I talk to Yan Wanqiu about bringing up the business of the kittens with me, and she agrees right away. When we approach Yan Kongshan about it, she goes on the offence with me on defence in the back, the two of us prepared for a drawn-out battle.
But unexpectedly, Yan Kongshan doesn’t need to be convinced at all. “Okay,” he agrees easily, “the store has too many rats, getting two cats is not a bad idea.”
Before I even realise what has happened, Yan Wanqiu is already up in the air doing a victory dance. With that, the two kittens find a home. As soon as they’re weaned, they’ll take up their positions in the bookstore.
The renovations on Grandpa’s home finish as scheduled. Mr. Zheng takes me around the building, explaining that everything was rewired successfully, and that we won’t have to be afraid of using high voltage electronics in the future. Even if we turn on air conditioners in all three rooms in the house, it’ll be fine.
He whips out a remote and with a press of a button, he turns on the stand-up air conditioner in the living room.
Cool air blowing into my face, I ask, stunned, “Who bought this?”
“CEO Yu.”
I nod, not questioning him further. Dad really did a good job this time.
Mr. Zheng and his team leave after the receipt is signed. Logically speaking, I’m able to sleep in our own house tonight, and I’ll even be able to enjoy cool air in my bedroom, but for whatever unspeakable reasons, in the end I still choose to sleep at Yan Kongshan’s house. Showering together at night, falling asleep together on that giant bed, in each other’s arms.
The next day, I take the day off and stay at home to wait for Grandpa’s return. Their plane lands at around noon, and Mr. Zhang’s son goes to pick them up. By the time they all arrive back on the island, it’s already three in the afternoon.
When they get to the house, Grandpa waves goodbye to Mr. Zhang and the rest, then takes a tour around the property, suitcase rolling behind him. As he inspects our good old home, his mood index drops.
“Why does it still look so worn?” he comments.
Probably because we rewired the house, we didn’t repaint it?
“If you think so, I can ask Dad to send some people over to repaint it.” I reach for his suitcase and pick it up to bring it inside, except the bag doesn’t lift off the ground.
“…”
The second time, I’m mentally prepared — taking a deep breath, the muscles on my arms tense, I lug the bag up and walk it quickly into the house. The first time wasn’t a misconception; the bag is extraordinarily heavy, and that’s not an understatement.
“Grandpa, what did you buy? Why is this so heavy?”
He walks around, scrutinising the house, inspecting it with his hands here and there. When he notices the air conditioner, his eyes brighten. “He has a conscience after all,” Grandpa says, nodding in satisfaction. At my question, he runs over to me and opens up his bag. “Oh, I just bought some souvenirs, they’re all very practical items. Mian Mian, look.”
And following that, I witness him retrieve a Russian matryoshka doll, an egg-shaped gold toothpick container, a tissue box holder from the same set as the toothpick container, a soft-looking ushanka hat…
Never mind the others, the hat is really something. With Green Plum Island’s temperature, was it really necessary? It’d be too hot.
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.
“This hat is made from deerskin, I fell in love with it at first sight! What do you think?” Grandpa puts the hat over his head. It seems to shrink the circumference of his head by a circle.
Vfflcu tbk obcv tf lr bo atf tja, P vfmlvf ab rkjiibk ws vbeyar. Rfnfg wlcv, ifa tlw yes ktjafnfg tf kjcar. Ktfgf jgf rb wjcs kjsr ab ilnf, ktjafnfg wjxfr sbe tjqqs lr olcf.
Klgfv ogbw atf qijcf glvf, Xgjcvqj vfmlvfr ab ub ajxf j cjq joafg ecqjmxlcu jcv fjalcu. P afjmt tlw tbk ab aegc bc atf jlg mbcvlalbcfg, atfc gfjilrf atja la’r cfjgis 5 UZ, ktlmt wfjcr Tjc Bbcurtjc rtbeiv yf pera jybea gfaegclcu tbwf. P gert bearlvf ab mtfmx cfza vbbg, jcv rff atja P’w gluta.
They must have just arrived. Yan Kongshan carries Yan Wanqiu out of the car and catches eye of me as soon as he raises his head. He sends me a smile and asks if Grandpa is home.
