Chapter 189

Sunday, Xiao Qi woke up right on time.

She got up at 6 o'clock, got out of bed, washed up, practiced writing characters, then went for a run.

After running, she returned to the dorm. Wei Cheng had just woken up and was lying in bed, rubbing her eyes, not wanting to get up.

Gu Yunshu, however, did get up because flowers were being delivered for her early in the morning. She wanted to trim and arrange them herself to bring to Grace in the afternoon.

Wei Cheng also got up and was reciting English vocabulary words. She was still very nervous about going to a foreign teacher's house as a guest that afternoon, so she specifically downloaded an app for daily English phrases to learn and memorize sentence by sentence, hoping she wouldn't be mute and unable to say a word when the time came.

Xiao Qi was quite tired after just finishing her run. She returned to the dorm to rest and gave Gu Yunshu a hand at the same time.

Gu Yunshu seemed quite professional after only going to the flower arranging club a few times. She took a green sponge and large leaves, wrapped the sponge with the leaves, making it look like an elegant base.

"You can add water to this sponge soil to keep the flowers fresh," Gu Yunshu explained to Xiao Qi who looked quite curious.

Then she started trimming the flowers. Xiao Qi saw her chopping boldly without any hesitation. She cut a large bouquet and stuck it in the sponge soil. It looked quite stylish.

In Xiao Qi’s eyes, flowers were always big blooms. At her aunt’s dorm, her aunt would bring flowers, also in large bouquets. She would trim them evenly, insert them nicely, and really liked the feeling of large flowers crowded together in full bloom.

But what Gu Yunshu liked seemed more sophisticated. To put it vulgarly, if sold in a flower shop, it would probably sell for a higher price.

Even dead branches could be incorporated. Xiao Qi thought of Gumu Village where you could casually pick up bundles wherever you went. Here you had to buy them with money. She asked Gu Yunshu how much these kind of branches cost. Gu Yunshu said the branches cost more than the flowers because they lasted longer.

Xiao Qi: ...

She felt that in the mountains nothing was valuable, they could only be used as firewood. But here, they became precious for some reason. There probably weren’t any worthless things, just things in the wrong place.

After Gu Yunshu finished arranging the flowers, Xiao Qi tidied up a bit before going to breakfast. She and Wei Cheng went to the library while Wei Cheng planned to be lazy in bed all morning. Gu Yunshu continued reading her novel.

At the library, Xiao Qi had a clear goal today. Because her roommate Gu Yunshu was addicted to reading novels, Xiao Qi was quite curious about what novel she was reading. The result was that recently Gu Yunshu had been reading Pride and Prejudice fan fiction.

Xiao Qi still didn’t know there was such a genre. Only after Gu Yunshu's introduction did she know what fan fiction was - it was still writing about someone from the book, not necessarily the protagonist, maybe a supporting role or villain, or someone who didn't appear in the book, but the storyline was still roughly the original. The author incorporates themselves and goes through experiencing that story.

She was quite familiar with the classic Pride and Prejudice, but she hadn’t read it herself. She had read Jane Eyre, The Thorn Birds and so on. Anyway, Xiao Qi felt her own reading volume was far from enough. While still young, she should read more books. Reading more was definitely the right way. Reading other people's life experiences to gain your own experience was much easier than stumbling through gaining them yourself. But after reading, you had to think carefully in order to make it useful to yourself.

To study without thinking is futile, to think without studying perilous.

Xiao Qi selected the Chinese and original English versions. After getting the books, she found a seat by the window and sat down to read.

Wei Cheng also didn’t disturb Xiao Qi, selecting a book and sitting down across from her.

The library was very quiet. There was no need to wear headphones. Accompanied by the sound of waves from the lake outside the window, it was tranquil.

Xiao Qi first opened the original English version. Reading original version books was no longer difficult for her now, but Pride and Prejudice was first written in 1797. Although revised and reprinted later, the grammar and language at that time must have been very different from now. In 1797, China was still under the Qing dynasty, and the writing was also completely different from now.

