As early as when he was in Fengtian, Le Jing had thought about submitting an article to the Literary Newspaper, but gave up because he was not sure.

Now that he doesn't have to worry about his livelihood for the time being and has the opportunity to trial and error, he submitted his manuscript to the Literary Newspaper without any psychological burden this time.

In his opinion, if the Literary Newspaper did not like his novels, he would turn to other newspapers. With so many newspapers in Peking, it would not be difficult to find one that would publish his articles.

So after submitting the manuscript, Le Jing no longer thought about the follow-up issues and began to concentrate on his recovery.

This illness really took a toll on his health. Now that the weather is getting warmer, he is still wearing thick cotton clothes, his hands and feet are cold, and he starts to have a fever and cough if he is exposed to a slight breeze.

An old Chinese doctor he visited, after taking his pulse, started talking about some very abstruse Chinese medicine theories. In summary, he was too weak and worried too much, so he couldn't be nourished and no medicine would work, and he could only slowly recuperate.

He still remembered that the old man didn't know what he was thinking about at the end. He looked at him with a complicated expression, shook his head and sighed: "Extreme wisdom will hurt you. You'd better relax."

Le Jing believes that he is not the kind of person who likes to dwell on trivial matters and is open-minded. After much thought, he can only come up with one explanation for his current physical condition - there is a rejection reaction between his soul and Li Jingran's body.

It is quite logical to think this way. After all, Le Jing is a resurrected soul. In medicine, organ transplantation has rejection reactions. It makes no sense that this doesn't happen. Moreover, Li Jingran has always been a fool, and his brain has always been a decoration, while Le Jing likes to think, just like a computer with very low configuration that is always running at high load. Isn't it that the CPU will overheat and the computer screen will go black?

Le Jing can't change his body, so he can only make do with what he has now.

but……

Le Jing has a question that he has been thinking about and wondering about for a long time since he woke up from this era - if he died in this era, would he return to the modern era, or would he really die? Or... would he travel to another world?

But he was just curious, and he didn't plan to conduct an experiment for the time being. This era was still interesting, and the ordinary life of ordinary people in the Republic of China was not so boring. He still had some things he wanted to do. Li Shuran, who had a pure heart, was still "beautiful", so he didn't mind being her good brother. In short, it wouldn't be too late to commit suicide to verify his conjecture after he got bored here.

In order to stay in the Republic of China longer with this low-configuration body, Le Jing decided to start his own Buddhist recuperation routine. When he has nothing to do, he would write books, appreciate flowers, feed birds, and be a low-key and indifferent Buddhist man.

However, Le Jing wanted to be Buddhist, but others did not allow him to be Buddhist.

So that afternoon, Jing, a happy and Buddhist man who was sitting on a stone bench in the yard feeding sparrows, heard a piece of "gossip" from the rickshaw driver.

His sister, Li Shuran, a primary school student who is only thirteen years old, seems to have an enthusiastic suitor.

Le Jing did not just send Li Shuran to school and then ignore her. Considering the poor security situation in the Republic of China, he asked his landlord to introduce a reliable rickshaw driver and hired him to pick up Li Shuran every day. It was this rickshaw driver who told him that someone was pursuing Li Shuran.

"The young lady asked me not to tell you, but I thought about it and decided that you should know about this matter." The driver said, "Someone invited the young lady to dinner and seemed to want to pursue her, but she refused."

Le Jing raised his eyebrows, but was not too surprised. Thirteen years old may seem very young in modern times, but in the Republic of China, it was half an adult. It was normal for a young and beautiful girl to have suitors.

"Who is the other party? How old is he?"

The driver replied, "He is only a few years older than the young lady, and he looks well-dressed, not a poor man. I don't know what his family does." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "The man's eyes look... not quite right."

Le Jing nodded, indicating that he understood and didn't care too much.

He would provide Li Shuran with a life of food and clothing, and as for what kind of life she wanted, it would depend on her own choice. As long as the choice was made out of her free will, Le Jing would respect it. So since Li Shuran didn't want him to interfere, he respected her idea.

Moreover... from his observation of Li Shuran, the little girl is now obsessed with studying and has not yet come to her senses. No matter what the pursuer is planning, he should give up after hitting a wall a few times.

