mijobooks Chapter 13: All I know is that the manuscript was approved.
Chapter 13: All I know is that the manuscript was approved.
When the famous director called Luo Jinnian, he was still brushing his teeth.
"Face. Toothpaste."
Chu Qingning looked up and saw toothpaste foam on his chin. She pointed at it and, seeing that he couldn't reach the right spot, simply reached out and scooped the foam off.
The boy was used to it and tilted his head slightly as she wiped him.
After cleaning herself up, Chu Qingning continued brushing her teeth with satisfaction.
"Uncle Qin, what's wrong?"
"It's over. Your essay 'Grandma' has passed the writing contest. Of course, we'll have to wait for the magazine to tell us what prize you'll get—but given the quality of your work, the result should be quite good, so you don't need to worry too much."
The second half of the sentence was made to him by his niece pointing a gun (a small water gun) at him.
No wonder he insisted on changing into his favorite suit so early in the morning; it turned out he was doing this to blackmail his soul.
"Brother Jin Nian, my uncle is a famous screenwriter in the industry. He writes scripts and directs them himself every day... so if he says your work is good, then it must be good."
Fei Yuxi praised her uncle at length, the main point being that the great director highly approved of the work, therefore Jin Nian's work is excellent.
Qin Chuan smacked his lips, feeling that nothing tasted right.
"It's good that I passed the competition. It would be great if I could win an award, but if not, I'm quite curious to see what the winning entry would be."
The girl listened to the boy's words, blinking her eyes and nodding like a hamster eating, even though she couldn't see anything on the other end of the phone.
"I believe in Brother Jinnian."
"Yeah, anyway, I really think highly of you. I've been eagerly awaiting your works."
The famous director is still waiting for the sequel to the novel, so he says a few nice things to please the author first—but that's also what he really thinks.
"There's no progress on 'The Little Prince' yet, but 'Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse' is coming soon..."
Knowing the latest developments of his submitted manuscripts, Luo Jinnian also revealed some information.
A good creator should know the best place to end a draft.
Objectively speaking, the ability to cut drafts is the author's ability to grasp "expectations". If an author doesn't even know what readers expect most from their story, they might as well go home and raise pigs.
"I'm not going ice skating after school today."
Fei Yuxi asked anxiously, "Why?"
"Help my sister with something related to her art class."
Fei Yuxi's face fell after hearing this.
The renowned director is still delighted that he will soon be able to see the sequel to the story he loves.
Chu Qingning, who was eating her breakfast slowly and deliberately, seemed to enjoy it even more than usual. She couldn't explain why, but she just felt that breakfast tasted exceptionally good today.
"Jin Nian, can you come to my art class with me after school tomorrow?"
"I'll give you rainbow candy... please."
Last night, the girl, who had just returned home, suddenly approached Luo Jinnian, looking at the boy with pleading eyes like a helpless kitten.
Luo Jinnian didn't ask any questions, and nodded, saying, "Of course."
My older sister is a child who never likes to trouble others. Since childhood, Luo Jinnian has always tried her best to help those who ask for her help.
The place where Chu Qingning learns to paint is not far from her school. Every day after school, Chu Qingning walks to her painting class by herself.
My stepfather works very late every day.
By the time the girl finished her art class, it was already late outside. Her stepfather, who had just gotten off work, would come to pick her up on his electric scooter.
The stepfather treated the art class as a daycare to some extent. At least in terms of how he treated the child, he was much more human than the middle-aged woman.
School,
The Chinese teacher is finishing up the second lesson in the third-grade first semester textbook, "Climbing Tiandu Peak".
This text tells the story of how Dad took "me" to climb Tian Du Peak during summer vacation. Facing the towering, steep Tian Du Peak, "I" was initially very scared, but after meeting an elderly man with white hair at the foot of the mountain, the two encouraged each other and eventually overcame the difficulties together and successfully reached the summit.
When Luo Jinnian was a child, she didn't feel much when she read this text in class, but now she thinks it's a text that she can savor even in her old age.
Who can say that only the young "me" is the protagonist in the story? The old man, who is just a passerby, is also the protagonist of his own life.
Chinese is a subject that lags behind in its application.
Every student knows it's beautiful from a young age, but it takes a long time to understand exactly why it's beautiful.
It is often said that under the exam-oriented education system, most students simply memorize poems, lyrics, and essays without understanding their meaning.
In fact, Luo Jinnian believes that this is not the case at all.
