CH 8.2

To decline royalty

Although Sun Youmei’s boyfriend was bought into a diploma mill* by his family, he doesn’t go to class. He drove around with his friends all day long, exploring the world and playing around. 

*diploma mill sells college diplomas that require little or no academic work

Cheng Hui panicked a little, “Maybe it’s just that we are too responsible, or we just can’t see her going astray. It just feels quite scary seeing her like this. But when we advise her she doesn’t like to listen either, and acts like we’re jealous of her and says some unlucky things. Yet, we can’t just watch her…I always think her boyfriend is unreliable. She won’t be going back to the dormitory to sleep tonight again…”

Wen Le was silent for a moment when she heard the words, then said “Until this kind of thing hasn’t happened, no one can tell for sure. If she still doesn’t come back tomorrow, then we’ll contact the guidance counsellor.”

“Yes, I have got to contact the guidance counsellor,” Cheng Hui said a little irritably, “But she will blame us for complaining about her when she comes back. F*ck! We must be really d*mn blind to be concerned, we shouldn’t care about her at all!”

Wen Le laughed out loud when she heard these words. It was not for no reason that Cheng Hui had such a good reputation amongst the girls. Wen Le smiled and kissed Cheng Hui on the face, “Our dorm leader is very kind indeed, hahaha!”

Cheng Hui touched her face swiftly, and sure enough, she saw a touch of red on her fingers. She couldn’t help being annoyed and stretched out to hit Wen Le on the arm, “Annoying, you’re so annoying! Don’t you know if your lipstick will leave a mark or not, what kind of lipstick is this!”

Wen Le smiled and avoided her beating, when her phone suddenly sounded, signalling a text message.

Wen Le took it out and had a look, then showed some doubt in her eyes.

Cheng Hui leaned forward and asked, “What?”

Wen Le said, “The courier has arrived, but I haven’t bought anything recently.”

Just as she was trying to think who the courier came for, the phone rang again, and it was Aunt Yu.

As soon as Wen Le saw the call, she knew who the courier was from. She gave Cheng Hui a gesture and picked up the phone,

“Hello, Ah Yi*.”

*Ah Yi = Aunt in Chinese. In chinese culture, the younger generation normally addresses the older generation as auntie/uncle regardless of whether they are related by blood.

Aunt Yu’s voice came from the earpiece, “Lele, have you received the express from Ah Yi?”

Sure enough, it was Aunt Yu, and Wen Le replied, “I got it already.”

“What’s your weight today?”

“90.25”

Wen Le replied, “90.25*.”

*assuming 90.25 is in jin/catty, it approximates to 54.15kg.

Aunt Yu remarked,  “Lele’s weight control has always been very good. Have you exercised recently?”

Wen Le said, “No, there are a lot of things going on since school just started, and there has been no time to exercise.”

Aunt Yu replied, “Then you must remember to exercise on time once you are done with this busy period. You still have to rely on exercise to stay in shape. Ah yi still recommends you to sign up for a dance or yoga class, so that you won’t be bored by yourself and not be consistent in exercising.”

Wen Le said, “Okay Ah yi, if there are fewer classes this semester, I will sign up for a class.”

Aunt Yu asked again, “What type of food do you like to eat recently?”

Wen Le replied, “Recently there have been more gatherings, so more barbecues and the like, and some heavy flavours.”

“Is there acne on your face? You better use the things Ah yi mailed to you well, you have to take good care of your skin. Your diet should be lighter…”

When Wen Le hung up the phone, Cheng Hui said, “Your Ah yi mailed you something again?”

Wen Le nodded.

Cheng Hui said: “Aw,  I also want to have an Ah yi like that.”

Although Wen Le grew up in the mountains, she had never lacked beautiful clothing since she was a child.

Aunt Yu used to be Wen Le’s favourite aunt in her childhood, because every time Aunt Yu came, she would bring her all kinds of beautiful clothes.

When she was a child, Wen Le never thought about why Aunt Yu would bring her nice clothes every time. Later when she was older, Wen Le learned from the grandfather-butler that Aunt Yu was their tailor.

It was also at that time that Wen Le learned that a butler was in the same line of profession as a tailor. Before that, she had always thought that the grandfather-butler’s surname was “Guan*”.

*butler is called “guan jia” in chinese, so Wen Le had thought that was his name literally and that his surname was “guan” LOL

Then as she grew up, Wen Le came into contact with more people and discovered something unique in their family.

Although their family stayed in a big house, they lived in the mountains. Although their family had butlers, tailors, and cooks, they seemed to be family members living together, and their family seemed to have no money to pay their salaries.

*TN: how can this be Wen Le…..sometimes I really doubt her intelligence hahaha

So when she got older, Wen Le finally understood. Her family was actually a group of stubborn, declining nobles who lived in the mountains and indulged in the glamorous life of the old society.

A shabby, but strong-faced wretch who struggled to maintain the glamorous lifestyle of the past.

Wen Le had come to this understanding, but she came to pity the situation more and more. After all, it was all the fault of poverty.

This kind of idea did not make Wen Le feel inferior, but instead allowed her to evolve into having an ambitious and self-motivated fighter-like existence.

She was just probably a weirdo.

Wen Le and Cheng Hui moved a large box back to the dormitory, and the next step was the happiest moment –  unpacking the package.

Clothes, perfumes, cosmetics, and even bags and shoes were all packed in such a box, which showed how big this box was.

The clothes were all in Wen Le’s style. Cheng Hui unfolded a long dress. It was a fiery red long dress, and its fabric was slightly thicker. The shoulder and waist lines were outlined beautifully, and the long skirt was layered at the lower end, blooming like a rose. 

Faced with such a dress, even if it was the tough guy style like Cheng Hui, she couldn’t help exclaiming, 

“Wow! Lele, your aunt’s vision is simply amazing. My god, it’s so beautiful. If you go out in this dress, you will have to hire loads of bodyguards. I’m afraid the boys in our school will go crazy!”

Wen Le’s gaze was also attracted by the dress, and murmured, “Indeed…It’s so beautiful…”

“But isn’t it not suitable for wearing at school?” Wen Le said.

Cheng Hui said, “You can wear it on a date. When you have someone you fancy one day, you can wear this dress to find him. I guarantee that he will bow down at your red dress and sing praises the next moment, hahaha.”

Wen Le also laughed.

At this moment, the dormitory door was pushed open, and the two turned their heads, only to see Sun Youmei walking in.

Sun Youmei’s gaze was immediately attracted by the red dress in Cheng Hui’s hands, and then fell on the big box that Wen Le brought back, a trace of contempt flashed in her eyes.

Sun Youmei sauntered to the desk, took something and put it in her bag, and said, “Came back to get something, you guys can continue.”

After speaking, she left.

Sun Youmei closed the dormitory door and rolled her eyes. She thought of Wen Le’s big solid-color courier box without a logo, and sneered disdainfully, muttering in a low voice, “Cheap goods.”

TN: who’s the one carrying the fake A-grade goods….cough cough

Wen Le always brought back such a box every once in a while since she started college. The boxes were always full of clothes and bags. Her clothes were good-looking, but when Sun Youmei asked what brands they were from, Wen Le would reply that they were not branded goods.

And there were indeed no brand logos on those clothes and bags.

Sun Youmei also thought of Wen Le’s background. The poor ghosts who came out of the mountains, where did they have the money to get such good clothes?  Hopefully, they weren’t either donated by others or scoured from the second-hand market.

Tsk tsk, how would these poor people know that if one dressed cheaply, then they would also become cheap.

Looking at the bag worth tens of thousands in her hand, Sun Youmei smiled in satisfaction and walked away.