DFLB – Chapter 21 part 2

Lu Xun glanced at Qian Wei and was about to say something more when he was suddenly distracted. He then walked away toward what he saw without paying any more attention to Qian Wei. Qian Wei followed his eyes and saw that there was a five-or six-year-old boy crying and wiping his tears next to a trash can not far from where they had been standing.

By the time Qian Wei caught up, Lu Xun had already squatted in front of the little boy.

“Why are you crying, little friend? Did you get lost from your family?”

Lu Xun, this man who usually spoke like he charged by the word, actually went so far as to speak to a crying little boy with a gentle tone that Qian Wei had never heard before. Perhaps because he didn’t want to scare the child, Lu Xun, this man who was usually very concerned about his image, actually squatted down like this so that his height wouldn’t pressure the little boy. Because his legs were really just too long, it was very difficult for him to squat low enough to be able to look into the little boy’s eyes but Lu Xun actually maintained that position, which made Qian Wei’s legs ache just by looking at it, for a long time. His normally cold and noble face had also become very gentle with the sun shining down on it. This was a Lu Xun who Qian Wei had never seen before. He seemed warm and gentle like a summer breeze.

“I lost my mommy.” The little boy answered and then he curled his lips and seemed ready to continue to cry.

Qian Wei also bent down to look at him: “Little boy, stop crying. Why don’t you let big sister here take you to find your mommy?”

The little boy blinked his eyes slowly. But then he continued to cry while shouting, “Mommy said I should never walk with strangers!”

Qian Wei was a little embarrassed. She looked over at Lu Xun and said, “Wow, this child is very shrewd. He knows not to walk with strangers casually. I guess we should stand here with him and wait for his mother.”

“Do you want your big brother here to take you to your mother?” Lu Xun gently patted the little boy’s head and then held out his hand. “Your mom must be very worried right now.”

The little boy looked at Lu Xun and his tears finally stopped. He smiled shyly, and then held out his little hand and put it into Lu Xun’s hand.

Qian Wei: ??? Kid, what about your conviction to never walk with strangers? Why is it invalid when it comes to Lu Xun?

Lu Xun took the little boy’s hand and walked a few paces. But then he stopped as if he remembered something, and patted the child’s head again: “Wait here for your big brother, your big brother will come back as soon as he buys something.”

With that, he walked quickly to one of the theme park’s stores not far away and reappeared after a moment with two huge lollipops.

“This is for you.” Lu Xun took one of the lollipops, squatted down again, and then handed it to the little boy.

Then he looked at Qian Wei and handed her the other one.

Qian Wei looked at the lollipop and felt stupefied: “For me?”

Lu Xun spoke impatiently: “It was buy one get one free. Do you want me to throw it away?”

“No!” Qian Wei, afraid he might change his mind, hurriedly took the lollipop. Although it was a little childish, girls of any age couldn’t resist the allure of candy. Qian Wei herself was especially addicted to sweets. In her last life, she would usually have a candy in her mouth when she was working. Maybe she just felt that some of the pressure of life could be alleviated by some sweetness in the mouth.

Qian Wei, with a lollipop in her mouth, helped Lu Xun walk the little boy to the visitor center. The theme park was very crowded so, maybe fearing that the child would be accidentally hit or stepped on, Lu Xun simply picked up the little boy without breaking stride. A four-or five-year-old boy was fairly heavy, but, unexpectedly, Lu Xun carried him effortlessly with one hand. While they were passing a bustling group of tourists Lu Xun suddenly reached out his other hand to Qian Wei. After being dragged to the side by Lu Xun, Qian Wei realized that Lu Xun’s seemingly random action had actually protected her from bumping into an old aunt among the tourists.

However, before Qian Wei could thank him, Lu Xun glanced down at her: “I would do that for anyone. Don’t think too much.”

“…” Forget it, Qian Wei thought, I can still take back that little bud of gratitude that started growing in my heart.

