Chapter 518

mayiwsk

"Hello, I'm looking for Liu Liu Muhan. I'm her classmate, my name is Lu Lu Jingyao."

"Oh, Liu Muhan has been assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. Didn't you know?"

"Oh, sorry, I don't know the number of her new unit..."

"I'll give you the number, write it down."

"Okay, thank you!"

Lu Lu Jingyao dialed the number at Liu Liu Muhan's home. It was Liu Liu Muhan's father who answered, and then he told Lu Lu Jingyao that Liu Liu Muhan had already been assigned a job and gave her Liu Liu Muhan's phone number.

After Lu Lu Jingyao dialed the number again, she finally heard Liu Liu Muhan's familiar voice: "Hello, who are you looking for?"

Lu Lu Jingyao said: "It's me, Liu Muhan."

Liu Liu Muhan on the other end of the phone was also stunned, then said happily: "I say, Big Miss Lu, you finally remembered to contact me."

"I called you last month, but the landlord said you had moved. You didn't even tell me when you moved?"

A wave of warmth flowed through Lu Lu Jingyao's heart, and the stuffiness in her heart eased a lot.

"I'm sorry, Liu Muhan. I returned to the country not long after I moved, so I haven't contacted you..."

"You returned to the country?" Liu Liu Muhan asked in surprise: "Isn't your master's graduation in September? Why did you come back early?"

Liu Liu Muhan said: "I have something to do at home, so I came back to handle it. I still have to go back in a few days..."

"Oh my, Lu Jingyao, you really have made a fortune. You don't even take these back-and-forth plane tickets seriously anymore."

"You have to pass through the capital when you go back, so you must come and treat me to a big meal! I've been assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and my salary isn't even a hundred yet!"

The fact that Lu Lu Jingyao had become Qiaonina's housekeeper wasn't hidden from Liu Liu Muhan, and because Zhang Rui and others had returned to the country, this matter couldn't be hidden.

Everyone just didn't know that the current Lu Lu Jingyao didn't just get a salary, but also a share of the agent's commission, and her income was higher than imagined.

Lu Lu Jingyao said: "It's not that I don't take money seriously, it's just that Qiaonina let me try investing, so I invested in my hometown to set up a handicraft factory. I came back to handle some procedures, and then I'll go back."

Liu Liu Muhan immediately said with a bit of feigned anger: "Hey, you didn't come to me when there was foreign investment; that's too much! I just arrived at my unit and I'm lacking achievements too! Remember to take care of me if there's such a good thing in the future."

Liu Liu Muhan chatted with Lu Lu Jingyao happily for a while, then asked with a smile: "Lu Jingyao, you called me today, is there something you need?"

"I... how did you guess again?"

Lu Lu Jingyao was very helpless; her best friend, who seemed to have "mind-reading skills," could always see through her heart.

Liu Liu Muhan giggled: "Don't play dumb with me. Confess honestly, were you dazzled by the prosperity of capitalism and didn't want to come back to serve the motherland, so you came to me to help you solve your confusion?"

Lu Lu Jingyao felt a wave of shame in her heart and couldn't answer for a moment.

She really didn't want to come back, but the reason she didn't want to come back wasn't entirely because she was dazzled by the comfortable life overseas.

"Hey, hey, hey, you really don't want to come back?"

Liu Liu Muhan, across the phone line, seemed to feel Lu Lu Jingyao's embarrassment.

"Lu Jingyao, I understand your current mood. This kind of thing is indeed confusing... But I still want to say one thing to you: there is a difference between rootless duckweed and grass with roots."

Lu Lu Jingyao exhaled, shook her head violently, and said: "I'm not looking for you to solve my confusion; I want you to help me analyze some questions about 'A Song of Ice and Fire'."

"Questions about 'A Song of Ice and Fire'?" Liu Liu Muhan asked strangely: "Why would you go far to ask me? Shouldn't you ask Qiaonina?"

Lu Lu Jingyao said in a deep voice: "Qiaonina is just the translator and author. She can't answer this question. Liu Muhan, you've seen the original translation manuscript of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' I gave you, right?"

Liu Liu Muhan said with feigned reproach: "Are you talking nonsense? I even tried to translate it!"

Lu Lu Jingyao continued to ask: "Then tell me, could the original author of 'A Song of Ice and Fire'... be Li Ye?"

Liu Liu Muhan on the other end of the phone was silent for a long time, then asked in surprise: "How did it get involved with Li Ye again? Lu Jingyao, are you possessed?"

Lu Lu Jingyao sighed and said: "I knew long ago that the book had something to do with Li Ye, but I am very familiar with the writing habits of the first draft of that book; it should be the work of an elder..."

"But today someone suddenly said that the book is actually Li Ye's work. I can't distinguish it. Your English foundation is better than mine, help me analyze... is it written by Li Ye?"

"My English foundation is better than yours, but shouldn't you ask Li Ye directly about this kind of thing?"

Liu Liu Muhan didn't humble herself, but she was also very strange about what was wrong with Lu Lu Jingyao today.

After a moment of silence, Lu Lu Jingyao said: "Li Ye didn't admit it, but he didn't deny it either."

When Li Xia Yue said those words just now, Li Ye indeed neither admitted nor denied it.

Liu Liu Muhan immediately concluded: "Since Li Ye didn't deny it, then it must be written by him!"

Lu Lu Jingyao was stunned and asked in confusion: "Why? Why do you believe him so easily?"

