Captivated By You: Chapter 2

IF IT WERE A SUDDEN MOMENT
REMEMBER MY WORDS

Mo Lan stood at the edge of West Lake for a very long time, until the sun set and the weather became colder. Putting both hands into her pockets, Mo Lan turned around and planned to quickly find a hotel nearby.

Because this was an unexpected business trip, hence when she bought the ticket, she didn’t plan on going back to Nanjing today. Mo Lan had no choice but to stay in Hangzhou for one night, but she didn’t mind. Just treated it as a boredom-killer trip.

After paying, Mo Lan took the room card, and went up by the elevator.

She purposely booked a room with a computer. After she locked the door with the room card, the first thing Mo Lan did was to turn on the computer. Prepared to save Secretly Captivated’s PāPā post in her USB.

En*… the internet speed is pretty fast.

(This is probably one of my favouritest expressions in Chinese. I’m going to keep it in pinyin form because I think it conveys the expression better. Basically, it’s indicating approval/agreement – sort of like a “mm” but with a “nn” instead.)

Mo Lan nodded with satisfaction, opened Weibo, and even before she clicked on Secretly Captivated Weibo’s page, she was astounded by Weibo’s notification on the computer screen.

On the upper right corner… it clearly showed, 2000+ comments, 3000+ retweets, and she trended* more than a thousand times.

(it has turn (輪了 lun le) in the raws and I couldn’t make head or tail of it so me thinks it’s something like tag or trending)

So… what in the world happened?

Mo Lan’s brain quickly got to work yet she still remained puzzled after pondering over it a hundred times*. As a little non-secretive dabbler in the Internet Voice Circle, she set-up her Weibo just to “stalk” Secretly Captivated, to absurdly dote on his voice, and to occasionally share activities organised by An Xiaoluo’s association. Mo Lan’s Weibo has been active for more than three years, has less than 300 posts, about 500 followers, and there might be zombie fans*.

(百思不得其解 bǎi sī bù dé qí jiě – an idiom – normally only the first four words – meaning remained perplexed after much thought)
(the author didn’t use the word stalk but for want of a better description)
(僵尸粉 jiāng shǐ fěn – fake followers that can be bought to boost one’s popularity on Weibo, Baidu, etc)

Opening her notifications, Mo Lan quickly scanned through to the bottom, but found that… almost all who commented were fans of Secretly Captivated, moreover, their replies, precisely referred to her recent comment on Secretly Captivated’s Weibo.

“Male god, my home is in Hangzhou, give me your coordinates, I’ll take you to go eat glutinous rice, walnut crab soup bao, visit Leifeng Pagoda, Lingyin Temple and the beautiful* lakeside!!!”

(西子 xī zǐ – explained in previous chapter – one of the four beauties)

• 

  crab bao

• 

  glutionous rice – nuo mi

• 

  Lingy Yin Temple

• 

  Lei Feng Pagoda

“T^T*, although I don’t live in Hangzhou, but I can fly to Hangzhou now, please wait for me ying ying ying!”

(T^T – crying emoticon)
(嚶嚶嚶 yīng yīng yīng – crying sound)

…

Looking at the non-stop* replies, Mo Lan seemed helpless*. So… in this situation now, wouldn’t it mean…

(諸如此類 zhū rú cǐ lèi – an idiom for etc – thought it sounded cool – the actual raws is look one by one etc replies)
(囧 jiǒng – emoticon signifying embarrassment, shock, helplessness)

Mo Lan opened her retweet count, it turned out that it wasn’t her Weibo comment that everybody was replying to, it was only because Secretly Captivated replied to her comment, and as a result she was caught in the replies…

No no no, this was not the main point, the main point was that Secretly Captivated actually replied to her, you know!

His reply was very short, only one sentence: Really? It was really a coincidence.

But reading this reply, Mo Lan looked as if she was struck into two by lightning, speechless and flabbergasted. She blankly stared at the computer and took quite a while to snap out of it.

