Summary: There’s only the two of them, neither of the main characters appear!
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Extra: Battle Off the Mainland (Latter Part)
In the lobby.
The eyes of the two-meter-tall, Asian Father Lu passed over Fang Xieyi’s shoulder before he then slapped Lu Weixi’s head with a smack while also speaking remorsefully to Fang Xieyi.
“I’m sorry, young man, it’s all the fault of our Xiao-Lu, whose mind is filled only with sex, that such a thing happened! But, please, don’t worry, our family will definitely take responsibility until the end!”
In contrast, the blond-haired, blue-eyed Mother Lu seemed extremely excited. “His eyes are pretty good, though. A black-haired, black-eyed partner is the best looking. This mother is very satisfied.”
Lu Weixi’s cousin actually directly used her slim, white fingers to squeeze Fang Xieyi’s shoulders, appearing to find the sensation quite pleasing. “No wonder you’ve never even looked twice at such a stunningly beautiful woman like me; so it turns out that you like men, to the point that you even brazenly did such a thing in broad daylight. But, really, the quality is top-notch.”
Lu Weixi, “No, no, it’s not like that! It’s really not like that!”
Father Lu, “Stinky brat, the truth’s right in front of our eyes, and you’re still denying it!”
An hour later, in a certain high-end restaurant downtown.
“We’re all family here, so there’s no need to hold back.”
Fang Xieyi calmly looked at his plate. Coincidentally, everything on it were all foods he liked, so since it was like this —
“Then I won’t hold back.”
Lu Weixi, “?!?!
“Wait a minute! What! Who’s family with you! Stop, you’re not allowed to eat! Owowow, it hurts!”
Fang Xieyi, “…”
He hadn’t purposely lowered his fork when the other party reached out. It was just a coincidence that the fork and knife hadn’t stabbed into the steak but had instead stabbed into the blonde-haired, blue-eyed youth’s hand.
“Sorry, I just wanted to cut the steak.”
Father, Mother, and Cousin, “No need to worry about him, no need to worry, just continue eating.”
Lu Weixi, “???”
Cousin, “That’s right, we still haven’t gotten your name.”
“I’m called Fang…” He saw that she was a foreigner and so didn’t say his Chinese name. “Yes, Ryne Fang.”
“Ry… Ryne?” At this, Father Lu actually started. “You just transferred to the school? Ah, you should be President Fang’s son then! We talked before about you living at our house when you came here to study. Why were you being so distant? You didn’t say a word to us when you arrived!”
Mother Lu, “Ah, was it that President Fang who took us sea fishing last time? What a coincidence. Like this, isn’t this what you guys call a ‘well-matched romantic partner’.”
Lu Weixi, “???”
Mother Lu, “President Fang is our biggest client in all of Asia, and since you’re the Fang family’s young master, it should naturally fall to us to take good care of you.”
Father Lu, “That’s right, Ryne. All right, let’s settle it like this — come move in with us today. Auntie will make you delicious food to eat every day, and you can also go to school together with our undeserving son.
“And, if he dares to… cough, bully you in broad daylight again, just tell Uncle here, and Uncle will take away his allowance.”
“Dad! I didn’t!” Lu Weixi slapped the table.
Mother Lu, “Little Xi’s grades are really bad, and I’ve heard that your grades are very good. Don’t look down on him; please help him improve together.”
“Mom, you…”
Cousin, “For a long time now, I’ve thought that this kid needed a proper person to look after him.”
The Lu Weixi who stirred up trouble at school but had no place to speak at home had already lost all desire to speak.
****
From then on, Lu Weixi’s unbridled ten-plus years of life began to meet with some setbacks.
Although, every time he met a setback, there was a bit of him reaping what he sowed.
For instance, while the two would appear very friendly when they left the house, he’d then suddenly snatch away Fang Xieyi’s lunchbox on the way, and just as he was feeling smug, he’d end up crashing right into a tree, causing his nose to hurt for the entire day.
For instance, while the two would once again appear very friendly when they left the house, he’d once again snatch away Fang Xieyi’s lunchbox on the way, but because his mom forgot that the salmon had expired, only Lu Weixi alone would end up getting food poisoning.
And for instance, during meals, he would furiously snatch away the food in Fang Xieyi’s bowl, but he’d then get full too quickly so that, in the end, the delicious food would still all be eaten by Fang Xieyi. (Lu Weixi was used to saving the best for last.)
What was even worse was that, no matter how much he went about earnestly trying to bully Fang Xieyi, in the eyes of bystanders, there was always an ambiguous filter to his actions.
His lackey, “Boss, if you really hate him, you could just kick him out of your house.”