Fortunately, part of why Pride and Prejudice was able to become a world classic was related to the author’s writing technique. It wasn’t abstruse or difficult to understand. The language was very lively and vivid.

The opening portrayed the state of life in an English country town in the late 18th century. Squire Bennet had five unmarried daughters. With no son, according to the relatively complicated inheritance law at the time, if Mr. Bennet died, their family property would be inherited by a distant relative. His daughters could only get 5,000 pounds as a dowry. If they didn’t marry, they might be sent to a convent.

The protagonist was Mr. Bennet’s second daughter Elizabeth. It told the story of her romance. She met aristocrat Darcy at a ball. Darcy was very arrogant and Elizabeth was always prejudiced against Darcy. Elizabeth’s sister Jane was in mutual love with Darcy's good friend Bingley. The story mainly revolved around Elizabeth and Darcy. After going through twists and turns, both let go of their prejudices and arrogance, and had a happy ending as lover.

The ending could be described as perfectly happy.

However, while reading it, it felt like there were still many contradictions and conflicts - Mr. Bennet as the master of the house didn’t care about his family or business because he had no heir. He hid away in his own world, which made people feel somewhat angry.

As the daughter of a country squire, Elizabeth was already in the wealthy class, but there was still a gap compared with the Darcy family.

And although Mrs. Bennet worried about marrying off her five daughters, as a person she was short-sighted, superficial and vulgar - the standard drag.

While reading, Xiao Qi would think about what she would do if she were Mr. Bennet or Mrs. Bennet. Would she have done better? At least she should have brought up her daughters well. This was probably why fan fiction culture arose -

Or what if she herself was Elizabeth? But thinking about it, her own parents were just ordinary farmers, probably not as good as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, since they were at least gentry.

The refreshing part of fan fiction is knowing the plot, knowing what goes wrong, circumventing and changing it, which feels exhilarating.

But the real world is not fan fiction without a template.

The novel was very absorbing. Bit by bit the characters’ personalities emerged - Elizabeth’s wit and liveliness, her sister Jane's beauty and elegance, silly and selfish younger sister Lydia, Mr. Darcy’s aloof arrogance and fidelity, good friend Mr. Bingley's affability and good looks. At first glance it seemed like a romantic process between young men and women, but there were actually many contradictions and conflicts in terms of background environment and family involved.

It made people unable to put the book down. Xiao Qi read with great concentration, unaware of the flying passage of time. She would also subconsciously project herself into the story. The heroine Elizabeth was beautiful and elegant, witty and wise. She broke through the vulgarity and tedium of her social class, but someone so outstanding would still have a bumpy road to love with Darcy due to incompatible family circumstances. The novel portrayed the real environment of the English gentry class at that time as well as writing about it beautifully. Jane and Bingley regarded each other as a lifetime’s destination, Darcy proposed to Elizabeth twice and finally got the girl...

“Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi?”

The soft voice pulled Xiao Qi back to reality.

She saw Wei Cheng across from her, craning her neck and calling her name softly.

Xiao Qi looked at her watch, it was twelve o’clock.

No wonder Gu Yunshu read novels every day. She was also very addicted reading it, feeling as if she herself was the heroine, matchless in wisdom and beauty...

Called back to her senses by Wei Cheng, she suddenly realized she was in the library.

The sunlight on the table had shifted away. Xiao Qi stood up, turned her body around and found her back and spine slightly stiff. Fortunately she was still young. If older, sitting for that long would definitely cause discomfort. She often saw her dad sitting editing things for half a day. When he stood up, it was back and waist pain.

“Are you done reading? Shall we go then? If you haven't finished, you can borrow it. I still have one book I can borrow that I can let you use.” Wei Cheng said softly.

“I finished reading it. We can go. Let me return the book first,” Xiao Qi didn’t want to borrow the book. She had used up her borrowing quota, having borrowed Japanese language reference books. Reference books needed to be checked anytime, so it was better to just read novels like this here.