“He’s back, but he’s tired from the traveling so he’s sleeping.”
“Tea Egg Grandpa is back?” Yan Wanqiu seems to miss him after not seeing him for so long. “When he wakes up, I’m going to go visit him. I want to eat his tea eggs so badly.”
I pat her on the head. “Alright, I’ll call you then.”
We walk together into the house. Yan Kongshan asks if I’ve eaten. I have, but it doesn’t matter, because if he wants me to stay, then I’ve got the appetite. I’m still growing anyways.
“No, you can make extra rice.”
He nods, then heads into the kitchen.
Tonight’s dinner consists of only three dishes and a soup — one dish less than the past few days — probably because Yan Kongshan assumed I wouldn’t eat with them tonight. And it’s only at this moment that Yan Wanqiu suddenly remembers that I have to go back to my own house now and can’t eat and sleep with them all the time anymore.
“You’re going back home today, aren’t you?” She puts on a long face, her mood index turning blue. She must really not want me to leave.
“It’s just next door, you just call and I’ll come running.” I put some vegetables into her bowl.
She’s still not too happy about this new development, but still, she’s obedient and doesn’t throw a tantrum, just sniffs sadly and finishes the rest of her food.
I try to lift her spirits up by letting her do whatever she wants after dinner. We go to Mr. Zhang’s house to visit Dabai and Erbai, then come home to do her arts and crafts homework, play video games, and right before her bedtime, I read her a chapter from Ito Ogawa’s Camellia Stationery Shop — because she says she doesn’t like fairytales since they’re just lies to fool girls.
The book talks of the owner of an old stationery shop who writes letters for people; breakup letters, letters to express condolences, nostalgic letters… each letter is unique, with the handwriting, paper, ink, and even stamp carefully selected to match its contents.
The story flows smoothly and has a warm atmosphere. I chose it for Yan Wanqiu because it’s perfect for children, and she seems to like it very much.
“Mian Mian, you’re going to college soon, right?” she suddenly asks in the middle of my storytelling. “After you go to school, can I write you letters? Ah Shan can write them for me.”
I want to suggest maybe calling me or sending a text because both of those are so much easier, but then I think that that’s way too “typical man” of me and not romantic at all, so I don’t say anything.
When I was in primary school, penpal letters amongst my classmates had been a trendy thing right after the teacher taught us how to write them. Even though we all saw each other every single day, it was always exciting to receive letters.
Writing a letter, affixing it with a stamp, dropping it in the mailbox… it’s not as fast as texting, but the dedication of the sender and the excitement and surprise of the recipient are not things that can be so easily replaced by electronic messaging.
“Sure, if you miss me, just get Ah Shan to help you write a letter to me.”
It’s a good idea, I think.
***
At night, alone in my bed, I suddenly find myself hit with a bout of insomnia. I don’t know whether it’s because I got used to sleeping with Yan Kongshan, but I flip from side to side, feeling uncomfortable. It’s like I’m the princess in Princess and the Pea, and there’s a needle somewhere on the mattress.
The night stretches on, but sleep just doesn’t come to me.
I grab my phone and check the time; I’ve been struggling to sleep for two hours, it’s already past midnight.
I send a text to Yan Kongshan, not really expecting a reply.
[Are you asleep?]
I figure he’s not going to reply so late, so I switch over to a video app and start watching a movie, hoping that it’ll hypnotise me to sleep, but then a notification suddenly pops out on my phone.
[Come over.]
Blinking, I sit up, even more awake now.
I creep down the stairs silently, open the door, shut it — all in the span of a breath — and run over to find Yan Kongshan already waiting at his door.
He has his hand on the door, not an ounce of sleep on his face. He probably hasn’t gotten any sleep either.
“You can’t sleep either, can you?” I jump into his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.
He gives a quiet hum of acknowledgment, then leans down and tries to kiss me, but I turn aside, avoiding him. He frowns, puzzled, and straightens back up.
“If you kiss me, I really won’t be able to sleep,” I say, embarrassed.
Actually, it’s an excuse. I just want to hold off kissing him for 24 hours so I can see what colour is mood index is when he looks at me.
Yan Kongshan doesn’t respond, seeming to understand. But then he presses a hand to the back of my hand and covers my mouth with his.
