There are Always Variables in Life
Luo Lan’s injury was not serious and almost fully healed after a few days of rest.
Early in the morning, when Luo Lan was about to go to work, she saw the glasses case on the dressing table. She shook her head with amusement, turned away, took a few steps, then suddenly turned around, took out the glasses, and put them on.
When she arrived at the Research Institute, Luo Lan looked down at the information on her hands while waiting for the elevator. Feng Lin walked over and asked with concern, “Is your injury all healed? Do you need another rest for another few days? ”
Without raising her head, Luo Lan said, “It’s alright. I don’t want to miss today’s conference.”
Feng Lin patted her on the shoulder, “Zi Yan said Chen Sha gave you a present. Do you like it?”
Luo Lan raised her head, faced Feng Lin, and pointed to the “cold and scholarly” glasses on the bridge of her nose.
Feng Lin let out an “Uh“, showing an expression of “Chen Sha, what can I do to save you“
Luo Lan quickly pressed her personal terminal, took a picture, and sent Zi Yan Feng Lin’s wonderful expression.
Note: “Thank you! But I sincerely can do without your consideration next time.“
Feng Lin muttered sadly, “Is there any mistake? Surely Zi Yan had told him what to buy?”
Luo Lan remembered Chen Sha’s words that night. When he was willing to follow other people’s suggestions, it was just because he happened to want to do the same.
Within a second after she sent it, Zi Yan asked for a video call. Luo Lan accepted.
Zi Yan was overjoyed when he saw Luo Lan, “Looks good.”
“Looks good? How about you follow your own suggestion and give your women this?”
Zi Yan said with a smile, “I would like to, but it’s a pity that I don’t have any boring woman who likes to read, do research, and use her eyes all day long.”
Luo Lan gritted her teeth.
Feng Lin sneered, “Thank you so much for not harming us!”
“You’re welcome.” Zi Yan said without shame. His face was indeed really thick. He sized up Luo Lan’s head. “The wound is not all healed yet, right? Tell me, does your boss know about it?”
Luo Lan subconsciously touched her head and explained to Feng Lin with a smile, “It’s really nothing. The doctor had said so.”
Feng Lin reluctantly said, “Don’t push yourself.”
Luo Lan waved her fist at Zi Yan and immediately cut off the video call, giving him no chance to retaliate.
————·————·————
Luo Lan changed into her uniform and walked into the large conference room, only to find that many people were already there.
At a glance, they wore the same white uniforms, but there were some subtle differences. The one with the Red Cross badge on their chest was a doctor, and the one with the green four-leaf clover badge on their chest was a researcher.
Chu Mo was answering a junior researcher’s question about a patient’s clinical response. He was very patient and meticulous.
Luo Lan propped her chin, looked thoughtfully at Chu Mo, and sighed, Fortunately, the Federation still has a reliable man such as Chu mo. Maybe Feng Lin fell in love with Chu Mo because she was surrounded by too many unreliable men.
Feng Lin sat next to Luo Lan and poked Luo Lan with her pen. “I know Chu Mo is everyone’s male god, but you are already married, so don’t even think about it.”
“Rest assured, I won’t compete with you!”
Feng Lin was full of vigilance and glossed over, “What do you mean? Chu Mo has nothing to do with me!”
Luo Lan stared at Feng Lin with a smile and asked mischievously, “Surely it’s not because you don’t want to be with him?”
Feng Lin was silent for a moment and weakly said, “You ah, your own business is still in a mess! No need to worry about my business!”
“Where am I in a mess?” Luo Lan’s heart jumped with a guilty conscience.
Before Feng Lin could rebuke her, An Na walked on stage and reminded everyone that the conference time was up. Feng Lin and Luo Lan immediately cleared all their mischievous thoughts and listened carefully.
Under An Na’s lead, the speakers went onto the stage one by one in turn.
The doctor described their clinical treatment and the researcher described their experimental observation. The two parties learned from each other, raised questions, and held heated discussions.
Finally, it was Chu Mo and Feng Lin’s turn.
“For a long time, we have divided gene mutation into sudden mutation and natural mutation. We regarded these two mutations as two separate diseases, but perhaps they are not. At least in theory, if we can cure sudden mutation, that means we also can cure natural mutation…”
“For hundreds of years, countless research experiments have failed. It seems that these failures are meaningless and only fill us with hopelessness, but seeing it from another perspective, perhaps it have been telling us where the right path is. Just like running through a maze in a game. If you can’t clear it with strategy because you never know where the right path is, at least you still can eliminate the wrong path one by one from trial and error…”
Chu Mo and Feng Lin had no idea about what the other party would say before they started, but their speeches still seemed to be inextricably linked. Not only was the audience very surprised and eager to record every word they said. Even they as the speakers showed surprise and joy.
