Translator: MCF
Proofreader: Amy
After lunch at his teacher’s house, Liang Muqiu left.
He went back to pick up his luggage and knocked on the opposite door. He dropped off Edamame along with some of his daily necessities and then asked Cen Nan to send him to the high-speed rail station.
When he got into the car, he sat in the seat with his eyes closed. He didn’t talk with Cen Nan much. He didn’t know if it was the sun or something else but his ears were burning.
When he was leaving his teacher’s house, Luo Wen sent him off and didn’t forget to tease him, “Next time you come to the door, you better not be alone. Show me your boyfriend. Whether he’s round or flat, you still need to bring him out for me to see. The ugly daughter-in-law must see her in-laws.”
Liang Muqiu’s eyes opened a slit and swept a glance at Cen Nan who was wearing a grey pinstripe shirt. It was hot and his sleeves were rolled up halfway, revealing strong, sturdy arms with a black wristwatch.
Not round or flat, but good-looking.
At the train station, Liang Muqiu took his suitcase and was about to enter the station. Out of courtesy, he waved to Cen Nan, “See you in two days.”
Cen Nan also knew that with his current status, he wasn’t qualified to wish Liang Muqiu to return earlier, nor was he allowed to remind Liang Muqiu to video call him. He could only step forward and gently smooth over Liang Muqiu’s collar that had creased from sleeping.
“I’ll send you photos of Edamame,” he said softly. “You go out and take care of yourself, pay attention to the weather.”
Cen Nan’s fingers brushed over his neck and Liang Muqiu felt itchy for no reason.
He took a step back and said bluntly, “Got it, you can go back. I’m leaving.”
After that, he turned around with his suitcase and walked towards the railway station hall without looking back.
Cen Nan didn’t turn around to leave and instead continued to look at his back.
Outside the hall, many people were coming and going, and the commuters were like clouds of mist. Liang Muqiu’s back stood out as he dragged his small suitcase through the crowd of people without any fear of losing his way.
But because he could see it, Cen Nan felt that those short steps were extraordinarily long.
He couldn’t help thinking, when Liang Muqiu sent him off at the airport, he probably watched him leave with the same feeling.
At that time, he was heading to the security check. He turned back and looked at Liang Muqiu, who was some distance away from him. In the sea of moving people, Liang Muqiu was clutching his coat and wearing a camel-coloured scarf. His eyes and the tip of his nose were red. He was only twenty years old at that time and there was no sign of maturity and calmness. He was so obedient that he didn’t even make a fuss, just looking at him pitifully and blankly like a puppy abandoned at the same place.
At that moment he even thought to himself, don’t go.
It was just a quarrel with his parents, if worst comes to worst, it was only a matter of moving out and becoming independent.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
What was so great about America? There was nothing but unpalatable Chinese food, no little corgi, no ginkgo tree downstairs, and no cosy apartment he shared with Liang Muqiu.
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Cen Nan leaned against the door and lit a cigarette.
Liang Muqiu had entered the checkpoint and even his back was gone.
He looked down at his watch with the cigarette in his mouth. It was four-thirty in the afternoon.
It seemed like this was the time when he left too.
Perhaps his figure looked too desolate, but a buddy beside him who was also there to see off someone patted him on the shoulder.
“Brother, you’re also here to send off your girlfriend, right?” The man was extremely carefree and casual as he sighed, “Me too. I’m here to send off my wife. She’s going on a business trip for more than half a month. We’re still newlyweds so I can’t help but be reluctant. They’re really good, walking off without worries.”
Cen Nan glanced at the man next to him. He was in his twenties and had a sunny appearance while sporting a buzzcut. He was a few years younger than him.
He didn’t correct the man’s mistake and instead smiled in acquiescence.
However, he was a little envious.
This person was a newlywed.
How nice, so bright and candid. He could also have gotten married abroad.
While working on a project in the library of the University of Chicago, he’d also planned to bring Liang Muqiu to get a license.
Liang Muqiu’s destination, Yunzhou, was two hours away from Bincheng. When he arrived, it was already dark. The ancient village they were going to inspect was considered a scenic spot and a receptionist was sent to pick him up.
In addition to him, there were two other screenwriters. The three people gathered before they exited the train station and boarded the bus together.
Liang Muqiu knew the female scriptwriter who was in her thirties. She had short hair and wore a white T-shirt and jeans. She looked neat. Her name was Zhuang Yue and they had worked together before, so they exchanged greetings when they got on the bus.
The other scriptwriter was Hong Chao, who was unfamiliar to Liang Muqiu but the other was very enthusiastic and lively, chattering the whole way.
Their visit to the ancient village in Yunzhou was arranged by the Drama Association to obtain more material and there was no special task. They only hoped that the scriptwriters would gain some inspiration and write some draft scripts while increasing publicity.
Liang Muqiu was the last person who would enjoy socializing. However, he was recommended by Teacher Luo Wen this time and could not afford to lose his face. Fortunately, everyone in the room was polite and no one put on airs.
The group gathered together for dinner and got to know each other.
After dinner, it was already late. There were no activities scheduled for today and they were given rooms to rest.
Liang Muqiu and Hong Chao were assigned together.
Although the room was quite large and the two beds were well separated, he wasn’t used to sharing a room with other people. He was somewhat embarrassed and put down his luggage, going out on the pretext of a stroll.
