The Lost Tomb : Sea Of Sands

Chapter 141: Partner

When Li Cu looked at the girl in surprise, she secretly stuck her tongue out at him. Then she glanced at the nearby fisherman.

Li Cu followed her eyes and glanced at him. At first, he thought that there was something strange about the fisherman, but the girl shook her head, as if she had read his mind.

Li Cu was even more confused. They were still some distance from the fisherman, so what couldn't be said aloud and had to be passed through a note? Was it a love letter the girl had written to him, which wasn't convenient to say out loud?

The girl's taste was really strange. He was disfigured, had a disability, and had a defective skull. It was really difficult to like someone like him. Not to mention the fact that they had merely met by chance, or, more accurately, they were two poor people who had fallen into a pit.

"Wait until you go back to have a good look." The girl winked at him.

Li Cu instinctively wanted to ask questions, but the girl immediately made a gesture to silence him: "Talk about something else."

Li Cu looked at her, and wondered for a moment why he should listen to her. But then he thought about the consequences of his previous thoughts, and immediately suppressed himself. He felt that there had to be some reason for the other party to act like this, and there was no need to do anything that would bring trouble to either of them.

It appeared that his rebellious behavior wasn't something that couldn't be reformed, it was just that the consequences hadn't been harsh enough. And he suddenly realized that rebelling made no sense. The other party was just a girl, so what was the point of rebelling against her?

Why was he so disgusted when others demanded something of him? Deep down, he was afraid he couldn't meet their expectations.

Li Cu nodded and talked some more with the girl about their previous topic. He still didn't let his guard down, especially when she asked him about his nose.

All he told her was that he didn't know much about it.

The girl pouted and looked at him. "If it weren't for your calm tone, I'd really think you were messing with me. But I believe you. You might really know nothing."

"I don't have the strength to lie." Li Cu said, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture.

The two were silent for a moment. It seemed that after the girl had stuffed the note into his sock, she had nothing more to say to him. This made Li Cu feel that the girl didn't want to know him or make friends with him, but probably just wanted to convey some information to him. After the note was handed over, she didn't know what to talk about with him.

"What's your name?" Li Cu turned his gaze to the lake. He wasn't very good at finding topics either, and this embarrassment made him feel a little incompetent. He recalled what the girl had said just now, picked the topic back up, and threw it back at her.

"My name's Wang Xiaoyuan [1]." The girl answered. "It's a very common name. There's no origin like your 'Li Gulu'. Your father loved you very much when you were born."

Wang Xiaoyuan.

It was very common indeed, but it sounded very kind, and at least seemed more normal than Huo Dao Fu. He was still a little surprised, though. He felt that these people were so powerful that they should at least be called something like Ximen Chuixue [2].

The girl's words gave off a somewhat familiar feeling, and even her tone was like that of a senior talking to a junior. But how old was she?

Li Cu shook his head and didn't dwell on his sudden sensitivity. "It has nothing to do with love. He just wanted others to know that his life experience was rich."

"What does experience have to do with a name? So, do you think my parents' experience can be seen from my name?"

Li Cu didn't follow her words, but threw the ball back, "According to what you just said, you seem a little dissatisfied with your parents."

Wang Xiaoyuan looked at Li Cu and opened her mouth, but said nothing.

Then she stood up and began pushing Li Cu back while saying, "The common name is to avoid attention. You don't want others' eyes to linger wherever your name appears, so they might end up changing your name."

Me?

Li Cu sighed. The surname Li was originally uncommon, and the name itself had some degree of recognition. What would he be called to make himself seem ordinary? Li Ming [3]?

Maybe even his surname would be changed, but what would it be? His mother's surname was Guo, so Guo Xiaoming?

Li Cu shook his head, were these people training agents here? Even if the name had to be really common, he had seen many movies saying that the most important thing to be an agent was to have a face that wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

"I'll think on it. If you want to change your name, I'll try my best to help you get a name that sounds good when it's connected with mine." Wang Xiaoyuan smiled and said. "For example, Wang Xiaoyuan Da Meiren [4] or something."

Li Cu knew she was joking, and Wang Xiaoyuan added: "If you want to smoke, I have a way. I'll bring you a cigarette tomorrow. What do you like to smoke?"

Li Cu was once again surprised. Wang Xiaoyuan leaned her head close to his ear: "But if you're caught, you can't say I gave it to you."

Li Cu looked back at her smiling triumphantly, as if she were clutching his lifeline.

But she didn't know that Li Cu wasn't addicted to smoking, it was only a kind of psychological dependency for him. If he didn't want to smoke, he could go without a cigarette for several months, but it did help him make a lot of decisions and think critically.

He thought for a moment and said to Wang Xiaoyuan, "Zhongnanhai." (Note: Zhongnanhai here is an old-fashioned blended cigarette produced in Beijing Cigarette Factory. It's very popular in Beijing, and even the whole country.)

Wang Xiaoyuan nodded, as if she wasn't surprised by his answer, and the two continued their slow walk. As Wang Xiaoyuan slowly pushed Li Cu, they talked about some of their hobbies, such as favorite movies and other topics that Li Cu thought were strange.

He was more familiar with soccer, and struggled to keep the topic going, talking about anything and everything until they finally returned to the ward.

He didn't let Wang Xiaoyuan in once they reached the ward, unwilling for her to see him struggling to get into the bed. As the two people said goodbye, Wang Xiaoyuan leaned forward again, and told him to carefully read the note.

After entering the room, Li Cu leaned against the door and watched her go, eager to take the note out from his sock.

As soon as he saw it, he was stunned. There were a lot of words written on it, the most conspicuous of which were at the top: "When choosing a partner, you must choose me."

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Notes:

[1] I never know how to space their names. MyDramaList has it as Wang Xiao Yuan, but google results show both "Xiaoyuan" and "Xiao Yuan" so I'm just going to leave it the way you see it in the text.

[2] Character in the wuxia novel series "Lu Xiaofeng Series" (陸小鳳系列) by Gu Long. One of protagonist's close friends. Nicknamed "God of Sword" (劍神), he is the best swordsman and appears as a cold-blooded, unfeeling and ruthless killer to others.

[3] Ming is a pretty common name in China. It can mean bright/clear/wise and is also a generic term for a sacrifice to the gods. 

[4] Da Meiren can mean "great beauty", so she's basically calling herself beautiful.