Fan Fiction Thread for Lost You Forever

Translation: 

Kissing Xiang Liu

Chapter 2

Zhong Nianliu was helped off the carriage by Cangxuan's hand.

She is twenty-one years old and has never held a boy's hand before, let alone a handsome boy's. She was a little shy as well as embarrassed for a moment. When she opened the curtain and came out, her foot stepped on her skirt and she almost fell into Cangxuan's arms.

Cangxuan stopped for a moment, then smiled lovingly, and stretched out his arms to lift her off the carriage.

How dare Zhong Nianliu accept it?

She quickly avoided his hands and pointed to his hand that was close to her: "Let, let me hold your hand...Ge."

Zhong Nianliu blinked her big eyes, trying to make herself appear easy to control.

She was truly shy, with a bit red on her fair little face, which made her look quite cute and innocent.

According to the book, the man A Nian loves is Cangxuan. She had admired him since childhood and regarded him as a brother and a husband.

She must not mess up the performance, at least not deviate from A Nian's character from the very beginning.

Cangxuan's jade-gentle eyes glanced over. If she hadn't known how ruthless and secretive he actually was in the book, Zhong Nianliu would have regarded this personable young man in front of her as an elegant scholar.

Perhaps due to preconceptions, Zhong Nianliu was still a little afraid of him.

"Thank you, ge." After getting off the carriage, Zhong Nianliu quickly let go of his hand and walked first into the house where they would stay. Cangxuan was behind her, carefully telling her to walk slowly.

A group of people who looked like servants opened the door for them, and then stood respectfully on both sides of the door. Although they were servants, they all seemed to have very keen eyes, and one could tell at a glance that none of them were ordinary.

When Zhong Nianliu crossed the threshold and walked into the house, she had an illusion that was quite inconsistent with the scene - she felt that the two rows of people standing at attention would bow to her at any time like in Japanese cartoons, and then Shouting: "Welcome home, lady Nianliu!"

Then a formally dressed housekeeper would flash up next to her, biting his handkerchief, smiling with tears in his eyes: "Oh my God, I haven't seen the lady smile like this in a long time!"

Zhong Nianliu thought about this silently, intoxicated for a moment.

Haitang saw Zhong Nianliu with her hands on her hips, her eyes closed, and her expression was inexplicably intoxicated. The panic that she had just suppressed came to her mind again.

Nothing special happened on the way here, so why did something suddenly go wrong with princess?

She recalled that after that scene on the carriage -

After Master Cangxuan comforted her, the princess's mood calmed down a lot. She even took the initiative to explain that she had a nightmare, she was still immersed in it and was very scared.

Things in dreams are absurd, which is not surprising, but the strange thing about this incident is that princess very rarely has nightmares.

Occasionally when she dreamed of something bad, she would take that opportunity to throw herself into Master Cangxuan's arms and cry and talk. If Master Cangxuan failed to comfort her properly, she'd be upset for quite a while.

She had such a terrible nightmare today, but was very calm. Weird, weird!

*

After a few cock crows, the sky gradually became brighter.

Zhong Nianliu got up from the soft bed, stretched and walked to the window.

After these days, she has the ancient routine now like others, going to bed as soon as it gets dark and getting up before dawn every day.

In the center of the courtyard outside the window, there is a jade-calyx plum tree from Island Ying planted specially for her by Cangxuan. He also used his spiritual power to make the flowering period last forever. When the wind blows, the petals fall like snow, and the ground is pure white.

In fact, she doesn't like this kind of flower. It looks too cold. What's so good about it?

She likes peach blossoms, the fresh pink color, romantic and delightful.

But it doesn't matter anyway. He planted it for A Nian, not for her, so she doesn't care.

After thinking hard for so long, she still couldn't figure out the reason why she time-traveled into the world in the book.

Now she has taken possession of A Nian's body, which is actually lucky. She enjoyed the title and status of a princess and lived a comfortable and free life.

She finally understood why A Nian was raised to be so overbearing and domineering: Oh my God, such doting and flattery now makes her suffocating!

