Friday 19 February 2016

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 8 Translation

008. Licence



The meal that An Ran was having is utterly strange. He seems like he was really busy. He couldn’t even take a few mouthful of his meal when it arrived. As for the rest of the time, he practically did not leave his cellphone. But his calls appear to be unrelated to stocks and banking. In general, she didn’t really understand anything that she was hearing. However, there was one call that she could understand. It was probably a call to his secretary, telling him not to pick him up, but to go to his house and get his household register, and wait for him at the civil administration office.

After the meal, the two head over to An Ran’s house. An Ran had him wait for her downstairs. She went upstairs to get the household register herself, and ran back down once she had it. Actually, when An Ran was taking the household register, before she ran back down, she really was shocked at herself. Just like this, she’s getting married? Even to herself, she feels like it’s inconceivable.

She had a lot of thoughts last night, mostly about what she and Mo Fei used to be, and what the past 6 years have been like. She couldn’t let go before because all along, she was reluctant to leave those feelings behind. She couldn’t forget that man, so much that she secretly hoped that he would come back to find her. But with yesterday’s encounter with Mo Fei, she has come to a complete understanding. He is still the Mo Fei from 6 years ago. The things he pursues, demands, all along she wasn’t able to give them to him.  So, it doesn’t matter if it was 6 years earlier, or 6 years later, the end is still the same. They were just not meant to be together.

She is now 28, for her, marriage is already imminent. Not only because her parents worry, but also because Lin Li also wants to take the pain for her, she worries. Throughout these periods of blind dating, she has met all sorts of people. Tall or short, fat or thin, she’s met them. Looking at it again, it was nothing but that. There’s no guarantee that she would not meet another Lin An Jie. She doesn’t know what kind of person this Mu Feng is, but depending on her intuition, she doesn’t feel like he is a bad person. Moreover, comparing to those before, towards him, she still has a favourable impression.



By the time they got to the front doors of the civil administration office, secretary Zheng had already arrived. Su Yi Cheng had her wait a moment, while he directly advances towards secretary Zheng to say a few words. An Ran was able to see that that person’s eyes had gone wide, staring at her. His eyes were truly in shock and disbelief.

There weren’t a lot of people inside the civil administration office. Each of them filled out a form. An Ran could tell that he was a gentleman. At least he knows how to look after a lady. He expertly handled all of the photocopies of the trivial matters, while she stood beside him uselessly. The two were about to take the red card [T/N: marriage certificate], but realized that it would take half an hour to do.

In front of the doorway, An Ran takes the marriage certificate that had dodged God’s plan. Getting married, as it turns out, was that simple!

An Ran turns her head to look at him, pointing at his name on the marriage certificate, asking, “How are you called Su Yi Cheng?”

Su Yi Cheng smiles, laughing at this girl’s slow response, and planned a shady response, “At that time my parents chose it, so this is what I’m called.”

“You… Aren’t you called Mu Feng? Lin Li clearly told me that you were called Mu Feng!” She wouldn’t remember it wrongly, on the way to restaurant, Lin Li even called her to remind her to come, she clearly said it was Mu Feng. How could the name completely change in an instant!

As An Ran was in disarray, Lin Li had called. She picks up, not letting An Ran say a word, Lin Li immediately begins to explode, “Gu An Ran, did you die somewhere! When I called you didn’t you say you were on your way! Are you going to the Pacific Ocean? How long has it been, you haven’t shown up! Mu Feng has been waiting for you for two hours!” …..

An Ran was still in disarray, she stared in shock at the person in front of her, the smiling-yet-not-smiling Su Yi Cheng. She couldn’t even come up with a word. Then on the other line she hears Cheng Xiang’s voice appearing, “Wife, don’t get too worked up, you’re still pregnant. The doctor just said that your moods shouldn't get too elated. Let me talk to An Ran.”

“An Ran, where are you? Did something come up? Mu Feng said that he can’t keep waiting for you,” Cheng Xiang asks.

“I… I went, also, also met the person…” An Ran looks at Su Yi Cheng, talking foolishly. What is happening now, what, what!

“Huh, you’ve met. But Mu Feng just called and said you had not. He kept waiting for you, and did not see you come in at all. You didn’t go to the wrong place did you!” Cheng Xiang guessed.

“I… I went to Guilin road’s ‘Zuoan Coffee’.” An Ran replied honestly.

“My goodness!” Hearing what was just said, Cheng Xiang couldn’t help but yell, “How did you get Guilin road, it was Guizhou road’s ‘Zuoan Coffee’! No wonder!”

“Gu An Ran, how can you be this stupid! I clearly said Guizhou road’s ‘Zuoan Coffee’, what were doing at Guilin road’s ‘Zuoan Coffee’!” Lin Li snatched the phone, hearing that, she exploded in anger, “Right now, you march to Guizhou road’s ‘Zuoan Coffee’, if you don’t know the way just take a taxi, Mu Feng is still there, he’s still there waiting for you!”

“Lin Li,” An Ran whispers, “I won’t get there in time.”

“What the f do you mean you won’t get there in time, you walk over to there right now and you’ll make it, I’m telling you, Mu Feng really isn’t that bad, if you pass him over, you’ll really regret it!” Lin Li was extremely pissed right now, really almost bursting with rage because of Gu An Ran!

An Ran stares at the man in front of her, then stares at the red file in her hand, and says, “Lin Li, I… I… With another person… License.”

“License? What license! You’re still speaking nonsense.” Lin Li was getting confused.

An Ran let out a long sigh, closed her eyes, and said, “I’ll explain it to you later.” She hangs up, even turning off her phone. She understands Lin Li’s temperament too well, if you hang up but not turn off the phone, she will definitely call again. But at present, it’s evident that she will not be able to explain it clearly, even she herself is very dishevelled.

