Translator/Editor:- Max
Yao Xiuyuan stayed with Ying Nian’s crew for three days. While Ying Nian was filming, he either watched or went out for a stroll. After Ying Nian finished filming, the two of them would have a meal together, chat, and occasionally rehearse scenes together. Three days later, his vacation ended, and it was time for him to return.
On the fourth day, when Ying Nian woke up from bed and felt no one beside him, he was momentarily stunned. Then he couldn’t help but sigh that habits were truly frightening. It’s only been three days, yet he’d become accustomed to the feeling of Yao Xiuyuan sleeping beside me. It’s truly scary. However, in reciprocity for Yao Xiuyuan’s visit to the set, Ying Nian and the director discussed compressing his scenes as much as possible. As a result, they wrapped up filming three days early, and he left the crew.
He reported the good news to Yao Xiuyuan, who flatteringly came to pick him up from the airport. Yao Xiuyuan asked him, “How come you wrapped up filming early?”
“Coming back to cook for you.” Ying Nian chuckled. “I still remember that I’m your cook.”
“You’re so dedicated to your job, I feel like I should give you a raise.”
“Stop it.” Ying Nian said, afraid that he might be serious. “If you keep adding more, I might quietly resign.”
“Then I advise you to give up on that thought. I won’t approve your resignation letter, and if you forcefully change jobs, no one will dare to hire you.”
Upon hearing this, Ying Nian remembered the schedule Wang Qi showed him earlier for this year. After some thought, he decided to discuss the matter of cooking with Yao Xiuyuan during dinner.
Seeing that Ying Nian had been tired for a month, Yao Xiuyuan couldn’t bear to let him come back and cook, so he drove him to a Western restaurant instead.
Ying Nian wasn’t picky about food, so he had no objections. However, halfway through the meal, he discussed with Yao Xiuyuan, “I looked at my schedule recently, and it seems like I’ll be quite busy in the second half of the year. I probably won’t be able to cook for you anymore. So, you might need to hire a new Aunty or cook.”
Yao Xiuyuan refused him without thinking. He felt like he knew the person in front of him too well now. If he agreed upfront, Ying Nian would probably mention afterward that since he couldn’t cook for him anymore, he should move out. Joking! Tang Yu was still glaring like a tiger watching its prey. There’s no way he would let Ying Nian move out at this time.
Seeing his refusal, Ying Nian persuaded him, “Don’t reject so quickly. Think about it carefully. I’m really not suitable to cook for you right now.”
“True, you are a big star. It’s really unfair for you to cook for me.” Yao Xiuyuan deliberately teased him.
Ying Nian was speechless and cut a piece of beef forcefully. “You know very well that’s not what I meant.”
“Then you should also know that I won’t agree.”
“But in my current state, and with all the acting commitments in the second half of the year, even if you don’t agree, I won’t be able to cook for you.”
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.
“Ktja’r ws qgbyifw atfc.”
“Ktfc kts vbc’a sbe jugff?”
“Qtja vb sbe atlcx?” Tjb Wlesejc jrxfv tlw.
Tlcu Rljc atbeuta ab tlwrfio atja tf vlvc’a xcbk. Lf jaf atf wfja bc tlr qijaf uibbwlis, yea revvfcis tjv j oijrt bo lcrluta. “Gb sbe atlcx atja lo sbe jugff, P’ii wbnf bea?”
“Isn’t that what you’re thinking?” Yao Xiuyuan asked him.
Ying Nian did indeed think that before, but, “Let me ask you a question.”
“Speak.”
Ying Nian looked at him, coughed, and said seriously, “Do you want a roommate? Even though I don’t have time to cook for you, I can pay rent. But that’s only if you’re open to having a roommate.”
Yao Xiuyuan simply didn’t expect him to say this. This was completely beyond his expectation. Ying Nian looked gentle on the surface but had a strong will underneath. Sometimes Yao Xiuyuan wanted to lend him a hand and engage in a debate with him. However, he never expected him to say something like this.
Yao Xiuyuan chuckled. “Next time, get to the point. If you had said that earlier, I…” He suddenly paused mid-sentence, then continued, “I still wouldn’t agree.”
Ying Nian: ? ? ?
Ying Nian was very doubtful whether Yao Xiuyuan knew what he was talking about.
