Chapter 518

mayiwsk

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

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

"Oh, oh, sorry, I don't know her new unit's number."

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

"Okay, thank you!"

Lu Jingyao dialed the number for Watching Liu Muhan's home. Watching Liu Muhan's father answered and told Lu Jingyao that Watching Liu Muhan had already been assigned a job, and he also gave her Watching Liu Muhan's phone number.

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

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

Watching Liu Muhan on the other end of the phone was also stunned, then said happily, "I say, 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 you were moving?"

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

"I'm sorry, Muhan. I returned to the country shortly after I moved, so I haven't been able to contact you."

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

Watching Liu Muhan said, "I have some things to deal with at home, so I came back to handle them. I still have to go back in a few days."

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

"You'll pass through Jingcheng when you go back, right? You must come over and treat me to a big meal! I've been assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, and my salary isn't even a hundred!"

The fact that Lu Jingyao became Qiaonina's housekeeper was not hidden from Watching Liu Muhan, and because of the return of Zhang Rui and others, this matter couldn't be hidden anyway.

Everyone just didn't know that the current Lu Jingyao not only received a salary but also received a commission as an agent, and her income was higher than imagined.

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 an arts and crafts factory. I came back to handle some procedures, and then I'll go back."

Watching Liu Muhan immediately said with a bit of feigned anger, "Hey, you didn't come to me for 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."

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

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

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

Watching 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 clear up your confusion?"

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?"

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

"Jingyao, I understand how you feel right now. This kind of thing is indeed confusing... But I still want to tell you one thing: there is a difference between rootless duckweed and grass with roots."

Lu Jingyao exhaled, shook her head abruptly, and said, "I'm not looking for you to clear up 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*?" Watching Liu Muhan said strangely, "Why would you go far to ask me? Shouldn't you ask Qiaonina?"

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

Watching Liu Muhan said with feigned reproach, "Isn't that a waste of words? I even tried translating it myself!"

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

Watching 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? Jingyao, have you gone crazy?"

Lu Jingyao sighed and said, "I've known for a long time that that book had something to do with Li Ye, but I'm 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 tell. Your English proficiency is better than mine, help me analyze... is it written by Li Ye?"

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

Watching Liu Muhan didn't show false modesty, but she was also very strange about what was wrong with Lu Jingyao today.

Lu Jingyao was silent for a moment before saying, "Li Ye didn't admit it, but he didn't deny it either."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lu Jingyao said, "Yes, Li Ye's English level isn't..."

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 Yue's words just now: "You have never looked down on Li Ye."

So 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."

"That's right," Watching Liu Muhan said, "This situation is very likely a joint creation by Li Ye and that elder of yours. Li Ye provided the Chinese first draft, and then that elder carried out the preliminary translation."

"When I was reading the English first draft of *A Song of Ice and Fire*, I noticed that the author's word choice clearly highlighted the characteristics of being 'direct and accurate,' striving for no ambiguity in the plot, but there was no full expression in the detailed descriptions. 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."

"This means that the book had a clear purpose at the beginning of its creation: to find a Western author for secondary polishing to adapt to the reading habits of Western readers."

Watching Liu Muhan became more and more excited as she spoke: "Also, have you noticed? *A Song of Ice and Fire* is filled with many plot points 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 point that an elder could conceive?"

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

Watching Liu Muhan said firmly, "So only that kind of young person who doesn't follow the beaten path would write this kind of plot that violates our nation's moral customs based on Western habits."

"And Li Ye is a person who doesn't follow the beaten path."

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

Watching Liu Muhan: "..."

How can I not be familiar? Li Ye has to call me "Auntie."

"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 Wencong has invested forty or fifty million US dollars in the mainland in the last few years."

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

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

"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 I'll introduce you to the projects with the highest returns."

Lu Jingyao waited until Watching Liu Muhan finished her chatter before saying in a low voice, "Do you think I'm still suitable to be Qiaonina's housekeeper?"

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

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

Watching Liu Muhan advised, "Everyone has their own value. Li Ye needs Qiaonina to translate his works for him, 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 that this book had anything to do with Li Ye at all."

Lu Jingyao shook her head and denied it.

"Then that settles it, right?"

"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?"

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

Watching Liu Muhan could be said to be earnest and well-meaning, because she knew how lucky a child like 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, Muhan. Thank you!"

Lu Jingyao sighed and hung up the phone.

How could she not know that her current life was inseparable from Qiaonina?

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

And now?

Wanting to take her sister-in-law abroad, she could do it. How could this power to control other people's fates be so easily abandoned?

"Rumble."

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

The rain in July was very urgent; in a short while, it washed the street, revealing the clean colors underneath.

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

(End of chapter)