Chapter 623 - 373: Yu Hua (2)

"What are you thinking? I’m asking if you want to continue your studies."

Li Peifeng shook his head, "I’m not planning to continue. I have a lot going on with writing and entrepreneurship."

Zhao Qingge said, "Actually, if your senior pursued a PhD, it would greatly benefit his career. He could choose any professor within our school, and might even stay on as faculty after graduation. But he didn’t take this path. Why? It takes too much time and energy, and balancing academics with work leaves no time for personal relationships..."

Li Peifeng nodded repeatedly, "Right, right, studying for a PhD leaves no time for dating."

"How could that be?"

Lin Zhihui couldn’t understand, thinking that dating is a matter of half an hour at most, there’s no way it takes up all your time, so she wanted to argue.

But Zhao Qingge interrupted, "This is a serious matter. You should think about it more carefully when you go back. We’re about to start the group meeting; go check if your PPT can be played in the venue."

"Okay..."

Lin Zhihui left disappointed, leaving only the mentor and student in the room.

"Click~"

Five or six seconds after the door closed, Zhao Qingge withdrew her gaze from the door and looked at Li Peifeng, slowly asking, "Where did you stay last night?"

"After they finished exercising and eating, I went back to Jade District."

This was the truth. Last night, Li Peifeng wanted to try a 1V3, but the three of them didn’t give him a chance. Fundamentally, they were still a bit angry about Li Peifeng and Zhao Qingge living together.

After dinner, Huang Tianxuan left voluntarily, Wu Wenyue and Xu Manning also showed no intention of stopping her, so Li Peifeng returned home to work.

Zhao Qingge seemed somewhat dissatisfied, "Didn’t they say anything to you?"

"They did. They said they had you exercise and then gave you a massage, but they used a bit too much force... Are your legs still sore?"

Li Peifeng looked at Zhao Qingge with concern.

Perhaps because of the warmer weather, she wore a fitted black business suit suitable for spring and autumn, with two buttons fastened on the double-breasted jacket, and ankle-length pants that revealed half of her white ankle covered in sheer stockings, perfectly complementing her pointed suede high heels...

"Sore."

Zhao Qingge sat sideways with her knees together, tapping her thigh with a loosely clenched fist, her brows slightly furrowed, "Since they told you about this, what’s your stance on it?"

"I sternly criticized them!" Li Peifeng said seriously, while looking at the half-exposed ankle wrapped in stockings, he uncontrollably got up and sat beside Zhao Qingge, "They promised not to do it again next time, you can be assured."

"Let go!"

Zhao Qingge’s face flushed, quickly standing up to avoid him, "It’s time, let’s go to the meeting."

Li Peifeng asked softly, still lingering, "After the meeting, I’ll give you a leg massage."

...

The leg massage couldn’t take place as wished, because after the meeting Zhao Qingge was busy with her classes.

Li Peifeng, bored, decided to head home.

Although the semester had started, Li Peifeng, nearing graduation, no longer had any classes, unlike last semester when he occasionally had a couple. This semester, he had no academic responsibilities at all.

In terms of academics, he only followed Zhao Qingge’s instructions to help with research projects. If it weren’t for the group meeting, Li Peifeng wouldn’t even need to set foot on campus and could stay home writing.

"Off I go~"

Just stepping out of the main entrance of the School of Arts and Sciences, Li Peifeng rented a shared bike to head home but saw a few student council members hanging banners and placing promotional signs near the greenery.

Scanning the banner instinctively, it was seven or eight meters long, with two lines of text;

[Magical Literary Vision, The Intersection and Barrier-breaking of Online and Traditional Literature—Special Lecture by web author Renjian Yiliangfeng. Hosted by Beihua Normal University of Arts and Sciences. Lecture time: Friday at 7 PM. Location: Jingwen Lecture Hall.]

Oh, it’s about me as an author?

Li Peifeng immediately put down the bicycle and approached, casually beginning to direct, "No, it’s hung too low, raise it a bit."

"Yes, yes, this position is just right."

While talking, Li Peifeng also stepped up and helped tie the banner to the tree.

A male student with glasses glanced at him, tied a knot with the rope in his hand, and smiled, "The great writer is so free; could you sign something for me later?"

Li Peifeng laughed, agreeing, but the other said, "I’d like a signature but I didn’t bring a pen."

