It was just a love letter; I'm really no great writer!

Around 9 p.m., Lu Ran returned home and received a call from Li Kangze.

It was said that an editor from the People's Publishing House came to Huaicheng to hold a book launch for "To Live" and proposed to meet with him to have a talk.

"Editor-in-Chief Wu speaks highly of you and wants to meet you!" Li Kangze said excitedly.

"Living" was serialized in Huaizhong Pictorial, but its dissemination and influence were limited.

If it is published by the People's Publishing House, there is a high chance that it will become a classic book nationwide and be widely circulated!

Since joining his nephew's company, Li Kangze feels that life is full of surprises.

One minute "White Night" is a bestseller overseas; the next minute "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is getting a TV series adaptation...

And now, another book, "To Live," has emerged, catching the attention of a national authoritative publishing house.

Lu Ran was also quite happy that more readers could see "To Live"...

Yes, we must not let down Mr. Yu Hua's painstaking efforts.

……

Before going to bed, he sent a message to Zhao Yishuang.

Lu Ran: "Don't worry, your aunt is a very nice person. She took me home and said she would protect me from now on."

Yi Shuang: "..."

She knew perfectly well that Lu Ran was just teasing her to comfort her.

Yi Shuang: "I'm sorry, I didn't know my dad would suddenly come home, I was just hoping for the best."

Yi Shuang: "My dad isn't a bad person... he just doesn't allow me to date early, and he doesn't allow boys to get close to me."

Lu Ran: "I can understand."

Yi Shuang: "Don't transfer schools. I'll talk to Dad. You... you have to be okay."

Lu Ran: "Do you...like me?"

Yi Shuang: "I...I don't know."

The conversation ended abruptly here.

Zhao Yishuang held her phone to her chest, turned over in a daze, and looked at the spot where Lu Ran had lain an hour earlier.

She suddenly felt a little confused.

So he got up, his white toes peeking out from under his pajama bottoms, slipped on his slippers, went to the bookshelf, and took out his diary.

She walked to her desk, turned on the small lamp, unlocked the password, opened her diary, and found a love letter tucked into the latest page.

That was written to her by Lu Ran; every sentence was both passionate and tender.

"I woke up feeling so much love for you."

"I have no other thoughts, I just miss you, miss you, miss you, miss you, miss you..."

"His nature is like white jade, which remains cool even when burned; his writing is like a red string, which becomes more profound the more it is struck."

Zhao Yishuang's eyes flickered.

From a young age, she remembered her father's teachings and always kept her distance from the opposite sex.

Even if her father didn't say anything, she could easily see through the boys' shallow intentions.

Including... the original Lu Ran.

Rather, Lu Ran's desire was naked and undisguised, as if four words were written all over his face:

Rich woman, I'm hungry.

This straightforward and persistent boy, unlike others, aroused Zhao Yishuang's curiosity.

So she let Lu Ran get close to her.

Gradually, I came to understand what made this boy interesting.

I admire him, but I'm starting to worry about him.

She knew her father's methods very well; to call him petty was an understatement—he was always ruthless, like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Zhao Yishuang began to reject him, distance herself from him, and be cold to him, hoping that he would give up. On the other hand, she also contradictorily wanted him to rise to the challenge.

In the end, Lu Ran gave up.

Hearing that he had been quite depressed for a while, Zhao Yishuang had no choice but to ask Di Lingyan to take care of him in her place.

To this day, she still vividly remembers the feeling of Lu Ran entering her world; it was the first time in her life that she felt so novel and happy.

The girl held a pen and wrote down her thoughts word by word in her diary.

"In my heart, you are my everything, my entire life. All things in the world exist only because they are related to you. Everything in my life only has meaning when it is connected to you." (Note 23)

……

The next day, early in the morning.

After washing up, Lu Ran ate breakfast absentmindedly. The final exams were in three days and the book launch was on his birthday.

A birthday means turning seventeen, or eighteen by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, and becoming an adult.

Zhao Zheng was like a mountain pressing down on his head.

How do we overcome him... how do we overcome the patriarchy that has been deeply rooted in humankind for thousands of years?

