A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

It was already getting dark when the bus swayed and wobbled to a stop at the station on the outskirts of the city.

Lin Shubai and Su Wan squeezed off the bus. The evening breeze was a bit cool, but it felt nice on their faces. The streetlights had just come on, and a few small insects flew around in the dim yellow light.

Reaching Su Wan's door, she turned back and waved to Lin Shubai: "I'm here, you can go upstairs now. Tomorrow's Saturday, sleep in! Don't come looking for me unless it's absolutely necessary."

"understood."

Lin Shubai watched her go upstairs, and only continued upstairs after hearing the door on the fifth floor open and close.

On the sixth floor, the key was inserted into the lock, and the door opened.

"You're back?" Wang Xiulan's voice came from the kitchen, accompanied by the sound of stir-frying.

"Um."

"Why are you so late today?" Lin Jianguo asked without turning his head.

"Old Chen is going overtime to assign memorization."

"The Chinese teacher? That Old Chen?" Lin Jianguo finally turned around. "I've heard of your Chinese teacher. He's quite responsible, but a bit old-fashioned."

Lin Shubai changed into slippers and glanced around the living room. Lin Jianguo, as usual, sat on the sofa watching the news, flipping through channels with the remote, though there were only a few. A fruit bowl sat on the coffee table with a few oranges and apples.

He went into the bathroom to wash his hands. The boy in the mirror still looked the same: handsome, with a somewhat somber gaze.

He turned on the tap, splashing cold water on his hands, and his mind started thinking about the system again. If it really could only be triggered once a day, then he wouldn't be able to trigger it again until tomorrow. But what if it was calculated on a 24-hour basis? Then he'd have to wait until noon tomorrow.

He dried his hands and came out, just as Wang Xiulan was bringing the dishes to the table.

"Is anything happening at school today?" Wang Xiulan asked as she served him rice.

"No, we'll continue with the regular classes."

"That's good. Do your homework early after dinner, don't put it off until tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday, your dad said he'll take you to the department store to look at autumn clothes."

"it is good"

Lin Shubai nodded and picked up his chopsticks.

After finishing his meal, Lin Jianguo put down his chopsticks, reached for two oranges from the fruit plate on the coffee table, and handed one to Lin Shubai: "Eat some fruit after dinner to replenish your vitamins."

Lin Shubai took the orange.

The moment his fingers touched the orange peel—

"drop"

A crisp notification sound suddenly rang in my mind.

【Trigger Keywords】

[Father + Orange]

【The Back View (by Zhu Ziqing)】

It triggered again?! And at night?!

It wasn't once a day. I unlocked "Lunch" at noon, and now I've unlocked "The Back View" tonight. There's been about a seven-hour gap in between.

What's the pattern? It's not the cooldown time, but rather the need for specific keyword combinations. For lunch, it's "lunch + peach," and for dinner, it's "father + orange." Both combinations are related to real-world objects or people—the peach was given by Su Wan, and lunch was the scene at the time; the orange was handed to him by his father, who was right in front of him.

Therefore, the trigger condition is not randomly touching items, but rather a "meaningful" combination.

He broke off a segment of orange and put it in his mouth, the sweet and sour juice exploding in his mouth. The essay "The Back View" was still replaying in his mind, especially the description of the father buying oranges. At this moment, looking at the profile of Lin Jianguo across from him, who was drinking soup with his head down, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.

After Lin Shubai helped Wang Xiulan clear the table, he returned to his room.

He closed the door, leaned against it, and took a few deep breaths.

"The Gift of the Magi," "Lunch," and "The Back View." That's three stories.

He sat down at his desk, took out his notebook, flipped to the last blank page, and began to write:

First trigger: Watch + Gift → "The Gift of the Magi"

Second trigger: Lunch + Peach → "Lunch"

Third trigger: Father + Orange → "The Back View"

He stared at the three lines of text and began to analyze the pattern.

The first two times, the keywords were combinations of two words, and the third time, it was also two words.

Moreover, each trigger is related to specific things in reality—the watch is a gift from his father, the peach is the lunch fruit Su Wan gave him, and the orange is the one his father just handed him. These are all ordinary things in daily life, but they happen to correspond to the core imagery of a certain classic work.

The core of "The Gift of the Magi" is the exchange of gifts between husband and wife: the husband sells a watch to buy a hair comb for his wife, and the wife sells her long hair to buy a watch chain for her husband. The watch and the gift are directly related.

The story of "Lunch" is triggered by lunch and peaches, with the lady in the original text ordering peaches as dessert.

