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A Love So Beautiful
To Our Pure Little Beauty • 致我们单纯的小美好

Television and novels label us boys and girls who are friends, and
live awfully close together since young as “childhood sweethearts”,
moreover, they generally divide it into two categories:

One, the “in love with each other” type. Two people who are close
together like siblings, poking honeycombs and getting stung by bees
together, stealing sweet potatoes and getting beaten together. By
the time the two would look back, only then would they realize that
the friendship from long ago has slowly blossomed into love.

The other one is the “sees and hates each other” type. Two people
who opposes the other with equal intensity, already itching to rush
ahead to bite the other when spotted from a distance. When they get
the chance, they’d pull the tire valve of each other’s bikes. But later
on, when the two would grow up, they would suddenly realize — ah!
this is true love.

Unfortunately, Jiang Chen and I are neither of the above

mentioned. In a very long time, me and him were simply just
neighbors who live across each other. Him playing his piano daily, me
watching Chibi Maruko-chan with gusto. Occasionally, when I forget
the content in our homework, I would press the doorbell of their
house. He would always mock me, and impatiently ask why I didn’t
remember.

Probably, because I’m seeking out a favor, so I never bickered with

him. Of course, it might also be because I don’t like to argue with
people since young. I’m someone calm and collected, a little bit
extraordinarily.

Author(s): Zhao Gan Gan, 趙乾乾

Artist(s):

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Year: 2015
Country: China
Genres: Comedy, Josei, Romance, School Life, Slice of Life
Tags: Adapted to Drama, Childhood Love, Cold Love Interests,
Female Protagonist, Handsome Male Lead, Modern Day
Source: Tea-Quila

ASIANOVEL VERSION: 3.11

PDF VERSION: 1.4
UUID: 1e7de1e0-427d-11ea-b608-eba521f36543
USER: Chriistyy
DATE CREATED: 2020-01-29
LANGUAGE: English

More info and chapters:

https://www.asianovel.com/series/a-love-so-beautiful

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Chapter 1
Source: Tea-Quila

Comrade Old Chen, aka my dad, formally retired February of this

year. Old Chen who had been doing hard labour his whole life
couldn’t sit still after just spending half a month idling at home. It so
happened that the Senior Citizen’s club in our town was recruiting
members, so off he went. Once he got there, he then found out that
his 50-something age was considered the young backbone in the
Senior Citizen’s club where the average age was 70. Because of that,
Old Chen’s passion from long ago was ignited. Every day, he’d be
pedalling his bike towards the club to organize their recreational
activities. This kind of passion, is the kind that has been burning for
years.

It’s just that his passion also hasn’t been burning for quite some
time, and had only given him an initial show of strength for the first
few years. This old man got on a stool to hang their activity banner
when his foot stepped on air, causing him to fall down.

When I got a call from my mom, I was on the highway, looking out
at the billboards. My entire body broke out into a cold sweat though
it was one sunny day. Even though I was always being beaten by Old
Chen when I was young, I was also thinking of beating him as soon as
I grew up. But despite that, I really love him.

On the way to the hospital, I kept on crying while talking endlessly

with the cab driver about how good my dad is. The driver, a 7-feet
tall sturdy-looking man, was seemingly moved by me, and floored
the gas to its maximum extent. When I paid him, he offered to just
round up the fare, and told me, “Young child, remember my
plate number, XXXX, by all means, don’t flag down my cab
again. I have a blabbermouth wife and mom at home so when
I listen to other people talking nonstop I can’t help but

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tremble. Forgive me, I wish your father a speedy recovery.”

………

I rushed inside the hospital crying, when I got there my mom was
paring apples while scolding my dad: “Your weary old body is still
considered backbone? Fall one more time and I’ll push you straight to
cremation. Your backbone I’ll upgrade it into bone ash.

I held unto the door frame, in tears, “Mom, how’s dad?”

Mom looked up at me, “Oh, stop crying, what are you crying
for, I’ve endured so much to raise you just so your face won’t
be covered in snot and tears.”

I held back my tears and went over to sympathize with the old man
who has been oppressed for such a long time, “Dad, are you
alright?”

My dad looked helplessly at the apple mom was holding, “No,

your mom already pared three apples, and didn’t even give
me one to eat.”

I‘ve been thinking there was no way of knowing things straight

from their mouth, hence, I simply picked up the thermos and said,
“I’ll go get hot water.”

I went straight to the nurse’s station carrying the thermos, and

didn’t mind my mom who was crying out behind me, “This damn
child, the thermos is full!”

Probably because I looked too menacing, the nurse quickly got the
doctor. The doctor described my dad’s condition with a blank face, he
said the fall affected his lower back — the vertebra was compressing
the nerves. In other words, he needs to go through surgery, and
made me prepare 30,000 bucks.

I asked the doctor a few specific questions but he gave me a

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pointed look, “If I would tell you, you still wouldn’t be able to
understand it, just prepare the money alright? Leave the rest
to us doctors.”I asked again, “Then, when’s the surgery?”

He said impatiently, “Line up, when it reaches your turn then

we’ll do it.”

I was itching to cough out a big mouthful of thick phlegm on his

face, and then tell him, “Sorry, I have tuberculosis.”

But I couldn’t, I could only fish out a few hundred bills from my
pocket, and force it on him, “Then, I can only bother you to take
care of it……”

He glared at me and pushed away the money, “What are you

doing?! I understand your sentiments as a family member but
this is against the hospital regulations! You really don’t have
to worry, I will find time to give you a detailed explanation.”

I was so beside myself with guilt, thinking that I pinned my narrow-

minded yardstick* to gauge a gentleman‘s heart. Indeed, some
doctors were just born ill-tempered. As I was deeply reflecting on my
personal integrity, the doctor then turned around to leave, but before
leaving, he raised his chin and gave me a meaningful look. I
pondered for a long while if he was having cramps or if he was
implying something else with his action, till I copied him and raised
my chin as well, only then did I understand — a CCTV was mounted
on the wall…… (T/N: To judge a person’s actions with one’s
narrowed perspective.)

I was just about to ask the nurse where the doctor’s office was
located when my phone rang. I took it out and looked at who it was.
My heartbeat quickly went downhill at lightning speed, as if stepping
on an accelerator, that I’ve almost wanted to go to to the Cardiology
department to have myself checked.

Jiang Chen, my ex-boyfriend.

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Shaking, I politely picked up the call, “Hello?”

I’ve been saying ‘hello’ for a very long time, but all I could hear
was a cacophonous of noise, it seems as though he had just
accidentally pressed the phone. I was about to hang up the call but I
heard a delicate female voice saying, “Doc, I’m having chest
pain.”

It was only then that I remembered how Jiang Chen as a doctor

now, was said to have a bit of reputation. I hung up the phone,
confused for a while, then finally decided that if I have to wallow in
the darkness of our motherland’s healthcare system, I might as well
be transferred to the hospital where Jiang Chen was working. On the
account that I’ve helped him peel around thousands of tea eggs back
in the days, he has to consider that somehow, right?

I went back to tell my mom regarding this matter, and she told me,
“Jiang Chen, that kid whom you had a puppy love back then?”

Uh……..your memory sure knows the more important parts.

Mom asked again, “If we go to the hospital he’s working at,

will he help us? I mean does both of you still have mutual
affection?”

Truly a “hit the nail on the head” question, I stammered, “He

will help us that’s for sure, it’s just that……..”

“Just what?”

“It’s only that, our current situation is something scissors

couldn’t sever, and when sorted out, is tangled again*.” (T/N:
too complicated)

The old lady scoffed, “Stop using big words on me. Can’t cut with
scissors then you shave it all up! You are going to contact him right
now. Your dad must be transferred tomorrow. I can’t stand that
bastard doctor here anymore.I was expecting for my mom to tell me

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lovingly, ‘Child, we must have integrity, ex-boyfriends and what not,
one shouldn’t go around bothering them.’ But sure enough, I’ve
really overestimated my mom this time.

Jiang Chen showed no hints of being surprised when he got my call

that it makes me want to become a doctor, so used to seeing strong
winds and big waves*, even dead bodies and internal organs don’t
scare him, how can I, an ex-girlfriend, scare him. (T/N: difficulties,
struggles)

I was stuttering the entire time I was explaining the situation to

him, but managed to tell him in the end, “Is it okay to transfer my
dad to your hospital?”

“Okay.” He replied concisely that I was too ashamed to mention

the thing about peeling tea eggs.

He added, “Get everything ready, I’ll find an ambulance to

pick up your dad for the transfer.”

Finally, he was silent for a long time, and then asked me, “You
okay?”

Okay.

After hanging up the phone, I clutched my chest and leaned

against the wall of the lobby, breathing heavily. A young nurse next
to me helped me up, “Are you alright?”

I shook my head, also feeling very glad that at long last I have
finally seen the light of humanity in this hospital.

She then went on, “Who did you just call? Seems like you’re
going to be transferred. Do you know some bigshot in other
hospitals? Can you introduce me? I only have a month before
I finish my internship yet I still haven’t found a hospital who
would hire me. Can you help me? My grades are actually very
good, it’s just that I don’t want to accompany hospital

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directors to bed.”

There’s really no other way but for me to be entangled with her, so

without any better option I said, “Actually, that person I called is
a janitor in a hospital, I promised to accompany him to bed,
so he promised to help me ask around and see if I could
transfer.”

………

Three hours later, Jiang Chen, with an ambulance whizzed in front

of me. I haven’t seen him in 3 years yet I didn’t dare raise my head
to take a good look at him. I just kept on staring at what seems like a
very expensive fountain pen in the pocket of his white coat. I don’t
know if he already learnt how to write the new characters used in
medicine.

When I was at university, I’ve always been worried about Jiang

Chen, for fear that his beautiful penmanship’s small script would face
difficulties in the medical profession. In order for him to achieve a
penmanship that would let him evade responsibility even if he
prescribed the wrong drug, I once forced him to copy my
penmanship. It’s a pity that in the end, he failed to learn its true
essence.

Discharging procedures, admitting procedures, Jiang Chen settled

everything by himself. My mom and I were terribly idle, just chatting
near the hospital entrance, each with an apple.

Mom said, “This young man is indeed whom I looked after

growing up, really good.”

She made it sound like she should be given credit for looking after
him when growing up because he turned out be a good young man,
really shameless.

She added, “Such excellent goods, how did you miss it back

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then? You’ve almost succeeded.”

I took a bite out of the apple, “Dad is bored being alone in the
ambulance, you go eat an apple and make him watch.”

Mom heaved a sigh, then gladly and diligently went to where the
ambulance was, yelling while running, “Old man, your daughter
made me eat an apple for you to watch.”

Jiang Chen was holding a large document and some small receipts
when he chanced upon this scene, he smiled and looked skeptically
at me, “You’re really too filial.”

I looked up at him, he was slightly bent over, bowing his head to

look at me. The tips of his hair that were drooping were glowing in
the morning light. He smiled at me like how he used to, his left cheek
was squeezing out a deep dimple, it was as though we just ate and
watched movies together yesterday.

I averted my gaze, this is a sinister dimple. Back then my little

heart was drunk and fell in this dimple. Now that I think about it, this
pit in his face was just a giant fraud.

Jiang Chen’s existence used to be just like one of those lamp post
in the alley. He lives in the house across ours, the mayor’s son, the
class monitor, looks good, could play the piano, writes calligraphy,
has good grades, and speaks nice Mandarin. Television and novels
label us boys and girls who are friends, and live awfully close
together since young as “childhood sweethearts”, moreover, they
generally divide it into two categories: one, the “in love with each
other” type. Two people who are close together like siblings, poking
honeycombs and getting stung by bees together, stealing sweet
potatoes and getting beaten together. By the time the two would
look back, only then would they realize that the friendship from long
ago has slowly blossomed into love. The other one is the “sees and
hates each other” type. Two people who opposes the other with
equal intensity, already itching to rush ahead to bite the other when

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spotted from a distance. When they get the chance, they’d pull the
tire valve of each other’s bikes. But later on, when the two would
grow up, they would suddenly realize — Ah! This is true love.

Unfortunately, Jiang Chen and I are neither of the above

mentioned. In a very long time, me and him were simply just
neighbours who live across each other. Him playing his piano daily,
me watching Chibi Maruko-chan with gusto. Occasionally, when I’d
forget the content in our homework, I would press the doorbell of
their house. He would always mock me, and impatiently ask why I
didn’t remember. Probably, because I’m seeking out a favour, so I
never bickered with him. Of course, it might also be because I don’t
like to argue with people since young. I’m someone calm and
collected, a bit extraordinarily.

Summer vacation of 2nd year middle school going 3rd year, our
class secretly organized a picnic after the exams. During the picnic,
Jiang Chen and I was assigned to wash the sweet potatoes. There
were 40 people in our class but we bought 44 sweet potatoes. Jiang
Chen just washed those four extra sweet potatoes, and after that,
played skipping stones with the boys on the side.

I was crouching at the lakeside, forced to keep my anger in check

as I was washing the potatoes. The more I wash, the more I get mad.
By then a small slab of rock was dropped right in front of me and
splashed me on the face. As I looked up, Jiang Chen was putting on
an air of nonchalance as though nothing has happened. He raised his
hand, and a stone skipped across the water surface, piercing its
stillness in four beautiful successive skips, along with it were ripples
of varying sizes, colliding together and then dissolving.

It was pretty logical for me to have scolded him, splashed water on

him, pressed his head into the water, or perhaps, pushed him into
the lake to drown.

But I did nothing. I just stared at him with a silly look on my face.

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The breeze lifted his loose, white school uniform. The sun
wascasting a golden light on his lashes and the tips of his hair. The
slightly raised corner of his mouth was squeezing out a proud smile
adorning his left cheek.

Right there and then, time and space froze leaving only the furious
thumping of my heart.

TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Translator’s Corner:

Hi! Dolly here. I don’t know how people found out about this
translation (which was intended for my real-life friends who were
bugging me about it) but thank you for reading.

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Chapter 2
Source: Tea-Quila

After summer, we stepped into the busy year of Junior 3. I have

always prioritized important matters above everything else, hence
things like immersing myself in romantic love were promptly kicked
to a side. Plus, Meteor Garden was airing fervently back then, so I
changed to being crazy about Dao Ming Si instead.

The event that caused me to confirm my resolution to have being

infatuated/fangirling over Jiang Chen as my life goal happened half a
year later. The night before the mock exams, amidst my mom’s
beatings and scoldings of, “How did I raise up such a forgetful
pig-headed daughter like you?!”, I hurriedly rushed to the Xue
You* Bookshop to buy the 2B pencils I needed to shade the OAS for
my mock exams the next day. (T/N: direct translation of Xue You
– study friend)

Even though Xue You Bookstore claims to be a bookstore, but it

sells a variety of things – from books and stationery to stickers and
toys, basically, whatever was trending among students, it would sell.
Later on after muddling through life in the outside world, I discovered
that the two words “Xue You” was a name that all non-franchise
stationery shops and book shops in the country liked to use. I didn’t
know if this was because this name would cause numerous students
to feel a sense of familiarity akin to seeing a friend, or if it was
because everyone was lazy to come up with names. But if there was
a day where I decide to give back to society, I would also want to
open a Xue You shop, on the surface it would sell books and
stationery, but it would actually be a centre of students to pay a fee
and make friends, especially female students, though if there were
special requests, we could also sell male students at a high price.

I entered Xue You and grabbed a bunch of 2B pencils. At that point

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in time, using computers to mark papers had just come into vogue. I
thought that the 2B pencil would appreciate in price in the near
future, and I had to stock up. But the truth proved otherwise. While
the price of pencils did rise by ten cents, there were many pencils
specially made for shading the OAS that were produced. While
everyone else was using mechanical pencils to shade their OAS, I still
had to pitifully use a knife to shave my pencils. Prophets are all
lonely people.

As I clutched a bunch of pencils, about to pay, Jiang Chen entered

through the door. Perhaps out of a strange adolescent voyeuristic
mentality, I subconsciously grabbed a book off the shelf, using it to
block my face as I secretly watched him.

Jiang Chen upon entering made an immediate beeline for the

counter. The lady boss saw him, and smilingly carried up a pile of
books from under the counter. “The embroidered collector’s
edition of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese Literature* you
wanted, I specially went into the city to obtain its
stock.” (T/N: namely Romance of Three Kingdoms, Journey to the
West, Water Margin and Dream of Red Mansions)

Jiang Chen smiled and said, “Thank you Lady Boss, how much
is it?”

“853 RMB, I’ll take 850 from you.” The lady boss took his
money. “I’m not even counting in the transport fees.”

Jiang Chen smilingly nodded his head. “Thank you Lady Boss.”

At that point in time our school fees were 200 RMB per semester,
Jiang Chen was using money worth two school years or four
semesters to buy a few rotten books, if he had so much spare
money, he might as well… Actually I also didn’t know what he might
as well have done, I’ve never had so much money, so I was really
didn’t understand. ly, someone told me this joke – a news reporter
asked an old woman who lived deep in the mountains, “What would

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you do if I gave you 100000 RMB?” She replied, “Eat vegetable
steamed buns everyday.” He asked again, “What if I gave you
200000 RMB?” She replied, “Eat meat steamed buns
everyday.” Lastly he asked, “What if I gave you 1000000
RMB?” She replied, “I would have a vegetable steamed bun in
one hand and a meat steamed bun in the other everyday.” I
actually really empathized with the old woman’s plight.

“Gege*, gege.” A child who had come out of nowhere was calling
as he tugged on Jiang Chen’s trousers. (T/N: meaning older brother)

Jiang Chen squatted down and caressed his head. Blinking, he

asked him, “Little friend, are you a boy or a girl?”

The little child sucked on his tiny thumb, and very seriously replied,
“Boy.”

Jiang Chen was dissatisfied. “I don’t like boys.”

He was preparing to get up as he said that, the little child hurriedly

tugged on his clothes. “I’m a girl.”

Jiang Chen laughed. “So you’re actually a girl. Okay then,

what did you call me for?”

The little child fished out a box of colour pencils and two crumpled
ten-cent notes from the large pocket of his overalls, lifting them high
up to demonstrate how he couldn’t reach the counter. “I’m buying
this.”

Jiang Chen took the box and stood up to pass it to the lady boss.
“Boss, how much is this?”

“Ten RMB.”

Jiang Chen fished out ten RMB. After paying the money, he then
squatted back down to pass the box to the little child. He patted his
head and said, “Here, your color pencils.”

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The little child chortled as he took the box. “Thank you gege.”

After saying “you’re welcome”, Jiang Chen prepared to stand up

straight. The little child once again pulled at his trouser bottoms, so
he could only squat back down again. The little child clumsily opened
the box of colour pencils, and picking out a pink coloured one, said,
“Drawing is very pretty.”

“I don’t know how to draw.” Jiang Chen said as he smiled.

“You keep it for yourself to draw.”

The little child shook his head, and pointing at the books in his
hand, said, “No, I draw.”

Jiang Chen stared blankly for a moment, then his face broke into a
smile. He took out “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and
handed it over to the little child.

The little child held up the book and sat on the floor, lowering his
head to draw something on it very seriously, while muttering
something to himself. At last he clapped his hands and said,
“Done.”

I tiptoed and stuck out my head to peep at it, that design looked
like a rabbit at first glance, then looked like a dog when you looked
more closely, yet its poise and charm also somewhat resembled a
tiger.

Jiang Chen, taking back the book, looked at it very seriously, then
said seriously, “The dog you drew is very beautiful, thank
you.”

The little child, fluttering his round eyes, said, “It’s a cat.”

Jiang Chen did a double take, then laughed. “So it’s actually a
cat.”

I stared at his dimple, it seemed to have deepened somewhat, I

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really wanted to go up to him and poke it.

What is known as “being stunned by beauty”, what is known as

“being killed in a second”. Li Bi Hua* once said – being stunned
by beauty back at that time, was wholly because one had seen little
of the world. But this wasn’t the case for me, in the times to come, I
would repeatedly embellish these two scenes in my mind, just like
the post-production editing for movies and television. I would adjust
the angle of the scene, add light and shadow variation, layer on
sound effects…… (T/N: a famous Chinese author/scriptwriter – she
wrote Farewell My Concubine)

“How long are you going to squat at the hospital entrance

for?”

“Ah?” With my great post-production editing project being

interrupted, I was momentarily a little lost. Gazing into Jiang Chen’s
somewhat impatient-looking face, I again sounded, “Ah?”

“Get up.” He stretched out his hand and with one grab pulled me
up from the floor, dragging me towards the ambulance. In fact, I
really wanted to ask him if he had forgotten to let go of my hand, and
also if he was in poor health lately, his hand was so sweaty…

When we got onto the ambulance, the driver and my mom

simultaneously showed facial expressions looking like they had just
caught us in bed together. I helplessly rolled my eyes, and peeped at
Jiang Chen a little apprehensively. He on the other hand seemed to
be totally unaffected and sat by my side. “Little Li, start driving.”

After that, he turned his head around to tell my mom, “Auntie,

I’ve already spoken to my colleague in orthopedics, when we
reach the hospital, we’ll take another x-ray, if there is no
issue, we’ll do the operation this afternoon. Please do not
worry, my colleague is one of the very best orthopedic
surgeons in the industry.”

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My mom hurriedly nodded her head incessantly, and gave a really
motherly smile. “We’re really troubling you.”

“It’s no trouble, it’s what I should do.” Jiang Chen was also
really smiling like a filial son.

“So noisy!” My dad suddenly spoke up loudly.

Ever since my dad was informed that we were going to transfer

hospitals with the help of Jiang Chen, he had been throwing a
tantrum. Later on, the moment my mom walked away, he gave me a
tongue-lashing, its contents being nothing else but one word –
backbone! He felt that after how Jiang Chen’s mother treated me
back in the day, I should stay far, far away from him. It was best that
I spit him in the face with saliva when I saw him to express my
disdain, but now I had gone as far as to accept his favor!

Three years ago, I graduated from X University’s art design faculty.

Jiang Chen was studying both his bachelor’s and master’s degree
consecutively in medical school and had to study for seven years, but
due to his excellent performance, he had already begun to intern at
the various major departments at X University’s subsidiary hospital
by his fourth year.

Back then, Jiang Chen was really good to me, the moment he saw
me receive my graduation certificate, he said that he wanted to
marry me. Of course, this was mainly because I was always making
baseless fabrications about a bunch of the so-called elite in society to
scare him. For example, the manager who helped me open the door
every day (whose original form was the security guard of our
company, for I always forgot to bring my entrance card to tap in and
out); the director who was always giving me flowers (whose original
form was the person who sold flowers downstairs – when I was
working overtime late into the night, I would always run into him
throwing away the spoilt flowers that couldn’t be sold while on my
way home, with my fervent hints, he would give the flowers to me);
the client who treated me to watch a movie (whose original form was

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indeed a client, and I did indeed watch a movie, it was just that I had
to write a publicity proposal report for them after watching it)…… An
artistic creation requires an original form.

Once Jiang Chen heard that I was so popular, he became anxious,

he said that the four years’ worth of breakfasts he delivered in
university must not be delivered in vain, we had better get married.

I agreed with no sense of shame whatsoever. My thoughts were

very simple, the faculty of medicine in X University was ranked no. 1
in the entire country, and Jiang Chen was getting the top-tier
scholarship every year, there was basically no suspense that he was
a stock with great potential. I had to capture him as soon as possible,
such that when he became a blue chip stock*, I would be the grain-
husk wife who had suffered trials and tribulations together with him,
if he dared to divorce me, I would dare to ask for a half of his
assets……(T/N: aka stocks of financially stable and well-known
companies that have good returns)

Of course, actually the simplest thought was that I loved him very
much, and I was afraid he would be snatched away by someone else.
One time, I went to the hospital he was interning at to look for him,
and within one hour I saw three patients giving him their business
cards, with one of them even being a guy. This society was too
terrifying, and Jiang Chen’s charisma seemed to slay both men and
women.

It was just that back in the day, I was almost completely poisoned
by television dramas and novels, and I thought that my love was
invincible. But Jiang Chen’s mother made me realise, once my love
experienced disturbances, it changed as it pleased.

One fine afternoon, Jiang Chen’s mother paid a visit to my mom.

My mom’s status in my household, being a professional housewife,
was akin to that of Wu Ze Tian*, but for the first time, I saw that
plucky mother of mine being at such a complete loss of what to do,
becoming meek without herself even noticing. To be fair, Jiang

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Chen’s mother didn’t say any undue remark, and she hadn’t fished
out a cheque and said, “Leave my son, tell me how much money
you want.” She was calmly discussing with my mom some wedding
customs, but it was just the condescending attitude, like she was
lowering herself to talk to my mom, that she exuded that caused my
mom to be filled with trepidation. Watching my mom from the side as
she rubbed her hands, saying, “We’ll cooperate, we’ll
cooperate”, my heart was tart and painful, like it had been soaked
in old vinegar. (T/N: the only female emperor in the history of China)

Jiang Chen’s mother then sought me out one-to-one for a chat. She
gave me a few pieces of paper and told me to take a good look, and
if I agreed, to give my signature. It was a prenuptial agreement, with
its contents roughly being something along the lines of how I was not
marrying Jiang Chen for his family’s money, and if we divorced, I
wouldn’t be able to get any assets, etcetera.

At that point in time, I was really bewildered. His dad was just the
mayor of a small town, how much money could he possibly have?
Was there really a need to act like we were in a television drama?

I’ve already forgotten what I was thinking at that time, perhaps it

was some noble matters like love and self-respect, but later I simply
could not make up my mind, so I went to ask my dad. All I can say is
that, that was a historic mistake.

Jiang Chen’s dad was my dad’s indirect supervisor. My dad felt that
he was already such a wimp, being bullied and pushed around by
these supervisors on a day-to-day basis, but for the family of his
supervisor to bully his own family members, this was a matter that
he simply couldn’t stand. Therefore he told me that if I dared sign, he
would disown me as his daughter.

Thus, I again did yet another stupid thing, which was to give Jiang
Chen the prenuptial agreement for him to return it to his mother.
Jiang Chen was really agitated and furious, and went home to quarrel
with his mother. Later on, his mother gave me a phone call, with the

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main idea being, if I dared get married to Jiang Chen, she would dare
to die at our wedding. Back then, I had little experience in society, so
I was immediately psyched out by her. I totally didn’t think of any
other ways to resolve the issue, for example to not hold a wedding
ceremony, so that she wouldn’t have a place to die……

The matter of marriage was hence left unsettled just like that, after
that, I didn’t know why, but perhaps work started to get busy, I was
busy getting scolded by my manager, while Jiang Chen was busy
attending classes and interning. Plus, most likely I started bearing
grudges in my heart, I would incessantly nit-pick and needle him, and
would provoke him over the most trivial and inconsequential matters.
I tested our love by testing his tolerance.

When I said, “Jiang Chen, let’s break up.”

He was silent for a long time before saying, “Don’t you regret
it.” Then he slammed the door with a bang and left.

I thought that for two people who loved each other to break up,
there should at least be some large-scale major event, for example, a
third party; for example, suddenly discovering that I was his father’s
illegitimate daughter; for example, either him or I contracting a
terminal illness…… But in fact, there was no need for that.
Uneasiness, busyness and weariness were enough.

We split up just like that. It was quite amazing, two people who had
originally agreed to be together for a whole lifetime, now had
absolutely nothing to do with each other in just a flash. For a long
period of time, I even suspected that perhaps someone had pressed
the fast-forward button for us, causing me to omit some plot
circumstances that made the break-up an inevitability.

My dad was the happiest about my breakup with Jiang Chen. He

most likely felt that this was one victory he had in his confrontation
with those of a supervisor social class. But towards a later stage, my
constant inability to find a boyfriend caused him to feel that the fruits

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of victory were sometimes bitter as well.

So I guess my dad’s feelings towards Jiang Chen were complicated.

On one hand, he hoped that there would be someone who would take
over the slow-moving product* that I was, yet on the other hand, he
also felt that he would much rather I be a slow-moving product than
to sell me to Jiang Chen. He was probably experiencing internal
turmoil akin to that of the capitalists existing during the Great
Depression mentioned in our high school politics textbook who would
rather pour milk into the river than give it to the poor. (T/N: meaning
a product that sells poorly)

What I didn’t tell my dad was that actually, that person wasn’t
even intending to buy from you.

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Translator’s Corner:

Hello lovelies Dolly here! I will be working with Amy from now on
so you guys can expect faster updates yay!

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 21 Report

Chapter 3
Source: Tea-Quila

My dad underwent the operation early in the morning the next day.
Jiang Chen had recommended a female doctor, her surname was Su,
her beauty had an air of intelligence and intellect to it, and standing
next to Jiang Chen, together they were a talented man and beautiful
woman.* (T/N: a Chinese idiom referring to a very well-suited ideal
couple).

Initially, my mom didn’t trust Doctor Su very much, she felt that all
beautiful women were in general, quite useless. Because of this
stubborn notion she had, I used to think that my mom considered me
a beautiful woman in her heart for the longest time.

Doctor Su pointed out that she previously had, with bare hands,
beaten up a gangster till his shoulder joint dislocated, then once
again with bare hands relocated the shoulder joint. We, one after
another, professed our utmost confidence in her medical expertise.

Jiang Chen accompanied us at the entrance of the surgical theatre.

My mom clutched my hand tightly, while I patted the back of her
hand comfortingly.

After sitting for about ten minutes or so, my mom started to forget
about her uneasiness. She first looked at Jiang Chen and me, her
eyes spinning back and forth between the two of us, then she gave a
motherly smile. “You see, back when you and Xiaoxi were
dating, we didn’t have the time to sit down and chat, instead
now……” She paused, then gave a long sigh. “The heavens
makes fools of us all.”

I was basically in a frozen state, and I wanted to dig a hole and

dive right into it.

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Jiang Chen smiled, and said, “I wasn’t sensible back then, and
didn’t know how to cherish Xiaoxi.”

I couldn’t help but take a stealthy glance at Jiang Chen. Such a

beautiful pleasantry.

My mom chuckled, “That’s not the case, it’s our Xiaoxi who
doesn’t have the good fortune.”

Time passed quickly under their sham exchange of pleasantries.

Perhaps because it wasn’t a complicated surgery by far, or perhaps it
was because of Doctor Su’s excellent medical skills, in any case, the
lights of the operating theatre dimmed and Doctor Su came out
wearing a mask.

My mom suddenly grabbed my arm again. Her fingernails dug into

me till I really wanted to send greetings to my maternal
grandmother. (T/N: basically Xiaoxi is cursing)

Doctor Su unhurriedly took off her mask, revealing her upturned

corner of her mouth. “The operation was successful.”

My mom let go of my hand and leapt onto her, looking like she
wanted to hug and kiss her. Thankfully, all she did was just hold and
pull on Doctor Su’s hand, patting it repeatedly. “Thank you so
much, thank you so much.”

I was extremely moved and intoxicated by this display of how the

miraculous hands of a healer could move the heavens. Jiang Chen
standing by my side used his elbow to gently bump against me, and
spoke softly, “If you don’t pull your mom away soon, Doctor
Su’s hand is going to become crippled.”

I took a look. Indeed, there was a large patch on the back of Doctor
Su’s hand that had reddened. My mom had lately been learning
paisha* from the old Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor on the
Hunan channel and had achieved quite some success. There was one

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day when she couldn’t find a knife to smash garlic, so she used her
bare hands to smash the garlic into pieces on the chopping board.
((T/N: a traditional Chinese medicine healing method where you hit
the skin to produce light bruising to release toxins in your body etc)

I hurriedly went over to pull my mom away. “Mom, you should

hurry and see Dad.”

My mom struggled out of my hands and reproached me. “Your

dad’s anesthesia hasn’t worn off yet, what is there to look
at? I need to thank Doctor Su properly.”

Doctor Su took two steps back and repeatedly waved her hands.
“Auntie, don’t be so courteous, this is what I ought to do. I
still have a surgery later, I’ll head off first.”

Tch, a white-clothed person who fled when defeated.

My mom with great disappointment turned towards Jiang Chen.

“Jiang Chen-ah, thank goodness for you this time ‘round…”

Jiang Chen placed his two hands behind his back, leaned over till
he was beside my ear and softly said, “Save me.”

I couldn’t help but shrink my shoulders back. Suppressing a rush of

emotion that made me want to bite my tongue and commit suicide, I
pushed my mom and said, “Hurry and go take a look at Dad,
Jiang Chen has outpatient clinic later on.”

Just at that moment, the nurse came out pushing my dad’s hospital
bed, and so my mom followed them away.

There was just me and Jiang Chen left. I swallowed my saliva,

raised my head and smiled as I said, “Thank you this time
round.”

He nodded, “It’s nothing, I’ll head off first.”

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The word escaped out of my mouth. “Huh?”

He smiled. “I have outpatient clinic.”

I watched Jiang Chen walk away, rubbing my ear and smiling

stupidly.

It was the first year of university back then. Jiang Chen had gotten
into X University’s medical school, while I, as an arts exam candidate
had scraped through and just made it into X University’s art school.
Jiang Chen’s faculty was having a welcome dinner for the freshman,
and I had shamelessly begged him to take me along as someone who
had had a one-sided love for him for many years with no results. This
was mainly because I had heard that at the welcome dinner, the
seniors would foot the bill no matter how much you ate, and I was
really pleased with this way of doing things. Later on when I became
the senior, whenever there were welcome dinners, I would have a
stomachache and be unable to attend them.

There were quite a lot of people that day, with eight tables
reserved at the small restaurant at the North entrance of the school.
By the time Jiang Chen and I reached, there weren’t many seats left,
and him and I were thus separated to join two tables. I gazed at him
from afar, thinking that this was really great, for there was no one
who would bother/manage me even if I ate too much.

After sufficient food and alcohol, the seniors brought the juniors
over to the field to play games. There was a game which had
originated from God-knows-what random place and then became a
trend all around the world called “truth or dare.”

That beer bottle spun and spun till it stopped in front of a girl.
Given that the student before her who had chosen to do a dare had
had to pull at a stranger and say, “You see, this is my left liver
lobe, this is a gallbladder sac, this is the right lung lobe, this
is the kidney, here, there is a straight tube called the
ureter……”, the girl therefore chose truth.

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A male senior who was like a big grey wolf guided the questioning
in a skillful and methodical manner, saying, “Junior, do you have a
boyfriend? Or someone you like? Who is it?

I thought to myself that this question was too kind, for he should at
least ask the color of her underwear or something along those lines.
Then when that girl blushed and nodded, her eyes were flickering
uncertainly towards Jiang Chen, I suddenly felt that this question was
too hard-hitting……

Everyone started to hoot and cheer and wanted Jiang Chen to

declare his stand. Jiang Chen who all along had been standing behind
my back suddenly leaned down and spoke beside my ear, “Save
me.”

I was momentarily dazed, feeling his breath from those two words
tickling my neck causing it to itch. After scratching my neck, I grew
some wits in the midst of anxiety and said, “My…… My……
stomach hurts.”

Behind me, Jiang Chen gave a long sigh, put his hands on my
shoulders to support me, and said, “Everyone, sorry, my
girlfriend’s stomach hurts, I’ll send her to the school
hospital.”

I was dragged along by Jiang Chen for a few steps before I came
out of my reverie and realised that what he had said just now was
“girlfriend”, so I asked him while trembling, “I that….
That……just now, I seem to have…… Heard you say
‘girlfriend’……”

I seemed to see his face redden strangely, before he spoke boldly

and with conviction*, “That’s right, what about it?” (T/N:
referring to being assured when you think you are on on the side of
reason)

My heart rate sped up instantaneously, and I almost vomited.

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Stammering, I said, “Nothing, about that… Welcome you.”

Every time I reminisced about the past, I was able to not feel
regretful about wasting my years away, and not feel ashamed for not
having much achievements. But I really wanted to die for saying
something similar to the welcoming words of those in the female
special services industry* at such a crucial moment. (T/N: referring to
prostitution)

At night, I stayed in the hospital to take care of my dad, and made

my mom go back to my place to rest. That old lady refused to
initially, later on after I told her a few of the hospital’s ghost horror
stories, she said that she suddenly felt utterly exhausted physically
and mentally, and that she had better go back to rest, so that she
could have sufficient vitality to take care of my dad tomorrow.

Tonight, Doctor Su was on shift duty, after doing her ward rounds
twice, she just settled herself down in my dad’s ward, and insisted on
pulling me to chat.

Taking into consideration her status as a benefactor, I could only

strive to prop up my eyelids and accompany her to chat.

She asked, “How did you and Doctor Jiang know each
other?”

I answered, “Schoolmates.”

She muttered to herself, “I thought you were a couple, but

seeing as how he didn’t stay behind to accompany you
tonight, I guessed that too.”

After she had finished talking to herself, she asked again, “What
kind of schoolmates?”

I answered, “Kindergarten, primary school, middle school,

high school, university.”

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She thought this merited much astonishment, and also pointed out
that this was a fate that was hard to come by, she said, “Yo yo yo,
childhood sweethearts, growing up looking at each other’s
reproductive organs since young, you are really fated.”

I was so taken aback that my mouth that was open from yawning
only closed itself after a long time. I wiped away the tears squeezed
out during my yawn, and was just about to say something, when
Doctor Su yet again asked a question. “Does he have a girlfriend
or not?”

I replied honestly. “I don’t know.”

She enigmatically moved close to my ear. “I’ll tell you

something, you can’t tell Doctor Jiang.”

I nodded.

She smiled with the air of a gossip monger*, “We all suspect
that Doctor Jiang is gay.” (T/N: the original term literally means
three-eight, often used to describe a woman being improper,
frivolous, talking behind someone’s back)

I stared at her in astonishment, she then explained, “He never

appears bringing a woman, plus he maintains his distance
from all female doctors, female nurses and female patients.
But it’s not surprising for people in our line to have such a
problem, once you understand the female body too well, it
loses its sense of mystery.”

I hesitated for a moment, and then asked still, “It seems like this
industry of yours also understands the male body very well,
right?”

She thought for a while dazedly, then clapped a hand to her head,
suddenly enlightened and said, “That’s also true.”

Thus, both of us separately pondered for a few minutes. During

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these few minutes, the whole time I was pondering how exactly could
I send her away to leave, I was really sleepy. Regretfully, Doctor Su
asked again, “You’ve known him for so long, have you ever
seen him have a girlfriend before?”

My sleepiness dissipated in an instant, I gave two forced laughs. “I

have.”

“Ya, that’s such a pity.” She sighed in disappointment.

I gingerly probed. “What’s a pity? You like him?”

She laughed bashfully. “No, I have a partner. My partner is

doing his PHD at X University, he’s studying psychology, the
direction of his topic for his graduating thesis is the analysis
of the psychology of homosexuals, mainly to research into
the psychology of homosexuals belonging to the elite class in
society. He was just vexing about being unable to find
research subjects……”

After thinking for a bit, I suggested, “Why not you go online and
find some novels for him to read? Aren’t danmei* novels in
trend currently? Those male leads inside are CEOs, doctors,
lawyers and military men, there’s every single elite industry.
Art originates from real life, let your boyfriend see if he can
find anything useful.” (T/N: boy-love novels)

She waved her hand and said, “I thought of that long ago, and
I’ve researched into it before, I think it’s not reliable, those
novels are almost all written by females. In the minds of
females, men are animals who think with the lower halves of
their bodies, and when two animals who think with their
lower halves of their bodies gather together, if they are not
using their lower halves of their bodies, they are using their
lower halves of their bodies frequently and excessively. It’s
not helpful for academic research.”

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I thought for a bit, and felt that that made quite a bit of sense, so I
made an “oh” sound to assent.

She then said, “Do you think Doctor Jiang has any tendencies
towards homosexuality? I saw that those novels all say that
you can make a man who isn’t gay become gay, what’s the
scientific name for it again? Oh, it’s called “breaking
crooked*”, why not I break him crooked, how about that?” (T/N:
common phrase online, given that in Chinese, being straight is also
called 直 which literally means straight so to break someone crooked
is to become gay.)

I opened and shut my mouth repeatedly, and stammered as I said,

“That’s… Not very good…”

She patted my shoulder. “Don’t be nervous, I was joking with

you, you don’t get my humor.”

……

“Oh right, you make a guess as to why I chose to study

medicine? And also why I chose orthopedics?” She requested
suddenly with great excitement.

I hadn’t yet recovered from her previous display of humor, and said
feebly, “Your family members are all doctors?”

She shook her head.

I guessed again. “You saw someone who suffered greatly

because they had a bone disease when you were younger?”

She was still shaking her head.

I became serious. “You resolved to hang your gourd bottle

and save the world?* You and your boyfriend agreed to try
for medicine? You accidentally filled in the wrong college
application choices during the time of the national college

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entrance examinations?” (T/N: in olden China, doctors would hang
a gourd outside their shops to signify that this was a clinic. This idiom
means to practise medicine to rescue the people of the world from
their suffering)

“All of them are not,” she said triumphantly, “My family sells
pork, I would feel very excited every time I saw my dad
chopping pork.”

……

The corners of my mouth quirked. “Hehe, influenced by what

you see and hear.”

She once again hit my shoulder hard. “You believed it again,

you really don’t get my humor. All of my family members
except for my younger brother are doctors.”

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Translator’s Corner:

Here we finally meet the quirky Dr. Su! (Also my favorite

character!) Hope everyone enjoys this update. Also another
translator is joining me and Amy, let’s welcome Xri! All links for our
SNS accounts are on the header if you want to talk to us or have
questions. ^^

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 31 Report

Chapter 4
Source: Tea-Quila

Last night Dr. Su and I had a long, intimate talk until 5 in the
morning, after which she high-spiritedly patted my ass and said, “I’ll
go prepare the endorsement for the next shift, I’m off-duty
today.”

By the time I slept, I had no idea whether I was asleep or awake. In

my drowsy state, it was ad though there was a person standing right
in front of me, I even asked him if he was a ghost. It also seems as
though I’ve explained to him about the karmic relationship of
involving third parties when settling things.

This kind of sleep akin to being in a trance was the worst, my brain
was running rapidly with past memories, not even neglecting the
smallest of details. I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or remembering
the past. Many people would say there’s no worth looking back at
one’s past, but my past is very worthy. It’s the most proactive, lively,
cheerful, morale booster, inspiring, reverse courtship in history, and
can be called the “The Successful Story of a Bright Girl*”. (T/N:
referring to Jang Nara’s 2002 drama)

I had a crush on Jiang Chen that time. It was after one week of
careful deliberations that I combined information from novels,
manhwa, and dramas, and was able to come up with three plans: a
love letter, by passing it on, and a direct confession. It took yet
another week of conducting a comprehensive analyses of these three
plans. The disadvantage of letters: first, I’m not good with words, and
second, Jiang Chen often receives letters but he almost never reads
them. The disadvantage of passing it on: first it’s easy to pass on the
wrong message, and second, from what I’ve gathered in the
numerous love conspiracies in novels and dramas, I found out that
the person who would pass on the message will end up with the male

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lead, so in the end, I was left with only this road to confession.

We always think that there are countless possibilities in life, afraid

of doing this, afraid of doing that, but in the end, there would still be
only one remaining possibility.

I flipped through the Yellow Calendar*, and picked an auspicious

burial date to confess to Jiang Chen. He was on student duty at that
time, so I was following him from behind and then I called him. He
turned around, along with the broom he was holding, giving me a
mouthful of dust from the action. (T/N: a special calendar which gives
information whether a particular day is propitious)　

I said, “Jiang Chen, I like you, puh, puh, puh.”

At first, he gave me a blank stare, and then furrowed his brows

saying, “puh, what?”

I was very vexed and hurriedly explained, “I’m not puh-ing at

you, I just ate a mouthful of dust, I said I like you.”

He continued the act of furrowing his brows, two creases were

scrunched in between his brows, making him look really good.

He said, “I don’t like you.”

It was an era where everyone loves to engage in ambiguous

relationships, and also at that time, there wasn’t a song that tells
about the grievances suffered by people involved in such, so even
though it’s not really what they feel, most of the people would opt to
say: “I’m not suitable for you, you deserve someone better.”
or, “We’re still too young, we should study well and enter a
good university first.”, and such nonsense. Jiang Chen’s chop the
nail and slice the iron* rejection made me think that his ruthlessness
really stands out from the rest. Hence I’ve decided to become even
more determined in liking him. (T/N: firm and resolute)

So Jiang Chen was pestered by me. Every day, I’d wait very early in

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the morning in the alley between our houses. When Jiang Chen
comes out, I’d put on a bright smile with the radiance of spring, and
say, “What a coincidence, I’m on my way to school too.” I’d
also pack my things before the dismissal bell would start ringing, so
when it rings I’d rush to the stairs, wait for Jiang Chen to walk past
me, and then I’d say, “What a coincidence, I’m also leaving
school.”

I was so muddleheaded that I choked on my own saliva, I woke up,

blinked my eyes at the ceiling a few times, and began to get in a
trance again. I saw myself on the stairs, smiling at Jiang Chen. In the
blink of an eye I was pulling on Jiang Chen’s bag, pleading him.
“Wait for me for ten minutes, okay? I’m going to hand over
my work to our English teacher.”

He pulled back his bag, “What were you doing in class? Li Wei
is waiting for me downstairs.” After a pause, he added, “We’re
going to buy some things for the class meeting.”

Maybe, my heart made a little rebound because I’ve been

disguising as someone virtuous and submissive for a long time.
Maybe, I was just turning mad from anger. In short, I aimed for his
shins and gave him a kick, “Go find your Li Wei!”

He probably didn’t expect it, and yelled while hopping on one foot,
“Chen Xiaoxi, you lunatic!”

I leaned on the railings afterwards, watching Jiang Chen and Li Wei

walk towards the school gates. It was nearly dusk, an orange sheet
was draped in between heaven and earth looking as if someone
knocked over a bottle of Sunkist in their hurry, dyeing everything in
orange.

I was only 16 years old that time — the first time in my life when I
felt utterly sad.

The scenes in my dream kept on switching over randomly. This

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time, I was standing on the classroom door blocking Jiang Chen, “I
have something to say to you.”

He gave me a quick glance with his arms folded across his chest,
“Speak.”

After kicking him on his leg, his responses to me were even less
than before. I let love and pride battle it out for a few days. Later on,
love annihilated pride so I came over to apologize.

I bowed my head and said softly like a whisper, “I shouldn’t have

kicked you that day, I’m sorry.”　　

He didn’t give me an answer for a long while, so I looked up and

saw him looking absentmindedly at the basketball court downstairs. I
got angry again and shouted loudly, “Jiang Chen!”

He lowered his head to look at me, “I’m not yet deaf, you said
sorry, right? It’s nothing.”

After saying that, he turned around and walked away.

I was looking at his fleeing back, my heart was suddenly filled with
deep sadness, like when my mum burnt the braised chicken wings
and how its thick smoke irritated my nose leaving it with a tingling
sensation.

I subconsciously rubbed my nose and called him, “Jiang Chen.”

He looked back.

I said with a bitter laugh, “Hehe. Do you think, I like to be unlucky?

He stared dazedly at me for a moment, and replied, “I just want

to go down to play ball.”

I said nothing, the deep sadness in my heart made me think that it

would be better for this heart to die from such sadness.

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He stood in front of me for a long time, and finally said with a slight
anxiousness, “I really didn’t mean any of that, our team is
losing very quickly.”

I nodded in understanding, “Go quickly, jiayou! (T/N: lit. add oil, it’s
the equivalent of hwaiting in Korea and ganbatte in Japan)

He turned around and ran, after running a few steps, he suddenly

stopped and called me: “Chen Xiaoxi.”

“Why?”

“Help me go to the corner store to buy a bottle of water.”

He said with a smile, his dimple was filled with the rays of the setting
sun.

Before I could respond, he took three steps and then two steps*,
and ran down the stairs. (T/N: means walking hurriedly in big steps
lit. describing the manner of walking where three worth of strides
becomes two)

I still went to the corner store. I was torn between Yi Li water and
Nongfu Spring water for quite a while but eventually picked Nongfu
Spring as it was 50 cents cheaper.

There were a lot of girls at the sides of the basketball court, I even
saw Li Wei. She was holding a bottle of Mai Dong which was more
expensive than my Nongfu Spring by two and a half bucks.

During halftime, Li Wei called Jiang Chen so that she could hand
over her drink, I blankly followed her from behind, sighed as she was
walking at lightning speed, scurrying like she was about to fly.

Jiang Chen didn’t accept her drink, instead, he gave me a quick

glance and said a bit awkwardly, “I already told Chen Xiaoxi to
bring me water.”

“I bought a sports drink with added electrolytes. If not you

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then who else would be able to drink it, quite wasteful.” Then
she smiled softly and tenderly.

I thought I couldn’t let her be this embarrassed, so I placed the

Nongfu Spring on Jiang Chen’s palm and closed it with a squeeze,
snatched the Mai Dong from Li Wei’s hand, twisted the lid open, took
one big gulp, and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand saying,
“Not wasted, not wasted. I just ran over from the corner
store and sweated a lot, thank you very much.”

She bowed her head in shame, like Xu Zhimo’s writing about that
very shy lotus flower or whatever. I like reading that poem, it’s truly
a masterpiece.

“Xiaoxi, Xiaoxi, Xiaoxi!” My mum’s continuous shouts roused

me from my shy lotus flower dream. I rubbed my eyes and yawned.
“Mum, making loud noises is prohibited in the hospital.”

My mum gave me a sideways glance, “Just now you were

talking about losing face in your sleep.”

“What did I say?” I asked her while removing the eye gunk at
the corner of my eyes.

“Lotus, shy or something.” She replied.

“‘The tenderness when you bend your head low, is like a

lotus flower too shy to stand the cool blow.’ A poem* by Xu
Zhimo. Indeed, our Xiaoxi is like me, possesses the
sentiments of a poet.” My dad thrown in his input on his side of
the hospital bed, looking immensely proud.

I turned to look at him, and talked nonsense, “I dreamed of my

language & literature teacher in Senior Year, she asked me to
recite ‘Second Farewell to Cambridge’.”

My dad’s face suddenly turned black, “This is not ‘Second

Farewell to Cambridge’! This is ‘Sayonara’!” (T/N: Both are

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poems by Xu Zhimo)

My mom chimed in, “Jang Nara right? I know her! A Korean

bangzi*.

(T/N: The pinyin for Jang Nara is Zhang Na La while Sayonara is Sha
Yang Na La so her mom misheard. Bangzi lit. means long, sturdy
stick in Chinese, a term referring to Koreans, in the olden days during
the Japanese invasion in China, they give Koreans stick instead of
guns to beat the Chinese with, hence the origin of the term.)

I looked at my mom in a different light, she puffed out her old

chest, “Ever since our home has been installed with the
internet, the housewife has become liberated.”

As a member of the lurking club for a long time, I was prompted by

a sudden impulse and logged in to Tianya Club. I discovered that I
actually replied to a lot of forum posts, not only that, most of them
were about handsome guys. I initially thought that I was just honestly
confronting my inner desires while sleepwalking, only to find out later
on that I accidentally enabled our home computer to automatically
log in to Tianya. The saddest thing in the world that nothing could
ever surpass is to have a Tianya Club mom. (T/N: Lurking means
someone who reads forum posts but never replies or comments.
Tianya Club or End Of The World Club in English is a popular internet
forum site.)

After eating lunch, my Tianya Club mom shoved on my arms a bag

of fruits my dad’s colleague brought over this morning, and forced
me to look for Jiang Chen to express gratitude. I think that by
sentiments and by logic, I ought to earnestly and seriously thank
Jiang Chen, so I went out and carried the large bag of fruits.

When I got to the doctor’s office, only then did I begin to get a bit
nervous. This is Jiang Chen and I’s exclusive and first official meeting
after not seeing each other in over the last 3 years.

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I knocked on the door, the reply coming from the inside was,
“Please come in.” I pushed the door open and found Jiang Chen
buried in his desk writing on something, he also raised his head to
give me a quick look, and said dully, “Find a chair to sit on.”

As an ex-girlfriend, in the face of such a generous* ex-boyfriend, I

feel immense pressure. (T/N: idiom used is not literally about being
generous but to describe someone’s open-mindedness, natural and
carefree manner not being the slight cautious.)

I placed the bag of fruits on the table, pulled a chair to sit face-to-
face from him across the table, and pleasantly said, “My mom
asked me to bring some fruits for you.”

He casted a look at the bag of fruits and said, “Thank auntie for
me. I went to take a look at Uncle Chen this morning, his
condition is very stable. I reckon that he can be discharged in
two or three days. He can come back after a week to get his
stitches removed.”

When he was done talking, he bowed his head down to write some
things with an “I am very busy.” look. I awkwardly sat for around
two minutes and then got up to leave, and also to conveniently
express my gratefulness to him. In the end, I hypocritically and
politely said the lines, “Thank you for your help this time, I
really don’t know how to repay you.”

He actually stopped twirling his pen, smiled at me and said, “Then

introduce me to a girlfriend.”

I carefully observed his expression, he really wasn’t joking. I was

depressed. This action of asking an ex-girlfriend to introduce a new
girlfriend is a bit inhumane. Like when you’re fired, your boss would
still write you a recommendation letter; or when caught cheating,
your teacher would offer you the answers; or when remarrying, you’d
ask your ex-wife to be one of the bridesmaids……

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All sorts of feelings were welling up in my heart, like, in his mind,
just how magnanimous does he think my personality really is…….

I heaved a deep sigh, and forced a hollow laugh, “What kind of

girlfriend do you want?”

He sized me up for a while, my heart was caught in my throat as

countless lines were flashing through my mind such as, “Someone
who is just like you would be good.” or, “Actually, I’ve never
forgotten you…..”

“A little taller, and thinner than you would be good

enough.” He said.

My unrequited, little precious heart quickly resumed its normal

beating, I smiled stiffly, “Your requirement isn’t very high, I’ll
help you look around.”

The pen on his hand was twirling beautifully between his fingers as
he said, “Then, I’ll thank you in advance.”

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Chapter 5
Source: Tea-Quila

It’s a double update! Happy holidays everyone, and Happy

Birthday to Hu Yitian!

—————————————————————-

My dad was discharged after two days, and the operation wound
was healing well. As it was too cumbersome to travel back and forth,
my dad removed his stitches at a local hospital. According to my
mom, right after the day his stitches were removed, my dad went
straight back to the Senior Citizen’s club. I praised my dad’s warrior-
like spirit over the phone.

When I woke up this morning, half of my pajamas are wet. I quickly

changed and rushed to the train station. Once I entered the train,
while the air-conditioning was blowing, I realized that my clothes
were again half drenched in sweat. As I was wearing a white top, it
became a little see-through. I looked around, there were quite a few
men who looked wretched. But none of them seemed to have
intentions of looking at me. I decided not to admit that I am the one
without charisma. But instead, it was due to the hot weather that the
indecent looking uncles are too lazy to be indecent.

Fu Pei* came up to me the moment I entered the office. (T/N: Xiao

Xi’s Boss)

“Chen Xiaoxi, why don’t you go and take photos for the
product catalogue today. Don’t you love to take photos?”

I looked out at the skies outside, starting to feel a little miserable, I

stated, “My dad mentioned that this name which I have
symbolizes that there is always hope in life. No matter how
big or small, it will always be good. But he didn’t expect that
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20 years later there is a young man called Chen Guan Xi*. He
also didn’t expect that said young man is a film lover and an
arts lover, and even more so, a young man who gained fame
from a work, kickstarting a series of “rated*” trend. This means
that there are always unexpected things in life. So please do not
think that because I am called Chen Xiao Xi, means that I love
photography.” (T/N: Chen Guan Xi = Edison Chen, an actor. For
“rated”, the original word used in the novel translates to “door”. I
did a bit of research and found out that Edison Chen had abit of
scandal on nudes and stuff. So I decided to use “rated” instead.)

Fu Pei took out his calculator from the drawer, “Talking back to
boss minus 2% salary, took leave minus 3%, late minus
1%…..”

I nodded, “Sure, just deduct it, but give me my salary for

last month first.”

He set aside his calculator slowly… “Miss Xiaoxi, please rest.

I’ll take care of the product catalogue instead.”

I nodded again, and went to sit below the air-conditioner.

I’ve been with this company for over two years. When I broke up
with Jiang Chen, I quickly found a new apartment and a new job. I’m
not afraid of him finding me, but afraid of him not finding me. I’m as
low as a human can get.

The company has a total of 3 persons: the boss, Fu Pei,

accountant, Situ Mo. I’m in charge of designing. We are a small
enterprise, and count largely on Fu Pei to take in orders to continue
our business. We have decent reputation. But ever since Fu Pei dated
and broke up with an ex-customer, she went to spread bad rumors
about the company and caused our sales to drop badly. We even
encouraged Fu Pei to sell his body to snatch projects, but he refused.
We do not understand why, as from our understanding of his
viewpoint in love, this is a double win for him.

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Fu Pei has left the office. Situ Mo has been away for almost a week
as her kid is running a fever. As such, I’m left alone in the office. I
brewed a cup of tea and strolled to my computer. I drank my tea and
waited for the computer to auto-login applications such as QQ, MSN,
SKYPE. All messenger apps. There are more and more messenger
systems but less and less things to talk.

The first thing to pop up on MSN is Zhuang Dong Na, a customer.

Last year end, our company designed a gift hamper for her company.
There are gift cards, cups, calendar, etcetera. It was a pleasant deal,
and we can be counted as an acquaintance. I introduced her to Jiang
Chen last week. She’s a decent woman. Taller, prettier, slimmer, had
better temper and more successful in career than me. The only thing
that she cannot compare is that my feet is smaller than hers.

I heard that they are getting along pretty well. Jiang Chen even
initiated a few dates with her. According to my experience, this
doesn’t come by easy. It was a little depressing to hear about it. I
even felt like tearing them apart, but I controlled myself.

I opened the chat with Zhuang Dong Na, she repeatedly sent a few
“Are you there”. I realized she didn’t put question marks. What a
disappointment to our punctuation marks.

I slowly typed, “I’m here now.”

I specially used red for the full stop* and increased it by one size.
Hopefully she will feel ashamed. (T/N: The period for Chinese is a full
stop.)

Zhuang Dong Na says, (10:16): Help me with something?

I saw the question mark and felt pleased. Hence I quickly replied:
“Tell me about it.”

Zhuang Dong Na says, (10:20): Jiang Chen has a patient who is

holding a banquet to celebrate his full recovery tonight. He has a

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bring-a-date along to the banquet, but I have to go Shanghai for a
business trip tomorrow afternoon. Can you go with him on my behalf?

I hesitated for a while and typed, “I don’t think that’s a good

idea..”

Zhuang Dong Na says, (10:24): Why not? I already told Jiang Chen,
and he agreed. Also, it is better to bring along a date in this kind of
occasion. I heard that the patient is a big shot, and wants to
matchmake Jiang Chen. You don’t wish for us to end our relationship
when we just started right..

I’m speechless from looking at her reply. When I introduced her to

Jiang Chen I already told her that we used to date. She doesn’t mind.
Even if she doesn’t mind, at least respect the ex-girlfriend. There’s a
saying, ‘Kindness is when someone is hungry, I don’t munch loudly
when eating meat.’ Not only are you munching loudly, but you are
even asking me to take tissue to wipe your mouth. That’s so
uncivilized..

Zhuang Dong Na says, (10:25): Xiaoxi please please please please

I beg you I beg you I beg you

Look at this person. Once anxious she forgets about punctuation.

Have you ever thought of the punctuations marks’ feelings.

I sighed, and replied, “All right, since you guys don’t mind.”

Zhuang Dong Na says, (10:28): Xiaoxi I love you so much, thanks

thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks. Jiang Chen will pick you up
tonight and bring you to buy a cocktail dress. He’ll pay.

I drank a huge mouth of tea and typed, “Okay.”

I pressed the enter key and thought, “My whole life is messed
up due to my kindheartedness.” When I was young, I still
remember my form teacher during primary school whom everyone
hated fell sick. Nobody wanted to visit her, but I did. She was elated.

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She gave me all the fruits and eggs and whatever from her ward. I
was so full I couldn’t walk properly. All because I was too kind.

My day passed by absentmindedly. When Fu Pei came back, he

took two pictures of me sitting at my desk. He uploaded it to the
computer for me to see. It was taken pretty well, like an elderly with
dementia who has lost her way.

I was in the squatting toilet when my phone rang. I have a problem

of needing to use the toilet whenever I am anxious. I always spent
the last 15 minutes before national examinations in the toilet.

I lifted my pants, and took out my phone. Indeed, it was Jiang

Chen. I took a deep breath and realized this isn’t the best place to be
doing so. Instead, I pinched my nose and said, “Hello?”

“It’s me.”

“I know.”

“Why are you speaking in a low muffled voice?”

I walked out of the toilet, released my nose and said, “I’m not.”

“Were you in the toilet?” Jiang Chen chuckled while saying.

I looked around in shocked.

“How do you know?”

“Guessed. Have you knocked off (from work)?”

“If you’re so good at guessing you can continue guessing

then.” I replied curtly.

“I’m under your office. Just come down when you’re done.”

I packed up and walked down. I looked around but didn’t see him. I
was thinking if this is his idea of revenge for all the times I was late

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for our dates 3 years ago.

After sneaking around for a while, a car stopped in front of me and

honked a few times. I bent down to take a look but was unable to see
through the tinted window. When I wanted to take a closer look,
there was honking again. I backed a few steps away in shock. I was
enraged and wanted to start scolding, but the window winded down
slowly and Jiang Chen instructed, “Get on.”

I opened the door and went in. He frowned and asked, “Why are
you so slow, I thought you knock off at 5:30 PM? Put on your
seat belt.”

I put on a face and mumbled to myself, “Chen Xiaoxi, you just

ended work? Sorry to trouble you tonight, and thanks.”

Jiang Chen gave me a look, “You’re welcome.”

I twitched my lips, “So polite.”

I secretly looked at him. He was wearing a black suit with a

sapphire blue tie. So handsome.

He suddenly leaned towards me. I quickly pulled and fastened my

seat belt and said, “I already fastened it.”

He opened the compartment in front of my seat and took out a

bottle of water. He passed me the bottle and snorted.

I felt like dying when I took the bottle over. If I die, Jiang Chen will
probably write the death cause as ‘thinking too much’ or ‘died from
shame’.

When we were on the road. I drank the water in small sips. I’m
actually not thirsty, but my throat’s a little dry.

It was eerily quiet in the car. I started to tear the bottle label in
boredom. I didn’t know where to throw it after I tore it out. So I asked

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him where to throw it.

He turned his head to look at me, “That compartment I opened

just now.”

I opened the compartment and threw in the wrapper. Feeling a

little guilty, I asked, “You are still drinking Nongfu Spring
water?”

I always see him drinking Nongfu Spring water ever since I bought
him that for the first time. At that time I was quite contented with
myself. Even though I bought Nongfu Spring because I wanted to
save 50 cents, I didn’t expect to buy what he would’ve come to love.
It really is like sowing fruits even when you didn’t plan to plant, two
hearts beating as one.

But he simply replied, “Hospital gave it for the festivities,

there’s still a box of it at the back seat.”

I turned my head and saw the carton of Nongfu Spring. Casually

praising his hospital, “Your hospital is not bad! Giving out gifts
during festivals. Unlike my company, there’s only overtime
during festival seasons.”

He was driving attentively and didn’t reply.

Seeing how he has no intention in responding to me, I stopped

talking. As I grow older, I stopped doing things like being excessively
passionate to a cold shoulder*. This coldness from him is nothing to
me. I used to do it regardless of his reaction, but not anymore. (T/N:
stick hot face on cold buttocks)

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Translator’s Corner:

Please thank the lovely Xri for this chapter. See you on the next!

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Chapter 6
Source: Tea-Quila

Jiang Chen’s car stopped in front of the LV flagship store, I jumped

in shock, basically I only ever saw this brand in a certain famous
author’s books, in real life, I was still more familiar with AV* instead.
(T/N: referring to p*rn videos)

The central control of the car doors unlocked with a knocking

sound. Jiang Chen said, “You get down and wait for me, I’ll go
and park the car.”

I got off the car and loitered at the same place waiting for him to
return, sneaking wily peeks at the LV store through the glass
windows from time to time. Perhaps it was a figment of my
imagination, but I just felt that the orange coloured lights appeared
to be especially opulent and luxurious.

“Let’s go.” Jiang Chen was standing behind me since who-knows-

when.

I jumped in shock and stammered, “It’s better we don’t, it’s

really expensive, plus it seems like all they sell inside are
bags, I didn’t see any formal clothes at all.”

He followed my line of sight and took a look, “Did you think I

was going to bring you to enter LV?”

“Were you not?”

He looked at me like how he would a lunatic. “You’re not my

wife, why would I buy LV for you!”

……

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He led me to make a detour around LV. We entered an alley and
came to the entrance of a clothing store. I raised my head and
looked; this store’s name was too honest – “Can’t afford to buy
LV”.

I pointed at the signboard and told Jiang Chen, “Look, it’s

mocking you.”

He lifted his head to take a glance, “It’s mocking you.”

I curled my lip, “Wait till I become wealthy, I will go to each

and every famous brands’ stores, and just tell the shop
assistant, ‘I don’t want this item, I don’t want this item, wrap
everything else up.’”

He shook his head and said, “You might as well say, ‘Wrap this
item and this item up, wrap everything else up and mail them
to the Red Cross Society.’”

His skills* were more profound than mine…… (T/N: referring to

skills/abilities that are built up through religious practice – a Buddhist
concept)

The shop owner was a young lad, his looks were not bad. Looking
at him, I kept on thinking that he looked familiar, most likely in my
subconscious, I wanted to get familiar with all handsome men.

The young lad came forward to welcome us. “Doctor Jiang,

bringing your girlfriend to buy clothes?”

Jiang Chen pushed me forward and said, “Help her coordinate a

set of clothes that she can attend a banquet in.”

The young lad’s eyes swept over me from head to toe, he said,
“Will do, the beautiful lady’s aura is especially matching of
my shop’s clothes, I will immediately coordinate several sets
for you to choose.”

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Indeed, my aura is an aura of not being able to afford to buy
LV……

While the shop owner was picking out clothes, I asked Jiang Chen,
“You know him?”

Jiang Chen nodded. “He is Doctor Su’s younger brother.”

Younger Brother Su’s ears were working especially well, and he

joined in our conversation. “I am called Su Rui, my sister might
come over in a while.”

I lowered my head to look at him. He was squatting on the floor

choosing shoes, and his butt was sticking high up in the air. His low-
waisted jeans caused a large part of his waist to be exposed, it was
quite slim.

“Chen Xiaoxi.” Jiang Chen suddenly called me.

“Ah?” I took back my gaze that was fixated on that slim waist, and
turned my head back to look at him.

He pointed at my foot. Lowering my head, I saw some green

creature that was similar to a lizard stopping beside my foot, its long
tail swaying slightly. On reflex, I used the tips of my toes to kick it
away at lightning speed, then hid behind Jiang Chen’s back while
shrieking at a high frequency.

The green creature rolled once on the floor, flipping over to reveal
a belly that was somewhat light-coloured, it’s four legs treading
disorderly in mid-air.

Su Rui straightened his body and walked over, beamingly picking

up the green organism. Placing and displaying it on his arm, he told
me, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, this is the lizard that I
am rearing.”

I stuck my head out from behind Jiang Chen’s back. “Is it

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poisonous or not, will it bite humans?”

“It won’t, it won’t, it is very obedient.” Su Rui extended his

arm out, and invited me with great enthusiasm, “Touch it and
see.”

I had difficulty rejecting such great hospitality, and stretched out

my trembling hand. Just as my hand reached in front of the lizard, it
suddenly stuck out a fleshy forked tongue with a hiss. I was so scared
that I rapidly pulled back my hand, and went back to hide behind
Jiang Chen once again.

Su Rui laughed heartily. “Xiaoxi, do not scare jiejie*, she

didn’t kick you on purpose just now.” (T/N: jiejie: means older
sister, can be used to refer to women older than you.)

“Xiaoxi?” Jiang Chen repeated it once, and began laughing too.

(T/N: Xiao 小 – means small. Our main character’s name is 小希,
where the ‘xi’ means hope – i.e. her name means Little Hope. Su
Rui’s lizard is called 小蜥, where the ‘xi’ means lizard – i.e. its name
means Little Lizard.)

I impetuously replied him before I realised, and was considerably

indignant. “It’s also called Xiaoxi?”

“Also?” Su Rui was very excited. “Who else is called Xiaoxi?

This really is a good name.”

I, who had a good name, raised my hand up slowly. “Me, Chen

Xiaoxi……”

“Too fated!” Su Rui moved around till he was behind Jiang Chen
and stopped in front of me.

Stroking the lizard’s head, he said, “Su Xiaoxi, this jiejie has
the same name as you, you two are too fated, greet jiejie,
come and give jiejie a kiss.”

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With a forced laugh, I moved ’round till I was in front of Jiang Chen,
stuck out my head and waved my hand. “Hello, hello, there
should be no direct contact between men and women, there’s
no need to kiss, no need to kiss.“ (T/N: there is some
wordplay here, the idiom makes use of the word 亲, which in
the context of the idiom means “personal” – i.e. no personal
contact between men and women (this is a Confucianism concept).
But 亲 also means kiss, so Xiaoxi is playing on the double meaning
here.)

Su Rui gave an appearance of being insulted. “Xiaoxi is a girl.”

Jiang Chen pulled me away from hiding in front of his chest. “Go
and change your clothes.”

Only then did Su Rui put Su Xiaoxi down and took several pieces of
clothing from the clothes rack to pass to me. “Try them first, what
shoe size do you wear?”

Basically, my feet were abnormally small, being asked my shoe

size was humiliating for me……

Hence, I said, “35.”

Jiang Chen slanted his head and looked at me, saying, “Size 33
and a half, 34 with a semi-insole is also okay.”

……

Su Rui scratched his head and told me, “I need to search and
see if there are shoes that are size 34, you can go in and
change your clothes first.”

I clasped the clothes and went in to change, but met with trouble
when changing into the first set. The zipper at the back was
entangled with my hair, and it got stuck halfway, I couldn’t pull it up
nor could I pull it down. Helpless, I could only give a cry for help
towards the outside, “Su Rui, the zipper is stuck, it doesn’t

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move when I pull it.”

The curtains were lifted open, but instead it was Jiang Chen who
came in. I stared at him blankly. He didn’t say anything, and directly
moved round to behind my back. He drew up my hair and lifted it
high up with one hand, while using the other hand to pull up the
zipper in one swift motion. After he pulled the zipper up, he walked
away abruptly. I was in deep admiration of his craftsmanship.

I changed into quite a few sets of clothes, and finally Su Rui helped
me choose a light green muslin evening gown. It was light as a
feather when I wore it on myself, causing me to have a sense of
panic that I wasn’t wearing any clothes.

Su Rui with great difficult managed to search and produce a pair of

light yellow high heels that were size 34, after adding a semi-insole, I
could, just barely, wear them and maintain my stability.

Su Rui praised my new manner of dressing till I was an

extraordinary beauty of the celestial and mortal worlds. Even though
I couldn’t find a slightest sliver of the stunning/breathtaking
appearance that he was talking about when I looked into the mirror,
but I felt that what he said was indeed too true, I sincerely wanted to
befriend him.

Su Xiaoxi tried to approach me a few times, but was always scared

off by me giving her a look that said, “If you dare come over I will
use my high heels to grind and kill you.”

Jiang Chen sat on the sofa inside the shop, lazily sizing me up with
a few glances from time to time. Of course, I didn’t dare hope that he
would be like what normally appeared in television shows or novels,
where he would hold his breath and be blown away by my beauty,
but at the very least, he shouldn’t appear like he was watching the
news broadcast.

“Are you done?” He stood up from the sofa.

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“I’m done, you can pay the cash.” I lowered my head and
studied the collar of my gown, the edge of the V-necked collar was
folded into very pretty looking little pleats, like green waves of
wheat*. (T/N: referring to the waves of wheat in the field that appear
when the wind blows and causes the wheat to move up and down)

Su Rui announced noisily. “Forget it, forget it, they have too
much fate, just regard it as a gift from Xiaoxi to Xiaoxi on
their first meeting. 800 in total, the gown is 500, the shoes
are 300.”

I glared at him, this was a ripoff, similar clothes could be obtained

on Taobao* with 80RMB, shipping included. (T/N: online shopping
website)

Su Rui smiled at me. “Don’t give me a look as if you regard

me as an evil unscrupulous businessman. These clothes of
mine are not the kind that can be found all over the street,
they are all personally designed and made by me, there’s
only one piece of each.”

Jiang Chen, contrariwise, didn’t say anything, after paying the

money, he said “Thank you” and pulled me to leave.

I put on my makeup in the moving car with great difficulty.

Fortunately the road conditions were not bad, on the whole, after
finishing putting on makeup, my facial features were still normal.

While waiting for the red light, Jiang Chen suddenly started
laughing, his eyes filled with mischief, and said, “Your makeup
skills have improved considerably.”

I gave him a disdainful look, I knew what he was laughing about.