What kind of day was today? Secretly Captivated first posted a PāPā, then replied to her post… She had been obsessed with Secretly Captivated for four years and knew that he rarely replied to fans’ comments on Weibo. At this very moment, Mo Lan felt as if she had just won a top quality award, and experienced both exhilaration and incredulity.

After half a minute of blanking out, Mo Lan hurriedly and flusteredly* took out her mobile phone and saved a screenshot of Secretly Captivated’s reply to her Weibo comment.

(手忙脚乱 shǒu máng jiǎo luàn – lit hand busy leg confused = to act with confusion/to be in a flurry/to be flustered)

Really? It was really a coincidence.

Holding the mobile phone like an idiot, Mo Lang chewed on his words repeatedly, then fantasised for a moment in her heart. What if these few words were actually spoken by Secretly Captivated… her blood tank* would be emptied and she would faint on the spot then call an ambulance.

(血槽清空 xuè cáo qīng kōng – lit. blood tank emptied – originally from a gaming slang that meant blood tank is already empty which meant death (the third word is different) – this is now an internet slang where it describes how crazy and excited one is)

Nevertheless, it seemed that the day was still far from over.

Because… An Xiaoluo rang again.

“Xiao Lan…” An Xiaoluo’s voice echoed through the phone, sounded somewhat void, hollow and at a loss, as if she was in a half-awake half-asleep state.

Mo Lan asked puzzledly, “Cousin, what happened to you?”

“I’m fine… I just came back from work, I just wanted you to pinch me and see if I was dreaming.” The other party’s tone was still as if her soul was detached from her body, dreamy, unknowingly floating in the clouds.

Mo Lan 囧*: “You’re too far away, I’ll hit you when I get home, moreover, I think I’m the one who needs to be pinched awake… did you know that Secretly Captivated unexpectedly replied to me, hurry up and tell me I’m not dreaming!”

(thought the emoji tells it all – embarrassed/helpless/awkward)

An Xiaoluo’s voice cleared up a bit, as if she finally recovered a hint of  consciousness: “Just right when I called you, I actually wanted to tell you about this incident. But now, I have news that’s 100 times more explosive than the fact that Secretly Captivated replied to your comment, it is the pinnacle year, you know! I can’t help but want to go to the temple to offer up my offerings*!”

(还愿 huán yuàn – to redeem a vow (to a deity) – i’m taking liberties here as it seems to fit better)

“What’s wrong?” Mo Lan frowned, she doubted her cousin’s words who had always believed in the rain upon hearing the wind*.

(听风就是雨 tīng fēng jiù shì yǔ – lit. hear wind means is rain – to believe rumours)

“Realistically speaking, by all means you must not get hysterical and drop your mobile phone or bite the data cable.” An Xiaoluo coughed lightly, and then said in an indifferent, extremely serene tone, “Secretly Captivated, announced he’s accepting new work.”

An Xiaoluo’s voice barely finished, the next second, a ‘thump’ was heard, Mo Lan’s hand slipped, her phone fell from her ear to the floor.

After blanking for a few seconds, without any hesitation, Mo Lan once again returned to the computer desk, refreshed the screen at the speed of light, and looked at Secretly Captivated Weibo’s homepage, there was a new post, posted just ten minutes ago:

“Apologies for the long wait, accepting new work. Includes radio drama, birthday drama, tea party.”

The number of comments that followed almost reached ten thousand.

“I didn’t see the wrong thing, right? I didn’t see the wrong thing, right? I didn’t see the wrong thing, right? Can you personally come and tell me if this is true? I dare not trust my eyes at all!”

“Accepting new work… Oh my god…”

“This means, I can finally stop sleeping with the two radio shows from three years ago? As I’ve said before, I’ve been waiting for you to accept new work, I have not waited in vain, all of a sudden I’m not sure what to say… cry. Male god, I love you, sincerely. T^T.”

