A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

November 4th, Friday.

There are three unread messages on the screen, starting at 5:40 AM, one every twenty minutes, all from the same number.

"Lin Shubai! Are you going back to school today? I saw a banner at the school gate yesterday! It had your name on it! Hanging there! Bright red!"

"Why aren't you replying to me? Are you still sleeping? You won the national first prize and you're still sleeping? Do you deserve that crystal trophy?"

"Never mind, you go to sleep. I took pictures of the banner for you, I'll show them to you when you get here. I took seventeen pictures, from all angles."

After reading the three messages, Lin Shubai put his phone next to his pillow and stared at the ceiling for five seconds.

Liu Yang's biological clock is a mystery. He can be energetic and sending text messages at 5:40 a.m., and he can fall into a deep sleep within three seconds during an English class. These two states coexist in his body, like two roommates who can't stand each other but have to squeeze into the same room.

He sat up, got dressed, and went out the door.

Lin Jianguo had finished eating and was sitting on the sofa tying his shoelaces. He was wearing a faded work uniform, and a tuft of hair was sticking up that he couldn't press down no matter what he did.

"I thought about that trophy of yours last night, and it's not very safe to leave it on the coffee table in the living room."

"Unsafe?"

"If your mom knocks over the crystal table while wiping it, it'll be broken. I've cleared out the cabinet next to the TV to store your trophies and novels from now on."

Lin Shubai glanced at the shelf next to the TV cabinet, where there used to be flowers, all planted by Wang Xiulan, but now the flowers were gone.

"Where did you put the flowers?"

"On the balcony."

Lin Shubai sat down to eat breakfast. The porridge was very thick, and the rice grains had all split open. He took a couple of sips when Wang Xiulan came out of the kitchen, holding a dishcloth, and stood beside the table watching him.

"The school uniform is too thin, wear a sweater underneath."

"it is good."

Wang Xiulan nodded, turned and went back to the kitchen, but stopped after taking a few steps: "I wiped your trophy three times last night, and there's not a speck of dust on it."

Lin Shubai, with porridge in his mouth, hummed in agreement.

Wang Xiulan left satisfied.

When they reached the fifth floor, Su Wan's door was open. Su Wan stood in the doorway, wearing a white school uniform jacket, her hair tied in a high ponytail, and holding a thermos in her hand.

"Why are you so slow today?" She glanced at her watch. "It's 7:20."

"My mom told me to wear a sweater."

Su Wan looked him up and down, then nodded: "This sweater is quite nice. Did your mom knit it?"

"Um."

"My mom knitted one for me too, pink. I wore it once, and my classmates said I looked like a walking strawberry," Su Wan said expressionlessly, then turned and locked the door. "I'm leaving."

The bus arrived at the stop. The two people got off and walked towards the school.

Then Lin Shubai saw the banner.

The red banner spans the entire school gate, tied at both ends to sycamore trees. The white lettering is ridiculously large, clearly visible even from fifty meters away.

"Warmest congratulations to our student Lin Shubai for winning the first prize in the National Middle School Students' Innovative Writing Competition."

Lin Shubai stood at the school gate, looked up at the banner, and remained silent for about three seconds.

A crowd had already gathered at the school gate. A girl in a red down jacket was taking pictures with her phone; after taking one, she looked down at the screen, then raised it again to take another. A boy wearing glasses stood under the banner, head tilted back, mouth slightly open, his expression as if he were watching some astronomical spectacle.

Lin Shubai walked quickly past the school gate with his head down, pretending that he was someone who had nothing to do with the banner.

But his pretense failed.

"Lin Shubai!" The girl taking the photo recognized him, turning her phone from the banner towards him. "Look this way!"

Lin Shubai quickened his pace, with Su Wan following behind, her lips visibly pursed as she suppressed a laugh.

"Why are you running?" Su Wan caught up with him.

"I didn't run. I walk faster."

"Your cadence just now at least doubled."

"Are you counting for me?"

"I'm observing. I've said before that I have a strong observational ability."

The two entered the teaching building. A red paper was pasted on the wall in the corridor, bearing the same message written in neat calligraphy, signed "Jing'an No. 1 Middle School Principal's Office." Next to the red paper was a photo of Lin Shubai standing on the podium—it was unclear who took the photo, the angle wasn't good, and his eyes were closed.

"Who chose this photo?" Lin Shubai asked.

"I don't know. But you can be thankful that at least your mouth wasn't open."

The two walked into the classroom. The moment Lin Shubai pushed open the door, the classroom was silent for half a second, then erupted.

"Lin Shubai is here!"

"First prize nationwide! That's amazing!"

"Did you see the banner? The one at the school gate!"

"Is that you in the photo too? The one with your eyes closed!"

Lin Shubai walked to his seat and put down his schoolbag. On the desk was a bouquet of flowers—not the kind that are beautifully packaged by a florist, but a few lilies wrapped in newspaper, with water droplets on the petals, looking like they had just been cut from a flower bed.

"Who put this here?"

Su Wan pointed to the front row. Liu Yang was lying on the table with his head buried in his arms, but judging from the frequency of his shoulder shaking, he wasn't sleeping at all, but was suppressing a laugh and waiting for Lin Shubai to ask him.

"Liu Yang".

Liu Yang suddenly looked up, a smug look on his face that said, "You finally asked me!" He continued, "It was me! I bought the flowers this morning at the school gate from an old lady. They were five yuan a bunch. I told her my classmate won the national first prize, and she said, 'Then you should buy flowers,' so I bought them."