Here's the thing -

Yesterday she and Haitang went shopping. Zhong Nianliu said she wanted to go shopping, but in fact she wanted to find the heroine of this book. To be precise, it is Wen Xiaoliu who is still a man now.

Zhong Nianliu has never been able to let go of the ending of this book. The only reason is that Nine-life Xiang Liu.

She feels something special about him. Her appreciation is mixed with curiosity, mostly admiration. She feels like a butterfly chasing a flower.

He is extremely attractive to her. She wants to be near him, to touch him.

She is already here, why not meet him?

She also wanted to meet the heroine. After all, when she first read the book, she felt that the heroine was like a female version of Xiang Liu. She was so unfortunate that it made her heart ache.

Zhong Nianliu has always been soft-hearted and has strong empathy, so she has great sympathy and preference for this type of character.

As a result, she actually met the key person that day.

That day, she was so flattered by Haitang that she really thought she'd look beautiful no matter how she dressed up. As a result, she bought a lot of jewelry and cosmetics that she only found out when she got home were not suitable for her. While she was enjoying herself, she bumped into a pedestrian.

The person was also a woman, about the same size as her. She walked extremely slowly because she was holding something in her hands.

Suddenly a flying insect flew over. The woman lowered her head. Just as she was about to wave away that flying insect on the sheep blood, she was caught off guard and bumped into Zhong Nianliu who was talking to Haitang.

The woman lost her balance and the sheep blood spilled out, turning Zhong Nianliu's clothes into scarlet.

The incident happened so suddenly that Zhong Nianliu didn't react for a moment, until the disgusting fishy smell rushed into her nose. She felt like vomiting out everything she had eaten this morning.

Haitang next to her saw this scene, she immediately struck preemptively: "Cheeky inferior! How dare you offend my lady! You, choke her by water!"

Zhong Nianliu immediately panicked.

She didn't look at the road, so bumped into someone and spilled her thing. How could she punish the victim??

She suppressed her nausea, interrupted Haitang, and tried to stop her servants who was about to drag the woman away.

The woman was obviously not a person who could be bullied. She rolled her eyes at Haitang, rolled up her linen sleeves, and started to yell: "Who are you calling inferior?! You have any sense of shame? It was your lady who hit me! Uneducated thing!"

A few words instantly annoyed Haitang. She first pulled Zhong Nianliu behind her, and then used her eyes to signal the servants to protect the lady and punish the woman.

Soon, a crowd gathered to watch this drama.

The woman was caught by the servants but kept yelling and cursing.

Zhong Nianliu, who was obviously the person involved, was quickly pushed out of the crowd and became an irrelevant person.

It's farce inside, comedy outside. Zhong Nianliu squeezed desperately into the crowd, and struggled to reach the center. Just as she was about to open her mouth to stop the servants, two people came beside the woman. It was probably someone who knew the woman informed them.

Walking in front was a burly man with a wide and dirty mo'e tied on his forehead. His face was full of muscles, and he was particularly fierce when he pulled Zhong Nianliu's servants. There was another strong man beside him, with a tiger-like back and a bear-like waist. Although he also showed anger, his movements were not as rough as the big man.

"Look! Butcher Gao is here!"

"Chuntao's man is here too!"

People in the crowd muttered like this.

The two names "Butcher Gao" and "Chuntao" were like a switch, which suddenly killed Zhong Nianliu's idea of stopping the fight.

If she remembered correctly, the butcher Gao and Chuntao were in the book, one was Wen Xiaoliu's in-laws, and the other was Wen Xiaoliu's daughter-in-law!

To achieve the goal, one cannot be indecisive. Zhong Nianliu apologized like crazy in her heart, but on the surface she showed off all her acting skills.

Good to finally have a chance to go mad. Let her take this opportunity to vent all the fear and anxiety she has suppressed since she came to this world!

Zhong Nianliu first cried loudly, and then began to curse, pouring out a large number of modern or ancient nonsense.

The scene was originally noisy, but seeing how crazy she was, the crowd gradually became quiet.

In a tea pavilion not far away, a man in white who could not conceal his extraordinary handsomeness despite wearing a mask suddenly sneered.

