Transmigration & Reverse Transmigration

No. 5: To transmigrate or not to transmigrate

Although she"d yet to find a way to transmigrate, many things had already left subtle changes on Minmin. One day after brazenly stealing back her transmigration notebook, Minmin scribbled on a messy scrawl:

Section 3: Reason for Transmigration.

Why do I want to transmigrate? To hunt for rich, attractive guys? To get rich unfairly? To learn a unique set of martial arts?

Minmin held her mechanical pencil in her mouth as she gave a start. …no, that"s not right. I just want to go to a world where n.o.body knows me and start anew. Maybe I just want to gain people"s recognition? Or maybe I"m unsatisfied with being so ordinary? Maybe…

In the end, there was nothing but a blank s.p.a.ce beneath the header t.i.tle. 

—

One year later.

The clean rays of morning sunlight slowly trickled down. An agile, nimble young lady in sportswear was jogging along a road, beads of sweat reflecting her smart-looking hairstyle. Her healthy, fair skin had the l.u.s.ter of pearls, while her slenderly pliable but tough body was filled with the rhythm of life. Behind her was a crowd of athletes in pursuit, boys who made a ruckus as they called out.

"Beauty, look this way!"

"Minmin, Minmin, I love you~"

"Just like mouse likes rice1!"

"Hahaha, hehehehahaha…!" Minmin stopped as she laughed, helplessly shaking her head. She bent down and propped herself up with her knees to catch her breath. "Aye…these little monkey b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, they"re getting more and more outrageous!"

Ever since Minmin represented all the girls in the college to win this year"s Tae Kwon Do compet.i.tion, she"d meet a crowd of intimate boys every morning on her jogs. There were ever a few undercla.s.smen who"d asked her with shining eyes to be taken as her disciple! As for those third year uppercla.s.smen, they wanted to celebrate with drinks before getting drunk enough to confess their feelings! It stirred the entire campus into a temporary fervor. Minmin stared at the long jogging track, her head filled with the sound of boys" laughter and the golden rays of the sun.

Why do I want to transmigrate? To gain recognition from others?

At noon, the students clubs gathered in front of the a.s.sembly hall to recruit new members. Minmin attempted to shield her face as she pa.s.sed by, but someone recognized her right away.

"She"s the one! Zhao Minmin! Don"t go! Join our Literature and Arts Department! You"re exactly the type of talented person we need!" 

Another person pa.s.sed through the crowd and grabbed Minmin with one shot, shouting loudly, "Nonsense! The whole school knows that Zhao Minmin is the Tae Kwon Do champion! How could such a person not join our Sports Department? Plus, Minmin belongs to our Martial Arts Club captain. Right, Minmin?" (There was a highly ambiguous tone to these words.)

That"s right. Last year Minmin used a When will the moon be clear and bright, A Song of Laughter in the Vast Seas, and A Beauty to seize a glorious victory in the school"s Top Ten Vocalist Finals. Her finale, which was a poignant and stirring ethnic dance using water sleeves2, was enough to stun the audience and help her carry off first prize! From then on, the members of the Literature and Art Department were always tangling themselves up with her. Zhao Minmin"s social status as a person of untrammelled spirit sharply rose…

Minmin heard an earful of champion, romantic person, my idol as her eyes glazed over in disappointment. Why do I want to transmigrate? So that I won"t be ordinary anymore?

—

"Student Zhao Minmin," the Director of Academics called her back to reality. "This year your performance has been outstanding. You"ve won many awards both on campus and citywide, gaining prestige amongst your peers. I"ve seen the results of your academic achievements as well. Overall, it"s not bad, especially your cla.s.sical literature and history cla.s.ses. The professors of both cla.s.ses are full of praise for you~hehe. Most importantly, you"re a model student! Especially towards those average university students, your hard work and success has been the strongest testimony for your shining example! This is more effective than any form of encouragement! …how is it? Zhao Minmin, do you want to consider running for the college president"s a.s.sistant?"

Minmin stared fixedly at the face of the appreciative Director of Academics, her heart crying out louder and louder: Why do I want to transmigrate? For what reason?!

—

Minmin"s thoughts were awhirl as she walked through the hutong. Turning a corner, she suddenly got dragged into a house by Auntie Song, who shoved a pile of steamed cakes into her hands without explanation.

"If it"s not enough, come back and get more~! That right, young lady, your parents are going abroad for business next week. You"re still only half-grown up, so don"t stay by yourself in case something happens! Just come straight to our house after cla.s.ses!"

