LATDA Chapter 1.1: First Encounter

Translator: Deyonna

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First Encounter

When Shen Baoshan first formally met Li Chishu during their university days, his impression toward the person couldn't exactly be called good.

It was only much, much later—so long after that it felt as though he had lived through two entire lifetimes in a daze—that Shen Baoshan looked back on those early days and finally, belatedly, realized the truth: from the very beginning, that kid Li Chishu had worn two entirely different faces, one for him and one for everyone else.

The whole thing traced back to this first meeting in his memory.

It was late September. Military training at Jian¹ University had just come to an end, and the weather in Hechuan was starting to cool down.

¹Jian University — "建大 (Jiàn Dà)" is an abbreviation. "建 (Jiàn)" stands for "建设/建筑" (construction/architecture), and "大 (Dà)" is short for "大学" (university). In real-life Chinese contexts, this abbreviation usually refers to existing architecture-focused institutions like Shenyang Jianzhu University or Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology. However, in the context of this story, it refers to a fictionalized version of such a school.

With a light drizzle every three days and clear skies every five, the summer heat began to dissipate, ushering in a refreshing and comfortable season.

Since military training had just wrapped up, that pack of newly liberated freshmen naturally acted like a herd of wild horses breaking their tethers, constantly looking for any excuse to sneak out of the campus gates.

While Shen Baoshan usually seemed to hang out in crowds, his true nature wasn't actually fond of joining in on the hustle and bustle. From childhood to adulthood, the number of close brothers he had could be counted on one hand. He possessed little curiosity toward any social circles outside of his immediate, intimate ones—in fact, one could say he had no curiosity at all. 

Consequently, he rarely ever took the initiative to participate in those campus gatherings where people loved to cluster.

To put it plainly, he possessed a temperament that was warm on the outside but cold on the inside. As long as people didn't provoke him, he generally maintained an easygoing, pleasant demeanor, appearing quite accommodating on the surface. But in reality, he didn't care all that much about how others fared.

Yet, there was no denying the fact that he was naturally popular.

He came from an excellent background, was exceptionally handsome, and had an easygoing personality. In a crowd, he stood out like a crane among chickens, serving as a walking trophy that brought prestige to anyone beside him. More importantly, he was highly approachable. 

If someone asked him for a favor, he would usually lend a hand without a second thought. If they invited him to a group dinner, he never put on airs or acted aloof. Whenever he could grant someone face, he gave them face.

During the better part of the month spent in military training, Shen Baoshan served as the temporary class monitor. If someone in the company occasionally got lazy or showed up late, he basically turned a blind eye. Even if someone was personally called out by the instructor, as long as they sent him a private message to plead their case and their request wasn't too outrageous, he would help them smooth things over.

Had it not been for the two-seater sports car Shen Baoshan drove to the dorms on registration day, and the designer logos that occasionally, inadvertently peeked through his outfit—which never repeated once in an entire month—it would have been very difficult for an ordinary person to guess he was a wealthy young master, given his knack for mingling seamlessly with everyone.

After all, he didn't possess a single one of those foul habits typical of so-called rich kids.

It was no surprise that someone like him would be popular wherever he went.

Therefore, even if Shen Baoshan didn't look for excitement himself, excitement found him everywhere.

It just so happened that he was free that day when he received a message from his roommate, Feng Zilian, saying that the Fellow Hometown Group was having a dinner gathering that evening. A lot of people were going, and quite a few wanted to make friends with him, so Feng Zilian invited him along for a meal.

Leaning back alone on the sofa of his duplex apartment purchased outside the school, Shen Baoshan mulled over those few messages for a long while before finally remembering that this Fellow Hometown Group was something Jiang Chi—his childhood friend with whom he had grown up since they were wearing open-crotch pants—had added him into a few days before school started.

Back then, during the summer vacation, Jiang Chi had just received his university admission notice a few days prior. He had enthusiastically declared his grand ambitions right in front of Shen Baoshan, stating that the moment he entered university, he absolutely had to find a girlfriend and fall in love, asking if his good brother Shen Baoshan supported him.

Young Master Shen, holding a controller and thoroughly preoccupied with his video game, had kept his eyes glued to the screen while saying, "I support, I support." Jiang Chi then said, "Then accompany me by joining the Fellow Hometown Group to show your support."

Shen Baoshan immediately pulled his eyes away from the monitor and cast a silent question mark at Young Master Jiang with his gaze.

As it turned out, Jiang Chi wanted to join the Fellow Hometown Group to find a girlfriend himself but felt too embarrassed to go alone, so he thought of dragging Shen Baoshan along to act as his cover.

