Green Plum IslandCh44 - Money Launderer Yan Wanqiu

When we wake up in the morning, Yan Kongshan’s attitude towards me is the same as usual. He doesn’t reprimand me, nor does he avoid me. I’m aware of the fact that men, once you get them started, have a hard time controlling themselves and don’t stop, but still, his response from the night before gives me more confidence.

I sneak glances in his direction all throughout the day and do my best to find time with him alone. It’s not as if we even went to “home base”; at most, what happened was just a teaser for the eyes, yet it latches onto me like a drug and I almost want to stick myself to him every minute, every second. ZTpojY

At nearly 4 PM, it’s still light out. Yan Kongshan, Xiao Tian, and I man the shop. Xiao Tian works the register, flipping through a vintage book he’s reading in concentration.

Yan Kongshan takes off his work apron and heads in the direction of the break room. I sneak behind him, and as I glimpse him walking into the bathroom, I stride forward in hurried steps and push the door open before he can shut it, squeezing into the stall like a mud fish, then shut the door tightly behind me.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Yan Kongshan stares at me in puzzlement, not understanding why I’ve squished myself into the toilet with him. I lock the door with a flick, then wrap my arms around his waist in an embrace, pressing myself against him.

“I feel like hugging you.” His own unique scent wafts up from his body, a mixture of tobacco and laundry detergent that makes me feel at ease. cAygkT

A chuckle sounds above my head. “You should at least let me use the toilet first, little friend.”

Reluctantly, I let go of him and step aside so I’m not blocking the toilet. “Go ahead.” I point at it with a raised chin.

Yan Kongshan doesn’t move. He raises an eyebrow. “I’m not really into that.”

A stand-off takes place, neither of us forfeiting. I doubt he’s capable of beating me — after all, he’s the one who needs to use the toilet, not me — but at the same time, I don’t want him to feel so humiliated that he gets angry and decides to deduct points off me again, so in the end, after weighing my options, I decide to relinquish the battle.

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“It’s not as if I’ve never seen you naked,” I mutter, not leaving immediately. When he’s not paying attention, I sneak my hand out and pull his shirt out from his pants, get a good feel of his ab muscles, and then turn around and take off.

***

Yan Wanqiu’s scheduled return is for tonight, so after we close up shop, Yan Kongshan goes to buy a bunch of her favourite foods and makes straight for the kitchen when we get home. It’s as if he means to buy her heart with a flamboyant feast.

Since I have nothing to do, I decide to head over next door to check things out. The renovation is nearly complete; I reckon they’ll finish in the next two days. I don’t understand a thing Old Zheng describes to me about the details of their renovation, so I simply nod along, then leave. 40APwL

When I reach the entrance to Yan Kongshan’s yard, there’s a black van parked there. Ding Baizhou comes out of it, then makes his way to the other side and helps Yan Wanqiu out. Meanwhile, Auntie Xu walks out from the passenger side.

“Qiuqiu!” I call out to her.

At my hollering, she turns and happily bounces over to me, head raised. “Mian Mian, I’m back! Did you miss me?” The way she smiles in her tropical-print dress, dimples and all, is the sweetest and most adorable thing.

I pick her up from the ground. “A little, but Ah Shan missed you more.” 5B30Gi

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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I feel the need to defend him. “He’s not.” kj2x1s

Auntie Xu, who’s on her way out, turns around questioningly.

“He’s not angry at you,” I repeat, lips pursed.

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Comprehending, her eyes brighten with warmth and a smile. “You must think it strange, that I would help Ding Baizhou.”

It was something I’d been wondering. After all, she’s Yan Kongshan’s aunt, and Yan Xinyu’s aunt. It’s good enough that she doesn’t hate Ding Baizhou, but why would she keep speaking on his behalf? Even if she was doing it for Yan Wanqiu, what was the point of having her meet her father if he wasn’t even planning on taking her home? BTxpHh

“He left her and married someone else, didn’t fulfill a single day of responsibility as a father. My niece and nephew, one gave him a daughter, the other raised her for him. They both suffered so much. If he got to go on living the rest of his life without ever knowing he had a daughter, that would be letting him off too easy.” The warmth in Auntie Xu’s eyes slowly cools, and she sends a hard look over in the direction of the black van. “So even if Ah Shan hated me for it, I intended for Ding Baizhou to know the truth.”

So she wanted Ding Baizhou to meet his daughter, so that he would feel guilty and live uneasily? And to accept his responsibility as a father since he was one?

To be honest, I don’t entirely understand her methods, but her mood index is a raging red and I know that she’s telling the truth — she was never helping Ding Baizhou to begin with.

“Will he come back?” I look towards the van. tPJ9Rd

“No, at least not anytime soon. He doesn’t have any relatives here. If he keeps coming over, his wife will get suspicious.”

That’s good news. At least Yan Kongshan won’t have to keep living in fear that Yan Wanqiu is going to run off to live with her dad.

“I’m off then, you two head go on in.” Auntie Xu climbs down the steps and waves to us in farewell.

