TLC: OnlyForNovels
At half past six, Cen Nan and Liang Muqiu left the hotel on time and took a taxi to the arranged restaurant.
Kaiyue building wasn’t far from the hotel and was only twenty minutes away.
Along the way, Liang Muqiu held his chin and looked out the window.
The last time he visited Yandou was back when he was a senior. Five years later, he was even more unfamiliar with the place but the high-rise buildings in each city were similar. They were all made with steel, cold and familiar.
The only human touch were the Chinese Parasol trees. As summer drew nearer, they grew wider and thicker with their branches extending out like an umbrella to cover the sky, leaving only thin cracks to reveal the evening sky.
Liang Muqiu couldn’t help thinking of the Yulan apartment he and Cen Nan resided next to the university. There were also parasol trees lining the street and floating catkins during spring which were a bit annoying, but also beautiful.
He would sit on the bench under the parasol tree and wait for Cen Nan to finish class. And under the same street light at night, they would kiss each other.
There were often stray cats near the apartment and In spring, they would meow loudly and play around the trees. After Cen Nan kissed him, he would pinch the back of his neck and make him look at the little white cat rolling and showing its belly and whispering,”See that cat? You’re just like it in bed.”
After seven or eight years, Liang Muqiu was still ashamed and flustered when he thought of it. He glared at Cen Nan, his eyes sharp like a small knife and he turned around resolutely.
Cen Nan was wondering how he had offended him again.
When they reached Kaiyue building, Liu Fengtao and his girlfriend were already sitting inside. His girlfriend had a gentle and round face and her name was Wang Ni. She sat with Liu Fengtao, forming an image of a harmonious husband and wife.
After Cen Nan and Liang Muqiu arrived, the two young lead actors arrived. They were even better looking than in the photos and really young. They wore simple shirts and trousers and didn’t talk much when they sat down. At first glance, they didn’t fit in with the table full of adults approaching thirty.
Liang Muqiu’s dinner wasn’t only to catch up with Liu Fengtao but also to meet the two main actors in advance.
These two youths played the most important role in the show. Liang Muqiu, as the screenwriter, was very interested in them even though he didn’t participate much in the casting at the beginning.
Now seeing them in person for the first time, he had to admit that Liu Fengtao had a good eye.
The one playing Chen Mingsheng, the top student, appeared refined at first glance. His face was pure white and clean and if he didn’t smile, he appeared cold. The one playing the little gangster, Xu Jie, was sitting beside him. He was very handsome with slightly tan skin. Even if his manner of speaking was polite, his whole person exuded a kind of wildness and pride that couldn’t be hidden.
The key point was that the two were familiar with each other. Being friends from the same school meant they had a much higher tacit understanding than other rookie actors, saving them the trouble of familiarising themselves with each other.
While their appearance and aura were well-matched, nothing was certain before the official shooting. Especially since they were still freshmen from film school.
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.
Liang Muqiu had an occupational disease. He narrowed his eyes and looked them up and down. When he didn’t laugh, he had quite an intimidating aura. He resembled a shrewd jeweller observing two rough stones and measuring them without emotion, making others nervous.
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The two nodded quickly and called out “Teacher Liang” while proposing a toast according to customs.
Liang Muqiu was amused and waved his hand repeatedly, “Don’t worry about it, we’ll be spending the next month together.”
He looked at the beer in front of the two boys and signalled to the waiter, “Take their drink away, children shouldn’t drink, replace it with juice. There will be opportunities to drink in the future, but forget it today.”
The corners of Cen Nan’s lips curled as he listened next to him.
He had once said this to Liang Muqiu. At their high school reunion, he grabbed the beer in front of Liang Muqiu and replaced it with a glass of lemon tea. He told him that children shouldn’t drink otherwise he had to carry him back if he got drunk.
Time passed and it surprisingly became Liang Muqiu’s turn to say this to his juniors.
He was obviously a quiet and reserved young student back then, but now he had become a considerate elder taking care of his juniors.
Cen Nan smiled and placed the peeled shrimp into Liang Muqiu’s bowl.
He picked up a wet towel to wipe his hands. When he looked up, he saw the boy playing Xu Jie peeling a shrimp and putting it into Chen Mingsheng’s bowl.
Cen Nan couldn’t help raising his eyebrows. Right now, Liang Muqiu was talking to Liu Fengtao and Liu Fengtao’s girlfriend was looking at her phone. No one seemed to have noticed this action except him.
The two people were still unaware that their small movements had been discovered and smiled at each other. Their eyes were full of affection and their arms were touching and the chairs a little closer than others.
Cen Nan chuckled quietly, thinking that it really was an adolescent love. Bright enough to dazzle others’ eyes but always thinking they were well hidden.
Or perhaps there was no intention of covering it up at all. Thinking that the sky was high and the sea wide, they were so in love that they didn’t care what others saw.
He quietly removed his gaze, unable to tell what he was feeling for a while and remembered a certain moment of his own.
The dinner lasted till half past nine.
When the group was about to go their separate ways, the moon was bright while the stars were sparse. Liu Fengtao wanted to send off Liang Muqiu and Cen Nan, but Liang Muqiu waved his hand and pointed to the two main actors next to him, “Just send them off. I want to take a walk, I’ll take a taxi when I’m tired.”