“This is the best news I’ve heard all of this year, nothing else compares*!!!”

(沒有之一 méi yǒu zhī yī – apparently it’s an internet slang – lit meaning doesn’t exist one)

Mo Lan’s pair of eyes couldn’t help widened, expanded again, fixed at the computer screen.

Her mind couldn’t help but go back to that moment where that incredible and inconceivable voice, where the treble was gorgeously distinguished and accomplished while the bass was seductive. He said, “To yearn for a home, Is to yearn for hardship. This life-time yearning was my life-time memory, A brief yearning leads to endless destitution…”

These few sentences delivered by Secretly Captivated was Mo Lan’s favorite.

But, she only had one thought left in her mind… Today, really wasn’t April Fool’s Day?

After Mo Lan hugged her mobile phone for a while, she suddenly realised that she hadn’t replied Secretly Captivated. Moving her thumbs across the screen of her phone, she typed a line, deleted it, typed it again, and deleted it yet again. In the end, she only replied scared witless*: “Male god, with you being in Hangzhou, I feel that even the air changed for the better… seeking for a chance encounter QVQ*.”

(胆战心惊 dǎn zhàn xīn jīng – idiom for to tremble with fear)
(crying emoticon)

Of course, she felt that SC* was definitely unlikely to reply her again, consequently after she replied, Mo Lan casually threw her phone aside and went on Baidu*. After all, she was finally in Hangzhou, and she wanted to go explore a bustling night market.

(Secretly Captivated – it’s getting to be a bit of a pain to keep typing it out. Let’s see if this short form works)
(Baidu – Chinese google)

Almost seven o’clock in the evening, after meticulously and industriously searching on Baidu for more than half an hour, Mo Lan eventually decided on Wushan Night Market, which always had a famous reputation in Hangzhou.

She put on her woollen hat, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and zipped up her down jacket. After being fully equipped, Mo Lan walked out the door looking like a bear.

After she got off the taxi, Mo Lan caught a glimpse of the decorated lanterns in front of the ancient night scene and unexpectedly felt that this place resembled her hometown, Wuzhen.

Wushan Night Market

A bustling crowd, a dazzling array of trinkets, decorated with colourful lanterns and banners, and also all kinds of fragrant delicious snacks.

Mo Lan walked and stopped continually, seriously visited all the novelty stalls, even though there were such quaint night markets in Wuzhen, she was still in an exuberant mood. The simple circular silk fan, the water jade ring, and also the colourful porcelain bottles, the different kinds of quirky gadgets, was simply overwhelming.

• 

  Circular fan (looks pretty)

• 

  Water jade ring

• 

  Colourful porcelains

While she walked, Mo Lan suddenly saw a large group of people up in front, from the looks of it, it seemed to be very lively. Her eyes lit up, and Mo Lan walked towards them, wanting to join in the fun.

She drew near, and realised that up front was obviously a temporary stage, the opera singers in costumes were chanting and singing the Kunqu opera titled《The Peony Pavilion》.

flowing sleeves

On the stage, the flowing sleeves of a vivacious young female whirled around, she looked like a scroll of clouds unfolding, with miniature lotus steps*, she arched her waist, and displayed a gentle and beautiful figure. And at that moment, her fair and honest mouth sorrowfully sang “Son of the River Water”:

By the side of this plum tree, my heart was tied to another.
If our choice in love were as free as our love for flowers,
If life and death were in our hands, there would be an end to suffering.
There would be an end to suffering.
Yes, I will keep watch over this plum tree, until I meet my beloved once more.

(it’s a thing – youtube it)
(The play on wiki. The translated lyrics. Modern interpretation ish with english subs 2009. Same modern interpretation live in 2019. If you want the actual opera version, just google the chinese title: 牡丹亭)

It seemed that flowers and grass were loved by people, life and death varied according to a person’s desire, when it came to pain and suffering no one dared to complain…

Mo Lan, who had always loved《The Peony Pavilion》, upon hearing the opera singer sang Du Liniang’s* dream, all of a sudden she couldn’t move a step.

