Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

Chapter 512 Seriously?
The next day, after one o'clock in the afternoon, the four people who played cards last night finally woke up.

The latest to wake up was Mark Levi. Yu Dong smiled and asked him how the battle was going last night, whether he lost or won. He told Yu Dong that last night was fine, neither lost nor won.

Yu Dong asked him how he felt playing poker, and he said he didn't feel anything, but he talked about chatting with Bi Feiyu and the others.

"Several gentlemen are very interesting, especially Mr. Yu Hua, who speaks very meaningfully. It is my honor to play poker with them, and I hope to have such opportunities often in the future."

Yu Dong laughed and said, "As long as you meet them often, you will certainly have a lot of opportunities to play cards."

At first, Yu Dong thought that Mark Levi was able to protect his capital because he was a novice with good luck in the cards. Later, after Yu Hua and the others woke up, Yu Dong learned from them that Mark Levi was not just lucky. So simple.

They played cards until seven o'clock in the morning. At first, Mark Levy relied on luck, but after playing for a while, he could clearly feel that he was on the road, and later he played cards in a decent way.

Yu Dong also couldn't help but feel that Mark Levi is really smart, no matter what he learns very quickly, it's no wonder he is so bald.

……

In the afternoon, Yu Dong and the others were not in a hurry to leave. They planned to have fun in St. Malo for two days. Mark Levy was also very enthusiastic. He took Yu Dong and the others around and ate a lot of food. host.

Later, when Yu Dong and the others left from Paris, Mark Levi sent them to the airport. Before parting, he told Yu Dong very seriously that he would like to communicate with them in Chinese when they meet next time.

……

"You said, Mark Levi can really communicate with us in Chinese next time?"

While chatting on the plane, Yu Hua talked about Mark Levi's "big words" and asked Bi Feiyu and them with a smile.

Bi Feiyu smiled and replied: "It depends on when we meet next time, if there is still hope after two or three years."

Wang Shuo leaned his head on the porthole, "I don't think he can speak Chinese, but according to his talent in playing cards, it will be even more difficult to win money from him next time we meet. These days may be the only chance, but we missed it." .”

Mo Yan leaned on the other side and said, "Why do you always think about winning other people's money when you play poker? Playing poker is originally a matter of self-cultivation, but when you talk about it, it becomes a very philistine."

Hearing this, Wang Shuo sat up and looked at Mo Yan: "Mo Yan, this doesn't sound like what you said, it sounds like what Yu Dong or Su Tong said."

Yu Dong leaned on the back of the chair and closed his eyes to meditate. Hearing Wang Shuo's words, he opened his eyes to look at him, and then closed his eyes again.It's best to ignore Wang Shuo's mouth.

Yu Hua smiled and said, "I think what Mo Yan said is right. Playing cards is a matter of self-cultivation."

Wang Shuo snorted with his nose, "Heh, self-cultivation, you win the most money every time."

Talking about winning money, Yu Hua turned his head and looked out of the porthole: "Look, the clouds."

……

After Yu Dong and the others got off the plane in Yanjing, they were not in a hurry to return to Jinling. They finally came to Yanjing, so they naturally wanted to visit their acquaintances in Yanjing.

The most important thing is that they are going to see Mr. Wang Zengqi.

Since the beginning of this year, Yu Dong has been paying close attention to Mr. Wang's body, because he remembers that Mr. Wang passed away in the past two years.

Before they went to France, Wang Lang, the eldest son of Mr. Wang, told them that his father was not in good health recently, and his spirit was getting worse and worse, especially his appetite became worse and worse.

The main reason is that the old man loves to drink too much. Although he was diagnosed with liver cancer, he still has no way to quit alcohol. When he sees Wuliangye, he will not only drink half a bottle, but also drink three or four liang.

When Yu Dong and the others came to Yanjing to participate in the representative meeting, they also met Mr. Wang. That time, Mr. Wang was in high spirits. He drank wine and danced two songs, and his steps were fairly vigorous.

It's only been a few months, and the body has deteriorated to this point.

This time Yu Dong and the others came to Yanjing, just to see the old man.

It was still Pu Huangyu's old house. When Yu Dong and the others went, besides Wang Zengqi and his wife, their eldest son Wang Lang was also there.

Wang Lang was in his forties and worked at the news outlet. When he saw Yu Dong and the others, he was very enthusiastic, "The old man always misses you, but he finally brought you here. I can relax when you come. "

At this time, Shi Songqing came out with a tray of teacups, and scolded his son, "What's so relaxing? Pour water for the guests."