He locked his eyes in the direction of Zhong Nianliu, tilting one corner of his mouth up, and drank the tea in one gulp.

Zhong Nianliu took a peek and saw that everyone was stunned, so she immediately struck while the iron was hot: "Haitang, use magic!"

Haitang was stunned and asked her princess in a low voice, "Princess, what is 'magic'?"

Zhong Nianliu stamped her foot and leaned close to Haitang's ear: "They humiliated me like this, don't you want to avenge me? Do something like somersaults, frog jumps, donkey rolls...to make me feel better?"

Nianliu finished speaking, Haitang had a great enlightenment.

She then loyally and firmly expressed her stance to Zhong Nianliu: "Don't worry, my lady, I will definitely avenge you!"

"Okay!" The delicate girl added with tears in her eyes, "But don't go too far...just teach them a lesson."

"You know...gege likes gentle girl." She added more.

"yes!"

The two held their hands, their eyes determined, their hearts colluded.

Zhong Nianliu prayed silently in her heart: Wen Xiaoliu, Wen Xiaoliu, you must show up!

(To be continued)

@HeadInTheClouds

Sis, before replying to you, please tell me what is 3T 囧. I searched on Google and Baidu and nothing was found...|||

 ZYHLJ:

@AH



Thank you for the tip!

Happy to share my two cents :)

 ZYHLJ:

I thought about it, because I'm translating literary work, so free translation might be better and would bring a smoother reading experience. I read the original text again, and I actually think that the atmosphere should also be related to the lighting. Maybe what the author wants to express is that the orange light (like candlelight) shines on the ancient Cipai 长相思, and this scene reveals a 古朴的 atmosphere. Combining your third solution with liddi's explanation, I modified the translation to:

"The books were placed on the topmost level of the shelf. A warm orange light shone on the cover and the three words "长相思" had a simple, ancient and mysterious air."

Is this good? :-)

That logic makes sense to me, and that translation is grammatically correct with a word order that sounds natural. 

One further thought that occurred to me as I read the two lines (a rather nit-picky one that you should feel free to ignore): the first sentence refers to multiple books, but the second sentence refers to a (single) cover and three words. 

My (very possibly mistaken) impression is that in Mandarin it's pretty common to leave certain details that would be expressly stated in English as simply implied. But in English I think we'd usually add a few words to help the reader know where the cover is, where the words are, how they are connected to each other, and how they are connected to the books in the previous sentence. 

If I understand correctly, the "books" on the shelf are the three volumes that comprise the single story/book titled "Lost You Forever". I'm assuming that each volume has it's own "envelope-like" cover, that the volumes all have the book title "Lost You Forever", and each volume might also have its own volume title. 

To fill in those gaps for the reader the way we normally would in English, you could say:

Only then did Zhong Nianliu realize that the bookshelves that were usually full of books became empty. It seemed grandpa had already given away many of them.

"Do you like this set?"

The old man put down the cup and walked straight to the place where her eyes had just stopped, pointing to a three-volume set with envelope-like covers.

The three volumes were placed on the topmost level of the shelf. A warm orange light shone on one of the volume covers where the three words "长相思" had a simple, ancient and mysterious air.

Zhong Nianliu nodded as if she was bewitched.

"Then grandpa will get it for you. Just wait." Grandpa took the ladder and put on his reading glasses. He rubbed the first cover as he took the volumes down.

"Lost You Forever. Well...it's destined."

Zhong Nianliu took the set and felt her heart beat faster for a moment. 

 ZYHLJ:

@HeadInTheClouds

Sis, before replying to you, please tell me what is 3T 囧. I searched on Google and Baidu and nothing was found...|||

Haha! The Vietnamese's title for Lost You Forever is Truong Tuong Tu = 3T. Sorry. That's what happens when you're posting across platforms and languages :-)

 ZYHLJ:

If Korea wants to film the period of the Three Kingdoms, wouldn’t LYF be just right? Honestly, judging from the screenshots circulating on the Chinese Internet, Koreans seem to dislike China very much. Because there are many similar things in the traditional culture of China and Korea, the two sides are always quarreling over who is the original one, and this is probably a war that can never have a result. I doubt how many Koreans will actually watch dramas adapted from Chinese novels

Like the rest of the world, Asian countries / ethnicities can always find a reason for not liking each other for various reasons that have accumulated over the centuries. 