Looking at Su Yi Cheng, An Ran asks, clucking her teeth, “You’re not Mu Feng, why did you lie to me!” Her angry eyes filled with cheated pain.

“I didn’t mean to deceive you.” Su Yi Cheng slightly lifts the corners of his mouth. He found himself liking her angry manner. With her eyes so wide, it was adorable.

An Ran glares at him. She doesn’t understand his answer, going as far as to widening her eyes to his groundless talk. He didn’t mean to deceive, is it possible that he also has a nickname or childhood name that’s also called Mu Feng?

Su Yi Cheng shrugged and said, “First of all, I’ve never said that my last name was Mu. There were several times when I tried to explain, but you never gave me the chance to speak. Secondly, you were the one who came over and sat in my table, not even asking for my consent. Thirdly, the marriage was also your idea. I haven’t forced or even threatened you.”

“I…” An Ran was speechless, she couldn’t find anything to retort. Everything he said was true, he indeed did not do anything against her will. Thinking about it now, it really was her who was in the wrong. And because of her first impression, she assumed that he was the date that Lin Li had set her up with. But, he went along with it, he clearly guided her in proceeding with her mistake! Looking at the red card that she held firmly in her hand, An Ran thought of a question. He knew that she had the wrong person, then why would get married with her? Raising her head and looking at him, she asks, “Why did you agree to get the license with me!”

Su Yi Cheng smiles, and instead of answering, he asks, “Then did you want me to refuse?”

“A regular person would not respond!” An Ran mutters.

“Ha ha.” Su Yi Cheng laughs candidly. He takes the red card in his hands and opens it, looks at it and says, “I also needed a wife.  When I look at you, quite suitable.”




---END OF CHAPTER---






First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 7 Translation


007. Will you marry me?


Su Yi Cheng was waiting for Secretary Zheng, when his mother at home called and asked him to come home and have dinner. But he knows that it’s not just a simple meal. He expects that she was going to bring up that same old topic again. The elder will do nothing but try to persuade him, only forcing him to go to a blind date and what not. 

As he was going through of all that repetitive pleading in his mind, a person suddenly sits in front of him. He thought that Secretary Zheng had come back. When he looked up he didn’t expect it to be a lady. Feeling that this lady was kind of familiar, he dazes off until he recalled that he had indeed met this woman before, and not just once!

“Ah Cheng, are you listening to me!” Mother Su on the other line hadn’t heard a response from her son, so she asks disgruntled.

Su Yi Cheng’s spirit returns, with vigour in his voice he says, “Mom, I have some stuff to do here, I’ll call you later this evening.”

“Do not use excuses to try to dodge me, first clear up what we just discussed. Are you coming back this evening or not,” she was done playing with her son’s cheap tricks. Mother Su’s instincts does not believe what he says. “Even though your dad and your grandfather don’t say a thing, but in their hearts they still miss you. When you said that you would move out you really moved out! You have to come home at least once, nevertheless. The entire day you say you’re busy with work, how busy can a city helper get. I see that Lao Zhang has a lot of free time, he’s always looking for your father and your grandfather to play chess and chat. Don’t tell me that a municipal committee member’s work isn’t as much as your’s? I think you’re just looking for excuses not to go home.”

Su Yi Cheng was really defeated by his mother. He smiles apologetically to An Ran, and makes a compromise to his mom, “Ok ok ok, I got it. I’ll come home this evening, is that enough!”

“That’s more like it.” Mother Su is now satisfied. After giving out a few warnings, she finally ends the call.

Su Yi Cheng ends the call, and was about to ask An Ran what she needed him for, but unexpectedly, An Ran beat him to the punch.

“Gu An Ran. Mr. Mu, right? I’m Lin Li’s—no, should be your colleague Cheng Xiang’s date. Hi.” An Ran said as she extended her hand for a shake. Actually, regarding the man in front of her, Lin Li had already covered how handsome he was, and forgot to talk about the other things, so the only thing she knows about this guy is that he is called Mu Feng, and that he is colleagues with Cheng Xiang, working in the same security company. Regarding everything else, she knows absolutely nothing.

 Su Yi Cheng shakes her hand in confusion, however concerning what she just said, he simply listened, puzzled. Gu An Ran? Mr. Mu? Lin Li? Cheng Xiang? What and what?!

“Gu, actually I—“ just as he was about to speak, the phone on the table went off yet again. Su Yi Cheng apologetically smiles at An Ran, and answers it. It was Secretary Zheng’s call, who said that he just happened to come upon rush hour, and his car is stuck on the fourth loop. He estimates that he will be there in half an hour, and was afraid that he will have a long wait, so he called to let him know.

He was about to put down his phone and speak, when his ringtone went off again. It was one of the municipal committee member, notifying him that the meeting this afternoon about the city’s economic development plan has been postponed, and will be moved to Monday morning.

As he was about to put down his phone again, not waiting for him to speak, An Ran laughs and says, “Seems like you’re a busy person.” From the moment she got here until now, his phone hasn’t had a break.

Su Yi Cheng laughs, not wanting to further press on this issue

“I guess I’ll talk about my background first.” An Ran straightens herself, seeing that he’s about to speak, says, “I’m 28 this year, have a job that’s considered to be not too bad, financially independent, my parents are healthy, my father is a high school teacher, my mother works at a nationalized corporation and handles their accounting, I’m an only daughter, furthermore I’m quite healthy, also there’s nothing wrong with my family’s medical history.”

