Green Plum IslandCh21 - A Dramatic Showdown

Xiao Hua is nowhere to be seen after having left her kittens. Even though the weather is warm and I’m not worried about the kittens freezing, I’m concerned about the fact that they’re so young they aren’t properly weaned off milk yet and can’t be apart from their mother for so long.

It’s 4 a.m. when I discover the kittens, and I squat hidden in a corner waiting for their mother to appear, but after half an hour, she still doesn’t show up. At six, Grandpa wakes up and comes over. He agrees that the kittens must be Xiao Hua’s, because they look like her. da7DOE

Our next task is to figure out what to do with the two cats.

“Should we ask if we can borrow Granny’s Xiao Hei?” Grandpa and I are both kneeling at the edge of the flowerbed, observing the two whimpering bundles under the hydrangea flowers.

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Xiao Hei is Granny’s beloved black cat, and just like her Maltese An An, is a senior pet at over a decade old. But unlike An An, who comes out for walks, all she does is laze around at home eating and sleeping, so much so that she’s an extraordinarily rotund creature at nine kilograms.

Grandpa gets up, shaking his head. “Xiao Hei’s an old cat, she can’t feed them. You have to get a female cat that’s just given birth.” FDNMYR

The kittens’ whimpers, which had been loud and clear, get weaker. They’re probably hungry or tired. Worried, I ask, “What do we do then?”

Grandpa rubs his head in consternation, thinking. Then he suddenly slaps his head. “I just remembered, Mr. Zhang has milk!”

Startled, I think to myself: Mr. Zhang has such an ability? But Grandpa continues to explain, “Their dog just gave birth to puppies whose eyes haven’t even opened yet. He just asked me the other day when I went there to drink whether I wanted a puppy. Dog milk is still milk, I know some zoos feed it to their tiger cubs. I’m sure cats can drink it.”

Well, all we can do is try.

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Grandpa and I make haste, and we find ourselves knocking on Mr. Zhang’s door in the early morning, each with a kitten in hand.

His mutt watches us absentmindedly, blissfully unaware of what it’s about to go through. Mr. Zhang, who seems experienced, grabs a puppy and rubs it against the kittens, explaining to us that once their scents mingle, Ah Huang will think of the kittens as her own.

He moves the puppy litter around to create some space and plops the kittens down on the dog’s belly. I watch them nervously, not blinking. It’s not until Ah Huang sniffs the two creatures, reassures herself that nothing is suspect, and starts grooming them that I finally let out a sigh of relief.

It worked–the kittens won’t starve. hTfGvO

Afraid that something would happen to them or that Xiao Hua would come back and panic at her missing kittens, I decide to ask Yan Kongshan for a day off to keep watch on the situation.

Yan Kongshan listens to my explanation from inside his car, then nods in agreement. “I was wondering why I heard cats meowing in my dreams.” Apparently, he had heard them too, but the sounds were so muffled for him that they didn’t sound real. “I almost went to check Zhougong’s Dream Dictionary for analysis.”

I laugh. “You believe that stuff?”

“I believe in the good interpretations, not the bad ones,” he says with a grin. PDE7Rs

Yan Wanqiu sticks her head out the back car window, eyes round and gleaming. “Can I see the kittens later tonight?” she asks.

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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*** m2CwTV

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Then his assumptions escalate and he offers me a word of philosophy: “We all have to live happily every day with all our might. Don’t waste precious time.”

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I know what he’s implying–that something must have happened to Xiao Hua, because mother cats don’t just abandon their young like that. It’s a likely possibility, but I still retain hope that she’s just caught up with business, and after she deals with it, she’ll return.

When Yan Wanqiu comes home from preschool, I take her to visit the kittens. She falls in love with them, and even bestows them with names. x1XSkZ

“This one is Dabai, and this one is Erbai.”

I give her a thumbs-up. “Great names.”

I take a reluctant Yan Wanqiu back home after we finish playing with the kittens. Yan Kongshan is busy cooking up a simple dinner of vegetables, meat, and soup, plus a plate of codfish in soy sauce fo Yan Wanqiu.

The evening news broadcasts from the living room television. The host uses clear, enunciated speech to introduce the new spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Jiao Changyue. At only 37, she’s the Ministry’s youngest spokesperson to date. 6 Sh9t

“How impressive…” I stare at the mature woman on the screen, lost in thought. She has long, wavy hair, simple makeup delicately bringing out her features. With her dark professional jumpsuit, she exudes an indescribably charismatic aura, her every action elegant and confident.

“Ah Shan likes her.”

Dumbfounded, I turn around. Yan Wanqiu is on the couch, playing with another one of her Rubik’s cubes, this one only five squares wide. She doesn’t say anything else, as if what she just said was nothing of consequence. I swivel back to the TV screen, her previous description of Yan Kongshan’s type coming back to mind: Older than him, sexy, long hair.

All in one. PeckBI

Yan Kongshan’s type is the complete opposite of me. And worst of all, even if I can grow older, turn sexy, and grow out my hair, I might still not attain this woman’s level of success.

A 37-year old spokesperson is one in a million. At this point, I’m not even sure I can make it as a diplomat…

Making comparisons with others is a real downer. I rub my hand across my chest, bitterness filling my mouth.

“Time to eat.” Yan Kongshan walks over to Yan Wanqiu, wiping his hands. His eyes coincidentally sweep past the TV screen, and his face freezes for a few seconds. 6GqVkM

I catch sight of his mood value falling in an instant. It doesn’t change colour, but it’s clear that he’s not exactly pleased to see the woman on the screen.

