Chapter 65 - Not a decent fellow (Translated and edited by Xing)
The next day, Tang Xue returned home with numerous food. There were salted duck meat, beef tendons, frozen wontons and even braised quail eggs. Her grandmother had even taken out the remaining precious pumpkin glutinous rice cakes that she had saved, and like a salesperson, insisted that Tang Xue took two back. Tang Xue tried to refuse helplessly.
Mama Tang was at the hospital and only Princ.i.p.al Tang was at home. He was reading a military magazine. When Tang Xue entered the house, Princ.i.p.al Tang glanced at her for a brief moment. Before Tang Xue could see him doing so, he quickly shifted his eyes away and pretended to be deeply engrossed in the magazine.
Tang Xue stuffed the food into the fridge. When she entered the living room, she merely glanced at her father. Both father and daughter did not intend to be the first to speak.
Then, Tang Xue picked up the pair of skates that she left behind in the living room yesterday night and prepared to leave with her bag.
Princ.i.p.al Tang could not hold it in anymore. He blurted to her leaving figure, "Where are you going?" His tone was odd, a little awkward and stiff from being caught between the need to be stern and being unable to fully steel his heart.
"I"m going to elope with Li Yubing," Tang Xue said. Translated by Xing for only teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.
Princ.i.p.al Tang gave an unamused smile. "Go ahead. After you"re gone, I"ll use your dowry to buy a pig farm. Raising pigs is so much better than raising a child. It"s less worrisome and I even have meat to eat."
Tang Xue turned to look at her father and said gravely, "Dad, you can put down anyone in the world except for me."
"Oh?"
"I was brought into this world and also raised by you and mom. If you put me down, it"s equivalent to putting yourself down, and oh, also equivalent to putting mom down."
Princ.i.p.al Tang snorted, "You have wonderful skills at accusing people of imaginary crimes." As he spoke, he put down the magazine in his hands. "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Tang Xue put down the skates and spoke as she walked over. "First, thank you for giving me the chance to explain myself. I hope that as we continue this conversation, both of us will be able to keep our cool and trust in each other."
"Fine, fine, quickly explain what happened."
Tang Xue sat down and said, "Dad, do you remember how I once injured my head while picking up tree branches as a child? Li Yubing was there as well."
Princ.i.p.al Tang"s eyes drifted as he attempted to remember the incident. After a while, he nodded and said, "I remember it. After seeing a magpie"s nest in the tree, you were very envious of it and wanted to build yourself one as well, which was why you went to collect tree branches… I didn"t remember wrongly, right?"
Tang Xue: = =
"I also remember that your mom had to probe you for half a day before you were willing to confess what had happened." Princ.i.p.al Tang"s face was extremely perplexed as he shook his head. "Can you tell me what in the world were you thinking. A human living in a bird"s nest? Should I call you a birdman instead?"
"Cough." Tang Xue was very embarra.s.sed. "Let"s, let"s not sweat the small stuff."
"Mm, continue your explanation." This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.
"That incident left a scar and Li Yubing still remembers it. That day, he only wanted to see if the scar was still there. It just happened that someone took a photo of us when he was pushing back my hair."
At this point, Princ.i.p.al Tang felt that something was fishy, "How could things be so coincidental?"
"You don"t understand. Li Yubing is famous at our school. Here, I"ll show you." Tang Xue spoke and fished out her phone. She clicked into the account "Li Yubing"s Gossip Information Counter" and showed it to Princ.i.p.al Tang. "Look at the number of views."
Princ.i.p.al Tang swept his eyes over the articles and felt that universities these days were comparable to the chaotic Jianghu. He pointed to a phrase that caught his eyes and asked Tang Xue, "Why is everyone in school calling him "Green Ice"?"
"That…" Tang Xue scratched her neck and her eyes brightened suddenly. "Say the first two words of his name out loud. Say it fast."
"Li Yu, Liyu, Lǜ (Green)[1]." Princ.i.p.al Tang nodded. "Oh, I see."
"That"s why there"s always people secretly taking photos of him. I was implicated by him."
Princ.i.p.al Tang pondered over this for a while and asked, "So are you together with Li Yubing or not?"
"No way!" Tang Xue quickly waved her hands.
Princ.i.p.al Tang grumbled, "Pressing a girl whom he has no relationship with into the ground in broad daylight? He"s not a decent fellow."
Tang Xue thought, what a coincidence, I"m not, either.
This is an original work of 酒小七 (Jiu Xiaoqi) translated by Tea Fragrance. If you are not reading this at teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com, this translation has been reposted without the translator"s consent. Head there for extra content or to leave feedback and comments on the novel translation.
Translator"s Notes:
[1] As mentioned previously, the "Bing" in Li Yubing is the Chinese character for "ice". If you say "Li Yu" out fast, it sounds like "Lǜ", which is "green". I wonder if Jiu Xiaoqi took this into consideration when naming Li Yubing.