After Duan Shumin left that day, he didn’t return home for the next few days. Cao Feng became a person again. He wanted to buy that miniature music box for Duan Yuche, but he didn’t have enough money on hand. Even though he had the money that Duan Shumin gave him, it wasn’t the same. He couldn’t spend it.
Cao Feng reckoned that the craftsmanship of that thing might be a bit complicated, especially since he didn’t understand music at all. But if he could take apart and analyse the miniature music box a little, he might be able to make one that was similar.
He wasn’t good at other things, but he was very good at handicrafts.
So Cao Feng went to that store again. This was the fourth time that he went there. But this time, when he walked into the store, he found that the miniature music box that had been on the shelf was gone.
The boss said: “You came too late, someone bought it already.”
Cao Feng’s expression fell. Every time he came, he would touch it, and then shake it next to his ear to listen, as if he would be able to analyse its inner workings by doing so.
“You really want to buy it?” The boss frequently saw Cao Feng come but not buy a thing, just thickening his face and looking again and again. It wasn’t in a thieving way; it was obvious that he wanted to buy it but simply couldn’t afford to.
Cao Feng said, “I’m still… saving money.” He had considered some ways to save money; if he worked, the money would come too slowly, and he might only be able to save up two thousand five hundred yuan after didi’s birthday had already passed. Yesterday he saw online that a research institute was recruiting people for drug testing, and when he called them to ask, the salary was very high. It was just that it would take half a month to test the drug. Cao Feng was a little hesitant, and said he would think about it some more.
And now today, the thing he wanted to buy wasn’t there anymore.
The boss stared at him for a while: “You’re still a student, right? Buying a gift for your girlfriend?”
“No, not a girlfriend.” Cao Feng said hurriedly. “It’s for a family member, my younger brother, he plays the piano, plays really well, and it’s almost his birthday.”
“Oh, you just want to buy a mechanical music box?”
“En, he’ll definitely like that.”
“I still have a broken one in my warehouse, do you want it? If you want it, I’ll sell it to you for cheap.”
Cao Feng’s eyes lit up. He suppressed the “Yes!” he was about to blurt out, and said calmly, “Can you let me take a look?”
“It’s fine to take a look, just don’t hold it for hours.” The boss turned around and entered the small inner room. After two minutes he came out, holding a slightly rusty mechanical music box.
It was just a little bigger than a beer cap, with a faded metal colour and protruding carvings of clouds and flowers. It seemed to be more detailed than the previous one, it was just broken and older.
Cao Feng turned the mainspring on the back, but the music box didn’t make any sound – it was indeed broken.
He rubbed at the rust on the top, thinking that if it was polished a little, it would definitely shine brightly.
“This… how can I fix it?”
“I’m an antique seller, not a repairman. If you want to repair this, you can look online.”
“What if parts are missing?”
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.
The boss rolled his eyes: “I already said this is broken. If you want it, I’ll sell it to you at a lower price. You’ve seen it now, do you want it?”
Cao Feng wasn’t sure whether or not he could fix it. He felt that he might be wasting his money, and it might be meaningless to buy this. Would didi even like these kinds of old things?
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Cao Feng touched his trouser pocket. He had actually prepared 600 yuan, all the money saved from eating and spending less. In one week at school, he would spend less than 100 yuan – but it was very likely that this 300 yuan was going to be wasted.
Cao Feng looked down at the music box and thought, if he welded a chain on it, then it could be worn as a necklace.
Gritting his teeth, Cao Feng bought it.
However, he was still missing some necessary tools, so he went to a watch repair stand and bought the tools that the master didn’t want anymore. He spent all the money that he had saved, except for a few yuan to take the bus home. He opened the mailbox to check and –
Didi’s postcard still hadn’t arrived.
But didi was coming home that night. Cao Feng didn’t know when he would arrive, so he stewed soup in the pressure cooker first.
It was already late when Duan Yuche came home. He must have been really tired because he slept in till noon the next day, and didn’t pay much attention to Cao Feng.
Duan Shumin happened to be home too, and neither he nor Cao Feng mentioned the secret between them. Duan Shumin suggested going on a trip somewhere nearby for the next two days; Duan Yuche seemed to want to refuse, but then he remembered that he owed Cao Feng, and so agreed.
It was just that going out on National Day meant that there were huge crowds everywhere. Duan Shumin took lots of photos of them in the scenic areas, but they could hardly be seen in any of the photos because of how many passers-by were in the frame.
After playing, they went home, and soon school started. The nightmare of exam revision week was hanging over the entire school – over everyone except for the international class.
Most of the students in this class weren’t worried at all, and memorised vocabulary and grammar in a very relaxed manner. If there was anyone in the class who could be described as studying hard, it could only be Cao Feng.
But even when Cao Feng was listening to the lectures, he’d listen and listen until his attention drifted away, and then his gaze would drift over to Duan Yuche’s seat.
He could always see Duan Yuche passing notes with his tablemate, passing a notebook between the two of them like they were having a chat.
Cao Feng was very unhappy, and thought that Du Pengfei was seriously affecting his didi’s study. At night after school ended, Cao Feng and Duan Yuche walked towards the back door together. Cao Feng, who had held back for many days, couldn’t help but ask in an insinuating manner: “Xiao Che, I saw you passing notes with your deskmate in class, were you…chatting?”
“Why were you staring at me in class?” Duan Yuche felt a little strange.
“It wasn’t on purpose, I… saw it by accident.”
“Oh. I was just playing games with him.”
“Games?”
“It’s five-in-a-row.”
