Bringing Along a Ball and Hiding from Foreign Devils Chapter 6.1

Part 1

Ren Zhouyan was taken to Leonid's office. In the large office, only he and Leonid were present. Even Mr. Secretary had disappeared. The two of them looked on at each other without speaking. The atmosphere was a little awkward. Ren Zhouyan and Leonid sat facing each other, separated by a wide desk. He didn't know if it came from the mentality of not wanting to make a fool of himself, but Ren Zhouyuan had been continuously looking at both Leonid's eyes, feeling that only now could he see the man in his memories so clearly. The person before him and the silhouette from his impression coincided perfectly. He had golden brown hair and the three-dimensional facial features of a man. Except for those sapphire-like eyes, his looks almost matched up with An's. Even the curve of his tightly pursed lips was astonis.h.i.+ngly similar. It was just that An-an seemed to laugh more than he did. Ren Zhouyuan thought about the time they first met. The atmosphere right now was the same as it was then. In their first meeting, he was dragged by Fatty to act as a Russian translator. At that time, Fatty joined the student union in order to chase the school G.o.ddess, and the student union in their campus  was in the middle of doing an important village* "Chinese Language Bridge". For this, the G.o.ddess Qin Dianqu picked Fatty to draw in foreign aid. The result was that they really drew in "foreign" aid.

*山寨 lost me. It means "fortified cottage village", and just how does that fit in here? So I just put village in the sentence

Unfortunately, this foreign aid didn't know how to speak Chinese. He couldn't even communicate using English. Fatty tried to guess, even using exaggerated body language. Finally, relying strongly on an estimated translation, they realized that he spoke Russian. Ren Zhouyuan originally didn't like Russia. When he first entered university, he was choked by a senior from the Russian Department. Ironically, they learned Chinese in situ, and after all these years of learning, they didn't know what to study anymore. On the other hand, they read Russian everyday as a challenge. The grammar was difficult, the p.r.o.nunciation was difficult, everything was difficult. Reading Chinese couldn't be compared to this. Hearing these words, Ren Zhouyuan was angered. He loved Chinese from childhood, thinking that anything Chinese was good. The grammar was good, the p.r.o.nunciation was good, everything under the heaven that was Chinese was good. Putting aside one's oracle script for a lifetime*, no foreign language could ever hope to compare with the profound Chinese.

*丢你一个甲骨文就够你玩儿一辈子. The last two paragraphs didn't make much sense to me lol

So he spent a semester stubbornly self-studying Russian. When he saw that senior, he flung out a Russian translation of ancient Chinese poetry to his face, making him speechless for a long time. Finally, that senior could only praise him. This matter greatly increased the face of the Chinese Department, and within the department, Ren Zhouyuan's name became famous. So when Fatty knew that it was a Russian, he first thought of Ren Zhouyuan. Ren Zhouyuan didn't want to go though. He really didn't have a good impression on those Tsar* pigs. But he was previously in good terms with Fatty, so it was hard to refuse. It was only right to give back on this personal situation*. He only had to eat a meal and act as a translator.

*沙 – Tsarist Russia. See here for detailed info.
*只当是还个人情 – this was my best shot

How could he know that on their first meeting, Leonid and his fellow travelers weren't acclimatized, or that their stomachs were too clean and weren't used to Chinese cuisine.  On the night before, they vomited and got diarrhea. In the end, only Leonid who was as strong as a bear, attended the meeting alone. And Fatty, who was supposed to be with him, was called away by the G.o.ddess. As a result, only Leonid and Ren Zhouyuan were left in the room. The image of the two people sitting across each other back then, actually overlapped with the present. He thought that he had already forgotten these old things, but he didn't think that he'd suddenly be reminded of all these memories just by sitting in front of this man. "I didn't read your interview, but Ron said you did well. I wanted to see you personally." Leonid, who had been silent until that point, suddenly spoke. It wasn't in English, and it couldn't possibly be in Chinese. From his mouth came the familiar Russian speech. Ren Zhouyuan paused for a moment, subconsciously straightening his back. He sat there for a long while, thinking that Mr. Secretary will come in with a cup of tea. He didn't think that Leonid would speak until the secretary had come back. Leonid mentioned Ron, so Ren Zhouyuan speculated that this was Mr. Secretary's name. It had been a long time since he spoke Russian, so Ren Zhouyuan stammered in saying a few words, slowly trying to get a feel for it again. He thought for a moment, then replied: "I have learned about Vichy online before, and combining today's interview questions, I'm guessing I'll be publis.h.i.+ng an article in the future to pave the groundwork for Vichy's entrance into the Chinese market?" Leonid stared at his face, resembling most foreigners. Although indifferent, he gave full respect to the target of his speech. Hearing what he said, Leonid nodded blankly. "In the whole company, the one that will be responsible for this work will only be you. So, you are quite important." When Ren Zhouyuan heard the words he spoke, his heart was inexplicably moved. His face felt a bit hot. If these words he said were changed in context, and with the serious way he said it, he guessed that anyone's heart would race. But he knows that he was now nothing but a stranger to the man in front of him.  He turned his head, hid his discomfort and pondered on the meaning of his words, feeling a little weird. "Just me?" "Yes." Leonid tapped his finger on the desk twice. "We have been unable to find the suitable person for this position, or it could be said that not many people have actually applied to this position, no matter how high we raise the price." His face was still indifferent, but Ren Zhouyuan could feel his impatience, seemingly implying that those who were working under his supervision were incompetent. This reunion scene was much better than what Ren Zhouyuan had imagined. Leonid told him about the future development direction of the company and let him have a better understanding of his future work. Before leaving, Leonid took the initiative to reach out for a handshake. In that moment of skin contact, Ren Zhouyuan's heart unconsciously started beating faster. It was worthy noting that afterwards, Leonid casually drew back his right hand and put it behind him like nothing happened. He shook his heart and smiled wryly in his heart.

TL Note: I’ve changed my style in translating. I’ll be prioritizing overall understandability more from now on, so there will be fewer in-line notes and it might not be completely accurate (as usual).

Anyways, sorry for the hiatus. I’m actually still busy, but I felt like it’s been too long since I posted anything, so here. I’m 50% done with the second part, so that might be posted next week or soon.

The next part is more meng, so watch out!

If you spot any errors, feel free to let me know. And remember, if you’re not at Corensi’ Corner while reading this, then you’re being a leech on an aggregator.