At that point in time, it was Senior Year 3. We were battling the

national college entrance examinations day and night. In faraway
places, there were a few fellow people similarly battling the national

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college entrance examinations who couldn’t withstand the pressure
and ended their own lives. This news was passed around the various
major departments, and after being passed around for a long time,
only then did it trickle down to this school of ours in a faraway small
town. The school principal urgently called for a meeting, and after
that, one month before the entrance examinations, the teachers
decided to organise an evening party for us children deep in the
abyss of suffering. The evening party’s name was “Heading
towards tomorrow”. I personally felt this name was very
meaningless, unless you died, everyone had to head towards
tomorrow. The programme items were prepared by the Senior Year 1
and 2 students, recitals, chorus singing and so on, in short,
programme items that would cause people to not want to live till
tomorrow at all when they watched it.

Before the evening party took place, the teachers were stumped
by a matter. The students were to go on stage, and had to put on
makeup. There were only a few teachers in the school who knew how
to apply makeup. Just applying makeup for one choral group, it would
be daylight by the time they were done. Hence the school at the last
minute decided to let the students in the arts class share part of the
large responsibility of applying makeup. As the leading student in the
arts class, I thought to myself that everything was within my control,
but I didn’t anticipate that it would turn out that a human face was
quite different from a canvas. Every girl that had me apply makeup
for them cried after looking at themselves in the mirror, and further
expressed that if they had to go on stage looking like this, they would
choose to bid farewell to tomorrow. And at that point in time, Jiang
Chen just so happened to walk past that classroom. I was surrounded
by a group of crying junior girls, at a loss of what to do, while he
stood outside the classroom laughing till his hands were dancing and
his feet were stamping*. The junior girls, on account of being jeered
at by an influential figure, cried themselves hoarse even more
distraughtly. (T/N: meaning to be really animated (dancing,
gesticulating, etc) with joy)

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Even though it had been many years since then, but the moment I
recalled this incident, my temples still pulsated and throbbed, and it
was like the undulating cadence of weeping sounds were still
lingering on by my ears again.

“Reached,” Jiang Chen said, and the car slowly came to a halt as
he pulled over.

I rubbed my temples, gave a sigh and grumbled, “ time, don’t

make me recall these sorts of incidents that I can’t bear to
recollect.”

The car had stopped for quite a while at the same place, yet he did
not open the car doors at all. I turned to look at him, puzzled. His
eyebrows were creased tightly, his eyes gazing out into a distance,
his jaw was braced tautly, and his two hands clenched the steering
wheel, with his knuckles turning white.

I knew he was being angry, but I was a little unable to make sense
of his sudden onset of anger.

I asked him in a low voice, “What’s the matter?”

He seemed to take a deep breath, and he slowly let go of the

steering wheel, turning his head around to smile at me. Perhaps I
shouldn’t call it a smile, he was only pursing his lips together into a
line, squeezing out a deep dimple on his left cheek. He said, “It’s
nothing, my stomach hurts.”

“Ah? That what should we do?” Once I become nervous, I

become a little incoherent and confused. “Why would your
stomach hurt? Did you not eat anything? Do you have
medicine or not? Let’s go to the hospital…”

“I’m alright,” he said.

“How could you be alright? Do you know that if your

stomach hurts, it could be a hemorrhage of your stomach, or

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a stomach ulcer, or a stomach perforation, or stomach
cancer……”

He looked at me, smiling. “What else?”

I said uncertainly. “Your stomach tearing apart?”

I said with emphasis, “No matter what, let’s go to the hospital

quickly, you could possibly die in the next second!”

He suddenly stretched out his hand and pushed my forehead,

smilingly saying, “Are you the doctor or am I the doctor?”

I was puzzled and perplexed by his sudden good spirits, only

repeatedly verifying with him that his stomach would not tear apart.
He also repeatedly guaranteed me that he was already alright, and
finally, with great helplessness expressed that if any unforeseen
misfortune were to happen to his stomach, I would be the one
operating the surgical knife during the surgery.

Hearing that he was willing to die in my hands, I then set my mind

at rest.

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Chapter 7
Source: Tea-Quila

Another double update! Enjoy.

Before entering the banquet hall, Jiang Chen who had been walking
ahead of me suddenly stopped and walked a few paces back to stand
by my side. He bent his elbow and looked at me as though he was
offering it.

I looked back at him suspiciously, “Do we have to strike a

pose? Who’s taking the pictures for us?”

He glared at me so I quickly laughed it out, squinting my eyes,

“I’m just joking with you.”

After I was done talking, I slipped my hand into the crook of his
arm, and lightly held unto it, “There’s a thing in the movies
where everyone has to be arm-in-arm when making an
entrance.”

I looked at my hand that was clutching on his black suit when all of
a sudden, a knot seems to form in my chest, I couldn’t help but grasp
his arm firmly. He bent his head to look at me, and said softly as if
trying to gently calm me, “Go look around as if you’re watching
a movie.”

I looked around the banquet hall. A large crystal chandelier was

hanging down from the ceiling, twinkling in a multitude of brilliant
lights and vibrant colors. Under the chandelier were wandering men
and women with wine glasses all lively. Long tables were covered in
tablecloths the colour of champagne, and filled with food whick
makes one’s mouth water. This is definitely a movie about gourmet.

“Chen Xiaoxi, don’t just look at the food, smile.” Jiang Chen

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suddenly bent over and whispered quite close to my ear, his hot
breath tickling it. I couldn’t help but shot him a glare.

“Smile.” He said once again.

I followed his line of sight — a group of people were slowly walking

towards us, all the while crowding around a small, familiar-looking old
man.

Jiang Chen half dragged me towards them. I asked him through the
forced smile plastered on my face, “Which one is your patient?”

“That old man in the middle.”

When I looked at said man, he was rather beaming in the pink of

health, and doesn’t look like someone who just recovered from a
serious illness so I asked again, “What’s his illness?”

“Heart disease.”

Jiang Chen was just about done with his reply when we’ve finally
reached them.

They greeted each other with a simple handshake, I heard Jiang

Chen calling him Secretary Zhang* and it dawned on me where this
feeling of familiarity came from — I saw him in the local news, not
only that, I saw him a couple of times. The fact that I watch the local
news no more than ten times an entire year, his appearance in them
is certainly very high then. It would be nice if we’re introduced, after
all, he’s a very sought-after member of the ruling class* of society.

(T/N: secretary means a chief official of a branch of a socialist or

communist party. The ruling class refers to the elite, upper echelons
of society)

Secretary Zhang was all smiles, looking at me, “Is this Little
Jiang’s girlfriend?”

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I shot a quick look at Jiang Chen and thought to myself if I should
send the Buddha to the furthest of West*, I put on a smile and
nodded, “Hello, my name is Chen Xiaoxi.”

(T/N: Sending the Buddha to the West is a proverb meaning if

you’re helping someone then help them till the end, not giving up
halfway.)

Secretary Zhang also nodded. Men of this age are rather kind,
when he smiles his appearance looks like that of a mere mortal who
finally achieved immortality through cultivation, “Miss Chen looks
really beautiful, indeed a talented man and a beautiful
woman*. I was actually thinking of introducing my
granddaughter to Little Jiang, it seems like my
granddaughter doesn’t have enough luck.” (T/N: means ideal
couple)

I don’t know what to answer to that, so I just smiled apologetically.

Jiang Chen decided to tackle on the subject himself, “Secretary
Zhang’s favor and high regards, I dare not make
presumptions*.” (T/N: lit. dare not pull myself up high, a humble
phrase of someone not daring to make friends or settle as relatives
with people in a higher status than themselves.)

Secretary Zhang laughed and suddenly announced in a clear,

distinct voice, “Ladies and gentlemen.”

His voice wasn’t particularly loud, however, there was a strange

summoning force to it. The hall packed with people went silent and
seemingly turned their heads towards our general direction. My hand
that was pulling Jiang Chen’s arm subconsciously tightened, he
extended his other hand and gently patted the back of my hand.

Secretary Zhang raised the wine glass in his hand, “This is my

benefactor, Doctor Jiang. I’m asking everyone here to help
me thank Doctor Jiang and his girlfriend with a glass of wine.
Thank you!”

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When he was done with his toast, we were then handed a glass of
wine each.

Jiang Chen also made a toast to him, “I’m simply doing my job.”

Honestly speaking, I was really terrified, I’ve never meet people of

this calibre. In my memory, the biggest crowd I’ve ever faced was
when I joined a choir competition during grade school. At that time I
was right in the middle of a group of children, singing with our mouth
wide open. My legs on the other hand, were trembling as that of
someone with infantile paralysis.

Now, a bunch of people were looking our way in unison, moreover,

every single one of them was part of the ruling class — elites,
tycoons, influential officials, and such. I wanted to say I’m just an
ordinary person who just came over to watch a movie so please don’t
look at me.

Fortunately, the limelight was on us for only a short while. When

everyone was done drinking, they quickly resumed to where they had
left off, only then did I also notice that in my nervousness, I spilled
wine on my hand.

It was only Secretary Zhang who seems as though he has no

intentions of letting us go, and toasted another glass of wine to us
again.

“Little Jiang, when you get married, remember to send me

an invitation.”

“We will surely send out an invitation but you mustn’t drink
anymore wine, your heart can’t stand it.” Jiang Chen said
smiling, in a tone laced with strong authority unique to that of
doctors.

Secretary Zhang actually let out a smile and put the glass down. I
was thinking about how to escape unharmed, and looked down

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languidly at the skirt I was wearing, analyzing which part should I
wipe my dirty hand on where the stain wouldn’t be too obvious.

“Chen Xiaoxi, go to the restroom.” Jiang Chen said before he

was whisked away by Secretary Zhang.

After I was done washing my hands, I spotted Jiang Chen and

Secretary Zhang from a distance, surrounded by a group of people. I
hesitated for a moment, I think it’s more fun to stay right beside the
long table and stuff myself. Anyway, I’ve already shown my ability of
blocking the Secretary’s granddaughter, now I can finally show the
ability of my stomach.

I stood right beside the table, observing it for a moment. I found

out that the food looked the same when they were taken out, as the
few people who went to table stayed there for no more than ten
seconds. So I felt reassured and took a big plate, ready to eat
everything from the beginning of the table right till the end, and to
satisfy my desire to exploit the ruling class.

I was only able to eat four dishes when I encountered an obstacle.

Of course it wasn’t about me being full, I’m very confident about my
stomach.

In front of me was a group of women. They were chatting by the

table, and were naturally dressed to the nines for the banquet with
brands that I obviously can’t afford. It’s hard to say if they look
beautiful, as their makeup was done by someone with the hands of
the gods. Indeed, the true features of the human race already cease
to exist.

As the table was pushed right against the wall, and by the looks of
it, these women were going to stand there forever, I thought I
probably wouldn’t be able to try every food there is before the
banquet is over. Just by the thought of it, I was already itching to set
this group of women on fire.

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I silently walked past them, intending to eat the dishes placed at
far end of the table. When I passed by their side, I was called over by
a woman, “Hello, Doctor Jiang’s girlfriend.”

I turned around, the girl who spoke to me looked beautiful, even

though she was also dress to the nines and was wearing thick
makeup, she was able to look amorous and refined. She looked quite
a bit like the Cleopatra in my middle school’s World History textbook,
and also amazingly tall wearing a pair of high heels which I reckon, is
more than ten centimeters — a look that can’t be put together
without breaking through the roof of the banquet hall.

I smiled at her, “Hi.”

She came closer to me and pulled my hand, “My grandfather

being able to recover this time was truly because of Doctor
Jiang. I was in the hospital looking after our old man when he
got sick and I can say that Doctor Jiang is really dedicated to
his patients. For around half a month, I hardly ever seen him
leave the hospital. It’s fortunate that he has a girlfriend like
you who is understanding of such things.”

I know that I’m quite sensible, but this really has nothing to do with
me…….

I was still holding the big plate on one hand, the other was pulled
by her. I had no choice but to stare at her hand that was holding
mine, so soft as if there was no bones, her fingers long and slender
like pared scallions, her nails coated with a layer of pale pink, looking
like the layer of brine sauce dripping from a first-rate Hong Kong-
style chicken feet.

Perhaps she noticed my awkwardness and loosen her hold on my

hand. “I think Doctor Jiang is still being dragged around by my
grandpa. Being alone you’ll get bored, come and join our
chat.”

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I had to put my plate down, then assumed an air of enthusiasm,
listening to them talk. I’ve managed to catch bits of their topic, Ivy
League schools abroad, holiday resorts, famous brands……I really
don’t understand these things, so I wasn’t interested.

Now they were talking about whose rich family’s miss was raising a
dog with a very long breed name, whose rich family’s miss was
rearing a foal, etcetera……..This animal topic soon switched to food.

A woman with a ferocious mouth of a beast* said, “The French

truffles that XX restaurant air-freighted has already arrived. I
just went to eat yesterday, it was pretty good.”

(T/N: means someone who looks very covetous or greedy)

“Really? I’ll have my boyfriend take me there tomorrow.”

“I heard that the blackfin tuna in YY restaurant is good too.

”

“Really? Then we’ll go there in another day. But I still

prefer Kobe beef. ”

……..

“If I want to eat truffles, I’ll fly to either France or Italy,

French black truffle is pretty good, Italian white truffle is
alright too. I don’t eat blackfin tuna. Kobe beef is something I
have no choice but to eat when going to Japan. However, I’d
rather eat caviar and only the freshest. If the globules look
plump and smooth, then without any seasoning or other
food, I’d use a spoon made from ivory and eat a spoonful
from a chilled glass bowl.” A sweet and charming voice strangely
made this group of rich, young misses miraculously turn silent.

I look at the woman who just spoke, she was leaning lazily against
the table, smiling yet not smiling, and is very beautiful. Her beauty is
not that of a goddess from the heavens who doesn’t eat worldly

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food*, her beauty is aggressive, you can even say flashy. It’s the kind
that when a man sees her, they couldn’t help but indulge in their own
fantasies, and when a woman does, they couldn’t help but want to
throw sulfuric acid on her beautiful face.

(T/N: According to folklore, the Daoists believed that celestial

beings never ate cooked food. Later on, this phrase was used to
describe a person who has otherworldly qualities similar to that of
celestial beings – a pure beauty.)

She was wearing a customized greenish coloured qipao*

embroidered with red flowers. The dress doesn’t have exaggerated
slits or a plunging neckline but only clung to her curves like a glove.
For the first time in my life I finally saw someone look tempting in
clothes that’s actually conservative. (T/N: a close-fitting Chinese
dress with a mandarin collar and slits)

I also noticed that when she spoke, the women around showed a
look of disdain, so much that some even whispered “vixen” under
their breaths.

When I heard the word “vixen”, I felt completely relieved, that’s

right, growing into such a bad vixen is truly a waste of talent.

Perhaps because the conversation has gone stale, the

granddaughter of the host, Miss Zhang, suddenly turned to me with a
smile and asked, “What does Miss Chen usually like to eat?”

I was caught off guard by her question, don’t know if she was

trying to save the show or trying to embarrass me, so I replied
evasively, “I don’t have something I particularly like to eat, I
usually just eat at random.”

“I saw Miss Chen eating a lot of stuff just now, surely

you’ve done quite a research on food, don’t keep your secret
so selfishly.”

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“It’s like this.” I rubbed the back of neck, a bit distressed. “I
think Nissin’s egg instant noodles is quite delicious. Master
Kong is alright too. I also like mine a bit soggy. And then the
eggs, it’s best to have two; crack one and mix it with the
noodles, the other one is poached at the side. When it has
come to a boil, only then will you add the seasoning, don’t
add any more than that, just that bit to make it palatable, a
lil’ salt, and some soy sauce. Truly delicious.”

……..　　

There was silence as though the Grim Reaper came.

See? Why must you let me share my expertise? I really didn’t want
to.

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Dolly | Amy | Xri

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Chapter 8
Source: Tea-Quila

After receiving a valuable lesson on instant noodles from me, the

group of ladies suddenly had no more interest in chatting. They were
all looking for excuses to leave. I think this is a bad gesture, a
gesture of tearing down the bridge after crossing the river.* (T/N:
Partly to “abandon” the person who helped you after achieving your
goals. She probably meant imparting her instant noodles knowledge
to them.)

When I was preparing to lift up my plate to continue eating every

dish on the long table, I realized the vixen is still leaning on the table.
Unsure of when she had another glass of red wine on her hand, she
gently swirled her wine and asked, “What is your name?”

I looked left and right to make sure that she was talking to me and
answered, “Chen Xiaoxi, the ‘Xi’ from hope.”

She raised her glass towards me and bottoms up-ed the wine. She
then said, “Hu Ran Ran, the “Ran” from having affair with
people.” (T/N: To have an affair with people (plural sense) is 跟人有染
(Gen Ren You Ran). The same ‘Ran’ in Hu Ran Ran’s name.)

I looked around, unable to find any glass of wine to return her

toast. So I lifted my plate of sushi to return her the toast instead. I
ate the sushi in one mouth, almost choking to death. Finally I rubbed
the tear off the corner of the eye and said, “Nice meeting you.”

“You don’t have to cry from feeling moved.” She said as she
passed a tissue to me. I was quite shocked from the fact that she
didn’t seem to have any clutch or bag on her. Her dress was stuck
onto her like a second layer of skin that will burst upon breathing. I
don’t think that she can stuff any tissue in that.

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I took the tissue and said thanks.

She just leaned on the table while looking at me walking back and
forth the table and eating happily, she asked if it’s delicious.

“Its delicious! Do you want some?” I pointed at the cakes in

my plate. Only then did I think of her caviar analogy and felt that it
was unnecessary.

She pointed at her qipao that she was wearing and said, “It will
burst if I eat.”

I nodded and open my palm to show her the tissue that she passed
to me and said, “Your dress is too scary. Where did you put the
tissue?”

She pointed in between her legs and said, “Stuck it against my

inner thighs, together with my phone.”

I looked her at smooth legs that were not donning any stockings. I
twitched my mouth and looked at the tissue on my palm. It didn’t
feel right to be holding or throwing it away. I’m having mixed feelings
knowing that it was taken out of her inner thighs.

Hu Ran Ran laughed out loud and said, “I’m just joking! How
cute. I took it from the table.”

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck and laughed along, “I

only have eyes for food.”

I finished eating 58 dishes with her looking at me. I took a piece of

serviette and imitated her by leaning sultrily on the table and wiped
my mouth.

Hu Ran Ran turned her head to looked at me and asked, “Are you
the doctor’s girlfriend?”

I touched my nose and replied, “Sort of.”

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Also secretly adding a “used to” in my heart.

She tucked her hair behind her ears and said, “Zhang Qian Rong
will snatch from you.”

“Ah? Who?” I asked while trying to stop myself from staring at

her dark brown wavy hair.

Her hairstyle is my favorite big, wavy, hairstyle. I wanted to do it

when I was in university. But Jiang Chen said I looked refreshing and
natural in short hair. That was how I donned a mushroom bob hair for
four years. It was only until we broke up that I grew out my long hair.
Now that I think of it, how is refreshing and natural a compliment?
It’s more like a line in an air freshener commercial.

“Zhang Qian Rong, Old Zhang’s granddaughter. There,

she’s currently walking towards your boyfriend.” Hu Ran Ran
said while pointing with her chin.

I followed her line of sight and saw Zhang Qian Rong walking
towards Jiang Chen and Secretary Zhang. Swaying her hips like she
was performing a ribbon dance.* (T/N: A traditional Chinese dance.)

“Old Zhang is really old.” Sighed Hu Ran Ran. “The most a

few more years to live.”

I looked at her in surprise. She laughed and said, “If I said I’m his
mistress would you believe?”

I forced out a laugh not knowing what to reply.

She continued, “I used to be a nanny in their house.”

I couldn’t control myself and went, “Ho..w…?”

I wasn’t able to find the right words to phrase my question.

Thankfully she continued it for me.

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“How was I able to climb onto Old Zhang’s bed? Whenever
he is the only one left at home, I’ll mop the floor wearing a
low-cut nightgown.”

“I see…” I dragged my words as I am not sure what to reply. I

can’t be praising her for that, neither can I wish for her to succeed.
Even more impossible for me to be calling her shameless. Ah, what a
difficult situation I’m in.

She was laughing and seemed to be enjoying my embarrassment.

I’m glad to be of amusement to you.

“Your boyfriend’s coming.” She said while covering her mouth.

“Ah?” I looked up, and Jiang Chen was already standing in front of
me. I couldn’t help but praise him saying, “You sure walk fast.”

Jiang Chen politely nodded to acknowledge Hu Ran Ran’s presence.

Then he looked at me and said, “Let’s go.”

He walked off right after finishing his sentence. I waved goodbye to

Hu Ran Ran and ran in small steps to catch up to him while asking,
“We can leave? But the banquet hasn’t ended yet.”

He stopped walking until I’m beside him. We walked out side by

side as he answered, “We’re going back. I still have an
operation tomorrow.”

“Oh,” I followed him out.

He went to get his car while I waited outside the hotel. Suddenly
remembering that he didn’t seem to have eaten anything. Moreover,
he had gastric pain before coming. Hence I decided to discreetly
return to the banquet to get some food for Jiang Chen. I only took two
steps before hearing a honk. I turned back to open the door and
propped half my body in to say, “Aren’t you having gastric pain?
I see that you didn’t eat anything just now, I’ll go take some

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food for you. Will be back soon.”

Just as I turned to walk back in right after finishing my sentence.

Jiang Chen repeatedly shouted my name behind me. I had no choice
but to walk back and said, “Don’t worry. The food’s really great
inside. There’s nobody eating it anyways. No one will mind
even if I were to take some.”

“Get on.” He said while tapping the steering wheel impatiently.

I came to a sudden realization that ever since we met again, he

has been strangely losing his patience with me often. I’ll give you an
analogy. It’s like you when only raised a dog with the intention of
slaughtering it to eat. However, not only won’t the dog grow any
meat, but he thinks that he is a beloved pet, always trying to get
attention from you. Don’t you think it’s annoying?

I entered the car silently, closed the door and put on my seat belt.

“I live at XX neighbourhood XX street. If it’s not convenient

you can just drop me off at any bus stop. I can take bus
back.”

He stared at me for quite some time. They say the eyes are the
windows to one’s soul. Hence I stared at his windows for a while, only
to think that his dark circles are quite severe. However say the
saying goes, “Even if you walk a cow to Beijing it is still a
cow.”* Even when a handsome guy grows dark circles, he is still a
handsome guy but with dark circles. (T/N: this is translated literally.)

In the end I was still unable to see anything from his eyes. Eyes are
indeed the windows to one’s soul. However, some people’s eyes are
anti-theft windows. Those without enough skills can only feel
distraught.

Nonetheless, Jiang Chen still drove me to my house. I thanked him

for sending me home, but he didn’t seem to have any gratitude

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towards me accompanying him for the night. But I decided not to
fuss about it.

I got out of the car and prepared to close the door. While I was
closing I couldn’t help but peek a look at him. This is the after-effect
of being in a one-sided love for too long. Even during the four years
that we were together, I still peek at him subconsciously. To the point
where when he was taking ophthalmology he suspected that I had
suffered from strabismus.

His right hand was on the steering wheel and left arm pressed on
his stomach. He was frowning as though he was waiting for the
sound of the door to close.

In the end, I didn’t close the door. I stick my body in and asked him
like a plea, “Why not you come to my house? I’ll cooked
noodles for you. Will be fast, I can do it in ten minutes.”

He shook his head, “It’s okay, I’ll be fine after taking

medicine.”

I went in the car fully and sat down with my arms crossed. “Up to
my house for noodles! If not, I won’t get out of your car.”

Jiang Chen turned to look at me and sighed, “Let’s go.”

I smiled and hopped out of the car. Bringing him up four storeys of
stairs to my rented apartment.

I poured him a cup of water and went to the kitchen. Thinking that
since instant noodles isn’t very healthy, I cooked vermicelli and
added two eggs for him instead. When I came out with the noodles,
he was already asleep while leaning against the sofa’s armrest.

I placed the bowl on the table, squatted in front of him thinking

whether I should wake him up or not. I even contemplated for a long
time whether I should secretly kiss him like how it is in the movies.
Or should I used my finger to outline his features? Or should I just

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silently watch him sleep while I cry.

In the end I just tapped on his shoulder and said, “Jiang Chen,
the noodle’s ready.”

Some things are like being in a competition. Since you decided to

withdraw from the match, you have no rights to compete again. You
can only watch in agony. That’s why, Liu Xiang, I understand your
pain in withdrawing from the Olympics.

Jiang Chen’s eyelids fluttered a little, opening slightly to look at

me, and shut it again.

Hence, I pushed him again, “Wake up, the noodle’s getting

soggy.”

He made a “tch” sound and pushed my hand off with his eyes

closed. “Stop fooling around, I’m very tired.”

Perhaps he sounded as though it was meant to be, I thought it felt

a bit intimate..

I hugged my knees while seated on the floor, looking at him

absentmindedly, or at a corner. Suddenly I felt like I’m really pitiful
until I entered a dimension with no one else.* (T/N: I’m guessing she
fell asleep.)

After I was done feeling miserable, I looked up and saw Jiang Chen
eating the noodles and watching television. The volume’s very low,
but he was watching it attentively.

I turned to look at the television, it’s currently airing a basketball

match. A black man’s head slammed onto the armpit of a white man
who was shooting. The white man fell to the ground and tossed
around in agony.

If I’m the black guy I would have reported the white man. Armpits
vs Head, this is obviously racism.

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Jiang Chen finished the noodles, asked for a tissue to wipe his
mouth and said that he will be going.

Since there aren’t any excuses to make him stay longer, I can only
tell him to drive back safely.

When he walked to the door, he turned back to look at me, as

though he was hinting something. I had no choice but to stand up
and walked towards him saying, “I will just send you to the door.
I wore heels for the entire night and my legs are breaking. If I
were to send you down I still have to climb back up four
storeys again.”

Jiang Chen leaned on the door waiting for me to walk in front of

me. He suddenly said, “Chen Xiaoxi, have you never, ever felt
that you have done me wrong?”

This is a classic reverse questioning. An obvious answer hidden

within the question to prove a point. After a short breakdown of the
question I decided, that Jiang Chen probably thinks that I should and
must feel that I have done him wrong. The only thing that I’m not
sure, is that whether this question is meant for the breakup three
years ago, or it’s for my laziness in not wanting to walk him down the
apartment.

I thought for a while. No matter what he is referring to, I will still be

the one in the wrong. It’s not that I can’t apologize. Therefore, I put
my legs together, arms by my side and decidedly to apologise
sincerely in an army position. But Jiang Chen didn’t even wait for me
to finish my series of actions. He gave me one last look and went
down the stairs.

This time round I understood his expression. Nothing but dislike,

detest, disgust, etcetera. I could understand that, as I felt disgusted
by myself too.

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Chapter 9
Source: Tea-Quila

T/N: Everything in bold are written as is in English.

Happy New Year! I wish you all will be happier, healthier, wealthier
this year!

After a few days, Zhuang Dong Na who had returned from her
business trip made a phone call to express her gratitude, the general
idea being that she had come to know that Jiang Chen did not
properly express his thankfulness towards me, and she felt that her
family’s* Jiang Chen was too unthoughtful. Her original words were,
“You know this, our family’s Jiang Chen doesn’t really care
for the ways of the world*, but this is also his strong point, I
kinda like it, hehe.” (T/N: “our family’s” is kind of an intimate
way to refer to someone, meaning something like “our”) (T/N:
“ways of the world” – i.e. how to be diplomatic, how to establish
relationships and connections, how to conduct yourself in society etc)

Zhuang Dong Na graduated majoring in English, she always liked

to intersperse her speech with English, in the past, she also loved to
mix English in when she chatted online, for example, “I’m going for
a business trip this weekend, we’ll have a meeting when I’m
back”, she will type, “I’m going for a business trip this
weekend, we’ll have a meeting when I’m back.”

Later on there was once when Situ Mo said that she simply could
not stand it any longer, so she innocently and guiltlessly asked
Zhuang Dong Na, “You are always switching between input
methods, are you not tired?” Zhuang Dong Na readily accepted
good advice and corrected this foible of input methods, Situ Mo was
deeply gratified about this.

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Zhuang Dong Na suggested that to express their gratitude and to
make amends, they would like to treat me to a meal. I rebuffed the
offer tactfully, but perhaps I was too tactful, to such an extent that
she was totally unable to understand my unwillingness. In short, she
self-involvedly announced the time and place and then hung up the
phone at once.

As I was going to be forced into being treated a meal, I was

therefore in a very bad mood. Hence Fu Pei and Situ Mo being my
colleagues were unfathomably insulted by me quite a few times,
causing Situ Mo to be so angry that she said that she wanted to
resign and go home and have her husband support her. I keyed in to
this matter of her moving out her husband as a backer and reviled
her once again, and finally forced her to admit that she herself was
unworthy of the cultivation/training/education that our motherland
gave her, and that she was a parasite utterly devoid of a heart and a
conscience. Only then did my mood grudgingly improve.

Before I got off work, I received a phone call from Su Rui. After the
banquet, we somehow inconceivably became friends.

I had thrown the dress for that banquet into the washing machine,
and after it came out, no matter how I looked, I felt that it looked like
a mass of rotten vegetable leaves, hence I carried the dress to go
and find Su Rui. He used a machine that looked like a vacuum
cleaner to iron the dress back into its original light-green floaty
appearance. He told me that that machine was called a garment
steamer, I told him that in my mind that was a vacuum cleaner. After
that, we then got into an argument, he said I wasn’t respecting him, I
said he was making a mountain out of a molehill. We argued till it
was time to eat, and as such he then brought me out to eat. After we
finished eating I paid the cash, he then announced that we had now
become friends through fighting*. (T/N: the original phrase is 不打不
相识 which literally means if you don’t fight, you won’t become
friends.)

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Su Rui said that he was running errands near our office, and asked
if I wanted to eat together after I got off work. I told him that I was
going to have a meal with Jiang Chen and Jiang Chen’s girlfriend. He
expressed his sympathy towards me, and volunteered to accompany
me there. He said that he wanted to go to help me boost my
courage, I felt that he wanted to go to scrounge a free meal.

I considered it for a while, and thought that it was really a little

desolate to go and meet the ‘husband and wife’ pair of my ex-
boyfriend all alone by myself, so I brought Su Rui along.

When the two of us reached the restaurant, they had not yet
arrived. We chatted for a while till we discovered that we couldn’t
see eye to eye and nearly ended up in a fight. Hence Su Rui then
borrowed two pens from the waiter, we both separately unfolded
paper napkins to draw designs, he drew costume designs, I drew
illustrations. After we finished drawing, Jiang Chen and co still hadn’t
arrived, therefore as such we then exchanged our drawings for
evaluation. Su Rui said my illustrations were childish, and were for
little children to see; I said his clothes were ugly, and weren’t for
mankind to wear…… Thankfully Jiang Chen and Zhuang Dong Na
arrived before we broke out into a terrible fight.

“You guys have come at long last.” I smiled as I reproached,

forcing myself to move my eyes away from those five claws that she
had tucked into Jiang Chen’s arm. “If you were any slower you
would be just in time to collect my dead body.”

Zhuang Dong Na laughed as she explained, “I said we were to

come here separately, but he insisted on making a detour to
the office to pick up me, so we went on a longer roundabout
route, sorry.” After she finished speaking she paused, looked to Su
Rui and asked, “This person is?”

“I am Su Rui, Xiaoxi’s friend, my older sister and Doctor

Jiang are colleagues too. I originally wanted to arrange to
have a meal with Xiaoxi today, she said she had already

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made arrangements with someone else, I then shamelessly
followed along to come and scrounge a meal, you guys don’t
mind, right?” Su Rui fought to reply before I did.

“Of course no, it’s more lively when there are more
people,” Zhuang Dong Na replied and turned her head back to smile
sweetly at Jiang Chen who was in the process of helping her to pull
out her chair.

After we all were seated and had finished ordering our food,
suddenly nobody opened their mouths to speak again, the scene
solidified/condensed for a moment. I looked towards the two persons
opposite me, it seemed like they didn’t have any intent to rescue the
situation. As someone whose back would turn numb when faced with
awkward silences, I could only look at Su Rui pleadingly for help.

Su Rui easily grabbed the paper napkin on the table top and
passed it to Zhuang Dong Na, saying, “This is the drawing of the
design I customised for Xiaoxi according to her
measurements.”

Zhuang Dong Na took it, looked at it in detail for a while and

praised, “You are so talented, this dress is very beautiful and
fits Xiaoxi very well.” After she finished speaking, she even
pushed it till it was in front of Jiang Chen and said, “What do you
think.”

Jiang Chen’s gaze swept over it indifferently. He nodded and said,

“Mm, not bad.”

As someone who had just insulted this dress a few minutes ago
saying that it was not for mankind to wear, in the face of such
compliments, I could only tearfully give a hollow laugh and echo in
agreement.

Su Rui rubbed his head and laughed bashfully, “I drew this at

random. I don’t know why, but Xiaoxi is really suited to the

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fashion style that I design, I discovered this already the last
time when Doctor Jiang brought her to my place to buy
clothes. However back then I thought that they were a
couple.”

I hurriedly explained to Zhuang Dong Na, “That was the time

when you had me accompany him to the banquet on your
behalf.”

Zhuang Dong Na smiled and didn’t answer, instead it was Jiang

Chen who lifted his head and swept his gaze over me. This was the
first time he had looked at me directly since he came in till now,
probably I was accustomed to being bullied by him for many years,
for the moment I saw him look at me, I hastily gave a fawning smile.
After my smile was returned with his apathetic gaze, I then thought,
why was I so f***ing subservient……

The dish that Jiang Chen ordered was the very first to be served.
The medium-well steak sizzled on the slate plate. He took a fork to
prick and break open the poached egg that was still undulating by
the side. The egg yolk slowly flowed into the plate that was giving off
smoke, and the hot oil spurted once and crackled and splattered all
over. Jiang Chen smoothly picked up the paper napkin beside his
hand to block the splattering drops of oil, and after it was all over he
even used the napkin to wipe the edge of the plate all around.

I knew that that paper napkin was Su Rui’s design drawing, seeing
Jiang Chen conveniently knead that paper into a wad, I inexplicably
felt a sense of satisfaction in my heart.

Su Rui and Zhuang Dong Na were chatting about everything under

the sun, I would also join in and say a few sentences from time to
time. On the other hand, Jiang Chen was practically silent, even if the
topic of conversation shifted to be about him, he would also flatly
divert the topic of conversation away.

However, eating this meal was still incomparably depressing* for

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me. Even though Jiang Chen didn’t talk, yet Zhuang Dong Na from
time to time would lean beside his ear to whisper privately, as she
did so her eyes would spinningly gaze at me and it seemed like she
was smiling yet not smiling at the same time. (T/N: original phrase is
堵心 which literally translates into stifled/suffocated heart)

Su Rui was so upset he couldn’t stand it, and imitated her by

leaning beside my ear to speak softly, “It’s obvious she’s
provoking you. She really has no moral character.”

I pushed him away with a slap. “Don’t speak while leaning into
my ear, it’s disgusting.”

Su Rui laughed good-naturedly. “Don’t tell me that you even

know how to be embarrassed?”

I held up the corn puree. “You can give it a try and see if my
shame will turn into anger*.” (T/N: original idiom refers to when
one is so humiliated and embarrassed they fly into a rage)

Su Rui hastily waved his hands. “I was wrong, okay?”

I arranged the bowl back to its original position, satisfied. Only

then did I discover that Zhuang Dong Na was just watching us
attentively, smiling with a face full of interest. I cast a glance at Jiang
Chen out of the corner of my eye, he was cutting up his steak
nonchalantly. Silent, skilled, graceful.

His expression suddenly made me recall how back during our

university times, I often accompanied him at the hostel as he used
pig skin and pig intestine to practise suturing and tying knots. That
silent and serious energy he had always made me feel like I was
watching a movie about a perverted surgeon murderer or something
along those lines.

“Xiaoxi, I feel that Su Rui is quite good to you,” Zhuang

Dong Na smilingly said, and she even turned her head to ask Jiang

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Chen as if she was seeking assistance, “Isn’t that right?”

Jiang Chen ran his eyes over us once with a look of examining a
patient, and flatly spat out a word, “Right.”

Su Rui didn’t know to have the slightest degree of shame at all,

and he parroted while gesticulating joyfully, “Chen Xiaoxi, you
see, they all say that I am good, you are the only person who
isn’t discerning.”

I don’t know why I suddenly lost interest in bickering with him, I

replied him dispiritedly, “I also think that you are really good.”

I don’t know if it was that my tone of voice had warped as it

transmitted through the air, or if the obstructive items such as
earwax in Su Rui’s ears were too numerous causing distortion of
sound. In short, he seemed to have taken it seriously, he first stared
blankly, then he suddenly gazed at me with both eyes soft and gentle
like water. He smiled at me bashfully, his face unreasonably
reddening all over.

I was so shocked that my four limbs went cold, I rubbed my neck

and said, “Why are you blushing for no reason, don’t smile at
me, it’s ridiculous, the way you are smiling.”

Su Rui smilingly watched me be at a complete loss of what to do. I

watched as the red flush on his face mystically disappeared in a flash
just like the ebbing tide, and asked suspiciously, “You’re playing
with me, right?”

He glanced at me, not saying a word, lowered his head and began
eating the seafood paella quietly.

His sudden shyness made me feel uneasy from head to toe, it was
like a crowd of ants climbing slowly in military formation from the
soles of my feet up my body, climbing to my scalp……

I practically wolfed down the remaining pasta in swallows, and

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even nearly choked while doing so. Su Rui very kindly patted on my
back and said, “You be careful, don’t be choked to death.”

I was just about to say, “Is that the way to talk?”, when Jiang
Chen suddenly opened his mouth. “Don’t worry, she won’t die,
even when noodles spout out of her nose, she still won’t
die.”

I waved aside Su Rui’s hand and glared at Jiang Chen viciously.

He was talking about something that happened during our first

official date. At that time, we had gone to the only Western
restaurant near our school. Back then, I was feeling especially
nervous in my heart. There were feelings of luckiness that the pie
pasty that dropped from the heavens* had just so happened to be
picked up by me, and there also was apprehension due to fear that
that person who had thrown the pie pasty into the mortal realm
would regret and come and ask me to return it to them. (T/N:
reference to a Chinese idiom referring to one enjoying readily
available things without putting in effort for it – to reap where one
has not sown. The idiom alludes to Exodus in the Bible where God
provided manna for the Israelites)

Lost in thought, I ordered a plate of pasta, and after that just kept
on engrossing myself in eating the pasta. Just as my eating was in
full swing, Jiang Chen who was sitting opposite me abruptly said a
sentence – “Chen Xiaoxi, accompany me tonight.” Excessive
fright caused me to choke till my tears and mucus overflowed, and
most frightfully, a violent cough resulting in me spouting out the
noodles in my mouth from my nose……

I looked at the strand of noodle that was wobbling on the edge of

the drinking glass, every hope in my heart turning into dust, and
begged Jiang Chen to break up with me as I wept, further promising
that I would never pester him ever again in the future.

Jiang Chen used a paper napkin to help me wipe my tears and

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mucus while he comforted me, saying, “I didn’t see anything, I
really didn’t see anything……”

I cried and collapsed into his embrace. We forsook holding hands,

laying hands on each other’s shoulders, holding waists and such
other incremental steps to directly leap into hugging each other on
the first date, this could also be considered as a gain.

Later, Jiang Chen said that he had merely wanted me to

accompany him to the overnight classroom to study, because they
were very soon to sit for one of the “Four Famous Resits” of the
study of medicine – the Pathology examination. This matter was
always used for a very long period of time after as evidence for Jiang
Chen to accuse me of having dirty thoughts.

I glared at Jiang Chen fiercely, Jiang Chen glanced at me coldly, it

was as if there were flames in the air crackling as they burned.

“I’m sorry, our family’s Jiang Chen is joking.” Seeing that the
atmosphere was amiss, Zhuang Dong Na hurriedly came out to
smooth things over.

“No worries, our family’s Xiaoxi won’t mind.” Su Rui said,

seemingly to help me strive to vindicate myself.

…… The corners of my eyes spasmed. There, even becoming one

family.

I suppose, there was only one patriotic song that was popular when
we were young that could explain the degrees of familiarity and
distance in this section of conversation of theirs – “We all have one
family, its name is China…… Our large China, one really big
family……*” (T/N: Lyrics of a patriotic song “Large China”/《大中
国》 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPkOUfhUHMY)

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Chapter 10
Source: Tea-Quila

Triple updates ahead! Brace yourselves.

After dinner, Zhuang Dong Na, in order to assume the role of a

generous and polite hostess, offered to have Jiang Chen send us
home. Taking into account the location and time, as well as the cost
of taking a cab, Su Rui and I graciously and shamelessly accepted
this blessing.

I thought Zhuang Dong Na would accompany us throughout the

trip, but I didn’t expect that Jiang Chen, with a doctor’s practical and
realistic way of handling things efficiently, would plan the most
convenient route according to the geographical location of our
addresses. Hence, Su Rui alighted the car ten minutes later, Zhuang
Dong Na also got home, but not before throwing me an intense look
as she got off which I interpreted as that of, “You better stay away
from my boyfriend. You’re an unwanted third party who
caused me not to kiss my boyfriend goodbye!”

When it was only me and Jiang Chen left inside the car, in order to
avoid swords being drawn and crossbows being bent*, I had to close
my eyes and pretend to be asleep. Only that I have no idea why, but
the car suddenly came to a stop at the roadside and the engine was
slow in turning over, making my little act of pretending to be asleep
very hard to perform. (T/N: Swords drawn, crossbows bent means be
in mutual hostility)

Just when I was struggling whether to carry through the act till the
end or to wake up to know what was happening, Jiang Chen’s voice
suddenly reached my ears, “Chen Xiaoxi, stop playing dead in
front of me. The car stalled, get off and give it a push.”

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As I am certain that I could never afford even a single tyre in this
lifetime, I only have the most superficial, and the most literal
understanding of a car’s brand and structure. For example, BMW is
the most expensive of all cars, because its name has the word
“treasure”. Mercedes-Benz is the fastest of all cars, because it is
called “run fast”. Shanghai Volkswagen is the most
common/popular car, because its name is very familiar, and besides,
all the cabs in the city are Shanghai Volkswagen. The rest of the car
brands are just there to buy soy sauce*. (T/N: BMW is “Bao Ma” in
Chinese with the word “bao” meaning treasure. Mercedes-Benz is
“Ben Chi” with “ben” meaning to run and “chi” meaning fast
therefore run fast. Shanghai Volkswagen is “Shanghai Da Zhong”
with “da” meaning big and “zhong” meaning crowd, therefore big
crowd/ masses, also “popular” when put together. “Buy soy
sauce” is a buzzword meaning irrelevant (in this context) or to
express disinterest. It was popularized when a passerby was asked
his opinion regarding Edison Chen’s scandal and his reply was “I
don’t give a sh*t. I’m just out buying soy sauce.)

Jiang Chen’s car is a soy sauce car.

In the TVs, cars also frequently stall, hence I just calmly accepted
the fact that Jiang Chen’s soy sauce car broke down.

I don’t know if it was that I was as strong as an ox or if a soy sauce

car stalls its engine in a “soy sauce” way, in short I just casually
gave it a push, and it lurched forward. I even got a sense of
achievement which I find embarrassing to have.

I set off at a quick trot after the car to pull the car door open, only
to find out that Jiang Chen had locked the car door which infuriated
me instantly. Using a lowly person’s mind, I guessed Jiang Chen’s
little act of making me get off the car was just to play with me. Hence
I turned on my heel, and walked away at an exceptionally slow pace.
My walking away was just to show I can still walk away with my head
held high with my ego intact. I really don’t intend to leave him as it’s

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a terrible location to hail a cab.

Fortunately, Jiang Chen reversed his car and was keeping up with
me, I figured that since he isn’t my boyfriend now, it’s rare that he’s
still willing to lend me a hand out of an embarrassing situation, as
such, “When there are steps for you to descend, do not
hesitate to descend. Do not wait till there are no more steps
and you can only stomp your feet in vain*.” So I hurriedly
opened the car door, but it was still locked……(T/N: Giving someone
steps to descend” is a Chinese way of describing allowing someone
the chance to save face. The sentences here are a play on a poem
from the Tang dynasty “Golden Thread Robes” where the original
subject matter of these two lines were about flowers – “Do not
hesitate to pick the twigs when flowers are in bloom, do not wait till
the flowers wither and picking the twigs will be in vain.)

I couldn’t help but scold him, “Jiang Chen, you can’t insult me
like this, if you don’t want to send me home then say it
outright, you, not opening the car door, what are you trying
to get at!”

The window of the front door slowly rolled down, and Jiang Chen
stuck his head out, “Chen Xiaoxi, you’re freaking sick ah. Come
take the front seat!”

…….

I fiddled with the handle, and embarrassedly opened the front

door, after I got in and put on the seatbelt, I sincerely and earnestly
told Jiang Chen, “I was, of course, only joking with you just
now, but it was wrong for you to swear.”

Jiang Chen ignored me, one foot was stepping on the gas pedal to
its maximum extent. I burst with joy when I felt the seatbelt on me.
Fortunately I’ve fastened it right away, otherwise, I would have long
flown through the windshield, and ten minutes later, the police officer
uncle would have arrived to outline my corpse with a chalk.

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Jiang Chen whizzed through the road. Perhaps he started to
contemplate how truly precious one’s life is, and slowed down little
by little. I felt relieved — put away my look as though I was greedy
for life and afraid of death, and switched it to a tranquil face as
though I was accustomed to seeing strong winds and big waves.

The entire drive to my place went in silence, Jiang Chen finally

stepped on the brakes and said, “We’ve reached.”

As I was undoing my seatbelt, I thanked him as well, “Thank you

for the dinner and for sending me back.”

To this he nodded faintly, there was no sign of wanting to initiate

small talk with me. I opened the car door preparing to get off, my
feet haven’t even stepped on the ground when my phone rang.
Hence, I was fishing for my phone inside my bag while getting off the
car, only when I got on the ground did I manage to find my phone, it
was Su Rui.

“Hey.”

“Chen Xiaoxi, did you got home?” Su Rui’s voice was indistinct.

“Just arrived.” I turned around and closed the car door. Just as I
was about to lean on the car window to wave Jiang Chen goodbye,
the car lurched forward like a shooting arrow, leaving a cloud of dust
on its wake.

“……conspicuous.” A bunch of indistinct words from Su Rui went

through my ears, I put down my hand that was hanging mid-air with
a wry smile, “Speak properly, I can’t hear you clearly.”

Su Rui said, “I’m eating ice cream, I said I was afraid Doctor Jiang
giving you a lift was to destroy your corpse not leaving any marks.
After all, when doctors kill, they’re the most inconspicuous.

I replied with a snigger, “You’re such a girl, actually eating ice

cream.”

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“Who said eating ice cream is girly!” Su Rui yelled, “My dad
also eats ice cream!”

I laughed heartily, “It only proves that your dad also has
feminine qualities.”

“Hey, when it comes to my dad, I only feel sad.” I could

detect from Su Rui’s voice that he was laughing. “I’ve always
suspected that him marrying my mom, and giving birth to jie
jie & I were just a pretense. I also made my brother-in-law
take away my dad for his research. It’s a pity he did not dare
do so.”

“It’s better to have given birth to a piece of barbecued

pork* than you.” I replied while almost turning my bag upside
down, looking for the building key. “Hey, is there anything else? I
can’t find my key, I have to concentrate in looking for it.”
(T/N: a popular, wacky expression more popular among the
Cantonese speaking regions used to voice a mother’s disappointment
over a misbehaving child (implying a piece of char siu is much more
appealing than their child at this point, lol.)

“Nevermind, you’re so heartless, bye.” Su Rui’s words were

indistinct. I reckon he ate ice cream again.

“Bye.” I threw my phone into my bag, and was rummaging

through it under the faint light emitted by the lamp post when
suddenly, a car was approaching with its headlights glaring. I
subconsciously grabbed my bag to block my eyes with. I thought the
car was just going to pass by quickly, but it came to a stop not far
away, its headlights were not turned off and seemingly looked
brighter and more dazzling. I tried hard to adjust my sight on the
strong light and slowly lowered my bag, looking at the person in the
strong light beam walking unhurriedly towards me.

Jiang Chen.

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The Jiang Chen that accompanied me through my most pure, most
beautiful years. The Jiang Chen who is my favorite, looking as though
he just crossed over the merciless times, the prehistoric universe,
and was suddenly standing in front of me again.

I bit my lower lip with a wry smile. It’s no wonder that in action
movies, cops love to use bright lights when interrogating criminals, it
turns out that it could help make people want to instantly pour out
and reveal some things buried in the depths of one’s mind.

“Chen Xiaoxi.” Jiang Chen called out my name whilst looking at

me.

I lifted my gaze to meet his, put on a strong act, and smiled at him
with such calmness, “Why did you turn around back here?”

I desperately tried to suppress the surging from deep inside my

heart, I desperately tried to ignore the voice in my heart that
continuously clamored at me to chase back this stupid guy who
wants to take my life.

He reached out his hand to me, and opened his palm, “You
dropped your keys in my car.”

“It probably fell out when I was looking for my phone.” I

picked up the keys from his palm. “Thank you.”

In the movies, those travel-worn male leads who are on their way
home, would never return just to hand over a key. I really am not
fated to become the female lead.

Jiang Chen, however, didn’t turn away like what I have imagined,
he was just standing there looking at me, which made me strongly
doubt if I ought to give him a bow or kneel in front of him in order to
express my gratitude.

I also don’t know how long it took before he said, “Chen Xiaoxi,
I’m very busy, I have a lot of things to do, do you

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understand?”

I smiled apologetically, “I understand, I’m sorry for troubling

you to make another trip.”

He still did not budge, “You know I’m not talking about this.”

I shook my head, “I don’t know.”

His face suddenly looked angry, “Do you have to make me

explain it to you clearly?”

I nodded, “Explain clearly.”　

He’s really angry, because when he gets angry he would squeeze

his mouth tight which would make a dimple slightly deeper than that
of when he smiles, appear. I zeroed in on the dimple which looks
darker than the rest of his face in this backlit state when my heart
suddenly had a strange impulse. Before I could react, I’ve long
reached my hand out to poke his dimple twice with my index finger.

He certainly did not expect me to suddenly do such an action

because I also didn’t see that coming too.

What both of us didn’t expect made us very shocked, so he was

looking at me, and I was looking at him, in mutual silence.

Finally, he let out a cough twice, “What do you mean?”

I casted him a sincere look, “I really don’t know.”

Jiang Chen gave a long sigh, and grudgingly said, “Why do you
not know anything at all?”

I bit my lips and replied, “Since you know everything, you tell
me.”　　

He stared at me for a moment with a complex expression, looking

as though he had made up his mind on something and is determined,

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like he’s about to smash an already cracked pot to pieces*, he said
with a deep voice, “Apologize to me.” (T/N: it means writing
oneself off as hopeless in the midst of a setback so they act
recklessly, and let things unfold on its own for the worst.)　

I froze for a moment, “What?”　　

“Apologize to me.” He repeated with his deep voice.　

I found it a bit unbelievable, using such calm and collected, mature

voice for a childish request like this, acting as if it’s the rightful thing
to do, what’s up with him?　　

“Apologize.” He urged impatiently.

When it comes to Jiang Chen, I always have this indescribable

feeling of being small, this feeling makes me involuntarily take his
every word, so I squeezed the key tightly in my hand and uttered in a
low voice, “I’m sorry.”　　

He breathed a sigh of relief, “There won’t be a next time. Got

it?”

I nodded, with a vague feeling that we don’t seem to be talking

about the same thing, as a matter of fact, we’re really not talking
about the same thing as Jiang Chen suddenly gave me the most
gentle smile, and said, “Come over here.”　　

I didn’t know I’ve already taken two steps towards him, he leaned
over, and kissed me.

It’s quite a long kiss, if I have to describe it, I think it’s like I
swallowed roughly around a can of cola of Jiang Chen’s saliva.

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Chapter 11
Source: Tea-Quila

After experiencing a series of what feels like I’ve been struck by

lightning, naturally I don’t remember how I went back home to wash
up and lie on my bed.

After lying on my bed for about half an hour, only then did I slowly
start to regain back my composure. I started thinking if this is me
dreaming at night about what I was thinking in the day*, or there’s
something wrong with Jiang Chen’s brain; or did I fantasize too much,
or was Jiang Chen possessed by a ghost. No matter what I thought
off, I still couldn’t think of a reasonable answer. Hence, I could only
tell myself to treat it as though I got bitten by a dog. (T/N: a Chinese
idiom that describes if someone is continuous thinking about
something in the daytime, you will end up dreaming about it at night.
It’s quite true. Happens to me quite a lot!)

I slowly fell asleep while recollecting the flavour of been bitten by a

dog.

When I woke up the next day my cheek muscles were hurting

badly. Probably because last night I was dreaming endlessly. In the
dream it was all about the kiss with Jiang Chen. Because of that kiss,
we constantly overused our lips and tongues. I think this is not good,
I am a little shy.

While on the way to work on the train, my phone rang. I stared at

the 3 words that were flashing on my phone screen – Zhuang Dong
Na. I was so scared I shuddered. At this moment I really admire the
mistresses in our community. How strong are they psychologically to
be able to withstand that guilt when facing the legal wife?

I swallowed my saliva and answered the call, “hello.”

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“Hey it’s me. How was last night?” Zhuang Dong Na said with
a happy tone to it.

I almost bit my tongue the moment I opened my mouth, “Dong

Na… I…. That…”

“Which?” She asked.

I wanted to apologize to her, but I also felt that I was quite

innocent. Therefore, I couldn’t finish what I wanted to say. Instead I
quickly said, “I am on my way to work, the train is too
crowded. I will call you back later.”

I hung up straight away. There is actually not much people this

morning. The mere six or seven people in the cabin all looked at me
when I dropped the call. The looks on their faces seem to be saying:
“Look at you blatantly telling a lie, your face just looks like a
mistress face, you won’t die a good death…”

The me who won’t die a good death gloomily hid to a corner of the
cabin and call Situ Mo. I briefly explained to her about what
happened and sought her advice as a person’s wife – whether I
deserve a death penalty or not.

Situ Mo comforted me and said, “You don’t have to be scared.

Woman like Zhuang Dong Na will the most grab your hair and
bang you into the wall for revenge. She won’t find people to
gang rape you.”

She also told me to call Fu Pei since she thinks that he, as a role
model of someone who toyed with countless of girls but has yet to be
thrown to jail, he should be able to tell me how to handle such
situation.

Fu Pei was dismissive after hearing my description of what

happened, which I avoided the important points but harped on the
insignificant. He said, “You called early in the morning to

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disturb my sleep just for this small thing? Obviously, the guy
should be the one to solve this problem. What are you
worried for?”

As expected of a player, his words woke me up.

I hung up my call with Fu Pei and called Jiang Chen. In order to give
me enough confidence, the moment the line engaged I started to
ramble on, “Jiang Chen you listen, I don’t care about why you
kissed me last night, but a kiss is a kiss, I have to point out
that your action is extremely wrong, you have a girlfriend
now, you kissing me means you are forcing me to walk a road
of being a mistress. My mom said, a mistress who destroys
other couple’s relationship will have bad karma. That’s right,
I still love you, but you should stop looking down on people, I
will definitely not be a mistress……”

I stopped to take a breath, realized that the other side of the line
was quiet and thought that Jiang Chen was reflecting, I decided to
take advantage and fired again, “I mean, if you think that you
were acting on impulse last night, I can act as if nothing
happened. If you say you still have feelings for me, then lets
take it step by step. You settle with Zhuang Dong Na first,
then you have to woo me…… Why are you not talking?”

“Er…. I’m Doctor Su.” A female voice came through the line,
“Doctor Jiang is not around, I saw that his phone was ringing
for quite long, and the screen shows your name, so I helped
to answer.”

For that moment it was like a bolt from the blue. The thought that
those shameless words I said just now had gone to her ear, I felt like
killing myself by swallowing my phone.

I gritted my teeth and grumbled, “Why didn’t you say anything

when you picked up the phone?”

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“You spoke too fast, I wasn’t in time to make a sound.” She
replied.

I thought that wasn’t right and continued, “But I clearly stopped

in between to take a breath.”

She answered, “Oh, at that time I got addicted to what you

were saying, felt that it was too exciting so I didn’t have the
heart to make a sound.”

…….

I really don’t want to use vulgarities to greet our benefactor, so I

can only restrain my anger and said, “Alright, please get Jiang
Chen to return a call to me.”

“Wait, wait, If you really like Doctor Jiang, then what about
my brother?” Doctor Su asked worriedly.

I’m confused. “What’s it got to do with Su Rui?”

She said, “My brother likes you ah*. How about I give you an
idea. You shouldn’t be a mistress that eats back from the
same pasture**. It’s lack of moral. You should just be with my
brother. In a few more years he will be legal to marry and you
two can just register for marriage.” (*T/N: ah is like an
exclamation.)(**T/N: There is a Chinese idiom that goes, “a good
horse doesn’t come back to eat the same pasture”, meaning
that one should not go back to one’s past experiences in any
circumstances.)

I didn’t quite understand. “What do you mean? How old is Su

Rui this year?”

She said, “17. He didn’t want to attend the national college

entrance examinations last year, said that he wants to start
his own business, so he opened a shop. The clothes in his
shop are all designed by him. I feel that my brother is a

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genius, he has a lot of potential. You should just be with him,
our family won’t mind that you are old.”

17 ah…. Why does this kid look so old?

I said without strength, “You should stop joking, I will be sent

to jail for seducing a minor.”

She continued to advise, “Furthermore, I think an older

woman and younger man relationship is pretty good, you can
use my brother’s yang to replenish your yin*, you won’t seem
old easily that way too.” (T/N: The idiom used in the novel is 采阳
补阴 “take yang replenish yin”, though the correct idiom should
be 采阴补阳 “take yin replenish yang”. It is believed that yin is
female and yang is male. In ancient times, a male will borrow a
female’s yin to strengthen himself through sleeping with her. Dr. Su
exchanges Xiaoxi and Su Rui’s roles here, that’s why the yin and
yang words are switched in the novel version.)

….I sincerely feel that, the Su siblings were sent from the heavens
to catch me for spreading happiness in the human world.

Therefore I moved my phone a little further from me, my voice

drifting away from the phone, “What… ah… the sig..nal… in
train… not good… I need to work….. Bye….”

I kept my phone and heaved a sigh of relief. I looked up and saw at

all the people in the cabin are staring at me, with despise in their
eyes. I opened my mouth in an attempt to explain something, but
ultimately decided to turn around and face the cabin’s wall.

Behind me came voices of people in conversation, “Ay, young

people these days, can’t even lie properly, working on a
weekend?”

“It’s you who can’t keep up with times, some careers will
only have good business on weekends and night time.”

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“Seducing minor ah.. Should be shot to death.”

“Ay this you do not understand. There is no gender, age,

height differences in love.”

“Then why not we don’t categorize at all, we can date

chicken, duck, cow, sheep, or dog.”

……

I escaped the train at the next stop and took the opposite train
back home. Why did I forget that today is a weekend….?

It took me about 1 hour plus for me to finally reach home. At this

time, I am also too tired and lazy to care about the tangled and
complicated feelings anymore. I decided to make use of this beautiful
holiday to take a long nap. I even specially turned off my phone.
Even a soul-stirring romance cannot go against the carefree-ness of
being able to sleep without any trouble.

I switched off my phone, changed into my pajamas, tossed around

in my bed but was unable to find peace. In my head is all the stares
and looks from the people in the train. I have this feeling that if I
don’t do anything, I will definitely go to hell when I die.

Therefore, I got up and took my phone and prepared to call Zhuang

Dong Na. My finger hovered above the call button for a few seconds,
but was unable to find the courage to. In the end I only sent out a
short message: Jiang Chen kissed me last night, I swear I didn’t
seduce him, sorry.

As I expected, the phone rang almost immediately. Zhuang Dong

Na told me a shocking news, she said that she and Jiang Chen had
never dated, she was only asked by Jiang Chen to play along with
him. The remuneration is that she can receive family-like-care when
if needs to go to the hospital to see the doctor. I am not sure what to
reply, I can only express my shock about this deal. After all, the

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remuneration is also not very auspicious….

Lastly, Zhuang Dong Na asked if I can introduce her to Su Rui

whom we had dinner with together last night, I told her that he is
only 17 years old. She used a single word starting with ‘F’ to end our
call. (T/N: Yes, its probably that 4 letter word.)

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Chapter 12
Source: Tea-Quila

Thank you for patiently waiting! Let’s welcome Wu Bosong.

Hanging up the phone, I felt that there was a need for me to sort
out my own state of emotions properly. Hence I clasped a cup of tea
and sat by the window, constructing an artistic mood of me being
deep in thought.

Having broken up for three years, I really wasn’t waiting for Jiang
Chen. I wanted to find a person, perhaps his eyes would resemble
his, perhaps his dimples would resemble his, perhaps he would like to
drink Nongfu Spring just like him, and yet perhaps he wouldn’t
resemble him in any way…… Then we would have a romance, get
married, and rely on each other for a long time. I would love him, just
like how I loved Jiang Chen, not in the least holding back.

Yet that Jiang Chen whom I was not waiting for, mistakenly via a
combination of unexpected random factors, had returned in front of
me again. Furthermore, it seemed like he was unlike me, he was
waiting for me. If he wasn’t, I also decided to continue
misunderstanding it as such, for who asked him to find a shill*? In
television drama serials, the male and female leads’ shills were all
used to stir up the other party’s jealousy, even though the
remuneration he offered Zhuang Dong Na made me suspect that it
was more probable that he was actually helping the hospital to solicit
customers. (T/N: shill – “an accomplice of a confidence trickster
or swindler who poses as a genuine customer to entice or
encourage others” [Definition from Oxford Dictionaries])

In my heart, I silently fashioned Jiang Chen into a person who was

painfully awaiting my return and who would stop at nothing for me,
moreover feeling that upon analysis, this matter was quite

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entertaining. For a while, I also didn’t know how I ought to evaluate
Jiang Chen’s IQ for doing such a childish thing. But Jiang Chen’s IQ
when it came to relationships had always not been very high, I had
profound experience in this aspect.

For example, our first kiss.

At that time, Jiang Chen and I had been dating for the greater part
of a month, our progress had always stopped at the kind of
superficial stage such as holding hands to exchange the perspiration
on our hands. Occasionally Jiang Chen’s male hormones would be in
excess, and he would kiss my cheek, it was very pure and of small
beauty.

However, after Lin Xiao from our dorm who had ample experience
in romance pointed out that such progress was severely lagging
when compared to the general romances of young men and women, I
was very vexed. I thought that it was because I myself had
insufficient charm that was not enough to cause Jiang Chen to
generate towards me the urges that young men ought to have. For
this reason, I called the entire dorm over to inspect my shortcomings
together, and finally the conclusion of the inspection that we arrived
at was that I was not feminine enough. And for us, this group of
humankind who had never left our ivory towers, femininity equalled
wearing a dress, and it had better be a low-cut one.

Actually, this was a prejudice, femininity really had no relation to

whether you were revealing your two bare legs or the two pieces of
flesh in front of your chest.

My omnipotent roommates helped me find a dress that revealed

my chest, I twirled around a few times showing it off in the dorm, one
after another, they expressed that they did feel my feminine
fragrance assail their nostrils. (T/N: in Chinese, femininity translates
directly to “woman smell”, hence assailing nostrils)

After that, I went off alluringly to go on a date with Jiang Chen. As

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we sat on a long bench beside the sports field, Jiang Chen indeed
appeared to have a heart of a monkey and the mind of a horse*, I felt
very accomplished, hence I also pulled the hem of my skirt up, only
to see a few red bumps that came from mosquito bites lying side by
side on my thigh. I could only pull the hem of my skirt back down.
（T/N: idiom describing someone with disorderly messy thoughts that
are as uncontrollable as monkeys/horses, means something like
being frisky/capricious etc）

Jiang Chen told me about the interesting anecdotes of their

medical faculty. He said that there were a few senior guys in the
cohort before his who stole a sheep leg after finishing their
experiments to bring back to the dorm and cook hotpot, after they
were done eating the entire dorm drowsily slept for two days, it
turned out that that sheep had been injected with a great amount of
anesthesia; he also told me about a time when their faculty’s dorm
caught a thief, the whole group of them surrounded the thief and
beat him up wildly, the thief really couldn’t endure it any longer and
hence pretended to be dead, someone produced a stethoscope from
their dorm and diagnosed that this person’s heartbeat was strong
and powerful, hence everyone beat him up even more happily; he
also said……

In short, Jiang Chen suddenly became a chatterbox, and being his

girlfriend, I could only laugh with him, moreover, I laughed till I was
like a blossoming sprig trembling disorderly*, if not it appeared like I
wasn’t giving him face*. (T/N: a Chinese idiom describing the
physical movement of a beautiful/wanton woman laughing heartily)
(T/N: ‘giving face’ is a phrase that is a direct English translation from
Cantonese which means showing someone respect and honour. This
whole concept of ‘giving face’ is really important in Chinese culture –
e.g. if your employer says something wrong, even when you correct
him, you have to be tactful and ensure you are ‘giving face’ to him at
the same time.)

He talked and talked, then he suddenly asked me, “Did you spray

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perfume?”

I didn’t, so I firmly shook my head.

He looked at me suspiciously, took a deep breath and said, “I

definitely smelled something.”

I with great exertion took a few breaths, then with a sudden

epiphany said, “Oh, you are talking about this? This is the
smell of eau de toilette, my thigh was bitten fiercely by
mosquitoes.”

He skeptically said, “It doesn’t smell like eau de toilette.”

I took a moment to recall, scratched my head and said, “Eau de

toilette wasn’t cooling enough, I applied some medicated oil
as well.”

……

He didn’t say anything more. I also didn’t know what I had said
wrongly, but I roughly guessed that he did not like the smell on
myself at all, hence I quietly shifted myself to the furthest end on the
bench. Half my butt was hanging in the air.

Just like this, we remained in a deadlock on a stone bench beside

the sports field.

Finally, he suddenly said angrily, “Chen Xiaoxi, come over

here.”

I thought, “He isn’t going to beat me up, is he?” I had heard of

a type of boyfriend who derived enjoyment from beating his
girlfriend. However, I still shifted my butt horizontally across while
asking him, “Whatever for?”

“Give me a kiss,” he answered.

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I turned rigid at the one-third position of the bench, not knowing
what to do. Even though it was my final goal to have him put forward
this request, but I still failed to live up to expectations and was
scared out of my wits. I most likely am that sort of people they talk
about who has the heart of a thief* yet has no guts of a thief. (T/N:
meaning evil intentions)

“Hurry up,” he urged.

“Oh.” I subconsciously shifted to his side quickly. The stone bench

was a little ice-cold at the region by his side, I rigidly sat up straight,
it was like there was a slab of stone vertically erected on top of a slab
of stone.

Jiang Chen turned my shoulders over with immense strength,

causing me to have to sound out an “Aiya!” to remind him to not
wring and dislocate my shoulders.

He said, “What are you saying “Aiya” for, why are you so
unromantic*?” (T/N: the original Chinese idiom means to not
understand when the other party has romantic intentions towards
you, to be unromantic/insensitive)

As soon as he finished speaking, his lips came over and pasted

against mine, I thought, “You can’t do this, you can’t not give
me time to defend myself after criticising me and just block
my mouth, it’s not like you are paying me hush money over
here.”

Later on, I asked him if he was attracted by my swaying, elegant

appearance when I wore a dress, he said, “No, your calves are
quite thick,”; I then asked him if it could be that he was attracted
by the smell of eau de toilette combined with medicated oil, he said
“No, it smells like Formalin,”; I refused to drop the matter and
asked if it could be that the calling sounds of the insects at the sports
field had awakened his animalistic side, he said, “Are you nuts?”; I
said, “Then what is it exactly?”, he said that he just wanted to

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kiss and see if the tactile sensation of the skin tissue of the lips was
any different from that of normal skin.

……

That flower-petal like romantic dream about my first kiss of mine

was ruthlessly defiled by him just like that, I might as well have given
my first kiss to someone else……

Just as I was vexing about not having given my first kiss to a

stranger back in the day and recalling the most handsome stranger I
had seen in my life, the doorbell rang. My heart dropped as it
thumped a few times, like the feeling of weightlessness you get in a
descending elevator. I took a deep breath, and prepared to deal with
Jiang Chen with the face of a cold stepmother*, perhaps I could get a
few pleading cries in exchange from him, to make up for the many
years of hardship chasing him when I was young.

It was just that I was too happy, my hand as I reached out to wring
to door handle was trembling as if I was holding a cheque for 20
million RMB.

I tremblingly opened the door, before I saw clearly who had

arrived, I was almost strangled to death by a bear hug. I thought that
it was Jiang Chen erupting with passion, and gratifyingly patted his
shoulder and said, “Don’t be emotional, don’t be emotional.”

Just as I finished speaking, I smelled a strong scent of Eau de

Cologne, hence I with great force pushed away the person who was
hugging me.

The person who was standing before my eyes had slender eyes,
the outer corners of his eyes were slanting up, he was giving a
lopsided smile, from the corners of his mouth were two arcs, it was
really devilish with a hint of uninhibition.

He was Wu Bosong.

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I have to admit, I have never been a brave or persistent person, in
my entire life, the most brave and persistent thing I have done was
to chase after Jiang Chen, but even with regards to this matter, the
evaluation that Jiang Chen gave of it was not good. He said, “You
are like a cat who has only ever eaten cat kibble, when you
see a rat, you only know how to pursue it based on natural
instinct, but if you see a fish, you would also be enticed away
very quickly by it.” In this inspired and masterful analogy of his, I
was the cat and he was the rat, and Wu Bosong was – that fish.

In other words, Wu Bosong was a brief interlude in the thorny road

of me having unrequited love for Jiang Chen, I described this brief
interlude as another small beauty I picked up enroute of not being
able to obtain love. Jiang Chen’s description was more direct and
hard-hitting, he used two idioms involving plants to describe it, he
said, “Temperament like water, like a poplar tree*; the red
apricot tree growing over the garden wall*.” I felt that he truly
was mistaken. (T/N: the first idiom describes a woman who is fickle
minded and frivolous and who is not single-minded in love) (T/N: the
second idiom describes a wife who is having an affair/illicit lover)

Wu Bosong transferred to our class in the second semester of

Senior Year 3 from another part of the country. Carrying his
schoolbag on his back, he entered the door following behind the form
teacher’s back. With our creepy/wretched form teacher whose
forehead was balding and who foamed at the corners of his mouth
when speaking serving as a foil, the transfer student’s appearance
with a thick head of chestnut hair that grew past his ears, smiling
with the corner of his mouth slanted was very stunning, just like a
celestial being.

He smiled as he nodded, saying, “Hello everyone, I’m called

Wu Bosong.”

The moment he lowered his head, I felt like there was a ray of light
flashing, only then did I realize that there was a shiny reflective

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object on his earlobe, it was most likely a stud earring.

Towards a transfer student of unknown origin, everyone’s hearts

were all surging with curiosity, and towards a transfer student of
unknown origin who was wearing a stud earring on one ear and yet
was not forced by the teacher to chop off his ear, everyone’s
curiosity was surging even more turbulently to the maximum
possible limit.

As the head of the “Curiosity Sect”, I was pushed forward by the

flowery, elegant words of everyone who was shameless and had
placed all their hopes and expectations on me to have a chat with
the transfer student.

Hence, my opening words were, “Classmate who has just

arrived, let’s have a chat.”

He was in the process of shoving books into the belly of the school
desk, when he heard my words, his hands paused for a moment, and
he lifted his head to take a look at me. “Chat about what?
Handing in protection fees?”

I scratched my head and asked unknowingly, “What protection

fees?”

He stuffed the last stack of books in his hands into the desk,
straightened his body, and laughed while crooking the corner of his
mouth, “I’m joking, I’m called Wu Bosong, what about you?”

I could clearly hear a few sounds of people sucking in breaths from

behind my back, and noises of “Chen Guanxi”…… The more I
heard, the more angry I was, I turned around , put my hands on my
waist and shouted at the female classmates behind me, “What
Chen Guanxi! I’m called Chen Xiaoxi, how many times must I
tell you guys, this is not funny, not funny not funny not
funny!”

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Even though back then Edison Chen’s great and noble pioneering
work of the “gate” series* had not yet happened, but there were
still quite a few senseless people who liked to repeatedly use our
names to make jokes, I was often pressured by this till it drove me
mad, it wasn’t funny, it wasn’t funny, what exactly was so funny
about this…… (T/N: mentioned in an earlier chapter was Edison’s
photo scandals, because it was so far-reaching and so widely
publicised, it’s often called the “Gaudy Photos Gate” in Chinese
media, like how scandals are often labelled with the -gate suffix)

A group of classmates were baffled by me shouting at them, only

after quite a while did someone faintly say, “We were saying that
he looks like Edison Chen when he smiles, you are too
sensitive……”

……

I, that… I don’t want to live.

