Chapter 62: The Gift of the Magi

"..."

Lin Yuan's response shattered some of Huang Benyu's long-standing perceptions, but when he thought about the fact that there was a student even more extraordinary than Lin Yuan, namely Gu Xi, in the school, he suddenly felt somewhat relieved.

This is a good thing.

It indicates that our school is full of talented individuals.

In fact, without Huang Benyu's professional ear, it would be impossible to fully appreciate how mature Lin Yuan's technique is. The classmates in the class could only come to a general conclusion—

Lin Yuan is really good at playing the piano.

However, after Lin Yuan played a piece, Huang Benyu did not make broad and indiscriminate remarks like "I'm not targeting anyone, I'm just talking about everyone here."

In the subsequent piano classes, Huang Benyu's remarks followed a routine prefix:

"Except for Lin Yuan, all of you should remember this knowledge point."

"Except for Lin Yuan, I believe no one else will understand why this is done here."

"Except for Lin Yuan, everyone should practice this piece well after class, especially the last section."

"Except for Lin Yuan..."

In short, after a piano class, the phrase "except for Lin Yuan" almost became Huang Benyu's mantra.

Perhaps in Huang Benyu's mind, he hoped that Lin Yuan would be like Gu Xi and not come to piano class anymore.

He was willing to give credit!

And Lin Yuan's calm campus life would not change just because he showed off his piano skills in class.

If there was any change, it was probably that he became more popular in the class.

Makes sense.

Physically weak, good-natured, handsome, diligent in studies, excellent at playing the piano—such an outstanding and likable student was hard to dislike.

Actually.

When Lin Yuan first transferred to the composition department, classmates initially thought he was aloof, but after getting to know him, no one thought Lin Yuan was aloof anymore—

Being quiet and being aloof are two different concepts; this guy just doesn't like to talk.

In the following days.

Lin Yuan continued his usual habit of not talking much and, as always, focused on studying. His grades in his major courses had completely caught up, no longer affected by the sudden change in major in his sophomore year.

And in these peaceful days, March unconsciously arrived.

In this season of fluctuating temperatures, the weather in March remained cold enough to discourage people from easily leaving their warm blankets.

The festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year gradually faded.

The latest issue of "Tennis Prince" still had impressive sales.

Also released on March 1st was Chu Kuang's new work published in the "Interesting Reads" magazine—

The short story "The Gift of the Magi."

On this day, Lin Yuan also received several sets of sample publications sent free of charge by the Silver Blue Library.

A sample publication is a periodical that the editorial department provides to the author free of charge after the author's work is published, and providing sample publications is the obligation of the publishing house to the author.

Getting the sample publications of "Interesting Reads."

Lin Yuan saw "The Gift of the Magi" prominently featured on the cover of the magazine, with the four bold characters "Chu Kuang's New Work" catching his eye.

This signified the editors' high regard for this story.

However, the promotional impact of "Chu Kuang's New Work" was not significant because the users who enjoyed buying "Interesting Reads" magazine did not heavily overlap with the readers who liked young adult fiction novels.

After all, Chu Kuang gained fame through young adult fiction novels.

For those who are not fond of young adult fiction novels, some of the buyers of "Interesting Reads" magazine may not even know who Chu Kuang is. However, seeing the cover promotion would create expectations for the story.

...

Han Jimei is the literary community operations officer, also the person in charge of the literary community section. Her future goal and work task are to turn the literary community section into a fragmented reading leisure base that users habitually visit.

As a woman who loves reading, she enjoys her job and has the habit of subscribing to magazines every month.

The best-selling magazines in Qin Prefecture are all of high quality.

They always publish many excellent short stories.

It's not that Han Jimei doesn't like long stories, but for a busy professional woman like her, the time required for long reading is truly a luxury. Short stories, due to their shorter length, don't take up too much time.

Today is the beginning of March.

The day when various books are newly released, so Han Jimei bought a total of six magazines just for this month. However, what caught her attention at first glance was the latest issue of the best-selling magazine "Interesting Reads."

Not because she particularly likes "Interesting Reads."

But because the cover of this magazine is actually promoting Chu Kuang's new work.

Last month, Chu Kuang wrote a very well-received short story in the literary community called "Artificial Beauty."

The story's concept was truly ingenious, a rare masterpiece.

Han Jimei was initially hoping that Chu Kuang would write some new short stories in the literary community section on tribe. Unexpectedly, Chu Kuang has completely shifted his focus and is now serializing in "Interesting Reads."

"Let's see what you've written this time."

Although she feels a bit disappointed inside that Chu Kuang didn't continue to choose the community as a publishing platform, Han Jimei is still curious about what Chu Kuang has written this time.

She flips past the first few short stories.

Han Jimei starts with "The Gift of the Magi."

Many people may not understand what "The Gift of the Magi" means, thinking that the protagonist of the story might be named Magi. However, Han Jimei, as a reader with a high reading volume, knows that the protagonist is probably not named Magi —

This is related to Wei Prefecture's Christmas legend.

In Qin Prefecture, Christmas existed, but it wasn't a mainstream holiday. There were no days off, and people in Qin Prefecture mostly saw it as an occasion for some joy.

It was different in Wei Prefecture.

They had the tradition of celebrating Christmas, and quite a few people were Christians. Legend had it that when Jesus was born, three wise men brought gifts, giving rise to the custom of exchanging gifts on Christmas—

This should be the origin of the title.

At this moment, Han Jimei began reading: "Tomorrow is Christmas, and Mrs. A has only three yuan and eight mao to buy a gift for her husband. Clearly, she has been frugal for months, saving every bit she could, but the result is only this little."

Calling her Mrs. A?

Chu Kuang's choice of names was a bit lazy.

Han Jimei inwardly criticized, but she understood the opening expression of the story.

This is a woman in dire straits, diligently counting the scarce change in her hands, troubled about what gift to give her husband on Christmas tomorrow.

The story background should have been many years ago.

Back then, the value of currency was still high.

But obviously, three yuan and eight mao wasn't much.

"She suddenly turned from the window and stood in front of the mirrored wall, looking at herself inside. At this moment, her eyes were bright and clear, but her face faded within twenty seconds. She quickly untied her hair, letting it fall."

What is she going to do? Han Jimei speculated on Mrs. A's intentions.

With her extensive reading experience, she even ventured into somewhat exaggerated imagination, like Mrs. A selling her body to earn money, only to find her first customer to be her husband.

It's not that Han Jimei has unhealthy thoughts.

In some special eras, people resorting to selling their bodies for survival wasn't uncommon. Perhaps Chu Kuang wanted to depict the harsh reality of that era, but if it's just for a Christmas gift...

Is the reason a bit far-fetched?