“This is your photo. Do you need a bag to pack it up?” The man enlarged the photo taken by the security camera and printed it out. Then he bent down and handed the picture to Rong Gui.
“May I? Thanks~” Completely ignoring the common politeness he should have shown in this occasion, Rong Gui smiled and accepted the man’s courtesy.
“No problem. Here.” The man took a paper bag from aside and handed it to him. It’s a slightly larger bag just enough to fit the printed “photo”.
“But our printing techniques here are limited, and we use environmentally friendly printers. Even though the printed colors look good, if the picture is not properly preserved, it will gradually fade in half a year. I suggest that you buy a picture frame as soon as possible in the future. Only with a layer of protective film outside can the photo truly last for a long time.” He even gave Rong Gui some advice.
“Hmm, alright. But we probably don’t need to buy it. Xiao Mei can do anything. The flower pots, footstool, and so many other things in our car…all of them were made by Xiao Mei, and even the car itself was made by Xiao Mei.” Rong Gui said, poking Xiao Mei next to him, “Hey, am I right, Xiao Mei? Do you know how to make a picture frame?”
Xiao Mei: “……I do.”
“Hahaha, with such a person in your family, your life must have been so much easier!” The man laughed.
Exactly! Who could deny that? – Rong Gui was obviously an expressionless robot, yet he managed to express everything he wanted to express.
The two robots sat back into the car again.
Before they got into the car, the man called out to them and handed over a car plate to Rong Gui.
“Your car isn’t able to speed up until you find materials to remodel it. But if you keep driving like this, you will receive another ticket sooner or later. Let’s see, you may hang this plate in front of the car, and the cameras along the road will automatically identify the sign on it. For cars carrying such signs, the system will by default allow them to run at low speed.”
“Ah…If you haven’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have thought about this issue. Thanks a lot!” Rong Gui received the plate in surprise. After taking a look at the plate with peculiar patterns printed on it, he immediately put the plate in front of the windshield.
“See you~” The man took two steps back, waving goodbye to them.
“See you, see you!” Leaning out of the car window, Rong Gui was also saying goodbye to the man. Xiao Mei, on the other hand, was holding the steering wheel seriously. He then steadily started the car.
The old-fashioned traffic control office building slowly disappeared in the rearview mirror.
They drove onto the main road once more.
Perhaps because the plate that the man gave them indeed worked, they didn’t receive any ticket ever since, though as a result, Da Huang never spoke again.
Rong Gui, who still wanted to hear Da Huang talk, was a little disappointed.
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.
But his attention was soon shifted to the plate in front of the car: it was a small metal plate only about the size of a business card from his former world. The patterns on it looked very strange, which seemed to be some sort of curlicue script. Rong Gui had tried to identify the script carefully for a long time, but in the end, he still couldn’t recognize it.
Ktfgf’r cb batfg kjs tf mbeiv. Llr meggfca ijcuejuf rsrafw kjr mbwqifafis lcrajiifv ys Wljb Zfl. Pc Wljb Zfl’r bkc kbgvr, la kjr “atf eawbra ilwla bo atf fzafgcji xcbkifvuf atja tlr ygjlc mjqjmlas mbeiv mbcajlc”. Ebcu Xel kjr jyif ab ecvfgrajcv afzar kglaafc lc obgwji, gfueijg obca. Lbkfnfg, bcmf atf obca njglfv, fnfc pera rilutais, la kbeiv yf yfsbcv tlr rmbqf bo xcbkifvuf ab ecvfgrajcv atfw.
“Are the patterns on this plate some sort of characters? I can’t recognize them, but I guess they mean something like ‘handicapped inside’? Hahaha, with the current state of my left hand, should I be considered handicapped?” Rong Gui just couldn’t hide anything in his heart, so he asked Xiao Mei instantly.
“……” Is being handicapped something funny to laugh about? Xiao Mei thought with an expressionless face, and then responded to Rong Gui’s question.
“Pregnant woman inside.” Xiao Mei’s response was as concise as usual.
“Ah?” Rong Gui was initially confused.
“Aaarrrgghh!!!! Is this the phrase written on the plate? My God! We are both men~~~~~~” After he finally realized that Xiao Mei was referring to the meaning of the patterns on the plate, a long, piteous shriek came out from the car.
“Keep your voice down! What are you doing, shouting so loudly with a pregnant woman in your car? You’ll endanger the baby!” A car in the adjacent lane blared its horn loudly, interrupting Rong Gui’s scream. Its driver quickly rolled down the car window while passing Rong Gui’s car, waving his arm in protest.
