It was currently the weekend that numerous otakus have been excitedly waiting for, looking forward to a long awaited domestic anime movie to finally be released!
Long-time fans of the manhua naturally wouldn’t miss it, Qin Fanglu and Cheng Kai had long ordered the tickets early.
Qin Fanglu, in the habit of ascertaining his itinerary in advance, sent Cheng Kai a message: [Giant Movie Theater1巨幕厅 is a cinema with large screen (kinda the size of a basketball court), and the screen is a bit curved, 3 p.m, don’t be late.]
Cheng Kai replied with five crying emojis: [Waahhhh sobs sobs sobs!!! My parents dragged me into the car this morning, they insisted I go meet a woman this afternoon. Lao Qin, help me!!!! I really want to make an excuse to go to the toilet and escape!!]
Qin: [Want you to have lunch with her?]
Bewitching Song of Jingkai Temple: [Yes ah! Save me please, can’t you say you have plans with me this afternoon? (Please please)]
Qin: [What time is your lunch?]
Bewitching Song of Jingkai Temple: [Around 2.30. I won’t disappoint you, this restaurant is in a commercial area with cinemas, I should still have the time for the movie!]
Bewitching Song of Jingkai Temple: [But your esteemed self really won’t save me, can you? With this kinda thing, we definitely won’t be late :)]
Qin: [Since appointments have been made, you should have a good chat with her.]
Bewitching Song of Jingkai Temple: [Dog Qin, you are really heartless! Your brother was in a pinch and about to die, but you wouldn’t save him!!!]
Qin: [It was you who said you no longer want to be single last time. I just want to help you.]
Bewitching Song of Jingkai Temple: [I did say that I suppose….. But…… I really don’t want to meet up with gold-collar2Basically means good carrier, highly skilled and along the lines women with high academic backgrounds anymore. This Otaku isn’t worthy, pretending is so tiring!]
Bewitching Song of Jingkai Temple: [How about this, you come look for me at the restaurant at 2.30, this way no matter what happens we would be able to conclude everything and go watch the movie.]
Qin: [Okay.]
Cheng Kai didn’t reply to that, who knows whether it was because his parents forced him to put his phone away or not.
Qin Fanglu, being punctual as always, arrived outside the restaurant door at exactly 2.30.
Just a glance and he could already spot Cheng Kai. There he was, tall like a tree of jade before the blowing wind, sitting at a round table in the balcony. Across from him sat a woman with her long hair fluttering in the wind, her back figure looking very elegant.
Who knows what Cheng Kai had said, but the girl was laughing heartily, her black hair swaying lightly.
A corner of Qin Fanglu’s mouth rose a little. It seems like their progress isn’t bad ah.
Cheng Kai, seeing Qin Fanglu has arrived, lifted his arm and waved at him.
When the girl turned her head, she seemed to be momentarily stunned after seeing Qin Fanglu, then she glued herself to stick beside him, and confidently said, “Cheng Kai, your friend is so handsome.”
“Of course.” Cheng Kai was very pleased, he proceeded to half-jokingly warn her, “But you shouldn’t like him, you will regret it.”
The girl smiled with her bright eyes and dazzling smile and took the initiative to introduce herself, “My name is Xin Lei.”
Qin Fanglu didn’t really understand the situation, but still replied out of courtesy, “I am Qin Fanglu.”
The three of them exchanged some light small talk briefly, Cheng Kai has already settled the bill. Xin Lei then apologetically excused herself to touch up her makeup, asking them to wait for her a little.
Taking advantage of Xin Lei’s absence, Qin Fanglu smilingly asked, “Good conversation?”
Cheng Kai meaningfully said, “More than just good, the problem is it was really good.”
Interesting. Qin Fanglu knew that Cheng Kai would continue to explain, so he waited for him to open his mouth.
As expected, Cheng Kai explained further, “Although she is a fund manager, she does watch animes, plays games, buys merchandise, and we actually chatted from tears and hardships of this era to the anime movie that will be released today. So clicking3Literal meaning is “regret not having met earlier”, like you click with another so much and became besties immediately. with someone can actually feel this way! I actually think, I might have finally met my destined one——”
“But!” Cheng Kai’s tone suddenly took a turn, his slight smile seemingly contained some sorrow.
“Lao Qin, do you know? I saw a pin on her 30,000 yuan4About 4,150 USD Dior Book Tote handbag. And on that pin is a handsome guy in suit——I know him.”
