Mai Dong was restless until the evening.
Du Chuan returned to the dormitory quite late.
The freshman recruitment for the Hanfu Club was remarkably successful this time. Despite not wanting to admit it, Du Chuan had little to do with this success. It was all thanks to his girlfriend bringing in an impressive external support—Yan Xuming.
Du Chuan felt a tinge of sourness in his heart. During the dinner gathering in the evening, his girlfriend couldn’t stop praising Yan Xuming’s handsomeness. Of course, Du Chuan maintained a positive and polite attitude; he was well aware of the principle that showing gratitude naturally leads to favor in return. However, he couldn’t suppress the bitterness in his heart. Men, as a species, tend to subconsciously view more capable counterparts as rivals and harbor a sense of hostility.
As he entered the dormitory, Du Chuan spotted Mai Dong sitting by the bed railing, looking forlorn. He hesitated for a moment, forgetting the complaint that was about to escape his lips and asked cautiously, “Mai-zi, what’s wrong?”
Before Mai Dong could respond, Du Chuan suddenly remembered something and spoke again, “Ai, by the way, how did you end up going to the sports field today? I wanted to talk to you, but you ran off without looking back. Did you lose your precious diary?”
Mai Dong’s “brightened” all of a sudden.
He nodded eagerly, “Ah, yes, it was too crowded there, and I accidentally lost it. Did you… did you find it?” His excitement quickly faded as he thought about the possibility that Du Chuan might have seen the contents of the diary. So, he cautiously asked the last question.
Du Chuan shrugged, “Nope, Yan Xuming found it. He picked it up and asked at the dinner table if it belonged to any of us. I recognized it and said it seemed like it belonged to my roommate.”
Mai Dong slowly widened his eyes.
By reasonable logic, since this item belonged to Du Chuan’s roommate, then shouldn’t it have been directly handed over to Du Chuan?
However, Du Chuan scratched his head, “But I’m not really sure. You treasure that diary so much, and I haven’t seen it many times. Yan Xuming didn’t give it to me. Since it’s yours, I’ll tell him, and you can ask him for it.”
Mai Dong’s world slowly cracked open with numerous fissures.
Upon Du Chuan’s recommendation, Mai Dong tremblingly added Yan Xuming on WeChat.
Yes, Mai Dong didn’t have Yan Xuming’s WeChat.
However, in reality, he had numerous opportunities to add Yan Xuming on WeChat.
Yan Xuming, the Vice President of the student union at Nanjing University, would undoubtedly receive many requests for contact, both for work and personal matters. Presumably, he wouldn’t meticulously filter through them, and most likely accepted them all.
Mai Dong could have easily blended in, found a discreet corner in Yan Xuming’s friend list, and cautiously peeked into his crush’s life.
But he didn’t. Mai Dong was a content person, and the most out-of-the-line thing he did was fill the front page of his diary with Yan Xuming’s name, using it to fantasize that the notebook was a gift from Yan Xuming.
Apart from that, orchestrating chance encounters, summoning the courage to brush past Yan Xuming, and unilaterally labeling this shoulder-rubbing moment as a chance encounter that only he experienced were the things he took delight in.
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.
Now, holding his phone, Mai Dong looked at the chat interface with a very familiar avatar, a very familiar nickname, and words of message.
P’w rbggs.
Zjl Gbcu ofia vlhhs jcv vlrbglfcafv. Qlat tlr jiwbra qfgnfgafv ifnfi bo mgert, fnfc atbeut tf tjv cfnfg jvvfv Tjc Wewlcu bc QfJtja, tf kjr kfii jkjgf bo Tjc Wewlcu’r QfJtja PG, QfJtja jnjajg, jcv QfJtja clmxcjwf. Ktlr wjvf tlw jmeafis jkjgf atja atf qfgrbc mtjaalcu klat tlw kjr lcvffv Tjc Wewlcu.
His fingertips trembled, and he didn’t reply to those words for a while.
Then, another message arrived.
“I’m sorry.”
“I heard from your roommate that this belongs to you. [Picture]”
“Is it convenient to pick it up? I live in East Dormitory Two.”
Mai Dong quickly replied.
“Yes, yes, it’s my notebook. I’m really sorry for the trouble, it’s entirely my carelessness. I’ll come to pick it up right away. Please wait for me downstairs, I’ll be there in about three or four minutes. Thank you!”
After sending this message, Mai Dong tossed his phone aside, changed out of his pajamas, put on his shoes, checked his face in the mirror to see if it was clean, and ran his fingers through his barely noticeable hairstyle.
In the background of the dorm, Du Chuan was passionately complaining about how Yan Xuming was way too handsome, stealing all his limelight today. Mai Dong’s heart was about to jump out of his throat. Every time Du Chuan mentioned the name “Yan Xuming,” he felt his heart tightening as if it might jump out on its own.
“I’m going to get my diary,” He informed his roommates and walked out of the dorm.
Because Yan Xuming was waiting for him, Mai Dong walked quickly.
Although it was only a three or four-minute journey, his heart was pounding as if he had just finished running a kilometer.
As he turned the corner towards East Dormitory Two, he saw Yan Xuming standing under a tree.
Yan Xuming had already changed out of the clothes he wore during the day.
It was the simplest combination of a black short-sleeved shirt and jeans, an outfit worn by countless people in the world. Yet, Mai Dong was certain that Yan Xuming must be the most good-looking one among them.