The scene in "The Back View" is even more striking; the father buys oranges for his son at the train station, and that back view has become a classic in literary history.

Therefore, what the system needs is "a real-world combination that matches the core imagery of a particular work." As long as such a combination appears in his life, the system will automatically unlock the corresponding work.

He put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling. The sound of pile driving from the construction site outside the window continued, thump, thump, thump, rhythmically.

Now that he had three works and figured out the pattern, the next step was to figure out how to profit from them. It was a natural and smooth idea, and he didn't even feel guilty.

Short story collections couldn't be uploaded to online novel platforms either. In 2010, Zhihu Yanxuan and WeChat public accounts hadn't taken off yet, so there was no revenue!

While thinking, he took out his homework. The first-year high school content was not difficult for Lin Shubai, who had at least graduated from university.

After finishing his homework, Lin Shubai's mind flashed back to the "Story Collection" that Su Wan had been reading at school.

"Yes, Story Collection magazine would definitely like these short stories."

"I just don't know the specific submission requirements for 'Story Collection'."

Lin Shubai had absolutely no idea how to submit it, to whom, or what the format requirements were. If it was sent to the wrong address or returned due to incorrect formatting, all his efforts would be wasted.

He glanced at the time: 8:10.

Lin Shubai pushed open the door and went out: "Mom, do we have a copy of 'Story Collection' at home? I'd like to take a look."

Wang Xiulan, being a Chinese language teacher, did not object to Lin Shubai reading some extracurricular books. In her view, reading extracurricular materials could be helpful for essay writing.

Wang Xiulan didn't even look up, replying, "Story Collection? Your Uncle Su has some, go downstairs and borrow it."

"I just want to take a look and learn more," Lin Shubai said vaguely.

"I'll borrow it again tomorrow. It's already so late." Wang Xiulan continued knitting, head down. "I should wash up and go to bed early. I have to go to the department store tomorrow."

"It's only a little past eight, it's not late, I'm going." Without waiting for Wang Xiulan's reply, she hurriedly walked out.

"Hey, this kid." Wang Xiulan's voice was completely blocked by the closed door and did not reach Lin Shubai's ears.

Knocking on the fifth-floor door, it was Su Wan's father who opened it. Su's father, wearing glasses and holding a newspaper, smiled when he saw Lin Shubai: "Shubai, looking for Xiaowan? She's lying in her room."

"No, I'm not looking for her, Uncle. I'd like to borrow a few issues of 'Story Collection' to read, either last month's or this year's."

"Story Collection?" Su's father put down the newspaper. "Yes, yes, yes, I buy it every month, I've collected a whole stack. You wait."

He turned and went inside, returning shortly with seven or eight magazines, a colorful stack: "They're all here, this year's and last year's. Take them and look at them, just return them when you're done."

Lin Shubai took the magazines, a thick stack, with the words "Story Club" printed in large characters on the cover, along with various titles: "Oriental Night Talks," "Overseas Stories," "Humorous World," and so on.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Don't mention it." Su's father patted his shoulder. "You're in the same class as Xiao Wan, so help her out more."

"Okay, I'll be going now, goodbye Uncle."

Lin Shubai smiled and went upstairs with the magazine in his arms.

Back home, he spread the magazine out on his desk and began to study it carefully.

The first page I turned to was the copyright page, which contained the magazine's basic information: "Story Club", a semi-monthly publication, sponsored by Shanghai Story Club Culture Media Co., Ltd., located at No. 74 Shaoxing Road, Shanghai, 200020, China.

He continued flipping through the pages and finally found the "Submission Guidelines" on the last page of one issue. It read:

"This magazine accepts all kinds of story submissions. Original works must not have been published in other media. Please include the author's name, detailed address, and postal code in your submission so that we can mail the payment."

Submission method:

1. Mail: Story Club Magazine, No. 74 Shaoxing Road, Shanghai, 200020, China.

2. Email: Can be sent to the respective editors' email addresses.

Turning to the next page, the email addresses of several editors are listed: Lü Jia, the editor of the red edition, the editor of the green edition, and so on. Two more editors' email addresses follow.

Continuing to scroll down, I came across another important note:

"Please adhere to the 'one manuscript, one editor' principle when submitting your manuscript. Do not submit the same manuscript to two editors simultaneously. Once a manuscript is accepted, the payment will be sent via postal remittance in the second month after publication. First-time authors, please provide your real name, address, and telephone number for contact purposes. This journal does not return manuscripts; please keep a copy for your records."

Lin Shubai held the magazine and had a plan in mind.

Two submission methods: mail and email.

