奇洛李维斯回信 | Reply to Keats
There is No Observatory on Xiaotan Mountain ¹, part 2/5
all chapters are organized over at my sideblog + available on wordpress
The fireworks at Victoria Harbor only went on until 11 p.m.
The gathering ended, and Tan Youming slid into the passenger seat of the Bentley. He immediately picked up Shen Zongnian’s phone and opened an online game of Texas hold 'em. This was an app system newly invested in by a collaboration between the Shen and Tan families. The operations so far were going well, the profits considerable.
Tan Youming played one round before the battery became critically low. He had barely straightened up slightly when Shen Zongnian had already pressed a switch on the center console, opening the drawer and revealing a charging cable.
Tan Youming would rather wait for the phone to charge than bother to grab his own phone—it was an already deeply ingrained habit.
For a very long time after Shen Zongnian was sent to the Tan family, he continued to face harassment from his clan—telephone threats, intimidating texts, coercion, and bribery. Shen Zongnian ignored them all, but Tan Youming was furious beyond measure and checked his phone every day.
“What the hell, you just let them go crazy like this?!”
The devil incarnate did not have the word ‘tolerate’ in his vocabulary.
For every threat the Shen family made, Tan Youming would retaliate back with ten insults.
For every phone call from the Shen family, he would immediately buy a blacklist and cancel their numbers.
The first time Shen Zongnian looked at Tan Youming properly was when he bared his fangs and responded to a call from a Shen family uncle with a tirade that seamlessly switched between Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, interspersed with profanities.
“......”
If they answered the calls at home, Guan Kezhi would even complain that her son's swearing wasn't authentic enough and his choice of words too subtle, and she would enthusiastically provide some more vicious and arrogant dialect expressions.
“......”
On this matter, Grandfather Tan looked on in encouragement, while Tan Chongshan wanted to speak but refrained.
From then on, Tan Youming’s occupation of Shen Zongnian's phone became an open secret within the Tan household. Later, when family members needed to reach Tan Youming, they would directly dial Shen Zongnian's number. Eventually, their friends did the same.
The Bentley drove across Hong Kong.² Tan Youming lowered the window slightly and told Shen Zongnian about the gossip he had heard from his friends this evening.
“Xie Zhenlin's mother passed away.”
His tone was unusually heavy and somber. On the school-organized spring outings in the past, they had all eaten the mango pomelo sago made by Mrs. Xie.
Because it was still during the Spring Festival, the funeral was hastily held; no friends or acquaintances were invited to pay their respects. Hashi was superstitious about such matters, especially more so in the business world.
“The matter with him and that male model, the Xie family still wouldn’t budge on it.”
Many years had passed since their university days. Even though Tan Youming had given generous assistance when his friend had reached out for help, he also knew deep down that it was futile.
With families like theirs.
“It happened just a few days ago. The third day of the New Year hadn’t even passed, and they fought again. Both father and son went at it in a huge spat, and it was chaos. Auntie ended up in the hospital. Critical condition notices were issued several times."
Tan Youming was deeply sentimental, loyal, and had strong family values. He said to himself, “Does it have to be that person?”
Tan Youming never doubted the depth of his friend’s feelings and devotion. It was only that he had never been in love with someone, so it was difficult for him to truly understand. Especially when he heard about how grief-stricken the other had been in front of the grave, he felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow and pity in his heart. He sighed, “I hope he doesn’t regret it.”
Headlights from the oncoming traffic pierced inside, illuminating his face that was both emotional and merciless, carrying a kind of indifferent cruelty like that of someone who traversed a thousand blooms without a single leaf clinging to their body.
Even though Shen Zongnian gripped the steering wheel without uttering a single word of response, Tan Youming could chatter on endlessly anyway. He was already used to it—if Shen Zongnian replied to one out of ten sentences, that was already giving face.
The conversation turned back to business.
