DFLB – Chapter 70

When she saw that Qian Chuan and Liu Shiyun had both seemed to have completely walked out of the shadow of heartbreak, Qian Wei felt happy from the bottom of her heart.

On top of that, Lu Xun also seemed to be in a very good mood for some reason.

Qian Wei was curious: “Did something good happen?”

“Those two big light bulbs have finally disappeared.” Lu Xun looked into Qian Wei’s eyes. “Now my girlfriend can finally start spending all the energy she was using to care about her brother and her best friend on me instead.”

Qian Wei laughed and said, “Then, are you free this afternoon? Do you want to go on a date?”

“Before that, let me take you somewhere.”

“Huh? Where?”

However, Lu Xun seemed to want to keep their destination a mystery, so Qian Wei could only follow along behind him. The two people boarded a taxi and rode together hand-in-hand until they reached the place Lu Xun told the taxi to stop. Qian Wei looked out and saw that they were in front of a high-end residential building.

Qian Wei trailed behind Lu Xun as he walked up to the door and swiped his access card with a familiar motion. He turned back and said: “Come in.”

However, Qian Wei didn’t immediately follow him inside. She stammered nervously: “But I-I am not ready…”

Lu Xun seemed confused by her reaction: “Huh?”

“Shouldn’t I go and buy some fruits or something as a gift?” Qian Wei was very nervous, “Also, I didn’t wash my hair today and the clothes I’m wearing are just my ordinary clothes I wear to class.”

“Umm?”

“Um… would it be better for me to take off my makeup first?” By this point, Qian Wei was completely immersed in her own world. “Since this is our first meeting, wouldn’t it be better not to wear makeup so that I can look more pure and straightforward? What will I do if uncle and auntie don’t think I’m good enough and they want us to break up? Will they secretly find me and say, ‘I’ll give you 5 million to leave my son…’”

“Qian Wei, I live in this house alone. My parents don’t live here.”

“Huh?”

Lu Xun couldn’t help but laugh: “So you don’t have to worry about that kind of scene. Anyway, let’s go.”

“Oh, I see.” However, this news actually put Qian Wei into a different kind of difficult situation, “Actually, I’m still not ready yet…”

“Hmm?”

“Although I know that it’s normal for college students to sleep together nowadays, it’s still daytime and I don’t think it’s good to sleep together during the day.”

“…” Lu Xun was briefly dumbfounded before realizing what Qian Wei meant. He leaned forward and lightly kissed Qian Wei’s earlobe, then said. “You idiot, of course I’ll wait for you to be ready for that kind of thing.”

Then he straightened up and patted Qian Wei’s head. “I really just wanted to show you where I live.” Lu Xun unconsciously averted his eyes and his ears turned slightly red. “I’m the only one living here, so it’s very simply furnished, but I thought that if we moved in together in the future it would have to be redecorated and all the furniture would need to be replaced. So I wanted you to come and take a look early, since I don’t know what kind of style you would prefer.”

This sudden attack caused Qian Wei’s face to flush as she stood still in a daze for a moment. When she came to, she immediately patted her chest and ran to catch up with Lu Xun.

Lu Xun’s apartment was on the 10th floor, unit 507. The floorplan was one of the better one’s in this building, a so-called ‘garden unit’ because it had a large amount of square footage and a view of the nearby lake and garden when you stood on the balcony. The building was built adjacent to one of City A’s lakeside parks, so some of the pricier units had a panoramic view of the carefully maintained evergreen plants all the year round.

“Your parents didn’t come to live with you even though it’s such a big house?”

“Mhm.” Lu Xun spoke as he poured a cup of tea for Qian Wei, “I bought this place myself.”

Although the housing prices still hadn’t skyrocketed now in 2009, this upscale building where Lu Xun’s apartment was located should still be very expensive even in 2009. Qian Wei was very surprised: “Lu Xun, what do you do? How did you make so much money? ” She sent him a tentative glance and asked nervously, “You didn’t… um… sell yourself, did you?”

Lu Xun glanced at Qian Wei speechlessly. “Can’t you have a few more normal thoughts in your head?”

“The down payment for an apartment like this should have a price tag that’s at least in the hundreds of thousands. I really can’t think of any kind of work that would let a student make such a huge amount of money apart from that.”

“I translate legal documents and contracts.” Lu Xun handed the cup of tea over to Qian Wei, “They pay me 2000 yuan per page.”

