Chapter 104: Forcing Zhongyuan Yidianhui to Apologize?

Xi'an.

In a courtyard of considerable size and tranquil surroundings.

The old man, whose pen name is Huang Shuren, took the reading glasses handed to him by the housekeeper, put them on his face, picked up the newspaper from the coffee table, and frowned as he read.

As he read, his two thick eyebrows furrowed.

A moment later, he slapped the newspaper in his hand onto the coffee table beside him with a "pa!", angrily took off the glasses on his face, and roared: "That stinking brat dares to call me a fake and shoddy product? His audacity is too great! Does he even know how to respect his elders? Does he think that writing one vulgar novel about love makes him so arrogant? He simply doesn't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth!"

After cursing, he was still not appeased; with a face full of anger, he stood up and paced back and forth in the main hall.

Suddenly, his steps halted, and his gaze turned toward the telephone not far away.

A moment later, he dialed a number.

"Little Zhou! Help me check the number for the Huizhou Writers Association. Yes! Yes! Trouble you! Thank you!"

A moment later, he hung up the phone.

Immediately after, he dialed the contact number for the Huizhou Writers Association.

Huizhou Writers Association.

The door to Wang Rong's office was knocked upon.

"Come in!"

Before Wang Rong's voice had even faded, the office door was pushed open. A slender woman walked quickly into the office and said to Wang Rong, who had looked up in surprise: "Boss! Something's wrong. Huang Shuren just called, demanding that we pressure Zhongyuan Yidianhui to force Zhongyuan Yidianhui to publicly apologize to him; otherwise, he will not rest until he gets his way."

Wang Rong put down the prayer beads in his hand, his expression surprised. "Huang Shuren? Does he know that Zhongyuan Yidianhui is a member of our association?"

The woman's expression froze.

Wang Rong stared at her expression for a few seconds and helplessly asked: "Did he ask you if Zhongyuan Yidianhui is in our association, and then you said yes?"

The woman instinctively shook her head. "No! I, I didn't say that."

Wang Rong pressed his lips together and stared at her, just staring like that.

A moment later, the woman lowered her head and admitted her mistake. "Boss, I didn't mean to. He suddenly asked me that question; I didn't think much of it and casually admitted it."

Wang Rong: "..."

After a silence, Wang Rong said: "He wants us to pressure Zhongyuan Yidianhui?"

The woman nodded.

Wang Rong: "He wants Zhongyuan Yidianhui to publicly apologize to him?"

The woman nodded again. "Yes! He said if Zhongyuan Yidianhui doesn't apologize, he will not rest until he gets his way."

Wang Rong was speechless.

The woman whispered a reminder: "Boss, that Huang Shuren has considerable influence; many big shots in the Writers Association are his friends. If we don't satisfy him, he might hold a grudge against you; perhaps he will ruin your future later."

Wang Rong gave a derisive smile.

He casually picked up the prayer beads, playing with them as he laughed: "Are you trying to scare me? Let him go somewhere cool and stay there! He knows many big shots? Don't I know big shots? Huang Shuren... hasn't produced any decent work in so many years, and now he comes to show off his power to me? Tell him to get lost!"

The woman was stunned. "Boss, are you serious? Really telling him to get lost? He is Huang Shuren!"

Wang Rong chuckled lightly. "Huang Shuren is just Huang Shuren; he's not Zhou Shuren, so what's there to fear? He isn't even a member of our association. For the sake of one of his words, should I go and force Zhongyuan Yidianhui to apologize? He can't think clearly; does that mean I can't think clearly either?

Do you understand what 'bully the old but not the young' means?

Huang Shuren's era has already passed, while Zhongyuan Yidianhui's era has just begun. Should I, for the sake of an already faded old man, offend Zhongyuan Yidianhui who is at the height of his power? What are you thinking? Zhongyuan Yidianhui is so young, his temper is so fierce. If I go to pressure him, and he questions whether I am qualified to sit in this position, or if he publicly bombards me in the media, how would I handle myself? How could I command respect from the masses in the future?"

