Author: Shi Ding Rou
Translator: yuejiin
Please do not steal my translations!
In fact, even without his hands, Helan Jingting’s gruesome eyes could cut off Guan Pipi’s breath.
But a hard object suddenly jabbed over, causing him to take a step back in surprise. Looking down, a silver-edged black object pressed against his chest.
“What’s this?”
“Sony Voice Recorder.”
Helan Jingting’s brows creased, “You want to record?”
Pipi vehemently nodded, making a TV anchor’s gesture and raising her voice, “Mr. Helan, may I ask your impression on being a fox for 900 years? Could you describe it in one word?”
This was a main road leading to the city, and there were many cars on the road whose headlights crisscrossed, flashing their faces like scanners.
Helan Jingting stared blankly before helplessly laughing, “Looks like you really aren’t scared of me.”
“Nope,” Pipi shook her head, “Where I used to live, there was a crematorium behind, a revolutionary martyr’s grave on the left, and a wreath shop next door. I’m scared of everything except ghosts.”
Actually, that wasn’t where Pipi lived but where her close friend Xin Xiaoju lived. Because she grew up in that sort of neighborhood, Xiaoju was thought of as having yin (negative) energy and a thick ghostly atmosphere, being the reincarnation of a ghost or possessed by one. Despite being a top math student, there weren’t many in the class willing to pay attention to her except the naturally curious Guan Pipi.
“I’m not a ghost.”
“You have a shadow.” Pipi pointed at the ground, agreeing.
“I’ll say it again, I’m—”
“Only if you can prove it.”
Facing one another for a few seconds in silence, Helan Jingting suddenly laughed and said, “There were more trees back then than there are now.”
This time it was Pipi’s turn to feel at a loss, “What trees?”
“Didn’t you ask me if I had an impression? That’s my impression.”
There were more trees back then. Bullshit. Housing costs were also cheaper back then!
This person lived for 900 years, and that was his only impression?
Pipi suddenly felt disdainful of him, “Helan Jingting, you really lived all those years for nothing.”
Returning to the car, Helan Jingting twisted to that channel again, and a depressing Serenade in E flat major resounded in the car.
“Is this the type of music foxes like?”
“Mm.”
“This is— your (foxes) radio station?”
“Mm.”
“That sexy broadcaster is also a fox?”
“Classifier.”
“Also a fox?”*
*T/N: she used the classifier for foxes the first time before correcting it to the one for humans.
“Our race prefers going into the entertainment industry.”
“No wonder it’s music every day, and there isn’t even any news,” Pipi mumbled to herself.
“You’re wrong. It is broadcasting news; however, it uses music to do so. Only foxes can understand.”
Pipi crossed her legs, “What is it broadcasting? Tell me about it.”
“It was just talking about the climate of the Greater Khingan Mountains. Sunny to cloudy. –52°C in the Arctic. The flower shop at the ferry crossing received a fresh new batch of organic flowers, the limited stock is up for sale. There’s also someone who attained the grand immortal’s teachings (reached enlightenment), the secret of cultivation* and so on.”
*T/N: I think the enlightenment/cultivation here refers to foxes cultivating into human form (as opposed to religious enlightenment) since this is the fox’s news channel.
“Ferry crossing flower shop… you mean the one on South Street?”
“Mm.”
There isn’t a single C city resident who doesn’t know of this great flower shop and the grand flower market held here once a year. Pipi’s grandma even bought a significant amount of flower seeds from there.
“You also go there often to buy flowers?”
“Not often, just sometimes. To me, that shop is equivalent to your McDonald’s.”
“Can your digestive system stand only eating flowers?”
Helan Jingting was suddenly silent.
“You…do you have a digestive system?”
Continued silence.
“How many times a day do you go to the restroom?”
The car suddenly stopped again. Then, the door lock on Pipi’s side suddenly flicked open. Helan Jingting’s voice was very blunt, “Get off.”
“We haven’t arrived at my house yet.”
“Get off.”
“I won’t.”
Helan Jingting got off and opened her door, “Guan Pipi, get off.”
“No.”
He suddenly grabbed her feet, took off her leather boots, and threw them in the back seat.
“Helan Jingting, what do you want to do!”
“Are you getting off?”
“My shoes…”
Helan Jingting didn’t care about her situation, pulling her out of the car. Closing the door, the car rumbled to life, scraping up a cloud of dust and driving off.
Only Guan Pipi stood barefoot on the street, shouting in vain at the tail light in the distance:
“AH— Helan! Come back! I’ll acknowledge you’re a fox, alright! Helan—”
The tail light ironically flashed two times, gradually becoming a dot and converging into the rolling traffic flow, becoming indistinguishable.
It was truly unbelievable. This man really left her behind.
Guan Pipi couldn’t help looking under her feet: a very good asphalt road, the ground was very smooth. If it was summer, strolling barefoot would definitely be a pleasure.
However, she cried bitterly in her heart, it’s winter ah.
Although the snow had stopped and the ice had melted, the ground was as cold as the air.
