British writer

Three days later, early morning.

Paris train station, station square.

Da da da--

A carriage slowly stopped,

A middle-aged man wearing a coat and a bowler hat came down from the top.

He is quite handsome and looks like a handsome old man.

This man is Pergo's father——

Katrina Pelgau.

The coachman asked in a low voice: "Sir, do you want me to buy you a copy of Le Figaro now?"

Old Pelgo took out his pocket watch and glanced at it.

"No. Little Louis' train will arrive at the station soon. I'd better wait here to avoid missing it. Besides, there's no need to worry about not being able to buy toilet paper like "Le Figaro" , there is no need to rush.”

The coachman nodded,

"Shall I wait over there?"

Old Pell waved his hand high and said, "Go ahead."

The coachman then urged the horse to stop at the stable next to the square, then ran back and waited to carry the young master's luggage.

The sun is getting higher,

Sunlight shines through the ancient glass windows and onto the stone pavement, illuminating the interior of the station.

Old Pergao squinted his eyes and looked at the hurried travelers.

finally,

"coming!"

He saw his son who was capable of getting into trouble——

Luis Pergaard.

He stood on tiptoe and waved, shouting: "Little Louis! Come here quickly!"

Little Pelgo's ears turned a camel red color visibly to the naked eye, and even became more and more intense, until it was so red that it was so bright that it was no surprise that steam would come out of the ear holes in the next second.

He obviously heard his father's nickname for him.

"Don't call me 'Little Louie'!"

Young people have a strong sense of self, and this is the most intolerable thing.

Old Pelgo curled his lips,

"Then I call you 'little bastard'!?"

Little Pelgo muttered: "I'd rather you call me this, it sounds more normal. At least, it doesn't sound like a woman."

Old Perl let out a high "Huh~\

,""Then you should tell your mother that she chose the name. But, having said that, what you did this time was really an asshole. What did you say in the telegram to me at that time? Why has it become like this now? To clean up the situation?"

In the past, my son had spoken out well through newspaper channels.

Now it's better, it's a public fight with the award jury.

Look at those three people:

Lu Shi, Wells, Verne,

Which one can be offended?

Little Pelco showed a helpless expression and said innocently: "I have no idea. This is Uncle Alfaro's idea, and I was forced to do it in a hurry."

Señor Alfaro, editor-in-chief of Le Figaro,

Of course, he is also a good friend of old Pelgau.

"Tsk..."

Old Pergo was speechless.

He stared at his son with a stern look, as if he could see right through him.

There is nothing better than knowing a son like a father;

He knew in his mind that Alfaro might have really made the request with a tough attitude, but little Louis was by no means "rushing the duck to the shelves" as he called it, but just going along with the flow.

This kid must be secretly looking forward to competing with the three core judges of the Jules Verne Award.

Old Pelco took out his pipe and took a puff.

"Are you not convinced?"

Little Pel nodded high.

"I was kicked out of the primary election. Of course I won't be convinced."

"Huh~"

Old Per exhaled a high breath,

As a result, it sprayed on his son's face, causing little Pelgo to cough repeatedly.

"Ahem... don't be... impolite!"

Old Pelgo laughed,

"You still have the nerve to say the word 'polite'? Is it polite to make groundless accusations against the jury?"

As he spoke, he put the pipe into his son's mouth.

"Take a sip. Like a grown-up."

Does smoking count as an adult?

Little Pelle was one head and two inches taller and thought his father was extremely ridiculous.

He took out the pipe, stuffed it back into his father's mouth, and argued: "My novel is the evidence! Father, haven't you read "New France"? With the level of that book, you can't pass the primary election? Isn't this a shady story? "

Old Pergaard recognized this.

It is true that his own boy is not experienced enough and his writing is immature, but it does not mean that he will not be able to pass the primary election.

The tastes of those judges are too tricky.