(female protagonist from The Peony Pavilion)

She had always felt that Kunqu opera’s vocal music was extremely beautiful, the songs were written elegantly, with a sophisticated accent, moreover it showed incomparable and exquisite skills.

She stood among the crowd, and listened quietly for a long time, until the opera singers on the stage bowed and thanked the audience, until the crowds had mostly dispersed, only then did Mo Lan finally snapped out of the plot of《The Peony Pavilion》.

Feelings ignited unknowingly, as soon as it went deeper, the living could die and the dead could live. Life was not without death, death was not without life*, a must for the most passionate too*.

(it should be “reborn” but I didn’t know how to make it sound more poetic)
(生而不可与死，死而不可复生者，皆非情之至也 – shēng ér bù kě yǔ sǐ, sǐ ér bù kě fù shēng zhě, jiē fēi qíng zhī zhì yě – from the actual play itself – the meaning is along the lines of “if you can’t die for him and be born again, how can you say you love him?”)

This passage was written by Tang Xianzu for《The Peony Pavilion》, even up till today, it haven’t faded, to be immortalised*.

(流芳百世 liú fāng bǎi shì – an idiom meaning to leave a mark for generations to come)

Although the opera singers on the stage didn’t really sing that well, as long as the ambience of The Peony Pavilion was brought out, straightaway there would somewhat be a hint of appeal.

Mo Lan lowered her eyes, she felt a little melancholy all of a sudden, she considered whether the love described in《The Peony Pavilion》, a love that sacrificed life and resurrected the dead, does it really exists in reality?

After a while, she turned on her mobile and glanced at the time, only to suddenly realised that it was almost 10pm. Mo Lan 囧, not recklessed enough to stay outside by herself, she quickly traced back her previous route, then took a taxi back to the hotel where she stayed.

After she returned from a tiring day, Mo Lan first took a cozy hot bath, and then lay in bed with a mask and planned to sleep. Before she slept, she undertook a not-shaken-by-thunder* international practice – surfed Weibo.

(雷打不动 léi dǎ bù dòng – an idiom meaning will go ahead whatever happens (of an arrangement or plan)

As a result, the next second, she was startled and her mask that had just been applied to her face moved.

If… she did read it correctly, an hour ago, Secretly Captivated posted another PāPā.

Practically unbelievable, this time Mo Lan opened the comments first and saw the first comment: “The blood tank is empty! Male god, your PāPā posts from today is more than the whole past year, I can practically die now without any regrets ying ying ying*!”

(crying/weeping/birds chirping sound – have I explained this before?)

Some when impatiently opened the PaPa post, would hear a moment of silence, Secretly Captivated’s low voice then appeared, gentle and touching, the timbre voice brought a hint of stirred emotions, tempted alike the seductive soul of the amorous ghost in white from the King’s palace:

“This particular beautiful flowery lady, passed swiftly like flowing water… answered by searching all over, and commiserating by herself in a secluded boudoir.”

Mo Lan’s hand that held the phone became stiff, because… these few opera sentences were classic lines from the intellectual Liu Mengmei* in The Peony Pavilion. When Secretly Fascinated delivered the lines, he actually used the authentic opera Kunqu vocal music.

(male protagonist from The Peony Pavilion)

If these verses were spoken vernacularly, the general idea, was that in this world there was no other beautiful flower like you, in order to meet you, I had already searched high and low, as it turned out, you were right here feeling depressed.

The vocal music of this verse by Secretly Captivated was affable and tender, unrestrained and distant, the melody was as graceful as the moving clouds and flowing water*, even if it was placed among the great masters, it would not be inferior in any sense.

