Senior Song stood up. She also wanted to let go of her prejudices and calcified knowledge from before, but she could not do so. She really could not accept Zhang Ye’s conjecture. “According to your inference, if the last 40 chapters were not written by Mr Cao Xueqin, then who wrote it? Who can pass off the spurious as genuine?”
Everyone pricked up their ears to listen.
Zhang Ye looked at her and answered, “Your question has two slight problems. Firstly, what I said just now was not a deduction, but a certain fact. As for why I say so, I will explain and analyze it one step at a time later on.” Regarding this matter, Zhang Ye was very certain and definite, hence he said it with conviction. There were still disputes as to who finished up the work, but the last 40 chapters were definitely not the work of Cao Xueqin. This was indisputable. “Secondly, I think the words passing off the spurious as genuine is inappropriate. Maybe some people feel that the last 40 chapters and the first 80 chapters match very well, and the plot has proper contrast, but I don’t think so. In fact, I find it incongruous. Of course, this will be slowly talked about later on as well. As for you asking who wrote the last 40 chapters, I can answer you right now.”
Senior Song asked, “Who?”