The Emperor’s Runaway Lover

“Beep beep beep, it is now 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Beep beep beep, it is-”

The quantum computer’s crisp voice echoed throughout the vehicle.

“Noob, shut the fuck up,” Fu Yucheng mumbled vaguely. In a bad mood, he grabbed his pillow and covered his head, attempting to hide from the annoying noise.

It was still too noisy, and he turned over in a daze.

BAM.

He only felt heaven and earth spinning around him and, with a loud noise, the sharp pain of his injury struck him like lightning.

Fu Yucheng let out a cry, finally managing to wake up.

At this point he realized that he had turned over in his drowsiness, and his entire body had rolled down from the narrow sofa.

“…” Fu Yucheng lay silently on the hard floor, staring at the ceiling, unable to get up for a while.

The severe pain at his waist and in his abdomen gradually subsided. All the misadventures from the day before flooded his mind, like a tide rising at the sea.

He picked up a child and came back.

Fu Yucheng abruptly propped himself up against the ground, ignoring the messy mop of hair on his head, which was in complete disarray. He turned his head around to look at the brat.

“What happened to you?” At some point, the boy had padded over from the loft bed quietly, like a kitten, and walked barefoot up to him.

The boy frowned slightly and looked at the man lying on the ground, seemingly unsure of what to do.

Looking at the other’s confused, childish face, Fu Yucheng only felt embarrassment. He remembered telling this kid the night before to be careful not to fall off the upper bunk.

“Ahem, ahem, I’m fine. I just dreamed of a bunch of beauties. They were all competing to marry me, and if they didn’t reach an agreement they wanted to cut me up  and take a piece each. Scared me to death, so I woke up with a start.”

“Oh, so that’s what happened.” The boy blinked.

He didn’t actually understand it much, but he guessed that the other was probably fine. After thinking for a bit, he leaned down to support the other’s shoulders, attempting to lift him up.

Aggravating the injury with the movement was inevitable. Fu Yucheng breathed in cold air with a hiss, and muttered, “Slow down, slow down, fuck.”

After finally getting settled, he leaned against the back of the sofa and let out a long sigh of relief. His extremities felt weak, and he couldn’t muster even a little bit of energy, possibly as a side effect of the powerful anti-inflammatory and analgesics of the day before.

Fu Yucheng couldn’t fathom how he managed to drive the car back after the messy operation without the vehicle rolling over on the way. He had to thank modern medicine, antibiotics, expired analgesics and low-quality black coffee.

After resting for a while, he turned his head weakly, glancing at the clock on the wall.

It was already a quarter past three in the afternoon.

He had actually slept for over ten hours after passing out the night before.

“Huh, how can it be this late already?” Fu Yucheng muttered, touching his concave stomach, hungry and sorrowful.

The night before they had eaten the few potatoes he had left, and now there was no food in the house. What about their next dinner, or the one tomorrow?

He glanced at the boy, who was also staring at him, no emotions discernible in his dark eyes.

Fu Yucheng guessed that, after he had slept for more than ten hours, the boy was probably hungry, so he said cheerfully, “Brat, are you hungry?”

The boy hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. “I’m hungry.”

“I’m hungry too. But there is no food left at home, and since I am in this state I can’t get up.” Fu Yucheng scratched his head. “Why don’t I send you on an errand? Right around the corner there’s a bar in a locomotive. Go there and borrow some rations from the proprietress. The bar’s owner is Xu Nana. She is an old acquaintance of mine, she won’t give you any issues.”

“Borrow rations?”

“Mmhm. Ah right,” Fu Yucheng pondered for a bit. “I’ll write you a note, and you can just give the note directly to the proprietress.”

He casually took out a post-it note, and began to write swiftly, adding, “Brat, when you are at the bar later, remember to be polite and don’t say any nonsense. Don’t be fooled by Xu Nana’s delicate appearance. In truth, she’s actually a tigress. If you offend her, I won’t be able to save you.

