Prodigal System in the Flourishing City

Chapter 447: Chapter 445: Slave Master [8th Update]

When Zhang Shilin received the call from the writers’ association, she was completely bewildered!

”Who said I wanted to join the writers’ association?”

Zhang Shilin was totally confused.

”Your mentor recommended you.”

the writers’ association explained.

”Which mentor?”

Zhang Shilin had no interest in joining any writers’ association.

It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just too much hassle.

”Both mentors recommended you.”

the writers’ association replied.

”Me!”

Zhang Shilin almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. Was she sold out by two mentors conspiring together?

But there was no choice, she was someone who respected her teachers and their instructions, so since both mentors wanted her to go, she decided to make a visit.

Arriving at the Imperial writers’ association with the address in hand.

The folks at the writers’ association expressed their welcome.

Filling out forms, writing applications, a whole lot of messy stuff.

The more she dealt with these things, the more irritated Zhang Shilin became.

This was far from her experiences with Mentor Liu Chen.

And, even more so, from her time with Mentor Lu Xiaobu.

It was all about forms, not literature!

Finally, after enduring a lot of patience, she finished everything, thinking that would be it.

Turned out, there was still some sort of meet-and-greet to deal with.

The leaders of the writers’ association wanted to meet her and asked her to wait.

The fire in Zhang Shilin’s heart flared up fiercely.

This girl had a fiery temper, especially now when ”Horse Talk” was waiting for her research, which made her even more impatient, and the veins on her hands were popping up!

However, she was somewhat poor at expressing herself verbally, so she could only continue to suppress her temper.

Wait! Keep waiting! As soon as she met them, she would immediately leave!

Finally, after all the dithering, they arrived.

Two old men.

One she recognized, from the writers’ association, who often met with Mentor Liu, seemed to be named Wen.

The second she did not know.

Thus.

”Mentor Wen, hello, I’m leaving.”

Zhang Shilin said, and turned around to leave.

Mentor Wen had just opened his mouth to greet her when he heard her utterance.

He was just stood there, stunned!

What’s going on?!

”Pfft!”

Everyone from the writers’ association onsite almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

You just say that upon meeting and then leave?!

What are you trying to do?!

Seeing the expressions of the people around him, Mentor Wen gave a wry smile, waved his hands, and indicated it was all right.

He had seen this girl before at Liu Chen’s.

He roughly understood her temperament and character; although it was a bit embarrassing, overall he could understand.

But!

Just because he understood didn’t mean others would.

For example.

The old man next to him.

This old man was Zhu Haixuan, who had also just joined the writers’ association.

He had a certain reputation in the literary world and also had a good number of fans.

Because he was older, many people would respectfully address him as Mentor Zhu,

Mentor Wen had gone to pick up Mentor Zhu.

”Young lady, stop there!”

Mentor Zhu wore an unhappy expression on his face.

It’s said that literati disdain each other, and it’s not false at all.

Zhu Haixuan was used to being a teacher, and this time coming to the Writers’ Association, he was personally received by Elder Wen.

But as soon as he entered, he got dissed by a young girl, could he swallow that?!

”What’s the matter?!”

Zhang Shilin stopped and turned around, slightly impatiently saying, ”I’m really very busy.”

What she said was the truth, but it managed to infuriate Zhu Haixuan in an instant.

What’s the meaning of this, I, as an elder, haven’t even lost my patience yet, and here this little girl has already lost hers.

Taking a deep breath he said, ”You’re young, I won’t stoop to your level, tell me, who is your teacher? I’ll go find him, I want to see how he teaches his students.”

”Elder Zhu, forget it, forget it, this girl has just joined the Writers’ Association today, don’t bother with her,” Elder Wen advised from the side.

But instead of calming down, this only made Zhu Haixuan even angrier.

What? This impolite little girl has just joined the Writers’ Association?

He’s actually on the same level as a little girl?!

Could he endure this?!

Suddenly, Zhu Haixuan’s voice became even more stern: ”Little girl, tell me, who is your teacher?! Tell me!”

Even now, he was still putting on airs, unwilling to communicate with Zhang Shilin as an equal!