Liu Fengtao thought it was fine upon considering it.
He gestured to the two actors to enter the car and said to Liang Muqiu, “Then you should pay attention to safety. Go to bed early and don’t tire yourself out too much. Call me if you need anything.”
Liang Muqiu smiled, “So naggy, Mama Liu, why are you still so worried?”
Liu Fengtao was caught off guard by his nickname back then and slapped the car door, “Stop regarding my kindness as donkey's liver and lungs, don’t talk nonsense!”
His girlfriend giggled from beside him.
Liang Muqiu jumped onto the steps beside the road and smugly said, “I praise you for your thoughtfulness. Okay, you go back too, see you tomorrow.”
The several people bid goodbye and the jeep drove away.
Only Cen Nan and Liang Muqiu were left on the side of the road.
It wasn’t too late now, the pedestrian sidewalk on both sides of the road was still bustling with life. Seeing the cold noodles on the roadside, Liang Muqiu became a little greedy and bought a bowl even though he just had dinner.
He was always cute when he nibbled on snacks. Cen Nan looked at him, his eyes softer than he imagined.
On the way, he remembered what happened at the dinner table just now and asked Liang Muqiu, “Did you notice that your two stars have a different relationship? Pay more attention during the shooting. Young people are more prone to losing their tempers when they’re in love, don’t let it delay your shooting.”
Liang Muqiu was a little confused. He didn’t realise what kind of “unusual” Cen Nan was referring to. He didn’t realise it until he caught Cen Nan’s gaze, but he didn’t quite believe it.
“That can’t be. They’re from the same school and are good brothers, it’s normal for them to be close.” Liang Muqiu spent most of the night talking about movies with Liu Fengtao and didn’t pay much attention to the two youths. “How could it be such a coincidence that there are so many gays in the crew.”
Cen Nan thought he was dull-witted, “Good brothers? Have you ever seen a brother who helps you peel shrimp, wipe your hands, sneaking glances at each other when eating and secretly holding hands when going down the stairs?”
Liang Muqiu was stunned for a while, but he really didn’t notice it.
“Then I really need to pay attention,” he thought. “Let them play brothers and family, I don’t want them to go overboard and fail the censorship later on.”
After that, he threw the small bowl in his hand into the trash can and spread out his hands as though it was normal for him. Cen Nan took out a tissue from his pocket and wiped Liang Muqiu’s hands.
He heard Liang Muqiu say, “You’re very observant. We were eating and chatting, and didn’t pay attention to the two children.”
Hearing this, Cen Nan raised his head and glanced at Liang Muqiu.
“I’m not observant, it’s just that the way Xu Jie looks at Chen Mingsheng is similar to how I looked at you back then.”
Those eager eyes that couldn’t be hidden, the arms that bumped into each other lightly, stealthily hooking their pinky finger while people were inattentive.
Which memory, which moment?
That wasn’t only what he did to Liang Muqiu back then.
It was even more excessive.
Time went by, and he had already passed the age of eighteen. But when he looked at the two young boys opposite him, it was as if he was seeing the younger him.
Liang Muqiu was stunned for a moment and stopped to look up at Cen Nan.
Cen Nan reached out and patted his head and said, “I’m actually a little jealous of them.”
Liang Muqiu bit his lips, not entirely clueless, but still asked, “What are you jealous of? What do two young students have for you to be jealous of?”
Cen Nan smiled. “I can’t explain it, but my heart just feels sore.”
He and Liang Muqiu had experienced what these two youths had.
The fervent love they held wasn’t inferior to them, if not stronger.
But he was still jealous.
Maybe they were jealous that they were still so ignorant and fearless. Their backs hadn’t been bent over by reality, they hadn’t been pushed to a cliff with nowhere to fall.
Cen Nan sighed and gently embraced Liang Muqiu.
Under the lush parasol trees, they cuddled together as if they weren’t in Yandu, but beside the Yulan apartment from back then.
Liang Muqiu struggled perfunctorily and let Cen Nan hold him.
He heard Cen Nan say, “Sometimes I really envy those young students but if I had to choose, I would still choose the present. Because only now do I have the freedom to do what I want.”
And also love the person I want to love.
Liang Muqiu raised his head from his arms. Cen Nan didn’t say the second half of the sentence, but he understood in an instant.
When they were students, they were fearless, not afraid of anything. When they finally entered society, they then realised that there were cliffs and cliffs everywhere.
It was quite rare for him not to disagree with Cen Nan. He quietly let Cen Nan to hold him for a while until passers-by stared at them in surprise. Liang Muqiu couldn’t stand it and pushed Cen Nan gently.
“Stop dawdling, let’s go back to the hotel.” He whispered.
Cen Nan didn’t insist and released his hand obediently.
The two men walked side by side on the path with the leaves of the parasol tree under their feet. At first, the two shadows were separated by a small gap but unconsciously, they stuck together again.
Hello everyone! I’m not completely dead, yet. And also, a big welcome to my new TLC who helped with this chapter 
I’m still not back on track with translating but I do plan to release another chapter in 2 weeks. After that, I will work on releasing chapters weekly and hopefully, maybe increase my weekly frequency. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
Thank you 🙏 for this chapter
Thank You for the new chapter (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡ Take Your time!