Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 145 Ordinary

The discussion raged online for several weeks before fading away on its own at some point without a clear marker.

The wind shifted as quickly as it rose, leaving little trace—only a few archived long articles and a few repeatedly cited screenshots, like a scene of devastation left by humanity after the tide receded.

The science fiction community isn't big enough; in the end, it's just a debate within the community. However, Luo Jinnian thinks this is a good thing, as it ensures the purity of the discussion in the end. If it were to become a full-blown debate, it might actually be less aesthetically pleasing.

Luo Jinnian noticed the post on a Thursday afternoon. After school, he waited for Chu Qingning at the school gate as usual, and while waiting, he stood under the shade of the old banyan tree and scrolled through his phone.

The owner of the library near the school posted a handwritten poster at the entrance: "The Martian has arrived. Limited stock available, so buy now!"

Luo Jinnian stared at that spot for a while, then looked away and continued scrolling through her phone, as if it were a street notice that had nothing to do with her.

Chu Qingning and Gu Yanxi walked out of the school gate one after the other. Chu Qingning ran over with her schoolbag on her back and the first thing she said was, "The tomato and egg stir-fry in the cafeteria today was a bit off." Luo Jinnian nodded and said, "Try something else tomorrow."

Gu Yanxi strolled over slowly from behind, saying, "You guys are fast."

"You're too slow."

Perhaps because he's been back for a while, Luo Jinnian's speech has become increasingly childish. He would never have said something like this before. Gu Yanxi hopped around lazily in the back.

The three of them traveled together.

Fei Yuxi waited for them at the bus stop, holding several bottles of water, and handed one to each of them.

The bus swayed and rattled through several streets, the setting sun streaming in through the windows. Fei Yuxi sat by the window, Luo Jinnian next to her, and Chu Qingning and Gu Yanxi in the back row. The bus wasn't crowded, and the street scenes outside the window flashed by—fruit stalls along the roadside, a vegetable market closing up shop, an old man walking his dog at an alley entrance, all gradually blurring in the twilight.

Fei Yuxi glanced at Luo Jinnian and asked, "Have you been very busy lately? I feel like you often daydream in class." Luo Jinnian replied, "It's alright." Fei Yuxi didn't press further and turned back to look out the window.

Back in his rented room, Luo Jinnian first checked the progress of the English version of "The Martian," confirming that the adjustments Lin Yiming had sent were complete. Then he closed the document and opened a new blank file—the manuscript for the next issue of "Story Club" was finished, and he didn't need to add anything to it.

Luo Jinnian leaned back in his chair, not in a hurry to continue writing.

Although he hasn't decided on his next project yet, he has vowed to write a high-quality, well-received soft science fiction work, so he's essentially writing a commissioned essay now.

—What works would be suitable?

In the following days, life returned to that familiar rhythm.

I get up at 6:30 in the morning, wash up, eat breakfast, and head to school with my backpack. During breaks, I copy down those math problems and English words that aren't often mentioned.

Chu Qingning would occasionally leave a bottle of yogurt on his desk, and Gu Yanxi would turn around and ask before morning self-study started, "Did you do your homework yesterday?" After school, Fei Yuxi would sometimes walk with them to the bus stop and chat about trivial, incredibly childish things without any specific topic.

On Saturday afternoon, Luo Jinnian went to the old bookstore near the school gate. He stood in front of the bookshelves for a while, flipping to an old edition of a science fiction short story collection. The cover was worn, the corners curled up, and the pages had a pale yellow hue from the passage of time. He didn't buy it, put the book back, and bumped into Gu Yanxi as he left the bookstore. She was holding a cup of milk tea and handed it to him: "Just passing by, got it on the way."

"Didn't you say you were going to your mom's for dinner today?" Luo Jinnian asked, taking over the conversation. Gu Yanxi said, "We'll do it tomorrow," and then the two of them walked together down the street for a while.

Luo Jinnian walked in the early winter wind, holding the lukewarm milk tea in his hand. The sun cast a warm, pale golden hue on the last stretch of road before setting.

After evening self-study at school, when Luo Jinnian came out of the classroom, half the lights in the corridor were off. He met Chu Qingning at the stairwell. Chu Qingning was standing by the window, holding nothing, just looking outside. "Brother, have you been thinking about something new lately?" Luo Jinnian stopped beside her, thought for a moment, and said, "I haven't thought about it yet. But soon." Chu Qingning didn't press further, stood there for a while longer, then turned and walked downstairs: "Let's go home."

The two walked down the stairs one after the other. Luo Jinnian was thinking about his new work, which he hadn't even started writing yet—when would it appear, in what form, and where would it lead? These were questions he didn't need to answer immediately. He just needed to stand at this crossroads for a while, see which way the wind was blowing, and wait for those things taking shape in the distance to find their direction along this path.

Days passed by. When the wind blew from the southeast, it carried the salty smell of the sea; when it blew from the north, it carried the dry chill of the inland and the coolness that followed.

Luo Jinnian's life has always maintained that fixed rhythm—getting up early, going to school, attending classes, finishing classes, evening self-study, and going home.

Occasionally there are small changes, like an FM radio occasionally jumping a bar or two, keeping the daily outline roughly the same but with subtle differences.

During that time, he noticed a change. During breaks, classmates would ask him what books he was reading lately, and he would change the subject, saying, "Nothing special." One day at lunchtime, he had just sat down with his tray when a boy from the next class came over to greet him and asked if he could help him borrow a signed copy of "The Martian." He said, "I heard you can get them. My cousin really likes them, and he has monthly exams coming up, so I want to give him a gift."

Luo Jinnian paused for a moment and said, "Let me ask if they have any." The boy thanked her and left.

Luo Jinnian lowered his head and continued eating, picking up a piece of shredded green pepper and pork with his chopsticks and chewing it for a while before swallowing. He didn't know what the boy's cousin looked like, nor did he know what his expression would be after he got the book—he only knew that the book had passed through some unfamiliar, unseen doors and ended up in someone else's hands.

One day before school ended, he found a note in his desk drawer. It was neatly folded, unsigned, and the handwriting was unfamiliar. He opened it and glanced at it; it read, "I really like your books. I hope you keep writing." He read the note in his seat, folded it in half, and tucked it into his notebook, never taking it out to look at it again.

As usual, he went to the banyan tree over the weekend. When he arrived, Chu Qingning was already sitting there, holding a half-open sketchbook.

Luo Jinnian sat down next to her, and neither of them spoke. After a while, he asked, "Which volume of your sketchbook are you on?" Chu Qingning flipped through the pages in her hand, stopping at an illustration and turning it to show him. It depicted the banyan tree, its branches much denser than a real tree canopy.

He said, "This painting is so careless." Chu Qingning hummed in agreement: "Because I was thinking about other things while I was painting." He didn't ask what she was thinking about, and she didn't explain either.

Gu Yanxi arrived later, walking ahead of them at a distance, carrying a cloth bag. As she got closer, it became clear that it contained several books. She sat down, placed the bag at her feet, took a sip of water from her cup, and then said, "I just came back from the library. I saw you sitting here on the way, so I came over." Fei Yuxi was the last to arrive, bringing several handwritten documents. She said she had compiled the key points of the recent courses and the exam scope for them, and gave one to each person. When she handed out Luo Jinnian's copy, she paused a little longer, pointing to one line and saying, "Many people in your class got this question wrong on the last monthly exam. You can review it a couple more times."

That evening, the four of them sat on a stone bench until it was almost dark before they dispersed. The evening breeze blew from the other side of the river, carrying the last chill of the day.

"It's about to be a new beginning."

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