Chapter 2.1 — 'Guan guan!” Cry the Ospreys, On an Islet in the River

Chapter 2.1 — “Guan guan!” Cry the Ospreys, On an Islet in the River

[first line in the poem, 关雎 “‘Guan!’ Cry the Ospreys” from The Book of Poetry]

(translated by nutty & edited by peanuts)

Before He Zhi Zhou was completely awake, he heard clamorous noise around him. In addition, he felt particularly uncomfortable, as if he was being held by someone. His body was forced to curl up and his chest was also pressed by something, resulting in difficulty in breathing. Then he heard Monkey, Lin Yu Tang and also Brawny talking.

“Want to do mouth to mouth resuscitation?” It was Brawny’s voice.

Monkey said okay then added: “If Third is not doing it, I’ll do it.”

No!

Relying on this intense feeling, He Zhi Zhou opened his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he came into contact with Lin Yu Tang’s eyes ……

In fact, he felt that among the roommates, he has the most shallow relationship with Lin Yu Tang. Both also have cold temperament. He and Lin Yu Tang have more conversation topics when they were discussing about their study.

This is exactly the so-called a gentleman’s friendship, insipid as water.

However, never in his wildest dreams would he expect Lin Yu Tang to care so much about him! Could it be that Lin Yu Tang is a model roommate, always concerned about his roomies …… He Zhi Zhou pondered for a while along this train of thought, to explain the emergence of a strange feeling after waking up. However this kind of lame justification also cannot bring relief to that strange feeling in his heart.

Moreover, he felt very insecure.

He Zhi Zhou did not know how to react to this unexpected situation, but he was very clear that the first thing he wanted to do as soon as he wake up was to push Lin Yu Tang away —— what would it look like when a male adult like him being held by another man in his arms!

But in the next second, he was held in Lin Yu Tang’s arms again! Lin Yu Tang even touched his forehead. He looked tiredly and tenderly at He Zhi Zhou when saying: “I’m sorry ……”

What the fuck!

He Zhi Zhou looked cautiously at Lin Yu Tang. Lin Yu Tang rubbed his hair making He Zhi Zhou felt something was very wrong. He looked coldly at the two bystanders who stood not far away, Monkey and Brawny.

Brawny started to talk but he was speaking to Lin Yu Tang: “Third, I reckon Xi Xi is angry with you. Since Xi Xi has woken up, you quickly pacify her to calm her down.”

Xi Xi? Shen Xi? He Zhi Zhou was a little skeptical whether he was dreaming.

Monkey also started to talk: “Well, I’m going to take a look at the Leader.” Then Monkey gave him a brilliant smile, “Beautiful Maiden Shen, is there anything you want to eat?”

Was Monkey talking to him? He Zhi Zhou frowned and did not say anything. He was pondering over the question of whether he has gone crazy or they have gone crazy? His heart has a crack and the hole was getting bigger. The strong sense of insecurity has begun to evolve into something similar to desperation and fear.

The fear which he had never experienced from childhood until now, was about to erupt at this moment.

“What time is it now?”

He Zhi Zhou spoke to inquire. When he heard his own voice, he went crazy! Who can tell him why his voice sounded so much like Shen Xi?!

Could it be that he is still not awake?

Shen Xi rolled her eyes and felt the ceiling above her head a little unfamiliar. She remembered that she fell into the sea yesterday. She cannot be considered a landlubber (旱鸭子 refers to the ducks which are raised on land and never swim) because she can still flutter a few times in the water. But what happened afterwards? It seemed like He Zhi Zhou came down and saved her ……

Shen Xi turned over in bed. Her body did not feel any discomfort of having soaked in seawater. She not only felt particularly vigorous, even the brain was extremely clear.

A very special feeling like there was endless strength in the whole body.

She lay in bed to sing wake-up songs and casually practiced her dance move. She first did some deep breathing to completely expel the waste air from her body. Then she held her hands high above and lifted both her legs at the same time to stretch the knee ……

Eh?

Why did she feel her legs were much longer and the feet also much bigger ……

Was she seeing things? When Shen Xi turned over in bed again, the door was pushed open. A beaming Zhang Ran who was holding a cup of water, walked over: “You have woken up? Do you want to drink some water?”

Zhang Ran was particularly beautiful today and her voice was clear and sharp.

Shen Xi propped her chin up with both hands and shook her head. She was thinking that after all she fell into the sea last night, so why Lin Yu Tang was not beside her to keep her company? Shen Xi felt very angry for not seeing Lin Yu Tang when she woke up. She looked at Zhang Ran and requested her to do something: “Hey, Ran Ran ……”

Ran Ran …… Zhang Ran’s hand which was holding the cup trembled.

Ran …… Ran …… Shen Xi was startled.