Su Yi Cheng can somewhat understand what is going on now. This kind of preamble, she’s actually here for a blind date. He leans against the back of his chair, the corner of his mouth slowly forms a faintly discernible smile. He’s met this woman three times before, today would be the fourth time. Actually, on the third time that he saw her she was on a blind date, and that was not the only time that she and the blind date made further contact for a date. But the ending did not look all that great.  However, this time there seems to be some grief, as she has the wrong date. Picking up his coffee, he takes a sip, and continues listening to her speech.

Seeing that he wasn’t speaking, An Ran continues, “Actually at this age, a mature man and a mature woman like us, going on dates like this, the objective is pretty clear; there’s no other thought but the day when we find a partner to spend the rest of our lives with. As for romance, it’s already a crazy idea at this age. So, if it’s appropriate, do you want to marry me?” She was also a bit exhausted, she doesn’t want to wait and see anymore. If marriage is the last stage, then she might as well get married right away. Those other stages, she doesn’t want to think about it anymore.

“(Fits of cough)…” Su Yi Cheng chokes from her speech, his face turned red, he looks at her. Her eyes are unreadable.

An Ran hands him a napkin, and asks, “You… Okay?”

Su Yi Cheng takes the napkin, shakes his head, and looks at her, “You, what did you just say?” because of his coughing, his voice became very strange.

An Ran looks into his eyes, and says, “Because I’m financially independent, we don’t have to rely on each other to live. Laundry, meals, and whatever housework can also be assigned. I don’t really need a huge wedding— don’t even need to give a dinner party. If we can, we go tomorrow and get the license.”

Su Yi Cheng stares at her, his brows wrinkling tightly. He slowly relaxes, and chuckles as he shakes his head, “I don’t have any time tomorrow.”

Gu An Ran is surprised, but also nods quickly in understanding, “I understand.” She gets up to leave. Thinking again, this is the first time that they’ve met, and she talks about marriage. Who would say yes?

“Miss Gu.” Seeing that she was leaving, Su Yi Cheng also stands to call out to her, and asks, “This is the first time we’ve met, I just don’t understand. This kind of marriage, isn’t it too sloppy?”

An Ran turns to look at him, and says, “What’s there to understand? Some people hide their intentions, for a few years, even for a lifetime. You also can’t be sure that you’ll ever see that person’s true nature. To understand that person’s true nature, realization has nothing to do with length of time. And there are some things that appear to be ugly from the first look. There are times when you look at things vaguely, and that’s when you get that hazy sense of beauty.”

The two stand face to face for a few minutes. Su Yi Cheng stares at her, as if pondering over something. An Ran sees that he is still not speaking, turns around and begins to leave.  

Suddenly, a magnetic voice comes out from behind, “I have time this afternoon.”

Her leaving footsteps pause, An Ran turns her head in shock, meeting his eyes that look like they’re smiling, yet at the same time not. Only when looking at him, did he open his mouth to speak, “Do you have time right now to have lunch with me?”

After a few moments in shock, An Ran recovers and walks over to him, once again returning to her seat.




---END OF CHAPTER---





Sunday 14 February 2016

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 6 Translation

006. Mo Fei



An Ran knew that once Mo Fei was back, they would meet sooner or later. She just didn’t think that this moment would come this soon, this suddenly. Even though she assured Lin Li earlier that she was fine, that she was letting go of herself, that the next time she encounters that man might be easier. But in the end, she is still confused. Looking at the man in front of her, she is confused to her wit’s end.

An Ran looks at the Mo Fei standing in front of her. His face hasn’t changed that much, still as dashing and handsome as before. But the air around him has changed a lot. The youthful, sunny man-child of before, has matured, has become steady. And his eyes have become much deeper, she doesn’t understand why.

An Ran’s mind knows that she should pretend to not recognize, remain indifferent and expressionless as she passes him by, and avoid catching a glance of him. But her limbs don't seem to be listening to her brain, her two legs are getting prickled from the ground. She tried to move, but was unable to. Her eyes slowly creep up to look at him. Apparently it takes 6 years for him to completely change.


Mo Fei looks at her, tightening his lips, tightly gripping the both of his hands, as if he was holding something in. She’s changed. He can’t pinpoint what about her that has changed, but in any case, something is different. The An Ran now is no longer the one that used to rely on him, the An Ran that used to laugh happily.


Jiang city isn’t a big city; finding a person, in the case of finding him 6 years ago, was nearly impossible. But regarding the present him, it was just a matter of words, simple as that. It didn’t even take half a day to get an answer.



Mo Fei slowly walks forward, stopping in front of her, and out of his mouth, was “An Ran!” These two words, for 6 years he’s been calling it out in his mind, but there was no chance of letting it out.


An Ran’s spirit returns, with difficulty. After all that was said and done, she was unable to meet him calmly. She turns around, getting ready to leave.

“An Ran.” Seeing that she was leaving, Mo Fei took a step forward, grabs a hold of her hand, and asks, “You.. Has life been treating you well?”

An Ran closes her eyes in anguish. The corners of her mouth form a smile, she turns her head to look at him, sneers, and asks, “Well? What does it have to do with you?”

Mo Fei tightly purses his lips, looks at her for a while, finally saying, “I’m sorry…” This apology, he’s late by 6 years. It’s also been pending for 6 years!

Her heart throbbed, to look at his outright back like that time, her dear heart seemed like it was being ripped apart.

She forces her raised head to stop the threatening tears. She’s not strong at all, but she refuses to look weak in front of him, because he isn’t the man she can rely on anymore, because his hands are stretched out to another woman, a woman that can give him everything he wants.

Opening her eyes, An Ran’s expression has already become cold. She nods, and answers, “I accept your apology.” Then she sees that her hand has been grabbed, and coldly says, “Mr. Mo, can you let go of my hands now? I don’t want others to misunderstand!”

Mo Fei angrily lets go, looks at her, and asks, “These past few years, have you been well?”

