Chapter 298: The Life of an Ordinary Person
In the library, Yu Linna quietly read a book, not doing anything else. Bai Ya found a few manga books to read, but after a few glances, she found them boring and stopped reading.
“I say, Little Linna.”
“What.”
“Go on a date with me.”
“I don’t want to be a third wheel on your date with your boyfriend.”
“That’s no fun.”
Bai Ya lay on the table, very decadent. Who was the one who said to come to the library? I should kill them.
“Yanhan has been very busy recently,” she said.
“Yeah, a big celebrity.”
Yu Linna said without raising her head. Bai Ya raised her head and patted her own cheeks.
“That girl’s manga got published in a magazine. That’s so awesome. I’ve discovered that everyone in your dorm seems to be an incredible person. Not to mention Jiangning, that big-time streamer, how come Yanhan is also developing in the direction of a big celebrity? If she really becomes famous in the future, then can’t I get her autograph?”
“Yeah, and it’s very valuable.”
Although mine is also very valuable, Yu Linna silently kept this sentence to herself and didn’t say it out loud.
“It would be so great if I could get Shion-sensei’s autograph. I really want it.”
Yu Linna’s hand paused for a moment.
“Although Shion-sensei’s animation was made poorly, his novels are very good. It’s just that he’s being flamed very badly online now. But I still like him.”
Yu Linna smiled wryly in her heart. Am I, an outdated author, really worthy of her liking?
In the following time, Yu Linna lived a peaceful campus life. Since she couldn’t write a good novel, she could only put it aside for the time being. She had missed too many things in her university life and didn’t seem to have enjoyed her university life properly. She had been busy, always working, always running around, completely forgetting the university life she should have been enjoying. Her classmates only knew of her, but rarely saw her.
She started attending classes every day, not missing a single one. She was also willing to go out to eat with her roommates, or to sing KTV with everyone, and occasionally go for a run. Everything returned to peace.
Fang Jiangning said that she had figured it out and was no longer so persistent. Yu Linna didn’t answer. Everyone knew that her novel sales had hit a new low, and her popularity had declined again. It was impossible to return to the height of last year. But perhaps it was precisely because of this that she was no longer so persistent.
No matter how well she did, how great her achievements were, she was still a 19-year-old university student. She was too young.
…
“Guangnan University has won first place in the provincial film review competition this time. This is the best result in recent years. In the past, we always doubted ourselves, questioned ourselves. But today, all doubts will be dispelled, because we have proven to others that we are no worse than others. Thank you, Yu Linna-tongxue, for bringing glory to the school!”
At the award ceremony, the school praised Yu Linna greatly, and Yu Linna also accepted the award under the envious gazes of many classmates, taking a photo with the leaders. Everyone noticed this blonde girl. When school started, everyone thought she was an international student from abroad. Later, they learned that she was a mixed-race, but she was no worse than others.
After the school awarded the prize, they asked her to say a few words. Yu Linna hadn’t prepared a speech in advance. She thought for a moment, stood on the podium, took the microphone, and spoke extemporaneously.
“I am very honored to receive this award. Its weight is not great to me, but it is very meaningful. I have always been wandering, always troubled, but today I don’t seem to have to worry anymore. Perhaps we are all the same, always troubled, always envious of others, but in fact, we don’t need to become others, because we can only be ourselves. I am really grateful to the teachers for giving me this opportunity, and grateful for the school’s cultivation. Thank you.”
The second half was complete courtesy. Anyone with discerning eyes could hear it.
But the first half, the people in dorm 383 all understood the meaning behind it. That’s right, Yu Linna was always wandering and troubled. She was always so stubborn. But now she had discovered that there was actually no need to do so, because in the end, the one who would be tired was herself. She should have figured it out, she should have figured it out a long time ago.
…
The days passed just like that, everything so peaceful.
“Little Linna, since we have to do a group project, why don’t we team up? Your grades are so good. You can carry me.”
Bai Ya often shamelessly followed her, even wanting to be with her for group projects.
“I’m in a group with Jiangning. You should find someone else.”
“That’s so mean!”
After calming down, Yu Linna began to live a normal university life. She didn’t have to worry about work, didn’t have to worry about which company would ruin her reputation, let alone frequently take on script work. In fact, she didn’t take on any scripts now. In her words, she was just an ordinary novelist now, not some great god. She just wanted to live a quiet life. When she was poor before, her biggest luxury was to live a peaceful life, no longer worrying about food, clothing, housing, and transportation. This was the life she wanted.
Perhaps an ordinary life wasn’t so bad.
…
“You seem to have changed a lot these past two days.”
While cleaning the dorm, Yu Linna was also helping everyone. While she was wiping the glass, Fang Jiangning stood next to her and laughed at her.
“Am I very strange, Jiangning?”
“Why do you say that?”
