It’s that time of the year again at Nanjing University, marked by the lively commencement of the new academic season.
Mai Dong, now a sophomore, finds himself detached from the back-to-school excitement. He hasn’t joined any clubs or taken part in student union activities.
The weekends are dominated by the Hundred Organizations War, a day dedicated to club recruitment. The sports field transformed into a vibrant showcase with various booths, each club putting in great effort to attract freshmen to join.
Mai Dong has two roommates, both hold leadership positions in the E-Sports Club and the Astronomy Club. Additionally, one of his roommate’s girlfriends serves as the president of the Hanfu Club. The three are engrossed in their respective responsibilities, leaving Mai Dong alone in their empty room.
Even within the dormitory, one can feel the spirited atmosphere reverberating from the bustling sports field.
Mai Dong doesn’t mind being alone; it’s just that his solitude tends to be a bit dull.
He doesn’t have many hobbies. He doesn’t like reading, sports, games, or crafting. When alone, he diligently starts with homework, then moves on to reviewing lessons, and finally, previews upcoming coursework.
It’s not that he enjoys studying; he just can’t find anything else to do.
Once everything was done, he opened the diary hidden in the farthest corner. With great reverence, he turned to a new page. He even specifically bought a fountain pen for writing a diary at a considerable price. After saturating the ink, he wrote a few inconsequential words on scrap paper to ensure the first stroke on the diary was smooth and full.
This is how he wrote.
September 30, 2023, Saturday. Clear skies.
I didn’t meet him by chance today, probably because I didn’t go out today.
Damn it, Mai Dong, you need to make an effort to go out for these chance encounters ah!
It seemed that he was really reflecting, so he only wrote two lines in the diary, and Mai Dong put down his pen fiercely.
Following that, he approached the full-length mirror, glancing at the white short-sleeved shirt he had worn only for the day. He decided to change into a new one. The hairstyle was ok, freshly washed last night; the pants were ok, newly worn in the morning. As for the shoes… the shoes seemed a bit dirty.
He hastily pulled out a pair of shoes he had brushed but hadn’t worn yet and put them on, feeling at ease.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to tuck his precious diary. He had written only two lines and planned to stroll to the library to find a quiet spot to finish it.
Mai Dong could be considered a rather marginal figure at school.
So marginal that besides his three roommates, he could recall the names of, in his second year now, some classmates he had been interacting with for a year were unrecognizable to him when they crossed paths. He suspected he might have a bit of face blindness, but face blindness wasn’t a major concern, not something worth going to the hospital for. So, he remained unsure whether he was genuinely face blind.
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.
While other college students explored student unions and clubs, even if not all, participating in singing contests, hosting auditions, English corners, and campus e-sports competitions, the array of activities overwhelmed every student transitioning from high school. Yet, Mai Dong hadn’t joined a single one.
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Soon, his other roommates replied to him.
“I saw a group of girls gathered around your side at the Hanfu Club booth. Amazing ah.”
“Old Du, hahaha, haven’t you thought about it yourself? Can your face serve as a storefront?”
In reality, Mai Dong’s roommate, Du Chuan, was quite good-looking. However, his other roommates often joked that he and his girlfriend, the president of the Hanfu Club, were like flowers blooming in cow dung. Mai Dong never commented on this; he wasn’t the type to engage in such “impolite” jokes with his roommates.
Although Mai Dong didn’t speak in the group chat, he squeezed his phone and once again scrutinized himself from head to toe. Taking a deep breath, he abruptly turned around and headed towards the direction of the sports field.
As expected, the sports field was lively.
People crowded in front of various booths, and there were more clubs here than the typical high school offered, making the experience dazzling. As a result, most freshmen were filled with curiosity and romantic visions of university life, determined to join two or three clubs.
One booth, in particular, had an especially large crowd.
Mai Dong held three books and two notebooks to his chest. These books weren’t too thick, and he had decided not to carry a backpack, thinking of going straight to the library. However, he found himself at the sports field when he stepped out. Clutching the books tightly, he made an effort to squeeze into the crowd.
Mai Dong was of average height, standing at 1.74 meters. Among guys, he wasn’t particularly tall.
Fortunately, he worked hard enough and managed to squeeze in.
Mai Dong’s belly got caught at the edge of the Hanfu Club, and he couldn’t escape. The people behind him kept pushing.
But the slight discomfort didn’t bother him much. His gaze was glued to the person wearing the traditional Chinese-style shirt.
The crowd surrounded the person, amiably handing out pamphlets for the Hanfu Club to the freshmen. He repeated, “If you have any questions, find a senior sister in purple. She’s the president of the Hanfu Club.”
The guy was tall, and his features seemed softer today, likely due to his choice of clothing. Normally not one to smile much, he seemed unusually cheerful today. Thinking this, Mai Dong’s eyes greedily stared at him for a while.
Before he could get enough of watching, someone suddenly called out Mai Dong’s name.
“Ai? Mai Dong!”
Mai Dong jumped at the sudden call, his gaze darting around before finally settling on his roommate, Du Chuan. His mind, filled with thoughts of a coincidental encounter, had overlooked the fact that coming directly to this area would undoubtedly be noticed by Du Chuan.
Feeling a bit awkward, Mai Dong greeted Du Chuan. However, with the overwhelming crowd, he didn’t consider this an appropriate place for a conversation. Besides, he didn’t really want his roommate to know he had been here.
