My injuries weren’t really that bad, but I didn’t want to cause further alarm to my classmates so I just claimed that I had tripped and fallen. Although my injuries had just about healed, sadly Yin Li did not permit me to participate in any activity that was even a little strenuous.
During our class’s volleyball tournament, I could only cheer from the sidelines. Under the blazing sunlight, I eventually grew bored and went off to wander around on my own.
I had only walked halfway through our campus’s flowering wisteria archway before I felt that something was off. Someone was following me. Discovering this, I felt a lingering fear. Because H University was an open campus, all sorts of people mixed in with the students, coming and going as they pleased. Though I was frightened, I maintained an outwards appearance of calm and smoothly strolled down the path, keeping my original pace. I headed towards the library, where there would be more people. The person behind me kept at a steady distance and didn’t make a move. When the amount of people around us finally increased, I dropped my pretenses and ran into the crowd.
The person behind me also ran out of their patience and chased after me, yelling, “Miss! Wait! Wait! Miss please wait! WAIT!1 I’m a good guy! I’m a good guy! Don’t run!” Unexpectedly, his Chinese had a bit of a Westerner’s accent. Out of curiosity, I turned my head around. To my surprise, a foreigner with a big, bushy beard was currently gasping for breath as he ran after me.
1 This “wait” was spoken in English, not Chinese.
Then when he saw my face, he said in surprise, “My god! It’s exactly the same!” Subsequently he continued to shout after me in a louder voice, pleading, “I have something really important to discuss with you! Miss! Stop! Don’t run!”
By then I had arrived at a densely populated area, and my fear of him also disappeared. Thus, I actually stopped running this time. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I looked at him suspiciously.
The foreigner smiled as he came up to me and stretched out his arm to offer a handshake. “I’m Frank. Miss, please excuse my boldness, but you really do resemble my idol!”
I snorted. “Bro, this kind of pick-up line is already old.”
The so-called Frank smiled. “No, Miss! Hear me out! I never had the slightest intention of hitting on you! It’s true! You truly do look exactly like my idol! Practically identical!”
“You foreigners also look practically identical to me. It’s the common problem of being face-blind to other races. You probably think all Asians look the same, that’s all.”
But he actually defended himself, “No, miss, it’s true! At the moment I don’t have a photo of her on me! But! If you could just let me see your ankle… And if you could let me touch it that’d be even better!”
I was currently wearing jeans. This foreigner son of a bitch wanted to see my ankle, and on top of that, feel it up?! Wasn’t he clearly taking liberties with me?! At this thought, the swells of the Chinese national anthem2 burst in my heart as I had a sudden desire to vanquish Imperialism. Yet the foreigner continuously inched closer with crazed eyes, seemingly wanting to get a glimpse of my ankle. In a moment of desperation, I drove my foot into the crotch of his pants.
2 Yan Xiao actually directly refers to the song 义勇军进行曲, “The March of the Volunteer Army”, aka the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. Here’s a youtube link for the curious…
“Goddamned pervert, see how you like that, huh!?”
He made a sound of acknowledgement, seeming not to mind the pain. Rather, he stared at me as if he had encountered something unbelievable, muttering, “It seems that you really aren’t her. She would never do something so crass, or conduct herself in such a vulgar manner. Ai, seems like she really did die. Nothing in the world can replace my star of hope. She has already fallen.” Then he plopped onto the ground and, disregarding appearances, burst into tears.
I couldn’t make heads or tails of this foreigner and thought that it was best to keep my distance. Reflexively, I cursed at him in French, spitting out a “bâtard fou“3 as I ran off. By evening, I had already tossed this matter into the back of my mind.
3 bâtard fou means “crazy bastard”, thanks Google Translate.
Tonight, Yin Li had a private gathering to attend. Because of his car accident, many people with various motives paid a visit. And this was also the first time Yin Li had taken the initiative to include me in his circle.
However, my mood wasn’t very good because the amount of women fawning over him was overly excessive. But what was really upsetting was that I unexpectedly saw the woman who had blown a kiss at Yin Li from her Porsche that day at the hospital. Like always, she was wearing a red dress. This time it had a deep v-neck, revealing the sexy line of her cleavage. Her eyes glittered and her figure looked well-maintained. It was obvious that she had great confidence in her body.
