9.1 - The Ninth Flavor Part 1

Translator: tarararawr

Chen Zhuo was also surprised by the turn of events for them to meet again.

He knew the little girl was moving, but he was on a trip to Hong Kong during that time.

It was for a food and beverage study exchange for several days and it made him too busy to attend to other matters.

He already knew that Xian Bei moved out after seeing the employee Wechat group discussed “Fairy’s second disappearance”.

As for where she moved, he planned to come back and ask. He would find her as long as she was somewhere on earth.

The previous “Goodbye” was just the self-confidence he had as a man.

But life had this kind of preference to catch him off guard.

Chen Zhuo went to a fencing club every Thursday.

He didn’t have a lot of hobbies, but fencing could be regarded as one of them.

Chen Zhuo had practiced for many years and he was well known in the club. The students who crossed swords with him almost never won.

The only one that could compete with him was the club’s (self-proclaimed) mascot, Jiang Zihao.

The boy was more than ten years younger than him and his family was well-off.

When he was a freshman, his parents brought him to the club and said he wanted to learn fencing.

He was 186 cm tall with long arms and legs, so his teacher recommended fencing.

Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers 1 and Jiang Zihao was a bit dense. If there was nothing to do, he would find Chen Zhuo to fight or learn from him.

At the beginning, he was naturally tortured by Senior Chen to the point where he could not stand up straight and the other students would laugh at him.

But he improved with lightning speed, especially in the last two years.

Chen Zhuo increasingly felt more aware that his wrist flexibility and reaction speed really could not compare with young people.

They fought one move at a time using one style of fencing. After fighting to their heart’s content, the two men took off their masks and sat on the side bench to rest.

Jiang Zihao twisted open a water bottle and gave it to him. Gasping for air, he asked, “Did you talk to that person you’re interested in?”

Chen Zhuo sipped. “No.”

Jiang Zihao was flabbergasted. “Still no? In other words……”

He rolled his eyes and as if he was up to something: “Do you still live alone? Don’t you dislike the emptiness living with the 170 square meters of space on the second floor of your shop?”

Chen Zhuo said in a faint voice, “Why? Do you want to move in with me?”

Jiang Zihao waved his hands. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t think about it. I am very straight and right now I live with my girlfriend. Not to mention how cool it is to live together. My parents still think I’m living on campus, ha, ha.”

He scratched his head. “Actually, my girlfriend has a friend that is in a hurry to rent a place.”

Chen Zhuo: “I don’t rent.”

Jiang Zihao: “I know you don’t rent. I was just asking. Her friend is a bit special. She is a mangaka 2 that I like very much. Unexpectedly, my girlfriend is her editor. I didn’t know until last week. Don’t you think it’s a coincidence?”

The boy rubbed his sweaty bangs away. “I thought it was a male drawer, but unexpectedly it’s a girl. But also, she’s really shy……tsk, I’m not shy and I don’t know how to say it, but it’s just really hard to talk to her and I want to die. With this kind of personality, finding a place to live is difficult. As a result, my girlfriend is afraid she isn’t doing well. The standards for finding a home is very high. The rent can’t be high and the place can’t be partial. There must be a lot of milk tea shops because this girl likes milk tea. Are these creative people a little eccentric?”

“Milk tea——I immediately thought of you,” Jiang Zihao assumed a very distressed look. “Besides you, doesn’t your area have a lot of milk tea shops? Help me pay attention to if there are any apartments that are good and cheap. If she can stay with you then that would be best. You’re a friend and a gentleman, so we will feel assured. Although this girl isn’t talkative, it’s lucky she doesn’t like to talk and all day long she’s in her room. She absolutely will not bother you at all. I’m really in a hurry. Every day that she stays with us, it’s not convenient for her, nor is it convenient for us.”

The lines between his eyebrows disappeared. In order to confirm the facts he had guessed in his heart, Chen Zhuo indifferently asked, “Can I take a look at her manga?”

Jiang Zihao: “Do you also read manga?”

“Yeah, I read it.”

Jiang Zihao pulled out his cell phone and opened Yuan Guang She’s 3 manga app. Then, he brought up a page of a popular fantasy manga that was recently serialized.

The name of the work is 《Qi Xie 4 》,

And in the drawing’s column…….

A familiar name suddenly appeared.

……

——

When he came out of the club, the city lights were turned on and the neon lights were twinkling.

Chen Zhuo smiled with disbelief while on his way to the car.

How could there be this kind of fate?

The man breathed out a sigh as he faced the night wind. The little girl didn’t give herself a pen name. Was that foolish or lazy of her?

Footnotes

初生牛犊不怕虎 (chūshēngniúdúbùpàhǔ) – idiom for the young are fearless. 漫画家 (màn huà jiā) – refers to someone that makes a living by publishing comic works. Comes from the Japanese term ‘mangaka’ which means manga author or comic book artist. 原光社 (yuán guāng shè) – Original Light Agency 奇邪 (qí xié) – Strange Evil