Otaku Translation: Literary Genius: This Kid Was Born Smart C136

Please support the translation by reading the translation and commenting on otakutl official site.

Thank you.

Everyone from

Chapter 136:

Why did it take two days for to receive the book? Because the copy in his hands was sent to him by the publisher—for free.

It wasn’t that Yu Xinyao was stingy or unwilling to spend money on a book. Rather, ever since he’d gained fame, it had become an unwritten rule for publishers and authors to send their books directly to him when seeking his critique.

The cost of the book didn’t matter; what mattered was the process.

Yu Xinyao never bothered with the cover, preface, introduction, or any supplementary material—except perhaps the author’s own foreword, if there was one. He skipped introductions written by others entirely because, in his view, the worst thing a reader could do was approach a book with someone else’s perspective already planted in their mind. Every piece of content should be discovered independently...

“It must be the author’s preface—a short one,” Yu mused as he noticed the dedication page. “Interesting. All adults were once children, though only a few remember it. A thought-provoking line.”

With that, Yu began the main course: . At first glance, the story seemed weak.

But accompanied by the illustrations, Yu found himself entertained. For instance, when The Little Prince asked the narrator to draw a sheep, rejecting multiple attempts until the frustrated narrator scribbled a simple square box:

[Here’s a box. The sheep you wanted is inside.] To Yu’s surprise, this blatant fib delighted The Little Prince, who accepted it without question, grinning ear to ear.

“How childlike,” Yu remarked aloud. “It’s exactly the kind of thing kids would believe.” After flipping through a couple more pages, he paused and went back.

Why did children—and The Little Prince—believe so easily? Because they trusted you. And because they believed that, as an adult, you had genuinely drawn a box containing a sheep.

Adults like him exploited this trust to deceive children, only to later dismiss their credulity with condescension.

“The more I think about it, the more intriguing it becomes,” Yu said to himself, now fully engrossed. As he continued reading, he realized that The Little Prince was essentially a road narrative, following The Little Prince’s journey from planet to planet.

For the first time, Yu saw how unique a child’s perspective could be. In a universe filled with billions of roses, loving one made it irreplaceable.

, , , , , …

As a professional literary critic known for his sharp tongue, Yu typically evaluated works based on structure, depth, prose, and storytelling. But with The Little Prince, he read with anticipation—not for moral lessons, but simply to experience the world as seen through The Little Prince’s eyes.

It wasn’t that the fairy tale was particularly extraordinary—it was just… interesting. Not good or bad, per se, but captivating nonetheless.

Take, for example, the Geographer’s Planet. This self-proclaimed expert, who claimed to know everything, never left his office and relied solely on reports from explorers.

“Who would’ve thought such a profound truth could be expressed with such childlike simplicity?” Yu murmured.

And then came the fox. The dialogue between The Little Prince and the fox was brimming with memorable lines!

“No wonder Director Jian went out of his way to promote this on ,” Yu said, setting the book down. “I’m starting to understand why.”

Finishing The Little Prince left Yu feeling cleansed, though not in the same way as reading or . Instead, it evoked a different sensation: like a burnt-out office worker sitting on a park bench after a long day, reminiscing about running wild on the grass as a child, much like the mischievous kids before them. Bathed in nostalgia, it felt as though the “corpse-like stiffness” of adulthood had melted away.

Did he glean some grand philosophical insight? No. But he saw society through another lens.

“Who did the illustrations? They’re responsible for at least forty percent of this book’s charm.” Flipping back to the credits page, Yu spotted [Illustrations: ].

The same person who wrote the text also drew the pictures? Now that was fascinating.

“Yes, this level of cohesion between image and word can only come from the original author.”

“There’s something…” Yu trailed off mid-sentence. Enough talking—he needed to write his review.

Unlike many critics who posted reviews on social media platforms like Weibo or personal blogs, Yu Xinyao avoided those spaces. Even though , the monthly journal where his work often appeared, moved too slowly for timely commentary, he still preferred traditional outlets. He maintained columns in respected newspapers like and .

As Director Jian had predicted to Gu Lu earlier, The Little Prince was undergoing visible growth.

Not everyone loved it, of course—but among every hundred readers, ninety-five praised it.

Word-of-mouth buzz was building—

“Dad, I want to buy this book!”

“You already got . Finish that before buying anything new, otherwise it’ll just sit on the shelf collecting dust. Poor book.”

“But I really want this one.”

In a , a father-and-son duo debated. The father, a thirty-year-old painter, had taken the day off to accompany his son, Xiao Hao. One Hundred Thousand Whys was a book Xiao Hao had long coveted because all his classmates owned it…

At his age—fourth or fifth grade—the measure of whether something was desirable hinged entirely on whether peers possessed it.

Things had been proceeding smoothly—until they reached the checkout counter. There, Xiao Hao spotted a set of decorative book covers displayed alongside The Little Prince. These clear plastic sleeves protected book covers, though thrifty families sometimes used stiff paper cutouts instead.

Xiao Hao didn’t care about the book itself; he was captivated by the designs on the covers. Each featured a whimsical scene: a rose growing on a tiny planet, a king seated atop another miniature world, and so on. Buy the book, get the cover free.

“Sneaky…”

The painter-father inwardly frowned. Why bother writing books if you’re just going to lure kids with flashy gimmicks?

“Excuse me, can we buy these covers separately?” the father asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

“I’m sorry, sir, but they’re promotional items—we don’t sell them individually. However, if you purchase the book, I can give you two extra covers,” the clerk offered, knowing full well the irresistible appeal of such a deal to a child.

“Dad, two!” Xiao Hao pleaded, eyes wide with excitement.

“Good books don’t need tricks like this!” the father grumbled, picking up a copy of The Little Prince and flipping through it casually.

Anyone familiar with Xinhua Bookstores knows that most books are unwrapped and available for browsing, often stocked in multiples. Skimming quickly, the father nodded knowingly. Pictures and text shared equal space on the pages.

This came as no surprise, given the nature of children’s literature. Some books even prioritized images over words.

Then, unexpectedly, the father stumbled upon a passage—

["One day,"

"I saw the sunset forty-four times!"

"Did you know? When people are sad, they love sunsets."

...]

Huh? Wait… this felt oddly different. The painter-father froze. He often worked late into the evening, grabbing quick meals whenever possible. Dinner, especially, was always tinged with melancholy as twilight approached, signaling the end of yet another unproductive day.

He didn’t love sunsets, but he understood the sentiment deeply.

Why would a children’s fairy tale include such a line? Intrigued, the father began reading from the middle of the book…

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/literary-genius-this-kid-was-born-smart/

If you like this project, please rate or leave a review 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.

All the tiers provide an off-line reading experience

Tier 1: 10 Advance chapters

Access fee $3.00 Monthly