“I saw Xinyue selling at a low point, so I used your account to buy the dip,” Tan Youming said as the sea breeze swept in, his ruffled hair lending his face an air that was part righteous and part wicked. “We've tolerated them long enough. This time, let's just do it decisively. I can't be bothered to leave them an intact corpse.”
Shen Zongnian didn’t say anything to him. Tan Youming came off as frivolous, but the reality was anything but. The Shen and Tan families were closely intertwined; on business matters, it was always Shen Zongnian who played the bad cop and Tan Youming the good cop. Borrowing Shen Zongnian's blade to eliminate their enemies was something Tan Youming had mastered to perfection.
The battery recovered to 40%. The phone vibrated twice. Tan Youming let out a “woah” sound, saying, “The great director responded."
The separable and reflexive verbs he learned in the German class he took at fifteen had long been forgotten by Tan Youming. The deepest impression was only the day Shen Zongnian suddenly disappeared.
In Grandfather Shen’s final days, the Shen family was embroiled in turmoil, with the power struggles reaching a fever pitch. The uncles and relatives went to the extremes to eliminate Shen Zongnian.
Haishi was ultimately too small, with nowhere to hide. After repeated instances of being tracked, monitored, and wiretapped, Grandfather Shen and the Tan family decided to send Shen Zongnian abroad in secluded protection to wait until the dust had settled.
The operation was top secret. Tan Youming couldn’t remember what day of the week it was when Shen Zongnian, who would wake him up with a blank expression and help him put on his socks everyday, did not appear.
One day, then two days passed. Everyone around him remained tight-lipped. The troublemaker that was the devil incarnate flew into a rage, secretly eavesdropped on his father and grandfather’s conversation, and deduced Shen Zongnian’s hiding spot. He swiftly enrolled himself in a German class.
Gritting his teeth, Tan Youming, who had never gotten an A in any subject, actually learned German quite well. However, his plans to sneak out of the country to look for Shen Zongnian ultimately came to naught.
After Grandfather Shen passed away, the Tan family did everything in their power to ensure the will remained unaltered.
“Ming-zai BB,” Guan Kezhi pinched her son’s cheek, teasing him, “Your little schemes are so loud, they can hear you all the way across Hong Kong.” ² ³
However, she was no match for Tan Youming’s silver tongue, who had a knack for sweet-talking women from a young age. Guan Kezhi waved her hand, ignoring Tan Chongshan’s protests, and agreed for him to go with the security team to bring Shen Zongnian back to the country.
Only then did Tan Youming learn that Shen Zongnian hadn’t actually been in some German-speaking region—or, he might have stayed there briefly, but to avoid being tracked, he had frequently changed his whereabouts.
From Cusco, Peru, south of the equator, to Atamaca, Shen Zongnian's final stop was Felbekri. ⁴
Located less than 20 kilometers from the ice-free port of Murmansk, it was a sacred land illuminated by the aurora borealis.
Felbekri was blanketed in heavy snow year-round, its glaciers cold and silent. Tan Youming descended from the sky like a tropical storm sweeping in—firece and violent, an unstoppable force—such that even millennia-old ice and snow would be melted by him.
Years later, Shen Zongnian still remembered: even in Felbekri, where snowy and foggy weather lasted for over 300 days a year, on the day Tan Youming arrived, there had been half a day of clear skies.
Shen Zongnian stood in the snow practicing his marksmanship, his expression sharp and severe. Tan Youming wore a beaming and wide grin, showing his canines, running and charging toward him like the equatorial sun. He threw his arms around him in an embrace that could barely contain his excitement.
“Holy crap, how are you so thin?”
“Aren’t they feeding you?”
“I’m going to report Tan Chongshan to Ms. Guan right now for abusing you!”
Tan Chongshan had arranged for massive, burly Russian men to train Shen Zongnian in combat and marksmanship. In addition to that, he had an academic load a hundred times more grueling than regular schoolwork each day.