Thus, Shen Baoshan had tossed his phone to Jiang Chi while continuing his game, letting the guy named Jiang Chi absent-mindedly help him join that group.

However, the very first second he finished his game, Shen Baoshan took his phone back and muted the group notifications, never uttering a single word in that chat.

Now, he finally understood why so many people had mysteriously managed to get ahold of his WeChat ID to add him as a friend over the month since school and military training started.

Thinking of this, Shen Baoshan exited the chat interface and dialed a call to the main culprit, Jiang Chi.

"Hello?" Jiang Chi’s voice sounded loud and careless, interspersed with the rapid clacking of a keyboard coming through the receiver.

Lounging on the sofa, Shen Baoshan asked casually, "The Fellow Hometown Group is having a dinner gathering tonight. Are you going?"

Jiang Chi hesitated for a moment, sounding somewhat tempted. "...But I've got a five-man queue tonight."

Just as Shen Baoshan was about to speak, he heard someone knocking on the door on Jiang Chi's end. It sounded like a waiter delivering the meal Jiang Chi had ordered.

"I say," Shen Baoshan sneered, "it's not like your family doesn't have a computer. Why do you run to the internet cafe every single day?"

"What do you know?" Jiang Chi retorted, still hammering away at his keyboard. "The internet cafe is much more lively."

"Yeah, right. You're talking as if you're playing out in the main hall."

"Alright, let's not talk anymore, my teammates are turning on their mics." Jiang Chi prepared to hang up. "I won't be going to the dinner. Too busy."

"Hey—"

Shen Baoshan helplessly hung up the phone, tossed it aside, and let out a scoff. "Serves you right that you can't find a girlfriend, kid."

After ending the call, he sat on the sofa for a short while. Thinking that he had nothing else to do today anyway and had already been cooped up in the apartment for most of the day, he figured going out for a meal wouldn't hurt. He then replied to Feng Zilian’s message, asking him to send over the address.

The other side quickly sent a location pinned at a hotpot restaurant near the school entrance. According to the reviews, the decor was quite nice, and the prices were very reasonable for most college students of their age.

Estimating that the time was about right, Shen Baoshan tidied himself up, changed into a light fleece sweater for the new season, picked out a relatively low-key sports car key from his collection, and headed out toward the underground garage.

Among the more prosperous districts in Hechuan, the Shen family owned properties in nearly all of them. The apartment Shen Baoshan lived in was a development built by their own family company. The distance to Jian University was just right—a five-minute drive would bring him straight to the campus main gate. 

He had moved in ahead of time during the summer break to get away from his parents. Aside from regularly visiting his maternal grandmother at her suburban villa every week, he usually lived alone, having already spent two blissful months immersed in gaming.

Although he didn’t typically live in the dorms, he still kept his name on the residential registry. For one thing, he had to live in the dorms during military training; for another, when the freshman and sophomore schedules were packed with classes, the noon breaks were short. Being too lazy to head home, the dorm served as a convenient spot to rest.

Feng Zilian was his neighboring-bed roommate.

This guy was also a Hechuan local with decent family circumstances. Back in junior high, he had attended the same integrated bilingual international school as Shen Baoshan.

Later, halfway through junior high, Shen Baoshan had a sudden whim and transferred to the city’s Public No. 1 High School. Aside from Jiang Chi transferring along with him, his other primary and junior high classmates gradually lost contact with him over time.

Yet, the moment they started university, Feng Zilian recognized Shen Baoshan at a first glance. He was quite shocked that a young master from such a family hadn't gone abroad yet. He eagerly went up to greet him. Shen Baoshan, on the other hand, had to search his memory for a long time before recalling that he actually used to have such a classmate back in junior high.

Afterward, probably driven somewhat by vanity, Feng Zilian took pride in establishing himself as Shen Baoshan's old acquaintance. From time to time, he would brag behind his back, claiming that Shen Baoshan was his childhood friend. Whenever someone wanted Shen Baoshan’s contact information or hoped to have him join a gathering, Feng Zilian would weigh the situation, and if he felt confident, he would pat his chest and agree.

This included tonight's dinner gathering; Feng Zilian had subtly found out a few days prior that Shen Baoshan would be free this weekend after finishing military training, which was why he had the cheek to invite him.

Shen Baoshan didn't pull the rug out from under him and gave him face by showing up.

They had reserved a private room in the restaurant. Shen Baoshan asked the waiter for the room number, and without requiring any guidance or having the door opened for him, he took a few strides up the stairs with his long legs and found the location himself.