In haste, he blurted out, “Ah, it’s nothing. I just passed by. I’ll go now,” Then awkwardly maneuvered his way out of the crowd.
So awkward that in the process of squeezing out, Mai Dong’s books scattered all over the ground.
Some oblivious freshmen hurriedly passed by, and one even stepped on Mai Dong’s course books.
He had no choice but to quicken his pace, swiftly gather the scattered books from the ground, and hurriedly make his way out, feeling like a thief.
It wasn’t until he left the sports field that Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief.
He carefully checked the books in his arms, realizing that the course books weren’t crucial. What truly mattered was his diary—hoping it hadn’t suffered the same fate by being stepped on by an unsuspecting passerby.
As he was contemplating this, stooping to gather the books—one, two, three, four—diary? His heart sank suddenly, and he hastily searched again. Indeed, there was an unmistakable absence in the pile of books cradled in his arms. Unfortunately, it was the heaviest one—the diary.
Mai Dong’s world seemed to be collapsing!
He let out a shocked exclamation, producing a sound akin to a cry, and without looking back, he headed back towards the sports field.
Throughout the journey, there was no sign of the diary. It had undoubtedly been left behind at the Hanfu Club.
Mai Dong stood outside the crowd, desperately trying to say, “Excuse me, please make way. I lost my things inside,” But no one paid him any attention, probably because his voice wasn’t loud enough.
Feeling defeated, Mai Dong could only squat awkwardly, scanning the ground for his diary at every person’s feet. However, he didn’t find it.
His initial reaction was relief—though that diary was filled with his crush, he had never written the person’s name in it.
His second reaction was that it was over–Despite never writing the person’s name, his selfishness had filled the notebook’s front page with the person’s name, making it easily visible upon opening, a convenient tool for daydreaming that the notebook was a gift from that person.
His third reaction was ‘Ah, ah, ah! My diary ah!!!’
Mai Dong had a wretched day.
Even in the fleeting moment of seeing that person, he had already planned what he would write in the diary later at the library–Great, diligent Mai Dong had another chance encounter with him today. He stood out in the crowd, the clothes he wore suited him well, and he was smiling all day. I envy those who received his smiles. It’s childish and selfish of me, but I am childish and selfish, and that’s Mai Dong!
But he lost his diary.
He couldn’t stop envisioning various scenarios.
The best-case scenario, of course, was that nobody found his diary. The diary would quietly lie in an unknown corner, becoming a piece of discarded paper for the rest of its life. As long as it rains, all the ink inside will fade into a blur.
But what if someone found it?
What if that person was rude, discovered it was a diary, and eagerly read on? They would then know that in some corner of this university, someone secretly has a crush on someone else almost perversely! Would they post it on the campus confession wall? Would they post it at the lost-and-found, wait for him to claim the notebook, and then mock him?
And what if that person was polite, opened the diary, saw the densely written “Yan Xuming,” connecting it to Yan Xuming himself, and returned the lost item… Oh god, Mai Dong couldn’t even bear to think further. He fervently prayed that whoever found his diary must be rude. Read, Read, read it all, let everyone mock him, just as long as it wasn’t Yan Xuming.
Indeed, it was Yan Xuming who Mai Dong has a crush on.
In university, Mai Dong was a rather marginalized figure.
His life was very boring.
The only thing he did was be a conscientious yet boring college student and have a crush on Yan Xuming.
Author’s Note:
Let’s add a little sweetness to the mix!
Jie Jie: Something sweet for this love month! Let’s be bitter together with the sweetness 
p.s The main text is over. I just checked the raw today and looks like the author will be posting Extra/s. I just don’t know how many, for now, there’s only 1.
Thanks for the chapter!
This looks good!! Thanks for the update
You’re welcome! Thanks for reading!
so what if my Valentine’s day week is full of loneliness? I HAVE THEM TO ACCOMPANY ME. HMPH!
YASS! ✊
This looks like it’ll be fun!
Enjoy! ❤
I feel for the poor guy XD
FR! 😂
Hey! Thank you for translating!
When i read the paragraph with a footnote about his roommate number, it kind of felt like he was saying that two of his roomates were .. and then mentioned the third roommate who had a girlfriend like when you have 4 friends and you say i have two friends who are older than me and two friends who are younger than me. Maybe that is how it was meant by the author? Because after that paragraph, the number of his roommates seem to be 3
You’re welcome and thanks for reading!
Thanks for the explanation too! That made sense! 😍
Why did you bring the diary with you, child?! щ(゜ロ゜щ) You just asked for trouble!
It’s seems very sweet and funny, so I’m in! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o can’t wait to read more~ Thank You! ❤
Hehe~ thanks for reading and have fun with the dog food! 😆
Oooh, babe, it’s kinda sad((( Being in university without friends sounds like hell to me
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Thanks for reading! ❤
Ahhh poor bb 😂 out of all the things he just has to lose. It just have to be the diary XD
Right?! XD
Hi, thanks for picking up this novel ✨!
I just had a small question, why did Mai Dong mean by saying he never wrote his crush’s name yet his crush’s name was written on the diary ? Is his diary actually his crush’s notebook?
Thanks for reading! ❤
Regarding the diary, Mai Dong meant that he never mentioned his crush’s name in his diary entries, and only described what happened. He put Yan Xuming’s name on the front page of the diary to fulfill his delulu-ness (lmao) that the diary was a gift given by Yan Xuming.
Hope that clears it up^^
Oh okay yeah makes a lot more sense haha thanks 😆🌼!!