Rather than secluded protection, it more resembled a brutal, intensive secret training regimen. Survival skills, the Shen family's maritime shipping operations, overseas assets—the things he needed to learn were too numerous.
During this year apart, Shen Zongnian grew at a pace Tan Youming could not catch up with, and the hints of his future brooding and ruthlessness were already beginning to take shape.
Yet, Tan Youming did not feel he was unfamiliar, clinging tightly to him with all four limbs.
Shen Zongnian pushed but couldn’t budge him. Tan Youming didn’t need to see to know what expression he was wearing. Before Shen Zongnian could frown, Tan Youming covered his mouth first, beating him to the punch, “Alright, no need to scold me. I can’t move a single more step now anyways.”
The pampered young master born in tropical weather couldn’t endure the slightest bit of ice and snow. His entire body had been numb from the moment he stepped off the plane.
Shen Zongnian gazed down at him expressionlessly. Tan Youming ignored him, naturally moving behind him and climbing onto his back without prompting, and said, “Alright, we can go now.”
“......”
Shen Zongnian deliberately jostled him sharply.
Tan Youming nearly tumbled off, “Holy shit—”
Shen Zongnian carried him on his back in silence through the snow, his tall frame blocking the oncoming wind and snow.
Tan Youming took his own scarf and looped it around Shen Zongnian’s neck from behind. Shen Zongnian immediately frowned and grabbed his calf, about to tell him to stop fidgeting, when he heard the other say lazily, “Okay, alright. We’re already in Siberia now, stop trying to act cool.”
Tan Youming was weak to the cold and pressed extremely close to Shen Zongnian. He released warm puffs of air as he spoke that made Shen Zongnian's ears damp and itchy.
Shen Zongnian turned his head away irritably, and Tan Youming was immediately hit in the face by a blast of wind and snow. He let out a “tsk” in displeasure and lightly tugged on the scarf, as if reining in a wild, untamed stallion.
Shen Zongnian's expression grew colder, the veins on his temple bulging. The fingers around Tan Youming’s calf tightened with force, but he could not, could never escape the warmth behind him.
Inside the house, the fireplace was crackling. Tan Youming’s presence immediately turned Shen Zongnian's originally minimalistic and tidy room into a mess. He'd brought a game console and the scarves Grandmother Tan had knitted for them; he’d even brought the nourishing soup that Guan Kezi had simmered for Shen Zongnian personally.
“......”
Shen Zongnian looked at his lips, chapped and dry from the cold, that were still talking nonstop. He poured a glass of hot water and said, “Finish this.”
Tan Youming spoke as he sipped the water, “Here, your Takahashi.”
An astronomical telescope worth as much as one of Tan Chongshan’s watches.
Students at the International Division of Yinghua were strictly required to join at least one extracurricular organization. Zhao Shengge picked the robotics modeling group, while Shen Zongnian joined the astronomy club.
Tan Youming, seized by a whim, had originally prepared to join the lion dance troupe together with Zhuo Zhixuan, but due to Zhuo Zhixuan's fierce resistance, the two ultimately ended up at the Wing Chun Kung Fu club instead.
The astronomical telescope was a birthday gift from Tan Chongshan and Guan Kezhi to Shen Zongnian for his first birthday after arriving at the Tan household.
“There are plenty of stars here for you to gaze at.” Tan Youming pushed open the window. Even though the snow had already stopped, he still shivered from the cold.
Outside the window was the Nelves River—the only outflowing river that ran through these snow-capped mountains. Influenced by the warm North Atlantic current, it remained unfrozen and would eventually flow into the Arctic Ocean at Murmansk.
The river flowed gently, the sound of it crashing against the stones exceptionally tranquil in the snow.
The sunlight was quiet as well; there were birds pecking at grass seeds and fallen fruits in the snow, the golden sunset casting its glow on their white feathers.
A gust of wind blew, and Tan Youming’s nose turned bright red.