Cao Feng immediately said: “I also know how to play five-in-a-row, I can play with you.”
“Since when do I usually play that? I only play in class, who would be in the mood to play at home? And you’re not my deskmate – ”
“I can…change seats with your deskmate.”
Duan Yuche stopped in front of a stall selling sausages, ordered two sausages, and said to Cao Feng: “Why are you changing seats?”
Cao Feng said: “The end of the month exam is going to be in two or three days. Your deskmate…definitely needs to study. You playing five-in-a-row with him, won’t it affect his study a little? But with me…”
“What about with you? Aren’t you a good student too?” He shared a sausage with Cao Feng, and looked at him. “Won’t it affect your studies?”
“I can play with you and listen to lectures at the same time.”
Duan Yuche smiled, but he didn’t understand why Cao Feng was so persistent.
Cao Feng wanted to change seats, but couldn’t find an opportunity. He thought about it for a whole night, and finally came up with a feasible plan. Two days before the exam, he stayed up all night to write code.
Duan Yuche’s computer was now mostly used by him. He wanted to check the information of the sankyo miniature mechanical music box, so he found some Japanese websites, but because he couldn’t understand Japanese, he had to translate while researching. He’d already taken the music box apart, but still couldn’t figure out exactly what was causing it to stop working.
In addition to studying seriously, Cao Feng still had a lot of random things to do. The sports committee had signed him up for a lot of activities, probably because he was tall and had a good physique. Whichever activity was lacking in people, Cao Feng was signed up for, and with Cao Feng’s personality, he was never able to say no.
On Wednesday, a doctor from the city’s medical department came to the school specially for a school-wide check up. Each class was asked: “Students, is there anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated against mumps? Is there anyone who feels a little pain in the cheeks or lymph nodes, any swollenness?”
When going through Duan Yuche’s class, a boy raised his hand and said he felt a little uncomfortable.
The doctor felt his cheeks and lymph nodes and felt that his masseter muscles were enlarged, so asked him: “How does it feel?”
“A bit painful.”
“What kind of pain?”
The boy said: “Just sore.”
“Did you eat anything hard?”
The boy said, “Do betel nuts count? I ate four of them yesterday.”
Doctor: “……”
Duan Yuche now remembered that the last time there was a medical examination, he had grabbed Zhou Zeliang and run off. Mumps was an infectious disease, so as soon there were symptoms, the affected would immediately have to be quarantined.
After missing the vaccination, Ma Xiaobo had specifically reminded him to take the time to go get it done. But Duan Yuche was too busy that day, so he didn’t take Cao Feng to get vaccinated.
Duan Yuche touched his cheek subconsciously. It didn’t hurt, but there was a bit of an indescribable feeling. He wouldn’t be so unlucky as to get infected, right?
The doctor said with a serious expression: “Students, if there is any physical abnormality, you must say it. This is not a joke, this is an infectious disease!”
Duan Yuche was a little flustered and kept touching his chin. He was about to ask his deskmate Airplane to touch his face for swelling, but then he saw him picking his dandruff.
Duan Yuche: “…”
He felt that he should be fine, but he wasn’t sure. After all, he wasn’t vaccinated. And it wasn’t just him, Cao Feng hadn’t been vaccinated either, and he didn’t know if Zhou Zeliang got vaccinated.
He didn’t dare to be careless. After class, he rushed to Cao Feng’s seat: “Cao Feng, Cao Feng! That vaccine!”
Cao Feng looked up at him.
“We didn’t get vaccinated, right? It’s that damn thing that we were supposed to do at the start of school!” Duan Yuche reached out to touch Cao Feng’s cheek, touched and pinched it, felt it for a few seconds, and said, “Your face isn’t swollen. I feel like mine is, what do I do? Feel it?”
“Ah?” Cao Feng was dumbfounded for a few seconds before he confirmed Duan Yuche’s request, and stretched out a hand hesitantly.
Duan Yuche pinched his own face in distress and said: “I think I got infected, my right cheek is more swollen than my left!”
“It looks…not swollen.” Cao Feng’s voice was a little dry, and he swallowed involuntarily. He lightly touched the side of Duan Yuche’s face with his palm.
His hands were big, while his didi‘s face was small. Duan Yuche’s face was too small, only the size of a palm and smooth to the touch. At the moment that Cao Feng touched it – almost instantly, Cao Feng’s face went red.
“If you touch both sides at the same time, is my right cheek more swollen than the left? Am I sick?” Duan Yuche hadn’t noticed yet. Since Cao Feng’s skin was tanned, if someone wasn’t paying attention, it was hard to notice a change in his expression.
Cao Feng had no choice but to restrain himself, obey his request, and hold his face.
Duan Yuche blinked, and his amber eyes caught on the light: “How is it? I’m sick, right?”
For some reason, Cao Feng could tell that Duan Yuche seemed to want to get sick. If he got sick, he would have to go home and be quarantined for anywhere between a week to half a month. That was what the doctor himself just said.
Additionally, tomorrow was the end of the month exam, and going home at this time would kill two birds with one stone. He could see through his didi’s little scheme.
“I think you…aren’t sick.” Cao Feng’s palm was pressed against the side of didi’s face, and he stared at him without looking away, his eyes terribly deep. Lowly, he said: “If you’re still worried, ge will take you to the hospital for a checkup. Don’t let just anyone else touch your face. They’re not doctors, their words don’t matter.”
thank you so much for the warm welcome on the last chapter \o/ !
cao feng’s the absolute cutest ToT he better get his postcard or i’m going to riot
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
thank you for reading ! <3
Thanks for the translation ❤️