Wenhao: This child has been smart since he was young

Chapter 20 Family Dilemma

The story of "Pipe" is as simple as ever. The protagonist suffers from "cognitive impairment", is transferred to a university, and enters a factory after graduation. The protagonist's hobby is to play with iron pipes, and then put them into strange shapes, and put marbles in them and let them roll.

It was a silly, childish little hobby, but one day he made a complicated tube, and the marbles seemed to disappear into thin air, only to reappear at the other end.

The protagonist thought, if this shape was enlarged in proportion so that he could get into it, wouldn't he be able to disappear?

Then the protagonist did as he was told, and the plot developed in a nonsensical and anti-physical way, and then the protagonist arrived in heaven...

[The first person to use the stick was not the strongest or the smartest person in the tribe. He was the first to use the stick because no one else needed it, but he did. He needed it more than anyone else to survive and to compensate for his weakness. I don't think there is anyone in the world who wants to disappear more than I do; that's why I invented the pipe - I, not the smart engineer who graduated from a top engineering school and runs the factory.]

[…]
"I even want to recommend this novel to be nominated for the Lu Xun Literature Award for short stories," said Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu. "You have also read the article "Guan Zi" and you should know how wonderful it is."

"It's very exciting," Lao Li said, "but it is precisely because of this article "Guan Zi" that I believe in this matter even more."

How? Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu waited for the next sentence.

"Teacher Gu Lu's family background is not good, it can even be said to be very poor."

It was easy for Lao Li to come to this conclusion. The other party said that he was short of money. But as a student who was about to take the high school entrance examination, how could this family be well off without living expenses?

Deputy Chief Editor Wu found the "Guan Zi" which had been typeset and proofread with punctuation in the computer. It said in the book that heaven is not for those who do good things, but those who cannot feel happy in the world will go to heaven.

“So if you’re really unhappy in the world, if all sorts of people are telling you that you have severe cognitive impairment, find a way to come here. And when you find a way to come here, please bring your mahjong, because we’re sick of playing marbles.” Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu whispered the end of the story, just to himself.

"Poetry's misfortune is literature's great fortune." This sentence suddenly flashed through Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu's mind. Gu Lu was not a poet, but he wrote articles. Without very bad family conditions, it would have been impossible for him to write this "Guan Zi".

“If Gu Lu submits manuscripts again, the initial review will be waived,” said Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu.

"What about the next payment?" Old Li did not forget about the money. "One hundred and fifty?"

"One hundred and fifty is not acceptable," said Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu. "His writing is good enough, but it's not very interesting. The president won't agree to one hundred and fifty per thousand words."

We should always think from the perspective of the magazine's interests. No wonder Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu is the deputy editor-in-chief, while Lao Li is only the deputy editor-in-chief.

After thinking for a moment, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wu said that if the quality of the next submission can be guaranteed, the price can be RMB 130 per thousand words (before tax).

"Guan Zi and Good Heart will be published on the blue edition in May. Send two more sample copies to Teacher Gu Lu."

Old Li Ming understood what his superior meant. Although Story Club was not a high-end magazine, for a junior high school student, being able to publish a story in the Story Club was indeed something worth celebrating. He sent a few more copies so that the author could show off.

The world is like a huge naughty child, willful and full of surprises.

Gu Lu encountered an unexpected incident at home. His father actually came back carrying a bunch of vegetables.

Braised fish, shredded potatoes with green peppers, and half a duck in sauce bought outside.

The two of them were originally silent while eating, but then Father Gu suddenly spoke up, "Let's have a good chat today."

"Your academic performance is not good, and you are not cut out for study, so what should you do in the future? Have you thought about it?" Gu's father said. How can you be as shameless as me? Gu Lu's eyes widened. It was obvious that my academic performance was affected by my family, but how did you say that I was not cut out for study?

"You don't have to study in the second half of the semester. Go directly to Yuzhou Engineering and Technology School to study beauty and hairdressing." Father Gu told him about his plans. "One of my brothers opened a barber shop. I'll give him a call and you can go there to learn the craft. You may be able to make some money to make a living."

"?" Gu Lu didn't expect this to happen suddenly. In his previous life, he was sent to a technical secondary school before he even finished the second semester of the third year of junior high school. The dead memories in his mind suddenly attacked him who had traveled through time.

"I want to finish junior high school first." Gu Lu responded. There was no need to argue now. Some things would not be believed if they were said before they were done, let alone parents who had their own opinions.

The Bing Xin Cup and the Ye Cup have to be awesome.

No matter how anxious we are, the judging process of the two competitions will not be advanced, and there is still about half a month before the judging time.

Fortunately, the results of the Ye Cup and Bing Xin Cup are announced before the high school entrance examination, and the judging panel is clear about them. Winning the prize becomes a bargaining chip for admission, which attracts students, parents and schools.

"That's fine," said Gu's father. "As an old man, I don't have much ability and can't help you much. You are old enough and you should be sensible. When I was your age, I carried stools from my hometown and walked dozens of kilometers to the city to sell them."

"Oh, one thing." Gu Lu took out the award certificate for the district essay competition from the room.

"I won a certificate before, and the essay I wrote was selected, so the district wants to publish an essay collection. I'm a minor, so I need a copy of my guardian's ID card." Gu Lu took out the contract he printed out in the afternoon and showed it to his father.

As for the guardian's signature, Gu Lu could just imitate it himself, it wouldn't have much impact. He also imitated the signature when he signed the contract with Shanda in his previous life (Qidian had not yet been sold to Tencent at that time).

Father Gu was not interested in the contract. Instead, he took a look at the certificate with a smile on his face. "Very good. I had a talent for literature when I was in school. You have inherited my good genes."

"I'll make a copy for you tomorrow." Father Gu said, "I'm happy today. Let's drink two glasses of white wine to celebrate your winning the award."

If you want to drink, just say so. Why make excuses? Gu Lu lowered his head and ate.

After a while, Gu's father got some Wuliangye from somewhere and started drinking it by himself.

Generally speaking, the Gu family was well off before the head of the family, Father Gu, became addicted to alcohol. But things got worse after that. To be honest, they should not be able to afford Wuliangye, right?

After finishing his meal, Gu Lu logged into China Mobile Dream Network and saw the message sent by Mu Zixiu.

First, he told him the good news that the price would increase by 10 yuan per thousand words. Secondly, Lao Li left a message: [In fact, the readers of the story club are just for fun. It can even be said to be toilet literature. They require more twists and turns in the story, rather than thoughts and philosophy. If you can make it more twists and turns, you will definitely get the highest fee.]
The maximum payment for "Story Club" is 150 yuan per thousand words, which is equivalent to 1.5 cents per word.

Isn't that a coincidence? If you want to be bizarre and twisty, who can compare to Ranpo?

[Juchang: I’ll try.]
Gu Lu replied and exited the webpage, "I really miss the days of more than 20G per month."

When making appropriate revisions to "The Human Chair", Gu Lu still adheres to the principle of "maintaining the original text if it can be left unchanged, and never changing more if it can be changed less."

He also found the trigger for the synthesis of the second book, which came from the short story of the same name in "Human Chair". In the letter written by the craftsman to the wife of the secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jiazi, he introduced himself: "If I was born in a richer family, I might be able to use the power of money to indulge in a variety of games to dispel the sadness brought by this wretched appearance. Or, if I had more artistic talent, I could forget through beautiful poems...]
It’s exactly the same complaint as the one made by the guy with glasses.

There are surprises everywhere in the world.

(End of this chapter)