Shen Zongnian frowned and ordered him, “Close the window.”
His voice was not harsh, but the authority in his tone was more commanding than ever before. Tan Youming pursed his lips, tolerated it, and accidentally knocked over the specimen on the table.
“What is this?”
Shen Zongnian picked up the messily discarded pieces of his luggage, one by one, and didn’t even look up. “A roadside souvenir.”
Tan Youming leapt off the windowsill, ran over, fished the phone from Shen Zongnian's person, and took a picture of the specimen to search it up.
The Helena morpho, dwelling in Peru’s Amazon basin region, was also hailed as the Goddess of Light for its wings that resembled white waves surging across the azure sea.
The first leg of Shen Zongnian’s journey was in South America. Near the golden temple Coricancha in Cusco, many people sold butterfly specimens to tourists. Shen Zongnian ignored them all, until a barefoot Native American girl halted him with broken English, stammering through her sales pitch, “...eternal…life...”
Shen Zongnian’s mind suddenly flashed back to Tan Youming's stunned and heartbroken expression—the afternoon when he learned of Bozhu's death.
That little white puppy that Zhao Shengge had picked up from somewhere and had a very round head.
One day, Tan Youming mentioned he had bought a lot of expensive dog food, and Zhao Shengge calmly told him the puppy had died.
Tan Youming asked him what happened, stunned. Zhao Shengge did not explain much, his head half-lowered as he read a book, his expression hidden. He didn’t appear overly bereft either, merely solemnly informing him that he did not need to buy the dog food anymore.
Tan Youming was astonished by his apathy and indifference, furiously berating him for being cold-hearted.
Zhao Shengge accepted it all with the same composure.
For a long time afterward, the relationship between the three of them remained lukewarm. Tan Youming even ordered Shen Zongnian that he was not allowed to side with that heartless, coldblooded monster.
The friendships in this circle were delicate and fragile, rife with unspoken secrets, misunderstandings, and cruel truths behind interests and profits that came with stepping into the world of adults too early.
If the puppy couldn’t live for long, a specimen probably could, right?
The immortal butterfly flew from the tropical rainforest into lonely glacial mountains. Tan Youming picked up the frame, lowering his head to examine it closely. His eyelashes fluttered, like the wings of a butterfly flapping.
He liked all things beautiful and elegant. He said to Shen Zongnian easily, “I want this one.” Shen Zongnian still hadn’t finished collecting the luggage strewn across the floor and didn’t want to respond to him.
But Tan Youming knew, the silence meant tacit consent. However, it would be a long time before he truly understood that he didn’t actually need to ask for any permission for him to take Shen Zongnian’s things—not only limited to the butterfly.
Entertainment on the snowy mountain during nighttime was scarce. Near the cabin was a tiny observatory, said to have been built in the last century by an Arctic expedition team after they had gotten lost and had to navigate directions by stargazing.
The astronomical telescope that Tan Youming brought with him came in handy.
The high-latitude mountain regions were a natural star-gazing location. Even though Shen Zongnian had been in the astronomy club for so long, he had only observed the Orion Nebula on this night.
His expression as he adjusted the eyepiece parameters was undoubtedly the most relaxed moment he’d had in this uncertain year of drifting and constant moving.
But both of them knew, they only had this one night. The aurora and the galaxies were breathtaking, but they were only for this one night.
The will taking effect was just the beginning; the real battle would commence after they’d returned to the country.
Tan Youming never had much of a melancholy bone in his body. He placed his hands on the back of Shen Zongnian’s neck for warmth and said matter-of-factly, “There are stars everywhere we go. We can see them every day even after we go back.”
Shen Zongnian grabbed his wrists, “Behave yourself.”
Tan Youming pretended not to hear, continuing on his own, "We can just see them at Xiaotan Mountain.”
Shen Zongnian poured cold water on his idea, “Xiaotan Mountain doesn’t have an observatory.” ⁵ There were only an observation platform and endless streams of tourists, loud and irritating.