The woman listened, somewhat dumbfounded. "He dares to question you?"

Wang Rong: "Why wouldn't he dare? Huang Shuren, Li Mubai, Wang Gongjue, and that Gongyang Buyu, when they were criticizing him, they probably all thought he wouldn't dare to question or resist, right? And the result? Do you also want me to be scolded by him? That brat's popularity right now, which one of us old folks can compare to? At this time, whoever he scolds will be attacked by his book fans en masse and will surely end up with a dirty face; I don't want to provoke that brat."

Pausing for a moment, he added: "Besides, with that brat's achievements, he is qualified to join the provincial Writers Association and the national Writers Association. Should we go and pressure him? What are you thinking?"

At this moment, Huang Qingya, having heard the news, hurriedly arrived at the door of Wang Rong's office and raised her hand to knock on the open office door.

Huang Qingya walked quickly into the office, frowned, and asked: "Old Wang, I heard that our association is going to force Cao Sheng to apologize to Huang Shuren? Is this really true?"

Wang Rong looked at Huang Qingya in surprise.

The slender woman also looked at Huang Qingya.

Wang Rong waved his right hand and smiled: "It's not true! Qingya, you've come at just the right time; I was just preparing to ask you to buy some gifts to visit Cao Sheng! Representing our association, and also representing me, bring plenty of gifts, go see him, and tell him we know about the grievances he's suffered recently, to put his mind at ease; our association will forever be his strongest backing! Hmm, I happen to have a box of top-quality Houkui right here; here! It's on that bookshelf over there; you take it and give it to him!"

Huang Qingya was stunned; this was completely opposite to the news she had just heard from her colleagues.

The slender woman was also stunned, turning her face to look at Wang Rong, whose face was full of smiles.

She never expected that Wang Rong would not only fail to help Huang Shuren pressure Zhongyuan Yidianhui, but would instead want Huang Qingya to take gifts to offer comfort.

He even wanted her to take that box of Houkui with her.

That box of Houkui was not cheap.

If Huang Shuren found out about this, wouldn't Huang Shuren explode?

"Good! Then I'll thank you on his behalf."

Huang Qingya smiled, and after speaking, turned around to get that box of Houkui, then left with a cheerful smile.

She had long wanted to taste that box of Houkui.

Unfortunately, Old Wang had always been reluctant to part with it.

And today, her chance had arrived.

Cao Sheng would surely be willing to let her have a taste.

At worst, she would just agree to the position he wanted last time.

Huang Shuren waited for the return call from the Huizhou Writers Association.

On the phone, the woman who had answered earlier said: "Master Huang! Sorry, Zhongyuan Yidianhui has no contact telephone number; we cannot reach him. You'd better think of another way!"

Huang Shuren frowned. "Won't you go to his school to find him?"

The woman: "Sorry! No one in our association dares to go and force him to apologize."

Huang Shuren: "What? No one dares to go? Isn't he your member? Why are you afraid of him?"

The woman: "He's popular!"

Huang Shuren was furious. "Is he popular so he's great? Because he's popular, you don't dare to find him?"

The woman: "Uh, yes."

Huang Shuren: "What? What did you say? Yes?"

The woman: "Mm, yes."

Huang Shuren: "..."

Heavy breathing from Huang Shuren came through the phone; a moment later, he angrily cursed and hung up.

The thin woman put down the phone, her mouth corners rising uncontrollably.

She suddenly felt that making a famous writer like Huang Shuren suffer was somewhat satisfying.

Evening.

When Cao Sheng returned from school, he saw the courtyard gate slightly ajar. Pushing it open, he saw Huang Qingya's bicycle parked in the yard, while Huang Qingya was stir-frying vegetables in the kitchen.

He smelled the aroma of chili stir-fried pork liver, instantly stirring his appetite.