Yao Xiuyuan knew about it at that moment. He looked at Ying Nian in a good mood. “While you’re filming, just consider it as having a vacation. I won’t look for a roommate, but if friends need a place to stay, of course, they can. As for rent, if you want to give, then go ahead. As for an Auntie, I might hire a cleaning Auntie. Your cleaning robot doesn’t listen to me when you’re not home. They keep hiding under the bed every day, and I’m starting to suspect they’re just playing hide and seek instead of working.”
Ying Nian was amused by his last sentence. “Why don’t you consider if you’ve done something terrifying to them? Maybe they’re scared of you and just want to hide under the bed.”
Yao Xiuyuan felt very unjust. “With the conscious of Heaven and Earth, those are all your little pets. How could I dare to bully them?”
“So, you won’t find someone to cook for you anymore?”
“Not looking for now.” Yao Xiuyuan replied calmly. “This position still suits you better for the time being.”
Seeing his insistence, Ying Nian didn’t persuade him further. After all, Yao Xiuyuan could cook for himself; he was just lazy. If he could overcome this, Ying Nian thought it would be a good thing.
However, Ying Nian clearly over-thought it. When he was at home, Yao Xiuyuan would come back to eat. But when he wasn’t home, Yao Xiuyuan would dine out with Qin Xue. Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was the start of a new year. Yao Xiuyuan looked at the little red lanterns hanging on the trees and finally realised that the Chinese New Year was approaching.
Yao Xiuyuan was a little surprised that he was going back to his hometown to celebrate the Chinese New Year, “Going back to your hometown?”
Ying Nian nodded. He had told Yao Xiuyuan about his childhood, so he understood why he was surprised. Therefore, he explained, “I go back to my hometown mainly to sweep my parents’ graves. You know about my profession; I don’t have regular holidays, so I can’t go back during the Qingming Festival. Now is a good time to visit them and pay my respects.”
“Do you still have a house in your hometown?” Yao Xiuyuan asked him.
“I have. The house my parents owned was given to me by my uncle after I returned. I asked their daughter to take care of it, and clean it regularly, making it convenient for me to stay there for a few days during the Chinese New Year.”
Ying Nian’s explanation was simple, and Yao Xiuyuan didn’t ask much. From what he understood, Ying Nian’s memories of his uncle‘s family weren’t particularly good, and Yao Xiuyuan didn’t want to bring up any unpleasant memories.
“Okay then.” He nodded. “I was originally thinking if you were alone during the New Year, you could come to my place. But since you’re going back to pay respect to your parents, I won’t insist on you spending it with me. Just take care of yourself, and if you need anything, give me a call.”
“En.” Ying Nian raised the corners of his lips and smiled slightly.
Before leaving, he pulled Yao Xiuyuan to give the house a thorough cleaning. Yao Xiuyuan naturally didn’t want to do household chores, so he listened to Ying Nian’s instructions while wiping the windows. He persuaded him, “Can I hire a cleaner? Let’s not bother with this.”
Ying Nian actually enjoyed the feeling of a thorough cleaning before the Chinese New Year. It gave him a sense of peace and reassurance, as if he had a home of his own. So he refused Yao Xiuyuan’s suggestion and insisted, “No, since we don’t have anything to do at home right now, we might as well clean. You wipe the windows nicely. Today, all the glasses in the house are yours.”
Yao Xiuyuan looked at the window in front of him, then thought about the windows in the other rooms of his house. He couldn’t help but reflect on why he bought such a large house with glass windows in every room. Since he couldn’t do much about Ying Nian’s actions, he could only tease him verbally, calling him Niannian with his mouth open and Xiao Niannian with his mouth closed.
Ying Nian found him childish, while Yao Xiuyuan thought he was fun to tease. They cleaned the house together, teasing each other, and it became quite lively.
After cleaning the house, the next day, Ying Nian put up couplets and the character “Fu” on the door, then prepared to leave. Yao Xiuyuan, hearing that Ying Nian intended to drive back alone, felt a bit worried and asked him to let him know when he arrived. Ying Nian nodded in agreement, said to Yao Xiuyuan, “Happy New Year, see you next year”, before leaving.
Ying Nian’s hometown was a seven-hour drive from X City. From the city to the county and then to the village, he arrived home at around 8 o’clock.
Ying Ting was waiting for him at home. When she saw him return, she pointed out where the newly bought rice, noodles, fruits, and vegetables were placed, and exchanged a few words with him before slowly leaving.
