60 Summer Novel Writing Contest
At the Theater Club meeting, Mo Aini did not bother to wear his usual disguise as Jie Taime.
So this whole time, Mo Jiagei can see that his face is censored the way genitals are in manga, with those big black strips, sticking out among the rest of the side characters.
If she isn't weirded out by that, she is just as blind as Hu Chuntian. The difference is that Hu Chuntian's eyes are only set to one person that's why he can't see all else, while his sister is just dense.
He sat beside the delinquent who only stared in her direction this whole time, like a tiger about to pounce on its prey once it found the right timing.
"Do you want some, A-Tian?" Mo Aini offered him a bubble milk tea that he bought outside.
The line at the milk tea shop was so incredibly long that he waited for an hour and a half just to get it for him.
But all Hu Chuntian gave in return was a small "Thanks."
(Sigh, if he still remembered me, he would have showered me with kisses right now. Not that I would like that.) Mo Aini leaned on one hand exasperatedly. (Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? I would like that! I would like that very much, I miss the old him so badly!)
The system was too jealous to say anything. Mo Aini gave Hu Chuntian bubble milk tea, while all he got was vinegar.
The only one happy in this 'System-> Mo Aini -> Hu Chuntian -> Mo Jiagei -> Ma Jianyu' love arrangement was Ma Jianyu himself.
The Theater Club president got into the podium with a giddy smile on his face. He had always been wearing that big toothy smile ever since his route was chosen. He gave a kiss to Mo Jiagei's hand before telling everyone the objectives of today's meeting.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat and changed his dopey expression quickly into a more serious one. "It is in my deepest sadness to inform you that this will be our final meeting as a member of the Theater Club. We, the seniors, I mean. We will be stepping down and venturing off to the vast unknown as we leave our nests that we call Nushen. Only the young birds shall remain as they nurture their wings, but now we must fly away from this noble organization I had called my home for the past 4 years."
There was too much theatrics in his speech, but everyone still felt the severity of the situation. Those who had always been in the Theater Club will now be separated from each other. Both their deep friendships and simple acquaintances made from all the projects they have done, the stage that they worked together to turn into different worlds just from backgrounds and props, and the memories they have formed inside this very room.....
It may all be taken from them once they graduate.
Everyone started to mumble their goodbyes, and murmur their last farewells to each other.
But Ma Jianyu still smiled. "Oh, you did not allow me to finish! It was not my intention to bring a plague of melancholy to you all, there is still some good news left for us senior club members!"
Now everyone listened intently to what he had to say.
"There is still one last project we can do even after graduation." Ma Jianyu took out a piece of paper that looked like a poster from his pocket and unraveled it. "A kind game developing corporation called Shimeifen is offering schools to develop a novel with the collaboration of any students, and the winning school will receive 1,000,000 yuan!"
"Whoah, are you serious!?"
"1,000,000 yuan!?"
"That's enough to buy me all the mantous I want for a whole lifetime!"
The whole club buzzed in excitement and it's not just the seniors. Some went closer to observe the poster closely since they still could not believe it, and exploded into 'wow's' and 'ohhhh's' once they verified that it was true.
"This Summer Novel Writing Contest is voluntary, and all the prize money will go to Nushen though."
Everyone started to get disappointed and walked back to their chairs.
Ma Jianyu shook his head disapprovingly, clicking his tongue. "Ah, what fickle lot you are! Can't you see what a noble act it would be to give back all the wonderful memories and experiences we had thanks to our alma mater?"
"If we don't get any money, what's the point?"
"We still have a lot to worry about other than this writing contest with our college applications and all."
"I'd rather spend my days on vacation than write a book for nothing!"
"But it's not for nothing, dear friends!" Ma Jianyu chuckled."Why won't any of you let me finish before you make your violent reactions? I haven't even told you about the trip to Liangyue Island yet."
"Liangyue Island!?" The club members' eyes lit up.
Mo Aini knitted his eyebrows. He tapped Hu Chuntian's shoulder to ask him, "What is Liangyue Island?"
Hu Chuntian distractedly explained to him, eyes still on his sister. "Liangyue Island is a private island that is said to be the most magical island in the world. It has a perfect white beach made of white jade and not sand, a beautiful rainforest that has every species of animals and plants, and a mountain that is said to hold the treasures of the greatest ancient heroes at the apex."
"That's what all the pamphlets say anyway, but the only thing I can believe about them is that it has a 'spectacular view'." Hu Chuntian added. "My father always says that exaggeration is the best profit for a business."
"Well, have you been to Liangyue Island before to say that none of what the pamphlets said was true?" Mo Aini asked. (After all, this is the anime world. Anything that is not possible in our world might be possible here.)
"I've never been there before. But if Mo Jiagei asks me to buy it for her, I'll buy it for her. I don't care for the beauty of nature or treasures, I just want to ensure Mo Jiagei's hand in marriage."
"Cough! Cough! Wow....." Mo Aini felt like coughing up blood but kept it inside with a smile. "What an admirable determination...."
"The theme of the novel is Summer Escapades of the Youth. Its setting should be a school summer trip where it would show all the possible joys and wonders that could happen when teenagers can freely experience summers together with no supervision or the strict rules of adults."
