Dialogue

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

Li Changle thought the guy was getting a little noisy. With everything going on with Wang Siyi,

he was already in a bad mood, so he simply stopped him from carrying on with this pointless behavior.

Wang Weimin had obviously realized that Wang Siyi was serious this time.

He nodded and came over to Li Changle.

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

"Want one?"

Li Changle looked at the cigarette Wang Weimin was holding out to him, feeling a little conflicted.

He hadn't smoked in a long time. Ever since Wang Siyi moved in, he hadn't smoked again.

He still remembered how Wang Siyi had frowned when she saw the ashtray in his room.

But it would have been rude to refuse, and he was feeling pretty frustrated anyway. Wang Siyi probably wouldn't come out tonight.

Li Changle nodded and took the cigarette. Then the two of them sat in the living room, smoking away.

"What's your name?"

"My name's Li Changle, Uncle."

Wang Weimin nodded. It was a good name.

"How long have you been living with Siyi...?"

Wang Weimin asked the question he cared about most.

Li Changle thought for a moment.

"About a month. I'm living here because of Siyi. Back then, a few thugs were harassing her downstairs, so I went over to help. I got hit on the head, and she took me to the hospital."

"After that, she saw I still didn't have a job, so she just let me live here. I don't know what came over me, but I agreed."

"Siyi seemed to be having a pretty rough time because the company was giving her a hard time, so she decided to come here and take a break. She went back to Shanghai once in the middle, but came back about half a month later."

"Then she got drunk and came over to my place. She hurt her leg when she bumped into something, and somehow she came down with a fever afterward. She was sick for quite a while, and only started feeling better a few days ago."

Li Changle told Wang Weimin the whole story of how he and Wang Siyi had met and grown close.

Wang Weimin nodded. He'd misjudged the young man because of his own preconceptions.

The young man seemed decent—warmhearted and willing to help others. He'd even helped someone in danger without taking advantage of her.

His daughter had gone to his place while drunk, which showed she felt completely safe with him.

And considering how fiercely she'd resisted when he'd tried to take her home, it seemed his daughter really did like this guy.

But did this guy really not realize his daughter liked him?

He was completely clueless about romance. Anyone with eyes could probably tell. How could this guy be so dense?

Wang Weimin wanted to learn more about Li Changle. After all, he was the person his daughter liked. And aside from being a little dim, he seemed like a decent person.

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

Wang Weimin would have liked to ask Li Changle how many people were in his household and how many ID cards they had, but everything had to be taken 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 what web novels were.

But he was a scholar of classical literature and poetry, and had never thought much of the web novel industry.

"Yeah. After graduating, I couldn't figure out what kind of job to get, so I decided to write a novel."

Li Changle hadn't been unable to figure out what kind of job to get. He simply didn't want one.

He'd never work for someone else. Not in this lifetime.

"Oh? What's it called? Let me have a look..."

They had nothing better to do, and Wang Weimin was clearly a little interested in Li Changle. The things an author wrote often reflected their personality.

"It's called Legend of Sword and Fairy, Uncle. You can look it up on Chinese Web Novel Platform."

Li Changle didn't refuse. Wang Weimin looked like a man of letters.

"The synopsis is interesting. It's actually a poem..."

The poem seemed ordinary to Wang Weimin, but it did sum up the novel's content concisely.

Still, that was pretty good. The kid had some talent. Wang Weimin had always liked talented people.

After seeing the novel Li Changle had written, Wang Weimin liked him a little more.

"The poem of yours, 'Riding my sword, I ride the wind; I vanquish demons between heaven and earth,' is pretty good..."

Wang Weimin opened the novel and read for a while. When he saw the poem, his eyes lit up.

The poem was simple, but its free-spirited, heroic feeling suited the character in the novel.

If someone could write poetry this well, they could make a living at it.

Li Changle smiled but said nothing.

Wang Weimin stopped reading and chose to keep chatting with Li Changle.

"Changle, what do you think of Siyi?"

Li Changle was taken aback. What did he mean by that? Wang Siyi was great, of course. She was a rich woman, and she was cute.

"She's a really good person. If she hadn't let me stay here, I wouldn't have had anywhere to go..."

"That's not what I meant. Ah... forget it. You young people can work things out yourselves."