Old Pelgao sighed,

"But there's no need to make things so ugly. Let's not talk about Professor Lu and Mr. Wells, just Master Verne. You know, he is a member of the French Academy... Ah, by the way, he is not an academician, but he It is called the '41st seat' of the Academy. You have made it difficult to end it. From now on...sigh..."

The father was worried about his son and sighed deeply.

Little Pergo didn't appreciate it,

"Father, this is Paris, France. I put aside my graduation thesis and rushed here just to 'smash everything that needs to be smashed'!"

Old Pergo was speechless;

"You are so impatient, that's why I said you are not an 'adult' yet. Well, it's too late to say anything now. Let's go buy a copy of "Le Figaro" and see if your "New France" is published in the newspaper. How's the effect."

After speaking, he nodded to the coachman and said,

The latter understood and carried the young master's luggage into the carriage.

The father and son walked along the street towards the nearest bookstore.

Soon, they arrived at their destination.

But the strange thing is that there is no bookstore owner in the open window, only a girl less than ten years old sitting there, immersed in reading the newspaper.

Old Pell knocked on the glass,

"child?"

"ah……"

The girl raised her head,

Seeing two handsome guys, one old and one young, she smiled.

"Want to buy a book?"

Old Pergo took off his right glove with his teeth, then reached into his pocket and picked out a few coins.

"A copy of Le Figaro."

The girl spread her hands,

"Sorry, it's temporarily out of stock. Sold out."

Father and son:? ? ?

They were all a little confused.

Ever since Le Figaro started using full-page advertising, they have never had a problem with the paper being out of stock.

What's going on today? !

The girl saw the confusion between the two and continued: "The reason why I'm here to look at the store is because my dad went to buy goods. He should be back soon. Do you want to wait?"

Little Pelco didn't want to wait,

He looked at his father,

"How about we go first..."

Before he finished speaking, Old Pergo interrupted his son's words with his eyes, and then raised his eyebrows in the girl's direction.

"She's reading the newspaper."

Little Pergo suddenly understood and turned to the girl,

"Can we watch it with you?"

The girl said "Huh?" and looked at the father and son carefully.

It looked like they were weighing whether the two of them were bad guys.

After a while, she said: "My name is Meri~"

Little Pergo was puzzled.

"You suddenly told me that the name is...hiss..."

He gasped because his father kicked his calf from behind.

I saw old Pergo smiling brightly at the girl,

"Thank you, Miss Merry."

Mei Li gave a sharp "hmm\

,""Come in, everyone."

She jumped off the chair,

The sound of "ta-ta-ta-ta" footsteps came from the open window of the bookstore.

Not long after,

Squeak——

The door opens.

Merry stuck out his head and waved to them,

"come."

Old Pelgao nodded,

"Come here."

Then, he gave his son a hand and couldn't help complaining: "Your mother and I are both pure French, passionate romantics, how come you are such a lump!? No wonder you haven't had a girlfriend since you were a child. ."

Little Pelgao: "..."

Feeling personally attacked.

Old Pergao shook his head,

"Sigh... I'm going to criticize you when I talk about this. Your "New France" is good at everything from science fiction to political allegory. But let the French leader marry his own female teacher..."

Little Pergo almost cried.

"Father, I know...I really know that I was wrong! It's my fault that the writing is ridiculous!"

Old Pergao patted his son on the shoulder.

"If you know your mistakes and can correct them, there is no greater good."

The two were chatting, and Merry poked his head out again.

"Why don't you come in?"

The father and son quickly said: "It's coming!"

They went into the bookstore together.

Little Pelco looked over and found that what Merry was reading was "New France".

Alfaro was very generous and put it on the fifth page.

Even if it is a short story, it is difficult to complete it in one page, so the words look like densely packed Buddhist scriptures, and the handwriting is like tangled Sanskrit.

Little Pearl whispered: "Is it well written?"

Meili sighed like a young adult:

"The words are too dense. It's hard for me to read. I haven't finished it yet. But it's almost over..."

With that said, she sat back,

"You guys should read it too."

