Mai Dong’s diary was still being written every day.
The content was repetitive and somewhat dull. It was nothing more than recording daily insights about liking Yan Xuming.
There was very little about his own life in the diary. He only attended classes, ate, and did homework–not much worth writing about. Only things related to Yan Xuming trigger emotional fluctuations in Mai Dong, deemed worthy of recording.
They would occasionally cross paths at school, but Mai Dong never dared to initiate a greeting.
When Yan Xuming didn’t see Mai Dong, the two would just brush past each other. When Yan Xuming spotted Mai Dong from afar, he would wave to him.
Every time Yan Xuming greeted him, Mai Dong would turn around to check if there were Yan Xuming’s acquaintances behind him.
After numerous occurrences, Yan Xuming once playfully scolded him, giving his head a firm rub, “Don’t want to see me that much? You always hide when I greet you.”
Mai Dong almost stood at attention and saluted. He was visibly anxious, “I didn’t, I didn’t know you were waving at me.”
Before the Friday meal with Yan Xuming came, this pattern of interaction persisted throughout the entire week.
Mai Dong’s heart fluttered up and down, occasionally wondering if Yan Xuming was really indulging him, perhaps harboring some affection. Most of the time, he dared not entertain such thoughts, for fear of misunderstanding, disappointment, and sadness. Thus, encountering Yan Xuming always made him nervous, prompting avoidance and stiff limbs.
But in the eyes of Mai Dong’s roommates, this was not the case.
These two individuals clearly exhibit a level of familiarity typical of close friends.
Wait, when did Mai Dong even meet Yan Xuming ah?
Du Chuan truly didn’t understand. Weren’t they complete strangers a few days ago? Yan Xuming found Mai Dong’s diary, or rather, he connected the two on WeChat after finding some common ground there. It’s only been a few days, how did they become so familiar?
Who is Yan Xuming?
The Vice President of the Student Union at Nanjing University is handsome with a good personality. There are a lot of boys and girls chasing him. How could someone like him be so easily acquainted with? Honestly, Du Chuan has long wanted to establish a connection with Yan Xuming. From a pragmatic perspective, knowing someone like Yan Xuming is a valuable social network for the future. Who wouldn’t want to befriend him?
Now, let’s talk about Mai Dong.
Mai Dong doesn’t really have many friends, not because of a bad personality, but because of his reserved and aloof demeanor as a big xueba. Besides borrowing homework and asking him to present ppt, no one usually takes the initiative to talk to Mai Dong. Although his roommates know he’s actually easy to get along with, others perceive Mai Dong as a studious loner, unaware that he spends his days quietly writing in his diary.
Mai Dong and Yan Xuming are engaged in conversation, oblivious to the hushed whispers of their nearby roommates.
“Do they know each other ah?”
“I don’t know, they didn’t know each other a few days ago ah.”
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.
“Didn’t Yan Xuming pick up his diary? He probably opened it, took a look, and that’s how they got to know each other.”
“Jjc la tjqqfc ilxf atja? Ljr jcsbcf tfgf gfjv Zjl Gbcu’r vljgs?”
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“Qglalcu j vljgs, ktja’r atfgf ab kglaf jybea? P bcis kgbaf obg j ofk vjsr lc fifwfcajgs rmtbbi. Ktfgf’r cba atja wemt raeoo ab kglaf jybea jt. Zs fifwfcajgs rmtbbi vljgs kjr rb oeccs. Kbvjs, ws wbw abbx wf ab atf reqfgwjgxfa. P kjcafv j cfk Fiagjwjc mjgv rfa, yea ws wbw vlvc’a kjca ab yes la obg wf. P rjlv P mbeiv vb mtbgfr lc fzmtjcuf, jcv ws wbw abiv wf ab ufa ibra.”
A few people had their arms on each other shoulders and laughed together.
Yan Xuming glanced back, lifting his chin, “They’re your roommates, right? They’re waiting for you. Go ahead.”
Mai Dong nodded modestly, “Um, then I’m leaving.”
Yan Xuming didn’t move, didn’t turn around or leave, his gaze still fell on Mai Dong’s face.
