Chapter 49 Mysterious Visitor (asking for votes)
Maupassant stood up from the sofa, pacing the living room as he said, "...Yes, Lionel's personality was originally like that, but—he met me!"
Zola, Flaubert, and others looked at him with disbelief.
Although they all liked this talented young man, they also knew his character well. It was highly unlikely that Maupassant could have any positive influence on Lionel Sorel.
They would be thankful if he didn't take Lionel to every brothel in Paris.
Maupassant coughed awkwardly and began to explain casually, "I once told him our teacher's famous quote—'The most glorious day in one's life is not the day of success and fame, but the day when, out of lamentation and despair, one finds the challenge of life and courageously steps towards the will.'
I believe it was this sentence that allowed him to overcome the inferiority complex caused by his humble origins and begin to challenge life's difficulties, using creation to step towards a new day."
Maupassant secretly glanced at Flaubert and, seeing that his teacher's expression had relaxed a little, also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But Maupassant's unrestrained nature urged him to continue, "I also once told him Mr. Zola's famous quote—'The only happiness in life is to keep moving forward.'
This is how Lionel realized that pure cynicism would only cause his life to stagnate; only by, like Mr. Zola, turning the small details of life into poetry, could he find happiness in moving forward."
Although Zola was half-believing, he still nodded slightly in approval.
Maupassant became even more excited, turning to Turgenev, "Mr. Turgenev, Lionel also greatly admires you..."
Turgenev quickly interrupted, "Alright, I'm not too interested in knowing what you told him about my words—I'm more interested in knowing how Lionel Sorel is doing lately? Is he still so destitute?"
Maupassant's old face flushed. In truth, ever since he treated Lionel to a public meal, he had never seen him again. Each subsequent episode of the "Poor Léonard Legend" short play was the result of his impromptu improvisations.
He had told himself countless times, "This time, I can't talk about Lionel at the salon!"
But alas, the hosts of those salons, especially the idle noblewomen, for some reason particularly loved to hear this story of a "poor boy's rise."
So he could only turn the short story into a serial, constantly laying groundwork, planting foreshadowing, creating twists, climaxes, and epilogues... He used all the skills Mr. Flaubert had taught him.
He would also occasionally draw inspiration from "spin-offs" heard at other salons...
Finally, he would usually end with, "This is my young friend Lionel, he is poor but upright, irritable but learned, rude but eloquent. Please forgive me for bringing such a crude story to such an elegant occasion; I will definitely advise him well!"
Then the noblewomen would cover their smiles with their fans and, with a slightly enraptured voice, instruct, "Guy, no... let Lionel remain true to himself.
My goodness, 'Poor Léonard,' 'Rude Léonard,' 'Irritable Léonard'... Is there really such a poor boy in Paris!?"
Maupassant was seething with jealousy, wanting to shout at them, "I can be rude too, I can be irritable too..."
However, Maupassant was not without Harvest—it was precisely because of his captivating storytelling that he secured sponsorship, allowing his play, "Old Stories," to be staged at the "Balande Theatre."
Although the response was mediocre, it was a successful start.
"Guy, what's wrong?" Turgenev, seeing Maupassant silent for a long time, couldn't help but prompt, "Haven't you seen Lionel recently?"
Maupassant snapped back to attention and quickly remedied, "Lionel has been engrossed in his writing lately, so I haven't actually seen him. But he... should still be living in the Eleventh District, I think... I think it's Oberkampf Street.
Yes, it's Oberkampf Street!"
Turgenev then turned to Zola and Flaubert, "Mr. Zola, Mr. Flaubert, I think we should invite this 'Poor Léonard' to our salon, don't you?
Aren't you curious about what kind of person this young man really is?"
Zola took a sip of red wine, then stood up from the sofa and walked to the desk, picking up the "Sorbonne Faculty of Arts Bulletin" that lay there. At the top was "the old guard," which occupied the entire page.
Zola read things slowly; he had a habit of taking notes as he read, so the edges of the newspaper and the spaces between the lines were marked by his pencil.
He quickly scanned the novel before sighing, "What a remarkable pathological cross-section! This young man, he saw the sickness of society with a microscope, yet he didn't—or rather, was unwilling—to prescribe a remedy.
And this very calmness is the most severe accusation!"
He then turned to Flaubert, "We must meet him; his method deserves serious consideration from 'Naturalism'!"
Flaubert nodded, "Lionel Sorel... his gaze is too sharp, and his heart is too hard—but isn't that precisely the quality a good writer must possess?
I agree, this single piece, "the old guard," is enough to prove that he is one of us!"
At this point, Flaubert turned to Maupassant, "Guy, go invite him. This Sunday, to my house."
Maupassant, with a stiff upper lip, agreed, "Yes, teacher! I'll go find Lionel tomorrow!"
Alphonse Daudet, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly laughed, "Guy, you've found yourself a good 'opponent'!"
Looking at Daudet's seemingly all-knowing gaze, Maupassant's heart inexplicably became anxious.
— — — — — —
Lionel's life, at the center of the storm, was calmer than imagined.
Due to the class segregation and the lagging media information of this era, the tide brought by "the old guard" hadn't yet reached his beach.
The congratulations from his classmates were the biggest reaction he had felt in the past two days.
And Lionel now had a more urgent task: to deliver the first part of "the decadent city," "Seduction and Ascent," to Gabriel. The ending part happened to be "Ilena Drunkenly Disrupts the Grape Trellis."
Compared to the original "Jin Ping Mei," the plot progressed more quickly. After all, Lionel had already omitted many highly Sinicized and difficult-to-adapt plot points; he wasn't aiming to truly write this book as a famous French novel of manners.
Gabriel also didn't have the patience to wait for him to slowly polish the text.
The only thing Lionel regretted was that he didn't have time, nor could he hire someone to transcribe the manuscript—although he had found Alice a transcription job, "the decadent city" certainly couldn't be given to her.
At the post office on Saint Martin Boulevard, he packaged the thick manuscript, filled out the address, requested the post office's most expensive "same-day delivery" service, and paid a full 10 sous in postage.
Leaving the post office, he took a public carriage to school for class.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he got off, he saw a luxurious carriage, truly "resplendent," parked at the entrance of Sorbonne. The usual boisterous scene was gone, and other students' and professors' carriages were parked far away.
Then, the gates of Sorbonne opened directly, allowing this carriage to drive majestically into the campus.
(Please vote, thank you everyone!)