Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

Chapter 139 I Became My Own Client

Song Bowen is the kind of person who loves to show off.

Somewhat similar to He Lin, but a He Lin who truly has substance.

This actually made things worse.

Being young and lacking social experience, yet possessing a sensitivity to words, and having read too many books, makes one particularly prone to falling into a certain state:

opinionated.

I feel that I have seen through many things, and I sincerely believe that "there is no first place in literature".

When a rival appears who can rival me in writing, my first reaction is not friendly exchange, but rather literary rivalry.

Class 1 of Experimental School is full of outstanding students, and they are generally very ambitious, but they can be basically divided into three groups.

Firstly, those who scored relatively low on the entrance exam had no hostility towards Li Zhao; on the contrary, they were convinced of his abilities from the very beginning.

Secondly, those who had high entrance exam scores but relied on diligence and had no outstanding personality traits basically all convinced Li Zhao after three weeks.

Secondly, this group of specially admitted students consists almost entirely of those with outstanding academic performance, exceptional skills, and strong personalities.

Their hostility towards Li Zhao was very obvious, but the vast majority of it was benign.

For example, someone like Liang Zhaoxing's core motivation is "I don't believe I'm inferior to you," a desire to prove himself and demonstrate his strength.

Therefore, they could see Li Zhao's strength and wouldn't have too many thoughts about winning or losing against him.

Given enough time, these hostilityes will ferment into the nourishment of friendship.

Song Bowen was the only exception.

His core message was "Li Zhao is nothing special," which was derogatory.

Therefore, his style of doing things involves exaggerating his writing ability while making full use of the characteristic that "there is no first place in literature" to first put himself in an invincible position.

The classic statement is, "Essay writing, this kind of exam-oriented writing, is meaningless."

Therefore, Li Zhao's higher essay score means that Li Zhao is "better at writing exam essays"; if it is lower, it means that "Li Zhao's writing level is not as good".

The classmates all thought that the two of them didn't get along because of the class monitor election, but Li Zhao felt that the root cause was that he was too proud of his writing.

He is indeed talented and enthusiastic about publishing articles in various tabloids, so he has a group of his own followers in the subject of "Chinese Language".

She was also one of the few people in the class who would directly criticize Li Zhao.

Wang Wenzhao's teaching style is quite open. Sometimes he would let everyone talk about their understanding of famous works on the spot, and he hoped to enrich the perspectives as much as possible.

There were plenty of funny and nonsensical answers in class, but everyone just laughed it off and didn't take it personally.

Li Zhao and Song Bowen are able to cite classical texts and make meaningful statements, so people often look forward to their speeches.

However, Song Bowen often uses his own views to refute Li Zhao's views.

Although Wang Wenzhao always defused the situation and even praised their "debate" as good, everyone could feel the strange atmosphere.

Conversely, Li Zhao never denied Song Bowen's views.

"Aren't you angry?" He Shuyao asked curiously. "Is everything he said completely true? Sometimes I even want to argue with him for you!"

Li Zhao gave an awkward laugh.

He Shuyao was furious at that smile. "What's wrong? You think you're so mature? Aren't you angry?"

"Then they'll definitely still be angry."

"You're still angry with me—"

"He admires Four Knives too much."

Yes, that's the crux of the problem.

Song Bowen's admiration for the Four-Knife reached a level that shocked Li Zhao. It would be one thing if he were just a mindless fanatic, but the key point is that he actually has something to say about it.

The author can analyze the details of the writing process of "Four Knives" with meticulous detail, explaining why this word was used, why the sentences were written this way, and why the structure was this particular.

They could even explain the details of the blank spaces left by the four knives.

They could easily be called confidants.

Many people analyze the "content" of Si Kou Dao's articles, but very few analyze the writing techniques and details of expression.

There's one now, and he praises her to her face every single day.

Song Bowen was unaware that Li Zhao was Si Kou Dao. He would often be launching hostile attacks at Li Zhao one second and then boasting to others about how virtuous and principled Si Kou Dao's articles were.

This further demonstrates that his appreciation is genuine.

Li Zhao found it difficult to maintain her dislike for him.

He Shuyao was speechless after hearing this answer, and didn't know what to say for a long time.

The two walked in silence for a short distance, then the girl's voice suddenly softened: "Li Zhao, have you already decided what you want to do in the future?"

"Um?"

"Urban planning," He Shuyao said. "I'd never heard of this term before, but you've studied it in such depth. Your writing has resonated with so many people; if you were to actually pursue a career in this field, you'd probably be able to do something truly earth-shattering, right?"

