Volume 2 Chapter 2 (2/2)
Shi Yan’s eyes were filled with a kind of negativity, and had a gloomy complexion. The two of them looked at each other, He Nuo stubbornly refused to back off. In an instant, Shi Yan’s face relaxed and He Nuo nearly thought that his eyes played tricks on him. Shi Yan softened his voice to sound less provoking, “Ah Song came as well, are you not going down to say thank you? Wang Feng and him specially came to see you.”
He Nuo owes Qiu Linsong, be it when he used him before the college entrance exam or silently helping with his college admissions. He Nuo owed it to him. They did not ask for anything in return, much less mention the favours they did for him. And today… He Nuo awkwardly frowned. Shi Yan stretched out his hand and kneaded his forehead, “Don’t frown. I don’t like it.”
He Nuo looked at his intimate behaviour in a daze. How can this person face him so calmly?
Shi Yan’s heart was equally in pain, as if suffocating in hell but he had to swallow down this bitter feeling. “I won’t force you, we’ll just be downstairs waiting. If you’re willing to come then come, if you’re unwilling then I’ll help explain to them on your behalf.”
He turned around to go down, then he paused. With his back facing He Nuo, “If you don’t come down, remember to ask your roommates to come down for you. Ah Song and the others’ presents to congratulate you for entering University is still in the car, they wanted to give it to you personally.” After he turned, he disappeared, the sound of his footsteps far away.
Shi Yan went to the first floor but didn’t go out straight away, instead he leaned at the corner of the hall. He was waiting for He Nuo, he was confident that he could wait for him. Or to put it another way, Qiu Linsong and Wang Feng can wait for him. For Shi Yan, this was absolutely sad but he had to thank the heavens for giving him the chance to be sad. If it was not ‘A’ University, the him today might only be able to watch from a distance, being unable to cross rivers and seas. There was the sound of footsteps coming down, Shi Yan’s spirits rose, and he smiled.
He Nuo did not spend a lot of time in fighting his inner self. His struggles and contradictions were all instantaneous. Although Qiu Linsong and Wang Fang were his buddies, but the both of them has helped him when he was in distress. He could not just forget about the help he got from them because of his own personal grudge, it would make him an ungrateful bastard and it would be as stupid as not eating again because you choked once. So, even though He Nuo knew Shi Yan’s scheme, he could only willingly fall into his trap.
Shi Yan was indeed in a hurry after he knew that He Nuo reported to University by himself. Shi Yan was very clear on what He Nuo’s thoughts were; saying goodbye to his past and putting it away to collect dust. He was driven out and locked out of his heart because of his betrayal. And this dusty pearl would radiate dazzling brilliance, new friends would fill into He Nuo’s life and this new environment would be the determination He Nuo needs to break away from his past. It is by no means easy to enter that wall around his heart again if it was built up again. After staying up all night and with deliberate planning, the answer he came up with is to attack through other means.
He Nuo could ruthlessly refuse himself, but when confronted with Wang Feng, He Nuo who has received special care from Wang Feng’s mother, definitely can’t go against “being grateful for all the help, even if small”, and Qiu Linsong who He Nuo would “feel the need to repay”9, is the trump card! So Shi Yan who brought these two great assistants was full of confidence. He Nuo’s determination and stubbornness, Shi Yan knew all of it. Which was why he chose another identity, an older cousin. This helped with the future long-term visits to He Nuo’s dorm, even foreshadowing the open intimacy.
It was because all of He Nuo’s reactions were within his expectations, that’s why he had his two great assistants sit in the car in advance, if not he would not have been able to convince He Nuo to come out. Shi Yan entered a treasure cave, why would he return empty-handed. Moreover, this was the first time in his life where he experience such pain that penetrated down to his core. To save himself from such misery, he would not let go.
Facing Shi Yan’s eyes full of undisguisedly affection, He Nuo’s heart was bitter and suffocated. The words that left his mouth says not forcing, but weren’t those actions of his forcing him?
“Let’s go, they should be hungry from waiting.” Shi Yan gently told the He Nuo who was walking close to him.
Qiu Linsong and Wang Feng weren’t even in the car, they were sitting on the curb, in the shadows. When they saw the two walk over, they stood up and smiled. They waited for them to walk over before they raised their fist and bumped He Nuo on the shoulder. “Fuck, walking over without even saying hello. How could you make such a clean break between us, and not interact with us anymore?”
He Nuo was a little embarrassed, defending himself by saying things like there’s no need to trouble with such. It was Shi Yan who came to his rescue, kicking up a racket by saying, “Hungry, I’m hungry. Talk less nonsense, let’s quickly find a place to eat.”
Although the three of them have already attended University in ‘mo’ city for a year, but for the two universities, one was at the far east of the city and the other in the far west, needing to pass through the whole city. The three of them were not as familiar with the west like they were with their school area. So the moment they exited the school, they randomly chose a main road and as the driver drove they browsed through the restaurants by the roadside, not too far away they saw a medium-sized restaurant and alighted.
