"Eating barbecue all the time is so boring. Why don't we play a game of Truth or Dare to liven things up?" Someone suddenly suggested, interrupting Qian Wei's train of thought.
Everyone else immediately voiced their agreement enthusiastically.
"Yeah, let's do it!"
"OK, we'll spin this empty beer bottle. Whoever the bottle top points to has to answer a truth question or take on a dare. Whoever the bottle bottom points to gets to ask the question or come up with the dare. After answering, the person spins the bottle again to choose the next person." The boy who suggested the game explained. He glanced subtly at a girl sitting across from him and continued, "Let's start now. I'll take the first turn of truth or dare. Whoever asks me a question or dares me first, I'll do it."
"Li Zhi Qiang, um...do you have a girl you like right now?"
Before he had even finished speaking, the girl sitting across from Li Zhi Qiang hurriedly asked her question.
"I do! And she's here today too."
Li Zhi Qiang answered, prompting hoots and hollers from everyone else. The girl's face also turned red. It wasn't hard to see that Li Zhi Qiang and this girl liked each other. They were likely in the ambiguous stage of their relationship, just needing an opportunity to take it to the next level. That was probably why Li Zhi Qiang had suggested playing this truth or dare game in the first place. Some of the other boys and girls present also harbored similar intentions.
After answering, Li Zhi Qiang spun the bottle again to start the next round.
Soon, the truth or dare battle fire spread to Qian Wei and her friends. Qian Wei saw that the bottle top was pointing at Lu Xun, while the bottom was aimed at Mo Zi Xin.
"Lu Xun, what kind of job do you want after graduating?"
Mo Zi Xin asked a very generic question. Qian Wei thought, I could answer this question easily for Lu Xun. He obviously wants to be a lawyer! After all, a lawyer's job getting paid by the hour best suits Lu Xun's personality!
"Judge."
Qian Wei froze, wondering if she had misheard. But when she looked up, she saw Lu Xun purse his lips seriously as he answered.
Qian Wei couldn't help blurting out, "Are you kidding me? Don't you want to be a lawyer? Judges and prosecutors have stable government jobs, but I'm telling you, the civil service system will definitely be reformed in the future. Their income won't compare to lawyers' at all. And judges are under a lot of pressure when presiding over cases too! Lawyers have unlimited earning potential!"
Lu Xun's brows furrowed as he glanced at Qian Wei, his entire face radiating disdain. "I'm not the kind of person who only cares about money." He paused, then continued, "Lawyers play a very important role in the legal system, but their job is to defend their clients to the best of their abilities, not to uphold justice and uncover the truth. I want to be a judge. I don't care if I make less money."
Qian Wei was totally confused. She really wanted to ask, didn't you become a lawyer right after graduating in your past life??
"If you become a judge and work for over a decade or two, while your former classmates who became lawyers are living in multi-million dollar mansions, and you're still in some old rundown place, you'll definitely regret it."
"I will never regret the decisions I make." Lu Xun's attitude was very firm.
"Alright, next group, next group!"
Amidst the lively chatter, several more rounds of the game flew by. This time, it was finally Mo Zi Xin's turn. As luck would have it, the one who got to ask her a question was Qian Chuan.
Qian Chuan seemed a little nervous. He cleared his throat and asked, "I want to ask Mo Zi Xin, what are your criteria for an ideal partner?"
Mo Zi Xin looked somewhat shy. "It's a bit early to be talking about ideal partners. I don't have any particular thoughts. As long as we have chemistry, and he has to be tall."
Upon hearing this, Qian Chuan still had a smiling face. He was tall, so he fit that criterion perfectly. As for having chemistry, he believed that if he spent more time around Mo Zi Xin, she would find him increasingly attractive.
But unexpectedly, Mo Zi Xin continued, "Other than that, I'd like to find someone in the same field as me. We law students spend so much time discussing laws and cases, so I feel like I'd be able to converse better with someone in the same industry, and we'd never run out of topics to talk about when analyzing cases together."
After speaking, Mo Zi Xin glanced at Lu Xun, but unfortunately, Lu Xun's eyes were lowered. He didn't pay any attention to Mo Zi Xin's obvious signals.
The bottle spun again, and it was Li Zhi Qiang's turn to answer questions again, prompting loud hoots from everyone. Amidst the clamor, Qian Chuan leaned towards Qian Wei and complained resentfully.
