Youth Daily.
Sun Zai'an had been running around in circles these past few days.
The reason? A few of Youth Daily's most popular authors claimed they were too busy lately and weren't submitting any manuscripts.
Normally, as a prestigious publication, Youth Daily never lacked for content. But unfortunately, these particular writers had recently shot to fame. Marketed as teen authors, they'd broken into the public eye and were wildly popular. Now that it was summer break, a prime time for Youth Daily to compete in the market, these people not only didn't write more, they flat-out disappeared, not even submitting half a chapter.
Sun Zai'an knew full well that it wasn't really about being too busy. The truth was, these teen authors had been poached by publishing houses and were now fully focused on writing novels. With their heads buried in long-form fiction, where would they find time to write for a newspaper? Plus, serialized works in a paper didn't pay much, just a few hundred yuan per thousand words at best. Even if it reached over a thousand, it wasn't a big payday. Publishing books was another story. While not every novel would be a bestseller, it still paid much more than writing for magazines.
Get famous early. With Guo Cheng and Han Jin paving the way, these teen authors had gotten smart. As soon as they gained some recognition, they shifted gears to break into the publishing world.
Sun Zai'an couldn't do anything about it.
After all, they were a newspaper, not a publishing company. They couldn't stop others from developing in that direction.
Still, it gave Sun Zai'an a massive headache. Without those popular teen writers, even Youth Daily's circulation might be in trouble.
He logged onto TT, hoping to find other young writers to help out in a pinch.
Huh, Fanchen.
His eyes lit up when he saw a message from Fanchen and clicked on it right away.
Turned out, one of their most valued contributors, Fanchen, had already submitted a piece.
Ah, if only I'd been around earlier, I could have chatted more with Mr. Fanchen.
But that wasn't urgent. Since Fanchen was submitting to Youth Daily, there would surely be more opportunities to connect in the future.
Immediately, Sun Zai'an opened his inbox and downloaded the piece Fanchen had sent over.
'Random Thoughts No. 1: A Classroom Anecdote'
The piece was just over a thousand words, a short essay.
Still, out of respect for Fanchen, Sun Zai'an didn't speed-read like he usually did with other submissions. Instead, he read carefully, word for word.
"Lately, I've been zoning out during class. Not because I don't want to listen, or that the teacher is boring, but because I can't help thinking, there's just too much to learn in this world. When will I ever be done? Then I start wondering: in the future, I might forget everything I'm learning now, or maybe none of it will even be useful. So what's the point of learning at all?"
The whole piece was written in plain language. The beginning didn't strike Sun Zai'an as anything special. But he remembered how Fanchen had once shaken him with the concept of the "Three Realms of Poetry", a conversation that still left him dazed even now.
So he kept reading with the utmost focus, and sure enough, the next part didn't disappoint. After a fairly ordinary opening, Fanchen used a single classic line to encapsulate the entire preceding thought.
"Life is finite, but knowledge is infinite. To chase the infinite with the finite, surely ruinous!"
What did that mean?
Sun Zai'an had never heard the line before. But as a Chinese literature major, he could at least grasp most of it, even if not perfectly. Besides, it wasn't a particularly difficult classical phrase. Of course, he wasn't surprised Fanchen could casually drop such a line. The man's knowledge far surpassed his own. A few lines of classical Chinese? Wouldn't be surprised if he wrote an entire essay in it.
Translated, the sentence meant: Life is finite, but knowledge is boundless. If you use your limited life to chase infinite knowledge, you'll wear yourself out and ultimately fail.
That one line perfectly explained why the narrator had been zoning out in class.
I wasn't distracted because I wasn't paying attention; it's just that I realized my life is limited, but knowledge is limitless. Trying to master it all with my brief existence… maybe that's just plain stupid.
That sentence left Sun Zai'an speechless with awe.
He had a solid background in literature, over a decade in arts and editorial work, and had reached a high level of literary cultivation. The sentence seemed simple, but beneath it lay a wealth of philosophical depth.
It could easily be called philosophy.
What a true master, he absolutely outclassed the average professor by several leagues.
Still… this guy is really Li Luozhi's classmate?
No matter how you looked at it, something didn't add up.
Once again, Sun Zai'an found himself doubting.
But then again, he mentally reaffirmed it. Li Luozhi probably hadn't lied. And judging by this essay, it really was about something that happened in class. If Fanchen were actually some grandmaster or professor, why would he waste time writing about attending class? If he were teaching, maybe. But attending?
His heart was filled with both shock and joy, shocked that this essay confirmed Fanchen's identity, and overjoyed at having discovered such an extraordinary talent. No, not just a talent. With time, this person might grow into a scholarly giant, maybe even a literary titan in China.
To let this kind of writing go unread by the world would be a terrible waste.
Without hesitation, Sun Zai'an placed the essay in the next issue of Youth Daily.
…
Youth Daily was one of the few domestic newspapers focused on youth education, and it held great influence nationwide. It was tightly connected to young readers and featured contributions from some of the country's top writers, making it a must-read publication for teens.
As usual, students and parents rushed to buy the latest issue as soon as it hit shelves.
One such parent was Xie Jianwen, father of a high schooler.
"Xiao Zhi, I bought the latest Youth Daily for you. Read it when you have time. Look at Guo Cheng and Han Jin; they started out writing for Youth Daily, and now they're top-tier authors. I'm not expecting you to be like them, but you can at least learn from their way of thinking. Don't just play around all day."
"Alright, alright, Dad. I'll read it now."
Xie Zhi, trying to stop his dad from nagging, nodded quickly and picked up the paper.
Ten minutes in, he was already dizzy.
What is this stuff? Just more of the same old lectures. More preaching. So annoying.
Xie Zhi didn't hate Youth Daily, but he couldn't stand all the moralizing. And the worst part? The moral lessons didn't even come from students; they were from famous writers, top teachers, or academic elites. Stuff he already heard enough of at school. Reading it again just made his head hurt.
Wait, weren't there a few high school students who contributed in earlier issues? Those pieces were actually interesting. Where did they go?
He looked everywhere but couldn't find them.
He didn't want to keep reading, but his dad was watching, so he had no choice but to look again.
'Random Thoughts No. 1: A Classroom Anecdote'
After reading a bit, Xie Zhi suddenly found an article he could relate to.
It was written by a student, too, and it was about class. He was interested right away.
"Life is finite, but knowledge is infinite. To chase the infinite with the finite, surely ruinous!"
"Dad, what does this sentence mean?"
Confused, Xie Zhi asked his father, Xie Jianwen, who had graduated from a teacher's college.
"You little brat, I've told you, read more books! You're in high school and still can't translate basic classical Chinese? Watch and learn…"
Xie Jianwen glared at his son, then confidently explained:
"It means life is limited, but knowledge has no bounds. If you use your limited life to chase endless knowledge, you'll burn out."
As soon as he finished, Xie Zhi jumped up.
"Wow, Dad, that's amazing. I think so too, life is precious. Every day we live, we lose a day. Using my limited life to learn unlimited knowledge? That's a terrible deal. Here, you can have this Youth Daily. I'm off to use my finite life to go hang out with my friends!"
Tossing the paper aside, Xie Zhi walked off into the sunset.
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Translator: I thought it might be a mistake, but the author actually wrote "Fanchen." It doesn't make much sense to me, but since it's written that way, I'll keep it.
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