After marrying Tianhou, I suddenly became popular

Chapter 131 Necklace (Ask for a monthly pass at the beginning of the month)

the next few days.

Confucius Culture Publishing House began to conduct various publicity for the "Emperor of Short Stories" essay solicitation.

All the publicity channels, the available resources are absolutely unambiguous, and the momentum does not seem to be weaker than the four United Publishing Houses.

On the Internet, the discussion on the short story controversy is becoming more and more intense, and countless netizens have fierce quarrels on various platforms.

When the blizzard is approaching.

Li Xiaobai left school, returned to his study at home, and turned on the computer.

What about short stories?
Li Xiaobai already had the answer in his heart.

Chekhov!
O'Henry!
Maupassant!
Hemingway!
Or Mark Twain, Nova One!

Or Shen Congwen and Zhou Shuren who play trumpets everywhere!

There are just too many to choose from.

At the beginning, Li Xiaobai was not sure which one to choose, but on the way back from school, he took time to look at the news released by the four joint publishing houses. 'King of Short Stories' Essay Contest.

That is to say, they will not swarm up all at once, but plan and plan to use the wheel to kill the master.

If it is released together, I will hesitate for a while, but if it is playing wheel battle, then I don't have to worry about choosing... Li Xiaobai turned on the computer, opened several files, and named them one by one .

A man in a case!
necklace!

The last leaf!
Cops and hymns!

The old man and the sea!

These are all the most famous short stories on earth, and several of them have even been included in textbooks.

Works that can be included in Chinese textbooks on earth cannot be included in extracurricular readings in this world, right?
No way!
No way!
No way!
These works are all one of the representative works of several novel masters.

Hitting a few short story authors who have already closed their pens is not like bullying elementary school students.

Chekhov's "Man in a Case", Maupassant's "Necklace", O. Henry's "The Last Leaf", Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", these are all novels included in high school Chinese textbooks.

Among them, "The Old Man and the Sea" is a novella, which contains excerpts.

There are five articles in total.

There are only four short story authors published by the four joint publishing houses, namely Mo Zhu, Bai Xia, Qian Shanniao and Zheng Changgong.

For one-on-one, there is one more article left.

This extra article is prepared by Li Xiaobai as a backup, just in case.

Five short stories, but it cost a lot of negative emotion points to exchange from the system market.

Earning negative emotion points is not easy!

Li Xiaobai's hand speed is very fast, with the blessing of speed capsules and stamina capsules, no matter how fast his hand speed is, he will not feel tired.

Not only fast, but also durable.

soon.

After typing all five short stories, Li Xiaobai packed them and sent them to editor An Lan.

……

there.

After An Lan received the file from Li Xiaobai, she couldn't wait to open the download, and then she saw the five short stories lying quietly in the file, and was stunned.

five!

Xiaobai not only wrote short stories, but also wrote five short stories at once!
But An Lan didn't have time to think too much, so she sent five short stories to the editor-in-chief.

The publishing house attaches great importance to the essay contest. She is just a small review editor and has no right to intervene in the short story essay solicitation, so she can only send it to the editor-in-chief.

I'm so angry!
The colleague next to him saw that An Lan forwarded the email, and asked, "Is it Xiaobai's short story?"

Can you see this?Do I want to put a privacy film on the computer... An Lan nodded after exiting the mailbox.

"How is it written?"

"Is it a sister chapter of "Country Teacher"?"

"It's still a sci-fi type!"

"Send it out for everyone to see!"

Hearing that it was Xiaobai's submission of a short story, the editors sitting around put down their work one after another and started chatting.

"No."

An Lan shook her head: "The editor-in-chief has sternly explained that no one can read Xiaobai's short stories before they are published, and neither can I."

This is also to prevent the work from being leaked in advance. Although it is unlikely, Master has raised the work of this essay contest to red alert.

The editors are helpless, and they can understand that since the editor-in-chief has already spoken, there may be nothing they want to read in advance.

I didn't dare to read it until I saw An Lan. After receiving the manuscript, I sent it directly to the editor-in-chief.

"It's all the fault of those four publishing houses. Otherwise, how could our publishing house prevent our editors from reading the author's submitted works."

