu nodded: "But they have a lot of requests for manuscripts, so maybe the space is really tight."

Chen Qingluo still shook her head: "The lack of space is not a reason not to read the submissions. Moreover, they are all by invitation. In the short term, the quality of the articles is high, but in the long run, the readership will shrink more and more, and eventually readers will shelve them and close themselves off."
To be continued...