He continued: "So for research material and inspiration, Nushen is offering a 7 day trip to Liangyue Island to anyone who signs up to contribute to the writing competition. And it'll just be us, my dear friends! A whole adventure that awaits us!"
"Hell yeah! A whole island all to ourselves!?"
"Let's bring fireworks and card games!"
"Oh, barbecue sounds fun too!"
"Let's play beach volleyball or hike up the mountains!"
Most of the suggestions are like these harmless, light-hearted activities, but there were also..... not-so-safe ones mixed with them.
"I want to hire belly dancers..... for entertainment, of course."
"Can we bring beer!? Most of us will be legal this year anyway!"
"We can try to swallow fire or go do biking stunts off the cliffs---"
She Haoran stood up and interrupted them before they could bring in more crazy ideas. "But of course, common decency must always be practiced as representatives of our school. All the materials that will be brought in will be checked first, and all the planned activities must be agreed upon by the majority."
" I, as the student council president, must ensure that this trip will be a fulfilling one without any problems or... casualties. That is why I already signed in as a volunteer along with Vice President Wang Jing."
Those who suggested the indecent and problematic things whined at She Haoran being a killjoy, but they never complained to his face.
Li Youman smiled brightly at them to lighten the mood. "This is to be expected, guys! Of course, we want to come out in one piece after going into the island, right? And the student council along with us club leaders will make sure of that! But I'm sure it will still be fun!"
"Right, Wang Jing?" She locked her arms with the intimidating-looking Vice President.
"Oh.... uh.... Affirmative. It will be fun." She said with no signs of 'fun' in her face whatsoever.
Li Youman smiled. "See? Wang Jing is very excited about it, you guys should be as well!"
"Yeah! Vice President is right!"
"I don't think I would be able to sleep tonight just thinking about it!"
"I don't even think I can focus on the final exams because of it! Vacation will always be on my mind!"
"This is going to be the best summer ever!"
Ma Jianyu is overjoyed by the club members' newfound enthusiasm, and he gave a thankful look to the three fellow leaders who supported him and carry the weight of this big announcement. "Now that it is all settled, everyone who is interested in our noble quest for inspiration finding in the legendary Liangyue Island may sign their names here! Don't forget to also bring your parent or guradian's permission letter tomorrow so that you will be officially added to the volunteer team!"
Mo Aini also thinks that this whole stuff is exciting too. He was having problems on how he will find more excuses to spend time with A-Tian once school is over and this came right on time. He's no good in this whole novel-writing business, but he's pretty good in giving his opinion on things and criticizing what could be made better.
"Will you be joining the trip, A-Tian?"
Hu Chuntian shrugged. "Do you think Mo Jiagei will join?"
"Most likely."
"Why do you think so?"
Ma Jianyu will definitely be leading this whole expedition, and the story of this route depends on him so Mo Jiagei would follow him wherever he went. There's also a lot of juicy scenes possible with this beach setting so this is definitely an important plot point that Shuaige wouldn't miss.
Mo Aini can't explain about the whole otome aspect behind it, so he just said, "Because Ma Jianyu would be there."
At this, Hu Chuntian frowned.
"Then, Da Ge..... Let's both sign up for it. I need your help with something." Hu Chuntian stood up to sign the form.
(Yes! I managed to convince him!) Mo Aini mentally raised his fist in the air. "What do you need help with?"
"We're going to a remote island, right?" Hu Chuntian rubbed his chin with a scary look on his face. "And there's so many dangers waiting in there that it's easy to get lost or..... worse."
Mo Aini gulped. "I don't like where this is going....."
"Let's join the trip so we can kill cowboys, Da Ge." Hu Chuntian turned to him with a disturbing grin.
"I'll do the murder and you'll help me dispose of the body. We'll wait for the perfect moment to strike and separate him from the group, and then we'll act like he got lost. Maybe even just push him off the mountain and pretend it was an accident or that he jumped off—"
"I get it, I get it, A-Tian! Shhh! " Mo Aini looked around with a nervous look. "That sounds like a good plan and all..... But there's no need to say it out loud when the victim and dozens of witnesses can hear you!"
The delinquent just gave a prideful scoff. "I don't care if they know, I'll just use my money to shut their mouths about it."
"Sigh, again with the money!" The tired Da Ge rubbed a hand over his face. "Though it's true that it can fix everything..... everyone will hate you if you just waved it at their face."
"I don't care if everyone hates me. Only those with the surname Mo matters."
Mo Aini blinked in surprise. "Including me?"
"Yes, and father-in-law and mother-in-law. I need you to approve of me so that when Mo Jiagei turns 22 we'll have a wedding with all the Mos out there and then they will bless us and our future children—"
"Oh, boy here we go again." Mo Aini listened patiently as Hu Chuntian listed his whole plans for himself and his sister for the 100000th time.
How ironic that all those plans used to be for him.
It's so ironic that it's killing him slowly. Hu Chuntian prattled on for hours and hours...
(Man, I wish summer will come soon already. At this rate, I'll be the one to jump and fall down the mountain first before Ma Jianyu does.)
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