I asked you to write a light novel, but you wrote about living?

The communication ended.

Carter turned his attention back to the document.

During the call, he only glanced at the first few lines. Now, he quieted down and continued reading. Not long after, a suppressed chuckle rang out in the office.

The "I" in the story originally had an impeccable reputation.

But no sooner had he announced his candidacy for governor than a series of charges began to surface in the newspapers.

Perjury, theft, corpse theft, alcoholism...

The accusations became increasingly outrageous, yet the tone of the reports grew ever more serious, as if as long as the reporters wrote eye-catching headlines and adopted a posture of protecting the public interest, the absurdity could instantly become reality.

Carter held his coffee, his smile gradually widening.

He was all too familiar with this kind of humor.

Every election in the West Coast states is never short of candidates attacking each other.

A bill from years ago, a party that can no longer be remembered, or even a sentence whose context has been removed can be repackaged during an election campaign as a scandal that could ruin a person.

"Running for Governor" certainly exaggerates all of this to the point of absurdity.

But what's truly laughable is that it's not too far removed from reality.

It simply went a few steps further along the political traditions familiar to West Coast readers.

Thus, those solemn slogans, righteous gestures, and high-sounding reports all revealed their comical nature.

Carter's page-turning motion gradually slowed down.

When reading "The Old Man and the Sea," he was surprised by Yu Wen's familiarity with the customs and lifestyle of the West Coast.

The fishermen's assessment of the weather, the slang in the harbor, and the natural tone with which people talked about baseball all made the old man feel like he truly lived on this coast.

But "Running for Governor" brought him a different kind of surprise.

Yu Wen not only accurately depicted the social environment of the West Coast.

He even accurately captured the most typical satirical tradition here.

There was no deliberate explanation for the jokes, nor was anyone criticized.

The article simply presents the reader with one absurd charge after another in a serious tone.

The more serious it is, the more ridiculous it seems.

The more someone claims to be acting in the public interest, the clearer the underlying malice becomes.

This kind of restrained yet biting humor cannot be created simply by changing a few place names and setting up a gubernatorial election.

It requires the author to truly understand what West Coast people find absurd and how they habitually satirize such absurdity.

By the time Carter reached the middle section, he had completely forgotten about the coffee in his hand.

He only glanced down when the coolness of the cup seeped through his fingertips, then continued reading to the end.

The short article ended quickly.

Carter leaned back in his chair, a smile still lingering on his face, but his eyes were much more serious than before.

Once this article is published here, readers will not feel alienated when encountering foreign works.

They would be familiar with the tone of those newspapers, the escalating slander during the election, and would quickly grasp the humor and irony in those exaggerated, almost insane charges.

But when Carter thought about what had recently happened in the Eastern Region, the smile on his face slowly faded.

He finally understood why Yu Wen wanted Midtown Observer to publish first.

For West Coast readers, this is a satirical novel that hits the nail on the head regarding the local political landscape.

For those in the Eastern region who are paying attention to the public opinion storm, it is like a newly polished mirror.

There are no names in the article.

But it's enough to make some people take the initiative to see themselves.

Carter pulled the document back to the first page.

This time, he watched even more slowly.

As he read, he made several notes in the margins.

This is not a suggestion for revision.

Instead, it serves as a reminder to the editors responsible for proofreading that they should not presume to make changes to seemingly exaggerated wording, nor should they disrupt the rhythm of the original text in the name of "localization."

A few minutes later, an internal notification was sent from Carter's terminal to the editorial department.

[Running for Governor is now undergoing the highest priority proofreading.]

[The original wording has been preserved; only formatting and basic errors have been checked.]

After sending the message, Carter glanced at his packed work schedule for tomorrow and casually postponed the earliest meeting by half an hour.

Then, he picked up the cup of coffee that had long since gone cold and reopened the document.

The first time, he read the story.

The second time, he wanted to take a closer look and see just how much more Yu Wen was hiding beneath those jokes.

……

……

The sun had already sunk near the horizon.

Orange-red light poured down through the gaps in the clouds, turning the rolling grasslands in the distance into a warm gold.

Tang Wan stood on the grassy slope.

Three days.

no more, no less.

Just like Gu Yu had arranged it back then.

Over the course of those three days, she followed the travel itinerary, visiting each destination one by one.

I've seen the dew clinging to the grass blades in the early morning, and been drenched in a brief rain.

I once sat by an unnamed little river, watching white birds skim across the water...

Tang Wan raised her head and took one last look at the setting sun in the distance.

A tiny cloud floated on the horizon.

It was originally positioned next to the setting sun, its edges edged with a bright gold by the afterglow of the sunset.

A gust of wind swept across the grassland.

Large swaths of wild grass bowed low.

Tang Wan's hair was gently lifted by the wind, and a few strands brushed against her cheeks.

She subconsciously raised her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear.

The cloud was also moving slowly in the wind.

It swept across the setting sun, quietly placing the last, not-too-bright, ray of light on Tang Wan's shoulder.

The wind passed quickly.

The drooping weeds straightened up again.

The light, along with the movement of the clouds, gradually left her shoulder and drifted towards the distant grassland.

Tang Wan stared in the direction it had left, remaining silent for a long time.

Only when the sun was just a faint outline did a faint smile gradually appear on her face.

"you're right."

"It's much better looking than in Gossip Girl."

No one answered.

Only the wild grass in the distance rippled in the evening breeze, creating soft waves.

The shuttle bus issued a boarding reminder.

Tang Wan stood there and watched for a while.

Then, she took a deep breath of the air, which smelled of fresh grass, turned around, and walked toward the shuttle bus.

After taking a few steps, a gust of wind suddenly blew from behind, gently tugging at the hem of her dress.

Tang Wan paused slightly in her steps.

She didn't turn around.

But the smile on his face deepened a little.

"It's time to go back."

She said softly.

The sun completely sank below the horizon.

The shuttle bus doors slowly closed, carrying her out of the grassland.

The cloud, tinged gold by the sunset glow, still drifted in the distance.