Lu Weixi, That’s impossible! His dad is my dad’s most important client!
“Senior, I’ve always really liked you, but I heard that you’re already together with Ryne, sob, what about him is better than me?”
Lu Weixi, Junior… this senior really wants to explain, but those fierce sideburns of yours is making your senior really not want to.
And thus, the word on the street was that the two people were inevitably bound together.
Countless eyes were filled with rays of excitement, and all of the attention fell on those two people.
Of course, a small number of people still firmly believed that Fang Xieyi and Lu Wei were “not actually together at all”.
Because they had discovered that Fang Xieyi had “plotted” against Lu Weixi a countless number of times.
For instance, Fang Xieyi would throw away a banana peel in front and Lu Weixi would immediately slip in the back; Fang Xieyi would carelessly slam the door closed in front and Lu Weixi would get his hand stuck in it in the back; Fang Xieyi would pick up a broom preparing to clean up in front and Lu Weixi would either be hit by the broom’s head or tripped by the broom’s tail in the back…
And then, Fang Xieyi would even turn around, his face a picture of innocence, and ask, “Why were you behind me?”
What a god! He dared to make such moves against the school tyrant!
But not long later, everyone also heard about how this person had once defeated a group of four English-French students on his own. Very quickly, the rumor spread through the school that there was an Asian student who could fight and even had a good background, to the point that he was able to make countless school tyrants lower their heads.
However, in actuality, for a very long period of time, Fang Xieyi truly had no idea what was happening.
He simply felt that the person who lived with him, Lu Weixi, was extremely unlucky, always inexplicably tripping, getting hit, and falling over day-in and day-out.
But that rascal had quite a positive attitude. Although he fell out of luck that many times in a single day, Fang Xieyi had never seen him complain, and he’d always very quickly regain his fighting spirit.
Maybe he himself should learn a little from this… or at least have a somewhat more positive outlook on life.
His parents arguing, his family at odds, and so on — those were things that he shouldn’t take too much to heart.
From then on, Fang Xieyi also unconsciously became quite a bit more cheerful.
He even began thinking that his luck was quite good — although his new school was an unfamiliar place, he’d recently been feeling that his classmates’ attitudes towards him were especially friendly (out of reverence and fear), his teachers also paid special attention to him (because Father Lu had instructed them to), and his good friend (?) Lu Weixi was also constantly by his side, even often taking the initiative to help carry his lunchbox on the way to school (…).
It wasn’t until the final exam season that Fang Xieyi finally met one instance of bad luck.
For his last exam on European history, his exam paper had disappeared without a trace, so he was granted only the bare minimum points needed to pass.
“What a pity, Ryne’s other subjects were all excellent. If it wasn’t for this, he’d definitely be first in his year.”
There were many people who came to express their condolences; only Lu Weixi hadn’t appeared.
Because he was currently in front of the old headmaster, not willing to let the issue go, “What is this? Why is it that, even with the exam paper missing, he could still pass? Doesn’t he need to repeat a grade? In these kinds of circumstances, it’s only fair if he repeats a grade!”
The headmaster stroked his beard. “The school losing the exam paper can’t be blamed on the student.
“And look, the proctor clearly has it recorded that Student Fang handed in his exam paper.”
Lu Weixi, “But it doesn’t mean that he could’ve passed!”
The headmaster, “According to Student Fang’s grades in other subjects, he would’ve definitely done excellently in this subject as well, hahaha~”
Lu Weixi was practically about to keel over with resentment. He had risked falling to his death in the middle of the night in order to get to the fourth floor of the school, steal Fang Xieyi’s exam paper, and burn it to ashes, and it turned out that the person didn’t even have to repeat a grade?
Not only that, when he walked through the school, he could even hear people secretly whispering behind his back.
“It had to be him. He was definitely the one that stole the exam paper.”
Everyone was able to guess the criminal, so it was a complete failure of a crime.
Naturally, on the way home, Fang Xieyi was also very direct, “I heard that you were the one who hid my European history exam paper?”
Lu Weixi’s expression didn’t change. “If I did, so what?”
“If so…” Fang Xieyi fell silent for a while, mulling over his thoughts for a moment. Lu Weixi braced himself for a fight.
“Xiao-Lu, you really are a good friend.”
Fang Xieyi had already been in France for several months, but this was the first time he revealed a smile, almost blinding Lu Weixi with surprise.
“I really am hopeless with European history, what with all those strange countries as well as the countless dates and events. I’m also not French, and I’ve been here for only a few months, so how could I understand everything that was said in class? I was always worried that I’d fail this exam and have to repeat a year, but I didn’t think that you’d actually be so thoughtful and even go to steal the exam paper for my sake.”
