(Happy birthday to Lazy Cat, thank you Lazy Cat for your contribution to this book as a moderator and group manager, and wish you to get off the list as soon as possible.) Why does this blessing feel weird..... ）

Cheng Mo had a hearty dinner at Shen Youyi's house, although Cheng Mo ate a lot at Sir Xiang at noon, Cheng Mo still worked hard to eat the dishes made by Shen Youyi in the evening. After eating, the two of them cleaned up the table, washed the dishes, and cleaned the kitchen together, harmonious and tacit as in the past, just like in the past year and a half, Cheng Mo has never left.

Probably this is the case between people with deep feelings, no matter how long they are separated, they can return to intimacy with just a few words.

After finishing the housework, Shen Youyi made Cheng Mo a cup of Anhua black tea, pulled Cheng Mo to sit on the balcony, and began to read softly a book she was reading recently - Edmund Wilson's "To Finland Station".

The weather in Star City in May was pleasant, the cool breeze swept across the balcony, blowing to the opposite shore with the shining lights, and Mr. Shen's voice was like a misty drizzle in this slightly cool night breeze, infiltrating Cheng Mo's heart.

The book of almost 500 pages was shared with Cheng Mo by Shen Youyi in more than an hour, and then Shen Youyi handed this "To Finland Station" to Cheng Mo, and said with a smile: "I know you like to read this kind of historical reading with some interesting and speculative spirit, so I bought it on purpose." ”

Cheng Mo took the book printed with the bronze statue of Lielin, glanced at the blood-red words "TO THE FINLAND", and said: "Although this author is a little biased and has a lot of subjective assumptions, he is honest, and his spirit is also admirable, at least his works reflect that he is a person with dreams, and also reflects the yearning of human beings for the world of Datong at that time." The Soviet Union was the beacon of humanity at that time, and no one could have guessed that just a few decades later, this hope of humanity would end in such a sad end......"

"Actually, I like Edmund Wilson, not because of his values, but because he is a very sharp literary critic. Shen Youyi said.

Cheng Mo nodded, "I don't know much about him, today is the first time I came into contact with his books, I just know that he once commented that Maugham is just a second-rate writer, I felt that his remarks were too subjective, so I had no interest in reading his books, just now I heard Sister Xi read his works, and found that as long as it is a person, it is inevitable to be prejudiced against strangers." ”

Shen Youyi smiled, "I also like Maugham, but what Edmund Wilson said is not wrong, in Maugham's contemporaries, there were Faulkner, Woolf, and Joyce, it was an era of shining stars, in comparison, Maugham did seem a little bland at that time, in fact, we now hear the word 'second-rate' and think it is not too bad, but at that time, Edmund Wilson said second-rate, which means not to enter the stream....."

Cheng Mo also dabbled a little in literary history, although he was not proficient, but he could say a few words, he thought about it seriously, and said: "Maybe at that time, Maugham's works did lack depth and tended to be entertaining, just like we look at Mr. Jin Yong now, just a best-selling author, not a literary giant, we say that the essence of literature is criticism, Maugham wrote too many entertaining things." ”

Shen Youyi nodded, "The literary world's evaluation of Jin Yong's martial arts is really not high, saying that he is flattering to the ruling class, from Hu Shi to Li Ao to Wang Shuo, they all feel that Jin Yong writes loser literature, not elegant, lower than the level of suspense detectives, and probably not into the stream." Jin Yong and Maugham's same situation in different eras probably reflects the conditions for the literary world to choose giants. ”

Cheng Mo complained: "First of all, you have to write tragedy, if you don't write tragedy, you can't afford the word 'work'." ”

Shen Youyi chuckled: "Not only that, because all great writers are bitter and hateful, but Maugham is too bright and happy." In addition, he was so normal, people at that time always thought that only paranoia could be a good artist, just like Van Gogh, who cut off his ear, could be called a genius, and a normal best-selling writer like Maugham, who had not even felt the basic treatment of hunger, cold, and bad luck, did not fit the premise of a great writer. ”

After a pause, Shen Youyi said self-deprecatingly: "Maybe I can't write wonderfully, it's because my life is too bland, you see that I have had a smooth ride since I was a child, and I haven't encountered any twists and turns, from kindergarten to junior high school, high school, and then to college and work, my life has not had a little waves, maybe the most thrilling time is the last time I went to the loan shark company because of Xiaojie's matter...... It's a blessing for others, but not necessarily for me. ”

Cheng Mo said in his heart: Teacher Shen, your life is much more colorful than you imagined. But at this time, it was inconvenient for Cheng Mo to say this fact so directly, so he said cautiously: "What kind of thrill is it to go to a loan shark company?"

Shen Youyi said with a smile: "You don't know how angry I was at the time, that is, I didn't show my cowardice with this kind of anger, in fact, I really wanted to beat up that bullying manager at that time, but when I went back later, I remembered what happened, and I felt very scared, and I felt that I could only give money..... But fortunately, good and bad are rewarded ....."

This made Cheng Mo's heart flash, and he felt that he knew how to slowly make Shen Youyi aware and accept Shen Daoyi's existence, and there was no better way for Shen Youyi to write down his story.

So Cheng Mo asked Shen Youyi how the adventure story about the two sisters was written last time, and Shen Youyi said that Cheng Mo was not in the mood to write after he left.

Cheng Mo said: "I think about this story when I'm bored in the United States, and whenever I think about it, some very interesting plots will come to mind, such as making up what happened to Teacher Shen, it will be very interesting." ”

Shen Youyi didn't expect Cheng Mo to suddenly mention this matter that still makes her wonderful, thinking that she would be so close to the student who used painting to molest her, Shen Youyi blushed slightly, "My business? Do you mean painting? Actually, I also thought about writing that experience into a story...... But I didn't write it without your permission. ”

"I? In my conception, I am not the main character, I think of a plot that is different from what you think, and I am not the final mastermind in the story, so there is not enough dramatic conflict. ”

"Then who is behind the scenes?" Shen Youyi couldn't help asking, inexplicably she became very interested in Cheng Mo's conception, and she seemed to have a premonition that Cheng Mo would tell the prototype of a very ingenious suspense story.

"Sister Xi, I'll sell it first, let's take our time, let's talk about the beginning today, let's just say why you abandoned the opportunity to stay in school at the Beijing Normal School and go back to Star City to become a high school teacher!"