Lend Me Your Shoulder - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Borrowing the Eighth Grade

Xu Yeyu tore off the seal and opened the package to see what was inside.

Xiang Wei, curious about the strange item not clearly listed on the delivery slip, hurried over in her slippers with a thump thump thump.

Xu Yeyu pulled out a stack of papers from the bag. As the texture brushed over her fingertips, it seemed she suddenly remembered something.

Looking more carefully, she confirmed it.

“As expected.”

“What is it?” Xiang Wei looked at the dense, small-sized Song font on the papers. “Your story outline?”

Xu Yeyu shook her head. “No, it’s someone else’s story. Do you remember when you helped me organize my bookshelf and asked if I still wanted to keep that thick pile of manuscripts? I said it was written by a promising new writer.”

“I remember. So this is from that person?”

“Yes.”

Xu Yeyu flipped through nearly ten pages of the manuscript and pursed her lips. “The publishing company I signed with held an event—something like a reader’s confession box. Anyone could anonymously send us their stories or letters, which would then be randomly assigned to contracted authors. So every few months, I receive a batch of these letters.”

“Do you read them?”

“Of course. I regularly sort through common questions readers face and post some replies and advice on Weibo.” Xu Yeyu winked at Xiang Wei. “Also, many letters are love confessions, like, ‘The author is amazing, how can anyone dislike her? It’s so frustrating, I like her so much!’”

Xiang Wei: “…”

Xu Yeyu read carefully, word by word: “This is how they express themselves, and it’s the only small thing I can do for them. So I always read the letters. Even if some are negative, it doesn’t bother me because I have strong self-healing ability.”

“I see. So the letters can be anything, and some readers even send you their own stories?”

“Smart,” Xu Yeyu snapped her fingers. “Not many send stories, mostly short ones, and the quality isn’t very good—they just want a channel to send them out. But… about a year and a half ago, I started regularly receiving serialized manuscripts from this one person.”

The stories were long, about 10,000 words each time.

At first glance, Xu Yeyu found it strange—why would someone who writes so well not submit the work for publication and instead only send it to her?

“Because I didn’t want a good story to be buried, I even posted on Weibo looking for the author, offering to help contact magazines and publishers to publish the book. I pinned the post for a while, but no one contacted me.”

Xu Yeyu’s tone had a hint of regret despite the matter being in the past.

“Maybe they didn’t see it?” Xiang Wei said, casually rummaging through snacks in Xu Yeyu’s shopping bag.

“They definitely saw it. Readers who send letters want my replies, so they follow my Weibo,” Xu Yeyu explained. “And once I pointed out some issues in the manuscript on Weibo, the author immediately made changes in the next submission.”

Xiang Wei, holding a small bun, said thoughtfully, “So this person only wants to send to you and refuses to publish? That’s so strange.”

Xu Yeyu nodded. “You think it’s weird too.”

Most writers want their works seen by as many people as possible, but this person doesn’t.

“Really strange,” Xiang Wei nodded vigorously, “not even making money, does someone like that actually exist??”

Xu Yeyu was speechless.

Unable to find the author behind the anonymous letters, Xu Yeyu could only put them away after reading, waiting for the day the author might contact her and say they want to publish the work.

Putting the letters aside, Xu Yeyu had other matters to attend to.

The next day, when she went to Lu Yanbai’s office, she found him leaning on the sofa, on a phone call.

The man’s shirt cuffs were unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows. He frowned and said something on the phone, then pinched the bridge of his nose.

He seemed to be dealing with a stressful issue.

Not wanting to disturb him, she stood by the door and waited for him to finish the call.

Lu Yanbai closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up and saw Xu Yeyu standing at the doorway.

He raised his hand, signaling her to come in and sit.

Xu Yeyu sat opposite him on the sofa, holding her small bag obediently on her lap, hands resting on her knees, quietly waiting for him to finish the difficult call.

He spoke a lot on the phone.

The man sighed heavily, “I understand. Don’t rush, I’ll come over this afternoon.”

“Alright, we’ll hang up first. Contact me if there’s anything.”

After hanging up, Lu Yanbai buttoned his shirt and was about to stand.

Worried he might be tired, Xu Yeyu quickly interrupted, “It’s still a bit warm after just walking over. I don’t want to start writing the topic right away. Let’s rest a bit before talking?”

He glanced at her. Although his eyes were still somewhat clouded, she had the feeling he saw right through her.

Then he looked outside at the breezy outdoors.

Xu Yeyu: “…”

Feeling her little wish to make him rest was seen through, her cheeks flushed, and she bit her lip, “I-If you don’t feel hot, I can start now…”

He shook his head lightly, “It is hot, sit for a bit.”

They sat on the sofa for a while. Lu Yanbai glanced sideways and suddenly said, “Next week… I might be a bit busy, so I won’t have classes on the weekend.”

She was stunned.

“Ah, okay, you’re busy then.”

After a while, she cautiously asked, “Will you still have classes later?”

She was nervous, hands twisting together unconsciously, afraid the makeup lessons might be canceled.

He curled his lips, “I’ll still have them.”

“I’ve got some things to deal with recently, so my schedule might be tight. But it’ll be fine once I’m done.”