While Lu Xun was carrying the little boy, the little boy suddenly tugged on his collar: “I… I just remembered, my mother went to the toilet and she told me to wait for her at the merry-go-round.” He said, pointing to the merry-go-round not far away.

“Really?”

The little boy nodded hard: “Really!”

“Well, why don’t you let your big brother take you to wait for your mother at the merry-go-round?”

The little boy nodded again, and his clever black eyes sparkled: “Can we wait on the merry-go-round?”

Lu Xun glanced at the merry-go-round. He was obviously hesitant. His appearance was already outstanding enough that people would tend to take a second glance and now, carrying a small child, he was even more conspicuous. If he went on the merry-go-round like this, there was no way people wouldn’t notice.

But the little boy was quite crafty. When he saw Lu Xun’s hesitation, he made a big move. He put on a shy smile and said sweetly, “Beautiful big brother, can we please go on the merry-go-round?” Then he buried his head against Lu Xun’s shoulder affectionately and rubbed his head on Lu Xun’s neck, looking very cute.

It was a pity that Qian Wei knew that acting cute with Lu Xun didn’t work at all. She remembered once, in the past, when he was working on a case, the opposing defense lawyer was a sweet-looking and cute young girl who had coquettishly approached Lu Xun countless times outside the courthouse. But in the end, Lu Xun was completely unmoved. Not only did he completely destroy the other party in court, but he also had gone out of his way to make them lose in a spectacularly ugly fashion.

Which was why now, Qian Wei’s jaw dropped when she saw Lu Xun smile brightly at the little boy and gently tap the tip of his nose: “Sure, big brother will take you to the merry-go-round.”

Wait a second. What about when we talked just now, Lu Xun? Obviously, Qian Wei had put on her best lackey performance and all but begged him but he had firmly refused to ride the merry-go-round but now a single ‘beautiful big brother’ and he was convinced?

“Do you want to ride with us?”

Qian Wei was standing in place, dazedly staring at Lu Xun’s back as he moved toward the merry-go-round. It was not until Lu Xun turned and shouted to her that she regained consciousness and followed him: “Wait, I’ll come too!”

Soft music was playing and Qian Wei was sitting on the back of the carousel horse. As the surrounding scenery slowly began to spin, she was slowly immersed in an illusion that she had gone back to her childhood.

When the ride slowly came to an end Qian Wei was still lost in her thoughts, her eyes were misty with nostalgia.

“Was that really your first time on a merry-go-round?”

Qian Wei snapped out of her daze and found that the little boy was looking up at her. He was obviously a little brat but his tone just now was tinged with a bit of adult-sounding contempt.

“Can’t it be my first time?”

The kid glanced at the lollipop in Qian Wei’s hand and said with disdain: “You’re so immature.”

“…”

Unexpectedly, she was being despised by such a tiny child, who had just been crying because he could not find his mother. It seemed that now, with Lu Xun’s backing, he had become arrogant.

Qian Wei began to bluster to frighten the child. She said, “You dare to look down on me?! Do you believe that I will teach you a lesson?”

But the brat was sly like a little monkey. He rushed over and clung to Lu Xun’s thigh spoiledly: “Beautiful big brother, save me! She wants to bully me!”

Lu Xun easily received the brat’s hug, then smiled and patted his head: “Don’t be afraid.” He glanced at Qian Wei. “She listens to your big brother very much. If your big brother tells her not to fight, she won’t fight.”

“…” Lu Xun, although you are my future boss, you can’t be so arrogant.

In order to restore her dignity, Qian Wei coughed: “Child, when addressing an elder, like me, you have to be polite. You tell me, what should you call me? If you can speak well, I won’t bother about your previous impoliteness. “

The little boy glanced up at Lu Xun again as if he were asking for help.

“Children with good manners are the cutest.” Lu Xun smiled down at him, looking very gentle.

The child finally spoke reluctantly, “Big sister.”

“If you call him beautiful big brother, what should you call me? It’s not just big sister, right?”

“Lackey big sister.”

Shouldn’t he call her beautiful big sister, too? Qian Wei wondered if the hint she had just given him was not clear enough?

