Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 68: "Hikaru no Go"? "Painting Soul"!

Luo Jinnian shook his head helplessly as he left the office after coming in only to be assigned a writing task.

He doesn't want to write books under his current identity at all. His identity as a child star and his identity as a writer are one a real life and the other a pseudonym. He should keep them separate.

"So what should we do?"

She bumped into her older sister when she came out. The girl's next class was English, and she was the English class representative. She came to the office to call the teacher.

"It's so good to be back at school." Luo Jinnian squeezed his sister's soft, white hand; he hadn't seen the girl for several days.

During physical education class, because the school playground was small, the two children easily spotted each other, and they held hands and found a small corner of the school.

"Has anything happened at school lately?"

"No... there is one thing, a few days ago two classmates got into a fight in the cafeteria."

"Why?"

"It seems like one of them cut in line for the other."

After asking a few more questions, Luo Jinnian learned the whole story. It turned out that there were two rather disreputable people in the school. One of them had a loose queue in the cafeteria, so the other assumed that he wasn't going to queue and walked directly in front of him.

Then, the person who cut in line got angry, cursed at him, and the two started fighting.

It was a small matter, but it still added a lot of color to the dull daily life of the school, especially since the two people involved were already big celebrities at the school.

One was a troublemaker at school who loved to use his seniority to bully the younger students; the other was so engrossed in studying that he often did absurd things in class.

"They all crowded around to watch. Then Ya Ya pulled my hand to look, and when I saw them, the teacher had already arrived, and they stopped hitting each other."

Ya Ya is Chu Qing Ning's best friend.

"It's such a shame. I've always wanted to see a tiger and a lion fight, but I never got to see it. It's a shame that I wasn't there when two famous people from the school actually got into a fight."

Chu Qingning found his analogy amusing. "The teacher called you to the office to write an essay, right?"

"You know about that essay too?"

Chu Qingning nodded, "I also want to write an essay; I volunteered."

She also wants to try writing, because if she doesn't write and try to understand the author's ideas, she won't be able to create good illustrations.

"The reason I didn't ask you to draw the illustrations for 'The Little Prince' is not because I don't trust your abilities. Don't overthink it. I just happen to have some ideas of my own."

What do you mean by "my own ideas"? It's just that the illustrations in the original "The Little Prince" were so excellent that Luo Jinnian simply drew them himself based on his memory.

The original illustrations for "The Little Prince" were drawn by the author himself and are very close to the style of the story.

Is that so? When Chu Qingning saw her younger brother's lifelike painting skills, she fell into deep internal conflict.

"You shouldn't try things out of areas you're not good at. People should be good at staying in their comfort zone."

Enough said, we still have to exercise in PE class. In reality, the two of them were driven to exercise by the PE teacher who arrived.

"Seriously, you should be exercising properly during PE class! If you're just sitting around and not moving, you might as well go back to the classroom."

Luo Jinnian scratched his head. It really was just too comfortable to be with his sister. Even just sitting there in a daze, he could feel the breeze smelling sweet.

Chu Qingning blushed and said, "I understand, teacher."

Watching the golden couple leave, the PE teacher was lost in memories, sighing, "It's good to be young."

As soon as the PE teacher finished speaking, the two obediently walked towards the pool table.

It's still that old pool table, the surface is all bumpy and uneven, and the crack at the corner hasn't been repaired.

Luo Jinnian picked up two rackets from the basket and handed one to Chu Qingning.

"You serve."

Chu Qingning took the racket, gripping it with perfect precision. She bounced the ball twice on the table before serving it steadily and smoothly.

The ball wasn't fast, and its landing point wasn't particularly tricky. Luo Jinnian casually blocked it, and the ball bounced back, but the angle was slightly off. Chu Qingning ran two steps to catch it, and with a gentle backhand push, the ball returned.

The two of them just kept hitting each other, the pace so slow it was like they were practicing, neither of them thinking about smashing the ball.

They were all playing purely friendly matches.

The two players were very quiet, with only the slight rustling of their shoes on the ground and the crisp sound of their rackets hitting the ball.

"You played that ball pretty well." Luo Jinnian deliberately sent the ball to her forehand side.

Chu Qingning didn't speak, but flicked her wrist, sending the ball arcing into Luo Jinnian's backhand corner. Luo Jinnian reached out to grab it, but the edge of his racket touched the ball, sending it flying off at an off-center.

"My younger brother is better." Chu Qingning smiled as she picked up the ball.

Luo Jinnian chuckled, "Again."

This time, his serve had a bit of sidespin. When Chu Qingning received it, she didn't control the angle of her racket well, and the ball flew straight into the air, hitting her head when it fell.

"ah."

Luo Jinnian laughed so hard he bent over. Chu Qingning rubbed the spot where she had been hit, a faint blush rising to her face, and glared at him, saying, "You did that on purpose."

"I didn't, you just couldn't handle it."

"You did it on purpose."

Luo Jinqing easily caught the ball, but Chu Qingning pushed it back again. The ball's speed gradually increased during this back-and-forth. Students from other classes who were having PE passed by, glanced at them, recognized them, and whispered as they walked away.

After playing for more than ten minutes, Chu Qingning's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and her breathing became a little rapid. She stopped, wiped the sweat with the back of her hand, and said, "I'm not playing anymore."

"Tired?"

"Mm." She put the racket back and turned to walk into the shade of the tree. Luo Jinnian followed and sat down next to her.

While other classes were still running laps on the playground, the sound of the PE teacher blowing his whistle could be heard from afar.

"When is your class's essay due?" Chu Qingning suddenly asked.

"Next week, maybe? What about you?"

"Same here." She paused. "I don't know what to write."

Luo Jinnian turned his head to look at her, "Didn't you volunteer?"

"Yeah..." Chu Qingning lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. "But I didn't think that much when I signed up, I just wanted to give it a try. When it came time to write, my mind went completely blank."

"Just write about what you're familiar with," Luo Jinnian said after thinking for a moment, "like... drawing."

Chu Qingning looked up at him.

"For example, imagine you're a novice cartoonist in real life, and one day you suddenly find yourself possessed by a great cartoon master."

"...Would anyone want to watch this?"

"Me?" Luo Jinnian said matter-of-factly, "Anyway, I'll watch it."

Chu Qingning glanced at him, then quickly looked away, her ear tips turning slightly red.

She didn't say yes, but turned her face away and stared blankly at the students running laps on the playground.

"I've already thought of a name for you, it'll be called 'Hikaru no Go'... uh, I mean 'Painting Soul'."