Short story: Rivals (冤家) by 如似我闻 Ru Si Wo Wen
------ Synopsis -----
Title: Rivals (冤家; yuan jia)
Summary:
That day, the debate topic was: Is money the root of all evil?
No, it isn’t money that’s the root of all evil—it’s Lin Qin.
Author-added JJWXC content tags: enemies-to-lovers, sweet story, campus, relaxing
Translator-added tags: fluff, humour, slice-of-life, one-shot
CP: Lu Ran (gong), Lin Qin (shou)
Summary:
That day, the debate topic was: Is money the root of all evil?
No, it isn’t money that’s the root of all evil—it’s Lin Qin.
Author-added JJWXC content tags: enemies-to-lovers, sweet story, campus, relaxing
Translator-added tags: fluff, humour, slice-of-life, one-shot
Couple: Lu Ran (gong), Lin Qin (shou)
----- Story text -----
-01
Based on what Lu Ran could recall, his grudge with Lin Qin was borne during the freshman debate.
The topic to be debated that day was: Is money the root of all evil?
(No, it wasn’t money that was the root of all evil—it was Lin Qin.)
Back then, Lu Ran's new girlfriend had even gathered a cheerleading team for him. After each of his speeches, waves of applause would come from the audiences, who'd also sent praises flying at him, such as "this xiao-gege1 is so handsome”. Not only did these things greatly boost Lu Ran's morale, they also created a momentum for him to bring his opponent down.
The third participant in the debate, Lin Qin, adjusted his glasses calmly. He ended his speech with the sentence, "Money is merely the outward manifestation of the greed and hypocrisy that humans possess. And cheerleading is yet another example of such an outward manifestation."
Lu Ran: "...f*ck."
They then approached the free debate section. Smoke rose in dense plumes—the flames of war had been fanned to an irreversible state.
Who would have thought that a gentle-looking bespectacled boy like Lin Qin could contain such amounts of mockery and sarcasm? The both of them were the last participants left standing on the arena. This ferocious verbal war of theirs were even laden with personal attacks, and it ultimately ended with the national curseword2 escaping Lu Ran's lips.
In the midst of it all, the cheerleaders’ hearts had been captured by Lin Qin. Except for Lu Ran's girlfriend, the entire squad switched camps—they’d started applauding and cheering for Lin Qin instead. They'd even started calling out to him, "xiao-gege", their shouts sounding everloving and affectionate.
Lin Qin had somehow even found the time to throw a glance at the girls. He shot them a smile.
Haha, thought Lu Ran. Behold the hypocrisy of human nature.
Eventually, it was Lin Qin who'd won the debate. He received his certificate with both hands, and he even threw Lu Ran a look.
Haha, thought Lu Ran. Behold the greed of human nature.
After leaving the debate chamber, Lu Ran swore never to make peace with this kid. He was so going to beat him up every single time he saw him in future.
-02
But the question was—did he really beat him up?
Nah.
Why?
Because the second time he saw this kid was in the bathhouse, both stark naked.
For schools in the north, bathhouses tended to be simple and open—everyone would huddle together under the showers. Rubbing at his head to shampoo his hair, Lu Ran happened to look over, and what entered his line of sight was a human dick. His vision fell to the side of his body inadvertently—ay, such a thin waist and long legs this brother possesses. His gaze then inched upwards, little by little.
What the f*ck. Lin Qin?!
To beat, or not to beat3?
Lin Qin removed his glasses in the mist, before squinting to see the other more clearly. The look on his face changed in an instant.
Lu Ran was essentially waging war with an immortal—their eyes exchanged gazes, forcing him to choke out an awkward greeting. "Hey buddy, taking a shower on your own?"
Lin Qin’s response shut him down, cleanly and crisply. "Shut up."
The rivals were facing off. Their bodies were stark naked.
Now that his vow to beat him up during their second meeting had fallen through, the oath he’d made previously was broken. He thus had no choice but to bear with the agony of addressing his roommate as ‘Father’ for an entire week. From then on, whenever Lu Ran mentioned Lin Qin, he would start thinking of himself as his ancestor4.
The rivals bumped into one another from time to time, and all they did during those times was to pretend they hadn't seen one another. It was a state of harmony and peace.
-03
Everything changed one fateful night, when the stars and the moon exchanged their radiances.
That day, Lu Ran and his girlfriend were in a restaurant. The moment the dishes were served, Lu Ran's girlfriend broke up with him. The chopsticks he'd just pulled out clattered as they fell to the ground.
His girlfriend was his senior in school. Her application to study abroad had been accepted, and should she end up doing well over there, she would stay there for good. Amongst all her relatives and friends, Lu Ran was the very last person to find out.
