New Year’s Day has arrived, jumping suddenly from 2023 to 2024, the rapid passage of time was almost too much to grasp. Tomorrow was the day of the international debate team competition, and today was the first day of the New Year holiday. Mai Dong was summoned to the activity room to help everyone organize the set of materials one last time.
Members of the debate team were nervously rehearsing their scripts, while Mai Dong idled away, laying out his diary on the desk. The furry texture of the diary felt comforting, even in winter, the touch of the pages no longer icy when flipped open.
January 1, 2024. Clear
The weather has been very cold these past few days, with snowfall, which is quite rare in the south. However, it’s been warming up since yesterday, and the winter in the south is truly unpredictable.
Writing down today’s date, there was a moment of being stunned. Having written 2023 for a whole year, then suddenly needing to change it to 2024 felt unfamiliar. Although I’m aware that today is New Year’s Day, having exchanged New Year’s greetings with him yesterday, it still takes time to fully grasp that it’s already 2024.
There’s a strong feeling that this year will definitely go smoothly. I rarely reflect on whether my life is going smoothly or not, but this year is different.
Alright, there’s quite a jumble of thoughts here, but the most important thing I want to know is what he’s doing now. These days he’s very busy, so I’m always hesitant to message him too often. He’s busier than I am, with responsibilities in the student union, managing his studies, and dealing with many other trivial matters.
I’ve never been in a relationship before, so I don’t know how much of a presence a boyfriend should have in someone’s life. So, what’s the appropriate proportion? I really want to ask him what he’s doing now, and I’m curious about what he had for dinner tonight, but would asking these questions be too boring? Yet, I feel like it’s not good to overthink things. Just a few days ago, I was happy that we were getting closer, but now I’m already feeling dissatisfied.
Dissatisfaction was a great enemy.
Mai Dong’s diary today was quite fragmented, with unrelated sentences scattered all over. The central idea was that he really missed Yan Xuming.
Since New Year’s Day had arrived, it meant that winter vacation was also not far off. After winter vacation, Yan Xuming would be entering the second semester of his third year, where he would start his internship.
Recently, there was a very good internship opportunity, and Yan Xuming was preparing the necessary documents.
While halfway through writing in his diary, the head of the debate team handed Mai Dong an invitation to a competition.
Mai Dong wasn’t actually participating in this debate competition; he was just brought in as a foreign aid translator. Naturally, he would receive an invitation to watch the competition, so he took the initiative to ask for two tickets, intending to invite Yan Xuming to go with him.
Finally having an excuse to chat with Yan Xuming, Mai Dong sent a message, mentioning that the invitation letter was on its way. However, he didn’t expect Yan Xuming to decline the invitation.
Mai Dong went to watch the competition alone, and the competition went quite smoothly.
Mai Dong, however, was somewhat absent-minded, frequently glancing at his phone. After the competition, there was the customary celebration banquet. Li Shengnan had been getting particularly close to Mai Dong recently and asked if he wanted to invite his boyfriend along.
Initially, Mai Dong hadn’t planned on inviting Yan Xuming. Knowing that Yan Xuming was really busy, he hesitated while holding his phone. Then he couldn’t resist sending him a message, asking if he wanted to join the debate team’s celebration dinner that evening.
After sending the message, he waited for over ten minutes but received no response.
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.
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At the dinner table, Yan Xuming’s name was frequently brought up. Mai Dong understood this easily because he was a person with little to talk about, and the only topic he had was Yan Xuming. Mai Dong didn’t mind this situation; on the contrary, he should have been happy about it.
But now he found it difficult to cheer up, even surprising himself with his pettiness. Yan Xuming had sent him a message at six o’clock, saying he was having dinner with his teacher unexpectedly, that he hadn’t planned for it, and his phone had run out of battery suddenly. He had just borrowed a power bank.
It was such a trivial matter, yet Mai Dong found himself feeling unhappy about it.
Li Shengnan handed him a bottle of beer, winked at him, and whispered in German, “Mai, there are no worries in the world of beer.”
Li Shengnan herself had probably had quite a few drinks already; her face was flushed, and she seemed excited, speaking faster than usual. “You know what? I hate my parents. They never express love to each other. Maybe many Germans are like that. Sometimes I even doubt my lineage. I must have been born in France!” She laughed with an arched eyebrow. “If keeping their mouths shut brings them happiness, they’re welcome to it. But I believe everyone needs affirmation and shown love. What do you think?”
Mai Dong felt that she was right. Everyone needs to be affirmed and loved, regardless of personality or anything else.
He chugged half a bottle of beer in one go, drinking too quickly. His face flushed instantly, and it felt like his brain was being squeezed by a heavy hand. This gulp left Mai Dong thrilled in place. After the initial rush of excitement came a long period of dizziness. He quietly continued to drink, quickly becoming dizzy himself.
Mai Dong felt remarkably sober.
He could see Li Shengnan in front of him, with her brown hair and emerald eyes. Foreign features were so different from Chinese ones that staring at her for too long made Mai Dong’s eyes blur. He waved his hand, gesturing for Li Shengnan to move aside, and leaned on the table, thinking about Yan Xuming.