Xu Yeyu nodded, relieved, “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

Her voice was naturally soft, now mixed with a faint sweetness, saying the words “wait for you” with a modest but sincere expectation.

Lu Yanbai was momentarily stunned, then turned his head and put on his jacket.

After finishing this week’s classes, since there would be no class next week, Lu Yanbai assigned a familiar yet strange task—extra homework.

At the end, he added, “Write well, I’ll check next class.”

Like a primary school student holding a workbook, Xu Yeyu: “…”

That day when she returned, her editor Wanwan bombarded her again: “If you don’t submit your manuscript, forget it! To maintain your exposure, there’s an interactive column that hasn’t been done. Do an interview for me!!”

Since Xu Yeyu had a certain influence, magazines selling issues with her featured usually did well.

She hadn’t appeared in magazines for several months, so it was time to do an interview to boost sales.

Xu Yeyu: “Alright, alright, I can still write the interview Q&A.”

The interview was done quickly. A couple of days later, Wanwan messaged again: “The magazine should be out in two or three weeks. Don’t forget to promote it!”

Xu Yeyu agreed, just as she finished sending the message, her phone rang.

She walked to the living room, picked up the phone, and answered: “Hello?”

“Hello, this is Qi You Orphanage. You made an appointment here before, do you remember?”

“Yes, I do.”

Previously, she had made an appointment and left her phone number, and they said they would coordinate the time and call her back.

“You noted that you can come any day except weekends, so you’re free to visit the children any day this week except the weekend. What day works best for you?”

“Can I come tomorrow? Around 10 a.m.?”

“Yes, I’ll register you for that.”

“Alright.”

After coordinating the time, Xu Yeyu hung up.

Xiang Wei, sitting next to her painting her nails, asked with bated breath, “Did I hear that wrong? Orphanage?”

Xu Yeyu nodded. “What’s wrong? Not allowed to show some love?”

“Of course not. After all, our author Xu has a big heart,” Xiang Wei said as she finished her nail polish brush. “But why the sudden idea to go there? No sign beforehand.”

“There was. I made the appointment long ago and researched a lot of info,” Xu Yeyu pulled a smile. “You just don’t pay attention to me.”

“No one understands me better than myself.”

Xiang Wei leaned in confidently: “The next book will be about orphans, right?”

From her experience, whenever Xu Yeyu suddenly does something, it’s usually for writing research.

Xu Yeyu took out gifts she had bought earlier and gave her a glance, “Actually, no.”

She needed to understand some facts and also… find a truth.

After visiting the orphanage, the following week, aside from the Friday night meeting with Lu Yanbai, Xu Yeyu had no other important plans.

Her daily routine became reading psychology books and continuing to struggle with writer’s block.

She knew well that only by solving the problem that was bothering her could she regain her previous smooth writing flow and keep producing good stories, both long and short.

Writing couldn’t be rushed. If she couldn’t write for a while, she’d just take a break—she’d eventually get through the bottleneck.

After all, her previous books sold well and she had a little savings, so no worries about making a living.

Xiang Wei complained enviously, “It’s so great to have a hit work. Even if you write just a few words a day, you still get paid.”

“That’s not right,” Xu Yeyu corrected her sternly.

“What’s wrong?”

Xu Yeyu tilted her head and gave her a wink, “I don’t write a single word and still get paid while lying at home sleeping.”

Xiang Wei was annoyed, “Get lost!”

“Fine, then I’m going to the bookstore to see if they have my interview magazine. Heard it’s nationwide.”

Xu Yeyu stood up and stretched out her hand, “Come with me?”

“…”

A large bookstore not far from the apartment required a bus ride to get to. It was the designated bookstore cooperating with L University, and students got discounts.

When Xu Yeyu arrived at the bookstore entrance, she saw a big sign:

“The October Issue of Zero Wind Now Hot on Shelves — Exclusive Interview with Ye Xi by Night Study!”

“Although print media is declining, some are still thriving,” Xiang Wei remarked with a click of her tongue.

In the center were thick piles of Zero Wind magazines. Many people were buying; just by them entering, a few copies had been sold.

Xu Yeyu picked one up and then headed to the foreign literature section, planning to buy some books to read at home.

There was a transparent sheet separating the bookshelf. After selecting a book, you lifted the sheet to take the book.

Xu Yeyu browsed for a while, then looked up and noticed something astonishing.

She called Xiang Wei over, “Looks like there’s a photo of Lu Yanbai here.”

They had seen many photos of L University teachers along the way, and because of the transparent sheet, everything looked like a paper print, so Xu Yeyu didn’t think twice and assumed it was a large photo pasted there.

But the transparent sheet made it a little hard to see clearly, and Xu Yeyu was a bit nearsighted and wasn’t wearing glasses today.

She pulled the sheet aside, stood on tiptoe, and reached out to feel the texture of the photo.

As she reached forward and turned her head to speak to Xiang Wei, the expected cold touch did not come.

…

She sensed something was wrong and slowly turned her head. With each twist, she felt her neck creaking.

The “photo’s” eyes met hers, then those beautiful eyes slowly closed their eyelids.