Wu Bosong behind me laughed as he asked, “You’re called Chen

Xiaoxi?”

With my back facing him, I nodded. “Yes, welcome to our

class.”

After I finished speaking, I escaped back to my seat without looking

back, leaned forward and laid down on the desk pretending to be
dead. Just as I was pretending to the point of perfection, till even I
myself thought that I had really died, something poked me from the
back. I turned my head around weakly, Jiang Chen who was sitting at
the desk behind mine was dangling a ballpoint pen that was
sandwiched between his thumb and index finger. “Your pen
dropped.”

I took it easily. “Oh.”

“Meddling in other people’s business, right.” Jiang Chen’s

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whole face was rejoicing in my misfortune. “Edison Chen is staring
at you and smiling.”

I inclined my head and took a look at Wu Bosong, indeed he was

looking at me while smiling, I could only squeeze out a smile
reluctantly in response. Turning my body around, I collapsed my
upper body on Jiang Chen’s desk and wailed in anguish, “It’s so
embarrassing, I’m not going to live.”

He used the practice book in his hand to tap me on the head.

“Serves you right, if you think it’s embarrassing, in the
future, don’t go and join in the fun blindly.”

I had since long ago trained my entire body to be completely

impervious to Jiang Chen’s blows, I could even shamelessly ask him,
“If I were to look for him to play*, would you be jealous?”
(T/N: meaning to hang out)

He looked askance at me. “I’ll thank him.”

……

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Chapter 13
Source: Tea-Quila

Wu Bosong’s arrival instilled a new force into the male students of

our remotely located school. For a point in time, the female students
were also falling over each other in their eagerness to spread the
news: Class 6 of first year high school came out with a fresh good
whose style was considerably unconventional, and a smile which
resembled that of Chen Guanxi’s.

Wu Bosong’s limelight has overshadowed Jiang Chen for a short

while, I’ve endlessly felt so sorry for Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen on the
other hand, only commented that there was something wrong with
my brain.

In order to express my support for Jiang Chen occupying the

number one male position in the entire campus. I kept on showing
my disdain towards Wu Bosong’s appearance, and on more than one
occasion, has publicly made high criticisms with regards to his look.
Included among these, was his brown hair which countless of girls
have beautified as that of a Japanese hairstyle, together with his
Western-style stud earring — I said a yellowish hair was naturally
due to malnutrition, and that wearing stud earrings, was naturally
effeminate. I’ve also said, he made himself look like a bad boy, his
performance in school must be very poor, and that surely he isn’t a
good person, a delinquent, and perhaps is someone who takes drugs
and kills people.

I don’t know why the younger me must have to shamelessly

slander Wu Bosong this way, perhaps all the exam-oriented
education was wrong. If at that time I committed murder and arson,
perhaps it’s also the mistake of this education. In short, a thousand
mistakes, were all my mistakes.　　

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However, Wu Bosong in my unflagging efforts of slandering him,
showed magnanimity that was rare within people of our age.
Whenever our gazes would meet, he would give me a faint smile, his
eyes filled with mirth, as that of a father watching a mischievous son.

With regards to this matter, it was Jiang Chen’s behavior which

surprised me. There was a time when he suddenly called me over to
a dusky corner, I was thinking that he either wanted to confess his
love, or collude in scheming with me. Hence, my heart was anxious
from too much excitement.

It turned out that, he only gravely and seriously gave me a

warning, “Chen Xiaoxi, I don’t want to hear you speak ill
against Wu Bosong again.”

I tried to suppress my frustration and asked him, “Why?”

“Making rumors is wrong.” He simply said so.

I could only nod like pounding garlic* and express regret for my
past deeds. (T/N: The expression pounding garlic refers to nodding
one’s head (also commonly kowtowing) lots of times as though one’s
head looks like a pestle pounding a garlic.)

At that time, I had some kind of a very inexplicable tendency to

worship Jiang Chen. Even if he’d say that the sky is green, the clouds
are blue, the color of poop is that of a rainbow, I would only nod and
say, ‘Yes, you are right.’

Of course, I’m also quite fortunate that I’ve worshipped such a

person during my moronic phase. He’d point out to me some things
that were wrong, and indeed those things were wrong.

So as to convince Jiang Chen that I’ve sincerely repented and

mended my mistaken ways, I ripped a page from my desk mate’s
notebook which has a photo of F4 at the very top, and wrote a very
touching apology towards Wu Bosong on this tiny slip of paper during

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our Math class.

I’ve long forgotten what I wrote word per word, but I remember
receiving his reply which was written on a scrap paper, “It’s alright,
but my name is Wu Bosong, not Wu Songbai.

(T/N: The characters for Wu Bosong’s name is 吴柏松 with 柏 ‘bo’

being an identical character to ‘bai’ which means cypress, and 松
‘song’ meaning pines individually, but when interchanged will
become 松柏 ‘songbai’ which is a collective word for ‘pines and
cypress’ in Chinese.)

His correction has made me realize that his name was extremely
confusing. This reminded me of a topic in my homework during the
summer vacation of grade school: ‘Write down words that have
similar configuration* as the following words ‘bee (蜜蜂 mifeng) –
honey (蜂蜜 fengmi)’. And the reason why this was so deeply
ingrained in my memory was because my answer made Old Chen
give me a ruthless beating – flow downwards (流下 liuxia) – vulgar/
obscene (下流 xialiu).

(T/N: The question was to come up with words that can be

reversed and still come up with a word that is closely related to the
original word, another example would be cow (奶牛 nainiu) – milk (牛
奶 niunai) but of course Xiaoxi’s mind doesn’t work like that.)

After this matter has passed through, my favorable impression

towards Wu Bosong has naturally increased significantly, I felt that
he was truly a virtuous man who requite evil with goodness,
furthermore I thought that the stud earring on his ear was truly
sparkling, especially attracting affection.

But strangely enough, Wu Bosong was surprisingly so good to me.

He would buy me all sorts of snacks from the corner store. He would
teach me English and Math ( I guessed it right, his grades were
indeed very poor, besides English and Math of which he is
unexpectedly ranked first in the entire school, his scores on the other

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subjects were of single digit.) He would give me his jacket when it
suddenly gets cold……There was once I was left behind after
dismissal to update the bulletin board, he even cooked instant
noodles for me and carried it over to the classroom ( he’s the only
student in school who stays at the teacher’s quarters), and that bowl
of noodles even comes with an egg. The steam from the noodles
made my eyes sting, I was slurping noodles while asking Wu Bosong
who was helping me color on the bulletin board, “Why are you so
nice to me?”

I’d drawn a girl on the bulletin board, the girl was virtuously
holding a book with both hands, at that time, Wu Bosong was
coloring the cover of the book yellow, he said that it was called ‘a girl
looking at a yellow* book’. (T/N: Porn is literally yellow book in
Chinese.)

Wu Bosong didn’t turn his head when he replied, “There are

plenty of reasons why.”

I gave it a thought, this guy shouldn’t have taken a liking to me,

right? But I believe that it might also be possible, after all, he isn’t
blind…….Actually, my self-confidence had long been spooked away
by Jiang Chen, leaving it to scatter into pieces, that I reckoned a
senior monk who has already achieved the Dao could never beckon it
to come back.

Hence, I just simply ate the noodles while he continued coloring,

with chalk dust flying about. Occasionally, I would also ask him a
question or two, “Where did you study before? Why did you
transfer to our school?”

He was already coloring the girl’s skirt pink, “X province, my dad

wants me to study second year high school abroad. He has
already contacted the school and planned everything, so I
said I wanted to go back to grandfather’s hometown to have
one last look.”

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“Ah? Then aren’t you leaving soon?” I suddenly felt quite
disappointed that he was going to leave. Who’s going to fill up my
stomach which has just been going through puberty in the future?

He threw away the chalk, and turned around to sit on the desk
facing me, “Why? You can’t bear to part with me?”

I reached out my hand and patted his legs that were shaking in
front of me, “Stop shaking, it’s making me dizzy, it’s just that
I’ll go through starvation when you’re gone.”

He didn’t say anything, just looked pensively out the window, I also
foolishly followed suit, and saw Jiang Chen standing by the window.
Shrouded by the faint light of the coming evening, he was using his
extraordinary temperament to aptly convey the ghost part in ‘A
Chinese Ghost Story’.

I don’t know why, but watching him, because he was situated in a

poorly lit area, as well as his sorry lump of a figure, I suddenly had a
feeling of being caught, like a maiden guilty of being defiled on the
bed. As I was holding the bowl of steaming noodles with both of my
hands, I was itching to knock my head unto it.

Jiang Chen raised his knuckles and knocked on the glass window,
“Chen Xiaoxi, I bumped into Uncle Chen at the alley just now,
he asked me to call you home for dinner.”

After he was done saying it, he left without another word.

I placed the bowl on the desk and hurriedly ran out. Wu Bosong
was calling me from behind, a few words and ‘Chen Xiaoxi’. When I
made it to the door, I heard him say, “You haven’t finished eating
yet.”

I replied in one breath, “You can throw it, I’ll eat at home.”

I ran out, but I couldn’t find Jiang Chen, obviously because his legs
were surely a lot longer than mine.

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I spent a few minutes idling in the playground, and returned to the
classroom to retrieve my bag. I stood in front of the classroom door
watching from afar, Wu Bosong was still coloring the girl’s skirt, the
golden hue of the twilight was pouring forth to the room, from the
windows, the door, as well as all the little gaps, the chalk dust was
dancing in magical flurry as the light catches them, the hot steam
visible in the light was rising slowly from the bowl of noodles. I
thought that the back view of a person, surrounded by the fluttering
chalk dust, and the hot steam looked really nice.

I walked over to where he was, “I forgot my bag, and I also

haven’t eaten the egg in my noodles.”

He turned around and smiled, showing a perfectly eye-catching set

of pearly whites, “I’ve eaten the egg.”

I was astonished, “You’re really too fast.”

He grumbled with much grievance, “You told me to throw it

away ah, an egg is wasting an extra 50 cents.”

He wasn’t done talking but I’ve long seen the poached egg lying on
top of the noodles, so I rolled my eyes and said, “You’re too
bored.”

He shrugged and turned around to continue coloring, I took the

chopsticks and poked through the egg with it, when I was holding it
to stand upright it looked like an umbrella, so I very excitedly told
him to take a look at it, “Hey, do you think this looks like an
umbrella?”

He glanced sideways with a very scornful look, “If you won’t eat
it then I’ll eat it.”

He suddenly went silent, and then the egg that was skewered on
the chopstick was snatched away by him using his mouth. I was
holding my now empty chopstick, stunned. He must have been

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trained to snatch things with his mouth, right…..

Perhaps, that day when Jiang Chen left hurriedly, it has briefly took
away my infatuation for him, and perhaps knowing that Wu Bosong
was going to leave so soon, it made me cherish the friendship
between us even more. In short, I no longer hovered around Jiang
Chen all day long, and instead suddenly became very close to Wu
Songbai, as though he was an old friend of many years. But in the
eyes of our schoolmates, we already looked like young sweethearts. I
also don’t know if we thought it was something not worth doing, or
just because we wanted to uphold the principle of ‘a clean hand
needs no washing*’ but we didn’t do so much as explain ourselves.
Anyway, things like ‘feeling like old friends at first meeting*’ was
something too profound that these brats who only got into high
school would never understand. (T/N: The entire saying is 清者自清，
浊者自浊 literally ‘one who is pure is naturally pure, one who is
impure is naturally impure’ which means no matter how much an
innocent person is implicated, they’re still innocent. And no matter
how much a vile person denies their wrongdoing, they’re still vile, as
such that they are both innocent then it will show, or in this case, let
the truth speak for itself.)(T/N: Means they clicked/ hit it off right
away.)

He only studied in our school for one semester, and went abroad
summer vacation of first year high school. He had to ride the
sleeping bus to go to the city, and then transfer on a train for X
province, and from X province he would fly to New Zealand. I sent
him off to the bus station, tugging on the strap of his backpack with
reddened eyes, “You must remember to send me snacks back
from New Zealand……”

He patted my head, cupped his fist with the other hand, and then
winked at me, “I’m sure we’ll meet again someday.”

When the bus started moving, I waved my hand as hard as I could,

he opened the window and stuck his head out, “I’ll send you

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snacks from New Zealand.”

I tearfully tried my hardest to nod, “You have to send the most

expensive and delicious. Also, we will always be best
friends.”

He smiled and then shouted, “Alright.”

I remember running into Jiang Chen at the mouth of the alley on

my way home, his back was against me, standing in front of the
electric meter box of their house. He was using a screwdriver to pick
the wires, the back of his white t-shirt was soaked in sweat, and the
cottony material was softly clinging to his back, showing a faint skin
colour.

I couldn’t help but be curious and ask him, “What are you
doing?”

He inclined his head towards me, and said a bit distracted, ‘You
cried?”

I rubbed my eyes and replied, “Wu Bosong left.”

He let out a grunt, and faintly said he also knew, and then whipped
his head back to pick on those red, yellow, white, and green wires.

I asked again, “But what really are you doing?”

Jiang Chen suddenly thrusted the screwdriver into the pocket of his
jeans, and snapped at me, “Counting the wires, couldn’t I?

I was confronted by such temper which was a bit ridiculous so I

yelled, “Alright! I just thought you were repairing the fuse or
whatnot.”

His face became livid and then blanched, it took him a long while
before he softly mumbled, “I’m crazy.” After which he turned
around and went inside their house.

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I closed the electric meter box that was opened widely for him. In
fact, I also thought that his action of counting wires really did make
him look a little bit crazy.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

We’re about to head out of the drama plot soon so I’m gonna stop
putting in header photos. (and not because I was too lazy to look for
one hahaha *nervous laugh*)

Dolly | Xri | Amy

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Chapter 14
Source: Tea-Quila

Chen Xiaoxi , don’t you think letting your guest wait at the door is
a very ill-mannered thing to do?” Wu Bosong knocked on the opened
wide metal gate, creating a clanging sound.

I leaned on one side to let him in, he sat on the sofa and laughed
at me. I was still too immersed in memories and shock to snap out of
it, I blinked and blinked my eyes, he was still there.

I fixed my eyes on him, from his ocean blue striped polo-tee to his
Nike track shoes, then to his youthful 17~18 years old looking face.
Su Rui should really learn to take care of his skin from Wu Bosong.

He suddenly took something out of his pocket and held it out in a

fist towards me, “The New Zealand snacks that I owe you.”

I spread out my palm doubtfully, he shifted this fist above my palm

and let go of a packet of long green sweet. That packaging, that
outlook, that is quite an international sweet – Wrigley’s Doublemint
Chewing Gum.

He is still smiling at me. I turned my head, having a sudden urge of

wanting to cry. It’s not that I want to be pretentious, but he’s the
friend that treated me the best during my youth, and he just
suddenly disappeared, and suddenly appeared again, as though he
had never missed a part of my life.

Furthermore, he still looked so young. Time didn’t bear to slash his

face but hacked mine into pieces. How can I not be sad? How can I
not cry?

Wo Bosong was caught off guard, “Why are you crying?”

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I stomped my feet and roared at him, “Where have you been all
these years? When I fought with my boyfriend I couldn’t find
you, when I fell out of love I couldn’t find you, when I lost my
job I couldn’t find you, when I was hungry I couldn’t find you
too….”

He laughed while watching me make a fuss and pulled me down to

sit on the sofa to say, “Calm down, I’m not your Chen Shi Mei*,
it’s not good to cry like that.” (T/N: Chen Shi Mei was a heartless
man who abandoned his wife and child for riches and politics
influences in the Qing dynasty. Since then his name is used to
represent a heartless man.)

I glared at him tearfully. I was crying like a pear blossom*, I was so

pitiful, I was paying respect to our long-lost youth, crying for our
incomprehensible friendship, stop putting gold to your own
face**.(*T/N: Originally used to describe Yang Gui Fei crying. She was
one of the four beauties of ancient China. Now it is used to describe
how loving/delicate a girl looks when crying.)(**T/N: self-praise)

After that we sat cross legged on the floor before the sofa, drank
plain water and talked about our past.

Wu Bosong said, “After I reached New Zealand for half a

month, when things were finally all settled down, my father
called me to tell me that his company had declared
bankruptcy.”

I have never experienced bankruptcy, neither does my family’s

financial ability have the qualifications to declare bankrupt. The most
we can only declare that we have no money. Therefore I was not able
to understand the seriousness of that. But I didn’t want to appear as
ignorant, so I said in great sympathy and sadness, “Ah! How can
that be…..”

Heavens and earth know that my words were euphemistic terms of

expressing comfort, its to lament the state of the universe and pity

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the fate of mankind. However, Wu Bosong still explained in detail
about how his father trusted the wrong person, how the business
went downhill, how there were cash flow problems. He explained till
my eyes, expressions were lifeless. Finally he said, “Even if I tell
you too much you also won’t understand.”

After saying that I wouldn’t understand, he carried on as though I

understood. He explained more on the terms of bankruptcy law, and I
had to act as though I was very sad even though I couldn’t
understand anything. At last I couldn’t take it anymore. I interrupted
him and said, “Stop talking, I am too sad. If you continue to
talk I will even feel like donating money to you.”

Wu Bosong looked into my eyes very seriously, “You don’t

understand, right?”

I shrugged, “I think I don’t understand. Why not you start

talking from why you disappeared?”

He laughed bitterly. “Sister, I went from being a young

master* to having to work night and day to survive at a
foreign country. You say where do I have the time to show
concern about you?” (T/N: Young master is like Korean equivalent
of a chaebol. Meaning a kid from a well to do and rich family.)

I nodded my head to show my understanding, “So, you returned

with a successful business?”

He glared at me, “Don’t you think that you should show care
for the me who had suffered so much the past years?”

I said, “I will. But the level of care will depend on how

successful you are.”

Wu Bosong acted like he wanted to pour the cup of water on his

hand on me, “These few years that we didn’t see each other,
you’ve become wittier.”

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I was feeling smug, “Our ancestral land’s education is good.”

What he continued saying was basically about how a man strived

in a foreign land. Working part-time, applying for scholarship,
entering a multinational corporation…. Anyways it was pretty
positive and inspirational. I listened till my blood was boiling with
passion, making me want to strive for the best.

I asked him, “So your company sent you back here?”

Wu Bosong nodded, “That’s right, just came back and I still

can’t acclimatize. Have been having diarrhea for three days,
and I met Jiang Chen in the hospital.”

“Jiang Chen told you I am here?” Only then did I remember my

issue with Jiang Chen, so I told him what happened while adding oil
and vinegar*. (T/N: adding other things or exaggerating on certain
things that might have/ did not happen.)

Wu Bosong sighed, “I have to say, Jiang Chen is really

unlucky to have met* you.” (T/N: original word used here is 摊上.
Usually used with negative things or trouble that one might have
gotten into.)

I got really angry hearing it, I jumped up and threatened to use a

broom to sweep him out.

He stood on the floor as though he was the ocean-quieting needle*

, and said very calmly, “Have you ever thought about it, you
finally managed to catch him after chasing after him so
shamelessly. You then unreasonably broke up with him, but
you still hope that he will one cry, two make a fuss, three
hang himself** to plead to you. Aren’t you making things too
difficult for him?” (*T/N: Referencing from Journey to the West, lit.
translation of 定海神针, which is a loooooong and huge pole that
stands on the Dragon King of the East Sea’s palace that no one could
move until Sun Wu Kong came along. This same pillar later became

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his Ruyi Jingu Bang.) (**T/N: lit trans of 一哭二闹三上吊. Which just
means to make a big hoo-ha if the person doesn’t get what s/he
wants.)

I said, “You can’t be like this. We have to have principles.

You are a friend on my side. Your principle is to back me up.
If I were to kill someone, then you must destroy the corpse
for me, this is principle.”

Wu Bosong drank a mouth of water, “I didn’t contact you even

after leaving for so long, that is because I believe even
without my care you can still live very well, Jiang Chen will
take care of you well.”

I said, “You are too much. You abandoned our friendship

and made it sound so dignified, everything is correct from
your point of view, you think you are a parent?”

Wu Bosong spoke again, “Do you know during the times we

were always together, I could always feel Jiang Chen’s faint
gaze. His feelings towards you is definitely not lesser than
your feelings towards him.”

I said, “Wu Bosong you really have no shame. You can use a
faint gaze to determine Jiang Chen’s feelings towards me. So
why can’t you see from my faint gaze that I am going mad
from your lecture? You should just return to New Zealand and
sleep together with the koalas on the tree.”

Wu Bosong continued, “You think that it is impossible for you guys

to be together, that his Mother will not agree. Don’t you like to watch
romance, like to watch idol dramas? Wouldn’t true love triumph over
everything else? If true love doesn’t triumph over everything why
would it be freaking called true love. Also, koala belongs to the
Australians*, not New Zealand. (T/N: not sure why the author used
Australians here instead of Australia.)

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I think we can’t come to a consensus even if we were to talk half a
day, so I solemnly suggested, “Forget it forget it, let’s not talk
about it, let’s talk about something serious.”

Wu Bosong said, “What serious thing?”

I said, “You just came back from overseas, you should have
some imported goods, right? Anything to eat, wear or use, or
even if it’s just plastic bag, give me one. I really look up to
foreign things.”

Wu Bosong sighed again, “I just hope you correct your

attitude, stop faking, I thought you are some kind of
invincible youth or pretty girl.”

I said, “It’s wrong of you to say that. Speak properly. What

kind of hero are you to attack people’s age? Furthermore, I
was also 15 ten years ago.”

Lastly, he threw a bomb, “Jiang Chen got me to tell you that

he has a big surgery this afternoon, and he will be on duty at
night. He has no time to eat dinner, asked you to deliver it to
him.”

I said, I am not his maid, not delivering not delivering I am not

delivering.

He shrugged, “We shall see you will deliver or not.”

Wu Bosong really just stayed at my house and refused to go. He

laid on my sofa and tormented my 10 years old antique TV. Speaking
of which, products nowadays are really getting from bad to worse,
this 10 years old antique TV’s remote control batteries can last for a
year. My (parents) house recently bought a new LCD TV. The remote
control’s batteries have to be replaced once every month. Every end
of the month when I call back home my mother will always scold
about the LCD TV’s controller running out of battery again, it’s all

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your dad’s fault, insisted on changing a good solid TV to an LCD one.

It was time to eat. I really could not endure it anymore, so I took

my bag and said to him, “Wu Bosong, treat me to a dinner, I’ll
give you a feast to welcome you back.”

He stopped for a while, and frowned, “Your logic is quite

shameless.”

I accepted his praise modestly. Insisted on cheating him to the

highest class and the most luxurious, a restaurant that I can usually
only look at from afar. He held on to the taxi’s door and said he
refused to leave the car no matter what. He said, “I can tell from
one look that the ingredients in this restaurant are all like
me, they just got shipped over from overseas. Even if you
want to build up Jiang Chen’s health you also shouldn’t use
my money to do it. My money is hard-earned money. My
dad’s bankrupt.”

The taxi driver looked at the meter fare that is increasing. The evil
black smile on his face is as equally heartwarming as a melted
chocolate. He said, “Aiya* you two young couple stop fighting,
talk nicely, I’m not in a rush, young couples are all like that.”
(T/N: A form of exclamation.)

I felt very helpless about our citizens who are in the transportation
line and their love to pair up boys and girls. Actually that’s not
correct, all of our homeland’s citizens in every trade like to pair up
boys and girls that they see. Their pairing logic is also often immoral.
There was once me and my dad went to a department store to buy
shoes. The sales lady persistently praised the leather shoes that me
and my dad were trying on. “Miss your taste is amazing, the
shoes you picked really suits your boyfriend…..”

We ultimately ended up at a good quality but affordable

restaurant. I don’t know why, the restaurant that I suddenly felt like
eating at was near the hospital. I guess this is fate.

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Xri | Amy | Dolly

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Chapter 15
Source: Tea-Quila

After we finished eating dinner, Wu Bosong suggested that we

hang around at that unlucky restaurant to drink the instant milk tea
which we could have unlimited refills of. He originally suggested
drinking the instant coffee that similarly had unlimited refills, but I
thought that this act was very shameless, and furthermore, was
shameless in a very bourgeois way, so we changed to drinking milk
tea.

However, after the fifth time that we got the waiter to help us refill
our milk tea, we both didn’t dare to drink it, for we kept on
suspecting that that waiter who looked very sour-faced had spat
saliva into it.

I watched the sky outside the window darkening slowly, felt for my
mobile phone in my pocket, and interrupted Wu Bosong who was
vividly describing just how fresh, tender and succulent the lamb
chops in New Zealand were. “I think you must be tired, you had
better go back home and get over your jet lag.”

He cast a glance at me. “I’ve returned for a week, what jet lag
is there to get over?”

I spoke again, “Didn’t you say that you hadn’t yet

acclimatised and had diarrhoea? This proves that though you
think you have gotten over the jet lag, the jet lag is not
letting you off.”

Wu Bosong snorted. “You want to go and deliver food right,

I’ll go together with you, I can conveniently go to the hospital
for a return checkup at the same time.”

This person sure was shameless, he had the nerve to go for a

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return checkup for diarrhoea, this type of illness that had never seen
the world*, he truly was wasting our homeland’s medical resources.
(T/N: “seeing the world” – a phrase usually used to refer to people
undergoing experiences, getting familiar with the ways of the world,
enriching themselves with life experiences etc)

I swept at my hair, held up the milk tea and drank one mouthful,
then recalled how this milk tea possibly had been spat at with saliva,
immediately I felt incomparably indignant. “Who said I was going
to deliver food! Do I not have dignity*, do I!” (T/N: the original
phrase ‘犯贱’ is a slang/modern phrase which refers to when
someone insists on doing something while knowing that they will get
hurt/it is not right/it will take away their dignity; stooping to a new
low, bringing on himself humiliation, cheapening themselves)

He nodded his head, and expressed appeasement, “If you’re not

delivering, then don’t deliver, what are you getting so stirred
up for? He won’t die by not eating one meal.”

A hundred claws were scratching at my heart as I watched the sky

darken little by little. One moment I was fantasising about Jiang Chen
getting a stomach haemorrhage and collapsing on the operating
table; the next I fantasised about him getting so hungry till he
gnawed on his own fingernails to satiate his hunger; then I fantasised
about his stomach being so painful till he turned mad, and used the
surgical knife to cut open his own stomach……

In my brain dwelt a horror movie director, I was suitable to dwell in

a mental hospital.

I gazed at Wu Bosong sitting opposite me who was unperturbedly

and calmly watching me be brassy and restless, and suddenly came
to a realisation. If I were to be looked at like a laughing stock, this old
woman* would also reserve (herself) for Jiang Chen to look at, staying
on here to amuse this chap who was now being sold domestically
despite being initially produced for exports*, just how severely ill was
I exactly? (T/N: colloquial slang which can refer to yourself) (T/N: a

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Chinese business term, referring to products that were meant to be
sold overseas, but now are sold domestically [these products can’t
be sold in the international market for whatever reason, and
hence must be sold domestically to minimise losses on the
businessmen’s end])

Hence I slapped the table and shouted, “Waiter!”

The waiter feebly strolled over, he was even clutching a glass pot
of milk tea in his hands. With waning enthusiasm, he asked me,
“Refill the milk tea, right?”

“One seafood baked rice, one chicken soup, takeaway.” I

glared at Wu Bosong as I spoke.

He whistled loud and clear, and teasingly said, “You are still able
to eat?”

I watched as he lifted that cup of milk tea that was plausibly spat
at with saliva and drank a mouthful. I said, beaming, “I’m
delivering food to go and give to Jiang Chen.”

He put down the cup and smiled. “That’s more like it, all who
make life difficult for themselves are fools.”

His smile inexplicably caused me to sense a trace of sorrow, it was

as if he had experienced the impermanence of time*. (T/N: original
phrase – 沧桑 – short form of the idiom “沧海桑田” which literally
means “blue seas, mulberry fields” – how over time, the blue sea
turned into cropland for mulberry trees, and how the cropland for
mulberry trees turned into sea. The idiom refers to great changes,
how things of the world are fickle and change easily, etc)

I stretched my hand over to pat the back of his hand. “If you love
me, you have to let me know, only then can I reject you.”

He glared at me, and slowly spat out two words*. “Get lost.” (T/N:
Okay tbh in the original text it is one word, I’m adapting it to English

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:P)

I ignored him, and continued speaking, “Really, some people

are like me, comparatively more stupid and comparatively
having a greater inferiority complex. If you don’t make it
clear, she won’t know.”

Wu Bosong turned his hand over to pat my hand. “Not everyone

is as lucky as you are, to have the opportunity to start
afresh.”

After he finished speaking, he smiled bitterly. His gaze seemed to

have penetrated through me, and was looking at a faraway place.

People like me who aren’t often melancholy and moody are very
scared of these sort of scenes which require sighing and lamenting.
Often I would be at a loss of what to do, and often I didn’t know how
to comfort people. Thankfully we were very good friends, even if our
separation had caused us to no longer be familiar with each other’s
stories, but we weren’t scared of this type of awkwardness.

I carried the bento box and walked towards the hospital, Wu

Bosong stood across the road waving his hand at me, looking like the
lucky cat* in a display window. (T/N: for those not in Asia (?), this is
referring to the Japanese lucky cat (a cat figurine which has a paw
that moves back and forth) that is often placed at the display
windows of shops and restaurants in Asia, meant to bring about good
fortune)

I still remembered the location of Jiang Chen’s office. Even though

I’d only been there once, and even though I was a person who a poor
sense of direction, but I could just remember it, I knew I had to turn
left, turn right, go up the stairs, and see a fire hydrant.

It was just that I stood at the entrance, fixing my gaze on “Doctor

Jiang” on the door plate for a really long time., so long till a
sanitation worker auntie came up to use a wet rag to wipe the door

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plate and even said, “You aren’t sent here by the supervisors to
inspect hygiene, are you? I actually wipe these door plates
everyday.”

I thought that I couldn’t let the auntie be overly terrified, so I could

only hurriedly smile at her, and say, “No, no, I’m here to find
Doctor Jiang.”

The auntie let out a breath and said, “I’ve dwelled in this
hospital for so long, I haven’t yet seen anyone who goes
through the back door by bringing a bento box.”

I said, “No, no, my bento box is actually all filled with

hundred-dollar notes.”

She said, “Your bento box is only that big, how much money
can you pack in? Nowadays, other people are all giving credit
cards, you truly don’t know to keep up with the times.”

I still wanted to say something when the door opened. Jiang Chen
expressionlessly said to me, “Come in.”

The moment I entered the door, he seized over the bento box in
my hands. He said, “Do you want to starve me to death.”

Jiang Chen swept out a little corner of his office table and placed
the bento box on the table, and then began to eat self-absorbedly. I
was left hanging at the side. I watched as he wrinkled his brow,
picking out the onions in the rice. He said, “Chen Xiaoxi, why did
you order a meal with onions!”

I wanted to say, “How can you be so shameless, I bought

food for you and you’re still despising it,” I wanted to say, “Go
on being arrogant, see if I’ll still bring food for you next
time……”

But I did not, I thought about how very long ago, when we were
still attending university, I brought his clothes and blanket back to

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my dorm to wash and dry. In the hostel, washing and drying kept me
fully busy for almost three days, yet when I went back, he told me,
“Chen Xiaoxi, you got dye onto my clothes.” Back then I
already said, “How can you be so shameless, where else can
you go to find such a considerate girlfriend, don’t think that
just because it was I who chased after you, you can take
advantage of me.”

He said, “Are you nuts, I’m using the standards of my future

wife to make requests of you, if you’re not willing, then
forget it.”

I pasted myself onto him and shook his arm, saying, “No, no,
where is it dyed? You tell me, I’ll change the next time
round.”

Huh, that time.

******

“Chen Xiaoxi.” Jiang Chen brandished the chopsticks, waving it a

few times in front of me. “What are you in a daze about?”

I shook my head, and said laughingly, “I thought of that

shameless mouth and face of yours, always despising this
and that when I helped you wash your clothes in the past.”

He picked up a piece of squid and stuffed it into his mouth, and

said unclearly, “How can I compare to you in terms of
shamelessness.”

I stared blankly at him, yes, how could he compare to me in terms

of shamelessness, coming as soon as I said I would come, leaving as
soon as I said I would leave, and actually daring to look back despite
being like this.

Jiang Chen suddenly lifted his head, and fixed his gaze on me while
saying, “I’m talking about that matter of the library.”

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Oh, so it’s actually about that, caused me to deprecate myself for a
moment there. (T/N: if this sentence is unclear, basically Xiaoxi
thought Jiang Chen calling her shameless was about her breaking up
with him after being the one to chase after him, so she was self-
deprecating herself, but turns out that he was just talking about
something else.)

That seemed to have been the winter of our third year in

university, everyday I was accompanying Jiang Chen as he studied in
the library. Libraries in southern schools had no such thing as central
heating, I was scared of the cold, but yet I also wanted to keep him
company by his side, so I could only dress myself slightly thicker.

My basic outfit was one thermal underwear, one hoodie, two

woollen sweaters, one jacket, one thermal pants, one pair of jeans,
two pairs of socks, one pair of ankle-length boots, one scarf and one
pair of gloves. I remember that when I wore all these clothes on
myself, my wardrobe appeared very much to be completely empty.

This slightly thick outfit of mine caused my movements to appear

somewhat inconvenient, and the most prominent manifestation of
this inconvenience was on the issue of reading novels. That thick
woollen gloves caused my fingers to be extremely clumsy, I always
could not accurately rub out one piece of thin paper such that I could
then advance into the action of turning the page.

And I don’t know if fellow student Jiang Chen was frozen to the
point of foolishness or frozen to the point of stupidity or frozen to the
point of enlightenment, in any case, after he discovered that that I
had been staring blankly at the same page of the novel for ten
minutes, he took the initiative to help me flip that page over. After
that, we slowly built up a strange rapport – I would quietly read my
book by his side, and when I read till the point that I needed to flip
the page I would then use my arm to bump against him, he would
then, without even lifting his head, stretch out his arm to help me flip
the page of the book.

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This matter actually was not shameless at all, and basically could
even be considered as warm. The shamelessness was an accident
that extended from this warmth.

As we were conducting this daily activity of “bumping and

flipping” in the library everyday, a certain reporter from our school
paper was just sun tanning idly on the lawn outside the library.
Through the large glass window of the library that reached the
ground, she unintentionally discovered the interactions between
Jiang Chen and I, and furthermore believed that this interaction was
extremely suitable for a theme that she was going to plan out next –
“The little beauties in the school campus”. Hence, she laid in
wait for us in the library for many days, and with complete disregard
for our rights of publicity carried out a 360 degree omni-directional
secret photo-taking of us. What was shameless was that, after she
finished taking the photos, she had to do post-production editing of
the photos, upon hearing that I was from the arts faculty, she directly
called on me, and what was even more shameless was that, under
her continual and persistent persuasion of how we shouldn’t leave
blank spaces in our youth, I gladly agreed to do post-production
editing with Photoshop and the like for this set of photos at no cost.
Moreover, I edited it such that the resulting effect was extremely
dreamy and aesthetically-pleasing, extremely like a storybook couple
of immortals, extremely like a pair of birds flying together*,
extremely like a pair of mandarin ducks frolicking in the water*……
(T/N: “A pair of birds flying together” – refers to a couple that is
very loving, that accompanies each other and doesn’t leave) (T/N: In
Chinese language/culture, mandarin ducks are a symbol for a couple
as the mandarin ducks often stick together as a pair when you see
them in ponds. Mandarin ducks are often used in songs/poetry/etc to
describe/be analogies for beautiful romantic love.)

That series of photos caused a very huge sensation after it was

published on the school paper, the school paper and school forum
took advantage of this to act together and launch a comparative
evaluation of “school campus lovers”, Jiang Chen was chosen to

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be one of the top three contestants. Competing side by side with him
was a certain dear friend from the Chinese faculty who jumped into a
river to fish out a ring for his girlfriend and another dear friend from
the History faculty who personally made a set of hanfu* for his
girlfriend. Compared to them, Jiang Chen’s performance seemed to
be comparatively more insignificant, but it was worth mentioning
that the dear friend from the Chinese faculty looked like Tao
Yuanming* in our Chinese language textbooks, and the dear friend
from the history faculty had looks that were very much characteristic
of academia – he looked like the restored sculpture of the Peking
ape-man*. Hence, fellow student Jiang Chen from the medical faculty
who didn’t look at all like a medical specimen bravely seized first
place with a poll count that remained high throughout, and was
honoured with the title of “School Campus Lover”. This result tells
us that you need to depend on looks to make a living in society. (T/N:
hanfu – traditional Han Chinese costume/dress) (T/N: Tao Yuanming –
a famous and great writer and poet from the Jin dynasty) (T/N: Peking
ape-man/Peking man – Homo erectus pekinensis, of human lineage,
his fossils were discovered near Beijing in the 1920s)

I felt that as the only science student in this competition, Jiang

Chen had really gained honour on behalf of science students.

So I didn’t know why Jiang Chen upon knowing the entire sequence
of events of this matter was so angry that he nearly whirled me to go
hit the wall.

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Chapter 16
Source: Tea-Quila

Jiang Chen emptied the bento box in less than ten minutes, after
which, he even bossed me to throw it out when he was done. As I
was outside, carrying the plastic bag with me, I happened to chance
upon the sanitation worker auntie again while she was taking out the
trash, she greeted me kindly, “Little girl, has your ‘gift’ been sent
out?

Her voice calling me little girl made my heart feel very comfortable
with her, hence I replied truthfully, “Actually, I didn’t come here
to give him a ‘gift’, I’m just delivering his meal.”

She insisted, “Did Doctor Jiang give you a scolding? Don’t be

scared, no family has one member, no matter young or old,
who isn’t suffering from an ailment, give something to the
doctor so your heart would feel at ease, I’ve been working in
this hospital for quite a few decades, I’ve seen this scenario
countless times, rest assured I will not run my mouth.”

I gave it a thought, if I didn’t explain things clearly, it would surely

tarnish Jiang Chen’s medical ethics, something I really don’t care
about, what I couldn’t take was how this auntie indirectly cursed my
family, so I said with my whole chest, “Actually, it’s like this,
Doctor Jiang and I used to be a couple, and until now there’s
still a bit of affectionate ties.”

The auntie looked at me, clearly a little bit taken aback, and then
sized me up meticulously for quite a long time. In the end, she let out
a sigh and wheeled the trash away. Right before leaving, she
mumbled under her breath, “So young, it turns out it was to get
her mental illness looked at.”

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……

When I returned to Jiang Chen’s office, he was engrossed in writing

something, I walked over and knocked on the table hence he looked
up.

I told him, “There’s nothing for me to do, I’m going home.”

Jiang Chen’s right hand was holding the pen, scribbling on his
notepad, his other hand was used to turn over its leaves, he said with
nonchalance, “Chen Xiaoxi, if you walk out that door right
now, we’re over.”

I thought that the content of his words sounded very intense, it

should have been expressed with feelings likened to waves surging
forth, yet he said it so flatly like stagnant water, all was said in one
breathe without any slight pauses, one can seriously consider this as
a talent.

I was standing. He was sitting. But even though I was towering

over him, I also felt like my imposing aura was rather losing ground a
little bit. I was looking at him. He was also looking at me. But even
though we were so close, I couldn’t even guess what’s going through
his mind.

I said, “There’s no need to put it so seriously, I just saw that

you were quite busy, didn’t want to disturb you.”　　

Jiang Chen’s fountain pen was twirling between his fingers, he said,
“Doctor Su told me, you called me this morning to clear the air, so I’ll
make myself clear right now as well, and you can leave when you’re
done listening.　　

I swallowed a lump in my throat, and let out an “en” to indicate

that I was fine with it.

He asked, “Three years ago, it was you who suggested of

breaking up, right?”　　

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I replied yes.　　

He added, “The reason of our breaking up was because of

my mom, is that right?”　　

I replied yes, but immediately took it back and said it also doesn’t
seem to be it, and that actually I wasn’t too sure of what I’ve said.

He threw the pen on the table with a thump, and my heart

tightened all of a sudden, that’s probably a very expensive Parker
pen.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, and said with a hint of

weariness, “Chen Xiaoxi, tell me, have you ever thought about me in
the past three years?　　

This conversation was fast becoming emotional, I wanted to speak,

yet it seems like I was choking on something. 　　

The first week after I broke up with Jiang Chen, almost every night,
I would suddenly rouse from my deep sleep, strands of hair sticking
on my moist cheek and neck, when I’d touch my pillow, and the chest
area of my duvet with my hand, it would feel wet.　　

It was too painful for me to bear, I really wanted to go back and

beg him, say it’s all my fault, and that I’ve changed, I’ve
changed……..

As a matter of fact, I really went over to see him. One morning, I

stood across the hospital, around lunch time, I’ve seen him with his
colleagues chatting and laughing until they arrived at a small
restaurant nearby to have their meal. I looked at his smiling face
from afar, I could even see his dimple, filled with such radiance. I felt
hatred, I felt bitterly disappointed, I felt so foolish, I thought I should
have rushed to the middle of the road and get run over by a car, I
don’t believe that he would still be able to continue eating his meal
right next to my blood.

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At that time, lots of thoughts flashed through my mind, but in the
end, I chose to return home – I wanted to buy a pineapple bun at the
bakery downstairs but probably because I was crying so hard which
astounded the world*, it frightened the kind-hearted lady boss who
gave me three instead, and even told me how there’s no difficulties
in life that one couldn’t overcome. If I could act well enough, I’d go
there every single day to cheat her on those bread. (T/N: Used when
a person’s words and/or actions are unusual that most people are
shocked.)　　

Longing for someone can tear one’s heart as well as rip one’s
lungs. So much that some people dare not touch these words —
longing for someone. I’ve always said I was never a brave person, I’m
afraid of pain, I’m afraid of sadness, I’ve put my longing towards him
in a box, and affixed a seal, “If you dare open this you will suffer
in pain to death, serves you right.”　　

It was truly effective, hence, I haven’t thought about him.　　

Jiang Chen hit the table impatiently, the tone of his voice was
harder, “Is the question really so difficult.”　　

I was suddenly filled with hate that could topple the mountains and
overturn the seas, I doubled my fist, clenched my teeth very fiercely,
and spat out a word, “Difficult.”　

He sneered, “Chen Xiaoxi, why really are you so bold with your
convictions?　　

Sneering, are you? Who didn’t know how to do that, once I bare my
teeth I become the Emperor of Sneering they talk about!

I “humph”-ed a few times as I sneered, and asked in reply,

“What about you? Why didn’t you look for me? Why didn’t
you coax me? Why did you really break up with me when I
suggested to break up? Why did you ask me if I was thinking
of you or not? Why are you sitting while I’m standing…..”

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Jiang Chen was a bit confused by my series of questions, so it took
him a moment before he stood up slowly. When I saw him standing
up, I panicked. I took a few steps back and said, “Why are you
standing up?”

But he instead, suddenly smiled, reached out his hand to grab my

wrist, dragged me forcibly, pushed me to sit on his chair, and then
said, “Now, you’re the one sitting while I’m standing, happy?

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, I think Doctor Jiang’s sense

of humor came off a bit awkward, even though I was known for
having a rather odd ‘haha point’ but I really couldn’t laugh at it no
matter what. (T/N: haha point means the threshold of which one can
laugh like how having a low haha point means someone is easily
amused.)

With his hands propped on both armrest, I was caged between him
and the chair. This action is rather nice, very ambiguous, like a set
for when an ordinary male lead wants to act like a rogue towards the
female lead.

He smiled and leaned close to my face, stopping at a distance

where I could feel his hot breath fanning my face, “You were the one
who suggested about breaking up, why should I lower my voice and
stifle my anger in order to coax you?

I shrunk down in my seat, “You’re a man, shouldn’t you coax

me?”

He was gazing at me calmly, “At that time, I felt very tired.”

I’ve also calmed down a lot, “You were tired for a long time.”

Those words sounded very sarcastic, but there’s really nothing

much to it, it just slipped from my mouth, that’s all.

He let out a sigh, “I actually looked all over for you.”　　

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I was shocked when I heard it, and worked hard to rack my brain
for my memories of those days for fear that at which intersection
which male friend have I hugged or held hands with or blew the dust
off my eyes, by which resulted to a misunderstanding, but there was
none. Those days, I was wandering around like a spirit. Unless they’re
fans of the movie ‘Ghosts’, men would never want to be near me, so I
retorted with confidence, “You’re talking nonsense, where did you try
to look for me?　

He was about to say something when his phone that was placed on
the desk suddenly let out a ring so he turned around to look at who
was calling. And then in a blink of an eye, I found him facing me
while he leaned his body over me. I held my breath. Here it comes,
here it comes, the time to act as a rogue has come. His hand went
pass my shoulder and my heart gave a vicious contraction. But in
fact, he was only trying to pull out his white coat that was hanging
from the back of his chair. He was donning on his white coat while
explaining to me, “Emergency room’s number.”　　

The phone on the desk with it most simple ringtone started ringing
again, Jiang Chen grabbed the phone and answered it while walking
outside, knocking the door open and then knocking it shut. I’m alone
in a room filled with loneliness, I think the timing that was picked for
when the phone would ring just now was too good, was there a
director who yelled action somewhere?　　

I was thinking he won’t be back for quite a while, so I boringly

pushed my feet against the floor, driving on the wheels attached
under his working chair, and sliding it all across the room, but my last
slide came off a bit too hard, and I suddenly heard a clicking sound
— the chair went out of balance and I befriended the floor, followed
by the chair, with my forehead hitting first.

It was truly a pretty strong hit, if one would capture a shot of it

from a distance, it would be sort of how a fish would look like, right
when the chef is about to kill it, placing it on the chopping board

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while it flips everywhere, and then giving it one clean smash to make
it lose consciousness.　　

I held unto the chair on the ground for a while, in a daze, it took me
a long time before I was able to handle it. When I slowly stood up, I
thought I have to go to the emergency room to look for Jiang Chen,
I’m in an emergency too, if undetermined intracranial hemorrhage
from cerebral concussion was deemed as one.　

I followed the hospital signage, and was moving slowly, feeling the
wall with my hand. Deep inside I was really scared, this cerebral
concussion and intracranial bleeding have something to do with body
fluids and so on. If I walk rapidly, perhaps these brains or blood would
slosh tremendously making it gush out.　　

With great difficulty, I’ve managed to arrive right at the door of the
emergency room, I supported myself with the wall, and whimpered
for the inside, “Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen. Come out quickly, I’m
Chen Xiaoxi.”

Jiang Chen didn’t come out, instead it was a nurse, she yelled at
me with a scowl on her face, “This is a hospital! A hospital! Why
are you so loud!”　　

I dare not say that she yelled louder than I did, I’m afraid she’d
quickly yell even louder that the sound waves emitted would go
through my eardrum, and send vibrations to my brain. Also, my head
feels very fragile at that moment.　　

So I said slowly, “Can you please help me call Doctor Jiang

Chen?”　

She casted a glance at me, “Doctor Jiang went to the

restroom.”　　

I wasn’t expecting this answer, I thought that when he went out in

a hurry just now, there must be something like a fractured head with

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blood gushing out, the intestines eviscerated from the abdomen
which needed prompt treatment. I can’t believe he still has time to
empty his bladder…..　　

The nurse went back inside the emergency room, I leaned against
the wall, waiting for Jiang Chen to return.　　

The hospital’s incandescent lights were glaringly pale as always,

but I believe that my complexion was perhaps even paler, because
Jiang Chen started running a hundred meter dash towards me. I
thought it was very romantic, just like how Yi Ping* ran towards Shu
Huan at the train station. We were just swapping roles. (T/N: She’s
referring to the ending scene of Romance In The Rain, a 2001 drama
starring Zhao Wei as Yi Ping and Leo Ku as Shu Huan.)

I seem to softly collapse into the arms of Jiang Chen, he was

supporting my head with one hand, the other was trying to pry open
my eyelids. His hands shaking like that, I was, however, scared that
he was going to poke my eyes blind.

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Chapter 17
Source: Tea-Quila

After quite some time of chaos, it turned out that all I had was just
a mild cerebral concussion. Those symptoms where I was giddy and
my head was spinning were all just me scaring myself till I became ill,
and by association Jiang Chen was also frightened quite terribly.
Here, I must criticise Jiang Chen’s psychological strength for a bit, as
a doctor who had spent countless years in the foul wind and bloody
rain*, he really appeared like he had never seen the world before.
(T/N: referring to a ruthless, treacherous atmosphere/environment of
an insane massacre.)

According to the statement of the eyewitness – the sour-faced little

nurse, Doctor Jiang Chen had cradled my head while displaying his
lion roar towards the emergency room, “PENLIGHT!
STETHOSCOPE!”

The little nurse staggered out holding a penlight and a

stethoscope. While Jiang Chen was tremblingly flipping over my
eyelids to use the penlight to shine and look at my pupils, she,
carrying an attitude of “there is no harm in trying”, used strength
distinctive of nurses to pinch my renzhong* once, immediately I
shrieked and bounced awake. (T/N: Renzhong: the “human centre”
acupuncture point – you can feel it by feeling the area beneath your
nose where there is a depression. It is a key acupuncture point to
press when restoring consciousness of someone after they faint)

Seeing me become awake, Jiang Chen’s complexion was not very

good, he probably thought that the nurse had stolen the limelight
from him as the doctor.

He used the tiny penlight to shine at my pupils and looked at them

carefully for a while, only then did he keep the tiny penlight in the

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pocket of his white coat and ask me, “What happened to you?”

I pulled myself up by holding on to the arm that he had looped

around me and sat up straight, “I fell down and hit my head.”

He wrinkled his brow and felt the back of my head with his hand.
His fingers passed through my hair, carefully pressing on my scalp.
He pressed till I made a “chi” sound expressing pain before he
stopped, after which he then pulled my hand to feel that area of
scalp, “Look, a bump has risen up here.”

The way he spoke was calm like a gentle breeze and a floating
wisp of cloud, as if the bump on my head was caused by a mosquito
sting.

I pressed on that projecting lump, it was about as big as a quail

egg. Pressing on it, it was softer than an egg with its shell intact, yet
it was harder than an egg with its shell peeled, its hardness was just
nice.

Jiang Chen pushed aside my fringe and asked me, “Is there
anywhere else that got hurt when you fell?”

I shook my head and said that there wasn’t, he clutched my neck,

“Don’t move your head! Where did you fall?”

“Your room.” I patted his hand as I spoke.

He held me by the arm as we stood up, “Why didn’t you give

me a phone call to ask me to go over?”

I glimpsed at him, feeling aggrieved. “I forgot to.”

I supported myself by holding on to his shoulder, and followed him,

walking slowly towards the emergency room. That nurse followed
behind us, expressing her delayed concern, “Hey, if I had known
earlier that you were Doctor Jiang’s friend, I would have let
you come in to sit.”

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Jiang Chen made me lie down on the hospital bed in the
emergency room, “I’ll go get medication.”

The little nurse dragged a chair over to sit by my hospital bedside,

and asked me beamingly, “Are you Doctor Jiang’s girlfriend?”

I didn’t feel like replying her, I was busy pressing that bump on the
back of my brain. Just applying a slight force immediately caused a
sort of numbing pain to spread from my forehead to my toes, it was
very satisfying.

The little nurse waited for quite a long time and didn’t manage to
wait for my reply. Knowing herself that it was meaningless, she
dragged her chair away and went to sit in front of a tiny window.

Jiang Chen returned holding a steel tray, on it was a cup of water, a

medicine jar, a few cotton buds and a few white pills.

He picked up the pills and placed it on his palm, I then picked up

the pills from his palm and threw them into my mouth, then I flooded
(my mouth) with water to send them down.

After I finished eating the medicine, he made me sit cross-legged

on the bed with my back facing him. He wanted to help me apply
medication, that little nurse tried a few times to come over and help,
and every time was always sent away by my fierce glare.

Jiang Chen first flipped over my hair. As my back was facing him
and I couldn’t see his expression, I hence automatically fitted him in
my mind with a facial expression of him lightly creasing his brow,
with a tender and pained* gaze. However, very quickly, I soon
overthrew this gentle expression ruthlessly in my mind, for he had
used the cotton bud to, while exerting all his strength, fiercely and
crazedly jab at that bump on the back of my head. (T/N: “pained” –
the original expression is “ 心疼 ” which literally means “pained
heart”, usually refers to when your heart hurts/you feel sorry for
someone you love dearly who is going through a hard time)

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Immediately, hot tears filled my eyes, I turned my head upwards
and backwards to look at him. “Be gentler, don’t jab out my
brains.”

With his hand, he supported my head till it was straight, and said,
“Got it.”

After that, he threw away the cotton bud, what then next plastered
on (the back of my head) was his fingers. His fingers were warm,
mixing together with the cooling ointment as he slowly kneaded my
scalp.

I suddenly felt a burst of tartness and limpness in my heart. I

slowly leaned back, lightly leaning on his body. His fingers paused
momentarily, before he once again dug out a lump of ointment and
smeared it on my scalp.

The little nurse had originally been sneaking peeks craftily from the
side, but for some reason, she suddenly gave two forced chuckles
towards us, and with an air of sternness and righteousness, proposed
that she was going to go out and conduct a ward round. With regards
to her abrupt transformation into someone so industrious,
hardworking and dedicated to her work, we can only term it as a
moment of enlightenment.

Jiang Chen allowed her moment of enlightenment, she then went

out to conduct ward rounds, looking back three times for every step
she took*. (T/N: literal translation, meaning to be reluctant)

Just like that, I leaned on Jiang Chen’s third, fourth and fith ribs. He
silently kneaded my head, kneading kneading kneading kneading, he
was kneading for too long a time, I then felt spooked and scared,
thinking if he wanted to knead my skull and scalp till it became thin
so that it would be easy for him to poke a straw in with a “pop”
sound to suck up my brains……

Thankfully Jiang Chen did stop. He used that hand of his covered in

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ointment to encircle my shoulder from behind my back.

He said, “I have been waiting for you to regret all along,

waiting for you to come back and plead with me. I would
definitely have to mock you properly, then make you face the
surgical knife and vow that you would be hacked to pieces if
you ever dared to say the two words – ‘break up’ – in the
future.”

I wanted to turn my head over and tell him, “This mentality of

yours is too unhealthy, plus how can you say such gory words
to me when I am such an adorable girl? I’m very cowardly, I
will be scared.”

But Jiang Chen was holding my shoulder bone with a death grip,
with a manner quite like he was going to crush me to pieces any
moment, therefore I didn’t say a word.

He spoke again. “But you unexpectedly never came.”

I thought to myself, that’s you not seeing it, I even saw you
ordering a meal of char siu* rice in the restaurant. (T/N: char siu – a
particular way of preparing barbequed pork in Cantonese cuisine that
is sweet and savoury)

He said that he went to look for me after more than a month, he

said that it was the first time he had watched helplessly as a person
died in his hands, he said that the situation back then was truly out
of the ordinary and his emotional state was truly fragile, he needed a
girlfriend to give him support and encouragement, so he decided to
make the first move and forgive me. Hence, he went to look for me,
but downstairs from my house, he saw me directing a few huge men
to move my luggage downstairs, after which he then returned to the
hospital in a fit of pique.

I sighed, the heavens ought not to be so merciless and cruel,

making trouble without reason.

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This matter was like this, at that time, after I finished saying the
words “break up”, Jiang Chen threw down a sentence – “Don’t you
regret it” – and following that swung the door and left. After he
swung the door, that old, feeble, diseased and spoilt door gave up on
barely maintaining its existence while being on its last legs, and
breathed its last without turning back.

And coincidentally, the next day was the day that that balding
landlord of mine dropped in to collect rental fees. He looked at that
door on the verge of collapse*, and most likely he thought of those
strands of hair of his on the verge of dropping out*, so he was
furious. (T/N: in the original text, the words used to describe the door
and the hair are exactly the same, I changed the translations in each
situation a little to fit both contexts)

He faced the spoilt door, reviling me. My landlord’s educational

level was very high, he reportedly was a postgraduate student from
ancient times. He escalated this matter to the high degree of how
university students in the present age generally had no cultivation,
furthermore insisting on his belief that the financial crises, droughts,
earthquakes, floods and even bird flu were all the fault of university
students. I did attempt to explain that it wasn’t my fault that
droughts occurred, because I only washed my clothes once a week,
but he didn’t listen, he insisted on me paying a thousand RMB for the
cost to replace the door.

Even though I appear to be dim-witted, I wasn’t stupid. This lousy

wooden door was at most worth 200 RMB, with one turnover he
raised the price by 5 times, this was even more dishonestly profitable
and more shameless than real estate. Of course, a few years later, I
discovered that I was wrong, nothing could be more dishonestly
profitable and more shameless than real estate.

Due to the matter of this door, the relationship between my

landlord and I completely broke down. He was determined to ask for
compensation of one thousand RMB, I was determined to

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compensate five hundred. Stuck in this deadlock, he made me get
out from his apartment, I hence got out. And the day that Jiang Chen
came, I was doing the preparatory actions to get out.

I mournfully told Jiang Chen the story of me being bullied in every

possible way by that landlord, after Jiang Chen had finished hearing
it, he gave a deep sigh and said, “Then let’s reconcile.”

I was extremely perplexed, look at how he said these words, so in

his mind, these three years of ours was just an endless quarrel?

Perhaps I was silent for too long, Jiang Chen spoke again, he said,
“Chen Xiaoxi, I am a doctor. I’ve gotten used to the sight of
life and death, struggles and suffering. According to your
logic, my life ought to have transcended worldliness greatly,
why must I be intertwined and entangled up with you? The
moment I turn around there is a pretty nurse, the moment I
nod my head I can have a new life, why should I keep
thinking about you.”

I listened, this wasn’t right, these words were completely different

from that request to reconcile, could it be that that brief silence of
mine was thought by him to be me putting on airs, and he had
decided to no longer entertain me?

I turned around and hugged his waist, “Okay, let’s reconcile.”

He didn’t speak for a long time, I got anxious, saying while

wringing his clothes with my fingers, “You can’t play this sort of
love games with me where you welcome me while desiring to
reject me, I’m already old enough to marry and have
children.”

Jiang Chen patted my back, “I got it.”

I let go of his waist, and raised my head to look at him. “What do

you mean?”

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He lowered his head and leaned in close, I covered my mouth with
lightning speed, and spoke with a smothered voice, “Are we
reconciling or not after all, if you don’t make it clear I won’t
let you kiss me.”

He tilted his head looking at me, and smiled. “Okay, we’ll

reconcile.”

After he finished speaking, he pushed aside my hand, and kissed

me.

As our lips and tongues rolled and turned, I tried hard to stay clear-
headed and reflect on a question. Initially it was him who asked to
reconcile, why was it that in the end it again became me who begged
him to reconcile? Furthermore, I even had to stoop to seducing him
to ask for reconciliation?

But my clear-headedness only lasted for about three seconds, after

which my long-neglected lips then ruled over that mind of mine that
didn’t have much of its own opinion.

Really, our embrace and kiss were very romantic – the disinfectant
smell that was specific to hospitals, the minty smell emanating from
the ointment on my head, the medicinal smell and soap smell on
Jiang Chen’s body, along with the faint taste of Wrigley’s Doublemint
chewing gum in his mouth, these various flavours mingled together,
it was very beautiful. If time could be like a DVD player, I wanted to
press “pause”, and freeze the frame at this second.

Unfortunately, even if time was a DVD player, I also didn’t have a

remote control in my hand.

That head of mine that had just suffered serious trauma suddenly
experienced a burst of pain under a state of a great increase in blood
flow. It was so painful that I wrung at Jiang Chen’s back with tears
gleaming in my eyes, “My…… head hurts.”

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He let go of me and crouched down to look at me levelly, I held on
to his shoulder and took deep breaths with great effort.

He fished out the little penlight from his pocket, and then stretched
his hand out to flip my eyelids, even using the little penlight to shine
at my eyes. That ray of light shone at me till I really wanted to shed
tears.

Finally Jiang Chen let out a breath and supported me to lie down.
After that he used the stern tone of voice distinctive of doctors and
reproached, “There’s no problem, lie down and rest for a
while, you can’t be overly excited when you have a cerebral
concussion.”

Speechless, I gazed at the gleaming white ceiling, who exactly was

the one who had caused me to be excited……

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Amy | Xri | Dolly

Translator’s Corner:

To end off the chapter, let us visually appreciate Jiang Chen’s “lion

roar” for his penlight and his stethoscope, which we can only catch a
glimpse of in the music video for “Is this a dream”, because for
some unfathomable reason, they decided to edit out this particular
part from the final version of this scene in the drama. :”(

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Chapter 18
Source: Tea-Quila

I slept for a little in the emergency room, in which I was woken up

twice. The first was when Jiang Chen shifted a green folding screen
from God knows where to separate the beds. The screen probably
was not maintained for years, it created loud cracking sounds like a
firecracker when pulled. I think I glared at him resentfully, then
turned back to sleep. The second time is now, the other side of the
screen came low groaning sounds of a man, the sound went “ah, ya,
ah, ya”, it was very ambiguous.

I sat up, and wanted to peep, but was startled by the valiant words
of the nurse.

She said, “Can you not yell so disgustingly, we are not even
giving you a colonoscopy.”

In my heart I was calculating the distance between the large

intestine and the entrance of a colonoscopy, I couldn’t help but
laugh.

The person the other side already transitioned from a yell to a

high-pitched scream. I heard Jiang Chen reprimanded, “Keep your
mouth shut, don’t disturb other patients.”

I detoured past the privacy screen, then I regretted on why I even

did that.

The person was probably a young chap, I said probably is because I

determined from his hair which was like a bunch of exploded straw.
As for now, I am unable to determine his age from his face as it was
stained with fresh red blood. There were even green pieces of glass
stuck into him, it looked like those from a beer bottle. Amongst the
pieces were two which were stuck onto each side of his cheeks, and
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it even came with the brand logo. I squinted my eyes for a better
look, one probably had the word “纯” and the other, “生”*. (T/N: 纯
– Purified. 生 – Live. It is a standalone word by itself but when put
together, it is a type of beer that is non-pasteurised, only filtered to
remove the yeast.)

I really wanted to take a camera to capture his face and upload it

to a forum with the title – X College Art Student’s Bloody Graduation
Project, Appeal for Society’s Concern on , *, , , etc of the Never-
Ending Beauty of a Human Being. The Caption has to be Long. (T/N:
1st life is life as we are living, and the 2nd life is a human life.)

Trust me, any form of art that is anomalous will become viral.

Jiang Chen was the first to see me come out. He pointed at me with
the tweezers he was holding and said, “Go in. Why did you come
out for?”

I have yet to speak, the Glass Face person scolded rudely, “F*ck,
what the heck are you looking at, ah…F*CK!”

His last “ah…F*CK!” came abruptly as a loud piercing scream. I

stumbled backwards from shock and stared blankly at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen threw the piece of glass with the word “Live” to the
plate on the push cart beside him, “This is a hospital, speak more
cleanly.”

When he said that, that was no other expression on his face, even
his tone was dull without any intonation. But I feel that he was very
handsome/cool.

The Glass Face person used that face of his to express a ‘dare to
show but dare not speak’ expression. He also spoke very modestly,
“I got it, doctor can you be gentler.”

Jiang Chen agreed to him and looked at me to say, “You, go in.”

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I went back behind the screen and sat cross legged on the bed to
day dream.

I heard Glass Face using a fawning tone to say, “Doctor, your

girlfriend? She’s pretty.”

Jiang Chen seemed to acknowledge by making a sound. Then Glass

Face continued, “Doctor, bringing your girlfriend on the
hospital bed, exciting ohhh.”

As expected, Glass Face screamed for his mother again. You see,
this kind of pain only deserves two words – served you right*. (T/N:
served you right is 活该 in Chinese. That’s why its two words.)

Not sure how long have past, I started to doze off while sitting
cross-legged. When I regained my consciousness, I realised my legs
were numb to the point I didn’t dare to touch it.

“Chen Xiaoxi, are you meditating?” Jiang Chen stood beside

my bed while removing the white rubber gloves off his hands.

I wriggled my toes, a tingling pain of numbness climbed through

my cells up my entire body, I made a crying face and replied him,
“Jiang Chen, my legs are so numb they are going to be
crippled.”

He threw the gloves to the dustbin at the corner, walked over to

the bed and sat down. He stretched out his index finger to poke on
my leg, I screamed, “Don’t, it’s really numb.”

Jiang Chen suddenly extended his arm to push me, I was like a
spoilt roly-poly. I swayed futilely and stayed in my cross-legged
position while I fell sideways onto the bed.

My left thigh was then crushed under my right thigh, I was so

numb I cried out loud.

Jiang Chen seemed really happy. He crossed his arms and turned

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his head to look at the me who was slanted on the bed and laughed
endlessly. He laughed till his dimple looked like it was going to fly off.

Then he gently entangled my left and right legs, laid them straight
and patted on my calves.

Every hit of his palm on my legs, I felt like my blood was circulating
back to my two legs, I was numb, I was in pain, I was numb to pain.

After about five to six minutes, my legs finally went back to

normal. I gave Jiang Chen a kick, to indicate that my legs are good
enough to be able to kick someone. I also indicated that I was very
unhappy when he took advantage of when I was unable to move
freely and treated me like a roly-poly.

Actually, I wasn’t very brutal with that kick, but Jiang Chen fell back
onto the bed from my kick. He held onto his stomach and said,
“Chen Xiaoxi, are you a female wrestler?”

I gave him another kick, “Are you an Academy Award Best

Actor?”

Jiang Chen was still clutching on his stomach and not moving. I was
even starting to feel that he was starting to perspire on his forehead.
I started to feel that something was wrong. It can’t be that this
numbness caused my legs to become a Shadowless kick* leg. A
gentle kick can take a person’s life? (T/N: A type of martial arts
kicking technique made by a famous Chinese folk hero – Wong Fei
Hung.)

I climbed over to pat his back, “Are you okay? You okay? Don’t
scare me.”

He suddenly turned to hug me, “Are you an idiot, I am

clutching onto my stomach why are you patting my back!”

He hugged really tightly, as though he was putting his entire

weight on me, I was a bit breathless. I said, “What’s wrong? Don’t

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suffocate me.”

He said he’s fine, and that he has a bit of gastric pain, and asked to
let him hug for a while.

I gently patted on his shoulder and said, “Are you hungry? How
about I buy some food for you? Or where’s your medication? I
will take it for you. Why are you always having gastric pain?
That’s not good, you have to take good care of yourself.”

He rested his head on my shoulder and said, “Chen Xiaoxi, I

can’t take care of myself well.”

My maternal instincts as a female overflowed as I heard that line, I

stroked his head and said, “Jiang Chen, I’ll take care of you
then.”

“Okay.” He said.

After Jiang Chen handed over his duty to the next shift, he listed a
series of clauses on how to take care of him while he was driving
back me home. Most of these clauses were no stranger to me as he
gave me a list before when we were in university. For example, he
was in charge of delivering breakfast to me, and I delivered him his
lunch and dinner. Another example, if he were to eat any type of food
with shell, I would have to remove the shell for him, this was mainly
meant for tea eggs. Or another example, every week I have to wash
his worn clothes (for the week) and beddings for him.

I sat at the passenger seat and flipped back and forth noisily on the
two pages of medical prescription form that was given to me.
However, he remained unmoved. I finally could not take it anymore
and waved the two pages of paper in front of him and said, “Why do
I have to deliver you dinner?”

He said, “That was based on the list from our university

days.”

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I protested, “University was nearby ah! It was convenient.
Furthermore, you delivered me breakfast during university.”

He said, “That was because I had to wake up early to read,

so it was convenient. Also, didn’t I remove the clause on
having to deliver lunch?”

I was lost for words, “But.. but I still don’t want to deliver
dinner to you.”

He side-glanced me, “Who said she wanted to take care of

me?”

There was nothing for me to say, I could only give in and analyze
the clauses. On the 6th clause, Jiang Chen wrote: ‘Have to clean up
my house every 3 days.’

I shook the paper and said, “Look at the 6th clause. We didn’t
have that in university.”

He tapped on the steering wheel while waiting for the red light. He
leaned his head towards me and said, “We lived in dorm during
university. I can’t let others take advantage.”

…….

Alright, I was wrong. It was me whom in the 3 years of memories,

beautified him too much. As such, I was only able to remember his
good, and totally forgotten about his bullying. The reason why
memories are so beautiful, is because no one is able to go back.

Actually, during this long time I have known Jiang Chen, hidden
under his gentleness was a heart of absolute unrestrained tyrannical
abuse towards me. For example, the library incident, what everyone
saw the him flipping my book for me. In actual fact, it was so cold
that day, how I wished I could just snuggle in my bed in the dorm.
However, he insisted on forcing me to accompany him to the library.
He said a student should be diligent in studying, he even said that

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when he thought about him studying so hard in the library and all I
will be doing is sleeping so hard in my dorm, he felt very
uncomfortable, and psychologically unbalanced. He is a medicine
student who has to study diligently everyday so as to prevent
misdiagnosing and killing someone. However, I study arts. If you
force me to go to the library every day, that’s murdering my freedom
of creativity. So the reason why I could not become Vincent van
Gogh, or Picasso, was actually all caused by Jiang Chen.

“We’re here.” Jiang Chen patted on my head. I looked out and

said distractedly, “You went to the wrong place, this isn’t my
house.”

He released his seatbelt, “I know this isn’t your house. This is

my house, come up and cook me something to eat. At the
same time, you can tidy the place a bit.”

…..

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Xri | Dolly | Amy

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Chapter 19
Source: Tea-Quila

In the end, I wasn’t able to go inside Jiang Chen’s house — his

house was on the 9th floor, when the elevator that we were in arrived
at the 2nd floor, he got a call telling him that something came up
with his patient, he pressed open the elevator door for the 3rd floor,
then threw a bunch of keys at me, and instructed, “903, find
something to eat first, and then sleep.”

I watched him turn around and hurriedly run for the stairs as the
doors of the elevator slowly closed.

I took the elevator up the 9th floor, and stood in front of the door of
Jiang Chen’s house for a while, deciding if I had better not go inside.
One, my good upbringing doesn’t allow me to willfully enter
someone’s house in the absence of the owner. Two, I am afraid that
without the owner watching me attentively, if I went in and saw
something valuable, I might not help but take it with me. Oh! My
excellent upbringing!

So I took the elevator again and went at the breakfast shop

downstairs to buy wonton and tea eggs for breakfast, and then
flagged down a cab to return to the hospital.

How silly a woman is, how silly am I being.

At the entryway of the hospital parked a long row of luxury sedans.

I already said I have no knowledge when it comes to cars, but those
cars all looked polished, I also wanted to know whether they’re really
that nice. This principle is the same as that of clothes, if it’s only a
few ten bucks worth of clothes, and soy sauce was poured on it, I
won’t bat an eyelash, if it got dirty then throw it away. But if it’s a
few hundred bucks worth of clothes, if I spot a soy sauce even from a

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distance, I would quickly run away, if it got dirty then I’d kneel on the
ground, and rub every little part clean.

……

I have not walked through the hospital doors when two men in
black suits wearing sunglasses barred me from entering and asked
me in unison, “What are you doing here?”　

I lifted my head and read the ‘hospital’ sign, too lazy to explain
myself so I just casually replied, “To go see a doctor.”

Suit Man A, glanced at his wristwatch and countered, “The

hospital is still close, what do you want to seek consultation
for!”

I replied, “I’m going to register myself in the emergency

room?”

Suit Man A countered once more, “Which part does it look like you
need registering in the emergency room? Say it, which TV station are
you from?　　

I blanked for a moment, then bashfully scratched my head, and

humbly replied, “Hehe, I’m not working in any TV station,
although many people have commented that I would look
great on TV.”　　

Suit Man A and B looked at each other, and callously asked in

unison, “Cut the crap, which publication* are you from?”　

I shook my head, “I came here by myself in a cab, you also

saw it just now, where would someone be able to carry* me,
besides, I’m not lacking in arms and legs, why must someone
have to ‘carry’ me?”

(T/N: I think Xiaoxi was a dumb dumb and mistook 报 bào

(newspaper/ publication) with 抱 bào (carry) that’s why her reply

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doesn’t make any sense.)　　

They don’t seem to feel my sincerity because there was a knot on

their facial expression as though they’ve been suffering from
constipation for several days.

As I felt that there was no way around it, I was left with no choice
but to lift my hand that was carrying our breakfast and reasoned
again, “Actually, I am a doctor in this hospital, I came to
work.”

Before I was done speaking, someone patted me on the shoulder

making me turn my head towards them — it was Doctor Su looking
at me with a huge grin, “When did you become a doctor in our
hospital?”

I let out a sigh, this time, in the minds of these men in suit, my
identity is even more confusing. I looked at them, their eyes has a
certain alertness to them as though I was a terrorist armed with a
bomb and they’re ready to pull out their guns from their pockets and
fill my body with holes at any given time.

