Chapter 110
Chapter 110 – Xia Menghuan x Liao Zhenyu IV (Translated and to be edited by Xing)
Ever since he knew how Xia Menghuan turned into a rogue, the way Liao Zhenyu indulged in Xia Menghuan peaked . He looked after her with meticulous care, helping to carry her stuff, battle the horde in the canteen to buy food and chase away undesired suitors… Liao Zhenyu firmly believed that his attitude was like a boss taking care of a younger sister under him .
If he was an eagle, Xia Menghuan would be a baby chick under his wing .
He shared this wonderful comparison with Xia Menghuan . Xia Menghuan tilted her head and thought for a moment . She said, “But the eagle will eat the baby chick . ”
Liao Zhenyu felt that he had been teased . However, he thought that he might have been a bit more sensitive as a guy and prone to overthink . Though his brain was in a flurry, he pretended to reply to her nonchalantly, “Forget it . With how skinny you are, you’re not worth the effort . ”
Xia Menghuan did not reply . She thought, feel free to eat . Don’t mind my feelings .
——
Time flew and it was soon the end of the semester . After the bustle of the examination period, Liao Zhenyu packed his belongings and prepared to take the high-speed rail home . The night before setting off, he handed the little rabbit—which was now quite plump after being in his care—to Xia Menghuan . He emphasized strictly, “Return it to me after school reopens . You’re not allowed to eat it . ”
Xia Menghuan nodded and asked, “What time is your train tomorrow?”
“Eleven in the morning . Why?”
“My brother[1] is driving to fetch me home tomorrow . He might as well send you to the train station so that you don’t have to call for a taxi . ” Xia Menghuan was a local .
“Well done . I can see that you’re someone who knows what gratitude is . ” Liao Zhenyu felt his heart warmed . Then, he asked, “You have a brother?”
“He’s my cousin[1] who’s younger than me by three months . He received his license yesterday . ”
Liao Zhenyu’s heart skipped a beat . “Then…” He received his license yesterday . Wasn’t it a bit overhasty to start driving on the road today…
He was nervous but did not want to reject Xia Menghuan’s well-intention . Somehow, he ended up agreeing to her offer . After a night of uneasy rest, it was time to face what must come .
Xia Menghuan’s cousin was tall . He had a crew cut and a pair of jovial eyes that looked absolutely harmless . However, when Liao Zhenyu sat down in the car, he felt like Tripitaka stepping into the Cave of Silken Web . He was incredibly nervous .
The moment he saw Liao Zhenyu, the cousin asked him if he played Game X as well . This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com .
“I heard my sister say that you’re really good at this game,” the cousin said .
As a player specializing in junk collection, it must have been no easy task for Xia Menghuan to tell who was good at the game . Liao Zhenyu gave an “oh” and reminded the cousin, “Drive slower . There’s no need to rush . We have ample time . ”
The cousin glanced mischievously at Xia Menghuan who was sitting beside him . He unhurriedly steered the car onto the road before slamming down on the accelerator .
Liao Zhenyu was shocked . He anxiously grabbed the handle above the car door .
Xia Menghuan reminded, “Drive properly . ”
“Sigh, my sister’s heart aches . ” The cousin pretended to sigh and slowed down the car .
His words were a little suggestive . Liao Zhenyu looked into the rear-view mirror and found Xia Menghuan doing the same . Their eyes met in the mirror . Xia Menghuan quickly dodged his glance, her eyes darting all over .
The atmosphere in the car became slightly awkward . Xia Menghuan stared out of the window and reassured Liao Zhenyu, “Don’t worry . Though my brother only received his license yesterday, he’s been driving for three years . ”
Does she mean that he’s been driving illegally without a license from the start? That doesn’t sound reassuring…
Just how bizarre was this family? To always insanely test the limits of the law and morality?
……
More than half an hour later, Liao Zhenyu reached the train station safely . Immensely grateful to still be alive, he thanked Xia Menghuan’s cousin .
After he entered the ticket gantry, the cousin looked at his disappearing figure and asked Xia Menghuan, “What is it about him that you like?”
