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Chapter Three – A Marriage Proposal
Wei Wei stood, feeling awkward. Escaping wasn’t very brave, but standing here made her seem like a kidnapper. So Wei Wei thought quickly, lifted up her clothes, and sat down.
When players in Dreams of Jianghu sat down, it could be to rest, to meditate and practice inner energy[1]or, like what Wei Wei was doing right now, to set up a stall and sell things.
When Wei Wei displayed the stall name – “Cheap medicine for sale”, the surrounding players couldn’t resist but heixian[2]. Wei Wei quickly typed out her advertising slogan: “Look here, look here. New medicine from a levelled-out pharmacist,[3] 20% off!”
The moment the sentence appeared, all the players who had been around to look at the excitement started rioting.
She must be joking! Medicine from a levelled-out pharmacist wasn’t ever sold at NPC stores. They rarely occurred through monster drops. This was one of the kinds of good where there was demand but no supply. Even though the local server had a few levelled-out pharmacists, they only ever sold to their sect, and rarely did they ever sell their medicine to the general public. Now there was cheap high-level medicine for sale! The players around Vermillion Bird Bridge became excited and instantaneously rushed forward to drown the red-clothed figure.
The marriage sedan came, and the marriage sedan left at flying speed.
Curiously, the marriage sedan which had been moving at turtle speed, as it approached the bridge sped up suddenly as it went over Vermillion Bird Bridge and in a moment, disappeared over the horizon.
Wei Wei’s medicine only took moments to sell out and the players, after realizing there was nothing exciting going on, left. The bridge, which was only bustling when there was a wedding procession, resumed its habitual quietness.
Wei Wei took down her booth and prepared to leave when she suddenly saw that someone at the end of the bridge was calling her.
“Lu Wei Wei Wei.”
Wei Wei looked at the player.
Beside the river shore, there was a willow tree. That person just stood there, underneath the branches swaying due to the gentle wind. The white-clothed man sat underneath the willow tree holding a seven-stringed zither[4], his floating sleeves adding an aura of otherworldliness.
Wei Wei stared with her eyes wide open in shock.
Wei Wei’s shock wasn’t due to the fact that the white-clothed man looked very handsome. Of course he did look very handsome, but the white-clothed minstrel avatar wasn’t all that rare in the game, so after a while, everybody became immune.
Her shock was due to the player’s name.
Yi Xiao Nai He.[5]
The server’s number one player, Yi Xiao Nai He.
In this game, when a person was labelled the number one player, it wasn’t just because their level was high. He must have great equipment, must be strong at PK, must be precise in his control and most importantly, must be rich.
So when Lu Wei Wei Wei met Yi Xiao Nai He for the first time, one of her eyes uncontrollably turned to hearts while the other sprouted money signs.
Da Shen-a![6]
Idol-a!
Rich Person-a!
Wei Wei ran down the bridge and sent a smiley face: “Nai He xiong[7], I’ve long looked forward to meeting you, you called?”[8]
Yi Xiao Nai He gave an “en” and then a system pop-up appeared: Yi Xiao Nai He wants to be friends.
Wei Wei hurriedly clicked yes and reciprocated with her own request. It was hard to become friends with Yi Xiao Nai He. Most of the top players usually shut down their friend requests all year round. When Wei Wei added too many people sometimes, she would also shut it down.
Yi Xiao Nai He sent a message over after a moment: “How do you feel about that wedding?”
Wei Wei jiong[9]. Did Da Shen also come to gossip? Wei Wei replied diplomatically: “Very large.”
Yi Xiao Nai He: Do you want a bigger wedding?
Wei Wei short-circuited.
Yi Xiao Nai He: Get married to me.
Wei Wei felt that it was very fortunate that she wasn’t drinking water today. Otherwise, her monitor would have been sprayed again. Wei Wei cautiously moved the tea cup next to her hand a bit further away and looked back to the screen.
On the screen, Yi Xiao Nai He’s avatar still stood quietly under the willow tree with ease and elegance. Wei Wei stared for a few moments and sent over: “Da Shen … … Did your number[10] get stolen? = =”
Yi Xiao Nai He apparently did not share Wei Wei’s sense of humour, and sent a hard to come by “silent” expression: “You probably haven’t seen the latest news from the game website, the one about the Couples PK tournament.”
Wei Wei: Wait, I’ll go look.
Wei Wei opened the main game website and saw “Couples PK tournament” in big words on top of the main page. Scrolling quickly, she got a general understanding. The Couples PK tournament, true to the name, was a tournament with couples fighting as a team. The participating couples first competed in their own server and the top three couples would receive prizes. After that, the top couple in each server would compete with other top couples from other servers. The top three from those fights would receive super prizes. The top prize was enough to make the already wealthy Wei Wei drool.
Wei Wei: You want to get married to me for this PK tournament?
Yi Xiao Nai He: En.
Wei Wei: *sweats*, why me?
Yi Xiao Nai He was apparently not one that wasted words, “You are the only female player in the top ten PK rankings.”
Wei Wei was somewhat persuaded. Mister Nai He was very strong: number one on the PK rankings; number one on the wealth rankings; and his weapons and pet were all divine-level. If they teamed up, there was at least a 50% chance they would be first on their server. But her first wedding had already been for a quest. Was her second to be for a PK tournament?
Wei Wei couldn’t help but heixian.
But coming back to the main issue, if it wasn’t for a quest and wasn’t for a PK tournament, why would she ever want to get married to a stranger? And the prizes were so good … …
Wei Wei clenched[11] her fist: Let’s get married!
Since the decision had been made, Wei Wei felt a sense of freedom, “Let’s go, we’ll make a team and head for Old Moon’s[12].”
“Wait.”
“What?” Could it be that she answered too easily and Mr. Nai He just got scared off. － －
But things were not what Wei Wei though they were as Yi Xiao Nai He said: “I need to prepare for a bit. Three days later, 8 o’clock.”
Wei Wei blanked, and then quickly typed: “Prepare what?”
“The wedding.”
Wei Wei: Just an acknowledgement ceremony is good enough. We are just getting married for the tournament, there’s no need to make it too big.
Yi Xiao Nai He: That won’t do. I, Yi Xiao Nai He’s wedding, cannot be just a regular one.
Wei Wei: … …
[1]内功: probably most people who have watched wuxia know this but it is cultivating inner energies so the people are more fit and can perform inhuman feats. [2]黑线(Black line): originated in manga, used when people see something ridiculous/weird or when they are in a depression. It is usually easy to tell which meaning applies depending on the context. [3]药师: the literal definition is pharmacist. In the QQ MMPORG, the 药师 is more like a cleric/priest but in Dreams of Jianghu, Wei Wei never directly heals anyone but does go and search for herbs, so pharmacist (as someone who makes medicine) fits better [4]古琴: stringed instrument similar to the guzheng. Usually 5-7 strings. Some people translate it to a Chinese lute. [5]一笑奈何: 一笑(smile)奈何(Cope With) is the literal meaning. A/N: However, the name makes more sense if the words are arranged differently but that comes later in the story. At the moment, you can see just how lazy Gu Man was in creating her novel titles and how she makes it seamless. 微微 (Wei Wei – Slight/Just) 一笑 (Yi Xiao – One Smile) (很倾城) [6]大神: usually used to refer/speak to famous people by their fans. Literally Big God. [7] 兄: “elder brother”, does not need a blood relationship to be called this. Men who are in the same generation but older.
Hahha this story is too cute! I can’t help but grin all the time. Thanks for the lovely chappie~
Time for a big wedding! Her practicality might be what a practical guy like him falls for eventually. Thanks for the chapter.