Translator: Lan Editor: - -

  Basile’s accent had reminded them of the dishes of Northeastern China that they wanted to taste.

  Fortunately, there was a Northeastern restaurant on Jinbao street, not far away.

  The seven students were sitting around a big table. Ye Dong was in charge of ordering.

  As a big fellow from the Northeastern part of China, he was a better judge of the dishes of his hometown.

  As soon as the dishes were served, they all seemed to lose their reserved manners. The girl from the student union was surprised by the scene before her.

  “Hey you, Qin Guan! Pass me the sweet and sour pork! You’re so greedy! Loosen your chopsticks a bit.” Wang Lei and Qin Guan were fighting over a piece of sweet and sour pork.

  “Ye Dong, will you eat the table with a handful of cumin? You are so greedy! I dare you to eat that last blood sausage! F*ck, you really ate it. If Ma Yun [1] offered you ten million yuan to eat sh*t, you’d eat until he went bankrupt.”


  “For a blood sausage, Liu Xiaoyang would mention sh*t on the dining table.”


  The girl covered her face, not saying a word. Mu Lejiang and Li Jie were reciting poems on other side of table.

  They combined sentences from traditional Chinese poems and names of dishes [2], making the others laugh with their jokes.

  What talented people! They even made poems for food!

  Ye Dong’s roommates were quite intimidating. The girl stole a glance at Ye Dong and blushed slightly. He looks so bold. A good man indeed.

  Congratulations were due to Ye Dong, who had unbeknownst to him won a girl’s heart over.

  As an expert on love affairs, Li Jie could tell just by looking at her.

  Actually, Ye Dong had been festering some feelings for the girl. They were both in the Public Relations Society. One of them was in charge of internal affairs, while the other took care of external affairs.

  They had met each other at work, and Ye Dong had taken the initiative and asked her to join them in that activity.

  The most important reason he liked her was her hometown. She also came from the Northeastern part of China. However, Ye Dong would never confess his wicked intentions. Her height fits me well, too.

  Generally speaking, people from Northeastern China were tall. Ye Dong was 1.90 cm, and matched well Yang Jing, who was 1.70 cm tall.

  Yang Jing was the name of the girl. Her name was elegant and silent, although she was quite rash and hasty.

  Ye Dong was obsessed with her. He had been mentioning her to his roommates for a long time. “You know, today Yang Jing……”


  His roommates were tired of hearing her name. They had finally met her in person that day.

  Li Jin thought there was hope for Ye Dong and he kept encouraging him, “Eldest brother, why don’t you bring Yang Jing a cup of tea? The girl worked for us today. We should thank her for her effort.”


  Ye Dong blushed heavily. His face had nearly turned purple.

  Pushed by the others, he walked up to Yang Jing, his hands and feet perfectly coordinated. He took the white teapot and poured a cup of tea for Yang Jing, who was also looking embarrassed. She took a sip.

  The others were shouting, “Cross your cups! Cross your cups!”


  Yang Jing nearly buried her face under the table as Ye Dong rushed to beat them up.

  There was a mess on the table, but the atmosphere was quite merry. The hanging moon felt ashamed on behalf of those shameless guys and furtively hid behind the dark clouds.

  The seven students with their shabby backpacks were walking under the light of the street lamps on their way back to college. Their stomachs were filled with Northeastern dishes, and they were all feeling warm.

  The conflict with the Cowboy nation was over, all that fuss accomplishing very little. For college students, it had been a small change in their lives. Their main goal was still the exam.

  Several subjects had been finished in advance before the summer vacation. The tutor had knocked on the name list with a subtle smile to reveal his dangerous intentions.

  The attendance rate had unexpectedly taken up 25% of the final score, which had made his class dissolve in uproar.

  Some people had been happy while others had been worried. Qin Guan and Wang Lei had remained calm. They were both on the way to becoming straight-A students.

  Some of their classmates, who had made a lot of effort at the last moment, surrounded Wang Lei to ask to copy his notebook. Taking the chance, Qin Guan sneaked away.

  If they saw Qin Guan’s notebook, they might beat him to death.

  There was only an outline inside it. The whole course was already over and he had only taken one page of notes.

  How could he get a full scholarship with such a notebook? No one would believe him. Qin Guan had to run away with his notebook.

  Sister Xue called him just as he was entering the dormitory. She had found a job for him at a mini car exhibition. The model just had to stand the whole day. The payment was only so-so. It was 1,500 yuan.

  It was difficult for her to get him jobs, because Qin Guan could only work on weekends. He had to take training courses and tutor a girl in the evenings.

  Professor Li had forced her to work only for Qin Guan, so she had to take all possible jobs unless she wanted to starve.

  Qin Guan had no idea about her bitterness. He thought 1,000 yuan per day was quite a good pay. Since the Spring Festival, he had made nearly 10,000 yuan.

  He read the short message and called Cong Nianwei to ask her if she would like to pay him a visit.

  He got through, but five minutes later, his hand was hanging down in disappointment. Cong Nianwei was busy. He had been relentlessly rejected once again……

  Take it easy, he said to himself. But on the day of the car exhibition, he was in an even worse mood.

  He been hurt on both a physical and emotional level, and he was feeling humiliated.

  Weizi [3] paid no attention to me. The bus has arrived at the terminal stop, and I’m just standing on the yellow ground. Where is that blasted exhibition?

  He couldn’t get through to Sister Xue.

  Qin Guan was looking around blankly when a tricycle suddenly appeared like God descending from Heaven.

  The driver smiled warmly at Qin Guan. His large front teeth were visible through his open mouth. “Young man, where are you going?”


  My Savior! Qin Guan asked him right away, “How can I get to the Manyoufu Garage?”


  “Is that the one at Siyuanqiao Market selling Automobile Accessories?”


  Qin Guan nodded, “Exactly.”


  The old man showed him five fingers. “I’ll take you there for five yuan.”


  Qin Guan pressed two of his fingers down. “Three yuan, and we’re leaving right away.”


  The old man looked surprised. “You know how to do business. Fine, get on the tricycle!”


  Translator’s Thoughts

  Lan Lan

  [1] Ma Yun: One of the richest men in China.

  [2] For example:

  Moon’s down, crows cry and frost fills all the sky；


  Sauted sweet corn with pine nuts and fried potato, green pepper and eggplant.

  It was hard to understand if I translate them literally. So, I made a summary.

  [3] Weizi: Nickname for Cong Nianwei.