Chapter 350

"Mayflies bustle about and live for only a single day; isn't that just like us, bustling about for an entire lifetime?"

"We lament that mayflies live for only a day, but in the eyes of a higher dimension, don't we also live for just this fleeting instant?"

"Therefore, leaving a name for a hundred generations, or ten thousand generations of empty fame—it is all just empty fame. What is there to be concerned about?"

As she spoke, Jiang Fangzhou had already fixed her gaze directly on Ye Xuan.

Seeing Ye Xuan reveal a look of approval, her face flushed even redder, looking every bit the fan girl.

It wasn't just her; even Dou Wentao, acting as the quintessential fan boy, was equally immersed in Ye Xuan's words, unable to extricate himself, having already forgotten his duties as the host.

At this moment, only one thought remained in his mind.

This sentence had simply elevated the entire program to a new height once again.

A day, which is incomparably short in the eyes of humans, is a long lifetime in the eyes of a mayfly.

Compared to the infinite universe, a human life is incomparably short.

Then, compared to a mayfly, what difference is there?

A floating life is but a day; a mayfly's life is but an age!

Ye Xuan's few lighthearted words stirred the hearts of countless viewers.

"Hurry and write this sentence down in my notebook!"

"Damn! The more I recite it, the more I feel it makes sense. What do I do?"

"Indeed, the honors, rankings, titles, bonuses, and so-called wealth and fame we pursue—what meaning do they have in the vastness of time and space?"

"To answer the question from the front row, life itself has no meaning..."

"It has to be Ye Gouzi! This sentence can be called the finishing touch of the entire program!"

Accompanied by the line, "Sending a mayfly between heaven and earth, a tiny grain in the vast ocean," the number of online viewers surged past sixteen million.

Seeing that the live broadcast had already neared two hours, the program drew to a close amidst the reluctance of the other three guests.

Once the program ended, host Dou Wentao and the other two guests, Jiang Fangzhou and Liang Wen, followed closely behind Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan walked left, and the three walked left.

Ye Xuan walked right, and the three walked right.

When Ye Xuan turned back, the three of them spoke over one another, impatient and full of excitement.

"Meeting Mr. Ye this time was truly worth it!"

"In just a few short hours, I have truly gained so much. Hearing your words is better than reading books for ten years; the ancients did not deceive me!"

"Indeed, being able to invite Mr. Ye is simply our good fortune..."

Seeing the three of them chirping like sparrows out of a cage, Ye Xuan initially took their words as mere politeness.

But as he listened, Ye Xuan's eyes couldn't help but widen.

The realm of flattery truly belongs to the literati.

Others at least praise based on objective facts.

But the flattery of these literati has simply detached from objective reality.

They are directly using unbridled imagination to exert their subjective initiative?!

Just as Ye Xuan was being pulled by the three enthusiastic guests to have a meal, countless netizens were still discussing the viewpoints from the Round Table show.

Ye Xuan's golden quotes firmly occupied the Weibo trending list, with countless comments below.

Just as netizens were one by one recording Ye Xuan's classic remarks in their notebooks to recite repeatedly, a new entry quietly climbed onto the trending list.

[China Writers Association releases the new list of tentative admissions]

The China Writers Association, as the nation's top professional literary team, encompasses China's most outstanding writers and scholars.

Once the list was published, many netizens surfing the web immediately clicked on it.

Upon noticing the name Jia Qianqian on the list, many netizens were stunned at first, then realized who it was.

Isn't this the daughter of the literary titan Jia Pingwa?

Jia Pingwa is one of China's most famous writers.

In his prime, Jia Pingwa was called the number one person in the Chinese literary scene and was once evaluated as the existence closest to the Nobel Prize in Literature.

During his era, he was called a genius by his contemporaries, one of the few contemporary Chinese writers capable of entering world literary history.

And on the annual writers' rankings, Jia Pingwa has never fallen out of the top three, which is enough to show his household-name popularity.

As a current titan of the literary world, Jia Pingwa remains active and serves as a vice president of the Writers Association.

Now, seeing Jia Pingwa's daughter also joining the Writers Association, many netizens subconsciously assumed this was a heartwarming story of a father and daughter both becoming literary masters, and immediately searched for Jia Qianqian's literary works.

But after reading one poem after another by Jia Qianqian, many netizens who had clicked in with high expectations retreated with looks of disappointment.

"What the hell! Can poems like Jia Qianqian's even be published in a collection?!"

"We went to pee together, you peed a line, I peed a pit?! Sorry, nine years of compulsory education couldn't teach me to write such poetry!"

"This is called poetry? I feel like it insults the very word 'poetry'!"

"Damn! What the hell is her cucumber poem?! When lonely, a cucumber is undoubtedly the best in the world???? The scale of this..."

"We went to pee together, you peed on your shoes with the wind, I peed three yards against the wind?! Isn't this much more artistic than what Jia Qianqian wrote?"

The netizens' initial expectations all turned into intense disappointment.

Not to mention that Jia Qianqian's entire works are just lines broken by the enter key.

Just the fact that her poetry is full of shit, piss, and farts made countless netizens call it "heavy-handed."

Just as Jia Qianqian's poetry sparked more and more controversy, Jia Qianqian herself did not speak out; instead, a group of experts and scholars stood up.

Zhang Qinghua, a professor at the School of Literature at Beijing Normal University and a famous literary critic, was the first to speak on Weibo.

"Some people might write for a lifetime and never naturally approach poetry itself like Jia Qianqian; this is a natural blooming, stemming from her inherent cultivation."

The flattery from the great writer Dong Chuan followed closely behind.

"I think Jia Qianqian's poetry is particularly interesting; her reach into the world is very rich. A person normally has two hands and ten fingers, but reading her poetry, you can feel as if she has twenty hands..."

This wave after wave of flattery made countless netizens' jaws drop, and when poetry expert Rong Guang spoke up again, countless netizens almost doubted their own ears.

"Jia Qianqian joining the Writers Association is a very normal matter; the procedures are standard, and her works are qualified."

"Her poetry level is very excellent among contemporary female poets; she is even higher level than ordinary Writers Association members."

"Everyone's opinion of her comes from the fact that her father is Jia Pingwa, just like how we hate rich second generations; she is a literary second generation."

"Ordinary readers cannot appreciate such poetry because our aesthetic standards still need to be improved..."

Once this long-winded whitewashing statement came out, the netizens were no longer calm.

What the hell!

Literati cursing is truly sophisticated!

There wasn't a single dirty word in the whole piece, yet it was clearly pointing at the netizens' noses and cursing them!

First, it insulted the netizens' appreciation level for not being high enough.

Second, it insulted the netizens for looking at people through the colored glasses of "literary second generation."

Netizens who understood the subtext were directly enraged.

"What the hell, does this shit-and-piss poetry need appreciation? I'm nearsighted, but I'm not blind!"

"If I can write dozens of better ones in a day, does that mean everyone can join the Writers Association?"

"People who write toilet literature and commode literature can also join the Writers Association?!"

"Only now do I understand why 'poetry' and 'shit' sound the same!"

"If this can be called poetry, I'll write a masterpiece right now! I just feel that this writing and thought have dirtied my eyes!"

Just as countless netizens were filled with righteous indignation, more information about Jia Qianqian was dug up.