Li Xiang's trip to Paris was specially low-key, bringing only one person from Gu Qijing, Xiao Xia and Xiao Zhang, as well as one person each from Ding Ding Book City and Huaxia Bookstore, and a liaison officer from the Huaxia branch of Larousse Publishing House, a total of seven people.

Two days before their departure, they received an invitation from the jury of the Goncourt Literary Prize, so this trip to Paris was logical, but in order to avoid the embarrassment of not getting anything in the end, the itinerary was very low-key, and no media reporter knew that they flew to Paris on this day, and the media only said that Li Xiang had flown to Paris to prepare for the final matters of the Goncourt Literary Award.

The jury of the Goncourt Literary Prize is very poor, and it is impossible to reimburse any expenses, so Li Xiang pays for the whole process. Just look at the prize money for this jackpot.

The Prix Goncourt is one of the top international literary awards, and the prize money is undoubtedly the lowest among the many awards, no doubt because it is only 10 euros!

Then you can see how budget-conscious the jury is when 10 judges eat and drink at the Drouen restaurant, and a sumptuous dinner costs only 2 francs, an average of two cents per person.

If you think about it, it's actually excusable. As a neutral literary prize, they are not like the Nobel Prize in Literature, which has a fund that has been deposited for more than a hundred years and can eat interest every year, nor is it like the Grand Prix of the French Academy of Letters, which has financial support from the French government. The Prix Goncourt does not have any financial support, nor does it accept any donations, 10 euros is taken out by 10 old men out of their own pockets, an average of 1 euro per person, what else do you want??!!

There have been countless times in history when there have been proposals to set up a foundation, or to donate money to increase the prize money of the winning authors, so as to attract more outstanding writers to participate, but without exception they have been rejected, because the jury has always believed for a hundred years that if every writer wins the Prix Goncourt, he can drive the sales of books, and the income from this is already very high, and there is no need for additional prizes, unless the jury can provide millions of euros.

Such a meager prize money can promote this award to be famous all over the world, which shows the authority of the jury.

When the domestic media wanted to track Li Xiang's whereabouts, Li Xiang and his party had already arrived in Paris and checked into the hotel they had booked. On the same day, Li Xiang went to the Institut de Goncourte to meet Mr. Cecil, chatted with him for more than an hour about literature, said goodbye and left, and at his suggestion, went to the Drouen restaurant for dinner, a typical French Western meal.

From the time he entered the door to the time he finished eating, no one bothered him, and no one recognized him. Just as Li wanted to check out and leave, a middle-aged Frenchman with a mustache and a brown vest came to the table, respectfully handed over the bill, and then said that there was a way to get rid of the bill, and I don't know if he would like to try it.

It was the first time Li Xiang had heard such a question, and he asked the other party to talk about it curiously.

The other party first introduced himself, saying that he was the owner of the restaurant, and then said that the Drouen restaurant warmly welcomes talented writers, especially literary scholars who come here for the first time, and now Li Xiang is such a writer from the mysterious East, so if he wants, the restaurant wants to take a picture of him and hang it on the wall of the restaurant, but because there is not much space, his photo can only be pasted in a large frame, becoming the 18th of them.

The boss also pointed out to Li Xiang to see the big photo frame that still had a vacant seat. The boss had to hold his head high, and Li Xiang was tall enough to be almost at eye level. After looking closely, he recognized six great writers among the 18 photos.

The boss seems to be very proud of these surviving photos, and takes the trouble to introduce Li Xiang to who each one is, what his masterpieces are, and what he says.

Li Xiang patiently listened to the boss's introduction, and finally asked the restaurant to take a photo and paste it in the frame, and then left amid the applause of many diners in the restaurant. He came to the polished stone pavement, looked up at the sign of the Drouen restaurant, and looked forward to the archway of the "Paris Opera" next door. This is the old opera house, now look at it, the façade seems very small, on the program list at the door, there are only two shows of tonight's performances, one is "The Goddess of Kindness", and the other is "Feihuang Tengda".

Li Xiang walked up the stairs and bought a ticket for "The Goddess of Kindness", which Cecil had recommended for him to watch before he came.

The next day, Li Xiang and others had breakfast at the hotel, and according to the scheduled itinerary, they came to visit the headquarters of the Laroux publishing house in Paris. At 12 noon, I entered the dining room arranged by the publishing house and prepared to have lunch.

Andrew, the president of the publishing house, turned on the TV, and the news was being broadcast on the TV, and a beautiful French woman was holding a microphone and talking to the camera. Although he couldn't understand French, Li Xiang saw that the picture was familiar, and soon knew that this was the door of the Drouen restaurant, and the wooden signboard was hanging in the camera, guessing that it should be live TV.

Andrew said to Li Xiang: "It's already 12 o'clock, and the Goncourt Literary Prize jury is enjoying a sumptuous lunch, and in another hour, they will drink all the champagne in their glasses, wipe their mouths, tidy up their appearance, get up from the table, and come to the hall to announce the winners of this year's literary awards in front of the world's media reporters." I think you're the biggest hit this year, and I wish you all the best. ”

Li Xiang picked up the red wine, clinked glasses with him, and said thank you.

While eating, everyone listened to the sound of the live broadcast on the TV, and occasionally raised their heads to look at the TV screen.

They ate no more than the old men of the jury, and at 12:40 they finished their lunch, sat down in their seats, and watched TV together. The waiter cleans up the dishes, serves the freshly brewed coffee, places it on the table, exits the room, and closes the door. Not long after, on television, a group of old men in waistcoats and black tweed coats, holding the staff of civilization, descended the narrow staircase, and this year's rotating president, Cecil, walked at the forefront. Despite their age, these people are very good-looking, their hair is carefully combed, and it may be that they have had a good lunch this past. A big meal for 2 francs will make anyone happy.

The tables in the hall had been removed, and a large space had been vacated, and the media reporters had gathered in an arc, with long guns and short guns aimed at Cecil and the others. Prepared audiences had already booked a table at the Drouen restaurant a month in advance, in order to have this lunch today, and to be able to witness the announcement of the results of the Prix Goncourt at the same time.

The restaurant was crowded with people, and the water outside the restaurant was also blocked, and everyone craned their necks to look inside. People who can't see it simply stand on the side of the road, take out their mobile phones, and watch the live TV nearby.

In Li Xiang's gaze, Cecil, an old man, with a staff of civilization, took three steps forward from the crowd of the jury, stood in the center, faced the hornet's nest-like microphone, and began to speak.

Gu Qijing couldn't help but clench her fists nervously, glanced at Li Xiang, and saw that he was still calm, his eyes were still looking at the TV, and he quietly relaxed his expression, listening to Cecil's French on the TV. Laroux Publishing House has arranged professional translators to translate for Li Xiang and others at the same time.

French is different from English, when English says Chinese name, you can hear it, but you can't hear French, Li Xiang didn't understand until he saw Andrew and the others suddenly stand up and watch him applaud warmly......

Long live my brother