Eight hours passed in a flash.
When An Na announced the end of the conference, everyone was in a trance, sitting still, as if they were still immersed in their own thoughts.
Luo Lan vaguely felt that Feng Lin and Chu Mo seemed to have touched a door from their speech just now, but they still couldn’t find the key to unlock that door.
Chu Mo walked over and said approvingly to Feng Lin, “It’s a wonderful speech!”
Feng Lin raised her eyebrows, smiled, and said, “You’re not bad either!”
Chu Mo held out his hand, “Come! Otherwise, our hospital will embarrass your research institute. Aren’t those topics your researchers’ specialization!”
The doctors laughed heartily and stood up.
Feng Lin held Chu Mo’s hand and said in high spirits, “Dean Chu Mo, if you don’t work harder, maybe your patients will come to our research institute for treatment. We don’t run a hospital, you know!”
The researchers cheered into applause.
In an instant, Luo Lan felt the excitement from all around her.
If Chen Sha and the consul fought for the Federation on a battlefield filled with gunsmoke, Chu Mo and Feng Lin fought for the Federation on a battlefield without gunsmoke. They didn’t risk their life like those soldiers, but they faced countless failures, experimenting with myriad monotonous experiments day and night, searching for a sliver of light amidst the darkness. It takes no less courage and persistence than those soldiers who fight with their lives.
Luo Lan put her hand on her heart and clearly felt her sonorous and powerful heartbeat.
At that moment, she discovered that lots of things had changed unknowingly.
Ten years ago, she chose the career of a genetic researcher in a realistic and utilitarian way; Ten years later, she fell in love with her job. She likes Feng Lin, Chu Mo, colleagues who work hard together, and every trivial discovery in her research.
Ten years ago, she wanted to be an excellent gene-repairer because she wanted to cure Qian Xu’s disease; Ten years later, she wanted to be an excellent gene-repairer even more because she wanted to cure not only Qian Xu’s disease but also other people’s diseases.
————·————·————
Luo Lan returned to her office and sat in her chair. She looked at the 3D photo frame on the table, lost in thought.
Inside was a three-dimensional sunrise shot, which she took when she and Qian Xu went to climb Mt. Yilar, the highest peak of Alikarta, together.
From the moment she and Qian Xu went to Adventurer’s Paradise[1], she has always wanted to go to the real Mt. Yilar.
When she worked hard to improve her physical ability to level D, Qian Xu promised to reward her if she succeeded. She proposed to climb the highest peak in the Yilar Mountain range.
With her current physical ability at that time, wanting to climb the highest peak on the planet was actually a very difficult thing to do and seemed irrational. However, Luo Lan really wanted to fulfill this wish of hers. Each and every other wish of hers was like an impossible task. Climbing to the top of Alikarta’s highest peak was the easiest one.
Qian Xu didn’t ask her why she made such a wish, let alone coaxing her to let go of her wish by saying the future was long. Instead, he promised her that he will accompany her, on the condition that she needs to improve her physical ability to level C first.
He made thorough preparations: purchasing the best equipment, training her about field survival and how to save herself in the wild, designing mountaineering routes, and rehearsing various dangers…
Yet, even with all the preparations, the mountaineering process was still very dangerous. So much so that because of her mistake, they almost fell off to the bottomless cliff.
They saved their lives, but not only did they lose most of their equipment, they also deviated from the designed mountaineering route.
When night fell, there was a strong wind and heavy snow. The whole world was pitch-dark, only snow and ice exists on the dark night. It was like a dead zone that could devour their life at any moment.
Luo Lan was so desperate that she even wanted to slap herself in the face. The day started perfectly but why did she end up pulling Qian Xu to court death?
However, Qian Xu did not blame her.
His voice was as warm and calm as usual. “This place is the most beautiful and tempting place to climb. Just like life. There’s no way to plan it and there will always be unexpected changes. Those changes mean not only difficulties but also different sceneries. It is precisely because of these changes on the climbing road that people will always be in awe of life and look forward to the next moment”
“If the next moment is still windy and snowy?”
“Then continue to wait for the next moment.”
The next moment, the wind and snow still did not stop.
One moment after another passed. Two days later, the wind and snow stopped.
Luo Lan was amazed to see——
The thick snow has formed strange shapes because of the wind and the terrain. It looked divine as if it was done by spirits. As luck would have it, the sun broke through the clouds, and a rainbow crossed the clouds of ice and snow. Its beauty was otherworldly.