He responded with a nod. This revelation saved him from having to come up with an attempt to make small talk. All he did next was to hand her the necklace he’d prepared—she'd pressed 'like' on the Weibo post the necklace was featured in, so he purchased it using his living expenses, gritting his teeth as he sustained on the help of his roommate-turned-fathers for the entire month. The money he'd expended on the dinner they were eating was also from an amount of money he’d barely managed to put together.
The senior immediately shook her head, telling him it was something she could not accept. She stretched out her hand and pushed it back towards him.
"Sigh, what use would I have for it?" Lu Ran stood up, walking out with a wave of his hand. "Congratulations."
He stepped out the glass door, turning into a dog of singlehood, albeit in honour.
He didn’t feel like returning to the dormitory yet, so he loitered under the neon lights on the street. Eventually, he entered an Internet cafe.
He rummaged around in his pockets, and realised that he was absolutely penniless. He then found a random seat. He sat there in a daze, clueless about even the thoughts that were being conjured in his own mind. He then suddenly remembered the way he'd yearned to tell his girlfriend, "You’ve been really busy these few days. I miss you."
When these words emerged in his mind, his eyes were accosted with a little sting. The internet café was dimly-lit, so it went without saying that no one could see him clearly. But he still covered himself up and lowered his head, pretending that he was merely attempting to press a switch on the computer panel.
His hands moved faster than his brain did. When he pressed the switch on the panel, a light went out. Lu Ran realised, in horror, that he’d pressed something by accident.
The computer screen next to him went dark, and the person beside him, who had been in the midst of a game, pulled his headphones off. He turned to look at him, and received a shock the moment they saw one another face-to-face.
His appearance only served to fanned Lin Qin's rage. "Are you making life difficult for me on purpose?"
"No, not this time. This is a mere coincidence." Lu Ran waved a hand in the air awkwardly. "I'm sorry, alright?"
Lin Qin may have caught the sorrow in his expression in that instant, because his face softened, as did his tone of voice. "You..."
But even before he finished speaking, Lu Ran's stomach let out a growl.
He’d left too hastily earlier on, and hadn't gotten to take a single bite of the food on the restaurant table.
Not bearing to staying any longer, Lu Ran got up onto his feet and attempted to take his leave quickly. Unexpectedly, Lin Qin called out to him.
Lin Qin retrieved a cup of instant noodles from the front desk and threw it into Lu Ran's arms, as if it were a basketball. He then sat back down in his seat and turned the computer on again.
The instant noodles were tossed accurately and fiercely. It was fortunate that, the noodles hadn't crumbled. They spread outwards in the hot water, and the warm feeling that entered his stomach had evaporated the melodramatic tears emerging from the corners of his eyes.
Lu Ran was grateful for his favour, but when he saw Lin Qin's character entrapped at the wall in the video game once more, he could not resist saying, "You're a rare species among boys. You suck at this game."
Lin Qin gave him a murderous look, grabbing onto the cup of instant noodles, which now held nothing but soup. "I'd almost cleared this earlier on."
Fearing that he was about to pour the noodle soup on his head, Lu Ran quickly said, "Really? That’s a waste! Let’s continue trying our best!"
The character in the game scurried around. Lu Ran had his fill of food and drink. Not knowing what else to say, he asked, "Why did you suddenly decide to play video games?"
"My friend is learning how to design games, and he signed up for a competition. He asked me to join his team, and to take charge of doing the writeup for the team. I haven't seen the game before, so I came here to learn how to play it. It's like going for a tuition session."
"You've come to the Internet cafe specifically to play this game?"
"Yeah. Beats disturbing others' sleep in the dormitory."
Lin Qin seemed to follow a good schedule in the dormitory, unlike Lu Ran, who played games all night, even occasionally engaing in song and dance. However, gaming was Lu Ran's specialty. He even played Miracle Nikki, Krypton and Wild Man5 in order to increase the number of conversational topics he could use with his senior back, when they had been in a relationship.
"How long is this tuition session of yours going to last? Shall I tutor you a little?" Lu Ran suggested.
Lin Qin cast him a half-smiling gaze from behind his spectacles. His voice was laden with doubt as he asked, "You?"
Lu Ran nodded. "Me."
-04
For the next two months, the two of them were in frequent contact, working on the game's writeup all day and all night. Lin Qin was a meticulous person, and did not feel sick of it even after revising the paper over and over again.
The biggest change that had taken place was Lu Ran changing his WeChat nickname from "Kid" to "Lin Qin".
He'd thought that everything was fine from then on. But one day, Lin Qin saw that he’d changed it and asked half-smilingly, "Wasn't the previous one pretty good?"
"Ah," uttered Lu Ran, before responding without a single change in expression, "I thought about it a little, and felt that I shouldn't be taking advantage of you like this. How embarassing would it be for you to calling me your ‘Granddaddy6’. Simply calling me ‘Daddy’ would suffice."