This ancient village was well preserved. Although it was a scenic spot, it hadn’t been developed too much so there were few tourists present. It was surrounded by mountains and rivers and some small bamboo buildings were lined up orderly along the mountains. At night, unlike the neon lights flashing in the city, wisps of warm light were dotted the whole way and the air was particularly fresh. From far away, there was the sound of children’s laughter from the small courtyard.
Liang Muqiu found a convenience store, bought a drink and chatted with the boss.
The boss was a local and when he heard that he was here to travel, he became very enthusiastic and recommended several places to him.
“When you come to our place, you must take a bamboo raft and tour the beautiful mountains and rivers.”
Since the shop was empty, the boss simply sat beside him and chatted, “There’s a mountain temple there with a legend surrounding the acacia tree beside it. You young people like superstitious things a lot, you can also buy some woodware and goldware. If you don’t like that, you can also go to the Tuo Bridge, it’s very beautiful at night and you can light a lamp there.”
Liang Muqiu recorded them all in his notebook.
He looked very young and the boss was surprised to find out that he was already working as a screenwriter.
“You look about the same age as my daughter,” the boss smiled. “She goes to university now and likes travelling.”
The two chatted for a while and when a customer came to the store, the boss left.
Liang Muqiu sat alone on a high stool, his toes dangling gently as his pen moved across the notebook.
Before long, his cell phone vibrated and when he unlocked it, it was Cen Nan who finally couldn’t hold back and was asking if he had arrived.
Liang Muqiu was not surprised at all as he replied, “Here already.”
Cen Nan asked a few more questions about where he lived, whether he was tired and what the local temperature was.
Liang Muqiu replied bluntly and ignored him, throwing his phone aside.
He drank hot lemon tea and looked out of the window. There were several pedestrians on Bluestone road. They were all young boys who looked like students coming out to play and they laughed recklessly as they walked.
Although the owner of the convenience store praised him as young just now, Liang Muqiu knew in his heart that he was ultimately different from these young students standing together.
He bit the straw in a daze, vaguely remembering that he often went out with Cen Nan in the beginning. He didn’t like travelling, and he also avoided people. But with Cen Nan holding him, whether it was the mountains, the sea, the city or an ancient town, he seemed to be able to go anywhere.
Cen Nan planned the itinerary along the way and he was responsible for following along.
Sitting in the car and looking at the mountains and rivers, Cen Nan laughed at him and said, “You only know to follow me like this, if I sell you off, you’ll even help me count the money.”
He sat in the passenger seat eating a snack and replied nonchalantly, “That’s okay, you’ll just have to buy me back later.”
Liang Muqiu thought, how could he be so confident back then? He always thought that no matter where Cen Nan went, he couldn’t escape from his palm.
However, it turned out that he was overconfident.
He got a little angry when he thought of this and as luck would have it, Cen Nan had just sent another message. He picked up the phone and narrowed his eyes slightly, ready to let Cen Nan know what anger was.
He looked at the chat and found that Cen Nan could entertain himself even if he didn’t pay attention to him. He had photographed the coffee he just bought, saying that it tasted particularly bad. He also mentioned that Edamame had met a little Pomeranian on the road and chased after someone else’s ass, implicating him and pulling him into a good conversation with the Pomeranian’s owner for half a day.
The corners of Liang Muqiu’s mouth twitched and he asked deliberately, “Is the Pomeranian’s owner good-looking? Male or female?”
He replied, “Woman, I don’t know if she looks good or not, I don’t care.”
With such a textbook-like standard answer, Liang Muqiu couldn’t even find a fault.
He rolled his eyes and poked from somewhere else. “Only a fool will drink coffee at night, just wait for your insomnia.”
Cen Nan didn’t mind and replied, “It doesn’t matter.”
He paused and said, “I always have insomnia when you’re not around, I’m used to it now.”
Liang Muqiu was startled.
He stared at the text and deeply suspected that Cen Nan had been possessed.
When they were together, Cen Nan treated him like his ancestors, but his mouth was unforgiving. He would be angry with him occasionally and saying ‘I love you’ was like being on his deathbed. Most of his honeyed words were only expressed in bed after he cried. A clamshell that cherished words like gold.
Now that they met again, the meaty words were pouring out like he didn't need money.
The night in the mountains was cool but his fingertips felt hot.
“Who cares about you?”
After typing these four words, he quickly pushed the mobile phone aside, and stopped covering his ears and stealing the bell.
Outside, the evening wind was gentle and the wind chimes in front of the convenience store swayed gently in the night breeze, making a pleasant and crisp sound.
Liang Muqiu continued to write with his pen in a daze and became dumbfounded. By the time he returned to his senses, he noticed two more words on the paper.
Cen Nan.
omg there’s another novel by BK’s author on CG! It’s ‘After I Flopped on My Crush’ and it’s so cute and fluffy 🥺🥺 plus it’s translated by Teo hehe 
I actually finished it in a day once the completed announcement came out hahah
Yeah, Yeah, he thought of him and loved him, so he didn’t contact with LMQ event once…
Thank You for the new chapter (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
I wonder about the backstory on Cen Nan. did they threaten LMQ? the grandma? he only returned once his grandma passed.. still I think it he was honest with LMQ he would have waited
thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for this chapter! I haven’t read that novel, now that I know it’s from the same author I’ll definitely check it out.
Actually accidentally writing something that was on your mind subconsciously at wrong place and then crossing it with pen several times until it becomes unreadable happen to me quite a lot. Seems like LMQ was thinking too deeply on CN
Me too, i finished it in one day 😍
)) :