How Could I Accept This?

The next morning, Wen Leyu arrived at the classroom with red-rimmed eyes and handed Li Ye a batch of materials Teacher Ke had organized overnight.

Li Ye read through them carefully, selected several less sensitive pieces, and prepared to add them to his novel manuscript.

When Wen Leyu saw that Li Ye had merely marked out a few lines with his pen, her expression immediately turned awkward.

Yesterday, she had overheard the conversation between Li Ye and Teacher Ke. She knew Li Ye was unwilling to accept too much sensitive content, and that Teacher Ke's "good intentions" might instead become a burden to him.

So, out of habit, she nudged Li Ye with her elbow and whispered, "If you don't think they're useful, then forget it."

"Why forget it?" Li Ye looked at Wen Leyu strangely. "These are very useful! The hardest thing about a novel is striving for perfection.

It's like an exam. We've already scored ninety-five points, but those final five points are the hardest. Teacher Ke is helping us make up those last five points now."

"..."

Wen Leyu looked at Li Ye uncertainly. Her large eyes blinked like little stars, before finally settling down.

So Mom's help had been useful after all.

Unlike Wen Leyu's slow reaction, Li Ye's thoughts were very clear.

After Teacher Ke had not rejected his proposal to be co-authors, Li Ye had figured out what Teacher Ke needed.

Or rather, this was the only thing Li Ye possessed that Teacher Ke needed.

Teacher Ke and Wen Leyu were not locals. After arriving in Qinghe County several years ago, they had remained trapped in a terrible environment.

A few years ago, a large-scale wave of returning to the city had begun. Many people who had been sent down to recall bitterness and cherish sweetness, or to sincerely further their studies, had escaped this predicament.

Like Li Ye's father and grandfather.

But Li Ye's father and grandfather had already been working for one or two years, while Teacher Ke and Wen Leyu remained stranded in Qingshui County.

So their road back to the city had surely run into enormous difficulties.

One radish, one pit—if you wanted to return, someone was bound to not want you to go back.

Li Ye usually paid close attention to Wen Leyu and Teacher Ke. They were absolutely the kind of women who were strong and proud. If they had not truly run into trouble, Teacher Ke would never have been able to swallow her pride and mooch benefits off a child like Li Ye.

As for what use the title of a bestselling novelist had, Li Ye more or less understood that too.

These days, giving gifts had started to become popular, but there were many thresholds you could not cross just by carrying cigarettes and liquor.

But if you visited under the pretext of seeking literary guidance, or indirectly mailed a novel through some doorway, making it clear that you wanted "guidance on whether it resembled your own experiences," then perhaps you could pry open a sliver of dawn.

For someone in Teacher Ke's situation, perhaps that one sliver of dawn would become the key to everything.

That was why Teacher Ke had come to Li Ye in utter helplessness, agonizing over accepting his benefits.

But what they did not know was that Li Ye felt he had struck it rich.

After all, he had come from the future. While Teacher Ke was still lost in the fog, he knew the correct direction of development.

It was true that a plucked phoenix was no better than a chicken, but no matter how beautiful a chicken was, its splendor was only skin-deep.

And a phoenix was still a phoenix, divine beast blood flowing in its bones. For the sake of benefiting future generations, Li Ye had to offer some "self-serving help."

Li Ye's pen flew across the page while Wen Leyu watched without blinking. The final portion of the novel manuscript was rapidly taking shape.

Just before class ended, Wen Leyu suddenly asked Li Ye, "Can you teach me how to write novels?"

Li Ye froze. "You want to write novels?"

Wen Leyu nodded. "I want to learn. Learn your writing methods. Can you teach me?"

Li Ye frowned and said very seriously, "Wen Leyu, your primary task right now is the college entrance examination. Writing novels takes up far too much time and energy."

Wen Leyu looked at Li Ye without speaking, but the blazing gaze in her eyes clearly refuted him. You're telling me this? Then what the hell are you doing right now? Aren't you writing a novel too?

Li Ye rubbed his forehead, recalling how he had dealt with bratty kids in his previous life.

"You can't eat popsicles. They'll give you diarrhea."

"Are you eating hot rice cakes? Chocolate-flavored?"

"You can't watch those little films. They'll mess up your kidneys."

"Does your back hurt? I saw you buy Liuwei Dihuang Pills."

Arguing with children required ten-star difficulty-level skills.