…

Yang Jinglun is an intern editor of the Literary Newspaper. He just graduated from high school this year. He is envied by many people for being able to work in the national newspaper Literary Newspaper. So he also made up his mind to work hard and make a career. Unfortunately, his ambition was soon defeated by the bleak reality.

As a new intern and the youngest editor in the editorial department, he was usually responsible for tasks such as serving tea, pouring water and cleaning, which was far from his imagination of a wonderful life of chatting and laughing with literary masters and sleeping side by side.

Of course he would also review manuscripts. Every day, manuscripts from all over the country would be gathered in the editorial department, but these were all manuscripts from newcomers.

Famous writers have established stable manuscript supply relationships with the Literary Gazette and have dedicated editors in charge of them. Those senior editors almost monopolize all the mainstays of the Literary Gazette. The manuscripts of new writers that Yang Jinglun is responsible for only occupy a few half-palm-sized spaces in the corners of the newspaper. It's so frustrating.

This morning, after pouring tea for the seniors in the editorial department, Yang Jinglun finally had time to sit back in his seat and start looking through the new manuscripts. To be honest, this was not an interesting job for him, because new authors also meant bad grammar, poor plots, and some even had typos throughout the whole article, which hurt the eyes.

That day, after reading countless disgusting works, he finally found a work that made him feel refreshed. He hadn't read the content yet, but at least the author's manuscript was neat and tidy, with no traces of alterations, which made people feel refreshed at a glance.

This gave him a much higher impression of the unknown author's work. Based on this, he would write a milder rejection letter later.

He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and as soon as he cast his eyes on the manuscript, he was attracted by the unconventional title - "Rat Eyes Look Down on People"?

This name is quite interesting. He began to read the content of the article with great interest. Unconsciously, his expression became more and more serious. His original contemptuous attitude had long been put away. When he finished reading the article, he sighed with regret. In his heart, he had only deep admiration and admiration for the author of this article.

He had never read such a story, such absurd, bizarre, fantastic, yet inspiring and thought-provoking article!

It was only after reading the whole article that he realized the author's clever naming! The eyes of rats look down on people? Ha! Isn't it just the eyes of rats that look down on people! After reading the article, he couldn't help but sigh that people are really not as good as rats.

As the name suggests, "Rat Eyes Look Down on People" tells a story about how rats look down on people. The author ingeniously set the protagonist as a pet rat, and a "superior rat" that traveled through time and space from China a hundred years later to the present and enjoyed the influence of advanced civilization. Such a fantastic idea really made him admire. And this is not the most wonderful part of this ingenious story!

The way a mouse sees people is naturally different from the way a human sees people. How would a mouse from the future, mute and completely independent of human society view these "ancients"? How would it view all aspects of human society? What would China be like a hundred years from now? This was Yang Jinglun's question when he first read the article, and the author did not keep him in suspense, answering it with a story about a doctor.

This white Dutch rat named Snowy had just arrived in this era. Because she helped a doctor find medicinal herbs, and because of her cute snow-white fur and her human-like appearance, the doctor picked her up and made her her pet.

The doctor is a famous doctor, kind-hearted and capable of bringing people back to health with his miraculous hands. He has saved countless lives in his life and is a gentleman of noble character.

He knew that his country was poor and many poor people could not afford medical treatment, so he always helped people with their medical treatment for free. He was a living Bodhisattva in the eyes of many poor people.

But there are too many poor people in this world, and he can’t save them all.

The pet mouse Snow White saw his new owner gradually move from the big house to a small house, change his suit into a gown, disappear his foreign watch, and there was less and less grease on the dining table.

So when the new owner broke off his own bun to feed it again, it ran away.

Thanks to her beautiful fur, Snow White soon became the favorite of a noble lady and lived a life of luxury again.

The next time it heard news about the doctor was three months later. At a banquet, it heard people making fun of the doctor, saying that he had spent all his wealth on treating people, but now he was so poor that he couldn't even afford to treat his own illness and could only wait to die.

Although Snow White is a mouse, he considers himself a mouse with only thoughts and emotions, so he plans to visit a doctor.

It took a long time to find the doctor's home - not long after he left, the increasingly poor doctor moved to a thatched house in the suburbs.

When it arrived, the doctor was already very sick and was about to die. He had saved so many people in his life, but died in poverty in a thatched hut. The only thing that accompanied him during his lifetime was a mute mouse.