Wang Lang smiled and said, "I'm just kidding, it's really easy."

Yu Dong and the others smiled and said a few polite words, then ran to say hello to Wang Zengqi.

Compared to the last time we met, the old gentleman was much thinner. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, sitting at the desk with his hands crossed in front of him.

"You are here."

The old man made a gesture to get up, but Yu Dong and the others quickly said, "Don't, don't, just sit and talk."

Wang Zengqi didn't get up again, he smiled and said, "I heard from Wang Lang, you just came back from France?"

"Well, I went to a literary festival."

"It's a good thing." Wang Zengqi nodded, and seeing that there was someone hiding behind Yu Dong, he turned his head to look.

Yu Dong gave way cooperatively, revealing Wang Shuo behind him.

Wang Zengqi smiled and said, "It's you, Wang Shuo."

Wang Shuo touched his head and smiled, "Long time no see, Mr. Wang."

"I haven't seen you for a long time. The last time we met was in Qiongzhou. It will take three years..."

"four years ago."

"Young people have a good memory." Wang Zengqi said with a smile: "I still remember that pen meeting, I went with Songqing, and the deepest impression is that we bought a jackfruit at that time, and recited it with great pains. When I came to Yanjing, I cut it open but found that I couldn’t eat it. It’s a waste of effort all the way... Well, was Su Tong there at that time?"

Su Tong smiled and nodded: "You have a good memory. I did go there, and Ye Zhaoyan, Ge Fei and the others... Yu Dong was also invited, but he didn't go."

"Is there such a thing?" Yu Dong looked puzzled, he had no impression at all.

"I did mention it to you, but I was busy at that time, so I didn't pay attention to me at all."

"What was I doing at the time?"

"I remember." Bi Feiyu said: "At that time, you retreated all day for "Xiangxi", let alone going to Qiongzhou to participate in the pen meeting. At that time, a group of us spent a lot of effort to let you go out to let the wind go. .”

Yu Dong patted his forehead, "That's what happened, I remembered."

Not long after the start of school at that time, he was thinking about how to write "Xiang Xi" every day, and he didn't write the beginning after writing for a month. Later, Liu Changmin and the others became anxious and dragged him out of the single dormitory. I went out and strolled around Gulin Park.

I still remember that he told a "bowl of shit" joke at the time, and he felt much better after he said it.

Unexpectedly, Su Tong went to Qiongzhou and met Wang Zengqi and Wang Shuo.

Wang Zengqi looked at Yu Dong, and asked about the new book: "Your new book has caused a lot of noise before it came out. Wang Lang told me that people from all walks of life paid attention to it, and it made me interested. A few days ago, I feel that my body is not quite right, and I will not be able to hold on at any time, and thinking that I haven't seen your new book yet, I decided to try my best to hold on, at least until your new book comes out."

As soon as the old gentleman said this, the atmosphere in the room suddenly dropped to freezing point, and no one knew what to say.

Yu Dong was also taken aback, he didn't expect Mr. Wang to pay so much attention to his new book, he was moved but also a little uncomfortable.

Seeing that they were silent, Wang Zengqi suddenly burst into laughter: "Really?"

……

"Old man, you like to joke, look at Yu Dong and the others."

Wang Lang came over with tea and handed Yu Dong and the others a cup.

Wang Zengqi smiled and waved his hand: "Just kidding, kidding, don't take it seriously. But I remember one thing, last time Xu Yudong told you that he wanted to write a preface for your new book, but he didn't do it at that time. Can I be used for this new book? "

Yu Dong said quickly: "If it is possible, it would be a great honor."

"Since we are going to write a preface, it is natural to see the manuscript before publication, right?" Wang Zengqi said with a smile.

Yu Dong nodded: "Of course, if you want to see it, I'll have someone send it over later."

Deep Space has an office in Yanjing, and there are quite a few people there. It is naturally not difficult to ask them to send a manuscript.

Everyone chatted for a while, Yu Dong and the others were about to get up and leave, but they were left for lunch by the Wang family.

Knowing that Yu Dong and the others were coming today, the meal was very sumptuously prepared, and a Gaoyou Drunken Crab was also served. During the meal, Mr. Wang kept saying that if it wasn't for the good times, he wouldn't be able to eat this delicacy at all.

During the meal, Teacher Shi told Mr. Wang to only have one drink.

The glass was very small, and the full glass was only six or seven dollars. Of course, it couldn't satisfy Mr. Wang's alcohol addiction, so while his wife was serving dumplings, he secretly added a small glass for himself, and Yu Dong and the others Can't stop it.