But when it comes to entertainment, all of them seem willing to watch and 'borrow' elements they like.  There's remakes of other popular shows, like Tong Hua's Scarlet Heart.

And thank you for the second chapter in the fan fic translation!

@HeadInTheClouds

You have read 杀破狼? Is this novel available in English or Vietnamese? To be honest, I wasn't very impressed with the love part of this story, but I didn't dislike it either, it just didn't appeal to me very much. What attracted me deeply was, Gu Yun. In addition, Shen Yi is also very charming, and the background setting of the story is very novel and interesting :-) 

You don’t eat Sichuan peppercorns? Then you really need to avoid most Sichuan food... But it doesn't matter, there are so many delicious things in China, even every small town has its own famous food:-) And, by the way, are you interested in Taoism? I also highly recommend Wudang Mountain! 

I think perhaps Yang Zi is the type to announce her marriage directly from being single. After all, news about love and breakup now has a great impact on the image of celebrities, and Yang Zi obviously puts her career first. If she isn't going to get married, I can't think of why she would announce her relationship. Maybe she even would only date the man she wants to marry in order to avoid risks.

 ZYHLJ:

I have not watched 九州缥缈录, because I think the drama is too different from the Jiu Zhou world I imagined. The art in the LYF drama is more secular and colorful, so is more in line with my imagination of the oriental fantasy world :-)

Is 九州缥缈录 very different Jiang Nan's 九州 in the novel? I have not read any of the 九州 stories, so I have no basis of comparison. 

 ZYHLJ:

Judging from various interviews, Gu Yun may be Tan's favorite character that he has ever played. He must be the one who regrets most that this drama cannot be aired :-( 

You think so? More than Xiang Liu? I know he had a very difficult time moving on after LYF filming wrapped, and was still down when filming for LMLMV started soon after that. Either way, hopefully the drama will air one day. There has been so many rumours about a surprise broadcast, but so far nothing has turned up.

 ZYHLJ:

If Korea wants to film the period of the Three Kingdoms, wouldn’t LYF be just right? Honestly, judging from the screenshots circulating on the Chinese Internet, Koreans seem to dislike China very much. Because there are many similar things in the traditional culture of China and Korea, the two sides are always quarreling over who is the original one, and this is probably a war that can never have a result. I doubt how many Koreans will actually watch dramas adapted from Chinese novels...

I remember a kdrama Joseon Exorcist that was cancelled after broadcasting 2 episodes due to public outrage, because of the outrage over historical inaccuracies and Chinese props used. And this was not an adaptation from Chinese novels. Scarlet Heart:Ryeo did far better internationally compared to its domestic reception too, though ratings were at its peak in the finale. At this point in time, I don't even recall watching a Korean historical fantasy - not sure if anyone can name one. I would certainly tune in for any LYF adaptation even if I run the risk of poking my eyes out, but that is just me. I am still trying (without much success) to imagine a Korean, Thai, Japanese or even English counterpart of Xiang Liu...

 ZYHLJ:

I went to see the Cantonese version of LYF you posted. The Cantonese dubbing itself sounds fine, but I feel that the dubbing actors are not good enough, at least not to the level of the person who dubbed Deng Wei. LYF is a big project for Tencent, and its actors and voice actors are among the best, making it worthy of repeated tastes. If you replace its dubbing with ordinary dubbing, it will easily make people feel the gap.

I found Cantonese Xiang Liu totally jarring, just as I did Thai Xiang Liu. Cantonese Jing was okay but not memorable. This is similar to watching dubbed versions of Hong Kong dramas - I remember a Cantonese speaking friend once told me they found dubbed versions subpar, so it is probably the same scenario here. Actually I think we are spoiled - even the official audiobook version of Xiang Liu still felt lacking compared to TJC, though Xiao Liu was great. I'm not sure whether it's just my hearing issue, but I really dislike 咬字不清 poor enunciation, which some characters in the audiobook suffer from.