My childhood memories are better, but my comprehension skills are relatively poor.
Therefore, they need to remember them when they are at their best, and then spend a lifetime feeling and understanding them over a long period of time.
The ultimate goal of Chinese education is the unity of knowledge and action.
By instilling these ideas in you beforehand, you can experience a profound sense of enlightenment and mixed emotions when you gain relevant experience, thus completing the educational cycle.
This also means that the previous articles have, in a true sense, accomplished their mission.
It must be good to have the manuscript approved. Luo Jinnian even has the leisure to discuss literature over wine during class.
Next to the original text of "Climbing Tiandu Peak", he wrote in small regular script: If I were an old man, what would I really think when facing a vibrant new generation of children?
When the Chinese teacher passed by, he saw the notes the student had made, chuckled at his beloved student's question, and did not answer it.
He really absorbed it, the Chinese teacher thought.
After class, everyone crowded into the convenience store.
The air conditioners in the classrooms were all broken, and the cool air in the teachers' office was only used for the class committee. So in the summer, even if they didn't buy anything, many students liked to gather at the convenience store because the air conditioning there blew on everyone equally.
However, unlike many other groups, Luo Jinnian and his friends have Brother Yang. They actually do spend money at the convenience store.
As always, Brother Yang was very generous this time, giving everyone in the small group an old-fashioned popsicle.
No one cared about the dust on their bottoms, and they sat down in rows on the stairs in front of the convenience store.
"Want to play a round?"
Brother Yang is holding a Go board.
The chessboard was hand-drawn on paper, the kind that wouldn't bother me even if the teacher confiscated it.
While other games in schools may become less popular after a while, Gomoku (Five in a Row) remains a perennial favorite.
"You make it round, I'll make it round?"
"You can make it up."
When playing Gomoku on paper, the default is for one person to draw a circle and the other to draw an X.
Luo Jinnian readily agreed, and the two of them, each holding an ice cream in one hand, leisurely drew chess pieces with the other.
"I lost."
The circle that Luo Jinnian drew at the end can be connected into three upright circles, and it can also be connected into three diagonal circles.
Make it so that your opponent can't even take back just one move.
"I didn't know you were so good at Gomoku."
"Luck, luck."
A quiet girl stood to the side, not greeting him, but simply watching the boy play chess.
Yang took a bite of his popsicle, glanced at the girl, and without saying a word, simply stood up and patted his good friend's arm.
Luo Jinnian then noticed the girl, turned his head and asked her, "Want to play a game?"
Chu Qingning shook her head, "I'll just watch you guys."
"The main reason is that I can't beat him either." Brother Yang pushed the chessboard towards the center. "I didn't understand the game he won against me just now. The difference in skill level was too great."
The girl hesitated for a moment, but then squatted down.
She took the pencil from Luo Jinnian's hand, her fingertips barely touching it. She thought she was expressionless, but in reality, a blush had already crept onto her cheeks.
Luo Jinnian erased the previous game with an eraser, then straightened the chessboard: "You go first."
"Sister-in-law, we're off now."
Yang Ge kicked the person who said that, and unusually swore, "It just makes you look smart."
It must have been tough on him; even from a distance, the siblings could hear the anger in Yang Ge's voice.
As everyone dispersed, only the intermittent sound of two people writing remained on the stairs, along with the incessant chirping of cicadas in the distance.
"Has your manuscript been accepted by the magazine?"
"You heard that? Yes, Uncle Qin's voice was so loud."
In fact, Chu Qingning had always known that her younger brother was writing a book, since Luo Jinnian had never hidden it from her. But it was only today that she learned that the boy had already completed the manuscript.
Chess is the perfect time for chatting, but instead of the romantic talk that my companions might imagine, we end up discussing very unrelated topics.
"So once you get your royalties... you'll leave? Leave this house."
Chu Qingning knew the boy wasn't having a good time in this family. She also hoped her younger brother could escape those bad adults. But the thought of the boy leaving made her heart ache.
She'd always been alone. Why couldn't she accept going back to the way things were before? Chu Qingning didn't understand.
Her eyes reddened.
It's a pity that this world has no Emily Dickinson, and no poetry.
Had I not seen the Sun, I could have borne the shade.
I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the sun.
This statement was also popular on the Internet for a period of time in my previous life.
Luo Jinnian writes articles to make his life more comfortable, but to gain true freedom, he must leave the middle-aged woman and leave this home.
"I will leave."
With his head bowed, the boy's voice remained firm.