When I drew closer, I saw her face more clearly and begrudgingly admitted that she was indeed a very attractive woman.
“Chen Qing Yan’s wearing red again today. Had I known earlier, I wouldn’t have worn the same color. This sort of woman is really the enemy of all womankind. Wherever she goes, she attracts all the attention.” Sure enough, after paying attention to my surroundings, I found that many of the female guests were discussing her.
“She clearly rushed over here for Yin Li. I heard that its been months since he contacted her, she’s probably gotten impatient by now. Even if she’s the daughter of a big real estate mogul, so what? They still can’t be compared to the Yin family. She’s just here to see Yin Li’s expression, really it’s all one-sided on her part.”4 The girl who spoke made a gesture with her pinkie5 and then shared a smile of tacit understanding with her friend.
4 The original text uses 倒贴, which refers to when the woman financially supports her man. It’s sort of looked down on in Chinese society b/c the man is typically supposed to foot the bill for everything… (buying a house, etc.) The gossips are essentially criticizing Chen Qing Yan by saying that she’s doing all the work in her “relationship” with Yin Li.
5 比个小拇指 (make a comparative gesture with one’s pinkie) is used indicate that you’re looking down on someone, or sometimes also means that two people are dating.
But most of these sentiments could probably be considered as coming from a maiden’s jealous heart. The woman in question carried herself elegantly and looked completely at ease. Though she was the topic of many rumors, she didn’t look the least bit worried. On the contrary, she was completely in her element, having everything go her way.6Furthermore, she wasn’t like the other girls who were anxiously trying to squeeze their way next to Yin Li. At the moment her lips were curled in a small smile at precisely the perfect degree, giving her a sumptuous and regal air that was very fitting on her. The male guests in front of her were all staring at her, their faces drunk with infatuation.
6 The original text uses 左右逢源, meaning “striking water left and right”. It describes when someone has everything go their way; benefits from both sides.
I was still digesting the kiss she blew at Yin Li that day. My mood soured, as if it was plunged into a jar of pickles. Unfortunately, no matter how critical my eyes were, every movement and gesture she made was the definition of perfection. As it so happens, these sorts of women were adept at reading the atmosphere and knew exactly what part to play at exactly the right time. When they should show off, they showed off. When they should construct the image of an imposing, not-to-be-crossed, well-bred young lady, they were extremely outstanding. It really gave me a sense of crisis.,
Before I noticed, I had spent quite a while observing Chen Qing Yan and unwittingly turned into a wallflower. When a waiter came with a tray of drinks, I noticed that I felt somewhat thirsty. Balanced on the waiter’s tray were some sort of rainbow-colored cocktail, and I conveniently snagged one in passing.
Just as I was about to take a sip, I heard someone interject from the side.
“This cocktail, must be this year’s newly concocted Rainbow.” I turned towards the source of the voice. To my dismay, Chen Qing Yan was standing right by my side. Each of her ten fingers was long and slender, and her nails were painted the same hue of scarlet as the swirling skirt of her dress. Her apparent friendliness felt overly invasive. With two fingers, she elegantly pinched the glass stem and held her drink in the air for a moment, observing its rainbow layers. She then languidly said, “Rainbow can only preserve its distinctly colored layers because its been stored in cold temperatures. Consequently, one mustn’t use the palm to grip the body of the glass. The warmth of one’s palm or even one’s fingertips will ruin the luster and the taste.”
I saw that in my cocktail glass, which I had carelessly gripped by the body, the layers of colors had already started mixing. It quickly lost its iridescent beauty and became a mess of colors. Chen Qing Yan elegantly took a sip of her glass and revealed a slight, shallow smile. She didn’t even spare me a glance.
She was the only one here who had seen Yin Li enter with me, yet she didn’t see me as a threat to her amusement at all. Her self-confidence and social standing were her birthright. And her belittling words seemed to make me the butt of some cruel joke.
In a huff, I downed the whole glass and glared hatefully at her. At this moment, she put down her glass which she had only taken a few sips out of, and flung a glance my way. Addressing the waiter, she asked, “Do you have any Coke? It’s not proper for young ladies to drink more than a few sips of alcohol; more than that would be inappropriate.”
The waiter nodded and immediately went off to fetch her Coke.