Lin Qin picked up the neck pillow and threw it at him.
--
They came up with a very comprehensive writeup, which brought their team the highest honour. When the results of the competition were announced, Lin Qin forwarded him the message and sent him a red envelope7 on behalf of his friend.
In truth, Lu Ran had already been holding onto his phone ever since early morning. He was greatly anticipating the announcement. The column of text read: Lin Qin, Lu Ran.
The names were there, right beside one another's.
He also felt a sense of delight, and had no idea what to make of it. But this feeling vanished almost immediately.
Now that the task was over, they would no longer any reason to contact one another again, wouldn't they?
After thinking about it again and again, Lu Ran finally went ahead and sent him a message: I recall that you don’t have classes in the morning? Please help me pick up a parcel. I will look for you to take it after class.
After clicking 'send', he raised his head. Yet the words of the old professor standing on the podium went past his ears; he couldn’t hear a single word he was saying.
His phone buzzed, and his hand trembled along.
Lin Qin: OK.
---
Lin Qin was waiting for him in the bottom floor of the dormitory, holding a box in his arms. As he watched Lu Ran approach, he asked, "What did you buy? It’s pretty heavy."
"Open it and take a look."
"Should I be the one opening it?" Lin Qin paused in shock.
Lu Ran nodded. "Goes without saying."
Lin Qin tore the express box open. A subtle emotion emerged on his countenance. He took a glance at the things inside, before taking a glance at Lu Ran, who was attempting to play it cool. "What’s this—trying to woo me?"
"To think you’ll actually say such a thing," responded Lu Ran. "It’s your birthday gift."
"My birthday is in six months. Or is this for last year's birthday?"
"Then take it as me reserving you in advance," Lu Ran said, brushing shoulders with him and starting to walk towards the cafeteria. "Daddy Lin, your son has emptied the family's savings in order to offer you this tribute. I’ll have to rely on your meal card to get through the month."
A caustic laugh emerged from Lin Qin's lips. Yet he did not push him away.
-05
Lin Qin's exam finished earlier than Lu Ran's. The latter turned on his mobile phone while walking out of the exam hall, after handing in his exam paper.
'Boyfriend' had sent him a text message: It's raining.
Let it rain, then. Wouldn’t this force you to wait for me? Lu Ran thought.
Outside the door, raindrops were making pitter-patter noises as they fell to the ground like beads from a necklace. Lin Qin stood in the rain holding an umbrella. He was clad in a light grey long windbreaker, which had its hem slightly dampened from the rain.
The moment Lu Ran got under the umbrella, Lin Qin asked him, "How did you do on the exam?"
Lu Ran couldn't stop shaking his head. "My corpse is already going cold. To think the person who set the exam actually managed to perfectly avoid all the main topics I’d tried to predict!"
"It's probably that you hadn’t studied well," responded Lin Qin. "After all, I do think that you're bad at everything, except gaming."
After checking that no one was paying attention to them, Lu Ran reached into Lin Qin’s windbreaker using one of his hands. He then caressed his waist and leaned on the other's shoulder. "Try saying that again—who's bad at doing things?"
Lin Qin elbowed him in the chest. "Aren't you shameless?"
Smiling, he said nothing in response. The rain went on.
- Transliteration of 小哥哥 (xiao-gege). A culturally-laden term – typically, the term used for ‘little brother’ or ‘young brother’ in the literal sense is ‘(xiao) didi’ (xiao means small), but here, it’s ‘xiao gege’, which technically has the meaning of ‘little elder brother’ (because gege means older brother). This is a friendly way of referring to a younger man who isn’t blood related.
- 他妈 (ta-ma). Literally meaning 'his mother'; perhaps more aptly translated as 'Motherfucker'.
- Just punning a little here. Not in the original, but I figured it could possibly match the comedic tone!
- The original was 爷爷 'grandfather', but I'd received feedback that the grandfather/grandson jokes made no sense in English, so I'm localising it here such that 'ancestor' could be seen as a general insult to the other.
- Names of actual otome games.
- Just like 'ancestor', he'd meant it as an insult to Lin Qin. I'm not translating it as 'ancestor' here so that I could contrast the original text's usage of 'Daddy' versus 'Granddaddy', which I chose to minimise in other parts of the translation.
- 'Red envelopes' refer to monetary gifts. Presumably, they probably won some money from the competition, so Lin Qin’s friend might've split some of the money with those who helped out, i.e., Lin Qin and Lu Ran. This ‘red envelope’ refers to the prize money here. Another possible interpretation of this money would be that the friend paid them for their help out of his own pocket.
This is one of the ways: please click here, then click on [空投月石] / [I think it might appear as Airdrop Moonstone if you're using Translate]:
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