But wait a minute. I had thought Yan Wanqiu meant he liked her type. Yan Kongshan’s face, on the other hand, indicates that he actually knows this Jiao Changyue?

Three years ago, Yan Kongshan was a fresh graduate out of college. If Jiao Changyue was a new hire at the Ministry, then it’s not unlikely that there could’ve been fireworks between them, considering both their looks.

“Ah Shan, the kittens were so cute!” Yan Wanqiu spreads her arms wide so he can pick her up. “After dinner, can I go play with them again?” 0tLbMA

“You can visit them tomorrow, let them sleep for the night.” With her in his arms, he reaches down for the remote on the coffee table and shuts the TV off.

The woman on the screen vanishes, but the doubt in my mind only escalates.

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“I’m going to head home then!” After I exit their house, I whip my phone out and search Jiao Changyue’s name on the Internet. Her entire professional history from the moment she joined the Ministry is easily searchable. Three years ago… I keep swiping down. Three years… There it is!

“Cape Verde, barrister…” I read out loud, so focused on my phone that I nearly walk into a telephone pole. I grab onto it and stop moving, finding it hard to regain my bearing. 7gMxpl

I thought Yan Kongshan didn’t believe in love anymore because of how his sister’s 10-year romance had ended, but what if it was because he himself had suffered the pain of heartbreak before? Someone had hurt him, making it hard for him to choose to give someone his heart again, to love someone else… it’s a possibility.

[Humans are greedy by nature after all. I used to think yellow was fine, and it’d be okay if I didn’t even get that. But now I don’t want yellow anymore, I’ve begun to want pink.]

Netizen A: Has something happened that I’m not in on? Someone save this old dinosaur, will someone translate for me?

Netizen B: Waiting for translation +1 JKkWMp

Netizen C: Waiting for translation +2

I browse through the comments, then toss my phone to the side.

How could you people understand? No one in the world understands.

The night passes, and the next morning I’m so out of it that on the ten or so minute ride to the bookstore, I’m asleep the entire time. When we arrive, Yan Kongshan nudges me gently, prompting me to get down–he usually drops me off in front of the store before going to park the car. dLAgE8

Before I can hop out of the car, his voice calls me back. “By the way, we’re getting a new employee today.”

I stop and stare at him, shocked. He gazes back at me openly as if nothing’s wrong. And in truth, nothing is wrong. If this happened to someone other than a person who crushed on him, it would be perfectly acceptable.

“Oh, okay…” I lower my head and jump out of the car.

The new employee is in his forties–his age surprises me a little–named Xiao Tian, a jolly, outgoing man. I meant to call him “uncle,” but he tells me to call him “brother.” He explains that he’s not a local, but liked the laidback atmosphere of the island and decided to come work here. LoVbNX

I dutifully take on the role of a senior and bring him around, explaining our catalog to him and showing him how the shelves our arranged, warehouse is organised, etc.

“This stuff is simple! I’ll be able to start within a day,” Xiao Tian says, somewhat dismissively.

You’re a genius then. And after you get the gist of things, I’ll have to pack my things and leave.

Suddenly, the store’s door swings open forcefully and a visitor bursts through, their moves frenetic and belligerent, a far cry from our usual slow, ambling customers. drCDMx

I glance over, landing on an ominous-looking young face. The identity of this person leaves me astonished. I have no idea why all my former classmates seem to be congregating on the island. And that’s one thing, but why do they keep flocking over to the bookstore? Really, did they not read enough in senior year of high school?

When Chen Anna sees me, she runs over, a crude smile on her face. Her mood index is completely red, and she goes all in, completely disregarding the fact that we’re in public. “Yu Mian, don’t you have any dignity?”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Xiao Tian looks at me from my side. Several other customers also shoot curious looks here and there.

“Can’t you stop clinging onto Fu Wei?” She keeps at it, on a roll. “I can’t get rid of you even after graduation! Why are you so disgusting? Liking men is one thing, but how could you make a move on your friend like that? I’m warning you, he’s straight. He only likes women. You stay away from him!” pIFlB2

She had crushed on Fu Wei all three years of high school and never confessed her feelings for him. She started hating me the moment the incident between me and Fu Wei occurred. This wasn’t the first time she’d given me a “warning.” And every single time she made me out to be a male mistress or something.

Who’s clinging on to whom here? Who’s the one that seemingly just won’t go away?

And even though we’ve been through this countless times, it doesn’t stop me from rehasing it all over again.

“It’s not like you’re him, how do you know he only likes women?” I ask her in a cordial tone. gA5uTI

In the moment, the glass door swings open violently yet again, and this time Fu Wei rushes in in a frenzy, still panting when he grabs Chen Anna’s arm. “Stop doing this!” he berates. “I already told you that Yu Mian has nothing to do with what happened between us! I’m just not into you, why’d you have to come all the way here?”

What kind of dogblood coming-of-age novel plot is this supposed to be? I surreptiously peek outside the glass door, trying to see if anyone else is going to come bursting through.

“You rejected me because of him! I don’t care, I know it’s him! It’s all his fault!” Chen Anna’s voice starts quivering, her eyes reddening. It looks like she’s the one who’s just been wronged greatly.

Fu Wei’s face is stormy, his mood value a disaster. Whenever our eyes meet, complicated emotions seem to flash across his eyes. “Yu Mian…” As he calls my name, his mood index turns pink, then blue. LE8zBw

“…”

Spare me.

People are truly complicated creatures. Synesthesia is far from being adequate enough to really see through someone.

BuvW8M