"Tell me, how many years would it take me to pass the bar exam if I start studying law now?"
Having overheard their conversation, Liu Shi Yun, who was sitting nearby, looked at Qian Chuan derisively. "I advise you to just give up. If a zombie virus outbreak happened one day, Qian Wei and I would definitely have to keep running around to survive. But you'd be absolutely safe without any worries. Do you know why? Because even zombies wouldn't want your brain!"
Qian Chuan looked at Mo Zi Xin, who wasn't far away. He endured, but at this moment, he was filled with passion and ambition. "It doesn't matter. If I can't pass the exam in one year, I'll take it again the next year. If I still can't pass in the second year, I'll take it a third year! I won't believe I can't do it. With enough diligence, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle. As long as I work hard, I will definitely succeed!"
"The bar exam will definitely be reformed in the future. It'll be impossible to pass just by memorizing the laws." Qian Wei took a sip of orange juice and patted Qian Chuan's shoulder with the gravity of someone imparting wisdom. "Qian Chuan, I'm afraid you won't be able to pass the bar exam before the reforms happen. Haven't you heard this saying before? Knowing when to let go is a form of wisdom that will allow you to examine your own potential and external circumstances more clearly. It will let your weary mind and body rest and prepare you to embark on new pursuits and become a happy, wise person."
"Piss off!"
"Qian Wei, it's your turn! Answer the question!"
Just as Qian Wei was spacing out, Liu Shi Yun shook her arm to alert her that the bottle was pointing at her this time. The one asking the question was a boy she wasn't familiar with. Because they didn't know each other well, his question wasn't too difficult.
"What kind of job do you want after graduating?"
Qian Wei didn't even have to think about this question. "I want to be a female lawyer."
The boy looked at her admiringly. "It seems like you'll be a career woman in the future."
Even Lu Xun spared a glance at Qian Wei.
At this point, Qian Wei felt a little embarrassed. "I'm not trying to be a career-focused woman. My motivations are actually very simple. Lawyers make a lot of money! I just want to live the kind of life where I can shop without looking at price tags! It'd be best if I could find a lawyer partner in the future, get rich together and live the decadent capitalist life! Maybe I could even marry a partner."
"Vulgar," was Lu Xun's typically concise and pointed critique.
Qian Wei looked at Lu Xun and criticized internally: You're one to talk. A future archetypal capitalist calling me vulgar?
She patted Lu Xun's shoulder. "You only say that now because you're still young. But in the future, what doesn't require money? Even dating costs money, you know?"
"So when you're dating, you only care about money?"
Qian Wei shrugged. "Of course there are girls willing to scrape by penniless with guys. But I'm a delicate flower who can't take hardship. Dating isn't only about money, but bread and love are equally important! Also, you may not know this, but the divorce rate for civil servants is actually very high, much higher than for lawyers. Plus, I feel like you're more suited to being a lawyer anyway."
"Oh." Lu Xun seemed to contemplate this, but after the brief response, he sank into silence again and didn't say anything more. He just looked at Qian Wei.
Qian Wei didn't think much of it either. Although she didn't know why Lu Xun was so set on being a judge right now, no matter what, perhaps he experienced some huge shock later on, or realized certain realities. The point was, in the end he had become a lawyer. Even though she had transmigrated into a new life where anything could change, Qian Wei was extremely certain about this. She had an intuition that Lu Xun would eventually choose the path of law.
******
"Let's go, Qian Wei. Go see the fireflies."
After the barbecue, everyone was excited to see the fireflies in the forest park. Only Qian Wei didn't have much interest in Liu Shi Yun's invitation. She didn't know if she had eaten too much or was too tired from playing games, but Qian Wei felt very off all over.
"I'm not going. I need to go back first to take a shower. There are too many mosquitoes here. I'm so itchy all over."
"Mosquitoes? Where?" Liu Shi Yun sounded surprised. "I didn't get bitten at all."
Before returning to the treehouse, Qian Wei had specifically looked around. She scanned her surroundings but didn't see Qian Chuan or Mo Zi Xin anywhere. And on closer inspection, even Lu Xun was gone.
"Where did they go?"
"Qian Chuan said he was too tired and went back to sleep."
Qian Wei paused in realization. She looked around again but didn't see any trace of Mo Zi Xin. "Mo Zi Xin went back to the treehouse too, right?"