”My teacher is Lu Xiaobu, what do you want to do?”

Zhang Shilin stood firm, turning back to look at Zhu Haixuan.

”Lu Xiaobu?”

Zhu Haixuan’s brow furrowed, searching hard in his mind for the name.

Finally, he had an epiphany.

”Is it the author of ’Youthful Heavenly Dynasty’?”

Zhu Haixuan remembered, but there was a hint of disdain on his face: ”If I’m not mistaken, that Lu Xiaobu is a prodigal son, right? A good-for-nothing prodigal who dares to establish a school of thought with just ’Youthful Heavenly Dynasty’?”

Hearing this, even Elder Wen’s expression darkened.

This was blatant targeting.

Why Lu Xiaobu took Zhang Shilin as a disciple, he knew all too well; it was clearly the outcome of a couplet competition lost by Liu Chen and Lu Xiaobu.

Elder Wen was angry, which shows just how infuriated Zhang Shilin, a girl who respected her teachers, must have been.

”My teacher may not be worthy enough to establish a school of thought, but you are even less qualified!”

Zhang Shilin looked at Zhu Haixuan angrily: ”Perfect timing, my teacher has written a new article, for you!”

”There is a ’Boluo’ only then there are ’Thousand-Li Horses.’ ’Thousand-Li Horses’ are common, but a ’Boluo’ is not always present. Hence, even if there is a famous horse, if degraded by the hands of a slaver, it dies next to the trough and manger, not recognized for its ’Thousand-Li’ ability.”

”Such a horse capable of traveling ’Thousand-Li,’ at one meal may finish a stone of grain. The feeder of the horse doesn’t know its potential to travel ’Thousand-Li,’ hence doesn’t feed it accordingly. This horse, even though capable of ’Thousand-Li,’ if not sufficiently fed, lacks energy, its beauty unseen from the outside, and moreover, wishes to be equal with ordinary horses but cannot. How could one seek its ’Thousand-Li’ ability?”

”Emaciated by not following its way, starved and unable to showcase its talent, beckoned and unable to convey its meaning, holding the reins standing before it, exclaiming, ’There are no horses in this world!’ Alas! Are there truly no horses? Or is it that they do not know of a horse?”

Zhang Shilin’s literary foundation was not something superficial.

In just a short time, she had memorized ”On Horses” given to her by Lu Xiaobu!

And she slapped Zhu Haixuan hard with it!

Zhu Haixuan’s face turned green!

A slaver? Degraded by the hands of a slaver? Dying next to the trough and manger?

Was this saying that he was not fit to be a teacher, that he would only misguide the youth and was unworthy to establish a school of thought?

Listen to how poisonous these words were?

Thousand-Li Horses were being trained into waste by him?!

And unable to recognize a Thousand-Li Horse!

This slap was painfully on point!

He just said that others were not qualified to establish a school of thought, and here they slapped him with an article!

He was furious, but Elder Wen’s eyes were shining, his entire being excited: ”Good! What great writing! This article is astonishing!”

Such a wonderful article!

A brilliant ”On Horses,” comparing horses to people, using horses to educate people!

It perfectly complemented the previous ”Youthful Heavenly Dynasty,” one educating children, the other educating educators!

A masterpiece! Absolutely a masterpiece!

However, Elder Wen’s words were like another slap on Zhu Haixuan’s face, causing even more pain!

An article criticizing him was praised as a great piece by Elder Wen!

What a humiliating slap!

Elder Wen couldn’t care less about that old rascal; his eyes blazing as he looked at Zhang Shilin: ”This article, did you write it or was it Lu Xiaobu?”

”Of course, it was written by my teacher!” Zhang Shilin proudly stated.

She felt extremely happy and a bit proud seeing the person who insulted her teacher get a fierce slap in the face!

”Then can you contact your teacher for me? I’ve long admired his work,” Elder Wen said eagerly.

”My teacher is busy playing games, he has no time,” Zhang Shilin stated truthfully.

Elder Wen: ”...”

At this moment, Zhu Haixuan was no longer the focus of anyone’s attention; even if he left with a disgraced and downtrodden look, there was no one to see him off!