“You have no idea . He’s a very gentle person . ” When Xia Menghuan said this, there was a hint of a smile on her face .
The cousin scoffed, “Forget it, stop explaining . The way you’re smiling makes my hair stand . ”
Liao Zhenyu gamed with the cousin after he went home . The first time he did so, he was shocked . It turned out that this cousin had insanely slow hand speed . He had been struggling in the lowest rank for three months and had yet to win a single battle . Once, the cousin tried the dubious method of passing off as a girl in order to be carried to victory . However, he was soon found out… One could only imagine how tragic this entire affair was . Liao Zhenyu discovered that Xia Menghuan and her entire family seemed to be both bizarre and oddly sympathetic at the same time .
He carried the cousin to victory for a match . The cousin was extremely touched and immediately declared, “I officially recognize you as my brother-in-law . ”
Liao Zhenyu felt a bit awkward . “Stop, don’t call me brother-in-law . ”
“What about daddy?”
“You’re too kind…”
“Hubby?”
“…”
The cousin only raised three options for him to choose from . After weighing all three options, he reluctantly accepted “brother-in-law” .
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Thus, when the three of them turned on voice chat while gaming, the cousin would very naturally call Liao Zhenyu “brother-in-law” . Whenever this happened, Liao Zhenyu—despite usually being quite talkative—would always fall silent . Xia Menghuan did not respond either . Only her cousin would continue chatting into the mike with further calls of “brother-in-law, brother-in-law”, creating a lively clamour that hinted at more .
Liao Zhenyu messaged Xia Menghuan quietly: Don’t overthink .
Xia Menghuan: Oh .
——
During the Spring Festival, Xia Menghuan and her family went to Thailand for several days . While travelling, she did not forget to share photos of her trip with Liao Zhenyu . She would tell him what she experienced and Liao Zhenyu would take the effort to reply to her thoughtfully . This exchange meant that the two of them were in constant contact . Xia Menghuan also shared the souvenirs she planned to bring back for Liao Zhenyu, causing him to be greatly touched .
The night before returning, Xia Menghuan sneaked out to watch an adult performance at Pattaya .
She went to watch that performance purely out of curiosity . She heard that the performance was extremely juicy and she wanted to see for herself just how juicy it was .
To do so, she even came up with a strategy . The internet said that girls who went alone were often invited to interact with the performers . Needless to say, these live interactions were quite juicy as well . In order to prevent such things from happening, Xia Menghuan brought her cousin along .
To stop things from getting awkward, she even prepared a huge pair of sunglasses for her cousin . When he reached the dimly-lit venue while wearing the sunglasses, everything appeared so dark that he could barely see anything at all .
The cousin felt like alpacas from hell were galloping in his heart .
……
The entire adult performance was crass and boring . There were no aesthetics at all and could even be said to be a little disgusting . After watching, Xia Menghuan was disappointed . She complained to Liao Zhenyu about this when she returned to the hotel .
When Liao Zhenyu heard what she was up to, he exploded . His temples ticked and he could not hold his anger back . He fumed, “Why did you go watch that kind of thing? And with a guy as well?”
His temper was mild and this was the first time that he got angry at her . Xia Menghuan was so shocked that she did not dare to speak .
Liao Zhenyu continued in a rage, “Are you really a girl? If anyone knows, if your future boyfriend knows—”
“Why are you so fierce?” Xia Menghuan cut him off . Her voice suddenly choked with a hint of a sob . “I was only curious . All these can be seen in biology textbooks and it’s not illegal to take a look . It’s not like I went to a brothel . How is this a heinous crime?! And you got angry at me too, why are you getting angry at me…” As she spoke, she really started crying .
When Liao Zhenyu heard her sobs, he was unable to continue his tirade . Xia Menghuan hung up on him in the midst of crying .
Liao Zhenyu stared at his phone in a daze .
What’s wrong with me? He thought, why did I get so fired up? It was like the fire was doused with gasoline and incited by a gust of wind . The flames were licking the sky and he had no way of holding it back .
Was it necessary?