Liu Shi Yun nodded.
"What about Lu Xun?"
"Lu Xun? I didn't notice. I think I saw him already heading towards the firefly forest earlier." As Liu Shi Yun spoke, she made eager motions cracking her knuckles. "Let's not talk about this. I'm also about to head out to try and get there early while there are fewer people. I want to stake out a spot to take more photos..."
Upon hearing that Lu Xun had gone to see the fireflies alone and left Qian Chuan and Mo Zi Xin by themselves in the treehouse, Qian Wei almost coughed up a mouthful of blood from anger. She hurried towards the treehouse. If she didn't keep a close eye on Qian Chuan, Lu Xun would have his love corner chiseled away!
Qian Wei had just returned to the treehouse, and her first reaction was to observe the enemy situation. The room was quiet, Mo Zixin's door was closed, and Qian Chuan's door was half open. Qian Wei quietly slipped into Qian Chuan's room. To her surprise, there was actually someone lying in one of the single beds. The pattern on the quilt was exactly the same as the ones the Qian family had given to Qian Chuan and Qian Wei - they each had one of the same design. Qian Chuan and Qian Wei shared the same quirky travel habits as the rest of the Qian family, having a bit of an obsession with cleanliness when staying at hotels, always bringing their own sheets and quilts to put over the hotel bedding. The quilt looked quite thin, and there was the outline of a person underneath it. Even just an outline revealed the person was tall with long legs. Their whole face was buried in the quilt, with just a bit of hair sticking out. Qian Chuan hadn't been lying this time, he really had been so tired that he came back to sleep.
Qian Wei breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a bit mischievous. She tiptoed over to the bedside, then suddenly attacked, swiftly pulling the quilt over Qian Chuan's head and jumping onto him in one quick movement. This was one of Qian Wei's favorite things to do ever since she was little - the Qian family didn't favor sons over daughters at all, and most of the time Qian Wei's parents doted on her more than Qian Chuan. So not only was Qian Wei never oppressed by her "older brother" Qian Chuan, she would often oppress him instead, for example by riding him like a horse when he was sleeping, and pranking him was commonplace.
Qian Chuan must have really been asleep, because Qian Wei's sudden attack woke him up. He started struggling right away.
"Get off me!"
Probably because the quilt was pulled over his head, his voice sounded distorted and muffled, not like Qian Chuan at all.
Qian Wei sounded smug: "Struggling is useless. Being enslaved by me is your fate, you'd better resign yourself to it. Come on, your auntie's hands are cold, come warm them up for me." As she spoke, she shoved her hands, freshly washed in cold water, under the covers and pressed them right up against Qian Chuan's body. Qian Wei groped around for a bit before finally finding his back and planting her icy cold hands there.
"Your skin is so soft and delicate lately, what's up with that? Are you boys all into skin care nowadays too? How come this feels just like Lu Xun's skin?"
"Qian Wei!"
Why did not just the skin feel like Lu Xun's, but the voice sounded like Lu Xun's too?
Just as Qian Wei was reflecting on this, the person under her suddenly flung off the quilt covering his head, flipped them over in one move, and reversed their positions, pinning Qian Wei to the bed. The perpetrator glared at her fiercely, holding her hands down on either side of her body as he hovered over her.
"Lu...Lu...Lu Xun..." Qian Wei stared up at the face looming above hers, so shocked she could barely speak.
Lu Xun's expression was very ugly. Qian Wei had always thought she was used to seeing his scowls at work, but she swore she'd never seen his face look so volatile before. His beautiful eyes seemed to be filled with blood, and his whole face was flushed, probably from being wrapped up in the quilt. His hands pinning Qian Wei's also felt hot, and his usual calm, controlled breathing was ragged. Only his hair retained that lazy, messy look of having just emerged from under the covers. Lu Xun was wearing a very loose sleep shirt, and hovering over Qian Wei like this gave her a clear view down his wide open collar at his heaving chest and elegant muscle lines. Along with the strained, suppressed sound of his breathing, his tight abdomen rhythmically rose and fell.
This was way too sexy.
Qian Wei blankly took it all in for a moment before hurriedly turning her head away.
Lu Xun lowered his head until his bangs lightly brushed Qian Wei's cheek. His eyes and voice were vicious: "You did that on purpose." With each deliberately enunciated word, his breath gently caressed Qian Wei's skin, leaving her feeling like she couldn't breathe.