Why are you talking nonsense then?! Did your brain malfunction?

Li Peifeng ignored him, hopped onto the bike, waved a hand, "Thanks for your hard work, I’m off!"

Just as he was riding to the gate, his phone rang; it was Dean Chen Shucheng.

"Come to my office for a bit."

"Okay, alright."

Li Peifeng didn’t bother asking why he was being called, assuming it might be about being encouraged to pursue a PhD and stay at the school, pondering how to refuse on the way.

Upon arriving, he found the room not only occupied by Chen Shucheng but also another professor from Beihua Normal University. Although they hadn’t met before, he recognized the face from TV and from the covers of certain works...

"I don’t need to introduce this person, right? You might even have written papers analyzing his works."

Chen Shucheng got up and pointed to the elderly gentleman, whose temples were frosty but wore a cheerful face. The man was around sixty, had hair that was a mix of black and white, with a slightly chubby face. Under triangular eyes were two prominent eye bags; his appearance was honest and sincere... This old man seemed rather cute.

"Teacher Yu Hua, hello, hello."

Li Peifeng quickly stepped forward to greet him, Yu Hua smiled and shook his hand, "Please, have a seat. Hey, young man, you’re full of energy."

Yu Hua, a contemporary famous writer from Dong, his works have a significant influence, winning numerous awards both domestically and internationally. Many of his works have been adapted for film and TV, holding a top-tier position in the literary world. Three years ago, he was appointed as a professor at Beihua Normal University.

Is this my doctoral advisor?

Li Peifeng was uncertain, planning to wait and see, sitting down and waiting for them to speak.

"Calling you in wasn’t for anything else. I heard from Professor Zhao that you plan to hold another lecture within the school, is that correct?"

"Yes, I’m planning to do so. I just saw that a banner has been hung on campus..."

Chen Shucheng nodded, "I’ve approved it, but I later thought, since you’ve done one before, repeating it might be redundant... Thankfully, I met Teacher Yu today, chatted with him, and suddenly thought it would be more interesting if this lecture involved a conversation between you two writers, old and new. Teacher Yu agreed, so we’d like to hear your opinion."

Li Peifeng readily agreed, "No problem, no problem, my pleasure."

Yu Hua smiled broadly, "Actually, I’ve read your book ’The Chronicles of Sword and Magic’, but I couldn’t figure out the payment method, so I stopped reading after it required a fee."

Li Peifeng was pleasantly surprised, "Really? That’s wonderful, just let me know your email; I’ll directly send the electronic version of the VIP Chapters to you for feedback."

To be honest, he wasn’t particularly surprised that Yu Hua had read his book. Sharing the same academic institution was a factor, as was the promotional impact of ’Sword and Magic.’ The most important thing was that most traditional authors are rather accepting of web novels.

They can embrace new things and some even read web novels. Some traditional authors who aren’t doing so well have secretly registered under pseudonyms, uploading their works on online platforms, but due to adjusting to the web novel style, many seemed to vanish without a trace.

Yu Hua even stated in the media once, ’I think there’s no difference between traditional literature and web literature. The vibrancy of web literature is a good sign. We shouldn’t hold bias against web literature’ and other supportive remarks about web novels.

As they say, true masters always have the heart of an apprentice, and this rings true here.

"Alright, since you both agree, the lecture is settled. I’ll ask them to adjust the promotional method shortly, keeping the time and venue the same."

The three casually chatted and agreed on the ’Dialogue between Web and Traditional Literature’ dual-lecture. Li Peifeng also began discussing the topic of the lecture with Yu Hua.

Upon leaving the dean’s office, it was already lunchtime, yet Li Peifeng skipped the cafeteria and biked back home in high spirits; he had to update!

He had just sat at the computer and pressed the power button when the screen hadn’t even lit up that he received a WeChat message.

He Yimeng: "(Smile) Eight days ago, I suggested you give them the cold shoulder, but you ended up giving me, the one who suggested it, the cold shoulder too, huh?!"

Li Peifeng chuckled, thought for a couple of seconds, scrolled up to the message He Yimeng referred to, took a screenshot, and sent it back.

[He Yimeng: The soul can only walk alone; when there’s dependency, there’s no possibility of love...]

Li Peifeng: "I’m just not overly dependent on you, following your words, and that shows my love for you, sweetheart~"