DFLB – Chapter 80

When Qian Wei woke up, all she heard was the steady ‘Beep. Beep.’ of a nearby monitoring instrument. Her throat felt dry, she had a splitting headache, and her whole body felt like a rusty old machine slowly coming back online. After a few seconds, she finally felt like she was regaining some control of her aching body and she gently moved her finger a bit. However, as she did, she found that someone was there sitting next to her, leaning his head against the side of her bed. He was probably extremely tired because it seemed that the other person had fallen asleep.

However, she had only just barely twitched her finger a bit when the other party woke up.

“Qian Wei? You’re awake!” Lu Xun’s low voice sounded a little hoarse. He obviously hadn’t rested properly recently, but when he saw that Qian Wei had woken up, his face turned ecstatic, especially his eyes which seemed to suddenly blaze alight, going from bleary and muddled by tiredness to sudden razor clarity. 

Qian Wei had originally been feeling very uneasy, but when she heard Lu Xun’s voice she somehow felt relieved. She subconsciously looked up at Lu Xun: “Lu Xun…”

However, as she took a closer look, Qian Wei was very startled. Although his eyes were bright, Lu Xun’s face was in a bad state. He had two deep and dark circles that stood out against his too-pale face. He was dressed in his professional attire, but his usually meticulous collar was a little askew and his tie was pulled loose and left to hang casually around his neck. The whole scene was extremely shocking to Qian Wei because she knew that for Lu Xun, who usually paid attention to image, allowing himself to appear so disheveled like this simply wouldn’t happen in normal circumstances.

“Lu Xun? How long was I out after I fell into that pit? Have I been in a coma for years? You, you…” Qian Wei took a close look at Lu Xun and said with an amazed tone, “How come you’re so old now?”

As soon as she said that, Lu Xun’s face immediately turned ugly.

Qian Wei hurriedly corrected her words: “No, I didn’t mean old, I meant haggard, haggard! I know that you must have been worried about me, but your haggard face is actually very fierce. At first glance, a person might think that you were already twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. Don’t worry though, when I get out of the hospital I’ll buy you a facial mask which will help you. Actually, ah, men need to take care of this aspect too you know!”

Unfortunately, Lu Xun didn’t seem to appreciate her concern. Instead of thanking her, Lu Xun just looked shocked and a little flustered, he paused and seemed to be weighing his words. Eventually, he softened his expression and said, “Qian Wei, I am 28 years old.”

Qian Wei: ???

Lu Xun’s eyes were complex: “You were unconscious for a week. Anyway, it’s fine, you just woke up so you may be a bit confused, but don’t worry, I’ve called the doctor.”

Qian Wei was a little panicked. She had thought she was still in the ‘19-year-old world’ when she woke up, but it seemed that she was wrong, and it was actually the 28-year-old Lu Xun sitting opposite her.

Qian Wei was filled with uneasiness and she asked tentatively, “Say, your family lives in the Anlan Mountain Villa, right?”

Lu Xun was confused by this topic, but he answered: “Yes, that’s right. However, I moved out to live on my own a few years ago and now only my parents live there.”

Since what she knew about the Anlan Mountain Villa was true, does that mean that Lu Xun remembered what happened between them when he was 19? Or rather, did all of that really happen? Or could it be that the entire 19-year-old world was in a parallel but separate time and space? Or perhaps it was all just a dream she had while she was in her coma?

“Ah Heng, why do you think no one else in the drama can see that girl is in pain just because she acts strong?”

After pondering for a moment, Qian Wei gritted her teeth and recited one of those melodramatic lines from the play they had been working on. If Lu Xun also remembered everything then, when he heard that line, he would recognize it and understand it was a code to talk about their time together at 19. 

However, Lu Xun just continued to give Qian Wei a complicated and nearly unfathomable expression, before saying: “You fell into that pit while you were on the way to work, so it can be regarded as a workplace injury. That being the case, I will be responsible for you until the end, so you don’t have to worry about the treatment fee.”

Qian Wei didn’t give up and recited another line: “I’m crazy for you, so crazy that I’m banging against the wall for you?”

Lu Xun pursed his lips and said, “I approved your prior request for a vacation.”

Qian Wei still didn’t give up: “We’ll fly together like 888.*”

By now, Lu Xun’s face had already turned a little ugly, but he endured and didn’t give any reaction. He just continued coldly, “I’ve agreed to allow you to join Hi-Tech Machinery’s acquisition case.”

Qian Wei felt that the worst premonition in her heart had really come true… but she couldn’t help but try one last time: “Tonight, let’s try for seven times?”

Lu Xun’s face turned completely black: “Qian Wei, have you ever heard of quitting when you are ahead?”