“Why am I a lackey?”

The little boy seemed very proud when he responded: “Don’t you listen to my beautiful big brother? Doesn’t that make you an obedient lackey?”

“Is there anything else besides lackey? Don’t you see any other features on your big sister?”

The little boy shook his head and said, “No.”

Qian Wei wanted to keep arguing with the brat but she heard soft laughter. She looked up and saw that it was Lu Xun who laughed.

After thinking for a moment she realized that her intentions must have been seen through by Lu Xun. Qian Wei froze and felt a little embarrassed.

“Alright, little friend, just call her beautiful big sister.”

The child looked up at him and retorted, “But she’s not beautiful! My teacher taught me not to lie!”

Qian Wei immediately felt that she had been stabbed in the heart. She consoled herself that children did not filter their words and children did not really understand these sorts of worldly people skills, nor did they know not to embarrass other people out of politeness. Their words were always more sharp and straightforward. And besides, compared to Lu Xun she really could not be called beautiful.

“Then who do you think is beautiful?”

The little boy thought for a moment: “I think Wang Mengmeng in our class is beautiful. Her face is round, she has two dimples when she smiles, and her hair is curly.”

Lu Xun smiled and said, “You think someone with a round face, dimples, and curly hair is beautiful, but your big brother doesn’t think so. While you don’t think that your lackey big sister is beautiful, your big brother thinks she is beautiful. Everyone has a different understanding of beauty, so you shouldn’t easily draw conclusions based on your own singular criteria.” He gently tapped the tip of the little boy’s nose, “And it is absolutely taboo for a boy to tell a girl that she is not beautiful. Do you understand?”

The little boy bit his lip and then nodded solemnly.

“Do you know what you should call this big sister now?”

“En!” The kid smiled at Qian Wei and said in a loud voice, “Beautiful big sister!”

“That’s a good boy.”

Qian Wei listened to the conversation between Lu Xun and the little boy and, for some reason, her face turned a little red. Especially when Lu Xun said she was beautiful. She knew that Lu Xun was probably just using her as an example while he properly guided the small child, but she still felt a little throbbing in her chest. After all, it was impossible for her to be completely indifferent to being called beautiful by such a handsome man, even if she knew he was not being sincere.

When she looked at Lu Xun’s gentle profile right now, Qian Wei could not help feeling surprised. He usually had such a frosty face in front of strangers but, unexpectedly, he seemed to be fond of children. Over the years she had seen Lu Xun many times and he always seemed obsessed with his work, not the type to care about feelings at all. Qian Wei always thought that he had no aspirations to have a family or children.

“Was that really your first time on a merry-go-round?”

Qian Wei was stunned for a moment before she realized that Lu Xun was talking to her.

It was a bit embarrassing for her to admit that she had never been on a merry-go-round before but it was true. It was all because she and Qian Chuan were twins, so when she would go to a theme park as a child she would always go with Qian Chuan. In order not to get lost her parents would always have her stay with her brother and go on the same rides. Since Qian Chuan was a boy he naturally never wanted to ride a feminine ride like the merry-go-round. So back then all she could do was accompany Qian Chuan to ride the rides little boys liked.

“Don’t even mention a merry-go-round, I haven’t rode on any of the rides that girls typically like.” Qian Wei explained. Then she took advantage of the opportunity to show off her loyalty, “Just like I said before, I always grew up under Qian Chuan’s oppression.”

“DuDu!”

“Mommy!”

Just as Qian Wei was ready to continue smearing Qian Chuan’s name, a middle-aged woman in a red dress ran towards them. She had an urgent look on her face and her voice could not hide her feelings of joy and relief. The little boy’s eyes lit up as soon as he heard the voice. Suddenly he was no longer clingy to Lu Xun, he quickly ran towards the woman and threw himself into her arms.

“I’m so glad I found you. It was all mother’s fault. Next time, I will take DuDu with me everywhere. I’ll never lose DuDu again.” The woman squatted down and hugged the little boy head, her eyes full of love.

