Dialogue

"Uncle Wang, stop knocking. She probably won't come out again tonight."

Li Changle found the guy a bit noisy. He was already in a bad mood because of Wang Siyi's situation, so he decided to put a stop to his pointless behavior.

Wang Weimin clearly understood. Wang Siyi was serious this time.

He nodded and walked over to Li Changle.

He sighed, then pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Li Changle.

"Want one?"

Li Changle looked at the cigarette Wang Weimin was offering him, feeling conflicted.

He hadn't smoked in a long time. He hadn't touched a cigarette since Wang Siyi started living there.

He still remembered Wang Siyi frowning when she saw the ashtray in his room.

But it was hard to refuse such a kind offer, and he was feeling quite annoyed. Wang Siyi wouldn't be coming out tonight anyway.

Li Changle nodded, took the cigarette, and the two of them began to fill the living room with smoke.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Li Changle, Uncle."

Wang Weimin nodded. It was a good name.

"How long have you and Siyi been living together..."

Wang Weimin asked the question that concerned him the most.

Li Changle thought for a moment.

"About a month. I'm living here because of Siyi. She was being harassed by some thugs downstairs, and I went up to help her. I got hit on the head, and she took me to the hospital."

"Later, she saw I didn't have a job, so she let me live in this place. I don't know why, but I agreed at the time."

"Siyi seemed to be having a really tough time with her company, so she planned to come here for a break. She went back to Shanghai once, but she came back about half a month later."

"And then she got drunk and came over to my place. She injured her leg, and then somehow she got a fever and was sick for a long time. She's only just started to feel better these past few days."

Li Changle recounted the entire story of how he met Wang Siyi and became acquainted with her to Wang Weimin.

Wang Weimin nodded. He had judged the young man prematurely.

This young man was decent, warm-hearted, and brave. Not only did he stand up for others, but he also didn't take advantage of the situation.

His daughter, drunk, running to him showed she trusted him deeply.

Considering how fiercely she resisted when he wanted to take her back, it seemed his daughter truly liked this guy.

However, this guy didn't seem to realize his daughter liked him?

He was completely dense when it came to romance! Anyone with eyes could see it, yet he acted so clueless.

Wang Weimin wanted to get to know Li Changle better. After all, he was the person his daughter liked, and besides being a bit slow, he seemed like a good person.

"Changle, right? What kind of work do you do now?"

Wang Weimin secretly wished Li Changle would reveal everything, down to how many people were on his household registration and how many ID cards he had. But he knew he had to take things step by step, so he started with a basic question.

"Oh, Uncle, I write web novels."

"Web novels?"

Wang Weimin was taken aback. He knew about web novels.

But he was a scholar of ancient literature and poetry and generally looked down on the web novel industry.

"Yes. After graduation, I didn't know what job to look for, so I decided to write a novel."

Li Changle didn't not know what to look for; he just didn't want to.

Working for someone else was impossible, absolutely impossible.

"Oh, what's the novel called? Let me see..."

Since he had nothing else to do, Wang Weimin was clearly interested in Li Changle. The content of a novel often reflected the author's personality.

"The title is Legend of Sword and Fairy, Uncle. You can check it out on the Chinese Web Novel Platform."

Li Changle didn't refuse. Judging by Wang Weimin's appearance, he seemed to be involved in culture.

"The synopsis of your novel is quite interesting. It's actually a poem..."

However, Wang Weimin found the poem to be mediocre. What was more impressive was how the poem concisely summarized the novel's content.

But it was still good. This kid had some talent. Wang Weimin had always liked talented people.

Seeing the novel Li Changle wrote, his good impression of Li Changle increased by another notch.

"This poem, 'Riding the sword on the wind, eliminating demons between heaven and earth,' is well-written..."

Wang Weimin clicked on the novel and read for a while. Upon seeing the poem "Riding the sword on the wind, eliminating demons between heaven and earth," his eyes lit up.

Although the poem was simple, the sense of unruliness and heroic spirit it conveyed perfectly matched the novel's characters.

Someone who can write poetry to this extent is definitely capable of making a living from it.

Li Changle smiled and said nothing.

Wang Weimin stopped watching and chose to continue chatting with Li Changle.

"Changle, what do you think of Siyi?"

Li Changle on the other side was stunned, wondering what he meant by that question. Wang Siyi, of course, was great. Rich, cute.

"Siyi is a very good person. If she hadn't let me live here back then, I wouldn't have had anywhere to go..."

"That's not what I meant, sigh... Forget it, it's your young people's business."