An Ran rolls her hand, her eyes burning, her line of sight becoming fuzzy. This moment is indescribable to her; she wants to cry. Her heart has been wronged and pained for 6 long years, and all it amounted to were these few words, “These past few years, have been well?” Hilarious, just hilarious.

She resolutely sucks her tears back in, returns to life, nods her head, and answers, “Yes, I’ve been well.” Her pride and ego will not show weakness.

Mo Fei nods, not saying another word; just looking at her. He can’t let go—even if he has a wife, he can’t let Gu An Ran go. For these past 6 years, she is the woman that he has cared deeply for, the woman that the former him had promised everything beautiful in life. So coming back this time, even though he knew that it was not possible, he still thinks of seeing her again, he wants to see if she has been well.

The two face each other as so, for how long they did not know. An Ran initiates and turns to leave, wearing a smile, but the next second, tears roll off from the rim of her eyes, falling down her cheek……


Mo Fei watches her back, watching her disappear into the street. He can only stay in place, can only watch her. Many times, he thought of stepping forward to hug her, but he knows that he has lost the right to hug her.




An Ran doesn’t know how she got home herself, her whole person was listless. She only remembered that when she got home, Lin Xiao Fen was coincidentally making dinner, whatever she had said to her, An Ran didn’t answer back. She just headed straight into her room, locking herself inside. When Gu Heng Wen returned, he knocked on the door and called her out. She also just lifelessly tells him that she was okay, not bothering to open the door.

When she came out the day after, she was back to normal, as if nothing had happened. But Lin Xiao Fen did not miss the eye cream and concealer that she used to cover up her swollen eyes. However, she did not press on the matter. In fact, yesterday, she had already called Lin Li. After hearing her state, Lin Li stayed silent for a long time. She only said one sentence: Mo Fei is back.

Just before leaving, An Ran reminds her mother that tonight’s table has been reserved for 6:30 pm, she’ll go their directly after work. Lin Xiao Fen, still worried about her state of mind, said, “Ran Ran, why don’t we come home and eat instead. What do you want to eat? Mom will make it for you.”

An Ran smiles and gives her mom a hug, “You’re the birthday girl today, whatever you want to make let dad and I do it, how can I let you do it yourself. But dad and I probably won’t be able to do it, that’s why we’re going out to eat.”

“Mom doesn’t want much else, so long as we as a family are happily together, that’s enough.” Lin Xiao Fen looks at her, and reaches to brush off the strand of hair dangling down in front of her forehead.

“Mom, it’s just once a year.” An Ran kisses her mom, and whispers a ‘Happy birthday’ into her ears, then she grabs her bag and turns to leave.

Lin Xiao Fen watches her back disappear out the door, and quietly lets out a sigh.




Today was a bit busy for An Ran, since the morning she had to visit two sites. Furthermore, she still has to find the time to buy her mother a present, and, more importantly, Lin Li booked this noon to have her and this so-called high-quality man go on a blind date!

Having a blind date at noon actually isn’t that strange, but having it on a work day’s lunch break—now that’s strange.

Actually, Lin Li had originally set up the meeting time to be on Wednesday evening, however on that day An Ran had to work overtime to catch up on a design—there really was no way to set aside that time. She wanted to prolong it to Thursday, but as luck would have it, Lin Li’s so-called high-quality-lady-killer already had plans on Thursday. Without any better option to drop, Friday evening it is, as there is nothing that can be done. But this is China, and China has an old saying—‘The road to happiness is strewn with setbacks’; how fitting this situation is to the saying, since this Friday is Lin Xiao Fen’s birthday. She had already reserved a table at a restaurant the week before, prepared for the entire family to go out and eat, for a celebration. Going through this, the two parties (her and the blind date) actually did not say anything, but Lin Li was absolutely vexed. She directly took charge and said noon, so as to avoid both prolonging it and any time conflicts the other party may have in the future.


At first Lin Li and Cheng Xiang were going to come as well, but Lin Li suddenly had a stomachache, so the two rushed to the hospital; thinking of the child, one would not dare to be careless.

An Ran had specially set off half an hour prior to leave, thinking that she can arrive earlier; she didn’t expect that the man had already arrived. From afar, An Ran can only see his back, the man sat straight on his seat, talking on his cell phone.

An Ran pulled on her shirt, and took a deep breath. She already thought this through, these so-called feelings hurt people too much. Really, at this age, to go on a blind date is surely not just to find romance anymore, but to find a partner to spend the rest of their life with. The goal is clear.

Thinking clearly, An Ran finally advances to her date, and sits opposite him. She raises her head, thinking of starting to speak, but she can’t help but be surprised. She recognizes this man. Isn’t he the one from that evening where she called out, ‘Help’ on the street?




---END OF CHAPTER---




Finally! Male MC appears. Time for the romancing.

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 5 Translation

005. He’s back



Lin Li is a doer. If she says she’ll introduce, she’ll immediately set up a time to have the two meet up. The appointed time has been set to Friday at noon, which is tomorrow.

An Ran had tried to put it off, but she wasn’t able to withstand Lin Li’s long-windedness and ‘blackmail’, which requires co-operation. She has been quite busy these days, and busy is good. She thought that after Bi Hu park’s case, she would be able to have a short period of rest, but she didn’t expect that the company would make an exception and accept an intern at this time. They said that she graduated from a famous school, that she won some kind of award, so the director ‘put in good word’, and now An Ran has to bear everything.

This intern is called Ling Lin. She’s quite pretty, but her manner of speaking is so coy that it makes people shiver. Once she entered, all the men in the company became excited, secretly saying ‘The great Sister Lin is here’, with unceasing politeness. But the women in the company were depressed, quietly gossiping, purposely isolating her.

