A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

Monday, March 20th.

When Lin Shubai and Su Wan arrived at the classroom, there were still more than ten minutes before class started.

Lin Shubai's schoolbag was more than twice as bulging as usual, and the zipper was almost impossible to close. It was filled with autographed copies of "Four Generations Under One Roof".

"Here it comes! Here it comes! Here it comes!"

When Liu Yang saw Lin Shubai and Su Wan enter the classroom, he jumped up from his seat, shouting, "Where's the book? Where's the book? Where's the book?"

Before Lin Shubai could even reach his seat, Liu Yang had already rushed over, stretching out his hands as if waiting to catch some treasure.

"Are you serious?" Su Wan walked past her and put her backpack on her seat.

"As for it!"

Lin Shubai unzipped his backpack, took out the first book, "Four Generations Under One Roof," and placed it on Liu Yang's desk.

Liu Yang picked up the book with both hands, turned to the title page, and read: "To Liu Yang—thank you for the chicken legs, spicy strips, and all your support. My best friend, Lin Shubai."

"Shubai, I'm going to cry."

"Don't cry."

"I'm really going to cry."

Your tears are worthless.

"My tears are valuable, I just rarely shed them." Liu Yang sniffed, carefully put the book into the innermost compartment of his backpack, zipped it up, and patted it.

Lin Shubai continued to take books out of his bag, one, two, three... He signed each book's title page and wrote different inscriptions. He had signed more than a dozen books last night while sitting at his desk. These were to be given to the members of the literary society and Old Chen.

During the break, Lin Shubai carried a stack of books to the second-year high school classroom.

Yu Xingzhi ran into him at the corner on the third floor of the teaching building. She was holding a folder and was about to go to the office to hand in something when she saw Lin Shubai carrying a stack of books and paused for a moment.

"Are you doing wholesale?"

"I'm delivering a book." Lin Shubai pulled one out of the pile and handed it to her. "Yours."

Thanks.

When will the manuscripts for the second issue be collected?

"Before this weekend," Yu Xingzhi said, then left with her folder and books.

Lin Shubai continued walking forward and found Zhao Lei at the door of the classroom of Class 1, Grade 11.

Zhao Lei was slumped over his desk catching up on sleep; he'd probably stayed up late reading science fiction again last night. Someone patted him on the shoulder, and he jerked his head up, his eyes not fully open, a little drool still clinging to the corner of his mouth.

"Lin Shubai? The book has arrived?"

Lin Shubai placed the book on his desk.

Zhao Lei quickly stuffed the book into his backpack, then took something out of his pocket—a White Rabbit milk candy.

"A return gift, bought at the convenience store yesterday."

Lin Shubai looked at the candy and smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Zhao Lei said, then lay back down to catch up on his sleep.

Next came Zhao Lin, Shen Yue, Zhou Yutong, and Lao Chen, all of whom Lin Shubai brought over one by one.

......

The last class in the morning is biology.

The biology teacher's surname is Zhong. His teaching style is as simple and direct as his clothing. He doesn't like to joke. But today he showed a rare bit of excitement because today's topic is the human skeletal system, and he can bring out his "treasure" from the laboratory.

Professor Zhong brought over a detachable human skeleton model from the lab. It was smaller than a real person and usually sat on a shelf in the corner of the lab, like a forgotten ghost.

"The human body has a total of 206 bones," Teacher Zhong said, disassembling the model's arm. "They are divided into the axial skeleton and the limb bones. The axial skeleton includes the skull, spine, sternum, and ribs—"

He twisted the skull off and placed it on the left side of the podium.

"The bones of the limbs include the bones of the upper limbs and the bones of the lower limbs—"

He removed the left arm and placed it next to the skull, then removed the right arm and placed them symmetrically, followed by the left leg and then the right leg.

A bizarre scene unfolded on the stage: a complete skeletal model had been disassembled into its various parts, with the head, arms, legs, and torso arranged in a categorized manner, as if some kind of anatomical demonstration was taking place.

Liu Yang turned around from the front and said in a voice only Lin Shubai could hear, "Doesn't this scene look like one of those horror movies where someone's been cut into several pieces?"

Su Wan glared at him from the side: "Can you shut up?"

Liu Yang chuckled and turned back.

As Lin Shubai listened, he shifted his arm on the table.

His right arm, which was resting on the edge of the table, slipped out as he moved it and bumped into something.

Su Wan's notebook.

The notebook cover is the kind of constellation theme commonly found on the market—a dark blue background with the symbols of the twelve zodiac signs printed on it, arranged in a circle, with a starry sky pattern in the center.

【Trigger Keywords】

[Zodiac Symbols + Human Body]

【The Tokyo Zodiac Murder Case】(by Soji Shimada)

All those intricate schemes, the knowledge about astrology and alchemy, and the repeatedly discussed legend of "Asod" appeared clearly in Lin Shubai's mind.

The story goes like this: The renowned painter Heikichi Umezawa died mysteriously in his studio, in a locked room that seemed impossible to solve. Shortly after, his eldest daughter, who was already married, was murdered in her home. Then, all six girls living with the Umezawa family disappeared, and their bodies were subsequently found in mines across Japan. Each body had parts corresponding to a zodiac sign cut off, their deaths gruesome and bizarre.

Among Heikichi Umezawa's belongings, police discovered a madman's notebook. In it, he claimed that he would use the bodies of six young girls corresponding to their zodiac signs, according to astrological theory, to create the perfect female "Asode".

Everyone suspected that it was the work of Heikichi Umezawa after his death, or that someone was committing the murder to fulfill his mad last wish. The case was full of clues, many suspects, and motives that were hard to fathom. The police were never able to identify the murderer, and the case became a famous unsolved case in Japanese history, shrouded in rumors and curses for decades.

Forty years later, Kiyoshi Mitarai, an eccentric detective who works as an astrologer as a side job, accidentally receives an anonymous suicide note, and a long-forgotten case resurfaces.

The riddle is laid out; what is the answer?

Lin Shubai flipped through the last few pages in his mind and saw the answer. His fingers trembled slightly, not from fear, but because the trick was just too...

"Lin Shubai".

Su Wan's voice came from the side.

Lin Shubai snapped out of his daze and realized he was staring at Su Wan's notebook cover. His right hand had somehow reached out again, his fingers resting on the bottom right corner of the notebook—the same spot where his elbow had touched earlier.

What are you doing?

Lin Shubai pulled his hand back, a little faster than usual. "Nothing."

Su Wan glanced at Lin Shubai with a suspicious look, about to say something, when she was interrupted by Teacher Zhong on the stage, "Lin Shubai! Pay attention in class."