“Oh my God! Which girl is Qian Wei? If I were her, I could probably just die happy! Did she save the whole galaxy in her previous life?”
“Lu Xun is so awesome! So handsome! I thought I was no longer interested in him when I found out he had a girlfriend, but now I only feel that he has become even more handsome after getting a girlfriend. I used to only be interested in handsome guys who are single but now he has made me into his fan! I hope he can stay with his girlfriend for a long time! He’s so sweet!”
“It’s over, it’s all over, the bar I’ll compare any future boyfriends to has been raised again. I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get married.”
“I always thought that Lu Xun, with his cold and noble appearance, would never like anyone. I was sure he would be single the whole time we were in college, and I even made a bet with my friend about it. That bet turned out to be my complete loss! Not only did he fall in love, but he also confessed in such a high profile way!”
Many girls in the gymnasium didn’t know who Qian Wei was, so Qian Wei could only sit quietly and listen to their excited and envious discussions.
Up on stage, Lu Xun, the one who created this mess, maintained his usual icy and indifferent expression. Under the thousands of pairs of eyes and many clamoring voices, he strode off stage with light, calm steps, creating an unforgettable conclusion to the opening ceremony of the school celebration.
“Qian Wei, Lu Xun seems to have been stopped by that strict old nun*. Take a look over there. ” Liu Shiyun pointed. “He dared to do such a thing during the school celebration, now that strict old nun is sure to…” Before Liu Shiyun finished speaking, she turned her head to look at her friend and noticed something. She said, “Hey? Qian Wei? What are you doing? Where are you going?”
Even without Liu Shiyun’s reminder, ever since Lu Xun stepped off stage Qian Wei had been closely watching his figure, so she had also clearly seen him being stopped by the dean of the law school who was nicknamed as the ‘strict old nun’ by the students. When she saw that, without even thinking, she had stood up and ran in the direction that Lu Xun had gone.
Unfortunately, there was a large distance between the stands for the spectators and the stage. In the end, Qian Wei couldn’t catch up with Lu Xun and could only watch his back as he was led away towards the temporary administrative office at the back of the gymnasium by the dean.
“Lu Xun, I am very disappointed by your actions this time!”
As Qian Wei approached, she heard the sharp and angry voice of the dean of the law school coming from inside the office. This temporary administrative office had been set up pretty far backstage in the gym, so it was fairly insulated against the noise of the ongoing celebration in the gym itself. Because of that, Qian Wei was clearly able to hear what was being said inside.
“Qian Wei’s matter is still under investigation, and the investigation team has not yet reached a conclusion on which party is right or wrong. It’s too early for you to draw a conclusion on the matter in front of everyone. With what you said, it’s tantamount to pointing a finger at Liang Qing. Have you ever thought about what would happen if Liang Qing was really wronged in this matter?”
“Mrs. Li, if I didn’t step out to clarify, how long would it take for the investigation team to publish the results of their investigation? Before this, I had also hoped that the school would come up with a fair solution. I even provided the school with the idea of checking the surveillance videos at the entrances of the dorm staircases, however, even though it’s been two days since I provided the idea, the school still hasn’t bothered to check the surveillance videos that can prove Qian Wei’s innocence. You ask me ‘what if Liang Qing was really wronged’, but have you ever thought about Qian Wei? Every day that the results of the investigation are still pending is another day that Qian Wei is forced to bear the label of ‘thief’. And besides, judging from the ambiguous response of the so-called investigation team, I’m afraid that in the end the school just plans to have the matter ‘handled internally’ and the investigation results will never be released to the student body.”
Sure enough, after being questioned right back by Lu Xun in turn the dean was speechless. However, she didn’t want to back down, so she just paused for a moment before continuing: “Certainly, it takes time for matters like this to be investigated clearly. But as for whether it will ultimately be handled internally or not, well, the school has to consider how to best bring about a win-win situation for all parties involved. If Qian Wei is really innocent, we will definitely clear her name internally…”
“Belated justice is not justice at all. That’s a truth that all of us in the law school know. This matter can obviously be clearly investigated very quickly, so why should it be allowed to drag out for weeks or months? In the next few weeks or months, is Qian Wei just supposed to accept the identity of a ‘suspect’? If it’s found out that she did nothing wrong, will the school give her compensation or an apology? Mrs. Li, I believe you are also well aware as to whether Qian Wei has made a mistake or not. However, now that her reputation is being damaged, you don’t seem to want to publicly restore her reputation and instead want to deal with it internally. I’m afraid the only reason you’re behaving this way is because Liang Qing’s father is one of the directors on the board of our school.”
