In the conversation with Wang Meng, Wang Meng was actually talking most of the time and Zhang Zhong was listening. It seems that Wang Kewang's talkativeness is also hereditary, and the root lies with Wang Meng.
I thought that since Wang Meng invited me here because he appreciated his work, he would probably talk more about his work [Misty Rain and Red Dust Novel www.jinxiyue.net], but Wang Meng never talked about his work from the beginning to the end.
Instead, he chatted with Zhang Zhong about trivial matters.
Most of them are related to his time as a soldier.
The era when Wang Meng was a soldier was a bit far away for Zhang Zhong, so apart from listening, Zhang Zhong couldn't actually say much.
After chatting for about an hour and a half, Wang Meng looked up at the clock on the wall and said with a smile, "It's getting late, let's have dinner here tonight. Don't refuse, I know I want you to have dinner with an old man like me.
You will definitely be bored, so I will ask a few young people to come over and accompany you."
After speaking, he turned to Wang Kewang and said, "Go and invite Zhuang Yu and Wang Yi."
After thinking for a while, he added, "Liu Yuan, please call me too."
Wang Meng had already finished his words, and Zhang Zhong did not refuse again.
However, Mr. Wang's words made him dumbfounded. He said he wanted to find a few young people to accompany him, but Zhuang Yu and the others were not young people. The three youngest Liu Yuan had already passed his destiny.
Of course, to Wang Meng, they are really young people. After all, they are about the same age as his grandson Wang Kewang.
Wang Meng invited him to dinner, and Zhuang Yu and the others came very quickly.
Because Wang Kewang explained the situation very clearly on the phone, they all knew that Zhang Zhong was here, and they were not surprised to see him.
Wang Meng asked the three of them to sit down and said, "You are all strangers now, so you don't need me to introduce each other."
Zhuang Yu smiled and said, "No, no, we met Zhang Zhong once before during the Chinese Youth Literature and Art Awards ceremony."
Liu Yuan also echoed, "Yes, the original team members are all here today."
"You young people should move around more."
After hearing Wang Meng's words, several "young people" looked at each other with complicated expressions.
We didn't go out in the evening, so we ate in the courtyard. The nanny hired by the Wang family for the old man was a good cook. Although they were all home-cooked dishes, they all tasted good.
Wang Meng found a bottle of liquor that had been sealed for many years. Zhang Zhong and the others were embarrassed to drink it, but they couldn't resist Wang Meng's enthusiastic invitation, so they could only pick up their glasses one after another.
"What is eating without drinking? If I were several decades younger, I wouldn't be able to eat without drinking."
Zhang Zhong's drinking capacity is average now, but fortunately, if five people drink a bottle of wine, each person will only get two taels if they share it equally.
After drinking a little wine, everyone started talking more.
Especially Liu Yuan, the great water god, might have been a little reserved in front of Mr. Wang before, but now he was a little tipsy after two ounces of wine. He said with a smile, "It means that Mr. Wang has face, if we invite
Zhang Zhong, I guess this guy won’t even come.”
"Mr. Liu's words don't make sense. You haven't even invited me, how do you know I won't come?"
Zhuang Yu also smiled and said, "Yes, Old Liu, you can't blame Zhang Zhong for something that didn't happen. It really doesn't make sense."
Liu Yuan burped and said, "It's the same whether you invite or not. Last time I saw Lin Wenyuan, that old boy told me about you, saying that the Yanjing Writers Association invited you to an exchange meeting.
If you don’t go, do you think this is the case?”
"It's true." Zhang Zhong didn't say anything, and Zhuang Yu answered for him, "At first, I invited Su Ai but I didn't get it, and then I said I wanted to invite him."
Wang Yi asked from the side, "Yanjing Writers Association? How does this have anything to do with Lin Wenyuan? Shouldn't it be Fang Yingwu's business?"
"Don't Fang Yingwu and Lin Wenyuan wear the same pair of trousers?" Liu Yuan is worthy of being the God of Water, and his words are unrestrained.
Zhuang Yu laughed and scolded, "What you said is too unpleasant. Mr. Wang is still here."
Wang Meng smiled and waved his hand, "What does this mean? You don't need to take care of me when you chat."
"Zhang Zhong, what's going on with your new book? It's caused a lot of public opinion abroad." Zhuang Yu often "surfs" on the Internet, so he knows more about it.
Zhang Chong smiled and chatted with Wang Meng for the entire afternoon, but neither of them mentioned the work. The three of them came over and started chatting within a few words.
"There was some criticism, but now the dust has settled."
Wang Yi nodded and said, "On the surface, Americans welcome other cultures, but in fact they are still very xenophobic. Your book has been criticized in the past."
"Well, I have been mentally prepared for a long time. Not only abroad, but also at home, it is impossible for everyone to applaud."
"It seems that what happened to Kong Zhou last time has given you a warning." Liu Yuan said.
Zhang Zhong shook his head, "It has nothing to do with him. I have this awareness myself. But having said that, Kong Zhou's matter was a bit beyond my expectation, and it was resolved like this later."
When he said this, he glanced at Wang Meng specifically, but the old man kept smiling and his expression did not change at all.
Zhang Zhong was puzzled by what happened to Kong Zhou before. He didn't know whether someone was secretly helping him, or whether Kong Zhou was unlucky and came across the Ministry of Culture's actions.
If it was the first possibility, Zhang Zhong couldn't think of anyone who would help him before, but then Wang Kewang called and he associated the two things together.
If it was Wang Meng who took action, this matter would become reasonable.
But if Wang Meng didn't say anything, it would be hard for Zhang Zhong to ask.
Zhuang Yu and the others didn't know the inside story, so they just guessed, "Maybe Kong Zhou is unlucky."
The few of them chatted for a while, and when the drunkenness was about to pass, Wang Meng suddenly came over with another bottle of wine.
"Don't put down your chopsticks in a hurry and continue."
Several "young people" waved their hands one after another: "Mr. Wang, this can't be done. This wine is very strong. I can hardly hold back the glass I just drank."
Wang Kewang also said with a grimace, "Old man, I have to go to the newspaper office tomorrow."
"Is it so useless? Can't you drink a few taels of wine by yourself?" Wang Meng put the bottle into Wang Kewang's hand, "It doesn't matter if you don't want to drink. Let's play a game. If you lose, you drink. If you don't want to drink, you have to rely on it."
It’s up to you.”
"Mr. Wang, what are you playing for?" Zhuang Yu asked.
"Play something simple, guessing riddles. I will present the riddle, and you will each write the answer. If you write the wrong answer, drink. If you write the right answer, you don't need to drink."
Liu Yuan rubbed his hands: "This is good, I agree."
Wang Yi was still cautious and asked, "What if everything is wrong?"
He asked this because he was afraid that Mr. Wang would make things too difficult and they would all have to drink.
Wang Mengxiao scolded, "You still don't believe me? Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you. If you write them all wrong, you don't have to drink. Do you all agree now?"