"Teacher Tian, ​​this rice noodle is so delicious!" Zuo Hanzhi's eyes lit up as she looked at a bowl of rice noodles with lots of toppings.

There were fried eggs, sausages, water spinach, and a few snails.

Tian Luojiao laughed and said, "I might as well quit my job and cook for you all, so I won't have to suffer the hardships of teaching."

"Okay, okay." Zuo Hanzhi smiled with her eyes narrowed.

Lu Ran said, "Resign! A genius like Sister Jiao, who's not only a great cook but also speaks multiple languages, is a rare find!"

"Who are you calling a loli!" Tian Luo said angrily, slamming her hand on the table.

"I'm a lolicon," Lu Ran said.

"...Then," Tian Luojiao hesitated, "I am a loli, right?"

Zuo Hanzhi asked curiously, "What is a loli?"

"Uh, just a cute kid."

There is no "Lolita" in this world, but there is a very famous forbidden love in the West, which gave birth to the imported word "Lolita".

On Earth, Nabokov himself had a normal marriage, and his writing of *Lolita* was essentially a stylistic experiment with unreliable narration.

He was nominated for the Nobel Prize more than a dozen times during his lifetime, but unfortunately, he was not selected because of the huge moral controversy surrounding "Lolita".

Nabokov was severely underestimated during his lifetime, and it was only many years later that his literary status was overturned, with "Lolita" becoming an unshakeable classic.

Of course, if Lu Ran wants to win the Nobel Prize as soon as possible, *Lolita* is not a good choice...

He needs to write a flawless work.

Oh right, writing works isn't enough; translation is even more important.

"Jiao-jie, you should resign," Lu Ran said calmly, putting down his chopsticks. "Focus on translating my work from home."

Ah! My teaching qualification exam...

Tian Luojiao's eyes widened.

Although teaching every day is annoying, I'm actually a little reluctant to leave the podium.

Zuo Hanzhi blinked: "What work?"

Lu Ran thought for a moment: "An outsider."

Albert Camus, a benchmark of absurdist literature, won the Nobel Prize at the young age of 44, making him the second youngest person to achieve this honor.

After all, the average age of Nobel laureates in literature is sixty-five...

"Sister Jiao, is it okay?" Lu Ran asked.

"Why not? Who likes going to work every day?" Tian Luojiao looked at Lu Ran's face, a slight ripple of emotion stirring within her...

The biggest obstacle between the two of them is gone.

"Don't worry, translating my work won't be tiring. I'll arrange a top-notch translation team for you. You just need to keep an eye on it for me."

Lu Ran, with his deep pockets, said, "Don't worry about the compensation. If you come to Lingran Culture, I'll pay you the salary of a company secretary."

"Thank you, boss! You're so generous!" Tian Luojiao was overjoyed and wanted nothing more than to pick up Lu Ran and kiss him passionately.

But considering that his teaching qualifications had not yet been transferred, he had no choice but to endure it.

Zuo Hanzhi was a little stunned; her English teacher had just been poached like that…

The Chinese exam starts at 9 a.m.

For safety reasons, Lu Ran asked Zuo Hanzhi to go to the examination hall with Xia Liang and Li Xingping.

His first task was to meet with the security team he had hired.

Voldemort dared to cause me trouble, so I certainly wouldn't let him off so easily.

A gentleman takes revenge without delay.

As I was leaving the residential compound, I received a phone call.

Li Kangze said anxiously, "Xiao Lu, Editor-in-Chief Wu told me that 'To Live' can't be published..."

"What's going on?" Lu Ran was stunned.

"Editor-in-Chief Wu said this was the president's opinion, that bigwigs above were pulling strings, and asked if I had offended anyone..."

"Grass!"

In the soft morning light, Lu Ran saw a dark purple Lamborghini parked by the roadside. A short-haired woman with a seductive figure and alluring gaze leaned against the car, smiling and waving at him.

He was furious and slowly walked towards Zhao Qingqing.

A demoness.

I'll start with you!

-

Note 23: From Stefan Zweig's "Letter from an Unknown Woman".