So, Mai Dong hesitated to turn around. He’s a peculiar person, not intentionally speaking in contradictions; he genuinely didn’t want to meet Yan Xuming. Meeting too often deepened his fantasies, yet once they met, he couldn’t bear to part, fearing it might be the last time.
Yan Xuming smiled, “Anything else?”
Mai Dong licked his lips, “It’s nothing, can you go first?”
Yan Xuming raised an eyebrow. He didn’t dwell on it, and turned away, leaving.
Mai Dong stood still, watching Yan Xuming’s departing figure for a while. He was accustomed to watching Yan Xuming’s back. In the four years before Yan Xuming found his diary, Mai Dong had been watching Yan Xuming’s back for four years. Finally, with a lingering reluctance, he turned and returned to his roommates.
Wu Zimo had a knowing look on his face, “Mai-zi, your meal together is tomorrow, right?”
Mai Dong’s heart skipped a beat. Although Wu Zimo’s question sounded ordinary, just having a meal together, in Mai Dong’s ears, it felt like, ‘Mai-zi, you like him, right?’
He nodded, unsure if he was responding to the meal or to liking Yan Xuming.
Du Chuan hooked his arm around Mai Dong’s shoulder. He said somewhat threateningly, “You two got to know each other pretty fast. You didn’t even have each other on WeChat before. Did he read your diary?”
Mai Dong nodded again, “I don’t know, but he probably read it. Since he picked it up, he must have opened it for a glance.”
Du Chuan playfully extended his hand, “Show it to your bro too, huh? No, seriously, I’m curious about what you write every day. Is it convenient? Are there any little secrets of budding romance?”
Mai Dong gave him a cold look, “Not convenient!”
Du Chuan made a hissing sound, “No, seriously, if there are secrets, I can’t see, but he can? Writing bad things about me in the diary? Ah, you kid!”
Mai Dong remained silent, while Wu Zimo laughed at Du Chuan’s self-inflicted embarrassment. The two of them then engaged in lively banter, playfully teasing each other.
Mai Dong walked ahead, silently criticizing, ‘See, this is what straight guys do.’
They would casually ask for your diary without a sense of boundaries and they don’t mean any harm. They couldn’t consider that this was something only done in very intimate relationships, and even then, not everyone would be comfortable with it. Yet, straight guys would casually do such things.
Tomorrow is Friday, and Mai Dong’s pen is ready to take flight.
October 12, 2023. Sunny
The weather forecast predicts that there will be light rain and it will be windy tomorrow.
Letterman Mai Dong was willing to be a vegetarian for three days, begging that the wind could blow the dark clouds away. Tomorrow is a great day! It mustn’t rain!
Today, I met him outside at the sports field. He initiated a greeting and we exchanged a few trivial words, like asking about classes and what’s the next class. He heard about that teacher and apparently, they are a decent person. I’m starting to feel like he sees me as a friend. Hey, straight guys, do you really lack friends that much? Why be friends with a gay who likes you ah! But I can’t bring myself to actively sever our relationship. Liking someone is truly the most self-troubling thing in the world.
I haven’t done my homework yet, and I feel completely out of the mood.
It feels like my heart has been brewed with rice wine and I’m about to get drunk.
What will he say to me tomorrow? Probably nothing much, just friends having a meal, chatting about ordinary things, and sharing interesting stories from our lives. My god, all the interesting things in my life are related to him. What can I possibly talk about ah!
I must watch some friends chatting vlogs, and steal a few topics from people’s dining conversations, so I can seem like a genuinely pure and good friend.
Please, please, pray that everything goes well tomorrow!
After finishing the diary and his homework, it was already ten o’clock when Mai Dong climbed into bed.
He really watched a few vlogs and unexpectedly discovered that there are few guys in the world who record vlogs of friends chatting. Girls discuss this topic more; summarizing it, it’s like “badmouthing others, discussing deceased exes, and reporting progress with people they’re ambiguous with.”
Mai Dong was speechless; he had no one to speak ill of, no deceased or current exes, and certainly no ambiguous relationships. There was, however, one person he secretly admired, sitting right across from him.
Dr. God Mai has been feeling frustrated before going to bed these days!
He covered his head once again and hummed himself to sleep.
It was supposed to be a day eagerly anticipated all week, but the start turned out to be quite rough.
