Xu Zhiliu, a sophomore in the literature department, got the chance to interview alumnus Ji Zhen while putting together the school magazine for the school's anniversary.
Ji Zhen had graduated three years earlier. A renowned playwright, he had won awards for three consecutive plays, but kept to himself and rarely appeared in public.
It was the school's anniversary, and Xu Zhiliu was a familiar junior from middle school, so Ji Zhen gladly agreed to the interview.
Xu Zhiliu visited him to learn the secrets of his creative process. Ji Zhen had countless drafts, all handwritten. The tallest stack on his desk, he explained, was made up of stories he'd started and then abandoned.
That day, after saying goodbye to Ji Zhen, Xu Zhiliu secretly took one sheet of scrap paper from the pile.
A month later, Xu Zhiliu published a short story, won second prize in a writing contest, and received a five-thousand-yuan prize. A magazine also invited him to submit a piece.
Xu Zhiliu sat motionless in front of his screen all night, managing to type out a few hundred utterly ordinary words.
Three days later, Ji Zhen received a text from his junior, Xu, saying he might have left his fountain pen at Ji Zhen's place.
Ji Zhen smiled as he opened the door and invited him inside.
A dark little story.
Theme: Falling into an endless night