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As Xia Menghuan said, she did not commit a crime . To be honest, he might have also gone out of curiosity if he was in her place .
Even though it was slightly embarrassing, it was not worth getting angry over… wasn’t it?
Liao Zhenyu rubbed his jaw and pondered this for a long while . Finally, he concluded that he must have been accustomed to how he always took care of her and really saw himself as her guardian .
Eh…
——
The next day, Liao Zhenyu texted Xia Menghuan as if nothing had happened .
Liao Zhenyu: The temperature within the country fell greatly these few days . Remember to have warm clothing with you at all times and don’t fall sick .
There was no mention of the fight they had yesterday .
Xia Menghuan did not reply to his message .
Liao Zhenyu’s heart was not into all the tasks he did that day . He would occasionally glance at his phone to see if Xia Menghuan had replied . He kept wondering if she was still angry and how he should coax her .
Around 9 plus at night, Xia Menghuan was filling willing to interact with him .
Xia Menghuan: Just got off the plane .
It was like a weight off his mind . Liao Zhenyu replied immediately: Tired?
Xia Menghuan: Still okay . I slept the entire flight .
Liao Zhenyu: Is it cold outside? What did you wear?
Xia Menghuan: A down jacket .
Liao Zhenyu: Take a photo for me to see .
Xia Menghuan felt that taking a selfie while wearing a down jacket would be ugly . Then, she tossed the down jacket to her cousin and posed nicely before snapping a few shots . She picked the best-looking one and sent it to Liao Zhenyu .
Seeing how thinly dressed she was, his protective instinct flared again . He wanted to chide her but held back the urge to do so . He merely said, “Go home quickly!”
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……
The two of them were back on good terms just like this . The next day, Xia Menghuan was bored out of her mind . She dragged Liao Zhenyu onto the game with her and called her cousin along as well .
Presently, Liao Zhenyu was annoyed at the mere sight of the cousin . The three of them started a match . Finally, they were left with one opponent and only had to kill that person before winning .
At this moment, Liao Zhenyu suddenly lifted his gun . He fired a shot towards the cousin .
A headshot .
The previous moment, the cousin was cheering in excitement as he prepared for victory . The next moment, he watched the colours on his screen faded helplessly . The cousin was utterly confused . “Hey, what do you mean by this?!”
Xia Menghuan was puzzled as well . She asked Liao Zhenyu, “Why did you kill our teammate?”
Liao Zhenyu squatted next to the cousin’s disappearing corpse and rummaged through the items . He justified with confidence, “Can’t I want to collect equipment?”
The three of them were on voice chat and the cousin heard this as well . He exploded when he heard this . “The best equipment is with you—the heck you need to collect anything for? Going to the extent of killing your teammate to do so? Scoundrel! … Sister, he’s obviously targeting me!” The cousin was full of grievances . When he realized that his sister was ignoring him, he switched his view to the team camera . He found that her looting the equipment that he had dropped as well, doing so with a single-minded focus .
The cousin felt that there was nothing left to live for in this world . “Beasts, both of you!”
Done with housekeeping, Liao Zhenyu soon did away with their opponent as well . He and Xia Menghuan both won the game .
He ignored the cousin who was still grumbling and grousing into the mike . He asked Xia Menghuan, “Lake City has a temple fair these few days . Do you want to come over and have fun?”
Xia Menghuan replied, “Sure . I can take this opportunity to pass you and my king the souvenirs I bought . ”
The ignored cousin was dismal .
He texted Xia Menghuan and asked: Brother or boyfriend—which one do you choose?
Xia Menghuan: Boyfriend, of course . Dear brother, do you have some misunderstanding about your importance to me?
Cousin: … Scoundrel!
Translator’s Notes:
[1] Due to the one-child policy, there’s a generation of people who grew up without siblings . The parents of this generation would make them call their cousins gege, jiejie, didi, meimei (older brother, older sister, younger brother, younger sister) . They’ll drop the tang and biao that normally comes in front of these addresses to indicate that the person addressed is only a cousin instead of a direct sibling . (Disclaimer: This is based on my personal observations with my friends and cousins in China . Might not apply across the country . )