Lu Weixi’s face, when faced with Fang Xieyi’s sincere gratitude, began twitching uncontrollably.
Who’s being thoughtful… who’s being thoughtful for your sake!
Who’s doing anything for your sake!
How can you be such a lucky bastard! And how can the great me be so unlucky!
Bastard Fang Xieyi bastard ahhhhh…
Lu Weixi was furious. He was definitely not going to let this go! On the ice-cold, wintry streets, he searched, one shop at a time, and finally found a massive and frightening gift box in one old and dusty shop.
It was one of those boxes that would have countless caterpillars, spiders, and skeletons fly out when opened — a Halloween toy.
If it hadn’t been for reaching the end of his rope, Lu Weixi also wouldn’t have wanted to resort to such a childish ploy.
But he had already had enough. He simply wanted to see the always-collected Fang Xieyi get so scared that his face turned pale and green so that he could receive at least some measure of peace in his heart.
“Wow, you’re so considerate, Lu. You knew that Ryne was about to leave so you bought such a big box as a gift.”
He carried that box home, and the three Lu family members — the mother, father, and cousin — all expressed how moved they were.
What? Who’s leaving?
“I’m leaving tomorrow and returning home for winter break.” Fang Xieyi had clearly already packed his luggage, but right as Lu Weixi was about to break out in delight, he once again dealt a heavy blow. “But there’s no need to miss me too much. I’ll be back soon enough.”
“Yes, Uncle and Auntie will wait for you! Ryne’s so well-behaved, not only outstanding academically but also good at housework, not at all like this son of ours who just lazes around all day and has such lousy grades, ah~ How we wish we could have another son just like you, ah~ Or how about you just stay with us for a lifetime then~”
“That’s right, hahaha, I also want a little brother like you. I definitely feel like you’re much cuter than the alternative.”
Lu Weixi had already practically mastered the art of turning a deaf ear to his parents and cousin’s piercingly critical words in this past half-a-year.
He simply waited, waited for Fang Xieyi to open his gift.
…But, after waiting for an entire night, he still wasn’t able to hear Fang Xieyi’s bloodcurdling screams.
The next day, the mood of Lu Weixi, whose evil plan had not prevailed, had hit an all-time low. The entire family had solemnly gathered to see Fang Xieyi off at the airport, and they even forced him into doing the backbreaking labor of carrying the luggage.
Walking in the back, he watched the happy and harmonious family of four walk in front of him as if they had completely forgotten about his existence, and all the while, he wondered in his heart why the great him had to do all this manual labor?!
When it was time to board, the Lu family and Fang Xieyi suddenly discovered that Lu Weixi and that piece of luggage he was carrying had both disappeared.
“Ah, did he get lost?”
“That brat really can’t be relied on! When we get back, I’ll definitely teach him a good lesson!”
“It’s fine, Auntie,” Fang Xieyi smiled, “I’ve already checked in my own luggage. That one was just filled with the gift that Xiao-Lu gave me yesterday. Originally I wanted to look at it on the plane, but it’s all right. It’s not too late to see it when I come back in the Spring.”
Meanwhile, the Lu Weixi who was scheming to sell off some of the more expensive items in Fang Xieyi’s luggage to earn some pocket money was slowly opening that suitcase.
Inside laid a large box that looked somewhat familiar, but Lu Weixi wasn’t able to remember where he had seen it before.
He opened it.
“Wahhhhhhhhhhh—-”
Countless numbers of plastic snakes and spiders flew out, covering his entire face and body, and Lu Weixi’s bloodcurdling scream cut right through the peaceful atmosphere.
“I won’t forgive you, I won’t forgive you, I definitely won’t forgive you!
“Don’t think that I can’t reach you if you run back home!”
The Lu Weixi who believed he was more unfortunate than Hamlet himself couldn’t wait for Fang Xieyi to return in the Spring.
He had to go find him right now! He needed to give him a good beating! He wanted to step on his head as the other kneeled and begged for forgiveness, promising never to do such a thing again!
That’s right! While Lu Weixi was fantasizing about the kinds of medieval tortures that he’d inflict on Fang Xieyi, he suddenly gained a flash of inspiration — actually I could just appear out of nowhere in front of him, giving him a surprise attack that he wouldn’t be able to avoid!
Lu Weixi could suddenly appear in his home country, ferociously wreak havoc on him, and then threaten him into admitting defeat, so that he’d obediently withdraw back to his home and never again step foot on the beautiful soil of France!
Thus, Lu Weixi, without any further thought and full of righteous fury, grabbed his passport, some money, and directions to the Fang family villa before stepping onto the plane.
