Fleeting Midsummer

Chapter 25: Ru Ting’s Birthday (3)

I decided that I would send Ru Ting a ‘79 style toy model gun, while reminding her that this was the style her hubby liked. If she loved me, she would love my dog. She would definitely also like it. I had settled the matter of the birthday present, so next, I would settle my formal attire. I decided to put this matter totally in the hands of Wang Jie. She had a very unique opinion on makeup and dressing up. Occasionally, she would even help out with fashion magazine articles. I was absolutely not worried about her taste. It was just that a budget of 500 dollars made it a bit difficult for her. But by means of “The genuine clever wife does not have rice but can still make a meal”, I managed to beat around the bush.

The hardest thing to settle was the issue of a male companion. I pondered for a long time, and thought through all the male classmates in my classes, so much so that I even calculated the amount of pimples on their oily faces and their body odor, but I still was unable to find a face that would make for great results.

I appealed to Julie for help, and she was readily delighted: “I won’t oppose you from participating in Ru Ting’s refined scene, but do not indicate that I supported you to do so. I just can’t bear to see her act, you should all accompany her to sing.”

I had to encounter someone who was ready to die to preserve his chastity…

In the end, I made a decision that shocked the whole dorm, and that was my decision to publically hang up a plate to recruit people!

First, I opened my unidentified BBS magpie bridge edition, and I began to compose a message:

I, a dainty and delicate girl , have many hobbies. I like to read books most.

I recruited on GG: Image and temperament must be good. He must be willing to go for a special industry and do well.

If you have sincerity, please send a picture to [email protected]

Underneath the inbox address, I sent out some information that practically only had the hazy special mark of the back of my head, as I sent a special and hazy distant picture of myself.

When I finished writing, I let my dormmates take a look at it.

Julie glanced over it: “If you don’t work in marketing it’ll really be waste of your talent. You even have so many hobbies but you like to read the most?”

Words of surprise and shock poured from Wang Jie’s mouth at the other side: “Are you a scholar recruiting a poet? It just so happens that you two will be the perfect couple.

My mesage was already on the top ten topics in the forum. A pile of boring people were enciting more boring people to apply for the special business, and the initiator of this boring scene was me…

My inbox began to explode. I immediately began to filter out messages without a photograph. Then, I filtered out all the mesages with a photograph accompanied by a poor ten-ish line poem that soured my teeth. Of the remaining photographs, I examined each carefully one by one. The heavens did not turn their backs on me. I finally found a photograph that looked very lively. His name was just like the renowned name of my dormmate. It was also Wen Tao. And the main reason why I picked him was because of his message: “In fact, I'm just passing by to buy soy sauce [1]……

I immediately replied his message: Wen Tao, hello. Meeting the photograph of this dignified gentleman, I regret not having met earlier.  As the night continues endlessly, I have no desire to sleep. What about tonight at 10, we meet at Kang Bo Si (One of the three canteens in Peking Uni) and chat. On the other hand, please leave your cell phone number so it will be more convenient to contact you.

When it was almost 10, I received his email: I’ll permit it. The secret sign will be: I love Zhou Xing Xing.

I fainted. Did this rascal see a cell phone as a decoration? Afterwards, wouldn’t calling be better? And he even created a secret sign.

I immediately wore a jacket and rushed to Kang Bo Si. Since I had set the time at 10, I obviously had my own advantages. First, when it was 10, the canteen would be absolutely empty, and it would be easy to speak and make our translation. Secondly, at 10:30, Kang Bo Si closed, so if the transaction failed, and he was nagging me, I could borrow the canteen closing as an excuse. I anxiously looked at my watch, 10:05. No one had appeared. Could it be possible that I had been tricked? After I had waited for about 10 minutes, and saw that Kang Bo Si was about to close, I lost my cool and prepared to withdraw, while inwardly cursing myself: shit! He dared take advantage of this old lady?!

An unfamiliar sound arrived at my ear: “It seems that the secret sign isn’t this sentence……”

I lifted my head to look at him: “I love Zhou Xing Xing.”

He nodded: “Right, you love him.”

I was like a mother-in-law examining her son-in-law who had not married in yet.

I had no choice but to say that God was always stepping forward bravely in the crucial moments, assisting me. This rascal looked very handsome (His accent almost imitated Zhao Li Rong’s accent)~~ Was that picture taken before plastic surgery? His eyelashes were long, his nose was high. Wow, there was even a dimple on one side…I was the dimple enthusiast…

But right now was not the moment to kill in the heat of the moment. I indicated that he should sit down and reached my hand to grab his claw, exerting all my strength to shake it back and forth: “Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!”