I said helplessly, “If I’d say my boyfriend works here as a doctor,

and I’m here to give him his breakfast, would you believe me?

Suit Man A retorted, “Cut the crap, are you a journalist? What
are you going to do inside the hospital. I’m telling you, this is
a private matter, you can’t report it!”

I pushed Doctor Su in front of the two men in suit, “I’m really not
a journalist, she is Doctor Su, a doctor in this hospital, she
can testify, I’m really here to look for my boyfriend.”

Doctor Su nodded foolishly, “I’m a doctor in this hospital. I

know her boyfriend.”

Suit Man A said, “How can you prove to us that you’re a

doctor in this hospital?”

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Doctor Su looked clueless, and hesitantly replied, “I……..I’ll
perform surgery?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and made a suggestion, “I think

your license is more convincing.”

Doctor Su felt the pockets of her trousers, then slipped her hands
inside them, and naively declared it outright, “I left my license
inside the hospital.”

Even I myself wouldn’t be convinced that this damn, stupid looking

girl is actually a doctor.　　

Hence, ten minutes later, Doctor Su and I were crouched right

outside the big doors of the hospital peeling tea eggs.

I passed an already peeled tea egg to Doctor Su, “How could this
happen? Who are they? What should we do if we can’t get
in?”

Doctor Su bit a mouthful of tea egg and surmised, “It’s probably

some bigshot celebrity coming to get their rotten disease examined.
What are you worrying for? You don’t even work here.

I think so, too. Anyway, it’s almost time for the hospital to open, I’d
be free to go inside so I very kindly helped worry for Doctor Su’s
stead, I said, “What to do if you’re late?”

She waved a hand dismissively and said, “No worries, my dad is

the chairman.”

I swallowed down my surprise inwardly and nodded my head in

understanding, “No wonder your medical skills are superb, it
turns out it’s in your blood.”

My mind was like: Her father is the chairman of this hospital, Jiang
Chen is a doctor of this hospital, so I’d curry favor from the
chairman’s daughter. I really envy Jiang Chen for having such a good

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wife.　　

Doctor Su furrowed her brows and asked in reply, “What do you

mean? My dad runs a veterinary hospital.　　

I tried to explain, “No, you said you’re not worried because

your dad is the chairman, so just now I said……said, ai, don’t
misunderstand.”

She let out a ‘humph’ and said, “I wasn’t worried because if worst
comes to worst and I lose my job I can always go back home to help
my dad run the veterinary hospital.　　

I replied, “Hehe, so it’s like that. Going back to help run a

veterinary hospital is also very good.　　

Her expression darkened, “What are you saying ‘is also very
good’? You think that being a chairman of a veterinary
hospital isn’t high-ranking enough?”

I hurriedly shook my head, the more I speak, the more mistakes I

make, I had better shut up.

Doctor Su with a straight face, quietly finished eating that piece of

tea egg, after which her expression changed again and said,
“Actually, I’m just joking with you. My dad is really the
chairman of this hospital.”　　

I, who has not yet swallowed the egg that was in my mouth, after
hearing her say so, choked at once — in order to not spray onto the
beloved chairman’s daughter, I forcibly swallowed it down which had
me choked up in tears.　　

The chairman’s daughter humbled herself to be one with us

common folks to help pat my back, she let out a sigh, “When are
you going to finally get my humour, my dad really runs a
veterinary hospital.”

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…….

I totally don’t understand this person anymore, hence I gave out a

big, hearty laugh, “Hey, you think you’re funny, I was also
joking with you, I knew it from the start.”

Actually, I don’t know anything at all. I’m still not sure whether her
father is a doctor for humans or a doctor for animals, but it’s okay,
she doesn’t know whether I knew, or didn’t know, or knew but was
feigning to not know.　　

Doctor Su looked at me suspiciously, but after a long time, she

smiled, “I appreciate your humour.”

…….

We were crouched in front of the hospital door, eating a breakfast

for three people. I’ve prepared two sets to give to Jiang Chen, I
originally thought I’d share a set with Doctor Su, at least leave a set
for Jiang Chen, but I didn’t expect that Doctor Su would eat so much.
To sum up she ate a total of four tea eggs, two servings of dry
wonton, and one steamed dumpling.　　

I stood up to throw the plastic bag in the garbage bin. When the
men in suit that were standing at the doorway saw me get up, their
right foot took a step back in a lunge position. I waved my hand back
and forth, gesturing to them that I was just a weak woman, and
would not charge towards them.

After I threw away the trash, I told Doctor Su, “I’ll go buy
breakfast again.”

Doctor Su gave me a brief nod and said. “I also think that I’m
not yet full, buy another steamed dumpling for me please.”

………

When I got back from buying breakfast again, Doctor Su was

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already laughing and talking with those two men in suit, when she
saw me, she beckoned me over, “Let’s go in.”　

We were already inside the hospital while the two men in suit were
looking at us with a smile on their faces so I asked her, “How did
you manage to convince them?”　　

She replied, “I gave each of them a hundred bucks.”

“Ah?!” I could not help but exclaim in surprise.　　

She patted me on the shoulder and said, “Kidding! I called the

security office and had someone come out to prove it.”

I huffed, “Why didn’t you call earlier?”　　

She said, “Wasn’t I eating breakfast just now.”

I’ve long given up carrying a conversation with her using the logic
of a normal human being, hence I replied, “That’s right, eating
breakfast is the most important, not eating breakfast is not
good for the brain.”　　

As I was done speaking, the nurse who was walking our way was
pulled by Doctor Su, “What’s going on? How come there’s two
people standing at the entrance?”　　

The nurse replied, “That high ranking official who underwent

operation in our hospital before had gotten a heart attack
again.”　

Doctor Su asked, “Which one? Cardiology department? Doctor

Jiang’s patient?　　

The nurse replied, “En, Doctor Jiang is now in the operation

room to save him.” She then looked around before whispering, “I
heard he had a heart attack on a woman’s bed.”　　

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Wow.

We were making rustling noises, gossiping for a while. The content

was all about how intense a ‘bed exercise’ was to have given
someone a heart attack. As medical professionals, they’ve offered a
lot of professional insight, among them were an elevated blood
pressure, increased pulse rate, body secretions……..when I heard
these two words, my cheeks flamed up in embarrassment which
made both of them look at me with disdain, “Hey, what’s with that
vulgar expression on your face, we were only referring to
sweating.”

As I am thin-skinned, and found it embarrassing to continue the

‘discussion’ with them, I excused myself saying I’ll be in Jiang Chen’s
office to wait for him.　　

Jiang Chen’s office wasn’t locked, I swept a corner of his working

desk to place the breakfast, and swept another corner to doze off.

It’s just that, my ability to sleep on the table back when I was still
studying seemed to have deteriorated — I couldn’t fall asleep.
Hence, I had no choice but to lean over the table in a daze, my
fingers were fumbling on the hideous mess on his desk that was his
files. He left urgently leaving the things on his desk in a disarray so I
arranged it for him.　　

Jiang Chen sat behind me during high school, you would find it hard
to imagine that he was such an outstanding student, his desk was
always a mess, reference textbooks for examinations were left lying
around. But he is amazing, whenever I ask him for something, it
would only take him a moment and he would be able to fish out
exactly what I was looking for from his pile of things. The most
ridiculous was that one instance when I borrowed his test papers
from Chemistry, his gaze was fixed at around 20 test papers, and
muttered, “Chen Xiaoxi, are you here to compare answers?”
Then he pulled out a test paper from somewhere in the middle, and
asked me if it was the test paper that I was asking for. I’ve always

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felt that his supernatural abilities and the common folks’ skill of
‘feeling the bones*’ have different melodies* but are played with
equal skill. (T/N: [1] Feeling the bones is a technique by fortune
tellers to determine things (personality, luck, etc.) depending on the
appearance of a person’s bones. [2] A metaphor for having various
approach but the outcome is the same.)

Sometimes, he would also allow me to help him tidy up his desk,

but every time I’m tidying up his things, he would always lean back
on his chair with both of his arms folded across his chest, looking
meticulously at me. I’d ask him what he was looking at and he would
tell me he was looking at where I was putting his things, it made me
feel like I was actually causing him such inconvenience, but I just
continued to relentlessly inconvenience him further.

Jiang Chen’s desk right now looked much better than before, only
those medical charts that were stacked were a bit in a clutter. I
picked them all up to stack them neatly but didn’t expect that that
the door would suddenly swing open which scared me and made me
let go, sending the medical charts crashing to the floor.

Jiang Chen said, “What are you doing here?” Then he looked at
the heap of medical charts on the ground and continued, “Did my
medical charts offend you?”

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This is why Doctor Su is my favorite character, she’s crazy!

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Chapter 20
Source: Tea-Quila

I squatted down to pick up the medical charts and said, “I was

afraid you might have gotten gastric pain again from being
over hungry, so I brought you breakfast.”

Jiang Chen squatted down to help pick up the medical charts,

“Hospital’s cafeteria has breakfast.”

I looked up at him, “So have you eaten?”

He took the medical charts from me and threw them on the table,
“Too tired, no appetite.”

Indeed, his face was a face of weariness, a slight greenish color on

his lower eyelids, face and lips were slightly pale.

I said, “I bought you tea eggs.”

He removed his coat and said, “I will eat if you peel it.”

I took over his coat, dragged him to a chair and sat him down,
beamed and him and said, “Doctor, you need more protein for
supplement. I will peel an egg for you right now.”

He looked and me, shook his head and laughed. I stretched out my
hand and poked his dimple and laughed along with him.

I held out the peeled egg to his mouth side and asked carefully,
“How was the surgery?”

“Successful.” He took one bite off the egg, “Help me take a

bottle of water, it is at the lowest compartment of the
document drawer.”

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I opened the lowest compartment of his drawer, it was filled with at
least thirty to forty Nongfu Spring water. I took one out, opened it
and passed it to him, “Why does your hospital only give out
Nongfu Spring?”

“How would I know?”

Jiang Chen reluctantly ate two tea eggs, and leaned back on his
chair, and said, “I don’t want to eat anymore.”

I tore apart a disposable chopstick and persuaded him, “Eat a few

more dumplings.”

He very unwillingly swallowed down a few dumplings, I saw that he

was really tired, so I didn’t persuade him anymore, I only said, “You
didn’t sleep the whole night, and you had a surgery, you
should go home and rest.”

He shook his head, “The patient’s anesthesia has yet to wear

off, we still need to do close monitoring. I can’t leave the
hospital.”

I felt a little distressed for him and gave a pat on his head, “It’s
been hard on you.”

He dodged my hand, “Your hands just peeled tea eggs.”

I was angry, “Your hands have touched dead people!”

He said gravely, “I washed my hands.”

…..

I said, “You can rest your head on the table and take a little
nap, or I can ask Doctor Su if there’s any empty ward for you
to sleep for a while?”

He didn’t answer me, he only stood up and walked behind a shelf

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and dragged out a foldable bed.

I exclaimed, “Well equipped ah.”

He opened up the foldable bed against the wall, then he threw

himself on the bed with a ‘thump’ sound, just like a corpse.

I stared blankly at his tightly shut eyes, thinking if I should leave or

stay and wait for him to wake up? Shouldn’t he at least warn me
before sleeping…

I stared at him for a while and sighed. I squatted down to remove

his shoes for him.

I placed the shoes under the bed and cleared the egg shells on the
table. Just as I was about to leave the room to throw the rubbish,
Jiang Chen said, “Chen Xiaoxi, where are you going?”

I turned back, he didn’t even open his eyes. I said I was going to
throw rubbish.

He asked if I will be coming back.

I said I will be.

He then said, “Okay, then you go.”

I thought in my heart that I didn’t even asked for your permission,

why do you flatter yourself?

After I returned from throwing rubbish, Jiang Chen suddenly

opened his eyes while I was closing the door. I got a shock, it was
actually very scary. Just imagine, being in a gloomy dark room, the
person whom you thought were asleep suddenly opened his eyes and
looked at you. Basically, all you want to do is to rush towards him
and stick an amulet on him.

I asked him frightenedly, “Why are you not asleep?”

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He said, “Nope, I fell asleep, it was just a light sleep.”

I thought about it and didn’t know what to reply, so I could only

parrot his last line, “That was a really light sleep.”

Jiang Chen closed his eyes again, I stood in the middle of the room
at a loss of what to do. Just as I was thinking If I should leave first and
come back in the afternoon, Jiang Chen opened his eyes and said,
“Why are you still standing there? Come here and accompany
me to sleep.”

I was really taken aback. However, I usually express my feelings

wrongly in front Jiang Chen which ended up being awkward or
creepy, I concluded that the indecent sleeping I was thinking about is
not the pure sleeping he was talking about. So, I calmly walked to his
bed side and said, “You move in a bit.”

He moved in, and I lied down after removing my shoes.

Then I asked him, “Do you have pillows?”

He said he doesn’t.

After a while he suggested, “Why not you rest your head on

my arm?”

I think a surgeon’s hand is very costly. If I slept till it became

numb, and after it went numb it would become crippled, then I would
have committed a big offense. Therefore, I rejected him.

We slept with our backs against each other for quite some time, I
asked him, “Are you asleep?”

He said, “No.”

I said, “Is it too squeezy?”

He replied, “No.”

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I said, “Then why can’t you fall asleep?”

He said, “I want to hug you to sleep. But I recalled that you

stayed in the hospital for the entire time since last night and
didn’t bathe.”

I turned over and said angrily, “You also didn’t bathe, I didn’t
even avoid you!”

I squinted his panda eyes and was immersed in his thoughts, after
a while he said, “You are right.”

After that he extended his arms and pulled me into a hug, he then
patted on my head and said, “Alright, it’s no longer squeezy. We
can sleep now.”

I rested on the hollowness between his shoulder and chest. It was

not too hard nor was it too soft, it was pretty comfortable. But I kept
having the feeling as though I was being fooled. In order to show my
disdain, I said, “You have a disinfectant smell on you.”

He made an agreeing sound then proceeded to ignore me, so I said

again, “You have too many bones, it’s killing me.”

Only then did he open his eyes, “We have the same number of
bones, 206 pieces.”

As he brought the conversation onto a professional level, my

qualities could no longer keep up. I could only think of ways to
change the topic, and I thought of Doctor Su. I said, “Oh, do you
know what Doctor Su’s dad do for a living?”

He embraced me tightly and said, “Her dad is our faculty’s

dean, Old Man Su. Why do you ask?”

This is Old Man Su, that is also Old Man Su*, this person loves to
joke, despite how lame the joke is, he thinks that it is very funny. It
makes everyone limp and numb, this person, is Old Man Su. (T/N: 2

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different types of Su were used here namely, 酥 and 苏 respectively.
There is no meaning to it, just a different word used for the
surname.)

Old Man Su and I had a chance encounter that was like a

thunderstruck. It was a day where leaves were swirling in the air. I
waited for Jiang Chen (whose class was delayed) to end class at the
corridor. While I was leaning on the railing looking at the people who
were walking on the school ground, an old man came to me and
asked, “Miss, what class is inside? Why are they not dismissed
yet?”

I said, “I also have no idea, I am just waiting for my

boyfriend.”

I smiled at me and said, “Which one is your boyfriend? Can

you point to me?”

At that time I was still naïve, so I pointed inside proudly. However,

the elder before me suddenly gave a very solemn look. “Student
Jiang? No wonder he seemed really inattentive in my class
recently, so it was because he is dating. I say you kids these
days, being young is the best time to absorb knowledge
nutrients, but you all choose to waste it on boy girl
relationships. That is too insensible. Looks like I will have to
re-discuss with his class tutor on the scholarship nominees.”

I quickly kept the pride on my face, I was shocked till I was a little
unstable, I quickly used my about-to-cry tone to explain to him,
“Teacher, it is not like that. Actually, student Jiang Chen
doesn’t like me, it was me who shamelessly stuck myself to
him, it has nothing to do with him.”

He made a ‘hmph’ sound and said, “You need two hands to

clap.”

I clenched my teeth and said, “Teacher, I will tell you the

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truth. I am a mythomania. I am always fantasizing on having
an extraordinary relationship with each and every boy in the
medicine school. The day before yesterday was student Lee.
Yesterday it was student Zhang. Today it is student Jiang.
According to your professional medical perspective, do you
think there is a cure for this kind of illness?”

Old Man Su stared at me with his eyes enlarged, he then slowly

asked after a while, “Which faculty are you from?”

“Arts.”

I muttered to himself, “Arts students are all crazy people. You

only fantasize yourself with the medicine school male
students? How about the medicine school male teachers?”

I suspect that his question has a smell of self-recommendation.

With the mindset to protect Jiang Chen, I went all out. I fumbled on
my shirt edge and looked at him with eyes full of tender feelings,
“Actually… actually I do too.”

Old Man Su held onto his arms and stumbled backwards. He said,
“This student, actually I was just joking with you just now.”

I asked blankly, “Which one was a joke?”

He said, “The scholarship nominee. Also, I don’t teach his

class, I only know him.”

My only thought at that time was, “Is it a crime to hit teachers?

Or is it better to hit him in a rucksack? Or should I hire
someone to assassinate him?”

He saw that I was silent, he continued, “This student, I have a

wife, we have very deep feelings for each other.”

I shook off my idea, and said to him coldly and dismally, “It’s

okay, I will just look at you from a distance then.”

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I even looked down to wipe tears off my eyes after I finished
talking. From my peripheral view I saw Old Man Su walked backwards
a few more steps. I think I shouldn’t scare the elderly too much, just
as I was about to look up to tell him I was joking, an arm came from
behind my back and held on my shoulder, “Chen Xiaoxi, why is
your head down? Did Old man Su bully you?”

Old Man Su came to a sudden realization, he pointed at me with

trembling hand and stumbled half a step and said, “You…. You are
too much!”

…..

Jiang Chen whispered to my ears, “Lets go quick, his acting

addiction is starting again.”

Doctor Su and Old Man Su, they are really from one family.

I looked up, Jiang Chen already fell into a deep slumber, I rested on
his chest while smelling the weird disinfectant smell on him as I too,
fell into a faraway dream land.

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Chapter 21
Source: Tea-Quila

When I woke up, Jiang Chen had already disappeared. He left a

note at the bedside, asking me to return home after I woke up.

I searched out my phone and looked, it was already past eleven

o’clock, I could eat lunch. Thinking that Jiang Chen hadn’t really
eaten much in the morning, I wanted to buy some food for him to eat
before leaving.

Hence, I swept and parted my hair for a little while before leaving
the room. Upon leaving the room, I so happened to run into that
sanitation worker auntie, I very happily went up and asked her,
“Auntie, where is the hospital canteen?”

She looked at me, then looked at the door of Jiang Chen’s office,
and said, “I don’t know.”

Her tone of voice was very harsh, as if I was scum.

I said again, “Haven’t you been working in the hospital for a

few decades, how can you not know where the canteen is?”

She used a gaze of looking at faeces to size me up from head to

toe, and said with revulsion, “Even if I know, I won’t tell you.”

I was shocked by her frankness, and felt that she really was an
honest person who made a clear difference between what she loved
and what she hated, and who really poured out her whole heart and
soul* to tell it as it was. (T/N: original idiom directly translated means
to fish out your heart and your lungs (掏心掏肺), meaning to devote
yourself entirely to a matter)

After she finished speaking, she then walked onwards pushing the

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rubbish bin, before she turned round the corner she even loudly
lamented, “People nowadays deliver gifts till they deliver on
the bed, really disgusting.”

Facing the glass window of the corridor, I took measure of myself,

my clothes were a little wrinkled, my hair was a little messy, but it
didn’t appear like I had been ravaged too. I felt grieved that I was
always being misunderstood, at the same time I also felt grieved for
this auntie’s humanity. She would rather believe that I was a nutcase
or that I was on the casting couch*, yet she was unwilling to believe
that we were only a couple that loved each other. Of course, this
could also be because I had a face that didn’t look like an innocent
woman, but it was also more possible that Jiang Chen always had
extremely terrible rumours and comments about him, causing the
masses of society to lose faith in his conduct. (T/N: “casting couch”
referring to the practise where actresses must trade sexual favours
to be casted in roles)

In order not to encounter such a cold countenance like that of the

sanitation worker auntie again, I decided to depend on my own
strength to search for the mysterious whereabouts of that canteen.
Just as I was wandering about in the hospital, Jiang Chen called.

He said, “Have you woken up?”

I said, “Just woke up.”

He said, “Then be more careful on your way back.”

I went silent for a little while, before speaking, “Have you

eaten?”

He said, “Mm, I’m eating with the family members of a

patient.”

I spoke, “Okay, I got it, I’ll go back.”

Nowadays, even doctors had to accompany their clients for meals.

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And I didn’t know why I was a little disappointed, perhaps it was that
I was hungry and yet he didn’t invite me to freeload a meal together.
What is known as “going into battle, it’s best to have father
and son as soldiers*”, freeloading meals, it’s best to have a couple
doing so, he really wasn’t sensible. (T/N: a line from a proverb
meaning that in times of life and death, family members are the most
dependable people to work with)

I took a shower when I got home, then changed into a set of

comfortable clothes and sat on the bed lost in thought. This weekend
was endlessly long, fragmented into bits and pieces such that it
wasn’t real at all. One moment my heart would swell till it was full,
the next moment it would be sucked out till it was empty.
Hesitatingly, I curled my legs up in front of my chest and hugged
them, this pose was to match with the current apprehension and
worries about loss and gain* in my heart. The pose in addition to my
mentality, I felt that I really was a flower-petal-like young woman.
(T/N: a Chinese idiom meaning to worry that you can’t obtain
something, yet worrying that you will lose it once you do obtain it)

I took up my telephone and made a call to Wu Bosong, the phone

only rang twice before it was picked up, proving that he was very
idle.

Wu Bosong said, “Chen Xiaoxi, child, have you and your lover
reconciled yet?”

I said, “We’ve reconciled.”

He said, “Aiyaya, why does your voice sound so downcast?”

I went silent.

His tone of voice started to become serious. “It’s not that after
you reconciled with him, only then did you discover that the
person you love most is me, right?”

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I rolled my eyes, “Screw you.”

He laughed twice, before saying indifferently, “Speak, what’s

up?”

I first gave a long, long sigh to express that I really was very
distressed, after which I then recounted once through to him the
process of us reconciling according to how it really happened. Finally,
I asked him, “Would you think that this sort of situation of
ours is very absurd?”

He asked, “Why would it be absurd?”

I said, “It was very flippant, how can we inexplicably break

up and inexplicably get back together, this makes me appear
like I’m very wanton.”

He said, “Give me a break, I thought that once Jiang Chen

beckons you over with his finger, you will fly over and throw
yourself (at him).”

……

I spoke again, “But they all say that girls who chase guys
won’t be cherished, this actually has been a hidden worry in
my heart all this while.”

He said, “Then you can go and look for someone else, let
someone else chase you, let someone else cherish you.”

I said, “What are you being so angry for, can’t you just talk
me around nicely? You say, it’s been three years already,
why am I such a loser?”

He said, “Alright then, I thought what you needed now was

a wake-up call*, I didn’t expect that what you want now is a
caring older brother. Since this is so, I’ll be a little more
tactful, you’re simply idiotic plus infatuated, once you

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mention Jiang Chen you will smile nauseatingly, once you see
Jiang Chen your two eyes will light up just like how a fly does
when it sees poop. Don’t speak of three years, even if it were
thirty years, you also can’t escape from Jiang Chen’s palm.”
(T/N: original idiom is 当头棒喝 – literally meaning a blow and a shout
to one’s head. Alludes to the Buddhist practice where the master
would just randomly club a novice’s head or shout at a novice to
demand an answer for no reason, to test the novice’s progress in
comprehending Buddhist concepts. The idiom refers to methods to
make one wake up to reality, or to give someone a severe warning)

…… Your definition of ‘tactful’ is very unique.

I believed that what he said wasn’t wrong, in this world, there

really existed matter which “reinforced each other and subdued
each other*”, for example, Sister Furong* was the bane of Tsinghua
University, Sister Feng* was the bane of the plastic surgery industry,
and Jiang Chen was the bane of my life. Uh, it seems like this analogy
isn’t very elegant. Let’s put it this way, there are some people who
just are that calamity* in your life, no matter if you love it or hate it,
nothing can compare to one sentence of his. (T/N: The original
phrase – 相生相克, refers to the five phases of Chinese philosophy –
wood, fire, earth, metal, water. Each phase reinforces/develops
another phase, and each phase subdues another phase too. To give
an example: fire gives rise to earth, because after fire burns things,
the matter will turn to ashes, which becomes earth, but fire subdues
metal, because fire can melt metal.) (T/N: Sister Furong/Furong Jiejie
is a woman who is notorious on the internet and is an internet
celebrity. She initially gained notoriety for her posts on the Internet
forums of Tsinghua University and Peking University after she tried a
few times but failed to get a place in these schools for postgraduate
studies. [Btw, Tsinghua and Peking are the top two
universities in Beijing/China]) (T/N: Sister Feng is another internet
celebrity who became famous due to a lot of outlandish
comments/things she did. In 2010, she announced that she was
going to do plastic surgery, saying that she was going to do plastic

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surgery till she looked like Fan Bing Bing/Shu Qi etc, and apparently
her doing plastic surgery (among many other things) caused a
nationwide sensation) (T/N: an ancient Taoist macroscopic concept
relating to time, referring to bad luck, adversity, catastrophes that
are destined to happen in your life.)

I said, “Then Jiang Chen’s mother doesn’t like me, and my

dad also doesn’t like Jiang Chen, we still don’t have a
future.”

Wu Bosong said, “This way, I’ll tell you a story.”

He told me a story about a young man and woman, this story could
almost reach the top and take the number one position among all the
ridiculous stories I have ever heard.

The boy and the girl loved each other, and after that they wanted
to get married. The paternal grandmother of the boy didn’t approve
of it, because the girl was born in the year of the dog*, and the
grandmother had been bitten before by a dog when she was small.
This signified that if the girl married into the family, she would clash
with the grandmother’s good fortune, so the grandmother refused to
let the two get married for the life of her. You see how ridiculous this
was, to me, being born in the year of the dog at most symbolised
that after the girl married into the family, whenever she found the
grandmother unfavourable, she would have an excuse to bite her
only. Later on, that boy couldn’t bear to be disobedient to his
grandmother, and hence left. Before he left, he promised that he
would definitely return to marry the girl. Many years later, the boy
returned, the girl became his father’s mistress, and even gave birth
to a big fat baby for his father in the year of the dog. And just when
his father was in the midst of seeking a divorce from his mother in
order to give this girl a status, his grandmother was made so angry
by her new grandson born in the year of the dog that she was
hospitalised. You see, this girl’s method of seeking revenge wasn’t
only just ridiculous, it was also quite sinister – if I can’t become your

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wife I’ll become your mother, if I can’t marry your grandson I’ll marry
your son, you don’t want a granddaughter-in-law that’s born in the
year of the dog, I’ll give birth to a grandson born in the year of the
dog for you. (T/N: The Chinese zodiac calendar operates in cycles of
12 lunar years, with an animal representing each year in the cycle.
Being born in a certain year represented by a certain animal is often
thought to influence your personality and your fortune.)

After I finished listening, I sounded an “ah” in astonishment, and

asked him, “Is this your story?”

He said, “It’s not.”

I said, “If it’s not, what are you telling it to me for, don’t tell
me that you want me to go and seduce Jiang Chen’s dad?”

He said, “I just want to tell you that there are some people
in this world who are very ridiculous, they like to interfere in
other people’s lives boldly and with conviction, yet you
totally can ignore them. For example, the boy and the girl in
this story, they totally could have gone to register their
marriage themselves or make an agreement with each other
to elope, if that was really out of the question, waiting till the
old woman died would have resolved it, there was no need to
ruin each other’s and other people’s lives.”

I said, “So you mean for me and Jiang Chen to elope?”

He said, “What elope, you are so stupid, where can you

elope off to.”

I said, “Then what exactly do you mean?”

He said, “Actually there’s also not much meaning, I just

suddenly wanted to tell you a story.”

I said, “That’s not it, this really is your story right, if you are
afraid of me knowing why did you need to tell me?”

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He said, “This really isn’t my story, this is the story of my
mother and my older brother. I’m just telling you about my
confusing life history to let you feel more balanced in your
heart.”

Once again, he succeeded in making me sound an “ah” in

astonishment.

We then chatted randomly and blindly about some trivial rubbish,

after hanging up the phone I suddenly was filled with confidence in
the future of Jiang Chen and I, because I felt that since I was born in
the year of the dragon, and this sort of creature that the dragon was
was comparatively more mythological and imaginary, it wasn’t too
possible that I would be able to bite Jiang Chen’s family members, so
in any case I wouldn’t be reduced to the same state that Wu
Bosong’s mother was in.

You see, us humans are always like this, we need an even more
miserable story to decorate our own misery, we use other people’s
sorrows to balance out our own sorrows. How did that powerful
sentence go again – when I was complaining about how I didn’t have
shoes to wear, I discovered that there were people who didn’t have
legs. I had legs, I also wasn’t born in the year of the dog, how blessed
was I.

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Chapter 22
Source: Tea-Quila

The end of the weekend seemed to signify that Jiang Chen and I
have also ended contact. I’ve been working for three days and only
then did I got a call from Jiang Chen. He simply called me to explain
that he was very busy and didn’t say anything else. I still insisted and
gave him three calls, two of which went through but nobody
answered, and one went through with us giving hurried greetings to
each other, he’s still able to eat much rice*. (T/N: It means to do
something deliberately to show people the state of things.)

Situ Mo would often taunt me, saying, “Why does your

boyfriend seems to be there but not there, and seems to be
hidden but also visible ah.”

I cursed her saying her husband and the female scientist in the
laboratory would make a test-tube baby or something.

Early morning of Thursday, I was in the office doing a ‘case’ which

was the design on the box for a certain brand of blow dryer. It’s
actually very easy, put a photo of the product, put the logo of the
brand, put a brief info regarding the product’s function, put the lines
needed for promotion, and it’s over. I don’t like this kind of job but I
like my co-workers here, because I’m someone who can’t handle
complex human relationships, and my two co-workers, Fu Pei and
Situ Mo, are both relatively simple people.

But I was exceptionally irritable at work today, I hit the table and
told Situ Mo. “What’s the point in living like this, doing these
pointless things every day, I can’t see any future.”

Situ Mo fished out a lollipop from her bag and threw it at me, “I’m
giving you my son’s candy, don’t say such childish words

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again.”

Don’t say such childish words again. But day after day, we are all
moving forward in uncertainty, just like walking in the dark, no one
knows what our every footfall would step on, or what kind of future it
would take us.

I said solemnly, “I ate your son’s candy, I’ll dedicate my body

and soul to him, okay.”

Situ Mo said, “Get lost you pedophile.”

Speaking of pedophilia, I can’t help but think of Su Rui, he called

me last night, saying his life was dull. Design? Empty. Business?
Miserable. The final conclusion was that he was lacking a muse that
would lead him through his chaotic life with zero inspirations, and
under his considerations, I vaguely think I was probably ‘that’ muse.

I said I reconciled with Jiang Chen. He said, “It is said that in the
great affairs of the world under the heavens, that which is
long divided must unite, and that which is long united must
divide*.”

(T/N: This quote originated from the Chinese historical novel, The
Romance of the Three Kingdoms which concerns contention, initiated
by a sovereign power, Shu, against another, Wei, by colluding with
the third sovereign power, Wu, wherein Shu and Wu would often
breach their agreements in the then China of 220-280. Now, it is
used to describe how things are constantly changing.)

I said, “How about I introduce you to a possible girlfriend? I

guarantee that she is more mature, stylish, and beautiful
than I am, and will satisfy all your fantasies of a love
between an older woman and a younger man.” He said,
“Falling for you only proves that I don’t want someone
mature, stylish, and beautiful.”

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I felt unbearably angry so I just hung up the phone, holding myself
back from quickly giving Doctor Su a call to rat him out. This ‘tell
one’s parent to sue the teacher’ behavior is really shameless, I didn’t
do it when I was a kid, it’s impossible to grow up when you break a
precept.

But I didn’t think that just because I didn’t do it, doesn’t mean Su
Rui also wouldn’t do it. I got a call from Doctor Su around lunch time,
more or less the content was about how her younger brother no
longer thinks about drinking tea and eating rice* because of me, and
that if I don’t want her to go to Jiang Chen and directly tell him that I
was a fickle woman, I would have to carefully think of a way to fix it.
In the end, she told me seriously, that her threat about telling Jiang
Chen was just a joke. Damn, her black humor. (T/N: Denotes losing
the ability to function from the loss of a very important thing or an
obsession about a certain thing to the point of neglecting basic
necessities.)

I gave Su Rui a call, he said he was still cocooned in his blanket,

also, a girl’s voice and laughter went through the phone, “Little
buddy, your jie jie asked me to talk to you.”

He said, “Who is your little buddy, what do I have to talk to

you about?”

The completely awkward 17-18 year old tone of his voice was
really cute

I said, “Okay then, forget about it, just don’t let the grown-
ups worry for you, bye.”

I was done talking, about to hang up the phone when he let out a
shout that made my head swim, “Chen Xiaoxi, you dare hang up
on me again!”

Why wouldn’t I dare hang up, I fear nothing in heaven or earth,

besides Jiang Chen’s phone call which I dare not hung up.

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Two seconds later, Su Rui roared and yelled, “Chen Xiaoxi, you
are too much, I really like you.”

I said, “Thanks, but I already like someone else.”

He said, “You always like only him, only one person, don’t
you feel that your life is very boring?”

I said, “A little bit, so I advise you to quickly go out and like

a few more.”

Su Rui furiously threw his phone, breaking it. He unexpectedly

reminded me of something, and made me decide to visit the man
who made my life boring after I knock off work. When I came up with
such a thought, I felt that I was so stupid before — he’s busy while
I’m the one who’s free, and I still had to wait for him to find time to
look for me, what is wrong with me!

When I got to the hospital, it was already past 6 o’clock, I couldn’t

find Jiang Chen everywhere, so I gave him a call, “Where are you?”

“Hospital.”

“Where in the hospital?”

“In a ward, are you here?”

“En. Which floor? Which room number? I’ll go find you.”

“No need. Just go to the lobby and wait for me. I’ll go
downstairs to find you.”

I picked a conspicuous place among the many rows of benches in

the lobby and sat down, even at this hour, there were still a lot of
people sitting, standing up, walking back and forth all around the
lobby, their faces looked more or less worried. But I was too busy to
observe them, I was busy staring at every single entrance. I don’t
know what’s wrong with me, I was suddenly so nervous about seeing

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him, like back in our student days, every time I’d hear his name,
even when I was just chatting with my classmates, my heart would
secretly skip a beat.

“What are you doing?” Someone poked the back of my head, I

was, of course, leaning forward, craning my head to look at the
corridors, I was laxed, so when I was poked, I almost face-planted on
the floor but the person held me back. I turned my head, Jiang Chen
was looking helplessly at me, “Why are you sitting unsteadily?”

I looked cluelessly at him and smiled, “Why didn’t I see you

coming?”

He pointed at the staircase behind me, “I came down from

upstairs.”

I chuckled, skipped over to his side, held unto his arm, and said,
“I’m asking you out for a meal.”

He said, “What are you so happy about?”

I said, “I’m just happy to see you.”

He gave me a sideways glance, like a joke and also like a request,

he said, “If you’re happy, then come here every day.”

I nodded frenetically, “I think that you’re so busy, in the

future, I’ll just frequently come here to keep you company
okay.”

He smiled and patted my head, saying, “I’m not used to you

being so considerate like this.”

I think the words he spoke wasn’t said in the commanding heights

of reality, faced with him, in fact I’m very considerate most of the
time.

He looked at his watch, and said, “What do you want to eat? I

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can’t walk too far off from the hospital.”

I said, “Then which one around here is the most expensive

to eat at? My invitation, but you’ll be the one paying.”

Jiang Chen said with a laugh, “You’re very shameless.”

“Exactly.” I am very proud, “My principle in life is, ‘After

eating, wipe my mouth, and wipe my ass, then leave.”

My voice fell, I myself was stunned, Jiang Chen hesitated for two
seconds, then he burst into peals of laughter, a doctor in white,
paying no heed to his image and laughing heartily in the hospital
lobby. This unkind and unsympathetic behavior, even though his
laugh is very nice to look at, he ought to be dragged out to get 30
beatings from a huge plank.

Jiang Chen led me out the back door of the hospital, he said he was
going to take me to a very good hotpot place.

I said, “You’re taking me to eat hotpot in summer?”

He said, “That place is open all year round, they have a

‘lovers’ pot’ and I heard that it’s very delicious, I’ve been
wanting to take you there for a long time now, I can’t wait for
winter.”　

I’ve been wanting to take you there for a long time.　

I stopped walking. I could feel my nose tingling the way it does

when I’m about to cry.

Jiang Chen turned his head to look at me and wondered, “What

happened?”

I stretched out my hand at him and said, “You take me.”

He looked left and right, let out a sigh, and held my hand, “Why

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are you still so childish.”

I watched him, his dimple was slowly showing on his left cheek,
tch, aren’t you childish yourself.

The steam from the hotpot soon filled in between Jiang Chen and I.
Besides being covered in the steam, I had the smell sticking all over
me with sweat seeping through my pores making me feel very filthy,
and also because I’ve told Jiang Chen about the thing with Su Rui, my
filthy heart was looking forward that he best eat ‘a little’ vinegar,
scratch that, eat ‘a lot’ of vinegar. It doesn’t matter if he’d flip this
hotpot table over, as long as the boiling hot soup doesn’t pour on the
both of us. (T/N: Eating vinegar means being jealous to a rival in
love)

However, Jiang Chen just picked a slice of lamb meat and threw it
in my bowl, “Stop being so conceited.”

Ai, my conceitedness was spoken with tact, but he’s still able to
see clearly the downy feather* of autumn. (T/N: A Chinese idiom
meaning to notice the minutest details in everything.)

I said, “Su Rui asked me, if it isn’t boring to like only one
person for a lifetime. What do you think?”　　

He said, “It might be a bit boring? I haven’t tried.”

I was stunned, mulled over it for a long time before I came to

understand, tapping the edge of my bowl, I asked, “Can you say
that again?”

He threw another piece of lamb meat into my bowl, “My grandma

said, ‘Tap your bowl and you’ll become a beggar.” (T/N: It is
poor table etiquette to tap on your bowl with your chopsticks as
beggars make this kind of noise to attract attention.)

I neither overlooked nor spared* things and pressed on, “Who

else did you like?” (T/N: Treat something seriously without

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listening to excuses.)

He turned his eyes upwards in contemplation, and said after a long

while, “Anyway, I’m not bored.”

I was watching that dead look on his face, and said in bitter anger,
“Okay, I also don’t want to resign myself to being the only
one who likes you for a lifetime anyway.”

Jiang Chen also tapped on the edge of his bowl and said, “I
actually think it’s nice to just like only one person for a
lifetime, just like performing surgery, only paying attention
to speed and accuracy.”

Those three phrases, not leaving out one’s profession……

When our discussion regarding the serious, ‘mountain collapsing,

earth splitting’ topic about ‘one true love’ has come to an end, Jiang
Chen seemed to remember something and asked me, “Have you
been going to my place recently?”

“Ah?” My brain couldn’t get a grasp on it. “Go to your place?”

He glared at me, “Isn’t my key there still with you?”

“I had a sudden epiphany but a little puzzled, “I forgot,

your key is still here with me. You haven’t been home these
past few days?”

He said, “Wasn’t able to, the patient I operated last Sunday

is very influential, the higher-ups wanted me to be on call for
24 hours.”

“Who?” I placed my bag on my lap, on one hand, preoccupied

with rummaging my bag to look for the key, on the other hand,
asking things casually.

“That Secretary Zhang whose banquet I took you last time.

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I have a spare key in my office.”

I scratched my head, “Why are you leaving your key with

me?”

Could it be, he wants me to sneak up on him in the middle of the

night? The nerve of this guy……..

He threw another piece of lamb meat into my bowl. “To let you
clean up my house, you’re acting like you have amnesia. Your
bowl’s already full, are you going to eat or not?”

I have no idea when I piled up so much meat in my bowl, I could

only praise on how really fast Jiang Chen was.

This was probably the fastest hotpot I’ve ever had, it only took us
about an hour from ordering to being done with eating. After eating,
we looked at each other, the image was as if we were walking past
each other under the rain, but what we were really thinking was that
we’re very smelly.

Back in the hospital, Jiang Chen went to their quarters to take a

shower, I stayed in his office waiting for him to come back, to come
back and give me a week’s worth of smelly clothes to wash and dry
under the sun.

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Chapter 23
Source: Tea-Quila

I carried a big bag of clothes while walking along the hospital

corridor. An enchanting woman came walking towards me. She first
shot me a glance, then she nodded her head while smiling at me,
“Hello, Chen Xiaoxi.”

I too, nodded while smiling, “Hu Ran Ran, hello.”

To be honest, I recognized her from afar, that strong sinister aura

she has, even if she was burnt to her ashes, her aura can still choke
me. It’s just that I didn’t dare to greet her first, in case she looked at
me without guilt and say to me, “I’m sorry, you are?”

To act acquainted, that is the most embarrassing thing.

Hu Ran Ran wrinkled her nose and smelled, she pointed to the big,
black plastic bag that I was holding and blinked her eyes asking,
“You killed your boyfriend, and mutilated him?”

I remembered what the nurse said, that the person had a heart
attack on a woman’s bed. The woman was most probably Hu Ran
Ran, I think her method of murder is of the highest class.

I said, “These are his laundry, the foul smell you smelled is
probably mine because I sweated too much.”

She pouted her red lips and whistled, “Virtuous ah.”

I looked down and smiled lightly, modestly expressing that I am

indeed more virtuous than most people.

As I was about to leave after exchanging a few words, Hu Ran Ran

said, “Can you accompany me for a smoke?”

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I was thinking, she doesn’t even mind my company even when I
smell like a decomposed corpse, that is a friendship that is very
precious. It doesn’t seem right if I were to reject her, so I nodded. I
followed her left and right to a secluded staircase.

She passed one cigarette to me, and I held it between my fingers

and examined. It’s white and slim, the cigarette butt even has a
pretty red heart engraved on it.

She first lighted up her own cigarette, then came out to help me
with it. I was a little awkward, so I could only hard-headedly move
forward to her lighter. Only when I moved forward did I realize that
she has really good skin. I originally thought that it was the flawless
canvas of a thick makeup, little did I know she wasn’t wearing much,
alright, she was born beautiful.

Hu Ran Ran very quickly took a puff of cigarette and blew out
smoke, which slowly dispersed around her. She looks like those
demon vixens that appears while swaying their hips in Journey to the
West.

I stared at the cigarette between my fingers. I felt like those bad

girls who were brought to the staircase in those movies, it was pretty
cool. I prepared my heart and brought the cigarette to my mouth,
bite it with my teeth, and took a deep breath. The smoke went
straight to my throat, choked me till I couldn’t stop coughing, there
were tears in my eyes.

Hu Ran Ran laughed at me, and puffed out another ring of smoke,
“Chen Xiaoxi, aren’t you quite useless.”

I hit on my chest to circulate the air, and answered her, “I…

*cough cough*…. Never smoked before.”

After coughing, my mouth tastes like mint, I asked, “Are

cigarettes all mint flavoured?”

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She shook her head, “No, this is for woman who put on an
act.”

I sincerely felt ashamed, I couldn’t even put on an act properly.

I leaned on the staircase railings with Hu Ran Ran, I tried to

conquer the cigarette again, but I only looked at it burning slowly,
why did she ask me here?

She finished her cigarette, and threw the cigarette butt down the
stairs and said, “Zhang Qian Rong is seducing your man in the
hospital every day.”

I shook off a long stretch of ashes, “Secretary Zhang’s

daughter?”

“Granddaughter,” she corrected me, “Have you forgotten

that the old man is so old that he can just die already?”

This kind of question feels like a trap to me, I was afraid that if I
agreed, there will suddenly be people dressed in black attacking me
from all directions and capture me, so I didn’t make a sound.

Hu Ran Ran said, “I just wanted to warn you, don’t let her get
her way.”

I thought, sister, your care about my marriage is more than my

parents’.

I said, “Won’t, I am quite reassured about him.”

Hu Ran Ran suddenly became very agitated. She single-handedly

banged her hand on the wooden staircase till it rattled. She said,
“You are reassured? You actually trust men?”

I thought, to trust men isn’t a big sin, why are you so agitated…

She continued banging the staircase, “You are too naïve, no

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one gets into a relationship like you do!”

I thought, she sounded as though she experienced my

relationship…

As my relationship belongs to the failed-but-subsequently-

reconciled category, so I very modestly sought her guidance on how
a relationship should be like. She was caught off guard, shook her
head and confessed, “I have never gotten into a relationship,
my strength is on being a mistress.”

……

We were speechless for a while, and she lighted up another

cigarette and said, “Whatever the case is, you better ask your
man to distance himself from that family, the further the
better, I won’t harm you.”

I do believe that she won’t harm me. After all, there is no benefit in
harming me. I am also not challenging. As the saying goes, don’t use
a knife meant for beef to kill a chicken*. (T/N: aka don’t use a
sledgehammer on a nut.)

I thought about it, and said, “Okay, I will let him know, thank
you, I will go home first.”

She waved her hand and said bye.

And so, I left. After about 2 to 3 mins, I realized I couldn’t find my

way out. I have a shortcoming, and that is I can only memorize route
by the symbol/mark. For example, the colour of the road signage, the
colour of the dustbin, or whether on the wall was it written “Peeing
and Defecating Prohibited”. When I followed her, I forgot to take
note of it, and so now I have no idea how to get out.

I could only return back to the staircase, she was still leaning
there, using her sobs to smoke lonelily. (T/N: Is lonelily even a word?
LOL.)

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I originally didn’t want to disturb her desolated back view that can
cause tears, but I really have no choice, so I coughed two times to
get her attention. I said, “Uh… I couldn’t find my way out…”

The beauty of her sobs was interrupted by me, she threw away the
cigarette on hand and said, “Follow me.”

I extended my leg and stepped on the cigarette to extinguish it,

and followed her back to the original corridor.

From where we are, we saw a crying Zhang Qian Rong sitting on

the long bench of the corridor. In order to correspond with the
scientific law of romance, the person sitting beside her is Jiang Chen.

Hu Ran Ran turned to look at me, “See, she’s gotten herself on

him.”

I got worried hearing it, I couldn’t see well as I have mild

nearsightedness. I hurriedly asked her, “On where? On where?*”

Hu Ran Ran asked distracted, “What ‘on where’?”

I said, “Didn’t you say they’re touching? Where did Jiang

Chen put his hand on her? I can’t see properly, I’m
nearsighted.”

Hu Ran Ran rolled a snow-white eye. “I said she has hooked up

on him.”

I heaved a sigh of relieve, “You should have said it earlier, you

gave me a scare…”

She frowned and mumbled to herself, “Why do I feel that to

hook up is more serious..”

We probably attracted attention because we were standing in the

middle of the corridor, we were spotted after a short while. Jiang
Chen looked at me suspiciously and waved at me to go to him.

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The moment I took a step, Hu Ran Ran pulled me back and said
loudly, “Let him come here, why should you go there!”

I looked at Jiang Chen for help, he frowned, but still stood up to

walk towards us.

“Why are you still in the hospital?” He pulled me away from

Hu Ran Ran’s grasp.

“Uh, I was about to go.”

Hu Ran Ran gave a cold laugh, “Why are you in such a hurry to
chase your girlfriend away?”

I lifted my head to look at Jiang Chen and gave him a awkward

bitter smile, indicating that I also have no idea what wrong
medication did this madam take.

Jiang Chen was about to say something, but Zhang Qian Rong also
came over suddenly. She stretched out her hand to hold onto mine,
looked down, and droplets of tears dripped down onto the back of my
palm. She said, “Please do not misunderstand Doctor Jiang, I
was only… only too depressed, he’s just consoling me.”

I forced a smile and retrieve back my hands, I said, “No no no, I

understand, I didn’t misunderstand.”

At the same time, I was secretly moving my hands to the back of

Jiang Chen, and wiped off the tears on the back of my palm on his
coat.

Jiang Chen casted me a look.

“Hng, console, I think it seems more like comforting*.” Hu

Ran Ran gave a cold laugh again. (T/N: This comfort is the comfort
from ‘comfort women’.)

I was shocked by her talent. This (console) and (comfort) is

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obviously much more outrageous than the (flow downwards) and
(vulgar) that I wrote years ago in my workbook. (T/N: please refer to
chapter 13! Console and Comfort are written as 安慰 and 慰安, so
they are written the other way. However, both console and comfort
can still mean 安慰.)

“You… Nonsense!” Zhang Qian Rong stomped her feet, then

proceeded to cover her mouth and started acting out a ‘wronged till
she was choked with emotions’ episode. She looks really pitiful like
this.

I spoke in an almost silent volume and asked Jiang Chen, “What

to you? Why not you console her a bit? If not comfort her a
little?”

Jiang Chen didn’t bother about me, he said to Hu Ran Ran, “Miss
Hu, Mr. Zhang was looking for you just now when he woke
up.”

After that he patted my head and said, “It’s so late, it will be

better if I send you home.”

He then pulled me along.

He pulled me till I was taking one step and staggering the other, I
kept looking back, but I only saw them standing in the middle of the
corridor staring down at each other. Just as Jiang Chen took a turn, a
slap came from behind us.

I got a shock. I wanted to look back but Jiang Chen dragged me

away by my head.

I was very curious, wondering who was the one who slapped the
other? In the ordinary course of events, Hu Ran Ran is very valiant, it
is possible that she will hit someone. However, her status is a
mistress, so it is possible for her to be beaten as well. This is such a
hard to solve mystery, its too difficult to understand. For my IQ, this

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is a tough question. However, if I were to visit the hospital tomorrow,
and just ask any nurse, there will be immediate detailed and polished
answers to my question. Perhaps, there might even be an HQ video
recording. This shows that to be people-oriented, to rely on
technology, any problem will be solved in a jiffy.

Jiang Chen dragged me to the entrance of the hospital, I said,

“Don’t you have to stay in the hospital to standby?”

He took off his coat and passed it to me, “Bring this back to

wash too, it’s full of her perfume smell, it’s too smelly.”

I squeezed the coat into the plastic bag, “Are you going to send
me back?”

He contemplated for a moment and said, “Can you go back on

your own?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

He said, “Alright, you take care on the way back, call me

once you have reached home.”

I nodded once again, “Ok.”

He turned his back and walk away completely contented.

I scratched my head and sighed, at least watch me flag down a

taxi before going right…

I stood at the road side for a long time, I was ignored for the 3
times I tried to flag down a taxi. I decided that one day I will take
revenge on Jiang Chen’s unromantic-ness and insensitivity. For
example, when he is fixing his gaze on me with deep feelings, I will
tell him that he has gum in his eyes; if he holds my hand, I will say he
has sweaty palms; if he kisses me, I will tell him that he has a smelly
breath. If I am ruthless enough, I will definitely say he has vegetable
stuck between his teeth.

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A car slowly came and stopped in front of me, this car is a little
familiar. A head popped out from within, this head is very familiar, he
said, “Get on, I will send you back home.”

I said, “Then.. what about standing by?”

He said, “There are other doctors.”

I said, “Is there really no problem?”

He said, “If there is a problem I wouldn’t bother about you,

talk lesser, are you coming in or not, if not I will go back.”

I hugged the plastic bag and entered the car, smiling the entire
way back, I couldn’t stop myself from humming a few songs. I only
stopped when Jiang Chen turned up the car’s audio to the max
volume.

In the end Jiang Chen couldn’t take it anymore, he said, “Why are
you smiling so disgustingly for?”

Dazzled, I said, “No, I am just happy that you came back to

fetch me.”

I am so thankful that you can come back, and we can return

together.

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Dolly | Xri | Amy

Ahh yes, the last sentence was actually Xiao Xi’s thoughts in the
novel haha.

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Chapter 24
Source: Tea-Quila

We drove the car till we reached downstairs of my house. The car

headlights shone, there was a person standing below the electric
pole by the roadside, he was reclining against the electric pole with
the pose of a male lead from an idol drama, there even was a
cigarette stick sandwiched between his fingers. The red beam of light
glittered and gleamed.

A minor smoking, this was certainly bad, I had previously seen the
warnings on some cigarette boxes in Hongkong – smoking can cause
impotence! Young person don’t be impulsive, being impulsive will
have its penalty.

Jiang Chen asked me, “Why would he be here?”

I shook my head and said, “Don’t know.”

He spoke again, “You really don’t know?”

I said, “I really don’t know, but if you carry out cruel

punishment and question me under torture, I will then
confess that I actually invited him over to have an affair.”

Jiang Chen glanced over horizontally at me, and said, “Get off the
car for me and handle it well, I’ll watch you in the car.”

I said, “Why not you drive the car directly over, and crush
him flat against the electric pole, I once watched a movie
called ‘The electric pole has a ghost’* when I was young, it
was very interesting.” (T/N: A 1995 Hongkong comedy – it’s
English name is ‘Love in the Time of Twilight’)

He said, “You get off the car, I’ll hit you too, it’ll be called

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‘The electric pole has a pair of ghosts’.”

Embarrassed, I got off the car. I’d only taken two steps when Su
Rui dashed in front of me. He pointed at the car and interrogated,
“Why are you together with him?”

I dragged out my words, saying, “Let me think – oh – if I

remember correctly, he is my boyfriend.”

Su Rui stared blankly for a moment, I saw a flash of sorrow in his

eyes. My heart softened a little, I shouldn’t have made a judgement
that his feelings were just a joke because he was young. When I liked
Jiang Chen back in the day, I was even younger than he was.

I aimed a quick look at the cigarette in his hand, my tone of voice

softened considerably, “Smoking is bad for your body.”

He threw the cigarette down and used his foot to step on it and put
it out. “I’ll quit smoking, can you……”

“I can’t,” I rushed to speak, “Don’t be like this, I don’t like

you.”

He rubbed his nose, “But I really do like you very much.”

I nodded my head, “Mm, I know.”

He said, “I will never like someone else like how I like you
again.”

No, you will.

I attempted to relieve the atmosphere, “Hey, don’t be like this,

wait till you take a fancy to a 15-year-old beautiful lady, you
will then doubt your current taste.”

Silent, he slowly squatted down, lowered his head and hugged his
knees. I stared blankly for a moment, turned my head back to look at

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Jiang Chen’s car, then turned back again and lowered my head to
look at him, at a loss of what to do. “What happened to you?”

I didn’t get a reply for a long time, I could only squat down too, and
pat his shoulder, “What happened? Where are you not feeling
well?”

His muffled voice travelled over, “I’m fine, don’t care about
me.”

I said, “Are you not feeling well somewhere, why not let
Jiang Chen help you take a look?”

He suddenly raised his head and bellowed, “Go away, don’t

bother me!”

I jumped in fright, not because of his bellowing, but rather because

of his tears.

My nose tingled a little. He was only 17 years old, perhaps I was

the first setback he had experienced in his life apart from
examinations, just like me back then, (I) liked Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen
didn’t like me. The person you like not liking you, how deserving of
sorrow this matter was.

“You can go, your boyfriend is waiting for you in the car.”
He seemed to have calmed down considerably.

I made a gesture of “you go back first” towards Jiang Chen’s car.

He sent a text to my mobile phone, he said, “Then I’ll go back to
the hospital first, after you are done handling (the matter)
give me a phone call.”

Just like that, I accompanied Su Rui in squatting by the roadside. I

didn’t speak, mainly because I didn’t know what to say, plus he also
was busy crying. The street light stretched us into two long shadows.

Just as I was thinking that we would have to continue squatting

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down for a boundless infinite time period, a primary school student
carrying a backpack, wearing her school uniform with goat-horn
braids walked past. She fished out a handful of money from the
pocket of the skirt of her school uniform, the money was brightly-
coloured and was of quite a large amount. She picked out a one-
dollar note from inside and passed it to me, she said, “Auntie, buy
an ice-cream for Gege* with this one dollar, coax Gege to not
cry.” (T/N: Gege = older brother)

I watched the primary school student trample on my shadow with

an innocent and guiltless face. I bared my fangs, “This! Little!
Friend! For what reason is he an older brother and I am an
auntie!”

The primary school student gripped on to the one dollar note and
walked away crying.

Only then did Su Rui open his mouth to speak, he said, “Leave
the money behind before you leave……”

I laughed and shoved at him, “Hey—”

He wiped his face, sighed and said, “F***, truly humiliating.”

I comforted him, “I’m the one who’s humiliated, that child

called me auntie.”

He also comforted me, “She’s jealous of your maturity and

allure.”

After he finished speaking, he stood up, and easily pulled me up as

well.

He said, “I’m all right now, you can go back home.”

I said, “Are you really all right?”

He said, “Probably, it depends on whether I’ll still use you

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as inspiration for designing clothes in the future.”

“Ah! Speaking of clothes……” I suddenly recalled, and clapped

my head, “I left behind that bag of clothes in Jiang Chen’s
car.”

He pretended to be dissatisfied, “What clothes? You bought

clothes without coming to my shop? Not letting your friends
earn money when you have money, this is too much.”

I glared at him, “That’s Jiang Chen’s clothes, I’m bringing

them back to wash.”

Su Rui curled his lip, “He let you help him wash his clothes?
So inconsiderate?”

I said, “Su Rui, child, sowing discord is useless.”

“I’m not sowing discord, if it were me, I definitely wouldn’t

let you do these things.” He was unhesitating, “My older sister
said, women are to be loved dearly.”

I nodded my head and said perfunctorily, “Your older sister has

taught you well.”

He spoke again, “Yes, my older sister also taught me, if you

refused to yield, to force myself on you.”

On my guard, I took two steps back. “This is a joke, right?”

He patted my shoulder and praised, “It seems that you have

done quite some research into Su-type humour.”

……

Modestly, I kept my face blank, “I’ve looked into it cursorily,

I’ve looked into it cursorily.”

Su Rui made me leave first, he said he would leave once he saw

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me go upstairs. I refused unyieldingly, I said, “It’s better that I
watch you leave, so as to avoid you taking advantage of me
turning around and going upstairs to fish out a gun to shoot
me dead.”

Unexpectedly, he also wasn’t angry, he said, “Don’t worry, even

if one were to die it would be me dying, not you.”

I thought about it for a moment, and still insisted on him leaving

first, I said, “I have to watch you walk far away, if you want to
die you have to die far away, if you die here you will affect
the property prices in our vicinity.”

He was disdainful, “Isn’t it better if the property prices here

fall, only then can you afford to buy.”

“Wrong wrong wrong.” I shook my index finger, clicked my

tongue and said, “Even if they fall I also can’t afford it, my one
year salary is roughly enough to buy one toilet brick, so I
hope that the property prices in the vicinity don’t fall by all
means, if I can’t afford it everyone also shouldn’t be able to
afford it together, just like 2012, if one were to die everyone
should die together, it’s fair.”

He rolled his eyes and rushed off in anger.

I watched his shadow lengthen and shorten and shorten and

lengthen under the street lamps. I merely hoped that when he
remembered this again, what he remembered would be he himself
leaving with his head high and chest sticking out, and not him
sorrowfully following with his eyes the view of my back that didn’t
turn around at all.

Of course, it was also possible that I was oversensitive, perhaps

what he would recall when he thought back would only be my short
carrot legs climbing the stairs with difficulty……

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I returned home and switched on the lights. The moment the lights
went on my mobile phone rang, I was startled, and subconsciously
looked to the left and the right before fishing my mobile phone out, it
was Jiang Chen.

I answered the call, “Hello, are you downstairs?”

“No, why?”

I said, “The moment the lights in my house lit up your phone

call came through, the timing is too accurate, it’s like the
plot of a horror movie.”

He laughed in a low voice on the other end, “You watch too

many trashy movies.”

I retorted, “In the past, who was it who kept on tricking me

to go to his dorm to accompany him to watch horror movies?”

He said, “Then who was it again who kept on making noise,

saying that she wanted to watch but didn’t dare to watch
alone?”

I brought up old scores, “But there was one time you made me
watch your educational video! That was even more
frightening than a horror movie!”

Jiang Chen said, “I don’t think that was frightening in any

way.”

I started shouting, “How was it not frightening, that knife was

cutting a U-shape on the scalp like it was slicing tofu, then it
tore open, then a hole was drilled into the skull, then that
round piece of skull bone was taken away, and a tweezer was
used to stir here and there inside that bank of bloody
things.”

He said, “Not bad, you remember the surgical procedure

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really clearly.”

“How can it not be clear?” I wailed mournfully, “When they

were tearing the scalp open I turned my head and saw you
smiling strangely by the side while your hands were imitating
that movement and slowly tearing at my sketchbook! I was
so scared that my eyes didn’t dare leave the screen after
that, I was afraid of again seeing you do some perverted
actions once more.”

I felt that the most frightening horror story was someone by your
side turning into a ghost…… or a monster…… or a pervert…… or an
enemy.

Because harm suffered when you didn’t set up defences hurt the
most.

Jiang Chen went silent for quite some time before he said, “If I
remember correctly, at that time I was looking at the
drawings in your sketchbook, if I remember correctly, there
were many character portraits that I felt all seemed very
familiar, furthermore their actions were rather terrible, for
example me kneeling on the ground crying etcetera.”

……

It was now my turn to go silent. I had a stack of sketchbooks, their

outer covers were all about the same, but a few of them in that stack
were specifically for me to draw to vent and gratify myself when I
argued with Jiang Chen. I had drawn many cartoons pledging female
sovereignty inside: for example, Jiang Chen kneeling on the ground,
streams of tears as thick as noodles flowing down as he begged me
for forgiveness, saying that everything was his fault, saying that he
was worse than a beast; also for example, Jiang Chen crawling on the
floor as I high-and-mightily threw a whip towards him to thrash him;
also for example, him kneeling as he scrubbed the floor while I lay on
the sofa pressing the remote control, I said, “Pour a glass of water for

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me“, his actions were a little slow, I kicked him in the butt, he fell to
the ground and rolled around, then stood up and bowed, saying
thank you……

Hence I changed the topic of conversation and said, “You must

have called to ask me about how the matter of Su Rui was
handled right?”

Thankfully he was willing to cooperate, he said, “Then how are

things?”

I said, “Currently both parties’ emotions are stable, the

female has no intention of cheating, the male has no
intention of coming out of the closet, or lying across the
railway tracks*.” (T/N: meaning to commit suicide)

He said, “If you can’t handle it, hand it over to me, don’t
forget that in your mind I am a perverted doctor.”

I chuckled and gave two forced laughs, and said, “How can that
be, how can that be.”

He then said, “Oh right, that bag of clothes for you to wash
was left behind in my car, I will leave it for you to wash. Oh
right, tonight you can draw me kneeling on the washboard in
the balcony.”

……

When it came to the matter of him mercilessly mocking me,

deriding me, and attacking me, he really enjoyed it and never tired of
it, taking advantage of every single opportunity to do so.

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Amy | Dolly | Xri

Translator’s Corner:

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Been seeing lots of comments saying that Jiang Chen is colder
ahahaha ouch my heart breaks /3 As someone who likes novel
Jiangchen as much as drama Jiangchen (in some ways I like novel
Jiangchen more too) just want to encourage you guys to hold out and
wait~~ After all, we only see novel Jiangchen from Xiaoxi’s pov and
we don’t have the benefit of 3rd party omniscience like we do in the
drama ? – Amy

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Chapter 25
Source: Tea-Quila

Fu Pei was in his office, venting out his spleen*, the reason being
he purchased a new photocopying machine a while back but it has
never been used. Situ Mo was holding a cup of tea, humming a tune
in her seat, watching with glee as Fu Pei blows his top off, this kind of
scenario has always been especially delightful to her. (T/N: In China,
the spleen is counted as the seat of one’s temperament, hence
‘venting one’s spleen’ has become an expression to ‘getting angry’.)

The business has been slow these days, we were idling as our
everyday work only revolved around killing time, but to show
consideration for our Boss Fu Pei’s self-esteem, we would often
assume an air of being very busy, this truly makes a person
physically and emotionally exhausted.

There was a banging sound as Fu Pei was done wrestling that

thing, afterwards, he told us he’ll be heading out to talk business, as
he was walking out, Situ Mo slid her chair next to me wearing a filthy
smile, “Who was that handsome little fella yesterday?”

“Who?”

Situ Mo said, “When I knocked off work yesterday, I was

stopped downstairs by that handsome little fella. At first I
thought he took a fancy on my beauty and wanted to coerce
me into doing it…..okay, get rid of that look in your face, my
husband always think I’m as pretty as a flower. Yesterday,
that handsome fella asked me for your address, did he go
look for your afterwards?”

I put away my expression of restraining myself from throwing up,

and said indignantly, “You don’t know him yet you gave him my

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address, what if he was perverted?”

“Stop fussing over nothing, from his mouth, he called me

‘little beauty’, not only did I gave your address to him, he
asked for my help to drug you and I agreed.”

I said, “The thing you’re mainly happy about was the word
‘little’ before ‘beauty’.”　　

Situ Mo laughed mischievously, “You’re really clever, so who is

he?”

“The younger brother of Jiang Chen’s colleague.”

I gave her a brief run-through regarding our situation, but as Situ

Mo has always felt like her charming points have reduced a lot from
being a married woman, hence I, in order to not get on the ‘jealous,
envious, and hateful*’ nerves of a married woman, have to especially
belittle myself. I said, “I feel strange, I am such an average
person, I don’t understand what our motherland’s flower
boys have really seen in me. (T/N: In 2009 Zhang Weiping
posted a blog post concerning criticism of Zhang Yimou’s
recent film “A Simple Noodle Story”. He wrote on his blog, “You
guys are just jealous, envious, and hateful.” It has became an
internet meme afterwards.)

She comforted me saying, “You don’t have to unduly humble

yourself, the younger a person is, the harder it is to pin down
their thoughts, even my son thinks that the prettiest female
in the world is Mei Yang Yang.” (T/N: The Chinese character for
beautiful/pretty is ‘mei’, Mei Yang Yang or Tibbie is a cartoon
character, a whole goat lol.)

Why do I feel like her words are indirectly implying something

else………

She added, “Actually, I think he’s not bad, ‘an old cow

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eating tender grass*’, good for the teeth.” (TN: This proverb
fiddles with the phenomenon of one partner being significantly older
than the other — in English, a craddle robber.)

I glared at her, “Go to hell.”

She said, “It’s better than you looking at your phone 10-20
times a day, always waiting for your man’s phone call that
never comes.”

I fished my phone out again and made sure it was working, “I’m
willing.”

She looked askance at me, then suddenly uttered in all

seriousness, “I was thinking about something. Right! When you get
married, can my son become your page boy, that way I don’t have to
prepare a red packet?

Would you look at this woman, whenever she opens and closes her
mouth, it’s always about money, I feel lonely, we don’t have a
common topic to talk about.

My righteous words indignantly rebuke her, “Even if your

husband turns out to be my groom, you would still not want
to hand out that red packet.”

Fu Pei never came back till afternoon, hence an hour before

getting off work, Situ Mo and I made our stealth escape. For fear of
Fu Pei checking up on us the last minute, we’ve let all office calls go
through our phones, even though we don’t look like we’re adept in
escaping from work, actually we really…….very often escape from
work.

Before, every time I’d escape from work early, I used to sit around
the subway station near my home. After arriving in my station, I’d be
sitting on the waiting chairs, listening to my MP3 as I watch the peak
hours of the subway, get packed with ever-changing office workers

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knocking off work, just like a conveyor belt in a factory, transporting
somewhat a can of human beings to various places.

It brings me pleasure to watch while I sit at one corner. I was

thinking that I really got a deal by escaping the office crowd.

But now that I’m somebody with a boyfriend, I have to abandon

this lowlife hobby, when I get off work early, I have to go to the
hospital to rub my ear against his shoulders*. (T/N: An idiom meaning
‘act intimate’ describing exactly how close one is to the other in
proximity. )

Since I’ve been wasting 3 years in this matter with my virgin

boyfriend, so my heart generally feels a little guilty, this tiny guilt is
probably a part of being in a business I’m unfamiliar with.

When I was finally at the hospital’s lobby, I gave Jiang Chen a call,
when the call went through but of us spoke simultaneously, “Where
are you?”

I said, “I’m in the hospital lobby.”

He said, “I’m on my way to your office.”

I said, “Ah! Then what should we do?”

He said, “If you turn right after you get out of the hospital,
you can find a drink shop, you can drink something there
while waiting for me.”

I thought about it for a moment and told him, “I’ll just wait for
you in the lobby.”

Mainly because Fu Pei already delayed two months worth of my

salary, and also, the consumption around the hospital were certainly
more expensive than in other places, the last time I bought tea eggs
around here, they were 50 cents pricier than anywhere else……look
at my state of poverty……

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“Then you stay in the lobby, and don’t run around. I’ll be
there soon.” Jiang Chen said. “Okay, drive carefully.”

Half an hour later, when Jiang Chen found me near the hospital
entrance, I sat trembling under the shade of a tree by the roadside.

To be born, to grow old, to get sick, and to die. This world is very
unpredictable, the occurrence of incidence in the hospital is also
unpredictable, I was in the hospital lobby for thirty minutes, and
already encountered an unpredictable moment in time.

Half an hour back, I hung up my call with Jiang Chen, with a

nauseating smile on my face distinctive to that of people who were in
love, I looked for a place to sit down.

About ten minutes later, there was suddenly a woman’s scream

from upstairs, accompanied by banging, messy, and hurrying
footsteps, then before I could react, a woman with disheveled hair
came tumbling down from the second floor, and landed heavily in
front of me, just about five paces away.

I looked at her frightened eyes, filled with tears.

I looked at her twitch like a dying fish on the ground, and then
became still.

I looked at the foam, slowly coming out from the corner of her
mouth.

I looked at a group of doctors and nurses who were rushing

downstairs, yelling, “Quick! Give her a sedative.”

I looked at the thick needle, going into her arm.

I wanted to say, “Are you guys f*cking crazy?! She’s already

not moving yet you still want to shoot her with some
sedative! Why do you f*cking love to give injections so
much?! You’re f*cking doctors not wasps!”

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However, forgive me for not being able to say a single word.

“Chen Xiaoxi? Chen Xiaoxi?” Jiang Chen crouched right in front

of me. He was waving his hand before my eyes, he looked deeply
worried, “What’s wrong with you? What happened?”

I looked at him in horror, opening my mouth to speak, yet nothing

would come out.

Jiang Chen reached out his hand to grab mine, then looked me in
the eye, his voice was unusually calm, “Xiaoxi, look into my eyes,
don’t be scared. I’m now going to ask you questions, just nod
or shake your head. Got it?”

I nodded.

He said, “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head.

He squeezed my hand, “You saw something which really

scared you?”

I nodded.

He paused for a moment, and asked softly, “A car accident?”

I shook my head.

Then he said, “That person…….”

He delayed asking me. He simply hugged me, and gently patted

my back saying, “This is a hospital, no matter what you see,
don’t be scared, they just get sick, or get injuries, or…..”

Or their time is up.

In the scorching summer of July, Jiang Chen hugged me so tightly,

when added together, it actually made me feel very hot.

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He hugged me for a while, and probably also felt hot, he pulled me
up from the ground, and led me to sit inside his car, he said, “I’m
going outside to make a phone call, I’ll be back soon.”

I gave him a brief nod, I’ve actually calmed down a lot, it’s just that
I looked scared out of my wits in front of him a while ago, if I
suddenly return to normal, it’s going to be a bit embarrassing, so I
had to continue putting on a delicate front of being terrified.

When Jiang Chen came back, his complexion looked a lot more
relaxed, he said, “I know what happened, that patient is fine,
just suffered a fracture and concussion, not life-threatening.”

I let out a sigh, I think that a doctor’s life is really tranquil, so long
as no one dies, it’s no big deal.

I nodded my head in understanding.

Jiang Chen didn’t start the car, he sat sideways and looked at me,
“Still scared?”

I shook my head, I’m a bit hooked in this kind of silent

communication.

He reached out to ruffle my hair, “She was in a break-up, she

attempted suicide in front of her ex-boyfriend by swallowing
laundry detergent, the ex-boyfriend sent her to the hospital
to have her stomach pumped, she refused to be saved, her
struggling caused her to tumble down from upstairs.”

Jian Chen knows me too well, he knows that I love gossip, so he

used gossip to pique my curiosity, to distract me, and to somewhat
lessen my fear.

I blinked my eyes, and said, “Then, what was her ex-

boyfriend’s reaction?”

Jiang Chen pinched my cheeks, “How should I know? You can

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talk now ah.”

“I really was scared before.” Then, somewhat carrying a tone

of a spoiled child, I said, “Who asked you to leave me alone in
the hospital.”

He didn’t argue that, ‘I told you to go out but you insisted to stay
inside the hospital.’ He just said, “No more next time, also, I will
take you along to visit that patient in two days.”

