Chapter 33

Autumn in Taocheng always passes in a rush, and then winter arrives unexpectedly.

One morning, when Wang Mengmei saw the overcast weather, she quickly reminded Jian Li.

“Make sure to dress warmly before going out today, and put on your hat. Looks like it’s going to snow.”

Jian Li always liked to sleep in during winter. Being woken up early, she groggily put on her clothes, only fully waking up after a splash of cold water.

With a meat bun in her mouth, she stuck her head out the door.

The biting cold wind immediately hit her, and Jian Li shivered, looking miserable. “Can I skip school today?”

She knew Wang Mengmei wouldn’t agree, so she muttered to herself, “Why hasn’t winter vacation started yet? I’m really going to die…”

Wang Mengmei was ladling porridge from the pot and heard her weak tone. She rolled her eyes. “Hurry up and come eat!”

Breakfast was a thick millet porridge, hot meat buns, stir-fried sour and spicy lotus root slices, and a plate of vegetables.

After finishing her breakfast, Jian Li obediently let Jian Feng ride her to school.

On the way, the snow began to fall.

Jian Li reached out to catch a snowflake, and Jian Feng told her to quickly put on gloves.

Jian Li asked, “Dad, are you still going to practice driving today?”

It was snowing.

Jian Feng, puffing as he pedaled, replied, “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I?”

Even if he couldn’t practice driving, he could still learn from the instructor how to maintain the car, and also ask about how to handle driving in this weather, like whether he needed snow chains.

Jian Li, wearing thick gloves, gave her dad a thumbs up.

She didn’t remember much about her dad learning to drive in her past life, but looking at him now, it was clear that her dad hadn’t had accidents for a reason. His eagerness to learn was something not everyone had.

When they arrived at the school gate, Jian Li, wrapped up like a bear, jumped off the bike, almost twisting her ankle.

After steadying herself, she waved goodbye to Jian Feng, and once she saw him pedal away, Jian Li exhaled a puff of white breath.

“Boss, I’ll have a sausage!”

Winter had arrived, and the school’s small shop had new stock.

The ice cream freezer from summer had been taken away, and now the shop was selling fried sausages.

In the cold winter, the smell of those sausages was everyone’s nightmare.

Jian Li couldn’t resist the temptation. She told herself that since it was winter, animals needed to pack on some fat to survive, and as a healthy person, eating some starchy sausages was no big deal!

The pink starchy sausages had cuts in them, and after flipping them in the oil, they turned crispy on the outside. Sprinkled with a little chili powder, they tasted exactly how Jian Li remembered.

After eating a sausage, Jian Li rushed into the school, keeping an eye on the time.

The elderly man in the mail room still remembered her. Thanks to her, she had informed the teacher about the submission and essay competition, and Mr. Fang naturally told the grade leader. Soon, the school started a series of submission activities. Teachers said it was voluntary, but they were all hoping their classes would have someone get published.

Recently, five submissions from the school had been accepted.

Three of them were published in the school newspaper, another two in “Children’s Literature” and the magazine’s joke column.

Mr. Fang: …

“Well, jokes work too. At least it’s some kind of honor.”

With so many accepted submissions, Jian Li’s name gradually faded from people’s minds. Now, everyone was talking about the little fat kid who got published in the joke column.

Xia Liu secretly encouraged Jian Li to submit to the joke column as well.

“You were really good at cursing that time. You’ll definitely get published.”

Jian Li didn’t submit. She was counting the time in her head.

It had been a long time since she submitted the comic, and if she didn’t hear back soon, she would have to find another way.

While thinking about the unresolved comic submission, the mail room worker’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“You have a letter!”

Jian Li had a hunch, and when she saw the address from a certain magazine, she couldn’t wait to tear open the envelope.

The mail room worker cheerfully asked if she had written another article.

Jian Li tried to suppress her excitement. “No, not at all.”

After saying that, she quickly ran to her class.

Her manuscript had been accepted!

Along with the acceptance letter was a heartfelt handwritten note from the editor.

The editor explained the reason for the late contact—communication had been difficult.

Jian Li’s submission had no phone number, only the school address and name. The editor wanted to discuss some content issues and negotiate the manuscript fee, so they had to communicate by mail.

Jian Li couldn’t wait to read further, ignoring Xu Yanan, who was tapping her desk in the front row.

[After discussion, we are offering you 20 yuan per page for your submission. Please indicate the remittance method in your reply. If possible, please contact me by phone… My contact information is…]

Twenty yuan!

This price was higher than Jian Li had expected.

She thought it would be 15 yuan and that she would have to negotiate a few times to get it.

At 20 yuan per page, and with about 20 pages of updates per month, she could earn 400 yuan a month just from her comic submissions!

Jian Li felt confident and carefully noted down the questions the editor had raised about the next part of the plot.

In her reply letter, she was planning to send the story outline along with the next issue’s draft to the editor.

As for the payment, the previous payment came via a money order, but this time, Jian Li decided to open a passbook savings account.

Her small savings had grown to a few hundred, so why shouldn’t she have a passbook?

The request to open a savings account was quickly approved by Jian Feng.

According to Jian Feng, Jian Li’s idea of opening a passbook was much better than a child who spends money recklessly.

Jian Li took the freshly printed passbook and wrote the remittance information on a piece of paper.

As for calling? She decided to wait.

Jian Li secretly thought, when will Tao Country get an internet café? It would be so great if there was one.

In the second issue’s content, Jian Li illustrated the first meeting between the male and female leads. Before the pink bubbles had even disappeared, the first copy began.

The sect competition.

Jian Li spent a lot of effort writing the background of the sect competition and fully explained the cultivation levels.

