DFLB – Chapter 65

“Needless to say, you can always come to me for any legal problems you might have.”

“Thank you, Big Brother Xun!!!”

“Shameless!” Liu Shiyun could not help but roll her eyes. “Have you ever thought that if everyone in the world acted like you, us poor souls who study law and become lawyers would have no choice but to sip from the northwest wind* and give up all of our worldly possessions?”

As always, these two people couldn’t help but exchange barbs. However, eventually, their attention was drawn away by the spread of food in front of them.

There was still a lot of incredulity floating around the table regarding how, exactly, Qian Wei had gotten together with Lu Xun, and Qian Chuan was especially skeptical. However, after chatting with Lu Xun for a while over the table of barbecue, he found that he actually got along quite well with the other man. They talked about everything from football to basketball and Qian Chuan discovered that he shared many favorite teams and players with Lu Xun, while Liu Shiyun, who was also a little interested in sports, seemed to have tastes that ran completely counter to his.

After a while, Lu Xun excused himself to the bathroom. Qian Chuan watched his departing back and said, “Lu Xun and I really think alike!” Then he glanced over at Liu Shiyun with eyes full of contempt, “It seems that you women only support athletes based on whether or not they are handsome, but we men are different, we look at their ability! That’s what I call having discerning taste!”

Of course, Liu Shiyun wouldn’t let herself be outdone: “Maybe, but weren’t you, someone who supposedly has ‘discerning taste’, still dumped by the girl you were chasing, Mo Zixin?”

“Who broke up with who?! I dumped her, okay?”

Liu Shiyun was surprised: “You broke up with her?” She didn’t seem to believe it. “Why? Didn’t you like her? Did you already move on to someone else?”

Qian Chuan retorted angrily, “She didn’t abide her womanly virtues!”

Liu Shiyun was stupefied: “She cheated on you?”

Qian Chuan didn’t answer, but his silence was clear acquiescence.

Liu Shiyun immediately hit the table and pushed a glass of beer in front of him: “Cheaters should all go to hell!” 

Qian Chaun has expected her to tease and laugh at him, but instead, she slapped him on the shoulder with great enthusiasm and said. “It’s alright. You don’t have to worry, you’re very excellent and you’re tall with long legs to boot. Although, your brain is a bit dim, when thinking positively, you could just be called ‘honest’ and, ah, nowadays simple and honest boys are very sought after!”

Qian Chuan:??? Is this damn woman complimenting or insulting me? 

“Anyway, we are both the same kind of pathetic people.” Liu Shiyun poured Qian Chuan another glass of beer and said. “Come on, let’s toast!”

Qian Wei kindly interrupted from the side and explained: “She was also cheated on by her ex-boyfriend.”

When he heard that, the way Qian Chuan looked at Liu Shiyun suddenly changed, and he became very enthusiastic after finding someone else with the same hatred for a common enemy: “Men who cheat are the lowest scum!”

Liu Shiyun seemed to have finally found a shoulder to lean on and, driven by the alcohol, she told Qian Chuan the whole story of the scum called Tang Lu. After hearing her story, Qian Chuan was filled with righteous indignation on her behalf, and he slapped the table while saying angrily, “Tang Lu from A University of Technology’s architecture department, right? I can’t believe he would dare to act so righteous after he was the one who cheated on you. Liu Shiyun, you can’t stand for this!”

“Can’t stand for it? What can I do? Even if I want to beat Tang Lu, can I really beat him?”

Qian Chuan was a little drunk by now and he rolled up his sleeves while saying, “I’ll beat him for you! Even as a bystander, I can’t just stand by in the face of this kind of injustice!”

For a while, these two didn’t spend all their time quarreling for once and instead showed some sympathy for each other.

Liu Shiyun said sincerely, “Qian Chuan, you are such an upstanding man, you really deserve a better girl. Mo Zixin, that kind of woman who eats from the bowl while still eyeing the pot, isn’t worthy of you. Actually, you are very straightforward and sunny, and her type that has a belly full of schemes isn’t suitable for you at all. Plus, you’re an athletic, energetic, and handsome guy, so I’m sure you’ll find someone else. There are plenty of fish in the sea.”

“You too! In fact, Liu Shiyun, I’ve always admired how eloquent you are deep in my heart. Every time you and I quarrel, I always secretly feel that your words are logical, consistent, and have no loopholes. You are independent, opinionated, and daring, and you have your own special charm. Tang Lu only knows how to appreciate those so-called gentle and virtuous girls, which only shows that he has no substance and isn’t worthy of you at all. They say that most men who like ‘gentle and virtuous’ girls really only want to find a girl who is easy to control. It’s because they want a girl who appears weaker than themselves, to assuage their inferiority complexes that stem from their poor ability…”

And like that, Qian Wei could only gape in awe as the two seemingly bitter enemies unexpectedly began to confide in and flatter each other. The scene was suddenly very harmonious.

“You’re really handsome!”