As soon as Mai Dong opened his eyes and pulled back the curtain to check the weather outside, the sky was heavily overcast, and heavy rain was pouring down. It was worse than expected. Last night’s weather forecast clearly stated that there was only light rain, but now it was heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. It didn’t seem like a suitable weather to go out for a meal.
Feeling a bit disheartened, Mai Dong automatically assumed that today’s meeting would surely be canceled.
Perhaps his early morning negative attitude had already set the tone for the day. After the first morning class ended, Mai Dong found that his umbrella was gone as soon as he left the classroom. The rain was pouring down, and everyone’s umbrellas were dripping wet. People had placed their umbrellas at the classroom door to let them drain, and Mai Dong naturally did the same.
To make matters worse, he was the last one to leave the classroom. Wu Zimo’s umbrella was stolen last time and kept forgetting to buy a new one. So, his three roommates walked ahead under two umbrellas. Because Mai Dong hadn’t finished his notes yet, he stayed back for a while to organize them. But he didn’t expect that his umbrella would be gone as soon as he went out.
The next class was in a different building.
Suddenly, Mai Dong’s mood took a turn for the worse.
Because this past week had been so delightful for him, the only thing he did each day was anticipate the arrival of Friday. He fantasized about various Fridays, some blue, some pink, some orange, some purple, but never did he imagine it would be a blank one.
He sent a WeChat to the professor, expressing his desire for leave on the next class like having a tantrum.
Mai Dong has always had good grades and never took leaves. Although academic performance is no longer the sole criterion for evaluating students in university, the professor still tends to subconsciously show more understanding towards the traditional notion of a “good student.”
The professor approved Mai Dong’s leave and even asked Mai Dong with concern, “Are you okay, Mai Dong? Did you encounter any trouble? If there’s anything, just let me know.”
Mai Dong replied with four rather aloof words, “It’s okay, thank you.”
He also didn’t want to ask his roommates to come back with an umbrella to pick him up. Without any reason, he was angry with himself and hated himself for being an unlucky person. It hadn’t rained all week, and of all days, it chose Friday! He hated himself for being overly hopeful this week, almost to the point of getting carried away. That’s why he felt so sad now.
Not sure what got into him, he ran back to the dorm in the rain. While running, he was spitting at himself in his heart: Hehe, it really feels like shooting an idol drama. What the hell ah, Dr. God Mai! Secretly admiring someone has made you delirious!
One should refrain from casually spitting oneself. By the afternoon, Mai Dong was indeed delirious.
He dozed off until around four o’clock, and when he touched his forehead, it was burning hot—He had a fever.
Mai Dong was so angry that he punched and kicked on the bed. See! Letting yourself indulge in some sorrowful youth idol drama, even running in the pouring rain. You deserve to have a fever ah!
After throwing a fit, Mai Dong felt frustrated again and hated the heavy rain today. The evening meeting with Yan Xuming was now 100% ruined. Only then did he think to reach for his phone and check if Yan Xuming had already sent him a message, perhaps suggesting to cancel their plans for the night.
Surprisingly, there were no messages from Yan Xuming. In the dormitory group chat, probably after his roommates noticed he missed the second morning class and came back to find him sleeping at noon, they asked what was going on.
Mai Dong replied it was nothing, saying he caught a bit of a cold.
Sure enough, things always turn out like this—The more one anticipates, the worse the disappointment. Whether it’s having a meal with Yan Xuming or having feelings for him, Mai Dong felt that he couldn’t harbor any more expectations or fantasies.
He opened the chat with Yan Xuming.
He thought a bit mischievously, ‘Let me be the one to initiate canceling plans this time!’
So, he sent: “Senior, I have a slight fever. I won’t be joining you for dinner tonight.”
After sending the message, he lay back down as he thought, ‘Out of sight, out of mind!’
What a mess, poor MD!
Thank You for the new chapter (੭ु´･ω･`)੭ु⁾⁾❤
Oh, it’s okay to have bad day, babe
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Hoping for Yan Xuming to come take care of Mai Dong hihi
Thanks for the chapter
Ahh I feel so bad for mai dong, especially since he looked forward to their friday dinner date 😭 but tbh, him running sorrowfully in the rain like an idol drama was kinda funny lolol. He’s so precious help