"Of course I hope so," Li Zhao said, "but the road ahead is long and arduous."

He Shuyao smiled slightly, "What exactly can urban planning accomplish?"

Just then, a refreshing breeze blew by, and the setting sun was still warm and sticky on my hand.

It feels very comfortable.

"Urban planning—" Li Zhao looked up at the sky, "can be like nonsensical literature, accomplishing nothing but writing texts for self-indulgence; or it can change the world."

He Shuyao looked at Li Zhao and waited quietly for him to speak.

So, on the last stretch of road before they parted ways, Li Zhao and He Shuyao talked a lot about urban planning.

He Shuyao listened with great interest, while Li Zhao chatted even more happily.

Because what he was talking about wasn't the helplessness and complaints that often came up when discussing these four words in his past life, nor was it popular science; he was talking about ideals.

He Shuyao has no interest in the part of urban planning that's considered nonsense; she only cares about how urban planning can change the world.

As they reached the crossroads where they should part ways, He Shuyao abruptly changed the subject: "Why can't you admit that you are Si Kou Dao?"

"Urban and rural planning is not only a science, but also a management skill. Much academic work involves not only reason but also human relationships. I was just an unknown junior high school student; I was only in elementary school when I wrote those articles. Calling me a 'four-knife' now only invites criticism and brings no benefit whatsoever."

After saying that, Li Zhao froze, having inadvertently uttered some very adult-like words. He wondered how He Shuyao would interpret them.

The girl simply smiled and nodded, "Then, Teacher Li will be famous throughout the world."

[Some touching moments. Happiness +3, Total 33]

Li Zhao looked at her for a while, then nodded, "Then you wait and see."

"Why should I have to wait?" He Shuyao raised her head. "It's still hard to say who will become famous first!"

"Okay, okay, let's do our best together."

Let's cheer each other on!

That evening, Li Zhao sat in front of the computer, repeatedly looking at the documents of youth campus novels.

I finished writing it a while ago, but I still haven't decided on a name for it.

[Redeem Rewards]

With his happiness level suddenly dropping to only three points, Li Zhao felt as if nothing had happened.

That's true. The previous increase in the energy limit was because Li Zhao was already almost overdrawn.

In our current normal state, who knows if our thinking speed has improved?

Li Zhao thought for a moment, then took out his math test paper. The weekend homework for Experimental Class 1 was not easy.

But he quickly put it back.

At this stage, he is still invincible. His headaches are politics and history. He tends to overthink things and can't get much out of a math test.

He looked at the document again.

I watched it from around 8:20 pm to 10:30 pm.

Li Changlin and Zhou Xiaoyun tried to interrupt him, but Li Zhao was so engrossed in his reading that they didn't forcefully stop him after they finished speaking. They simply asked Li Zhao to go to sleep before eleven o'clock.

In two hours, Li Zhao went through the entire 22-word story.

Although he wrote it himself, it's easy to read.

However, he also made many revisions and adjusted the rhythm of the entire novel.

That would be incredibly awesome.

So much so that after finishing this task, Li Zhao was still a little dazed when he looked at the title he had typed, "You Passed Through My Youth".

Logically, with faster thinking speed, the time consumed per unit of time should be even greater.

But Li Zhao felt that the system was simply giving him 1+1, improving efficiency while maintaining the original consumption, and even expanding the fuel tank capacity.

Then this 1+1 must be far greater than 2.

In the same amount of time, Li Zhao was able to think and produce far more than before.

That means you can do more things.

Li Zhao opened Si Kou Dao's email and sent an inquiry to the editorial department of South China Weekly, falsely claiming that a junior of his had written a youth novel and wanted to know where he could submit his work.

To my utter surprise, the editorial department replied shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday night.

Is this really that awesome?

The editorial team restrained their gossipy nature and professionally recommended several publishing houses and magazines.

"I suggest submitting it to New Sprouts Magazine. They will publish it as a series and then decide whether to publish it in print. That should be the safest option."

"They accept two hard copies of the manuscript, but electronic copies are preferred. Send them to this address —"

Li Zhao replied: Thank you. May I ask if you can send it directly via email?

The editorial department of South China Weekly replied immediately: Sure, but we rarely check our emails; we mainly handle paper manuscripts.

Manuscripts and magazines — who would have thought that these two terms would still be outdated in a decade or so?

"However, we can help you find an editor at New Sprouts. After your friend or relative sends it over, please let us know."

Li Zhao himself became his own crony.