CH 4

Chapter 4: One Cannot Avoid One’s Enemy*.

(* 冤家路窄: enemies on a narrow road/the road is narrow for enemies. Idiom that refers to people who are unwilling to cross paths with each other but they still inevitably do so.)

He hurriedly squeezed forward, desperate to find Lu Tong and ask for an explanation.

As a result, before he could go up, the road in front of him was blocked by girls.

Looking around, there were a bunch of girls in school uniforms, each with a bottle of mineral water, waiting for Lu Tong to come down to give him water.

The amount of water delivered could directly participate in the South-North Water Diversion Project and contribute to the national infrastructure – Lu Tong would not be able to finish drinking it even if he didn’t attend classes for a month.

Qin Shiwu was completely blocked at the periphery. Lu Tong wiped his hair with a towel and walked with He Yuanyuan to the stairs on the right.

No matter how courageous the girls below were, they didn’t dare to follow Lu Tong up.

Of course, there were also those who were bold enough, such as Qin Shiwu, who stuck to the wall all the way and followed Lu Tong from behind.

Walking with Lu Tong, in addition to He Yuanyuan, there was also a girl who looked like He Yuanyuan’s best friend, wearing a somewhat crooked ponytail, with three or four colorful one-piece clips pinned behind her ears.

The best friend inadvertently looked back at Qin Shiwu and said in He Yuanyuan’s ear, “Is that person behind you Qin Shiwu?”

He Yuanyuan said, “What do you care about him?”

The best friend said, “He still hasn’t given up on you. Didn’t Qin Chu just stand up for you –”

He Yuanyuan suddenly interrupted her best friend: “Stop talking.”

Qin Shiwu was listening vigorously, and He Yuanyuan’s interruption made him very depressed.

Judging from the conversation between He Yuanyuan and her best friend, the original Qin Shiwu was really taught a lesson by Qin Chu for harassing He Yuanyuan.

Thinking of this, Qin Shiwu slapped his thighs and suddenly realized.

He just felt that the name He Yuanyuan sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere. Thinking about it carefully, wasn’t this the woman Guapitou referred to when he talked about Qin Chu’s “undisclosed relationship”?

What the hell?

This woman was not only involved with his father, but also with his mother?

The best friend shut up and glanced at Lu Tong.

Lu Tong’s face nerves seemed to be dead, and he turned a deaf ear to the two chattering girls around him, and just walked forward.

He seemed to have a cooling mechanism around him, making people shudder.

“I didn’t ask Qin Chu to teach him a lesson…,” He Yuanyuan spoke.

The best friend said, “Forget it, don’t mention Qin Chu, lest Lu Tong doesn’t like to hear it.”

Qin Shiwu’s doggie ears perked up. Hearing this, his heart was horrified: what do you mean Lu Tong doesn’t like to hear it ah? Doesn’t like to hear what? Doesn’t like to hear that these two women asked someone to beat me up, or doesn’t like to hear “Qin Chu”?

The former is extremely unlikely, the latter is very likely.

Qin Shiwu was stunned: his mother did not like to hear his father’s name?

What kind of thing was this? This was a matter of life and death.

Without the consent of the concerned parties, Qin Shiwu’s life was suddenly hanging in mid-air.

Moreover, listening to their tone of voice, Lu Tong seemed to dislike Qin Chu, what was the reason for this? Could it be that the two of them had some kind of feud?

If so, then what his auntie had said—when his parents fell in love at first sight in high school, what kind of love was it?

In the eyes of a lover, Xi Shi appears* kind of “love”?

(*情人眼里出西施: I tried to look for a suitable English equivalent, but ‘love is blind’ or ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ just don’t cut it. Xi Shi was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China, and this idiom means that in the eyes of a person who is in love, their beloved always appears as beautiful no matter what.)

Or is it the “love” of a lover turned enemy?

As Qin Shiwu was making careful inferences, Lu Tong in front of him was walking faster and faster, and He Yuanyuan couldn’t keep up with him.　　

When he reached the stairway, he disappeared into the laboratory building in a flash.

Not even a goodbye.

He Yuanyuan watched him go up, and then walked down with her best friend.

The two whispered some small talk, and when they reached the corner of the stairs, they saw Qin Shiwu who was following behind.

The best friend stood still and looked at him: “Qin Shiwu, don’t pester Yuanyuan, don’t you see how much you’re worth?”

Qin Shiwu, who was suddenly called out, pointed to himself: “Me?”

The best friend said, “Are you playing dumb? You were harassing Yuanyuan before, and now you’re pretending not to know?”

Qin Shiwu said, “I harassed He Yuanyuan?” He paused for a moment, ready to say something: “Did you ask Qin Chu to beat me up?”

The best friend froze for a moment: “Who asked, don’t open your mouth and lie. Yuanyuan was bullied, and Qin Chu couldn’t stand to see it without doing anything.”

Qin Shiwu pointed at He Yuanyuan: “Is Qin Chu your boyfriend?”