I said, “I don’t want to be near the hospital anytime soon.”

Jiang Chen said, “It’s not a good habit to run away from your
fear.”

I wanted to demonstrate my infamous ‘brat stomp’’, but because

of the inconvenience of sitting down, I could only pout and say, “But
I really dare not.”

Jiang Chen said, “In the future, don’t also come as you wish.”

My face sank, my heart felt aggrieved and indignant, he has

always been like this. Back when we were on our third year in high
school, he tutored me in Math, I got 9 and a half answers wrong in a
10-item test, the other correct half was for a quadratic equation in
one variable which has considerably the easiest solution. There was a
time when I was writing and got angry, I threw my pen away and
said, “I won’t write.” My Math teacher said, “It’s not good to
make multiple choice and fill in the blanks questions in
Math.”

Jiang Chen said, “Do as you wish, but later on, don’t say
anything about testing for the same university with me, our
grades are different.”

He spoke words that were so hurtful when my heart was so

immature, of course I had to bury my head on my desk and cry.
When I thought I have cried enough, I lifted my head, Jiang Chen was

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still next to me, so absorbed in correcting my test paper.

I moved closer and craned my head to get a look — the little

writings were densely packed and multi-colored, black for the correct
solution, blue for the rationale behind the solution, red for the
formula, words in yellow highlight was added to understand the
method of 1st solution, 2nd solution, 3rd solution……….

I wiped away my tears and said, “What do you see my test

paper for by scrawling unto it to this state. There are too
many solutions, I can’t remember.”

Later on, a lot of students have been borrowing every single one of
my Math test papers to get it photocopied, I found it precious. I was
then considering charging the people who kept on borrowing from
me, and at the same time, was also considering how to best repay
Jiang Chen. In the end, I drew a woman with a goddess-like beauty on
his Math textbook. On the first page, the beauty was wearing a
cotton-padded jacket, in every flip of the page, she would take off
one clothing item, from hair accessories, jewelries, clothes, shoes,
socks, finally, taking into account the standard problem, I covered
her chest and gave her hot pants. And in order to prove that I’m
doing something meaningful, I would occasionally combine it with
teaching content, for instance, next to the Pythagorean Theorem, I
would draw the beauty exposing her butt crack…….I think this thing
reflects that I’m a person who returns a favor when helped, in this
world where people would usually bite the hand that fed them, this
wasn’t likely.

Jiang Chen started the car, I was sulking on the side, I wanted to
quarrel with him, I wanted to curse him ‘son of a b*tch’, but I dare
not……….

I’m a coward.

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Dolly | Xri | Amy

Translator’s Corner:

Even though Jiang Chen’s words are sharp, but he just wanted
Xiaoxi to become better, right? Right? Anyways we have good news
and bad news for you. GOOD NEWS = We’re halfway through the
novel *shakes booty* but BAD NEWS = We’re skipping a week’s
worth of updates starting Monday next week because of Chinese New
Year *stops shaking my booty*. So yeah! That is all folks – Dolly

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Chapter 26
Source: Tea-Quila

I am very scared of Jiang Chen getting angry. In fact, I’m afraid of

anyone who is angry at me, but Jiang Chen isn’t just anyone. I’m
scared of him more than anyone, or should I say, no one makes me
as flustered as he does when he gets mad. That is because I often
have no idea when he’s angry, and if I have no idea whether he is
angry, how do I know whether I should be scared or not? So, I get
scared of not knowing whether I should be afraid or not…. Seeing
that I am already spouting nonsense like this, I guess you somehow
will understand.

Therefore, I secretly observed Jiang Chen the entire ride. The more
I see, the more I feel that he is angry. As for the reason, I have no
idea. Honestly, I didn’t see any spider’s thread and horse track*, but
if I say that he is angry, then he is angry, if not, you can bite me.
(T/N: lit. translation, it means like traces/hints/clues.)

I reached out to tug his shirt’s cuff, my finger even stroked his arm
twice, “I am hungry.”

He glanced at me sideways, “Mmm.”

“Mmm what?” I flirtatiously stroked his arm with my finger once

more, “Bring me to eat something nice…”

He shook his arm to cast my hand off, “Driving, stop it.”

I pouted and obediently sat back on my seat.

After 10 seconds, I said, “Would it be good if I get myself a

driving’s license?”

“Not good.”

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“Why?”

“You can’t afford a car.”

…..

“I think I can afford a Chery QQ.”

“You will definitely hit someone if you drive, it will add

burden to the medical transportation services.”

Excuse me…. Isn’t this curse a bit too evil?

I could only change topic, “Then do you think it’s good if I

perm my hair?”

He took a glance at the rear-view mirror, “Not good.”

“Why?”

He leaned to look at me, “Ugly.”

Endure.

I gave an obsequious smile, “Would it be good if I cut my hair

short then?”

“Not good.”

I protested, “Didn’t you say you like me in short hair in the

past! You even said I looked very refreshing and natural!”

He turned his head and looked as though he was seriously sizing

me up, then he said, “Did I? I probably said it without thinking
it through.”

…..

That’s it, I completely gave up on engaging in a friendly

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conversation with him.

Hence, I roared at him in an exceptionally imposing manner,

“JIANG! CHEN!”

“Hmm?” He remained calm and collected, and didn’t even look

here.

I clenched my teeth, with ample guts I told him, “I will still find
you at the hospital to eat together tomorrow!”

He was a little bit startled, “You don’t have to.”

I was startled too, I didn’t think that even after backing down to
this level, he can still put on airs.

Jiang Chen suddenly smiled, “I am on leave tomorrow.”

I made an “oh” sound and said, “Then I will go the day after
tomorrow.”

He repeated another time, “I am on leave tomorrow.”

I looked at him strangely, something tells me that he seems to be

waiting for me to say something, however, my IQ is not enough, so I
could only honestly ask him, “So what if you are on leave?”

He didn’t answer me question, he only emphasized that, “I am

rarely on leave.”

I have no other choice, so I could only show that I am as elated as

he is, and said while beaming, “It’s good that you are on leave,
that’s very rare, congratulations!”

He got annoyed, and glared at me for a few times, till I was so

guilty. I was thinking, does he want me to celebrate for him by
fasting* three days, to bathe and change clothes*? (T/N: This actually
implies more on when ancient Chinese are preparing to offer sacrifice

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and pray to ancestor/God, they are required to fast (as in abstain
from wine/meat) and make sure that they are clean before
proceeding with the prayers.)

He continued cruising slowly, and he went back to what seems to

be an angry composure. I feel that I managed to make him happy
with great difficulty, he just suddenly decided not to be happy
anymore. He is really capricious.

Therefore, I became silent too. I took out my phone to play a game,

and vented my anger on the keyboard. I repeatedly striked the snake
till its ashes scattered and smoke dispersed*, I felt really happy.
Look, Jiang Chen bullies me, I bully the snake, is this how fair the
world is. (T/N: Think she’s playing slither.io, but I don’t think that
game is available in China. So she might be playing the classic snake
game instead, but kills the snake instead of eating the apple. Also,
that is lit. translation for annihilating something so bad its ashes
scattered and smoke dispersed.)

The car suddenly stopped moving, I thought we were waiting for

the red light, so I didn’t pay attention. I continued to attentively kill
the snake. After a long time, when I have killed about ten snakes, the
car still didn’t move. I looked out, not sure when the car pulled over
at the side of the road. I turned back to look at Jiang Chen, to my
surprise, he was staring at me.

I asked him, “What happened?”

He said, “Call your boss, take a leave tomorrow.”

I didn’t get it, “Ah? Why? My pay would have to be

deducted.”

He said with strong conviction, “Just take it as I asked you to.”

I looked at him in a daze, he avoided my eye and looked a little

awkward. I blinked my eyes and came to a sudden realization….

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I called Fu Pei, “Hello, Boss Fu ah?”

“Darling, I’m the real boss, not the deputy boss,” said Fu
Pei. (T/N: a deputy boss is called 副老板 (fu lao ban). Xiaoxi asked for
傅老板 (fu lao ban) Which is Fu Pei’s surname name + designation.
That’s why he said he is the real boss and not the deputy boss.)

I rolled my eyes: “Not funny, I have to take a leave

tomorrow.”

“Take a leave for what?”

I said, “My boyfriend is on leave tomorrow, he wants to me

take a leave to accompany him.”

I looked over at Jiang Chen with my peripheral vision and saw that
his expressions turned rigid.

After I took my leave, I bit my lips to stop myself from laughing, “I

have taken my leave.”

He gave an uncomfortable cough and said, “Nng.”

“HAHAHAHAHA….” I couldn’t control in the end, “I…. haha…..

you… haha…. why so cute…. hahaha… if you want me to
accompany you… you can… haha… just say it straight…
haha”

“Shut up!” Jiang Chen glared at me, and started the car.

Someone’s flying into a rage out of humiliation oh.

Jiang Chen drove the car to the basement carpark of a

supermarket, I asked oddly, “What do you want to buy?”

He said, “Food.”

I mumbled, “Can’t we eat first then buy, I’m about to die

from hunger.”

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He removed his seat belt and leaned over to release mine, “Buy
to cook at home.”

“Ah?” I said, “I have no idea how to cook, I only know how

to make noodles.”

He said, “Then we will make noodles.”

Jiang Chen lied to me, the food in the trolley was piling up, there’s
even a chicken, a whole complete chicken, with head, with leg, with
butt.

I looked scaredly at the chicken as though I saw an extinct

dinosaur, “Why did you buy this for?”

Jiang Chen said, “To stew soup.”

I said, “You know how?

“I don’t.” He said matter of factly.

I thought, if you weren’t my boyfriend, I would have whacked you.

For the entire shopping process, my only contribution was a packet

of cream-flavoured melon seeds, but this wasn’t enough to make me
feel useless, as my skin is thick enough.

Jiang Chen carried the big and small bags, I offered to help him
share the load, so he gave me a bag of vegetables.

I said I can carry two more bags, he told me to save my strength to

ponder on how to cook, I wanted to cry but there were no tears.

I stood once again in front of Jiang Chen’s house, I leaned on the

wall to wait for him to find his keys, he glared at me and said, “Open
the door!”

Only then did I remember that his keys were with me, I buried my
head in my bag for a very long time just to find a bunch of foreign

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keys and said, “Which key opens which lock?”

Finally, I entered Jiang Chen’s house, it is neither big nor small, two
rooms, two halls, not much decorations, and looks like a specimen
lab. I stood at the door to look around, he walked past me to enter
and took the bag of vegetables that I was holding along with him as
well.

I hurriedly followed behind him, “Did you rent or buy this

place?”

He turned back to stare at me, eyes deep with mystery, “Why?

Want to marry me?”

I replied honestly, “Not that, but I just feel that if it’s rented,
then its too wasteful to have an empty room.”

Only after I finished my reply did I realise something, I didn’t move,

only made a crying face and said, “Did you just propose to me? If
that’s so, can I reply again?”

He said, “No, cannot.”

I pouted, he should have removed the pause between the two

words. (T/N: His answer can also actually be vaguely translated to:
Not that, you cannot. So if the pause/breakage is removed between
his 1st and 2nd phrase, it would mean not that you cannot (reply me
again).)

“Why are you still standing there, come here to help.”

“Oh.”

After 3 minutes, we looked at each other and looked at the kitchen

counter that was full of vegetables.

I said, “What should we make first?”

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Jiang Chen frowned and said, “Soup, we might have to stew
the soup for a long time.”

I said, “Then, let’s do it, how do we stew it?”

He said, “Chop it up and throw it into the pot to boil.”

I said, “Then you can do the chopping, you are a doctor, you
are used to holding a knife.”

He said, “That’s a scalpel.”

I said, “Then do you have a scalpel in here?”

He thought about it, “I do, it’s at the drawer under the TV.”

I ran out to grab two scalpel and passed it to him “There, your
knife that you are used to.”

He held onto the scalpel and cut across the chicken lightly, the skin
tore and the flesh was exposed.

I couldn’t help but made a “wah”

Jiang Chen turned back to look at me and said, “Now you know,
put down the scalpel, lives might be at risk.”

I swiftly put down the scalpel I was holding on onto the kitchen
counter, “I’m going to wash the vegetables.”

The water was splashing down and I took a peek at Jiang Chen’s
progress, I couldn’t help but ask, “What are you doing?”

He said, “I’m removing the skin and retrieving the meat.”

I said, “Do we need to remove the skin and retrieve the

meat to stew a soup?”

He said, “Do we not? Then why did you give me a scalpel? A

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scalpel can’t chop bones.”

….

After 10 minutes, I asked, “How do we cook the cauliflower

that I just washed?”

Jiang Chen said, “Chop it up, throw it in the pot.”

After another 10 minutes.

I asked again, “What about the ribs?”

Jiang Chen Said, “Chop it up, throw it in the pot.”

After another ten minutes.

I want to try for a last resort, “How about we go out to eat, we

can buy two recipe books back along the way, and we will
research on how to cook next time.”

The hand that was chopping the ribs stopped, he held up the
chopper and looked at me gloomily, “If we can’t finish making
the dishes today, then we shall never eat again.”

…..

Darling, must we put on such a strong front?

Because every dish is done by chopping it up and throwing it into

the pot to cook, we finished it pretty fast. It took less than an hour for
every dish to be on the dining table. My favourite pastime was to
sneak up silently, to eat on sly when my mother puts the dishes on
the table. My mother would chase me behind my butt and whack me
with a pan. However, Jiang Chen is here, so I’ve completely given up
on this interest. I rather be a boring person.

We sat at the dining table, I looked at him and he looked at me,

none of us dared to touch our chopsticks.

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Jiang Chen picked up a cauliflower and brought it to my mouth, he
said while smiling, “I think I have never given you a flower
before, come, this flower is for you.”

I couldn’t dodge it in time, and could only eat it. It tasted normal,
just like boiled vegetable, as long as it is not overcooked, it won’t be
too bad.

Jiang Chen saw that I didn’t have any bad expression, so he took
one to eat as well. After swallowing he frowned and said, “Chen
Xiaoxi, did you forget to add salt?”

I was expressionless, “You were the one in charge of salt.”

He shrugged, “Too much salt will cause high blood

pressure.”

I bit my chopsticks and asked Jiang Chen, “Then where shall we

go tomorrow?”

He took my bowl to ladle out some soup, “We are not going
anywhere, we’ll just stay home to watch films.”

I said, “What film?”

He suddenly looked at me and smiled sinisterly, “A film*.” (T/N:

Porn.)

In terms of being vulgar and obscene, I usually refuse to do worse

than others, I held onto my chin and threw flirtatious glances at him,
“Little dimple, you are so naughty and lecherous.”

He trembled, and spilled his soup.

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Xri | Amy | Dolly

Translator’s Corner:

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As mentioned, we will be taking a week’s break next week for
Chinese New Year! Have a prosperous year of dog everyone~ Gong
xi fa cai!!

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Chapter 27
Source: Tea-Quila

After I finished eating my food, I obediently went to wash the

dishes. When I was washing the dishes, Jiang Chen came into the
kitchen to pour himself water once, at that point in time my mind
was in the process of fantasising about that most trite tableau – me
washing the dishes, Jiang Chen encircling and hugging my waist from
behind my back.

So when Jiang Chen entered I was very nervous, in order for this
hug to achieve the best state, I specially took in a deep breath with
great force to suck in my underbelly.

But Jiang Chen only paused for two seconds behind my back, and
said a sentence, “You’ve put too much dishwashing liquid.”

After that, he then walked out, I exhaled a large breath, and

unwillingly let my underbelly off.

As I was walking towards the living room while flinging and shaking
off the water on my hands, Jiang Chen who was lying horizontally on
the sofa shouted, “Help me check if the water has boiled or
not.”

I saw that there was an electric kettle plugged in on the dining

table, the kettle was emitting hot vapour. I really didn’t know which
tooth of the gears turning around in my brain had gotten wedged in
the wrong position, I was ruminating on whether the water had boiled
or not, then I readily stuck my hand onto the kettle, only to hear a
sizzling sound. I shrieked in shock, but what flashed through my mind
was first steak teppanyaki, after that pain then flashed through.

Jiang Chen rushed over and grabbed my hand, dragging me

towards the kitchen. The way he was dragging was a little boorish, as
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if he was dragging a dead dog, but I forgave him for he was simply
too anxious.

Water rushed onto my hands with a crashing sound, I felt that it

was scorchingly painful, in order to divert my attention, I said, “I’ve
confirmed, your water probably has boiled.”

Jiang Chen’s face was very sour, he let go of my hand and walked
out, “Continue flushing, I’ll be right back.”

He came back holding an ice cube tray. He flexed (the tray) to

produce a handful of ice cubes and stuffed it into my palm, saying,
“Hold them.”

After holding for a while, I felt that it was so icy that I was turning
numb, only then did I relax my hand, Jiang Chen again held a handful
of ice and pressed them on my palm.

He helped me ice (my hand) for roughly ten minutes, only then did
he ask me while furrowing his brows, “Is it still painful or not?”

I was afraid that he would continue to ice me, so I promptly shook

my head and said it wasn’t painful.

He pulled my hand till it was before his eyes and carefully

examined it for a while, only then did he put it down and say, “Not
bad, it’s rare*.” (T/N: rare as in how a steak is rare.)

Very rarely could I encounter Jiang Chen’s humour, so I seemed to

be overwhelmed by this favour shown. To express that I had
thoroughly comprehended his humour, I said, “Reporting, I’ll
strive to achieve medium-well next time.”

His face clouded over, and he began to carry out a segment of

criticism towards me that extended for ten minutes, its contents
being nothing else but: “Do you think your hand is a
thermometer?”, “Why don’t you simply stick your head in too
to boil?” and other similar friendly comments and suggestions.

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I quietly appreciated the way he blew his top, sincerely feeling that
his facial features were truly pretty and good-looking, his temper was
truly irritable, everything was truly very good.

He flipped out for a while, then discovered that I was very self-
confident and believed that I was in the right, so he ran to the living
room to sit on the sofa, panting with rage. Have pity on me, a
scalded person, I dragged my unsteady footsteps and walked
towards the living room, to evoke his sympathy, I even staged a
scene of weakness where I stumbled with every three steps I took.

Jiang Chen watched me coldly, and said, “Did you scald your
hand or scald your foot?”

Embarrassed, I walked over, just as I sat down, I heard my phone

ring in my bag. I fished it out and took a look, it was my old mother.

I connected the phone call, and miserably said, “Hello, mum……”

“Xiaoxi ya, why does your voice sound like it’s dying?”

“My hand was scalded.”

“Aiya, how so? Are you okay now? Is it serious or not?” My

mother started to make a huge fuss.

Indeed the song “In this world, only Mum is great”* wasn’t
without basis. (T/N: A classic Chinese children’s song)

I placated her, “It’s all right, it’s all right, it’s already been
handled properly.”

She said, “How did it get scalded?”

“Uh… I used my own hand to touch the boiling water

kettle.”

There was silence for a good few seconds on the phone, after

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which a word faintly travelled over: “Moron*.” (T/N: The informal
phrase for “moron” in Chinese is 脑残 which directly translated
means disabled brain.)

I was stunned, having your own mother use such an insightful word
to evaluate you, was really a wonderful experience.

My mother suddenly softened her voice and said, “Oh right,

mama has something to tell you.”

The bottom of my heart couldn’t help but quiver, every time my

mother benevolently called herself “mama”, there would always be
some matter ominous to me that would occur……

“That, mama’s good friend has a son, he lives in the same

city as you, he’s a good-looking man, and has had success in
his career……”

I sighed helplessly, “Mum, get to the main point.”

“The main point is, her son heard that you are also in the
same city, and wants to get to know you, and share about his
desolation in a foreign land.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, “Do you guys nowadays all

talk about blind dates in such an indirect manner?”

Jiang Chen turned his head to glance at me, I returned him a bitter
smile.

My mum became tough, “Then how is it now? Are you going

or not going?”

I raised my head that would rather die than submit, “Not going!”

“Say that one more time?”

“Not going!”

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I was just getting stirred up, when my palm suddenly went cold.
Lowering my head, I saw Jiang Chen in the process of applying
medication on my palm.

My mother raised her volume and said, “Don’t think that you
are still a Lolita because you are a moron! You are his
mother’s* leftover woman, leftover woman*.” (T/N: “his
mother’s” is Chinese profanity which normally would be translated
to f***ing) (T/N: ‘Leftover woman’ is Chinese slang for a woman who
has been “left on the shelf”, i.e. of a certain age and yet still not
married/single.)

I said, “This madam, I’m not going to lie to you, my mother

is you, also, can I bother you to go and mop the floor or play
mahjong if you have nothing to do, don’t go onto Tianya*
anymore!” (T/N: Tianya is one of the biggest public Internet forums
in China)

“I don’t care, even if you don’t go, you still have to go!”

“I won’t go since I said I won’t go, if you have the guts,

beat me to death and drag me there!”

“Don’t think that I wouldn’t dare to, I’ll break your leg, and
let him go to the hospital to visit you.”

“Do you think I’m scared of you? You come then.”

“I’ll go and buy train tickets right away, I’ll break your
leg.”

“You come then, I’ll wait for you.” “You just wait, I’ll come
at once.”

“You come then, I’ll wait for you.” “You just wait, I’ll come
at once.”

……

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This repeated for more than ten times, Jiang Chen suddenly
snatched the phone over, went straight for it and said, “Hello
Auntie, I am Little Jiang.”

I was startled, and subconsciously wanted to jump up and snatch

the phone. Jiang Chen single-handedly grabbed both of my wrists and
held them tight, after which he then continued to chat with my
mother as if nothing had happened, “Yes, the Little Jiang from
across, Jiang Chen.”

“Mum……” I said anxiously, Jiang Chen lowered his head and

glared at me fiercely, I withered at once.

“Mm, that’s right, Xiaoxi and I are together now, okay, no

no, it’s me who’s in the wrong, I didn’t take note of it, I will
definitely go and pay a visit to you both, yes, okay, I got
it……”

Finally Jiang Chen said, “Auntie, then can Xiaoxi not go for the
blind date?”

I heard two of my mum’s signature forced laughs coming through

the phone, after which they then mutually said their goodbyes.

Jiang Chen threw the phone to me, “Settled.”

I pinched my mobile phone, wanting to cry but not having any

tears*, how was I going to face that father of mine that hated the rich
following this…… (T/N: A phrase that describes one having complex
emotion that they cannot describe/being anxious etc)

I held my mobile phone and lifted it in front of my chest, thinking of

a countermeasure for a very long time with the appearance of a
young lady praying, for example, telling my dad that Jiang Chen can’t
not have me, I can’t not have Jiang Chen; our need for each other
was just like fish and water, water and fish, the people and the
Chinese yuan*…… (T/N: The Chinese name for the yuan is renminbi,

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which directly translated means the people’s currency)

Just as I was lost in deep thought, the clock struck ten times with a
“ding dong” sound, I became aware of the fact that there was an
even more pressing matter that I had to resolve, which was – should I
propose to go home already?

I personally believed, the time at which you suggest to your

boyfriend to go home is very important, and will affect the extent of
harmony in the relationship between you two. The timing can’t be
too early, because he would suspect that you feel like a day drags
past like a year when you spend time with him, and you want to
escape early on; the timing also cannot be too late, because he
would think that you aren’t reserved enough, and are too clingy……

And based on my many years of putting it into practice and

research, the most perfect time ought to be – I too didn’t know, so at
random, since the clock struck at ten o’clock, this was also
considered to be fate, let it be ten o’clock then.

Hence I told Jiang Chen, “It’s getting late too, I want to go

home.”

He was just carrying two cups of water, “Let’s talk about this
again after you finish drinking this?”

“What’s that?” I stretched out my head to look.

“Iced lemon tea.”

“Oh, oh.” I took it, and cracked a joke without thinking, “You
wouldn’t have drugged it, would you?”

He drank a mouthful, tilted his head, looked at me and smiled, “I

can execute you on the spot any time.”

I laughed hollowly, “Hehe, I was joking.”

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He smiled and said, “I was joking too.”

That shameless joke of mine caused me to sink into an

uncomfortable circumstance as if I was sitting on pins and needles,
yet Jiang Chen had an appearance of being calm and unruffled,
drinking the tea and smiling eerily at me. That dimple especially, it
was sinister and cunning and so deep and unmeasurable that it was
like a wine cellar*. (T/N: this analogy was given because dimple in
Chinese is 酒窝 which literally means “wine pit”)

I raised my hands and surrendered, “I was wrong, I shouldn’t

have cracked jokes randomly, I shouldn’t have used a joke to
probe into your ethics and moral conduct, I’m vulgar.”

He nodded his head to express his agreement, and still persisted

unflaggingly in looking at me while smiling.

In the past, I liked his smile so much, yet currently I was itching to
tear out his smile, or…… tear my own clothes, lie down and say,
“Come on, the earlier I die the earlier I’ll be
reincarnated*……” (T/N: a commonly used phrase which means
‘get it over and done with’)

Of course I didn’t do that, that would make me appear to be not

reserved, and being reserved was one of my life rules, so I suggested
again, “I’ve finished drinking my tea, send me home.”

Jiang Chen said indifferently, “If not, stay here tonight.”

I swallowed my saliva, not knowing how to reply for a moment. I

could only hold my breath, wanting to hold my breath till my face
turned red to express that I was extremely shy.

Jiang Chen also appeared to be a little uncomfortable, he coughed

and explained, “I’m saying this so as to avoid fetching you
back here tomorrow, in any case I have two rooms over
here.”

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I let out a radiating “ah” and said, “Two rooms ah……”

He said, “You’re very disappointed?”

His judgement of my tone of voice was very accurate, but I was

afraid that he would become proud because of this. Our education
has told us since we were young, pride causes people to fall behind.
In order to not let him fall behind, I could only fervently deny it, I
said, “How can that be, you’re talking nonsense, I, that…… is
because I didn’t bring clothes to wash up and change into.”

I saw that he didn’t really seem to believe me, so I rushed to

explain again, “Really, I’ve already slept together with you in
the hospital, even if I had any devious intentions I would
have carried it out long ago, so I really don’t care about
sleeping together with you.”

This great country has a great common saying, called “the more
you describe, the darker it gets*”, I currently was deeply
afflicted by this. (T/N: this saying means that the more you try to
explain something, the more suspicious you appear)

In this moment, Jiang Chen appeared to be especially

magnanimous, he said, “I understand.”

In this moment, it was already no longer good for me to investigate

what exactly he had understood, so I stubbornly pretended to be
open and candid and said, “Then look for a set of pajamas for
me, I want to wash up and sleep.”

My thoughts were like this – being open and candid was the most
effective strategy to conceal my guilty conscience.

Jiang Chen was even more open and candid than I was, he sized
me up, and said, “You are so short, I can give you a t-shirt and
it would be able to cover you up completely.”

……

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Amy | Dolly | Xri

Translator’s Corner:

Hello! We are back after the Lunar New Year ? Hope it has been an
enjoyable time of feasting and visiting family and friends for all who
celebrate! – Amy

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Chapter 28
Source: Tea-Quila

As I don’t have a pair of long, slender legs, I couldn’t pull off that

kind of subtle, natural sexiness when wearing men’s clothes, so I just
wore Jiang Chen’s basketball shorts, they were just short shorts for
him, yet were capri pants when I was the one wearing them. When I
came out of the bathroom, Jiang Chen looked at me and quickly
smiled, saying, “Are you going to perform in an opera? I used
to think that you were just short, but now, I just noticed that
you really are ‘that’ short.”　　

I lifted my ‘pants’ and was going to beat him. I just don’t

understand how we ended up being lumped together when I was only
giving him a beating. Probably because couples are akin to two
pieces of magnets with north and south poles, when they’ve been
parted and then got too close with each other, they’d impatiently,
hungrily and thirstily stick together.　　

Jiang Chen tackled me to the ground, his gaze pinned me for

around two, three seconds, or rather two, three minutes. Anyway, I
swallowed past the lump in my throat three times, but I wasn’t able
to take a good swallow on the third time as he quickly covered my
mouth with his, it was a lemon-scented kiss. At the start, I felt like I
was kissing an air freshener, but afterwards he bit my lower lip
making me feel relieved — air fresheners don’t bite people.

His kisses contained an unprecedented passion, burning every inch

of my skin where they touch making my temperature rise rapidly,
especially when he’d caress my waist with his slightly callused
fingers. I think the temperature of that part of my waist has already
surpassed the temperature limit a human being could tolerate. It’s
rapidly burning fat. I expect my waist is likely to melt under his
touch, slim it down, and ultimately snap me into half……

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When Jiang Chen was about to lift my top, he especially asked me,
“Scared?”

I obstinately replied, “Not scared.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.” I lifted my head and kissed him on the mouth.　　

He took it seriously, and peeled my top off in a blink of an eye…..

　

Hence two seconds later, my act of screaming so suddenly made

him feel very puzzled. His hand which was working on the lock of my
undergarment stopped, and he asked, “What’s wrong?”　　

I said, “Can I……..not do it?”　　

He froze for a moment, and then asked me, “Aren’t you not
scared?”

I pathetically let out a hollow laugh, I thought that this handsome

lad already knew that fickleness is a woman’s privilege.　　

He looked at me viciously for quite a while, a sigh washed over me,

then he lay down on his side and took a deep breath.　　

I covered my chest with clothes in a flurry, and had wanted to

quickly look for a place to hide so I got up, but then I had second
thoughts, so I assumed a look of being timid and asked, “Are you
angry?”

Jiang Chen turned his back on me, “Nonsense, as if you wouldn’t

be angry if it were you!

I poked his back, “Then which room do I sleep in?”

“Which one would you like to sleep in?”　　

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“Oh.” I took two steps and couldn’t help but say, “Then what
about you?”

“I’ll give you a suggestion, if you don’t want to help me

resolve it then just shut up, enter the room, and lock the
door.” His voice sounded like it was cracking, with traces of his
anger.

I mulled over it for a moment and said, “Do I really have to lock
the door? I don’t seem to be convinced by you. Or say, do you
actually have the key? If you do have the key, then whether I
lock it or not, there’s essentially no difference, can we not do
this formality?”

“Chen! Xiao! Xi!” He sat up, fuming with rage between gritted
teeth.

I said, “I’ll give you a suggestion, it’ll be more useful to call

Chen Guanxi, he has more expertise in this field.” (T/N: Yes,
the Chen Guanxi/ Edison Chen with sex scandals. He appears so
prominently in this novel, like half of the chapters we’ve translated
features him lol)　　

After I was done talking, I quickly fled into one of the rooms, closed
the door shut and locked it, then I heard the slippers swishing in the
air, hitting the door, sliding, then falling down the floor.　　

What a pleasant night.　　

I looked around and found out that the room I casually rushed into
was actually the room Jiang Chen usually sleeps in as there were few
pieces of his clothes strewn on the bed, as a matter of fact, I’ve
described it quite modestly, his clothes and books were actually piled
up on his bed.　　

I tidied out a corner, sat cross-legged, and casually fished out

clothes folding them neatly in a pile. The room is filled with the flavor

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of Jiang Chen, I’ve been familiar with this flavor since I was 16 years
old, I’m just hoping that this flavor would also fill my life.

A knocking sound came from the door twice, and then Jiang Chen’s
voice followed, “Open the door.”

“What are you doing?” I held a piece of clothing in front of my

chest out of reflex, and realising that I was being ridiculous, I folded it
with a grin on my face.

“Getting a change of clothes for shower.” He said.

“Really?”

“Fake.” He snapped.

I went to open the door, I was wondering that once I open the door,
would he throw me on the bed, and then do this to me, and that, this
and that. Aiyo, I’m really sorry.

To be quite frank, I look forward to this kind of embrace and yet I

wanted to act all reserved, let me think of a not so elegant saying —
to erect a monument*. (T/N: The entire saying is “To lead the life of a
whore but still want to erect a monument for one’s chastity which
means harboring ill intentions but still want a good reputation.)

Unfortunately, Jiang Chen must have lost his focus, he thought I

really wanted a good reputation, hence he waltzed in, took his
clothes, and walked out, he didn’t even spare me a glance, and I
even walked him to the door……

I just simply finished in tidying up Jiang Chen’s room, and was

about to go to bed when another knock came from the door, my
heart went up my throat.

Jiang Chen said, “Hey, I’m going to sleep. Good night.”

“Good night.”

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The heart which I’ve mentioned slowly lowered down. Doctor Jiang,
don’t bring such loneliness to your girlfriend’s heart.

When I entered the world of dreams with a sweet smile, my

overwhelming happiness must have made the Duke of Zhou, that old
man, think I’m unpleasant to look at, he arranged a segment of that
girl jumping off from the second floor and replayed it countless times
like it was on a video casette tape until I screamed and woke up from
that dream. (T/N: Duke of Zhou is also known as the “God of
Dreams” – in legend, he lets people know via dreams when
something important is going to happen to them.)

Look, even if he’s a god, he’s also ‘envious, jealous, and hateful’.

I felt around to switch on the lamp, then hugged a pillow in a daze.

There were two knocks at the door, I hugged the pillow tightly, and
shrunk at the bedside.

“Xiaoxi? It’s me. Are you okay?” Jiang Chen’s voice can be
heard from the other side of the door. I heaved a sigh of relief, living
alone for a long time made me forget that there were two people in
this house tonight.

“Can I come in?” He knocked on the door twice again.

“Well, the door isn’t locked.” I said.

The door opened, Jiang Chen came in holding a glass filled with
white liquid, if I’m not mistaken, it’s probably milk, if it’s something
else, I can only say that he broke free of conventional thinking, in
English it’s called, Thinking out of the box.

I suddenly felt like a princess trapped in a tower and my prince

came to rescue me with his sword, I truly didn’t grow out of my
childish innocence.

Jiang Chen handed the glass to me, “Had a nightmare?”

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I drank a mouthful, it really is milk which proves that Jiang Chen
doesn’t have an innovative spirit.

“I dreamt of that girl who jumped off the second floor

today.” I drank another mouthful of milk, he didn’t put any sugar in
it so it was really hard to drink.

He sat down at the edge of the bed, and patted me on the head,
“Don’t be scared.”

I placed the glass on the bedside table, and moved over to lean on
his shoulder, I squinted my eyes and asked, “What time is it
now?”

“Around three o’clock.”

Leaning on his shoulders gave me so heavily drowsy and I let out a

yawn, “I’m sleepy.”　

“Then go to sleep.” He held my head upright, “Lie down and

sleep well, I’ll go out once you’re asleep.”

I lay down on one side of the bed, and patted the other side saying,
“Let’s sleep together.”

I must stress that my mind is clouded, whether it being scared or

being sleepy, I must insist that my mind is clouded. If not, I wouldn’t
be able to forgive myself for this act of taking the initiative to invite a
man to sleep together with me. This is not in line with the rich image
of me being tormented by the ideologies of the remnants of
feudalism.

Jiang Chen hesitated for a moment, but eventually reached out to

switch off the lamp and laid down.

I also hesitated for a moment, but eventually rolled over and

hugged his waist from behind, and buried my face between his
shoulder blades, closing my eyes to sleep.

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He froze, afterwards he covered my hands that were wounded
around his waist with his.

In the dark, I could hear the frantic beatings of his heart which then
slowly calmed down, I asked, “Are you asleep?”

“No.”　　

As my ears were stuck on his back, his voice sounded muffled as

though it came from a distant place.

I said, “Jiang Chen, I forgot that I’ve never told you, I love
you.”

He turned silent for quite a while, I heard his heart which was
beating like a drum. When I was about to fall asleep, he turned his
body around and hugged me, then he kissed my forehead, “Let’s
sleep, if you talk once more I won’t be courteous to you
anymore.”　　

There’s something wrong with me, I call it the “sudden talk back
illness”. The worst manifestation of this illness occurs when my
consciousness is muddled, for instance, I remember once in the
History of Western Art class. I was dozing off and was caught by the
teacher who made me stand up to answer a question, “Why did
Verocchio let Leonardo Da Vinci draw an egg?” From the lack of
sleep, I turned impatient at being thrown an idiotic question which
has already appeared in my grade school textbook, I replied,
“Because he likes to eat eggs.” At this, the teacher was angered
to death,and with a big sigh, lamented that I could never be as great
as Leonardo Da Vinci. I tactlessly retorted him, “Of course, that’s
because you’re no Verrochio either.”………I’m not going to
conceal this, even though this class was just an elective, but I had to
take remedial exams no less than five times, it broke our faculty’s
record of remedial exams taken, I can be regarded as a historical
figure.

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Now, my illness has suddenly flared up, when Jiang Chen said, ‘if
you talk once more I won’t be courteous to you anymore’, I
subconsciously retorted a sentence, “Who asked you to be
courteous?”

Jiang Chen replied, “What you said, don’t regret it.”

I retorted once again, “Who’s regretting? Tch ——-”　

Two seconds later, Jiang Chen was above me, he probably realised
that if he were to drag this one again, it would be like asking a repeat
of the previous time’s disaster, hence before he regained his clear
consciousness, he quickly and mercilessly removed all the clothing
barrier on the both of us.　　　　

I said, “Wait…..oh…..”　　

My mouth was covered by his mouth.　　

I think that since the both of us already don’t have the so-called fig
leaf, then you can figure it out. From this you can tell that my
attitude towards life is that however it may be, take the rough with
the smooth.

When Jiang Chen’s kisses trailed down to my collarbone, I entered

a state of trance, this kind of trance was akin to being seasick, like
how the undulating waves would make one feel dizzy, I don’t know
how long this trance lasted. In a word, Jiang Chen guided me to learn
some things that schools wouldn’t teach. I want to insist again on
practicing this several times, and then we’ll become self-taught
geniuses.

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Chapter 29
Source: Tea-Quila

The second day’s breakfast was prepared by Jiang Chen. While he

was making the breakfast, I went to the bathroom while wrapping
myself up with the blanket. I asked him why he set the entire house’s
air-conditioning to such a low temperature, he said it was so that I
can sleep in a bit later. After I’m done going to the bathroom, I
walked into the kitchen along the way and wrapped my arms around
his waist from his back, leaned my face on his back and took a nap. It
felt really comforting, but he asked me instead, “Did you wash
your hands after going to the bathroom?”

…..

I rubbed and eyes and went back to the room to sleep.

Not long after, he scooped me out of bed, he said it’s time to eat
breakfast, and I said that I never had the habit of eating breakfast,
then I crashed back on the bed.

He scooped me back up again and said, “You are not going to

eat the breakfast I prepared?”

I remembered that his apartment has scalpels, so I could only get

up and force a very energized look, “Go go go, lets eat
breakfast!”

It’s just that my energy couldn’t last me till I get out of bed. While I
was on the edge of the bed searching for my slippers with my feet, I
couldn’t help but close my eyes. Jiang Chen laughed. I said while
yawning, “Don’t laugh, help me find my slippers.”

He squatted down to put on my slippers for me, but just as my feet

were about to touched the ground, he princess-carried me. I laid my

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head on his shoulder and instructed him, “Walk slower, let me
sleep for another two seconds.”

Jiang Chen didn’t let me sit on the chair, but on his lap instead. And
so, we started our sweet-feeding process. I felt overwhelmed by his
favor with this arrangement. I used to beg him to do this in the
university’s cafeteria, but he rejected every time with, “do I look
like a crazy person?” or “just kill me” or “just how thick is
your skin”.

I ate half a sunny side up that he had forgotten to add salt to, and
said, “Hey, I’m full, carry me back to sleep.”

Jiang Chen pinched on my cheeks and said, “You are instructing

me like it’s all meant to be huh.”

I agreed, “I’m shameless.”

He could only shift me back to the bed in the room, so I tucked

myself in and fell asleep.

By the time I woke up, it was noon. I laid on the bed and screamed,
“Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen.”

Jiang Chen came in wearing spectacles, like a refined rascal. I

pointed at his spectacles and asked surprised, “When did you get
myopia?”

“When you weren’t around.”

I coughed, “Why don’t I see you wearing spectacles

usually?”

“Contacts are much more convenient. Why did you call me

in?” (T/N: HOW ARE CONTACT LENSES MORE CONVENIENT??? Takes
me years to put one on.)

I said, “I just wanted to notify you that I’m awake, and that

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I’m hungry, and carry me out to wash up.”

Jiang Chen took off his specs, pinched his nose, and put back on his
specs, “Have you gotten addicted to ordering me around?”

I scratched my head and said shamefully, “I think a little.”

He shook his head, and turned to leave. My eyes were sharp and
hands were fast enough to pull him by his shirt. I dragged on his shirt
and refused to let go, after we pulled and dragged for a while, he
finally turned back helplessly and said, “The most I’ll piggyback
you to the hall.”

I cheered and climbed onto his back, “Lets go~”

I cooked noodles for lunch. After I finished and cleaned up, it was
already 1 in the afternoon. I asked him, “What were you doing in
the morning?”

“Reading.” he said.

I sighed, “You’re reading even on leave?”

He said, “Someone took leave to accompany me, but slept

like a dead pig, what can I do?”

I answered back sarcastically, “That was because you made me

really tired.”

After saying that, my face turned red rapidly, how shameless must
a person be, to be able to say such words…

Jiang Chen was startled, his face also turned red.

In order to hide my own face, I pointed at his face and laughed out
loud, “What are you blushing for? Aren’t you a doctor?
Shouldn’t you be very familiar with a human’s body
structure? What strong wind and big waves* have you not

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seen, why are you even blushing?” (T/N: difficult situations)

Jiang Chen pointed out, “You yourself have also drawn so

many art models, why are you blushing?”

I thought about it and it makes sense, but I had to persevere, “You

have seen more than me.”

He probably was too vexed over my mockery, he said coolly, “The

ones I’ve seen are mostly specimens.”

…..

I shivered from the cold, and decided to end this conversation. I

said, “What are we doing in the afternoon? Didn’t you say we
are going to the movies?”

He said, “What do you want to watch? How about we rent

one to watch?”

“Forget it, I don’t feel like watching anything.” I said

disinterestedly.

He pushed up his glasses, “Then what do you feel like doing?”

I muttered to myself for a moment, and suggested excitedly,

“How about I lay motionlessly on the floor, and let you kick
me around?”

Jiang Chen’s astonished face lingered for a long time.

Only after a while did he continue, “Chen Xiaoxi, your mental

level is always exceeding my imagination.”

I replied modestly, “You’re too kind, you’re too kind.”

In the end we still went out to rent a movie – one which the store
owner strongly recommended saying that it’s the best product for
couples to watch together.

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The best product had rolling captions for the first 5 minutes,
followed by 5 minutes of pure music, followed by a bunch of
expressionless people walking around for 5 minutes. In this 15
minutes, Jiang Chen leaned on me and fell asleep.

His hair was on my neck and cheek, and I turned my head to watch
his sleeping face. His brown hair was in a mess, long eyelashes were
perked against the lens of the spectacles. With a slight smile, the
dimple of his left cheeks was slightly peeking through.

I gently removed his spectacles and tidied up his hair. I sighed

from my heart, the person I love has the cutest sleeping face in the
whole wide world. Why should I stare at at this freckled woman in the
TV and listen to her endless chatter?

My head was propped against Jiang Chen’s head, I slowly closed

my eyes. I can hear the traffic and noises from outside, but I can also
hear the sunshine and breeze. This moment seems tranquil and
beautiful because I am with him.

The best product solitarily, lonelily, played finish. The final of the
finale, was that the best product is an original French movie, hence I
could not even remember its title.

Not sure after how long, Jiang Chen pushed me awake. He used his
thumb to wipe away the drool off the corner of my lips and asked,
“What was the movie about?”

I looked at the blue screen on the TV, shook my head sleepily, “I’m
not sure, there was a woman who was talking nonstop, then I
fell asleep. Let’s return this to prevent him from collecting
another day’s worth of rental if we were to leave it till
tomorrow.”

Therefore, we walked hand in hand and returned the film. The

owner enthusiastically asked for our opinions on the film, as I didn’t
bare to hurt his feelings, I could only face him and bullshit my way

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through. I said that I felt that the movie has a strong artsy feel to it,
and it was very cinematic. The actors and actresses had amazing
acting skills and the story’s climax was incredible. The main point is
that this movie was able to dissect the underlying emotions of a
human being in another point of view.

The owner was so emotionally touched that he couldn’t control

himself. The hand that was holding onto the film was shaking wildly.

“You are so right, what a great explanation, you are my

best friend, I don’t need the rental fee for this film anymore,
I can’t have it, if I were to collect it then I am not a human!”

In order to let him continue his status as a human, we had to bite

the bullet and leave without paying.

We then went to a bookstore, with thoughts of buying a few recipe

books back to make dinner. Jiang Chen took a lot of books and asked
me, “Can you use your tricks on the owner just now to trick
this owner into giving us these books for free?”

I looked at the bookstore owner, indicated that as the owner is a

female, it was not under my purview.

Therefore, Jiang Chen went over to pay. He showcased his dimple,

and the lady boss automatically gave him a 20% discount.

On the way home, we were both extremely proud of each other’s

charisma. Alright, I was actually just extremely proud of saving those
ten over dollars. Forgive this commoner’s 3 customs* heart. (T/N: 3
customs, aka 三俗 is for, being vulgar, having low taste, and to
pander to one’s vulgar taste.)

Jiang Chen is really a good material for studying. After flipping

through a few recipes, the entire aura became really strong.
Yesterday he was still hand busy and leg messy* in the kitchen,
today he looks just like a reputable chef, planning strategies neatly

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and orderly. (T/N: struggling)

Innate knowledge changes one’s outer appearance, the him

yesterday, is no longer the him today.

I sat cross-legged at the dining table, took the chopsticks and

knocked onto the bowl, as I knocked, I hurried him, “Chef Jiang, I
am hungry, Chef Jiang, I am hungry….”

Chef Jiang was furious in the kitchen, “Chen Xiaoxi, you get in
here and help out.”

I popped my head into the kitchen, “Aren’t you handling a

butcher’s cleaver with ease yourself?”

He picked up a garlic and threw it at me. The garlic knocked onto

my forehead and bounced out.

I picked up the garlic and placed it on the counter, I went over to

look at him doing up the dish — stir fry beef with broccoli. The pot
over at the other side was stewing chicken soup. Seems like he was
determined to turn over the plate for yesterday’s dinner. I secretly
took a sip of the soup, Jiang Chen was cursing at the side, “Scald
die you.”

I blew on the soup and drank, my eyes were watery, “Jiang Chen,
lets not be doctor, lets open a small eatery instead, you are
so talented.”

This soup really, that kick of freshness, as though once you finish
drinking there will be a flock of chicken appearing and dancing with
you. You will be turning and spinning in chicken feathers that fill the
sky, steeped in pure happiness and smiles – alright, I will admit I’m
just copying the scene from Stephen Chow’s “The God of
Cookery”.

I was moved to tears by every dish that Jiang Chen made. I finished
every dish till the plate was showing. If not for Jiang Chen stopping

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me from aside, I would have licked every plate once more.

After eating I spontaneously went to wash the plates, Jiang Chen

also came to help out, but I’m guessing he only came to supervise
me so that I won’t lick his plates.

I washed the plates and he wiped the plates. Exchanged a few

sentences, but he suddenly said, “Do you want to move in and
stay with me?”

I was holding a plate in my hands. I contemplated if I should drop

the plate to indicate that I was shocked by his suggestion. However,
as I contemplated too long, I missed the right moment to do so. I
could only silently pass the plate over to him.

He took it over to wipe, and asked another time, “Do you want
to?”

“Uh….. I think…. not?” I said.

“Oh.” He paused for two seconds, then asked, “Why?”

“Uh… I snore when I sleep.”

He said, “You don’t.”

….

I actually couldn’t come up with any reasons, I rubbed my neck

and said, “I just think that it’s not a good idea.”

He didn’t ask anymore questions, he nodded and said, “If you

think it’s not good then we won’t.”

I asked him carefully, “Will you be unhappy?”

He gave me a gentle peck on my lips, “I won’t.”

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Xri | Dolly | Amy

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Chapter 30
Source: Tea-Quila

Lovers always have conversations about this and that to chat

about between them, especially if one of them is a chatterbox. When
I questioned Jiang Chen closely for the twelfth time why did he like
me back in those days or when did he discover that he liked me, he
took up the car keys and said, “We have to go to work tomorrow,
I’ll send you home.”

I sighed in disappointment, this doubt had existed from that day

we got together, no matter how I threatened and bribed him or
pulled down my clothes to reveal my delectable shoulder to seduce
him, Jiang Chen didn’t speak, which was a pity for there was actually
also a youthful and sprouting heart underneath my prattling exterior.

As I was being squeezed into the car, I was still thinking of ways to
make him what I wanted to hear, I said, “Do you know, back then
I felt that if I continued to like you like this, but you
continued to not like me, my youth would be gone.”

“Oh, so it’s actually like this.” He said.

I glared at him, “You are really very horrid.”

He simply couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to me, he was

paying attention to the road condition very seriously.

I often thought, even if two people are very intimate, it is entirely

impossible to know each other’s thoughts. Even if there is the
occasional telepathy between two hearts linked as one, for example
him knowing that you want to pour a glass of water to drink when
you stand up, him knowing that you are in a bad mood when you look
outside of the window not speaking…… These also are all only
accumulated cognition from living habits. You are eternally unable to
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know whether the person in front of you loves you or not after all,
you can only depend on trust.

When I had finished expressing that paragraph of opinion above,

Jiang Chen said, “What exactly are do you want to express?”

I said, “You see, I stayed for ten months in my mother’s

stomach, I still don’t understand what pleasure she derives
as a married old madam from going onto Tianya every day to
look at young handsome boys, you say, if she had an “uncle
complex”, I would still be able to comprehend it slightly better. So
we need to communicate, you have to tell me why exactly do you
like me, to strengthen my trust.”

Jiang Chen said, “You are really very bothersome, how many
times must I say “I don’t know” for you to believe me, I know
how to cut open a person’s chest, I know how to do a heart bypass
surgery, I know how to change a heart valve, but I really don’t know
why I like you.”

I’ve said it before, when the dialogue ascends into a professional

plane, I am unable to understand what I hear……

Sometimes, the more my hopes are dampened, the braver I

become, so I said, “Then you tell me, when you felt that you
liked me.”

He took a deep sigh, and turned the steering wheel with great
force, the car went around a corner, “I don’t remember, why are
you so insistent on being hung up on this?”

The things that women want to be hung up on are plentiful, our

face, our skin, our hairstyles, our figure, money, housing, who loves
whom, who doesn’t love whom…… Too bad, I’m also a woman.

Unable to get the answer I wanted from the beginning till now, I
felt very dejected, so I was prepared to not say anything anymore,

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whoever resented the oppressive atmosphere could open his mouth
first. Unfortunately, Jiang Chen didn’t resent the oppressive
atmosphere for the entire journey, I concede, it was very possible
that he had even slept in the mortuary before, this little bit of
oppression was really nothing.

The car reached downstairs of my house, as I opened the car door I

said, “I’m going back.”

“Let’s have a goodbye kiss.” Jiang Chen pressed the horn

lightly, the horn let out a short cry that sounded like a fart.

I said, “Don’t want.”

He said, “I won’t despise your bad technique.”

If this could be tolerated, what couldn’t be tolerated? I stuck up my

adorable middle finger at him.

He stared blankly for two seconds, then said sinisterly, “Chen

Xiaoxi, if you don’t want to go to Doctor Su for emergency
treatment, put away your finger, come over here and give me
a kiss.”

I dragged my footsteps and moved around to the car window on

his side, he rolled down the car window and stuck out his large head.
He smiled as he hummed, “You and I kiss goodbye, on a street
with nobody around……*” (T/N: Lyrics of very classic and famous
Mandopop song “Goodbye Kiss” by Jacky Cheung in 1993, one of
the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop)

He had a good voice, that I’d always known, moreover, a

handsome face like this, unhurriedly humming while smiling like this,
was indeed very deserving of a kiss.

I cupped his face, moved close to him and gave him a big kiss,
then I rubbed my nose against his, and kissed him again. His lips
were soft and warm, his smell was mild and familiar, I believed I

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could kiss for a very long time, as long as he didn’t resent his neck
hurting.

He didn’t resent his neck hurting, but on the contrary it was me

who resented not having enough air. Pushing him away, I panted
heavily and said, “It’s not counted as having bad technique this
time round, I didn’t take a deep breath beforehand.”

Jiang Chen covered with his hand his head that had struck the car
window frame when pushed by me and said, “I recommend that
you go and learn first aid, including a course on CPR.”

I stuck up two fingers and wanted to pierce his eyes, he laughed

and pulled away. “I really don’t remember, though I do
remember that there was one time you roared and shouted
at me on the sports field.”

After he finished speaking, he drove off with his car whizzing away,

I stayed on the spot covering my skirt which had almost been blown
at and lifted up, only after a long time did I realise that he was
replying my previous question.

Sports field? Roaring and shouting? Honestly speaking, the times I

did such things during that valiant student era were numerous, you
really have to let me think properly, let me think properly.

It was when I was showering that I suddenly remembered, I was so

stirred up that I almost slipped and fell head first into the toilet bowl.
Thankfully I pulled on the shower tubing, though pitifully I had to
change to a new tube the next day.

That was the level-wide basketball competition in the second

semester of Senior Year 2. In the aspect of sports, us arts students
were destined to be looked down upon, so our entire class all didn’t
really set our hearts on it, on the other end, Jiang Chen was in
Sciences Class 3, which reportedly could have a show-down to
determine who was male and female* with the sports class, uh, that’s

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not right, they were all males, a show-down to determine life and
death, a show-down to determine life and death. (T/N: “a show-
down to determine who was male and female” – a Chinese
idiom with its origins from ‘Records of the Great Historian’, which
means a show-down to determine who is the victor and who is the
loser. In this case, “male and female” is an analogy for “victory
or defeat” (in the context of where the idiom came from, it was
Xiang Yu challenging Liu Bang to a battle to determine victory and
defeat)

The first match was our class versus Jiang Chen’s class, of course I
had to watch, actually I went to watch every match of my Jiang
Chen’s class.

That match was really the most crappy competition I had ever
seen, our class with great difficulty had pooled together a basketball
team. Forgetting about the fact that they played ball like they were
taking a stroll, our class monitor hugged the basketball that had
come into his hands and stood on the spot as if he was hugging his
child that he had been separated from for many years and refused to
let go, all that was lacking in the end was him lifting up his shirt to
feed milk. I really wanted to pretend that I didn’t know them.

Jiang Chen was different, his dribbling skills surpassed others, his
three-pointer, his three-step layup, so handsome, the peak of
perfection throughout the ages.

Our class only participated in two rounds before we were kept far
away from the basketball post, while Jiang Chen’s class under his
leadership raided all the way into the finals, and finally was to have a
showdown with the sports class.

That was a wan winter day, our form teacher insisted on extending
class beyond the bell to talk about some matters that he thought
were very important, for example, the blackboard not being wiped
clean, there were too many paper bits on the floor, puppy love…… I
looked out of the window at the masses of people gathering together

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and moving around on the sports field, worrying helplessly, if he
loved occupying time so much why didn’t he occupy lesson time?

With great difficulty, I endured till the old man was willing to
release us, when I dashed to the sports field I heard a long whistle,
the competition had ended. I randomly pulled at a stranger and
asked, he said that Sciences Class 3 had suffered a crushing defeat. I
thought, at such a time, how could Jiang Chen not have me by his
side, hence I again dashed all the way to the classroom of Sciences
Class 3.

My sound of “Jiang Chen” was choked at my mouth, there were

only two people left in such a big classroom – Jiang Chen and Li Wei,
they were facing each other as they sat with a table in between
them. Their heads were very close to each other as they were in the
process of talking about something, at that time four words flashed
through my mind – “adulterous man, wanton woman*”. (T/N:
meaning an adulterous couple)

The two of them looked at me uniformly, Jiang Chen’s complexion

wasn’t very good, after giving me a glare, he didn’t speak.

I thought for a while and (decided that) I had better explain, “Our
lesson extended past the bell.”

Jiang Chen didn’t reply, the atmosphere was momentarily a little

awkward. Li Wei smilingly said, “Chen Xiaoxi, thankfully I still
helped Jiang Chen prepare water today.”

I forced myself to smile. “Thanks to you.” I paused, then couldn’t

help but ask Jiang Chen, “How was that competition of yours?”

Jiang Chen turned a deaf ear to me, his face was expressionless
and I also didn’t know where his line of sight was falling on.

Li Wei said, “Today our class didn’t have a very good

display.”

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“Oh, it’s like this.” I fished around in the trouser pocket of my
school uniform, wanting to return the rest of the money to Jiang
Chen, only then did I discover that I had placed the money in my
schoolbag and had forgotten to take it, I could only say, “Uh… that,
I just wanted to come over and take a look, I’ll go off first.”

Jiang Chen didn’t spare another glance at me, he didn’t even take
the trouble to snort a word from his nose to send me off.

I teared and ran off the moment I turned around, the heart of a

seventeen/eighteen-year-old girl was not to be used for attacking like
this.

Later, I returned to my classroom to take my schoolbag, when I

came out, I surprisingly met Jiang Chen at the sports field. After
hesitating for a moment, I still went over and said, “So
coincidental, do you want to leave together?”

I don’t know why he was suddenly very impatient, he said, “Can

you not always follow after me.”

As a matter of fact, ever since we went into separate classes, I had

very little opportunities to follow after him, moreover this time it
really wasn’t that I wanted to follow after him. This sort of situation
was called a “chance encounter” in the explanation in the Xinhua
dictionary, but I didn’t point out the unreasonable nature of these
words of his, I was busy being broken-hearted and sad.

Afterwards, he probably again said some unpleasant words, I most

likely also rebutted him with some words, these are all a little vague,
but I remember him saying, “Did I ask you to like me?”

After that, I cried loudly on the sports field, fishing out wad after
wad of money from my school bag to throw onto the ground with
great force. Liking a person was such a careful affair, even though I
was so sad, I also didn’t dare to smash the money onto his body.

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I remember me saying, “I won’t pay attention to you anymore
in the future, a lifetime is so long, I will definitely not only
like you alone!”

What a pity, until now, I still only like him alone, this proves that
when conducting yourself, one shouldn’t speak too soon, there will
be retribution. I let out a sigh, even though this was all water under
the bridge, thinking about it now still made me feel very sad.

I gave Jiang Chen a phone call while drying my hair. “Have you
reached home?”

“I’ve reached.”

I said, “I’ve recalled it, that time on the sports field.”

He laughed on that end of the mobile phone, “You were crying

really wretchedly.”

I said, “Then?”

“Then I felt that I had better not cause you to cry so

wretchedly in the future.”

I rubbed my tingly nose and said, “I want to ask you a question

now, you must reply me honestly, don’t deceive me just
because you want to save face.”

He said okay.

I spoke, “Then after that, did you go back to the sports field
to pick up the money and leave or not?”

…… That end of the phone sunk into an abnormal silence.

I questioned closely, “Did you or not? Hello? Did you hear

me?”

“I didn’t.” The pronunciations of the two words was very

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articulate.

I sighed in disappointment, “Good for the student on duty that

day.”

“Don’t tell me that you would still go back later to pick up

those few dollars after you cried till you were in that state!”
Jiang Chen’s tone of voice was sinister.

“How is it a few dollars, there was at least fifty or sixty

dollars left.” I explained, “After I left I felt that you being this
sort of person with an eccentric temperament would surely
not pick the money up, so I returned again to pick them, but
not a single cent was left.”

I originally thought that if I returned to pick them, the money I

picked up would be considered to belong to me……

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Amy | Dolly | Xri

Translator’s Corner:

The song that Jiang Chen was humming! One of the classics from
the 90s ? If you are interested, the line he hums starts at 1:38.

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Chapter 31
Source: Tea-Quila

I paced back and forth at the hospital entrance three times, Jiang
Chen made me come over today to visit that girl who sacrificed
herself in the name of love. He said I have to see that she’s still alive
in the flesh so I wouldn’t get anymore nightmares later on. Every
time I am confronted by Jiang Chen’s request, I’d always feel like
there’s only two options left for me to choose from, either do what I
was told or to scram. I expressed the matter to Jiang Chen and he
told me, “No, you have a third option, you can choose to kill
me.” Thus, at this point, I think that Jiang Chen is probably like me
— already a nutcase.

I braced* myself and rushed inside the hospital, past the part of
the lobby where her body heavily landed. Jiang Chen was waiting for
me on that very second floor, he told me he has a 7-hour surgery
coming up hence I have no other choice but to let Doctor Su take me
to see that girl. (T/N: The idiom used was “the fighting strength is
at the highest at the first roll of the drums” which means to get
something done in one valiant effort.)

I tugged his fingers and said, “7 hours? So long ah?”

“That’s right, so you should go back home after you’ve

visited that person, I’ll go see you when I’m done with the
surgery.” He grasped my hand, turned towards Doctor Su, and said,
“I’ll have to trouble you with Xiaoxi.”

Doctor Su seemed to be beaming radiantly as she replied, “No

problem, just hand her over to me.”

My suspicion was that she’s seriously sick in the head, I totally felt
that the underlying meaning behind her words were.“ I’ve finally

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got you in my hands.”

As soon as Jiang Chen walked away, Doctor Su told me, “That girl
has mental illness.”

“Ah?” I took a step back, “I’d better go next time together

with Jiang Chen.”

“What are you afraid of? You have me, I’m her chief
attending doctor.” She pulled my hand, looking very intimate.

I was dragged two steps by her when I realised something was

amiss, I resisted her pull and stood right there, “Aren’t you an
orthopedic? How can you be the chief attendant of someone
mentally-ill?”

“I’m attending to her fractured ribs, as for having mental

illness, I’ve diagnosed it myself. Without mental illness, can
one jump down for a man?” She said still dragging me to move
forward.

“Can a doctor talk about such things behind the patient’s

back?”

She looked at me like I’ve grown two heads and said, “Why can’t
I?”

“Aren’t you being mean?”

Doctor Su patted me on the shoulder, her words meaningful and

heartfelt, “A doctor is also a human being, and a human being
has shortcomings, my shortcomings are my love for being
mean to others and my lack of conscience.”

She said it with such confidence and conviction that I was left with
no choice but to be subdued by her.

As we went inside, the woman was lying motionless on the hospital

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bed. As I looked closer, she was actually crying silently, staining the
white pillow beneath her head with a puddle of tears. I carefully sized
her up, she looks nothing like the woman I’ve seen the last time,
however, I think that if an average person falls down from the second
floor, they would definitely look different than how they usually were
when they hit the ground. So from the bottom of my heart, I forgive
her inconsistent before and after looks.

Doctor Su said, “Miss Li, how are you feeling today?”

Miss Li remained motionless, tears were still trickling down her

face, she raised her lips faintly, and managed to spit out three words,
“Let me die.”

Seriously, her request sounded so sincere that it makes one feel

that if her request isn’t fulfilled, it would be a matter of heaven and
earth being witnesses to your conscience*. However, Doctor Su said
that her shortcoming is that she lacks conscience, hence she readily
refused her, “You’re boyfriend hasn’t come, if you wish to die,
wait for him to arrive then attempt one more time.” (T/N:
Meaning heaven knows of what you did.)

I pulled back Doctor Su and said in a whisper, “Stop talking

nonsense, if she complained about you what should we do?”

Doctor Su very comfortingly patted the back of my hand, “I’m

used to it.”

Miss Li no longer shed tears silently, she wailed and got up, “I’m
already like this but he still didn’t come to visit me, I
wuwuwu……..”

“Could you please stop being noisy, it gives this jie a

headache.” Doctor Su said while holding her head, “Come, I’ll
introduce you to someone, this is the person you nearly
landed unto when you jumped down from upstairs that day.
She came to visit you.”

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I was somehow pushed to the front by Doctor Su, without any
better option, I awkwardly forced a smile, “Ah, hello.”

Miss Li spared me a quick glance, and said while sobbing, “Why

did you come to see me?”

I guess I can’t really say I’m only here to confirm that you haven’t
died, so I could sleep without getting nightmares. Hence, I could only
reply, “I’m just here to see how well you’ve recovered.”

“Is it any of your business?” She sobbed, “Are you here to

watch a good show?”

To be thrown at by such question, I was a little bit embarrassed

and at a complete loss, I could only look at Doctor Su with a cry for
help.

Doctor Su let out a yawn, “Why wouldn’t it be any of her

business? If there was a slight deviation to the parabolic
curve of when you dropped, she could’ve been lying in bed
with you today. Let me just say something, if you want to kill
yourself, just please, pick somewhere environmental friendly,
okay? If you really want to jump, place a sign downstairs,
write ‘This place has already been expropriated as a jumping
area, if you cherish your life please take a detour.’ and so on,
don’t accidentally injure a passer-by.”

I tried to cut her off in a hurry, “Don’t provoke her, out of a

doctor’s goodness.” (T/N: The literal translation for the phrase
used was ‘a doctor’s parental heart’)

Doctor Su waved his hands dismissively, “A parental heart also

has ill tendencies, just look at the news and you’ll see, you
just have to bear with mine, besides, she’s tough as nails, I
won’t be able to provoke her.”

In the end who’s really the one tougher than nails…….

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Miss Li is unexpectedly this incredible, no matter how Doctor Su
would push her buttons, she can still find methods to go after me and
asked, “I did not die, did that disappoint you?”

I hurriedly waved my hand, “No, no. I just thought there were

so many people downstairs, yet you fell in front of me. It
could be considered fate, so I came to see you, that’s all.”

Miss Li probably felt that it was also fate, hence she no longer
persistently interrogate me. She kept on mumbling endlessly to
herself, the content was — ‘I love him so much, I’m willing to die for
him’.”

I hate being at the side, watching others spit out malicious curses,
mainly because I’ve watched too many TV dramas growing up, and it
has caused a lot of residual effects on me. I was scared that I
wouldn’t be able to stop my conditioned reflexes from rushing over
to cover up her mouth then say, “I will not allow you to curse
yourself like this!”

Hence, I pulled Doctor Su and told her we were leaving, Doctor Su

said, “I haven’t given her a check-up yet.” I turned around and
watched as she put on a weird and incomprehensible look and then
said, “Forget it, let’s leave. Just by looking at her, it gives this
jie a headache. I’m not in the mood to joke around anymore.”

I already said that I felt that there was really something fishy about
her today, it turns out that she hasn’t bombarded me with her
‘humor’ yet.

When we were out of the patient’s room, Doctor Su told me,

“Right, my younger brother is leaving the country.”

“Ah?”

“No matter how hard we try to persuade him, he wouldn’t

listen. Our mom has cried herself to death, scared that he’d

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suffer hardship for being alone in a foreign country.”

I don’t get it, “Going abroad is quite good, he’d learn things,
and be able to broaden his horizons.”

“The point is, he’s going abroad with emotional wounds,

what if he’d recklessly* commit suicide when no one’s there
to watch him attentively?” (T/N: The idiom used was “the
mountains are high, the emperor is far away” meaning it’s
difficult to enforce the emperor’s law on remote areas as they’re far.
In this case, Su Rui is free to do whatever pleases him without fear of
interference as he is abroad.)

I shrunk down on my neck, “I’m sorry.”

Doctor Su said, “It’s alright, I’m just telling you ahead that
my mom might look for a chance to have a chat with you
these coming days.”

“What?” I was so shocked that I kept on repeating every

monosyllable that comes out of my mouth,
“This…..this….no….no….okay…..okay…..I guess.”

Asking the family head to do something ah, telling the mom ah,
this sort of thing is really very shameless, but it truly is…….my
Achilles’ heel.

Droplets of cold sweat rolled down my back towards the waistline

of my pants. The moist traces both created curve lines. I deluded
myself into thinking that I really have nice curves.

Doctor Su smiled a cunning smile, “I’m just joking with you, my

mom is very busy.”

……

I didn’t know how to react.

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She added, “Moreover, my brother is also not going abroad,
he said he’s just going to find a young, pretty woman to
make you angry.”

I often think the so-called law is nothing else but human sentiment.
For people such as Doctor Su, if I couldn’t help myself but
exterminate her, the law ought to confer me a medal or something.

But my major is art and not law, so I couldn’t guarantee for certain
whether I’d be sentenced to prison once I kill her, I could only wave
my hands goodbye as I go out of the hospital to take the bus.

I went home, forgetting about time for a moment. Jiang Chen

would probably be able to come home at 1 in the morning.

Hence, I cooked instant noodles, carried it over and stayed five

steps away from the computer as I watched an American series. Ever
since I’ve knocked over a bowl of mung bean soup on the keyboard,
I’ve completely understood when people say that liquids is the
weight that a computer’s life couldn’t bear.

I’ve only eaten three mouthful of noodles, and the American series
had only played its preview when my phone rang. I looked at it — it’s
Wu Bosong who vanished without a trace for a short while. Alright, as
compared to him, I’m the one who vanished without a trace. When
I’m in a relationship I only have eyes for the opposite gender and no
heart for human nature. You can take reference as to how pathetic I
am to have made zero good friends during my four years in
university.

On the phone, Wu Bosong excitedly told me that he has fell in love

with a woman, a real woman in that sense, different from me, a
yellow-haired girl* type of woman. (T/N: A chit of a girl, one who likes
to banter.)

To be honest, the probability of me being called a yellow-haired girl

has already declined compared to a few years ago. So, I decided to

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ignore this misconception of him thinking that I’m not a woman in
that sense.

I said, “You’re going to be dating somebody eh? Then, who’s going

to take me out to eat when I get hungry in the future?

He said, “Your family’s man.” (T/N: “possessive pronoun

+ family’s” is kind of an intimate way to refer to someone.)

“But he’s very busy.”

Wu Bosong laughed and said, “Then, you should curry favor

with my family’s woman, so that she won’t eat your vinegar.”

I said, “I really hate this ‘my family’s man or woman’

expression the most, so disgusting.”

He said, “Then how should we address them?”

“My family’s husband, your family’s wife; my family’s

honey, your family’s sweetheart.”

He was laughing his head off from the other side of the phone, I
think the thing I like most about him is that he would laugh at every
single one of my jokes even though they aren’t funny.

I could hear the doorbell ringing over his laughter, I said, “Your
doorbell is ringing.”

He paused for a moment then said, “It’s your doorbell.”

I listened carefully, sure enough, it really is my doorbell. Forgive

my outdated home, my doorbell would often fluctuate it’s ringing,
sounding near and also sounding far, it’s like being with a now hot,
then now cold lover.

I took my phone and went to open the door. While I was about to
open the door, we joked around, “It’s unlikely that you’d be

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standing outside, preparing to kneel down and propose to me
as soon as I open the door.” “When you open the door, it’s
not a person standing there.” I opened the door — it was Jiang
Chen. I was thinking that at least, it’s a person. Then I waited for two
seconds to see if he would propose to me.

He didn’t. He looked very dejected. So I decided to hang up Wu

Bosong’s call to tend to Jiang Chen. I firmly believe that Classmate
Wu would be able to understand, he would put two and two together.

The 7-hour surgery was finished in just 2 hours. Even though I’m
just a layman, I could roughly guess what has happened.

I thought that this time, a cup of tea of and a hug would be able to
make me look like a good wife and a loving mother, hence I really did
so, but I forgot to consider the environmental factors. For example,
let’s say, it’s hot like a crazy summer night. For another example,
let’s say, my landlord who is a turtle’s egg (bastard) didn’t provide
air-conditioning. And for another example, let’s say, that I’m dripping
in sweat right now……….in short, the route to being a ‘good wife and
loving mother’ doesn’t suit me.

Jiang Chen took my neck like he was holding an octopus to pull me

away from his body. He also prevented me from almost using hot tea
to help him bathe. In the end, he held me down on both shoulders
and said, “Can you stay still!”

“But I want to help you.”

He let go of me, and laid me down on the couch, “Just stand

there and don’t move, you don’t have to do anything.”

He crossed his hands at the back of his head, his eyes were just
staring at me without blinking.

I was thinking, ‘Classmate Jiang, stop looking at people like that. In

any case, our relationship has already became ‘adult’. Staring at me

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with such a simple, meaningful glance yet I feel like my mouth is dry
and my tongue is parched from desire, and the heat is burning my
body, I truly feel so impure.’

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Dolly | Xri | Amy

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Chapter 32
Source: Tea-Quila

I stood still letting Jiang Chen stare at me for as long as 10

minutes. During this period, I brought up, “Should I change to a
better pose?”, “Should I change to a sexier piece of
clothing?”, “Can I charge you money for looking at me for so
long?”, etc. But he ignored all.

In the end I could not take it anymore, I stomped on my feet

saying, “Just what are you looking at?”

He said, “Looking at you.”

“What is there to look?”

To be honest, the moment I said that line I regretted. There are

plenty of things to look at…

Jiang Chen said, “That’s exactly what I am doing, trying to

figure out what’s there good of you to look at.”

I pondered on his words. I feel that there’s a hidden meaning

behind his words. Hence, I decided I should never ponder on his
words ever again. So that his words won’t have a chance to affect
me.

He continued, “In the past when I was really tired or

dispirited, I would always think, if only Chen Xiaoxi is here.
She is so dumb, if I were to look at her I would probably think
that life is just like this, there’s nothing extraordinary.”

