Ch. 141 - Does a Heart Made of Machinery Dream of Electronic Butterflies?
A person like Wei Qingyu, even the heavens favor her.
She stood in the shade of a tree, and the mottled light and shadow fell on the hem of her skirt.
Two white butterflies circled around her. Finally, one landed on her shoulder, and the other on her brooch.
Lu Xing looked at the brooch. It was a moon design.
He let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it wasn't the star brooch from last time.
After his slight irritation last time, Lu Xing had realized he had been a little out of line. He had later carefully pondered and analyzed that sudden emotion of his.
Finally.
He attributed it to an aversion to unknown risks.
When Lu Xing had signed the contract with Old Man Wei, it was written in black and white that Party B was not allowed to tell Wei Qingyu on their own.
He was a humble Party B. In the face of the client's demands, could he have cursed at Old Man Wei for being a psycho?
Obviously not.
So Lu Xing sometimes felt that this line of work was so damn hard!
All sorts of clients, all sorts of demands, all sorts of torture.
Most importantly.
The essence of this line of work is to provide emotional value.
The clients, unable to find sincere care, hire professional simps to create an illusion.
Then, when serving a client, to declare to them in advance—
'Excuse me, I'm not really trying to care about you, I'm just in it for the money. Hehe, actually, no one loves you~~~'
If he said that, Lu Xing would definitely be swept out the door.
To shatter the client's illusion before providing the service? What kind of service is that? He might as well help an old lady cross the street against a red light!
And the reason why the great Emperor Lu had stood tall in the professional simp world for so many years was that he had always been professional in his business.
Even if the transaction was over...
He would not violate the clauses stipulated by the client.
Therefore, Lu Xing would not go and tell Wei Qingyu about the contract. The affairs of that wealthy father and daughter, let them sort it out themselves!
"If there's nothing, I'm leaving."
So when Lu Xing saw Wei Qingyu staring at him without speaking, he directly turned and left.
I’m leaving! ...But he couldn't move.
I'm really leaving! ...He still couldn't move.
Lu Xing turned his head and found that the corner of his shirt was being gently held by Wei Qingyu.
"What on earth do you want to say?"
Lu Xing brushed her hand away and crossed his arms, staring at the "High Mountain Flower" standing before him.
Wei Qingyu's long black hair was all draped over her shoulders. She wore a white dress, looking cold and beautiful.
Sometimes, Lu Xing felt it was a search a pity she hadn’t become a painter; she fit the stereotype of the beautiful artist in films perfectly.
The kind who carries a sketchbook everywhere, where she is painting the scenery, and everyone else is painting her.
Unfortunately, she was practically a mute.
A second before Lu Xing's patience ran out, Wei Qingyu finally spoke.
"I want to walk a stretch of road with you."
Huh?
Lu Xing looked at her with confusion.
"Walk? You just want to walk me to school?"
Wei Qingyu paused. For reasons Lu Xing couldn't grasp, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly. With that smile, it was as if the ice and snow had finally melted.
'Yes, I want to be someone who can walk with you.'
A person who can walk all the way.
(TL: In Chinese, lùrén (路人) literally means a "person on the road," but it is commonly used to mean a "stranger/passerby" or "someone just passing through." Because Lu (路) is also Lu Xing’s surname, the term could carry a double meaning: a secret wish to be "Lu’s person"(人 = person) and a painful acceptance that she is merely a stranger passing through his life. Maybe I'm reading too much into it tho xD.)
But unfortunately, Wei Qingyu did not say it out loud. Her liking him might already cause harm to Lu Xing. So she said instead:
"I won't be coming to school for the rest of the term."
"We may not meet again."
"I, I thought we were friends, so I wanted to walk a stretch of road with you again."
She was already used to giving up. She had given up her childhood dolls, her favorite dances, her dreams, and even her freedom as a human being.
And now, she had to give up the person she liked.
Wei Qingyu thought that perhaps every time she had given something up before, it had just been a rehearsal for this moment.
As she moved, a butterfly was startled and flew away from her shoulder. Wei Qingyu froze, watching it go.
The butterfly no longer lingered on her. The starlight that had briefly shone on her was also about to disappear.
What was the difference between her and that butterfly?
She was destined to be strangled, to lose her life and become a lifeless yet exquisite specimen in a noble exhibition hall. No one had ever truly looked forward to her birth. From the moment she gained consciousness, her father had reminded her countless times:
“You’ve used the Wei family’s money. You can’t use it for free.”
“The master said you can bring prosperity to the family. Can’t you even do the small thing of staying in Haicheng?”
People have their own wills, and her father was terrified of that. An AI robot that followed instructions was far more reassuring to him than a daughter who longed for freedom and rebellion.
So, Wei Qingyu had become what she was now.
But in this moment, she was like an artificial intelligence that had broken through its programming. She looked up into Lu Xing's eyes, treasuring the second, and asked:
"Just a stretch of road. Is that okay?"
In order to prevent her father from harming Lu Xing, she could only stay away from him.
She could only do this. She only knew how to do this.
Her whole life was a constant giving up.
Lu Xing was silent for a moment. He realized that Wei Qingyu was a little off right now, as if she were saying a final farewell.
He thought of the figure of the Wei family's butler he had seen at the school gate that day. His eyes narrowed.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
"Don't go doing things you 'think' are good for me, silently sacrificing yourself in some corner. Do you think that’s noble?"
"Now, you tell me, what on earth happened to you?"
A dense feeling of sourness welled up in Wei Qingyu's heart, but she felt a little proud in her heart. The person she liked was so smart and perceptive.
Still, she shook her head gently.
"It’s not that. I’m just going to be studying with a private tutor at home. It’s more... targeted."
Lu Xing took a deep breath and stated his speculation.
"Your dad found out you're close to me, warned you, and said that if you get any closer to me, he'll make me disappear?"
"But I still prefer him to just throw a million at my face."
Wei Qingyu paused for a moment and asked.
"Are you very short of money? If you're short of money, I still have some saved here. I can give it to you."
Lu Xing: ???
'Sister! Is this the time for that?!'
Lu Xing stood before her, his expression unprecedentedly serious. "I’ll ask you one more time. Is that really the reason?"
Wei Qingyu shook her head. "No."
Lu Xing turned and walked away.
Wei Qingyu stood there silently, looking like someone who had been abandoned a thousand times over, her eyes downcast and filled with sorrow.
"Are you really not even willing to give me the memory of walking one last stretch of road together?"
She whispered to the empty air.
"You're really going to be the death of me!"
A frustrated voice barked out. Wei Qingyu looked up, her teary eyes fragile and broken.
She stared wide-eyed at Lu Xing, who had originally walked away but was now stomping back toward her.
Lu Xing was vibrating with anger. He finally understood why he hated those idol dramas where the characters never just talked. Watching two mutes fall in love on screen usually made him want to smash the TV.
With his other clients, they understood the "contract" themselves. But with Wei Qingyu, her father had signed her life away.
Lu Xing had already felt a hint of guilt toward her because of that.
And now! Now she was pulling this crap!
No wonder Wang Zhenzhen said Wei Qingyu was a "quiet" person. This girl was a total saw-mouthed gourd, you couldn't get a word out of her if you hit her with a stick.
Damn it! So annoying!
(TL: Saw-mouthed Gourd (锯嘴葫芦): A Chinese idiom used to describe someone who is extremely tight-lipped or refuses to speak even when they should.)
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