After a long day of driving, Ying Nian felt too tired and didn’t feel like eating. He let Yao Xiuyuan know that he had arrived home and then lay down on his bed. The blankets had been dried out in the sun by Ying Ting earlier, making them fluffy and warm. Ying Nian quickly fell asleep in the house where he had spent his childhood.
His house was on top of a slope, a bit high up. Since it was only his house there, unless he went out, others wouldn’t know he had returned. When Ying Nian left he was a child, so he wasn’t familiar with the villagers. Later, when he returned to the village after becoming famous, some people shamelessly approached him for help. Ying Nian would smile at them politely, neither agreeing nor refusing, except when it came to matters concerning children’s education.
As a beneficiary of education himself, Ying Nian highly valued the importance of studying. Whenever he encountered children who wanted to go to school and parents who also wished to send their children to school but didn’t have enough money, he would provide financial support, but usually only sponsoring them until high school graduation. He was willing to help children similar to himself when he was a child. However, he also wanted them to understand that no help in this world was justified. Therefore, those who received help should be grateful and work even harder.
Ying Ting helped him buy a lot of New Year goods, Ying Nian was very satisfied. The next morning, after having breakfast and changing clothes, he went to sweep his parents’ graves.
His parents were buried on a small hill not far from home. Ying Nian looked at the photos of his parents on the tombstone, smiled gently, and silently said in his heart: I’m doing well this year too. You don’t need to worry.
After cleaning the graves, he placed some pastries and fruits in front of his parents’ tombstone before slowly making his way back.
The Yao family was always very lively during the Chinese New Year. Father Yao had three brothers, and they all gathered at the eldest brother’s house during the New Year. Yao Xiuyuan’s older sister, Yao Xiuzhu, looked a bit cold, which made the children somewhat afraid of her. They kept clinging to Yao Xiuyuan, their elder brother. After coaxing one child, another would come over, but fortunately Yao Xiuyuan had a good temper, and didn’t mind the noise caused by the children. He even played games with them.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, everyone chatted and watched the Spring Festival Gala together. The conversation unconsciously shifted to Yao family’s two siblings.
“Xiuyuan, a few days ago I met the Lin family’s daughter. She’s beautiful and gentle. Why don’t you go meet her some day?”
“Forget it.” Yao Xiuyuan refused, “Blind dates are not suitable for me.”
He had been on two blind dates before, one shortly after graduating and the other when he met Ying Nian and Ji Qingzhou. Both times, the girls had a good impression of him, but he didn’t feel anything. Since then, Yao Xiuyuan felt that blind dates weren’t suitable for him. With his qualities, it was easy for girls to like him, but there were very few girls who could make him like them. In the end, he felt it was better to avoid causing the other party unnecessary heartache.
Seeing that the topic had reached this point and knowing that he couldn’t avoid it any longer if he didn’t leave, Yao Xiuyuan said that he had something to attend to, then stood up and went back to his room. Yao Xiuzhu, in order to prevent the blind dates’ topic from burning her, so she also left. Only a few elders remained, sighing repeatedly, lamenting that young people nowadays never listen.
Yao Xiuyuan returned to his room and thought that Ying Nian was probably alone at home at this time, and didn’t know what he was doing. So, he sent him a video call invite.
Ying Nian quickly answered the call. Yao Xiuyuan looked at the background behind him and asked him, “Are you alone?”
The author has something to say:
Yao Xiuyuan: Cleaning the windows, cleaning the windows. If you dare, let me clean you, this little window
Ying Nian: Reported
Yao Xiuyuan: Reported what ah? Just cleaning, not inserting.
Ying Nian: ! ! ! Yao Xiuyuan, you’re so dirty, dirty, dirty! You’re a train conductor!
Thank you for the translation
Oh my… The mini-theatre 😳😳
Thanks for the chapter!
I lovee themmm.
Thank you for the translation
Sometimes im so done with idioms, but sometimes i love word plays so much 👏😂
Thanks for the update ~♡
Me too me too like I cringe so much when the translator’s notes just for idioms are too much ahhh, come to Mr. Dior, you’ll be happy that this novel has lesser idioms. Authors do love their idioms, don’t they ahhh!!
I feel like after studying idioms so much in school they have the need to use them somewhere LMAO