I thought to myself, I just decided not to ponder on his words, but if

I don’t think about what he said, I won’t really know if he is
complimenting me or insulting me…

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So, I asked him honestly, “Are you complimenting me or
insulting me?”

He said, “What do you think?”

I flew over to push him and pressed him down, “You also know
how to say lovey dovey stuff!”

I heard him groan from being pushed over, so I took it as he has

just received a burden of happiness. He put his hand on my neck with
efforts to push me off him, I hooped my arms around his neck saying
that I won’t let go I won’t let go. I won in this match of strength, I felt
at ease.

I leaned on his chest and said, “Wow that I’m in front of you,
does seeing me makes you full of energy? Having me around
you isn’t that bad right?”

His voice came from the top of my head, “Nope, I think it’s so-
so.”

“Ah!” I jumped up and strangled him, “I will strangle you to

death today.”

He pried away my fingers and said, “Take a pillow from the

bedroom, suffocating someone using a pillow uses lesser
strength.”

I took a big bite on his neck, he turned and said while laughing,
“Bite a little more to the side, the main artery is here.”

…..

Jiang Chen only told me that the surgery was not successful. He
didn’t share with me how to face seeing a life pass away, how to face
the tears of the family of the patient.

Life and tears, to me who is someone outside the medical field, is

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the hardest thing to confront in this world. However, he is doing it
every day, perhaps he has already gotten used to it, it’s just that I
will still feel heart pain for him. I just think that it will be more
relaxing for us to go back home and sell sweet potato.

Jiang Chen said that he will stay overnight at my place tonight. But
I said I don’t have clothes for him.

He said he has them in his car, and told me to get it.

So, I obediently went to take his clothes for him. When I got back,
Jiang Chen had already finished bathing. He wrapped himself up with
my towel, sat in front of my computer eating my instant noodles, and
was watching my American series.

I stared at the towel that was draped loosely around this particular
body part, I contemplated if I should be nose bleeding or to grieve for
my new towel that cost me 43RMB.

I stood with arms akimbo, rampantly asking, “How could you

touch my things without asking for permission first!”

He looked at me side-eyed, “If your eyes can refrain itself

from staring at my towel, then your lecture can be more
persuasive.”

You see, hormones can mess with a person’s pupil movement.

Therefore, affecting the area where it’s looking at, hence, I am
innocent.

Since I couldn’t win him with words, I went to bathe instead. While I
was bathing, I turned up the water temperature a little higher. I
looked at the mirror while walking out of the bathroom, felt that my
entire body pink from freshness, and looked delicious. I have to
explain myself here, I am not a narcissist. Everyone says that if the
female lead looks at herself in the mirror and talks about her own
beauty, then that’s being narcissistic. However, I am not like that. I

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solely think that the red me, as compared to the white me, looks
more delicious, plump, and tender. Actually, this is easy to explain,
for more details, please refer to fresh prawns and cooked prawns.

I walked into the room in my ‘I’m very delicious’ mindset, Jiang

Chen was still wearing that towel. Just that this time round, he was
lying on my bed, flipping through my comics.

I coughed and said, “Didn’t I bring your clothes in for you?

Why aren’t you wearing them?”

He flipped a page, and said nonchalantly, “It’s gonna be taken

off anyway, why should I wear it?” (T/N: HALP.)

Why? How would I know why? So that when you are taking off my
clothes I can also take off your clothes, and I won’t look like I have
nothing to do.

So, so, so, so, I am actually really shy. Just that it’s not that obvious
that I’m shy. Furthermore, I have a bad habit of faking up a strong
front. So I acted as though nothing happened and took a pair of
shorts out from his clothes and threw it to him saying, “If you don’t
wear clothes, don’t lie on my bed.”

After that, I walked back to my computer, and started watching my

American series on the original timing from which I stopped. I then
acted as though I was watching it with great interest. Actually, what
are they acting, God knows.

Jiang Chen flipped the pages loudly on my bed, my palms started

sweating.

China’s history has a way of dying, called death by a thousand

cuts. How it works is that you kill someone by slicing them one cut at
a time. Later it advanced into a higher level, and that is to wrap
someone up with fish net, and use knife to slice the parts that comes
out through the holes. The highest record holds at around more than

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3000 cuts. The reason why I mentioned this, is to illustrate just how
cruel and human beings be. It’s not to prove how creative our
ancestors are in their ways of murder. Instead, it’s used to show how
Jiang Chen flipping the page one by page, is exerting the same
pressure as slicing the person up one cut by one cut. I’d rather he
just fly over to press me down, do this do that. (T/N: I almost died
translating this my hands have no strength.)

Bao Feng Player* is at around one-third timestamp when Jiang

Chen said, “Chen Xiaoxi.” (T/N: Think it’s a kind of player like
Tencent QQ.)

I trembled for a bit, to describe it in a more romantic language it

would be “my delicate body shook.”

I clicked paused, turned to look at him. He had his head propped

on one hand and leaned sideways from me.

I said, “What?”

“Come and sleep,” he waved his hands while saying.

I glared at him. He returned the stare, smiling slightly which

showed his dimple ever so slightly.

Demon!

I swallowed my saliva, said, “Urm… I’ll sleep after this

episode. If you’re tired you can sleep first.”

Jiang Chen didn’t say anything, he only remained in that position to

look at me while smiling. His eyes sparkling with resentment.

I have no idea where he went to learn that expression from. It’s

making my heart beat like crazy nonstop.

I shut down my computer, took out a new pillow from my wardrobe

and threw it at him. “It’s new.”

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This pillow is a free gift. In order to get this free gift, I had to buy a
large amount of detergent that was enough to bury me.

Jiang Chen stuffed the pillow behind his head, I scratched my neck
and said, “Then I’ll turn off the lights?”

“Mmm.”

Darkness.

I fumbled onto my bed, while I was lying down I heard Jiang Chen
muttering something under his breath. I didn’t hear properly, so I
asked, “what?”

“It’s very hot, don’t you have air-conditioning or fan?”

I climbed out of bed to turn on the lights, I dug out one palm leaf
fan that I got from a trip to Yunnan from my wardrobe. “I only have
this, there’s no air-conditioning, and my fan is broken.”

Save electricity, save the earth.

The me in the darkness is hearing sounds of the fanning fan, the

rhythm is hypnotic. Just as my eyelids were about to close, a sudden
cold wind came from behind my neck, I shivered awake.

I have no idea when Jiang Chen came so close to me, to the point
where his head was already on my pillow.

I moved around, “Why are you sleeping on my pillow?”

“Too hot, I can’t sleep.”

“If you sleep so close isn’t it hotter?”

His arms wrapped over my waist, the heat from his arm
transitioned to my waist. He gently kissed down my neck and back,
like feather, like a gently breeze of wind, it tickles. I can’t help but
close my eyes, he then stopped around my neck and licked gently. I

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writhed. Suddenly my neck felt a jolt of pain from being bitten, I cried
out in alarm, “HECK, ZOMBIE!!”

His hands seized the opportunity to travel in and under my

pajamas top. Like it was conducting current, it burnt me till I was
shuddering. I squirmed around but was still trapped in his embrace. I
can’t hide, I can’t defend.

He forcefully removed my shirt over my head. When it was

removed I cried no tears, I tried explaining, “My top is an open
front shirt, there are buttons, there are buttons…”

No use, I can hear at least two buttons hitting the floor.

I was woken up by my hunger past midnight. Only then did I recall

that my dinner, that instant noodle, ended up in Jiang Chen’s
stomach. I wanted to take out my anger by kicking the Jiang Chen
that was sleeping. Little did I know the shock that I had when I
opened my eyes slightly. His face was so close, a small pout and I will
be able to kiss him kind of distance.

Actually, the part that shocked me wasn’t his zoomed in face, but
rather, even though he seemed to be in a condition of being asleep,
his hands were still in midair, holding on to the fan, fanning me. I
looked at him without moving, I want to know if he is sleeping
walking or awake.

After about 5 minutes, he passed the fan from his left hand to his
right hand. He continued to fan it above my head. Therefore, the
wind moved from my back to my head. No wonder in my dreams my
back was cold for a moment, and my head was cold the next
moment, like a horror film.

He finished that process with his eyes closed. Perhaps it was

something like closing one’s eyes to rest one’s mind.

I made a sound, and acted like I just woke up, I called, “Jiang

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Chen.”

His hand stopped, opened his eyes and asked, “Why?”

“I didn’t eat dinner, I’m hungry.” I said coquettishly, “You ate

my dinner, you’re a bastard with heart of wolf and lungs of
dog*.” (T/N: lit translation, a bad person with no heart.)

I said the word ‘bastard’ with the legendary baby voice, but as my
skills were not up to standards, I could only say it with a nasal sound.

The Jiang Chen in the darkness clearly twitched his lips, “Speak
properly! If you’re hungry, go cook something.”

“You cook for me…. You ate my food and you don’t even
want to cook for me….” I pouted my lips hard, dragging every
syllable, I wanted to propose my suggestion but at the same time,
test Jiang Chen’s level of resisting disgust.

His level of resisting disgust was weaker than I thought, because

he kicked me off the bed. Not like how the male and female lead flirts
while pursuing the ‘you’re bad, I’m bad, you’re bad, I’m bad’ kind of
kick. Instead, he did it with such repulsion, emotion and colors, like
he wants to kick me to the Pacific Ocean.

He said, “Go and cook noodles! Cook a bowl for me too.”

I rubbed on my buttocks, flattened my lips and limped out to cook

noodles. I comforted myself continuously. Unknowing gentle care is
the most touching, unknowing gentle care is the most touching*.
(T/N: I’m not sure what’s the best way to put this across, but she
meant care that is displayed like naturally is the best kind of care.)

Even so, can’t he give a bit of deliberate care…

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Xri |Dolly | Amy

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Translator’s Corner:

I’M SO SORRY GUYS I FORGOT TO UPDATE YESTERDAY…

Also, I have another bad news.. I’ll be away for holiday the next 2
weeks so I wont have time to do my part of the translations D:
Meaning there will only be 2 chapters/week for the week starting 5
March and 12 March! Then uploading schedule will go back to normal
when I’m back! So please bear with me D:

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I legit cringed at that ancient
torturing part..

Regards, Xri

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Chapter 33
Source: Tea-Quila

The next day, in order to satisfy the good intentions of Jiang Chen
who had, in high spirits, said that he wanted to send me to work, I
had no alternative but to wake up an hour earlier than I normally did,
this was the price of love.

Last night, towards the latter half of the night we kept on

discussing the issue of pillows, Jiang Chen insisted on sleeping on my
pillow, saying that the new pillow had a smell of washing powder. I
proposed switching pillows with him, yet he said that this wasn’t
good, it would make it seem like he wasn’t considerate of his
girlfriend.

I said, you have never been considerate before, besides there

aren’t outsiders here, if I don’t say and you don’t say, just be
inconsiderate then.

He said, with this mouth of yours, who knows, you might go onto
some forum and publish a post, or write a novel or draw a cartoon to
praise me, then once the sofas and benches* come and twist the
forum thread, you would then begin to write boldly and with
conviction ‘My Awful Boyfriend doesn’t even give me a pillow to
sleep’. (T/N: sofas/benches – Chinese internetspeak, often used when
replying to the original forum post. The first replier often says ‘sofa’
(meaning they got to sit on the sofa), while the people who reply
after that say ‘bench’ (since the sofa already has someone sitting on
it, they can only sit on benches after that))

I said, it’s really unfair for you to put it this way, if I do post on a
forum, write a novel or draw a cartoon, what I depend on are my two
hands, it’s got nothing to do with my mouth, you can’t malign a good
body organ.

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Afterwards, we slept till daybreak with our two large heads
crammed on one pillow. I supposed snatching pillows was a type of
illness, it ought to be treated.

“Hey, I’ll buy an air conditioner and put it at your place,

alright?” Jiang Chen suddenly said while stopping at the traffic light.

I was distracted for a moment, what a familiar phrase.

“Hey, I’ll give you a set of drawing tools, alright? Hey, I’ll
give you that set of manga that you’ve wanted for a long
time for your birthday, alright? Hey, I’ll treat you to a meal
today, alright? Hey, I’ll place my allowance for living
expenses at your end, okay……” These were all things that Jiang
Chen had said to me during university every time he wanted to
provide material assistance.

I asked him, “Is ‘alright?’ a fixed sentence pattern of yours?”

He obviously didn’t get it, he thought for a long time before saying,
“Back then, we had a saying, those in the arts faculty are all
being kept*, back then I was afraid that you would think that
I was keeping you, and would think that I wasn’t respecting
you enough, after that it became a habit.” (T/N: ‘kept’ as in how
a man keeps a mistress and provides her with financial and material
support)

I was silent for a very long time, finally I really couldn’t help but
say, “How are you respecting me……”

“Why?”

“Keeping me is only worth a set of drawing tools, a set of

manga and what not, it should at least be a diamond as big
as my fist.”

Jiang Chen’s complexion suddenly darkened, it felt like our friendly

conversation had inexplicably broken down.

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When the car had arrived downstairs of our company, I asked him
cautiously, “Are you being angry?”

He said, “That’s right.”

I said, “Why?”

He said, “It’s rare that I want to respect you for once, yet
you’ve made it out into a joke.”

I scratched my head and asked, “Then how long are you

preparing to be angry for?”

Jiang Chen parked the car by the side, turned around in his seat
and glared at me, “Must you infuriate me to the point of
death?”

“No.” I explained, “I’m afraid that if you are angry for too
long, you’ll forget about buying the air conditioner for me,
the weather is so hot…… Plus you love to sleep on the same
pillow as me…… Or is it that even though you are being
angry, there will still be an air conditioner set to my house in
the afternoon? I’ll give my house keys to you?”

……

Jiang Chen glared at me for the duration of a century, finally he

gave a long sigh and said, “Indeed I worried too much back in
the day, what do you have that is worth respecting.”

Nah, this big brother, it’s really rude of you to speak this way.

At noon, Jiang Chen gave me a call during my lunch break, saying

that the air conditioner had already been installed properly. I
vigorously praised his efficiency at getting things done, then
proposed that I would reward him well tonight, on that end of the
phone, he “ee”-ed and “oh”-ed, and laughed really erotically, I felt
really wronged, what I meant was that I would buy delicious food for

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him……

I got off work first, I bought a large pile of delicious things and ran
to the hospital to meet Jiang Chen when he got off work.

This pile of delicious things included two cups of ice-cream, but till
the point when the ice-cream melted into two cups of muddy liquid, I
still did not manage to have Jiang Chen and I feeding each other bite
after bite like I had envisioned. This was because, at the hospital
entrance, I ran into Wu Bosong and that girlfriend of his who was the
purest woman in the world – Hu Ranran.

My mouth was open so wide it could at least cram in a fist.

Wu Bosong came over and clapped my shoulder, “Why, are you

astonished by your sister-in-law’s good looks?”

I closed my mouth slowly, and was dragged by him to face Hu

Ranran, he said, “Ranran, this is my best friend Chen Xiaoxi.
Xiaoxi, Ranran, my girlfriend.”

Hu Ranran’s complexion was as white as paper, she moved the

corners of her mouth a few times to try and break out into a smile,
but she didn’t succeed.

I stared at her, I guessed my expression currently was one of

alarm.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Wu Bosong clapped me again, “Do

you know each other?”

“We don’t know each other.” Hu Ranran rushed to speak, the

expression in her eyes was that of total pleading as she looked at
me.

Wu Bosong looked at me puzzledly, I forced a smile, “I thought

she looked a little familiar, it’s possibly because she’s too
pretty.”

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Wu Bosong asked, “You came to find Jiang Chen?”

I nodded my head, my eyes fixed on Hu Ranran, “How about you

guys? Why would you arrange to meet at the hospital
entrance? Does Miss Hu have a friend who is ill?”

Hu Ranran avoided my gaze, “I don’t, we just arranged to

meet here.”

“Oh, then that’s great,” I said, but even I could tell that my tone
of voice was rather peculiar.

Wu Bosong appeared to be thinking about something, but he too

didn’t pursue the matter, he only crooked his finger and tapped my
head, “Did you sprain your tongue, be more courteous to my
wife.”

I curled my lip, “Fine, you want your wife and don’t want
your friends.”

Wu Bosong ignored me, and held Hu Ranran’s hand. He used a

tone of voice that was so intimate til I wanted to vomit and said,
“Let’s ask Xiaoxi and her boyfriend to eat with us, okay?”

Hu Ranran’s face continued to be pale, but she gently and

agreeably nodded her head, “Okay.”

Tut…… This old woman and this old woman’s husband might not
necessarily be willing to eat with you guys.

Jiang Chen started when he saw Hu Ranran, and looked at me in

puzzlement, I shook my head, he smiled and sat down.

Wu Bosong introduced the two of them again, Jiang Chen smiled

and nodded his head and said, “Hello.”

Hu Ranran lowered her head and also said, “Hello.”

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This meal progressed in a strange atmosphere, the only one who
was comparatively more at ease was Jiang Chen, the evidence was
that old man ate his own portion and still ate half of mine, he even
insisted on taking that two ice creams in my plastic bag that had
melted into liquid to throw away, even though I kept on emphasising
that once I put it back into the fridge, it would become a good lad
again after one hour.

Just before we separated, I specially exchanged phone numbers

with Hu Ranran, saying that if we were free, we should exchange our
insights into being someone else’s girlfriend.

The moment I got onto Jiang Chen’s car, I began to pitter-patter

and say malicious words about Hu Ranran, Jiang Chen also didn’t
respond, only till I was tired of talking did he say, “What are you
being so stirred up for?”

“She and that Secretary Zhang! They…… Aye, I’m so angry

I could die!”

“What’s it got to do with you?” He said.

He had a point, but we often believed that we had the right to

criticise others, and I had this shortcoming.

I said, “Before this, I didn’t have any opinion of Hu Ranran,

but she’s together with Wu Bosong! Wu Bosong! How can I
turn a blind eye to this?”

Jiang Chen glanced at me coldly, “Why can’t you?”

I didn’t know how to explain it to him, I could only repeatedly

emphasis, “He is Wu Bosong! He is Wu Bosong! Plus, he
doesn’t know anything, he is Wu Bosong! Wu Bosong!”

I believed that if anyone heard me, they would definitely think that
Wu Bosong was the new leader of the country who had just taken
office.

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Jiang Chen suddenly pressed the brakes violently.

With all my might, I steadied my body that had almost flown out,
then slowly turned around to look at him, “You had better tell me
that there was a dog or a ghost that had appeared in front of
us or something, if not I’m going to strangle you to death.”

Jiang Chen ignored me, his face darkened as he said, “Must you
have such a big reaction to Wu Bosong dating?”

I explained and said, “The main point is not that he is dating,

it’s who he is dating, you don’t know, Wu Bosong’s family has
quite a complicated story, I feel that he is more suited to
have a simpler relationship.”

Jiang Chen sneered, “What relationship is simple? One with

you?”

Ah? Ah!

I first stared blankly, after that I was suddenly enlightened. I

pointed at him and said disbelievingly, “You, you can’t possibly
be jealous…… You weren’t jealous of Su Rui…… You’re
jealous of Wu Bosong…… Are you out of your mind?”

Jiang Chen pulled a long face and didn’t answer me, I too didn’t
bother about it, mainly because the shock I had received was too
great. You think about it, normally Jiang Chen exhibited a face of ‘I
am an adult, I never get randomly jealous’, so I as his girlfriend,
though I undoubtedly wanted to be unreasonably jealous when I saw
the granddaughter of that Secretary Zhang, when I saw that
expression on his face that was so open and candid that he could act
as a People’s Liberation Army uncle, together with that image of his
that was forever magnanimous and forever reasonable, I was too
embarrassed to do so.

The car stopped at the side of the road for a good ten minutes, I

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reminded him, “That, let’s go home before being jealous,
okay?”

Jiang Chen lifted his hand up, I suspected that he wanted to point
his middle finger at me, but he didn’t, he only started the car.

I attempted to explain him as the car advanced en route, “Wu

Bosong wouldn’t like me, if he did like me we would have
gotten together in high school, so don’t let your imagination
run wild.”

His face became even more sour, that’s right…… That’s exactly
the effect I wanted.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Amy | Dolly | Xri

Translator’s Corner:

Ah hah! Wu Bosong’s love line that never saw the day of light in
the drama is finally here~

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Chapter 34
Source: Tea-Quila

I got home. I let out at a giggle as I lifted my head to look at the

shiny, brand-new air conditioner. Air conditioner is literally one of the
greatest invention by mankind, as well as the computer, the
television, the washing machine, the water heater, the car, the
airplane……..and so on. In other words, humans are simply amazing.

Jiang Chen was still seething on the couch, watching the television
that was cranked up in an unusually very loud volume. It made me
wonder whether there was something wrong with the TV’s audio, or
that there was something wrong with Jiang Chen’s ears. I guess it’s
the latter. When someone is seeing red, they have the tendency to
hurt their bodies the most.

After I was done giggling at the air conditioner in the living room, I
ran inside the bedroom and giggled at yet another air conditioner.
Afterwards, I went out and patted Jiang Chen on the shoulder and
said, “I’m sorry for making you spend money, actually, buying
one for the bedroom was already enough, you could have left
out this one in the living room.”

He continued staring at the television and didn’t even spare me a

look. He casually picked up the remote control on the coffee table,
and turned on the air conditioner. With a quick eye and a deft hand, I
snatched the remote control from him, “Go take a shower, I’ll
turn on the air conditioner in my room. Just go inside after
you’ve showered.”

You see, the space of the bedroom is a lot smaller than the living
room, hence cooling it utilizes a lot less electricity. Even though I
didn’t like studying as a kid, however I firmly remember a certain
sentence in a certain piece of writing in my grade school literature

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and language textbook — ‘A refrigerator is affordable, but we can’t
afford the electricity.’ Alright, I admit that the things which my mind
usually chooses to remember are quite weird. Naturally after years of
keeping the good and getting rid of the bad, this piece of writing
must have already been removed from the grade school textbooks as
it doesn’t conform with the harmonious development of society. (T/N:
It really does exist in 3rd grade literature and language textbooks,
the title is “What’s Still Missing In Our House?”)

Jiang Chen looked at me with a wooden expression on his face,

“I’m not in the mood to take a shower.”

I didn’t understand what he was saying, “What mood do you

want to have for you to shower?”

He reached out for the remote control, so I hid it behind my back,

“Take a shower, take a shower.”

He casted me a look, “Is this supposed to be a hint?”

I froze, my subconscious mind was throwing the remote control

that I was holding at him, “Who’s hinting at you, you…….you’re
shameless!”

Jiang Chen probably has never been called shameless all his life, so
he simply grabbed the remote control and threw an unfathomable
look my way. I showed him my most beautiful smile and then broke
into a run.

I quickly slammed the door shut with a bang, and locked it.

Outside, Jiang Chen was rapping on the door, “If you have the
guts, show yourself to me!”

“I don’t have the guts.” I flatly declared.

I picked up the remote control on the computer desk and turned on

the air conditioner, then in high spirits, threw myself on the bed and

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pulled out a manga from under the pillow.

Lying down on my stomach, I was reading it while singing a song,

and moving my legs about.

Until there was a sound of the door being unlocked, I was alerted
and turned my head around, Jiang Chen was leaning against the door
frame, a bunch of keys were twirling on his index finger, with a smile
plastered on his face which was directed at me, “I’m shameless
right?”

I think that when his dimple looks the sweetest, he’s about to bare
his fangs…..

I shrieked, “Didn’t you already return the keys to me?”

“I had them duplicated.”

“How could you duplicate my keys without my consent!” I

was so angry that I suddenly jumped, standing right up on the bed.

He slowly walked towards me, “Because I’m shameless.”　　

……

I also took a few steps backwards. As I was standing on the bed,

and the opportunity to tower over him was hard to come by, I tried
assuming an imposing air, only that when I opened my mouth, my
voice somehow came out weak, “Don’t come over here…….”

Jiang Chen grabbed hold of my ankle, dragging me with a firm grip.

I fell head first on the bed, luckily, the mattress was really soft.

His entirety immediately hung all over me. I narrowed my eyes at

him, but wore a smile of someone attempting to curry favor, “That,
it was just a slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue.”　　

He leaned in closer and closer, until the tip of his nose was already

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touching mine, “Really?”

Only one word and his breath fanned all over my face, “Really,
really! You have face, no one has more face than you.” (T/N:
you are shameless = you have no face)　

He rubbed his nose randomly on my face, this made me think of

that pig I saw when I was a kid, digging on a pile of bok choy with its
snout.

As we were smilingly, and noisily about to take off our clothes to

delve into a business justifying social harmony, my phone suddenly
rang.

I peeled off Jiang Chen from me, and crawled towards the bedside
table enough to reach out for my phone. Jiang Chen dragged me
back by my ankle. I was begging at the same time stretching my
hand further to grab my phone. When I managed to take hold of it, I
put it right before my eyes to read, and said in a hurry, “Quit
messing around, it’s Hu Ranran.”

Jiang Chen’s hands stopped, and I quickly picked up the call, my

voice also sounded very perky, “Hello.”

It was silent on the other end of the line, and then someone spoke,
“It’s me, Hu Ranran.”

“En, I know.” I replied in a calm voice.

Silence. If the enemy doesn’t move, I would also not move.

After a long while, she said, begging me, “Would you please not
tell him about that thing?”

Actually, I really wanted to tell her with a freezing irony and a

scorching satire, “About what? Tell what to whom?” But in the
end, I still wasn’t able to say it. Jiang Chen had taught me very well, I
shouldn’t be a mean person, and at the very least, I should not be

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mean in front of others, hence I just said, “He and I are good
friends.”

She said, “I know, I……..”

She fell into silence, she probably didn’t know where to start.

I was holding the phone and glanced at Jiang Chen. He was using
my thighs as a pillow, flipping through the manga I was reading just
now.

A deep sigh came from the other end, “I was only 15 when I
became their housekeeper, just a child from the countryside
going to the city to work. The people in that residence were
very nice to me, I was also contented with what I have. But
as I slowly grew up, I did not expect that the more I grew, the
more beautiful I became, I didn’t expect to get the attention
of that damn old man………”

There was a pregnant pause, and then she laughed hysterically to

herself, “Hahaha, the more I grew, the more beautiful I
became…..haha………”

Her laughter, it sounded very miserable to me.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and said, “Uhm, you

finish the story first.”

“What I told you wasn’t really what happened. That time,

there was no one at home. I was mopping the floor when the
old man came back. He sat on the couch, reading a
newspaper. He made me pour a glass of water for him,
afterwards he pressed me on the couch. After that event, he
told me that he would be nice to me if I would be well-
behaved and do what I was told. If I won’t obey him, he
would just have someone deal with my parents, he’d also
make sure that I wouldn’t find a job. What could I possibly

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do? I was only a 16-year old then.”

I was holding my phone, and had no idea what to give to her as a

reply. My hand that was on my hip was suddenly gripped by Jiang
Chen. I looked down at him, he covered his face with the book, and
looked like he was already sleeping.　　

I tried to pull my hand free from his grip and said, “I can promise
you I won’t tell him, but I hope that you would handle it well.
Don’t let him get hurt, he is a very important friend.”

“Thank you.”

I gave it another thought, and threatened her again, “If you hurt
him, I will not let you get away with it.”

After I was done saying it, I immediately regretted it, what line
from which TV drama was I talking about ah…..

Luckily, Hu Ranran didn’t jump on the opportunity to laugh at me,

she just said, “I know, don’t worry.”

She’s relatively kind on one hand.

After I hung up the phone, I was just about to look at Jiang Chen to
have a chat with him, only to find out that he already let go of my
hand without me knowing. He was curled up in a ball and have rolled
to one corner of the bed, looking sullen.

I crawled over to him and tapped him, “What are you doing?”

“Don’t mind me.” He jerked his shoulders, shaking my hand off.

I was confused, “What’s wrong with you?”

He didn’t say anything, I froze there for a long time. As I felt that I
couldn’t make head or tail with his actions, I just turned around to
prepare my change of clothes.　　

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When I was rummaging through my drawers to look for a nicer-
looking and newer underwear, my mind has also been continuously
calculating how costly it is to have a boyfriend. For instance, if I were
to be thick-skinned, I think I honestly need to get a new set of
underwear. And for another instance, I have a premonition that my
electricity bill this month will go up and up……　　

“If he is your most important friend, then what am I?” Jiang

Chen asked.　　

“Underwear.” I replied.

…….　　

Ah! I have to explain this. Just now, I was calculating in my head

the maximum amount of electricity an air conditioner can consume in
an entire night — how much electricity would it cost if it’s used once,
how much would it cost if it’s the entire night, how much is the
equivalent of one month, because I suck in Math, hence I got into a
trance when I was calculating. It reached to an extent that when
Jiang Chen spoke, I only caught the word ‘what’ and subconsciously
transformed this ‘what’ into the most plausible, ‘what are you looking
for?’, that’s why the dialogue above happened.

A quiet and strange atmosphere permeated the room, I had no

choice but to arduously rewind back to the sentence he was asking,
after which, I wanted to strangle myself using the straps of my bra.

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Dolly | Xri | Amy

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Chapter 35
Source: Tea-Quila

Jiang Chen silently stood up, and walked out of the room. I followed
behind him, explaining, “You are my boyfriend, I misheard just
now, I thought you were asking me what I was searching
for.”

He waved his hand and said, “I got it, you don’t need to say
it.”

Basically, as someone who had just been likened to underwear, his

reaction was overly unperturbed, this made me very uneasy,
because if someone compared me to underwear, my reaction would
at least be…… be more…… vulgar.

I watched Jiang Chen drag a suitcase from beside the sofa,

dragging it into the room. I was very amazed, when I entered the
door I was only focused on exclaiming about the air conditioner, I
unexpectedly didn’t discover that there was such a large suitcase
next to the sofa.

I followed behind his back foolishly, “Why is there a suitcase?

Are you going on a business trip tomorrow?”

“Go help me pour a glass of water.” He said.

“Oh.” I happily and diligently ran out to help him pour water.

Jiang Chen searched out a bottle of medicine from the suitcase, he

poured out two pieces, then swallowed them down together with the
water, I couldn’t help but grab the bottle to have a look – Vitamin U
Aluminium Hydroxide and Magnesium Trisilicate Tablets, suitable for
the following diseases: Used for stomach, duodenal ulcerations,
chronic gastritis, gastric hyperacidity, gastric cramps etcetera.

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I asked him, “Your stomach hurts?”

“Mm.” He sat by the bedside with his hand covering his stomach.

“You ate too much at dinner, you even ate my portion.” I

took a pillow and passed it over to him. “Use this to cover your
stomach, it’ll be a little more comfortable.”

Jiang Chen pressed the pillow to his stomach, and said while
furrowing his brows, “Clear out a layer of your wardrobe, and
help me put the clothes in the suitcase in.”

“Okay, I’ll put them now, why not you lie down and sleep
for a while.” Looking at him with his creased eyebrows and wan
complexion, I felt that my heart hurt exceedingly. There will always
be that one person whom you would be willing to suffer in their place
when you saw them in pain. Don’t talk about keeping away clothes,
even if it was collecting a dead body, I’d do it without hesitation.

I took down the clothes in the topmost layer of my wardrobe, that

layer was used for me to put some clothes that I didn’t normally
wear, anyway Jiang Chen was tall, in that case it was good for me to
put his clothes on top.

Till my clothes were all shifted into a bag, and his clothes were
mostly in the wardrobe, I suddenly felt that something was wrong
somewhere, I turned around to look at Jiang Chen, he was lying on
my bed and flipping through a manga book idly.

I blinked my eyes slowly, and said, “Why do you want to place

so many clothes at my place?”

He lowered the manga book, revealing two eyes, “This way, I

wouldn’t have to bring clothes to wash up and change into
every time I come.”

He did have a point, he wasn’t wrong……

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“Could you have brought too many clothes?” I tiptoed as I
piled the clothes up.

“You’re really short.” He said, “Throw some clothes to me,

I’m going to take a shower.”

“You’re still going to stay at my place tonight?” I turned

around to ask him.

He threw the manga book aside easily, walked over, picked two
pieces of clothing from the clothes I was carrying and said, “Pack
the clothes nicely, I’m going to take a shower.”

After he finished speaking, he patted my head, slung the clothes

over his shoulder, and took large steps akin to that of an uncle as he
walked out of my room.

I felt a sort of bewilderment that he wasn’t answering all my

questions, was this a misconception of mine……

When Jiang Chen finished showering and came out, he had only put
on a blue checkered pair of trousers, his hair was dripping with
water, the water droplets splashed onto his shoulder with pattering
sounds, then slid down his shoulder towards his sturdy chest, then
rolled towards his well-defined abdomen.

I swallowed my saliva, “That, the air conditioner is switched

on, you had better wear your top.”

“I’ll wear it after I wipe myself dry.” He lifted his hand and
wiped at the water on his face, “Help me buy two towels
tomorrow.”

“I have a new one in my cupboard, I’ll take it for you.” I

searched out the towel from my cupboard and passed it to him very
excitedly, “I’ve already rinsed it with water, it’s very clean,
you can use it now.”

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“Darlie Toothpaste? Can you give me articles for daily use
that are not freebies?” He pointed at the little black person’s head
that was embroidered on (the towel) and asked.

I said, “Can’t you just regard it as embroidery? It’s just that

the design is a little more special. What’s more, freebies from
an economical point of view are the most cost-effective.”

He scoffed disdainfully, “You had better know economics.”

I nodded my head solemnly, “At least I know how to talk

nonsense.”

Jiang Chen shook his head helplessly, sat down at the bedside, and
said, “Help me dry my hair.”

I climbed onto the bed, moved around to go behind his body and
helped him dry his hair, his hair was very soft, and was somewhat
brown, I used the towel to rub lightly, other than him giving me a
glare when I couldn’t help but pluck out a strand of hair that was
partially golden in colour, the atmosphere was overall still considered
to be not a bad one.

After I finished drying his hair, I leaned forward to rest on his

shoulders, the act of drying one’s hair sure was tiring.

During the night, I was sleeping in a half-conscious state, I vaguely

sensed something brushing lightly at my neck area, when I sent a
slap across I heard a soft bellow, “Chen Xiaoxi, are you a female
boxer!”

I turned around dazedly to hug him, “What are you doing, not
sleeping in the depth of the night?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Why can’t you?” As I spoke, my eyelids were about to close

again.

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Then, I felt a pain of my face being pulled, Jiang Chen was pinching
my face as he said, “My stomach hurts.”

A lack of sleep easily causes one to birth evil thoughts in their

heart, for example, currently I wanted to say, if your stomach hurts,
go to the side and continue hurting, if you harass me again I’ll let you
never have a chance to have a stomach ache again in your
lifetime……

Thankfully, that humane part of me deep down in my heart kept on

calling out, only then could I reluctantly prop my eyes open and say
to him, “I’ll go pour water and search for your medications for
you.”

As I spoke, I was about to climb up, he held me by the waist to stall

me, “No need, accompany me to chat to distract me.”

Having a heart-to-heart talk in the middle of the night was really,

really bothersome.

But since I was mainly promoting my being kind and understanding

in my identity as a girlfriend, so I could only raise my spirits to deal
with him, “What do you want to chat about?”

He said, “Chat about anything at random.”

Nah, you must be reasonable when you conduct yourself, you can’t
say that you yourself want to chat yet make me search for a topic of
conversation, this sort of behaviour was extremely irresponsible,
extremely outrageous, he deserved to be dragged out and shot dead
a hundred times.

I, being such a modern and resounding female, naturally would not

look for a topic of conversation of my own accord, so I said, “Did you
do any surgeries today?”

“I didn’t, I was doing outpatient consultations all day

today.”

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“Oh.” I thought for a while, then said again, “Do you think Hu
Ran Ran is pretty?”

“Pretty.”

“How pretty?”

“Prettier than you.”

I pinched the flesh on his waist and wrung it around, “I’m the
female lead in your story, be more courteous when you
speak!”

He hugged me tightly with great force, it was the kind of tightness

as if he was going to crush me to pieces, forcing me to have no
choice but to let go of my hand that was pinching at his flesh.

I said, “Do you think that her beauty is enough to have a

man forgive her past?”

I felt that if a woman was pretty enough to a certain degree, it

would form an inevitable magic power, this sort of magic power
would cause people to can’t help but forgive her for all the wrongs
she did. For example, Hu Ran Ran was so beautiful that she had the
appearance of a vixen, so the fact that she was really a vixen was
actually classified as an innate skill and a human right, if you didn’t
forgive her, then you would really be too petty.

Jiang Chen was silent for a while, then said, “To me, it’s not
enough.”

I said, “Then do you think Wu Bosong will break up with

her?”

He said, “What’s it got to do with you if they break up.”

Look at how he said that, in this day and age, the cost of housing,
the cost of oil, the cost of meat, the cost of garlic, the cost of green

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beans, toxic milk powder*, toxic vaccines*, toxic shampoos*…… they
were all claimed to have nothing to do with me, but my good friend
going through a break-up was bound to have something to do with
me, right, if not I’ll really have no contributions to society. (T/N: If I’m
not wrong, these are all infamous scandals in China. E.g. toxic milk
powder – a scandal in 2008 where formula milk powder was found to
be contaminated with melamine)

I said, “Of course it’s got something to do with me, if they

break up, I have to go and comfort a hurt Wu Bosong.”

That’s right, you didn’t misjudge, I too didn’t say anything wrong, I
did have a cheap mouth, I did like to provoke Jiang Chen till he was
really angry…… But most likely my behaviour was too obvious, Jiang
Chen totally didn’t have the reaction that a normal crafty ‘black-
bellied’* male lead ought to have, not only did he not push me down
and use his mouth to block my mouth, he too didn’t rip my clothes
apart and carry out a forced round of circles and crosses*. (T/N:
‘black-bellied’/腹黑 – referring to a personality trope of male lead in
Chinese romance novels/dramas where the guy is secretly
sly/manipulative/a bully [not really a negative connotation], you
guys can google it for a better explanation…) (T/N: ‘circles and
crosses’ – *coughs* it refers to exactly what you are thinking, I
probably don’t have to spell it out……)

He said, “Chen Xiaoxi, next time, be a little less obvious, it’ll

be easier to infuriate me.”

It wasn’t good for one to be too clever, life would lose a lot of fun.

Since I couldn’t tease him, I might as well seriously investigate this

with him, “You really think they will break up?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Why?”

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“Because I am not Wu Bosong.”

……

If someone told you that they wanted to chat with you, but his
answers to every single one of your questions all pushed you to a
situation where your cold sweat flowed directly (as you thought)
“what can I reply after this?”, would you want to kill him,
slaughter him, or shoot him dead?

I sighed and started out afresh, “Then if it was me, would you
forgive me?”

Don’t blame me for being tacky, the majority of women all liked to
compare, if they asked you whether you thought this person was
pretty, their next line would be, then am I prettier or is she prettier.

Jiang Chen was silent for as long as a century, then he said, “I

would.”

I was caught off guard, because I had originally already prepared

myself to receive his harsh words, such as, “Of course I wouldn’t!
I will slaughter you! I hope that you will die of AIDS!” and so
on. With such a word bursting forth from him suddenly, I was truly at
a loss of what to do, I could only mumble and question closely like a
fool, “Why? Didn’t you say I’m not as pretty as she is? Why?”

He kissed my forehead, “Because (I) love (you) enough.”

I don’t know how much romantic words other people can hear
when they date, in any case, I’ve never heard a single line, so when I
heard that, I first doubted my ears, then I chewed on and considered
these four words repeatedly and carefully, finally I was certain that
this was a romantic line, only then did I begin to be touched after a
delay, there was a large expanse of rumbling blank space left in my
brain, I only felt that the stomach ache, the middle of the night,
romantic words fished out from the hearts and the lungs*, these were

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truly too awesome! (T/N: ‘fished out from the heart and the lungs’ –
meaning wholeheartedly, devotedly)

Just as I was immersing myself in the pink bubbly world

constructed by those romantic words, I suddenly felt my pyjamas
being lifted up.

My pink bubble was punctured with a pop, I couldn’t help but roll
my eyes, “Fellow student Jiang Chen, can your hand not touch
me randomly?”

“I’m not.”

I slapped his hand that was plastered on my stomach, “Then

what is this?”

His tone of voice was very solemn and serious, “I’m not touching
randomly, I’m touching very purposefully.”

I rolled my eyes again, “Your stomach doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“It still hurts, chatting was ineffective, let’s do some other

things for distraction.”

……

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Amy | Dolly | Xri

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Chapter 36
Source: Tea-Quila

In this past one week, I’ve miraculously noticed that there has
been some bizarre phenomena happening little by little inside my
home. For example, there was a razor in the bathroom, a medical
book in the bedroom, the instant noodles that disappears at night in
the kitchen, and this weirdly-shaped bone on the dining table…..

When I saw that piece of bone so outwardly displayed on the table,

I decided that I could no longer tolerate* this matter, if this keeps up,
he’s going to be able to successfully move his entire house over.
With this thought in mind, I carried the bone and stormed in front of
Jiang Chen who was typing some academic papers on his laptop.
“What is this?” I threw the bone on the computer’s desk.

(T/N: The idiom used was ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’
meaning if a parent refuses to discipline an unruly child (in this case
Jiang Chen), that child will grow accustomed to getting his own ways)

He glanced sideways, then answered my question calmly and

seriously, “Bone.”　

His state of being unfazed has tapered most of my anger but I still
forced myself to assume an air of loftiness, “I know that it’s fa
bone, I mean, what is it doing on the dining table? You don’t
think I didn’t notice you secretly moving some things over
here!”

Jiang Chen’s fingers left the keyboard, he turned his head on my

direction, giving me a very innocent look, and said, “I didn’t think
so.”

…….Eh, he……..didn’t?

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I felt that I was like a bulging balloon while Jiang Chen has a needle
in his hands, reaching out to poke me, and my belly that was full of
gas was letting out a screeching cry as it deflates to miles away.

As he noticed that I wasn’t talking for a very long time, he just

turned around to continue with what he’s doing on the laptop, so I
hurriedly said, “Then……then, how can you just leave this bone
model lying around the dining table!”

Jiang Chen looked at the bone, furrowing his brows, then he looked
at me, and said, “If I’m not mistaken, this was the bone in the
bone soup I made last night.”

………..

What happened yesterday was, I was suddenly craving for some

pork bone soup with lotus roots. So I looked up the recipe online, and
then went outside to buy the ingredients. I waited for Jiang Chen to
come home from work, sweet talked him into reading the recipe, and
sweet talked him again into cooking the soup. So to say, if the dogs
could be trained, then men could also be trained, and
besides……..okay, let’s not mention it.

Jiang Chen cooked a big pot of soup. After eating our fills, there
was still a lot of it left on the pot so I reheated it for breakfast this
morning. Jiang Chen ate two bowls, then told me he’d go downstairs
first and would just wait for me inside the car, so I hurriedly tried to
finish eating the rest. When I was done, I looked at the big pieces of
bones lying at the bottom of the pot. I was thinking if I don’t chew
them clean it would surely benefit our landlord’s pet dog which keeps
on barking loudly every time it catches sight of me coming home.
However, I only managed to chew one bone clean when Jiang Chen’s
‘death chain call’ came. He asked, “What are you dilly-dallying
for? If you won’t come down this instant, I will not send you
to work ever again.” I’m actually the type of person who shouldn’t
be rushed into doing something, lest I’d commit errors in a hundred
and one ways once I get flustered. In a hurry, I cleared the table from

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the pot and bowls, afterwhich, Jiang Chen has already rushed
upstairs to drag me out. Hence, the only bone which I chewed clean
was left to dry on the dining table for the entire day. After attending
to a myriad of daily affairs, I’ve long forgotten this brief episode that
has occurred this morning, and as a result………

“Haha.” I continuously let out a hollow laugh, “It seems like it.”

I looked at him, his complexion doesn’t look good at all, so I

complimented him with a smiling face, “You can even recognise
that it was the bone from last night, you……you’re very
familiar with these things.”

Actually, I originally wanted to praise him with, “You’re really

deserving of being called a doctor.” But he just gave me a look
as though I was an idiot babbling nonsense……..

Jiang Chen foolishly pursed his lips up, popping out a dimple in the
process, and said, “Fortunately, I’m also very familiar with
you.”

When he was done saying it, he turned around and dealt with his
papers. I sat on the bedside, trying so hard to remember — what was
it did I originally wanted to compel him to confess his guilt for?

Because I couldn’t remember it, I went behind Jiang Chen and

placed my chin on his shoulder seemingly lost in my thoughts.

Jiang Chen tilted his head to the side, then suddenly kissed me on
the cheek. After that, he ignored my existence.

I pulled on his ear, and asked without thinking it through, “They

tire you out every day, how much salary do you get in a
month?”

He pulled open the drawer of the computer’s desk, took out his
wallet, took out a bank card, and said, “The card for my salary.”

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“Eh?” I accepted it, and scratched my head in puzzlement, “I’m
not an ATM, even though you’ve given me this card, I still
won’t be able to see how much money you get in a month.”

Jiang Chen put on a very helpless look, “I’m handing over my

salary okay? The PIN is the last six digits of your phone
number.”

“Why is my phone number your PIN?”

“I changed it just recently. You’re so stupid, I was afraid

you won’t be able to remember.”

“But why are you giving me the card for your salary?” My
heart was caught in a struggle between wanting to take it and not
taking it.

He said, “Because every day, you keep on harping about

how expensive water and electricity are near my ear.”

I unintentionally blurted out, “Then go back to your house.”

Jiang Chen did not say anything, he only looked at me quietly.

I distressedly wanted to bite off my tongue, “I…….I mean as

you’ve been living here with me these past few days, your
place will…….will be covered in dust.”

Cohabitation is no longer a big deal in this time and age, it’s just
that…….I just can’t explain why. I totally feel that this is not good,
probably because we haven’t been given the stamp of approval by
both of our parents. I always feel that anything we do, if we can’t
properly define the issue then we would never be able to talk it out
intelligently. Well, I think this guy also has his shortcomings — his
aloofness.

(T/N: She used a Confucian ideology/ proverb which is literally

translated to, ‘if the name isn’t correct, then the language is not in

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accordance with the truth of things’ meaning address things properly
in order for arguments to be tenable.)

The corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth lifted, “Sorry to bother you in

minding the dust of my house.”

I don’t know what to say to that. For the lack of a better option, I
quickly smiled pandering him, “You just continue with what
you’re doing.” Then I submissively withdrew myself from the room.
I scampered to the living room to watch the TV and put it on a very
low volume. I didn’t see much of what was going on inside, I simply
perked up my ears, trying to listen to any sign of movement.

Around half an hour has already passed by, and then from the
inside came the sound of a computer shutting down. In five minutes,
Jiang Chen came out carrying his laptop bag, and declared, “I’m
going home.”

I stood up, chewing down on my lower lip, and said, “Drive

carefully.”

Jiang Chen’s complexion darkened then blanched. There seems to

be a raging inferno, burning in the depths of his eyes.　

The door flew open with a loud crash, making me shrink down on
my shoulders from the fright. Such big temper…….

I went over to close the door, leaning against it while counting the
days since we got together again — it has actually been more than
three months. From summer to fall, from turning on the air
conditioner to turning it off for fall. Why didn’t he mention about
visiting my parents with me, make me explain things to my dad, or
take me to their house, and make his mom humiliate me or
something.

I was already imagining scenarios on what his mom would say if

she saw me again. Right, it’s going to be around the lines of why am I

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still haunting* them like this. Then, how should I answer her? Is it
because your son is a great master at beckoning souls? Haha, it’s
just fantasy*.

(T/N: [1] The idiom used was “the soul of the deceased has
not yet dispersed” and is commonly used with a negative
connotation meaning, even if the ‘bad’ guys were already eliminated
their influence still lingers. [2] The three-character idiom used was
“managing the addiction” meaning doing some things to satisfy
one’s desires because one isn’t able to achieve it.)

My butt has barely touched the couch when the doorbell rang. I
scouted the outside from the peephole, Jiang Chen’s face looked
distorted, so cute.

As I opened the door, I announced in a loud voice, “Aren’t you on

your way home? What are you doing here? I already said I’m
not going to take you in tonight.”

I admit that I’m a little pleased with myself as it was seldom that
Jiang Chen would humble himself and come back. Oh the proud Jiang
Chen, the proud Jiang Chen.

But when I saw those two people behind him, the laughter that
threatened to come out of me died, I opened my mouth to call them,
chattering, “Mom, dad.”

My dad has a black face, my mom was all smiles and pulled me
along, “We so happened to bump into Little Jiang just now
while we were downstairs, and asked him to come up too.”

“Mom, why have you come here this late? Why didn’t you
give me a call first? I would have picked you guys up.” I stole
a glance at Jiang Chen, his expression can still be regarded as calm.
　

“It’s your dad’s fault, he insisted on coming over to see

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you. He also said not to let you pick us up as you’re too busy
with work. Who knew we were going to be stuck in the traffic
for this long, making us arrive here this late.”

Liar. I’ve watched our city’s evening news, they even said that
today’s traffic condition was exceptionally good. Already so old yet
they’re still playing these surprise checks, truly shameless.　　

My mom dragged me along with her to the kitchen, “What are

you in a daze for? Go pour a glass of water for your dad.”

As soon as we entered the kitchen, my mom whispered to me,

“Are there any men’s stuff left inside your house? Quickly
hide them away, don’t let your dad catch sight of them.”

I was scared out of my wits, there wasn’t enough time as I zoomed

towards the bedroom, and towards the closet, sweeping all of Jiang
Chen’s clothes into a bag, and tucking it under the bed. Afterwards, I
zoomed towards the restroom, picked Jiang Chen’s toothbrush, towel,
razor, etcetera, and swept them all into a plastic bucket, used a basin
to cover it up, and shoved it under the sink. Then I remembered Jiang
Chen’s clothes that were still hanging in the balcony. If I were to go
to the balcony, I must walk through the living room. How can I bring
them inside when my dad was just sitting right there beside Jiang
Chen? I was so anxious that I ended up scratching my head and
stomping my feet not knowing what to do.

Hence, I could only go back to the kitchen to ask my mom who was
looking for the tea leaves to brew some tea. She said despicably,
“Bring your clothes inside, throw Little Jiang’s clothes
downstairs.”

Sure enough……..the older the ginger, the spicier it gets*. (T/N:

The older, the wiser)

I let out a hollow laugh as I walked towards the balcony under my

dad’s skeptical gaze, “Mom told me I should bring the clothes in

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at night, otherwise they would be dampened by the dew……”

After getting the clothes, I dreaded how to carefully consider the

direction from which I must throw them down. It was just too dark,
and my place was situated too high. I’m not too sure if these clothes
would hit anyone on the head, more than anything else, if it’s the
briefs, that would really be so embarrassing……..

Maybe because I’ve been dawdling in the balcony for a really long
time, the people inside has already started chatting. I heard deep
voices talking in lowered volumes, it seems like my dad and Jiang
Chen were the ones talking. I hid myself and ducked down beside the
balcony door to eavesdrop.

“You broke up with Xiaoxi for such a long time, if you love
her, why didn’t you try to look for her?” My dad’s voice carried
a hint of suppressed anger and a hint of pretending to be imposing.

Dad! That’s very nice of you to ask.

Jiang Chen’s voice was really low. Unfortunately, I lived in a slum

housing wherein the units has no soundproofing, so I heard every
single word very clearly. He said, “Uncle, you were once young
too, young people tend to act rashly in a fit of pique.”

My dad let out a snort, “Your fit of pique sure lasted a long

time.”

“It’s no more than being piqued by Xiaoxi.”

“Since you felt piqued, how did the two of you reconcile?” It
was my mother’s voice, indeed compared to the other two, she
seemed to have her qi moved to her dantian* so much more. (T/N:
‘dantian’ which is a location at your pubic region is considered to be
where one’s qi/vital energy originates; often singers/practitioners of
martial arts or qigong/people who play wind instruments are required
to have their qi moved to that region to be more steady/composed)

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“When uncle was hospitalized, Xiaoxi gave me a call. Then,
we got in touch.”

“In other words, our family’s Xiaoxi reached out to you

first?” My dad asked.

“No. Actually, I pretended to call her number by mistake. I

originally thought that if I pretended to call her several times
by mistake, she would return the call. I just didn’t expect to
run into the matter with you by chance.”

“Does Xiaoxi know?”

“Does not know.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

“I felt piqued.”

I was having mixed emotions as of the moment. Piqued, piqued.

You were really piqued by this little sister…….

My mom was in bouts of laughter, but my dad still persevered,

“You’re so fond of trying to get even with Xiaoxi, later on she
won’t be allowed to live. I can’t hand her over to you,
besides, your family isn’t any good.”

“Uncle, please be reassured, I have a sense of propriety

and will not make Xiaoxi go through difficulties, I will take
good care of her. I will also deal with my parents.”

“Hmph! No one relies on the mouth alone.” To be honest, the

tone of my dad’s words sounded like he was being deliberately
provocative.

“So how does uncle hope that I can prove it to all of you?”
The way Jiang Chen spoke was cordial and unperturbed. I highly
suspect that it comes from dealing with a lot of the patients’ family

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members.

“You should confess to Xiaoxi the matter regarding making

the phone call first.” My dad said.　　

“That’s it?” Jiang Chen sounded very confused. In fact, I also felt
very confused……　　

“Yes!” My dad replied with resolute and decisiveness, having no

sense of shame.

“But Xiaoxi has been standing on the balcony, listening for

a long time.” Jiang Chen replied, seemingly a little perplexed.

……………..

I quickly threw Jiang Chen’s clothes downstairs and sauntered to

the living room carrying my clothes, “Hehe, the air on the
balcony is good, standing up is also good for the legs and
feet…….”

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Dolly | Amy | Xri

BTW, there’s a whole side story about that day when Jiang Chen
pretended to call her. ?

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Chapter 37
Source: Tea-Quila

My dad and my mum stayed for three days, then returned to their
old home upon despising that the apartment was truly very
crammed. These few days, Jiang Chen upon getting off work
obediently came to my house to help my mum do some chores of
washing the vegetables and picking out the edible part of vegetables,
and accompany my dad to watch sports matches and play chess, he
looked hundred percent the part of a filial obedient child. Only when
he saw me in private would he always give me attitude, most likely
he was still angry about that matter of me chasing him home that
day.

Early in the morning today, Fu Pei upon entering the office told us
in high spirits that he had issued our salaries delayed from two
months ago. Lately, the company always couldn’t receive large
orders, Situ Mo and I saw this clearly, yet we all didn’t comment
much, Situ Mo wasn’t waiting for money to spend, I could endure and
scrape by, so there was no need to make things difficult for the
company. Words such as “the company is my home” were too
pretentious, but the three of us really were the chief founding figures
of this company, in other words, the scale of this company, had never
expanded before too…… Forget it, in Situ Mo’s words, our feelings
towards this company were just as if it was our own child that we
brought up, no matter how ugly they grew to be, we could only bear
with it.

After getting off work, as I passed by the ATM, I wanted to check

my pay in passing, but despite inserting in the card, the password
was always wrong, seeing that the card was about to be swallowed
again in a moment, I withdrew the card, only then did I realise that it
was Jiang Chen’s card. Hence, I inserted it back in again, inputted the
last 6 digits of my mobile phone number, after that, I while still alive
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was so intimidated by the figure inside till I laid on my stomach on
top of the ATM. I only hoped that the people passing by wouldn’t
think that I was molesting the ATM……

I searched out my mobile phone and called Jiang Chen, the tooting
sounds rang for a very long time before it was answered, “What’s
this about?”

“Can’t I not make a telephone call to you (even if) there’s

nothing?”

“What’s the matter exactly? I’m very busy.”

“It’s nothing.” I said unhappily.

“If there’s nothing, I’m hanging up.”

Hence, the call was cut off with a chirping sound, what a miser.

What had I wanted to ask him originally? Oh, ask him from when till
when was the amount of wages in his credit card for, if it was for two
to three months, I would immediately go back and puncture the
condoms in our house, get pregnant with his son and marry him.

Unfortunately the phone had been hung up, I whose facial skin was
as thin as prata, had better wait for ten minutes more before calling
him again.

However, I had only walked for a few steps, when my mobile phone
in my bag rang again. It was the individualised ringtone I had set for
Jiang Chen, Mayday’s* “Like Smoke”, repeating those few lines –
“That year when I was 7 years old, I grabbed hold of that
cicada, and thought I could grab hold of summer, that year
when I was 17 years old, I’d kissed his face, then thought I
could be together with him forever, is there that sort of
forever, where there will forever be no change, where the
beauty that has been embraced before would never
shatter……” (T/N: A famous Taiwanese band)

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That year when I was 17 years old, I had kissed his face. When I
had kissed his face, it was Senior Year 3, (I was) 18 years old.

That was a summer day that was the most sultry and jittery in my
memory, as to why I said it was most sultry and jittery, perhaps it
was because it was Senior Year 3, my emotions would amplify the
weather.

That day, the sun was so fierce it seemed like it was going to broil
the earth till it melted, a group of cicadas on the ends of the
branches were howling as if it were a funeral, I lay on my stomach on
the desk, bored to death, fixating my gaze on two large ceiling fans
at the top of the classroom creaking and groaning as they turned.
Someone walked past the entrance of the classroom, I aimed a look,
it wasn’t Jiang Chen. Back and forth, more than ten people walked
by, only then did I see Jiang Chen walk past, he had a habit of looking
straight ahead when he walked, and never looked around to his left
and right. I randomly grabbed an exercise booklet , then dashed out
from the back of the classroom, jumped in front of him and called
loudly, “Hey!”

He took two steps back, and rolled his eyes, “Lame.”

I followed behind him, beaming as I asked, “Jiang Chen Jiang

Chen, I’ll go to your classroom to study, okay?”

“Not okay.”

I followed behind him, guaranteeing, “I’ll definitely not disturb

you, I also won’t ask you about questions I don’t know,
really.”

He snorted twice and continued to walk ahead, when we reached

his class, I unexpectedly discovered that there was not a single
person from his class, I asked in bafflement, “ee? Why is there no
one in your class?”

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“Our form teacher is moving dorm rooms, they’ve all gone
to help,” he said.

“Then why didn’t you go?”

“What’s it got to do with you?” He rummaged out a book of ’38

Sets of English Gaokao Papers” and began doing questions.

I faced him as I sat in the seat in front of him, and said as I bit on
the end of my pen, “It’s also good if you don’t go, I’m
advantaged.”

He lifted his eyes and glared at me, “Can you be anymore thick-
skinned.”

I curled my lip, lowered my head and flipped through my book,

discovering that the exercise booklet I had grabbed randomly was a
Mathematics one, this dammed thing that was like illegible
writing……

The weather was outrageously hot, after I finished doing a question

while chewing on the end of my pen, I raised my head to look at Jiang
Chen, I didn’t know when he had unexpectedly already leaned on the
school desk and fallen asleep, there was a thin layer of sweat floating
on the tip of his nose and his forehead, yet miraculously, it appeared
to be especially cooling, just like a cup of ice water emitting cold
vapour all around, causing one to cannot help but want to get close
to draw in a trace of coolness. As if I was incited by demons and
gods, I moved closer to him and gave him a peck on his cheek, my
action so soft and my speed so quick that it was as if a gentle breeze
had brushed past, but yet he opened his eyes, a pair of black and
bright eyes were staring at me, motionless. I felt that the nerve
endings on his face were really exceptionally sensitive.

He said, what are you doing.

I stared blankly and said, if I say I’m helping you wipe your sweat,

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would you believe it or not.

He furrowed his brows, his dark and thick eyelashes fluttered twice
very quickly, his dimple shallowly floated into appearance on the side
of his cheek. I guessed he most likely didn’t believe it.

Underneath the table, my hand was wringing the lower hem of my

school uniform, as I thought to myself, I’m doomed I’m doomed, will I
become the first female student in the history of my school to be
twisted and sent to the police station for molesting a male
student……

He stared at me for a long time, then he rested his head on his arm
and closed his eyes again.

I let out a breath, Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes and said,
“Quit your bad habit of biting the end of your pen for me!”

My hand that was just subconsciously in the process of sending the

pen to my mouth paused in mid-air, you say, this person’s eyes
suddenly opening and then suddenly closing again, what a pair of
eyes that appeared and disappeared unpredictably……

“Chen Xiaoxi!” Following a bellow of utter exasperation,

someone pulled on my ponytail from behind my back.

I turned my head, Jiang Chen was pulling on my braid with one

hand while waving his mobile phone with the other, “What are you
doing not answering my phone calls? Also, why are you
standing in the middle of the road in a daze?”

“Why would you be here?” I covered the back of my head with

my hand and said, “Don’t pull my hair.”

He said, “When you called me just a moment ago I was

already in the vicinity of this area, tonight my university
classmates are having a gathering, they all want me to bring
you along.”

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“Then just a moment ago, why were you asking me so
fiercely on the phone? And you even hung up on me?” I lifted
the collar of his shirt and said, “This old woman* isn’t willing to
accompany you to the gathering.” (T/N: referring to herself)

He sounded an “oh” to express that he had received (my

message), moved away from my hand that was grabbing onto his
collar, then turned around and was about to leave, I hurriedly
grabbed hold of the sleeve of his shirt, “I’m joking, I’ll go I’ll go.”

After I finished speaking, I even took the initiative to stuff my hand

into his palm, “Let’s go go go, who are the people who will go?
Will Big Senior Apprentice Brother* go or not?” (T/N: 大师兄 (da
shixiong)– Big/First Senior Male Fellow Student. 师兄 (shixiong) refers
to a male who is older than you who is in the same
school/apprenticing under the same master as you. From now on I’ll
just refer to him as Big Senior for short.)

Jiang Chen gave me a glare, “(Why do) you bother if he is

going or not.”

Big Senior was two cohorts above us, in those days he was in the
same dorm room as Jiang Chen, his appearance if looked at in the
present would definitely be a pretty flower boy with an awl-shaped
face, but due to the fact that back in those days, our general
populace’s aesthetic tastes had yet to be aligned with that of Korea
and Japan, this resulted in us all being unable to appreciate his
beauty, thus we unanimously believed that he looked like a monkey
with his pointed mouth and thin cheeks. We even chose a nice-
sounding name called ‘Beautiful Monkey King’, but calling him
‘Beautiful Monkey King’, ‘Beautiful Monkey King’ all day long was
insulting monkeys a little, so later on we all changed to calling him
Big Senior Apprentice Brother*. (T/N: Monkey King also refers to Sun
Wukong, the monkey with supernatural powers who is the main
character in Journey to the West, one of the Four Classic Novels in
Chinese literature. Sun Wukong is also called Big Senior Apprentice

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Brother, hence the name change.)

During university, my relationship with Big Senior was not bad,

because his girlfriend during university was Wang Xiaojuan from our
dorm, moreover it was also me who had matchmade them, I was
very apologetic. Wang Xiaojuan was well-known for her temper that
was like that of a daughter from a rich family, Big Senior was given a
such a hard time till he whined incessantly for days, yet he still
endured the hardship gladly. Every time he was tormented to a
wretched state, he would come and find me to air his grievances,
saying, Chen Xiaoxi, if I had known earlier, I would have chased after
you, I’ll snatch you over from Jiang Chen’s hands. I said isn’t it so,
you’re regretting aren’t you, I too feel that it’s a little wasteful to
match myself to Jiang Chen. After that, we would laugh heartily at
each other. This was called two poor persons reluctant to admit their
mistakes flaunting their wealth.

Big Senior after graduating went to a middle school to be a school

doctor, initially he would still return to school frequently to visit us, of
course mainly to see Wang Xiaojuan, we heard him speak about how
little children nowadays were so perverted, they could give birth to
children in the toilet, they weren’t even afraid of the child dropping
into the hole or anything. Later on Wang Xiaojuan ran off with a
Fuerdai*, hence he never appeared again after that. (T/N: Fuerdai –
literally means ‘rich second generation’, a term referring to the
children of the nouveau rich in China – Wikipedia)

I often recalled about Big Senior fondly in front of Jiang Chen,

saying, why did Big Senior disappear, why doesn’t Wang Xiaojuan
know to cherish him properly, in the future should any female marry
him, it’s really that her ancestors have accumulated merit through
virtuous actions. Once, I spoke till Jiang Chen said impatiently, Chen
Xiaoxi, if you speak long-windedly of him again in the future, I’ll
throttle you to death.

The gathering was arranged at a KTV place, the moment the door

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was pushed open, music that could shake the heavens rolled out,
quite a few sharp tearing voices were roaring wildly, “We must still
love even if we die, it’s not satisfactory until we’ve done it
vividly and thoroughly*”. Jiang Chen laughed bitterly as he shook
his head, using his hands to cover my ears. His mouth was moving, I
didn’t know what he was saying. (T/N: Lyrics of a famous belting song
‘Must still love even if we die” by Shin band, which is often belted out
in KTV… often at the expense of others’ ears. Listen to it (the chorus)
and you’d probably know why. Apparently someone got a
pneumothorax (getting air into the lung cavity) and almost died from
singing this song and other belting songs before.)

My eyes were sharp, with one glimpse, I saw that one of the
persons in “Must still love even if we die” was Big Senior, I pulled
off Jiang Chen’s hands and swayed them about, “Big Senior.”

He gave me a look of disdain.

“Audience, take note, the husband and wife pair of our

class monitor has arrived,” The person holding the microphone
suddenly said, everyone uniformly looked towards the entrance, at
the same time, whistling sounds and cheering sounds sprung up from
all around. I waved my hands and bellowed loudly, “Classmates,
it’s been hard on you, I’ve captured your class monitor
again.”

The entire room roared with laughter.

Jiang Chen seized my waist and pushed me to walk towards the

interior (of the room), the sofas were already almost seated full of
people, only after shifting left and right did they manage to pull out
two spaces for us to sit down. I’d only just sat down when I was
pulled into the embrace of someone beside me, who then kissed me
on the forehead with a “pop” sound, “Xiaoxi, my beloved
Xiaoxi.”

I pushed the person away, then dredged up her face again, after

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that I hugged her again while calling loudly, “Snowman,
snowman.”

Jiang Chen pulled at my shirt collar to pull me away, “You’re

almost about to strangle Xue Jing* to death.” (T/N: Xue, Xue
Jing’s surname, means ‘snow’, hence the nickname ‘snowman’.)

My relations with Jiang Chen’s fellow students in his class were

especially good, so much so that they were even better than my
relations with the students in my own class, and Xue Jing was with no
doubt the person whom I had the best relations with, because she
said I had worth that could be exploited…… Xue Jing was the
nominal publicity committee member of their class, ‘nominal’
because should their class have any activities, the publicity prints
and pamphlets were always done by me.

Xue Jing pinched my face as she scolded, “You still have the
nerve to come? You won’t even answer my calls after
breaking up with Jiang Chen, is that right?”

My hand tugged at Jiang Chen behind me, “Save me, save me.”

He swatted (my hand) away, “Serves you right.”

Suddenly, a sharp ear-piercing electric current came through the

sound system, most likely someone’s microphone had paired with
the speakers. With a bang, Big Senior who had originally been
singing his songs elatedly and excitedly suddenly for who knows
what reason tossed his microphone to the floor, and rushed towards
the toilet urgently while swearing.

I looked at Xue Jing puzzledly, she sneered as she pointed at the

direction Big Senior was running to and said, “Must still love even
when we die, for this sort, they all will have to die even if
they love.”

I wanted to ask more closely, however Jiang Chen suddenly

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stooped to beside my ear and asked, “You haven’t eaten dinner,
I’ll order a bowl of beef noodles for you?”

I covered my ears with my hands and turned my head to glare at

him, “It’s really ticklish, I want to add a lot of coriander.”

He rapped my head once, “Are you treating this as ordering

dishes in a restaurant?”

I turned my head back and continued asking, “What happened

to Big Senior?”

Xue Jing was holding a cup full of beer and blowing at the alcoholic
foam on top, she replied me absent-mindedly, “What else can it be
for, dashing towards the toilet, he’s releasing memory*.”
(T/N: referring to computer memory)

“Releasing memory?” I couldn’t understand momentarily.

She gave me a look that said ‘why are you so stupid’, and said,
“Aren’t the excrement of humans equal to the memory of
computers.”

Having heard what had been said, the computer was choked with
sobs.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Amy | Dolly | Xri

Translator’s Corner:

Omo I’m so sorry guys that this update is late… I was suddenly
swamped with things to do on Monday and Tuesday ): Please forgive
me!

For anyone who’s curious, this is the song that Xiaoxi set as her
individualised ringtone for Jiang Chen: ‘Like Smoke (如烟)’ by Mayday

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五月天

Most likely as a nod to this part of the novel, this song actually also
features in the drama! Guess where?

Answer: It’s actually playing (silently) in the background during this

scene in the KTV in episode 17, hehe. ?

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Chapter 38
Source: Tea-Quila

The music was then replaced by a slow, lyrical song, someone was
singing “The Most Romantic Thing”, but because I’ve just been
lectured by Xue Jing regarding ‘computers’ so when the line, ‘The
most romantic thing that I can think of, is to grow old with you.’ was
sung, I heard it as, ‘The most romantic thing that I can think of, is to
sell computers with you.’ Woe is me………The beef noodles soon
arrived. The table was so low that I might as well squat on the floor.
So I was eating while chatting about some trivial matters with Xue
Jing. Xue Jing said that she didn’t work as a doctor after they’ve
graduated, but instead became a medical representative, and had
just resigned recently. When the topic regarding doing some small
business came up, she asked me, “What can I sell that doesn’t
need much funding and can reap huge profits in just a short
term? You think such a business exists?”

I sucked a mouthful of noodles, “There is.”

“What is it?” Her eyes sparkled.

“Selling the flesh.”

Right as I was done speaking, Jiang Chen pushed my head, almost

planting it inside the bowl of noodles. I rubbed my head feeling
aggrieved and said, “Yi Shu said, if I don’t sell my youthfulness,
it will just pass by anyway.” (T/N: Yi Shu is a popular Hong Kong
writer.)

Xue Jing was panting with rage, “Then you sell!”

I looked down to gauge myself, “My youthfulness is left with

just its tail, if I were to sell it, I can only sell it at a large
discount in a clearance sale, really low in price, it’s no good.”
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Xue Jing followed suit, gauging herself up as well. In the end, she
lamented, “In any case, you’ve used your tail to roll up a strip
of long-term meal stub, my tail can only go to clearance
sales.” (T/N: In Chinese, ‘long-term meal stub’ means being
guaranteed of financial support for the rest of one’s life, literally not
worrying about not having food. Jiang Chen is her long-term meal
stub lol.)

Just when we were endlessly being sentimental about the loss of

our youth, Jiang Chen kicked me on the back with his toes, “Eat
quickly, your noodles have turned into mush.”

I swallowed a few more mouthful of noodles then pleaded, “I’m

full.”

Sitting next to Xue Jing, Big Fatty Li moved over closely then said,
“It’s a pity there’s so much left so I came over to eat.”

Jiang Chen grabbed the bowl of noodles, “I didn’t have dinner.”

Big Fatty Li heaved a big sigh of disappointment, “If you haven’t

eaten dinner, why didn’t you order for yourself?”

Xue Jing backed him up, “If you wanted to eat, why didn’t you
order for yourself?”

“I’m on a diet.”

…….

Jiang Chen downed the noodles in two, three mouthfuls, right when
he placed the bowl on the table, I suddenly remembered, “Don’t
you hate coriander?”

He pulled me back to sit on the couch, “Have you gotten into a

habit of squatting?”

I laughed mischievously, “When you asked that, my legs felt

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really numb.”

In the middle of our conversation, Big Senior came out from the
washroom. He was practically beaming, like he was treading on a
flowery path towards us. Probably from mingling with middle school
students these past few years, his face has truly become both
beautiful and youthful.

His long legs passed by, then stopped between Xue Jing and I. He
demanded, pointing his chin at us, “You two, move some space
out for this big uncle.”

Xue Jing and I both inwardly agreed to just ignore him.

“You two damn yatou, watch me use my butt to flatten you

both into specimen samples!” He yelled, turning his back on us
then jumping to sit down. (T/N: In ancient times, yatou means a slave
girl, but in modern times it’s used to refer to girls but can either be
used affectionately or derogatively depending on context.)

Jiang Chen, with sharp eyes and deft hands, pulled me away with
half of my body already sitting on him. From the side came Xue Jing’s
roar, “Why are you squeezing?! Are you courting death?!”

While I helped her push away Big Senior, Jiang Chen gripped my
waist with both of his hands to lift me, making me sit completely on
his lap. As soon as my butt left the couch, naturally, there was a seat
empty for Big Senior to take. In other words, Big Senior snatched my
seat away from me with the assistance of Jiang Chen. Just like that,
my seat was taken away so effortlessly. This makes me feel
indignant.

I struggled, wanting to jump down on him like what Big Senior did.
But Jiang Chen held unto my waist, not giving me any leeway, “Sit
properly.”