“No, you’re the one who is really beautiful!”

“You’re really in great shape!”

“Ha, you’re not so bad yourself!”

“Also, you have a beautiful voice!”

“You do too!”

…

In the end, they seemed to run out of things to legitimately compliment, and the flattery turned into:

“Your Mandarin is definitely above the standard.”

“You have a lot of hair!”

“You have a good appetite!”

“I noticed the other day, but you actually have very well kept leg hair!”

…

Finally, Qian Wei and Lu Xun had no choice but to drag the two slightly tipsy drunks, Liu Shiyun and Qian Chuan, back to their dorms. As soon as Qian Wei finished settling Liu Shiyun in her bed, she received a call from Lu Xun.

“Come down.”

Qian Wei ran downstairs and saw Lu Xun standing outside in the low evening light, carrying a small bag.

“Here you go.”

Qian Wei accepted the bag, opened it, and found that it was a bottle of yogurt: “Hmm?”

Lu Xun said stoically: “After eating hot pot and barbecue, it’s good for your stomach to drink some yogurt.”

Qian Wei obediently took a sip. It was strawberry flavor, sweet, and very suitable for her mood now.

“By the way, where’s that love letter?”

Earlier, Qian Chuan and Liu Shiyun had been getting along in high spirits and Qian Chuan had absent-mindedly set the letter on the table. When she saw that, Qian Wei had reached out to grab it, but Lu Xun was a step faster and had quickly stuffed it into his pants pocket.

The one who had shamelessly intercepted the letter responded with calm and composure: “It’s returned to its original owner.”

“What? But I haven’t seen it yet! ” Qian Wei was unconvinced. “Didn’t you write it for me? If it has been returned to its original owner, shouldn’t it be with me?!”

“You didn’t ever receive it though. That is to say, you never actually took possession of the letter. That means that the ownership of the letter cannot be considered to have ever been transferred so, of course, it’s still mine.”

Naturally, Qian Wei couldn’t beat Lu Xun when it came to talking about the law, but she really wanted to say this was just too shameless.

She could only say, “I don’t agree. I haven’t even seen it yet, and I want to see it.”

Lu Xun took a firm attitude: “You don’t need to see it. Anyway, the purpose of the love letter has already been accomplished, so it’s no longer necessary.”

Heavens above! This was a love letter from Lu Xun, the light of the law school! Qian Wei really felt that this kind of letter should be framed and hung on the wall so that she could pay her respects to it every day. Wouldn’t she be suffering a great loss if she didn’t even get to read it?

However, no matter how Qian Wei tried to haggle with him, Lu Xun refused to nod his head and return it to her.

Qian Wei saw that there probably wouldn’t be a breakthrough this way and seemed to get tired of saying so much nonsense. However, just when Lu Xun thought she finally gave up, Qian Wei revealed she wasn’t done at all and quickly reached into his pocket while his guard was down. She snatched out the love letter and then waved it around triumphantly in front of Lu Xun’s face before dashing away like a rabbit.

With the letter clutched in her hand, Qian Wei bounded up the stairs to her dorm room in one breath. Once she was inside, she finally felt at ease and carefully unfolded the love letter.

‘I wanted to talk to you about it face to face when you came back to school on Monday, but I overestimated my own patience. I couldn’t wait to tell you that I liked you for even one more day. Because you told me you prefer this nostalgic style of confession, I wrote you a letter and, indeed, it seems that I’m able to calm down a bit by writing a letter instead of facing you face to face. Although I may not be your type but, for you, I’m willing to try to change and become the type that you like. I will learn to cook, to coax you, to be a gentler person, to be tolerant and magnanimous, and to be the kind of humorous person who can liven up a room… You are the first and last person that I will take the initiative to chase. In fact, I never thought there would be a day when I would take this initiative. In the past, I could never understand the saying ‘A man has no dignity or pride in the face of true love’ but, now, I seem to be able to understand that feeling…’

‘Whenever I walk together with you, I unconsciously slow my steps because I want to walk with you for even one more second. Even if I warn myself again and again, I always find my eyes following you. Seeing the happy you, the wanton you, the indifferent you… I can’t express this feeling in words. It’s as if the closer I get to you, the less I know what to do…’

‘I wish that face you show when you smile could belong to me alone; I wish that your playful and mischievous side could belong to me alone; I wish that the way you perk up when you listen to the early morning bell could belong to me alone; I wish that I could be the only one in your eyes; and I wish that your smile, your eyes, the arc of your lips, the tip of your beautiful nose, will all belong only to me after you see this letter.’

Although she was in her own dorm and there was only the letter in front of her, Qian Wei could clearly see Lu Xun in her mind’s eye, frowning and pursing his lips as he solemnly sat at his desk writing and discarding various drafts of this letter until his perfectionist obsessive-compulsive disorder was satisfied. She could only imagine how many dozens of drafts had to be discarded before this final confession letter lying in front of her was completed.