Wang Weimin wanted to say something, but felt that doing so might make his daughter dislike him again. His daughter should have her own ideas, so after thinking carefully, he decided against it and didn't bring up the topic again.

"Oh..." Li Changle nodded dumbly, not understanding what Uncle Wang meant.

What could he and Wang Siyi have going on? They were good friends. If Wang Weimin hadn't made this scene tonight, Wang Siyi would probably still be in a good mood.

"Changle, can you write poetry?"

Wang Weimin thought for a moment and asked Li Changle.

Li Changle didn't know what Wang Weimin was thinking. He couldn't write poetry, but he could copy...

"I know a little, just a bit..."

"I have a spot for the Huaxia Poetry Competition. It's still in the preliminary selection stage for the Guangfu Competition Area. If you're interested, you can participate. I think your skill level is quite good..."

"For the Poetry Competition, the champion of the Guangfu Competition Area gets a prize of 100,000, and then you can proceed to the national competition. The prize money for the national competition is 300,000..."

Wang Weimin thought about it. Li Changle wrote web novels, and his writing style was decent. Perhaps interspersed within the novels were a few poems that, in Wang Weimin's opinion, were of good quality.

Coincidentally, he was in Yangcheng this time to be a judge for the Poetry Competition, so he thought he could let Li Changle give it a try.

If he could achieve good results, then if his daughter wanted to bring him home, he could put in a good word for her.

He knew his wife well. If she found out that their daughter already liked a boy, she might say or do things that were even more extreme than him.

After spending an evening with this young man, he felt that he was a decent person. He wasn't entirely against the idea of him becoming his son-in-law, and most importantly, his daughter liked him.

He now understood where his problem lay: he and his wife were too controlling, putting too much pressure on their daughter.

He had already decided to give up trying to persuade his daughter. Whatever she wanted to do, he would support her. He didn't want to lose the "little padded jacket" he had raised with his own hands.

The Huaxia Poetry Competition was an old tradition, held annually with great fanfare and substantial prize money.

Li Changle's eyes lit up when he heard this. An opportunity to make quick money, here it comes!

Why hadn't he thought of this before? The level of poetry in this world had always been maintained at a good standard, thanks to the country's consistent support. The Poetry Competition had been held for decades.

Every year, a batch of high-quality poems emerged. The Poetry Competition often solicited submissions through judge invitations, and then the judges would evaluate the excellent works before they were officially published online.

If there were outstanding lines of poetry, they could cause a stir online. If they reached the national competition, an official gala would be held to showcase the competition entries from the national region.

These would be performed in various forms: recitation, dance, or set to music and sung.

Li Changle wasn't concerned with these aspects; he was focused on the prize money!

Although the royalties for Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 would come in soon, and he wouldn't be short of money, he wanted to achieve financial freedom as soon as possible.

The Poetry Competition was held once a year. Good heavens, based on the poetic works in his mind...

He could milk this for a lifetime...

Wouldn't that mean he could get tens of thousands for free every year?

Then why would he bother writing novels?

The Guangfu Competition Area of the Poetry Competition was about to begin, and Li Changle didn't know how the poetry competition would work.

So, he asked Wang Weimin.

"For the Poetry Competition, whether it's a regional or national competition, the questions are given as prompts. A topic will be randomly assigned, and then a poem will be written based on that topic, finally judged by the panel..."

Li Changle nodded. A prompted essay, but no big problem.

"Then what is the topic this time, Uncle Wang?"

"The topic for the Guangfu Competition Area this time seems to be Lovesickness..."

Lovesickness was a broad topic. There were countless poems about lovesickness in his mind, and Li Changle felt relieved.

Seeing that Li Changle seemed to be genuinely thinking, he patted his shoulder: "Think carefully. It's best if you can write a poem that wins an award. Once the manuscript is ready, you can submit it directly to the official email. You can find it online..."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle."

"Sigh... I have something to do and need to return to Jinling. Treat Siyi well in the future, don't let her be wronged..."

After speaking, Wang Weimin stood up and walked to the master bedroom door. He pondered for a moment, then spoke:

"Siyi, Dad's actions were a bit misguided. Dad apologizes to you. From now on, whatever you want to do, you do it. Dad will support you. Dad will also talk to Mom. And who you like, Dad won't interfere anymore, as long as you like them. Dad has to go home now. If you change your mind, come home... There's nothing that can't be resolved."

Li Changle was a bit puzzled. What did Uncle Wang mean by asking him to treat Wang Siyi well? Had he treated her badly before?

That shouldn't be the case. He shook his head and didn't think too much about it. He saw Wang Weimin downstairs, and Wang Weimin gave him another meaningful glance, which left Li Changle a little bewildered.