Green Plum IslandCh31 - Picking Peaches

I stroke Yan Wanqiu’s soft, wispy hair and come up with a lie. “You were just in the hospital so you have to rest. If I go hang out with you, you’ll want to play games again, so I decided to not visit you for now.”

“But the doctor said I’m all better now.” The little girl looked up at me sadly. “When are you gonna come play? Or I can go find you too.” Zg PUS

It’s hard for me to turn down the round, innocent puppy eyes staring at me, so I hesitate and reply, “How about in a few days? I’ll take you to visit the kittens in a couple days.”

She gives a hurrah and clings onto my hand, unwilling to let go, wanting to pick peaches with me. If I take her with me, that means Yan Kongshan has to follow behind. I look in the direction of the fast-approaching man; our eyes meet. His face is neutral, as if nothing happened between us.

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No confession, no arguing, almost as if we’ve never even met before.

“Sir, please sign in here.” Luo Feilang passes his pen over to Yan Kongshan. There’s a strange tone to his voice, a mixture of excitement and zealousness. iUqAZH

When Yan Kongshan takes the pen, their hands inevitably touch, but he doesn’t react, just bends down to sign his name, then hands the pen back to Luo Feilang. “Thanks.”

Luo Feilang’s smile is dazzling. “You’re welcome.” He peers down at the sign-in sheet and comments, “Your last name is Yan? That’s rare. Mine is Luo, I’m Luo Feilang.”

I stare at the pure, solid yellow of his mood index, stupefied. Sun Rui had said that he’s cool with being 0 or 1, but still, I never imagined he could flirt simultaneously with me and Yan Kongshan.

It’s a little brazen, isn’t it?

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“There might be more people trickling in, Luo Feilang, do you want to stay here a while? I’ll take them to pick peaches.” I don’t give him the time to reach, grabbing a basket from the table and leaving with Yan Wanqiu in hand for the peach orchard.

“Huh? Then I’ll meet up with you guys later!” Luo Feilang calls from behind me.

I pretend not to hear, walking faster and not looking back.

In the orchard, the majority of the parents and kids have already filled half their baskets with peaches; nearly all the low-hanging and easily reachable fruits have been taken. I have no choice but to lead Yan Wanqiu deeper into the trees, to where there’s less of a crowd. fUdOct

Yan Kongshan follows behind us, maintaining a distance that’s not too close or far. He hasn’t spoken a word to me since earlier.

“Mian Mian, I want to get that peach, it looks so cute,” Yan Wanqiu says, tugging on my shirt to make me stop.

I follow her gaze to find the peach she’s talking about, then put the basket on the ground before picking her up and bringing her before the peach. She reaches towards it with outstretched hands, cradling the large fruit in her palms. After rotating the peach from the stem a few times, it quickly detaches from the branch.

“I got it!” Yan Wanqiu holds the peach high above her, beaming with satisfaction. 9mSbvC

“Put it inside.” Beside us, Yan Kongshan holds out the basket.

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.

She lets out a noise of acknowledgement and places it gingerly inside. With her first peach-picking experiment a success, she quickly starts directing me around to other peaches that catch her eye, making me hold her up so she pluck them off the trees and into her basket.

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“Mian Mian, I want that one!” Yan Wanqiu exclaims, pointing. I look over to see a tree that’s abnormally tall, filled with peaches that haven’t yet been picked. This makes things difficult for me; it’s too tall. I don’t think we can reach it even with me carrying her.

I turn back to ask Yan Kongshan for help only to find that he’s already noticed. Half-filled basket in hand, he peers up at the towering canopy of the tree and says to the girl, “It’s too tall, you can’t reach it. Why don’t you choose another tree?”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Children are strange; all the peaches look exactly the same, but they’re always just determined to get the exact ones they pick out.

Kind of like love. No one else will do besides that one person. RVD5Tj

Yan Wanqiu pouts and says in a disheartened tone, “Fine…”

I don’t like seeing her so disappointed and scour my mind trying to figure out how to resolve this issue, but then Luo Feilang’s voice sounds from nearby. “Yu Mian, Mr. Yan, I’m coming!” I turn around and see him running over, waving a hand cheerfully in the air.

“…”

Does he have special radar senses because he’s a pirate? Otherwise how could he find us in such a large orchard? i0QrU

“Wow, you guys got so much already.” He jogs up to us, looking not the least bit breathless from the exertion. “This tree is so tall, are you trying to pick the peaches up there?” He gazes up towards the fruits among the leaves. All of sudden, he gets on the tips of his toes and reaches out with one elongated arm. A moment later, he’s charmingly plucked a peach off a branch, leaves still connected to the stem. He pulls the extra branches off the peach and holds it in front of Yan Wanqiu.

“Here you go, little sister.” Then he straightens up and sends me a wink.

I quickly avert my eyes, unsettled by his slick behaviour.

Yan Wanqiu holds the peach in her hands, still not content. She looks back up into the tree and states, “But this isn’t the one I wanted.” f7NxKt

“There’s a particular one you want?” Luo Feilang scratches his head.

After confirming which peach Yan Wanqiu actually wants, he too falls into the same conundrum as me, but then after a moment, he relaxes, seemingly struck with an idea. He walks over to Yan Kongshan. “Mr. Yan,” he asks with a smile, “do you mind holding me up?”

His request makes Yan Kongshan stare at him blankly. “Hold you?” He raises his brows, his tone low, sexy, and confused.