At the same time, the female supporting character appeared and entered the selection for the sect competition.

The female lead didn’t originally qualify, but her spirit pet, which had gained intelligence, brought her to the competition site.

After finishing the drawings, Jian Li checked everything thoroughly before sending out the manuscript.

After sending the manuscript, Jian Li even made a special trip to the newsstand to order a copy of Meihua magazine.

She told the editor in her letter that she couldn’t accept sample issues and asked them not to send any.

Jian Li didn’t even want to think about what the school would say if they found out she had started drawing comics.

She definitely didn’t want to end up with the title of “Little Artist” after becoming the “Little Writer.”

In her comics, Jian Li signed it with “Zhi Li.”

From now on, she would keep her identity under wraps!

—-

When the first issue of Meihua that featured her work was published, Jian Li was preparing for her final exams.

Looking back on the past half year, Jian Li felt she had done well in completing her post-rebirth KPIs.

Her mother had started running a small restaurant.

Her father had successfully gotten his driver’s license and found a job.

As for her, she had lost more than forty pounds and now weighed only a little over 130 pounds.

Although there was still a long way to go, at least she had taken the first step.

Jian Li leisurely divided her attention between the classroom and drawing comics. Xu Yanan, sitting in the front row, couldn’t help but glance at her nervously.

It was the final exam period, yet Jian Li seemed so relaxed. Was she that well-prepared? Did she not need to study?

Xu Yanan was very anxious, worrying that Jian Li might be genuinely better prepared than her or that Jian Li was pretending not to study at school but was actually cramming at home.

Recently, Xu Yanan had been dreaming a lot, always dreaming that Jian Li would do better than her. After waking up, she didn’t dare to sleep anymore, staying up every night studying and memorizing.

Jian Li wasn’t really neglecting her studies, though. She just didn’t feel the need to put too much pressure on herself.

When it came to studying, she put in the work during normal times, so her efficiency was higher than most people’s, and by the time review came around, she didn’t need to panic.

She was satisfied with the printed version of Meihua, just waiting for the magazine to provide sales results.

However, it wasn’t a great time since the students were about to go on holiday, and the second issue was stuck during the winter break.

During the New Year, the newsstand would close for business.

Jian Li and Jiang Rou, who was far away in Jing City, both had their hearts in their mouths.

After finishing her final exams, Jian Li sent out the third issue’s draft and then began enjoying her happy winter break.

She no longer had to get up early in the cold wind. Instead, she would laze in bed until noon, then slowly get up and help out at the shop.

In the winter, Wang Mengmei was even more glad that she had acquired the shop space. When the weather turned cold, the outdoor stalls at the market couldn’t operate anymore.

Other stalls that had tried selling lunch during the day found that their food would freeze in the cold wind, so they quickly stopped and went back to their original business, selling braised meat, steamed buns, etc.

Wang Mengmei’s business had actually been getting better with the cold weather.

Sometimes, it couldn’t keep up with the work on her own, so Jian Li would help out during lunch and dinner. After all, it was her family’s business.

After finishing lunch, Jian Li didn’t rush home. She’d stay in the shop, doing some winter break homework by the stove, then wander into the kitchen for a snack before going home at night.

When her parents weren’t home, she would first draw comics, then watch TV.

A few days passed like this, and it was finally the day to pick up the report card.

Jian Li had come first in her class.

Xia Liu had come eighth, jumping with joy.

The teacher stood on the podium, watching the excitement and disappointment of the students.

After all, this final exam would determine whether they would have a good winter break.

Those who did well were fine, but those who didn’t, would probably get an earful from their families, and the New Year wouldn’t be easy for them.

Teacher Fang called out the names to hand out the certificates.

The top three students were awarded the “Three Good Students” title, followed by five “Excellent Students” and ten “Good Students.”

After that, there was nothing left.

The “Three Good Students” received a notebook and pen each, the “Excellent Students” received a notebook, and the “Good Students” received a pen.

When Jian Li received her notebook, Teacher Fang smiled and reminded her, “Keep it up, continue to work hard next year.”

Xu Yanan’s face was pale as she followed behind. This year, she didn’t even manage to secure second place, let alone first.

Teacher Fang handed Xu Yanan a notebook and a pen, speaking to the typically excellent and competitive student: “Go home and rest, reflect on it, and then keep working hard.”

Xu Yanan didn’t want to accept the notebook for good students. She felt like the third place on the cover was mocking her.

She had a feeling she wouldn’t win first place, but to lose second place as well? That was when the sky truly fell.

She had never gotten third place before.

Jian Li, with her first-place award, returned home. Wang Mengmei finally stood tall this year.

“Stick this certificate on the wall!”

Jian Li refused. What was the point of sticking it up? Who knew if they’d move houses in a few years, and the certificate would be impossible to remove, making it a waste to put it up.

Instead, Jian Li found a box, put the certificate and the prize inside, and joyfully ran out to find Xia Liu.

Aunt Li Juan greeted Jian Li warmly when she saw her, asking if she wanted some coconut juice.

Jian Li quickly refused, “Aunt, no need, I’m here to play with Xia Liu.”

“Alright, then you two can play inside. It’s cold outside. I bought some Lu Lu for Xia Liu. You can heat it on the stove before drinking.”

Xia Liu took two cans of Lu Lu from the box and warmed them in the copper kettle.

Jian Li brought along some comic books to share with Xia Liu.

Xia Liu quietly said to Jian Li, “Do you know what Xu Yanan’s mom did yesterday?”

“She pushed Xu Yanan outside the house and wouldn’t let her back in. She made Xu Yanan stay outside in the cold all night!”