It was late at night.

Outside the window, the autumn wind is rising, blowing the windows, and under the light of the street lamps, you can see the plane trees and maple trees swaying in the wind, and the fallen leaves fluttering in the wind.

The weather is getting cooler.

Xiang Xiaoyuan gently looked at Dou Dou and Shi Shi who were sleeping under the faint lamp, listened to the sweet breathing in his ears, leaned over and kissed their little faces gently, helped them cover the quilt, and then took Dou Dou's little hand away from Shi Shishi, stuffed it into the quilt, turned off the lamp, got up and took Dam's kitten away, tiptoed out of the door, and closed the door.

She put Ham Kitten back in her cattery before returning to the bedroom. The bedroom door was left open and the warm light shone out of the room and down into the hallway. Xiang Xiaoyuan followed the light into the room, Li Chao hadn't slept yet, he sat at the head of the bed and looked at his mobile phone, waiting for her.

Seeing Xiang Xiaoyuan enter the room, Li Chao put down his mobile phone and asked, "Are Dou Dou and Shishi asleep?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "I just fell asleep, and I told a lot of stories before I fell asleep." ”

Li Chao smiled: "Most of the time in the past, it was the little elephant who coaxed them to sleep, but now that we are changed, aren't you used to it?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "It's not that I'm not used to it, it's that Dou Dou is getting more and more naughty, refusing to sleep, and it's not as good as before." ”

Li Chao said: "The year is almost over, and now they are 5 and a half years old, and they have indeed changed a lot compared to before. The little sister is already a little girl. ”

In the past, the teacher spoke less and quietly, and often slurred, but now it is much better.

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "Lao Li, how can I improve my cooking skills?"

Li Chao: "Why do you ask about this?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan said distressedly: "The little girl is starting to find fault with her mother's cooking. Dou Dou actually thought that the food I cooked was not delicious, although the teacher didn't say it, but it was also the meaning. They asked me to learn from you, and also from Yuzu's mother, who said that Yuzu's mother was very good at cooking and making desserts. ”

Li Chao laughed.

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "Still laughing!"

I felt that I had something at hand, so I didn't even look at it when I picked it up, so I threw it over, huh? Why is it Shishi's pink unicorn?

The unicorn was thrown onto the bed, rolled over, and lay motionless on its stomach.

Li Chao picked it up and said, "Why did you bring Shishi's unicorn?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan was speechless, she didn't notice it just now, but she casually brought out the unicorn that her master was holding.

"Give it to me, I'll go back, if the master wakes up and doesn't see this, he will be in a hurry. ”

Xiang Xiaoyuan took the unicorn, quietly returned it, stuffed it into the quilt, and lay down beside Shishi.

When she returned to her room, she saw Li Chao looking at her phone again, and asked, "What are you looking at?" Don't look at your phone before going to bed, it's not good for your skin. ”

Li Chao put down his mobile phone and said, "I'm watching the news of the baby elephant, it's from France." ”

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "Ah, where? ”

She took the phone from Li Chao's mobile phone, browsed the relevant news, and listened to Li Chao at the same time: "Some media know that he went to France and reported on the overseas distribution of "The Old Man and the Sea", as well as photos of the on-site listing event. ”

Xiang Xiaoyuan is watching this news, and there are photos on the news, which is the launching ceremony of the listing and sale of "The Old Man and the Sea" at the Waterstone Bookstore in Paris, France, as well as the signing meeting, but there are few people at the scene, and it seems deserted.

Xiang Xiaoyuan put away his mobile phone, put it on the bedside table, and didn't look at it, some media reported this matter from the front, saying that Li Xiang's "The Old Man and the Sea" can be released overseas, which is a huge affirmation, but there are also some sensational media, seizing the listing ceremony to make a big fuss, and the words are full of schadenfreude, including some comments, lack of goodwill.

Li Chao said: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, it's not worth it." As many people like our baby elephant, as many as there are people who hate him, no one is perfect. ”

Xiang Xiaoyuan said: "I called the little elephant at night, and he also said that things are going well, let's not worry, it turned out to comfort me." ”

Her voice was a little low, indicating that she was in a sad mood.

Li Chao patted his shoulder lightly and said, "He has grown up and knows how to measure." Now he knows how to grasp these things better than us, since he doesn't want us to know, we should not know, what we are happy about is the greatest support for him. ”

Xiang Xiaoyuan said: "I just thought that he was alone in a foreign country, and there was no one to encourage and comfort him, so I felt uncomfortable. ”

Li Chao said: "You don't have to worry about this, he will definitely not be without encouragement and comfort, he is a person with a girlfriend." ”

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "......"

Li Chao is right, his girlfriend Huang Youyi is talking to Li Xiang on the phone at the moment, the main purpose is to comfort and encourage him.

Li Xiang really didn't tell the truth when he called Xiang Xiaoyuan, in fact, the situation of "The Old Man and the Sea" on sale was very bad and deserted.

Huang Youyi: "There is no publicity in the early stage, and it is normal if the sales situation is not good, so you don't have psychological pressure." ”

Li Xiang: "I was mentally prepared before, but I always imagined that there would be surprises, but I didn't expect anything, but don't worry, I did have psychological pressure before, but now you comfort me, I'm in a good mood, and now I just want to see you soon." ”

Huang Youyi was as tender as water: "Well, will you come back the day after tomorrow? I will come to Shengjing to find you when the time comes." ”

Li Xiang originally planned to return to China the day after tomorrow, but because the sales of new books were cold, he canceled other promotional trips and booked a ticket to return to China.

Instead of floating in Europe, it is better to rush back to participate in the little sisters' art exhibition. He stayed in Europe, and those foreigners would not be happy about his appearance, but if he appeared at the Little Sisters' exhibition, they would be very happy.

Gu Qijing and others still stayed in Europe and returned to China as originally planned, only Li Xiang changed his itinerary and returned to China.

This trip to Europe has had both joys and sorrows. Happily, the book "The Old Man and the Sea" has entered the Goncourt-Ins, and the vice president Cecil is very enthusiastic to recommend this book to the other committee members, and with the addition of the Chinese culture promotion plan, the book has begun to spread in a small area in French literary circles.

But only on a small scale.

The worry is that after "The Old Man and the Sea" was put on the shelves, the sales situation was worrying, and even the first bookstore in which Li Xiang and others participated, Shuishi Bookstore, was deserted and unpopular.

This and the domestic sales state are completely two extremes, ice and fire.

In China, he is very well-known and has added a lot to the new book, but in Europe, no one knows who he Li Xiang is, and there is no publicity and warm-up in the early stage, so he is directly on the shelves for pre-sale, which leads to the low popularity of the new book and no accumulation.

Now it seems that the original agreement with the French publishing house Laroux that if the sales of more than 2 million copies in one month of pre-sale exceeded 2 million copies, then the royalty would be increased to 20%, which is almost impossible, and now there is only one way to win the Goncourt Literary Prize.

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