I shook with anger. Every word out of this woman’s mouth made me uncomfortable.
In a short time, the waiter was heading back in our direction with two cans of Coke on his tray. Halfway, a girl stopped him to ask something. The waiter turned and placed the tray aside on a nearby dining table before he began to make gestures with his hands, explaining something to her.
I suddenly saw that this was an opportunity. The room right now was filled with the sound of chatter, the cacophony of voices diverse and varied.1 I took advantage of the hubbub and, pretending that I was getting a slice of cake, slowly inched my way towards the dining table. Everyone was preoccupied with their respective conversations, and their gazes slid right over me. I hastily grabbed a can off the tray and vigorously shook it. Sadly for me, the waiter quickly finished his conversation. When I saw that he was right about to turn around and retrieve the tray, I had no choice but to give up on shaking the other can too.
1 The author uses 陆离 from the chengyu 陆离光怪, meaning “diverse in color and bizarre in form” to describe the clamor in the room. It comes from the late Qing Dynasty novel《孽海花》(A Flower in a Sinful Sea) by Jin Tianhe and Zeng Pu.
Chen Qing Yan had been very popular at this gathering since it began, and until now she was occupied with chatting with some gentleman so she hadn’t noticed my movements. Without any trace of suspicion, she thanked the waiter and took a can. However, just as she was about to pull open the tab, that gentleman hurriedly snatched it over.
“Qing Yan, allow me. Otherwise, if you break a nail, I wouldn’t dare show my face in front of your father again.”
With a hiss, the tab was popped open. The soda bubbled out the top of the can and spilled onto the man’s hands and sleeves, with even more foam dripping onto the carpet. I made a sound of disbelief, unable to process what had just happened. Even if some ass-kissing skirt-chaser hadn’t just popped out of the middle of nowhere, given how vigorously I shook the can, Coke should be spewing everywhere. Besides that man getting a face-full of sticky soda, even Chen Qing Yan who was standing next to him should have been fully drenched!
This was the only trick I could think of to embarrass Chen Qing Yan, but the schadenfreude2 I was anticipating at the sight of Chen Qing Yan in a wretched state, drenched from head to toe in Coke, actually didn’t occur. She still stood there looking like a goddess descended to Earth. The refined expression on her face matched Yin Li’s, as if they were a match made in Heaven.
2 Turns out there’s an equivalent for “schadenfreude” in Chinese: 幸灾乐祸 (to take joy in calamity and delight in disaster).
I ground my teeth, so furious that my temples were about to burst. I cursed my idiot self, feeling the need to take a drink to calm myself down. In my fit of anger, my mind apparently ceased to function and I conveniently swiped the other can of Coke off the tray. Without thinking, I pulled open the tab.
The sudden explosion of Coke very accurately splattered all over my face. Later, my mind’s memories of that exact moment would be a complete blank. Because it happened so fast, I couldn’t even react in time. Only when Coke was dripping down my face did I realize what had happened. Just now, the can Chen Qing Yan had taken wasn’t the one I shook. Rather, the one I had applied all my strength to was currently spilled all over my face. Turns out that what goes around, really does come around!
The Coke’s splash zone sure enough extended to the handful of people around me, and little white flecks of soda spangled their formal wear like stars. In the instant that the soda exploded, various yelps of shock and indignation had risen one-by-one, but those soon quieted. Now the whole room had stilled in response to this unforeseen event, and an empty bubble devoid of people formed around me. A puddle of Coke had also appeared on the carpet beneath my feet. All sorts of glances came my way, some pitying, some disdaining, and some amused. My empty mind was unable to discern which of these expressions Chen Qing Yan wore.
“Yan Xiao!”
I lifted my dripping head and saw Yin Li pushing through the crowd.
This time he didn’t even have a frown on his face. He just looked at me helplessly, and then scooped me up in a princess carry. The Coke immediately seeped through his shirt and stained his clothes, yet he hardly paid any attention to that. He just continued carrying me and announced to the crowd, “Any of our guests, whether they’ve gotten their clothes dirty or not, can send their clothes to the dry cleaners. Everyone here will be sent an Yin Corporation gold credit card. I’ll first take my leave to help my fiancée change. Apologies for my absence.”
These words were like a bomb dropped amidst the gathering, and on the faces of everyone present was a look of astonishment and shock.
