Regarding Mo Zixin suddenly agreeing to date Qian Chuan, Qian Wei felt her stomach hurting even considering it. And she was on her way back to her dormitory, thinking about how to explain things to Lu Xun, when she received a phone call from Mo Zixin.
“Qian Wei? Are you free right now? Recently, I’ve been preparing a solo dance for the dance competition but I’m a little uncertain about how my progress. If you are free, could you come and take a look at it for me? Please help check where I can improve.”
In fact, Qian Wei was very interested in talking to Mo Zixin right now so, of course, she agreed: “I’ll come to take a look. Where are you?”
“I’m in Room 304 of the gym’s practice rooms. How long will it take you to get here?”
“Give me ten minutes!”
Qian Wei said nothing more, she just hung up the phone, spun on her heel, and walked towards the gym. The room 304 was on the third floor, most of the rooms on the third floor were not open on weekdays and, in order to use them, a student would have to put in a special application and detail the reasons they wanted to use the room along with how it related to the school. So, by the time Qian Wei climbed up to the third floor, she found that it was very quiet and there were no idle people around.
However, the longer Qian Wei walked down the corridor, the more she had a bad feeling in her heart.
This scene seemed very familiar and she was slowly being overwhelmed by a sense of deja vu.
Sure enough, when Qian Wei walked up to the door of room 304, she heard Mo Zixin’s voice coming from inside.
“I’m sorry.”
Qian Wei gently poked her head forward into the room’s open door. Inside, there was a small open-air balcony at the end of the large floor-to-ceiling mirror. The glass door to the balcony was open and a gentle breeze was causing the light gauze curtains to flutter in from the outside. From Qian Wei’s angle, she could just make out a figure standing behind those curtains, it was the silhouette of a 19-year-old girl with an excellent figure, who was standing there in dancing clothes. It was Mo Zixin and she seemed to be bright and full of life, even as she just stood there in the sun. And, that was her voice that had just said ‘I’m sorry’.
In addition to Mo Zixin, there was clearly someone else on the balcony, but because of her angle, Qian Wei couldn’t see who that person was, the person who was the object of Mo Zixin’s ‘I’m sorry’.
This development… This was clearly… Qian Wei’s heart suddenly cooled more than a few degrees.
Perhaps the sound of Qian Wei gently pushing open the door alarmed Mo Zixin because she looked over at the door alertly. When she saw it was Qian Wei, her face reddened a little and looked embarrassed. She briefly sent Qian Wei a reluctant smile before turning back to whoever she was talking to.
“Lu Xun, I’m really sorry, but I’m already with Qian Chuan.” Mo Zixin’s voice was full of apologies, “But you are very excellent, not just in our law school, even throughout the whole school there are many girls who like you. You are bound to meet a better girl than me.” Mo Zixin seemed to be afraid of letting the other side feel too embarrassed, so she spoke very quickly, she said all that in one breath, then bowed her head and apologized. “Anyway, I have an appointment to do something after this, so I’ll leave first.”
With that said, she no longer looked at the person opposite her. She seemed to want to quickly escape and practically flew out of the practice room towards Qian Wei.
As she walked out the door she was looking down shyly as if she did not dare to raise her head, and as she passed by she grabbed Qian Wei and pulled her along by the hand.
Qian Wei was busy zoning out in a daze and allowed herself to be pulled out of the room by Mo Zixin. By the time she came back to her senses, the two of them had already made their way to a small garden behind the gym.
This small garden was something of a holy place where lovers would walk together at night, but no one cared much about it during the day so it was very empty at the moment. Qian Wei walked along the path that was lined with flowers hand in hand with Mo Zixin, and only one thought was reverberating around in her mind.
History really did tend to repeat itself…
In her last life, although it hadn’t been with this timing, what had happened was more or less the same. Back then, Qian Wei had also happened to witness Mo Zixin refusing Lu Xun’s confession. Though back then it had happened after Lu Xun and Mo Zixin had won first place in the dance competition and they had gone on to be selected to represent the school in the later City A College Student Dance Competition. Lu Xun had probably thought that since they had been practicing dancing together for so long, it was the opportune moment to confess his love. But, to make a long story short, he seemed to decide to confess in the practice room where they had spent a long time practicing together and in the end, he was rejected. After that, probably to avoid his feelings of embarrassment, Lu Xun managed to stick it out and participate in the competition Mo Zixin’s partner on behalf of the school. Then, when that competition ended, Lu Xun’s relationship with Mo Zixin ended at the same time.
In short, at that time, Qian Wei happened to be at the door and had encountered almost exactly the same situation that she had seen just now. But back then, Qian Wei had still been enthusiastically helping Qian Chuan chase Mo Zixin and, at that time, Qian Chuan had sprained his ankle while playing basketball which was why he had no chance to dance with Mo Zixin, so he had always been afraid that Lu Xun would use the dance practices to get closer to Mo Zixin. Therefore, Qian Wei took up the important task of taking care of Mo Zixin before and after the dance practices using the excuse that she was ‘caring for her classmate’ to deliver drinks and snacks to the practice room every day. But, in reality, she was just there to monitor and destroy Mo Zixin and Lu Xun’s time alone. Back then Qian Wei had delivered water and snacks to the practice room at 10:30 a.m. every day like clockwork and, as a result, she had happened to witness Lu Xun’s painful past.