“Hmm,” Qin Fanglu signed for him to continue.
Cheng Kai said, “He is a male character from a currently popular Otome game.”
Cheng Kai’s tone of speech gradually turned from sorrow to despondence and hopeless: “Then I grasped a tiny tiny minuscule glimmer of hope and asked Xin Lei: ‘Who is that on your pin?’”
“She happily said four words: ‘It is my husband.”
“‘It. Is. My. Husband.’” Cheng Kai was about to go crazy, “I understood. I really understand what these four words mean, because I also have my own wife…..”
“And sure enough, Xin Lei then said to me: ‘You also don’t want to commit the crime of cross-dimensional bigamy, right? Then we can just be good brothers.’”
Qin Fanglu doesn’t smile often, but right now he couldn’t restrain the corners of his eyes from going up, unable to resist his smile.
“So the one and only blind date you have ever felt happy about resulted in considering each other as good brothers?” Qin Fanglu asked.
Cheng Kai forced out an ugly smile, “That’s right.”5尴尬而不失礼貌地微笑” is an internet meme like these. Basically forcing out a smile because you are still “maintaining your image aka being polite”, like these. I TL-ed it as forcing out ugly smile
When Xin Lei returned after touching up her makeup, Qin Fanglu indeed caught sight of a pin of a handsome fictional man on her handbag.
Xin Lei took out her own movie ticket from her bag and said, “Ai ya, I was actually planning to just get the blind date over with and then go watch the movie on my own. I really didn’t expect we would have such a fate that I would be meeting two good brothers to go with.”
Although the blind dating failed, it wasn’t a complete failure. Having other like-minded people around was also good.
The people in the cinema watched to their hearts’ content, the quality of the movie exceeded everyone’s expectations.
The three of them stood at the exit of the cinema and kept discussing the story line and the details in the art for quite some time.
Then Cheng Kai suddenly slapped his forehead and said, “Ei, I have to go and get the parking ticket. Why don’t you two wait here a little, I’ll be back soon.”
Qin Fanglu and Xin Lei nodded, and with Cheng Kai leaving, the two of them were left in that corner.
Xin Lei’s lips curved slightly, her tassel6I don’t really know what to call them but it’s those earring with long dangles, particularly where the dangles resemble tassels earrings fluttered and chimed with the movement, “Mr. Qin, add WeChat friends?”
Qin Fanglu’s eyes narrowed slightly in calculation, not answering.
Both of them are adults, a short sentence is enough to convey hints without explicitly saying it.
People in this society don’t have the time for ambiguity and twisting manners. Such a vague attitude would only consume both sides’ time and energy.
Xin Lei held her phone and smiled gracefully, “Cheng Kai is really handsome, but he isn’t my type. On the contrary, Mr. Qin is somewhat attractive to me….. Bestow me a little face, why don’t we have afternoon tea together tomorrow?”
*
“Waahhhh, It was really amazing!!! I love it! Sure enough, waiting for all those years wasn’t in vain!”
Xu Feifei nested himself in the chair in the cinema as he wiped his tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
Ruan Cunyun nodded, “It was really good, and the plot in the middle was also done really well….”
Bai Qiangwei agreed, “Right right right, also the ending is really perfect.”
Qi Chang echoed in support7Qi Chang is often described to do/be 捧哏, which is kind of a comedic supporting role, so he follows along or react to the main “comedian”, here he is almost always being described echoing or being ‘yes-man’ to Bai Qiangwei., “Yes ah.”
The four of them waited until the ending song was done broadcasting. When they were certain there were no Easter eggs at the end, they finally stood up and left the venue once the lights in the theatre had been turned on.
Bai Qiangwei and Qi Chang went to the restroom, Ruan Cunyun and Xu Feifei planned to wait for them at the exit.
The exit was already kind of deserted at this point of time. Ruan Cunyun was still a bit floaty after watching the movie, and Xu Feifei was still pattering on and on as he analyzed the plot.
“Fuck, Feifei!” Ruan Cunyun quivered from head to toe, forcefully dragging Xu Feifei to hide behind a corner.
Xu Feifei, having been startled, asked, “What happened ah?”
“My boss, I saw my boss!” Ruan Cunyun was so frightened he was petrified, “Did he also come to watch the anime?”
Xu Feifei energetically bursted in silent laughter as he clutched his stomach, laughing at the terrified Ruan Cunyun, “Why do we hide just for this? Just go directly and greet your boss and everything’s done and well right?”
