Zhang Zhong and the others stayed in Italy for more than a week, and then took a detour to England.
On the way from Italy to the UK, Hu Huifang and the others were still lamenting that before, they only knew that these European countries were small in size, but now that they came to visit, they really felt that it was so easy to go from one country to another, even easier than going across provinces within the country.
easy.
Last year they traveled domestically, going to Luzhou and then to Baiyue, and spent much more time in between than this time.
England is a humid country, but it didn't rain when Zhang Zhong and the others arrived in London. It was sunny and quite hot.
In fact, London has less rainfall in summer than in other months, and the sunshine hours are long, making it suitable for travel.
Zhang Chong came to London not just for fun, but also for something less important to do.
When he first went to Italy, Chen Qing called him to tell him that a writers exchange meeting was going to be held in London, and also sent an invitation letter to Zhang Zhong.
Most of the people invited to this exchange meeting were traditional writers. Because Zhang Zhong's "Border Town" had sold very well before, the exchange meeting sent an invitation letter to Zhang Zhong.
If Zhang Zhong was in China, Chen Qing would probably not mention this matter to Zhang Zhong. He knew that Zhang Zhong would not go all the way to participate in an exchange meeting.
It was because Zhang Chongren was in Europe that Chen Qing told him about this.
After Zhang Zhong heard about it, he didn't want to go at first, but Hu Huifang and others who heard the call next to him tried their best to persuade him to go over, saying that he was going to England anyway, so he might as well take this opportunity to stop by.
Eventually Zhang Zhong accepted their proposal, so they are now in London.
This event is mainly a book fair, and the exchange meeting is only a part of the book fair.
The London International Book Fair was founded by the England Industrial and Trade Fair and is now hosted by Reed Exhibitions. It is held every August at the Earlscourt Pavilion in London's West End and lasts for three days.
On the last day of the writers’ exchange meeting, the attendees were generally local writers from England, with relatively few writers from other countries.
Zhang Zhong was going to the West District alone. On the way, he saw that the sky was covered with dark clouds. He thought it was going to rain and was startled. However, the dark clouds only hovered in the sky for a while and then dispersed.
The staff at the exhibition hall did not recognize him immediately, but Zhang Zhong reported his name himself. The other party took a pad and looked at it for a long time before confirming Zhang Zhong's identity.
Following the staff, Zhang Zhong arrived at a large banquet hall, where many writers were already present.
Zhang Zhong originally thought he was holding an exchange meeting in a place similar to a lecture hall, but he didn't expect it to be so casual.
Most of the people present were British writers. They were chatting together in twos and threes. Zhang Zhong didn’t know anyone, so he could only ask for a glass of water and find a place to sit down.
After about ten minutes of Zhang Zhong sitting there in a daze, a brown-haired beauty suddenly walked over with a wine glass in hand.
"pz!"
Zhang Zhong raised his eyes to look at her.
The two faced each other, eye to eye, and the woman laughed, "It's you indeed. I didn't expect you to come to this exchange meeting."
"Who are you?" Zhang Zhong had no impression of the woman in front of him at all.
"I'm LeBlanc. Maybe you haven't heard of me, but I know you. I have read every one of your books. Of course, the prerequisite is that they have been translated into English." LeBlanc said with a smile, she wore
It was very revealing, and my chest started to tremble when I smiled.
"Hello, nice to meet you." Zhang Zhong nodded. It is not easy to meet a "fan" here.
He had never heard of LeBlanc's name and was unsure of the identity of the woman in front of him.
Most of the people attending this party were elderly, and the younger ones were all in their thirties or forties. The woman in front of me looked to be in her twenties, and she was dressed very fashionably, not like a traditional literary lady.
Home.
However, there are not all writers in this banquet hall. There should be other people, such as exhibition staff, representatives of sponsors, and some people engaged in literature-related industries.
"I heard that you came to Europe before, and you won the carrier pigeon award a few days ago. I didn't expect to see you here now. Of course, I actually knew that you were invited to the exhibition, but I didn't expect that you would really
Come back." There was a bit of surprise in LeBlanc's expression, and it could be seen that she really liked Zhang Zhong——'s works.
Hearing LeBlanc's words, Zhang Zhong automatically sent her back to the organizer in his mind. Most people had no way of knowing who the organizer had invited.
"Thank you, Miss LeBlanc. London is a very good city. I have always wanted to come and have a look. I just happened to take advantage of the opportunity of the exchange meeting to come here. I got my wish. And I can see so much here.
I also feel honored to be an outstanding local writer." He said something that was against his will, but the expression on Zhang Zhong's face did not change at all.
"Do you know..."
Just as LeBlanc was about to speak, two men walked up next to him, wearing suits and leather shoes, with oily hair and powdered face. The temperature in the exhibition hall was not high, but the comparison between the two guys' clothes and LeBlanc's clothes seemed a bit intense. Zhang Zhong was wearing a t-shirt
A simple pure black T-shirt is obviously from the same season as LeBlanc.
"Miss LeBlanc, who is this gentleman? Can you introduce him to us?" One of them, who was slightly taller, said. He was taller than Zhang Zhong, about 185 in height. The one next to him said
He is only about 1.7 meters tall.
LeBlanc's words were interrupted, she turned to look at the two men and said with a fake smile, "Jack, Tom, this is pz, you should have heard of it."
"Pz? Who is it?" Jack said with his head held high, and then he pretended to pat his head, "Oh, I remember, it's the entertainment novelist."
LeBlanc frowned and said, "Jack, please pay attention to your demeanor, pz just won the French Pigeon Award."
"Miss LeBlanc, is the Pigeon Prize as good as the Booker Prize?" said the short Tom next to him.
When Tom said this, Jack's head was raised even higher, because he had won the Booker Prize.
Zhang Zhong also saw the clues, but he also lamented that as the Booker Prize is the highest award for English literature, it is a bit sad for the winner to have this kind of virtue.
LeBlanc looked a little unhappy. Jack was a celebrity in London's upper class. He was famous because he always wanted to squeeze into the upper class, but never did.
Jack was originally a farmer, and later wrote several novels. Unexpectedly, he suddenly became a great writer and even won the Booker Prize.
Regardless of his works, he is really incompetent, very vulgar, and very arrogant.
He had been chasing LeBlanc for a long time, but LeBlanc had always ignored him, and now he got an opportunity and got involved again.