Some editors attributed the culprits to those four publishing houses.

This is true.

It is a great benefit for the editor to read the author's submitted works in advance. When Xiaobai contributed "Ghost Blowing the Lantern", An Lan was so scared that he couldn't sleep after reading it, and shared the manuscript with the third editorial department without saying a word. All editorial colleagues.

Publishers will not ban it.

But this time, because of the persecution of the four publishing houses, the situation of the master is very uncomfortable. Many short story authors have run away because they think the format is wrong, and the publishing houses are also worried that the editors will also be tempted.

Although the possibility is unlikely, precautions should be taken. Of course, the works of precautions are limited to the short stories that participated in the essay contest.

……

online.

The debate on the short story king is becoming more and more intense. Some people think that the master can still struggle a little bit, while others think that the master's move is just a clown who can't be successful.

Say anything.

Some readers even went to the official blog of Master Culture Publishing House to urge Xiaobai to update "Ghost Blowing the Lantern" quickly. Because Xiaobai did not disclose his Weibo account to the public, they could only come here to urge updates.

There are undercurrents in the field of short stories.

at last.

On the tenth of January.

The four joint publishing houses released the first short story to participate in the essay contest.

This also means that the final battle of the short story has completely started.

……

The first short story released by the four joint publishing houses is called "10 Years Later", written by an ace alien in the science fiction world.

Once the novel was released, it gained great exposure and attention.

"Aliens has made great progress. The brain hole is even bigger than his previous works. It will break the sky."

"Indeed, the progress of this book is obvious. It may not be as good as Mo Zhu's seniors, but it can be regarded as the first among their peers."

"Aliens are stunned, and they are placed at the beginning. It seems that the publishing house attaches great importance to the works of aliens! I don't know if there is hope for them to be included in extracurricular reading materials for primary and middle school students."

"Alien's science fiction short stories are still very durable, and I have always liked his works."

"Me too, alien science fiction short stories, I remember that I have won several Star Awards!"

"It has been won several times, but last year his work "Future Cat" participated in the Star Awards, but lost to Xiaobai's "Country Teacher"."

This stunned many netizens.

Readers who knew the details were instantly excited, and those netizens who didn't know were also excited after being explained by enthusiastic netizens.

"The enemy is so jealous when they meet! The starry sky award was lost to Xiaobai, the aliens definitely put in a lot of effort this time, and they will definitely be able to avenge their hatred."

"The Alien's "10 Years Later" is very good-looking, and I think there is a great possibility that it can overwhelm Xiaobai."

"Speaking of Xiaobai, didn't Master say that Xiaobai would also participate in the essay contest? Seeing Master's posture, Xiaobai is their trump card. Will the trump card be played so early?"

"The trump card of bullshit, if the master's reliance is Xiaobai, then the master will wait to die!"

"That's right, Xiaobai will wrestle with the aliens even if he is in the sky. Maybe he can't win against the aliens now, let alone Mo Zhu and Bai Xia."

"..."

The four joint publishing houses moved very quickly, and the first one released the work of Alien, a master author in the field of science fiction short stories, who was born in Jiuxing Literature Publishing House.

Although Alien is not as good as Mo Zhu, Bai Xia, etc. in terms of slots, the four joint publishing houses chose to release his work in the first volume. The purpose is to stimulate Master Culture Publishing House and Xiaobai, so that Master released Xiaobai's work in the first round.

If "10 Years Later" wins, everyone is happy, and it doesn't matter much if it loses.

Xiaobai's work is released, and the masters of the next four rounds are the meat on the chopping board, let them slaughter.

The four United Publishing Houses made moves.

Netizens turned their attention to Master Culture Publishing House, how should Master respond?

In the first round, will the two old opponents meet directly?

Although netizens feel that the possibility is unlikely, they are still looking forward to the appearance of this scene. After all, it is not a big deal for the melon-eating crowd to watch the excitement!
Not only netizens are curious about how the master will respond, and whether Xiaobai's works will be released.

The aliens themselves were equally curious.

He lost to Xiaobai's "Country Teacher" last time. Even though he liked "Country Teacher" very much, he should still be dissatisfied in his heart.

——You are very strong, but I refuse to accept it!
After the four joint publishing houses released his work, the aliens have been refreshing the official website of Master Culture Publishing House, looking forward to the appearance of that person's name.

However, it has been refreshed more than ten times in a row, and the interface still has not changed at all. Not to mention Xiaobai's works have appeared, and the works of other short story authors have not appeared either!

what's the situation?
Master Culture Publishing House did not act?

The aliens were a little confused, did Master Culture Publishing House just admit it?Or is Xiaobai's new short story not yet written?
Netizens were also caught in the imagination, and some people continued to try to refresh the activity interface of the official website of Xiafuzi Culture Publishing House.

Swish!
The activity interface of the official website of Fuzi Culture Publishing House was updated, and the first short story appeared.

Title: "Necklace"!
Author: Xiaobai.

Seeing that the first short story published by Master Culture Publishing House was written by Xiaobai, netizens didn't realize it for a while.

"Fuck!"

"Ah this?"

"Oh shit!"

"Master, Xiaobai's short story is really published in the first part, so you don't plan to compare it later?"

"The person in charge of the master is too impatient! He can't stand it after a little stimulation. He really put Xiaobai in the first place. I'm afraid his brain is caught by the door!"

"Don't worry about what the person in charge of Fuzi Culture Publishing House thinks, wouldn't it be better to see these two fight again? I also want to see if the aliens can succeed in their revenge!"

"It's opening, it's opening, is it because the aliens are proud and successful in their revenge, or is Xiaobai maintaining his victory and creating another glories."

"I thought Xiaobai's work would be put at the end!"

"Actually, the master is very smart. They know that if Xiaobai really wants to fight, there is only a slight chance of winning if he faces the aliens. If he faces the people behind, he will only be beaten. If this is the case, why not Release it early, maybe you can win a hand!"

"The solution is upstairs."

"Let's read this article first, old rivals meet, this must not be torn up!"

"..."

Netizens were discussing intensely, and clicked on "The Necklace" to start reading.

The aliens also clicked on it.

began to look.

The protagonist of the story is a woman named Mathilde who was born in a small staff family. She looks beautiful, but because there is no way to make a rich and status man know her, love her, and marry her.In the end, he had no choice but to marry a small section member of the Ministry of Education.

Mathilde felt that she was born for all exquisite things and all luxurious things, so she couldn't help but suffer from being married to a poor and hopeless clerk husband.

Because of the poverty of her house, the rough walls, the old furniture, and the vulgar upholstery, she was very sad...

She dreamed of those silent reception rooms, how hung with oriental curtains.She dreamed of those fine and fragrant little drawing-rooms where she could chat with kindly and well-known men whom the women's world envied and yearned for. . . .

But in fact, every day when she was having dinner, she sat down in front of that small round table opposite her husband, and the white cloth covering the table took three days to change...

The alien was thoughtful.

He has already guessed what the central selling point of this short story is. This short story is completely different from Xiaobai's first short story "Country Teacher", whether it is writing style, subject matter, or idea.

Although this is not a sci-fi subject, the aliens like it very much. He likes this kind of work that uses literature to achieve a certain satirical effect. In his eyes, there is an inexplicable sense of luxury.

This kind of novel may be more likely to be included in extracurricular readings... The alien thought so, click on the next page to continue reading.

【She has a rich girlfriend, a female classmate in a church women's school, but now she no longer wants to see her, because she always feels pain when she comes back after seeing it.So she was sad...]

Alien's expectations for this short story are high.

【Her husband returns with a triumphant look, holding a big envelope in his hand...】

[She hastily opened the envelope, and took out an invitation card with the words: "Jorge Lambono and Mrs. Minister of Education have the honor to invite Mr. and Mrs. Loisel to attend the January [-] The evening party held in the headquarters building on Monday the [-]th."]

This is a woman's dream banquet, and she must be very happy... The alien wanted to make peace so much, so he continued to read, but he was surprised when he saw the next content.

