On the way home from Dati's Restaurant, Baili[1] Weibu[2] had to traverse a snowy forest every day, walking alone along the brook that never fully froze. Occasionally, the commotion from unidentified animals could be heard amidst the tall spruce trees.
In the early winter of Bucegi Mountains, aside from the constant flow of tourists at the Sinaia Sanatorium, there was grand silence everywhere.
Today was December 23rd, the last day before Christmas Eve. Baili Weibu, carrying a huge backpack, hurried deeper into the woods. She looked around warily as she walked.
She had to see him before Christmas Eve arrived!
Roxana High School started its winter break last week. On the second day of the school break, Baili Weibu rushed to find a job at Dati's Restaurant near the sanatorium. The restaurant owner, Raphael, was a kind uncle who resembled KFC’s Colonel Sanders. He always used his loud voice to praise Baili Weibu to the diners as the Chinese angel sent to him by God - smart, beautiful, and most importantly, hardworking.
When others showered her with compliments, Baili Weibu would just smile sweetly and not say much.
The Baili family had a motto consisting of just two words - "low-key."
Speaking of the Baili family, Baili Weibu had always found it hard to understand her ancestors. She was a pure-blooded Chinese, with her great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents all being Chinese. A century ago, the Baili family had migrated from China to Romania, settling in a remote area of the Bucegi Mountains on the outskirts of what is now Sinaia. For a century, the family had lived a secret and low-key life in a three-story Chinese-style building hidden in the dense Eastern Europe forest. Except for essential activities such as work, school, and shopping, the people of the Baili family almost never ventured outside. For a hundred years, they have always stuck to this forestland called "Biluo[3]" with an unknown perseverance and persistence.
The name of this forest was given by her great-grandfather.
"He searched thoroughly up in the blue beyond, as well as down in the Yellow Springs below the earth, but did not spot her in the vastness of either place." - Baili Weibu knew the name of the forest came from Bai Juyi's poem[4].
It was indeed an unusual pairing to give an ancient Chinese name to an Eastern European forest.
From Baili Weibu's birth until now, seventeen years had passed, and her family had only had guests three times. The most memorable was in the summer when she graduated from primary school. A Chinese woman with long black hair, a beautiful face, and graceful figure, dressed in a black dress. She talked to Baili Weibu's parents in hushed tones, so Baili Weibu didn't know what they discussed.
Baili Weibu frowned as she looked at this unfamiliar woman. From the woman's radiant smile, she sensed a hesitation to speak.
When the woman left, Baili Weibu hid behind the door, watching her mother tightly hold the woman's hand and reluctantly ask, "Is there really no other way? We've already lost Weiqing[5]. I'm afraid that in the future... Weibu will end up like her sister."
She also saw her father, who always had a gentle smile, frowning for the first time as he looked at the woman with an eager, expectant gaze, as if hoping for a rescue.
"I just came to see an old friend today." The woman smiled and said calmly, "Since you named her Weibu, let her choose every step of her own future."
Then, Baili Weibu distinctly saw the woman turn her head and capture her surreptitious glance with a captivating, deep gaze. The woman's light rose-colored lips moved slightly.
Was she speaking to herself? She had only moved her lips slightly, but a clear voice resonated in her ears - "Summon your true courage, hunter."
After the woman left, there was a long period during which no outsiders came to her home. To be precise, even if they wanted to come, they couldn't. Baili Weibu never invited classmates over to her house to play. Some meddlesome boys had once tried to secretly follow this Chinese girl, but they ended up getting lost each time. As soon as Baili Weibu stepped into "Biluo," those stupid chaps could no longer see her trace. The tall trees seemed to come alive, blocking their path.
The Baili family did not permit outsiders to enter.
Because in their veins flowed the blood of centaurs. They were natural-born hunters, isolated from the world, existing only for their own destiny.
Footnotes:
[1] 百里(Baili) is a surname. But as a noun, it means long distance or literally, a hundred li(unit of distance).
[2] 未步: Wei means not yet/future, bu means step/pace/walk. So Weibu can be interpreted as "steps for the future" or "journey ahead."
[3] 碧落(Blue Sky): generally refers to the Sky (Heaven).
[4] 上窮碧落下黃泉，兩處茫茫皆不見. From the Song of Everlasting Regret in 806 CE, by poet Bai Juyi. It details the events surrounding the death of the lady Yang Guifei in 755. She was the beloved concubine of the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. You can read the translation here.
[5] 未晴: Wei is not yet; qing is clear; fine(weather). So Weiqing can be interpreted as "not yet clear" or "waiting for clear skies."
Translator:
Centaur x Golden Lion, wow!
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