The noon that day passed by quickly as An Ran was busy. She headed to the company cafeteria, and only a few people had stayed behind. Naturally, the food leftover had gone cold. She can choose whatever she wants, so she grabs a tray and went to find a place to sit. She still needs to go to the site in the afternoon to take a look at the construction progress. She actually doesn’t need that much time to eat, but she was in a rush this morning and had not eaten breakfast, so she is honestly starving to death right now.

An Ran ate quickly, but the food was somewhat dry, so she nearly choked on it. Luckily she had some soup, so she hurriedly gulped it down—with some difficulty. The cafeteria food is normally like this, varying from super chewy to super hard, salty to bland. The soup is the only thing that was consistent, which apparently only needs a little bit of seaweed and boiling hot water; no need for salt or MSG, making it bland and tasteless.

An Ran shakes her head, and continues to finish off her cold food.

Out of the blue, someone puts down their lunchbox in the seat opposite to her; she recognizes that lunchbox, it’s from that popular northern brand ‘You Ran Restaurant’. An expensive brand. An Ran lifts her head to see that Ling Lin has sat opposite of her, watching her with a smile. She sweetly calls out, “Sister Gu.”

An Ran nods her head, and asks, “You’re eating lunch just now? Isn’t it time to get off work?” 

"There was too much people earlier, and I don’t like being in noisy environments, so I waited until now to come,” Ling Lin says with a smile. She opens the lunchbox in her hand, inside it had delicate dishes and those kind of Thai rice that emits an alluring fragrant smell of vegetable and rice. It was an obvious sharp contrast against the plate in front of An Ran.

An Ran nods. Looking at Ling Lin’s meal and then back at her meal, she had lost her appetite. But she’s only an intern, how can she eat such a costly lunch, so she asks, “This type of take-out must be quite far, buying it and then coming back to eat. It would be better off buying and eating there then coming back, would save some time.”

“My dad was afraid that I wouldn’t be used to the company’s food, so he asked our family driver to bring it for me,” Ling Lin laughs. In between speeches as the smell of the sweet and sour pork grew stronger, she hands An Ran a piece, “You should try this, sister Gu, this kind of taste isn’t too bad.”

An Ran quickly waves her hand, refusing and says, “No it’s okay, I’m quite full.”

Hearing this, Ling Lin embarrassingly puts it back down in her container. She looks like she was trying to find a topic to talk about, and asks, “Sister Gu, if you want to try changing meals I can ask my driver to bring you a set. I’m being honest here, I really can’t get used to the food here.”

An Ran dryly smiles, on the contrary she thought, unfortunately she can’t enjoy it, one meal would take off half a day’s wage; working desperately for a month, more than a half of the wages would be thrown away to eating out. What would she be working for then, might as well go home and let Lin Xiao Fen look after her.  

An Ran looks at her watch. As she thought of what to say to excuse herself, the cellphone on her table goes off. It was Lin Li again, she supposes it was yet another warning not to forget about the blind date tomorrow.

She nods at Ling Lin, and gets up as she picks up her phone, pressing the answer button, and talks as she walks, “Hello my big sister, what do you want this time.”

“An Zi, I just…” On the other line, Lin Li, who is usually carefree, is now panicked, mumbling about some kind of unusual mishap.

“Hm?” An Ran inquired, she feels that Lin Li is a little strange today, and asks, “You just what?”

“I just…” Lin Li mumbles again, and hesitates. She makes up her mind, and rapidly spits out, “I just saw Mo Fei!”

She spoke so quickly An Ran almost missed what was said, but in the end, it wasn’t quick enough. An Ran heard it. She understood it. She saw Mo Fei!

An Ran went silent, she was speechless. She was unaware of how hard she was gripping her cellphone. She didn’t feel like herself.

“An Zi?” On the other line, Lin Li doesn’t hear a response. Without thinking, she called from shock, but now she is starting to regret it. Maybe she shouldn’t have called her.

"Yeah. I’m here,” An Ran answers in an unexpectedly calm tone. Only on the other line does Lin Li not know, how much power she is gripping with her cellphone

“An Zi… Are you alright?” Lin Li was still worried, really regretting it now. In her mind, she scolds herself endlessly. She clearly knows how much that man had hurt her; she blames her loose mouth, she can’t seem to hide anything.

“(Chuckle), why wouldn’t I be alright,” An Ran smiles dryly; even she can hear how fake that smile is, but she still feigns strength, “So how was it? Did you and him get to talk? It’s been so long, has he changed?”

“No way in hell would I talk with such a narcissistic greedy, selfish person. That’s just an insult to myself,” she said angrily.

An Ran laughs bitterly, not saying a word. Actually, Lin Li telling her was a good thing. The Earth is round; he left to the US after graduating, so the two haven’t come across each other for six years. But now to be in one city, in the case that he’s back, bumping into Lin Li, she supposes he would bump into her too. Better than being caught off guard.. At least she knows now. At least she can be considered as prepared.

“An Zi, let’s go to a bar tonight, I’ll keep you company. No returning without getting drunk!” Lin Li boldly said, but she’s actually still worried about her friend, afraid that her imagination would run wild. 

An Ran smiled, and not bitterly. This time, she was grateful. To have such a caring friend, it truly is a great feeling.

Holding her phone, feeling slightly more relaxed now, she says, “I’m really okay. Saying not to return without getting drunk, you’re not even thinking about your own situation. You need to take care of yourself, don’t mind me. Don’t waste your grievances on lil’ ol’ me, or else I’ll hurry you. Anyways, tomorrow I might want to go see your wealthy son-in-law, I’m really thinking of succeeding this time.”

