Green Plum IslandCh28 - Little Demon

Yan Wanqiu stayed in the hospital for three days. Three days later, Yan Kongshan and I are still not talking. Or rather, I’m still pissed and not talking to him.

I start taking Tortoise King to the bookstore instead, and stop going over to his house in the evenings. After a few days like this, even Grandpa notices something is up and asks me what’s going on. HmLYVM

After mulling over it, I decide to tell him about my conversation with Yan Kongshan from a few days ago, except I change the setting to the bookstore instead of the hospital.

“I see…” Grandpa rubs his chin. He pauses for a moment, thinking, then says, “Mian Mian, I know you had good intentions.”

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The instant he says that, I know he’s not going to be standing on my side.

“Ah Shan did speak a little bluntly, but that doesn’t mean his point was unreasonable. There’s an old saying: ‘Even good officials can’t settle family troubles.’ It’s best for outsiders to not meddle with other people’s family matters, especially ones as complicated as his.” SZoQDG

I sit at the table, a glass of half-drunk milk in my hands. Lately, I’ve been obsessed with growing taller — probably because Yan Kongshan’s words triggered me — so I’ve been drinking milk like water.

“I just wanted to help him out,” I mutter sullenly, picking at the glass cup.

“You have to consider things from his point of view if you want to help him. Timing is also very important when broaching the subject.” Grandpa guides me in his experienced way, “You have to try to persuade him slowly, and both of you need to be calm. You can’t let your emotions get the best of you. Agree with what he says, and in between his words, add a little of your own thoughts here and there. That way, there won’t be so much backlash from him.”

“It’s like when you’re trying to sell something. If I sell a tea egg for one yuan and he’s determined to buy three eggs for two yuan, I can’t just say no outright, because then he’d just leave. But if I were to say ‘Business isn’t easy; how about three eggs for 2.50?’, they would see that they’re getting a 50-cent discount which is better than none. Most people would accept that.”

Listening to him, I’m beginning to think we’re getting a little sidetracked. “There are people who bargain for tea eggs?”

Grandpa looks at me like I’ve been living under a rock. “What do you think? The world is huge, there are all kinds of people. Maybe this person only brought 2.50 out with them but needs to buy three eggs.”

“…” I hadn’t thought of that.

Like me, Grandpa is sitting at the table with a porcelain tea mug in his hands. He takes a sip of his drink, then continues what he was saying before. “So what I mean is, like when couples fight, you can listen to the other party vent, but try not to stick your own hand in. If you must get involved, you have to watch out how you go about it. Don’t just charge head on.” CJBjIu

Why is it that after hearing Grandpa’s words, I feel like I’m too young and reckless? Having a crush is so bothersome, growing up is so bothersome, and being a human is also so bothersome.

I collapse onto the table and let out a great sigh. “I’ll try to learn…”

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.

Every night at eight, instead of going to Yan Kongshan’s house, I’ve been jogging around the neighbourhood. I usually jog for about an hour before going home all sweaty to shower, then play on my phone and read comics until bedtime at half past ten. For the first time in my life, I’m managing to maintain a healthy schedule.

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“Yu Mian!”

The calling of my name from somewhere behind me makes me jump. I was about to turn the key in the lock, but my hand starts at the sound and the keys fall to the ground. I whirl around, my heart beating wildly.

Fu Wei emerges like a ghost into the glow of the streetlight. It’s unclear whether he’s been waiting here a long time, or he just happened to show up. xtURzq

This is getting ridiculous, I think to myself.

Coming to the island, the bookstore, that’s all explainable. After all, it’s not like I own the island or the bookstore. I don’t have the right to keep him from going there.

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But this… this is my house, where I live. How in the world does he even know my address? Has he been following me?

“Yu Mian, don’t be scared. I just wanted to talk to you.” Fu Wei stays at a distance, probably sensing that I’m flustered at his appearance. “I’ll leave after I finish,” he says in a soft tone. BqQY4

“What do you want to say?” I peer at his mood value. It’s not very low or any particular colour. He’s obviously not here for any nefarious purpose, so I slowly relax and calm down.

Fu Wei opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. It’s almost as if he has so much to say that he doesn’t know where to start.

“I’m sorry about what Chen Anna said to you at the bookstore last time. That whole thing started because of me, it was my fault. And we left in such a hurry, I couldn’t apologise properly to the owner. If you can, please pass on my apologies to him.” As he speaks, his mood index starts to turn blue. At least his apology is sincere.

“Is that all?” In all honesty, whether they apologise is irrelevant to me because I don’t have intentions on rekindling our friendship anyways. 8CsiN6

“One more thing.” Fu Wei bites his lip, then suddenly takes a step forward and says somewhat fervently, “Back in high school, the… gossip about you being gay, I didn’t know it woule escalate to that degree. When you suddenly said those things to me, I was stunned and turned to another friend for guidance. I didn’t know he’d tell everyone…”

“I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”

I stare at him quietly. “Forgive you…” At this, his eyes brighten, but I continue, “and then what?”

