MMB Chapter 17, "Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse," concludes the chapter.
Chapter 17, "Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse," concludes the chapter.
The top editor called.
"Hello, I'm Jia Bei, the editor for 'The Record of Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty'."
The famous director bought freshly fried pork chops.
The pork chop is fried to a golden brown and crispy perfection. When you bite into it with the thin, crispy crust, you can feel a burst of savory and delicious meat juices in your mouth, making your mouth water.
It's delicious to tear off strips and eat them one by one, and it goes especially well with rice.
"Um... Hello, editor."
Luo Jinnian's eyes were still fixed on the beautiful girl on the ice rink.
The girl had long, jet-black hair, and her fair skin looked even more pristine against the golden backdrop.
A flowing white shirt tucked into linen-colored British-style overalls accentuated a slender and shapely waistline.
Teacher Xiao Fei actually has naturally beautiful eyes with pointed inner corners.
You can't tell when she's not smiling, but when she smiles, her eyes and the corners of her mouth curve together, making her extremely infectious.
The background music she chose was "My Heart Will Go On".
The same song was playing in Luo Jinnian's headphones, synchronized with her voice.
The girl in the arena performed a swallow-style turn, raised her leg, grabbed the knife, and pressed her head to the ground, her gaze upwards, as if deep in thought or looking up.
His eyes were brimming with tears, clear and ethereal.
To match the music, she made every movement as gentle and soothing as possible.
After a perfect straight-line step sequence, she prepared to jump.
The next second, the entire stadium erupted in cheers—
"2Lz! Double Hook Jump! Nine years old? She's only nine?!"
Luo Jinnian jumped up and clapped. The girl rushed into his arms amidst the shocked gazes of the entire audience.
The Lutz jump is one of the most difficult jumps to take off among the six types of figure skating jumps.
Its body moves against the arc when it jumps, which requires extremely strong body control.
Many adult athletes make the technical mistake of "off-edge" when pushing their limits, stepping on the flat edge or even the inside edge, which will result in the move being downgraded or even invalidated.
Nine-year-old 2Lz is not a better title than "monster" than "Teacher Fei". However, Luo Jinnian knows that figure skating is just a hobby of hers and neither her family nor she herself has any intention of pursuing it professionally.
"I did it! Brother Luo, I did it!"
Fei Yuxi lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Luo Jinnian's neck and her legs around his waist.
"May I ask if this phone number belongs to Mr. Qin?"
The top screenwriter on the other end of the phone, who had been on the phone for so long, had been listening to the chattering of two little kids in a complete daze.
"That depends on whether you're working with director Qin Chuan."
"Yes...no."
Luo Jinnian smiled knowingly: "I guess you called here because you couldn't find the contact information for the author he recommended to you."
How did you know?
"Because I am like that early spring tea."
The award-winning screenwriter remained silent for a full ten seconds. He knew that their writing competition was targeting young people, but he really didn't expect that the voice of the author who could write such a skillful masterpiece as "Grandma" would be so childish.
He really wanted to ask, "Are you kidding me? How could such an excellent work be created by someone so young?" But that was just too old-fashioned and stupid.
He is a first-rate editor, not a third-rate author.
"I know you don't believe me, so you can ask me a few of the questions in the main text."
Then the two of them, one big and one small, started chatting for two hours straight.
"The bonus should be credited to your account this week."
"The payment for the article will be sent out today."
This sounds familiar, like he's just making empty promises. But usually, he's the one making those promises to big directors. I never thought that as an author, his first step would be to be tricked by a magazine.
Regarding the contract, the top editor said they could offer him the royalties of a top-tier author, since Luo Jinnian would never sign an exclusive author contract.
This was already the best offer the top editor could give him.
"Let's discuss the specifics of the contract with my lawyer."
The renowned director took the call and offered to help resolve more specialized issues.
Luo Jinnian was very grateful, but at the same time asked the girl next to him curiously:
"Why does Uncle Qin seem to have nothing to do all day long?"
Chu Qingning's shoes and socks got wet after she finished skating, so she sat down and took them off to air them out, and they didn't smell at all.
Luo Jinnian could see the girl's feet from behind. Her little feet were white and tender, and her five toenails were pink like five little flowers. She was kicking her bare feet around.
"What did you say?" The girl hadn't heard her.
"Ah...it's nothing."
Luo Jinnian was so intoxicated by the fragrance that he forgot everything.
At this moment, the famous director leaned over and handed the phone to Luo Jinnian: "The editor asked when you can submit your next project to him."
"Let's talk about it when we get the bonus."