“Got it?” He glanced sideways at the boy.

Without understanding, the boy answered, “Huh.”

“Make sure you remember it.” Fu Yucheng handed him the note. After thinking about it a bit, he added, “At your age, it’s best if you call her Nana-jie. Last time a kid called her auntie, he didn’t end well, eh.”1

“She killed that kid.”

“No.”

“Then, she maimed him.”

“Not that either.” Fu Yucheng felt a little tired. “Basically, just remember, don’t call her auntie.”

“Got it.” Although a little confused, the boy nodded, and then looked down at the palm-sized note.

There was only a very simple paragraph written on the rough yellowed paper.

“Dear boss,

Please imagine we’re meeting face to face through this note.2 Since I left last month, I haven’t dropped by the bar for a long time, and I really miss it.

I had an accident in New Sahara, picked up a stray boy, and only returned to the parking lot last night. Now my family has got two people, one big and one small, and we have no food in stock. Nana, if you still have any food to spare, could you lend me some? If you wait until I sell the goods that I picked up, I’ll pay it back immediately, without breaking my promise.

I hope your business stays prosperous.

Your good friend, Fu Yucheng”

The dark blue, simplified handwriting3 looked strong and vigorous, even powerful, which seemed in direct contrast to the contents of the pitiful request.

The boy didn’t say anything after reading it. He carefully folded the note and put it in his pocket. “How do I get there?”

“After you get off the truck, turn left right away, then turn right at the second intersection and go straight ahead for fifty meters. You’ll see a green locomotive. That’s the locomotive bar.” Fu Yucheng suddenly remembered something. “Right, put on that baseball cap, the one behind the door. Lower the brim. Don’t listen to strangers, and if you see the bald head from yesterday, just avoid him. Don’t get into trouble needlessly.”

He turned his head and instructed the quantum computer, “Noob, hurry and follow this brat. If something happens, contact me by radio right away.”

“Beep beep beep, yes, master.”

The boy walked out of the caravan and carefully patted the dust off the baseball cap before putting it on.

He looked to the left. It was a narrow two-lane dirt road, extending straight to the west. On both sides of the road were all sorts of modified RVs, the bodywork coated by a soft golden light from the setting sun.

“Hey, you kid, you’re from A-Cheng’s household.”4

The boy followed the sound and looked up.

On the roof of a modified double-decker bus parked across the street was a fat lady, hanging up the laundry and looking at him curiously. “How come I haven’t seen you before? By the way, that A-Cheng had been away for over ten days. I saw his vehicle return just last night, and he still hasn’t said hello.”

The boy pursed his lips and did not answer. He reached to lower the brim of his hat, turned around and walked towards the bar.

“That kid is so cold, doesn’t know how to be polite at all, so weird.” The fat auntie muttered, turned around and continued to dry the clothes. “Ai, A-Cheng is much nicer, he even helped me fix my car last time.”

The Locomotive Bar was one of the few bars in Parking Lot 4.

The entire bar consisted of a huge old-fashioned locomotive and two green carriages. Due to the years they had spent under the elements, the metal looked rather rusty.

The boy raised his head and glanced at the huge fancy letter sign on the locomotive saying BAR. He hesitated a little, then pushed the curtain aside and walked in.

Above the entrance curtain, the old fashioned bronze chimes made a pleasant ‘ding, dang’ sound.

The bar was empty and there were no customers, probably due to the early hour.

Behind the high bar, a beautiful woman was squinting her eyes, holding a goblet against the light and carefully wiping it clean.

When she heard the chimes ringing, she smiled and raised her head. “What distinguished guest wants to drink something so early today?”

After saying hello, she clearly saw the boy entering the bar, and raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Little boy, my bar only serves guests over 18 years old. What are you, fifteen? You can’t drink, oh.”

