Otaku Translation: Literary Genius: This Kid Was Born Smart C124

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Chapter 124: Making a Big Move

"Bro Gu Lu, I just submitted the application to establish a new club. If it gets approved, we’ll team up as the ," said.

Aren’t you in trying to relaunch ? Why are you suddenly shifting to start something new?

Noticing his friend’s confusion, Li Guyuan explained, "Because of the success of , Teacher Wu Du mentioned that The Tree People Literary Club might pivot into a drama club focused solely on stage plays."

Given the impressive performance during this year’s celebration, it was no surprise that Principal Liu would push for such a change.

"So, naturally, the plan to restart The Tree People Monthly failed. That got me thinking—why don’t we create a monthly publication club entirely dedicated to publishing?" Li Guyuan laid out his grand vision.

"So my role would be to provide articles?" Gu Lu asked.

"How could that be? You’re signed with several magazines, and your articles are worth a fortune!" Li Guyuan replied. "Once the club is established, you’ll be the editor-in-chief, and I’ll be the deputy editor, mainly handling manuscript reviews."

"And where will the content for the monthly come from? Will we solicit contributions from students?" Gu Lu asked.

"I’ll contribute some pieces, and we’ll also put out calls for submissions," Li Guyuan said excitedly. "There are plenty of students in our school who want to write. Putting together one issue won’t be a problem."

"One issue isn’t an issue," Gu Lu nodded. "But what about afterward? Relying solely on students to sustain a monthly publication is too difficult—it’s practically impossible."

Caught up in the excitement earlier, Li Guyuan now realized Gu Lu had a point. Sustainability would indeed be a major challenge.

"What should we do…" Li Guyuan’s earlier enthusiasm waned, his glasses slipping down his nose.

Gu Lu suddenly recalled his earlier thought about joining a club to make the most of high school life. Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?

"Guyuan, do you want to pull off something big?" Gu Lu suddenly asked.

"Something big? What do you mean?" Li Guyuan asked.

"If relying only on No. 8 High School students isn’t enough, why not expand to include students from other top schools in like , , , and ?" Gu Lu enunciated each word carefully. "Our monthly publication will solicit contributions from all high school students across Chongqing!"

"!!" Li Guyuan stared at Gu Lu, mouth agape. Before Gu Lu could say anything, Li let out an excited shout.

"Holy crap, you’re brilliant! If we succeed, our monthly will become the most famous high school publication in all of Chongqing!"

What kind of personality do energetic high schoolers usually have? They fear things won’t get big enough! Pushing his glasses back up, Li Guyuan felt his fighting spirit reignite.

"But how exactly do we execute this plan? First, the school likely won’t allocate much funding, so advertising city-wide isn’t feasible," Li Guyuan analyzed realistically. "And without advertising, how will high school students across Chongqing even know about our publication?"

"Advertising is just one issue. There’s also territory to consider. Other schools probably have similar clubs—why would they submit to an outside school?" Li Guyuan continued, realizing more and more problems were piling up, making feasibility almost zero.

"It’s not as bad as you think. Not many high schools in Chongqing have such rich extracurricular activities," Gu Lu countered. "If their schools don’t have these opportunities, submitting to us makes perfect sense."

"Our submission standards will sit above average student work but below professional magazine quality. Our reputation can’t yet compete with established publications," Gu Lu’s plan began taking shape in his mind.

What did he mean by “not yet”? Could he possibly envision surpassing professional publications with their school journal? Li Guyuan caught the underlying meaning.

"The real challenges are print volume and sustainability," Gu Lu said. To solicit submissions from all over Chongqing, they’d need to print enough copies for every school.

More printing meant higher costs, and since their journal wouldn’t have an official publication number, selling it wasn’t an option. Would the school really foot the bill indefinitely?

Gu Lu was confident he could persuade the school to allocate several thousand yuan per month for the project, given his current fame. But what about after graduation? He wanted this project to survive beyond his time at the school, with its own sustainable cycle.

Why do university journals succeed? Because they’re highly specialized. For example, is both a school publication and a core journal in the film industry; is ’s journal and a core music publication.

High school journals simply can’t reach that level of specialization. Moreover, if they did achieve it and obtained publication approval for external sales, the management wouldn’t remain in students’ hands—even with teacher oversight. China’s regulations on publications are incredibly strict.