Luo Jinnian waved his hand.
He was speaking to the editor.
They've picked the wrong opponent to try and make empty promises to this kid. The big director was about to burst into laughter.
Then Luo Jinnian said, "But I've already thought of a title for the book. It will be called 'Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse'."
Ah, no, no, you can just make empty promises to them, but don't try to trick me.
The director immediately sensed something was wrong: "Don't tell me you have to wait another week to see the full manuscript."
Summer. Fireworks. My. Corpse.
The top editor silently read the book title aloud, then his eyes lit up. "This title is interesting."
Just hearing the name gives it a creepy feel, like the movie "Grandma".
After finishing the call, Luo Jinnian handed the director a script.
"This is the complete version of 'Summer, Fireworks, My Corpse.' I've been working very hard on it this week, and I've finally finished it."
Just kidding. Actually, Luo Jinnian finished writing it a long time ago. He's been busy with other things.
"The editors will have to wait, but Uncle Qin definitely won't."
The renowned director was so eager to get his hands on the script that he immediately sat down and started reading without any hesitation.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
After Ken and Yayoi concealed the truth about May's death—that May was pushed off a tree by Yayoi.
Ah Jian hid May's body in a cedar tree hollow, saying he would move it after it turned into bones.
In the middle of the night, May came out intending to dig out her best friend from the stone.
But Yayoi stopped her.
May's mother came to the village again to post missing person notices. She stared at A-Jian and asked, "Did May really say she was going to the river that day?" A-Jian nodded while chewing on his steamed bun.
Throughout the entire story, May and her mother were the only characters the director felt sorry for; his emotional nature allowed him to imagine the mother's uncontrollable sobbing at night after losing her daughter.
Another week has passed.
Sister Green invited Ah Jian to help out at the ice cream factory, saying he could earn some pocket money during the summer vacation. Ah Jian happily agreed.
Yayoi remembered the sneaker hidden under Midori's desk, opened her mouth, but said nothing.
The younger sister knows that her older sister, Green, is a bad person, but she doesn't want to tell her older brother.
Qin Chuan analyzed as he read. Next, they should be revealing all of Sister Green's secrets.
On the day he went to the ice cream factory, Ah Jian was wearing a new T-shirt, and his face was flushed the whole time.
Sister Green opened the heavy iron gate and let him in to take inventory.
The cold storage room was lit with a pale blue light, and cardboard boxes were stacked on the shelves.
He opened one—inside wasn't ice cream, but a boy, pale-faced, missing a shoe, his body frozen stiff.
The boy looked very much like Ah Jian. And he wasn't the only little boy to freeze to death in the ice cream factory.
Qin Chuan suddenly realized that the little boy who had gone missing near the village that had been mentioned earlier had all come here.
But why do they all have to look so much like Ah Jian?
—Or is Ah Jian just like other people, and Ah Jian is a substitute for a certain male figure who is very important to Sister Green?
The sound of an iron gate closing came from behind me.
Sister Green smiled through the door: "They are all my darlings."
Ah Jian's hand slid down from the iron gate.
He squatted in the cold storage room at minus eighteen degrees Celsius and suddenly thought of May, when he hadn't yet turned into bones in the cedar tree hollow.
Yayoi noticed that Ken hadn't returned home when she was having dinner. Her mother said he was probably eating ice cream at Midori's house.
Yayoi ran to Midori's house, but no one was there. She then ran to the ice cream factory, but the gate was locked.
She squatted on the steps and cried, as if her throat was being choked.
No one heard it.
The moon rose; it was big and round, like a white pill.
[The sound of a fireworks display can be heard in the distance—it's a neighboring village setting off fireworks to celebrate some festival.]
Hey, hey, hey.
Yayoi looked up at the fireworks.
She remembered what May had said: "When I grow up, I want to be like a firework, soaring into the sky with a bang, and then everyone is watching me."
No fireworks were made in May.
But her corpses littered the hillsides.
[In the cedar tree hollow, under the concrete slab, in Ken's dream, in Yayoi's nightmare, outside Midori's cold storage, in this remote, quiet village where summer will never end.]
[Run. Run. Run.]
The renowned director watched the film with a sense of loss, remaining silent for a long time.
I finished reading the manuscript in ten minutes, but I'll probably need a month to savor it.
My chest feels so tight. The bad guys weren't all punished, and the good guys lost so badly, yet he still has to admit that this is the best ending.
Seeing her uncle writhing in pain, Fei Yuxi felt very relieved.
—Brother's manuscript this time is definitely of high quality.