What did she just say? No, why did she sound like that? Shen Xi gaped and said something again. The voice was deep, low, refreshing and magnetic, which is the standard baritone (most common male voice).

Damn it! Who secretly exchanged her voice!

Shen Xi staggered out of bed. At times, she thought He Zhi Zhou was in her room. She looked around, but only Zhang Ran was in the room.

What was this!? Shen Xi’s heart trembled. She wanted to cry. She lowered her head to look at her hands, long fingers and distinct joints.

The hands were very beautiful, but it was a man’s hand.

She spread out her palm which has clear vein lines and a lot of sweat as a result of being scared just now.

Shen Xi took a deep breath and ran frantically into the bathroom. When she saw the face of a man in the mirror, she finally screamed out loud.

This was the face of a man, He Zhi Zhou’s face.

Since young, He Zhi Zhou was matured and has calm temperament. In his maternal grandfather’s words, “A solemn and wisely prudent temperament that allows him to carry an inner strength and confidence. He is always composed and unperturbed in every situation.” He also felt that as a man, he must have ‘stability’ in life.

But facing this face in the mirror now, his life was no longer stable.

It was Shen Xi’s face in the mirror. His current figure, legs, hands and all others also belonged to Shen Xi. Because of the shock he suffered, the complexion in the mirror was a little pale. The lips were tightly pursed, the brow almost looked like a line and the still beautiful eyes were filled with gloom ……

He Zhi Zhou can feel deeply a sense of despair, the kind that he was powerless to resist. He almost cannot breathe. He suspected his difficulty in breathing was caused by some extra flesh on his chest.

He thought for a while in the bathroom until he heard a scream —— a scream from ‘his’ voice.

He Zhi Zhou can roughly guess what was going on, so he rushed out through the door.

Lin Yu Tang stood outside the room. When he saw ‘Shen Xi’ running out, he immediately pulled ‘her’ aside and anxiously asked: “Xi Xi ……”

He Zhi Zhou has no time to bother about Lin Yu Tang, but he was grabbed by Lin Yu Tang until unable to move a single step. Finally he urgently and fiercely shook off Lin Yu Tang’s hand and hurriedly went to look for Shen Xi.

He saw Zhang Ran in Shen Xi’s room. Zhang Ran greeted him: “Xi Xi”

He Zhi Zhou asked Zhang Ran to leave the room.

Zhang Ran looked at ‘Shen Xi’ who had just commanded her. Her temper cracked a little. When she was about to flare-up, she heard a ‘bang’. She has been shut out by ‘Shen Xi’.

In addition to Zhang Ran, there were also Lin Yu Tang, Monkey and Brawny standing outside the door at the same time.

Lin Yu Tang knocked at the door: “Xi Xi!”

Brawny pulled Lin Yu Tang aside and comforted him by saying: “Xi Xi was rescued by the Leader so she is certainly the one most worried about him. Thus being anxious to go and see the Leader is not excessive. Third, you don’t be overly sensitive.”

Lin Yu Tang: “……”

Monkey patted Lin Yu Tang on the shoulder. Words left unsaid maybe the best! His mind mulled over it for a while: Lin Yu Tang and He Zhi Zhou are both his brothers, both the palm and the back of the hand are made of flesh (an idiom meaning both be of equal importance). If a melodrama on the brothers fighting over love takes place later, he will be in a very difficult position!

He Zhi Zhou found Shen Xi in the bathroom attached to the room. No, it should be said that he has found ‘his’ own body. He pushed open the white glass door and went in. Shen Xi looked at him with her eyes red.

Good gracious, it really was like this! Really going crazy.

“You ……”

“You ……”

“We?”

“We ……”

They looked at each other but made no remark. All they can do was shed tears in the situation.

“Boo hoo …… how can it be like this ……” Shen Xi stamped her feet and covered her face with both hands. She walked back and forth in the cramped bathroom.

He Zhi Zhou has a headache, especially seeing his body being abused by Shen Xi like this. He reminded her with a sullen expression: “Can you please don’t stamp your feet!”

Shen Xi bit her lower lip and squatted halfway. She propped her chin up with both hands and glared at He Zhi Zhou in grievance. Finally unable to bear the visual impact, she stiffly turned away.

He Zhi Zhou also looked at Shen Xi. She was really like a small sunflower squatting at the corner. But can she not act cute at this time! If she wants to act cute, do not use his body, okay? Looking like this now, she might as well stamp her feet!

He Zhi Zhou massaged his forehead to alleviate the splitting headache.

Heading 1 (pink): Dignified and aloof top student, He Zhi Zhou and the beautiful, adorable and funny dance student, Shen Xi exchange souls.

Heading 2 (black): The two awaken after their fall into the ocean.