Liu Liu Muhan smiled and said: "People like Li Ye disdain to take credit for others' honors. Don't look at how he is indifferent to everything and humble to everyone; in fact, there is a kind of pride in his bones that is different from ordinary people—it's the kind of pride that looks at everyone else as an idiot."

Lu Lu Jingyao was stunned again, recalling Li Ye's changes over the past few years, and it seemed that Liu Liu Muhan had really hit the nail on the head.

Why does someone who has only met Li Ye a few times understand Li Ye better than I do?

Liu Liu Muhan didn't hear Lu Lu Jingyao speak for a while, so she continued to ask: "That elder of yours should also know Li Ye, right?"

Lu Lu Jingyao said: "Yes, she knows him."

Liu Liu Muhan: "Then her English level is higher than Li Ye's, right?"

Lu Lu Jingyao said: "Yes, Li Ye's English level is not..."

Lu Lu Jingyao was just about to say that Li Ye's English level was not enough to write the first draft of "A Song of Ice and Fire," but she suddenly remembered Li Xia Yue's sentence just now: "You have never looked down on Li Ye."

So Lu Lu Jingyao changed her words: "I don't know about his English level, I don't know... but that elder's English level is very high."

"Then that's it," Liu Liu Muhan said: "This situation is likely a joint creation by Li Ye and your elder. Li Ye produced the Chinese first draft, and then that elder carried out the preliminary translation."

"When I was looking at the English first draft of 'A Song of Ice and Fire,' I found that the author's word choice obviously highlighted the characteristics of being 'direct and accurate,' striving for no ambiguity in the plot, but there was no full play in the detailed description. This is very unusual."

"It's like a person; the author only depicted the complete skeleton, blood vessels, and facial features, but didn't fill in the plump flesh."

"In other words, this book had a clear purpose at the beginning of its creation, which was to find Western authors for secondary polishing to adapt to the reading habits of Western readers."

Liu Liu Muhan became more and more energetic as she spoke: "Besides, have you noticed that 'A Song of Ice and Fire' is filled with many plots that are completely different from our traditional customs?"

"The heroine is actually the hero's aunt, and the two actually became lovers and even had a substantial relationship. How could this be a plot conceived by an elder?"

"Our elders in the mainland are all conservatives! Even in 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' Yang Guo and Little Dragon Maiden are not aunt and nephew by blood!"

Liu Liu Muhan said firmly: "So only that kind of young person who doesn't take the usual path would write such plots that violate the moral customs of our nation according to Western habits."

"And Li Ye is a person who doesn't take the usual path."

Lu Lu Jingyao was silent again for a long while, then smiled sourly: "Liu Muhan, you seem to be very familiar with Li Ye now!"

Liu Liu Muhan: "..."

Can I not be familiar? Li Ye has to call me Aunt...

"Oh, you also know that I just arrived at my unit and I'm organizing materials all day. When I was organizing materials, I found that Pei Pei Wencong has invested 40 to 50 million US dollars in the mainland in recent years."

"And his first investment in the mainland was because of Li Ye. Don't you think he is unusual?"

Liu Liu Muhan said admiringly: "Lu Jingyao, if we talk about contributing to the country alone, Li Ye has already walked far ahead of us, so we have to work hard."

"Lu Jingyao, even if you don't come back, you must invest more in the mainland. Qiaonina's royalties aren't low, right?"

"Since she let you try investing, then come to me! I guarantee to introduce you to the projects with the highest returns..."

Lu Lu Jingyao waited until Liu Liu Muhan finished talking, then said in a low voice: "Do you think I'm still suitable to be Qiaonina's housekeeper?"

Liu Liu Muhan was stunned, and then finally understood the intention of Lu Lu Jingyao calling her today.

"Lu Jingyao, you don't want to completely cut ties with Li Ye, do you? Don't be foolish. Even if 'A Song of Ice and Fire' was written by Li Ye, so what?"

Liu Liu Muhan comforted: "Everyone has their own value. Li Ye needs Qiaonina to translate his works, and Qiaonina needs you to be her housekeeper. These are two completely unrelated things, unless Li Ye arranged for you to be Qiaonina's housekeeper."

"No, it's really not. When I met Qiaonina, I didn't know at all that this book had anything to do with Li Ye."

Lu Lu Jingyao shook her head and denied it.

"Then that's it."

"Taking a step back, even if the royalties Qiaonina earned were Li Ye's money, the money you earned by reinvesting those royalties isn't Li Ye's money, right?"

Liu Liu Muhan said: "Time will dilute everything. Don't be dazzled by the little rumors in front of you. After a heavy rain, all the stains on the ground will be washed clean."

Liu Liu Muhan could be said to be earnest, because she knew how lucky a child like Lu Lu Jingyao, who had struggled all the way, was to encounter an opportunity like Qiaonina.

If she missed Qiaonina, she might never reach a higher height in her life.

"Sigh."

"I know, Liu Muhan, thank you!"

Lu Lu Jingyao sighed and hung up the phone.

How could she not know that her current life couldn't be separated from Qiaonina at all?

Back then in England, she worked illegally in a Chinese restaurant; what kind of life was that?

And now?

She could take her sister-in-law abroad whenever she wanted. How could this power to control the fate of others be so easily given up?

"Rumble."

Thunder suddenly sounded outside the post office, and then a heavy rain poured down.

The heavy rain in July was very urgent, and in a short while, it washed the street, revealing the clean color underneath.

Lu Lu Jingyao exhaled, walked into the rain, and let the rainwater wash over her body, washing away the conflict in her body.

(End of chapter)