Qian Wei suddenly thought that Lu Xun really had already shown his potential to become partner*, even now as a student. After all, that price he quoted was extremely high within the industry. However, when she thought about it, the quality of the service he provided was undoubtedly excellent and probably there was no one who could replace him. That being the case, it wasn’t too surprising that there would be a steady stream of people looking for him to translate their documents, enough to the point that he could pretty much set his price wherever he wanted.

However, Qian Wei did some quick internal calculations and realized that, although Lu Xun was being paid a high wage comparatively speaking, it still wouldn’t be easy to save enough money for the down payment on an apartment like this. She was afraid that Lu Xun’s spare time was probably more or less entirely devoted to translating legal documents and contracts.

Qian Wei felt a little distressed when she thought about it: “Why did you work so hard to buy a house? Isn’t it too tiring to go home after class and then just start working? Wouldn’t it be better to let yourself rest? After all, we’re still students.”

“Weren’t you the one who said it?”

“Huh?”

“You said that if a person makes money in the future, they should buy a house as soon as possible, because the value of the house will definitely soar in the future. You also said that: even if they don’t believe that the value of the house will soar in the future, as a man, they have to prepare the house in advance if they want to get a wife.”

Qian Wei was stunned for a moment before she vaguely recalled what Lu Xun was talking about. Wasn’t that the advice she had given to Li Chongwen back on the first day of their financial management class?

“Lu Xun, did you like me even way back then?”

Lu Xun pursed his lips and denied it almost subconsciously: “No.”

“Then why can you remember the words I said way back then so clearly?”

“I have an amazing memory.”

“But didn’t you say that you don’t bother to remember things said by people that you don’t care about, because you don’t want to waste the space in your brain?”

“There happened to be some extra space in my brain available that day.” Lu Xun turned his head to the side and looked out the window. “It’s just a coincidence that I happened to remember it.”

Lies! Qian Wei thought to herself. Obviously if he really didn’t care, he wouldn’t have even listened to her say that sentence. In fact, back when she had said that sentence, it had been right after class so the surroundings had been very noisy but, despite that, Lu Xun could still remember every word so clearly? Obviously he cared about her even back then! When her thoughts reached this point, Qian Wei couldn’t help but feel a little smug in her heart. Hah, Lu Xun, ‘the light of the law school, had been paying attention to a nobody like her all this time!

However, before Qian Wei could enjoy that smug feeling, her stomach suddenly gave a loud growl at a truly inopportune moment.

Qian Wei blushed and said, “I’m a little hungry. Why don’t we go out for dinner?” She looked at the time. “We can go and have dinner first, and then would you like to go see a movie? I seem to remember that there is a new film showing recently that had pretty good reviews!”

“If we watch a movie, I won’t be able to chat or interact with you at all.”

“Then why don’t we go out and have tea after dinner? There’s an English teahouse in the city center and I’ve heard that their Earl Grey tea is delicious! The environment is very suitable for a date.”

Lu Xun replied in a slightly unnatural tone: “I’ve been suffering from insomnia lately so I don’t want to drink caffeine.”

“Well, why don’t we just go out for dinner first.” However, as she spoke Qian Wei looked at Lu Xun’s face and felt that he wasn’t too happy with her suggestion, so she said, “If you’d prefer we could order takeout instead. There’s a Thai restaurant nearby that does takeout and I’ve heard it’s pretty good.”

Lu Xun coughed and said in a strange tone, “I suddenly don’t feel like eating Thai food.”

Qian Wei felt that something was a little strange. In the past whenever she would make suggestions, even if Lu Xun wasn’t thrilled with them, they had never gone back and forth like this for so long.

“What’s the matter, Lu Xun?” Qian Wei stopped and stared into Lu Xun’s eyes. “What’s on your mind?”

Lu Xun pursed his lips and said nothing, looking a little embarrassed.

Qian Wei said, “It’s fine, you can tell me whatever it is.” She thought for a moment and said tentatively, “Since you don’t want to go out, and you also don’t want to  get takeout…” Qian Wei boldly guessed, “That… could it be that… something is wrong down there?”

Lu Xun was at a loss for words: “Hah?”