The great Young Master Tan’s spendthrift proclivity for spending a fortune just to make someone smile had already begun to show during his youth, “Then I’ll just build one for you.”
“......” Shen Zongnian’s heart fluttered. Believing that it was indeed something Tan Youming was capable of doing with his willingfulness, he pushed him away and said coldly, “Don't be ridiculous.”
Tan Youming was an absolute amateur with a big appetite, refusing to stop stargazing even after he was shivering violently from the cold, until he sneezed several times and was finally grabbed by the scruff by Shen Zongnian and dragged back inside the room.
He was so cold his entire body was numb. Lying beside Shen Zongnian, he gave the other's thigh a kick and cried out, “Open up, open up. I’m freezing to death!”
Shen Zongnian sneered, "Serves you right."
But when Tan Youming’s feet kept pressing on his legs, in the end, Shen Zongnian, just as he had always in the past, still mercifully lifted up his legs and clamped them around Tan Youming’s feet to let him take his warmth.
Translator’s Notes:
¹ An important note on naming for the title of this five-part extra, which is also the title of the sister novel to Reply to Keats (same note from the previous chapter): 小潭山 (Xiaotan Mountain/Xiaotan Shan) is an actual place in real life located in Macau that is called Taipa Pequena. Due to Portuguese colonization in the past, many places in Macau have Portuguese names. Currently, Macau is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, just like Hong Kong. HK is frequently referred to as Haishi (海市) in the novel, most likely because its location as a port city was crucial to its development as the hub for international business and trade. Xiaotan Shan/Xiaotan Mountain is not an actual official name (the mountain does have an alternate name as 菩提山/Bodhi Mountain). However, given the colonial history of the Portuguese name Taipa Pequena and in consideration of the perspective of the novel from our Mandarin/Cantonese-speaking characters, I decided to go forward with the name Xiaotan Mountain in the translations, using the Mandarin romanization of 小潭 + English translation of 山 (mountain). I did not choose to use Bodhi Mountain since the author did use 小潭山, which is the more common name in Chinese. ² The novel’s Hong Kong setting is usually referred to as Haishi (海市) in the text, and I leave the translation as “Haishi” for consistency with the author’s choice. However, here, the author used 香江, which is an actual older and more poetic/literary way of referring to Hong Kong, so I used Hong Kong here rather than Haishi. ³ Guan Kezhi calls her son 明仔BB (Ming-zai BB). As mentioned in a previous translator’s note, “- 仔” (-zai) is a common affectionate diminutive in Cantonese. “BB” is a Cantonese way of say “baby”. (Remember that Zhao Shengge also called Chen Wan as “Chen Wan BB” after they had sex in the car LOL) I chose to kept this untransliterated because it’s important to the Hong Kong/Cantonese flavor of the novel. ⁴ The name of the location in the Chinese text 费尔别克里, which is not the name of a real place, nor is it close to any names of a real place as far as my research showed. This is likely a fictional location created by the author. However, the Chinese text 费尔别克里 also shows that it is clearly a foreign name. Felbekri is a rough translation of what the foreign name probably could be. (Imagine you put an English name into Google translate and it spits out the Chinese name equivalent, and now you have to figure out the original English name from the Chinese name). ⁵ Shen Zongnian’s line “小潭山没有天文台” is where the name for the extra and for the new novel comes from. It can be literally translated as “Xiaotan Mountain doesn’t have an observatory” OR “There is no observatory on Xiaotan Mountain.” The former is the most literal translation as the grammatical structure is closest to the Chinese. I think the former is also more natural in the flow of the conversation (Tan Youming had just told Shen Zongnian that if they wanted to look at the stars, they could just go see them at Xiaotan Mountain; Shen Zongnian then replied that Xiaotan Mountain doesn’t have an observatory), but either could work. The second translation does sound more official as a title than the first, however.
