After listening to Bellock's words, Puran's hands and feet were cold, of course he knew these conventions, but at least he retained his respect and love for literary works. Unlike Bellock, he follows a refined aristocracy, finding a balance in human relationships, and using this to measure the value of a literary work. He measures the value of a literary work not by whether the work itself is excellent, but by the influence of the author himself.

The advantage of this approach is that it is easy and does not cause trouble to discredit the Leonards, and that is enough, there is no safer and better way.

If the two works appear together in the reader's field of view, people with a little literary literacy can judge whether it is good or bad, and then it is embarrassing for the author of "Wild Rose" and Leonard itself.

So the best way to deal with it is to refrigerate "The Count of Monte Cristo" and wait a few months for people's impression of this call for papers to fade before taking it out, at that time, even if someone laments that "The Count of Monte Cristo" is of higher quality than "Wild Rose", it will not cause any waves.

Puran left Bellocle's office in a daze, knowing from Bellocel's decisive words that this matter was irreparable, yes, how could the value of a literary work be comparable to that of a person of noble status, Puran was not a nobleman or a businessman, and he could clearly calculate the proportion of interests in it.

He was not reconciled, because "The Count of Monte Cristo" made him experience a feeling that he had never experienced before, awakened a love for literature, and during this time he was often so excited that he couldn't sleep because he had to pick up the manuscript the next day, and the damn plot was really fascinating.

Back in his office, he sat down and closed his eyes in distraught, remembering Motley Evelyn, whom he had once disdained, and whether the most senior reviewer of them had gone through a similar choice.

One must choose one of the utilitarian and the love of literature, and discard the other.

"If you consult with Mr. Adrian, you may be able to fulfill what Mr. Leonard said, no... Mr. Adrian would not have agreed. Puran dug his fingers deep into his hair, pondering for a solution, and really refrigerated The Count of Monte Cristo for a while, as Bellocke said?

This seems to be the most correct choice at the moment.

The question is whether Harvey will accept the request, Puran remembers the look on his flirtatious face when talking to Harvey, what his attitude was when he looked down on Harvey and almost missed the novel, Harvey never even argued the excellence of his work, and if it weren't for Mottley's involvement, he might have gotten his submission back.

He was a man of integrity and dignity.

Puran was convinced that Harvey's participation in the call for papers might indeed be for the sake of winning the prize, but on the other hand, Puran was sure that Harvey would not succumb to Leonard Publishing for the sake of a small profit.

Puran feels like he may be facing the toughest choice of his life.

In the evening, the open office of Leonard Press fell silent, and the wine-colored sun spilled through the glass on the white paper on the desk, and the messy open office paper was still working with only a few people, which seemed quiet and sacred.

Puran sat at his desk and stared at the blood-colored sun, still unable to find any thought to solve the problem.

Getting up and packing up his papers, he left Leonard Publishing House and found a bar at the end of the same street, he didn't like the bar environment very much, especially in the evening, this time is usually the time when the workers get off work, those who come out of the factory, those who build the railroad, when they take off their shirts, the smell of sweat will swell to the whole space, and these lower classes can only use alcohol to numb their despair of future life.

Puran considered himself an intellectual, fundamentally different from these lower classes, and he was forced to come to the bar, where there was the person he was looking for.

Motley Evelyn.

Pushing the door in, Puran saw Motley sitting in front of the wooden bar, holding a glass of vodka on the rocks, silent and as if thinking.

"Please give me a martin, thank you." Puran sat down next to Mottley and beckoned to the bartender, until the drink he ordered came up and was silenced in one gulp.

"Mr. Evelyn, which work do you think will win the Leonard Award?"

Motley picked up the wine glass and shook it, the ice cubes mixed with the wine and the color became more transparent because of the light, he didn't even turn his head to look at Puran and said lightly: "The Count of Monte Cristo has the highest number of readers' feedback, and it is also very highly rated among our reviewers. ”

"Yes, but you also know that Mr. Leonard does not intend to refer to these opinions, and I cannot convince him and I have no confidence in convincing Mr. Adrian, so I would like to seek your help." Puran was so distressed that he took another glass of wine and drank it down. The cold alcohol fell into the stomach pouch and turned into a blazing fire, but it couldn't burn his current hesitation.

"Garcia, do you know how reviewers worked in the old days?"

"No~ no one has ever mentioned it to me."

"Then now you can listen carefully, at least when I first became a reviewer, the reviewer did not belong to any publishing house, the reviewer was a free person, and the reviewer was a bridge between the novelist and the publisher, and he needed to judge the value of the work himself, find the right publisher, and negotiate the distribution of benefits."

"I remember following my teacher to a novelist's mansion, and we were surrounded by publishers and a number of professional reciters, and we went to a room full of books, and the reciters read books about sex. I can't believe that they wore white gloves and said those vulgar words with a holy face, when even the most vulgar novels would be respected. It's true that the life of reviewers is much better now than it was then, but the reviewers at that time had more opportunities than the reviewers who are now in captivity. "We were hunters, but now we're hounds. ”

Puran shook his head in confusion: "I don't understand what you mean. ”

Motley looked at him slightly sideways and said meaningfully, "This is an opportunity, the choice is yours." The publishing house has the choice of the publishing house, the novelist has the choice of the novelist, and then you have to choose one of them as well. Hound dogs have no eye for judging the value of their prey, because their actions depend on the hunter, and at the first order, even if it is a bloodthirsty beast in front of them, they must rush forward to fight. On the contrary, the hunter can choose to advance and retreat, and the corresponding hunter also needs to judge the prey and the ability to survive in danger, Garcia, do you want to be a hound or a hunter? ”

After another round of questioning, the two talked about the end, and Motley gave Puran a business card with the address and contact information of a small publishing house on it, and the veteran reviewer was still willing to push Garcia once.