"I know now, thank you, Auntie Song!"

In the end, it had been Uncle Song who"d won that famous one-year faceoff. But such a row caused the two families to grow closer. Within the hutong, a weiqi craze rose up amongst the residents, but the only one with enough patience to play three rounds with the elderly men and ladies was the young Minmin. She became the most popular person in the hutong. Granny Huang"s chicken soup, Uncle Bo"s secret sauce eggplant, Auntie Yang"s duck neck stew were offered wave after wave into Minmin"s hands.

Minmin stared at the piping hot steamed cake in her hands as waves surged up in her heard. Why do I want to transmigrate? For what reason?!

—

Zhi Yuan"s3 long and slender fingers lightly brushed past Minmin"s bright strands of hair, while his scent surrounded her on four sides. An exceptionally charismatic voice said lightly, "Minmin, you"ve grown beautiful and have your own aura about you."

A soft kiss landed on her temples. "Short hair really suits you, Minmin. It looks very cute."

Minmin was lost in a haze. Zhi Yuan…Zhi Yuan… Zhi Yuan was the campus prince of the university. He was not only rich and powerful, but talented and extremely handsome! Enough to enrage the Heavens! Minmin"s favorite type of hands: slender, long, and clean, each of the joints clearly delineated with an air of masculinity, were placed before her. The distant prince whom she had always admired from afar was actually confessing to her?!

"What are you smiling so foolishly about? What a huge bouquet of roses! If it was me, I"d accepted straight away!"

"Exactly! Haven"t you always liked Zhi Yuan? Why are you putting on airs now at such a critical time?"

"Oh~ I get it, Minmin"s letting him go now so she has a tighter hold on him afterwards! There"s no status if a girl agrees right after a guy confesses, right? Idiot!"

Everyone else: "So that"s how it is!"

Minmin: "Give me a break…that"s not it…"

She stared at the rose bouquet in her hands. Was this the so-called perfect romantic ending that the girls in the university liked? Zhi Yuan, he…

The clamor in her heart gradually died down. Why should I transmigrate? To look for handsome men? To pick up girls? Minmin smiled bitterly. That"s right, why do I want to transmigrate? You greedy girl, which part of your life aren"t you satisfied with right now?

Minmin tossed and turned for an entire week before settling on a decision! She tore off the chuan (穿) for transmigration poster that had long gathered dust on her walls. Then she hunted high and low for the stack of Xuan paper she"d collected over the year about as half as tall as herself. The ink on the surface contained all the records of the poems and songs she"d committed to memory. With resolution, Minmin brought all these things to the incinerator on the roof and fed them sheet by sheet into the flames. Every piece of paper was a cherished memory and a farewell.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, my bygone dreams…farewell…

Minmin gently stroked the cover of her transmigration planning notebook, covered with her childish, determined handwriting filled with the excitement of wishful thinking. Slowly, her face spread into an easy smile. "It"s all thanks to you that I"ve gotten to this point today! Thank you."

She gave the notebook a devout kiss, grinning as she sent into off into the fire.

"Goodbye…"

When Minmin turned to leave, she stopped to admired the pale skies as the sun set beneath the horizon as she mused to herself. Let"s start a new life.

The dazzling flames swept open the notebook pages, displaying each sheet filled with the dreams and fighting spirit of a young girl. They magically transformed to black b.u.t.terflies that filled the air and fluttered by Minmin"s side, dancing and spinning as they surrounded her…

Suddenly! The surroundings grew silent, an exceptional stillness settling on the scene as time stopped! Minmin seemed to have been frozen in place by an incantation. Even her eyes stopped moving as time-s.p.a.ce stilled, distorted, and ripped itself apart! An inhumane torment a.s.sailed every one of her cells! So painful, so painful, so painful…! But she couldn"t make a sound. At the same time this happened, someone unexpected appeared on the scene: Minmin"s Roommate A!

"Minmin! Minmin, where are you? Zhi Yuan called! Go burn your things later…" Roommate A stared directly at where Minmin was standing, but started talking to herself. "Huh? Where did she go? I didn"t see her go downstairs, weird…" And then she ran back down.

She can"t see me?!

Could it be…could it be that this is…

Her vision turned black as Minmin suddenly lost consciousness, but her heart couldn"t help but cry piteously. I want to answer Zhi Yuan"s phone call! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh~!

That"s right. Without a doubt, fellow readers, you guessed it–she transmigrated.