“Eh?” Dumbfounded, Rong Gui saw a flashy car whooshing by right next to them.
Then another green car went by swiftly on their right.
One…two…three…
Only then did Rong Gui find that, without him even noticing it, they were no longer the only ones driving on the road.
This time, he had a feeling which was rather different from the feeling he had when he was meeting people and collecting their fines at the traffic control bureau.
At that time, Rong Gui would become extremely nervous whenever someone came in, even if he was just collecting money. Furthermore, he was sitting too high above, so he barely saw the faces of the people who came to pay the fines. But now…
He was sitting in the car, and Xiao Mei was driving the car. Other cars were running alongside them one after another – they had become a part of the traffic.
There had never been another moment when Rong Gui felt so truly – that they were about to enter the city!
Joining the crowd in the cars around them, they were going to see a lot of people!
Clenching his chest and turning off the imager, Rong Gui sat quietly to feel his surging emotions at this moment.
A long, long time ago, when he sat on the train to the big city, he used to feel the same way as he did today – he vaguely remembered.
Excitement, eagerness, and somewhat, a tinge of fear and panic…
It was a wonderful feeling.
He would preserve the memory of this dear feeling deep and well in his heart.
And then, Rong Gui turned on the imager once more. Clenching his fists, he shouted vigorously: “Don’t be sad, Da Huang! As soon as Xiao Mei and I earn enough money in the city, we will definitely make you the fastest sports car! That kind of car able to earn speeding tickets!”
“But before then, let’s drive slowly little by little~” With his mechanical feet stepping onto the pedals, Rong Gui began to treadle diligently.
One car after another passed by the small, yellow car in the middle lane at high speed. Since they were so fast, these cars almost became vague, colored shadows. Only Da Huang in the middle remained unchanged.
Pedaled by its two masters, it continued to move forward firmly at a snail’s pace of 20 bits per hour.
And then, the cars around them gradually slowed down as well.
With an increasing number of vehicles on the road, the cars could no longer run freely at high speed. There were even some traffic jams. Squeezed amidst various other cars, Da Huang was at last not the unique one lagging behind.
Apparently everyone would hate traffic congestion, yet Rong Gui’s mood had never been better.
“In a mundane world.”
– Never had he lived a moment more truly than this one which gave him such feeling.
He was a mere worldly man.
A man solidly rooted in the mundane world.
Who didn’t like living alone, reading, nor quietness.
He simply liked those noisy, lively places, even with loads of bickering and quarrels, where the air of exuberance was floating in every corner!
Ah! Albeit assuming a new shell, he was still alive. Look – he came to life after all!
Thank you, Rong Fu. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for allowing me to embrace the world again which I previously had no chance to fully experience. Although it’s probably completely different from my life before, although none of you are here anymore, but I shall always remember our old dreams, and live my life well in this brand new world, so that you may also live well through me, and live well in me!
Clenching his fists tightly, Rong Gui said to himself in his heart.
Author has something to say:
This chapter probably originated from the comment of my reader, “Jie Jie”:
She said: No matter how I read it, this novel does exude an air of solitude…
I think, perhaps it could be said that she sensed a tone of the story hidden beneath the sweet, warm façade?
In fact, all the protagonists of my story are rather solitary people.
There were all kinds of lonely emotions. Even if they were rollicking or jesting, even if they organized their life very well all by themselves, the loneliness still lingered.
Yet, perhaps that’s the reason why they would need each other.
I think I really like the word “destiny”.
To meet you is my destiny.
Well, perhaps something like that.
The sweet and cozy wrapping, stuffed with solitary filling, and a subsequent layer of taste of soft warmth –
This is the feeling that I would like to convey to everyone.
Kind regards.
Evening greetings to all.
Translator’s Note: Last chapter of Volume I. Xiao Mei and A Gui will begin their new adventure in the next chapter ^^
Lol pregnant woman keeek~ That’s hilarious~
Thanks so much for the chapter!! Yay end of Vol 1!!! =w=
I really like this author ah~ I’m also in the middle of reading TINAA and all that I can say is that it’s a great novel! Thank you for translating this one!
I’m glad you do! TINA is probably the most light-hearted novel of this author and I really liked it too! My personal favorite of Yue Xia Sang is the Prince of Devils – it got picked by another translator so I decided to translate this one, the Sabbath, as they were both her iconic works. Hopefully you will enjoy this one as well!