[NW] Baobei Baobei Chapter 2

Xia Baobei might be unrestrained, but she was still an innocent girl. Due to her strict upbringing and Xia Tian’s “extermination of external interference”, Xia Baobei had yet to experience puppy love. It was only after she became influenced by her roommates in university that her thoughts were led astray.

Fang Jie once said, “Women are like eggs - clear on the outside, yellow on the inside”.

Xia Baobei lived with three other girls in her dorm. The larger-sized Yin Jiahui from Dongbei, the doll-like Fang Jie from Zhejiang, and the petite Shi Xiaoxi from Beijing.

“Oh goodness! It’s freezing!” Baobei hurried through the door, and took two deep breaths to take in the warm air in the room. She was carrying many bags, containing their dorm’s dinner and snacks.

“Thank you~, Baobei! Love you loads!” Shi Xiaoxi ran over and took the bags from Baobei, fished out her dinner and started eating.

Baobei split the snacks up and then placed her portion where they should be - this young lady had rather good living habits.

Shi Xiaoxi and Yin Jiahui huddled at Xiaoxi’s desk so that they could share their food.

“Where’s Fang Jie?” Baobei asked, as she hung her coat up.

Pointing to the bathroom, Xiaoxi said, “Taking a dump”.

“Don’t say such disgusting things when others are eating!” Jiahui was furious.

As Baobei prepared to start on her meal, a flicker on her computer screen caused her to turn back. “Who touched my computer?”

“Oh… I was using your computer to watch a drama just now. I saw a message, and replied on your behalf …” Xiaoxi smiled sheepishly, trying to diffuse the mood.

“How convenient!” Xiaoxi replied angrily.

The communicant on the other end was her brother Xia Tian!

The contents of the chat were:

Xia Tian: What are you doing?

Little Baobei: Watching a drama.

Xia Tian: What does 12cm mean?

Little Baobei: Short.

Xia Tian: Our sister bought a pair of shoes today, 12cm!

Xia Tian: Xia Baobei, you are dead!!

As Baobei stuffed her dinner into her mouth, she quickly drafted a reply.

Little Baobei: Xia Tian! I wasn’t the one who was chatting with you just now!

Xia Tian: …..

Little Baobei: Woahhh …  It really wasn’t me!

Xia Tian: Then why are you trying to explain? It means you understood what that meant! Xia Baobei! You are screwed!

Xia Baobei started crying in front of her computer.

“Shi Xiaoxi! You got me into deep trouble!”

“There’s nothing wrong about it! Tell your brother Xia Tian that growing up is part of life, he needs to get over it!”, Shi Xiaoxi jested.

Yin Jiahui raised her head and said, “I saw a post on Facebook today, which said that the trend of low-hanging pants actually came from American prisons. It was used by prisoners as a hidden signal for when they were looking for some “passionate” interactions [1]. Wearing their pants below their butts was a sign that they were “free” [2].

“Wow! Then aren’t those male fashionistas all gays?” Shi Xiaoxi shouted.

“A true bromance is even more unforgettable than a lover,” Baobei chimed. Having been in school for more than a semester, Baobei had already been corrupted.

As they continued chatting away, Fang Jie came out angrily from the bathroom.

“What are you so mad about? Constipation?” Xiaoxi asked.

“Jia Jian criticised me just now for being unromantic.”

“You guys are too sticky. Why are you even texting when you are taking a dump?” Jiahui asked disdainfully.

“What did you say to make him think that?” Baobei took out Fang Jie’s dinner and urged her to eat.

“He sent me a message just now”.

“What was in the message?”

Fang Jie took out her phone, her hands shaking as she saw the message again.

“What are you doing?

Are you dreaming? Send your dream over, put it in my mind.

Are you smiling? Send your smile over, put it on my face.

Are you crying? Send your tears over, put it in my eyes.”

Fang Jie was confused, as she said, “I replied: I’m taking a dump”.

Shi Xiaoxi gasped, “Fang Jie! Well done!”

“How is this unromantic? It’s just him being dramatic!!”