My injuries weren’t really that bad, but I didn’t want to cause further alarm to my classmates so I just claimed that I had tripped and fallen. Although my injuries had just about healed, sadly Yin Li did not permit me to participate in any activity that was even a little strenuous.
During our class’s volleyball tournament, I could only cheer from the sidelines. Under the blazing sunlight, I eventually grew bored and went off to wander around on my own.
I had only walked halfway through our campus’s flowering wisteria archway before I felt that something was off. Someone was following me. Discovering this, I felt a lingering fear. Because H University was an open campus, all sorts of people mixed in with the students, coming and going as they pleased. Though I was frightened, I maintained an outwards appearance of calm and smoothly strolled down the path, keeping my original pace. I headed towards the library, where there would be more people. The person behind me kept at a steady distance and didn’t make a move. When the amount of people around us finally increased, I dropped my pretenses and ran into the crowd.
The person behind me also ran out of their patience and chased after me, yelling, “Miss! Wait! Wait! Miss please wait! WAIT!1 I’m a good guy! I’m a good guy! Don’t run!” Unexpectedly, his Chinese had a bit of a Westerner’s accent. Out of curiosity, I turned my head around. To my surprise, a foreigner with a big, bushy beard was currently gasping for breath as he ran after me.
1 This “wait” was spoken in English, not Chinese.
Then when he saw my face, he said in surprise, “My god! It’s exactly the same!” Subsequently he continued to shout after me in a louder voice, pleading, “I have something really important to discuss with you! Miss! Stop! Don’t run!”
By then I had arrived at a densely populated area, and my fear of him also disappeared. Thus, I actually stopped running this time. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I looked at him suspiciously.
The foreigner smiled as he came up to me and stretched out his arm to offer a handshake. “I’m Frank. Miss, please excuse my boldness, but you really do resemble my idol!”
I snorted. “Bro, this kind of pick-up line is already old.”
The so-called Frank smiled. “No, Miss! Hear me out! I never had the slightest intention of hitting on you! It’s true! You truly do look exactly like my idol! Practically identical!”
“You foreigners also look practically identical to me. It’s the common problem of being face-blind to other races. You probably think all Asians look the same, that’s all.”
But he actually defended himself, “No, miss, it’s true! At the moment I don’t have a photo of her on me! But! If you could just let me see your ankle… And if you could let me touch it that’d be even better!”
I was currently wearing jeans. This foreigner son of a bitch wanted to see my ankle, and on top of that, feel it up?! Wasn’t he clearly taking liberties with me?! At this thought, the swells of the Chinese national anthem2 burst in my heart as I had a sudden desire to vanquish Imperialism. Yet the foreigner continuously inched closer with crazed eyes, seemingly wanting to get a glimpse of my ankle. In a moment of desperation, I drove my foot into the crotch of his pants.
2 Yan Xiao actually directly refers to the song 义勇军进行曲, “The March of the Volunteer Army”, aka the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. Here’s a youtube link for the curious…
“Goddamned pervert, see how you like that, huh!?”
He made a sound of acknowledgement, seeming not to mind the pain. Rather, he stared at me as if he had encountered something unbelievable, muttering, “It seems that you really aren’t her. She would never do something so crass, or conduct herself in such a vulgar manner. Ai, seems like she really did die. Nothing in the world can replace my star of hope. She has already fallen.” Then he plopped onto the ground and, disregarding appearances, burst into tears.
I couldn’t make heads or tails of this foreigner and thought that it was best to keep my distance. Reflexively, I cursed at him in French, spitting out a “bâtard fou“3 as I ran off. By evening, I had already tossed this matter into the back of my mind.
3 bâtard fou means “crazy bastard”, thanks Google Translate.
Tonight, Yin Li had a private gathering to attend. Because of his car accident, many people with various motives paid a visit. And this was also the first time Yin Li had taken the initiative to include me in his circle.
However, my mood wasn’t very good because the amount of women fawning over him was overly excessive. But what was really upsetting was that I unexpectedly saw the woman who had blown a kiss at Yin Li from her Porsche that day at the hospital. Like always, she was wearing a red dress. This time it had a deep v-neck, revealing the sexy line of her cleavage. Her eyes glittered and her figure looked well-maintained. It was obvious that she had great confidence in her body.
