Ch13 - Short paper, long affection

The night was peaceful, and the sound of the night elves came from outside the window from time to time.

Jian Mei’s voice was exceptionally clear on this night. There were many people in this world who wanted him to die, and perhaps the few remaining people who wanted him to live were only for profit. Jian Mei’s grief was so strong, it was pure and free of impurities. Lu Xingwang could resist the pressure from the outside world, but when faced with such feelings that weren’t played according to the routine, he was actually powerless to resist. 

He himself was impure and could see no vitality, so he could only teach Jian Mei the cruelty of this world. However, at this moment, he suddenly didn’t want to make the youth who was already brokenhearted to be sad.

“Jian Mei.”

Lu Xingwang called his name with a low voice.

This was the first time he called Jian Mei’s name. When the youth said these two words with a low and magnetic voice, he gave the feeling that he was serious. He said, “You have to know that many times, life and death aren’t in your hands.” 

Jian Mei’s heart tightened, and his breathing slowed down.

“But, I will live well.” Lu Xingwang lowered his eyes. In the past, he would always be a little cold to Jian Mei. But at this moment, he was unusually gentle, “What are you crying for, I won’t die at the moment.”

His Highness, who was capable of handling things perfectly was very bad at comforting people. On the other end of the call, Jian Mei tried to restrain himself. In the end, he couldn’t hold back himself and cried. He didn’t know the reason why he was crying. Perhaps, it was because of his friends leaving, maybe it was because of parting that always came violently, or maybe it might also be because of his own powerlessness. He could only watch people around him leave and could do nothing.

Jian Mei hugged the broken mecha warrior and talked a lot with Lu Xingwang. He told him that Xiao Peng was very handsome when he still had hair before the chemotherapy and they used to sneak out of the ward together and go to the back garden to set off small fireworks. He also told him that he actually liked some rafting activities in the amusement park and that he was envious every time he saw others could play. He told him that he actually wanted to go and see a lot of places when he had the opportunity in the future.

They talked for a long time. Only when the phone had almost run out of power did Jian Mei remember to charge the phone. Then, he saw a popup window in the WeChat interface and showed things he couldn’t understand.

The hidden task was successfully unlocked:

Congratulations on accumulating more than 8 hours of calls√

A total of 1230 chat messages√ 

A question appeared on the popup window: “Your account balance has a total balance of 200 gold coins, and you have reached the standard of unlocking the [Transmission] function. Do you want to unlock this function?

What is this?

Jian Mei was busy looking for the charger. He clicked the ‘OK’ button and ignored it and didn’t see that an upgrade flashed on the phone screen. After finding the glass tray charger, he hurriedly placed it on top of it and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the last 1% showed that it had started charging.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Oe Wlcukjcu, ktb tjv yffc ilrafclcu ab tlw jii cluta, cbvvfv ktfc tf rjk atja atf mtliv kjr olcjiis cb ibcufg lwwfgrfv lc uglfo, “Xb jtfjv.”

Aruo who was delivering the medicine brought it to him. His Highness usually didn’t drink medicine, as if he didn’t take seriously of his body at all. He didn’t care even when the priest had warned him that not taking the medicine on time might speed up the spread of poison in his body and shorten his lifespan. Aruo was anxious but no one could persuade His Highness and even she herself couldn’t. 

Beside him, Aruo said, “His Highness, it’s time to take medicine.”

“En.” Lu Xingwang glanced over and said, “Bring it over.”

Aruo was taken aback and even wondered if she had heard it wrong. She stood in disbelief in her original place. She saw Lu Xingwang raise his eyes and look at her, “What?”

“Nothing!” 

Aruo was so happy that she delivered the medicine at once. No matter for who or for what reason why His Highness didn’t refuse to take medicine and treatment, she would thank that person’s ancestors for eight generations !

On the other side

Jian Mei hung up the phone and got inside the blanket and because they had talked till late at night, he quickly fell asleep. The rectangular glass tray next to him started to glow with faint blue light after the upgrade. When he turned over, the mecha warrior fell out of his hands and hit the glass tray and made a slight noise and the faint blue light suddenly brightened. When the light had finally faded, the mecha warrior was already out of sight.

At the same time— 

‘drop ’

A distinctive noise of an object dropping came from the table. Lu Xingwang, who was reading the case information, paused. On top of the table full of various official documents, he saw a…

—a red mecha warrior that appeared out of thin air.

This was very strange yet also something within his expectations. The youth paused from hesitation. Eventually, he still reached out, picking up the mecha warrior. He heard Xiao Peng’s story from Jian Mei before and had some understanding of this and this should be a toy in their world. However, based on his knowledge of mecha, the mechanism of this toy was very low and simple and due to the ravages of time, some things inside were already broken. 

The red mecha warrior holding a sword shone under the light like a righteous and brave knight.

A faint smile appeared in Lu Xingwang’s eyes, though he was somewhat unhappy, “Is this what you held while crying?”

There was a button on the back of the mecha warrior which was connected to the wires inside. If it was pressed, it should trigger motor skills and special effects. It was such a pity that some parts inside were already damaged and couldn’t be triggered. He had already thought about teaching Jian Mei to face the cruelty of the world, but as he looked at the mecha, he remembered the regrets that Jian Mei had told him while he was sobbing.

There was a moment of silence. 

Lu Xingwang stood up and opened the secret door behind the palace door which revealed a room full of science and technology.  The youth clad in magnificent robes sat down in front of the cold table full of various latest mecha components that were displayed in a dazzling array . These were all parts of the small and medium-sized dangerous graded mecha, but now, they were being selected and picked by Lu Xingwang to use for reorganizing the inner parts of the mecha warrior toy.