Of course both father and son have read it,

Little Pelgao said: "It's okay~it's okay~we'll accommodate you."

Meri nodded,

"This is what a French man should say~"

Little Pelco burst open on the spot,

Unexpectedly, the little girl dared to make fun of her in person. She had obviously just heard her father complain that she was a "bump".

"Pfft~"

Old Pelgo couldn't help but sneer, but he noticed his son's expression and quickly lowered his head, seeming to be very interested in his own feet.

Merry waved his hand,

"Stop talking now. I'm going to finish reading it."

She buried her head and continued reading.

After ten minutes like this, she finally raised her head and said softly: "It's really good. "Le Figaro" hasn't had such an interesting page for a long time~"

Pelgo Jr. corrected:

"This is not 'page', this is 'novel'."

Merry pouted,

"You don't look like a French man now~"

Little Pelgo was immediately deflated and shut his mouth honestly.

Old Pelco asked for his son: "Miss Merry, what do you think of this novel? Is it good?"

Meri nodded,

"It looks good. However, I felt uncomfortable after watching it."

Old Pelgao asked: "Is it because the future prime minister married...ah..."

He stopped talking.

Meili shook her head like a rattle and said, "No, no, no. I think that's very romantic and passionate."

Father and son looked at each other,

Unexpectedly, in the eyes of girls, an outrageous marriage is not a shortcoming.

Little Pelgao asked: "Then why do you feel uncomfortable? Is it because the writing is not good?"

Meri spread his hands,

"No, of course not. It should be said on the other hand, it is precisely because it is written so well that it makes people feel uncomfortable."

She looked at "New France" and fell into deep thought,

"The French people in the future will all have the same idea. They will endure hardships and sacrifice for the country to make France great again... This is obviously a good ending, but I always feel shuddering. Can such a thing really be done?"

Little Pergo was ecstatic,

This is the effect I want!

Even the little girl feels it...

He could already imagine the Jules Verne jury bowing and apologizing to him.

Mery said: "In that 'New France', citizens don't even have the right to speak. It's really scary~"

Little Pergo said seriously: "Please remember this fear."

Meri was helpless,

"Why are you still educating me? Are you the author?"

Little Pergaud immediately wanted to admit,

However, he felt very embarrassed to show off in front of a little girl, so he didn't say anything in the end.

He said goodbye: "After reading the article, let's go~"

Old Pelgao on the side even handed out coins.

"This is money for reading the newspaper."

"Ah this..."

Merry was a little surprised,

"Aren't you going to continue reading? My father said that the latter article is the reason why today's Le Figaro is out of stock."

Old Pelgo:! ! !

Little Pelgo:! ! !

An ominous feeling suddenly rose in my heart.

The two said in unison:

"The following article?"×2

Meili nodded, turned back a page, then showed a big smile and said, "This is the right layout~ I won't be tired of reading it."

Little Pelgo looked over,

The title of the article is "Animal Farm\

,"The lower line of small print is the author’s name——

Lu.

Just two English letters, it was like casting a restraining spell on little Pergo, making him freeze on the spot.

Merry didn't notice, and continued to stab the little Pelgo in the heart.

""Le Figaro" really knows how to bully people~ Why can this 'Lu' article be typeset normally? This novel must have more words than "New France", but the line spacing and word spacing are larger. Use Five pages."

Little Pelgo almost vomited blood after hearing this.

He looked at his father,

"this……"

Old Pelgao's face was ashen.

At this time, he had already concluded that he had been tricked by his old friend Señor Alfaro.

That bastard actually used his own son as a stepping stone to his career.

"Damn!!!"

Old Pelgao couldn't help but curse.

Meri raised her head,

"Um...what's so surprising about this? Le Figaro's lack of moral integrity is something that only happens every day or two."

Only then did old Pelgo realize that he had said something too rude in front of the little girl.

He smiled,

"It's okay. Let's read this novel carefully~"

Meri nodded,

"good."

She focused her attention on the article and soon read it.