Bai Xue felt a little sorry for the doctor. After all, the disease the doctor suffered was a minor illness that could be cured in the future. Even if the doctor had no money, the country had medical insurance to reimburse his medical expenses.

Unfortunately, this was the backward Republic of China, so Bai Xue could only watch the doctor die. Then, out of the moral obligation of a civilized rat, Bai Xue called someone to collect his body.

The doctor's parents had passed away and he had no relatives at home, so the landlord cursed him for bad luck while rolling up the doctor's body with a straw mat and throwing it into a mass grave, just like any other poor person in the world.

Before leaving, the landlord sneered at his corpse and said, "You are a doctor, but you don't even understand this. Listen carefully, there is only one disease in this world that no one can cure, and that is poverty!"

A few days later, another poor man came to seek medical treatment. The poor neighbors in the nearby thatched cottages shouted, "Oh, you came at a bad time. Doctor Wu has died of illness. He couldn't even cure his own illness. I guess he wasn't a very good doctor. You should find another doctor!"

"But other doctors charge money for seeing patients." The poor man complained, "Doctor Wu died at a really bad time!"

Several months later, when Bai Xue came here again, she found that no one here mentioned the dead Dr. Wu.

…

Yang Jinglun read this story several times, and each time he read it, he had a different understanding. He should be angry about Dr. Wu's tragic ending.

At first he was indeed angry at this unfair world and these heartless people.

But after his anger subsided, the landlord's last words began to circle in his mind, "There is only one disease in this world that cannot be cured, and that is poverty!"

He chewed this sentence in his mouth countless times, and when he understood the deep meaning behind it, he no longer felt angry, but felt cold all over, and sadness turned into a wave that almost swallowed him up. He finally understood the true meaning that the author wanted to express.

This impoverished country is already terminally ill, and any skilled doctor will be helpless. Everyone living in this sick country has been infected and become a patient, even Dr. Wu is no exception. He seemed to hear the author's roar through this novel: Dr. Wu's death is not the fault of the heartless people, but the fault of this era where people are worse than rats, and the fault of this unjust country that does not allow good people to survive!

But beneath the deep despair and sadness, there is a glimmer of hope that the author gives to the readers, that is the bright and beautiful future China where Bai Xue lives. In that future China, medical technology is advanced, the country will provide basic medical insurance for the poor, the people will be happy, the country will be prosperous, and the nation will have hope.

It is precisely because of this beautiful and almost unreal future that China will give birth to pet mice as sensible and reasonable as Bai Xue. It is also because of this beautiful future that it can give every Chinese the motivation to work tirelessly! It is also because of countless warriors like Dr. Wu who fight to the end against this cannibalistic world that China can have a bright and brilliant tomorrow!

He sat in silence for a long time before his thoughts moved away from the content of the article, and the editor's instinct began to boil in his blood.

No one knows better than him how good this article is! Maybe his writing is not the best, but in terms of ideas and intentions, it is a masterpiece and can be published directly in their newspaper without any deletions or revisions.

The author who wrote such a mature article could not be just an unknown newcomer! He pondered over the pen name "Night Watchman" for a long time, but could not figure out which famous writer it was. Looking at the address on the envelope, it had nothing to do with the famous writers in the newspaper.

An idea suddenly emerged in his mind, making Yang Jinglun's heart full of excitement, and his eyes were even hotter as he looked at the envelope.

Is it really possible that this is really a new submission? And Yang Jinglun will be the first person to spot this talented horse?

When he thought of this possibility, his brain felt dizzy with excitement, and he couldn't help but get goose bumps all over his body. The chair under his butt felt like it was burning like a kang, and he couldn't sit still anymore. So the editors in the same editorial office with Yang Jinglun saw this scene with their own eyes: the new young man ran out in a hurry with a red face, like a rat being chased.

"Still at work! What are you doing?"

Yang Jinglun replied without even turning his head: "I'm going out on a field trip!"

The editors looked at each other in bewilderment. They were not reporters from the press department, so why were they going out on field trips? The mature and prudent one shook his head and sighed, "Young people nowadays are so unstable!"

So, Jing, a happy Buddhist man who was growing flowers at home and obsessed with health preservation, was caught red-handed by a young man who claimed to be an editor of the "Literature Newspaper". Then he fell silent because of the young editor's endless interpretation of his article.

