447: Chapter 447 The Window That Was Pushed Open—Bonus Chapter of "The New Type of Salted Fish"

"Thank you."

Xu Changge's voice was half a tone lower than usual, carrying a solemnity that only comes after deep reflection.

He bowed slightly toward Lin Que; the movement was small, but there wasn't a hint of mere politeness in his posture.

"This way of handling it is a whole planet higher than what I originally had in mind."

Lin Que smiled and waved his hand.

"Your own foundation is already solid enough; what you were lacking was just a perspective."

Chen Jiahao sat nearby, his mouth hanging open, unable to close it for a long time.

Although he couldn't write something like that himself, he could tell good from bad.

As Lin Que's words played over in his mind, he could already visualize the scene.

A dying father in space, listening to his daughter sing a song out of tune.

Just thinking about it made his nose start to tingle.

"Alright, alright."

Chen Jiahao rubbed his nose hard and stood up from his chair, deliberately pulling the conversation in a lighter direction.

"If you two keep talking, my head will be full of little girls singing in space stations tonight."

He gave a massive stretch, his joints popping and cracking.

"Let's talk about something happy! There's no class tomorrow."

Chen Jiahao's eyes darted around, and he slapped his thigh.

"Let's go out and play! We've been in Beijing for almost two weeks, cooped up in this courtyard every day. I feel like I'm about to grow mold."

He turned to Xu Changge, pressing his hands together in a pleading gesture.

"Brother Ge! You're a local! Why don't you take us out for a tour tomorrow?

Anywhere is fine—the Hutongs, the old streets—I want to see what the real Beijing looks like."

Xu Changge was momentarily stunned by this sudden invitation.

He looked down at his notes spread across the table, then at Chen Jiahao's face full of expectation, and let out a somewhat helpless expression.

"I'm afraid I'm not a very qualified tour guide."

"Huh?"

"Since I was a child, my range of activity has basically been limited to my home and my grandfather's study."

Xu Changge's tone was frank, with no intention of hiding anything.

"Occasionally, I'd go to Liulichang or Panjiayuan, but that was to follow my elders to look at ancient books, calligraphy, and paintings.

If you're talking about the lively streets where people eat, drink, and have fun, I'm really not that familiar with them."

Chen Jiahao's eyes widened.

"Brother Ge, you've lived in Beijing for seventeen years and you've never gone out on the town?"

"I have," Xu Changge thought for a moment.

"Last year, I went to the Forbidden City once with my family."

"Brother Ge, we usually call that a visit, not hanging out on the streets."

Xu Changge looked embarrassed.

"Maybe you guys should just go without me. I want to make some more revisions."

Chen Jiahao had a helpless look on his face as he paced back and forth in the dorm room.

Then he suddenly stopped, turned around, and his expression became unusually serious.

"Brother Ge, do you remember what Elder Cui said today?"

Xu Changge looked at him.

Chen Jiahao held up a finger, mimicking Elder Cui's tone and lowering his voice.

"He said your heavenly questions has a very 'hard' setting and smooth logic, but it's missing one thing."

"Gravity."

Xu Changge finished the thought.

"Exactly! Gravity! The gravity of reality!"

Chen Jiahao took two steps toward Xu Changge and patted him on the shoulder.

"So, Brother Ge, you can't keep yourself locked in the study every day.

If you keep this up, sooner or later you'll turn into just another rare edition of an ancient book on your grandfather's shelf."

Xu Changge was taken aback by his words.

Chen Jiahao struck while the iron was hot.

"Go out for a walk.

The Hutongs are fine, the parks are fine—even just going to the roadside to listen to old men arguing over a game of chess.

You need to see how real people talk, how they get angry, how they're stingy, how they haggle with a stall owner for half an hour over twenty cents."

At this point, he suddenly stuttered and scratched his head.

"Anyway, my point is... you need to go mingle with the crowds."

Only then did Lin Que put down his water cup, his voice very flat.

"He's putting it crudely, but his direction is correct."

Xu Changge turned to look at him.

Lin Que leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling out the window.

"Things in books have already been filtered by others; they're clean and orderly.