Qian Wei euphemistically said: “I see. If it’s uncomfortable down there, it’s not convenient to walk, it’s also very uncomfortable to sit for a long time and drink tea, and it’s also not good to eat Thai food…” Qian Wei paused, “Don’t worry, I don’t think any less of you because of this. In this era, men getting hemorrhoids is something normal, it won’t affect your image in my heart.”

The more Lu Xun listened, the more he felt something was off. And when he heard ‘men getting hemorrhoids is something normal’ his face turned black.

Qian Wei was still busy ‘comforting’ him: “It’s okay. Actually, Mo Tao told me about a good vegetarian restaurant. The food is very light, and it should be very suitable for you…”

“Qian Wei!” Lu Xun couldn’t stand it any longer. “Where do you want to go? I’m actually fine!”

“Huh?”

Lu Xun’s face turned slightly red, unclear whether out of anger or embarrassment. He blusted, “It’s not that I don’t want to go out for dinner.”

“Huh?” Qian Wei was very puzzled. “Then why did you keep shooting down my suggestions?”

Lu Xun was silent for a moment before saying confidently, “It’s because I have no money.”

Qian Wei: ???

Lu Xun’s tone turned a bit embarrassed: “I spent a little bit too much money in the past few weeks and then I had to make a payment on the apartment. Originally I thought it would be fine since I could just do more work as a translator, but I never expected that all of my free time somehow disappeared after I fell in love with you.”

Qian Wei mumbled: “Falling in love with me prevented you from earning money? Really…?”

Lu Xun stared into Qian Wei’s eyes: “Nowadays I’m always on edge, and all I want to do is be with you every day. I’m never in the mood to work anymore.” Obviously those kinds of words should probably be said in a distressed tone, but Lu Xun’s voice was extremely gentle.

And Qian Wei really wanted to record these words down and play them back for the 28-year-old Lu Xun. She was sure that the 28-year-old Lu Xun would never have dreamed that he would one day find something in his life that was more fascinating to him than making money.

“Actually, I wouldn’t have run out of money so soon if things were as usual.” Lu Xun sounded a little embarrassed. “Anyway, it won’t be like this next month. I’m only having trouble this month because I spent too much money back then on…”

Qian Wei thought about it and realized that she had been the one who persuaded Lu Xun into spending a lot of money on his pursuit of Mo Zixin recently. He had bought movie tickets, paid for dinners, and bought an expensive bracelet, all without blinking an eye. She even remembered thinking at the time that with Lu Xun’s speed of spending money, he would probably have to eat dirt by the end of the month and just look at him now…

“It doesn’t matter. I can pay.” Qian Wei pulled out her wallet as she spoke and shook it around at Lu Xun. “In the future, don’t worry about money anymore and don’t work so hard as a translator. From today onwards I officially announce that you, Lu Xun, have become the pretty boy that this rich lady is raising.”

“…”

Qian Wei was filled with excitement, and her tone became arrogant: “I’ll treat you to dinner tonight!”

However, when Qian Wei opened her wallet, she was completely dumbfounded to discover that there was only about fifty yuan inside. At that moment, she suddenly remembered that Qian Chuan had wanted to sign up for a training club for the basketball team a few days ago but he had no money, so he had come to ask to borrow her bank card so that he could sign up first. She really didn’t expect that while he was doing that, Qian Chuan, that brat, had taken advantage of the situation to quietly lift the two old Grandpa Mao’s* out of her wallet!

Lu Xun saw that Qian Wei’s wallet was nearly empty and said mockingly: “Well, rich lady, where are you taking me to eat?”

“…” Qian Wei was embarrassed for half a second, but then quickly counter-attacked, “Wait a second. Lu Xun, didn’t you say that you were learning to cook? Didn’t you say that you would cook for me? Seems like there’s no time like the present!”

Lu Xun was caught off guard for a second, but he quickly recovered and smiled before saying: “Sounds good.”

It was as if he had no desire to refuse Qian Wei’s proposal at all.

Qian Wei was filled with joy and immediately ran to the kitchen but, as soon as she opened the refrigerator, she saw that there was nothing inside but a few bottles of mineral water and some eggs.

Lu Xun was a little embarrassed. He coughed and said: “There is a supermarket not too far away. Let’s go shopping together and I’ll be able to see what kind of food you like to eat.”

There was an organic supermarket built near Lu Xun’s building and, by this time, it was around the time that everyone was out buying ingredients for dinner. The supermarket bustled with people and Qian Wei and Lu Xun quietly weaved through the crowd hand-in-hand with their shopping cart in front of them. This simple scene caused an unexpected gush of warmth to well up in Qian Wei’s heart. 