Lu Xun’s words were melodious and eloquent and they left no face for the dean at all. Although he was just 19-years-old, his tone was sharp and dignified, completely unperturbed even while facing an adult. Meanwhile, Qian Wei stood outside the administrative office and could only bite her lip while she listened to the conversation inside.
In fairness, Qian Wei had never met anyone who could beat Lu Xun in an argument.
The dean also seemed to realize she wouldn’t beat Lu Xun with words, so she changed her strategy.
“Lu Xun, you are very sharp, but you are still too young. You don’t understand that in certain matters it’s necessary to consider many factors and navigate many complicated relationships. This situation involves different departments, different colleges, and many other factors that you may never have thought of. I know that, as a student from the law school, you believe in fairness and justice, and that you dream to one day be a judge. However, I’m much older than you, so I would like to give you a piece of advice. A judge will come into contact with many cases that might enrage you or seem completely intolerable, but when you face such cases, a judge must always be restrained, calm, and rational. You can’t be so hot-blooded and impulsive, because that will only be seen as unprofessional. A judge needs to be neutral and unbiased, even in the face of heinous murderers. They must put aside their personal feelings and judge the cases before them with a calm or, perhaps even apathetic, state of mind.”
“I don’t want to be a judge.”
“What?”
Not only the dean, even Qian Wei standing outside the door, was stunned by those words.
“If a judge has to put aside his personal feelings and always be cold and impartial, I can’t do it.” Lu Xun’s voice was cold and resolute. “If that is what a judge must do, I’d rather not do it.”
“But wasn’t becoming a judge your dream back when you chose our law school?”
“If I can’t even defend the person I love, I’d rather not have such a dream.” Lu Xun’s tone was firm and righteous. “I think becoming a lawyer is more suitable for me. After all, a judge cannot choose which cases he takes on, but a lawyer can. A lawyer always has the right to choose who they will defend.”
Hearing his words, the dean was so angry that she was speechless for a moment: “You may think you are being very manly right now by making this decision for love, but I have seen so many boys your age who have gotten carried away by love. Later, they calm down, and they always feel that they were very naive and end up regretting changing their dreams for the sake of love. You are an excellent seedling, so you really shouldn’t throw away your dreams just for something like love. Judges have much higher social status than lawyers, and their networks of contacts tend to be much broader and better than a lawyer’s. What’s more, with your character, you aren’t very suitable to be a lawyer. After all, it’s said that lawyers are practically a part of the service industry, they can only ever play second string, and have to face clients with a smile…”
“In my heart, love and dreams are equally important.” Lu Xun smiled and spoke in a confident, nearly arrogant, tone. “I want to pursue my career and also my love. In the dictionary of I, Lu Xun, there’s no such thing as throwing away my dream in the name of love. I have the confidence to walk to the pinnacle of any path I choose. Even if I am to play second string, I will always be the most powerful second string.”
“Let’s go, let’s go. Everyone get ready to go up on stage.” Suddenly a new voice appeared near Qian Wei.
“Our chorus is next, everyone line up according to the order we practiced during rehearsal.”
As the conversation inside the office was coming to an end, five or six girls wearing costumes and make-up suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor, apparently about to head up on stage. All of a sudden, their twittering and chattering masked all other sounds, so Qian Wei couldn’t hear what was going on inside the office anymore. Also, these girls’ costumes all had big pairs of wings, so the corridor was instantly a bit crowded and Qian Wei knew that she would be blocking their way if she stayed where she was. The girls were all hurrying to the stage, looking very anxious, so Qian Wei wanted to make way for them and, fortunately, there was a toilet on one side of the corridor and Qian Wei hurriedly slipped inside to make way.
Unfortunately, by the time she came out of the toilet again, the dean of the law school and Lu Xun had both left the office.
Qian Wei walked aimlessly through the gym in a complicated mood. She suddenly had a thought. If she was the reason Lu Xun had given up on being a judge and instead chose to become a lawyer in this life, then what about back in her previous life? What was the reason for the Lu Xun of her previous life to give up on his original intentions behind choosing law school in the first place? Becoming a judge used to be his dream.
Many messy thoughts lingered and intertwined in Qian Wei’s mind until they were like a ball of yarn that couldn’t be straightened out. Why had she been reborn in the first place? Why had fate chosen her? Was it all for her, Qian Wei? Did fate want to tell her something? Why was it that after she had been reborn, some things seemed to change easily, while other things, no matter how hard she tried to fight them, seemed to move in accordance with their original direction as if they were fated?
“Qian Wei!”
Just as Qian Wei was lost in thought, Lu Xun’s low and attractive voice shook her from her daze.
Qian Wei looked up and saw that Lu Xun had appeared right in front of her. Without saying a word, she rushed forward and jumped at him, hugging him tightly and burying her head against his chest. At this moment, it was as if the noise of the world all around had fallen away and Qian Wei was left hearing only the warm beating of Lu Xun’s heart.