She is a little girl after all,

She prefers a well-spoken pig to be the leader of the "revolution" than a French leader who is married to her teacher.

The latter is much more interesting than the former.

Moreover, in terms of plot setting, "Animal Farm" has too many unexpected things.

At first, Merry thought the protagonist was the farmer Mr. Jones, but she soon discovered that was not the case.

The real protagonists are the animals,

The phrase "Comrades, how do we live? Let's face this problem squarely" reveals everything.

What makes the novel even more interesting are the commandments put forward by the animals in the second chapter.

——

"Seven Commandments":

Anyone who walks on two legs is an enemy.

Anyone who walks on four limbs or has wings is a relative.

No animals are allowed to wear clothes.

No animal is allowed to be bed-bound.

No animals are allowed to drink alcohol.

No animal may harm other animals.

All animals are equal.

——

When the last one, "All animals are equal," appears,

This novel has become a work of art.

The Seven Commandments were proposed by the oldest and bad-tempered pig on the farm and discussed among the animals.

Of course, some animals don’t approve,

The pig then used soma, using drugs to make opponents agree.

Merry whispered: "Watching "New France", I felt that losing the right to speak is already terrible; watching "Animal Farm", I found that losing the right to not speak is even more terrible."

Pergo and his son were stunned when they heard this.

None of them expected that a little girl's book review could be so poignant.

Perhaps this is the advantage of children,

Just like "The Emperor's New Clothes", children can't see what adults can see.

The converse is naturally true,

Children can see things that adults cannot.

Although he could already guess the conclusion, little Pergo couldn't help but ask: "Merry, which of these two books do you think is better?"

Meri sighed like a little adult again,

"Although I have only read two chapters, I really think that "Animal Farm" is better than "New France". Because reading "Animal Farm" will make me feel more scared. As I just said, what do you think? ?”

Little Pergo could not give an answer;

I admit in my heart that Lu Shi's article is better, it's no big deal,

But it was indeed impossible for him to say it himself.

Merry was curious,

"By the way, you seem to be paying close attention to my comments?"

Old Per said with a smile: "Miss Meri is very smart. Your comments are certainly worthy of our careful listening."

Meili: "(ˉ▽￣~)Cut~~"

Of course she didn't believe it,

"You'd better not flatter me. I just like to read newspapers. I read a lot, so naturally..."

At this moment, a man's voice suddenly came from outside: "Meili, I'm back, have you finished reading... um..."

A man stood at the door,

"who are you?"

He looked at the suspicious father and son.

Old Pergaard said: "You are the owner, right? Hello, sir. We wanted to buy "Le Figaro", but found that it was out of stock. The kind Miss Merry invited us in and read with her. Of course, we also know how to do it. Paid."

As he spoke, he pointed to the coins on the table.

Meri smacked her lips in dissatisfaction.

"When did you put the coin there?"

She doesn't want to take money.

Her father was also an upright man. Seeing that the Pergauds and his son were not bad people, he put away his hostility and said, "I'm sorry, I just walked a dozen streets and couldn't get anything. "Figaro" The newspaper sold very well."

With that said, the shopkeeper put the coin back into old Pergo's hand.

"I can't charge you any money."

Old Pergo was speechless;

After pondering for a moment, he pulled his son's arm, and then said goodbye to the shop owner and his daughter.

"In this case, we can only try our luck elsewhere."

Meri looked even more unhappy when she heard this.

It is rare to meet two book friends who are willing to listen to their book reviews, so the little girl naturally wants to stay with them for a while.

But old Pelgo was very discerning and could not stay to disturb the father and daughter.

He took his son out and secretly placed the coins near the window while saying: "Now we have two things to do: first, buy today's "Le Figaro" and finish reading "Animal Farm"; second, we have to buy today's "Le Figaro" and finish reading "Animal Farm"; …”

Old Pergo took a deep breath,

"I have to settle the score with that good friend of mine!"

When he said the word "that good friend", he almost said it one syllable at a time, gritting his teeth and spitting it out.