"Thanks."

Su Wan was already seated next to her, flipping through her English textbook. She glanced at the "offering" on the table and said expressionlessly, "You're currently in 'class-supported' status."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that the whole class spontaneously makes offerings to you."

The school bell rang. The first class was English. Ms. Sun walked in, wearing high heels, and slammed her lesson plan on the podium. The whole class fell silent instantly. She stood on the podium, her gaze sweeping over the class, finally landing on Lin Shubai, where she paused for a second.

"Before class begins, I have something to say."

The whole class perked up their ears.

"Congratulations to Lin Shubai from our class for winning first prize in the National Middle School Students' Innovative Writing Competition." Teacher Sun's tone was still businesslike and calm, but the corners of her mouth clearly turned up slightly. "This is an honor for our school, and also an honor for our class. Let's give them a round of applause."

Applause erupted. Liu Yang clapped the loudest, his hands moving like motors, making the whole classroom vibrate. Su Wan also clapped, but very restrainedly, touching her hands together twice before stopping.

After the applause subsided, Teacher Sun continued, "Alright, now turn to page 52 in your textbooks. Today we'll be discussing relative clauses."

During the second break in the morning, Lin Shubai was flipping through his textbook for the next class when an uninvited guest appeared at the classroom door.

A young male teacher in a white shirt stood at the door, glanced into the classroom, and fixed his gaze on Lin Shubai: "Lin Shubai? The principal would like to see you."

The classroom fell silent again.

Liu Yang turned around from the front row and mouthed three words: "They've given out money?"

Lin Shubai stood up and followed the teacher out. The sunlight in the corridor was bright. Several students from other classes passed by him. Someone recognized him and whispered, "That's him." Lin Shubai pretended not to hear, but his ears involuntarily turned red.

On the third floor of the administration building, the door to the principal's office was open.

Zhou Zhiyuan was sitting behind his desk, on the phone. He saw Lin Shubai standing in the doorway and waved him in. Lin Shubai went in and sat down on the sofa. Zhou Zhiyuan said a few words into the phone, "Okay, okay," and "We'll talk later," and then hung up.

"Lin Shubai, you're here?" Zhou Zhiyuan stood up from behind his desk, walked around it, and sat down opposite him. "Would you like some water?"

"No need, thank you, Principal."

"Did you see the banner at the school gate?"

"I saw it."

"How do you feel?"

Lin Shubai thought for a moment: "They're quite popular."

Zhou Zhiyuan paused for a moment, then laughed: "It should be bright red. It has to be bright red, very eye-catching. I told the logistics department to hang it up for a month and not take it down."

Lin Shubai thought to himself: One month. That banner will be hanging at the school gate for a month. That means that for the next thirty days, every morning when he walks into the school gate, he will have to look up and see his name hanging on the bright red cloth.

"Principal, isn't a month too long?"

"It won't be long." Zhou Zhiyuan waved his hand. "You won the national first prize, the first time since our school was founded. A month is too short. I'd like to keep it up until the end of the year."

Lin Shubai decided not to argue. Anyway, he could walk with his head down every time he entered the school gate.

Zhou Zhiyuan took an envelope from under the coffee table and pushed it over: "A small token of appreciation from the school. It's not much, just three thousand yuan. Consider it a reward."

Lin Shubai glanced at the envelope; it was of moderate thickness. He reached out and took it: "Thank you, Principal."

"It's all thanks to your own hard work." Zhou Zhiyuan leaned back on the sofa, his hands clasped on his stomach. "I have something to tell you. Yesterday, a leader from the district education bureau called me to ask about your student. I said that this student not only writes well, but also has good grades in all subjects, showing well-rounded development. The leader said that there will be an outstanding student selection in the city next year, and he asked me to recommend him."

Lin Shubai did not respond.

"Of course, that's for next year. Your main task now is still studying. Don't get carried away just because you won an award." Zhou Zhiyuan said this with a serious expression. "Teacher Chen told me about your People's Literature award. Keep writing well, and if you become successful in the future, don't forget your alma mater."

No, it won't.

Zhou Zhiyuan nodded, stood up, and extended his hand: "Okay, that's settled then. Let's go back to class."

Lin Shubai stood up, shook hands with him, and turned to walk out.

As I reached the stairwell, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

He took it out and saw it was a text message from Zhou Mingyuan.

"Xiaolin, the ISBN has been approved. Are you free this Saturday afternoon? Come to the publishing house and take a look at the sample copies. If everything is fine, we can print them by the end of the month."

Lin Shubai stared at the text message for two seconds.

Sample book.

Sample copy of Charlotte's Web.

It's only been a little over half a month since he finished the manuscript. He thought the publishing process would take at least one or two months, but he didn't expect it to be so fast.

He stood at the top of the stairs, his thumb hovering over the screen for two seconds before typing: "I'm free. What time this afternoon?"

The reply came almost instantly: "Three o'clock. Call me when you arrive, and I'll have the editor come downstairs to pick you up."

"Okay. Thank you, Teacher Zhou."

When they returned to the classroom, the bell hadn't rung yet. Liu Yang was catching up on sleep at his desk, while Su Wan was flipping through an English study guide. Lin Shubai sat back down and stuffed the envelope the principal had given him into his bag.

"What does the principal want with you?" Su Wan asked without looking up.

"A reward of three thousand yuan was given."

Su Wan paused, then looked up at him: "Three thousand?"

"Um."