Wen Tao actually pointlessly replied: “You recruited so many people, so I should be saying nice to meet you. Thank you for picking my sole flower out of ten thousand flowers. I thought that there would even be a small scale crowd tonight.”

I stuck out my tongue. His talk was too harsh, even surpassing Fang Yuke. I laughed: “Your words are too excessive. Why would you send me a message then?”

“See, the interview has begun. I said, it was none of my business. I felt it would be fun, so I’m only interested in the special business.”

I coughed as I laughed fakely.

Wen Tao knit his brow, and asked me: “You won’t really be seeking new friends through personal ads, right?"

I laughed as I replied: “Of course not. But, I’m afraid I’ll have disappointed you, this type of people who have come to buy soy sauce. Frankly, tomorrow I have to take part in a party. The party requires that everyone bring a male companion.”

“Alas, it is very mushy and coarse. What if I don’t participate?”

“Do you know whose party it is? Have you heard of Ru Ting? She’s the campus belle of the foreign languages department! Even if you want to glimpse the splendor of her party, you’ll have to line up to the east door of the school. The birthday party will provide an exceptionally good opportunity for you to get to know her. Opportunity knocks only once, so how can you give up so easily? You can just use me as a springboard as much as you like and step on me. I don’t mind.”

The dimple on Wen Tao’s cheek moved: “Then I will thank you, spring board?”

“You’re welcome.”

“Do I need to sacrifice my sex appeal to be your boyfriend?”

“Nope. As long as you wear something extremely eye-catching and stand with me, don’t even mention whether other people won’t believe it, I wouldn’t believe that yhou’re my boyfriend either. We don’t have to stupid things.” I watched Wen Tao wearing flat framed glasses. On the day of March, I would wear a blouse and go out. From one glance, it would seem that I had fooled around with the tide. It was indeed hard to match someone so plain like me.

Wen Tao turned around: “I said “us” to you, so I guess I’ll have to go. All right, I’ve joined now. What’s your name?”

“I’m a member of the same clan as Zhou Xing Xing. I’m called Zhou Lin Lin.”

“The name sounds too ugly. I’ll call you springboard then.”

F**k! Don’t you know that it’s not okay to change someone’s name or alter their family name?! You don’t have any upbringing, inner quality, or courtesy.

Alas, this old woman with a big heart will let you call me that for the next few days then.

After going through a simple understanding process, Wen Tao was bigger than me by two years, in the News College.

Because Kang Bo Si closed, and he wore a shirt as he stood on the street, chatting in the beginning of spring, I really couldn’t bear it. I exhorted him again and again with “See you tomorrow” and the time and place, and I returned to my dorm.

The next day, I put on the formal attire that Wang Jie had purchased for me. Rather than call it a small formal attire, we might as well call it men’s attire. The satin of the big flowery bowtie and the blouse was simple and black, topped with a skintight suit, and black underpants, matched with a great red diamond belt. I stood in front of the mirror and asked Wang Jie: “How did you know I even wanted to carry a gun over my shoulder and go? This way, when I pick it up, it’ll be completely neutral.” I already felt that I stood on the front end of fashion…..” (Flower arranging: In the end, the second year, Li Yu Chun covered the sky and came into being)

Wang Jie looked at the effect that the clothes made on my whole body, and said dissatisfied: “Alas, your figure can only match with men’s attire, but it seems as if you’re still lacking something.” She smoothed the bangs on my forehead and explored my tone of voice: “Lin Lin, your character is not very great. It is not easy for long hair to ingest adequat nutrients. Why don’t you cut your hair into a short hair style?”

I even thought she was talking about plastic surgery. Wasn’t it just cutting some hair? When I was little and got bubble gum stuck in my hair, my mother cut it up and finished the matter. Thus, I energetically went to “Shenmei” off campus, and cut my hair into a fresh and cool hair style. After I finished cutting, besides the fact that my head was a bit cold, it did feel more relaxed. At least, usually I could still save on shampoo.

Before I left, Wang Jie helped me with my makeup and sighed as she asked: “Lin Lin, how could you be so squandersome? Did you do this to meet Xiao Xi?”

I lowered my head and thought. I hesitatingly said, “In fact, I just really wanted to learn how to ----. Maybe I’ll really change from a sparrow to a phoenix.”

That afternoon at 4:00, I raised my gun and went to go pick up my male companion first in accordance with our plans. I didn’t have a princess’s fate, so at the most he was a stable lad.

Wen Tao arrived slowly. Because I even had to invite him to put on a play at night, he was annoyed and sullen.

Like a scanner, Wen Tao sized me up from head to toe. In the end he said, “What’s the ornamental gun in your hand? It’s pretty modern.”