When I drew closer, I saw her face more clearly and begrudgingly admitted that she was indeed a very attractive woman.
“Chen Qing Yan’s wearing red again today. Had I known earlier, I wouldn’t have worn the same color. This sort of woman is really the enemy of all womankind. Wherever she goes, she attracts all the attention.” Sure enough, after paying attention to my surroundings, I found that many of the female guests were discussing her.
“She clearly rushed over here for Yin Li. I heard that its been months since he contacted her, she’s probably gotten impatient by now. Even if she’s the daughter of a big real estate mogul, so what? They still can’t be compared to the Yin family. She’s just here to see Yin Li’s expression, really it’s all one-sided on her part.”4 The girl who spoke made a gesture with her pinkie5 and then shared a smile of tacit understanding with her friend.
4 The original text uses 倒贴, which refers to when the woman financially supports her man. It’s sort of looked down on in Chinese society b/c the man is typically supposed to foot the bill for everything… (buying a house, etc.) The gossips are essentially criticizing Chen Qing Yan by saying that she’s doing all the work in her “relationship” with Yin Li.
5 比个小拇指 (make a comparative gesture with one’s pinkie) is used indicate that you’re looking down on someone, or sometimes also means that two people are dating.
But most of these sentiments could probably be considered as coming from a maiden’s jealous heart. The woman in question carried herself elegantly and looked completely at ease. Though she was the topic of many rumors, she didn’t look the least bit worried. On the contrary, she was completely in her element, having everything go her way.6Furthermore, she wasn’t like the other girls who were anxiously trying to squeeze their way next to Yin Li. At the moment her lips were curled in a small smile at precisely the perfect degree, giving her a sumptuous and regal air that was very fitting on her. The male guests in front of her were all staring at her, their faces drunk with infatuation.
6 The original text uses 左右逢源, meaning “striking water left and right”. It describes when someone has everything go their way; benefits from both sides.
I was still digesting the kiss she blew at Yin Li that day. My mood soured, as if it was plunged into a jar of pickles. Unfortunately, no matter how critical my eyes were, every movement and gesture she made was the definition of perfection. As it so happens, these sorts of women were adept at reading the atmosphere and knew exactly what part to play at exactly the right time. When they should show off, they showed off. When they should construct the image of an imposing, not-to-be-crossed, well-bred young lady, they were extremely outstanding. It really gave me a sense of crisis.,
Before I noticed, I had spent quite a while observing Chen Qing Yan and unwittingly turned into a wallflower. When a waiter came with a tray of drinks, I noticed that I felt somewhat thirsty. Balanced on the waiter’s tray were some sort of rainbow-colored cocktail, and I conveniently snagged one in passing.
Just as I was about to take a sip, I heard someone interject from the side.
“This cocktail, must be this year’s newly concocted Rainbow.” I turned towards the source of the voice. To my dismay, Chen Qing Yan was standing right by my side. Each of her ten fingers was long and slender, and her nails were painted the same hue of scarlet as the swirling skirt of her dress. Her apparent friendliness felt overly invasive. With two fingers, she elegantly pinched the glass stem and held her drink in the air for a moment, observing its rainbow layers. She then languidly said, “Rainbow can only preserve its distinctly colored layers because its been stored in cold temperatures. Consequently, one mustn’t use the palm to grip the body of the glass. The warmth of one’s palm or even one’s fingertips will ruin the luster and the taste.”
I saw that in my cocktail glass, which I had carelessly gripped by the body, the layers of colors had already started mixing. It quickly lost its iridescent beauty and became a mess of colors. Chen Qing Yan elegantly took a sip of her glass and revealed a slight, shallow smile. She didn’t even spare me a glance.
She was the only one here who had seen Yin Li enter with me, yet she didn’t see me as a threat to her amusement at all. Her self-confidence and social standing were her birthright. And her belittling words seemed to make me the butt of some cruel joke.
In a huff, I downed the whole glass and glared hatefully at her. At this moment, she put down her glass which she had only taken a few sips out of, and flung a glance my way. Addressing the waiter, she asked, “Do you have any Coke? It’s not proper for young ladies to drink more than a few sips of alcohol; more than that would be inappropriate.”
The waiter nodded and immediately went off to fetch her Coke.