At this moment, he felt an emotion remarkably similar to “homesickness.” He could brush past Yan Xuming many times, but he was unwilling to have a face-to-face conversation like this. This was easily understandable; face-to-face interaction would make the unrequited love seem pessimistic. The meaning of unrequited love lies in fantasizing that ‘we will be together someday.’ Face-to-face encounters shatter this fantasy.
Mai Dong would be acutely aware that this exchange with Yan Xuming was a one-time occurrence, with no possibility of any other.
Mai Dong ran a few steps forward and stopped in front of Yan Xuming, panting heavily.
Even though neither of them had said anything, Mai Dong felt as if this unrequited love had already come to an involuntary end. His mood was terrible, and he hung his head, reluctant to meet Yan Xuming’s eyes directly.
Unexpectedly, Yan Xuming spoke with extreme politeness and gentleness, “Your name is Mai Dong, right?”
Mai Dong replied softly, “Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry for troubling you, senior. It’s all my carelessness.”
Yan Xuming said, “A very unique name.”
Mai Dong explained, “It’s actually the name of a medicinal herb. My parents were probably lazy when they named me.”
The person then chuckled.
During the day, he was obviously envious of those who received Yan Xuming’s smile. Now, he was deceiving himself and unwilling to look at the smile meant for him. The thoughts of a person in unrequited love were indeed intricate, making it hard to understand. Even Mai Dong himself couldn’t figure out what he was doing.
Yan Xuming handed over the diary.
This notebook was carefully chosen by Mai Dong and bought from a physical stationery store. When he purchased it, he exclaimed at how expensive notebooks had become.
He had the habit of writing a diary from early on. During middle and high school, he used to buy notebooks from the school’s stationery store. A thick, hardcover notebook with illustrations would only cost ten yuan. Now, buying a similar notebook surprisingly costs forty to fifty yuan.
“Don’t lose your diary next time,” Yan Xuming said.
“Um… Yes, I’m really sorry for the trouble,” Mai Dong had repeated this apology many times, and he was waiting for Yan Xuming to question him. He was ready to answer any question, such as why the cover page of the notebook was filled with the three characters “Yan Xuming,” or why the person secretly admired in the diary seemed so much like Yan Xuming.
However, Yan Xuming didn’t ask anything. After returning Mai Dong’s notebook, he simply said, “Then, go back and rest?”
Mai Dong stood there in a daze for quite a while, then nodded absentmindedly.
Watching Yan Xuming turn around and head back to the dormitory, Mai Dong was still in a daze.
Even when Mai Dong returned to the dormitory, sat in his own seat, and opened his diary, he still hadn’t come back to his senses.
It couldn’t be true. Anyone who found a notebook would at least flip it open to see if the owner’s name was written inside, so they could return it. Mai Dong was certain that Yan Xuming must have seen the densely written name on the cover page. So, why didn’t he ask?
It was almost eleven, and there was no sign of the male dormitory quieting down.
The other three people in the dormitory, two of them were playing games side by side, their occasional swearing making the room noisy. The third was on a video call with his girlfriend, exchanging sweet nothings that were more grating to Mai Dong’s ears than the swearing.
Mai Dong felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
He flipped to the first page of the diary, where he had written a diary entry when he first entered university.
September 2, 2022, Sunny
Today is the first day of my admission to Nanjing University!
The weather is so hot. I spent a long time on Nanjing University forum and knew where they would welcome the new students before reporting. Fortunately, I saw him. I’m so happy. I don’t know what words to use to describe my happiness. I also feel like I’m too easily satisfied. Just entering the university where he is, just catching a glimpse of him, makes me believe that the next four years will be very happy.
Today, he wore a white short-sleeved shirt with a red vest on top. The welcoming seniors and senior sisters all wore this, probably provided by the school. Others look like sanitation workers when they wear it, but he looks like he’s walking on a fashion runway. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, my filter is just too thick ah. I want to change it too, but I can’t!
Mai Dong knocked his head on the table, emitting a few sorrowful “groaning” sounds.
Anyone who saw it would know he was definitely talking about Yan Xuming.
Yan Xuming must have seen it, but why didn’t he ask Mai Dong? Perhaps he was accustomed to being liked, secretly admired, and noticed. Hence, he didn’t care at all.
The feeling of awaiting judgment was too agonizing. Mai Dong was certain that if he didn’t clarify today, every day thereafter, he would wonder, ‘Did Yan Xuming really read my diary? If he did, why didn’t he ask me about it?’
Unable to endure it any longer, Mai Dong succumbed.
After much inner turmoil, he finally opened his phone.
With the phone resting on the table, he stared at Yan Xuming’s chat box for several minutes.
After taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he solemnly picked up the phone and typed:
“Senior… um, I still want to ask, did you read the contents of my diary?”
It was just a simple question, yet its impact on Mai Dong was no less than directly saying, “Senior, I like you.” He anxiously awaited a response, but fortunately, Yan Xuming didn’t keep him waiting for too long.
“Sorry.”
“Because I picked up this notebook, I had to open it to check if there was a name inside.”
“As for the content…”
“It’s hard not to look, right? After all, the first page is filled with my name.”
Mai Dong banged his head against the table hard.
Aiyo, that hurts!
Aaaah the second hand embarrassment!! ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄
Thanks for the chapter
Ouch, I feel that suffering D:
Thank You for the new chapter ( ˘ ³˘)♥
pressing F to pay respects for mai dong. F
Aaaaa, straight guy!!!
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Thanks for the chapter! I would spontaneously combust in that kid’s place…
This is why I never wrote a diary 😭 Poor Mai Dong
OMOIOKI WTFFF THATS SOOO EMBARRASSING😭😭