Li Ye had wanted to tell Wen Leyu outright that writing novels required either talent or accumulated experience. You could not write a novel with just a few secret tips and tricks.

But after thinking it over, none of that would be of any damn use, because Wen Leyu was not an ordinary child.

Though she was young, she had already weathered storms. Teacher Ke calling her "timid" had actually been wrong.

Wen Leyu had ideas of her own. She looked dull and aloof on the outside, but her mind was exceedingly quick, and her heart was stubborn and steadfast.

She looked like a weak little cat, but she was alert and nimble, sharp claws hidden beneath her soft paw pads.

In the end, Li Ye could only persuade her, "The college entrance examination will get harder every year. If you can't get into a good university this year, there'll be even less hope next year."

Wen Leyu looked quietly at Li Ye for several seconds, bit her lip, wrote a passage on paper, and pushed it toward him.

"I want to stay with Mom. If Mom is still in Qingshui County, I'm not going anywhere. If Mom gets a job, I can get into university anytime."

Only then did Li Ye suddenly understand why Wen Leyu, despite having such a solid academic foundation, had failed to get into university last year.

"Fine, then! Start by learning to write an outline, create character profiles, clarify the story background, and define the identities and personalities of the protagonist and supporting characters, as well as their future development paths and satisfying plot points."

Li Ye pulled over a blank sheet of paper. As he spoke, he listed the material requirements on it. Before long, he had densely filled several sheets.

"Once the materials are ready, I'll do the main writing, while you or your mom can proofread. We'll work together to write a novel. By the time we finish, you'll have more or less learned how."

Wen Leyu was already completely confused.

She did not understand. Not a single bit.

She had thought her Chinese foundation was quite good, not much worse than Li Ye's. As long as Li Ye taught her the secret, even if she could not surpass her teacher, she could at least learn seventy or eighty percent of his skill.

But how could she have known that writing fiction and Chinese class were entirely different things?

Being good at essays only meant you possessed the entry-level qualifications for writing. All the twists and turns within had to be gradually grasped through flashes of insight during actual writing.

Seeing the little circles spinning in Wen Leyu's eyes, Li Ye said somewhat smugly, "Actually, you can show these to Teacher Ke and have her explain them to you. They're easy to understand."

"..."

Wen Leyu glared at Li Ye and rolled her eyes for the first time.

Easy to understand?

So you're saying I'm stupid?

This was the first time the little girl had rolled her eyes at Li Ye. That sweetly naïve, reproachful air stirred Li Ye's springtime heart in an instant.

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Amitabha. No, no, that would be a crime. These days, you needed a certificate for everything!

Several days later, Wen Leyu finally gave Li Ye what he wanted.

The more than ten pages of material were packed full of substance.

Though the handwriting was Wen Leyu's, Li Ye could tell from the contents that it was beyond the capabilities of a little girl like her.

The story background was a Kang Zhan team in the mountains several decades ago.

The protagonists were a group of steadfast soldiers devoted wholeheartedly to their country, described by Teacher Ke from the perspective of "certain soldiers."

As for the main plot, Teacher Ke described it this way—some dregs passed over by several main combat units had been temporarily cobbled together into a fighting collective. Neither grandma loved them nor uncle cared for them, and no one bothered with them.

Until one day, a murderous bastard who had surrendered became their leader. His identity was somewhat complicated: he had attended a military academy, fought bandits, and killed japanese soldiers.

Li Ye thought it over, wondering whether the person connected to Wen Leyu and Teacher Ke was one of "those dregs," or that murderous bastard.

If it was the former, that would be fine. But if it was the latter, then that would be troublesome!

Li Ye spent half an hour carefully sorting through the writing materials, then listed many questions on a sheet of paper and gave it to Wen Leyu.

"If we want to make it outstanding, we need to clarify these details. See whether you can provide more specific information?"

What information could Wen Leyu possibly provide? She could only take it back to Mom and have Teacher Ke analyze and answer it.

After Teacher Ke received Li Ye's questions, she thought for a long time before adding supplementary answers one by one.

When Wen Leyu gave it to Li Ye, he raised more questions. After two or three rounds of back-and-forth, Li Ye's train of thought finally became completely clear.

The coincidence was astonishing: the story Teacher Ke needed to write overlapped heavily with a legendary unfinished novel Li Ye had read in his previous life.

Oh dear, they had originally wanted to work hard, but... how could he possibly accept this?

Thanks to reader "Dìshan" for the tip. Thanks, brother!