Besides, she could always come to the library anytime.

Xiao Qi separately returned the Chinese and English Pride and Prejudice to the shelves. Her mind was actually still a little muddled after reading the book. She had subconsciously ruffled her own hair while reading, leaving it a little messy.

After leaving the library with Wei Cheng, there was a lake bay right outside. The wind was quite strong, carrying the fishy smell of the river. The wind blew on Xiao Qi and made her feel completely sober.

The sunshine outside was bright and the streets were wide, with buildings scattered around. It was an advanced modern society, not the 19th century where you could see feces everywhere when riding a carriage.

"Xiao Qi, I took a photo of you when you were reading just now." Wei Cheng handed her phone to Xiao Qi.

Wei Cheng's phone was just an ordinary smartphone without much capacity or beautifying filters.

However, this photo was taken very well, with contrast between light and shadows. Half of Xiao Qi's face was bright and the other half dark. Her hair was a bit messy and her expression was extremely focused and serious. In front of her was a book fully in English.

"You have a very good talent for photography. This doesn't look like a phone photo - it's more like a professional took it with a camera." Xiao Qi praised.

"That makes me really happy! When I finished taking it, I also felt it looked very good. I just happened to look up and see you while you were reading and thought you looked good, so I snapped the photo." Wei Cheng smiled with eyes bent into crescents, clearly very delighted.

"Wait, stay just like that. Let me take a photo of you too." Xiao Qi remembered she also had a beginner level of photography skills, she just rarely took photos so she wasn't highly skilled at it.

As soon as Wei Cheng heard she was going to be photographed, she became a bit stiff in her hands and feet, flustered as she awkwardly refused, "I'm not very photogenic, I don't look good. Don't take it."

"It's fine, if it doesn't look good we can just delete it. No one else will see it anyway. Just walk naturally, don't be nervous."

Between two dormmates where the family circumstances were the same for both, Wei Cheng was the most relaxed in front of Xiao Qi. She relaxed very quickly, but there was still some shy stiffness when she smiled.

"You don't have to deliberately force a smile, just do whatever feels natural to you." Xiao Qi encouraged, while at the same time holding up her phone. She chose the Portrait Studio Lighting mode in her phone camera app, which could blur the background and highlight the person being photographed, making it fresher and more delicate.

Xiao Qi took several shots, they seemed better than she'd imagined. Wei Cheng was tall, her face wasn't the traditional melon-seed shape but a bit bigger. Her hair at chin-length was also windswept from beside the lake into slight disarray, which actually nicely framed her face shape. Her face shape in the photos looked very high-class, giving a sense of sophistication.

Under the bright sunshine, even the freckles on her face looked cute. Xiao Qi randomly snapped several shots and sent the one she was most satisfied with over to Wei Cheng.

Upon receiving the photo, Wei Cheng's face showed surprise. "Do I really look this good? Is this really me? You took it so well! Really good!"

Indeed, the young girl walking casually beside the lake with her schoolbag looked very beautiful in the photo. Her chin-length hair was windswept somewhat disorderly, her eyes had a bit of daze but radiated cheerfulness at the same time. She hugged some books in her arms, with a trace of a smile at the corners of her mouth yet possessing some gravity. Even with the freckles on her face, it was a pleasure for one to look at such a pretty girl.

Wei Cheng was very excited, looking over and over again, before finally deciding to post it on Moments.

Went to the library with my roommate (smiley face)

She posted two photos - the one Xiao Qi had taken of her reading, and the one Xiao Qi sent to her that she took herself.

At this moment, Xiao Qi heard a burst of "ding ding dong dong" sounds near her ears, followed by the familiar mechanical voice again: "The host took a nice photo for her roommate, encouraging her roommate and increasing her self-confidence; rewarded with 30 days of Sprint Burst buff."

Xiao Qi thought that was it, but the mechanical voice continued: "The host completed immersive reading of a book in 3 hours 21 minutes; rewarded with 1 Random Skill Learning Card that is applicable to this book. Use the card now?"