DFLB – Chapter 22

“Hey! Qian Wei! There you are!”

While Qian Wei was busy slandering Lu Xun in her heart she suddenly heard Liu Shiyun’s voice call out to her. Qian Wei looked around and quickly saw Liu Shiyun running towards her so fast she was out of breath. Meanwhile, Qian Chuan also followed behind her with an ugly face.

Qian Wei stared at the space behind Qian Chuan for a long time but Mo Zixin did not appear. So she asked curiously, “Where is Mo Zixin?”

Qian Chuan made a face like he ate something extremely bitter: “We separated!”

“When did you get separated?”

“We got separated in the haunted house.” Qian Chuan said angrily. “Are you satisfied?”

Qian Wei really was satisfied and she didn’t even bother to hide her excitement. Even though Lu Xun failed to win Mo Zixin’s heart, the heavens opened their eyes and made Qian Chuan fail as well. That was great. Qian Chuan had already lost his advantage and his plan to create a ‘world with only two people’ had crashed and burned.

In order to confirm things, Qian Wei asked: “After the haunted house, you and Mo Zixin did not find each other again and you and Liu Shiyun just came here together?”

Qian Chuan agreed while sounding very angry.

Qian Wei laughed and hugged Liu Shiyun: “You are really my best friend, ah~, hahaha.”

Qian Chuan smiled coldly: “She is indeed your best friend. The way she clings to me is also the same, just look.” He stretched out his arm, revealing the blue and red finger marks all over it. “This is where she pinched me!” He gave Liu Shiyun a sidelong glance. “Aren’t you the famous ‘Bold Ms. Liu’? Then why did you cling to me so desperately in the haunted house? But fine, even if you want to cling to me, I can accept that, but why did you have to pinch me? You and Qian Wei both study law, don’t you? You can see for yourself that this is intentional assault. You know the law but you don’t hesitate to break it!”

“Bah, what ‘intentional assault’? I learned an authentic Thai massage from a Thai master and I especially applied it for you for free but you’re not even grateful. What else do you want?” Liu Shiyun retorted.

Qian Chuan said angrily, “How can there be such a woman! Trying to pass off fake goods at high prices! Does the law school only teach you how to talk until black is turned into white?”

Liu Shiyun rolled her eyes: “Qian Chuan, let me tell you, I, Liu Shiyun, am only being polite to you today because you are Qian Wei’s brother.”

Qian Wei quickly fanned the flames from the side: “You don’t have to give me face, please feel free to be impolite!”

Liu Shiyun always vaguely knew of Qian Wei’s brother Qian Chuan, but she never really met him. Qian Wei remembered that in her last life, even after many years, Liu Shiyun and Qian Chuan were never close but the two were always at least friendly to each other. The type of relationship where they would exchange nods and smiles when they met on the street. So Qian Wei did not expect that after she was reborn these two would start to fight for some reason.

After she got Qian Wei’s go ahead Liu Shiyun rolled up her sleeves aggressively. “What do you mean by ‘turning black into white’? I’m just eloquent. With your brain, can you even understand?” Liu Shiyun laughed, “Oh, I forgot, you are from the Academy of Physical Education, so you probably don’t understand because all the nutrition you eat goes straight to your limbs. With your brain, I doubt it could even be used to make Pig Brain Hotpot*, it would be a waste of hot pot ingredients.”

Qian Chuan sputtered incoherently: “You… you…”

Fortunately, it was almost evening, so it was not long before the time their schoolmates had set to gather. Before long, the other students all came back one after another. Qian Chuan had a sharp eye and he quickly spotted Mo Zixin and immediately walked away from Liu Shiyun. He quickly adjusted his mood, put away his desire to fight, plastered on a sunny smile, and was ready to meet Mo Zixin.

It is a pity for him though that a beauty like Mo Zixin would never end up walking alone even if she got separated from the people she was with. At the moment, she was walking with a tall guy, talking and laughing with him. Qian Chuan had a sudden sense of crisis. The guy next to Mo Zixin was obviously interested in her, and when he saw Qian Chuan coming he looked at him vigilantly, then moved to block him with his body. Just his posture he made it clear that he did not intend to let Qian Chaun get closer.

But then Mo Zixin took the initiative to walk over: “Qian Chuan, I didn’t know what to do after I got separated from you earlier, so I just ended up wandering by myself for a while. I bought some small souvenirs, you can have this one.”