He deflates, realising that I haven’t actually forgiven him. “And then…” he replies hesitantly, “maybe, maybe we can start over?” 5kh92

I feel as if he’s watched too many idol dramas over the holidays. What kind of relationship did we even have that we’d “start over”?

“Fu Wei, I said I wanted to try things out with you because I thought you liked me. But now we both know you didn’t, so it was all a misunderstanding.” He looks like he wants to say something, but I don’t give him the chance and press on in a louder voice, “Alright. You’ve explained yourself, I’ve explained myself. I think the air between us is cleared now.”

Fu Wei frowns and protests, “Yu Mian, actually I…”

Whatever he meant to say gets stuck in his throat. I wait, giving him ample time to think. His hands are curled into fists; he seems to be struggling over something. I don’t know why he’s so psychologically burdened over this. YNMfEt

After about ten seconds, his inner turmoil reaches an end, his entire body going lax, shoulders dropping. “…Actually I always thought of you as my best friend.”

I nod in understanding. “What was that thing you said before this?” I ask him.

He pauses, at a loss, then replies belatedly, “Can we start over?”

“No.” I smile at him. x6cr59

My response takes him completely by surprise. Utterly stunned, he calls my name and comes over to me, his tone urgent as he tries to plead with me so I change my mind.

I reckon Grandpa is coming home any moment now, and this is an empty street that barely sees any passerby. Granny might also be walking around the corner with her dog. I don’t want anyone I know to see me playing tug-of-war here with another man, or to be forced to come out of the closet because of Fu Wei again.

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“Yu Mian…” Fu Wei grabs my hand, I shake him off.

“Fu Wei, I forgive you, okay? But I don’t want to be you friend anymore, so can you and Chen Anna leave me alone from now on?” At this point, I suddenly remember the most important thing I have in mind: “How did you even find me here?” qB0r9n

He freezes and his eyes shift away from mine. “I…”

Seeing him like this makes my imagination run wild. “Don’t tell me you asked a private investigator to tail me?” I ask dubiously.

“Of course not!” He retorts. “I, I just… I follow your social media account, so I knew you’d been spending time on the island. And I compared the photos you posted with the bookstore you often mention to locate you. As for where you live… it’s the same.”

Well, this is great. lzobGk

There’s a lot I want to say, but at the sight of Fu Wei’s face, I lose all desire to speak. In the end, all I say is, “Don’t do this anymore.”

Just the thought of a pair of eyes using my social media account to spy on me, to analyse all my moves, magnifying all my photos, freaks me out.

The reason I started socialising exclusively online, only making online friends to begin with was to avoid Fu Wei and them. But clearly, in the end, I still couldn’t evade them.

Fu Wei sees me getting upset and he hurriedly explains, “No, I wasn’t stalking you. I just wanted to find you, but you blocked me everywhere, so I had no choice…” SLX4un

As he speaks, he keeps pulling on my hand and my patience starts to run thin. What is wrong with this person? It’s not like we’re children, is he not going to give up until I say that yes, we can be friends again?

He pulls me, I swat him away. We repeat this a few times until we’re practically fighting.

Bang!

The sudden noise comes out of nowhere, scaring the living daylights out of both Fu Wei and me. He pushes me aside suddenly and looks in the direction of the sound. ZaS4dl

Beneath the dim glow of the streetlight, Yan Kongshan removes his hand from the iron gate, looking over at us as well. One of his hands hangs down by his body, his fingertips slightly red. He must have gone out for a smoke when he saw the two of us fumbling around together and come over to see what was going on. The sound we heard was him shutting his gate.

“This must be our third or fourth time meeting.” Yan Kongshan keeps his eyes on Fu Wei, walking slowly towards us. “I don’t want there to be a fifth.” His voice is deep and ominous, giving Fu Wei a sense of unease. I don’t think Fu Wei realised how close together we live.

Fu Wei stares at Yan Kongshan, unconsciously taking a step back. Then suddenly, a thought seems to strike him like lightning, getting him back to his senses. He turns back to look at me, stunned. “Yu Mian, do you like–”

It suddenly occurs to me that if he read all my social media posts about my love life, then he knows that I recently began crushing on someone older than me. Considering his IQ and how well he knows me, it definitely isn’t hard for him to make all the connections. SDM2Bc

Everything happens in a flash — I suppose this is what they call basic instinct when faced with danger. As soon as I realise what Fu Wei is about to say, I press a hand over his face to stop him from speaking and drag him by the collar with my other hand over to the gate behind us.

There’s a resounding noise as his body slams against the metal gate; in the distance, Yan Kongshan stops moving.

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“If you say one more word, I’m going to tell your mum about how your dad pays you to help him cover for him when he goes out with his mistress,” I spit out in warning, my voice low.

Through the cracks between my fingers, I see astonishment cross Fu Wei’s face. I imagine that to him right now, I’m no longer me. I’m a demon wearing Yu Mian’s face. ZkdQuK