“(Sigh), if you’re really okay then that’s great, but don’t keep it in if not.” Lin Li mutters.

An Ran walks into the end of the hallway. Out the window, she sees the alternating blue-white of the sky. She sighs, and says, “Lin Li, I couldn’t let go or free myself of my past foolishness. But I’ve been foolish for 6 years, this should be enough. I won’t let myself be foolish anymore, if not for myself, then for my parents to learn to be a little bit smarter.”

On the other line, Lin Li stays silent for a moment. After a good while, she resentfully says, “You, girlie, should have learned to be smart long ago!”  





---END OF CHAPTER---




Hi! Sorry for the late update! Lost track of the date hehe.. Happy Valentine's Day :)




Friday 5 February 2016

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 4 Translation

004. The thief cries thief


The chilly voice petrifies An Ran and Lin An Jie. Through the dusky lighting, An Ran can only see a man standing tall and straight a few meters away from them. The lighting was eerily calm. He carries that light, though An Ran cannot see what kind of person he is. But that is not the point-- An Ran quickly realizes her situation, and pushes Lin An Jie away with all her might, and was able to put a few meters between them.

“What are you, my girlfriend and I were being affectionate, and it’s none of your goddamn business.” Lin An Jie turns around to face that man, walking over to him; his voice was powerful, clearly disturbing his moment was an annoyance.

“I’m not his girlfriend.” An Ran, beside him, quickly explains, to clear the matter of no relationship between her and Lin An Jie. She originally intended to wait and see how it goes, but now, there’s no need.

The man in the dark looks at Lin An Jie and says, “You hear that?” He takes out his cellphone, lifts his hand and pauses before pressing anything, as if intending to call the police.

"Wait, wait.” Lin An Jie thought that the man is going to call the police, and hurriedly calls out to him. He’s just a civil servant, at the next half of the year he will be preparing to be promoted up to Deputy Commissioner; he can’t afford this kind of lawsuit. He turns his head and glances at An Ran, lowers his head and quickly takes his leave while muttering a swear.

After Lin An Jie has left, the man walks closer and closer to An Ran.

As he approaches, An Ran can now clearly see that he possesses an extremely handsome face, strong black eyebrows, eyes deep as a valley, nose straight and tall, thin lips; a rare beauty.

“Are you alright?” He asks softly, his voice is no longer as cold as before. It was extremely pleasant to hear.

An Ran stood surprised. Taking a few minutes to recover from her shock, she finally shakes her head and responds, “I—I’m alright! Just now—Just tha—Thank you!”

The man smiles gently, shaking his head. He turns to walk away, but suddenly thought of something. He turns around again, and asks, “Do you need a ride home?”

An Ran, still in a daze, quickly shakes her head after his question, refusing, “No, no need. I can get back myself.” Just because of the unexpected fright earlier, she’s not so weak that she can’t send herself home. Besides, she and him are total strangers, how can she possibly ask that of him.

The man takes in her distressed appearance, his lips form into a half-smile, and says, “That man doesn’t suit you at all.” Not allowing any time for An Ran to react, he turns and walks away towards the outline of the dusky, thin alley.



Lin An Jie can really be called the best of the best of an outrageous person (T/N: alt. meaning is high-quality person), using a coffee coupon for their blind date, avoiding the bill by using the excuse to pee. The thief cries thief, he was preparing for it all right from the moment they met.

When An Ran had reached home, both Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen were sitting in the living room, looking troubled. Turns out before An Ran had returned, that Lin An Jie took the first step and cried thief, calling over to Lin Xiao Fen’s colleague Aunt Zhang, asking what kind of woman did she introduce him to. They went on a date in the most expensive restaurant, emphasizing on the expensive part, and after finishing their meal, she insisted on holding hands or else she will call the police and report him of indecent assault, giving a good scolding to aunt Zhang.

Aunt Zhang only wanted to do a good deed of bringing two fated people together, which has now failed miserably; this act of good will shouldn’t have been done. For no reason, a person cussed the good reputation that she had built up. The more she thought about it the angrier she got, so she picked up the phone and called the Gu Family to demand an apology from Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen. So, just as An Ran had reached home, Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen had just ended the call with Aunt Zhang.

"Ran Ran, just what happened exactly. Father and I do not believe that you are a person to act without reason,” said Lin Xiao Fen. She knows what kind of person her daughter is, but Aunt Zhang is not a person who would speak rubbish to incite a quarrel. There has to be a misunderstanding somewhere.

“(Chuckle), that man tried to force a kiss on me. It’s a good thing there was a person who walked by and stopped it, but I didn’t even say a thing, even tonight’s dinner was paid for by me,” said An Ran, raising her head to her mother, and continues, “Call Aunt Zhang, I want to speak to her."

“How ridiculous!” hearing that her daughter was nearly humiliated by a man, Lin Xiao Fen was boiling with anger. “Ran Ran, I’m going to call Aunt Zhang, what kind of person did she dare introduce you to, even thinking that my daughter is unacceptable,” she says as she picks up the phone to call Aunt Zhang.

“It was not Aunt Zhang’s fault, she only meant well. It just unfortunately ended up with someone with bad intentions. You have to clear this up, our Ran Ran is not the kind of person he described, but it was he who has a problem with his morals.”

An Ran looks at her parents, doesn’t say any more, and turns to her room. As she lies on her bed, An Ran could feel herself getting more and more depressed. Even recalling this evening’s events, the fear still lingers. If it wasn’t for that man who appeared, she really did not now how to take it. She doesn’t know if this situation will occur again; she never thought that going to blind dates in the city could ever be this dangerous. But she’s getting older, this [the blind date] seems to be the only way. She can only blame her own foolishness; just for a scar, she was hurting for 6 years.