And when he secretly added wine, his expression was like a child doing a small bad thing behind his back, full of secret joy.

Teacher Shi heard Yu Dong's voice of persuasion, and turned her head to catch Wang Zengqi. She walked quickly with the dumplings, and Mr. Wang had already taken two sips from the wine glass, and there was only half of the glass left. .

There was nothing he could do about it, Teacher Shi raised his hand, finally patted Mr. Wang on the shoulder, and complained helplessly.

Yu Dong and the others found it interesting, but sad. Teacher Shi didn't know that Mr. Wang was good at wine. If he didn't have wine, it would be meaningless to live a long life.

……

When they left Wang's house, Yu Dong and the others were all dizzy without exception.

When the car took them to the hotel, Yu Dong endured his drunkenness and drowsiness, and first called his colleagues at Shenkong, asking them to send the manuscript of "Old Book" to Mr. Wang, and send some gifts along the way.

After exhorting, Yu Dong lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. He had been flying back and forth for the past few days, even if he was often jet-lagged, and he was extremely tired. Coupled with the urging of the drink at noon, he couldn't bear it at all.

After sleeping until night, they went to Hu Yueming's house and had another meal.

In the afternoon of the next day, Yu Dong and the others started to rush to Jinling. Before leaving, they received a call from Mr. Wang.

On the phone, Mr. Wang praised Yu Dong's new book earnestly, saying that the style of his work this time is quite different from the previous ones, the brushwork is smart and elegant, and the love in it is even more touching.

The love between Chang Huaiying and his wife also reminded him of his experience with Shi Songqing, there are many similarities.

Mr. Wang also said that he would write the preface of this novel tonight.

Yu Dong was naturally happy to be appreciated by Mr. Wang, and he did not forget to care for the old man's body, so that the old man must not consume too much energy, and there is no need to rush to write the preface, Mr. Wang agreed with a smile.

But Yu Dong never expected that this would be the last conversation between him and Wang Zengqi.

At ten o'clock that night, Yu Dong and the others were still on the train back to Jinling, Mo Yan and the others were playing cards in the lower berth, and Yu Dong who was reading in the upper berth suddenly received a call from Wang Lang.

After the call was connected, Wang Lang was silent for a while before speaking: "The old man is gone."

Yu Dong clutched his phone, completely dumbfounded.

Mo Yan and the others also stopped playing cards, and Qiqi looked up at the upper bunk with questioning eyes.

After a while, Yu Dong replied in a hoarse voice: "I see, you must be very busy at the moment, don't worry about us, we will arrange it ourselves."

After hanging up the phone, Yu Hua frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

"Mr. Wang is gone."

In fact, Mo Yan and the others realized this possibility when they saw Yu Dong answering the phone just now, but now that Yu Dong finished talking to them, they still couldn't help their noses sore.

Yesterday they were still drinking and eating together, talking about life, but today they are gone.

"What should we do now?" Bi Feiyu asked.

Yu Dong sighed: "Turn back, and give the old man a ride. Let's get off at the next stop, Quancheng, and I will arrange the car back to Yanjing."

Afterwards, Yu Dong was busy calling someone to arrange a car back to Yanjing, and the others sat silent for a while.When Yu Dong came back from the arrangements, Yu Hua sighed, "Things are impermanent."

Bi Feiyu nodded: "Although yesterday I saw that his condition was not as good as before, but..."

Bi Feiyu didn't say what happened next, but everyone understood.

But I didn't expect it to go so fast.

He even had a phone call with Yu Dong in the afternoon.On the phone, it took 10 minutes just to talk about the romantic past between him and Teacher Shi, and he was surprisingly in good spirits.

"What's the specific situation?" Mo Yan asked.

Yu Dong shook his head, "Wang Lang is also busy, so he didn't elaborate, let's talk about it when we meet."

Then there was a long silence. Everyone didn't know what to say, and they didn't dare to look at each other. They were afraid that the other party would see their red eyes, and they were afraid that if they said a few more words, they would feel even more uncomfortable.

Later, when they arrived at Quancheng Station, several people got off the car ahead of time and got in the car arranged by Yu Dong to hurry towards Yanjing.

When we arrived in Yanjing, it was late at night, and Mr. Wang had already put on his makeup and sent him into the ice coffin. Yu Dong and the others took a look through the glass of the ice coffin.

For some reason, Yu Dong remembered Mr. Wang joking the day before yesterday, and a thought came to his mind. Maybe Mr. Wang would suddenly sit up and smile slyly at them: "Haha, are you serious?"

(End of this chapter)