“…”

Qian Wei was in complete despair. Obviously, the one standing in front of her now was the real deal, it was her usual icy 28-year-old boss.

Although her heart was full of complex emotions of loss and sadness, Qian Wei immediately tried to clean up her mood. She looked around the ward: “So is this a VIP ward?”

“It is.”

“What about those construction workers that didn’t put up a warning sign and made me fall into their pit?”

“I’ve already collected materials and sued on your behalf. At present, the other party has proposed a settlement of 500,000 yuan but I have not agreed. I plan to continue to sue.”

Qian Wei touched her chin and spoke in a thoughtful tone, “500,000 isn’t that bad… or, at least, it’s something that I could reluctantly agree to. After all, if I have to go through the whole litigation process with all the trials and appeals that entails, it will probably be at least a year from now when I finally get the money.”

“Qian Wei, you really have some ideas.” Lu Xun’s tone was hard, but at the same time he turned his head away awkwardly before continuing, “For this sort of enterprise that ignores public safety, I definitely won’t agree to a settlement even if they offered compensation of 10 million yuan.”

That was really Lu Xun’s style…

However, just as Qian Wei was about to continue, a group of doctors suddenly rushed in excitedly. After that, all kinds of people gave Qian Wei all kinds of examinations and, after messing around for most of the day, an elderly male doctor who seemed to be leading the team opened his mouth solemnly as if he had come to a conclusion.

“All of her physical indicators are normal but, because she landed on her head when she fell, it seems that she may have some brain damage, and her memory seems a bit muddled. However, this is normal and her memory should recover properly with time. After all, her linguistic abilities seem to be unaffected, which is a good sign in cases like this. She just needs to have a good rest after she is discharged from our hospital and she should recover. However, be sure to continue to observe her for a while and have her come and see a doctor if any problems arise.” He smiled at Lu Xun, “It seems that our treatment plan this time was very successful, however, regarding the follow-up…”

Lu Xun suddenly stood up and interrupted the doctor: “Dr. Zhu, let’s step outside and talk about this.”

Then, just as soon as Lu Xun left, Qian Chuan rushed in.

“Qian Wei! You’re awake! ” Qian Chuan’s eyes were a little red, “You know, you really scared me to death! And our parents almost fainted from all the anxiety of standing watch over you for so long. They really wanted to wait with me the whole time until you woke up but I was afraid that their bodies wouldn’t be able to stand it, so I sent them home last night to get some rest. Now that you’re awake I’ll go and bring them here to see you later on.”

Qian Wei looked at Qian Chuan carefully. Now, at the age of 28, he already had the scent of a mature man about him. No longer anything like that stupid boy he had been in school. Since he had stayed abroad for a long time he now seemed quite gentlemanly and not so impetuous anymore. In fact, because he had always been busy with work and their schedules rarely lined up ever since he had gone abroad, Qian Wei’s connection with her brother had slowly deteriorated over the years. However, when she saw him right now, Qian Wei somehow felt the bonds of blood would never really fade. Although things might have changed as time flew by, Qian Chuan was still Qian Chuan.

Qian Wei smiled at him: “I’m all right, but what about you? How can you just let go of your business and fly over like this? Won’t your company in America be a mess without you? You’ve only just gotten through the most difficult initial stages, so you shouldn’t be sitting around here worrying about me. If something happens over there then you need to fly back quickly. “

In fact, after he had settled in the United States Qian Chuan had set up a sports photography company that would follow sports events and sell specialized visual marketing packages. By now the company had brought on more than 10 full-time photographers and designers and, on top of that, it had already secured cooperation agreements with a large number of excellent freelance photographers who worked in the industry.

Qian Chuan shook his head: “No, I don’t plan to go back. This time I think I will be moving the entire company to China.” As he spoke, some of his mature aura seemed to fade away, as if some of his awkward younger self was peeking out, “Ever since you had an accident this time, I realized that my family is no less important to me than my career. Before I noticed, our parents have gotten old, and you’ve been left here working all alone. I, as the only strong man left in the family, have to take up the responsibility of taking care of all of you.” He scratched his head, “And, after doing some preliminary investigations, I feel that there is a lot of room for development in the domestic sports and entertainment market. Right now there are only a few people dabbling in the industry, so I feel that it’s entirely possible that I could become a leader in the field, and perhaps become the first person to make his fortune in the field domestically.”

“Qian Wei!”

Just as Qian Chuan finished speaking, Qian Wei heard Liu Shiyun’s familiar voice.

