Green Plum IslandCh19 - Greetings, Junior

Crushing on someone means you have to traipse through countless mountains and rivers in order to reach the person you like, and in between all the stupid things that happen, you have to make sure they receive your love before they turn towards someone else.

And, there are only two possible conclusions: tragic failure, or riding off into the sunset together. But no matter how the journey ends, you know from the moment that you decide to crush on someone that the process won’t be entirely sweet nor bitter; the choice to like someone is yours, and the decision to cross the mountains and rivers is yours too. PueQAo

After the rainstopping ceremony ends, life returns to normal on the surface. By “on the surface,” I mean that internally, I’m incredibly restless. But that’s not my fault.

Who wouldn’t be restless with the knowledge that Yan Kongshan turned yellow for them?

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That’s not even possible.

And amidst this restlessness, I make another discovery that only heightens my anxiety–Yan Kongshan starts recruiting a new sales associate. He gets Wen Ying to print out recruitment posters looking for someone who can start working immediately, with no other requirements. He also doesn’t tell me about it beforehand. iEMem2

Although I’m just a temporary volunteer and informing me won’t change anything, I still feel indescribably upset when I suddenly discover the hiring posters posted everywhere.

A “so I’m not that special after all” kind of feeling.

Besides Wen Ying, Tianqi Used Books used to have another employee, but they’d quit back in the beginning of July, leaving the store short on hands and Yan Kongshan so busy that he had no time to take care of Yan Wanqiu. This was the reason he agreed so easily to my request to volunteer. I had shown up just at the right time.

Even though I can’t help out at the store forever, even though in September I’ll be off to university, there’s still a month of summer holidays left. Isn’t it too early to start hiring now? And furthermore, once the new hire comes, does that mean I’ll have to leave?

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No matter how I think about it, it seems like the new hire is meant to replace me, making me wonder if Yan Kongshan is dissatisfied with my work ethic. But I don’t have the courage to ask.

The anxiety over being replaced, not knowing what to do about me and Yan Kongshan, all these things circle around and around my mind, distracting me until I start zoning off at the drop of a hat.

“Mian Mian, you lost again.”

I come back to my senses. On the television, the car racing game has ended, my avatar arriving at the finish line after Yan Wanqiu’s. In contrast to her character, who is jumping up and cheering, all mine does is wave reservedly at the audience. EVTXsv

We’ve been playing Mario Kart, but I haven’t won a single game all night. In fact, I’ve lost so many times that the mere thought of the game traumatises me.

“I’m not in the best shape today,” I say, putting down the controller, trying to regain a semblance of dignity. “I’m not feeling it.”

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.

Yan Wanqiu shoots a look at the clock on the wall and says, “Then let’s continue tomorrow. I’m going to sleep now, you should sleep early too. Goodnight, Mian Mian.”

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“Ah Shan, I’m going to bed!” She’s not wearing her prosthetic and can’t stand, so she spreads her arms out towards Yan Kongshan’s direction from where she’s kneeling on the floor.

Yan Kongshan is busy cleaning out expired food from their fridge. I don’t know if it’s a consequence of being a single man with a child, but his fridge is always filled to the brim with frozen foods–dumplings, custard buns, chicken, beef, cod slices, sweet rice balls… The fridge is so stuffed that the two of them couldn’t possibly finish all that food even within a month.

Perhaps for this reason, Yan Kongshan suddenly decided to clean out the freezer today. At the sound of Yan Wanqiu’s voice, he wipes his hands on a towel and approaches with swift steps. “It’s already nine?” he asks. Traces of cool freezer air waft off his body.

“It’s already quarter past.” Carried into his arms, Yan Wanqiu covers her mouth and lets out a yawn. “Mian Mian kept losing. I wanted him to win so I played two extra rounds, but he lost them too.” rIdbwx

“…”

Kid, you shouldn’t throw me under the bus like that.

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“Well, he wouldn’t have lost at all if you didn’t play to begin with,” Yan Kongshan retorts. Evidently, he has his own way of dealing with her.

She thinks for a few moments, then gives a little hmph. “Sometimes losing helps people learn a lot, you can’t grow if you don’t lose!” I vaguely suspect she has no idea what she’s actually saying. “So sometimes losing is good.” xnIXwK

Whatever Yan Kongshan answers to that, I don’t know, because they walk too far away for me to hear them.

I suddenly feel thirst come over me–my Coke had been emptied over the course of our gaming session–so I wander into the kitchen, searching for water. Stepping over the rubbish bags that litter the ground, I search the cupboards high and low for a glass but find none.

The kitchen is some distance away from the living room and thus isn’t close enough to be air-conditioned, plus it has no windows, so the air is stuffy. I straighten up and pull at my shirt billowing it back and forth trying to fan the sweat that’s accumulated on my chest.

Don’t they even have drinking glasses? That couldn’t be possible. I’m about to yank open another drawer when Yan Kongshan’s voice sounds from the kitchen entrance: “What are you looking for?” d8p1lC

Startled by his sudden appearance, I hold a hand over my chest and look over at him. “A-A glass.”

He’s leaning against the kitchen door with his arms crossed, but then he uncrosses them and comes over to finish pulling open the drawer I have my hand on, then retrieves a glass cup from it and hands it to me. “Here.”

Thanking him, I take it and fill it with ice cold water to drink.