"Dr. Wu's death is not the fault of the heartless people, but the fault of this dark and tragic era, and the fault of this unjust country that does not allow good people to survive!"

Le Jing: ...

"This country is sick, and has been sick for nearly a hundred years. Individual efforts are nothing but a mantis trying to stop a chariot under the pressure of the tide of the times. Should we give up? No! Absolutely not! So sir, you gave readers hope to fight against the times through the pet mouse Snow White from the future. Look, the future is so beautiful, even a pet mouse is more civilized and compassionate than a human, and lives a decent life that the poor envy. What reason do we have not to fight for that bright and beautiful future? Sir, do you think I understand it correctly?"

Le Jing: ...

Facing the young editor's sparkling eyes, Le Jing nodded nonchalantly: "Yes, you are right."

As expected, there are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand readers.

In fact, his original intention was to tell readers that studying medicine cannot save the Chinese people!

However, the editor's interpretation is also very reasonable and can be used as a template for excellent reading comprehension answers. It is a good candidate for Chinese language test papers.

The author has something to say:

Note: The landlord in "Rat Eyes Look Down on People" said: "There is only one disease in this world that no one can cure, and that is poverty!" This is adapted from a line of a fake drug dealer in "Dying to Survive". This sentence touched me deeply.

In the last chapter, I saw a comment that some readers questioned the huge contrast between Le Jing's performance in the first chapter and later. This is my fault. Because it is a series of articles, I explained the causes of Le Jing's personality in "The Little Bookstore of the Planes". I subconsciously forgot to write the reasons in this book, which is too unfriendly to new readers. In the future, I will strengthen the portrayal of Le Jing's thoughts and personality. This chapter also briefly mentions Le Jing's thoughts and [abnormality].

Below I will post the original plot from another book about Le Jing's analysis of his own personality:

【“When a person is born, he has no self. In fact, human growth is a process of self-development and growth. Therefore, it is difficult for people to have memories of when they were one or two years old, because at that time, people have not yet formed their self, so there are no memories based on the self.” The young man’s eyes were empty, obviously lost in memories, with a relaxed and happy smile on the corners of his mouth. “My self was born very early, probably when I was two years old and learning to walk. It was an autumn, and many red maple leaves fell on the ground. When I was young and had not yet formed aesthetic awareness, I stood there looking at those maple leaves, and unexpectedly, I had an awareness of beauty: maple leaves are so beautiful. So ‘I’ was born.”

“My ego forced me to get closer to maple leaves. So, without anyone’s help, I learned to walk. This is the original story of my ego. A beautiful story that begins with maple leaves.”

The young man propped up his chin with his hands, and smiled at the stunned half-elf, his eyes bright and lively, "In other words, I came to this world because of 'beauty', and 'beauty' is my connection with the world. So if I hold a sword, it will not be for personal gain, but to fight to protect 'beauty'. For this, I can spare no expense and use any means."

That's why he always ignored his father's worries and control. His father was really worrying too much. Crime was indeed very simple for him, as instinctive as breathing. Therefore, it was too unchallenging and too boring.

Life is short, and we must find some meaning in life to make it worthwhile. This is such a beautiful and ugly world. So he is willing to use his life to protect this beauty, and will always point the sword in his hand at evil and ugliness.

Not for justice, not for righteousness, not for law or morality, just because it was fun and he wanted to do it.

Keynes stared at Le Jing blankly and asked, "What is beauty?"

"Everyone has a different definition of beauty." Le Jing smiled gently, his eyes like the Milky Way hanging in the sky, bright, gorgeous, always dazzling, and always shining: "For me, interesting is beautiful. Interesting people are beautiful, and an interesting world is also beautiful. In order to protect interesting people and the world, I will become the night watchman of the times."】

——————————————————————

At this time, Le Jing was still relatively immature and had not yet formed his mature "aesthetic theory" as an adult, but he had already begun to learn to protect beautiful things. The sister of the original body in the Republic of China world had a pure and innocent heart, which was beautiful enough for him to protect, so he would play the role of a good brother. But if Li Shuran became "ugly", then Le Jing would abandon her immediately and would only provide her with basic material life out of obligation. He would not even see Li Shuran in his eyes and would completely ignore her.

Le Jing is a non-mainstream antisocial personality patient, but at the same time he has some similarities with the antisocial Holmes in the BBC version, that is, he is also tired of dullness and pursues exciting or interesting things.