(行云流水 xíng yún liú shuǐ – an idiom meaning very natural and flowing, unforced)

He was way better compared to the Liu Mengmei from just now.

Moreover… what made Mo Lan feel unfathomable was that he actually grasped the innermost feeling of Liu Mengmei so accurately and authentically, that just by listening to this verse, the beautiful garden scene immediately appeared right before her eyes. Where, after Liu Mengmei met Du Liniang, that moment of love was difficult to suppress.

Maybe, this was what everyone in the Internet Voice Circle often said, a promising natural-born CV.

A CV without any theatrical emotions, even if a short sentence was dubbed tens or hundreds of times, it would still sound pretentious in people’s ears, tasting as if one was chewing wax*. For CVs like Secretly Captivated, where they were classified as blessed by the heavens above*, regardless of character or tone of voice it was as if they could just casually grasp the concept, always managed to just match it impeccably.

(味同嚼蜡 wèi tóng jiáo là – an idiom meaning tasteless)
(something about the type that the heavens above bestows with eating rice i.e. blessed by the heavens above)

Feeling somewhat dazzled after listening, Mo Lan only just realised that the picture that accompanied the PāPā post was veritably the stage where she had just earnestly watched the opera amongst the crowd.

Mo Lan felt that at this very moment, she had the desire to die. So, in fact, as it turned out, just a moment ago, Secretly Captivated was at the Wushan Night Market too? Unexpectedly, she was in such closed range with male god, could it be that her 24 years of conscientiously studying, wholeheartedly working, to picked up money and not hid it* spirit, had finally touched God’s heart? T^T

(拾金不昧 shí jīn bù mèi – an idiom meaning to return property to its owner – I’m assuming along the lines of being honest i.e. a good person)

She stretched her somewhat trembling hands out, Mo Lan commented under his PāPā: “Male god, I don’t know if my moral standing was too good or too bad, just now, I was also at the Wushan night market! Such a close distance yet we didn’t even bump into each other… I felt as if I won a 5 million lottery ticket, but on the way to redeem the prize, I slipped and threw the lottery ticket into the sewer, crying for comfort T^T.”

Right after publishing the comment, everyone soon replied one after another:

“Tiger touch* 233333, I was just here too. I took my younger brother to buy food… I saw the opera happening and I just walked by without stopping okay, now I just want to kill myself!”

(a cute way of saying to gently caress and stroke/to pet. It’s like “there there” from Sheldon or pat pat)

“Tiger touch +1, should I say I was here too? I didn’t expect Mi Da to stop and actually listened to the opera, but you are truly too greedy, wanting to meet doesn’t mean a chance encounter, wanting to meet is subject to one’s ability to meet! PS: Mi Da join the opera circle, I will go to the opera with you!”

“Actually, if even the opera singing could sound so good, simply in other words those that follow and sing would also sound good! In the future, I will not roast my dad for listening to Kun opera, begging the male god to sing a bit more ying ying ying!”

“Out of the blue, two PāPā in one day… These 2 PaPas are sufficient enough for me to survive for another year. Not only that but in the near future, there’ll be new works, in a flash I felt as if my life was shining and glittering! Mi Da, good night, me me da* >3<”

麼麼噠 me me dā – kissing sound

After she went through everybody’s eye-popping comments, Mo Lan, at this moment, in her heart, thought straightforwardly, that actually there were so many other people who missed that chance encounter too, apparently it seemed that her moral standing was still insufficient, sigh.

But let us be honest… this feeling of having your fated CV post PāPā was simply too marvelous.

Hence, tonight, Mo Lan listened to Secretly Captivated’s Kunqu Opera, perfectly content and entered slumberland.

---

Me: I guess it’s inevitable that I’ll come across ancient poems and operas. This was fun but also tiring. Kinda excited for when they would actually meet in real life!

For the title, I wasn’t sure about the first part. 若陡然一剎 記起我的話. You can take your own guess 🙂