"This is tough… so many issues," Gu Lu rubbed his temples, the complexity growing clearer.

"Gu Lu, don’t worry. Your idea is groundbreaking—it’s got me fired up! Let me handle the application forms and paperwork first," Li Guyuan said. "If we pull this off, we’ll be legends."

"Besides, no one has ever done this before, so it’s bound to be difficult. We shouldn’t rush. It’s like improving your geography or history scores—it takes time," Li Guyuan added.

If you hadn’t mentioned the second half, we’d still be friends. Gu Lu thought silently.

True, such a massive goal required step-by-step progress. Gu Lu wondered how far they could push it. After all, high school had only just begun.

"Put your hand out." Li Guyuan extended his right hand and gestured for Gu Lu to do the same.

"What for?" Gu Lu asked but complied.

"Twin Stars unite, invincible forever!" Li Guyuan slapped their hands together and shouted the slogan.

What the hell! So cringy—and it doesn’t even rhyme. Gu Lu stayed silent.

"Should we brainstorm a name for the monthly?" Li Guyuan suggested a few options.

- ; named by taking one word from each of their names.,

- : Circles and wheels are both round.

- Twin Stars and Stellar Contributions: At least it included other contributors under "stellar."

Forget it—Li Guyuan should stay far away from naming. Ultimately, no decision was made because evening study began.

Li Guyuan returned to his seat. His desk-mate entered the classroom with just as the bell rang.

Students talked more during evening study hall, still buzzing from the afternoon’s festivities. Though the celebration ended, their excitement hadn’t fully subsided.

Math teacher Mr. Lu understood the mood and didn’t teach new material, assigning homework instead.

After dismissal, Gu Lu packed up. He planned to watch the replay of on his computer tomorrow. The show aired at 6:30 PM, when evening reading would already have started, so watching live wasn’t possible. Thankfully, he’d bought a computer recently, which made things easier.

"Master Gu Lu, your method really works!" Desk-mate Qi Caiwei happily returned the book she borrowed from Gu Lu.

"Just through an old man and the same ocean, truly knew how to write."

"But there’s something I don’t understand. Why does such concise writing hold so much power? [In the shack on the other side of the road, the old man fell asleep again, lying face down while the boy sat beside him, watching over him. The old man dreamt of lions]," Qi Caiwei recited. "I didn’t misquote it—I remember it clearly. Just those few words made me imagine a battle between the old man and lions."

"For literary giants, they use plot to convey emotions. The more restrained the description, the more explosive it becomes," Gu Lu explained, taking back .

On the inside cover, he’d written: [To grasp the theme of the book: Do not yield to harsh environments. If storms are fate’s arrangement, fight against fate. Read this courage—the courage to transcend success and failure.]

"Looking at it this way, it’s brilliant. I’ll bring a few books to school this weekend. Master Gu Lu, help me decide what to read next," Qi Caiwei said cheerfully, showering Gu Lu with praise.

Facing compliments, Gu Lu felt no joy. A thousand readers have a thousand Hamlets—what they take from books is deeply personal. Even entertainment media like anime or comics evokes individual interpretations.

"Caiwei, may I ask something? It might sound presumptuous," Gu Lu ventured. "Did your parents always set goals for everything you did growing up?"

"Aren’t all parents like that?" Qi Caiwei countered.

Qi Caiwei’s nickname came from abbreviating her name as "cc" on notebooks and textbooks—a shorthand for her childhood name, "Cai Cai."

Indeed, most parents guide their children’s lives, but Gu Lu meant that Qi Caiwei’s parents had overstepped, resulting in her lack of independent thinking.

Wait—that wasn’t quite right. She once said she wrote to express her inner thoughts, so perhaps she dared not think independently.

Had she been conditioned like a puppet? Gu Lu pondered.

"Well?" Seeing Gu Lu silent, Qi Caiwei pressed again.

"No problem. As desk-mates, let’s help each other. My science grades are in your hands," Gu Lu agreed.

"...” Mentioning science grades silenced Qi Caiwei for a moment. Gathering her resolve, she declared, "Alright! We’ll start from middle school math, physics, and chemistry."

