A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

Monday morning, the sky was a clear, bright blue.

When Lin Shubai arrived at the classroom, Liu Yang was hunched over his desk doing his homework, his pen scribbling rapidly. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and, upon seeing Lin Shubai, his eyes lit up as if he had found a lifeline.

"Book Gone! What's the answer to question three on the English test?"

"B."

"Sure?"

"Sure."

During Lin Shubai's time in the past, his grades had gone from "not bad" to "top student" in the eyes of others, at least in the eyes of Su Wan and Liu Yang. As for the other classmates, that's what Liu Yang was spreading, and there was no way to stop him.

Liu Yang drew a "B" on the test paper, the pen tip almost piercing the paper. Then he turned to another page and continued scribbling, muttering to himself, "What about question five? Question seven? That last reading comprehension—never mind, I'll just guess that one, the chances of guessing are higher."

Lin Shubai put his schoolbag down and sat down. Su Wan was already in her seat, a copy of "Story Club" magazine, the second half of September's issue, open in front of her. She was engrossed in reading it, her fingers gripping the pages, not turning the page for a long time.

"Good morning," Lin Shubai said.

Su Wan turned her head, closed the magazine, and asked with bright eyes, "How did your talk with the editor go on Saturday? When can we see your masterpiece?"

"If all goes well, we should see it next month."

"So fast? I thought it would take a long time. Don't magazines need to be prepared well in advance?" Su Wan was a little surprised.

"That's normal, but Teacher Lü said there just happened to be a space available in one issue."

"Teacher Lü?" Su Wan blinked. "You call her that so naturally."

"What else should I call you? Editor Lü?"

"Just call her Sister Lü, try to get closer to her."

"She's over forty, it's not appropriate for me to call her 'sister'."

"Then call her Teacher Lü, that's fine too." Su Wan nodded, then suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice, "What was her reaction when she saw you? Was she surprised?"

Lin Shubai recalled Lü Jia's expression when she saw him: first confusion, then surprise, and finally something between astonishment and amusement.

"I was quite surprised. She probably thought 'Teacher Lin' was at least an adult."

"Hahaha!" Su Wan laughed out loud, attracting the attention of several classmates around her. She quickly covered her mouth, her shoulders still shaking. "Were you really trying to laugh then?"

"Thank goodness, I managed to hold back."

"If I were there, I definitely wouldn't have been able to hold back my laughter." Su Wan wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes.

Liu Yang finally finished his English test, let out a long sigh, and slumped into his chair. He turned around and saw the two laughing, immediately perking up: "What are you two talking about? You're laughing like idiots."

"It's nothing." Su Wan stopped smiling, but the corners of her mouth were still upturned.

"You're lying. You always do this because something's up." Liu Yang pointed at them, with an expression that said, "I knew it all along," and continued, "Is it about Shu Bai's manuscript?"

Su Wan glanced at Lin Shubai, who nodded: "Yes, it will be issued next month."

"Does that mean I'll be able to buy it at the school gate next month?"

"It should be."

"Holy crap!" Liu Yang exclaimed, then covered his mouth, looked around, and whispered, "I'll buy ten copies! No, twenty! I'll give one to everyone I meet!"

"Why did you buy so much?" Lin Shu was a little dumbfounded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Publicity! My brother's in a magazine, won't the whole world know?"

"Don't tell anyone, wait until it's published before you talk about it," Lin Shubai warned.

"Yes, yes, keep it low-key." Liu Yang nodded repeatedly, but judging from his expression, he probably forgot about it as soon as he left the classroom.

The morning classes proceeded uneventfully. Math covered inequalities, and English covered the present perfect tense. Lin Shubai sat in his seat, taking notes when necessary and looking up when required—everything seemed normal. Only occasionally could he sense Liu Yang's furtive glances from the front row, a strange excitement akin to "My brother's going to be in a magazine."

The third period is Chinese.

Old Chen entered as the bell rang, placed his enamel mug on the podium, unfolded his lesson plan, and then glanced at the class. His gaze lingered briefly on Lin Shubai, but Lin Shubai noticed it.

"Last lesson we covered the classical Chinese text 'Record of Mount Tai,' and today we'll continue. Turn to page 58," Old Chen said, opening his textbook.

A chorus of pages turning filled the air below.

Old Chen stood on the podium and began to talk about the author. He talked about his life and his political ideals. When he got to the part about sharing porridge and pickled vegetables, he suddenly stopped and glanced at the whole class.

"When the author was a child, porridge was cooked, cooled, cut into pieces, and eaten one piece at a time. Look at you now, getting food in the cafeteria, complaining that this dish isn't good, that dish is too tiring, being picky about everything."

Someone below burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Old Chen said sternly, but his lips twitched slightly. "This morning in the meeting, the leader specifically mentioned the problem of wasting food. I guess you've never gone hungry. Let me tell you, when I was a kid, we'd break a steamed bun in half, eat one half for breakfast, and the other half for lunch..."

"Teacher, that was when you were a child. It's 2010 now," Liu Yang interrupted before Old Chen could finish speaking.

The whole class burst into laughter.

Old Chen glared at him: "What's wrong with 2010? Does that mean we don't need to be frugal in 2010? Your steamed buns are leaking filling every day, do you think I don't know?"

This time it was Liu Yang's turn to be laughed at. He shrank back, chuckled twice, and then fell silent.

Old Chen continued, "You too, from now on, you're not allowed to waste food. Take only what you can eat!"

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class. Old Chen closed his textbook, picked up his enamel mug, paused at the door, and turned back: "Lin Shubai, come here for a moment."

Su Wan whispered from the side, "Is it about the essay competition?"

Lin Shubai shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

In the office, Old Chen sat down, pulled a piece of paper from a stack of documents on the table, and handed it to Lin Shubai.

"The preliminary results of the essay competition are in."

Lin Shubai took the paper. It was printed with the "List of Finalists for the Citywide Middle School Student Essay Competition," and below it was a list of names. His eyes scanned it and found his own name in the middle—"Lin Shubai, Grade 11 (3), Essay: 'The Back View'."

"You passed," Old Chen said calmly, but with a slight smile on his lips. "The school selected ten papers to send to the city, and you were one of them."

"Thank you, Teacher Chen."

"Don't thank me, it's because you wrote it well." Old Chen leaned back in his chair, picked up his enamel mug and took a sip of water. "I showed your essay to the other teachers in the Chinese language group, and everyone thought it was good. Several teachers even asked me how this student usually writes, and when I said it was average, they didn't believe me."

Old Chen had a clear smile on his face when he said this, a smug look that said, "You wouldn't understand my students."

"But don't get too cocky." Old Chen's smile faded. "You've passed the preliminary round, and the next competition is the city-wide competition. There are hundreds of schools and thousands of essays in the city, and the judges are all experts from the city. Your essay is considered good in our school, but it might not be so good in the whole city."

"I know."

"Good to know." Old Chen nodded, took another sip of water, and said, "Alright, go back to class."