I was thinking of protesting, hence I turned my head to look at him

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but was met with furrowed brows and a grave expression on his face.
Even though I had no idea why, but I just behaved well and sat
properly, putting on an appearance of rigidly sitting upright.

Big Senior poured himself a glass of beer on the table, raised it in a

toast at us, downed it one go, then swayed the now empty glass
holding its bottom with a provocative smile on his face.

I wagged my finger at him saying, “Big Senior, you shouldn’t

be doing that. When you’re done drinking, you must put your
glass down, if you keep on swaying it like that, you’ll most
likely break it.”

He made a move of wanting to throw the glass at me, then opened

up his arms, saying “Xiaoxi, how many years has it been since
we’ve seen each other. Come, give Big Senior a hug.”

Even though such an action of his was extremely unlike Big Senior
Apprentice Brother, and was very Second Senior Apprentice Brother-
like*, I still twisted my butt and put on a nasally-sounding high
pitched voice to cooperate, “No no, I just won’t.”

(T/N: In Journey to the West, Big Senior Apprentice Brother refers

to Sun Wukong, while Second Senior Apprentice Brother refers to Zhu
Bajie, a half-pig half-human character. Nowadays, people often use
the term Second Senior Apprentice Brother to teasingly describe
others with Zhu Bajie-like characteristics – namely people who are
gluttons/like to eat a lot, who are simple and amusing to the point
where it’s amusing to the people around them (kind of like a
simpleton))

A bunch of them has showed a disgusted expression on their face

at the same time which made me feel a sense of accomplishment.
Occasionally, I get quite lively when I’m surrounded with people I’m
familiar with. I would actively hype up the atmosphere. The scientific
name for this would be ‘selective hype up’.

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Jiang Chen’s hold on my waist suddenly tightened, so tight that it
made me wonder if he was trying to make my stomach come out
from my mouth.

The expression on my face was one of shock after turning my head

again to look at him. This serves as an important reminder to all the
girls who loves to tie their hair into a ponytail and would often sit on
the lap of their boyfriend — don’t randomly turn your head around.
But if you really have to turn your head, don’t turn too fast, because
in my experience, the person behind you would be slapped hard by
your ponytail, then he’d get angry.

Classmate Jiang Chen was very angry, but no one in the room
knew except for me, because his face still looked calm, however the
hands that were firmly holding me down had successfully cinched my
old woman’s waist into a young woman’s waist.

I tapped his hands, whispering, “I already said that my hair

should be cut short.”

“Haircut?” Big Senior butted in when he heard it, “You looked

so fresh and pure when you had short hair before, really
a tsk tsk tsk……”

The three ‘tsk’ at the end sounded ambiguous, but judging from his
facial expression, I could tell that it was a compliment, so I rubbed
my hair, smiling bashfully.

Big Senior suddenly reached out his hands, wanting to pinch my

face. I think his act of pinching his juniors’ faces over those past few
years has developed into a habit.

It was too late for me to dodge him, when suddenly, Jiang Chen’s
hold on my waist loosened, and Big Senior’s hand was flung away,
“Keep your grubby paws to yourself.”

The atmosphere got a bit awkward for a moment, I forced out a

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hahaha and said, “Exactly, this famous flower has already been
spoken for.”

Big Senior rubbed both of his hands, displaying a wretched

expression on his face, “Even though the famous flower has
already been spoken for, I came to loosen the soil.”

(T/N: ‘The famed flower is already spoken for/ already has a

master’ means she’s already in a relationship, while Big Senior’s
reply of loosening the soil means he’s going to snatch her from her
boyfriend.)

“Hey! That’s not funny.” Xue Jing grabbed a melon seed from
the table and have thrown it at him.

The two of them were squabbling, I took the chance to lean on

Jiang Chen’s side to whisper an admonishment on his ear, “What’s
wrong with you today? Big Senior was just joking around.”

Jiang Chen put on a cold face and did not say anything, I didn’t
quite understand what he was angry for, but I could roughly guess
that it has something to do with Big Senior. Perhaps, he’s jealous?
Although based on past experience, Jiang Chen is a man who hardly
gets jealous, but also somehow, he has strangely gorge himself on
Wu Bosong’s vinegar lately. Hence I can’t rule out the possibility that
he suddenly wanted to set off on the road of becoming a jealous
person, and is hot on his heels, trying hard to catch up in order to
surpass* his master. (T/N: Idiom used is ‘The blue extracted from the
indigo plant is deeper in colour than the plant itself’, which is used to
describe disciples who has overtaken and surpassed their masters.)

This bunch seems to get together often so everyone was singing,

drinking, and screaming for a good few hours without anyone feeling
isolated. Finally, someone reached out to Jiang Chen, then Jiang Chen
picked out a credit card from his wallet and flung it at that guy. This
seems to be a habit he developed back in university. Those days, he
was used to settling the bills during class dinners for being the

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person-in-charge of the class fees. In a year, he’d often lose a lot of
his own money to cover for the class fees.

When signing up the bill, Jiang Chen didn’t even aim a look on the
amount. I took a few fleeting glances and saw that it summed up to
more than 4,000 RMB.

After going out of the KTV everyone said they wanted to grab some
late-night supper. Big Senior puffed out his chest and said, “The
late-night supper is on me.”

There was a burst of cheers.

Jiang Chen and I were at the back, following the crowd. I whispered
to him, asking, “Hey, I checked your payroll card today, how
much worth of salary was there inside?”

He wasn’t in a good mood, “Don’t remember, about half a

year?”

I estimated, his salary is indeed very high, but not maddening high.
So, it was a little hard for me to understand the matter with him not
even blinking his eyes when he signed away almost half a month’s
worth of his salary. In our home, my dad must discuss it over with my
mom when he’s about to buy something exceeding 500 RMB. I think
this should be the attitude my partner must have towards money.

I tugged the corner of his clothes, “Just now, you signed away
more than 4,000 RMB.”

He said, “Not okay?”

“No.” I let go of his clothes, I couldn’t point my finger on it but the

mood suddenly dropped a little.Someone ahead suddenly turned
around to call us, “Class monitor, stop walking so slowly.”

Jiang Chen seized my waist then followed them.

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We had barbecue and claypot congee for late-night supper. I just
ate two sticks of grilled squid when Big Senior shook a bottle of beer
in his hand, saying that we’re going to play truth or dare. No matter
how many years has already passed by, truth or dare still plays a
vital role in our society’s social gatherings. The extent of the
longevity of this game is truly frightening.

The beer bottle spun three times till it stopped, with its mouth
pointed at Xue Jing, Big Senior said, “Truth or dare.”

“Dare.” Xue Jing replied.

Big Senior was mumbling to himself, hesitating, then said, “See

that guy crying by himself, go over to him and tell him, ‘Sir,
did you get into a break up? May I offer my chest for you to
lean on?”

……

I already said that everyone studying medicine are scoundrels.

Xue Jing tousled her hair teasingly then said, “Watch me.”

Our group watched silently as she sashayed amorously towards

that broken-hearted man who was crying while drinking beer. Two
minutes later, that man with tears and snot all over his face,
skeptically leaned on Xue Jing. Afterwards, Xue Jing pushed him
away, airing all grievances, “Dirty, rotten scoundrel!” Then
sashayed amorously back to us.

Startled? Embarrassed? Life is such a trip for that intoxicated man.

The bottle spun one and a half time on the table, then stopped at
Big Senior. Xue Jing let out a sinister smile saying, “Truth or dare?”

Big Senior rubbed his chin thoughtfully then replied, “Truth.”

Xue Jing raised an eyebrow and began to look like she was deep in

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thought.

The interaction between the two of them has caused a concern

among the crowd, acting as an honorary representative of the
masses, I bit on a grilled chicken, then said, “Fellows from the
medical school, I am from the pure and honest arts faculty,
please take note of the limits.”

Hey, what’s with everyone’s facial expression of one like I’ve

crowed like a rooster and fetch things like a dog?

Xue Jing drank a mouthful of beer, and said calmly, “Then, let’s
do a warm-up first.”

The crowd eagerly awaited.

She said, “Which do you think is important, love or money?”

……

The fury of the crowd was hard to appease, being at the receiving
end of the crowd’s attack consisting of bamboo sticks and bones, Xue
Jing was forced to change the question, “Talk about one of your
spring dreams.” (T/N: spring dreams is the chinese equivalent of
wet dreams.)

Now this one’s right. Why keep on pretending to be pure in the

midst of such a convoluted world?

Hence, everyone was tapping on their plates, heckling, “Say it

quickly, say it quickly, say it quickly………..”

As one who expresses the human soul — a representative of the

arts faculty, I did not find it appropriate to follow this group of
ordinary folks in their heckling, hence I just bowed my head
gracefully and used my tongue to scrape the remaining meat on the
wings of this grilled chicken.

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“I actually had a dream last night.” Big Senior said.

“Who did you dream of?”

“Xiaoxi.”

“Eh?” There was a huge bang on the table, I looked at the chicken
bones that have jumped up on the plate.

Jiang Chen actually slammed his chopsticks on the table, I thought

if this was a wuxia novel, those chopsticks would have already
crumbled into dust with the wind blowing it away to a far distance.
Unfortunately, his action only rattled the chicken bones in front of
me, hence this novel is truly just about romance. (T/N: wuxia =
martial arts)

It’s only natural that Jiang Chen and I were more than livid about it,
Xue Jing slammed her hands on the table and began her tirade of
curses, “Haven’t you f*cking heard that you’re welcome to
(do) your friend’s wife?”

……

“Uhm, I mean……stop fooling around, stop fooling around.”

Xue Jing scratched her head, saying, “It’s just a slip of the
tongue, slip of the tongue.” (T/N: bu ke qi = you’re welcome, bu
ke xi = stop fooling around/teasing.)

Big Senior’s face has a look of innocence, “I only called up

Xiaoxi’s name to get her attention so she won’t miss my
wonderful speech.”

After a bunch of used tissues were thrown at his head with him
laughing merrily, he began to talk about a music teacher in his school
whom he dreamed of. He said that in his dreams, she was wearing
garter stockings, playing a violin, bathing under the moonlight.

I could vividly follow his fantasy with the words he used to depict it,

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a perfect combination of vulgar and virtuous, truly spectacular. I
nudged Jiang Chen using my elbow, then whispered, “Who did you
dream of?”

The scenario in my mind was: Jiang Chen uttering the word ‘you’ in
his breathy voice, then when this word reaches my ear, I’ll be
twisting and fidgeting on my seat, my cheeks turning a million
shades of red, then we’ll secretly have fun in our own little world.

But the reality was, Jiang Chen suddenly stood up, downed the
bottle of beer in front of him in one go, then said, “I have an
operation scheduled tomorrow morning, I’ll go back first.
Enjoy yourselves.” As soon as he was done speaking, he pulled me
up to leave, not giving everyone who were seated around the table
an opportunity to urge him to stay.

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Chapter 39
Source: Tea-Quila

Once we were out of the main gate, Jiang Chen called for a taxi and
forced me into the car. He came squeezing in even before I had the
chance to sit properly, he almost made me bang into the window.

The taxi drove for about 5 minutes, I finally asked the question that
I was dying not to ask for the entire night, “Just what happened to
you today?”

“Nothing, I’m just tired.” His eyes were closed.

I wanted to add on, but my phone rang, “Hello, Big Senior?”

“Are you guys alright? I’m sorry I went a bit far just now,
don’t tell me Jiang Chen is angry?”

I really dislike the way he phrased his sentence, what do you mean
by ‘don’t tell me?’ It sounds like the underlying message of this
question is that, if Jiang Chen is angry, then he is too petty. And as a
loyal guardian of someone who protects family and not reasoning, I
feel that no matter how unreasonable can become, it’s not up to
outsiders to talk about it to me. But, I still answered him very politely,
“No, he is really busy recently, so he’s a little tired.”

Look, this is called maturing. Sometimes you just have to pretend.

He said, “That’s good, I’ll treat you two a meal someday.”

“Okay.” I hung up the phone but couldn’t remember what I

wanted to tell Jiang Chen, hence, I could only mimic him and fake
being in deep thoughts while crossing my arms.

“Don’t get too close to Big Senior,” he suddenly opened his

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eyes and said.

I didn’t make a noise, but retorted in my heart that isn’t it a bit too
much to be jealous till like this?

Seeing that I didn’t answer him, he reached over to poke my arm,

“Do you hear me?”

I turned to look out of the window, I decided to use my silence as a

reply to his unreasonable request.

However, I didn’t expect my silence to sustain the entire journey.

Till the taxi was under my apartment, Jiang Chen also didn’t say a
thing. He didn’t even look like he was planning to leave the car.
Hence, I left the car and slammed the door. The taxi driver cursed
and I dashed up to my unit.

The more I think of it the angrier I get. I outrageously gave Jiang

Chen a call to pick a fight, the moment the call was engaged, I
bellowed my heartfelt words, “Jiang Chen, you can’t use this
kind of attitude towards me, I am your girlfriend, you have to
surround me with care and love.”

The other side of the phone was silent. After a long time, “What
attitude did I use?”

I realized I was unable to correctly pinpoint his attitude, I could

only be firm, “Your attitude is not good.”

“Because I told you not to be in touch with Big Senior?”

“Not really…”

“Then what?”

My fingers coiled up the telephone coil. I wanted to throw some

rude words but I didn’t dare to. I was contemplating and
contemplating till I was out of mind and ended the call. Only after

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hanging the call did I realise that my guts are really getting fat.
Alcohol strengthens the guts ah, alcohol strengthens the guts.
Although under Jiang Chen’s obstruction I only sipped two three
times.

The phone rang quickly, I stared at the screen that was showing
‘Jiang Chen’. I swallowed my saliva and decided not to pick it up.

After about 10 minutes, the screen lighted up Jiang Chen’s name

again. I feel that this is the right time to revive a woman’s self-
esteem. Hence, the moment I picked up the phone I spoke from my
diaphragm, “The line was cut off because I accidentally
pressed it! I didn’t pick up your call because I was in the
toilet!”

To escape before the battle is my spare-time hobby.

Jiang Chen gave a cold snort twice and said, “Open the door.”

“Ah?” My reflexes made me turn towards the door, “Don’t you

have keys?”

He was standing outside the door, he glared at me and said, “I

forgotten to bring.”

He walked pass me and lied on the sofa, “Bring me clothes to

change.”

I “oh” and walked into the room, I walked two steps and felt that
something was not right, so I turned on my heels and walked back in
front of him, “Didn’t you go home?”

He pushed me aside and took the remote control, “None of your

business.”* (T/N: in this scenario it is actually leaning towards more
of a “why do you care?/who are you to care?” kind of feel.)

I stood akimbo, “Alright! I won’t care about you! You can’t

care about me too!”

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“Oh?” He threw me a look, he suddenly extended his legs and
struck behind my knees, I couldn’t find my balance and fell onto the
sofa, his legs holding me in place, and entire body weight pressing on
mine, till I couldn’t breathe.

“What did you say about who not caring about who?” He
buried his head into my neck and blinked his eyes slowly against my
neck. His long eyelashes brushing against my skin, it’s numb and
itchy.

I couldn’t hide from this numb and itchy feeling, I could only squirm
and beg for forgiveness, “The next door Old Wang said he is not
caring about the next door Old Lee’s wife anymore…”

He laughed deeply while still buried in my neck, hot breath against

my entire neck, “Chen Xiaoxi, it’s unlucky to stay next to
you..”

My neck is shrinking till its like a tortoise. I said moodily, “It’s

really itchy, get up quick.”

He used the stubble on his chin to rub on my neck and face. Then
he lifted up to head to look at me in provocation. His eyes were filled
with smiling expression and glistening.

For a moment I was shocked by his boyish gestures that my spirits

were gone. I blankly used a tone of discussion to say, “Uh, we are
in a fight, can you get up first?”

He speedily got up from me, with a look as though nothing had

happened, “I’m going to shower, you look for my clothes and pass it
to me later.

I lied on the sofa in that position of being squashed on. It was only
until I heard the water sound did I slowly get up to look for his
clothes.

I knocked twice on the glass door and Jiang Chen opened a gap to

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reach his hand out. The steam escaped through the gap onto my
face. I was still wiping the moisture off my face when my phone rang.
At the same time, Jiang Chen’s voice came from the shower, saying
that the shampoo is about to be empty, remember to buy it.

I negligently answered him and went to the sofa to find my phone.

I found out that the phone that was ringing was Jiang Chen’s phone. I
looked at the screen and it was Big Senior. I hesitated but still
answered it.

“Jiang Chen, the thing we talked about that time, how is

it?” he asked immediately.

I said, “I am Xiaoxi, Jiang Chen is taking a shower, I’ll get

him to call you back later?”

“En, okay.” He hung up without saying anything, a bit unusual.

Just as I was about to put the phone back onto the sofa, the phone
rang again. It was still Big Senior. “Why?”

I mumbled a while before saying, “Xiaoxi, are you staying with

Jiang Chen?”

“Mmm, considered so.” I replied.

He was silent for a while, and said, “I have a favor to ask from
Jiang Chen, it’s as easy as lifting one’s hand, and there’s
remuneration. You know Jiang Chen, this person isn’t that
keen on earning such money, but I think if you guys are
getting married, money is still very important. So, can you
help to see if you can help to persuade Jiang Chen into
helping me?”

“What is it?” I couldn’t hide my curiosity.

“I just want him to give a few hospital’s certified medical

certificates for me.”

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“A few medical certificates can allow us to buy a big
house?” I rolled my eyes, “Forget it, no matter what you want
him to help you with, as long as he is not agreeable, I won’t
help you to persuade him. We are not lacking in money, using
Shenyang’s words would be that we are not lacking in
money*, and the main point is, I don’t want to stay in a big
house, are you going to do the chores for me?” (T/N: Shenyang
is the province they come from. She just used 2 different ways to
express that they are not lacking in money.”

From the silence of the other line, I started to feel guilty that my
words were a little too strong, Big Senior suddenly said, “Chen
Xiaoxi, are you looking down on me right now? Are you
thinking that I am not as pure and high class as you guys?
Have you ever experienced your girlfriend leaving you
because you were unable to buy her branded goods? You
have never experienced having not enough money, don’t
you?”

I sighed, but I stopped myself from saying “I really didn’t have

the experience of my girlfriend leaving me, because I’m a
girl, wahaha…”. I said, “Only eating 2 cup noodles in 3 days,
in order to hide from the landlord rushing for rent I had to
return back home late every night. I’ll walk as long as the
journey is less than 3 bus stops. The nights are so cold till I
had to pile up all my shirts on myself, is it considered lacking
in money? It’s not only your difficulty that is considered a
difficulty.”

After finishing I hung up the call. Not daring enough to hang up on

Jiang Chen but hanging up on others is considered a cheap thrill.

“When were you in need of money? Why didn’t you find

me?”

I turned around, Jiang Chen was wearing a white long sleeve t-

shirt, and blue checkered lounge pants, his towel was draped over

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his neck, he was frowning at me.

I said, “No, I was just talking nonsense. I don’t like to see

this kind of people who act like they are the most miserable
in the world, as though the entire world owes him.”

Jiang Chen looked up at the ceiling, “Chen Xiaoxi….. Can you go

to the hospital with me tomorrow, let me take a scan to
research on the structure of your brain?”

I kneeled and leaned over the arm rest of the sofa and replied him,
“Can can, as long as you pay me.”

He removed the towel and threw it at me, “Who was the one
who told Big Senior that she is not lacking money?”

The towel smashed on my face, I took it off and waved Jiang Chen

over to wipe his hair, “The one who is not lacking money is you,
you swiped 4,000 RMB just now.”

“You are brooding over that 4,000 aren’t you,” he said while
walking towards me.

I shrugged, “Not really, after all, it’s your money, you can do
whatever you want with it. I just hate the rich.”

Jiang Chen sat lateral on the sofa, and I kneeled behind him to
towel dry his hair, “Oh right, Big Senior really only asked you to
issue a few medical certificates for him?”

“He asked me to give him a booklet of it, not a few.

Moreover, even if it’s just a few, I wouldn’t do it.”

I spread my fingers, running them through his hair to determine

how wet they are, “Why?”

He rocked his head to my side and said, “It’s not dry, continue.”

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“Oh,” I put the towel over his head and rubbed a few times.

“This time he asked to issue medical certificates, who

knows what he will ask for the next time? Maybe he might
ask me to use the name of the hospital to purchase
expensive medicines, and during that time, because I already
had such dealings with him previously, I would have no
choice but to deal with him again. As long as you step into
muddy water, you will never be clean again.” He paused then
continued, “I actually didn’t want to let you know all these,
you just have to live your life feeble-mindedly, read your
comics.”

3 black lines came down from the back of my head, I used my

fingers to jab on his scalp, “You then live your life feeble-
mindedly.”

“Wei, I’ll leave my credit card with you?” He suddenly turned

his head to say.

“Ah?” that was unexpected, “Why?”

“You decide how much to swipe next time.” He pulled down

the towel, “It’s dry.”

He walked to the room right after.

I stared blankly at his fleeing back view, why is this child so

awkward…. Didn’t your mother teach you that you have to proclaim
your love loudly…

Alright, the fleeing back view was from my own imagination, I feel
that it fits his current image more.

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Translator’s Corner:

WAHHHH SO SORRY I forgot to upload yesterday…. TTTTTT

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Chapter 40
Source: Tea-Quila

In the night, my phone messages beeped loudly and endlessly, I

truly was very sleepy, just as I was en route of climbing to get my
mobile phone, I lay on my stomach on top of Jiang Chen’s body and
fell asleep. The next morning upon waking up, Jiang Chen kept
harping on how half of his body had been pushed down on till it was
numb, and how women were truly difficult to support and so on.

Only on the road of him sending me to work when I fished out my

mobile phone to look at the time did I recall the text messages from
last night, opening them up to have a look, they unexpectly were
sent by Big Senior, I shook my phone to indicate to Jiang Chen, “Big
Senior’s text messages.”

He shot over a glance, “If there’s nothing much, don’t reply

him.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “He sent quite a few texts……”

I opened up the texts one by one, in order to formulate (what he

said) smoothly and naturally, I won’t especially emphasise on exactly
which numbered text it was, in any case there were many.

With regard to its length, it was roughly the length of a

composition of a Grade 6 Primary School student; with regard to its
emotion, it was probably closer to daily life than ‘The Comprehensive
Collection of Love Letters’; with regard to its content ideology, it had
a review of the past, anxiety about the present as well as despair
about the future; with regard to its punctuation, what ought to be
used were all used, what ought not to be used were all not used……
Should I talk about its content, I must I must……

He said, “Xiaoxi, I still remember the first day of the start of school,
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at that time, I was in the toilet, and heard a melodious female voice
in the dorm saying, ‘I’ll come and help you wipe your bed board, all
right.’ When I came out, Jiang Chen was hanging up a mosquito net
while you were inside the mosquito net wiping the bed board, across
the mosquito net, you waved the cleaning rag facing me and said,
‘Hello fellow student’. At that time, it was as if something struck at
my heart, the moment you left I asked Jiang Chen who you were, he
said (you were) his girlfriend. Only after a very long time when I
heard you talk about the history of you chasing after Jiang Chen that
was full of glories, blood and tears, did I know that I had been tricked
by him. I went to interrogate him, he contrary to what one would
expect was very unperturbed, saying that it went without saying that
you ought to be his girlfriend, there was nothing extraordinary about
whether the timing was earlier or later.’

Reading till here, I couldn’t help but turn my head to the side to
glance at Jiang Chen, he sensed my line of sight and reciprocated by
sweeping a quick look at me, he was unable to make sense of it,
“What’s up?”

“Nothing.” I lowered my head and continued to read the text

messages:

‘However, I didn’t like you that much, at least after getting

acquainted with Liu Xin Na in your dorm with an hourglass
figure, I liked her more. I always joked with you that if I had
known earlier, I would have chased after you, actually I was
taking pleasure in that moment that Jiang Chen’s face would
darken every time I said those words, it gave me a sort of
pleasure of revenge. When I knew that you guys had broken
up, I even bought a bottle of red wine, went home and
celebrated together with a movie, I wanted to wait for a
while till you forgot about Jiang Chen and I forgot about Liu
Xin Na, we would then make do with each other and live our
days, however while I could forget Liu Xin Na, you couldn’t
forget Jiang Chen. Also, I’m very sorry about that matter that

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I brought up, these few years have passed by, you all haven’t
changed, it is only me who has changed, sometimes, I too will
be frightened, how did I compel myself step by step to turn
into this shameless manner, most likely you are also unable
to understand how much internal battle between celestial
beings there was in my heart when I wanted you to persuade
Jiang Chen. Typing out such serious content, it really is very
unlike me. Lastly, I hope that you guys can quarrel or maybe
break up over these texts of mine. PS, if you guys get
married, don’t inform me.’

Kneading at my phone, for a moment, my mood was also a little

gloomy, actually, what he said was wrong, everyone was changing,
nobody was as pure as that version of themselves in the past, this is
something that no one can do anything about, it’s just like how if you
eat something, you definitely have to poop it out…… Don’t beat me
up, please use a medical point of view to digest my analogy……
Uh…… The digestion I am talking about is to understand…… To
understand.

I asked Jiang Chen, “Do you think I have changed? I’m not
talking about outward appearance, (I’m talking about) my
conduct.”

“You have.” He said indifferently, “In the past, you couldn’t

finish a bowl of rice, now you can eat two bowls.”

This mister, you’re here to be funny, aren’t you……

I looked at Jiang Chen as if I was thinking about something, “For a

time last night I suspected that you were being jealous, later
on because of other reasons I forgot to ask you, so I’ll ask
you now, were you being jealous last night?”

He kept a straight face, “I wasn’t.”

“You weren’t……” I scratched my neck and muttered to myself,

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“But Big Senior confessed to me over text……”

An emergency brake, I flew forwards, then was reined back in by

the safety belt, the back of my head struck against the car seat and
pounded loudly, “What was that for!”

“Red light.” He lifted his chin to indicate for me to look out of the
window.

I raised my head and fixed my gaze on the red light for a while,
feeling like it really looked like a pair of eyes of the devil, flashing in
the air, only when I lowered my head did I discover that the mobile
phone in my hand had disappeared. I turned my head to look at Jiang
Chen, discovering that he was in the midst of looking at my mobile
phone, his entire face full of disdain.

I was stunned, this action of his was too shameless, peeping at the
phone text messages of an innocent woman in broad daylight, in
broad daylight, ya, in broad daylight! I dared to be angry but didn’t
dare to speak out, ya, dared to be angry but didn’t dare to speak out!

After a few tens of seconds, the light turned green, he threw the
mobile phone back into my embrace, then used an ordinary tone of
voice that also embodied slight disdain to make two evaluative
comments that were brief yet powerful, “Senseless, what a
hideous mess.”

Seeing him make such an evaluation so sternly from a place of

righteous justice, I too began to examine myself deeply, it had been
more than ten minutes since I finished reading the text messages,
yet I was unable all along to discover their intrinsic essence of being
senseless and being a hideous mess, I have sinned.

After two minutes, Jiang Chen asked me, “Are you thinking of
how to reply his texts?”

I shook my head.

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Roughly after another two minutes, Jiang Chen called me again,
“Chen Xiaoxi?”

“What?” I glared at him very impatiently.

He stuck up the index finger of his right hand that was placed on
the steering wheel to point towards the outside of the window to my
right side, “Someone selling tea leaf eggs.”

I, in a well-practiced manner, fished out three coins from the place

in front of me that placed miscellaneous items, then pressed the
button to roll down the car window, stuck out my head and my hand,
“Auntie, six tea leaf eggs.”

“Hey, alright. Little young lady has gotten prettier again.”

The auntie neatly packed the tea leaf eggs into a plastic bag while
she praised me.

I engaged in sweet-talk and spoke, following her words, “Looking

at how you are so young and pretty, one knows that I became
pretty due to eating your tea leaf eggs.”

“Aiyo, little young lady’s words are so sweet, I’ll give you
an additional tea leaf egg.”

“Thank you auntie.” I twisted my head around and smiled

proudly at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen shook his head smilingly, with a manner of ‘I really can’t
stand you’. Later on, when I peeled the tea leaf eggs for him to eat,
out of seven he ate five. Normally, when we bought six he would only
eat four, this shameless person who exploits others’ prizes of
flattery!

The car stopped downstairs of my office, I said my goodbyes and

wanted to open the door and dash out, Jiang Chen suddenly pulled
and stopped me, “Sit properly.”

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Not understanding, I sat properly, he drew out a few pieces of wet
tissue from the wet tissue box at the front of the car, pulled my hand
over and slowly helped me wipe it, finger by finger, “You peeled
the tea leaf eggs, you definitely won’t remember to wash
your hands when you reach the office.”

I sucked in a breath into my thoracic cavity and didn’t dare to spit

it out, and stared straight at his slender fingers pinching at my short
and fat fingers as he wiped them delicately, there was an odd
moistened feeling as the wet tissue brushed across my skin. I
actually had a feeling of being overwhelmed by favour from a
superior, this sort of ‘being overwhelmed by favour from a superior’
was most likely something like a child who originally was the most
unremarkable one in class suddenly being called by the teacher one
day, and being patted on the shoulder and given tender
encouragement. And I was that type of child that wanted to tap open
the teacher’s head to see if she had been invaded by aliens, I was
unable to enjoy with a clear conscience this fortune that had arrived
suddenly.

So I said, “Jiang Chen.”

“Mm?” He didn’t even raise his head.

I hemmed and hawed and tried to use the most gentle language to
inquire, “Is it…… Is it that that box of wet tissues are about to
expire…… And you want to finish using it? No worries, you
can give it to me, I’ll put it in the office to use, wipe tables
and so on, don’t worry even if it’s expired.”

He slowly raised his head to glance at me, that little expression in

his eyes was so complex, so gentle, so full of thousands of words,
then he again slowly lowered his head, took out another two pieces
of wet tissue, and picked up my other hand to wipe it.

Jiang Chen’s lack of cooperation throttled my glib tongue, I quietly

watched his serious appearance as he lowered his head, for a

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moment, I was a little distracted as I was shuttled back in time, that
moment, him and I, wearing our white school uniforms with blue
borders.

In Senior Year 2, after that time when I threw Jiang Chen’s money
all over the ground in the sports field, I launched a one-sided cold
war at him, at that time, I was extremely discouraged, thinking that I
would never again shamelessly bother Jiang Chen again, I even
threatened myself that if I went to look for him again, I would call the
police and turn myself in, and let the police catch me and lock me
up……

I generally endured my internal torment like this and hid from him
for about a week, when I came across him facing my direction and
walking over, I’ll immediately make a detour, if I really couldn’t make
a detour, I’ll squat down and pretend to be tying my shoelaces, till
one evening, my mum wanted me to buy soy sauce, I bouncingly ran
out while carrying the soy sauce bottles, and, while still alive, ran into
Jiang Chen who was carrying his schoolbag on his back and going
home in the alley. Lowering my head, I discovered that I was wearing
my dad’s slippers on my feet, in that moment, I hated my dad, I felt
very pained, exactly what kind of a dad was he, that he would wear a
pair of slippers that didn’t have shoelaces?

Hence, in a panic, I turned around and ran wildly, then because the
slippers didn’t fit my feet, my left foot stepped on my right foot, and I
fell down on the street while brandishing the soy sauce bottles.

It was Jiang Chen who helped me up, he made me sit on the

doorstep of the entrance of his family’s courtyard, then he asked me,
“Where does it hurt?”

I hung my head and stretched out the palm of my left hand, “It’s
bleeding.”

He pulled out his sports water bottle from the side pouch of his
schoolbag, twisted it open and poured water onto my hand, my

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conditioned reflex was to retract my hand back, he used his other
hand to grip on to mine, and chided, “Don’t move.”

Then he pulled out the sleeve of the jacket of his school uniform to
make it longer, and covered his thumb to help me wipe away the
bloody water on my palm, “Fortunately, no broken glass pieces
went in, your skin broke due to sand particles rubbing
against it, I’ve washed away the sand particles, remember to
apply merbromin* when you return home.” (T/N: Topical
antiseptic for cuts and scrapes)

He lowered his head and lightly blew on my wound, the hot air
brushed at my skin, I could feel the hot air instantly spreading from
my palm to my face.

“Is there anywhere else that’s injured?” He lifted his head to

ask me.

“There isn’t.” I shook my head.

He didn’t believe me, and took my other hand to look, then he

squatted in front of me and pulled up my trouser leg to above my
knee without any explanation.

My heart was beating like a group of devils dancing disorderly, I

was so bashful till I wanted to cry, because when I was younger, I’d
watched a television drama serial that Donnie Yen had acted in
called “Fist of Fury”*, inside it there was a Japanese female
character called Yumi, she had said before, if a man saw your legs,
you have to marry him…… (T/N: A 1995 Hong Kong television serial)

At that time, as I watched Jiang Chen furrowing his brows, seriously

observing my knee, I told myself, “You see, God arranged for the
broadcast of this television serial as well as the occurrence of
his incident, he definitely didn’t do so by chance, he is
hinting at your future development, you ought not to make a
big deal over such a small thing, you must know, you can’t

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disobey the mandate of heaven……”

Afterwards, I one-sidedly decided that we had reconciled.

That Jiang Chen wearing his white school uniform coincided with
the Jiang Chen in front of me wearing a white shirt, the Jiang Chen in
front of me suddenly lifted his head and said, “Chen Xiaoxi, can I
trust that you will handle the matter of the text messages
well?”

I roughly used five seconds before realising what matter he was

talking about, immediately I clapped my chest and pledged, “I’ll
definitely handle it appropriately, I won’t leave any loose
ends behind!”

My train of thought in my heart was this: Our relationship is so

secure, it hadn’t slacked anyhow because of Su Rui, Wu Bosong as
well as Zhang Qianrong, hence, all the more I couldn’t let an
unfathomable Big Senior cause any setbacks, this principle was akin
to how when Shennong* tried a thousand herbs, if he wasn’t
poisoned to death by the intestine-rupturing weed, he naturally
shouldn’t die from choking while drinking water; Madam White
Snake* after managing to successfully pay her debt of gratitude with
much difficulty naturally shouldn’t be caught by the Cantonese to
cook snake soup; Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai* after turning into
butterflies and resting and flying together inseparably naturally
shouldn’t be caught and made into specimens…… (T/N: Shennong: a
mythical sage ruler of prehistoric China, worshipped by the Chinese
for being the father of agriculture, teaching the early Chinese how to
farm, as well as the Medicine King. ‘Shennong tries a hundred herbs’
refers to popular mythology where he researched on medicines and
herbs by eating hundreds of plants to test for their medicinal value
and toxicity. It is said that he eventually died from eating a weed that
caused his intestines to rupture.) (T/N: Madam White Snake: the
titular character of the mythical legend ‘Legend of the White Snake’,
one of China’s Four Great Folktales, a white snake spirit who hopes to

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cultivate herself into an immortal, and who is helped by a human boy
named Xu Xian and hence is grateful and eventually falls in love with
him.) (T/N: Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai: titular characters of
‘Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai’/’The Butterfly Lovers’, another one
of the Four Great Folktales. This folktale is about the two characters
who fall in love but can’t be together, and is often regarded as the
Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet [*cough* though its
earliest written record dates about a few hundred years
earlier than Romeo and Juliet *cough*]. In the legend, eventually
their spirits both turn into butterflies, allowing them to fly away
together and never separate again.)

Jiang Chen closed in and used his lips to lightly touch the corner of
my mouth, and said, “Very good, quickly go to work then.”

I happily went off to work while touching the corner of my mouth,

but I kept on faintly thinking that it was weird, why is it that I’ve
peeled tea leaf eggs so many times, yet I’ve never seen Jiang Chen
helping me to wipe my hands? Also, every time his tenderness came
abruptly, apart from making me feel comforted it also made my hairs
stand on end…… Indeed, I am unable to enjoy with a clear
conscience such fortune that arrives suddenly.

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Amy | Dolly | Xri

Translator’s Corner:

Tea leaf eggs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_egg → like Jiang

Chen and Xiaoxi, I am an ardent fan of these eggs too hehe ^^

40 chapters done!!! Thanks for the wait everyone, sorry that our
schedules have been a bit erratic lately, real life is getting real tough
):

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Chapter 41
Source: Tea-Quila

It’s a double update! So go back, go back!

Every now and then, work gets very dull…alright, I was just being
modest, it ‘often’ gets very dull, however that wasn’t the case today.
Today, a client made me want to swear, made me want to scream,
jump up and smash my computer to pieces with my foot, made me
want to follow his line connection, climb to get inside his computer,
then crawl out from his monitor looking like Sadako, throttle his neck,
lift him, and throw him against the wall.

This client asked me to alter 23 design drafts. Not only that, he

made me change the background colour of the photos of their
products for about 10 times, for instance, changing the #0bdb41
green with a #09dc3f green. I swear, whoever dares to say that they
can tell the difference between these two colours with their naked
eye, I will use a compass to poke them blind.

When Fu Pei who was in his office yelled, “Chen Xiaoxi, go make
me a cup of coffee.” I glared at him coldly through the open door
which quickly made him clamor frantically out of his office to instead
make me a cup of a coffee. When he placed the coffee on my desk,
he said, “Don’t be angry, the market of their products is quite
large. If it wasn’t because he was difficult to work with to a
degree where he’s already hated by both men and gods, he
wouldn’t have turned to our company. You’ve worked hard,
I’ll go out to buy you egg tarts for your afternoon tea!”

When Situ Mo heard it, she immediately craned her neck at us, and
yelled, “I want egg tarts too!”

Fu Pei shot her a dark and chilly gaze, and said, “Oh, is that so?

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Then Miss Accountant, would you like to hand in the accounts
I asked you to do yesterday?”

Situ Mo shifted back to her computer.

When Fu Pei left, Situ Mo said, “A pile of rotten accounts, tell

me how I can finish it in one day! I want to give my husband
a call to cry and complain.”

I was beside her laughing so hard as I was listening in on her acting

coquettishly on the phone call with her husband, saying, “Hubby,
hubby, quickly invent a machine that can turn nasty people
into fine powder. I want to turn that Fu Pei into fine powder
and dissolve him in water for you to drink. I am sick of him.
I’m going to have him nourish your body………”

I gave it some thought, I too fished out my phone to call Jiang

Chen. My call rarely gets answered by him. Oftentimes, when I give
him a call, they are received by other people. So I gently and
cautiously probed, “Hello, Jiang Chen?”

“What?” There has always been a very distinctive quality to Jiang

Chen’s manner of speaking — clear and brief with a hint of
indifference.

I twisted a finger around my phone strap, “Nothing la, it’s just

that I have a client who is very loathsome……”

“I’m busy right now, just wait for my call.” He said, then I
heard the beeping of a busy tone.

I had no choice but to put my phone away, Situ Mo was still

bickering with her husband, speaking one minute then being quiet
the next. I looked at her side profile for a long while, she was baring
her fangs and brandishing her claws but with a happy smile plastered
on her face, upon seeing her smile I also couldn’t help but smile.

It has always been said that everyone’s happiness is similar yet

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everyone’s misery is different. In fact, I don’t think so. It’s true that
there’s different kinds of misery, but there’s also different kinds of
happiness. It’s just that, those people who can make us happy has
always been the same ones.

You see, Situ Mo’s husband answering her calls for a chitchat is
happiness. Jiang Chen hanging up on me is also happiness. Forget
it…..it’s almost as if I’m a sick masochist……

About ten minutes later, my phone was ringing inside my bag, I

thought it was Jiang Chen so I searched for it in a flurry only to find
out that it was actually Fu Pei. He said he has to stay outside for a
little longer as he has something to do, and that the egg tarts were
already bought and was handed over to somebody inside the building
for safekeeping, I had to go down to take it.

Holding my phone on one hand, I disclosed the matter to Situ Mo,

then quickly went downstairs to get the tarts.

The one safekeeping it was a 50-60 year old veteran who’s very
humorous and affectionate. I exchanged a few words with him, and
even persuaded him to try the tarts, but he said, “You young girls
eat a lot of sweet stuff, really too girly, take it away, take it
away.”

I waited a whole two minutes for the elevator but eventually got
impatient. The office was just on the 5th floor anyway so I decided to
take the stairs. I was almost halfway there, panting, when my phone
rang. This time however, it really is Jiang Chen.

“Hello, are you done being busy?” I was speaking at the same
time, climbing the stairs. “What were you busy about just now?”

It was silent on the other end of the line for quite a long while, I’ve
already taken four, five steps but still didn’t get a response, so I
asked suspiciously, “Jiang Chen? Jiang Chen?”

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“Kuh.” He coughed, then asked with the tone of his words
sounding a little uneasy and grave, “What are you doing?”

“Climbing the stairs.” I answered him honestly, “What’s the

matter?”

Again, there was silence. I stood still, unable to make head or tail
of it. I couldn’t help but add seriously, “What’s going on? Did
something happen?”

“Hic…..your panting” He said, then there was a momentary

pause, “It sounds very much like……”

“Like what?” I was confused.

“When you’re on the bed.”

………….

I already lifted my foot up to place on the first step of the next

flight of stairs but silently took it back. Looking at the window on the
landing, and seeing my appearance being reflected on it, I…….the
mighty…..the mighty Chen Xiaoxi just lingered on the stairs, flushed
red in the face.

“Are you blushing?”

“No!” I firmly countered.

Silence dwelled over him for just two seconds before he began
laughing softly nonstop, “Haha……you blushed…..hahaha……..”

I was fuming with rage between gritted teeth, “Jiang Chen! I’m
going to kill you!”

Hence I, while he was laughing nonstop, didn’t say a word, and

dare not pant as I head back up to the office.

I sandwiched the phone between my shoulder and my ear,

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listening to Jiang Chen’s intermittent laughter, as I beckoned Situ Mo
to come over to get some egg tarts. Situ Mo mouthed a silent
question, “Boyfriend?”

I nodded with a smile.

Situ Mo suddenly smiled, then wailed loudly “Chen Xiaoxi, Fu Pei

doesn’t love me anymore, he only loves you now…..wuu
wuu…..and these egg tarts were bought just for you……wuu
wuu……”

Jiang Chen’s laughter in my ear came to an abrupt stop, I glared

fiercely at Situ Mo, “Situ Mo! Do you believe I’ll choke you to
death?!”

She shook her head, pulling a face at me. I gave her one last hard
look then carried the box of egg tarts with both hands, and walked
back to my desk to sit down, “Don’t listen to my colleague’s
nonsense.”

I picked up an egg tart and bit a mouthful, “She’s very bored.”

Jiang Chen said, “En. What were you saying about a certain
client just a moment ago?”

“That damn client was so nitpicky to death, always asking

me to alter the design drafts, and the changes he wanted
were all insignificant. I got so angry that I felt full from
anger.” I shoved the rest of the tart I was holding in my mouth.

Jiang Chen said, “You’re full from anger yet you can still eat
egg tarts.”

“It’s just a figure of speech, I…kuh kuh kuh…..I…..kuh

kuh…….” I couldn’t stop coughing from choking on the flakes of the
crust.

He berated me, “Stop talking.”

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When my coughing gradually subsided, a long sigh came through
the phone, “I’m hanging this call, lest you choke on everything
you eat. Stop eating those egg tarts. When you’re finally
done coughing, drink a glass of water to moisten your
throat.”

The phone beeped, signalling that the call has been cut off again. I
could imagine Jiang Chen looking up at the heavens, with a look of
one asking something wordlessly. Even if he has an impatient look on
his face, he still looks very cute.

When it was time to go home, Fu Pei said he’s treating us out to

eat our first hotpot to officially welcome the winter. When we were
downstairs, I actually caught sight of a car that looks very much like
Jiang Chen’s car. But because his car is just a regular silver sedan,
and seems to be a very common look, I hesitated but still told Situ
Mo and Fu Pei, “It seems to be my boyfriend’s car, I’ll go take a
look.”

Fu Pei wolf-whistled, then said, “Audi A5. Chen Xiaoxi, did you
boyfriend receive a lot of red packets?”

“So the car with the four circles is called an Audi? I’ve
always been calling this as the Olympics car.” Situ Mo said.

I stood still in my place, hurriedly nodding my head in agreement,

there was a feeling of finally being able to find one’s bosom friend,
“Yes! Yes! The Olympic rings but missing a circle.

Fu Pei rolled his eyes, “I really can’t stand the both of you,
you’ve probably never heard of the greatest saying, ‘We
must work hard, for my Dior and your Audi.”

(T/N: “….and our children’s Oreo” lol so according to them,

having these things is a sign that a family is doing well. But basically
all guys wanna own an Audi as it’s a telltale sign of a very successful
man.)

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Situ Mo and Fu Pei were then arguing about how Audi and
Olympics only had a one-word difference. I was on her side, blindly
echoing what she was saying, till the car slowly drove over to our
side, and the car’s window rolled down, Jiang Chen who was sitting
inside called, “Chen Xiaoxi, come here.” (T/N: Audi in Chinese is
Aodi 奥迪, while Olympics is Aoyun 奥运, Dior is also Diao 迪奥, a
reverse of Audi.)

“It really is you.” I hopped and skipped over to him, “Fu Pei
said this car is very expensive, so I almost wanted to say that
I must have been mistaken.”

Jiang Chen got out of his car, then reached out his hand, “Hello,
I’m Jiang Chen.”

I was clueless, wondering what was it that he was trying to do, so I

stuck my hand out to correspond to his actions. Not even managing
to hold his hand, I was unknowingly shoved to the back by someone
who pushed me by the head. When I looked up, Fu Pei was already
shaking hands with Jiang Chen, “Hello, I’m Fu Pei.”

I rubbed my head, glaring at Fu Pei, “Is this Picasso head

something you can afford to just push around?”

Fu Pei said, “Your head actually looks very abstract.”

I brandished my fist at him, Jiang Chen then pulled me to stand on

his side, he also shook hands with Situ Mo who was all smiles as she
said, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long
time.”

After introductions were done, I told Jiang Chen, “How did you
find the time to come over today? We’re just about to go eat
hotpot, boss is treating us.”

The I asked Fu Pei and Situ Mo, “Can I bring my family

member?”

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“Of course.”

As a result of the instigation done by Situ Mo and I, our party went

to what was dubbed as the most expensive hotpot place in the city.
We ordered the Mandarin Ducks pot, the clear broth was especially
for Jiang Chen as he has a weak stomach and can’t eat spicy food.
(T/N: There are many kinds of hotpot, Mandarin Ducks hotpot is the
most popular one which has a divider with one containing clear, mild
broth and the other is a spicy broth.)

Jiang Chen actually likes to eat spicy food, but once he eats them,
he’d get stomachache. It has already been tried and tested, very
much like how quickly my dad gets diarrhea when he eats seafood.

When he sneakily dipped his chopsticks on the spicy side, my

throat aptly felt a little itchy, so I just casually coughed twice, I just
don’t understand why my sensitive Classmate Jiang Chen had a guilty
look on his face and took back his chopsticks.

“Baby Momo, help me pass over that sauce.” Fu Pei said.

Situ Mo shot him a chilly gaze, “How many times do I have to

tell you not to call me baby for you to understand? Get it
yourself.”

Fu Pei turned to me instead, “Xiaoxi, darling, can you pass

over the sauce for me, I have a slice of beef and mutton I just
dipped, I’m going to give you these two slices.”

Jiang Chen took the sauce instead and squeezed some on Fu Pei’s
bowl.

Fu Pei was all smiles, thanking him profusely, “Jiang Chen, I’ve
heard that you and Xiaoxi came from the same place, what is
it called again?”

“X county in X city, it’s a small county in the south of

Guangdong” Jiang Chen said.

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Fu Pei let out an ‘oh’, then casually asked, “How is it there?”

When I heard his question, I thought I’d take the chance to

promote my hometown — my hometown’s air, my hometown’s soil,
my hometown’s people. In general, everyone who is in the literature
and arts possesses profound sentiments towards their hometowns.
For details, please refer to Shen Congwen’s “Border Town” which
spur the boom of the tourism industry of Fenghuang County in
Xiangxi.

However, I did not even have the time to organize my words when
Jiang Chen opened his mouth, and said, “Oh, it’s just a small
town, and the people there don’t just casually call other
people, darling.”

………

After those words were said, there was awkwardness, there were
looks of shock, and there were looks of glee.

While everyone was still reeling from his words, Jiang Chen seized
the opportunity to take two slices of white radish from the spicy
broth……

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Dolly | Amy | Xri

Dolly: LOL Happy April Fools!

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Chapter 42
Source: Tea-Quila

After we finished our hotpot, Jiang Chen sent me back home but
said that he had to go back to the hospital for his shift. I was
extremely surprised by that. I said, “Could it be that you specially
came all the way to get a free meal?”

He was very cool. He snorted twice and questioned, “Can’t I?”

I praised him powerfully on knowing how to live by using such

tactics.

He came back at around 5 or 6 in the morning, the sky was dark

with a little gleam, I was still sleeping. He pressed me down with his
body and while using his cheeks and nose, he brushed them against
my cheeks, neck and shoulder. I could barely open my eyes while
patting on his head and asked, “Are you tired? Are you hungry?”

I didn’t wait for any answer and fell back to sleep. I didn’t have any
other memories.

7:30AM – My alarm rang and gave me a shock. I realized Jiang

Chen ended up sleeping on me. He must have done it purposely, to
take revenge on how I accidentally slept lying on him last night.

With great difficulty, I moved him onto the bed. I unbuttoned two
of his shirt’s button, took off his socks, and yawned while going to
wash up and brush my teeth.

I met Fu Pei in the lift, he looks dispirited and listless, I explained a

little too embarrassedly, “I’m sorry for yesterday, I hope you
don’t mind, Jiang Chen speaks like that, he has no ill
intentions.”

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He rubbed on his temples and said, “It doesn’t matter to me
what that person from your family says, it’s just that last
night while sending Situ Mo home, I got laughed at the entire
trip. At her door we met Gu Wei Yi, and she was in such a
hurry to retell the entire story to Gu Wei Yi, so I got mocked
one more time by Gu Wei Yi.”

Gu Wei Yi is Situ Mo’s husband, and Fu Pei was Situ Mo’s first love.
Fu Pei and Gu Wei Yi were roommates in university. It was said that
Fu Pei was even more of a bastard about relationships in the past
than he is now. He was classified as the type of person who, while
travelling across ten thousand flowers, came in contact with the
flowers, in contact with the leaves, in contact with the faeces used as
fertilizer*, therefore Situ Mo gave up on him, and turned into Gu Wei
Yi’s embrace instead. Fu Pei suddenly came back to his senses and
returned to being a good man, but Situ Mo was firm in her decision….
Anyway, they have a story between them, what’s right, what’s
wrong, I am not that sure. However, Situ Mo and Gu Wei Yi became a
pair, so we know that in their story, Fu Pei is definitely a supporting
role, a thousand wrongs, or ten thousand wrongs, it’s all the
supporting role’s wrong.

(T/N: I’ll put the TN on another paragraph because ^ is too long. An

idiom play on 万花丛中过片叶不沾身. Which talks about how loyal a
man is to his lover, that regardless of him walking into countless of
flowers (aka seductions), he will not get swayed by or flirt with even
a leaf. But Fu Pei flirted with everyone and took flirting to the next
level even with fertilizer hahahahahaha.)

Fu Pei plucked out two hairs while facing the mirror in the lift,
“Chen Xiaoxi, let’s say life is a novel, did I offend the
author?”

I touched my neck with a laugh but didn’t comment.

During lunch break I called Jiang Chen, he said he was already back
to work, he even used a low and coarse voice to announce to me that

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he’s having gastric pain.

I said, if you have gastric pain then you better puke out the two
spicy white radish slices you ate secretly last night.

He said he won’t. It took him great ordeal to sneak something spicy

to eat, he had to cherish the taste for three days.

I helplessly said with a laugh, “Remember to take your

medicine.”

He said, “You are so naggy, I’m going.” Then he hung up.

Sometimes I get taken aback by the occasional childish behavior

that Jiang Chen shows. Just like that time in university I had a quarrel
with him. I bought an orange colour couple wear online which he
refused to wear. I was so angry, mainly because that was bought
with money. Not wearing it is an insult to money. So I nagged and
nagged by his ears every day. I said, I won’t study with you at night
unless you wear it; I won’t pack food for you, unless you wear it; You
can’t hold my hand or waist, unless you wear it.

One day, he got tired of my nags. While helping me with my stocks

technical analysis report (elective course), he suddenly threw the pen
away and copied my manner of speaking and said, “I won’t do your
work for you, unless you stop forcing me to wear that shirt.”

I looked at his angry little face, I was like, aiyooo why are you so
cute, aiyo if you were to wear that orange couple tee it will be even
cuter…

But I gave in, my motherly nature was showing, I felt that I had to
make Jiang Chen’s little wish come true. Hence, I kept that couple
shirt at the bottom of my storage box.

Of course, Jiang Chen won’t admit that he had his childish behavior
at times. He said he was only mimicking my ways, also known as,
learn from the foreign to conquer the foreign.

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I said he is just reluctant to admit*. (T/N: a lit translation would be
“I say you just have a hard mouth”)

He said I am a woodpecker. (T/N: with reference to having a hard

mouth)

….

I have a soft spot for Jiang Chen, he is handsome even if he is

acting cool, is handsome even if he is childish, is handsome even if
he has a hard mouth, even while cracking cold jokes he is handsome.

I wonder if he has any soft spots for me.

In the afternoon, Fu Pei brought the unreasonable customer. It was

my first meeting with that customer. I thought that with his level of
sharp and unkind attitude, at least his looks should be out of the
ordinary. Regardless of whether it is out of the ordinary ugly, or out
of the ordinary handsome, it should at least have the effect at first
look of, ah, this is not a good person or some sort. But, he is just an
ordinary looking man in his 30s. He even looks really honest. I was
very upset. I mean, you look like you are no harm to anything, so
why are you acting like you are devoid of conscience?

Unexpectedly, the client praised me. He even said he really liked

my illustration. Oh right, their product is a pointer reading machine.
Our company is in charge of the instructions manual, cover and back
cover designs. My itchy hands drew a 4 panel comic at the back
cover. 1 – A very fierce looking teaching wearing black spectacles
was standing on the reading machine gesticulating. 2 – A kid sitting
that his desk with his hands supporting his chin while rolling his eyes.
3 – The kid extended his hand and pressed the reading machine. 4 –
The teacher flew far away like a balloon that was popped.

He said that his company planned to produce some merchandise

for the reading machine, like some comics, and asked if I have
interest in drawing them. He also mentioned that everything will be

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drawn based on my liking and will be published like a comic.

I got a shock, I blinked and stared at Fu Pei. Fu Pei smiled and

nodded his head, and answered for me, “Mr. Ruan, lets talk about
our contract value then.”

I was quickly dismissed out of the office by Fu Pei’s excuses. He

said I had a look as though meat pies were falling from the sky, and it
was very un-artist-like. And the aura of an artist will affect the value.
In another words, my dim-witted looks will affect how he can sell me
at a high price.

The moment I got out of office I called Jiang Chen, my speech was
incoherent as I was too happy, luckily Jiang Chen could understand,
no matter what nonsense I babble, he always understands.

I said, “Chen Xiaoxi the thing you wish to do most is coming

true, the time you idled away while reading comics were not
to waste.”

I keep laughing foolishly, he said, “Alright alright stop

laughing, after work I’ll bring you out for a celebration.”

After work he really appeared on time under my office, the first

thing I did when I got into his car was to hug him, following that I
grabbed his neck and screamed beside his ear, “Jiang Chen Jiang
Chen, I am going to publish a comic book! I am going to
publish a comic book!”

He pried my hands off, “Yes, but can you not strangle me to

death.”

I didn’t care, I tightened the grip on his neck, I kissed and bit on his
face, I was on cloud nine.

After smearing an entire face of saliva on him, I was perfectly

contented and sat on my seat with my seatbelt on. He asked me,
“Where do you want to eat?”

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“They actually wanted to have a meal together to
celebrate, but Fu Pei felt terrified when he heard that you
were coming, haha.” I said.

He shrugged, with self confidence he mentioned, “I saw that Situ

Mo and you were not liking how he addressed both of you, so
I only helped to amend his way of addressing colleagues.”

I gave him a punch, “Shall we eat northeastern Chinese

cuisine? I feel like eating dumplings.”

“Okay.”

While waiting for the dishes, I saw Wu Bosong bringing Hu Ran Ran
in. Our seats were a little to the side, and we were blocked by a
pillar. So I could see them, but they couldn’t see us.

Jiang Chen also saw them, he shook he head and told me, “Eat,
don’t go over.”

They sat down somewhere not far from us, I heard Hu Ran Ran say,
“Don’t eat too much, it will be a waste of money we if can’t
finish.”

I remember that day at the banquet she was wearing the

cheongsam with a green base and red flowers, taunting about how
she at which country eating what food, and how she was eating
caviar that was scrumptious with every bite. During that time, the tip
of her brow and the corner of her eyes had a style of misery. But it
didn’t have the beauty it had now while she was saying not to waste
money.

I think if a woman is willing to save money for a man, then at least

she loves him more than loving him for just wanting to spend his
money.

Just then, plates and plates of dumplings of different flavours were

served. I guiltily repented to Jiang Chen, “If I had known I

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wouldn’t have ordered one of each flavor, looks as if I don’t
know how to upkeep a family.”

Jiang Chen picked one dumpling and squeezed it in my house,

“Eat, stop talking.”

The dumpling he forced at me was a vegetable dumpling, the juice

spurted all over when I took a bite. I was in such an ugly situation
and he looked at me while laughing and gave me tissue to wipe my
mouth.

When we left, Wu Bosong and Hu Ran Ran were still eating, I

packed home the left-over dumplings, looks like I will have to eat
dumplings for a few days…

At one random red light we were waiting at while going home,

Jiang Chen suddenly mentioned without much emphasis, “Oh, I
forgot to tell you, my parents are coming tomorrow.”

…..

You have to understand that I was originally intoxicated in feeling

touched by how beautiful the world is and of publishing a comic
book. This feeling was not affected even when I was Wu Bosong and
Hu Ran Ran. Love will always be love. But this feeling is just like the
colourful bubbles under the sun, they can’t be poked.

I was in silence for very long, Jiang Chen stopped his car
downstairs. The headlights shone brightly on the road before us, but
the dark was surrounding the bright areas. The moths, flies,
mosquitoes, every insect that knows how to fly is dancing crazily in
the light, like they were attending a farewell party.

Jiang Chen held onto my hand, “What are you thinking about?”

I am not sure how to reply him, I looked down at our hands that
were intertwined. I used my index finger to gently rubbed on the
knuckle of his index finger, “I’m thinking, when your mother

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sees me, will she still thinking that I am not fit to be with
you?”

He held my hands tighter in silence, his forte is not in comforting

people, or releasing the tension, so the me who is also not good at
such thing has to be the one to undertake.

I caressed his face and said, “This sir, next time can you not
use ‘the weather today is great’ kind of tone to announce a
news like ‘a lion in the zoo escaped and bit someone to
death’.”

He pulled my hand, there’s a look of perseverance in his eyes. He

said, “We won’t follow the same old disastrous road*.” (T/N:
Repeat the same mistake.)

I smiled, “I hope.”

I hope.

I hope there will be a rainbow after the rain.

I hope sunshine will always be after the rain.

I wish us long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful

moonlight, even though we might be miles apart.

(T/N: from a traditional poem ‘Shuidiao Getou’, talking about how

you wish the person you are thinking of can have a peaceful and long
life, and regardless so how far apart you two may be, you two will be
able to see the same beautiful moon.)

I wish when the flock of geese flying in V formation returns, high

above the west chamber hangs a full moon.

(T/N: from another poem A sprig of plum blossoms A poem written

by Li QingZhao, a female poet who misses her husband while they
were separated. The stanza in the novel is 雁字回时，月满西楼.

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However, before this line, was another phrase that talks about “who
will be able to get help from the geese to send me a letter”
followed by that in the novel, when the geese return in their
formation, I will be waiting in the chamber, with a full moon, which
symbolizes missing someone.)

I hope that in everything and everything, to be everlasting, be in

protection, be at peace, and be healthy.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Xri | Dolly | Amy

Dolly: Trying to get on our schedule track.

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Chapter 43
Source: Tea-Quila

At night, I had a nightmare, I dreamt that there was only Jiang

Chen’s mother and I sitting facing each other in an empty room, his
mother was fixing her gaze on me, her face full of profound mystery,
as if she was watching an insect that was pinched between her index
finger and her thumb.

I woke up with a start, Jiang Chen was sleeping beside me in a

state of intoxication, the moonlight shone in from outside the
window, draping a translucent milky white gauze over the entire
room.

I stretched out my hand and lightly brushed aside the hair that was
stuck to Jiang Chen’s cheek, and said in a low voice, “Actually I’m
really scared of your mother, what’s to be done?”

He remained fast asleep, I sighed and sat to the bedside, I used my

feet to fish up my slippers for a long time yet could not fish them up,
only then did I remember that I had been directly carried on the
shoulder by Jiang Chen from the bathroom to the bedroom……

Aiyo, embarrassment in the middle on the night was really……

I pinched my face, thinking that it was really moronic of me to be

thinking about some p*rnographic garbage at this sort of time.

I went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water, went to the doorway

of the bathroom and found my slippers, then drew my slippers and
went to the balcony to watch the streetlights while drinking my
water. The sky was about to brighten, and Jiang Chen’s clothes that
had been thrown downstairs by me were still dispersed in a scattered
manner on the tarpaulin that had been put out by that family on the
third floor. When Jiang Chen knew about it, he scared me by saying
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that he wanted to throw all my clothes away, I had his credit card in
my hand, so I wasn’t scared in the slightest.

“Xiaoxi.”

I turned round, Jiang Chen was crossing his arms and leaning
against the balcony door. I couldn’t see his expression clearly in the
dark, he said, “What are you thinking about?”

This was the second time tonight that he had asked me what I was
thinking about, yet I was still thinking about whether his mum would
think that I wasn’t fit to be with him.

I shook my head, “I had a nightmare.”

He walked over and encircled my waist from behind my back,

“What did you dream of?”

“Demons and ghosts.”

He hugged me tightly, the warm body temperature slowly passing

from his body to my back, he said, “Chen Xiaoxi, you can’t just
run away when you get scared.”

I jokingly said, “Then that would depend on your mum’s

degree of firepower this time round.”

He suddenly used the web between his thumb and his index finger
to seize my chin, turned my face around with great force, and kissed
me sideways from behind. I could sense his uneasiness, when the tip
of his tongue entered searchingly, it even trembled slightly, it was as
if this sort of trembling carried a tiny electric current, that electric
current attracted me to move a little nearer, and move a little nearer
again. I turned my body around and wrapped my hands around his
neck, lightly using the tip of my tongue to touch his lips briefly. He
seized the opportunity to sweep and catch my tongue, and dragged it
into his mouth, sucking with great exertion till the back of my tongue
turned numb, I had a sort of misperception, I felt like it was as if he

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wanted to swallow me down.

As our lips and tongues were tossing and turning about, I heard
him saying fiercely, “Chen Xiaoxi, if you run away again this
time, we won’t have a next time, I’ll do as I say.”

I wanted to say, this mister, how are you able to say such a large
chunk of words while pasting yourself to my mouth? I also wanted to
say, this mister, your usage of such an intense and bossy style of
expression is inconsistent with the cold, detached and unperturbed
image you have all along, by behaving like this, you’re not staying in
character, it’s very unprofessional of you.

When Jiang Chen let go of me, I had to clamber onto him in order
to steady my legs that had gone weak, he pinched my face and said,
“Your eyes are full of mist.”

I didn’t understand, mainly because the difference between this

sentence and the content expressed in the previous sentence was
too great, his line of thought was too flighty, I kind of couldn’t keep
up.

The next day, I spent my entire time at work in a muddleheaded

state, so much so that even when Fu Pei told me that he had
concluded negotiations regarding the matter of publishing the
manhwa, and had even negotiated for a price that was not bad, I
merely pulled at the corner of my mouth to express that I was
actually very happy, it was just my facial expression being a letdown.

When I was about to get off work, I received a phone call from

Jiang Chen, he said that he couldn’t get away, and had me go to the
airport to receive his parents. This made me feel like it was very
unreasonable, what was unreasonable was the location at which I
was to receive them – the airport, what kind of people would choose
to use such a means of transportation as an aeroplane for this sort of
distance between two places that was like this – “Take-off – sing a
pop song – land”? The answer was this: people who are afraid that

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others won’t know that they were rich.

Fu Pei very kindly sent me to the airport, of course I felt like it was
possibly because he had a premonition that I was about to become a
slowly rising nova in the manhwa world, so he had to curry favour
with me now.

I kept on being very nervous before meeting Jiang Chen’s parents, I

was so nervous that there were a few times where I had the impulse
to be nauseous whenever I took a deep breath. I even comforted
myself by saying that if nothing else worked, I could just pretend to
be pregnant, she could not want a daughter-in-law, but she couldn’t
not want a grandson, right? Or perhaps the moment we met, I could
just carry out a segment of repentance that was excellent in voice
and expression for my youthful ignorance back in those days…… In
short, I built myself up a lot in my heart, telling myself that I must not
feel hurt because of her, I must persevere in the principle of currying
favour with her, the moment she finished hitting the left side of my
face, I would move the right side of my face close in……

But the moment I saw them, all my tension was thoroughly

dispelled. To draw an analogy, I originally hoped that her hatred
towards me would be able to be resolved with one slap, but I didn’t
expect that she would feel a need to give me a flying kick to dissolve
her hatred, and yet I wasn’t willing to be given a flying kick, so let’s
just let it be.

I’ve used such an exquisite analogy, yet I still hadn’t said clearly
what exactly had happened, specifically, Jiang Chen’s mother
brought along a woman, unfortunately, I knew that woman, and for a
very long period of time, I detested her. This women was called Li
Wei. During the high school phase, she kept on hovering around Jiang
Chen’s side with the posture of a deceased soul that lingers on and
refuses to disperse, everytime I saw her, I would think, aiya, how is
this woman even less reserved than I am……

I believed that Jiang Chen’s mother didn’t possess such remarkable

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abilities to the point where she knew that I silently hated Li Wei in my
heart, but I also believed that Jiang Chen’s mother wasn’t so
pointless as to bring Li Wei here to tour the town’s constructions,
most importantly, I believed that the expression in Jiang Chen’s
mother’s eyes when looking at me did not have something we call
benevolence.

But sham gestures of politeness was necessary, I reverently and

respectfully said, Hello Uncle and Auntie, I am Chen Xiaoxi, Jiang
Chen has something on and can’t come, he asked me to come and
receive you all to bring you all to the hospital and meet up with him.

Jiang Chen’s dad nodded his head, “Hello.”

Jiang Chen’s mother emitted a subtle syllable from her nostrils that
lay between a “mm” and a “hmph”.

Contrariwise, Li Wei came and pulled at my hand very

enthusiastically, saying, “Xiaoxi, long time no see, you’ve
become prettier.”

I chuckled hollowly, “You’re still so pretty.”

I thought darkly that her saying ‘you’ve become prettier’ was

hinting that I was very ugly in the past, so rightly and inevitably, I
hated her even more.

Though I hated Li Wei, I still had to admit that Li Wei was very
pretty, even more, there was a whiff of cleverness that appeared
through her beauty, to use the words that Situ Mo used to assess her
husband’s beautiful female colleague who was a scientist – this
matter of having equally good looks and wisdom, was certainly very
loathsome.

On the taxi, I strived hard and searched for two topics of

conversation, wanting to close the distance (between me and) the
elders, these two topics were, separately, whether they got motion

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sickness on the plane and whether the airplane meals were tasty or
not. Actually, I still had a lot of topics of conversation, such as – were
the air stewardesses pretty? Did they have good figures? Were their
skirts short? But looking at how their enthusiasm at participating in
my two previous topics of conversation wasn’t great, I too didn’t say
much anymore.

When we were about to reach the hospital, I made a phone call

asking Jiang Chen to come out and wait at the lobby, but when we
reached, we still didn’t see him, hence I called him again, he said he
was on his way.

After roughly a minute, Jiang Chen appeared at the lobby wearing

his white coat, when his line of vision swept to Li Wei, he halted for a
moment, and looked at me questioningly, I shrugged my shoulders.

Jiang Chen and his parents seemed to be a little distant, but this
was understandable, Jiang Chen’s temper was strange, and the two
elders in his family were even stranger.

A few simple sentences were said, Jiang Chen’s mother said,

“Let’s find a place to eat.”

Jiang Chen took off his white coat and passed it to me, I folded it
properly and stuffed it into my purse, he took the travel bag in Li
Wei’s hand. The whole journey, Li Wei had been hugging the travel
bag tightly, it was as if she was afraid that I would dash up to her and
grab it and run away. Plus, the travel bag was so big, I suspected that
there was a dead corpse hidden inside, or perhaps an adulterous
husband.

Along the way, Jiang Chen explained to me in a soft voice, Li Wei’s

father was the Education Bureau Chief in our town, and was good
friends with his father. This I understood, the town mayor and the
bureau chief would definitely be good friends, just like how the class
monitor and the academic rep normally would collude together*.
(T/N: there is nefarious intent in the original Chinese idiom for this)

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When we were eating, it seemed as if Jiang Chen’s mother
suddenly called to mind my existence, “Where is Miss Chen
working at currently?”

“You can just call her Xiaoxi.” Jiang Chen lifted his head and
said a sentence.

I replied hurriedly, “At a design company.”

“Is it a foreign enterprise or a state enterprise?”

I swallowed my saliva, “Private enterprise.”

“Oh, and how is its scale?”

I said, “Three people.”

Everyone present except for Jiang Chen all stopped moving their
chopsticks and looked at me in astonishment, this caused me to
suspect if I had just a moment ago articulated unclearly and said
“kill a person” instead of “three persons”. (T/N: In Chinese, three
persons is “san ge ren” while kill a person is “sha le ren”, which I
guess sounds similar.)

After quite a while, Jiang Chen’s mother said again, “Has Miss
Chen considered changing jobs?”

I felt like what she wanted to ask more was, has Miss Chen
considered changing boyfriends, but I’m sorry, this madam, I’ve
pestered your son for too many years, if I gave up halfway, it would
appear as if my personal character had no perseverance.

Hence I shook my head and said, “No.” I thought for a bit and
supplemented, “I like this job a lot.”

She already no longer took the trouble to conceal her expression of

disdain in her eyes, she directly omitted me and told Jiang Chen,
“Jiang Chen, Li Wei has quit her job and is preparing to take

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the entrance exam to become a postgraduate student in your
school, so she intends to stay in X City for a while, in any
case, there’s an empty room at your place, let her stay at
yours, your Uncle Li and co will also be more at ease.”

Jiang Chen didn’t even lift his head, “It’s not convenient.”

“How is it not convenient?” She slapped her chopsticks on the

table with a bang, the sound was so loud that I suspected that she
had profound internal force*, I even suspected that later on, when
the waiter tidied up the table, he would have to dig out the
chopsticks from the table. (T/N: a concept in Chinese martial arts,
where one trains up their ‘internal force’, allowing them to increase
in strength and power)

Because I was letting my imagination run wild, so I wasn’t in time

for the favourable opportunity of being a peacemaker, instead, it fell
into Li Wei’s hands in vain, regarding this, I was very grieved.

Li Wei smiled and pulled Jiang Chen’s mother’s hand, saying,

“Auntie, don’t be angry, indeed it’s not particularly
convenient, I’ll just stay at a hotel, anyway it’s not that long
a period of time.”

I kicked Jiang Chen underneath the table, he raised his head and
looked at me in puzzlement.

Uh…… Actually, I also didn’t know why I wanted to kick him, it’s
just that I suddenly felt like the atmosphere had arrived……

Jiang Chen’s mother was unyielding, “How is it not convenient?

You and Li Wei have grown up together since young, the
elders all trust you both, plus, letting a girl stay at a hotel
alone is too unsafe.”

I, holding on to the spirit of there being no time to lose,

immediately followed after the end of her words and boot-licked,

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“Yes, it’s very unsafe.”

However, it seemed like my identity was not suited to say such

words, because the moment I finished speaking, the entire dinner
table sunk into silence again. Hence, I withdrew my head and
decided that following this, I wouldn’t speak anymore even if I was
beaten to death.

“Why not you think about who was the one who bought the
house?” Jiang Chen’s mother slapped the table and said, “Don’t
tell me I don’t even have the right to invite a friend over to
stay?”

Jiang Chen didn’t say anything more, he only took down the purse
that I had hung up on the chair, and searched out his house keys
from inside, after which he passed them to Li Wei and said, “What
my mum said is also not wrong, indeed it isn’t safe for you as
a girl to stay outside, these are my house keys.”

The plot had turned around so rapidly, Jiang Chen’s sudden

sensibility caused Jiang Chen’s mother who was still giving a
performance of being angry to stare blankly on the spot.

Jiang Chen then fished out his car keys from his pocket and passed
them to Li Wei, “I remember that you have a driver’s license,
having a car here is more convenient when going out.”