“…”
Well alright then, I suppose I held off all day for nothing.
Since we’re already kissing, I throw all misgivings out the window and just enjoy it to my heart’s content, the two of us propped against the doorframe, our mouths fused together.
After a long while, the kiss ends and I lean against his chest trying to catch my breath. I can’t shake the feeling that today’s kiss was especially forceful, with a hint of resentment.
“What’s wrong? Did I do something worth a point deduction again?” I look up at him.
He wraps his arms around me and drops a kiss on my forehead, as if he wants more. “You didn’t comfort me today.”
I blink in confusion, not understanding what I’m supposed to comfort him about.
“You spent the entire night comforting Qiuqiu because of how upset she is over you moving back home, but I’m not happy either. Why didn’t you comfort me too?”
That… is completely not what I expected. So is he complaining that I neglected him?
“I mean, Qiuqiu is still young, so…”
This being my first and only experience being someone’s boyfriend, I don’t know how to navigate these types of situations so well, and naturally, it causes me to say things that Yan Kongshan can easily take advantage of.
“Are you calling me old?” he asks slowly.
“…”
That’s not what I meant?
I look at him helplessly, suddenly feeling like all my appendages are clogged, experiencing for the first time in my life the inability to explain myself. Is this what they call a “question of doom”?
“No.” I hug him more tightly, almost swearing, “That’s not what I meant. I thought you didn’t care that I was moving back.”
He stares down at me expressionlessly, making me skin prickle uneasily. A minute later, right when I’m about to start pleading for my life again, he suddenly lands a forceful kiss on my lips.
“I was just kidding.” He smirks. “How could I be so petty?”
My heart settles down, relieved, but I can’t help retorting to myself, Sure, you’re not petty, but you’re evil. Always teasing me, definitely evil.
He rubs his face against mine and says in a seductive tone, “Why don’t you go back in the morning?” As he speaks, he starts tugging me indoors.
I use the last bit of sense I have left to cling onto the door, stopping my body from moving. “I can’t, my grandpa wakes up really early. I won’t be able to get back in time.”
No matter how he pleads, I force the arms he has around me waist off and release myself from his grasp. “I’m heading back, you go to sleep.” Afraid that he’s going to come intertwine himself around me again — and if he did, I really wouldn’t be able to resist — I turn around and walk away before I even finish speaking.
When I reach the yard entrance and I’m sure Yan Kongshan isn’t going to chase after me, I turn to look behind me. Yan Kongshan is leaning against the door frame, watching me from the distance, his gaze one part woeful and two parts chagrin.
I almost falter, but simply wave back at him and force myself firmly back home.
ahhh they don’t have long left before he goes to college 🙁 i’m bracing myself. also, i’m continually blown away bc your translations are SO high quality!! thank you so much for all your effort 💕
+1
“because she says she doesn’t like fairytales since they’re just lies to fool girls.” WOW Qiuqiu! I adore you even more now!
how petty is Ah Shan? Super Petty. But they are adorable together and I just want them happy.
thanks for the chapter! <3
Thanks for the chapter <3
thanks for the chapter! ♡
Thanks for the chapter ❤❤
Ah i hope nothing big goes downhill and that tgey can resolve it quickly😭
Thank you for the chapter!!💜💜💜
I’m weak, I can’t hold myself till this completely translated, and here I am crash into a wall… but no regret, this novel brings me tons of sweets (with bitter bites here and there). my sugar daily intake has been overfilled. thanks for high quality translation!
The college life in every novel is the most parting in every teenage novel its really too hard of an angst~
Thanks for the chapter<3
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for your hard work!
Good job Mian Mian! Leave him wanting more.
This chapter is a (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ gift
YKS being all petty and then being annoyed when Yu Mian rejected his offer to sleep over. I love a pouty and clingy YKS. I feel like Yu Mian has almost caught him!
Well, I think Mian Mian is already a part of their family.
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و
I am so worried about how this sweet story will end… oh the anxiety… but i keep craving for more and more of it… the translation has been done so so well… thank you for your hard work.
Why does Ah Shan act so clingy and bashful when he’s “not in love” in the first place?
Thank you for the chapter <3