I unhappily rolled my eyes: “This is called a ‘78 simulation gun. You don’t know what’s what!” As I said this, I sized him up back. Wen Tao looked like the Ying Lun Feng from Wang Jie’s magazine: Wearing a windy hat along with an overcoat, a checked shirt, and pants that stopped on his legs, along with ankle high leather shoes.The most eyecatching thin gwas the navy blue scarf around his neck.

Wen Tao arrogantly looked down at me and asked: “How is it? I won’t lose face for you right, springboard?”

I glared at the stud earring in his right ear that was shaped like an anus and laughed: “You won’t lose face, you won’t lose face. You definitely have the temperament of a queen. It matches well with my clothes today.”

“Queen?”

“I’m saying that I praise of your soft and noble character. That’s the only thing I mean.” I explained. Intensely proposing that Teng Tang Jing, the queen had included many vocab words on her dictionary Gaokao outline.

The Zhongguancun neighborhood’s communications really made one dumbfounded. The taxi hadn’t went before I spotted a complicated and tricky issue like fastening a shoelace in the other car. Half an hour had passed and we hadn’t even gotten out of the Yellow district. I anxiously told asked the driver. However, the driver was apathetic and joked: “Young lady, put the gun down. Even if I can’t drive, I still have to be able to drive steadily.”

On the car, I received a call from fang Yuke:

“Where are you? I’m waiting for you under your dorm, let’s go together.”

Why didn’t this rascal go to help Ru Ting with her party, but was instead roaming about underneath my dorm? I hurriedly said, “I have already left, hurry up and help Ru Ting, otherwise today, the birthday girl will be in a bad mood. Also, when you’re calling for a taxi, make sure you turn around the north side. Zhongguancun is already plugged up.” While speaking, I didn’t forget to announce the traffic.

Fang Yuke sounded a bit unhappy: “You went alone?”

I laughed: “After all, you’re just pitying that I can’t find a male companion, so you ran over right? Even if you let me borrow 10 guts, I can’t participate in the party with you today. Thanks though~~”I happily hung up on the phone.

Wen Tao changed into a curious baby: “Who was that? Is it also someone who applied for a job?”

I waved my hand, indicating that he shouldn’t think blindly. Guys were still more gossipy than girls. I had no choice but to emphasize this point for the nth time.

When we arrived at th eparty scene, we had already been late by an hour. People went to and fro in the hall, drinking and gambling together in a large group. It was very lively. I anxiously seeked Ru Ting’s silhouette-- I should hurry and send the gun out, otherwise people would think that I was a robber and report me to the police.

Finally, I saw the female lead of tonight’s show. Her whole body was red from her formal attire and garments, showing off Ru Ting’s fair, slipper, tender skin. The unsymmetrical shape arranged her figure so she seemed like a vivacious youth, reaching up to her black hair. On her shoulders was a small diamond necklace that glistened and shone. Her whole body made her seem like a maiden. I tugged at the corner of Wen tao’s clothes, hinting that he had some eyecandy tonight! Ru Ting had already discovered me, and walked forward, step by step, as if she was on the red carpet: “Lin Lin, I didn’t recognize you. Why did you cut your hair short!”

She didn’t wait for my response before, almost as if she had discovered the New World, she said, “Wen Tao, I even thought you wouldn’t come! It’s the blessing of three lifetimes. Your presence brings light to my humble dwelling!”

I was very out of sorts. It turned out that Wen Tao knew Ru Ting, which meant that after this, he and I would not have any clean relationship. I even wanted to make Ru Ting the bait to lure him over, but after all, he had thought of me as a monkey and trifled with me and I had not known. Also, based on what reason was seeing him akin to “your presence brings light to my humble dwelling’ while she didn’t say any “nice to meet you” to me! I usually didn’t really participate in birthday parties, okay…...

Wen Tao pointed at me and laughed: “I was tricked into becoming someone's male companion.”

Heavens! If I knew he would be this honest in the beginning, I might as well come single-handedly.

Ru Ting pulled me to the side: “I just saw Xiao Xi come alone. Why didn’t you come with him?”

I lowered my head and laughed bitterly.

Ru Ting evidently understood when she looked at my hair and said, “That’s good too. Changing a hair style, changing your mood……”

I became speechless as I looked up at the heavens.

Ru Ting thought she had provoked me and continued to comfort me: “Don’t be so despairing. Good men are all around us. Wen tao is the sweetheart of the people. Don’t take things too hard, wearing something like this and coming. I would have thought that you gave up all hope on romance between boys and girls…..”

I pondered for quite a while, before I realized that Ru Ting thought I wanted to develop as a lesbian.

Continue with being speechless as I look up at the heavens…

[1] Buy soy sauce: This means that you're just passing by though nothing that's happening is your business.