Please support the translation by reading the translation and commenting on otakutl official site.
Thank you.
Everyone from Otaku Translation
Chapter 27: Fine-Tuning
“All students in the province who won first prize and scored above 90 are eligible to participate in the finals,” Principal Chang announced. He hadn’t summoned Gu Lu to his office just to offer a few compliments. “Your score was 97, so you qualify.”
Not only did Gu Lu qualify—he had the highest score ever recorded in the preliminary round.
Gu Lu nodded. He was well-versed in the competition’s details and listened intently as Principal Chang revealed the location of the offline finals.
“The second round of the finals will take place on June 9th at Rongcheng Experimental Foreign Language School in the Sichuan-Chongqing region.” Principal Chang paused, then continued, “Mr. Li informed me about your family situation—your parents are quite busy, so the school will cover the costs of your participation.”
Busy—a polite euphemism if there ever was one. But hey, no travel expenses for him. Gu Lu thanked the principal sincerely.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it himself; it just made more sense financially to let the school foot the bill.
“Mr. Li will accompany you,” Principal Chang added.
“That’s very kind of Mr. Li,” Gu Lu said politely.
“June 9th falls on a Saturday, so it won’t interfere with Mr. Li’s teaching schedule. Besides, we wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you go out of province alone.” The principal paused again before adding, “Win or lose, just give it your best shot.”
The Ye Shengtao Cup was specifically designed for middle and high school students, so naturally, they scheduled the offline finals on weekends to avoid disrupting classes. It all made perfect sense.
“Prepare well,” Principal Chang concluded, bringing their conversation to an end.
On the way back, Mr. Li informed Gu Lu that the first-prize certificate would be mailed from the capital, which would take some time.
Was this really necessary? Gu Lu was taken aback. He’d assumed the organizing committee would simply certify the results and leave it to the schools to print copies.
“Gu Lu.” Mr. Li suddenly spoke in a serious tone.
“Yes, Mr. Li?” Gu Lu looked up, curious.
“When parents neglect their responsibilities, it’s a form of abandonment,” Mr. Li said gravely. “Anyone else can give up on you, but you must never give up on yourself.”
Uh… sudden heart-to-heart moment alert. This remark stemmed from something Gu Lu’s previous self had confided to Mr. Li back in eighth grade: “My parents have already given up on me.” Apparently, Mr. Li hadn’t forgotten.
It left the current Gu Lu feeling awkward, unsure how to respond. Fortunately, Mr. Li didn’t press further and instead changed the subject.
“I have quite a collection of books at home,” he offered. “If there’s anything you’d like to read, just let me know, and I’ll bring it for you.”
No. 37 Middle School might someday build its own library, but for now, such luxuries were nonexistent.
“Thank you, Mr. Li. I’ll do my best in the competition,” Gu Lu replied earnestly.
One of the major hurdles to getting into high school had been cleared, and Gu Lu decided it was worth celebrating. As soon as the final bell rang, he made a beeline for Jiugong Temple Market, his mind buzzing with plans for a well-deserved treat.
Jiugong Temple used to be called Jiugui Temple, named after a legend where gods descended to earth in the form of nine turtles, prompting locals to build a shrine in their honor. Why turtles? Because, as the saying goes, turtles live forever—even longer than ancient tortoises.
“I’d like half a pound of pork belly, please. Could you cut it for me? I’m planning to make braised pork. Thanks!” Gu Lu wandered around until he settled on a stall.
“How much is this?” he asked hesitantly.
Despite living two lifetimes, Gu Lu still wasn’t great at haggling. It wasn’t due to lack of confidence—it was more complicated than that. Many young people preferred shopping at supermarkets precisely because prices were fixed, eliminating the need for negotiation.
After spending a small fortune, Gu Lu purchased pork belly and shrimp. He considered buying beef but worried about leftovers going to waste, so he decided against it.