Wang Weimin wanted to say something, but he thought it might just make his daughter resent him again. She should be allowed to make up her own mind, so after thinking it over, he dropped the subject.

"Oh..." Li Changle nodded blankly. He had no idea what Uncle Wang meant.

What could he possibly have going on with Wang Siyi? Everything was fine. If Wang Weimin hadn't shown up tonight, Wang Siyi would probably still be in a good mood.

"Changle, can you write poetry?"

Wang Weimin thought for a moment, then asked Li Changle.

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

"I know a little. Just a little..."

"I have a spot for the Huaxia Poetry Competition. The preliminary rounds are still underway, and it's for the Guangfu Competition Area. If you're interested, you can take part. Your writing seems pretty good..."

"The Guangfu Competition Area champion gets a prize of a hundred thousand yuan, and then they can go on to the national competition. The national competition prize is three hundred thousand..."

Wang Weimin thought about how the writing in Li Changle's web novel was decent, and how it even included a few poems that seemed quite good to him.

He was in Yangcheng this time because he'd been invited to serve as a judge for the Poetry Competition, so he thought Li Changle could give it a try.

If Li Changle got a good result, then if his daughter wanted to bring him home, Wang Weimin could put in a good word for him.

He knew his wife well. If she found out their daughter already had a guy she liked, she might say and do even worse things than he had.

He'd spent the evening with this young man and felt he was decent. He could consider him as a son-in-law, especially since his daughter liked him.

He now knew where he and his wife had gone wrong. They'd been too controlling, putting too much pressure on their daughter.

He'd decided to stop trying to talk her into anything. Whatever she wanted to do, he'd support her. He didn't want to lose the daughter he'd raised himself.

The Huaxia Poetry Competition was a longstanding tradition. It was held every year, drew a lot of attention, and offered generous prizes.

Li Changle's eyes lit up as he listened. A chance to make some quick money—there it was!

How had he not thought of this before? Poetry in this world had remained at a high level because the government had always supported it. The Poetry Competition had been running for decades.

Every year, it produced a batch of high-quality poems. Most of the competition's entries were solicited through invitations from the judges, who then selected the best works and had them officially published online.

Outstanding lines could spark heated discussion online. If a poem made it to the national competition, the organizers would put on a gala and feature the competing works.

They would present them in different ways: recitations, dances, or songs set to music.

Li Changle wasn't interested in any of that. He cared about the prize money!

The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 royalties would be paid soon, so he wouldn't be short on cash, but he wanted to become wealthy as quickly as possible.

The Poetry Competition was held once a year. Good heavens, with all the poems he had in his head...

He could milk those prize pools for the rest of his life...

So he could get hundreds of thousands for free every year?

Then why bother writing novels?

The Guangfu Competition Area was about to begin, and Li Changle had no idea how the poetry contest worked.

So he asked Wang Weimin.

"For the Poetry Competition, both the regional and national rounds use assigned prompts. They give you a random topic, and you write a poem based on it. The judges make the final decision..."

Li Changle nodded. An assigned writing prompt. That wouldn't be a problem.

"So what's this year's topic, Uncle Wang?"

"I think the topic for the Guangfu Competition Area is longing..."

Longing was a broad topic. There were countless poems about it in his head, so Li Changle relaxed.

Seeing that Li Changle seemed to be giving it some serious thought, Wang Weimin patted him on the shoulder. "Think it over carefully. You should try to write a poem that can place. Once it's ready, just send it to the official email address. You can find it online..."

"Okay. Thanks, Uncle."

"Ah... I have to get back to Jinling. I've got something to take care of. Treat Siyi well from now on. Don't let her suffer..."

With that, Wang Weimin stood up and walked to the master bedroom door. He paused, lost in thought, then spoke:

"Siyi, Dad didn't handle things well. I'm sorry. From now on, do whatever you want. I'll support you, and I'll talk to your mom too. And whoever you like, I won't interfere. As long as you like him, that's enough. I have to go home now. If you've had a change of heart, come home for a visit... There's nothing we can't talk through."

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

That couldn't be right. He shook his head and didn't dwell on it. He saw Wang Weimin downstairs, and Wang Weimin gave him another meaningful look, leaving Li Changle completely confused.

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