The restaurant was the one they chose for their first dinner date, marked as the top spot for “Couple Date” on reviews. At that time, Mai Dong had many expectations, but unfortunately, they all fell through, leading to a serious illness.
He never thought he would have the chance to come to this restaurant again with Yan Xuming.
Inside the Western-style restaurant, romantic and soothing music played, and the conversations were kept within the bounds of politeness. Stepping in, there was a magnetic charm that made people involuntarily straighten their posture.
It was a Sunday evening, and aside from them, the restaurant was likely filled with couples. Every table had candles lit, and across the candlelight, couples of different genders or the same gender gazed at each other.
The waiter guided the two inside, tactfully asking, “Gentlemen, would you like candles lit at your table?”
Yan Xuming took off his coat and placed it by his side, smoothly responding, “Yes, please. Thank you.”
The waiter immediately understood, saying, “Certainly, sorry for the unnecessary question.”
Yan Xuming smiled, “No problem.”
Mai Dong was nervous the entire way, even pondering if he didn’t want to be a coward anymore, why does he have to wait for Yan Xuming to confess to him? Of course, as a seasoned secret admirer, getting a confession from the other person was the ultimate wish for all secret admirers. Yet, occasionally, Mai Dong also wished to be the one taking the initiative in the relationship, especially when it came to making the first confession.
He was led by Yan Xuming the whole way, rehearsing in his mind the lines to take the initiative.
“Senior, even though you already know my feelings, I still want to say it to you in person. I’ve liked you for four years. So, will you be my boyfriend?”
“Senior, I’ve always been a timid person, but I feel like I can’t be timid forever. Although… if you hadn’t found my diary, I probably would have remained timid. But things are different now. I like you, I’ve liked you for a long time.”
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.
Various thoughts swirled in Mai Dong’s mind until he sat across from Yan Xuming. The waiter elegantly lit the intricately patterned candle between them, and the flame danced, casting shadows on Yan Xuming’s features. Mai Dong opened his mouth, but a flood of words got stuck at the tip of his tongue.
Tjc Wewlcu tjcvfv bnfg atf wfce, “Ygvfg olgra.”
Zjl Gbcu ibkfgfv tlr tfjv ab bgvfg, tlr fsfr rmjcclcu atf cjwfr jcv vlrtfr bc atf wfce, jiatbeut tlr wlcv kjr cba oeiis fcujufv. Lf gjcvbwis wjvf rfifmalbcr jcv tjcvfv atf wfce yjmx ab Tjc Wewlcu.
Llr tfjga kjr lc aegwbli, j wlz bo jczlfas jcv rkffacfrr jr lo j ilnfis ilaaif ylgv kjr oieaafglcu jgbecv, mtlgqlcu lcmfrrjcais. Llr wlcv brmliijafv yfakffc gjqlv atbeutar jcv j yijcx rijaf. Vevvfcis, j rqjgx bo lcrluta ragemx tlw. Qtja lo Tjc Wewlcu tjv atlr lvfj bo mbcofrrlcu ja atlr gfrajegjca ogbw atf nfgs olgra alwf tf lcnlafv Zjl Gbcu ab vlcf abufatfg?
The waiter left with the menu, leaving them in their two-person world.
Yan Xuming, under the earnest gaze of Mai Dong, couldn’t contain his laughter, “Do you remember your first day of high school?”
He brought up such a topic suddenly, catching Mai Dong off guard. His mind was forced to recall, what happened on the first day of high school? It was nothing special—Yan Xuming, as the senior representative, gave a speech on stage, offering encouragement and blessings to the freshmen. At that time, Mai Dong sat below, viewing Yan Xuming as a goal to strive for academically. His thoughts were innocent, with no romantic inclinations towards Yan Xuming.
Mai Dong shook his head, “What’s the matter? Nothing much happened on the first day. I know you were the student representative.”
But Yan Xuming replied, “I was the senior student representative, what about the freshman representative?”
Mai Dong certainly hadn’t forgotten that he was the freshman representative. Entering the high school as the top scorer in the grade, it was only natural for him to hold that position. However, Mai Dong didn’t think much of his speech. He didn’t enjoy participating in such activities and didn’t want to spend time writing a script, so he casually copied and pasted one from the internet…
Yan Xuming laughed in a somewhat helpless manner as if he were observing a foolish person. “Mai Dong, the speech you copied from the internet was written by me.”
Mai Dong immediately sat up straight, “Ah?!”
Oh my god ah.
Mai Dong wished he could hide his head somewhere, but unfortunately, the atmosphere in this Western-style restaurant was too formal. Everyone was sitting upright, and with Mai Dong’s equally formal attire, he obviously couldn’t make such a move.
His cheeks and ears turned bright red, “Really? I… I’m sorry, I really had no idea. I was just too lazy to write a script, so I randomly copied one. Oh no, how could this be so coincidental! I even showed it to our class teacher at the time, and she said I did a good job… and the speech went smoothly, it seemed like no one noticed.”
Yan Xuming chuckled, taking over the conversation, “That was the script I wrote when I was a freshman representative in my first year. The class teacher praised it and insisted on submitting it for me, but I didn’t pay much attention. A year passed, and everyone must have forgotten. If you had taken a closer look while copying and pasting, you might have noticed my name as the author at the bottom.”
