Green Plum IslandCh32 - A Shot

When the event ends and everyone starts trickling out, only Yan Wanqiu comes to say goodbye to me. Until the very end, Yan Kongshan still hasn’t said a word to me and seems to avoid meeting my gaze at all costs. I have no idea who pissed him off.

Sun Rui wants me to stay for lunch — she’d brought it up previously, to pay me back for volunteering, and I’d even told Grandpa not to save any food for me, but at the time I didn’t know that Luo Feilang would be there too. 8K0DZ

I know her intentions; she wants to set me up with him, for me to start a new relationship, so I can put Yan Kongshan at the back of my mind. It’s how she recovers after heartbreak, and sometimes it’s truly not a bad idea. But unfortunately, I’m not her. I can’t do it.

I thank her for the invitation and turn her down, deciding to go home and make noodles. Right before I head off, she calls for me to wait and stuffs a giant watermelon into a fishnet bag, telling me to share it with Grandpa.

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“Since you won’t stay for lunch, I can only give you a watermelon. I thought Luo Feilang was charismatic among gay men, but looking at you, he screwed up, didn’t he?”

I thank her, the watermelon hanging from my hand. “It’s not him, I’m not worthy.” I’m not worthy of becoming another one of the fish swimming around in his fish tank. bYoRLQ

After waving goodbye to Sun Rui, I head for home on Tortoise King.

Yan Kongshan and Yan Wanqiu arrived home before me; when I get back, the familiar SUV is already parked in the neighbouring yard. The morning’s work has left me covered in sweat, so I decide to shower first before eating. Halfway through my shower, as I’m washing the soap off my body, my surrounding suddenly go dark. Once again — the electricity is out.

No way…

I curse silently, using the last bit of hot water to wash out the suds in my hair as fast as possible, my shower coming to an abrupt end. I fumble around into fresh clothing, then head down the stairs with my hair still dripping. As expected when I check the circuit box, it’s tripped.

I try flipping the switches back to their rightful positions, but nothing happens. A few more times, still nothing. In the end, I have no choice but to give up and accept that once again, the fuse wire has burnt out.

What to do?

What else could I do?

I give it only two more minutes’ consideration before going over to knock on Yan Kongshan’s door. When it opens, I beat him to the punch, explaining the issue before he can ask any questions. Tcg6aw

He stares at me for a long while, then says, “Wait a minute. I need to go get something.”

A bunch of hair falls to my forehead, water still dripping from the ends. I brush it aside, waiting in the foyer. When Yan Kongshan appears again, he has a curled up wire in his hand.

“Where’s Qiuqiu?” I ask, peering into the house.

“She just had dinner, she’s asleep,” he replies while locking the door. FHOwS9

It’s so nice to be a child. You eat, then you sleep, with no worries at all. Unlike me, finally escaping the misery that is college entrance exams only to fall into the mires of love.

There’s nothing I can do to help while Yan Kongshan changes the wire, and this time he doesn’t need me to hold a flashlight, so I go into the kitchen to make myself some noodles. My makeshift meal is nothing fancy, just plain noodles boiled in water with one of Grandpa’s tea eggs as a side dish; as long as it can fill my stomach, I’m happy.

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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“It works.” I let out a sigh of relief seeing the electricity go back to normal. “Thanks.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Yan Kongshan doesn’t move, maintaining his position with his arms crossed before his chest. He doesn’t appear to have any intention of moving either. All he does is watch me quietly, expressionlessly, somewhat indifferently.

It unsettles me, the way he stares at me, and it makes me look down, inspecting myself. I don’t find anything suspect; my clothes aren’t on backwards, my zippers zipped up… Y76Kpf

“Is that Luo Feilang a friend of yours?” he asks suddenly.

I blink. “Luo Feilang? He’s… Sun Rui’s friend.”

“He likes men?”

“Ah… yes.” rqPSmx

What is he getting at? Why is he asking me about Luo Feilang? All of a sudden, I start panicking. But it’s impossible… isn’t it? Unless Yan Kongshan is actually interested in the pirate?!

I inspect Yan Kongshan’s mood index carefully and find that he’s getting angry again, except it’s not the same crimson red it was at the orchard. To be specific, it looks like he’s hovering somewhere between impatience and irritation.

At least he didn’t turn yellow, otherwise I fully intended on going to Sun Rui to kill ourselves together.

“Are you going to try things out with him?” htrE8Z

I set my noodle bowl on the table, stirring the noodles with my chopsticks, and start wolfing it down. When his question comes, I’m in the middle of a bite and have no idea whether to spit or swallow. In the end I end up choking and spasming with coughs.

Tears practically spring out of my eyes as I cough, hands over my mouth. Right then, a glass of water appears in front of me. I look up, it’s Yan Kongshan. Apparently, he decided to pour my a glass of water. Probably because even he can’t bear to witness my current state.

“Careful.”

After gulping down some water and coughing a few more times, it feels a lot better. I thank him, then think about his question, glass in hand. “You heard us talking?” I ask uncertainly. D8wAps

Yan Kongshan leans next to the table. “You guys weren’t exactly being quiet.”

I eye the tea mug on the table as the scene of my conversation with Luo Feilang as we were washing are hands replays in my head. Even though he tried his best to seduce me, I didn’t give in to him at all, and I rejected him firmly. I… didn’t do anything wrong, did I?

