Green Plum IslandCh18 - I Don’t Believe in Such Things

It wasn’t easy to get into the sky maiden costume, and it’s not easy to get out.

By the time my wig is removed and makeup is cleansed, another half hour has passed. Chu Tong stays behind to clean up, telling us not to wait for her, and Sun Rui has gone off to stroll the night market with Wen Ying, long disappeared. d4yoKS

I walk out of the makeshift changing room with a hand over my empty stomach and spot Grandpa and Yan Wanqiu immediately. I’d thought I missed them completely since I didn’t see them during the parade, but unbeknownst to me, at some point they’d already made their way over to the rest area.

“Big brother!” As soon as Yan Wanqiu catches sight of me, she lunges towards me with her hands outstretched.

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Afraid she’ll slip, I rush forward to catch her.

“I saw you and Ah Shan, but none of you heard me calling you,” she says. Her mood value doesn’t drop so I know she’s not bothered by it. yAJ F3

“There were too many people, I’m sorry.” I sweep a glance around the room. No sign of Yan Kongshan; he’s probably gone off who knows where to smoke again.

“Mian Mian, you were amazing! I’m proud of you!” Grandpa approaches me, smiling and throws me a double thumbs-up. “I told everyone that was my grandson, and they all said I was blessed.”

His mood index flies all the way up to 86, noticeably satisfied with that statement.

He always supports me unconditionally no matter what I do; he’s never disappointed in me and never disappoints me. He agreed to let me move in after four years of not seeing each other no matter how sudden that decision of mine was.

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It’s more accurate to say he’s my blessing.

“Ah Shan was great too, when you guys passed, I heard two girls in the back trying to get him to look their way, shouting about how nice his figure was!” Grandpa starts gesturing with his hands and feet, imitating them.

Due to his deafness, the volume at which he speaks has a tendency to increase; usually he remembers to control it when he’s in a room, but likely due to the excitement of the day, he forgets and everyone in the room turns to look at him.

No one minds though, because joy and enthusiasm brightens everyone’s faces as they celebrate the successful conclusion of the rainstopping ceremony. DBGLlK

“It’s true, I think Ah Shan’s figure is absolutely insane. When I was young, I didn’t even have half the muscles he does. And my little brat, well he’s not even where I’m at…” Mr. Liu, who still hasn’t left and is doing last-minute tidying up, joins our conversation.

“Your kid does have one thing on you,” Grandpa says, eyes twinkling mischievously as he elbows him. “He finished puberty faster.”

Mr. Liu heaves a big sigh and throws his hands up in exasperation, saying, “I must’ve been especially wicked in my last life for the King of Hell to send me that little brat to torment me in this one.”

The two old mates commiserate over Mr. Liu’s unfortunate son, but then Grandpa consoles him and says that after the baby is born, all will be well. A cute little grandson would let Mr. Liu forget he had an annoying son. Luk0td

Yan Kongshan comes back smelling like fresh cigarettes as the two men move on to talk about what the baby should be named.

He reaches out to get Yan Wanqiu, but she hides her face in my chest. “Ah Shan, you stink!”

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.

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Reassured, I wave goodbye to everyone and prepare to leave with Yan Kongshan and Yan Wanqiu.

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“Don’t walk straight,” Yan Kongshan warns, suddenly grabbing my arm and pulling me in the other direction. “That classmate of yours is still there.”

Fu Wei hadn’t left yet? TjfZFw

What did he want? Did I owe him money or something, for him to linger around me constantly like a ghost?

The back door of the shop opens to a dark alley. The air here is stifling, smoke mixing with the pungent odor of sewage and circling the tightly enclosed space to form an indescribable smell.

“It’s so dark…” Yan Wanqiu’s arms tighten around my neck. Her fear of the dark makes her seem more childlike.

Although there’s just a row of shops between them, Nanpu Street and this alleyway are like two different worlds, one lively and bustling, the other completely deserted. OHKQsk

It’s dark, and with a child in my arms, walking becomes a slightly tedious task. It’s hard to find my footing.

Yan Kongshan turns back to look at me and comes over to take Yan Wanqiu out of my arms before I can say anything. “Watch your feet,” he cautions, before walking ahead with ease.

I keep up behind him, following in his footsteps one by one until we gradually arrive at the alleyway entrance.

In order to manage traffic, all non-motorised vehicles were required to park at a temporary parking lot on this day, so Grandpa’s bike is stationed pretty far away. We have to wade through two streets filled with food stalls before arriving at the parking lot. CzVjIK

The night market is magnetic in its own way; the same stalls don’t always draw as many crowds as they do at night. Green Plum Island’s night market is always crowded, and the day of the rainstopping ceremony is no different. The streets are packed, customers lining the front of every single food stall.

“Ah Shan, I want to eat that egg, it looks yummy!” As we pass a fried egg stall, Yan Wanqiu tugs on Yan Kongshan’s collar to get him to stop.

The fried eggs aren’t all that special, but the stall boasts a plethora of egg types: chicken, duck, pigeon, quail, and even goose. Yan Wanqiu wants to eat pigeon eggs, and right then, two customers finish eating and leave, so we go take their seats.

We end up ordering six pigeon eggs and an order or quail eggs. Yan Wanqiu and I stare fixatedly at the stove, both of us salivating in anticipation. Yan Kongshan leaves us while we wait for our food. I think he’s gone off to smoke again and briefly worry about his smoking addiction, but when he comes back he’s holding two bowls of chowmein and Sichuanese chicken in chili oil. Mtp4qv

“Want it?” He pushes a bowl of noodles towards me.