****
Half a day later, S City’s international airport.
Lu Weixi left the airport.
The airport was very confusing, and he wasn’t able to find a place to call a taxi.
From the door, he walked through an underground walkway before then walking up a large pedestrian bridge, and then… he felt that he hadn’t walked for more than a few minutes, but when he turned around, strangely enough, he wasn’t able to catch even a glimpse of the airport.
He simply saw that the way he had come from seemed to wind around every direction of this international metropolis.
That day, the sky was cloudy, and there was no sun.
On the way, there had also been no signs that could effectively point out which way was north, south, east, or west.
On the bridge, no matter where one looked, the only things visible were the enormous flood of traffic and the towering steel high-rises. Every direction looked about the same as every other.
This feeling was completely different from the French countryside, where there were plenty of signs and distinguishing landmarks that could be seen at a glance.
After much difficulty, when he finally made it off the bridge and onto the sidewalk, Lu Weixi discovered that, no matter how much he waited, the light still remained red.
Cars sped by one after another, kicking up dust as they went.
He waved, wanting to hitch a ride, but no one stopped.
It felt as if he had waited for a century before the pedestrian light finally turned green.
But cars were still passing through the crosswalk nonstop. The moment he finally stepped out onto the road, trembling in fear, a taxi driver, who had just brushed past him with his car, stuck his head out and cursed, “You looking to die?!”
The other side of the road was just like a mysterious, faraway shore.
He could see it, but he couldn’t reach it.
Lu Weixi could only follow along the sidewalk until he reached a congested crosswalk. There, with great difficulty, he had to squeeze between the countless aunties with their ample breasts and high-heels in order to move forward.
On the way, people bumped into him countless times, to the point that he almost got internal bruising, but when he turned to look, he could never find the culprit; the only thing he could see was the sea of heads before him.
And then, when he left the crosswalk, Lu Weixi’s blood suddenly ran cold as he discovered that his wallet had disappeared.
His passport had disappeared, and his map had also disappeared!
****
How could such a young man dare to travel in a foreign country alone?
Perhaps it was due to an adventurer’s spirit, or perhaps it was due to his strong and fierce temperament.
But even so, Lu Weixi had dared to run around so carelessly only because he had enough money to spare.
Right now, with his wallet gone, his passport gone, and his map gone, a series of frighteningly real questions began surfacing — from now on, which direction should he walk, how would he eat, and where would he sleep tonight?
The night slowly descended, and a countless number of neon signboards lit up on the high-rise buildings.
In an instant, this originally dusty and foggy steel cityscape turned into a magnificent world, strange and technicolored.
But this lavish and beautiful world not only failed to make Lu Weixi excited but also made him feel quite a bit more miserable.
He arrived in the morning.
After he got off the plane, he hadn’t had a single meal.
His feet were sore, and he had probably rubbed them raw by walking too much.
In embarrassment, he tried searching for the police, but it turned out that there was a language barrier —
His kind of heavily-accented, shoddy Chinese and that police officer’s beautiful native dialect were practically like the attempts of a chicken trying to speak to a duck, two entirely different languages.
Lu Weixi was completely unwilling to sleep out on the streets.
Thus, he walked for an entire night. Luckily, this was a city that never slept, and a countless number of other pedestrians also accompanied him throughout the night — but their moods were completely different.
Right now, Lu Weixi simply wanted to go home.
He missed his dad’s violence, his mom’s expired food, his cousin’s frightening laughter. Even if he was to die of food poisoning on his warm bed at home, he’d still rather be there than in this harried, eastern city, without any idea of his destination.
He thought of the kind of tragic ending he’d receive in this kind of place, and the various kinds of newspaper headlines that would arise —
Such as, “Foreign Youth Stranded in Foreign Land, Starved to Death on Street,” or “A Record of Hardships Endured by a Street Vagrant,” or even, “Dismembered Body of Anonymous Foreigner Found in City Outskirts” and “The Abduction and Trafficking of a Foreign Youth”, and so on.
Right now, he had already completely forgotten the reason why he had come to this foreign country in the first place.
When Lu Weixi was young, Father Lu often lectured him on the cycle of karma, what went around came around, and that ‘virtue had its reward and evil its retribution’.
Lu Weixi was somewhat regretful that he had done so many bad things in the past.
The next day, at noon, white snow began drifting down from the sky.
Lu Weixi was practically about to collapse.
He hadn’t had a single bite to eat for an entire day; he had never suffered so badly in his entire life…
And the lambskin coat that he had brought from France was already starting to prove ineffective in the face of S City’s especially chilly winter.