And just like this time, although Qian Wei did not see Lu Xun’s unhappy face after his failed confession, since she was so familiar with Lu Xun’s haughty character, Qian Wei could easily simulate his state of mind.
“Do I, Lu Xun, need to chase a girl?”
“I, Lu Xun, will never give any chance for the girl I like to be with someone else.”
Qian Wei happened to remember some of Lu Xun’s determined statements that he had made in the past and it was as if she could mentally envision two big pairs of hands appearing from thin air to slap Lu Xun’s handsome face.
Although there she did feel a little sympathy, Qian Wei somehow felt that her heart was unexpectedly more full of dark thoughts… Lu Xun, Lu Xun, just look where you’ve fallen today!
In her previous life, after this incident, Mo Zixin no longer interacted with Lu Xun at all. Back then, Lu Xun probably felt very humiliated after facing rejection because from then on he would always treat Mo Zixin frostily and, before long, Qian Chuan succeeded in getting her to agree to date him. From there, Lu Xun’s first love died a quiet death.
“Qian Wei, this matter, could you… could you keep it a secret for me?” As they walked along the garden path, Mo Zixin bit her lower lip and said, “I don’t know if Qian Chuan’s told you yet but I’m already with him. I don’t really want him to know about this because I’m afraid of what he will think. In addition, if this matter gets spread around, it won’t be very good for Lu Xun either, probably he will feel like he is losing face. So could you just pretend it never happened?”
Qian Wei thought to herself: No wonder this is the girl Lu Xun likes. Just look at her! See how warm and considerate she is!
“No problem! You don’t have to worry, I’ll never say a word!”
Qian Wei really wanted to crow ‘Look how professional I am!’ After all, she didn’t ever mention this matter to anyone in her last life, did she? Even after she had worked with Lu Xun for years, she had never teased him about this incident to his face. She had just quietly gone about her life as if she didn’t know anything about it, and whenever he duplicitously denied liking Mo Zixin, she had never said anything. What did professional secrecy ethics look like? Qian Wei was a sterling example of professional secrecy ethics!
Mo Zixin’s expression relaxed considerably when she heard Qian Wei’s response: “Thank you so much for agreeing. Anyway, I really hope that Lu Xun can find his own happiness as soon as possible.”
What a pity that while Mo Zixin seemed to be relaxing, on Qian Wei’s side she really could not relax at all.
Even though she had been born again, the very last thing she had wanted to see happen, had happened. It was as if it were all preordained, as if things were moving according to a certain script and, no matter how she struggled, Qian Wei couldn’t stop the ponderously rolling wheel of fate and time.
Was Lu Xun going to be single all the way until the age of 28 again this time? Would he end up turning 30 alone?
This was bad! In the past, Qian Wei had only ever thought from the perspective of the future boss’s lackey but now she really couldn’t bear the thought of Lu Xun being alone for so long. Even if the future ended up completely different, even if Lu Xun never became her boss, Qian Wei felt like she should try to help him solve this problem that had plagued him for two lifetimes. After all, he had saved her life!
Since things with Mo Zixin seemed to impossible, maybe Qian Wei should just accompany Lu Xun as he struggled through his deep sadness, until he could find a new love!
Because Mo Zixin was no longer planning to compete using a tango duet, Qian Wei’s training for Lu Xun became meaningless. However, in line with her principles of being a humanitarian, Qian Wei asked Lu Xun out to console him.
“I have the money, so I’ll take you out anywhere you want, whatever place you like, just say it.” Qian Wei determinedly did not mention Lu Xun’s broken heart, instead, she focused all her energy into diverting his attention with great enthusiasm. “Do you want to try barbecue? Why don’t we go to a barbecue place?”
After that, Qian Wei didn’t bother waiting for Lu Xun’s response, instead she just directly dragged him away to a certain famous barbecue restaurant that was just off campus without another word.
When the two sat down, Lu Xun finally freed himself from Qian Wei’s clutches. He looked over at her strangely and said: “What’s the matter with you today?”
Qian Wei answered quickly: “Often, when you are in a bad mood, or when you feel that your life doesn’t seem to be going as planned, eating well is the best cure!”
Sure enough, Lu Xun frowned: “What isn’t going as planned?”
Qian Wei didn’t get annoyed with his attitude of denial, instead, she just focused on ordering vigorously: “Here, try this one. Their pork rolls are delicious, also their garlic scallops, oh, and these mutton kebabs! They’re all excellent.”
“Have you been in a bad mood lately?”
Qian Wei felt that if she replied that she was in a good mood, wouldn’t that just make Lu Xun feel even more miserable? Like, ‘everyone else in the world is doing so well, but I am the only one who is heartbroken and miserable’. She was afraid that knowing she was doing well, considering his own current feelings, would only make him feel even more miserable.