Mail is the most traditional, but it's slow. Email is fast, but it requires an email address, which he doesn't have.

Moreover, although there was a computer at home, it used a dial-up connection via telephone line, which was incredibly slow. Furthermore, Wang Xiulan was very strict and didn't allow him to go online freely.

Then I'll have to mail it.

He flipped through several magazines to check the payment standards. On the back cover of one issue, he saw an announcement: "The payment standard for this magazine is 300-500 yuan per thousand words. Excellent articles will be paid more. Exceptionally outstanding works may be eligible for year-end awards, with a maximum of 1,000 yuan per thousand words."

Lin Shubai did some mental calculations: "'The Gift of the Magi' is over three thousand words, 'Lunch' is over two thousand words, and 'The Back View' is an essay, not suitable for 'Story Collection'. The payment is 400 yuan per thousand words, so the two pieces together would be over two thousand yuan."

This is a huge sum of money for Lin Shubai, considering that Wang Xiulan's basic monthly salary as a primary school teacher is only four thousand.

Lin Shubai continued flipping through the pages and came across a sentence: "The royalties can be sent from the post office to the address you provide, or they can be deposited into your bank account."

Bank card? He doesn't have a bank card, and he can't get one unless he's eighteen.

Then the only option is to send money via postal money order.

After understanding the submission process, the next step was to revise the manuscript. Lin Shubai certainly didn't think he could revise the manuscript to be better than the original. The main purpose of the revision was to localize the story background, main characters, and other content, especially for "The Gift of the Magi" and "Lunch".

Otherwise, how can you explain his deep understanding of prices and customs abroad? These things cannot be explained simply by being a genius.

Moreover, it was 2010, and the domestic internet was not like it would be a decade or two later, where you could find any information you wanted online with a simple search.

At least during high school, all works must conform to the character design.

He took out a piece of stationery, intending to write "The Gift of the Magi" first.

Just as he picked up his pen, he remembered a clause in the submission guidelines he had just seen: handwritten manuscripts should have neat handwriting and preferably be written on graph paper to make it easier for editors to count the word count.

She glanced at the lined stationery she was using and frowned. She seemed to have some graph paper at home; Wang Xiulan had used it to grade essays before.

Lin Shubai pushed open the door and went out: "Mom, do we have any graph paper at home?"

Wang Xiulan was tidying up in the kitchen: "Yes, it's in my desk drawer. Take it yourself."

Lin Shubai went to Wang Xiulan's room and rummaged through a drawer, finding a stack of graph paper. He took a few sheets, returned to his own room, and began writing again.

Lin Shubai wrote the title "The Gift of the Magi" on the graph paper, then crossed it out and changed it to "The Gift".

After thinking about it again, I crossed it out and changed it to "The Most Precious Gift".

Final draft: "The Most Precious Gift".

He began to write.

First, the characters' names need to be changed. Della – let's call her Cuifang, an extremely ordinary Chinese girl's name. Jim – let's call him Jianguo, one of the most common boy names from the 1950s to the 1970s. Now he's in his forties, an age where he has elderly parents and young children to care for.

Secondly, the setting needs to be changed. The New York apartment will be changed to a small attic room of about ten square meters in a lane in Shanghai, with the window facing the kitchen next door, where you can smell the aroma of your neighbor cooking every afternoon.

Then, the details need to be changed. Della's blonde hair—changed to a long, black braid that she's kept since she was eighteen and has never been able to cut. Jim's gold watch—changed to an old pocket watch that his father left him before he died, with the words "Self-reliance" engraved on the case. It was a prize his father received from the factory when he was recognized as an advanced worker.

Finally, the emotional core must be preserved. A poor young couple, in order to buy each other gifts, each sold their most precious possessions. The wife sold her hair to buy her husband a platinum watch chain, and the husband sold his watch to buy his wife a set of tortoiseshell hair combs. In the end, they no longer needed the hair combs, nor the watch chain. But what they gained was something more precious than any gift—their unconditional love for each other.

He put down his pen, read it once, and his eyes welled up with tears.

The emotions of the original work remain, but it has completely transformed into a Chinese story. Cuifang and Jianguo are no longer Della and Jim; they are just one of countless ordinary couples in China in 2010. Their poverty, their love, and their sacrifices are Chinese in nature, something readers can understand.

He counted the words; it was around 3,500, a few hundred words more than the original, but still within the acceptable range for the magazine "Story Club".

After the inspection, I looked up at the time and it was already past 1 a.m.

Lin Shubai yawned and put down his pen.

"That's all for today. We'll revise 'Lunch' tomorrow and mail it out the day after tomorrow."