“Love is like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, unity and separation are inevitable;

Love is like the Journey to the West, true love comes after you defeat all obstacles;

Love is like the Dream of the Red Chamber, there will be some who spend their lives chasing it;

Love is like the Water Margin, no matter how passionate, life will appease it.

Don’t fret over it, let’s continue our dinner”, concluded Baobei.

“Wow! Baobei, where did you learn such poetic lines from?” Jiahui wrinkled her nose.

“I chanced upon it on Weibo”.

“How rare, you even bothered to memorise it”.

“It’s not like I want to remember such useless things, but I have a photographic memory, so I can’t help it”.

“........”

“........”

The conversation continued into the night, and the four ladies carried their dinner conversation over to bedtime.

“First loves are troublesome! I’m inexperienced, and the men are hard to read. If I’m not truthful he’ll say I’m a nuisance, and when I am, he’ll say I’m unromantic,” Fang Jie said, as she hugged her blanket and rolled around her bed.

“Yup! Men are shameless, and no men will actually wish that their wives were experienced in such matters”, Jiahui laughed.

Hugging her doll rabbit, Baobei nodded vigorously. For Xia Baobei, what was more perplexing than first love issues, was the fact that she had never even had her first taste of love. How was it possible that no one had ever tried pursuing a pretty nineteen year-old like her?!

Suddenly, she had a flashback to her sister’s birthday the previous year. Her brother-in-law spent a large sum of money to buy out the cover of a newspaper with a confession ad: “Everyday will be a good day, so long as you are happy”.

Baobei had said enviously then, when would she ever meet a man who would love and pamper her like this?

Just then, their conversation topic changed.

“Lu Ran from Room 408 managed to score a “Mr Perfect”, so she started putting on airs. In fact, her head’s so high up in the air that I can count the number of hairs she has in her nose!” Shi Xiaoxi said, as she scrunched her blanket, her heart full of envy.

“Did you see the post from our class’ vice president? I died laughing at it”, Jiahui was the class president, and almost every one of their classmates had added her on Q.

“What did he write?” Fang Jie asked, as she continued texting.

“When the “Mr Perfect” had picked up Lu Ran after school today, the vice president lamented that all the pretty girls had gone for these men. That night, he changed his post and wrote, “Tonight, may the “Mr Perfects” out there treat our future wives well, and remember to use protection!”

“How pathetic!” Baobei shook her head.

“Baobei, Xia Tian also fits the profile of a “Mr Perfect”, is this how he pursues his girlfriends?” Xiaoxi asked suddenly.

“Xia Tian wouldn’t resort to this!” Baobei pouted unhappily, and added, “If he dares to be reckless, then I’ll have to endure the pain and let the Xia bloodline end.”

“Ohhh…”

“Actually, I don’t have high expectations. I’m just hoping that someone will be by my side when I’m old, and I’ll be satisfied.” Fang Jie said abruptly.

“Ha! That’s asking for too much!” Jiahui shot her down.

“Let’s go watch Mayday’s concert!” Baobei said on a whim. The quick changes in conversation topics were a common sight in their dorm. The Mayday concert was scheduled for two months later. A number of students had already purchased their tickets; and even though they didn’t manage to get good seats, they were already in an enviable position.

Anyone in their youth had to at least catch a Mayday concert once, as they represented passion, dreams, perseverance and no regrets!

“I’m broke”, Fang Jie said.

“It’s not an issue of price. We don’t even have money”. Shi Xiaoxi sighed.

“Baobei, are you able to get us tickets? I mean, free tickets.” Xia Baobei was well-connected, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if she could help. For her to suggest the concert meant that she probably had some way to secure the tickets.

How shameless can these people get? Xia Baobei was speechless, but still replied to their question eventually.

“My brother-in-law is one of the sponsors”, Xia Baobei thought about it, and decided to call her brother-in-law the next day.

“Oh wow! Baobei! We’re counting on you!”

“Please be my sugar mummy!”

[1] “基情”: a play on the word “passionate”, but literally reads as “gay love”

[2] “有空”了: metaphor to say that the men were ready to be penetrated by other inmates.