Lu Xun was surprised by Qian Wei’s strange reaction. He froze for a moment before reaching down and gently patting Qian Wei’s head: “What’s the matter?”
“Thank you, Lu Xun, for doing so much for me.” Qian Wei’s voice was choked, “Because of me, you’ve offended a lot of people.”
Lu Xun averted his eyes and denied it without so much as a waver in his tone: “It was nothing. My speech was discussed with the school long beforehand and it was approved by the teachers. Actually, just now the dean came to me to talk about you. Originally, the investigation team was going to disclose the results of their investigation publicly but, because I clarified it for you during the school celebration in advance, the school decided to deal with it internally from here on to avoid expanding the situation. It can also be regarded as them giving Liang Qing a chance to redeem herself.”
Obviously, this was not the case at all, but Lu Xun lied solemnly so that Qian Wei wouldn’t feel guilty.
“Also, in the past, didn’t you say that you didn’t feel any sense of security while being with me, as if I might move on to someone else at any second?” Lu Xun’s voice was low as he whispered in Qian Wei’s ear. “Do you feel better now?”
Qian Wei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “I only pretended to be Mo Tao’s girlfriend for a few days and already got into trouble with that Liang Qing. Aren’t you worried that confessing so publicly like this will create a bunch of angry girls who also want to retaliate against me?”
“I’m not him.” Lu Xun said with disdain, “I, Lu Xun, am not a man who will let my girlfriend be attacked or retaliated against by others. That kind of thing will never happen while I’m around.” He cleared his throat. “In the future, even if you find a ‘rumored’ boyfriend or a fake boyfriend, you shouldn’t find another one like him…”
He didn’t finish that thought, but there was practically a banner hanging on his face that read: ‘Even if you want to find a ‘rumored’ boyfriend or a fake boyfriend, you should at least find someone like me.’
Qian Wei had only been Mo Tao’s fake girlfriend for a few days but, despite that, whenever Lu Xun talked about the other man his voice wound be tinged with sourness and dissatisfaction.
With Lu Xun’s high-profile confession just now, it would cause too much of a ruckus if Qian Wei returned to the gym with Lu Xun right now, so they naturally decided to give up on watching the rest of the school celebration. Instead, the two of them walked out of the gym hand in hand.
“Qian Wei!”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long their peaceful world of only two people was broken by Qian Chuan’s noisy voice.
“I finally found you!” Qian Chuan’s voice was a little angry. “Why didn’t you tell me what happened? How can my, Lao Qian’s**, family be bullied so casually? If it hadn’t been for what Brother Xun said during the opening ceremony just now, I would have had no idea that you were being falsely accused of being a thief. It’s simply unbearable! Fortunately, Brother Xun has already cleared your name. That Mo Tao is really a relative of Mo Zixin. He’s so unlucky! He’s not even good enough to be your fake boyfriend! Not even 1/10000 as good as Brother Xun!”
At the same time, Liu Shiyun walked up from behind Qian Chuan, listening to his flattering words and rolling her eyes.
However, before Qian Chuan could finish kissing Lu Xun’s ass, he was suddenly interrupted by an angry voice from behind.
“I finally found you!”
Qian Wei looked over in the direction of this new voice and saw, unexpectedly, it was Tang Lu. He was walking over angrily, but he seemed a little strange. Tang Lu usually walked gracefully like a gentleman but, at the moment, he seemed to be limping a bit and his posture was not very neat.
As he approached, Qian Wei noticed that not only was his posture a little strange, his face was also swollen and bruised. There were big bruises at the corners of his eyes, which made him look a bit like a giant panda. His double eyelids that he was usually so proud of had been reduced to thin slits because of the heavy bruising. And, right now, he was trying to glare fiercely at Qian Chuan, but the effect was somewhat ruined by how his eyes had been reduced to tiny slits.
“I finally found you!” When Tang Lu managed to recognize Qian Chuan through his squinted eyes, he gritted his teeth and pointed at him. “Since you beat me like this, we’re not done! I’m going to the police!”
*Yeah, so the line is ‘钱唯，陆询好像被灭绝师太叫住了啊’ and as you can see, Liu Shiyun refers to the person as ‘灭绝师太’ which is like ‘Madam Kill-all’, maybe? I dunno I really have no idea how to properly localize into English. It’s basically internet slang that means ‘unreasonably strict woman’ and it’s based off of a character from the book 《倚天屠龙记》.
**he refers to himself in the third person as ‘老钱’ / Lao Qian / Old Qian. If you’re familiar with c-novels it should be a familiar turn of phrase.