I’m still thinking about it when Yan Kongshan’s next question comes, making me feel both wronged and lost at the same time. “I told you to make more friends, not to go look for one night stands.”

I look up at him blankly, clutching the glass tightly. 03CNtP

“You’re still young, you don’t know what it is you want yet.” He gazes at me with a frown, his expression serious.

So he’s mad because he heard me talking with Luo Feilang? Because of the possibility that I would randomly get with someone else after being rejected by him?

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How do I explain to him that Luo Feilang isn’t a potential lover, but just a pirate who likes sailing the seas? But then I wonder, why do I owe him an explanation to begin with? I’m an adult, and he isn’t my elder. He doesn’t want to be with me, but I can’t go look for others? Isn’t that a ridiculous notion?

“How old do you suppose I should be when I go looking for one night stands then? How about you circle an okay age out for me?” I set the glass on the table. “And why you but not me? Hypocrite.” The last word comes out quietly and quickly, like the hum of a mosquito. 0p1QMZ

My barrage of questions seems to stun him. He opens his mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. Overhead, his mood index gets redder and redder. In games, monsters with red names are scary and chase after you. Real life isn’t all that far off; too red, and the person explodes, losing all their rationality.

I clear my throat and get up from the chair. That way, if Yan Kongshan suddenly decides to come beat me up, I can escape easily.

“If you want to compare yourself to me, you at least need to be at my level. I’m mature enough, and I know what kind of life I want. Do you?” He either hates my attitude, or hates the fact that I just openly humiliated him with my retort. Whatever it is, his eyes are fire, and his voice loses its controlled tone, sending ice shards my way.

“You’re not me. How do you know I don’t?” I argue back. “Jiao Changyue dumped you and then you stopped believing in love and decided to be single forever. Well, I got rejected by you. Am I not allowed to be like you and just sleep around with no strings attached?” iQ7Pfo

His chest starts heaving noticeably as he tries to keep a tap on his anger.

I expect him to scream at me, or to beat me up with the broomstick until I never dare spout nonsense to him again. But none of that happens.

He simply glares at me terrifyingly and asks in an ominously serene tone, “So you’re going to do it with him, is that it? Because I rejected you, you’re going to someone else.”

I mean, that’s not entirely it. I feel like he’s misunderstanding my words. I’m just trying to make a point to him, to show him that he has double standards and has no right to lecture me about anything. If this were a debate, his argument would be filled with loopholes. All we’re having is a rational debate here, it doesn’t mean I’m actually going to do what I say. HZKJWd

“Isn’t that obvious?” He’s starting to make my heart thump in its ribcage. “If not him, then-then there’ll be others.”

Yan Kongshan suddenly bursts out laughing. Not a normal laugh — one that reeks of debauchery, seemingly stripping himself of the “friendly next-door gege” facade and revealing the sexy creature that Sun Rui pegged him to be.

At the same time that my face flushes and heart starts pounding, I’m terrified, because a quick glance up at his mood index tells me that he’s not any less angry than he was a moment ago.

His unnatural response makes me swallow nervously. aN6GVW

“Yu Mian.” He suddenly comes closer. “Tonight I’m going to hang the wind chime up. Come and take it.”

I stare at him with wide eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights. My entire mind goes blank, and my voice comes out slightly erratic. “… What?”

“Rather than do it with someone else, you might as well try it with me.” He gazes down at me, so close that for a second I wonder if he’s about to kiss me.

I peer into his eyes, but don’t see any hint of desire or amorous feelings. He must genuinely prefer I learn from him rather than randomly trying it with someone else. At least he won’t hurt me, and won’t give me the wrong message. 59mKMC

Seriously?

How slick did Luo Feilang seem to him that he’d be so worried?

Chrysanthemum Garden.

But then again… he also said that if I took the wind chime, I wouldn’t be any different from his other one night stands.

This makes it much harder to decide. 7CHdP8

Although to be honest, it’s not as if my current state is all that great either. He hadn’t spoken to me or acknowledged me in days; a lover is better than nothing.

“So, how good are you at kissing?” I inquire, feeling him out.

He straightens up and watches me in a preposterous, unreadable sort of way. “Don’t worry, I’m not any worse than Luo Feilang,” he answers in a calm tone.

“Can I first just try that then?” op WcE

I just want to start slow. That way I can prevent myself from becoming an actual one night stand, and can fully reap the benefits of this unexpected gift he’s bestowed upon me. Two birds with one stone.

“You can do whatever you want.”

His sudden generosity puts me at a loss. It’s like suddenly receiving an inheritance worth billions of dollars and not having any idea what to spend the money on. A few droplets of water fall from the hair on my forehead again, but this time I ignore it, letting it fall into my eyes.

“Then I’ll… see you tonight?” I glance up at him fleetingly, then quickly shift my gaze elsewhere. Wedi2n

It’s a long while before I hear a hoarse noise of acknowledgement from him.

After Yan Kongshan leaves, I sit back down and finish my noodles. It tastes awful, the noodles coagulated and flavourless. But still, I finish it all and enjoy every last bit of it.

When I finish eating, I send Sun Rui a red envelope.

“Why’d you send me cash?” she texts back, confused. 7d59M4

“I shouldn’t have underestimated you, you really have a way with getting a man.”

“??”