Just thinking about it, her heart throbs with pain. The her right now really needs to find someone to talk to.

She grabs her cellphone and calls Lin Li, who picks up right away. Just hearing the call, Lin Li suddenly lamely breaks out in Korean, “Annyeonghasaeyo~!”, stretching out the last vowel. That pitch doesn’t really suit the happiness of her age. Apparently her mood is always this good, An Ran was a little jealous of that, but it was also something she admired.

“What kind of bird language is that,” An Ran grumpily said.

“Hey hey, I’ve been learning Korean recently. I already talked it over with Cheng Xiang, our honeymoon will be in Korea. They have plentiful of beautiful ladies and handsome men, ha ha,” Lin Li said happily.

“Fine, go, be wary of Cheng Xiang getting his heart stolen by a beauty, then he won’t want the faded old woman that is you,” An Ran said evilly.

“Che, I have confidence in my Xiao Xiang, my Xiao Xiang only has me in his heart,” she said, and then calling out behind her, “Right, Xiao Xiang?” (T/N: the way she uses ‘I’ is a bit weird, I’m not familiar with it but I think it’s supposed to be the way they used titles in the historical days).

An Ran could faintly hear Cheng Xiang’s reply, then she could hear Lin Li proudly asking, “You hear that?”

“I heard it, I heard it. You are our LaoFoYe (Empress/Highness). Your Cheng family is at your side as XiaoLiZi. (T/N: dictionary translates it as little plum but that doesn’t make sense so…)” An Ran turns her frown into a smile.

“F- you, not going to bring a cursed person like you,” Lin Li jokes, “Tell me, what did you need from this elder sister (Jie Jie).”

The two joke around for a while, when suddenly Lin Li deadpanned and said, “Hey, I’m being serious here, I have some goods in my hands, you want it?”


“What goods?” An Ran was puzzled, she didn’t understand what was going on.

“A man! Cheng Xiang’s colleague, I met him before, he’s older than us by 2 years, his looks are top-notch, his work is top-notch.. Anyways, he’s absolutely the definition of a high-quality man! How about it? I’m keeping the goodies within the family, casting you the line!”

“No thanks, I’m afraid of these high-quality men. Why don’t you find a normal man for me instead.”

“BS, comparing this high-quality man to your other high-quality man, seriously speaking, his qualifications is far better, you’ll see. If I didn’t have my Xiao Xiang, I’d have definitely fallen for him,” Lin Li said with starry eyes.

An Ran blushed, “More like your Xiao Xiang fell for your brazen face!” This person is really impossible!

“Hey hey, what’s important is not how it begins, but how it ends. Although at the time it was tough to court him, but so many years have gone by, who can dare say that we haven’t reached happiness,” Lin Li said proudly.

An Ran listened and thought, that’s right! It doesn’t matter what you used to have, the people who have stayed by your side are more important, who would say the opposite.

Seeing how silent An Ran is, Lin Li says, “An Zi*, I’m taking your silence as an agreement then. I’ll ask my Xiang Zi* to get in touch, if there’s any more I’ll call you.” 

See here, the good is always forced. If one doesn’t want to marry, what difference will it make!


----END OF CHAPTER----





*T/N: Lin Li uses An Zi (安子) = An Ran / Xiang Zi = Cheng Xiang. I think the suffix 'zi' is sort-of like a term of endearment, in a mother-child kind of way. Correct me if I'm wrong though, haha.


It's a bit early, but happy chinese new year! Year of the monkey~ Wishing the best for your future endeavours!



First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 3 Translation

003. Wolfish Kiss


When An Ran left her room the morning after, Lin Xiao Fen was already preparing breakfast. Seeing her come out, she looks at her daughter, and says, “Come, eat breakfast.” Her tone was no different than before, not even the slightest, as if nothing had happened yesterday.

An Ran purses her lips and walks over to the dining table, pulling out a chair that faces Lin Xiao Fen and sits down opposite to her. Lin Xiao Fen grabs a ladle and gives her the well-cooked congee.

An Ran eats the congee with her head down, hiding her expression.

Although the Gu Family is not a family with a literary reputation (T/N: I’m really weak with idioms, but I guess it’s something like a noble family?), but there is still father Gu to set the ‘rigid rules’—no speeches while eating, no speaking when lying down!

As she finishes the last drop of congee, An Ran puts her bowl down, raises her head to look at Lin Xiao Fen, and says, “Mom, call auntie Zhang. I’ll give it a shot with Lin An Jie.”

Lin Xiao Fen was surprised. She and Gu Heng Wen look at each other wordlessly, and both simultaneously turn to look at An Ran. Recovering from her surprise, Lin Xiao Fen replies, “Ran Ran, mother didn’t mean to pressure you, if you really don’t like that boy, we can always find another person. Mom was just too anxious last night.”

“No, I’ve thought about it, what you said was right. People need to move on, we can’t live in the past. I’m also not that young anymore, marriage has to happen sooner or later, and Lin An Jie seems to be a pretty good partner, so I thought I should at least try.” An Ran said calmly.

Lin Xiao Fens remains silent, her face clearly expresses concern. Even though she wishes An Ran to fall in love, get married—but she doesn’t want her daughter to rush.

After a moment of silence, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. This time, Gu Heng Wen opens his mouth to speak, “Whomever you choose to date, mother and father will not oppose, as long as you think it’s right.”

An Ran nods her head, “I know. I have a meeting this morning, I’m going to leave first.” She immediately heads towards her room, grabs her bag and leaves for work after she finished speaking.

Inside the house, Lin Xiao Fen looks at the door that has been opened and closed once again. She puts down her bowl and chopsticks, and lets out a weak sigh. A hand reaches hers on the table, and squeezes it. She lifts her head, and sees her husband’s gentle expression. The corner of his eyes smiling, he says, “Don’t worry. Ran Ran knows what she’s doing.”