The next day

Jian Mei found that his mecha warrior was strangely in a good condition!

The external appearance still looked like the same red mecha warrior, but one day when he accidentally pressed the button, the mecha warrior actually worked again! It could really sing as Xiao Peng said. More than half a month had passed since the day he came back from the hospital, but he didn’t try to press the button because Xiao Peng said it was broken. But he accidentally touched it today and it was okay. Is there such a good thing in the world? 

The bgm of the mecha warrior was very passionate, it sang, “No matter how many unknowns are ahead, I am not afraid of challenges and difficulties. I will guard my persistence and bravery……”

Jian Mei’s brows raised from happiness, clearing away the gloominess he had for days and he couldn’t wait to share the good news with Xiao Peng. They didn’t have his phone number, they only had his address. His father came to pick him up after school. Father Jian heard his child’s request and didn’t refuse. After driving for a few hours, Jian Mei arrived in City B to find Xiao Peng.

However, what awaited them was a glaringly black and white post by the entrance of an alley: Libation

The warm yellow sunset fell on the people. Jian Mei was still holding the mecha warrior in his arms. He arrived full of joy and even wanted to arrive earlier, but now, as he stood at the entrance of the alley, he didn’t want to take a step forward. His knuckles turned pale as he held the mecha warrior. He stubbornly stood in place, as if in this way, he could avoid it and never face it. 

“Is it…Xiaojian?”

Behind him, a somewhat exhausted woman’s voice came.

Jian Mei turned around and saw a woman wearing a black t-shirt. The woman looked extremely haggard and her eyes that were swollen from crying were full of grief that hadn’t yet faded. She walked towards him, led Jian Mei to a cemetery that was a walk of about 20 minutes. While she was walking, she said, “He left a few days ago and when he left, he asked us to take him to the hospital. Aunt Li’s child next door was blind and said he wanted to help others so that the child could go back to school. You know that Xiao Peng likes to read books the most. He said that he also wanted Aunt Li’s child to be able to read books in the future……”

While she was speaking, the woman covered her mouth and her tears fell uncontrollably, “He said that we should not be too far from home, in case Meimei comes and can’t find him.” 

There was a brand new tombstone in the first one in the ninth row.

On top of the tombstone was a colored photo. On the photo was a young boy smiling brightly. The smile that he made at the camera was bright and brilliant. It was about the end of his life, but he left this world with warm sunshine.

The parents thoughtfully walked a little farther away. In front of the tombstone was Jian Mei’s lonely figure. He walked a few steps forward and sat down against the tombstone. Just like many times, he was still sitting next to Xiao Peng and the two of them were snuggling together. The evening breeze carried some coldness in it, and Jian Mei softly said, “Xiao Peng, I’ve come to see you.”

He bowed his head and pressed the button of the mecha warrior. 

The mecha warrior glowed with light and began to sing. It didn’t understand sadness, it just mechanically sang a song about braveness.

“Look, it’s okay.” Jian Mei waved it at the tombstone, “Just like what you said, it’s really impressive when it glows.”

“The textbook for the second year of junior high school is so difficult.”

“What major will you take for the exam in the future?” 

“Why did you not wait for me ah……”

He endlessly talked a lot of nonsense until it was completely dark before he was taken away by Father Jian.

On their way back, his father took him to the bookstore to buy exercise books for school but unexpectedly met a patient’s family member, a woman with a baby. When she saw Father Jian, she was extremely excited and kept telling her thanks. The man in their family had cancer and there was no hope. It was the team of Father Jian that saved him and kept the backbone of the family alive.

Jian Mei watched from behind for a long time. 

He watched until Father Jian came over, took his hand, and said, “What are you looking at?”

Jian Mei’s hands were cold. He clenched his father’s warm palms and walked a few steps before saying, “Dad, you can’t decide the life and death of someone, right?”

Father Jian paused and looked down at his young son. The elegant man pondered for a moment before showing a gentle smile, “There is no standard answer to this question, but for dad, doing my best to keep my patients alive and guard their hope of life is my sole decision.”

A brilliant doctor could save lives and heal the injured. 

The study room at their home was filled with plaques and grandpa’s pharmacy was crammed with colorful silk banners. In the past, Jian Mei didn’t quite understand the meaning of those things. He thought about how sad and painful it should be for doctors to face patients who were suffering from illness every day. However, at this moment, he suddenly understood something. He understood what his grandpa and father were holding on to and what they were protecting.

After getting into the car, the child who hadn’t spoken for a long time raised his head and said to the person in front of him, “Dad, can I read medical books with you in the future?”

Father Jian was stunned.

Through the car mirror, he saw Jian Mei’s face in the back seat. For the first time, that childish face was so serious. The light in the car was dim, but there was light in Jian Mei’s round eyes. They looked at each other, then he opened his mouth to speak, and said in a clear voice, “I want to study medicine.” 

Translator’s Notes:

I don’t really want to change a lot of the author’s words but to keep consistency I changed it. Perhaps, in the future, the author will catch bugs and this will be revised and I will make necessary changes. But if you want me to retain what’s written on the raws, tell me in the comments.

Also, I am revising the previous chapters. I used Aruo here, it was previously A Ruo. I plan to finish them all first before updating them. I will put a translator’s note once done.

Btw, this is the meaning of the chapter title: 

Short paper, long affection: A paper is too short to convey feelings or deep affection; a description of a profound affection. — From “The Soul of Yuli”