20: Teacher, you don't understand hope.

Lin Que leaned against the doorframe, his posture casual.

The tail end of his sentence, "I heard you were looking for me?"...

...carried the slightly raspy magnetic quality unique to young men...

...lightly echoing in the quiet office.

However deep Shen Qingqiu had been immersed in the warmth of The Miracles of the Namiya General Store...

...the sense of fragmentation from being pulled back to reality at this moment was just as strong.

She composed herself and inconspicuously closed the New Tide magazine, placing it at the corner of the desk.

Lin Que walked into the office and closed the door behind him.

He didn't wait for Shen Qingqiu to speak;

he pulled out the chair he had sat in several times before...

...and plopped down, his posture relaxed.

This composed manner caused the lecture Shen Qingqiu had prepared to be halfway stifled.

She took a deep breath...

...forcing herself to ignore that inexplicable sense of passivity, and went straight to the point:

"Regarding the essay competition, what are your thoughts?"

"Hmm, the Excellence Award, it's also quite good."

Lin Que answered nonchalantly.

"You really think so?"

Shen Qingqiu's fingertips lightly tapped on the desk, her gaze locked tightly onto him.

"Because of an essay, you offended the Chairman of the Municipal Writers Association; if you want to walk this path in the future, it is almost completely blocked.

Do you really not care at all?"

When she asked this, her heart was conflicted.

She both hoped to see him show regret or unwillingness...

...so that she could naturally play the role of a 'guide'...

...telling him how to restrain his sharp edges and how to reconcile with this world.

But deep down, a voice was faintly saying...

...that if he really cared, then he wouldn't be Lin Que.

Hearing this, Lin Que smiled.

He didn't answer immediately, but instead leaned forward slightly...

...propping his elbows on his knees, and in those eyes that were always half-asleep, there was now an unprecedented clarity.

"Teacher, let me ask you a question."

His voice was very soft.

"In your perception, what is hope?"

Shen Qingqiu was stunned by this out-of-the-blue question.

Hope? Wasn't that the title of his essay?

"Hope is sunshine, it is motivation, it is the power that keeps people moving forward."

She blurted it out; these were the most standard and correct answers from the textbooks.

"See."

Lin Que spread his hands, the smile on his face deepening...

...yet it carried an indescribable mockery.

"Even you can only say these vague, pre-defined terms.

Then how can you be sure that what I wrote isn't hope?"

"Was that hope? That was despair!"

Shen Qingqiu's voice unconsciously rose a bit;

the ending of the story described by Li Yuanchao lingered in her mind.

"That is because you only know that the firefly plunged into the darkness."

Lin Que's gaze was deep.

"But you haven't considered why only the firefly is left in this world?

Where did the sun go? Who stole the sun?

When only one voice remains in the whole world telling you what light is...

...could that light itself be an even greater darkness?"

A series of questions sliced through all of Shen Qingqiu's inherent perceptions.

She stared blankly at Lin Que, her mind a complete blank.

These words had completely exceeded the scope of critical thinking that a high school student should have.

She suddenly understood why Li Yuanchao would use the word "monster" to describe him.

He wasn't just writing a story; he was constructing a thought experiment.

He wasn't subverting hope; he was questioning the right to define hope.

"As for that award."

Lin Que's tone returned to its usual laziness.

He leaned back against the chair, lazily looking at the ceiling.

"Teacher, how much value do you think an award has...

...if its value can only be proven by someone else's nod of approval?

What I care about has never been whether they give it to me, but whether I want it."

The office fell into a long, dead silence.

Shen Qingqiu felt her worldview...

...being shattered bit by bit by this seventeen-year-old boy, and then reorganized.

She had always thought she was the sober one, the one looking down on him from a height.

But only at this moment did she realize...

...that she might be the one standing at the bottom of a well, thinking she had seen the entire sky.

She wanted to retort, but found that she couldn't say a single word.

Looking at Shen Qingqiu's dazed expression...

...the sense of pleasure from a successful prank bubbled up in Lin Que's heart again.

He knew the timing was about right.

His gaze, as if by accident...

...fell on the closed copy of the New Tide magazine at the corner of Shen Qingqiu's desk.

"Teacher, what is this?"

He asked casually, as if changing the subject.

This out was offered at just the right time.

Shen Qingqiu snapped out of it, subconsciously grabbing onto this lifeline.

She felt that if she continued to discuss "hope" with Lin Que, her brain would burn out.

She picked up the magazine as if picking up her weapon...

...regaining her sense of control as a teacher.

"Yes."

She cleared her throat, trying to make her tone sound more confident.

"I was just about to tell you about this.

Lin Que, I admit...

...that you are very talented in writing, and your thoughts are... also very deep.

But your approach is too skewed."

She opened the magazine, pointing to the title of The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, and said earnestly:

"Your writing is like a scalpel; it only knows how to dissect, only bringing pain and controversy.

But true literature should not be cold.

Look at this article, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store; its author is named Jian Shen."

The corner of Lin Que's mouth twitched slightly at an angle Shen Qingqiu couldn't see.

Here it comes.

"I have never seen such gentle writing."

Shen Qingqiu's gaze unconsciously softened; she was completely immersed in her own emotions.

"Its conception is very ingenious, using a fantasy setting...

...to write about the bonds and kindness between people so touchingly.

It doesn't criticize, it doesn't preach;

it just quietly lights a lamp for you, telling you...

...that no matter how hard life is, there is always light waiting for you."

She looked up, her eyes shining as she looked at Lin Que.

"This is truly powerful writing.

It can heal people's hearts, and bring warmth and strength.

Look at this Teacher Jian Shen; surely only a soul that has experienced the settling of years...

...could write such a work full of great wisdom and compassion."

She paused...

...pushed the magazine toward Lin Que...

...and gave her final concluding remarks.

"Lin Que, I hope you can read this carefully. Learn what true literature is.

Don't always immerse yourself in those dark, attention-seeking things;

that is ultimately a minor path, and cannot enter the halls of elegance.

Your talent should be used in brighter, warmer places."

After saying this, Shen Qingqiu felt she had finally won a round.

She thought she had successfully used a higher-level literary model...

...to suppress Lin Que's set of rebellious and unorthodox fallacies.

She had even begun to imagine...

...how Lin Que, after reading this article, would be touched by the immense kindness within it...

...and thus feel ashamed of his previous works.

However, Lin Que's reaction was completely beyond her expectations.

He didn't retort, nor did he show the impatience of being lectured.

He just quietly looked at the magazine, looking at the two words 'Jian Shen'...

...his eyes revealing... a very strange look.

That look was extremely complex, as if he were reminiscing, yet also mocking himself.

Shen Qingqiu interpreted this as being "deeply moved."

She was very satisfied.

"Take it back and have a look."

She generously handed the brand-new magazine to Lin Que.

"Just remember to return it to me when you're finished."

"Okay."

Lin Que took it and stood up.

He walked to the door, his hand on the handle...

...when he suddenly turned back and gave Shen Qingqiu a brilliant smile.

"Thank you, Teacher."

"I will... study Teacher Jian Shen's work diligently."

With that, he opened the door and walked out.

In the office, Shen Qingqiu was left alone.

She watched Lin Que's disappearing back and let out a long sigh of relief...

...feeling that she had completed an incredibly difficult but significant task.

She picked up the cup of water that had long since gone cold...

...took a sip, and her mood was lighter than ever before.

She felt...

...that today, she had finally pointed out a correct direction...

...for that runaway wild horse.

...