A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

Saturday, December 10th.

Lin Shubai stood at the entrance of Xinhua Bookstore on Nanjing Road. A poster was pasted on the glass door of the bookstore, which was larger than the one he saw on his phone. The words "Signing Event for Lin Shubai, Author of Charlotte's Web" took up a third of the page. Below that were the time and place, and below that was a line of smaller print: "Sixteen-Year-Old Prodigy Writer".

Su Wan stood next to him and said, "Stop looking and go inside. The longer you stand here, the more people will stare at you."

Lin Shubai turned his head and glanced around—there were already more than a dozen people waiting at the door, some holding books and others taking pictures with their phones.

The bookstore was busier than usual. A space in the back of the lobby on the first floor had been cleared out and set up with a long table and two chairs. On the table was a stack of copies of "Charlotte's Web," neatly arranged, and next to it was a sign that read "Author Signing Area."

Zhou Mingyuan was already there, standing beside the long table, talking to a man in a suit. He saw Lin Shubai and waved.

"You're here? This is Manager Sun from Xinhua Bookstore."

Lin Shubai walked over and shook hands with Manager Sun. Manager Sun was in his early forties, with his hair neatly combed and a kind smile. "Welcome, Lin Shubai. It's cold today, so I had someone pour you some hot water and put it on the table."

"Thank you, Manager Sun."

Zhou Mingyuan glanced at his watch. "There are still forty minutes left. Sit down and get used to the environment. Don't panic when it gets crowded."

Su Wan stood next to him for a while, then said, "I'll wait for you over there." She pointed to the bookshelf area next to them.

"it is good."

At 1:50, people started coming in through the door.

The first person to come in was a middle-aged man wearing glasses. He opened the book to the title page and said, "My daughter is eight years old and loves this book. She has to go to tutoring class today and can't come, so she asked me to buy her a signed copy."

Lin Shubai signed his name on the title page and then asked, "What's your daughter's name?"

"Zhou Xiaoran".

Lin Shubai added a line below the name: "Wishing Zhou Xiaoran academic progress and happiness every day." Then he handed the book back.

The second one was a young woman with her hair in a ponytail, holding two copies of "Charlotte's Web". She put the books on the table, then took out her phone from her pocket and asked Lin Shubai for a photo together.

The young woman took the signed book and asked, "When will your next book be published?"

"Soon."

"Then I'll wait."

More and more people started to appear.

One by one, people came over, placed their books on the table, and Lin Shubai signed them. Occasionally, he would look up and say "thank you." Most people didn't talk much, signed their books, and left. Occasionally, someone would ask, "Are you really a high school student?" He would nod, the other person would say "oh," and leave with the book.

When about twenty books had been signed, a familiar voice came from the queue.

"Shubai! I'm here!"

Lin Shubai looked up and saw Liu Yang standing in the middle of the line, holding five books in his hands. He was as excited as a puppy that had been released from its cage. Behind him was his mother, Wang Meifang, who was also carrying a few books.

Liu Yang walked to the table and stacked five books on it. "My mom said these all need to be signed. One book says 'To Liu Yang,' one says 'To my dad Liu Shengli,' one says 'To my mom Wang Meifang,' and the other two say 'Wishing my relative's child academic progress'—I wrote the specific names on sticky notes."

He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, on which five names were scrawled in crooked handwriting.

After Lin Shubai finished signing each book, Liu Yang stacked the books and hugged them to his chest. Then he leaned closer and whispered, "There are more and more people queuing outside. I just glanced at it, and I think there are at least a hundred. Good luck."

Lin Shubai gave him a reassuring look.

"Then I'll be going, I won't keep you any longer." Liu Yang left with the books in his arms.

The line continued to move forward.

A girl in a school uniform walked over, placed two books on the table, and then took a letter out of her pocket. "Lin Shubai, this is a letter I wrote to you. Could you please take a look?"

Lin Shubai took the letter. "Okay, I'll go back and read it." The girl bowed, turned around, and ran away.

Next came two young women, one wearing a gray down jacket and the other a white cotton-padded coat; they were Zhou Min and Xiao Lin.

Zhou Min placed the copy of "Charlotte's Web" and the well-worn "Story Collection" magazine on the table together. Xiao Lin stood beside her, also holding two new books.

Zhou Min first turned to the page of "Story Club" and asked, "Can I get a copy of 'Story Club'? I especially love this story, 'The Most Precious Gift'."

Lin Shu-bai took the magazine. "Sure, would you like me to write a message?"

"Just write it to Zhou Min."

Lin Shubai wrote "To Zhou Min" on the title page and then signed his name.

Zhou Min took the book, flipped through it, and nodded. Xiao Lin came over and put both books on the table. "My turn. I don't ask for much, just an autograph. But I want to ask—what happened to Charlotte's babies? Did the three little spiders that stayed behind ever leave again?"

While signing the book, Lin Shubai replied, "It's written in the book that they accompanied the little pig through season after season, but spiders have very short lifespans. Those born in spring are old by autumn, but the little pig will always remember Charlotte."

Xiao Lin nodded, wanting to say something, but before she could speak, Zhou Min pulled her away.

The line continued to move forward.

Old Chen arrived, wearing a dark gray coat and holding Chen Xu's hand.

"Hello, Brother Lin Shubai!" Chen Xu's voice was loud.

"Hello." Lin Shubai smiled.

Lin Shubai wrote a line on the title page: "Wishing Chen Xu progress in his studies and to read more good books." Then he signed his name.

Chen Xu took the book back, looked down at it for a while, and then looked up. "Brother Lin Shubai, I cried when Xia Luo died."

Old Chen coughed once.

"It's okay," Lin Shubai said. "I almost cried while I was writing it."

Chen Xu's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"real."

Chen Xu nodded in satisfaction, then pulled Old Chen away. Old Chen nodded to Lin Shubai without saying anything.

More and more familiar faces began to appear in the group. Zhang Wei and Li Haoran came together, each holding a book. Zhong Rong came over with three girls, each holding several books. Chen Hao from the next class also came with his sister. The little girl stood in front of Lin Shubai a little nervously. Chen Hao held up his phone to take pictures, saying, "Look at the camera and smile."

Around 5 p.m., the last reader finished signing.

Store Manager Sun walked over and said, "We signed more than 420 books today, which is the largest number of people at a single book signing event this year."

Zhou Mingyuan added, "The bookstore sold nearly 500 copies of 'Charlotte's Web' today, and the entire inventory was sold out. We've already restocked from the warehouse."

Lin Shubai stood up and stretched his wrist; his right hand was sore from signing for so long.

He walked to the bookstore entrance; it was already dark outside. Su Wan was waiting for him at the door.

"Let's go home."