He Yuanyuan’s face changed for a moment: “No, we are friends.”

Qin Shiwu sighed with relief and spoke again, “So you like Lu Tong?”

The expression on He Yuanyuan’s face couldn’t hold up: “Don’t you have classes in the evening?”

Qin Shiwu was not upset when he heard her dismissal. He let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

It seemed that He Yuanyuan was not with any of his parents at the moment.

And, she seemed to be in an unrequited love with Lu Tong.

Qin Shiwu was not afraid. His mother was an Omega, and He Yuanyuan wouldn’t be able to sleep with him even if she turned the sky upside down. So far, his life was safe for the time being. Qin Shiwu was relieved: but the road was too long to let down his guard against this terrible woman.

He Yuanyuan walked past him, stood still and said, “Qin Shiwu, don’t come to me in the future. I’m very upset.”

Qin Shiwu begged for it and hurriedly said, “Okay, respectfully obeying.”

He Yuanyuan glanced at him suspiciously and saw Qin Shiwu leaning against the staircase, cocky and arrogant, looking very much like Qin Chu. She froze for a moment and thought afterwards: why didn’t Qin Shiwu stutter?

Coincidentally, the bell for evening self-study rang on the campus.

He Yuanyuan and her best friend returned to building D. Qin Shiwu originally wanted to sneak into Lu Tong’s class to have a look at his mother. After hearing the bell, he had to give up this idea temporarily and turn back to his class.

Class one, second year.

Lu Tong had just sat down in his seat when He Nian leapt to his side with a swish.

“Big news, one good and one bad, which one do you want to hear?”

Lu Tong took out a half-drunk bottle of mineral water from the compartment under the table, finished it slowly and methodically, and said coldly: “No, get out.”

He Nian said, “Alas, don’t be so cold. Then, I’ll tell you the bad news first. First depress and then raise, so that when you hear the good news you feel double the joy!”

Lu Tong pulled out the test paper and He Nian pressed down his pen.

“Forget it, I’d better tell you the good news first. You’re number one in the monthly exam again, god of learning, give the students behind you a little chance, do you feel a great sense of achievement every time you place first in a test?”

Lu Tong ignored him.

He Nian had been in the same class with him for two years and had long since figured out Lu Tong’s virtue of not saying more than two words a day. He spared his words like gold, as if one more word could kill him.

“Do you want to hear the bad news?” He Nian spoke in suspenseful manner*.

(*卖关子: stop a story at a climax to keep the listeners in suspense.)

Lu Tong was focused on the options on the physics test paper.

He Nian trailed off and spoke, “Chen Anqi asked Wang Yan for Qin Chu’s cell phone number.”

The tip of Lu Tong’s pen stopped at option A.

Chen Anqi – the legendary ex-girlfriend of Lu Tong.

He Nian expressed his understanding and patted his shoulder despondently: “Hey! There are plenty more fish in the sea, so why fall in love with a single fish. In fact, I think Chen Anqi is not that good. She just knows how to sing some children’s songs and dance. Out of respect for you, I have never been able to say it; in fact, I feel that her left eye is a little bigger than her right one. This kind of face is not prosperous. She goes after Qin Chu, and everyone is happy ah.”

In fact, when it came to his ex-girlfriends, not a single word was written.

The emotional entanglement between Chen Anqi and Lu Tong had to be traced back to the time when Qin Chu had not come back from abroad and transferred to provincial No. 1 High School yet.

At that time, Lu Tong was just in his first year of senior high school, and he was the most popular person in school. Few looked more handsome than him. At school, he had the momentum of a fan meeting, and countless people blocked him to ask for his number every day.

Chen Anqi was a media special admission student. She used to be a small host of H City TV station. She was well-known in small and medium-sized colleges and universities in H City, and she was considered a small star. When military training started, Chen Anqi performed a peacock dance at the military training party, which captured the hearts of most male students in Provincial No. 1 High School.

A school flower and school grass, the names of Chen Anqi and Lu Tong were frequently mentioned in the school forums of H city.

Lu Tong also had a bit of an impression of her because of this.

The relationship between the two was different from the rumors of the outside world, in fact, there were not many deep feelings between them.

The reason for this was Lu Tong’s face – which Omega doesn’t like when they see it.

Chen Anqi chased him for some time, bought him breakfast and sent him milk tea. She pestered Lu Tong to go to and from class. In the eyes of outsiders, they must be together.

At that time, Chen Anqi didn’t confess to him. She was the little goddess who grew up with the stars and the moon and, for the first time, she had to lose face to chase someone. She couldn’t be the one to confess first.

Chen Anqi had been waiting for Lu Tong’s confession during her first year. Unfortunately, Lu Tong refused to speak.

It wasn’t until the winter vacation of his first year of high school that Lu Tong suddenly experienced secondary differentiation. The result of the differentiation was Omega. The Alpha certificate originally submitted in his first year was invalid, and of course he was even more unlikely to confess to Chen Anqi.

