A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

Wednesday, December 14th.

When Lin Shubai arrived at the school gate, the banner was still there. It read, "Warmly congratulate our student Lin Shubai on winning the first prize in the National Middle School Students' Innovative Writing Competition." The large white characters had been hanging there for almost a month, and the edges were a little curled, but it was still eye-catching.

The two walked into the teaching building. The bulletin board in the corridor had a new poster, not Lin Shubai's, but a notice for the New Year's Day cultural performance. He breathed a sigh of relief and his steps became a little lighter.

Lin Shubai sat in his seat, taking notes when he needed to and looking up when he needed to. His life had been very regular lately—attending classes during the day and writing at night. He had already written over 100,000 words of "Four Generations Under One Roof," the publishing contract for "The Little Prince" had been signed, and sample copies were expected to be available next month. Sales of "Charlotte's Web" were still steadily increasing.

Everything is moving forward, neither too fast nor too slow.

During the second break, he was flipping through the textbook for the next class when Teacher Zhao stood at the door, glanced into the classroom, and fixed her gaze on Lin Shubai.

"Lin Shubai? The principal requests your presence."

Lin Shubai stood up and followed Teacher Zhao out. "Teacher Zhao, what did the principal want to see me about?"

"That's good." Teacher Zhao smiled and didn't say anything more.

On the third floor of the administration building, the principal's office door was open. Zhou Zhiyuan was sitting behind his desk, answering a phone call. He saw Lin Shubai standing at the door, waved him in, and gestured for him to come in and sit down. Zhou Zhiyuan said a few words into the phone, "Okay, okay," and "It's settled then," and then hung up.

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."

"How's your studying lately? Just finished the monthly exams, right?"

"Not bad, top 50 in the grade."

Zhou Zhiyuan nodded. "Top fifty, not bad. I saw your 'Charlotte's Web' at the bookstore last weekend. It was displayed in the most prominent position near the entrance. I flipped through it, and it's really well written."

"Thank you, Principal."

"It's not just politeness, I genuinely think it's good." Zhou Zhiyuan paused for a moment, "Alright, let's not beat around the bush. I called you here today because there's something I want to discuss with you."

Lin Shubai sat up a little straighter.

Zhou Zhiyuan took out a folder from under the coffee table, opened it, and found several sheets of printing paper inside. He pulled the papers out and handed them to Lin Shubai.

"The school is planning to launch a campus publication, but the name hasn't been decided yet," Zhou Zhiyuan said, looking at him. "So we're thinking of setting up a literary society and would like you to serve as its president and editor-in-chief."

Lin Shubai took the papers and glanced at them—they contained a preliminary plan: the publication's positioning, column setup, publication cycle, and budget, all written in great detail.

Lin Shubai thought for a moment, "The editor-in-chief is responsible for soliciting manuscripts, reviewing manuscripts, typesetting, and proofreading, all of which I have never done before."

"Old Chen will be your mentor. You just need to oversee the content, and he'll keep an eye on the technical details." Zhou Zhiyuan paused for a moment. "Moreover, the school will assign you a student editorial department, recruiting interested and capable students from each class. You'll be the editor-in-chief. You won't have to write every article yourself; your main job will be setting the direction, reviewing, and finalizing the manuscript."

"Principal, I've been having problems lately..."

Before Lin Shubai could finish speaking, Zhou Zhiyuan interrupted him, "Don't rush to refuse. The school knows you're very busy right now and don't have much time. How about this, I'll make the decision. From now on, you can make your own decisions about your studies. As long as your grades don't drop, the school will give you the green light for taking leave in the future. Of course, you still have to participate in every monthly exam."

"The literary society will give you the greatest freedom. You will be fully responsible for the activities of the literary society, and the school will not interfere. If you need venues, funding, or printing support, I will take care of it with the academic affairs office."

"The greatest degree of freedom," Lin Shubai repeated the phrase, "but to what extent?"

"You can hold the meeting whenever you want, and just let the academic affairs office know in advance which classroom you want to use. You decide the content of the publication, but of course the school will review it in the end. That's the bottom line."

Lin Shubai remained silent for a few seconds.

Zhou Zhiyuan's suggestion was very tempting to him. If he took over the literary society, he might have more things to do, but he would also have more freedom. He wasn't worried about his grades. Since transmigrating, his memory had been getting better and better, and he felt that his brain was getting smarter and smarter.

"Is my mentor Old Chen?" he asked, confirming.

"Yes. Old Chen volunteered. He said you're reliable and he doesn't need to worry about you. He's just a figurehead and will help you solve any technical problems you encounter."

When will the publication begin?

"The school hopes to officially start next semester, so the rest of this semester will be used for preparation—deciding on the title, assembling the team, recruiting staff, and defining the columns. Old Chen already has a preliminary plan; you just need to discuss it with him." Zhou Zhiyuan looked at him. "So? Should I take it?"

Lin Shubai nodded. "Okay, I'll give it a try."

Zhou Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Then it's settled. Lin Shubai will be the president and editor-in-chief. You and Lao Chen will meet at the regular meeting next Monday to get the team in place."

Lin Shubai shook hands with him. "Principal, I have one more small request."

"explain."

"When it comes to members of the literary society, we shouldn't just look at grades. Anyone who is passionate and willing to write can join, even if their grades aren't particularly good."

Zhou Zhiyuan stared at him for two seconds, then smiled, "Okay, you decide. You're the editor-in-chief, so you decide what kind of people to hire. The school won't interfere."

"Thank you, Principal."

When he returned to the classroom, it was during break time. Liu Yang jumped up from his seat and leaned over, "What did the principal want with you? Is it still about Peking University?"

Lin Shubai sat down. "No, the school wants to start a campus publication and wants me to be the editor-in-chief."

"Editor-in-chief? You mean...the editor-in-chief of a magazine?"

"Pretty much, it's a campus literary magazine, published roughly every two months."

"Holy crap, Lin Shubai, you're only a freshman in high school and you're already the editor-in-chief?"

Su Wan turned around from the side, still holding a pen in her hand. "When did this happen? Was this what the principal was talking to you about?"

Lin Shubai took out his textbooks from his schoolbag. "Yes, it will officially start next semester. This semester is for preparation, and my mentor is Lao Chen."

During the last period of the morning, Lin Shubai finished his math test, then took out a blank notebook, wrote "Literary Society Preparation" on the cover, opened the first page, and began to make a list:

1. Journal Title (To be determined)

2. Column Setup

3. Editorial Team Recruitment

4. Author Team Recruitment

5. Call for Papers

6. Layout/Printing/Expenses

7. Publication cycle (tentatively bimonthly)

After finishing writing, he thought for a while and added a few lines under "Column Settings": Foreword (Editor-in-Chief or Teacher), Campus Stories (Student Submissions), Book and Film Reviews, Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy Column.

"That's all for now. I'll go talk to Old Chen about it later," Lin Shubai thought to himself.