Qian Chuan took the souvenir and his tail rose so high that he could not help showing off to Qian Wei: “Just look, she acts different with me. Even if you plot to come between us, even if I couldn’t accompany her today, it doesn’t matter. I have already occupied a unique and important position in her heart.”

Qian Wei smiled and said, “Just look over there.”

Qian Chuan turned his head and saw that Mo Zixin was going around to the other students and giving all of them a small souvenir exactly the same as the one she gave Qian Chuan. Even Qian Wei and Liu Shiyun got one.

Qian Chuan: “…”

At the end of her circuit, Mo Zixin walked over to Lu Xun very naturally. She bowed her head shyly and said: “Lu Xun, this is for you.”

Although Mo Zixin was very deft, Qian Wei could clearly see that the package she gave to Lu Xun was different from all the others. Even though Lu Xun was so rude to Mo Zixin, in the end, Mo Zixin still treated him well.

Unfortunately, Lu Xun showed no enthusiasm when he received the beauty’s goodwill. He looked cold indifferent like usual, as if there was nothing that could warm his heart. He just nodded politely to Mo Zixin and said thank you, as if saying two more words would kill him.

Qian Wei sweated nervously in her heart. It was true that between men and women occasionally acting reserved could seem intriguing, but Lu Xun, you are being a little too reserved!

Fortunately, Mo Zixin’s determination was strong. Even in the face of Lu Xun’s indifference her face only flashed with a trace of embarrassment for a moment before returning to its usual brilliant state. Then she smiled and said something to Lu Xun that Qian Wei couldn’t hear. Qian Wei originally wanted to move closer to listen but suddenly Liu Shiyun popped up by her side.

“You were so right not to go see that 4D movie. Do you know what it was? When the protagonist was riding a horse in the movie, that broken seat I was in jolted and bucked enough that it almost made me vomit. And when the protagonist was running with the wind, a huge fan blew me with cold wind, and I could almost feel myself catching a cold. And when it started to rain in the movie, they actually poured water on me! Did you know that I was wearing makeup today? It ruined my makeup! ” Liu Shiyun described her first 4D experience very energetically. Then she glanced at Qian Wei and became even more energetic, “Oh my god, you are still so immature. You even bought such a huge lollipop.”

“It was buy one get one free and someone else bought it. Since they didn’t want it they gave it to me. I didn’t buy it myself.”

Liu Shiyun rolled her eyes at Qian Wei and said, “Come on, do you think I didn’t go to that store? I just saw that same lollipop being sold. Don’t look down on it, it really costs a lot. And there was no buy one get one free promotion at all. You can just admit you wanted to eat it. I won’t laugh at you.”

“Ah?” Qian Wei was stunned, there was no buy one get one free promotion? Did that mean Lu Xun lied to her just now? But why?

“Let’s get together! We’re going to the next destination!”

Unfortunately, before Qian Wei had time to think about it, the student organizers began to herd everyone back onto the bus so they could head to their destination.

In the itinerary, the first day would be spent at the theme park and the second day would be spent doing outdoor activities in a nearby forest park. The forest park was well developed with very mature tourism facilities, not just a few barbecue grills. There were wooden cabins to allow people to experience the feeling of camping in the wilderness. These cabins were built on the side of the mountain and needed to be hiked up to from the road. There were single suites and villa-style cabins. Because there were so many people, the organizers from the student union had booked several connected cabins that had doors within them that could pass through from one to another. It was very convenient to string the doors together at night to make room for large parties.

The forest park was not far from the theme park and after driving for only ten minutes or so, the bus arrived there. Qian Wei and Liu Shiyun got off the bus and saw that the organizers from the student union were arranging accommodation groups.

“Qian Wei, Liu Shiyun, Mo Zixin, Lu Xun, Wang Hao, Zhang Ming, Chen Mengmeng. You, law students, are all arranged in one cabin.”

Wang Hao, who had just been named, raised his hand: “Can I have a room with my friend from the Institute of Electrical Science?”

Qian Chuan saw the opportunity: “Brother, that’s just perfect. I’ll trade with you. I can room with the law students and you and your friends from the Institute of Electrical Sciences and our Academy of Physical Education can room together. My parents always tell me that I must protect my sister when we are away from home. I can’t just leave her by herself. If I don’t stay with my sister tonight, I’ll be so worried that I won’t be able to sleep.”