She stretched out a hand to hitchhike, but no one paid attention to her. She wanted to make a phone call, but her phone battery ran out. Moreover in the middle of the night, her crooked and collapsed appearance easily raised suspicions.
Pattering on alone for nearly an hour, her two feet were only absorbed in moving forward, her mind numb.
She moved forward in a dawdle, walking until she was covered in sweat and the starlight grew sparse. Only then did she see the building she lived in. Forgetting to turn off the light, her bedroom light was still on. When she reached the entrance, she used the street lamp to see that her feet had a lot of bloody blisters. Although wrapped in thick socks, the soles of her feet were still torn and bloody, an unbearable sight.
Pipi cried bitterly in her heart: foxes and humans were truly different races! When the great fox immortal says he’s angry then he really is angry, one mustn’t offend him!
Pipi lightly released a sigh. Lifting her head, she saw a faint white shadow sitting on the doorsteps.
That posture was familiar, and she vaguely distinguished it.
“Jialin?”
The white shadow stood up, greeting in surprise, “Pipi, did something happen? You only just got back this late?”
“I…I lost my shoes.” Pipi felt a bit wronged, but also blamed herself for being too talkative (to Helan). She brought it upon herself.
Fortunately, Jialin didn’t pry anymore as he was afraid she’d get embarrassed. Seeing her limp step by step, he bent down, “I’ll carry you up.”
Pipi obediently clung to Jialin’s back, letting him carry her up to the second floor.
Actually, this wasn’t Jialin’s first time carrying her on his back. Once she fell off her bike and fractured her bone for a month. Jialin sent her to school on his bike every day. He was always the one who helped her up and down the stairs, even carrying her several times. At that time his height was also not that tall, but she was even smaller. His tone was hard to negotiate with, and Pipi also didn’t decline it, happily lying on his back. For this, Jialin was even made fun of by others who said he was “Zhu Bajie carrying his wife.”* The Jialin who carried her at that time had an unnatural face and hardened cheeks, displaying a look that warded off rumors. In the end, he was even mistakenly selected as a model of Lei Feng** for the entire school due to this series of events. It was truly hilarious.
*T/N: Zhu Bajie is a pig-like character in the novel Journey to the West. Jialin carrying Pipi is similar to Zhu Bajie because he once carried off and abducted a girl and demanded she marry him.
**T/N: Lei Feng was a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army characterized as selfless, modest, and devoted to the Communist Party, Mao Zedong, and the people of China. (info from wiki)
Jialin was wearing a down coat, but a masculine scent still emerged from the neckline, wafting to the tip of the nose. Pipi’s heart pounded very fast, her face flushed and ears hot. She felt as if her body would nearly be scorched by his back.
Entering her apartment, Jialin set her down on the couch and turned towards the kitchen to boil some water.
“Jialin, what did you come over so late for?” Pipi asked him through the door.
“It’s nothing.” He gently sighed.
“Didn’t do well on your exam?”
“Mm. It’s not that I didn’t do well. I just didn’t reach the score I was hoping for, so the school I applied for didn’t give me a full scholarship.”
In her memories, as long as he didn’t do well on his exams, Jialin wouldn’t go home right away but would first go to Pipi’s house to take a breather, gather his spirit, and prepare to confront his mother’s rage.
“Then apply to more ah. If it’s not bright in the East, then it’s bright in the West.”*
*T/N: she’s saying he’ll eventually get there if he keeps trying.
“I’m only satisfied with a few schools. As for the others, they offered me a full-ride but I’m not interested in going.”
Pipi made a bitter smile.
Jialin was always first in their grade. He developed a proud nature in his studies. He had to be the best at everything, and even second place was not enough.
“Then…how about you take the GRE again?”
“Well, looks like that’s all I can do. There’s still one more school that hasn’t replied yet. I guess I’ll wait some more.”
Pipi remembers that every time Jialin prepares for the GRE, he seems to lose some weight. Going to Beijing to attend some New Oriental classes, it was all closed-door studying. Upon coming back, he would appear dark and thin. It caused one’s heart to ache.
“I have potato chips here, do you want any?” Feeling that the conversation was getting too serious, Pipi suddenly said this.
“Your feet are swollen. Let me take you to the hospital.”
“There’s no need for that, I have Yunnan medicinal powder.”
Jialin poured some tea for her, looking at his watch and saying, “It’s so late, I’m heading back now.”
“Oh…ok…” Actually, what Pipi wanted to say was, since it’s so late, you could make do with the sofa for a night.
Seeing him walk to the door, Pipi suddenly recalled a matter and asked, “Have you seen Tianxin recently?”
Jialin hesitated for a moment, not looking back, “I haven’t.”
“If you see her, please ask if she’s bought the 40% off NK concert tickets. This girl, she hasn’t picked up any of my calls.”
“Alright.”
Jialin turned and glanced at her with a deep gaze, “Goodnight.”
Pipi laughed, “Goodnight.”
The door lightly latched and shut close. Ignoring the stabbing pain in her feet, Pipi rushed into the bathroom.
Her period came.
Helan is a real jerk here :((
But he really predicted her period accurately! Wonder if she’s gonna start believing him or think he’s a creep~
Yuenme Translations 