So Qian Wei sighed: “Ah~, Yes!” She purposefully put on a pained expression, “But even in times of hardship, we should not forget to enjoy eating delicious food. We can rely on eating delicious food to cure ourselves and slowly get back on our feet! Lu Xun, I’m not sure if you have heard this saying…” Qian Wei took a sip of her drink and then continued tentatively, “Oftentimes in life, when you encounter a setback, it’s hard to imagine that you will ever be able to get through the pain you are in. But one day, after you get through this period, you will realize that you were actually much stronger than you thought!”
However, even after she said all those words that were gut-wrenchingly close to touching the heart of Lu Xun’s problem, his face was still surprisingly expressionless. He just looked at Qian Wei and asked, “So, what’s the matter?” He paused, lowered his head, and said off-handedly, “Is there something wrong in your relationship?”
See! She didn’t even mention the word ‘relationship’ but Lu Xun was so heartbroken that he could only think that anyone that was in a bad mood must have relationship problems. It seemed that his feelings of heartbreak were very serious.
And when a person was in pain, what did they find most comforting? Of course, it had to be empathy! And words from someone who was having the same experience as yourself made comforting words seem that much more meaningful. After all, when a person was hurt they might think that it wasn’t hard for someone else to stand up and just say a few words, right? No matter how comforting those words were, the person being comforted might find them empty if they were coming from someone who was doing just fine.
So Qian Wei nodded enthusiastically and said, “Yes! Things just haven’t been going well recently.”
And, sure enough, Lu Xun seemed very interested in this topic. Even though he tried to pretend to be casual, Qian Wei easily saw through him. He briefly glanced over at Qian Wei before quickly looking away, then he asked, “Why, what’s going on?”
“This…” Qian Wei quickly spun a lie, “Maybe we haven’t been meeting enough anymore, or maybe we don’t have enough common topics…”
Lu Xun meditated for a moment before he said, “Then, perhaps when finding a partner, it’s probably better to find someone in the same major. That way you would have more common topics.”
Qian Wei thought: Oh no, thinking of people from the same major, wouldn’t Lu Xun just think of Mo Zixin again?
“No, I think it’s better to find someone with a different major.” Qian Wei said carefully, “If you’re both from the same major, your thinking will have the same limitations. He will know everything you know but he also won’t understand the same things that you don’t understand, at the end of the day you won’t complement each other very well. Actually, when you want to find a partner, it’s much better to find someone from a different major!”
Lu Xun seemed stupefied: “Didn’t you say you wanted to find another lawyer to get rich with and soar together?”
Qian Wei blushed but continued to lie without blinking: “Back then, I was still young and my thinking was naive. But now, I have grown up.”
“…”
“Anyway, that’s all there is to love really, so you shouldn’t take it too seriously. If you ever feel that you will never be able to love after you lost one person, just remember that one day you will find a new relationship and that one day you will find love again. Love is hard but life goes on*, as they say.”
Lu Xun’s face looked like his three values were being distorted as they spoke: “Are you serious? You really think that?”
Qian Wei nodded: “Yes, I think this is the more emotionally mature way of looking at things. When you think you can’t live without another person, as if without that person you will die or sink into despair, that’s an obviously naive view of the world.”
By now Lu Xun had fallen completely silent.
Qian Wei thought that her words probably gave him a new perspective on things. After all, young people who had lost their first love would eventually be able to use that setback to grow.
*she quotes a poem here but other than confirming it was from a poem I really couldn’t suss out much else, so I just replaced the line with something that has similar meaning.
Qian wei paboya
ok so Mo Zixing is out of the picture… NICE. I mean, they’ll break up anyway so really, nothing of value was lost… I think Mo Zixing was just drifting either between ML or FL’s brother then decided to partake on FL’s brother’s kindness which imo isnt a bad thing. I’m just mad that just when I’m on board with FL’s roomate and FL’s brother….. AHHHHHH FK FK FK, now I’m fking so tilted… and here I was fucking ready for her to join the fucking fuckfest but I guess not?
Now the thing that needs to be solved is that dude who died of stomach cancer on the 1st timeline and Mo Zixing’s cousin. Then, we’re all gucci. I feel like there wont be a ch to delve on the dude that died of stomach cancer on 1st timeline but ohhh well, that’s just what happens when you have tooo many side characters I guess….
Ah. I knew his being rejected had to be a misunderstanding, but now I see that Mo Zixin actually manufactured the whole confession and set it up so that Qian Wei “witnessed” it. I’m guessing that in the original timeline he was obviously interested in QW, and this was MZ’s way of disrupting that.
Sometimes I don’t understand QW. For the past chapters, she ignores what’s going on her environment and all the hints. Her soul is 28 y/o and also a lawyer but she’s not thinking and analyzing as a 28 y/O should be. As if she has no intuition or no instinct of doubts even just once about what’s going on. QW always thinks that LX like MZ. Anyway, thanks for the chapter
Agree, QW is not like 28 y/o at all. Sometimes I question how can she be a lawyer with her kind of intuition and instinct. Her personality is tiring and annoying.