“You’re finally awake!” Liu Shiyun burst through the door with a large bouquet of flowers, looking very excited. It looked like, if she hadn’t been worried about Qian Wei’s body, then she definitely would have gone over to give her a hug. “I always knew you would wake up, after all, you’ve always had a dog’s luck. But did you realize that you really scared us all to death this time? Especially Lu Xun! Well, he was probably just afraid that if you didn’t recover from your work-related injury he, as your classmate and your boss, definitely wouldn’t be able to absolve himself of the blame. But it’s a bit shocking, he actually didn’t take on any new cases this week, and he even handed over all of his current workload to other people just so he could come and watch over you this whole week while hardly sleeping at all. Just now, I saw him outside the door talking to the doctor and said hello and, while his face was as calm as always, his hands were shaking a bit, probably from being so tired. I was a bit worried that he might suddenly die on us if you didn’t wake up soon.”

Qian Wei felt her heart throb: “He watched over me this whole week while I was in a coma, without even sleeping properly?”

Liu Shiyun nodded: “Mhm.” Then she picked up a fruit knife and said, “Wait a moment, I’ll peel an apple for you.”

Qian Wei’s heart that had been filled with ashes suddenly seemed to come back to life as she thought that, although Lu Xun didn’t know anything about her experiences in that dream or parallel world or whatever it was, maybe there was a possibility that it had all been some sort of revelation from the heavens meant for Qian Wei. Something to get her to ask herself, exactly what did Lu Xun really mean to her?

Of course, Liu Shiyun had no idea Qian Wei was in the midst of thinking about all sorts of things and, as she peeled the apple, she seemed to remember something and started to speak angrily, “Actually, I had some really bad luck today. While I was driving here, there was a terrible driver in front of me who was driving like an old grandmother, afraid to speed up even a little bit, and as a result, I ended up missing a light. He was a man driving a Hummer, and I only saw that his license plate had ‘13B’ in it. Driving like that, constantly starting and stopping, was he having problems with frequent urination or something? Huh, thinking about it, he also drove to this hospital, so maybe he really did have a problem with his prostate!”

“Who did you say had a problem with their prostate?” Qian Chuan, who had been silent until now, finally couldn’t sit still anymore. He glared at Liu Shiyun and said, “I only just returned to China and I’m not that familiar with the roads in City A anymore, so it’s normal to drive with a little more caution. You can’t just randomly slander people!”

Liu Shiyun looked over at Qian Chuan and had an expression of realization, “Wait, so you were that stupid man with the bad prostate?!” She turned her head and looked at Qian Wei. “Qian Wei, who is this? It’s strange, he seems a bit familiar.”

Qian Chuan was so angry that he couldn’t even maintain the steady and gentlemanly image that he had been working to project just now: “Make it clear to me now, who exactly is the stupid man with a bad prostate? My prostate is fine!”

“…” Qian Wei suddenly felt that, although what had happened in her dream hadn’t actually happened, at least Qian Chuan and Liu Shiyun were the same. Even though they weren’t very familiar with each other in the first place and they hadn’t seen each other for years, the second they met it was still a calamity on the scale of Mars smashing into the Earth.

It was so noisy that Qian Wei covered her ears to try to shut out their bickering and shouted: “Be quiet, be quiet! You’re in a hospital and you’re not supposed to make so much noise, okay? Pay more attention!” Then she looked at Liu Shiyun. “By the way, have you seen my phone?”

Liu Shiyun sent another glare at Qian Chuan before turning away to help Qian Wei find her phone from a nearby drawer. Then, after she handed the phone over, she turned back and continued to squabble with Qian Chuan.

Qian Wei decided not to care about them anymore. In fact, she only had one thought on her mind right now, and that was: What exactly had been in that text message that Lu Xun had sent her that had indirectly caused her to fall into that pit? She knew that, when compared to text messages, Lu Xun obviously prefered to just call people, so Qian Wei had always felt that maybe there was something important in that message. She had fallen into the pit because she had lowered her head to read that message and then had gone through that entire strange experience in the world where she was 19, so could it be that this message was somehow the key that would solve all the mysteries plaguing her mind?

Perhaps… perhaps it might be Lu Xun’s confession of love? Could it be possible that over the course of their long relationship Lu Xun had actually developed some feelings for her, at least a little bit? 

Qian Wei’s heart was pounding, full of a mixture of expectation and apprehension, and she slowly unlocked her phone with trembling fingers.

‘Have you looked at that pro bono case yet?’ 

Those nine words burned themselves into Qian Wei’s eyes, and she somehow felt that she heard that sound of something snapping inside her.

Go to hell Lu Xun!

Qian Wei was raging, she had fallen into a fucking hole just to see this message?!

She really had to hold herself back, after all, it was against the law to kill the boss!

Previous TOC Next

*this line and the next line are both butchered sorry. 888 is like wishing for wealth / prosperity. I dunno I’m too lazy to properly localize slang.