Because the cases of secondary differentiation were very rare, Lu Tong spent a winter vacation in the hospital. He didn’t say anything about it and few people knew about it. The school still used his Alpha identity information.

Having said that, after that, Chen Anqi grew bored of chasing. She felt that Lu Tong was too cold and arrogant, so she gradually stopped pestering him.

From the perspective of outsiders, it looked like a breakup.

At this point, another month later, Qin Chu suddenly transferred back from abroad and arrived in Provincial No. 1 High School. With a handsome and deadly face, he instantly tied with Lu Tong – thus, equally dividing the hearts of all female classmates in the Provincial No. 1 High School, and at the same time setting off discussions among colleges and universities in H city.

Chen Anqi preferred Qin Chu’s flashy and handsome appearance, so she immediately took the initiative.

She had always been a high-profile chaser. In less than a week, the campus forums were full of gossip posts about Chen Anqi and Qin Chu.

And Lu Tong, after experiencing the “hatred of wife-robbing”, was now “rivals in love” and “sworn enemies” with Qin Chu in the eyes of everyone.

Although Lu Tong had no interest in Qin Chu, Qin Chu always appeared in the discussions of his various friends around him when talking about Chen Anqi’s troubles, one after another, Qin Chu this, Qin Chu that*. He grew tired of Qin Chu and simply unreasonably blamed Qin Chu in his head and had no good feelings for him.

(* TN: the wording here was 秦初秦初的 and I wasn’t sure what to make of 的 at the end of a sentence, so I looked it up and apparently it adds emphasis to it?)

After all, if it weren’t for Qin Chu, how could he be “lovelorn”.

Lu Tong said, “Why are you telling me this?”

He Nian propped up his chin, eyes blinking, looking at him: “Who else doesn’t know about your affair with Chen Anqi? Don’t be embarrassed, I can see you like her.” 　　

Lu Tong continued to be cold: “You can donate your eyes to others if you don’t want them.”

He Nian changed his posture to an enchanting position on Lu Tong’s desk and gave him a charming look: “What do you think of me, at least I am an Omega, how about brother sacrifices himself to you and we live together for a while.”

Lu Tong pointed to the back door: “Get out.”

The group leader in the front row warned, “Don’t be testy He Nian, Laoban* is coming.”

(* 老班: meaning ‘boss’, ‘shopkeeper’, etc. It’s kind of like a nickname students call the head teacher of their class.)

He Nian quickly slid down from the table and sat next to Lu Tong.

Zhou Hai, the head teacher of class one, second year, stood at the back of the classroom with his hands behind his back.

He Nian muttered, “It’s not evening yet, why is Lao Hai here.”

He opened his book and continued to chatter with Lu Tong: “He Yuanyuan is chasing you, don’t agree, she is deliberately pissing off Qin Chu. She’s a little upset because Chen Anqi and Qin Chu are so close when she knew him first, she is using you to gamble with Qin Chu.”

He Nian finished, sighed and lamented, “What do you think is so good about that little kid Qin Chu? Even if he’s an alpha, then it’s just that.” He bumped into Lu Tong’s shoulder and smiled cheekily: “I still like our manhua-beauty-looking alpha LuLu, not too aggressive, a good choice for marriage, I want to marry LuLu when I grow up.”

Lu Tong raised his hand without changing his expression: “Laoban, He Nian is speaking and disturbing me.”

Before He Nian finished his sentence, he stopped abruptly, holding his book and staring at Lu Tong dumbfounded.

Zhou Hai looked at He Nian, “He Nian, it’s you again, stand outside!”

He Nian: “I…,”

He stared at Lu Tong with bitter hatred, then took small steps and stood on the corridor with tears in his eyes.

Zhou Hai said again, “Lu Tong, come to my office, I need to talk to you.”

Lu Tong stood up and walked outside the classroom. As he passed by the corridor, He Nian cursed with his book in his hand, “Lu Tong! You’ll be punished for treating me like this!”

Lu Tong pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile, “I’m not afraid of retribution.”

He Nian said unscrupulously, “Whether you look up or down*, I’ll curse you to meet Qin Chu everywhere you go!”

(* 抬头不见低头见: lit. when you look up, you can’t see it, but when you look down, you always see it. Idiom meaning to see each other frequently. source.)

Lu Tong: “Hehe, feudal superstition, I believe in science.”

As soon as he finished, he turned and entered Zhou Hai’s office.

As soon as he entered the door, the cold air conditioner in the office hit his face.

The slender figure of Qin Chu leaning lazily on his desk appeared in front of him.

Lu Tong: …

What comes around goes around.

for some reason, despite having around the same amount of characters/words as the chapters of the other novel im translating, this novel’s chapters feel like they take an eternity to translate, probably bc of the fact that i have to stop and look up idioms and wordings mtl can’t translate properly every two sentences.

btw i don’t know if yall care but in this chapter the author mentioned that for lu tong and qin chu, it’s a two way first love. i’ll just leave it there in case ur getting annoyed with all this girlfriend talk lol