Luo Lan excitedly rushed into the snow, all around her was white and she felt like she was in another world carved from a jade[2]. She stood under the rainbow and looked back at Qian Xu.
Qian Xu stood calmly behind her, looking at her with a smile.
Luo Lan was suddenly filled with courage to move forward. No matter what happens in the future, she must work hard to move forward with hope, because changes not only mean difficulties but also beautiful scenery. For that, she needs to look forward to the future and let go of the past.
Three days later, Luo Lan and Qian Xu successfully passed through hardships and climbed from another route to the top of the mountain.
When she saw the rising sun from the snow-capped mountains under her feet and the brilliance spread across the rolling majestic mountains. She felt that all the suffering from before had not been for nothing.
Facing thousands of mountain peaks and the bright rising sun, she took a picture and said to herself with great pride, the first wish has come true!
————·————·————
Luo Lan sent a message to Qian Xu, “Are you free this evening? I’d like to invite you to Everest Restaurant for dinner.”
“Something special happened?” Qian Xu immediately caught the point.
“One is to thank you for your life-saving grace a few days ago, and the other is to tell you I have the answer to the question you asked me ten years ago.”
“There’s still some work at hand. It will be finished in half an hour.”
“See you in the restaurant in an hour, then?”
“Okay.”
After Luo Lan made a reservation, she made a video call to Chen Sha.
The image shows Chen Sha in the training hall, sweating profusely, and behind him was the consul, who was wearing a combat uniform and completely covering his body.
Chen Sha’s gaze rested on Luo Lan’s glasses, “What’s the matter?”
“I’m going out to dinner with my friend in the evening. I’ll probably return late.”
“Colleagues?”
“No, it’s Qian Xu. He saved me last time. I’d like to invite him to dinner to express my gratitude.”
“I see,” Chen Sha cut off the video neatly.
Luo Lan gently stroked her personal terminal and thought about the image just now.
Chen Sha and the consul were training together. It seems that Chen Sha was the one on the losing side. Could it be that the consul’s physical ability was even better than Chen Sha?
However, it shouldn’t have been easy for the consul either. It should be just because she couldn’t see the consul in person so she thinks the consul looked so relaxed when beating Chen Sha.
Sure enough, guys who wore masks were the best at pretending!
Footnotes
Translated as Explorer’s Playground by Peach Blossom Grove TL. I’m contemplating whether to keep it as Adventurer’s Paradise or Eden of Adventurer. Which one sounded more like an Amusement Park? ↵
琼花玉树 – qióng huā yù shù; a metaphor for white objects, crystal clear, just like carved out of jade; Describing beautiful scenery (snowy scenery). There is a poem about 琼花玉树. I’m not gonna put the poem here, but I put 琼花玉树 scenery on Attachments below.↵
Attachments
Amoeba’s Corner
If you like this novel please remember to put this on your reading list on NovelUpdates and leave a rating/review! Share the love!
(It’s 3 AM in the morning, why am I here)
Luo Lan keeps throwing shade at Yin Nanzhao, lol. Support Yin Nanzhao, let him beat some sense to Chen Sha!
Facing 千山旭日 (qiānshānxùrì; lit. thousand mountain and rising sun), Luo Lan took a picture. Facing Qian Xu, ah. Remember, Tong Hua always described Qian Xu as a mountain or sun.
On this part
Ten years ago, she wanted to be an excellent gene-repairer because she wanted to cure Qian Xu’s disease; Ten years later, she wanted to be an excellent gene-repairer even more because she wanted to cure not only Qian Xu’s disease but also other people’s diseases.
In the online novel version
Ten years ago, she wanted to be an excellent gene-repairer because she wanted to have a skill that can let her live a better life; Ten years later, she wanted to be an excellent gene repairer even more because she not only wanted to live better on her own but also wanted to cure Qian Xu’s disease and make Qian Xu live better.
Eh, both versions are good. I still choose to follow the book, though. Perhaps it would be even better if both were combined. After all, she indeed wants to have skills that can let her live on her own, but out of all careers available, she chooses gene-researcher so she can be gene-repairer for Qian Xu.
That’s all for today! See you next update tomorrow!
This chapter words count (excluding title, footnotes, and TL’s corner): 2316
I prefer Eden of Adventurer.
Chen Sha seems a bit jealous of QX and he should be considering how caring and amazing QX is.
Thanks for the speedy translation!
Don’t worry, Chen Sha still has LOTS of vinegar to chugs, he may be dense but he is not THAT dense (ﻭ˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ
My Qian Xu supremacist side can’t wait to release Chapter 9! I want to deliver it as soon as possible to amass more Qian Xu fans! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