As she watched, Qian Wei felt the corners of her lips subconsciously curling upwards. It was hard for her to imagine that someone as arrogant as Lu Xun could ever write such a ‘humiliating’ love letter. She clearly remembered the motto that he had written for one of the school’s exhibitions for outstanding students in the past was ‘Don’t change for anyone.’, right?

And, just as Qian Wei was thinking about Lu Xun, as if he could read her mind, Lu Xun called her phone.

Although Lu Xun had his usual calm voice, there was an unnatural waver at the end of his words. “Have you read that love letter?” He strained to sound offhanded as he asked that question. But then, before waiting for Qian Wei to respond, he coughed and said, “It’s the first time I’ve written something like that, so there may have been some imperfections…” Lu Xun paused and then continued, “Maybe it’s a little childish, and the phrasing might be a bit simplistic… ” He sounded a little embarrassed. “I didn’t want to show it to you because it’s a bit of my black history… I could have re-written it so it was more perfect before giving it to you again. After all, for a law student, it doesn’t really have a proper logical flow or progression…”

“No.” Qian Wei couldn’t help but grin, “It’s very well written.”

Qian Wei was tempted to say that in the face of true love things like the logic, the grammar, the word choice, and the progression of ideas would all inevitably be a mess because you would only have the other person in your heart and, apart from them, you wouldn’t be able to bother about anything else. There wasn’t any need for Lu Xun to explain because she knew. She knew all along.

“Lu Xun, you don’t have to try to change yourself to become what I like.”

Lu Xun seemed a little surprised, and there seemed to be a beat of shock at the end of his voice: “Huh?”

“Because I already like the way you are now, ah.”

Right now, everyone else in her dorm room was asleep. In the background, Liu Shiyun snored slightly, but Qian Wei didn’t feel sleepy at all. 

“Qian Wei.” Lu Xun’s voice was a little bleary and tired, but that only seemed to make it more attractive in the dead of the night. “I won’t be able to sleep if you say that.”

“I can’t sleep either.” As she spoke, Qian Wei looked over at the time and found that it was already one o’clock in the morning.

“There is a morning class at nine o’clock tomorrow morning, it’s the tax law class that I hate the most. In that class, we’re going to have a quiz on tax law, so it’s not a good idea to stay up all night!” Qian Wei muttered sadly. But then she had a sudden flash of inspiration, and sincerely suggested, “Why do some of those law memorization exercises? Usually, as long as I start doing those exercises, I will definitely fall asleep within half an hour. “

“…”

Lu Xun was silent for a while. Finally, he replied, “I’ll sing you a lullaby.”

There was a bit of rare shyness in Lu Xun’s voice as he began to gently sing a soothing and gentle song in a low voice. The song was obviously a popper lullaby, but after hearing it Qian Wei only felt more awake. It was as if all of her senses were being amplified and there was only the dark night combined with Lu Xun’s voice. The subtle tremors, dips, and rises in his voice made Qian Wei feel there was a small fire in her heart, beating and warm. Lu Xun’s voice had a texture like porcelain, something obviously cold but, when you held it in your arms, something that would slowly warm to you.

As soon as he finished singing, Qian Wei was even more awake than before because she suddenly noticed something wrong…

“Didn’t you tell me you were tone-deaf?”

“I lied.” Lu Xun admitted surprisingly straightforwardly. Then he seemed to think about it and gave a qualification. “Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really a lie. Whether I’m tone-deaf or not depends on who I’m singing to. For instance, whenever I face Mo Zixin, I’m very tone-deaf.”

“So does that mean you’re actually very good at badminton?”

“Mhm.”

“What about tennis?”

“I’m not bad.”

“Wait, what about the tango?” Qian Wei suddenly thought of something, “You’re also good at the tango, aren’t you?”

Lu Xun had probably answered too many questions in a row because he gave another “Mhm” without thinking about it.

“So I kindly offered to practice with you but, in fact, you were more skillful than me the whole time?” With the benefit of hindsight, things became clear and Qian Wei reacted, “Lu Xun! Whenever we would practice the tango, you would always say that you weren’t very good at certain moves that required us to be very close together so we would practice them over and over, but it was all a lie?!”

Lu Xun quickly changed the subject: “Isn’t there a quiz on tax law tomorrow morning? I think you should go to sleep with Qian Wei.” Then, as if to avoid Qian Wei’s blame, Lu Xun quickly said, “Goodnight then.”

But before Lu Xun could hang up the phone after saying goodnight Qian Wei stopped him.

“Lu Xun.”

“Hmm?”

“I will always belong to you alone.”

After saying that, Qian Wei quickly hung up the phone before Lu Xun could respond. However, after saying those words, her heart suddenly felt calm and relaxed, and she was able to quickly drift off to sleep. Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, Lu Xun couldn’t sleep at all.

Previous TOC Next

*’sipping the north west wind’ basically just means your so poor you can only eat wind (aka air aka nothing)