“Back when I ordered takeout in my previous life, I always overestimated how much I could eat and ended up wasting food,” Gu Lu scolded himself mentally. “Lesson learned, huh?”
The aroma of braised pork sauce poured over steamed rice was irresistible. Gu Lu eagerly shoveled a piece of meat into his mouth.
“Pigs truly are the greatest creatures on Earth. Praise be to the pig!” One bite followed another, and Gu Lu couldn’t stop eating.
There was something special about cooking with his own money—even if his culinary skills didn’t match those of his father, everything tasted better under the filter of pride.
“No more waiting for that unreliable father of mine to come home just to eat meat,” Gu Lu thought as he stuffed himself full.
High school would mean moving far away from this house. Gu Lu envisioned renting his own apartment once he started, but such plans required financial stability—a challenge yet to be addressed.
Oh, right! On his way home, Gu Lu hadn’t just bought groceries; he’d also picked up a copy of Chronicles of Mystery.
Weeks earlier, he’d submitted three short detective stories adapted from The Human Chair to this magazine.
“My submission to Story Digest can wait another two days. Those last two pieces are over ten thousand words each—I’ll finish them all before sending them off.” Lying on his bed after dinner, Gu Lu reflected. Normally, he lounged on the sofa, but alas, it had seen better days.
By the way, Gu Lu had renamed Ningen-isu to Human Chair, since “ningen” in Japanese means “human.” For instance, the infamous adult anime Transparent Human translates literally to Invisible Man…
Plagiarism? No, Gu Lu took his craft seriously.
Take Kogoro Akechi, for example. The simplest approach would’ve been to localize the character entirely, swapping his name for something generic like Zhang San or Li Si. Easy enough.
But erasing Kogoro Akechi from existence felt…unfortunate.
More importantly, Edogawa Rampo’s mysteries often explored aspects of Japanese culture and psychology. Blindly transplanting these elements into a Chinese setting would feel forced.
Yet keeping everything unchanged wouldn’t work either—an ethnic Chinese author writing about a Japanese detective felt odd.
So Gu Lu made a slight adjustment in Murder on D Street: Kogoro Akechi became a Chinese national who studied abroad in Japan, inspired by figures like Lu Xun. His real name? Wu Mingzhi. After graduation, captivated by Japan’s thriving detective scene, he stayed behind, adopting the localized moniker “Kogoro Akechi.”
Aside from these tweaks, Gu Lu retained a few quirks of the original works.
To be honest, as the top-tier mystery publication in the country, Chronicles of Mystery offered flexible payment rates—60 to 200 yuan per thousand words. Whether Gu Lu’s submissions would fetch higher or lower remained to be seen.
Curious, Gu Lu peeked at the initial review process—
Chronicles of Mystery was a biweekly publication, releasing two editions each month: Gold Edition (for novellas and longer works) and Silver Edition (for short stories). Unlike Story Digest, the editorial departments for both versions were entirely separate.
The Gold Edition was managed by the Years Editorial Department, based in Oil City, while the Silver Edition fell under the Short Story Magazine Office in Jiangcheng. This division stemmed from the magazine’s origins as a series of anthologies that gained popularity and partnered with various publishers.
Gu Lu had submitted to the Gold Edition, meaning his work was being reviewed in Oil City.
“The Stalker in the Attic—a Japanese mystery story?” Secondary Review Editor Han Cang murmured. A longtime fan of detective fiction, he’d initially taken the job hoping to immerse himself in thrilling tales.
Big mistake. Two years in, Han regretted turning his passion into a career. Too many submissions were utter garbage.
As a reader, he could skip past the duds. As an editor? Not so lucky.
“Let’s see…”
If you like this project, please vote for this novel through the above link, thank you.
Join our discord you will receive update notification
If you would like to support this translation, you may choose any one of the options below.
How to find a list of chapters
Please find the chapter label next to your favorite translator's name, and click the label.