It wasn’t Gu Lu’s fault. Even if he hadn’t been reborn from a technical school graduate, revisiting middle school science as an adult was challenging!

"Thank you for your effort!" Gu Lu wondered if Qi Caiwei could actually teach him.

Isn’t it normal for someone with exceptional writing skills to struggle in science? Qi Caiwei’s mindset reflected the majority: "True warriors face their dismal science grades head-on!"

No more talk. Gu Lu hurried home.

It was still raining. Without an umbrella, he prepared to sprint.

"What are those people doing?" Gu Lu noticed a group playing in the water near the playground.

They were genuinely playing in the water. As mentioned earlier, the school’s drainage system wasn’t great, so puddles formed easily during rain. Some students splashed water at each other using their hands or kicking with their feet.

Watching, Gu Lu felt a pang of envy. What man could resist a water fight? Unfortunately, he didn’t recognize anyone.

After lingering for a bit, he muttered, "If I get soaked and catch a cold, what then?" before leaving the scene.

The next morning, the overnight rain seemed to wash the sky clean. The sun shone brightly.

Arriving early, Gu Lu learned from his informant () that someone was waiting for him at the gate.

Thinking of his little joke in Park of Yesterday, Gu Lu felt guilty and decided to wait until the morning bell rang before entering the school.

For now, he sat by the flower bed.

"Panda, as an excellent traitor—no, an excellent scout—I won’t forget you," Gu Lu joked with Wei Jiao.

"You helped Caiwei; I’ll definitely help you," Wei Jiao replied.

Such good friends. Hearing this, Gu Lu suddenly asked, "Panda, do you know which class those students playing in the water yesterday belonged to?"

"Most of the boarding boys joined in," Wei Jiao answered.

"?" Gu Lu gestured for her to continue.

"At first, it was just a small group fooling around. Later, more boarders brought buckets downstairs to join, and the crowd grew," Wei Jiao explained. "Even Ma Xuanyou and Zeng Jie from our class went."

Damn, I should’ve waited longer. Gu Lu thought.

"It was childish. Two of them caught colds today," Wei Jiao added.

"Yeah, childish," Gu Lu nodded along.

After sitting outside for a few minutes, the morning bell rang, and Gu Lu ran back to class—not out of fear of Zhou Lin, but because he felt guilty teasing her after triggering The Selected Works of Minato Shukawa.

During break, Dou Ke appeared at the podium holding two newspapers.

Print media covered the school celebration news, so it wasn’t just Dou Ke—many day students of No. 8 High School went to kiosks to check out their school’s coverage.

Dou Ke held and , both of which attended yesterday.

"You’re something else, buying newspapers. Let me see," Zeng Jie snatched the papers from Dou Ke, who tried to retrieve them but was physically outmatched.

"Front-page headline! Chongqing No. 8 High School Celebrates 74th Anniversary. Let me see."

"Gu Lu’s amazing. Look at this article—the only student name mentioned is yours," Zeng Jie read aloud.

[No. 8 High School’s The Tree People Literary Club: An extraordinary script that earned high praise from renowned Chongqing writer .

In October, during No. 8 High School’s celebration, the literary club's play Park of Yesterday intertwined the fates of two generations and highlighted the importance of cherishing irreplaceable bonds within an enigmatic park.

This captivating performance was meticulously crafted by Gu Lu, a Grade 10 Class 10 student of No. 8 High School.

Reportedly, Gu Lu is no ordinary student. He’s Chongqing’s first national first-prize winner of the Ye Shengtao Cup and a contracted writer for numerous publications. Mr. Mo Huaiqi praised him as a "genius young writer."

The success of Park of Yesterday on stage was also due to The Tree People Literary Club’s efforts.

Club members regularly engaged in lively debates, critiqued films, and discussed new books...]

"Why are you skipping parts? There’s more at the beginning," Ma Xuanyou snatched the paper. Instead of reading aloud, he skimmed it himself.

Chongqing Daily’s report primarily lauded No. 8 High School’s vibrant campus life. Examples included the Hanfu Club being nominated for "2012 Outstanding National High School Classical Studies Club" and the representing a new model of student organizations, featured in the ’s as a case study.

Though the coverage spread praise around, The Tree People Literary Club received the lion’s share of attention.

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