Before Qian Wei could even think about what exactly she had done on purpose, Lu Xun released her hands, quickly got off the bed, and headed for the door, his back still looking calm despite everything. But Qian Wei somehow felt his mood was not tranquil - otherwise, why were the hands pinning her shaking slightly, and why were there red marks on her wrists from him grasping them so tightly?
"Ah, nothing like a nice shower!"
Qian Chuan had barely left the room before he came wandering back in wearing a loose, baggy t-shirt, toweling his wet hair.
"Qian Wei? What are you doing in our room?"
Qian Wei didn't answer, just asked: "Where's Lu Xun?"
"Lu Xun? He just left with a face like a thundercloud for the bathroom. Honestly, I was going to blow dry my hair in there, but he suddenly rushed in and told me to get out." Qian Chuan huffed indignantly, then looked around and saw no one else was there. He leaned in close to Qian Wei's ear and lowered his voice secretively. "I was a little annoyed that Lu Xun kicked me out of the bathroom to use it himself, but then I saw his reaction down below his pajama pants, and I decided to forgive him - after all, that's not something you can easily endure."
"What reaction?"
Qian Chuan waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You know, that kind of reaction men get." He snickered. "I never would have thought someone who looks so pure and innocent as Lu Xun would be secretly doing that kind of thing under the covers. Tsk tsk, who would've thought?" He rolled his eyes at Qian Wei. "Of all the times you could have come in, you just had to pick when he was at a critical point. Don't you know men are very fragile at certain times? Sudden shocks like that can leave lifelong trauma, even impotence! Really, a woman's room is private and off limits, but a man's room is also a sanct***, you know? Although Lu Xun is my rival in love, as a fellow man, I sympathize with him today. Qian Wei, what you did was very unfair."
Qian Wei usually had quite thick skin, but at this moment, she finally couldn't help blushing all over. Qian Chuan didn't know, but she did - Lu Xun hadn't been doing anything untoward under the covers, he had genuinely been sleeping soundly until she suddenly pounced on him and started groping him, thus eliciting a reaction...
Qian Chuan was completely oblivious to Qian Wei's change in mood, and kept rambling earnestly: "But as a man, I do feel a bit jealous of Lu Xun."
"Jealous? What of?"
Qian Chuan rolled his eyes at Qian Wei again. "Don't you know us guys automatically size each other up even when just using the urinals together?" He gestured towards his crotch. "Down there - with what I saw just now, even through his pajama pants...for such a pretty boy, Lu Xun is shockingly well-endowed." He illustrated with hand gestures as he spoke. "It was sticking up this high!"
The author has something to say: As usual, leaving a comment of at least ten words gets a red envelope~ Also a reminder that from today, updates go back to 8pm daily~
Please also help collect my new book~ I'll start posting the boss story after I finish this one, so collecting it will give you update notifications~ Just go to my author page to collect, and please collect my whole page too~~
"You'll Get Yours One Day" by author Ye Fei Ran
Blurb 1:
Pei Yao was dumped by her ex-fiance Qin Yuan, who never looked twice at her, making her the laughingstock of their social circle.
But luck turned in an unexpected direction - just one month later, the ruthless Qin Yuan met with misfortune, getting hit by a car and turning into a simpleton...
Blurb 2:
With his handsome, distinguished face, silly simpleton Qin Yuan innocently asked: "Why do I have to call you Daddy? Shouldn't Daddies be male?"
Pei Yao snapped nastily: "What do you know? In modern society, whoever has money is Daddy. You eat my food and drink my booze, and it's all my money paying for it, so what's wrong with calling me Daddy?"
"Oh...Daddy!"
"Go draw me a foot bath, boy!"
"Yes Daddy!"
- Hmph, you'll get yours one day, Qin Yuan!
[Mini Theater]:
Qian Chuan: What on earth did Lu Xun, that pure and innocent virgin, do to deserve this? Getting interrupted midway is too cruel!
Lu Xun: Yes, so I hope the person responsible can compensate me.
Qian Wei: Compensate? How?
Lu Xun: I suspect I may have developed some problems that need testing to see if everything still works properly.
- One night later -
Qian Wei: What happened to it not working anymore!!! That was clearly fully functional!!!