“Alright, then you go with the law students.”

Qian Wei was dumbfounded as Qian Chuan walked triumphantly into her group. He put on a sincere smile and said to Mo Zixin: “There are more girls than boys in your law school. Unlike a hotel, there are no protective facilities outside of a cabin. But if something goes wrong in the middle of the night, you can count on me to protect you.” As he spoke, he pretended to inadvertently lift up his sleeves to show off his muscles.

“Qian Chuan, didn’t you just say that our parents told you to protect me?” Qian Wei grabbed Qian Chuan and dragged him away from Mo Zixin. “Then stay by my side and protect me.”

Qian Chuan glared at Qian Wei but didn’t move from her side.

Everyone put their luggage in the different cabins according to their groups. The family apartment-style cabin Qian Wei had been assigned had a total of three floors. The first floor was a huge living room and activity space. There were two rooms and a bathroom on the second floor and the third floor was the same pattern as the second. The final plan the students settled on was to have the girls live on the third floor, with Qian Wei and Liu Shiyun in one room, and Mo Zixin and Chen Mengmeng in the other room. The boys were on the second floor. Qian Chuan, following the principle of knowing yourself, knowing your enemy, and winning a hundred battles, decided to follow Lu Xun to make inquiries. So those two were in one room while the other two boys lived in the other room.

“Come on, let’s go outside and prepare the barbecue.” Liu Shiyun, who was thinking of eating, was in high spirits. “After the barbecue, we can go into the forest and see the fireflies. Supposedly it’s one of this places’ special attractions and they are very beautiful.”

The forest park was actually very business-minded. The parts at the bottom of the mountain were all covered in cabins for tourists, and in addition to that, a huge barbecue area had been built in a large open area for the tourists to have picnics in. You could bring your own food, but you couldn’t bring your own drinks. The barbecue stove could be rented by the hour. The park also sold charcoal, tin foil and bamboo sticks. In addition, many people would not bring enough food and, distracted by the beautiful scenic atmosphere, they would end up buying food from the park. If you calculated it all out, the park could make money, the tourists could enjoy themselves, and it also ultimately drove more people to see the forest park. It was the best of both worlds.

Qian Wei’s group had a clear division of labor, the girls were responsible for washing vegetables, while the boys were responsible for lighting a fire and roasting the food. After a while, the smoky smell of barbecued food began to waft out.

The weather was very fine that evening, although it was a bit cloudy, the ground still felt a bit warm from the heat left by the sun during the day. The group of people all sat around in the grass that was still warm from the sun and enjoyed the gentle breeze while eating barbecue. Qian Wei sat on one side and felt a bit distracted watching everyone eating barbecue and chatting together. Their faces were all still young and full of that special kind of eagerness to challenge the future.

Qian Wei suddenly remembered Bei Dao’s poem: ‘Back then we had a dream, about literature, about love, about traveling across the world.’ and she could not help but feel that it really was nice to be young. And at this moment, she sincerely rejoiced that the heavens had given her a chance to immerse herself in this sort of carefree, naive, and youthful atmosphere again; she temporarily put aside the impulse always driving her to change her future and tried to just cherish this moment.

Qian Chuan and Liu Shiyun were quarreling not far away from her. Mo Zixin was smiling on one side. Lu Xun was still sitting by himself drinking with a cold face. The afterglow of the setting sun smeared golden radiance on their bodies. Their glowing forms in the evening light seemed almost unreal, and while this moment, this moment would soon pass, but Qian Wei thought: She wanted to remember it firmly. Even if Qian Chuan settled down abroad in the future and his returns to China became less and less frequent until he and Qian Wei gradually grew apart. Even if Liu Shiyun could no longer share all the details of her life with Qian Wei because she had to focus on her own career. Even if Mo Zixin completely disappeared from her life. Even if Lu Xun became her boss who overworked her every day. As long as there was the warm memory of this moment, in the days ahead when they all had to lose their youth and face life alone, in the years ahead when they had to become mature and stable adults, Qian Wei felt that maybe she could keep on going, just with the strength of this memory.

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*so there is a real hotpot dish made using pig brains that I don’t know the proper name for so sorry for this Extremely Literal translation. 

Tl note: ahhhh that made me feel a little sad.

Also, I made a discord. Just sort of testing the waters to see if there’s any interest. You can chat about my current projects or read my gripes about my new projects.