Seeing Riyadh's attitude, Zhang Zhong shook his head. Instead of talking about the visit, he led the group members to Riyadh's lounge.
After arriving in the lounge, Li Hebin walked next to Zhang Zhong and whispered, "It seems that we are not welcome in Riyadh."
"Maybe they think we are disturbing their work." Zhang Zhong said calmly.
Li Hebin shook his head, "It shouldn't just be because of this."
"Do you know something?"
"No, I'm just guessing," Li Hebin said.
Zhang Zhong actually had the same guess as Li Hebin, and there was obviously something wrong with Riyadh's attitude.
They came to visit as a Chinese literary exchange group, and the Paris government directly designated Riyadh and their newspaper office to host them, but Riyadh and the others looked reluctant, which was a bit unreasonable no matter how you looked at it.
But Zhang Zhong couldn't guess what exactly he was willing to do.
He didn't know much about the "French Literary Journal" in the first place. Before coming, he briefly read the newspaper's relevant materials and got a rough idea.
Yu Dongyu, who was sitting next to the two of them, said with a smile, "I know some things better than you."
As soon as Yu Dongyu said these words, Zhang Zhong and Li Hebin both turned to look at him.
"What do you know?" Zhang Zhong asked.
"I know Riyadh is Fabre's good friend." Yu Dongyu said.
"Who is Fabre?" Li Hebin asked.
"Fabre?" Zhang Zhong was somewhat impressed by the name. After thinking for a while, he suddenly asked, "Is it Fabre, who was previously shortlisted for the Goncourt Literary Prize?"
Yu Dongyu smiled and nodded, "Yes, it's that Fabre. At that time, Fabre's "Qiana Spring" entered the final round of the list like your "Lord of the Flies", and was the most popular besides "Lord of the Flies"
It can be said that without you and "Lord of the Flies", Fabre would most likely have won the Goncourt Literature Prize. But all this has come to nothing, all because of your appearance."
Zhang Zhong frowned and said, "Just because I stole his friend's award, it's a little unreasonable for him to behave like this."
Indeed, everyone is no longer a child, so it would be a bit unreasonable to have such an attitude towards their Chinese literary exchange group just because of this matter.
"Don't worry, there is another thing. In addition to being Fabre's friend, this Riyadh is also a member of the French Literary Center." Yu Dongyu said.
Zhang Zhong and Li Hebin looked at each other. Neither of them had heard of this French literary center.
"Is this French Literature Center an official organization or something?" Zhang Zhong asked.
Yu Dongyu shook his head and said, "No, no, no, French Literature China and the West is just a very loose non-governmental organization."
"Then this name is too easy to cause misunderstanding." Li Hebin said, "If it were in China, such an organization name would not be possible."
Li Hebin is right. Just imagine, if there was a non-governmental organization in China that wanted to name it "Chinese Literature Center", the officials would definitely raid the organization as soon as possible.
Because such a name is extremely easy to cause misunderstanding, if the organization personnel have bad intentions, they are likely to use such a name to deceive the public and obtain illegal benefits.
"Then what does the French Literature Center have to do with this incident? It sounds like this organization is just an organization for literature lovers." Li Hebin asked curiously.
Yu Dongyu said, "They are not a simple organization of literature lovers. There are very few ordinary people in this organization. Most of them are people in the literary world, including some well-known French writers and scholars. And these people are all
One thing they all have in common is that they love French literature."
Zhang Zhong heard some clues from Yu Dongyu's words. The members of this French literary center seemed to be fanatics of French local literature. It is very likely that while they love local French literature, they are also resistant to literature from other countries.
Sure enough, Zhang Zhong's guess was correct, and Yu Dongyu continued, "It's okay if you just love French local literature, but the members of this organization are basically very resistant to literature from other countries. So the arrival of our group, Riyadh's heart
In fact, I am very disgusted with it. He is already showing great restraint in his current behavior. If it weren’t for the fact that he is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, he might have a quarrel with us."
"I see." Li Hebin nodded, and then asked with some doubts, "But is such a person who is very resistant to foreign literature suitable to be the editor-in-chief of a French literary newspaper?"
"There is nothing unsuitable. The original mission of the French Literary Journal is to brag about French local culture and strengthen the French people's literary confidence. In other words, it is perfect for someone like him to serve as editor-in-chief. In fact, the French Literary Center is an organization
When it was first established, it was not opposed to foreign literature. The members hoped to change the decline of French literature through their own efforts and allow French literature to continue to show its strength on the world stage. However, things went counterproductive, and the members’ efforts were of no avail. The French literature
The decline simply cannot be stopped. Over time, the dominant ideas within the organization have changed, and they have begun to work behind closed doors. They have changed from wanting to promote local literary forces to resisting the literary forces of other countries," Yu Dongyu said.
From Yu Dongyu's mouth, Zhang Zhong knew the cause and effect. He sighed slightly and said, "I would rather the editor-in-chief of Riyadh can stand in front of me and have a quarrel with me. It is better for everyone to argue than to react passively like now.
.Our group came all the way here, not just to sit here and rest."
"Otherwise, let's go directly and don't waste time here." Yu Dongyu suggested, "The coffee here is not very good, so why not go to the next place and save time to do other meaningful things.
"
Zhang Zhong shook his head, "They responded passively, and I can't escape. Since Riyadh is unwilling to communicate with us, then we will take the initiative to go there."
As he spoke, Zhang Zhong stood up and clapped his hands and said, "Everyone, let's not just sit here. Le Literary France is a well-known newspaper in France, and there are many things we can learn from. The editor-in-chief of Riyadh is so busy that he has no time to take care of it.
We, let’s not bother them, the legs are on us, let’s go around by ourselves and see what we can learn.”
Enzo was specially arranged by Riyadh to "take care of" Zhang Zhong and the others. Because he understands Chinese, he can understand Zhang Zhong and the others' situation.
At this moment Enzo heard Zhang Zhong's words and was stunned for a moment. He quickly said to Zhang Zhong in less than standard Chinese, "Mr. PZ, please have a good rest in the lounge. Our editor-in-chief will be here soon. Please