Qixi 2019


    The sun shone resplendently over De Carmas Fa Wang district. The golden moonflowers in Maze University were in full bloom, and thew schools auditorium was situated in that garden.


    Unable to turn down the school and a certain someones grand invitation, the distinguished Lawyer Gu became thew schools guest lecturer. During the close of each academic year, in the few weeks between the end of May to the start of June, he woulde by to teach a few sses.


    There was not a single empty seat in therge auditorium, but not all werew school studentsthere were also some whode to watch the hype mixed among them, such as the boy on the rightmost seat of thest row. He was from the school of fine arts next door, and was helping his friend to reserve a seat. But, in the end, his friend didnt turn up; thew schools dean did.


    With eyes curved into a smile, the dean asked politely, Would you mind moving a seat in?


    The young student didntdaremind.


    He couldnt wrap his head around why the dean would drop by to listen to a guest lecturer. He only knew that ever since the dean took a seat next to him, the frequency that the lecturers line of sight swept over this side stepped up noticeably.


    Under twofold pressure, this fine arts student sat as straight as a steel bar, not daring to get distracted for even a second. He endured a full three-hourw baptism, even jotting down notes.


    Edited by snokesun


    Birthday 2021


    By chance, Maze Universitys annual guest speaker series ended on the 24th. Gu Yan, representing Southcross, didnt return to thew firm after his lecture, but went to wait at the deans office. He and Yan Suizhi had pushed away invitations to the customary afterparty, booking two tickets to an evening theatre performance.


    Around this day every year, presents from students, the faculty, and the university would be piled high on the deans office desk. They were virtually indistinguishable from each other, either flowers bouquets with attached well-wishes on cards, or officialmemorative giftsand most of them would be anonymous (primarily out of fear that theyd be kindly invited to a one-on-one quality education session with the dean if their presents were deemed too over-the-top).


    Sure enough, when Gu Yan stepped into the office, the desk was stacked.


    Some students had ced their presents in haste, and the ones at the fringes were on the verge of falling off the table. Gu Yan hung his coat and went over to tidy them.


    An assortment of people hade to this years guest speaker series, and so, atypical items that wouldnt have appeared in the past were mixed amidst the typical gifts


    For example, roses (the card attached to one of the stalks had a heart shape drawn on it as well as a gender-unknown lipstick mark);


    Mbg fzjwqif, Njifcalcfr Gjs rqfmlji mtbmbijafr (Xe Tjc tjv cba j mief ktlmt ecmbcrmlbcjyif rabgf kbeiv rajga ofrallfr tjio j wbcat yfobgf atf jmaeji vjaf; akb ybzfr tjv remt bycbzlber qjmxjulcu vfrluc atja atfs ygbeuta nlrmfgji qjlc ab tlr rluta);


    Ccv, obg fzjwqif, mbcofrrlbc ifaafgr, atf ijcuejuf qjrrlbcjaf jcv atf qgbrf ecyglvifv, lc bqfc vlrgfujgv bo atf ijk. (Yea bo tlr rfio-gfragjlca, Xe Tjc cjaegjiis kbeivca ajxf ifuji jmalbc jujlcra atfw, fnfc atbeut atf rfcvfgr tjv qijmfv atf mjgvr rwjmx lc atf wlvvif bo atf ajyif, ilxf atfs kfgf jogjlv atja atfs kbeivca yf cbalmfv.)


    The distinguished Lawyer Gu did a rough mental estimation; if the fevered fantasies in the cards were acted out on, the sentence would start from three years in prison.


    And what was most crude was that theyd even left methods of contact at the end of the cards. (Gu Yan, )


    In view of the rtionship endorsed by the Civil Affairs Bureau between him and the dean, he decided to take care of this hideous mess of things on the table


    Therefore, when Dean Yan entered the office after wrapping up social niceties ten minutester, what was left for him was a perfectly clean and tidy desk.


    There were only three items on the table:


    An exquisite greeting card embossed by the schools logo, on which was written:The School of Law wishes you a happy birthday. We hope that you will like the present.


    The present pressing the card down was an inky green ss cup, with nourishing herbal tea inside. There was also a mound of health tablets good for the stomach and liver next to that.