I don’t know why she suddenly decided to open up to me about such serious matters, considering I’m her junior and we’ve only met once before. Is it because I have a friendly face? xyZwUF

At the sight of Yan Wanqiu, Yan Kongshan breaks out into smiles and goes straight to pick her up, asking her how her trip was. The joy on his face is palpable.

“It was good,” the girl replies, throwing her arms around his neck, “but not as good as home. I still like Ah Shan as my dad better.”

Yan Kongshan smiles in response, the corners of his eyes crinkling and his brows relaxed. It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile so openly in two days, happiness dispersing his depression in an instant, making it seem like the man who’d just clung to me a few nights ago in a bad mood was just an illusion.

The food is only halfway ready, so he quickly goes back into the kitchen. Yan Wanqiu plops herself in front of the TV straight away, calling me over for two rounds of car racing. Two days away from gaming and her hands itch to play. gnd5J3

“What happened to all your toys?” I haven’t seen a hint of any of the gifts Ding Baizhou bought her.

“I left them at Grandaunt’s.” She passes me a controller. There’s not a hint of wistfulness on her face. “I said that since I’ll always be visiting Grandaunt, I can just leave the toys there and play with them there.”

“Did you acknowledge him?” I settle myself down, crossing my legs.

“You mean did I call him ‘Dad’? No, why would I do that?” she asks with slight disdain. “I told him that my life right now is good and that I didn’t want to go with him, and for us to just keep on living our own separate lives like before. He said he didn’t mean to disturb my life and was happy to see that I had a good life, and that he would respect my choice. But actually I know that it’s more likely he’s scared of his wife.” l9QNWt

I sort of want to laugh.

I was worried that Yan Wanqiu would be bought in by all the gifts Ding Baizhou gave her, but now it looks like I was just worrying for nothing. She might not have synesthesia, but her ability to see through a person isn’t any less than mine.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“I asked him why he suddenly showed up, he said he didn’t know about me before. So I asked him why he didn’t know, and he said because he broke up with Mummy. And I asked him why he broke up with her, and then he didn’t speak.”

“Because he was going to marry someone else,” I say. c0MtZ5

“I know, I just asked him on purpose.” Yan Wanqiu continues, “And then he seemed to be really upset, and said even though he couldn’t watch me grow up, at least he would send me money every month. He seemed like he really wanted to give me money, so I told him to send it to Grandaunt, and then I told Grandaunt to find the chance to give it to Ah Shan in red envelopes or for my allowance.”

I stare at the little girl blankly. Her body leans right, then left, as she maneuvers her car on the screen.

“Was that your plan from the very beginning?”

I mean… isn’t this– isn’t this basically money laundering?! 8aYwf5

But her method makes sense. It gets rid of Ding Baizhou’s unwanted fatherly love, but allows for him to fulfill his fatherly duty, and at the same time lets Yan Kongshan receive child support money, without making him feel repelled.

Ding Baizhou doesn’t seem like a very smart man, which only makes me wonder how much IQ Yan Kongshan’s sister had to give birth to such a shockingly smart kid.

All of a sudden, I nurse a fear that one day she really will grow up to be some kind of white collar bandit…

“Grandaunt helped me think of it.” OuqiX0

Yan Wanqiu’s car zooms effortlessly over the finish line. She leaps up into the air shouting hurrah, and starts shaking her butt back and forth, which wipes the image of her becoming a money launderer from my mind.

“How come you always lose? You suck.” Victory dance complete, she sits back down. “Let’s play again, pay attention!”

After dinner, the two of us play for a few more hours. By the time I head upstairs to sleep, my eyesight is a complete blur; I feel like I’m walking along the racing track.

“Goodnight.” Yan Wanqiu snuggles beneath her pink covers, eyes already shut from exhaustion. Her ability to sleep at the drop of a hat is impressive. f2SdXm

Yan Kongshan and I quiet our footsteps, tip-toeing out of the room one after another.

“You were right.”

At the sound of his voice, I turn around.

He shuts her bedroom door silently, then looks over at me. “You were right before,” he repeats. “She can handle it, I should have more faith in her.” HVXb 6

He’s talking about the suggestion I gave him at the hospital. In truth, I don’t even think that highly of the advice I gave him myself. There were a lot of things I hadn’t considered, and it was a little thoughtless. But his approval still makes me happy, because it means he’s been mulling it over this whole time.

“You can also have more faith in me.” I put a hand on his face, reaching up and kissing him on the lips. “Want to take a shower together?”

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His Adam’s apple moves up and down, his mouth opens, but nothing comes out, as if he himself doesn’t even know whether he should say yes or no.

I laugh and grab his hand, taking the lead, pulling us step by step into the bathroom. TnEk6W

I know that whatever I say now is useless. I don’t think there’s a single “mature adult” who would believe it if an eighteen-year old kid told him they wanted to spend the rest of their life with him.

But that’s okay, I can prove myself to him through actions. If one year isn’t enough, then two. If not two, then three. One day he’ll believe that no matter how far I travel, in the end I’ll always come back to his side.

 

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