Mai Dong clasped his hands together, pleading with closed eyes, “I’m sorry, forgive me! I never intended to plagiarize from you!”
Yan Xuming nodded, “Of course, I knew.” He continued recalling, “I was backstage when you were speaking. Actually, I didn’t notice the first few sentences; I had almost forgotten about it. It wasn’t until later that I realized it sounded more and more familiar. I asked the classmates next to me who the freshman representative was this year, and they told me your name.”
Mai Dong found himself in an awkward and oddly enchanting situation, wondering how such a coincidental event could happen in the world. He had just casually copied from the internet, deliberately choosing a seemingly obscure website to avoid popular and widely known content. With so many people in the world and numerous submissions for freshman speeches, how did he manage to accidentally copy Yan Xuming’s work!
Simultaneously, he thought about how early it was, knowing that Yan Xuming had known his name since he just started high school. However, Mai Dong’s momentary excitement faded quickly as he realized that Yan Xuming probably didn’t have a favorable impression of him back then, perhaps seeing him as a lazy, opportunistic thief. Instantly, Mai Dong felt a tinge of regret and defeat, lamenting his past laziness and indifference. After all, a freshman speech was something he could have easily written. Why did he have to be so lazy ah!
“At that time, I was curious about you and thought you were pretty cool,” Yan Xuming said.
Mai Dong was still immersed in his own regret, and it took him a while to react to Yan Xuming’s words. He asked hesitantly, “Ah? I thought you would be angry…”
Yan Xuming looked at him in confusion, “Angry? Because you used my script?” Then he laughed, “Not really. With your grades, it’s easy for you to write your own. I guess you were just too lazy to bother. Besides, you’re really bad at acting. You stood on the podium reading my script with an impatient expression. I even doubted if my script was so bad that you found it unbearable.”
Mai Dong mentally screamed “help.” He had no idea he came off that way ah! He thought he was just plainly expressionless because he was doing something he didn’t like. Expecting him to break into a smile while reluctantly delivering the speech was a bit too much!
Mai Dong explained, “No, no… I really just didn’t want to speak. I even mentioned it to our class teacher, thinking that there must be many people who want to be the freshman representative. Why force me to do it? The class teacher gave me a stern look and told me not to be so stupid, saying that I couldn’t seize such good opportunities.”
Yan Xuming changed the topic, “So, Mai Dong, in your diary, you wrote that you always feel inferior when facing me. The first time I saw you write that, I really doubted it because, backstage, I wondered if it was because my script wasn’t good at that time. It was probably the first time in my life that I questioned myself.”
Mai Dong opened his mouth, wanting to say something but unsure how to start.
Yan Xuming continued on his own, “Of course, it’s the same for you in college. Except for the professors who grade easily, I rarely get a perfect score in my major courses. If even you have to feel inferior, what about others?”
Mai Dong thought seriously and replied, “When I face others, I don’t feel inferior, I know my family background is good, my appearance seems decent, and my grades are good. It’s just in front of you. Even though you say that, I still think you’re the more outstanding one.”
Yan Xuming couldn’t quite tell his expression. He stared at Mai Dong for a while before saying, “Don’t think too highly of me.”
Mai Dong stubbornly shook his head, “It’s not something I just think, it’s a fact.”
Before Mai Dong could say more, Yan Xuming’s phone suddenly rang. He held back the words at the tip of his tongue, waiting for Yan Xuming to answer the call. After a brief conversation, Yan Xuming mentioned a number, and while the call was still ongoing, Mai Dong noticed a waiter approaching with a large bouquet of orange roses.
At this moment, Mai Dong hadn’t fully grasped the situation, but he saw Yan Xuming, seated across from him, raise his hand.
Soon after, the bouquet of roses was placed in front of him. The waiter smiled beautifully, leaving with a wish, “Sir, I wish you happiness.” Mai Dong sat there, still in a daze, as if he still felt that this bouquet of flowers would be delivered to him only if someone made a mistake.
He clumsily cradled the large bouquet of roses, finally looking at Yan Xuming sitting across from him. He heard the person in front of him say, “Mai Dong, do you want to be with me?”
Mai Dong instinctively asked, “What?”
Yan Xuming patiently explained, “Be with me and start a new relationship, turning all the ‘I really like him’ in your diary into ‘I really like us being together,’ changing the ‘mushroom with low self-esteem who likes him in the dark corner’ into ‘his boyfriend.’”
“Okay?”
Finally Yan Xuming confessed
Thanks for the chapter
“okay?” 😭😭
Oh, wow, boy, maybe you should talk about your feelings firstly?
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Well that was quick, and now I’m scared. Is the story going to be sweetness filled with a little angst? Or angst filled with a little sweetness???
Since there are only 43 chapters maybe there wont be any angst at all ? I hope so
When yan xuming confessed, i back pedalled to the front page of this novel to see how much chapter we have left- with over 20 chapters left, pls let there be just fluffs and no angst. Maizi is too precious for angst qwq
+1
“mushroom in the dark corner” 🤣
Oh my, oh my! Finally! （๑✧∀✧๑） But MD got another ’embarrassing punch from the past’ haha
Thank You for the new chapter ♡⃛*⁎⋆(꒡ᵋ ꒡ღ)