Due to the accident during the trip, everyone also wanted to go back to S City earlier. At noon, everyone decided to eat their lunch in Qingdao before flying back to S City.

They decided to have lunch in Qingdao Jiulong Restaurant. The interior setting was elegant. Online evaluation of the food was also very good. But He Zhi Zhou really has no appetite. When they were ordering, he was leaning back in the chair and glanced at Shen Xi from time to time.

Other people will feel differently over such meaningful glance, especially Lin Yu Tang. His heart seemed to have sunk into the sea and lost forever.

Qingdao has a famous ‘National Soccer Team’ (a veiled way of saying how bad China soccer team was, and that they stunk as bad as stinky tofu) stinky tofu shop. When Shen Xi was in S City, she already looked forward to eating it. Thus after lunch when everyone was ready to return to S City, she momentarily forgot her identity and said to Lin Yu Tang: “But I still want to eat the stinky tofu here ……”

And …..

Lin Yu Tang did not want to respond to ‘He Zhi Zhou’ but will not go so far as to show a cold face. When he was about to speak, ‘Shen Xi’ who was beside him had already walked towards ‘He Zhi Zhou’ and said to everyone: “I’ll accompany him to go and buy. All of you go to the airport first. We will come on time later.”

This, this ……

What exactly did she want! Lin Yu Tang got angry. He frowned and said to ‘Shen Xi’ in a rather harsh voice: “Shen Xi, do you actually want to go with me?”

In the end ‘Shen Xi’ directly pulled ‘He Zhi Zhou’ away.

Life is like a drama. The direction in life can change anytime and so is your chance to be cuckolded. When Shen Xi was dragging He Zhi Zhou away, Monkey patted Lin Yu Tang whose face has darkened and comforted him: “Did Beautiful Maiden Shen deliberately provoke you?”

Lin Yu Tang did not say anything. He only wanted to look for someone to fight now.

Shen Xi managed to eat the country’s famous ‘National Soccer Team’ stinky tofu. There was a long queue in front of the shop and most of those queuing up were young couples. Shen Xi bought two servings. She was eating one serving and He Zhi Zhou was helping her to hold the other.

Shen Xi actually bought the other serving for He Zhi Zhou. When she saw that he was not eating, she asked: “Really don’t want to eat?”

He Zhi Zhou looked at Shen Xi. Because of their height difference, he has to look up when talking to her now. He said: “I don’t have such good mood like you.”

Shen Xi was naturally also not in a good mood but being angry also cannot solve this matter. Moreover haven’t they already discussed in the hotel? For the time being, they will not tell others.

Shen Xi sighed and suddenly thought of something. This made her feel a bit happier. She laughed and said: “Then I’ll eat one more serving.”

In fact, she has always been very passionate about food and can eat quite a lot but she cannot get fat. After all, she was majoring in dancing, so her body figure and face were equally important to her like exam score.

Therefore no matter how much she likes to eat, she will still control herself.

But now …… the more Shen Xi thought, her mood improved, an indescribable happiness. Since the unfathomable mystery of exchanging soul, her mood has fluctuated ups and downs. Such feeling was a bit like being unlucky and fell into a large pit. However when she was helpless and despair, she struck gold in the pit.

Shen Xi was happy now but He Zhi Zhou was still cold-faced. She reached out to pinch He Zhi Zhou’s shoulder and said: “When the boat gets to the pier-head, it will go straight with the current (an idiom meaning everything will be all right). Since it is already like this now, we might as well think of something good.”

“Like what?” He Zhi Zhou still behaving coldly.

Shen Xi thought for a while and very quickly helped He Zhi Zhou to think of a good thing. She did not know whether He Zhi Zhou will like it, but a man will like it. She looked at He Zhi Zhou and said cautiously: “That…….. our dormitory is full of beautiful women ……”

“Oh, is it?” He Zhi Zhou laughed but it was apparent that it was not a heartfelt one, more like a raging laughter. He stood motionless when looking at Shen Xi and said through clenched teeth: “Thank you for reminding me.”

After finished eating the country’s famous stinky tofu, Shen Xi and He Zhi Zhou took the taxi directly to the airport to meet up with Lin Yu Tang. When Shen Xi saw Lin Yu Tang, she will still habitually go to join him. But before she got to sit down, Monkey was pulling her away. Monkey winked at her: “Leader, that’s Beautiful Maiden Shen’s seat. We will sit on the other side.”

Shen Xi had no option but to seat elsewhere.

The flight from Qingdao to S City was delayed for two hours because of security breach. Shen Xi felt a bit bored but when they were going to the airport, He Zhi Zhou ordered her not to talk too much. Since she cannot talk, she can only drink water.

Drinking drinking, then she experienced a serious problem —— she wanted to pee ……