“Do you want to buy potato chips? Is the barbecue flavor alright?”

“Let’s buy some chicken wings and some Coke, you can make fried chicken wings and we’ll have Coke to drink!”

“Wow, these mushrooms! Let’s get some of these mushrooms, I love them!”

“Oh, this celery seems fresh. Let’s buy some.”

…….

Unexpectedly, they had ended up shopping in the supermarket together instead of going on a date, but the scene wasn’t boring at all. Lu Xun leisurely pushed the cart while following behind the noisy Qian Wei, who would glimpse something she liked on the shelf and then seconds later it would appear inside the cart. For his part, Lu Xun was still his usual cold and noble self, he didn’t speak and just casually pushed the cart with one hand while keeping the other in his pants pocket. His cold temperament seemed somewhat at odds with the noisy supermarket in the background, as if he had an innate sense of distance between him and this regular scene. However, no matter what kinds of strange twists and turns Qian Wei made as she wandered the supermarket, Lu Xun was always right there behind her as long as she turned to look back for him.

Like that, the two people wandered for a while and, in the end, bought a whole cart of things.

After they checked out, there were unexpectedly two big bags of food and Lu Xun picked them up, one in each hand, while looking quite relaxed as if they weren’t heavy at all. However, as soon as the two stepped outside the supermarket, Lu Xun suddenly set the bags down.

“Wait for me here. I suddenly remembered that we didn’t buy any salt.”

Qian Wei waited where he told her for a moment, and soon Lu Xun came back out carrying the salt. As she watched him walk over, she mused that a handsome man like Lu Xun really seemed to have a halo over him no matter what he was doing. If another man walked around the supermarket while carrying some salt, he would definitely just look like a random passer-by. However, Lu Xun was different. As he walked toward Qian Wei right now, even though he was just carrying some salt, it seemed as if he were walking across the big stage. With Lu Xun’s cold and handsome face, his aura practically seemed to make the catwalk appear around him. 

“Let’s go.”

However, the weather seemed to disagree with their plans, and Qian Wei and Lu Xun were only halfway back to his apartment when it suddenly began to rain. Then, before long, it had already turned into a downpour. By the time Qian Wei and Lu Xun finally ran back to his house, both of them had been drenched.

“Go and take a bath.” Lu Xun quickly pushed Qian Wei into the bathroom and briefly showed her how to adjust the temperature of the water. Of course, her wet clothes couldn’t be worn anymore, so Lu Xun found one of his own white shirts from his wardrobe and handed it over. “This is all I have that will fit you, wear it first so that you don’t catch a cold.”

Lu Xun’s apartment actually had two bathrooms so, by the time Qian Wei had finished bathing and drying her hair, Lu Xun had already finished washing up and was sitting by the windowsill.

When Qian Wei stepped out of the bathroom, Lu Xun was just sitting and staring intently at the heavy rain outside the window, listening to the patter of the raindrops as they fell against the outside of the apartment.

The room was well heated, so it was warm enough, but Qian Wei still subconsciously hugged her chest. She felt uncomfortable because her clothes were all wet and she had nothing to wear except this single white shirt.

Lu Xun turned around and saw Qian Wei in this state. She was wearing his shirt and it was a little baggy on her small frame, making her whole person seem a bit more petite, and there was a large area of snow-white skin poking through the large neckline of the shirt. Beneath the light and nearly-transparent white shirt was her curvaceous chest, and her slightly shy posture really only served to call more attention to the chest she was trying to cover up. As soon as she took a step, the folds of the white shirt moved along with her body and the undulating lines beneath the cloth became even more obvious and apparent. Lu Xun tried to turn his gaze away but somehow happened to meet Qian Wei’s eyes instead. Her fair skin was slightly pinkish from just coming out of the bath and her eyes, like two shining stars, flickered innocently as they met his own.

Lu Xun suddenly felt as if he heard the sound of something snapping in his head.

It was all over.

Things were going to get bad if they continued on like this.

Previous TOC Next

*partner as in ‘partner in a law firm’

**mao is on all Chinese bills and ‘Old Grandpa Mao’ is slang for 100 yuan bills… I think(?). Slang for some denomination of bill anyway lol