Chapter 7: Whose Youth Accompanies Me on the Journey

Chapter 7: Whose Youth Accompanies Me

The high school entrance exam was held at their own school, though students were scattered across various classrooms, seated individually.

Students from every class were mixed together. Li Jingkun was assigned to a classroom on the second floor, but the location was irrelevant; it did not affect his performance.

In fact, in his previous life, he had performed exceptionally well in both the high school and college entrance exams. He had been somewhat lazy, only cramming and taking things seriously when an important exam loomed. Yet, whenever the results came out, they were always higher than his usual scores.

This time, having studied diligently since the eighth grade, he was well-prepared, and excelling was only natural.

Thus, Li Jingkun was admitted to the city’s top high school—the provincial-level key secondary school known simply as City No. 1 High School—with the highest score in the entire school. Furthermore, he was admitted on a full scholarship, with all tuition fees waived.

Zhou Zhiqin ranked second in the school and was also admitted tuition-free. However, had his life followed the trajectory of his previous existence, Zhou Zhiqin would have gone to a larger city to attend a private school with high tuition fees.

If it were the Li Jingkun of his past life, he might have envied him. But not anymore; after all, City No. 1 High School was a provincial key school. Its overall learning environment and teaching staff were already formidable.

Moreover, he was now moving faster than most, and given his own aptitude, he was capable of going very far.

Besides, this result was the best he could achieve at the moment, and the school was the best he could access. Therefore, there was nothing to regret.

***

After September 2005, Li Jingkun reported to City No. 1 High School on time and moved into the school dormitory.

Since the school was in the city—though only a dozen kilometers away and less than an hour by car—daily commuting for an hour or two was clearly impractical. He had to live on campus.

Now, he could start considering how to make money.

It wasn’t about showing off; his family’s situation forced him to put this on the agenda.

His parents had four children: he was the eldest, followed by his second sister Li Xiaojie, his third sister Li Xiaoxia, and his youngest brother Li Jingming.

While getting into City No. 1 High School for free was a joyous occasion, it did not change the fact that his family remained very poor.

His second sister was in the eighth grade, and his third sister was in the sixth grade of elementary school. If their financial situation remained unchanged, both girls would start working as soon as they finished middle school.

"Earn money for our brother's tuition. We aren't doing well in school anyway, and staying in school is just a waste of money and time." (Although nine-year compulsory education was eventually popularized, many children still dropped out or went to work as soon as they finished middle school.)

This was a situation common in most impoverished families in the country: daughters going to work early to pay for their brothers' schooling. It was, of course, neither fair nor moral.

But it was a reality. If Li Jingkun couldn’t accept it, he had to change it through his own efforts.

His family’s circumstances were fixed. His parents had been farmers for the first half of their lives and migrant workers for the second; it was hard to expect them to change their fate now.

In his previous life, he had started his own business, running both brick-and-mortar shops and online stores. However, he didn't have the capital required for a physical store back then, and online stores were not yet popular—the time wasn't right.

In fact, he had long considered the solution: the novels, music, and films he had seen in his previous life. He had simply been focused on his first goal and hadn't been in a rush. Now that he had achieved his first life goal, it was time to consider making money.

Music and film were too costly and troublesome. The most economical and practical path was publishing novels.

There were two routes: web novels and physical books.

Web novels required one or two million words, and he didn't have the time or energy to spend writing in an internet cafe constantly. A physical book could be published with just 100,000 to 200,000 words, and the income wasn't bad.

Therefore, from every perspective, publishing physical books was the most reliable path for now. He only needed to decide which book to "borrow" for his debut.

The book had to meet four conditions: it hadn't been published yet, it fit his identity as a student, it had to be a good book, and he had to like it.

He finally chose a youth novel of about 120,000 words: *Whose Youth Accompanies Me*.

The mid-2000s were the peak years for "post-80s" writers and the height of youth literature. Han Han, Guo Jingming, and others were at the height of their popularity, and the most famous youth magazine was *Tender Shoots*. In his previous life, he used to save up a few yuan every month just to buy it.

Li Jingkun pondered when he could visit an internet cafe to write the novel out, then buy a copy and submit it to their email address.

Selecting the work was one thing, but he couldn't just copy it blindly. He had to make simple modifications to fit his identity and the current era.

He also needed to be familiar with the novel, so whenever he had free time, he would read it over in his mind, then find time to head to the internet cafe to type it out.

As a result, his writing speed wasn't particularly fast.

"Jingkun, not going to evening study hall tonight?" asked Song Hairong, one of his roommates. There were eight of them in the dorm, and they got along well. Song Hairong slept on the bunk above him.

"Yeah, I'm heading to the internet cafe. Want to come?" Li Jingkun asked.

"Is that a good idea? I'm afraid the teacher might take attendance," Song Hairong hesitated.

Boarding students were required to attend study hall every night, but everyone knew Li Jingkun was somewhat addicted to the internet and frequented cafes.

In the eyes of many, the internet was a frightening thing. Students who frequented internet cafes were certainly not considered "good students." News reports of students ruining their grades and lives due to internet addiction were common.

Li Jingkun’s roommates were all good students, so they rarely went.

Secretly, they discussed it, most believing that Li Jingkun was ruining himself. Although he currently had the best grades in the dorm, they feared his performance would plummet if he continued.

As the saying goes, "He who touches pitch shall be defiled." As roommates living together, they were bound to be influenced occasionally and might tag along once or twice.

"Let him check. I'll just show him my high scores during the monthly exams," Li Jingkun replied dismissively.

He didn't care. He studied hard in his spare time, so he wasn't worried about his grades. Besides, he had already started reviewing his sophomore-year textbooks.

In the end, Song Hairong couldn't resist the temptation and went to the internet cafe with Li Jingkun.

Once there, he had no time to pay attention to Li Jingkun; he was soon lost in Penguin Messenger and games, completely absorbed by the internet.

In truth, Song Hairong knew Li Jingkun was writing a novel, but he didn't think much of it. There were many talented people at City No. 1 High School, and many young literary types.

A large proportion of the students at City No. 1 came from well-off families; there were many who were skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, let alone writing novels.

Therefore, it wasn't strange that Li Jingkun liked reading and writing. It could even be considered a frugal hobby, as his family had never had the money for more expensive ones.

What Song Hairong didn't know was that Li Jingkun had already finished over 30,000 words and was preparing to submit his manuscript.

He had even chosen a pen name for himself: "Li Tang Wang."