Yan Kongshan tosses all the expired food into the rubbish bin and bends down to wipe the stains on the floor. His sleeves are rolled up, revealing the muscle definition on his arms. Sharp collarbones peek out from his neckline, and his waist looks firm and powerful. Even the way he does house chores is sexy. LkPqnr

As I’m sneaking glances at him, I accidentally choke on a mouthful of water and to my humiliation, start hacking my lungs out. Icy, cold water drips down my neck to the inside of my tank. I’m wearing a white and green basketball tank top, and while it’s comfortable and loose, it also becomes translucent as water spreads beneath it.

“Here.” My entire face is burning from coughing. Out of the corner of my eye, a hand delivers a tissue before me.

I grab it, still coughing, and wipe down my neck before sticking the tissue under my tank. When I’ve just about finished drying myself up, I look up to thank Yan Kongshan, but find him staring at me, his mood value yellow.

Dude, I think. What is your problem? Every time you turn yellow, it’s always when I least expect it. db7dKZ

But in the next second, he’s already shifted his gaze away from me and is walking to the living room. Overhead, the yellow starts fading from his mood index.

So the target is still trying to control himself. Well, that might not be a bad thing. At least this time I’m not dressed as a woman.

Usually, I come at eight, play with Yan Wanqiu for an hour and read for an hour, and leave at ten. Now, it’s barely 9:30 p.m., so I still have time.

“Want to play a game?” I wave a controller in front of Yan Kongshan. eXYszT

He was about to shut the console off, but he freezes at my inquiry, thinks for a minute, then turns back and sits cross-legged on the floor. “Come on then.”

I’m surprised he says yes, and immediately sit down to choose a character. “Best of three wins. The winner gets to ask the loser a question.”

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“Gambling, are we?” He scrolls through the characters, and doesn’t turn down my request.

We finish selecting characters and the race begins. As soon as the countdown ends, I shoot out from the start line. To be honest, I don’t have any particular question in mind, but just the idea of getting to be closer to him, to know more about him, sends adrenaline pulsing through me. cHNx s

Yan Kongshan quickly lags behind me during the first race, likely because he hasn’t played in awhile. It’s my win through and through, and when the scores are posted on screen, I raise my hands up and start hollering. But then I remember that Yan Wanqiu is sleeping and slap a hand over my mouth, swallowing the rest of my screams.

“It’s okay, Qiuqiu is a heavy sleeper. And the noise insulation here is alright, she won’t hear you.” He props his hands behind him and leans back, indifferent to the results of the race. “You can scream…” Suddenly, he trails off. An almost indiscernible frown creases his face, and his mood value falls a little. But then he recovers, continuing, “You can yell out loud.”

Sometimes I think that extremely curious people should never fall for someone, because the question marks that accumulate in their heads would keep them from sleeping at night. The good thing is I’m not such a person and am trained to ignore things and pretend I don’t see things when the need arises.

The next round, Yan Kongshan gets in the groove of the game and turns the tables on me. I don’t accept defeat, and take the third round much more seriously, so nervous that I start sweating. 6p5rkg

But nerves can wreck things, and that’s what happens. My character continuously suffers from the traps that Yan Kongshan’s character tosses out, my kart flipping and slipping. In the end, even though I race like my life depends on it, I lose.

I’m left staring at the screen in a daze. Cold air of defeat wafts over my head.

My grip tightens around the controller and I think, but nothing comes up. There’s nothing I can do but admit defeat. “Okay then, what is it you’d like to know?” I ask, sulking.

Yan Kongshan doesn’t have a question prepared either–what comes out is so nonchalant, it’s obvious he’s just going through the motions: “What are you majoring in?” HjmYAp

It’s only meaningful if I win the race! Why’d he have to want to win so badly? I’d been losing all night, why couldn’t he just have let me win once?

I’m still venting internally, but answer him as we agreed. “Diplomatic studies.”

At the time we were meant to choose, nothing really stood out to me. I wasn’t interested in anything, and figured it was best to find something where I could put my special abilities to use, so I decided to enroll in Hong City University’s School of International Studies. It was the only school in the city with diplomatic studies as a major.

Suddenly, Yan Kongshan’s relaxed expression changes. “Hong City University?” he asks suspiciously. g9 EXr

I have no idea where this is going. “…Yeah,” I answer slowly, nodding.

For whatever reason, Yan Kongshan suddenly starts laughing. Now I’m even more lost.

“What?” His unexpected laughter sends my brain spinning.

The smile on his lips deepens, and after a minute, he greets me delightfully, “Nice to meet you, junior.” 5yTtXA

“…”

I freeze. “Huh?”

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Fate is often impossible to understand. Who knew that Yan Kongshan would be my senior, from the same school and the same major?

Y4AsRV

Leave a Comment

18 comments

  1. Hahahh that’s an unexpected but pleasant surprise, isn’t it, mian mian? 😂

    Thank you for the chapter! <3 I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back asleep, so this helped me pass time for a bit ☺

  2. Thanks for your hard work.

    I feel like Mian mian is totally overthinking some things because of his crush. And then other things he’s spot on. 😆

  3. Me and Mian Mian finally has one thing in common. We both have no particular studies to pursue. Except I chose a difficult one without knowing XD. Thank god i finished it though even with covid happening :3

  4. screams.

    “It’s okay, Qiuqiu is a heavy sleeper. And the noise insulation here is alright, she won’t hear you.” He props his hands behind him and leans back, indifferent to the results of the race. “You can scream…”

    ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

    👉👉👌👌