This is bad, the pirate has casted his net! Gc7nwf

I react faster than Yan Kongshan, hurrying forward to nip this situation in the bud: “Hold on, I’ll do it!”

They both turn and stare at me.

I sigh internally, cursing Sun Rui. Is she trying to set me up with someone or find me a love rival? This is getting exhausting.

“Someone needs to be picked up to get the peach, that’s what you mean right?” I put Yan Wanqiu on the ground and walk over to Luo Feilang. “I’ll do it, I’m pretty light so it’ll be easier.” d96aUr

The other boy comes over to me, a teasing smile at the corner of his lips. He places his hands on my waist and I stiffen, but don’t move away.

“You are indeed easier to hold,” he confirms, beaming. His hands squeeze the sides of my waist. “Your waist is so narrow.”

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I let out a dry laugh. “I guess.”

I look past him, over towards Yan Kongshan. He’s looking at Luo Feilang, eyes slightly knit together, lost in thought. When he feels me watching him, his eyes dart over and captures my gaze. Flustered, I quickly look away and make my way over to the ground beneath the peach that Yan Wanqiu asked for. A quick estimation tells me that with me and Luo Feilang together, we should be able to reach the peach. I wave a hand over at him, calling him over. C4GPUR

Not long after, the warmth of another body envelops me from behind and a pair of hands encircle my waist. I shudder faintly, then realise something’s off.

These hands… are larger than the ones from before.

The thought just passes through my mind and then I hear Yan Kongshan’s voice in my ear: “I’ll do it. I’m taller.”

My body is held tightly and lifted up into the air before I can wrap my head around this new development. itdxvX

Thick branches weave back and forth all around me; with Yan Kongshan’s height, I’m able to easily grab Yan Wanqiu’s coveted peach. When I’m back on the ground, my feet falter — out of nerves, or because my legs feel like jelly — and I fall backwards into Yan Kongshan’s chest.

The hands around my waist tighten and his breath once again warms my ear. “Are you okay?”

I clutch the peach to my chest. “I’m fine…”

“That’s the one, that’s the one!” Yan Wanqiu charges over and grabs the fruit, placing it into the basket. czViRA

Thankfully, she doesn’t choose any more difficult-to-reach fruits. When the basket is full and we start heading back to the entrance, Yan Kongshan carries Yan Wanqiu up ahead while Luo Feilang and I lag behind.

I don’t have much to say to the pirate; we talk about how nice the scenery is around us, compliment the Sun family’s orchards, and then the conversation stalls. Luo Feilang, however, doesn’t seem to be short on things to say, and goes on chattering. I mumble a word of acknowledgement here and there, my eyes glued to Yan Kongshan’s back.

“Yu Mian, is he the one you like?”

My footsteps trail to a stop. I look over at Luo Feilang. He switches his gaze from Yan Kongshan to me. I suppose he gets his answer from the expression on my face. o2NDLV

“I guessed right,” he comments with a smile.

I can do this too, I snap inwardly.

“You want to sleep with him, don’t you?” At Luo Feilang’s stunned face, I advise him, “You should spare your efforts. He’s straight, he won’t sleep with you.”

I start walking again and a moment later, he catches up. “Don’t misunderstand,” he protests. “Why would I want to sleep with him? That would never work logically or morally.” He adds, “Can’t you tell you’re the one I’m going after right now?” g fS3F

No, you’re not courting me, you’re catching a fish.

“Then swear.” I stop walking and stick my left thumb in front of his face. “If you lie, your penis will shrink to this.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

He stares at me in alarm and unconsciously takes a step back. I give him a cold sneer and then leave him, running up to catch up to the other two.

Next to the “watchtower” where Sun Rui and I drank before is a makeshift tent arranged with tables, chairs, and a simple restroom. After everyone finishes picking their peaches, the parents come here to stick name tags on their baskets, then wait for Sun Rui and a few other volunteers to weigh and pack their peaches for them. Sun Rui’s dad has sliced up some watermelons for everyone to enjoy. MGrWUd

My hands are covered in fuzz from the peaches so I head over to wash my hands in the restroom behind the tent as soon as I drop the basket off. The faucet is quite low, so we all have to lean over to reach it. I’m in the middle of washing my hands when Luo Feilang shimmies over and asks me for the soap nonchalantly.

I hand it over to him. When he notices that the two of us are alone, his slick tone comes back.

“It’s okay if you don’t want me to court you, we can just to the horizontal tango, no strings attached. Did Sun Rui tell you I’m great in bed?”

I don’t say anything, letting the water rinse the suds off my hands. bwgxsI

Luo Feilang scoots closer, not the least bit discouraged. “Or you can try making out with me. I’m good at kissing too.”

“No thanks, I’m not interested,” I say calmly, moving him out of the way with a still-wet hand.

“How do you know if you don’t try?” He comes closer again, seeming to find it amusing to keep teasing me.

I doubt he’s actually going to force himself on me, but it still annoys me nevertheless. “Don’t–” 5k 8lL

But before I can finish, the nearby toilet door — which is really just a thin piece of wood — is suddenly pushed aside. Yan Kongshan crosses over in long strides and stares down at us. “Are you two done washing? If you are, then move.”

Luo Feilang clears his throat and rinses up speedily, then leaves. I stand up slowly, watching Yan Kongshan moving in to take his place at the sink, staring questioningly at the crimson red mood index over his head.

How does a person get so mad using the toilet? Was there no toilet paper?

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