Chapter 1113: Story of The Stone!
When Li Ziqi heard the book’s name, her eyes immediately brightened.
(It seems to be a love story?)
“Teacher, can I read it?”
Lu Zhiruo rubbed her hands.
“No!”
The tiny face of the lucky mascot immediately became sad. “Why not?”
“Given your current age, you should place your energy on studying instead!”
Sun Mo silently mused that this book wasn’t suitable for kids. This was especially so for girls as they might start fantasizing… stuff.
“Teacher…”
Li Ziqi acted coquettishly. Her junior martial sister had no chance now, but she might stand a chance if she used the Coquettish Great Magic Skill.
“…”
Sun Mo fell silent. He still needed Li Ziqi to assist him by looking for printers, publishers, and discussing contracts with the bookstores. During this process, he couldn’t prevent her from reading the book.
Would it be too over the top for him to squeeze a young girl dry like that? She was a princess after all.
Honestly speaking, although Gu Xiuxun was older, when it came to handling such matters, Li Ziqi was more proficient than her.
The moment her princess’s identity and aura appeared, the book stores would be terrified.
“Teacher, I’m only going to read it because it’s something new. I won’t be influenced by its values.”
Li Ziqi was very intelligent and had guessed Sun Mo’s worries.
“Alright then!”
Sun Mo compromised.
Truthfully, as long as the book was published, Li Ziqi would sneakily order one to read.
“Hehe!”
Li Ziqi happily took up the draft paper.
First chapter: Zhen Shiyin in a Dream Sees the Stone of Spiritual Understanding. Jia Yucun in His Obscurity Is Charmed by a Maiden!
(What is this? Why are there talks of gods and the Dao? Daoist Empty? A stone that can speak human speech? Is this the travelogue of a Daoist?)
Honestly speaking, such an opening was a little vague, and no one could get a firm grip on things. However, if one wanted to speak about literature, they had to write things this way.
Although it was slightly more profound compared to Journey to the West, its words were not that advanced.
“Teacher, this is unfair!”
Lu Zhiruo pursed her lips and felt very unhappy. She wanted to stretch her neck to look but was worried that she might be scolded by her teacher.
For a time, she even felt like crying.
“The opening is very excellent. As expected of a masterpiece from Teacher!”
Li Ziqi immediately fawned on her teacher.
The book was written by her teacher. Even if it was a pile of shit, it would be delicious!
(I must continue to read to see if there are any more praise-worthy parts!)
After that, Li Ziqi’s eyes widened as she involuntarily read out loud.
‘Pages full of idle words,
Penned with hot and bitter tears;
All men call the author a fool,
None of his secret messages are heard.*’
(Excellent!)
The words of this poem were succinct and contained a sense of zen!
This poem was the most suitable to be read out when one was drinking, and tears fell from their face. It could vent the pressure and worry that had been building up in their heart.
The image of a poor street writer would immediately appear in everyone’s mind.
However, given her teacher’s appearance, this shouldn’t be the case. Even if he was down and out, he still had the option to eat soft rice.
(At the very least, I have enough rice at home!)
As she continued reading, Li Ziqi’s expression turned gentle.
After seeing Lin Daiyu appear, Li Ziqi knew that this person would be the female lead.
“Fragrance announcing one’s presence?”
It was unknown when Lu Zhiruo had come over. She was leaning against Li Ziqi’s shoulder and was reading the draft too. “I like her name a lot!”
(Very good, it seems that my lucky mascot isn’t a female boxer!)
Such a sentence suddenly appeared in Sun Mo’s mind.
Although the character Qingwen was good, her personality was too awkward. If no one doted on her, her fate would be that of misery.
“Teacher, what will happen to this character named Yinglian in the future?”
After reading how the judge arbitrated the case, Lu Zhiruo felt a sense of anger and resentment in her heart. “This Jia Yuchun is not a good person!”
Li Ziqi didn’t say anything as she was completely immersed in the story. When she read the fifth chapter, on the part where Jia Baoyu’s mind was exploring the void, as he heard celestial music and saw a dream of red mansions, she involuntarily sighed in admiration.