【Her husband hoped that she would be very happy, but she threw the invitation on the table with a sad and angry look, and said coldly: "What do you want me to do with this thing?"】

This is an invitation that a man can't get easily, and a woman is angry for no reason?
Some aliens do not understand.

[She looks at him with a furious look, and then she exclaims impatiently: "What do you want me to wear there?"]

It turned out that Mathilde was angry because she didn't have decent clothes to attend such a high-end banquet.

The man didn't think of that, and neither did the aliens.

【He was worried, and then said: "Let's do it, Mathilde. How much will it cost, a decent set of clothes, you can wear them again when you have a chance in the future, something simpler?"】

The man had no choice but to choose to spend a sum of money that his family always said was expensive to buy a set of clothes for his wife that she could wear to attend the banquet.

[She replied hesitantly: "I don't know the exact number, but I estimate that with four hundred gold francs, it can always be done."]

[He turned a little blue because he was saving such a sum in his hand to buy a gun that he would spend Sundays this summer...]

In the end, the man gave the woman [-] blond salons and asked her to think of ways to make a beautiful dress.

only……

Is Mathilde too materialistic?
The alien was lost in thought.

It is really that Xiaobai's "Necklace" is so different from his previous short science fiction novel "Country Teacher".

The irony of this novel is particularly strong.

Is it using Mathilde to satirize those gold diggers in today's society?

If so, I am afraid that this novel will be criticized by many people.

Because the money-worshiping character in the novel is Mathilde, a female character, if it is interpreted maliciously, it will easily be attacked by female netizens.

The satirical taste of this novel suits his taste very well, making the aliens unavoidably worried about Xiaobai.

The alien then looked down.

The day of the party is getting closer, and Mathilde's dress is ready, but she is not happy at all. It turns out that she has no jewelry, no gems, and nothing to insert or wear. .

Later, at the suggestion of her husband, Mathilde went to her friend Mrs. Fraser to borrow jewelry.

Mathilde borrowed a necklace from her friend, which is a necklace made of diamonds.

necklace……

Is this where the name of the novel comes from?
but.

The alien suddenly remembered at this moment.

Mathilde worships money and has a crazy pursuit of material that is almost pathological.

But the man was not much better. He saved money, but he thought about buying a shotgun and going hunting with friends on the plains on summer Sundays.

They even hired a maid at home.

The family is so distressed that they even spend a free price to hire a maid.

Isn't this just slapping a swollen face to pretend to be fat?
Therefore, this novel satirizes not only gold diggers, but also those people who want to save face and suffer.

The alien thinks he has read the novel.

From this point of view, it's nothing!

What's next?
Mathilde shines at the ball, attracting the attention of all the opposite sex, even the minister, and finally abandons the man...

If the following plot follows the way he guessed, it will be a bit clichéd for Weimian, and it will be meaningless.

In this round, Xiaobai lost.

The alien continued to look down.

[Matilde is a great success, she is more beautiful than the average female guest, fashionable, charming, smiling constantly, and madly happy.Most of the male guests stared at her dreamily, asked for her name, and tried to get people to introduce themselves to her.All the staff in the confidential department of the headquarters want to dance with her, and the minister also pays attention to her...]

The plot really developed like this.

The aliens were suddenly disappointed, and their expectations for this novel plummeted.

The alien continued to look down, but the next development of the plot aroused his interest again.

After the dance.

Mathilde fled to avoid the attention of the other ladies wrapped in precious furs.

[The two of them found an old noctambulant-like car on the riverside—these cars feel ashamed of themselves during the day, so they can't be seen until after dark...]

On the other hand, Mathilde did not abandon her husband, but returned home with him... The alien's expectations were raised again.

【She turned around to him madly: "I've...I've...I can't find Mrs. Fleischer's necklace now."】

The diamond-encrusted necklace that Mathilde had borrowed from her friend...was lost.

The necklace is missing.

The turning point is not that Mathilde didn't abandon her husband, but that the necklace she borrowed from Anghui would be lost... The alien's mouth grows and its eyes light up.

This is a developmental scenario he never imagined.

Invert.

This is called reversal.

That necklace was a huge sum of money for Mathilde and his wife. They couldn't afford such a huge sum of money.

what will they do
The alien got excited.

What will Mathilde and his wife choose to do?
According to the description of the two in the previous article, they love vanity, so they should choose to exchange it with fakes!
Or... reckless!
Or... sneak away and leave the city before the matter is revealed?

Aliens think of many kinds.

But the choice of Mathilde and his wife slapped the alien in the face.

The two of them neither replaced it with a fake, nor did they default or slip away. Instead, they went bankrupt and bought an identical necklace and exchanged it back.

this moment.

The alien was thoughtful.

Mathilde and his wife love vanity and live in poverty, but these factors do not mean that their moral character must be bad.

Although in order to repay the necklace, Mathilde and his wife borrowed countless money, dismissed the maid, and incurred huge debts.

Instead of escaping, they confronted the Southern District and decided to repay these debts.

[She's started doing all sorts of rough housework, the odious daily tasks in the kitchen.She washed the dishes, wearing away her rose-coloured fingers on the greasy bottoms of the pots and pans. 】

【Underwear and rags are washed by herself with soap and then hung on the rope; every morning, she carries the garbage downstairs, and then lifts the water upstairs. Every time she walks up a floor, she has to sit on the stairs to catch her breath .And dressed like a commoner woman...]

They lived like this for ten years.

The radiance of that night plunged them into a miserable life for ten years.

Ten years later.

Mathilde has become a strong, tough and hard-working woman from a poor family.

With messy hair, skirt tied crookedly, a pair of red hands exposed, talking loudly, washing the floor with a big basin of water.

But sometimes her husband went to the office, and she sat alone at the window, and she thought of that old party, that ball, where she had been so beautiful and happy.

If she hadn't lost that piece of jewelry at that time, what state would she have reached now?
who knows?
who knows?
Life is so strange and so ever-changing.

The aliens were fascinated.

It was the work of his opponent, the work of whom he swore to avenge his vengeance.

But so what.

I can't help but like him!
The story is not over here, and the aliens continue to look down.

[One Sunday, she suddenly saw a woman walking with a child.That is Mrs. Fleisger, she is always young, always beautiful, and always attractive...]

[Mrs. Loisel is very excited.Do you want to talk to her?Yes, of course.And now that he has paid off his debts, he can tell her thoroughly.why not?She walked closer...]

The two greeted each other.

Madame Loisel was still charming.

Mathilde is old.

【Her girlfriend screamed wildly: "Oh! Poor Mathilde, you have really changed!..."】

【"Yeah, I've had a lot of hard times since I last saw you; and all the suffering is for you!..."】

【"I gave you another string that was exactly the same. It took us ten years to pay for it. Like us who have nothing, you understand that this is not easy... ...Now that I have paid off the debt, I am really satisfied."...]

Seeing this, the corners of the alien's lips curled up. Mathilde not only paid off her debts, but also lost her vain self-esteem after ten years of hard life.

However, Mrs. Russell's reply directly made the alien's scalp tingle.

【"Alas. Poor Mathilde, but my string is fake, worth at most five hundred gold francs!..."】

The story ends.

However, the alien seemed to have lost his soul. He sat in front of the computer and froze, his whole head was in a daze at the moment.

fake?

The necklace is actually fake?
It turned out to be just a misunderstanding that made Mathilde and his wife spend half their lives paying off their debts.

How could it be fake!

How can it be fake!
If it is false, what is the meaning of the past ten years for Mathilde and his wife?
Do not……

The alien suddenly stood up from the chair and frantically walked back and forth in the room.

"Significant!"

"meaningful!"

"Ten years, ten years, completely changed Mathilde and his wife."

In ten years, the husband and wife have rejuvenated their lives and regained their vitality.

Ten years ago, Mathilde loved vanity and had unrealistic dreams. Because she didn't have decent dresses and accessories, she was ashamed to go to the banquet.

Ten years later, although Mathilde is wearing cheap clothes, her skin is no longer tender, but has become dry and wrinkled, like a village woman, but she dares to say hello to her still beautiful friends and talk confidently .

ten years!

Ten years triggered by a necklace.

this moment.

The aliens only felt their scalps go numb.

*
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(End of this chapter)