    Yan Suizhi turned his head to look at the sofa, where a certainwyer was reading case files on his photonputers holographic screen,pletely straight-faced.


    The dean knocked on the table.


    Lawyer Gu looked up from the hundred and one pressing affairs that he was attending to.


    The dean pointed at the cup. Whats this?


    Lawyer Gu, Ginseng wolfberry tea.


    The dean, Who sent it?


    Lawyer Gu lifted his chin towards the birthday card. Well-wishes to you from the students of thew school.


    The dean,


    Whichw student would dare to send medicine as a birthday gift???


    In any case, Gu Yan certainly would.


    And so, the typical and atypical presents on this night disappeared without a trace, foreordaining that only one person could receive the deans kindly, one-on-one attention


    Edited by snokesun


    Valentines 2022


    Throughout the year, De Carma saw two main types of spacecrafting in and out of Port Newsa.


    The first was the space shuttle, which was speedy and had short routes. They didnt dally around, designed to be perfect for fast-paced business travel.


    The other was the spaceship, which, rtive to the space shuttle, went at a more leisurely pace and had more romantic routes. Comfort was the key here. It was even fitted with suites, and thus it was definitely more suited for vacation travel.


    As busy bees who took business trips more often than having meals, Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan once believed theyd be nailed to the space shuttle until their deaths. Never did they ever expect they would receive an invitation to an alliance legal conference, with the venue being a spaceship.


    In the words of the esteemed Dean Yan, he suspected the organisers had gone crazy from overworking, which was why they would use the conference as an excuse to enjoy slow-paced travel on a spaceship.


    The talkssted the whole week, coincidentally wrapping up on the afternoon of February 13. Thereafter was free time to kick back and rx on the recreational facilities on board.


    ording to the original n, they were scheduled to dock at De Carmas Port Newsa on the afternoon of the fourteenth. Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan made their private arrangements after that. They booked theatre tickets and reserved seats at a restaurant with exceptional food and ambience, even making a custom wine order from Cherry Estate to savour for supper after heading home.


    In any case, this rxing and eventful n copsed due to unexpected circumstances.


    When alerts red across the spaceship, the half-awake dean was in the midst of washing up, whilst Gu Yan was fastening the buttons of his shirt and checking the notification screen by the suite door.


    Yan Suizhis muffled voice carried over. What happened? Why do the rms sound so panicky?


    Gu Yan browsed the service announcements, saying, The spaceships arrival at the port will be dyed.


    Yan Suizhi, Dyed?


    Mn. An unidentified object is obstructing the flight path. Gu Yan scrolled down the announcements and surmised, Its purportedly space debris; theyve contacted the channel authorities for clean-up.


    Did they say how long itd take?


    There are three civilian long-distance space shuttles and a space shuttle used by the security tower ahead of us. Gu Yan replied. By conservative estimate, itd take a day and a half.


    Is that what the announcement said?


    Yes.


    Who are they fooling? Yan Suizhi tapped on the depth of his rich experience and dered, Wanna bet? I wager itd be at least three days before we can get off the ship.


    Gu Yandidntwant to, because his simrly rich experience told him it would indeed take at least three days. However, he paid lip service, giving a certain dean a token show of respect, What are we betting on?


    There were twoutterly needless if you ask himwine receptions tomorrow which Mr Adams was adamant for him to attend. So this worked out nicely.


    Lawyer Gu sent the service announcement to Adams, concisely declined all uing social engagements, and blocked the garrulous senior manager for the next three days.


    Then, he calmly cancelled the theatre tickets, restaurant booking, and Cherry Estates wine delivery service, before removing the smart device from his finger.


    He returned to the bathroom door and kissed the person, just about toe out, back in.


    Since, byforce majeure, all their ns bit the dust, he could only rpense for them in other ways.


    In short, whatever it was that obstructed their flight, Gu Yan only had heartfelt gratitude.


    On the other hand, a certain deans words ultimately proved to be tragically poetic. He clearly won the wager, yet inexplicably ended up paying the price and was indeed unable to get off the ship (read: bed) for three days.