This time, Li Wei didn’t dare to stretch out her hand to receive (the
keys), she looked towards Jiang Chen’s mother with an expression of
one crying for help, Jiang Chen’s mother also looked towards Jiang
Chen’s father, Jiang Chen’s father said in a deep voice, “Jiang Chen,
what are you doing?”

Jiang Chen placed the keys by Li Wei’s hand, his tone of voice was
actually very placid, “This was also not my car to begin with.”

My heart had risen up to my throat, underneath the table, my hand

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desperately pulled at the lower hem of his clothes, I thought to
myself, if you want to rebel and so on, don’t choose a time when I am
present at the scene, those who don’t know will think that it’s me
who instigated you.

He gripped my hand and glanced at me, this glance was a

meaningful one, but I didn’t understand it, when I did understand it
was already too late to stop (him).

He said, “Dad, Mum, I’ve already told you before, Xiaoxi is

my girlfriend, I’m living with her now, we want to get
married, I hope to get your consent.”

“I don’t consent.” Jiang Chen’s mother said.

I thought to myself, I too don’t consent, I haven’t been proposed to

yet……

Jiang Chen clenched my hand tightly, and said, “It doesn’t

matter if you don’t consent, back then, you too didn’t
consent when I took the entrance exams for university and
was choosing my major, plus you also didn’t consent to me
becoming a doctor.”

My emotions were lying in between “please shut your mouth

and don’t cause trouble for me” and “stand up, applaud and
say, ‘So handsome!’”, I was very conflicted.

Jiang Chen’s parents were soon about to flip out, however two
knocking sounds came through the door of the private room, the
waiter entered and asked, “Is there anything I can do to help
you?”

Only then did I discover that the service light of the private room
was lit up.

“(I’ll) pay the restaurant bill.” Jiang Chen passed his credit
card over to the waiter, I too didn’t know when the credit card that

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had all along been in my purse had gotten into his hand.

After the waiter retreated and left, Jiang Chen said, “Li Wei, I’ve
given you all the keys, you also know the route to my house,
after you’re done eating, I’ll have to trouble you to send my
parents back to rest, I have an operation tonight, tomorrow
I’ll take leave and bring you guys out to roam around again.”

After he finished speaking, he too didn’t care about his mother

swatting the table saying, you sit down for me, he pulled me up with
one hand, “Send me to take the metro, I don’t have a metro
card.”

As I was being dragged away by him, I turned around and said,

“Uncle, Auntie, goodbye.”

Jiang Chen walked on ahead, I followed blindly behind him, holding

on to the credit card. After walking for about 20 minutes, he halted
his footsteps, I accelerated my footsteps and walked to his side to be
side by side with him.

He held my hand and walked slowly ahead, “Chen Xiaoxi, when I

was small, they often quarrelled.”

I comforted him, “My parents often quarrelled too, my mum

even said that she wanted to use the vegetable knife to cut
my dad up into minced meat and wrap dumplings.”

He lowered his head and glanced at me, “You’re talking

nonsense, right?”

I rubbed my neck, “You can even see that. Though I want to

say, that sort of display of yours just now, has caused me to
be under great stress.”

He ignored me, and continued speaking, “Often, I would be

practising on the piano in the piano room, and they would be
just outside, cursing each other, desperately insulting each

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other’s eighteen generations of ancestors, or desperately
using their spoken words to insult and question each other’s
ability to propagate the next generation. As someone who
shares the same ancestors as them, and is also their next
generation, I was under great stress.”

I lifted my head and patted his shoulder, saying, “Being flippant

is not your style, it can’t help you modify your image into an
uninhibited vagabond.”

He pinched a handful of my face, “It’s really frustrating, you

say, why don’t they get a divorce?”

I analysed it matter-of-factly, “If they get a divorce, it’ll be

difficult for them to account to their work organisations.”

He laughed, “How do you know that it’ll be difficult to

account to their work organisations?”

I said, “When I was small, I felt that my mum was very

fierce, and advised my dad to marry someone else, it was him
who told me that it’ll be hard to account to his work
organisation.”

Jiang Chen again stretched his hand out to pinch my face, “How is
it that matters as big as the sky all become so hilarious once
it reaches you?”

This probably is what they call – innate talent.

“Let’s go, we’ll take the metro home.” Jiang Chen let go of his
hand that was holding on to mine, and wrapped his hand around my
shoulder, “I have no money and no metro card……”

Coincidentally, it was the time people got off work, the metro was
squashed till it was like cans of salted fish, my back was pressed
against the carriage wall as I stood, Jiang Chen was standing in front
of me, his two arms propped up at the two sides of my body, helping

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me block out the crowds of people.

I raised my head and looked at him, squinting my eyes as I kept on

smiling, he was unable to make head or tail of my smiling, “What’s
up?”

I said, “Hey, on television, if the male and female leads

were on a congested vehicle, there would definitely be such a
posture, using your body to keep off the crowds, you’re so
romantic.”

He had an expression of “I really can’t stand you” all over his

face.

I stood up straight, and leaned over, and hugged him beamingly,

my face was plastered against his chest, and my two hands were
hugging his waist, as they interlinked behind his back.

I said, “Jiang Chen, can I not take leave to accompany your

parents tomorrow, I have to discuss the contents of the
manhwa with the client tomorrow, plus I haven’t been looked
down on by other people for a very long time, I have to
recuperate.”

Actually, I was thinking that if I was present tomorrow, I didn’t

know how much more awkward the scene would get, I might as well
not appear and dampen their spirits.

He nodded his head, and said, “Okay.” He paused, then said

again, “It’s been unfair for you.”

I shook my head, and looked at his eyes as I said, “Jiang Chen, I

love you so much.”

He was a little uneasy as he moved his eyes away, and let out a
“mm” in a low voice.

After about five minutes, he suddenly lowered his head and asked

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me, “What’s to be done? I have no house and no car now.”

I pretended to be in deep serious contemplation, only after a while

did I smile and say, “How about this, if you tolerate me eating a
lot and not doing any work*, I’ll tolerate you having no house
and no car.” (T/N: A Chinese idiom meaning being a parasite)

He laughed and lowered his head, using that side of his cheeks
that had a dimple to lightly rub against my cheek.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Amy | Dolly | Xri

Translator’s Corner:

The showdown of Jiang Chen & Xiaoxi vs Jiang Chen’s parents has
finally arrived!! I love the image of them taking the metro together,
and Xiaoxi chasing away Jiang Chen’s blues with her nonsense
ahaha.

Speaking of Li Wei, I was reminded of a detail that I read about on

Weibo a few months ago (with regards to the drama). Remember
how Jiang Chen couldn’t remember his schoolmates’ names and
didn’t know who Li Wei was initially? Well halfway through the
drama, while he did eventually know who Li Wei was, unfortunately
he still spelled her name wrongly in his contact list on his phone. (It
should be 李薇 not 李微). Don’t know if it was intentional on the
production team’s part but haha it sure adds an interesting touch ?
And is pretty in character too ?

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Chapter 44
Source: Tea-Quila

When the two of us arrived at the station near home, his phone
suddenly rang. He fished it out from the pocket of his coat, took a
glimpse at who it was, then tucked it back in. I reached into his
pocket and took the phone out, pressed the button to answer the
call, then held it up against his ear.

He looked down to glare at me, then reluctantly answered,

“Mum.”

Silence dwelt on us for more than five minutes. In the noisy

subway, I could barely hear the words which sounded like ‘die’,
‘leave’ and other short words that were rich in colour. It may have
been because I did a lot of homework regarding sentence
construction when I was in grade school, and basing it on the way his
mum usually behaves, I’ve constructed some sentences from the
phrases I’ve just heard: “You have to make that damn woman
leave! Either I die or she leaves! I’ll just die if she won’t
leave………alright then.” When I was a kid, the teacher would
often mark me with an X as my sentence construction was different
from that of other kids.

In the end, I heard Jiang Chen say, “I won’t listen to you, so be

it, I’m busy right now.”

I just want to make a side comment, if I would talk to my mom like

that, she would probably shove me back inside her womb, drown me
in amniotic fluid, then strangle me using an umbilical cord.

Jiang Chen seems furious, after he hung up the call, and shoved
the phone inside my coat pocket, he never uttered a single word
again.

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I touched the phone that was inside my pocket and apprehension
blossomed in my heart: Should I remind him that this is his phone?
Will he fly into a rage out of humiliation and say he doesn’t need a
phone? Then it would be convenient to me who has the intention of
wanting to change my phone.

As we were idling in the station, I kept on pushing Jiang Chen to

finally say something. He took my hand and followed the surge of the
crowd who were alighting. We were almost overwhelmed by the
crowd at one time so Jiang Chen simply pulled me, and locked me
inside his arms as we walked forward. When we finally escaped with
great difficulty from the subway, Jiang Chen released me, heaving a
sigh, “It’s difficult without a car.”

I teased him, “Young Master, how long has it been since

you’ve taken the subway? I’ve never seen you complain back
when we were in university.”

He replied indifferently, “If I wasn’t around during university,

who knows how many times you’ll find yourself crying in the
bus and subway.”

I couldn’t help but pull on his sleeves, my fingers tightly clutching

unto it.

We were from a small town and came to the city to study in a

university. In our town, when you amble down the street, there would
be simple-minded and honest uncles who are all smiles, riding their
motorcycles that are attached with some sort of cart, asking you,
“Child, where are you going?” Hence, when I went to university
and saw the cobweb-like bus and subway system, I just felt stupid. So
no matter where I go, I’d just follow Jiang Chen around. He was
responsible for taking me back and forth in those complex bus and
subway routes. I never had to think about which line I should take to
get there, or worry about taking one that was going to a wrong
direction.

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When I was just starting my work after graduating, one day he
especially took me on a lot of bus and subway rides — from the
hospital he was interning to the place where I live, from my place to
my company, and again from my company to where he was
interning. He even made a mnemonic chant for me to learn by heart,
‘hospital – company, cross the street 304, home – company, cross
the street 507, home – hospital, cross the street 216’, he told me I
also have to remember, if the places in the mnemonics are the same
but are written reversed in the bus, then I don’t have to cross the
road. I said, I got it, I’m not that stupid. Even though I claimed to
have already known, but I occasionally still take the wrong one.
When that happens, I’d just casually look for a bus stop to get off,
then make a telephone call to Jiang Chen, a call that was like me
spitting on his face if he were around, asking him to bring me back.

Later on, we broke up. I changed companies and residence. I very

carefully and prudently documented every single line and route on
my notebook, but I still kept on taking the wrong one again and
again. There was once when I went home from working overtime, as
soon as I got on the bus, I held unto the pole then started to doze off,
when I woke up and found out that the bus has already passed by my
stop without me knowing, I fished out my phone in a moment of
desperation, wanting to call Jiang Chen to come and save me. Only
when I was pressing down on the keys did I suddenly come to my
senses, I just started bawling madly while holding unto the pole.
Anyone who was there but wasn’t privy to what really happened to
me, would think that I was the biological mother of that pole, and has
been separated from it for many years.

At that time, I was standing next to a girl who dyed her hair like
the rainbow after the rain during the summer. She was chewing her
gum and looked at me compassionately, saying, “Are you all right?
Does it hurt anywhere?” I said, “I took the wrong bus.” After
she heard it, there was a blank look on her face, then she cried out,
“You caused me to swallow down my gum.”

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After that, I also had a blank look on my face, then I continued
crying, the kind of crying wherein both tears and snot were running
down my face. I said, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you to swallow
down your gum, how about I compensate you with another piece of
gum? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take the wrong bus. I’m sorry, I
remembered just now that I really don’t have anyone I can rely on.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry. I’m sorry, don’t be scared of me, I’m
really not crazy.

When that Rainbow Girl heard the word “crazy”, she silently
moved a few steps to the side. Upon reaching the next bus stop, she
just pried the doors that still weren’t fully opened, and dashed out.

I heaved a sigh, if only time could go back to that moment. I really

want to calmly and even-temperedly give an explanation to that
Rainbow Girl, explain my sudden helplessness, explain my sudden
wistful longing, explain that I’m really not crazy…….

In life, sometimes it gets difficult to gauge things — which is more

painful, to have never obtained it or to obtain it and then lose it? I
loosened Jiang Chen’s cuffs then grabbed his pinky finger, swaying it
twice.

Jiang Chen put his other hand over mine, slightly gripping it, “Stop
swaying.”　

My mouth twitched.

I turned my head and saw that there were roasted sweet potatoes
being sold by the roadside, “Look, roasted sweet potatoes.”　　

“Oh.” He said.

I dug in my heels, refusing to pass by it, “I want to eat.”

“Not clean, causes cancer.” He said.

I clearly saw that the facial expression of the uncle roasting the

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sweet potatoes turn stiff, judging by the way he was tending to the
the hot coals, I had no choice but to quickly pinch the flesh on Jiang
Chen’s arm, wringing it around, saying, “What kind of nonsense,
it smells delicious, you’re going to buy sweet potatoes for me
this instant.”

When I was a kid, and gets complained for having beaten up

another kid, my mum would quickly rush over, to scold me, and beat
me up before the other kid’s mum could open her mouth. She call it,
‘strike first to gain the upper hand’, this way the kid’s mum would be
embarrassed to say more. On the contrary, I think they’re not
opening their mouths in fear of fueling my mum’s temper which
would consequently make my mum lose her senses, and accidentally
kill me……..

Jiang Chen turned to me with a look of incredulity, I think he didn’t

expect the me who was so tender, that when pinched, water would
come out, was also domestically violent.

I glared at him viciously, “Buy me sweet potatoes!”

“Buying then buying, no need to be so unhinged.” He

mumbled to himself while fishing out his wallet. “Boss, give me
two roasted sweet potatoes please.”　

The boss wrapped two sweet potatoes in a paper bag, and handed
them over. Lastly, he didn’t forget to stress a few words, “Eating my
sweet potatoes strengthens one’s body, causing cancer is
just nonsense.”

Jiang Chen looked surprised, then recovered with a smile, saying,

“Sorry, just now I was only trying to scare my girlfriend.”

After receiving the piping hot sweet potatoes, I insisted on eating

them while walking. Jiang Chen said, “You want to eat them right
now? Then stay away from me, I don’t want anyone to know
that I know you.”

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As soon as I peeled the sweet potato off its skin, a whiff of delicious
steam rushed into my nose, while a mouthful of bite had my mouth
exclusively filled with the lingering, dense aroma of the sweet potato.

I lifted the sweet potato towards Jiang Chen’s mouth, “It’s so

good, give it a try.”

He evaded, and gave me a look, “I thought I already made it

clear that I won’t?”

“Just one bite.” I persuaded him. “It’s really good, if you

won’t try it now, you’ll spend the rest of your life regretting
this decision, trust me.”

He was unable to resist me, and was ultimately forced to take a

bite, only that this bite took a big chunk of my sweet potato………I,
this old mother, is truly regretting to death.

The journey going home would roughly take only around 10

minutes at most, but because I’ve also been eating sweet potatoes,
we still haven’t reached the community gates though we’ve already
been walking for over 20 minutes. Jiang Chen was furious, saying,
“You can go eat by yourself, when you’re done, remember to
go home.” Afterwards, he stormed home.

I finished eating the sweet potatoes downstairs wearing a

contented, happy smile. The entire time, on the third floor, Mrs.
Huang’s daughter was rolling on the ground, saying “Mum, I want
to eat her sweet potato.”

My bad, my bad.

When I got home, Jiang Chen was watching a game. I pounced on

him, then beat him up “I allowed you to throw me aside then
you ran off!”

He didn’t avoid, nor dodge, laughing as he let me pinch him, and

bite him, “In any case you would definitely follow and catch up

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no matter what.”

……

This feeling of being eaten up is what people call ‘helplessness’.

But what can I do? Perhaps the so-called romance only has that kind
of mood, the kind where there’s no other option but for the spirit to
be strong but the flesh to be weak. The sweetness of good fortune,
and the sadness of bad fortune.

I was resting my head on Jiang Chen’s lap, my fingers were

caressing his chin. I didn’t think that his face which seems clean-
shaven actually has stubble. It felt prickly but it couldn’t prick,
making me feel like a kid once again when I secretly opened my
dad’s toolbox, and felt the sandpaper my dad has used till it was
worn.

Jiang Chen lowered his gaze from the TV down to my face, after
looking at me thoughtfully for a while, he said, “Lying down like
this, your face looks very big.”

……

I remember that there was a saying which goes, if a man likes a

woman very much, he can’t help but want to bully her, looking at her
crying face, he’d be able to get some sort of inexplicable, sick
satisfaction. From now on, I’ve decided to stick with this saying
throughout my life, without wavering, otherwise the coming days
would really be impossible to go by.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT CHAPTER

Dolly |Amy | Xri

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Chapter 45
Source: Tea-Quila

The next day, I went to work as per normal, Jiang Chen went to
accompany his parents and Li Wei, in that time period he made a
phone call to me, and said he was in some garden looking at
sculptures. The moment I heard the word ‘sculptures’, the artist cells
in my bones began to hoot and howl wildly, supposing that my artist
cells had mouths.

I asked Jiang Chen, what kind of sculptures were they? He said,

humans, animals.

I then asked him, what materials were used then? He said, metals,
plaster.

I asked him again, are the lines elegant then? He said they weren’t
straight lines.

I ultimately was left without choice, I could only tell him, then you
tell me about a sculpture which left the deepest impression on you.
He said, there was a bronze statue of Qu Yuan* with his head raised
and chin facing the sky that left a very deep impression on him,
because the colours were very trippy. (T/N: Qu Yuan: a famous
statesman and poet from the Warring States (he lived around 300
years B.C), famous for his patriotism and classical poetry, and for
being really depressed and anxious due to his concerns about his
State (Chu). He famously is said to have committed suicide in a river
after hearing about the capture of the capital of Chu. We celebrate
his death anniversary every year (Dragon Boat Festival), where we
race dragon boats (a tradition originating from the act of searching
for his body in boats) and eat rice dumplings wrapped in leaves
(which originated from the rice people threw into the river back then
as an offering to his body and to distract the fish from his body.)

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The moment I heard that I was very excited, I questioned closely,
asking in what way were the colours trippy? He said the entire bronze
statue was a golden copper colour, but there was a circle of ash gray
at Qu Yuan’s raised chin.

I pondered for a moment, and explained to him that that was most
likely to highlight Qu Yuan’s beard, in artistic expression, using
something as a foil to another was a very important type of
technique. What you saw was an entire bronze statue of Qu Yuan,
perhaps that artist was actually using an entire bronze stature to
highlight that circle of white beard hairs, perhaps it was a symbol, to
symbolise that the truth was unafraid of time and hardships and so
on.

Jiang Chen said, Chen Xiaoxi, you have allowed me to understand

that art is really connecting.

I said humbly, you’re too kind, you’re too kind.

He then said, artists really don’t have it easy, in order to symbolise

that theme you said, he most likely thought of many methods, only
then could he get the birds and pigeons to perch on Qu Yuan’s chin
every day and poop.

……

You see, how difficult us artists have it, we even have to take care
of the toileting locations of birds and pigeons.

In the afternoon, we had a meeting that lasted the entire afternoon

because of the manhwa, the thing I hated most in this life was having
meetings, not ‘one of (the things I hated) most’. I always felt that
with a group of people sitting foolishly in a circle, there at least ought
to be a bonfire lit in the middle or something……

Our company never held meetings, really with only three people,
Fu Pei also was ashamed to say the two words “hold meeting”, but

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the other company was different, when we reached their conference
room, we jumped in shock, there were a circle (of people) densely
packed and sitting round an oval table, seated sparsely surrounding
them were even some girls holding big black books, looking like
secretaries.

The meeting was smelly and long, there was a whole mass of
conversation about the tentative plan for the manhwa, then after a
long time (it turned out that) there was not even a single member in
this meeting who knew how to apply screentones, they were merely
doing it as a mere formality, in any case, it was all good as long as
the manhwa I drew in the end had a prop that was their company’s
reading machine.

After the meeting was over, Fu Pei took the initiative to suggest
that he wanted to upgrade the office equipment for me, he said that
he was going to change my computer, my scanner and my drawing
boards and et cetera completely to the newest ones. Even though
when I drew comics, I was accustomed to first use pens to draw, then
scan it to the computer for colouring, with regards to the matter of
wasting company funds, I was still extremely passionate.

As it was almost time to get off work after the meeting was over,
Fu Pei simply sent me home.

I did not anticipate that I would meet an Wu Bosong leaning

against the door, smoking as he lowered his head at the entrance of
my house, but there were too many matters in the world that I hadn’t
anticipated, I too hadn’t anticipated that Obama would still be able to
become the American President without my support.

Hearing footsteps, Wu Bosong raised his head, the moment he

raised his head, I was so shocked that I took two steps back. Just two
or three days ago, (the Wu Bosong) I saw was still radiant with
happiness, how was it that all of a sudden, his facial hair was stubbly
and unkempt, and he was so dispirited and aged that he seemed like
dried radish that had been pickled.

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I could roughly guess what had happened, I could only make an
effort to pretend to be calm as I said, “You’ve waited for very
long, have you? Why didn’t you call first?”

He said, “I did call, you didn’t answer.”

I fished out my phone, only then did I discover that I had turned it
on silent mode while having the meeting in the afternoon, I hurriedly
explained, “I turned it on silent mode and forgot to change it
back.”

Then I fished out my keys to open the door while greeting him,
“Before you come in, put out that cigarette, why do you
appear to be so haggard?”

The moment Wu Bosong entered the door, he sat on the sofa

motionless, I searched out a teabag, made a cup of hot tea and
stuffed it into his hands, then I used the most intellectual, most
understanding, least gossipy tone of voice to say, “What happened
to you? What happened?”

He fixated his gaze on the tea in his hands and said, “Ranran
wants to break up with me.”

I bit my lip, took a deep breath and asked, “And?”

“And don’t you know it all already?” He raised his head and
looked at me, “What kind of frame of mind did you use to look
upon this relationship of mine? Enjoying the show?”

I suppressed my anger and said, “If you must speak like this, I
feel that I have no need to listen.”

“I’m sorry.” He sighed, “It’s not directed at you.”

I waved my hands, “Then what do you intend to do following

this?”

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“I don’t want to break up.” He said, “Ranran said that
person is already beginning to have suspicions, she’s very
afraid that if he knows, he will do some things to me, you
know that person……”

I knew, plus with me being born as a normal citizen, my hands

were tied.

We sunk into a period of silence, at last Wu Bosong’s eyes lit up

and he said, “I’ll take her with me and leave, we’ll return to
New Zealand.”

I pointed out the most important point he had overlooked – if Hu

Ranran would leave with him.

He said, “Why won’t she leave with me?”

I said, “Because her home is here, her parents are here, she
doesn’t dare to be certain that after she leaves with you, the
people in her family won’t as a result meet with some terrible
things.”

The light in Wu Bosong’s eyes slowly dimmed, “I can’t even

protect my own girlfriend, am I very useless……”

I really didn’t know how to comfort him, that set of silly talk that I
normally used to deal with Jiang Chen also seemed to be not very
suitable, you think about it, if at this time I said that actually you too
aren’t very useless, at least you can speak English and so on, I felt
like he could possibly splash the hot tea in his hands at me.

The scene sank into him incessantly repenting and lamenting

remorsefully, with me incessantly repeating that no, no, you’re
thinking too much. And the most sorrowful thing was that, we both
knew that this sort of conversation wouldn’t help the situation at all,
but the only thing we could do was to repeat ourselves like this.

When Jiang Chen came in, he saw two people sitting in the living

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room lost in thought with lifeless eyes. After he finished greeting Wu
Bosong, he walked over, patted my head and said, “Why didn’t you
answer the phone? Have you eaten?”

Only then did I realise that the two of us had sat opposite each
other wordlessly for an hour or two, yet we still hadn’t thought of a
way to resolve the matter at all.

Wu Bosong stood up and said that he was going to go back, Jiang

Chen clapped his shoulder and said, let’s go, let’s go eat first, leave
after we’re done eating.

We ate at the Sichuan cuisine restaurant downstairs, Jiang Chen

had already accompanied his parents and had eaten, I ordered a
basin of pickled vegetables with fish, Wu Bosong ordered a dozen
beers, Jiang Chen and I both accompanied him to drink, because at
this moment, the only thing left that we could help him with was
most likely accompaniment.

After two glasses went down into his stomach, Wu Bosong began
to say dishearted words of wanting to give up, he even began saying
words about how actually, he also didn’t really love Hu Ranran that
much, and Hu Ranran was also not considered to be a good woman
and so on.

Our hearts were filled with indignation, yet we had no words to

reply him with, so again we could only accompany him and continue
to force ourselves to drink alcohol, Jiang Chen’s stomach wasn’t
good, I didn’t let him drink a lot, Wu Bosong was busy talking long-
windedly and also didn’t drink much alcohol, hence the result was
that I somehow unfathomably drank till there were two Jiang Chens
and two Wu Bosongs appearing in front of my eyes.

But my consciousness was actually very clear, it was just my

movements that were a little sluggish, I supported myself by holding
on to Jiang Chen’s shoulder, and passed the greater part of my
weight onto his body, then closed my eyes and listened to their

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conversation.

Jiang Chen told Wu Bosong, I know you will still find people to love,
but they all won’t be this one. I don’t know if you can live your days
like that. I’ve tried it before, and I can’t, that sort of feeling is very
strange, I don’t know how to describe it to you. There won’t be any
sort of heart-tearing and lung-cracking pain, but there will be
discomfort. In medicine, we have a formulation called Numerical
Rating Scale for pain, namely NRS, if you divide pain onto a scale
from 0 to 10, a total of 11 numbers, with 10 being the most acute
and severe pain, and 0 being no pain, that sort of discomfort is
probably only a zero point something (rating) of discomfort, but it is
classified as chronic pain, it will remind you of its existence at all
times.

Wu Bosong scowled and said, can you draw an analogy that I can
understand?

I wanted to nod my head with all my might and say, Wu Bosong,

we truly are close confidants, this matter of conversations ascending
into a professional perspective was truly very perplexing.

Jiang Chen supported my head that was lying askew on his arm,
only then did he say, “It’s roughly as if you are always wearing
a pullover sweater backwards, you’ll always feel faintly
uncomfortable, and feel that your neck is strapped
unbearably tight, while this sort of discomfort is negligible,
but you just are unable to ignore it.”

This was the first time I heard Jiang Chen talk about his feelings so
concretely, even though his analogies – be it his analogy of the pain
rating scale or his analogy of the pullover sweater – were all
considerably unknown*, but I still felt very moved. My clear
consciousness wanted to express how moved I was to him, but my
body that had been numbed by alcohol clearly was not prepared to
support it, because every word that was spat out from my mouth was
only indistinct murmuring of a drunkard, and my action of wanting to

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hug him lastly also merely evolved into me lying paralysed on his
body in a drunken state, blowing alcoholic breaths. (T/N: the original
term is ‘冷门’ (cold door), which kind of refers to sleepers/neglected
things. E.g., if you call a university course ‘cold door’, it means not
many people choose to study it/know about it; or if you call a film 冷
门, it’s a very niche film with not many people choosing to watch it.)

Afterwards, Wu Bosong said a nonsense statement, and Jiang Chen

too parroted that nonsense statement. That nonsense statement
was, “Xiaoxi is drunk.”

Xiaoxi, aka me, had her body drunk but her mind was not drunk, as
a matter of fact, I was still looking at this world with abnormal clarity,
it was just that they all didn’t know.

After exiting the restaurant entrance, Wu Bosong said he was

going to leave, then he left, his shadow rustling as it was lengthened
and shortened by the streetlights. I’m really sorry friend, I can’t help
you much.

Jiang Chen crouched in front of me, and pulled at my hand, making

me lie on his back. He said, little drunkard, I’ll piggyback you back.
He used such soft intonation, I’ve really never heard it before.

The journey back home wasn’t long, Jiang Chen walked very slowly
and steadily. I pulled at his hair, bit at his neck, he only laughed as
he propped me and jolted me up for fear that I would slide
downwards. I used my index finger to poke at his dimple that came
out when he laughed, then I changed fingers and used my middle
finger to poke it, then I changed to my ring finger, then my pinky,
then my thumb, he didn’t dodge or duck out of the way, he only
laughed till his dimple deepened further.

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Translator’s Corner:

My favourite chapterrr!!! I love Jiang Chen’s analogies here, which

the drama totally glossed over in one sentence sobbles ;-; Thanks Xri
for letting me translate this chapter hehe!!

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Chapter 46
Source: Tea-Quila

The wind along the way somewhat blew away a little of my

drunkenness. When I was back home, I could clearly speak out these
words which carries joy, “Oh, we’re home.”

But I’m guessing Jiang Chen was very delighted about my

drunkenness because it was as if he got a new toy, the excitement
was clearly shown on his face. He carefully rested me on the sofa,
then squatted down before me, and asked, “Chen Xiaoxi are you
drunk?”

“Yeah~” I was being cooperative.

“Do you know who I am?”

“I know~”

“Who am I?”

“Boyfriend~”

He laughed and pinched my cheeks, “What is your boyfriend’s

name?”

“Jiang Chen~”

He said, “Can you not add “ya” to your words?”

(T/N: Starting from xx’s “yeah” she had been ending her answers
with “ya” which, I am really not sure how to change it to English, but
basically, it’s just like a slang that you add while trying to act
coquettishly. Refer to Episode 23 please HAHAHA.)

“I can~”

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He laughed and came forward for a kiss, stayed in contact with my
lips and said, “Do you know what you are saying?”

“I know~”

He laughed loudly this time. I believe he is somewhat drunk too, or

else why didn’t he realise how stupid this conversation is?

Jiang Chen asked me afterwards, “Do you want to sleep?”

“I don’t want to~”

“If you’re not tired then sit here with me for a while.”

“Okay~”

Jiang Chen was sitting on the floor with his head resting on my lap,
he said, “You are so obedient when you are drunk.”

I said, “Yes~”

He laughed again.

He said, “Chen Xiaoxi, if I were to take advantage and

propose to you while you are drunk, would it seem like I’m
very despicable, and taking advantage while you are
vulnerable?”

I already said before, I am a very sober drunkard. So I know I’ve

been waiting for his proposal for a long time secretly in my heart. My
mum said before, the highest praise a man can give a woman is a
proposal. Alright, this was not said by my mum, I forgot who said it,
I’m drunk, don’t have too much unnecessary expectation from me.

I suppressed my nausea from being panicky, or maybe it’s just

nausea from drinking too much. I said, “I won’t~”

He nodded, “Oh.”

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I rubbed my ears, looking forward to his next sentence.

Nothing, he didn’t say a thing. Jiang Chen yawned and leaned on

my knees, eyes closed.

I blinked my eyes that were blurry due to the alcohol, not

understanding anything. In my settings, at this moment, Jiang Chen
should be making use of this perfect opportunity and propose to me.
Then I will raise up my noble forehead and tell him I’ll consider. Then
he will say, “What is there to consider, you are drunk, just
accept fast.” Then I’ll say alright. Then all this looks a bit reserved
but it’s all caused by the alcohol.

I find that Jiang Chen’s actions did not match the context of the
first half of the conversation. I hiccupped, smacked on his face and
said, “Propose~”

He opened his eyes and looked at me, “You?”

“Ya~”

“Alright, I agree.” He said.

……

I felt an exceptional anger. In this conversation, the subject and

object were mixed up and although my mind was clear, but there
was still an alcohol influx and I couldn’t understand anything. So I
grabbed onto a bit of his hair and said, “I don’t understand, I
don’t understand~”

He smacked my hand away and stood up, sat on the coffee table
that was infront of the sofa. His face came really close to me, so
close until I could only see mini me in the reflection of his pupil.

He said, “Chen Xiaoxi, you just proposed to me, I only

agreed because it was you, do you understand?”

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I suddenly see the light, “I understand~”

He flashed a brilliant smile, “Are you happy?”

“Happy~” I followed his smile.

He praised me by patting on my cheeks, “So clever.”

I had a feeling that something was not right, but ever since the
kindergarten teacher who taught me to draw a flower retired, I had
never received such an earnest and sincere praise, so I was even
happier.

The next day when I woke up, I thought about what happened last
night when suppressing the headache from my hangover. I turned
my head to see the Jiang Chen who was sleeping so soundly. I
stretched out my finger to outline his silhouette. While someone is
sleeping, you are more likely to see the boyish side of him. The
boyish image seemed so appropriate on Jiang Chen’s sleeping face. I
couldn’t help but sigh, he is so handsome and lovely, but why does
he have to be crazy and cruel and merciless while deceiving the
foolish me?

I bought back breakfast and saw Jiang Chen watching the morning
news on the sofa, he indifferently took a glance at me and said, “I
thought you escaped marriage.”

I acted as thought I didn’t understand, I waved the breakfast in my

hand and said, “Breakfast.”

He threw the remote control aside, lied on the sofa and said
joyfully, “Chen Xiaoxi you proposed to me last night, don’t act
dumb.”

I glared at him, didn’t make a sound with my sunken face.

He laughed and said, “I saw your household registration

booklet in your drawer, mine is with me too, why not we both

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take an hour off, we’ll be the first couple at the civil affairs
bureau, and open up the day for them?”

I said with a poker face, “What are you talking about? Time to
eat breakfast.”

He didn’t give up, “Don’t act as thought nothing happened, I

know you remember.”

Know your head.

You don’t know that a proposal is one of the most important event
of my life. You don’t know that in my mind I imagined music and
fresh flowers and marriage proposal on bended knee and tears. You
don’t know I have been portraying every expression, action, tone,
and words in my heart. I don’t know no matter how much I fantasize,
no matter how the proposal will happen, a proposal should be done
by you, from you.

Thinking back on this journey with him, I’ve always been the one
who is trying hard to chase him. Barely a few people around us
approved of me and him, they have always been saying things like,
“It’s easy for girls to chase boys”*. As though he just accepted
me conveniently. Actually, it was not, they do not know how much
effort I put on him. In order not to miss going to school with him, I
waited for him at 6 in the morning. In order to attend the same
university as him, I strived hard to improve on my drawings. My bed
was filled with sketches. In order to be with him, I acted as though I
didn’t understand the look in his mother’s eyes when she was looking
down on me. (T/N: In Chinese, there’s a saying (女追男隔层纱，男追
女隔座山) which means for girls to chase boys is like a distance of a
yarn, but for boys to chase girls is like a distance of a mountain. It’s
easier for girls to chase boys, but difficult for boys to chase girls.)

However, he didn’t even want to give me the proposal that makes

me feel cherished and wanted.

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The more I thought of it the more grievances I felt. Warm teardrops
cascaded down my cheeks.

Jiang Chen seemed to have gotten a shock, he pushed himself up

off the sofa with one hand and jumped over the sofa backrest, ran to
my side and hugged me. “Why? What happened?”

I avoided his hands that were trying to wipe my tears, I pushed him
away, “I won’t marry you, I’m not marrying.”

He frowned, “What happened?”

I opened my mouth but didn’t know what to say. I could only cry. I
still remember Jiang Chen’s sweater analogy, I believe he loves me,
but I couldn’t explain to him the sudden frantic feeling I was
experiencing, I was scared, scared because I was the one who said I
like him first, so I have to be the first to initiate in everything. I was
scared, scared because I was the first one to take that step, so he
would think by right every first step should be taken by me. I was
scared, scared that I love him much more than he loves me.

He tried to pull me into his arms again, I shook my head and took a
few steps backward, till my back hit the door.

Jiang Chen seemed as though he was trying to restraint something

and took a deep breath, “Are you like this because of my
mother? You don’t have to worry about her, I already told her
clearly. She’s like that, like a thunder that roars but little rain
falls. She won’t be able to change my mind. Furthermore, we
won’t be staying with her after marriage, it will get better
after a while.”

The thing that I was worried about the most suddenly became the
thing I was least worried about. I am angry and sad, I couldn’t care
less who your mother wants you to marry…. Alright, I won’t care for
now who your mum wants you to marry….

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When someone is sad, it is easy to end up in a dead end. I looked
at Jiang Chen’s frowny face and know he must have started to hate
me. He must be thinking I’m ridiculous, he must be wanting to break
up. Not sure who said this, but a woman bringing up break up a
hundred times can never rival to a man bringing it up once. Although
there is a suspicion that this was said to belittle woman’s EQ, but
Jiang Chen doesn’t want me anymore…..

After being aware of this point, I realized that whoever proposed

was no longer important. Life really changes in a flash. Sometimes
the thing you thought was important, suddenly wasn’t as important
anymore.

I felt giddy like the sky was spinning, I leaned on the door and
slowly slid down, I said, “I don’t want to break up…. don’t be
angry…..”

Jiang Chen squatted down along with me, he seemed puzzled and
asked me nonstop, “What happened, what happened?”

“My head hurts,” was the last sentence I said before I lost
consciousness. If I knew I would faint after saying that, I would have
changed it to something else. Like, “Let’s get married”, “I will
marry you”, “I am really proposing to you right now.”

Too bad there isn’t any ‘if’, there isn’t ‘if only I knew’, there isn’t
‘starting over’, there isn’t ‘going back in time’. The logic behind
human’s choice of words is so strange, we always use these words
that are of no help, as though it would bring anyone comfort.

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Chapter 47
Source: Tea-Quila

When I woke up in the hospital, I subconsciously looked around the

sides of the bed I was lying on, and was terribly disappointed to find
out that there was no such scene wherein the male lead would rest
his head on the woman’s bed, as he ended up sleeping from being so
tired which is often shown on TV dramas. Hence, I just kept on
turning my head in all directions, trying to look for my phone — I
didn’t find it, and instead felt a little dizzy from swaying my head a
couple of times.

I wanted to lift my hand to massage my temples, but as soon as I

lifted it, I felt a dull ache on the back of my hand. Putting it right
before my eyes to assess it, I’ve noticed that there were bluish green
pin pricks on it. It seems that I have been treated with needles, but I
don’t understand what for. I didn’t want to rule out Jiang Chen’s
disdain for me, and the probability of him bringing me here to
undergo acupuncture treatment as an opportunity for him to execute
his revenge.

Around five minutes later, as I was still trying to overcome the kind
of dizziness akin to barely waking up, the door was pushed open, a
familiar-looking nurse came in, and said, “Doctor Jiang’s
girlfriend, are you already awake?”

I wanted to open my eyes, if it wasn’t for that mishap, it would not

seem as though I have just woken up, so I nodded my head a little,
and very cooperatively said, “Just woke up.”

“Doctor Jiang went to a meeting. He asked me to come

here and watch over you.” She explained.

“What’s wrong with me?”

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“Low blood sugar, pregnant.”　

“………..” My three hun left my seven po right on the spot,

trembling, I asked her, “Wh…….What?”

(T/N: In Daoism, they believe that the human soul is made up of

many different souls/spirits – the three hun and seven po, hun being
the heavenly (and more spiritual) souls of the human being that
leave the body upon death, as distinguished from po, the earthly
(and more material) souls. Separation of the two different kinds of
soul brings death.)

“Low blood sugar! Pregnant!” She replied with her voice

slightly raised.

I was having mixed feelings, I just had a fight with Jiang Chen, but
as soon as he turned around, I’ve already conceived his child, my
tummy seems to be too disappointing…….”

“Hey, you’re going to be a mother, cheer up.” The nurse

said, then added, “Give me a smile.”

I was still having mixed emotions, there was no time to show her a
smile, “Help me call Jiang Chen to come over right now, I have
something to talk with him.”

She looked very reluctant, “You have to smile first to show

that you are happy, after that I’ll go out to call Doctor Jiang
for you.”

I searched her face suspiciously, say jie jie, I think you’re acting
weird.

She looked a little bit guilty, after forcing out two hollow laughs,
she suddenly bolted for the door, shouting, “Doctor Su, come
inside!”

The door was pushed open, the ‘humour expert’, Doctor Su walked

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inside in a leisurely manner, using the kind of voice of hating the iron
for not becoming steel, she lectured the little nurse, “You’re truly
very useless, this matter you can’t even handle properly.”

She greeted me with a smile, “Hi Xiaoxi, actually, you only

have low blood sugar and a hangover, also a slight cold. But
we made a bet just a minute ago, say if we trick you and tell
you that you were pregnant, will you cry or smile? She bet on
you smiling, I bet on you crying, in the end, you neither cried
nor smiled, so boring.”

Aha, why am I neither sad, nor happy, and not even surprised at
Doctor Su’s actions?

“I was just joking, you’re not mad are you?” Doctor Su said,
“Or are you very disappointed now? Do you want to cry?”

I was rubbing the bruises on the back of my hand, and said, “What
did you guys bet?”

“10 shifts.” Doctor Su said.

“You’re a doctor, she’s a nurse, how are you going to

relieve the other from duty?” I asked.

Doctor Su’s reply was clear and simple, “Her boyfriend is a

doctor here.”

I thought about it for a while, mumbling under my breath,

afterwards grinning from ear to ear I said, “Half and half?”

“Deal.” Doctor Su replied hurriedly in a manner of someone

competing in a game show.

The little nurse looked at us cluelessly, there was a pile of question

marks on her forehead.

I cleared my throat, then snuck my hand under the quilt to pinch

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my thigh, after two seconds, I said, with tears streaming down my
cheeks, “I………I cried……….”

When the little nurse came to realise what transpired, she stomped
her feet, complaining, “You guys are…….working hand in glove!
I curse you both………to be in low blood sugar!”

I wiped my tears dry, feeling very proud of myself, my few drops of

tears were exchanged for Jiang Chen being relieved from 5 shifts of
duty. I’m truly a virtuous wife and a good mother.

The little nurse kept on harping that her boyfriend would kill her,
she then left the room wailing endlessly.

“Since it’s just low blood sugar, then when will I be

discharged?” I asked, interrupting Doctor Su who was in high spirits
as she eagerly count the days where she would not be on duty.

She said, “This, I don’t know, just wait for Doctor Jiang to
tell you when he comes back.”

“En.” I nodded, I was thinking that staying inside the hospital just
because of low blood sugar is a bit ridiculous.

I didn’t see Jiang Chen even until noon, I wondered why his
meeting was taking so long. Doctor Su bought lunch and ate together
with me inside the room but the taste was lacking. Moreover, just as
in the past, she kept on bombarding me with her logically strange
jokes. I had a really tough meal.

Just after we’ve finished eating our lunch, Wu Bosong surprisingly

came to visit me. He said he phoned me early in the morning, but
Jiang Chen was the one who answered it, he told him I fainted due to
low blood sugar and got admitted to the hospital. Wu Bosong told
him he’s going to come visit me. He also didn’t fail to mock me for
being hospitalized just because of low blood sugar.

His smile was a little wan, and when he spoke, he kept on dodging

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my gaze. My heart felt like it was slowly sinking, in the end, I wasn’t
able to bear it, and asked him, “What really happened?”

“Hu Ran Ran left, and that man went on a vacation

abroad.” He said.

“Wait for her to come back.” I said. “Or perhaps, try to look
for her.”

He shook his head, then said, “I can’t, I applied for a transfer

back to New Zealand. The truth is, the general headquarters
has always wanted me to move back, I just didn’t agree to
them before.”

“But now you do?”

“Yes, I’m already leaving the day after tomorrow.”

“So you’re here to say goodbye?”

“Yes, this time I’m leaving together with the head, so I

don’t know when we can see each other again?” He offered a
reluctant smile.

I casted him a look of disdain, “Foreign devil, don’t learn from

others to speak in such a genteel way.”

Then we both feigned to be amused by the other.

We faced each other silently for a while, I finally couldn’t hold back
myself from saying, “Do you not remember what you’ve once
told me? If love couldn’t conquer all, then how could you call
it love?”

He heaved a sigh, “Then the thing with Ran Ran isn’t called
love, I mulled over Jiang Chen’s words the entire night.
Towards Ran Ran, I think I don’t have that sort of feeling that
I couldn’t just live without. In fact, I’ve never had such

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feelings towards anyone. I am like this. If loving someone is
difficult, then I just wouldn’t love. I don’t feel regretful about
it.”

I was suddenly reminded of the phrase — ‘incapable of love’

Something flitted across his eyes, but he quickly dropped his gaze
to cover up its tracks, and in a self-deprecating manner, he said,
“You must have not known about this, I liked you back in
high school, but I’ve never thought of staying here for you.”

I was so surprised that my mouth was opened wide enough for me

to stick my whole fist inside.

Wu Bosong patted my head, saying, “Look at you getting so

scared, I was just joking with you. You’re not going to send
me off tomorrow, and you’re not going to encourage Hu Ran
Ran to chase after me in New Zealand, or reenact whatever
stupid drama scenes there are. I prefer feelings that aren’t
complicated.”

……..

It wasn’t funny.

I originally wanted to swear at him through gritted teeth, “Wu

Bosong, you are not a f*cking man!”

But I pondered over it again, from the perspective of the field of

biology, it says that the matter about him being a man or not would
depend on the existence of both X and Y chromosomes, and what
I’ve said would not be regarded as true, hence I just didn’t comment
on it. Besides, Wu Bosong is my friend, Hu Ran Ran is not, so I’m
siding with him.

In the end, I told him, “Once you go back, and regret it, then
by all means don’t ever come back just because you can’t
lose face.”

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He bent his body and lightly hugged me, saying, “When you’re
going to get married, remember to send me a wedding
invitation.”

I leaned over the window to watch Wu Bosong downstairs as he

gradually walked out of my sight. The last time I sent him off, we
didn’t see each other for 8 years. I don’t know how long it will take
this time. Maybe some friendships are like this, keeping the other
company as we go on our own journey, then separating from the
other, and then remembering them with longing.

I laid back in bed and gazed at the ceiling. I then felt a sudden
desperation of wanting to see Jiang Chen so I crawled out of bed to
look for him.

I was running in circles inside the hospital. I went to his office but I
still wasn’t able to find him. I suddenly felt scared. Such a small
hospital yet I couldn’t find him. I was then reminded of what Jiang
Chen had once randomly told me, he said, “Chen Xiaoxi, the world
is not as small as the toilet in your house, to have found you
was already very difficult for me.”

At that time, I was only thinking that he was just boasting

shamelessly, even though my toilet is not big, but I clearly found him
first.

Speaking of toilets, I need to drop by on one.

Often in many stories, an impending doom would always have

some sort of omen — perhaps the blue sky would turn into
something strange, perhaps the birds would let out shrill cries,
perhaps there would be thunder and lightning, or……in other words,
just anything out of the ordinary. As a matter of fact, if you really
want to insist on interrelating things, take notice of anything unusual
from the day to day happenings. For instance, as I am speaking right
now, I’m already looking at two ants that were crawling at an
abnormally fast rate on the tiles of the toilet

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When I was about to open the cubicle’s door to go out, I heard a
voice from outside, so I quickly took back my hand. There’s
something wrong with me, I don’t like bumping into people inside the
toilet, I feel awkward. After all, the toilet isn’t exactly the most
convenient place for friendly meetings. The Chinese people’s most
loved form of greeting of ‘have you eaten?’ could also make one’s
imagination roam easily when said in here………

Hence, I just waited inside the tiny cubicle, foolishly watching those
two ants crawling at such a fast rate. I’m suspecting that one is male,
the other, female, and they’re in the middle of eloping.

The person outside seems to be in a phone call, I couldn’t hear

their voice clearly as it was drowned by the sound of the running tap,
but the voice sounded familiar, it sounded kind of like Doctor Su who
has been bombarding me nonstop today.

After around ten seconds, the sound of the running tap suddenly
stopped, then I heard her say, “Old Man Su, the procedures for
Su Rui to go abroad must be finished quickly yet you’re not
doing it. Now what? Basing on Su Rui’s eccentric
temperament, he’d jump down from a building for sure.”

I automatically felt like bile was coming up my chest. After all,

when it comes to eccentric temperament, Old Man Su and Doctor Su’
state of oddness leads far ahead of China’s diving team and China’s
table tennis team in the international arena.

Then I started wondering why Su Rui would want to jump off from a

building, could it be that his feelings towards me were as deep as the
sea, and is unable to forget about me for a very long time? Being
charming and such is really troublesome……..

Her next words satisfied my shameless conjectures, she said, “You

know how Su Rui likes Xiaoxi so much, he has been making a
ruckus in wanting to look for her to play.”

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My face was flushed red as I looked at the pair of ants which has
already been crawling on the door.

“We can’t let him know.” She said in her next sentence, then
softly sighed, “Xiaoxi’s condition has been stabilized for the
time being, but I’m afraid it’s going to turn for the worst.”

It seems as though the power wire has been cut off, the
incandescent light which has brightened the entire room was
extinguished in the blink of an eye, there was infinite darkness. The
darkness was right before my eyes, my feet felt like it was treading
on cotton, so soft that it made me want to slide down the floor and lie
down. Fortunately, I was able to hold unto the door to steady myself.
The noise from my movements must have interrupted Doctor Su’s
conversation. She paused for a moment and asked, “Is anyone
there all right?”

I took a deep breath, then cupping my mouth with my hand, I

replied in a low voice, “All right.”

She let out an “oh”, then continued on with her phone call, “You
must not let him know by all means. To sum it up, you have
to hurry up, and send him abroad to study for a couple of
years. When he comes back, he would have already forgotten
about it. Also, don’t send him to France, see which country’s
visa is the easiest to process……..eh, Old Man Su, in the end,
is your head* old or flaky? Are you not capable of using a part
of your brain? The UK visa is not easy to process……..”

(T/N: It’s a play on words, Old Man Su is Su laotou in Chinese, the

character Su means flaky, lao means old, and tou means head)

Her voice and the sound of her footsteps gradually drifted away,
my hand that has been holding unto the door was shaking violently,
when I took it back, I noticed that two tiny black dots were pressed
unto my palm — those little ants just a moment ago had died
tragically in my hand.

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This is life, and one of its many definitions is impermanence.

The topic of life and death, even though I’ve seen it a thousand
times, ten thousand times in television and novels, I’ve never really
thought about how it would also come to me one day. I’ve only been
thinking about how I would slowly observe mine and Jiang Chen’s
face, witnessing our first wrinkle when it appears, then the second
one, then the third one, until we could no longer count them, and
then we would taunt each other as the years have woven its net on
both of our faces.

But fate is like this, it would stand in front of you, blocking your
way, then it would deliver a kick right to your nose, and you could
only wipe the blood coming down from it with the back of your hand,
as you walk forward with clenched teeth.

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Dolly | Amy | Xri

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Chapter 48
Source: Tea-Quila

I sat on the edge of the bed with my eyes closed. Fear, being at a
loss, helpless, death, these words which are classified as negative
terms in the dictionary are like malevolent monsters, wanting to
devour me with their claws and sharp teeth.

I have no idea how long I was sitting there blankly for. After an
earth-shattering fear, I unexpectedly began to calm down. It’s no big
deal, the most would be for me to get injections and take medication,
if not I would just go to that better place and use decades to wait for
Jiang Chen’s arrival.

In the midst of silence came a cracking sound from opening the

door, “Doctor Jiang’s girlfriend, where did you go? I couldn’t
find you anywhere.”

I opened my eyes, she was the nurse that got fooled by me and
Doctor Su earlier on. She was already in front of me, waving her hand
before me, “Are you alright? Why do you look so pale?”

I shook my head, “Why were you looking for me?”

She stuttered, “To… to change room for you.”

“Why do I have to change rooms?” I asked puzzled.

She stuttered even more now, “Uh… I also don’t know…

Doctor Jiang… said to change.”

I didn’t want to make things difficult for her, so I nodded and

agreed, “Let’s go.”

She led me through a long corridor while peeking at me with a

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weird expression throughout. I wanted to ask her for a few times but I
didn’t. I guess I needed Jiang Cheng to tell me, needed him to tell
me, I need him.

I’m very selfish. I’m not like those brave female leads whom upon
hearing that they have gotten ill, they would find some excuses to
break up and escape somewhere to get treatment. I want to live my
life with Jiang Chen. I need him to face everything with me, and I
believe he can face everything with me. If he can’t, then I won’t.

The nurse led me to the last door of the corridor, the door was
closed, and she didn’t open the door. She only gave the door a few
knocks and pushed me to the front, “Go in.”

I opened the door confused. Jiang Chen was standing in between

two beds, holding onto a big cardboard box. His posture was a little
like an assassin in a period drama who was presenting a head to the
emperor.

I didn’t move, Jiang Chen was looking at me with his gentle looking
eyes, “Chen Xiaoxi.”

“Mm?” I choked out, I only wanted to run to him now and cry.

He smiled a deep dimple, “Will you marry me?”

I blinked, and tears fell. I didn’t expect him to propose, because

according to my limited general knowledge, no one will hug a
cardboard box to propose. Even if there is, the cardboard box won’t
have the words ‘single-use syringe’.

I don’t even know what reaction to give to such a casual proposal,

but my tears were smarter than me and they kept flowing.

“They said you were crying because I didn’t propose.” He

said while holding onto the box.

I wiped my tears away, “Who said?”

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“By the woman’s rights supporters whose leader is Doctor
Su.”

“But I’m sick,” I said.

He frowned, “So? Don’t digress, lets settle this proposal

first.”

“What if I die?” I asked softly, “It’s easy to die from

sickness.”

“Stop spouting nonsense!” He suddenly said with increased

volume, I backed away a few steps from shock.

Jiang Chen heaved a long sigh and placed the box on the bed. He
stood straight in front of me then bent his back to look straight into
my eyes, “Even if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter. We found
something that many people could not find – love.”

I pushed away his face that was so near, “Since when are you
so good in saying these things?”

He laughed and hold onto my hands, “They taught me that you

have to say such things while proposing.”

I continued wiping away my tears, “But I’m scared.”

“There’s me, what’s there to be scared of?” Jiang Chen pulled

away the arm I was using to rub my eyes, “Alright, if you continue
rubbing, your eyeballs will be rubbed off.”

Between me and Jiang Chen, it’s as though there is a belief in us.

He said that there isn’t anything to be afraid of, and I will feel like
there really isn’t anything to be afraid of. It was just that I imagined a
little on what he said and thought that if my eye balls were rubbed
out then it would be really scary.

He held onto both my hands with one hand and checked the watch

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on the other, “Can you say yes quickly because I have a
surgery later.”

My problem of not being able to be hastened I believe is not of new

news to you. So, the moment he rushed me, I nodded my head and
said, “Oh okay, you should quickly take out the ring.”

He turned back to carry the ‘single-use syringe’ box before me. He

said, “Open it.”

I hesitated and said, “If you didn’t buy the ring then forget it,
don’t use needle to shape it into a ring for me, I don’t
appreciate this kind of gory romance.”

He glared at me, I obediently tore off the tape on the cardboard

box.

The moment the box opened, three milky white palm (hand)
shaped balloons floated up slowly. Every balloon is about the size of
a brain, all of which had 5 fingers sticking out. It looked as weird as it
seems. The long string that was attached to it came with a piece of
paper that was rolled up and a ring.

I was a little taken aback. The balloons hit the ceiling and stopped.
All that was left is the string that was tied to the paper and ring,
swaying between me and Jiang Chen.

Although my heart really wanted to remove that ring first, I didn’t

want to make it seem like I was too materialistic, so I removed the
paper first.

I opened to see but it was just pages of medical prescription list. I

flipped over, but it was blank. I looked at Jiang Chen not
understanding, “It’s blank?”

He said, “If not?”

I’m angry, “If you didn’t write anything why did you tie it

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up?”

“To maintain the balance, if not, the balloons will float up

too quickly,” he laughed, with a look of a successful prank.

……

Afterwards, Jiang Chen removed the ring and put it on my finger. It

was a simple, wavy platinum ring, with three small diamonds in the
middle.

After wearing the ring, I looked at him, he looked at me, and I

suddenly felt shy, therefore, I gave him a push and said, “Don’t you
have surgery?”

He shook his head, “I lied to you, you couldn’t be rushed.”

“Oh.” I looked down and played with the ring on my left hand’s
ring finger, apparently there’s a nerve there that connects straight to
the heart, “When did you prepare all these?”

“This morning,” he pulled me to the bed for a rest, and kept me

in his embrace, “I’m so tired from it, having to buy a ring and
to make things romantic.”

I swallowed my urged to say “You call this romantic?”, and

pointed to the three odd-shaped balloons on the ceiling, “Where did
you get these balloons?”

Actually, I wanted to ask, “Where did you get such ugly

balloons?” But because I’m currently ill, I have to gather more good
karma, so I omitted a few decorative vocabularies. I guess he if could
find such an ugly balloon in this world that is filled with beautiful
things, then it is also very remarkable.

Jiang Chen said, “Where do I have the time to buy balloons? I

had a meeting in the morning followed by outpatient
consultation, I could only squeeze in some time in the

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afternoon to go out to get the ring. Just nice I saw Nurse Lee
on the way back, she’s the one who brought you here. She
kept insisting that every girl looks forward to a romantic
proposal. I thought for half a day, I could only think of taking
a few gloves and injected helium in them.”

I listened to him and thought, oh, what convenience. Only after a

few seconds did I realized oh my god, what is ‘injected harmful air in
them?” (T/N: helium, aka 氦气 (hai qi) in Chinese, sounds exactly like
harmful air, aka 害气 (hai qi))

So I asked him, “What kind of air is harmful air? Why didn’t

you use non-harmful air? Also, how did the balloons float?”

He seemed really speechless (T/N: same me too). “Chen Xiaoxi

were you sleeping through the entire chemistry lesson in
high school? Helium is a type of noble gas that is less dense
than the air in the atmosphere.” He said and held onto my palm
and drew and said, “the top is the word 气 from 空气 (air). At
the bottom is 亥 from 辛亥革命. Not the 害 from 害怕 (scared).”

After his explanation the more I felt oh my god, what is “injected

helium in them?” Helium sounds so powerful…

I looked at the three fat palms on the ceiling, “Student Jiang

Chen, can you not use such a cold tone to introduce such an
extraordinary gas? Furthermore, where did you find helium
gas?”

“The hospital’s MRI facilities require helium.” He said.

I “oh” and am not going to continue asking. Because I once said

before, when our conversation becomes professional, I don’t
understand.

Jiang Cheng yawned and said, “I’ll sleep for a while, wake me
up at 2PM to work.”

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The afternoon sunlight shone through the blinds, onto his face. The
dried tears on my face was making it a little itchy, so I buried my face
into his arms and rubbed twice. He shifted his body and circled me
tightly in his arms, “Stop it, I already fell asleep.”

Of course, he didn’t “fell asleep”. Of course, I had many

questions to ask him, but I chose to respect his decision and coop up
in his arms silently, because I wasn’t sure how many more chances I
have to listen to him obediently.

I soon fell asleep, and soon after I was woken up by Jiang Chen. His
face was enlarged a lot because he was so close, I could even see
the ‘川’ shape between his brows and the little hairs there. (T/N: the
lines between his eyebrows.)

“What did you dream of? Are you in pain? Why are you
crying?” He asked.

“Nothing,” I said and realized my voice was very hoarse. I

reached for my face and found out that there were tears, so I found
some excuse and said, “I dreamt of the proposal.”

I really don’t remember what I dreamt of, all I know was I was
choked with sorrow to the point that I couldn’t speak.

Jiang Chen sighed and wiped my tears, “Why didn’t I find out in
the past that you are such a crybaby? You cried when I didn’t
propose, you cried when I proposed. What do you want?”

I don’t want anything, I just want to be healthy, to accompany him

‘til he no longer has a handsome look.

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Chapter 49 - Chapter 50
Source: Tea-Quila

CHAPTER 49

After Jiang Chen was done wiping away my tears, he helplessly

looked at the large shoal of tear traces on the front lapel of his own
clothes, “Chen Xiaoxi, are you born in the year of the water
tap?”

I sniffled as I replied, “There’s no water tap in the 12 Chinese

Zodiac animals.”

It appeared that he had already been worn down by me till he had

no temper, he forced a laugh and said, “You just stay in this ward
and rest, I’ve already helped you apply for leave, I have to go
to work, I’ll come over and find you when I get off work.”

As he was exiting, he even pulled that three latex glove balloons

on the ceiling out with a sour face, his explanation was, “I have to
get rid of it, it won’t be good if other people see them.” I even
heard him mumble to himself in a low voice, “Romantic, what’s so
great about being romantic.”

I still slept intermittently throughout the afternoon, I had many

dreams, including those type of dreams where I would wake up in
tears. But there was one that was especially terrifying, because I
couldn’t remember it already, (a dream) which you couldn’t
remember surely was the most terrifying, because your memory
automatically covered it up.

Here, I have to mention something, Doctor Su came to see me as I

was midway through my sleep, she came in very hurriedly, as if she
had a ghost chasing after her from behind.

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“Hurry up and listen to my voice,” she said.

I sprung up from the bed, her voice was sharp and thin, like the
dubbing of an evil woman in an animated film.

“Hahaha, how fascinating is my voice,” she said, “Just a

moment ago, I used a needle to puncture Jiang Chen’s glove
balloons, I especially like to experience the feeling of the
stream of air blowing into my nostrils from the needle-sized
hole, I didn’t expect that Jiang Chen had pumped helium gas
into them, hahahaha.”

Even though I too felt like her voice was very hilarious, but I still
didn’t understand, “Why would your voice become like this?”

“When humans suck in helium gas, their voices will become

high pitched, because the medium by which the sound is
propagated changes, and the frequency at which the sound
vibrates at has also changed, hahaha, my voice is really
funny.” She herself split her sides laughing as she explained, “Aiyo,
I’m about to die from laughter, I ran over here specially to
share this with you for you to listen, I treat you so well,
hahahaha……”

The corner of my mouth twitched, “Yeah, thank you.”

Even long after she left, her sharp and thin laughter still lingered
on by my ears, it was as if Snow White’s stepmother had run into my
ears and was laughing sinisterly as if her life depended on it.

Jiang Chen roughly came before 5pm, his jacket was thrown over
his arm, his surreptitious appearance was very cute, he said let’s
sneak back home stealthily, the director said he wants to hold a very
boring meeting.

I asked him blankly, “Can we go home?”

He spoke as he took off his white coat, “We can, it’s just a

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meeting about the New Year’s Day celebrations or something
like that, it’s not important.”

“But, I don’t have to be hospitalised?” I asked.

He paused his actions of taking off his clothes, and glanced at me

in puzzlement, “Why do you have to be hospitalised?”

I too looked back (at him) in puzzlement, “Am I not sick?”

“It’s just a small cold that you can recover from by drinking
more water, you too want to be hospitalised?” He said, “You
like the hospital that much?”

I blinked my eyes with great physical exertion, and strived to turn

to cogs of my brain that had become especially stupid due to me
sleeping too much, then I suddenly grabbed hold of his clothes and
said, “Doctor Su! Has Doctor Su gotten off work yet?”

“I don’t know, it’s not like she’s in the same department as

I am.” He swatted away my hand, and took off his white coat.

Without saying anything further, I broke into a run and ran out (of
the ward), and barged and shoved my way around till I found the
orthopaedics department, Doctor Su just so happened to be leaning
forward on the table as she fiddled with a few bones, upon seeing me
come, she waved a bone and called out to me, “Xiaoxi, you see,
this is the tibia, the bone in your calf, I don’t know how long
this person has been dead for, come over here, I’ll let you
touch it.”

I silently took two steps back, “I have something to ask you.”

“What’s the matter?” She crooked her index finger and rapped
against that piece of bone, “I’m not sure if there will still be
flavour if I stew this in a soup.”

I again silently took two steps back, though I know that this action

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would definitely bring about her bursting into loud laughter and
saying, “I’m joking”, but I really couldn’t help but do so……

Indeed, she burst out into laughter and said, “Aiya, this is made
of synthetic plastic, how could I possibly take it to stew
soup.”

I accommodatingly pulled at the corner of my mouth and decided

to get straight to the point to ask her, “At noontime, I heard you
calling your father on the phone in the toilet, talking about
the matter of sending Su Rui overseas.”

“Yeah.” She scratched her head, “What’s going on?”

“Why do you want to send him overseas?”

“Because Xiaoxi is almost going to die, we’re afraid that he

will be sad.”

Aha! The key point was right here.

“Who is Xiaoxi?” I questioned closely. As the speed at which I

was talking was too fast, I nearly almost sprained my tongue.

Doctor Su appeared to be very perplexed, “The pet lizard that

Su Rui was rearing, Su Xiaoxi, didn’t you meet it before? Su
Rui even said you and Xiaoxi got along very well.”

Ah! Yah! Wah! Oh! Ha! Heh!

I hugged her with great force, then turned around and rushed back
to the ward (I was in) just recently, Jiang Chen had already put on his
jacket, he was just sitting cross-legged on the bed and eating
something.

I shrieked and pounced on him, “Jiang Chen Jiang Chen –”

He let out a smothered groan as he was pushed down by me, in

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order to prop himself up so that he wouldn’t fall over backwards, the
things in his hand spilled all over the floor.

“What are you doing?” He said, “The red dates have all
dropped.”

I hooked my arms around his neck, wanting to laugh and wanting

to shout, in the end I really didn’t know how to express that sort of
excitement I had at rising back to life after death, I could only
viciously bite his neck……

On the taxi.

I hummed a song as I ate the red dates, the red dates were given
by Jiang Chen’s patient, she said that her family had grown and
fermented them by themselves.

Jiang Chen covered his neck with his hand and stayed a far
distance away from me, he even shot me resentful looks from time to
time. I apologised to him in embarrassment, “Aiya, I didn’t do it
on purpose, you sit a little closer, I won’t bite you again.”

He ignored me, covered his neck and turned his head away. I
shifted over and hugged his arm, “I’m sorry, how about I let you
bite me back?”

Jiang Chen rolled his eyes at me, “You’re born in the year of
the dog.”

After we returned home, I self-deprecatingly told Jiang Chen about

my blunder, after he finished listening, he didn’t scold me for being
an idiot or mock me like I had predicted him to, he only went silent
for a while before pushing away the arm I had hooked around his
neck while saying, “I’m going to shower.”

After he finished showering and came out, he also didn’t pay

attention to me, he sat in front of the computer and tapped away at
the keyboard as it made pitter-patter noises, I said, “Don’t tap at

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my keyboard till it disintegrates,” and was returned by him
giving me a look that was like a sharp knife.

After I finished showering and returned back, Jiang Chen was

sitting at the bedside, with an expression like he was thinking about
something very deeply, that expression in his eyes as he was looking
at God-knows what, with him appearing to be thinking about
something was so beautiful that it was like a scene designed with
utmost care from some movie. But if this sort of expression were to
occur to me, there would be a more easily understood phrase to
describe it – being in a daze.

I climbed onto the bed, and wrapped my arms around his neck
from behind his back, “What are you thinking about?”

He turned his head sideways and glanced at me, “I’m thinking,

what if I didn’t have you.”

I stared blankly, then forced myself to pretend and put on a

cheeky, grinning appearance, “Then you can look for a girl that
is a little taller than me, a little slimmer than me, a little
prettier than me, a little smarter than me, a little more
gentle than me, and a little more sensible than me.”

After I finished speaking, I felt very regretful, this seriously made it

seem that I had too much room for improvement.

Jiang Chen raised his hand and patted my head that I had pressed
against his shoulder, “That’s right.”

These two words of his again completely destroyed my tear glands,

I felt like I had been in a state of anxiety and fear the entire day,
afraid that I wouldn’t be able to accompany him till old age, afraid
that I wouldn’t be able to love him anymore, afraid that he would be
lonely on this earth…… But to him, it was instead only a case of
“without you, I can find someone better”.

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“Why are you crying again?” His tone of voice was very
helpless.

I leaned my upper body on his back, wiping my tears and snot on

his clothes, as I wiped them I scolded, “You’re a bastard with no
conscience, even if I become a ghost, I will also pester you
for an entire lifetime, bastard.”

He wanted to stand up, I strapped his neck tightly and refused to

let go, he didn’t care, and caused me to stick to his back with the
posture of an octopus, half hanging, half clamped.

“Where do you want to go?” I whimpered as I asked him,

striving hard to not fall off from his back.

He ignored me, and half-piggybacked-half-dragged-me as he made

a beeline towards the washroom, he squeezed toothpaste onto the
toothbrush, and invited me, “Do you want to brush your teeth?”

I hung from his back, and rejected him in all righteousness and
justness, “I don’t want to, you bastard.”

He lifted his eyes from the mirror and glanced at me, “Have you
scolded enough yet?”

“I haven’t.” As I spoke, I wanted to cry again. I cried as I scolded

and used my head to hit against his back, “You have no
conscience, you aren’t human, if you want to look for
someone better, you go and look for her now, you go and
look, go and look, go and look, there’s no need to wait till I
die.”

Jiang Chen dangled the toothbrush from his mouth, and spoke with
unclear enunciation, his mouth full of foam, “I’m about to have an
internal injury, this madam.”

“You bastard, I’m already crying.” As I spoke, I subconsciously

relaxed one of my hands, wanting to rub my eyes, the moment that

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hand relaxed, the strength of one arm was insufficient to hold up my
entire body weight, hence I again scrambled and rushed to rein in
Jiang Chen’s neck.

In order to avoid being strangled to death by me or me causing

myself to fall to my death, Jiang Chen could only throw the
toothbrush aside to hold me up, after a time period of hurrying and
scrambling frantically, other than him being strangled by me till he
had a red mark, our lives were both no longer in danger.

After causing such a ruckus, I was a little afraid that I had provoked
and annoyed him, hence I obediently got off onto the floor, and
discovered that because I had come over just now by hanging off
Jiang Chen’s body, I was barefoot, stepping on the ceramic floor tiles
in winter was extremely cold, I got onto tiptoe, gave a shout, fled
back to the room and jumped onto the bed. I wrapped myself in the
blanket and rolled around once on the bed, wrapping myself up till I
was like a dumpling caused me to have great peace of mind.

When Jiang Chen entered the room, he held a wet towel in his
hand, he insisted on drawing out my head from the blanket wrap,
and covered my face with the towel and rubbed it with great force for
a while, “You’re happy now that you’ve cried till your eyes are
like walnuts, are you.”

I was wrapped in the middle of the blanket and couldn’t move at

all, I could only let him help me wipe my face with a vigour that could
rub my face till my features were flattened.

After he finished using the towel, he threw the towel easily away,
and the towel ended up hanging from the back of the chair. I held my
face that had been rubbed by him till it was painful and complained,
“My skin is about to break, you don’t have to disfigure me
even if you want to look for someone new.”

Jiang Chen drew the blanket out, following the blanket, I rolled a
few rounds, having lost the blanket, the cold air immediately

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surrounded me from head to toe, I couldn’t help but curl up into a
ball, just in time for Jiang Chen to shove me as a ball into the blanket
that he had shaken out properly.

I wasn’t done lying down properly when he turned the lights off, I
said I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet, he said you often forget to brush
your teeth. I protested and said, but I didn’t forget now.”

He said, then why do you always forget that I love you very much?
I love you very much, so even though it’s indeed true that there are
girls who are taller than you, slimmer than you, prettier than you,
more clever, gentle and sensible than you in this world, but they are
all none of my business.

In the darkness, I exerted great force as I blinked my eyes, to force

back the tears that were already brimming in my eyes, I said, fellow
student Jiang Chen, next time, can you place the most important
point at the beginning when you speak? Having cried for such a long
time, I too am tired. Also, there aren’t any girls who are taller than
me, slimmer than me, prettier than me, more clever, gentle and
sensible than me in this world, there aren’t.

CHAPTER 50

Jiang Chen’s dad still didn’t like me, his mum didn’t like me even
more than his dad, also Li Wei was still staying in his house and was
preparing to take the entrance exams for graduate studies, Jiang
Chen was also vexed about the matter of applying for his PHD
studies, I too had to go to work and rush my manhwa drawings every
day, life sometimes was so frustrating that it made me want to jump
up and down and scold vulgarities, but I was Mrs. Jiang!

…… It actually said that I can’t post this chapter if I didn’t meet a

certain word limit, but I just want to post this chapter alone as it is!
……

Chen Xiaoxi: You say, should we have a boy or a girl for our child in

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the future.

Jiang Chen: It’s not me who has the final say, from a medical point
of view……

Chen Xiaoxi: Stop right there, if you nag anymore about medicine
I’ll give birth to an androgynous (child) for you.

Jiang Chen: Then this child would take after its mother.

Chen Xiaoxi: ……

Chen Xiaoxi: What to do if I am infertile.

Jiang Chen: From a medical point of view, the chances of curing it

are very high.

Chen Xiaoxi: What if it can’t be cured?

Jiang Chen: Then so be it.

Chen Xiaoxi: Would you divorce me?

Jiang Chen: Idiot, why would I divorce you?

Chen Xiaoxi: Wuwuwu, you really love me, don’t you?

Jiang Chen: No, I hate children.

Chen Xiaoxi: ……

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Translator’s Corner:

Sorry this was so late!!!! D: A two chapter update, because chapter

50 honestly can’t be considered a chapter lol ?

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AND WE ARE DONE WITH THE MAIN NOVEL!!!

On with the side stories! Thanks so much guys for sticking around ?

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