The proprietress was about thirty years old. Her burgundy silk cheongsam wrapped tightly around her petite and elegant body, and her hair was rolled up in a loose bun. She had small, cherry colored lips and a glamorous air about her. In short, she didn’t match Fu Yucheng’s “tigress” description at all.

“Are you Nana-jie?” The boy mumbled awkwardly. “I’m not here to drink, I’m here to borrow something.”

“To borrow something? What do you want to borrow?”  The proprietress asked doubtfully.

The boy took out the note from his pocket and handed it over.

Xu Nana took the IOU and read it carefully from beginning to end. She couldn’t help but frown with her delicate eyebrows. “Fu Yucheng, this kid. Last time when he left I didn’t hear from him for ages. I assumed he died long ago in the desert. He borrowed 20 catties5 of potatoes from me last month, but he still hasn’t paid them back. Now he wants to ask for more still, bah!6! Isn’t that cute?”

The boy looked at the angry proprietress at a loss, unsure of what to say for a while.

What was wrong with this woman? Why  was she so worked up over this?

“Why didn’t he just die in the Sahara?” Xu Nana kept on grumbling for what seemed like an entire day, as if she wanted to vent all her frustrations. “Leaving without saying goodbye, and now that he’s starving to death he thinks of his old mother.”7

She took a breath, having apparently gotten it out of her system, and said in a loud voice, “Xu Youyou, stop fucking hiding in the kitchen to play games and come out here.”

“Sister, what’s the matter?” A girl put on flip flops and walked slowly from the kitchen at the back, holding a transparent game screen in her hand. “I’m about to pass this level.”

The girl was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with short colorful hair, seven or eight studs in her ears, and wore a distressed leather jacket with rivets. If time went back to the beginning of the 21st century, her style would have been called scene.8

Fashion trends always come back.

“Youyou, take this kid to the kitchen, grab a cardboard box, and give him five catties of potatoes, five catties of yams, and five catties of corn flour.” The proprietress hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth. “Um, add two apples, two catties of dried bacon and a bag of coarse salt too.”

Xu Youyou glanced at the boy with a weird look, “Sister, who is this kid? Those apples, even you can’t bear to eat them, why are you giving them to him?”

“He was sent by Fu Yucheng to beg for food.” The proprietress said helplessly. “I think that that boy, Fu Yucheng, must be starving to death.”

“Yucheng-ge9 sent him?” Xu Youyou glanced at the boy again. “Nevermind, come with me.”

The boy nodded and followed her into the small kitchen at the back.

As Xu Youyou pushed aside a box of food, she looked at the boy. “How come I haven’t seen you before? Are you a distant relative of Yucheng-ge?”

“I’m not.” The boy shook his head blankly. “I was in the desert and we met there.”

The girl suddenly realized, “So, Yucheng-ge, the little vagabond, brought you back. He’s practically starving to death, but still has time to spare to be taking care of others.”

The boy didn’t say anything.

At this point, even if he was unfamiliar with the world, he could tell that the man was not well off.

Unexpectedly, he felt upset in his heart for some reason.

“Yucheng-ge is too unreliable. My sister is all bark and no bite.10 She always helps him out. Then again, thanks to Yucheng-ge helping last time, we managed to drive away a group of gangsters.”

Xu Youyou took out an empty cardboard box and began to fill it with potatoes and yams. “He also finished last month’s rations early. My sister lent him 20 catties of potatoes, and he barely made it through. He’s a grown man already, why doesn’t he plan ahead?”

The boy lowered his eyes and thought of the dirty potatoes in the sink.

Had he been living shamefully?

The boy was distracted when, suddenly, he heard a “meow” in his ear. A chubby orange cat jumped on his shoulder, making it sink.

The boy frowned and reached out with his hand to brush the fat orange cat off, but the orange cat licked his fingers without attempting to dodge him.

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“Haha, it seems that Fat Ball likes you very much.” Xu Youyou smiled. “Yucheng-ge gets scratched every time he wants to touch it. If he knew about it, he’d definitely get jealous.”