An Ran has been very busy recently. Bi Hu park’s case has been returned once again. She needs to make modifications, even though it’s impossible of the director to ask. For several days, she had to run back and forth between the office and the site every day, even staying in the office until 10 pm. Fortunately, this afternoon director Jin announced that the draft is finally approved, which means that she can finally get off work on time today. 

With Lin An Jie, since that last meeting, there was no time to even say goodbye, but they were able to keep in touch through text. Lin An Jie can be considered to be a person who knows how to take care of people. The simple exchanges and timely relation allowed An Ran to feel that she can get along with Lin An Jie quite nicely.

She invited Lin An Jie to have a meal today; she is seriously determined in her resolution to trying to accept this new relationship, a relationship with the expectation of marriage.

Gu An Ran is an earnest person; once she’s decided on something she will earnestly throw 100% of her energy into making it work. For instance, today she did not bring her car with her, but took a taxi instead. Once the date is over, she intends to have Lin An Jie send her home.



The place they will dine at today is a medium sized Western restaurant. Because there was a traffic jam on the way, by the time An Ran had arrived, Lin An Jie was already seated. He sat straight with a frown on his face as he looks at the menu.

“I’m so sorry, I’m late.” An Ran apologizes right away, without giving an excuse. Late is late, no matter if it was a mistake; she is not one to make excuses. 

Putting down the menu, Lin An Jie puts on a gentleman’s smile, faces An Ran, and says, “It’s alright, I just got here too.”

“Did you order yet?” An Ran puts her bag down, asking without a second thought.

“You can do it.” Lin An Jie passes the menu to An Ran.

An Ran didn’t think too much of it and grabs the menu. She immediately calls for the waiter. She often comes to this Western restaurant with her co-workers. The T-bone steak isn’t too bad, the salad is also pretty good. More importantly, the pricing is reasonable, so it isn’t too much to spend.

“Is there anything you can’t eat?” Putting the menu in front, An Ran thoughtfully asks him for any dietary restrictions. Lin An Jie shakes his head, says whatever’s fine, what she orders is fine.

An Ran doesn’t ask any further, asks the waiter for a bit of foie gras paste, T-bone steak, mushroom soup and lettuce salad, for dessert a cheesecake, and because he will be driving, she asks for no red wine, just coffee.

The date this time around seems to be more pleasant. Each talked about their respective field of work, what their hobbies are and so on and so forth. There isn’t a lot to talk about, but it’s better than awkward silence.

When the bill came, Lin An Jie suddenly got an upset stomach, and excused himself to the washroom. An Ran knew that he would avoid the bill—actually she wasn’t expecting for him to pay for tonight’s date. Even if he offered to pay, she was going to pay him back. But the obvious attempt in avoiding the bill caused her to feel dislike and hate.

An Ran foots the bill, and waits for him for about 10 minutes, yet Lin An Jie was still not to be seen, until she gives him a call to see where he is. Lin An Jie did not pick up, but not a minute later he comes out from the washroom. Returning to his seat, he faces An Ran and says, “Sorry about that, that was a long wait.”

An Ran shakes her head, and asks, “Is your digestive system not well? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Lin An Jie quickly explains, “No need, it’s just that when I was in the washroom, by chance a phone call came in. It was my team leader, so we chatted for a bit.”

An Ran nodded, grabbed her bag, and said, “Let’s go.”

“Alright, then I’ll go pay.” Lin An Jie nods, walking over to the front desk.

“It’s okay, I’ve already paid.” An Ran calls out to him.

“Eh?” Lin An Jie feigns surprise, and asks, “How can I allow a lady to pay the bill. How much was it, I’ll pay you back,” he says as he grabs his wallet to hand the money to her.

“How about next time. You can pay for next time, we can pay back and forth.” An Ran smiles.

Lin An Jie doesn’t insist, and nods his head as an agreement.

As the two leave the restaurant, Lin An Jie suggests that they take a walk. What really he didn’t want to say was that this parking lot has a parking fee, and that his car was parked on the street up ahead. The walk from here to his car is about 10 minutes.

An Ran gently nods her head, they ate a lot this evening-- she could use an after-meal exercise.

As the two silently walk side by side, the atmosphere somehow became quite awkward. Normally An Ran is quite passive when it comes to her feelings. To find something to talk about when it is just the two of them is not her strong suit. Just as An Ran picks up the courage to talk about something, the two had entered a darkly lit street. Suddenly a hand went on to grab her’s. The grip was quite strong.

“Uh..” An Ran looks up in surprise, not able to come up with a response. With a quick look, Lin An Jie stared at her with a fixed determination; he looked a bit odd.

“Lin… Lin An Jie?” An Ran called out to him, pulling on her hand in attempt to escape from his grip.

Lin An Jie looks at her silently, swallows, and takes the opportunity to violently cover An Ran’s mouth.

An Ran felt fear, she uses her strength to get him off, but it only results in helplessly resisting against his strength. Finally shooting her a glance, Lin An Jie goes for a kiss that lands upon An Ran’s cheek. The touch of his lips disgusted An Ran.

“Let… Let me go!” An Ran anxiously thought to cry, her hands won’t stop slapping Lin An Jie, and with her wearing heels, she is the same height as Lin An Jie. But since she’s a woman, helpless against a man’s strength, she can’t struggle free from him.

“Let her go.” A clear, cold male voice suddenly came from behind. In this darkly lit street, it was especially lofty.



----END OF CHAPTER---




How's it going! So I've been trying to get the hang of this translating stuff, it's tough to get out of translating word for word! Haha. But I hope it's sufficient :)