“I don’t know. I just feel that I’m a bit not like a normal person. I’m too stubborn, too rigid, and always act without considering the consequences. Why is that?”
Looking at her back, her petite body was standing on a stool, wiping the glass on the upper part of the window. Fang Jiangning smiled.
“Chasing a dream, there’s nothing wrong with that, Linna. We’ve all chased our dreams, and we all know how difficult this path is. But don’t forget to stop and look at the scenery during the journey, otherwise you’ll miss a lot of things.”
“Perhaps,” Yu Linna seemed to understand, but also seemed not to.
As an ordinary person, she wanted to climb to the top of society through struggle. But as a novelist, she longed to live as an ordinary person.
Humans are always so contradictory.
“Jiangning, I used to long for something very much.”
“Money?”
“No! What are you talking about! Am I that kind of person!”
“Hahaha!”
The two of them laughed and played, wiping the windows. Fang Jiangning held Yu Linna’s stool steady, letting her come down safely.
“I want a family. Even now, I still long for it very much.”
Yu Linna threw the rag into the bucket, picked it up, and wrung it dry.
Fang Jiangning didn’t say a word. For Yu Linna, this topic was too heavy. Everyone knew that Yu Linna had no parents and had started from scratch to get to this point. With her current income, it wasn’t impossible for her to buy a house, but she didn’t do it. Because even if she bought a house, she had no family to live in. If she lived alone, it would be too lonely.
Fang Jiangning didn’t understand what it felt like to have no family, but she could see how difficult it was for Yu Linna. In her third year of high school, she often worked part-time, several jobs at once. There was no helping it. She had to support herself, so she could only do this. If she could, she didn’t want to live this kind of life either.
To have the warmest home, the most loving parents, Yu Linna must have wanted these things very much.
But this was a luxury after all. She was an orphan and didn’t have these things.
“I used to hear from Nangong Ying that if I became famous, famous all over the country, maybe I could find my family, at least find relatives who are related to me by blood. I’ve done it now. I’m famous. Many people know me. But I still haven’t found them.”
She looked at her reflection in the dirty water bucket. Before the water got dirty, she could still see her face clearly. Now that the water was dirty, she could only see a silhouette.
The more she got, the more she lost. In the end, she couldn’t even see herself clearly.
“That’s different, Linna. You’ve never told others that your name is Yu Linna.”
“Actually, that’s not important. The important thing is that I finally discovered that I was living in a lie. I always thought I was fighting for myself, fighting to live a good life for myself. Actually, that’s not the case. I was just afraid, afraid of returning to those days when I was weak and helpless, and couldn’t even afford to eat.”
She said with a wry smile.
“If life could start over, I really want to be an ordinary person.”
When she said this, Fang Jiangning felt her heart ache.
It had been almost two years since she had known her. She had changed a lot, but she was still the same as when they first met, working hard to find something, but even now she hadn’t found it.
“I’m here with you, Linna. We’re friends, after all.”
“Thanks.”
She continued to turn around, taking a rag to wipe the wall. Perhaps she didn’t know where her path was, but she should be able to find it. Fang Jiangning thought so.
…
Xiao Yanhan felt like her back was about to break after a wave of cleaning. After sweeping the ceiling, she really wanted to just go back to bed and lie down. But Lan Ranyan pulled her up.
“You stinky girl, what are you thinking? Still want to be lazy? You were like this during military training too. You have to get moving today.”
“I don’t want to move…”
“Hurry up.”
“Eh, alright, alright. I’ll just sit for a while. Ranran, let me lean on your stomach. Let me be comfortable. Wow, you actually have abs, and eight of them!”
Xiao Yanhan took the opportunity to lift Lan Ranyan’s shirt and saw the obvious eight-pack on her stomach, very firm. You couldn’t tell when she was wearing clothes, but when she lifted her shirt, it was so firm. This firmness was almost comparable to Mikasa’s.
Lan Ranyan slapped her little hand away.
“Girl, your hands are not clean.”
“It won’t kill you to look. Your sexy figure will definitely be liked by men. I’ve decided, my next short manga will be a fitness theme!”
Lan Ranyan resisted the urge to beat her up. She was still young. She mustn’t bicker with her. Lan Ranyan frantically told herself in her heart.
She had of course developed this figure at home. Although southerners might not like her abs, not at all like a delicate woman, she didn’t care. She was just living for herself. Besides, with her family, how could she not develop this kind of thing?
“Ranran, my manga passed again. It’s still a short story.”
“Congratulations.”
“But there’s still a long way to go for a long-form manga.”
“Calm down.”
“Ranran, how about I draw a manga with you as the theme?”
“Get lost.”
Xiao Yanhan stuck out her tongue and went back to cleaning. Her mood had been good recently, probably because she had debuted as a manga artist, so she was quite happy.