It seemed that Fu Yucheng liked touching this fat cat.

The boy couldn’t help but imagine the scene, the man teasing the cat and getting scratched all over. Suddenly he wanted to laugh.

The orange cat named “Fat Ball” jumped off his shoulder, lightly landing on the ground . It walked around the boy’s feet, and quietly left the kitchen.

Xu Youyou filled the box, finally taking out two big, round, red apples. She carefully wrapped them in oil paper, and reluctantly placed them on the top of the box. “Hey, these apples are so good, my own sister doesn’t want to eat them. Don’t even think about stealing food on your way back.”

“I won’t steal.” The boy shook his head.

“That’s good.” Xu Youyou glanced at him. She grumbled to herself about how the kid had no expression and barely spoke, so he looked just like a cold little adult.

The boy bent down to pick up the cardboard box, turned around and walked out of the kitchen.

He had just stepped out of the kitchen door when suddenly he slightly paused in his steps .

At some point, three guests had arrived at the bar. They were now sitting in the circular deck across the room, talking among themselves.

The man in the middle had a very gloomy face, a high nose and dark brown curly hair. He seemed to be of mixed blood. When the boy spotted him, he was lovingly playing with a Persian scimitar.

The Persian scimitar was extremely beautiful. The dazzling, sharp blade was engraved with flowers, and the exquisite carved brass handle had several inlaid rubies. The rubies were of very good quality, and one could easily see how valuable it was.

“It is indeed a good sword.” To his left, a gentle-looking man with glasses nodded. “Looking up close, the craftsmanship looks like a product from the Samanid11 dynasty of the Persian Empire.”

“Mr. Wei, I don’t quite understand all that stuff you are talking about.” The grim-faced man shook his head. “However, since Fatty Wu brought out such a good thing, Aaron,12 we’ll be waiving the protection fee for his shop this year.”

The bald man on the right nodded. “Sure thing, Lei-ge.”

This Aaron was precisely the bald man that Fu Yucheng and the boy had encountered earlier. He was the rude bald man with muscular arms.

With some thought, the boy was able to guess their identities. The man with the gloomy face playing with the Persian sword should be the one Fu Yucheng called ‘the boss of Parking Lot 4’ that he had trouble with. He Lei, the local bully.

Right at that moment, Aaron raised his head and his eyes landed right on the boy.

Wow, 3k views on foxaholic, I know it’s not much compared to others but it’s a milestone for me~ (≧▽≦) Please review/vote on NU if you like the story as well! Here’s the link!

Special thanks to my editor Wintery once again, and for everyone’s comments! And here’s my ko-fi in case anyone wants to support the translation (☆^∀^☆)

Footnotes

In Chinese, he’s telling him to call her 娜娜姐, meaning older sister, instead of just 阿姨.The Chinese expression, 见字如晤, is a relatively common opening for letters; it basically refers to seeing someone’s calligraphy and written words as similar to seeing them face to faceIn Chinese 行楷字 which is a type of writing that is more loose than print but not as dramatic as calligraphic styles. Probably something like this.The A is a prefix denoting closeness in Chinese, and the Cheng is Fu Yucheng (just in case it wasn’t clear)Also known as jin, also known as 斤, it’s half a kilo in mainland China, a little bit more in HK and other regions.Specifically says 我呸 which is something like (literally) “I spit in contempt”.She’s not his actual mother, it’s figuratively speaking.Seriously, it says 杀马特 haha.雨城哥, older brother Yucheng.In the original 个刀子嘴豆腐心 Mouth sharp like a knife but a tofu heart, I found it funny.The original says 萨曼王 but I’m reading it as 薩曼尼德帝國 because I don’t know of any Saman empire.His name is 阿龙 (Ā lóng) so it can be Aaron but also Arron or Aron which all seem to be names transliterated with these same characters (unless we want to call him ‘along’…)