I shook with anger. Every word out of this woman’s mouth made me uncomfortable.
In a short time, the waiter was heading back in our direction with two cans of Coke on his tray. Halfway, a girl stopped him to ask something. The waiter turned and placed the tray aside on a nearby dining table before he began to make gestures with his hands, explaining something to her.
I suddenly saw that this was an opportunity. The room right now was filled with the sound of chatter, the cacophony of voices diverse and varied.1 I took advantage of the hubbub and, pretending that I was getting a slice of cake, slowly inched my way towards the dining table. Everyone was preoccupied with their respective conversations, and their gazes slid right over me. I hastily grabbed a can off the tray and vigorously shook it. Sadly for me, the waiter quickly finished his conversation. When I saw that he was right about to turn around and retrieve the tray, I had no choice but to give up on shaking the other can too.
1 The author uses 陆离 from the chengyu 陆离光怪, meaning “diverse in color and bizarre in form” to describe the clamor in the room. It comes from the late Qing Dynasty novel《孽海花》(A Flower in a Sinful Sea) by Jin Tianhe and Zeng Pu.
Chen Qing Yan had been very popular at this gathering since it began, and until now she was occupied with chatting with some gentleman so she hadn’t noticed my movements. Without any trace of suspicion, she thanked the waiter and took a can. However, just as she was about to pull open the tab, that gentleman hurriedly snatched it over.
“Qing Yan, allow me. Otherwise, if you break a nail, I wouldn’t dare show my face in front of your father again.”
With a hiss, the tab was popped open. The soda bubbled out the top of the can and spilled onto the man’s hands and sleeves, with even more foam dripping onto the carpet. I made a sound of disbelief, unable to process what had just happened. Even if some ass-kissing skirt-chaser hadn’t just popped out of the middle of nowhere, given how vigorously I shook the can, Coke should be spewing everywhere. Besides that man getting a face-full of sticky soda, even Chen Qing Yan who was standing next to him should have been fully drenched!
This was the only trick I could think of to embarrass Chen Qing Yan, but the schadenfreude2 I was anticipating at the sight of Chen Qing Yan in a wretched state, drenched from head to toe in Coke, actually didn’t occur. She still stood there looking like a goddess descended to Earth. The refined expression on her face matched Yin Li’s, as if they were a match made in Heaven.
2 Turns out there’s an equivalent for “schadenfreude” in Chinese: 幸灾乐祸 (to take joy in calamity and delight in disaster).
I ground my teeth, so furious that my temples were about to burst. I cursed my idiot self, feeling the need to take a drink to calm myself down. In my fit of anger, my mind apparently ceased to function and I conveniently swiped the other can of Coke off the tray. Without thinking, I pulled open the tab.
The sudden explosion of Coke very accurately splattered all over my face. Later, my mind’s memories of that exact moment would be a complete blank. Because it happened so fast, I couldn’t even react in time. Only when Coke was dripping down my face did I realize what had happened. Just now, the can Chen Qing Yan had taken wasn’t the one I shook. Rather, the one I had applied all my strength to was currently spilled all over my face. Turns out that what goes around, really does come around!
The Coke’s splash zone sure enough extended to the handful of people around me, and little white flecks of soda spangled their formal wear like stars. In the instant that the soda exploded, various yelps of shock and indignation had risen one-by-one, but those soon quieted. Now the whole room had stilled in response to this unforeseen event, and an empty bubble devoid of people formed around me. A puddle of Coke had also appeared on the carpet beneath my feet. All sorts of glances came my way, some pitying, some disdaining, and some amused. My empty mind was unable to discern which of these expressions Chen Qing Yan wore.
“Yan Xiao!”
I lifted my dripping head and saw Yin Li pushing through the crowd.
This time he didn’t even have a frown on his face. He just looked at me helplessly, and then scooped me up in a princess carry. The Coke immediately seeped through his shirt and stained his clothes, yet he hardly paid any attention to that. He just continued carrying me and announced to the crowd, “Any of our guests, whether they’ve gotten their clothes dirty or not, can send their clothes to the dry cleaners. Everyone here will be sent an Yin Corporation gold credit card. I’ll first take my leave to help my fiancée change. Apologies for my absence.”
These words were like a bomb dropped amidst the gathering, and on the faces of everyone present was a look of astonishment and shock.