But the things that truly make a character stand on their own are often hidden in those very irregularities."

He paused.

"The sound of haggling in the morning market, the smell of grease and smoke from a roadside stall, the indignant mumble of an old man playing chess, the sound of a child's soles scuffing the concrete as they run past."

Lin Que looked at Xu Changge.

"Only when these things are written into a story will they become the gravity of reality under your pen."

Xu Changge didn't speak.

He stood by the windowsill, his gaze falling first on Chen Jiahao's face and then turning to Lin Que.

Chen Jiahao's words were crude, yet they were like a hand, pulling him directly away from his desk.

Lin Que's words were light, yet they clearly explained what lay outside that door.

Xu Changge thought back to everything in class today.

He remembered Elder Cui saying he was "unwilling to let the people under his pen lose their dignity."

He thought of the enamel mugs, worn-out cotton coats, and the dusty blackboard in Lin Que's rural teacher.

Why were those details so piercing?

Because they grew out of the soil.

Whereas he, Xu Changge, had been surrounded by the high walls of a prestigious family since childhood, reading the best books and listening to the best lectures.

He was surrounded by top scholars and the most exquisite objects.

But he had never smelled the true scent of the mundane world.

The characters under his pen were always poised, always proper, always separated by a layer of invisible glass.

Xu Changge then thought of Chen Jiahao's Moon Courier.

Elder Cui had said that piece was "too smooth" and lacked memorable points.

But Elder Cui had also said he "didn't put on airs like others to pretend to be profound."

There was something in Chen Jiahao's writing that Xu Changge couldn't produce.

That thing was the 'smell of fireworks'—the bustle of real life.

That thing was the 'flavor of a living person.'

The silence lasted for nearly ten seconds.

Then, Xu Changge smiled.

The smile was light, but genuine.

It was as if a window that had been closed for a long time was finally pushed open a crack from the inside.

"Okay."

Xu Changge's voice was calm and solemn.

Chen Jiahao's eyes lit up instantly; his whole body seemed to be fully charged as he gave a little hop on the spot.

"Really? Brother Ge, you agreed?"

"Yeah, let's go for a walk." Xu Changge walked back to his desk, closed his notebook, and put his fountain pen back into the pen holder.

"Let's go to Beihai."

Xu Changge walked back to his desk, closed his notebook, and put his fountain pen back into the pen holder.

"I'm somewhat familiar with that place. I went there a few times with my grandfather when I was little. The gardens are quiet, and the lakeside is suitable for a stroll."

"Beihai Park!"

Chen Jiahao's eyes lit up instantly, his whole body seeming to be fully charged.

"That works! There's a lake, pavilions, and that old Beijing flavor.

It's much better than our daily three-point routine of dorm, classroom, and cafeteria."

Xu Changge glanced at him, a trace of helplessness at the corners of his mouth.

"If you're only looking for food, I'm afraid I won't be of much help."

"It's fine!" Chen Jiahao waved his hand grandly.

"As long as I can get out, I'll find even an old man walking his bird by the lake interesting."

"With Brother Ge here, what is there to fear!" Chen Jiahao waved his hand grandly.

"You've been visiting these places with Old Mr. Xu since you were a kid; you could probably point at any random stone and tell three historical anecdotes about it, right? Tomorrow, we'll just follow the mobile Beijing culture map."

Xu Changge burst out laughing.

"Your misunderstanding of me is quite deep."

"Doesn't matter," Chen Jiahao said righteously.

"You're better than me anyway. Right now, my entire knowledge of Beihai stops at how much the ticket costs."

Tomorrow, Beihai.

Lin Que's mind was already turning.

This trip was about more than just wandering around.

Xu Changge needed to step out of those prestigious family walls and see the Beijing that existed outside the study.

Dan Yi, that boy who shut himself in the ice plains, should also be dragged into the crowd to soak up some sun.

As for Chen Jiahao.

Lin Que glanced at Chen Jiahao, who was still excitedly planning the route.

This guy was a born icebreaker.

"Handsome."

Lin Que spoke up.

"Hmm? What's up, Master Que?"

"Tomorrow, let's bring Dan Yi along too."

...