This chapter was truly well written!
(The twelve ‘hairpins’ written on the sub-book are probably names of the characters that will appear in the book in the future, right? Mn, they should be girls!)
After doing a rough count, there were actually over 20 girls in the novel at this point?
(I didn’t expect Teacher to write a harem-type novel.)
After thinking of this, Li Ziqi cast a glance filled with bitter resentment at Sun Mo.
(Teacher, I didn’t expect you to be someone like this! As expected, all men are chauvinistic pigs.)
“Flip the page!”
Lu Zhiruo urged.
Very soon, the two of them had finished reading the tenth chapter. After that, they found themselves wanting to read more. After exchanging a mutual glance, they walked over to Sun Mo’s side.
“Teacher’s writing is really good. However, I don’t like the character Jia Baoyu!”
Lu Zhiruo pondered. “Why do I feel that this is a tragedy?”
“You can even sense the ending?”
Sun Mo was astonished.
“Jia Baoyu is such a weakling. Unless he encounters an opportunity that can improve his heart state or learns a strong cultivation art that can change his fate and defy the heavens, he will definitely end up with his entire family bankrupt and dead.”
Lu Zhiruo evaluated.
Sun Mo was astonished. (What nonsense is this? Your worldview is so skewed.)
“It’s a pity for those girls!”
Li Ziqi sighed.
“You guys’ abilities to appreciate things is pretty high!”
Sun Mo was surprised. “I have to make things clear first. This isn’t written by me but by an old man surnamed ‘Cao’ who lives in the mountains.”
“Teacher, you shouldn’t act humble anymore!”
Lu Zhiruo didn’t believe it.
“Teacher, can I ask which mountain this old man lives on?”
Seeing that Sun Mo wasn’t able to answer this, Li Ziqi covered her mouth and smiled. She had read countless books since young and definitely had never seen [A Dream of Red Mansions] before.
(Sigh! My teacher’s goal is to achieve sainthood, and he views writing novels as a minor dao. He is simply too lofty! But it’s precisely because of this that he could create many masterpieces!)
After thinking carefully about it, Li Ziqi realized that Sun Mo only ever wrote books because he had no choice but to do so. He didn’t write them intentionally to flaunt his skills as an author.
A loss! A great loss!
“Let me write 50 chapters first before you look for a publisher.”
Sun Mo was too lazy to explain more.
“Sun Mo, quickly go look at the Black-White Star Disk!”
Gu Xiuxun called out.
During these few days, everyone would be heading over to listen to the secondary saint’s lecture, so they definitely wouldn’t be able to recruit any students. Hence, An Xinhui and the others couldn’t be bothered to waste their efforts.
They might as well treat this time as a holiday and go to view the ultimate treasure of the Black-White Academy.
“Teacher is writing a book!”
Lu Zhiruo reported.
“Writing a book?”
The eyes of both Mei Ziyu and An Xinhui brightened.
There was no need to ask. These two women were also into literature and art.
“Why are you writing a book right now?”
Gu Xiuxun scratched her hair and shouted, “Sun Mo, we want to go and play the Black-White Star Disk. I heard that the games there are as vivid as real life and you can experience a different life.”
“I want to finish writing this first. You guys can go on ahead!”
Sun Mo didn’t lift his head.
“Let me take a look. What are you writing?”
Gu Xiuxun were good brothers with Sun Mo. Hence, she wasn’t polite and took up the draft as she started to flip through them.
“Ha, is this about romance?”
Gu Xiuxun laughed. Sun Mo didn’t seem to be this type of person!
“The handwriting is very exquisite!”
Mei Ziyu nodded. “The characters are very good too.”
Murong Mingyue didn’t look. She was from the plains and preferred shooting bows at condors and riding wild horses more. But very soon, she discovered that An Xinhui and the others no longer spoke.
After reading the draft in her hands, Gu Xiuxun started to look for the first chapter.
“Who took it? Let me have a look!”
Gu Xiuxun urged.
[1] The story of the stone is another name for [A Dream of Red Mansions]
[2] The poem was taken from wiki page: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber