Chapter 280 Are there any benefits?

Chapter 280 Are there any benefits?

Chapter 280 Are there any benefits?

Zhou Lin's face lit up with joy when he heard the familiar voice, but he quickly concealed it.

The turning was several times slower than usual, as if a slow magic was cast on it.

"Oh? It's not easy for a great writer to take the time to come." Zhou Lin said with a hint of sarcasm.

Girls in Sichuan and Chongqing all have the talent of Onmyoji. "Mom, where is my black T-shirt?" "It's on me, come and get it." In Sichuan and Chongqing, it sounds very familiar, right?
Zhou Lin is a typical girl from the Fog City. The key point is that she told Gu Lu about this two weeks in advance. She was worried that Gu Lu would forget the time, so she reminded him yesterday. She was right.

Ahem, Gu Lu didn't make excuses. "Because I missed the time while browsing at the Major Experimental Center, I was already too late to catch the bus here."

"How about I treat you to a big meal? Today." Gu Lu asked the question tentatively. Looking at the angry face of the girl with super strength and the rage in her eyes, he was afraid that it would not be so easy to fool her today.

"A big meal? Okay." Zhou Lin nodded.

Hearing this, Gu Lu was stunned, "You are not angry anymore?"

"Didn't you treat me to a big meal to apologize?" Zhou Lin said.

"It's a big meal, but..." But it can be done with just a big meal? Gu Lu couldn't believe it.

"You are not kidding me, saying that we will definitely have a big dinner next time," Zhou Lin questioned.

"Of course not." Gu Lu said.

"That's good." Zhou Lin was immediately happy. "We won first place in the Model United Nations Competition of No. 8 Middle School, and I can have delicious food today."

"Why am I so lucky today! Double happiness coming to me." Zhou Lin said happily.

The smile was so bright that Gu Lu was sure that the other party was not speaking in a sarcastic way.

It seems that this junior high school classmate of his has always been easy to coax. Before, when he made me angry, I could just use a reconciliation charm to settle the matter.

"Then you can choose the dinner for today." Gu Lu waved his hand generously.

"After all, it's you who's apologizing, so I'll ask for a lot... How about hotpot?" Zhou Lin asked.

I thought it was a big deal, Gu Lu thought, and he responded, "Why don't we just go for a seafood dinner."

"Didn't we agree that I would choose?" Zhou Lin said, "I just love hotpot."

There was no reason for Gu Lu to disagree, "Arrange it!"

The core members of the Model United Nations accepted an interview with the Fog City Daily. The interview was completed and the reporters also finished their work.

A quick glance revealed that this student looked familiar. The reporter from Fog City Daily was a little dizzy from the sun and couldn't remember for a moment.

It’s better to go home and call it a day. The watermelon in the refrigerator must be lonely. The reporter packed up and left.

"Master Gu, you are here!" "It's a pity that I didn't see our president's wonderful performance" "Of course it was wonderful, a series of nine regardless of friend or foe" "Really amazing"...

The core members of the club greeted Gu Lu. As the literary consultant of the Model United Nations, they were quite familiar with each other.

"What's the situation with a series of nine without distinguishing between friend and foe?" Gu Lu asked curiously.

Wang Mingjing replied, "The summary made by the president afterwards was amazing. It not only convinced our opponents, but also touched our teammates."

"Area attack, very powerful." Gu Lu nodded.

The topic of the municipal finals was [The religious issues in America last year and the wave of opposition it triggered]. No. 8 Middle School represented America, while the rival school was the Turban, Beard and Camel Country.

In terms of the topic, the other party's representative has more advantages.

Why is it a religious issue again? Have I played this version before? Gu Lu felt that the situation on Earth was similar to that before he traveled through time, that is, in 2023.

It is true that the only lesson humanity has learned from history is that humanity never learns.

After chatting for a while, Wang Mingjing and his friends took a bus back home.

Gu Lu then treated Zhou Lin to hotpot.

As an honest local, I want to tell you, the humble outsider, that there are countless hotpot restaurants in the Fog City, and any old restaurant that has been open for more than ten years will have good skills.

The main reason is that if you don’t have good taste, you will be eliminated by the market.

Qi Caiwei invited Gu Lu to dinner, but Qi Caiwei really has a small stomach and gets full after eating just a little.

It is understandable, because when learning dance, one has to maintain a good figure for a long time, so the appetite is small.

Correspondingly, the girl with super strength is also known as the glutton girl, and she has a really good appetite.

The place chosen by Gu Lu and Zhou Lin was Sanjie Lao Hotpot, a little-known restaurant, mainly because it was close.

The air conditioning in the store wasn't very good. Anyway, under the hot white mist from the hot pot, Gu Lu felt a little hot and didn't have much of an appetite.

Look carefully, it was "originally". Zhou Lin ate so well that Gu Lu's appetite also improved a lot.

While they were having dinner, Zhou Lin's parents called, so after dinner they both went back to their respective homes and looked after their respective mothers... This really didn't happen.

After returning home, Gu Lu began to sort out today's harvest.

Flowers for Algernon was slightly modified, leaving enough clues to prove that it was Gu Luwen who copied the theory.

Gu Lu finished writing more than 100,000 words a few months ago.

I haven't shown it to anyone yet, so it's easy to modify. The inspiration for this came to me when I visited a major animal experiment center, and no one can disprove it.

Gu Lu moved his hands casually and felt something in his pocket...

Hmm? It was White Rabbit Milk Candy. Gu Lu remembered that it was given to him by the Super Strength Girl today.

When you put it in your mouth, it tastes like your childhood.

He believes that the two best candy brands in China are the national-level White Rabbit and Jinliren, which is only sold in the Fog City.

"White Rabbit Toffees, how glorious they were in the past, they were simply national-level." Gu Lu thought divergently, "If you work with me, I will change "Who Moved My Rice Cake" to "Who Moved My Toffees", who moved my White Rabbit Toffees."

This book is so popular abroad. If an English version is released in the future, it may help increase the popularity of White Rabbit.

[Zhou Lin: You treated me to a big meal today and I enjoyed it very much.

Gu Lu: Next time you should treat me.

Zhou Lin: No problem at all. I will celebrate with you next time you publish a new book.]
The sweetness in his mouth dissipated, and Gu Lu put down his phone and started reading.

Three hours later, Gu Lu finally finished reading the newly compiled "Book of the Dead". This collection is really thick.

Gu Lu understood two things.

First of all, the concept of the Old Gods and the Outer Gods does not seem to be proposed by Lovecraft. According to Lovecraft's writing style, it is actually very messy, and there is no such clear line of gods.

Secondly, the Necronomicon can be written, but not now.

“No wonder there weren’t any excellent domestic Cthulhu novels in the past, because there wasn’t the soil for them to grow.”

"A strange town, mysterious disappearances, and the discriminatory gazes of the town, especially the discrimination, this is the essence."

As mentioned before, Gu Lu is not familiar with Cthulhu. But from his feelings after reading the more than 30 short stories that constitute the original Cthulhu, the element of "discrimination" must be the core element of the author's creation of the novel.

There is also an element of "unknown".

"To be honest, Nof is good at creating an atmosphere." The last time Gu Lu saw such a strong horror atmosphere was in Stephen King's short story.

Gu Lu thought that if he wanted to write, he had to wait until he went abroad during the summer vacation. Wasn't the English version of The Little Prince going to be released in the UK during the summer vacation?
Many of the short stories serialized in "Story Club" were set in Europe and America.

It is not surprising that many domestic mystery novels also use foreign story backgrounds.

But the "Book of the Dead" is different. Gu Lu went abroad and based on the current anti-Chinese situation abroad, he could start writing after experiencing it.

By the way, if I were to write one, where would I publish it?
This kind of horror theme is totally inappropriate for Youth Digest and Juvenile Literature. Only Story Club and New Reading are suitable.

Personally, I prefer to read the new horror and thriller magazine.

Previously, I upgraded the content of the New Reading Magazine with "Iron Pillar" and "Singing to the Moon in a White Room". If Cthulhu is born in this magazine, wouldn't that be another upgrade?
"It's better not to think about these things." Gu Lu stretched lazily. The crisis of urging the submission of the short story has not been resolved yet.

Puff——

Tangyuan is here to bring me delicious food again? This was Gu Lu's first reaction.

I opened the door and saw the person who came in was from the subdistrict office... What director was he? I didn't remember his name, I just remembered that he was an official.

"Teacher Gu Lu, I'm sorry to bother you again." Director Wang said.

Haven't written any diss articles recently? Gu Lu, who didn't know the purpose of his visit, invited Director Wang to his home.

"Here is something, Teacher Gu, please try it." Director Wang put down a box in his hand.

Gifts? Gu Lu had never experienced this before, so he waved his hands quickly, "No, no, really no, Director Wang, what are you doing?"

"It was a welfare benefit distributed by our community during the Dragon Boat Festival just now," said Director Wang, "give it to Teacher Gu to have a try." Gu Lu was determined not to accept it.

Director Wang had no choice but to get straight to the point. "A few days ago, we were inspecting the sanitation of the street and had a casual chat with Lao Lei."

"Just chatting casually." Director Wang said, "I heard from Lao Lei that Teacher Gu is planning to move out?"

Gu Lu nodded. He had already told Mr. Lei, the owner of the Frog Fish Head, about his move. Many familiar customers nearby also knew about it.

"Our street office has no other intentions. Teacher Gu can live wherever he wants." Director Wang's thoughts seemed a little confused, and his tone of voice was incoherent.

She laid the groundwork for a long time and asked the key question today, "This time I came here to ask, is Teacher Gu moving away because there is a problem with our work? If there is a problem, please tell us so that we can improve and make progress."

"Oh no, I'm still very satisfied with my job at the Street Office," Gu Lu responded, "I just found a more suitable house, so I'll move. And it's not now, there's still some time."

After shopping around for a house and purchasing it, it still takes time to decorate it.

After hearing what Gu Lu said, Director Wang finally put his mind at ease.

"Suitability is important, suitability is the most important." Director Wang said, "A more suitable residence can produce better works."

What is the attitude of the subdistrict office towards Gu Lu? They want Gu Lu to leave, after all, some people are very vocal. But they are also afraid that Gu Lu will leave, if he writes something and exposes this place again, it will be really fatal.

After asking the questions, Director Wang insisted on keeping the box of rice dumplings, and Gu Lu couldn't stop him.

After seeing Director Wang off, Gu Lu wondered, is his power that great?
"When Toriyama Akira wanted to move, the local government built a road for him to the airport." Gu Lu suddenly thought of this.

His influence is still far from that of Akira Toriyama.

Gu Lu muttered to himself, "And it feels like Director Wang isn't here to keep me."

The next day, students walked to school in the sunshine.

Needless to say, it was another sunny day. I really wanted it to rain, but according to the current weather, the only option was to hold the sports meeting.

But the sports meet of No. 8 Middle School is held every two years, which is difficult.

Today's soy milk was a little hot. According to Gu Lu's original pace, he bought breakfast downstairs and almost finished it by the time he got to school.

"Oh?" Gu Lu saw the banner.

[Congratulations to the Model United Nations Club of No. 8 Middle School for winning the first place in the 5th Fog City Model United Nations Conference]
The first first is worth celebrating.

"The video interview on Bilibili is too early. It will be more effective when Zhou Lin leads the club to win the championship."

Gu Lu thought.

Pah! Dou Ke patted him from behind, and before he even finished greeting him, he began to share the news he had just heard.

"I heard that the new campus of No. 8 Middle School is about to be completed. The new campus is much better than our old campus."

"What's so good about it?"

“First of all, the area is definitely larger, and there are all kinds of facilities.”

……

"On Youthful China" not only brought immeasurable fame, but also more.

This brings an opportunity to Gu Lu.

If it weren't for the fame brought by this article, we would never have found him.

What exactly is going on?
It all started when Gu Lu was called to the principal's office after the first class and doing morning exercises.

There are five people in the office, and the office's decoration and furnishings have also been changed and are better than before.

The ones I am familiar with are Principal Chang and Director Hu.

The other three were strangers. If a stranger suddenly appeared in the Cthulhu world view, there would definitely be a big problem.

Gu Lu's observation ability was also not weak. Although he didn't know him, his status must be high. This was evident from Principal Chang's attitude. With only half of his buttocks sitting on the chair and his hands resting on the table, Principal Chang was also unintentionally curling the corner of the document with his fingers.

Generally speaking, this is the attitude that Director Hu shows when meeting the principal.

Director Hu was standing aside at the moment, not qualified to sit down. Seeing Gu Lu enter the office, Director Hu showed a gratified look, perhaps because our classmate finally made it.

However, Gu Lu didn't notice this look because the other person's eyes were too small.

"This is Gu Lu, an outstanding student from our No. 8 Middle School," Principal Chang introduced.

He then introduced three people to Gu Lu, namely Chief Qu from the Foreign Affairs Department, Director Zhao from the United Front Department, and the secretary who was in charge of taking notes.

It was getting more and more bizarre. He had no idea about the ranks of Section Chief Qu and Director Zhao, but they were definitely not small, after all, they came all the way from Beijing.

Gu Lu was thinking, could it be that the country wanted him to help promote something in Japan?

As for these two departments and his own strength, the above is the only situation Gu Lu can think of.

"Don't be nervous, Gu. We have all seen your work." Section Chief Qu said, "How beautiful is our young China, which will never grow old! How great are our young Chinese, who will never be bounded by the country! It is very exciting."

"Flatland is also an excellent publication," said Director Zhao.

The two began by praising each other.

Gu Lu was not nervous, but his legs were straight and he was curious.

Section Chief Qu asked, "Student Gu, do you know when China and Spain established diplomatic relations?"

How would Gu Lu know that? He shook his head.

It is normal not to know. Section Chief Qu directly gave the answer, "It was in 1973 that diplomatic relations were established, so this year marks the th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain."

Listening quietly, Gu Lu knew that there must be something related to him.

"In 2006, the Cervantes Institute was established in Beijing, and this year the Chinese Cultural Center was established in Madrid," said Chief Qu. "Economically and culturally, the relationship between our country and Spain is pretty good."

"It's very good to have positive exchanges with other countries." Gu Lu also joined in the discussion upon hearing this.

"It is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the two countries will conduct cultural exchanges." Chief Qu said, "The leader of the Spanish team is Manuel Moya, a famous European poet."

"The most important thing is that Mr. Moya loves Chinese stories very much and even wrote "To Tao Yuanming" in Spanish," said Section Chief Qu.

Director Zhao took out a poem written by a foreigner.

[Me preguntas cómo es que puedo…]
Gu Lu definitely couldn't understand Spanish, but luckily there was a Chinese translation at the end.

[Set up house in the countryside,
I often hear the noise of carriages and horses.

Why do you do this?
With worldly affairs on the mind, there is no place to hide.

……

The evening clouds cover the mountains.

The beauty of the moment,
A thousand years is too long to tell.]
"It's written better than mine." Gu Lu said that the beauty of the translation into Chinese can be felt, and the original Spanish text must be even more beautiful.

Could it be that the country wants me to lead a team to exchange ideas with the Spanish cultural group? Hey, no way! Gu Lu thought to himself.

Gu Lu guessed half right, that was to go for communication.

"The leader of our Chinese Cultural Exchange Group is Professor Chen." Section Chief Qu said, "Does Xiao Gu have time to participate in this exchange?"

"Are you going abroad? Then..."

Before he could finish his words, Section Chief Qu started to explain.

He said: "No, just a normal literary exchange. Just write some short stories about Spain. It doesn't need to be too professional."

Director Zhao also added that the general meaning was that this exchange was mainly about friendship, so the specific content of the article was not the key.

To put it more clearly, Gu Lu is a well-known young talent in China, and his book "Young China" is well-known. In summary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave Gu Lu an extra quota.

No one had any hope for Gu Lu's work. Just like what was said just now, friendship comes first. When the exchange is over and the news is published in domestic and foreign media, won't Gu Lu's name be on it?

Since that’s the case, there’s no reason for Gu Lu to refuse. This is a reward from the country to him personally.

"Don't worry, just finish the work within two or three weeks. There's no limit to the number of words," Director Zhao said. "It can be something related to Spain, or even a review of Don Quixote."

Section Chief Qu said to Principal Chang, "I hope Principal Chang will support the cultural exchanges related to the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the West."

"We definitely support it." Principal Chang responded, "Gu Lu, an outstanding student of our school, is able to participate in national activities and bring glory to the country. We definitely support it."

Then Section Chief Qu handed the list of the literary exchange group to Gu Lu, who glanced at it.

Professor Chen is a professor at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. He is not a literary figure, but he is an authority on Chinese Spanish. He wrote "Introduction to Spanish" and edited "Spanish Dictionary". The literary exchange group asked the linguistics professor to be the leader, and Gu Lu immediately felt that it was the right fit.

(End of this chapter)