Ruan Cunyun pulled at him, “No no no no, I dare not.”
Please excuse this socially anxious person.
Xu Feifei’s guts alone were already big, not to mention that it wasn’t his boss, thus he poked out his head to investigate, “Is it the one standing in front of that romantic movie poster? He is pretty handsome.”
Ruan Cunyun stealthily took a peek, “It’s him.”
——Turns out Qin Fanglu came here to watch a romantic movie.
Xu Feifei spied on again and reported, “There is a beautiful Jiejie beside him ei, they are so well matched ah! So close together ah! Yun ah, is that your boss’ wifey?”
Ruan Cunyun was taken aback, it seems like he had never heard Qin Fanglu having a girlfriend or wife.
He poked his head out to look at it and said, “Don’t know her, our boss seemed to be single.”
Xu Feifei tsk-ed, “Which boss would announce that to his employees ah? Maybe she’s your boss’ wifey!”
Ruan Cunyun carefully observed them, then said, “Why do I feel like they are going to end up BE? Look, the woman seemed to be hopeful, but the man clearly doesn’t have the interest. He doesn’t show much expression, moreover his body language seemed to feel kind of distant.”
“I don’t care, they look well matched anyway. I’m watching the drama first,” Xu Feifei said unreasonably.
Ruan Cunyun said in low whispers, “Xu Feifei, you and I will never ship the same CP…..”
Xu Feifei’s eyes twinkled in dangerous light, the danger of ‘wanting-to-tear-down-the-opposite-house’8The house/family here refers to the stance of the ship, can also refer to a fanbase/shipping base, for example ship AB house “shippers” and CD house, or even AB vs BA house, ”HuYa mei, what can you nibble on in that kitchen? Alright, let’s not talk about 2D world, what’s not good nibbling on your boss and his wifey’s gossip?
Ruan Cunyun’s brain buzzed, “I said she isn’t our boss’ wifey!”
Xu Feifei then posed with a step forward, jokingly saying, “Okay, I will now go ask your boss, let’s see what the verdict is!”
The two of them nodded, but as a result, when they wanted to spy on them, that spot was already vacant. Qin Fanglu and his Schrodinger CP had already gone.
Xu Feifei cried in sobs, “Ruan Cunyun, can you please go ask whether she is your boss’ official partner or not? I want to confirm I didn’t make an error of judgement.”
In front of the opposite shipper house, all of his social anxiety seemed to have been completely cured. Ruan Cunyun also felt that his vision was good, and thus said in a choked up voice, “Asking it is! I will ask when I go to work next week!”
The author has something to say:
Mainstream plot: Shou by chance saw Gong close with others — Misunderstanding the other already has a partner — The two of them missing out each other — Dancing around each other — Grieving and satisfying dog blood
Ruan Cunyun, “Not good to nibble on.”
Translator’s Note:
About Cheng Kai’s ID name:
God I really don’t know what Cheng Kai’s ID name means. It is 鏡開寺緋櫻傀歌 (note that the characters are written in Traditional chinese characters, which implies that it might have been a reference to something [likely Japanese anime because their kanji is also traditional chinese characters].
However, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it means or what it referenced.
The Jingkai (鏡開) in jingkai temple 鏡開寺 sounds similar to chengkai’s name, but it’s likely also a reference some sort of temple/shrine in anime but I can’t find anything with those characters. The rest of the characters means dark red/crimson (緋), cherry/sakura (櫻), and bewitching/strange song (傀歌). In fact there is also a song titled 緋櫻, but I don’t think it referenced to that. So what are they when combined? I don’t know 🙂 So I translated it as Bewitching song of Jingkai temple because adding “cherry red” is too long and also not making any sense.
About “nibbling” on:
The RAW was actually saying 嗑 which basically means cracking (melon seeds) open, basically watching the drama or watching your ship, but I chose to TL this way :”) Please pardon me and my lack of creativity and linguistic capabilities.
About Qin Fanglu’s cat:
I want to clarify about Qin Fanglu’s cat. I TL-ed Qin Fanglu’s cat as orange, black, and tuxedo. But the tuxedo cat is actually 牛奶猫 or “cow” cat, basically black and white cat of any motif, but I’m kinda lazy typing all that so tuxedo it is.
Also, sorry for the long wait :”))) Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Maria Lian On CFRFGC Chapter 104