Chapter 184 - The Same Kind of Person
Translator: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
The ringing of his phone finally pulled Shi Lei back to reality in a state of confusion. A gust of wind buffeted him, leaving a whisper of “are you looking to die?” in his ear. Shi Lei suddenly stepped back, realizing that he was already on the road. If it wasn’t for the ringtone and his own moment of hesitation, he would’ve probably been hit by that car.
He fished the phone out and saw that the caller was unexpectedly Wei Qing.
“Wei Qing, do you need something? Oh, I really couldn’t get out last night and I was scared to drag you into it, so I didn’t go to the place you mentioned,” Shi Lei explained after picking up the call.
Wei Qing sounded ashamed and somewhat embarra.s.sed. “Bro, I’m really sorry. I thought it about for a long time, but I didn’t dare call you. It’s just that person, Song Miaomiao…”
“Don’t worry, she probably won’t be tormenting you guys anymore. At the very least, she’ll act normal.”
“Huh?” Wei Qing couldn’t understand and was astonished by what Shi Lei had said.
“Her story is actually pretty sad. She’s lived for so long and yet doesn’t have a single friend. If nothing unexpected occurs, she’s just gone back to Xi Xi, so the Shui Ye you all know will vanish and be replaced by the original Song Miaomiao.”
“Huh?” Wei Qing still couldn’t understand.
Shi Lei thought for a while and felt like there really wasn’t much to say. Just when he was about to hang up, Wei Qing spoke again.
“Shi Lei, I really don’t understand what you said. Are you saying that you were with Song Miaomiao the entire time last night?” He could tell from Wei Qing’s voice that the other was really concerned for his well being.
“I guess,” Shi Lei answered, “but not in the way you think.”
“Say no more. Where are you? I’ll come find you!”
Shi Lei looked around. “Next to Hilton.”
“Come upstairs then. I’m living here.” Then Wei Qing told him his room number. Shi Lei hesitated for a while, then returned to the hotel.
He rang the doorbell, only to have Wei Qing open the door immediately. The first thing he said was, “Not bad, you don’t look too haggard. Looks like you didn’t go through some inhumane torture!”
Shi Lei rolled his eyes. He already more or less knew Wei Qing’s personality and sent a kick flying toward him without a word.
Wei Qing dodged it with beaming grin and let Shi Lei into the room. He couldn’t bear his impatience and curiosity anymore and asked, “Tell me, what happened last night?”
Shi Lei found a place to sit. He picked up a bottle of water, chugged most of it down, then said, “It’s definitely not the dirty story you imagine it to be. You’re overthinking. According to my judgement, Song Miaomiao is not the type to act recklessly.”
“Huh?” Wei Qing’s face was filled with surprise.
“This is the third time you used ‘huh’ to express your surprise. Can’t you change it?”
“No, wait, what happened? Don’t say half of it! Finish it in one go!” Wei Qing was completely bewildered and was unable to comprehend Shi Lei’s words.
Shi Lei sighed. “She’s just an extremely lonely person. I a.s.sume that all fuerdais are lonely. Ever since childhood, you can’t really make friends, and your family has already planned out your future. Everyone has the same thoughts, but there are miles of distance between you. You can never make friends freely like ordinary children. After you grew up, you have to bring even more things into consideration, afraid that others will have ulterior motives. And at the same time, you have to do the same thing, striving to become friends with certain people who have a greater sphere of influence. So you don’t have any true friends you can talk to.”
Wei Qing heard this and fell silent. His expression also saddened.
“There is no gain without loss. Compared to what we gain, this so-called loneliness is not even worth mentioning. The feeling of being alone is just people getting upset over nothing. As long as we can hang out happily together, why do I have to have these so-called friends?!” Wei Qing laughed and mocked himself, but his tone sounded bitter and desolate.
Shi Lei smiled wearily. “If you really think like that, then it’s not that bad. But the loneliness of having something you want to talk about but no one to talk to can’t be made up as easily as calling some ‘friends’ or a woman over, right?”
“Hey, leave me some face, alright?” Wei Qing complained helplessly.
“Song Miaomiao is actually the same as you,” Shi Lei said, smiling, “except you chose a different path. For example, Yu Banzhi. The solution he chose was to completely escape from the circle. Of course, he couldn’t do it in the end. He just distanced himself from it all. But you are like the majority. You follow the rules, act according to your family’s requests, and don’t dare to cross the boundary by even half a step. Song Miaomiao chose to be completely rebellious because she has a grandfather who cherishes her and doesn’t allow anyone to criticize her. So she became your nightmare and a disaster that you and the other fuerdais would avoid out of fear. But she’s the same deep down inside. The only difference is that she uses an extreme way to let it all out. We were here, at this hotel’s penthouse suite, last night. We chatted for the whole night and looked out at the scenery. Based on her att.i.tude and what she said this morning before she left for Xi Xi, she shouldn’t be as ridiculous as before. And from the conversation last night, I found out that she was only ridiculous on the outside. In reality, she never had any intimate actions with other people that exceeded hugging. You guys may think that her private life is licentious and dominating, but consider this: Have you ever heard of anyone getting that close to her?”
Wei Qing seriously thought about it and realized that he really hadn’t seen or heard of anyone being close to Song Miaomiao. There were some unreliable rumours saying that she took a fashion model, or an internet celebrity, and slept with a man. But no one could ever say who that so-called man was, as if he never existed. According to Shi Lei’s statement, unless Song Miaomiao was a female praying mantis and devoured the man after they slept together, then all those rumours were just rumors.
“Now that you mention it, I really can’t think of any rumours that have actual proof.” Wei Qing already believed Shi Lei’s words.
“Of course, none of these are important to her because she doesn’t care. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be doing all these ridiculous things. She said this to me, ‘the image I usually construct for myself is pretty solid.’ And she asked what Yu Banzhi thought of her. She seemed to be pretty disappointed when I told her, saying that she thought Yu Banzhi would be able to understand her.”
Wei Qing heard this and suddenly smacked his thigh. “Now that you mention it, I remember him saying something along the lines of ‘you can’t only look on the surface, because rumors are not necessarily true.’ I didn’t really take note of it and neither did you. When I think about it, Yu Banzhi probably understands Song Miaomiao really well. But why? Why did Song Miaomiao think that Yu Banzhi would understand her?”
Shi Lei was blank for a second. “Did Yu Banzhi say that yesterday?”
“Definitely,” Wei Qing nodded with certainty. “I usually have a good memory.”
Shi Lei’s lips twitched and secretly said: Good memory my a.s.s. If you really do have such a good memory, you would remember what happened at that mansion.
Of course, he wouldn’t really say that. “Then it looks like Yu Banzhi really does understand her. Probably because Song Miaomiao thinks that he has gone through the same things as her!”
Wei Qing nodded thoughtfully and sighed. “You don’t say…they really are the same type of person. Yu Banzhi’s rebellion was also the topic of the entire circle, except the way he did it was more gentle. And from what you said, Song Miaomiao chose to walk a path of depravity and extreme ferocity.”