The moment he pushed the door open, he found a room full of people had gathered, discussing something. Feng Zilian, with his sharp eyes, noticed him first. In a deliberately familiar tone, he called out, waving his hand, "You're finally here, busy man!”

Twirling his car key, Shen Baoshan walked over to the empty seat they had reserved for him. As he sat down, he nodded to the people around him as a greeting.

"If I were really that busy, could I still be here having dinner with you?" He took the tableware handed over by the waiter and quietly deflected the focus away from himself. "What were you all just talking about?"

"We were talking about a freshman from our year." Feng Zilian, eager to chat more to build familiarity, blinked his eyes. "He's a Hechuan local just like us, but that guy, he’s quite a prized catch. He couldn't even be bothered to show up when invited to a meal."

"Which kind of 'prized'² do you mean?" someone joked. "Is he good-looking, or is his market value high?"

²The Chinese term 俏 (qiào) carries a deliberate double meaning in this dialogue. It can refer either to physical attractiveness, 长得俏 (zhǎng de qiào) = "good-looking," or to strong market performance, 行情俏 (hángqíng qiào) = "in high demand / highly valued in the market.”

"Both," Feng Zilian muttered, scrolling through his phone as if searching for a photo. "On the very first day of military training, several people came to me asking about him. Both guys and girls. They all said they were asking on behalf of their classmates."

He let out a scoff and continued, "Weren't they just eyeing his good looks and wanting to know if he has a girlfriend?"

“But this guy is way too aloof.” Feng Zilian shook his head with a self-satisfied air, even adding a dramatic shrug. “When people add his contact info, if they don’t state clearly what they want, he simply won’t approve it. Even if they say they just want to make friends, he completely ignores them, giving them the cold shoulder straight away.”

Someone asked Feng Zilian, "Didn't you say you added him?"

"Yeah." At this, a look of pride flashed across Feng Zilian's face, and he put on a casual front. "I just gave it a shot, and I didn't expect to actually add him. Maybe the guy isn't really that aloof after all."

"What did you say when you added him?"

"Nothing much." Because he had repeatedly brought up these special treatments he received, Feng Zilian felt a bit of petty pride swelling in his chest. "I just said I was from the Architecture Department."

"Maybe because civil engineering and architecture are of the same family, so he considers you half a classmate," Shen Baoshan finally spoke up at this moment, wearing a half-smile. "What's his name?"

Feng Zilian replied, "Li Chishu."

Shen Baoshan's mouth froze, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Hey," seeing this reaction from him, Feng Zilian seemed to recall something and patted Shen Baoshan’s arm. "I heard his high school was Hechuan No. 1 High School. Was he your classmate?"

"Not exactly," Shen Baoshan spoke the plain truth. "He wasn't in the same class as me. We didn't have much of a relationship."

After saying this, for some unknown reason, he added, "But his grades were excellent. Aside from the first mock exam of senior year, he never dropped from the number one spot in the entire grade."

"So what if his grades are good? Even with good grades, doesn't he still end up attending Jian University just like me?" Feng Zilian’s tone carried a hint of sourness, his words loaded with hidden barbs.

From the very beginning of this dinner, he had been somewhat displeased with this person named Li Chishu. For no other reason than the fact that as the organizer of this gathering, Feng Zilian had privately extended an invitation to Li Chishu, but the other party had very bluntly rejected it.

Compared to the likes of Shen Baoshan and Jiang Chi, his family background couldn't be called wealthy, but it was certainly by no means poor. On the other hand, he had long inquired about Li Chishu and knew he was an impoverished student who relied on applying for various subsidies and scholarships just to get by. Based on such a disparity, extending an invitation to Li Chishu was a favor on his part, yet the guy actually dared to refuse. Feng Zilian believed that Li Chishu was failing to appreciate his kindness.

Consequently, whenever Li Chishu was mentioned, Feng Zilian appeared indifferent and magnanimous on the surface, but in reality, he would seize any opportunity to drop passive-aggressive remarks.

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Translator's Corner: New project to celebrate Old Wounds, New Growth getting a license – yay! And it’s its prequel, so double yay! I’ve been eyeing this novel ever since it topped the boards on jjwx last week. This is still ongoing, so you guys can check the raws and read along with me; maybe we’ll run into each other in the comment section lol. Anyway, I’ll be taking down Old Wounds, New Growth in a couple of days, so I won't risk the site getting a DMCA. Regular updates are still undecided since I’ve got other projects and advance chapter obligations to fulfil. But I’ll be updating mostly on Sundays, as that’s my only break.

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