“Yes, yes, yes!” I bob my head up and down vigorously, peeling off the cover of the noodle bowl and immediately stuffing it down my throat. I’m still growing–the little bit of chocolate I had for lunch was absolutely not enough.

As I eat, Yan Kongshan puts the plate of chicken before me as well. I thank him and before even finishing the noodles in my mouth, stuff some chicken in there too.

The feeling of satisfaction that settles in my stomach as I replenish my body makes me so emotional I almost want to cry. cCx94G

Right then, our egg orders are delivered. Yan Kongshan sticks his chopsticks into the chowmein bowl and starts peeling pigeon eggs. Yan Wanqiu takes one, I take one, and the two of us split the rest as well. Yan Kongshan doesn’t save one for himself.

The pigeon egg is absolutely scrumptious, its half-opaque egg white melting in my mouth, slightly sticky. It leaves a delicious aftertaste that is just somehow different from a chicken egg.

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I eye the last pigeon egg in the takeout box. It sits there so seductively, but I swallow and toss it into Yan Kongshan’s noodle bowl. “I’m full, you take it.”

He looks down at it for a moment, then picks it up with his chopsticks and chews silently. Although he doesn’t say anything, his mood value speaks for him–he definitely liked that pigeon egg. m1Ld5z

As expected, pigeon eggs are so good that anyone would like them!

“Quail eggs, quail eggs!” Yan Wanqiu knocks the surface of the table with her fists, chanting the name of the next egg of her desires.

“Alright, let me peel them for you.” I reach over for the bowl of quail eggs, taking over Yan Kongshan’s earlier job of egg-peeling.

Of the six of seven quail eggs, Yan Wanqiu eats two and then is too full to continue. I peel the rest for Yan Kongshan, and just like before, he takes them silently and eats them all with the rest of his noodles. 6foXZR

After we pay and leave, we only make it about two steps out when the owner of a fortune telling stall stops us in our tracks. “Wait!”

The person who called out to us wears an exotic-looking garment, face covered with a red veil. Before her lies a clear crystal ball.

“Want to have your love fortune told?” She blinks her thick, long lashes, tossing Yan Kongshan a wink.

He stares at her and retorts, “I don’t believe in such things.” With that, he stalks off, looking somewhat disdainful. JHqPCu

I’m curious about the fortune-telling, but since he’s already left, I have no choice but to catch up to him.

Behind us, the fortune teller teases in a sing-song voice, “Cupid will take revenge on those who don’t believe in love!”

I check Yan Kongshan’s face–her words don’t move him at all, and his mood index starts to turn red. His words from earlier perplex me. Does he not believe in love, or not believe in fortune telling?

Before we leave the night market, Yan Wanqiu has her eyes set on a rainbow-coloured pinwheel and begs for it. Yan Kongshan buys two: One for her, and the other he brings to me. elJSQx

My eyes widen. “I have one too?” I ask, surprised.

His lips curl up into a smile, his mood recovered. “All the kids get one.”

I take the pinwheel from him, running my fingers over its edges gently. I’m in love with the gift, so much so that I don’t complain about him calling me a “kid.”

After Yan Kongshan accompanies me to Grandpa’s bike, we part ways as he goes off to the motor vehicle parking lot to get his car. jGM2Os

I stick the rainbow pinwheel at the front of the bike, start the engines, and exit the parking lot.

Not every street I pass through on my way are lit with streetlights; every once in a while, I wind my way through small, dark streets. Aside from startling a few cats, I also end up getting sprayed by water on the ground that has accumulated for god knows how long, making me wish I was already home.

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When I’m just about to arrive, the sky suddenly explodes into a flamboyant display of fireworks, blooming overhead in the night sky like flowers in spring.

It must be ten p.m., I think. Sun Rui did say there was going to be a fireworks show down at the beach. FQ4Ju7

The path I’m on is ancient, with streetlights resembling the teeth of an old man, dark unlit gaps here and there. I turn Turtle King’s headlights to the brightest setting so I can see my surroundings. All I can do is amble along slowly and cautiously.

Suddenly, the sound of a car engine approaches from behind me. The driver must have their high beam lights on, because all of a sudden the road in front of me is brightly lit.

Since the road isn’t very wide and can barely fit a single vehicle, I maneuver the bike over to the side so the car behind me can pass, but it just follows me slowly instead of driving ahead.

I turn to peer back at the car curiously, but then get blinded by its headlights and nearly drive my bike straight into a ditch. Behind me, the car starts blaring its horns repetitively, as if admonishing me for not being careful. IZ9x2c

Following the honking, Yan Kongshan’s hypnotic voice drifts through the night air. “Don’t look back, keep your eyes in front of you.”

Unconsciously, I step on the gas pedal a little harder, my heart nearly jumping out of my throat. “Wh-Why are you on this road?”

The path we’re on is narrow and despite the fact that it’s a shorter route, most cars don’t drive on it. I had assumed Yan Kongshan would’ve taken another road.

“Because I want to see the fireworks,” he answers simply. RQwYUG

Could this be any more romantic?

Far off in the distance, the fireworks show on the beach is still ongoing, a few brilliant displays piercing the night sky every once in a while. It is true that this road has the best view of the fireworks, and it’s hard to discern from Yan Kongshan’s voice whether he’s telling the truth or not.

But it doesn’t matter, because I’ve already decided that he came to light the road for me.

I honk the bike’s horn twice, then raise an arm up in the air and wave it around in a dance. “Fireworks spectator, don’t lag behind! Follow your tour guide Yu Mian, we’ll soon arrive at our next stop, home sweet home!” I shout happily into the wind. x8mdZR

And like so, Yan Kongshan follows me all the way home in his car, lighting my path for me.