After finding out that Qian Wei and Lu Xun had accompanied DuDu to wait for her at the merry-go-round, she solemnly thanked them both.

“Thank you both. You are such a kind-hearted couple. I’m sure you two will live happy and beautiful lives together.”

“We’re not…” Qian Wei saw that the other party misunderstood her relationship with Lu Xun so she tried to say something. But her clarification was interrupted by Lu Xun before she could say it.

“Thank you.” He didn’t explain anything, he just thanked her.

When DuDu and DuDu’s mother left, Qian Wei was puzzled: “Lu Xun, we are obviously not a couple, so why didn’t you explain? Didn’t you see? That woman was absolutely misunderstanding us. “

“Other people won’t care about our relationship. She had just found her child and was in a hurry to go home. She didn’t care about our relationship, she was just being polite. So why would I take the time to explain?” Lu Xun looked at Qian Wei and asked in a somewhat interrogative tone, “Not to mention that even if we were mistaken as a couple, I would be the one suffering a loss. If even I was in no hurry to explain, why were you in such a hurry? Are you worried that if we were mistaken for a couple then other people would think that you are not good enough for me?”

“But aren’t you suffering a loss if people misunderstand that you and I are a couple? Instead of me, you should be with Mo Zixin.” Qian Wei gave a simpering lackey smile. “But I wouldn’t have guessed that you like children so much.”

Lu Xun snorted: “Why not?” When he spoke about children, a rare smile played about on his face. “Don’t you think that children are cute? At first, they are just tiny things that can’t do anything but as time goes by it will start to babble, to stumble and walk, to cry and laugh, and to rely on and believe in you. Don’t you think it would be fun to raise a child slowly?”

“I really wouldn’t see that from you. I’ve always thought that you are the kind of workaholic who had no desire for family or children.”

“I will definitely not be the kind of person who only knows how to work, who reaches his thirties without being married and has no love life or family warmth.” Lu Xun’s lips curled. “I will get married and have children early in the future. My plan is to have two children by the time I’m 30.”

Qian Wei thought inside that Lu Xun really had a beautiful dream. He might not know, but in his last life, he really was in his thirties and never got married or had a girlfriend or any love life to speak of. She really didn’t expect that the cold unfeeling Lu Xun had an inner world that was like this! Fate really played tricks on people. It seemed that those people in their thirties who had no love life and only worked all the time may secretly yearn for the warmth of family in their hearts. That sort of person might usually pretend to be strong and work overtime until late at night before returning to their cold home and crying themselves to sleep! Qian Wei looked at Lu Xun and imagined how he might have cried when he went home from the law firm every day, and suddenly she couldn’t help laughing.

Qian Wei looked at Lu Xun with some sympathy in her eyes: “You shouldn’t say that. There are some people in their thirties who are unmarried and have no partners. But maybe they are enterprising and have dreams of fighting for love in their hearts! What’s more, it’s hard for those people in their thirties who don’t have any love in their lives. It’s not that they don’t want love, it’s just that they get so busy at work that it’s hard to find time to fall in love. Moreover, in modern society, people live their lives at such a fast pace that it can be hard to find someone suitable. Some people are lucky and get to meet their partner earlier, but others can only go slowly.” Her words were not just about the Lu Xun in her previous life, Qian Wei also said them, subconsciously, to protect herself. After all, she, like Lu Xun, had been almost in her thirties and had no partner and no love life. Only work.

Lu Xun scoffed: “That’s ridiculous, as long as people are normal, they will more or less have a desire for love and feelings. I am afraid that those people who only have work in their hearts by their thirties are just incompetent in love. And the ones who say they want to find a partner but that they are too busy simply have no ability. An excellent person can always strike the proper balance between work and relationships.”

“…” Lu Xun, I really hope those words of yours can be heard again by your 30-year-old self. The noise of that slap hitting your face would be just incredible…

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tl note: I made a discord. Just sort of testing the waters to see if there’s any interest. You can chat about my current projects and read some of my gripes about my projects that are on the horizon.