Lu Weixi felt that he was already starting to become a bit like the little matchstick girl, swaying to and fro every time he walked, with visions of baked chicken and roasted duck manifesting before his eyes.
Finally, something on the street caused him to trip and fall.
On this snowing, quiet, and deserted street, Lu Weixi felt as if he was as miserable as an abandoned corpse.
What to do, what to do, what to do…
Sob, save me!
Save me, someone, anyone!
It was at this time that a pair of legs entered his line of sight, as if the gods had actually heard his prayer.
He raised his head, and in his hazy vision, he saw a familiar figure.
In this bustling, strange, and ice-cold city, that familiar figure was so close to him.
Lu Weixi’s eyes opened wide, as if he was a terminal patient experiencing his last moments of lucidity.
As if the one in front of him was an angel with a shining halo, on the verge of saving him from the abyss of suffering.
The angel Fang Xieyi was standing in front of him, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses that Lu Weixi had never seen before, frowning as he looked down at this rascal that he had never expected to see in this city, all the while holding a half-eaten roasted sweet potato in his hand.
On such a snowy day, eating a burning-hot roasted sweet potato on such a bustling street was certainly a good way to enjoy oneself.
The filthy Lu Weixi looked anxiously at Fang Xieyi.
In this instant, he seemed to hear the sound of a screw coming loose in his head, as if a important part — an indispensable aspect of himself, or something similar — had disappeared forever, just like that.
As he looked at Fang Xieyi, his expression gradually turned brilliant and sparkling, becoming full of incomparable joy.
At this time, even if the angel coming to save the poor and destitute was his most, most, most, most hated Fang Xieyi, it was completely unimportant.
Because on the other side of the world, in this place which can cause anyone to fall to ruin, where he had already reached the end of his rope, the heavens had finally allowed him to meet someone who he at least somewhat knew.
Fang Xieyi tilted his head to look at him and saw that he was staring at the food in his hand with a mouth-watering expression.
After thinking for a moment, in the end, somewhat reluctantly, he still handed over his own half-eaten roasted sweet potato to the other.
Thereupon, the Lu Weixi who was starved to death held that precious food in his hand and, without the slightest hesitation, looked at the other with stars in his eyes and a wagging tail.
While he was devouring the food, he didn’t notice that, at this time, Fang Xieyi had also revealed a sort of expression as if he suddenly understood something.
He reached out a hand and, just as if he petting a large dog, he stroked Lu Weixi’s head. An ambiguous light flashed through those eyes from behind those black-rimmed glasses, and his lips carried a strange smile.
“I gave my food to you, and you can also come stay at my house…
“But, what are you going to give me in return?”
On that day, a certain person died, and a certain person was reborn.
Winter break ended, and the students returned to school.
A great many people were startled to see Lu Weixi wearing his uniform neatly with his necktie properly tied, carrying a somewhat foolish yet surprisingly alluring smile, and sitting next to his enemy Fang Xieyi while honestly paying attention in class.
Fang Xieyi was wearing a very elegant black suit, and his face, framed with black-rimmed glasses, still had no expression, but it still made people inexplicably feel as if… this person’s atmosphere was somewhat different from what it used to be.
Gradually, everyone discovered that Lu Weixi carried Fang Xieyi’s schoolbag for him.
That Lu Weixi helped Fang Xieyi buy breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.
That Lu Weixi had changed into the perfect student, a paragon of virtue and learning.
And that, like a diligent lackey, Lu Weixi was ordered here and sent there by Fang Xieyi.
The Valentine’s Day chocolates that Lu Weixi received grew exponentially in number, but all those chocolates were entirely confiscated by Fang Xieyi.
When others asked Fang Xieyi about how he managed to subdue the evil tyrant Lu Weixi, Fang Xieyi would say, in complete earnest, I really don’t remember doing anything.
…other than giving him a half-eaten roasted sweet potato.
This piece of information simply made everyone feel even more in awe of his two-faced nature.
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So in the original free version, there’s actually a moment where it’s revealed that Fang Xieyi has feelings for Lu Weixi, but neither Fang Xieyi nor Xiao Heng expect it to come to fruition (because of Lu Weixi’s infatuation with Xia Mingxiu). That reference was completely excised in this version, and so I don’t consider it entirely canon, but this two-parter really… makes you ship them, doesn’t it?
(Also, the author kept on spelling Lu Weixi’s name wrong in this extra lmao. You can see that older!her gave up on editing at this point.)
I, uh, really phoned in on the translation/editing for the past two chapters, so if you see any mistranslations or grievous errors, please let me know, haha…
Shrimp Chips Translations 