Hmm, Yan Xuming’s features were even more attractive. His nose was straight, his lips thin, and his eyelashes long. The drunk xeuba had lost his profound literary background, and a string of elementary school-style sentences ran through his mind. Suddenly, he sniffled.
Tears were about to fall, but Mai Dong didn’t know why he was crying.
But Yan Xuming was already his boyfriend. Mai Dong knew this. Yan Xuming was already his boyfriend, and whenever they were together, people would tease them.
They were in a relationship, not only did Mai Dong know, but the whole school knew, yet Mai Dong still felt a sense of distance from Yan Xuming’s life.
But he couldn’t understand it. In the first few days of their relationship, he felt like he had suddenly gotten much closer to Yan Xuming’s life.
Yes, Mai Dong felt aggrieved by this.
He regretted being too timid in the past, not daring to run for the school student union; he regretted having too many concerns, and not greeting Yan Xuming during that high school sports meeting. Otherwise, things wouldn’t be like this now. How should he put it?
In Mai Dong’s heart, two people should be friends first, then lovers.
But Mai Dong and Yan Xuming skipped the friendship step and went straight from being strangers to being a couple. Even though there were many sweet moments, there were even more moments of unfamiliarity. Moreover, his diary had been read clean by Yan Xuming, which was completely unfair.
Yan Xuming knew exactly what he was thinking, what he used to think, and what he would think in the future, while he had no clue about Yan Xuming’s thoughts.
He, of course, believes that Yan Xuming likes him.
But Mai Dong didn’t understand what it meant to like someone; he didn’t know how long the expiration date of liking someone was.
Mai Dong still felt remarkably clear-headed. He heard the head of the debate team calling Yan Xuming. The proof of his clarity was when he immediately stood up, his arms crossed, and shouted, “You! You’re not allowed to call him. He’s busy. He doesn’t even reply to my messages. Don’t bother him!”
Mai Dong was jolted awake. He felt like throwing up, feeling nauseous already. It felt like he was sitting on a small, rickety boat, with the waves swaying beneath him, rocking back and forth. He fought the urge to vomit, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself on someone’s back, alone.
His breath reeked of alcohol as he opened his mouth wide, struggling to speak clearly, “Yan Xuming.”
The boat carrying him replied, “En, it’s me.”
Mai Dong felt a bit aggrieved, “Weren’t you having dinner outside?”
The boat responded, “I received a call saying my family’s Mai Dong drank too much and asked me to take you back.”
Mai Dong couldn’t believe it, “So you came just because of that?”
Mai Dong felt multiple images swirling before his eyes. He looked up, and the light from the streetlamp cast overlapping shadows, creating a mesmerizing sight. But staring at it for too long made him feel nauseous. Aiya, he felt so uncomfortable. The physical discomfort combined with the emotional distress made Mai Dong bury his head into the person’s neck, listening to their reply.
“Otherwise? Who else will pick you up besides me?”
“I can walk back by myself.”
“You’re that capable?”
“Of course, I’m the all-powerful Mai Dong.”
“En, you’re the all-powerful Mai Dong.”
“I’m very unhappy, Yan Xuming.”
“En, tell me about it?”
“I wish I had known you so much earlier. I wanted to be your good friend, and I also wanted to be that kind of friend who could come over and tease you after seeing you in the cafeteria. I think your relationship with them is very good.”
“…Are you jealous of something?”
“No, I… burp… uh, I’m not jealous.”
“Mai Dong, you’re not going to vomit on me, are you?”
“Uh… maybe you should put me down. I feel like… I’m going to vomit.”
“Forget it, can you stand if I put you down? And if you vomit, don’t aim for my neck, lean to the side.”
“No, I might vomit on you.”
“Aren’t you a rich second generation? Is it difficult to buy me a new set?”
“Are you with me because of my money?”
“… Um, how about it, do you want to dump me?”
“No, it’s okay, my family has a lot of money anyway.”
Yan Xuming had a headache listening to this. He didn’t know if Mai Dong really meant what he said or if he was just talking nonsense because he was drunk.
Finally, he managed to carry Mai Dong to the dormitory door. Considering there was no elevator in the dormitory building, he realized that carrying him upstairs might result in him vomiting along the way. So, he decided to take him directly to the bathroom on the ground floor.
Mai Dong really endured the journey, then knelt by the sink and vomited vigorously for over ten minutes.
Yan Xuming had returned from the vending machine outside with tissues and water. This person was still vomiting.
Or rather, he was vomiting and crying at the same time, tears rolling down his cheeks. It pained Yan Xuming to see him like this.
He gently patted his back, using words usually reserved for comforting children, “There, there, take it easy. What’s the matter? Why are you so upset that you’re making yourself sick? It’s okay, slow down, take it easy.”
Jie Jie: Let me know if there are any typos/errors, I’m only using my phone these days because my laptop broke 
Thank you for the chapter!🫶
Translation is good👍
Thanks
Alcohol is an evil
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(ӦｖӦ｡)