During their meal, He Nuo was almost always talking to Qiu Linsong and Wang Feng. Shi Yan of course also joined in the conversation, but when he came into He Nuo’s line of sight, he actually only looked at that box of wallpaper behind him. When Shi Yan went upstairs just now, Qiu Linsong and Wang Feng asked the driver to drive along the main road and circled around ‘A’ University, getting a rough idea of the school. It was indeed incomparable to their university, and they sincerely praised He Nuo’s school. He Nuo has only been here for three days, but he already liked the place. He cheerily talked about the knowledge and experience from these few days. As well as about the Military uniform which he received the previous day, which also came with a shirt and a tie. Which was said that it is to prepare them for the inspection after the final military exercise.
He Nuo who talked about all these, his eyes shone and his expressions lively. Shi Yan sat beside him, listening to the rise and fall of his voice, made his heart ached. This gentleness pulled at his heartstring strongly. The moment he moved his hand, he wanted to touch He Nuo’s legs. Regardless of rain or shine, he just wanted to have a share in his joy. It should have been him in his embrace, with bright eyes, as he stared at those frosty lips clearly revealing his happiness. The hands he lifted was put down dejectedly, picking up the porcelain spoon, Shi Yan scooped up some cashew nuts from the celery and placed it on He Nuo’s plate.
After sending He Nuo back to school, Qiu Linsong and Wang Feng took out a paper bag from the trunk of the car. He Nuo’s face turned red in a while, waving his hands, “No, no. I can’t accept it. I’m already very grateful for you guys coming to see me.”
The paper bags were stuffed into his hands, “It’s all given out from the department’s activities, we just got an extra set, that’s all.”
“You’ve entered university, and we didn’t celebrate it back home, just treat this as making up for it.”
He Nuo was at a loss on what to do. At this time, he unconsciously turned to Shi Yan for help.
“It’s in your size, even if you don’t want it, we can’t wear it too. Keep it ba, it’s everyone’s good will.”
He Nuo shyly expressed his thanks. The three of them boarded the car, Shi Yan pressed down the window, greedily gazing at He Nuo, expressing his unspoken reluctance. He Nuo avoided the scorching line of sight, waving goodbye to them. After returning back to the dorm, the local Lao Liualready came back. Everyone saw that he came back holding two bags of things, would of course think that his older cousin was dedicated. One after another, they praised his older cousin that with one look they knew his family background was good, well-educated and a nice guy. Because in that moment of their conversation, Shi Yan already told them that he also goes to a university in this city, that’s why auntie entrusted him to take care of his younger cousin.
As the excessive praises filled his ears, someone loudly shouting He Nuo’s name from downstairs could be heard. Lao Da, Cui Yining who was nearest to the window, peered down and said, “Lao Wu, it’s your Ge.” Lao Liu was faster than He Nuo in running towards the window, curious to see what kind of older cousin has already bought over everyone. As He Nuo appeared before the window, Shi Yan shouted, “There’s two boxes of Chunghwa’s turtle essence10. I’ve already asked the physician, you can eat it with the royal jelly. Don’t forget to drink it.”
He Nuo couldn’t shout out the phrase, “Got it”, only people in the dorm could hear. Shi Yan didn’t say much, he just smiled and waved, taking big steps to the car. Just like this, Shi Yan didn’t spend more than 30 minutes to build an everlasting lofty image in his classmates’ minds and opened the door of convenience in building a loving and respectful relationship between brothers.
t/n:hi disclaimer! I know I have a lot of these footnotes since I’m not entirely sure of certain things and feel that some things should be explained. Do feel free to let me know if you’d rather I have lesser footnotes and I’ll see how it goes. Also thank you all for your support on chapter 1! I’ll try my best to translate as long as I have time. There’s also an extra before v2c1, I think I’ll be uploading that next.
1 pantry: the author used水房(Shui Fang), a place where they collect(?) water so I just assumed it to be a pantry.2 insulated lunch box: 饭缸(Fan Gang), and I think university students usually use this to have their takeaway food placed into it. It has three layers to it, a bowl for rice, a plate of sorts for a side dish and a container for soup.3 before flowers and under the moon: it is an ideal setting for couples in love.4 play perfect: 一起打p, apparently is to get perfects in a rhythm game? But there was another meaning which is 打飞机, meaning to masturbate. I’m not that sure about what this means, so if anyone knows feel free to correct me.5 sat under the moonlight, talking about their achievements: 望月侃起大山来(Wang Yue Kan Qi Da Shan Lai), it’s supposed to be poetic. If they are talking about games then, it would be their achievements in the game if not it would be their masturbation achievements? Which I doubt because He Nuo wouldn’t be so calm if talking about such topics.6 sorted out according to customs, seeing who was the oldest and who was the youngest: where people see who the oldest is and who the youngest is. The oldest is looked up by the others with respect. This is to apparently help with the bonding between roommates in university dorms.7 Lao Wu: the fifth oldest. er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba would be in order of age from second to eight. They use lao da for the oldest, and the other age would have lao + their age, like the third oldest is lao san. People who are older address those younger than them with lao + their age.8 Er Ge: second brother, the age + ge is used to address people older than them.9 “being grateful for all the help, even if small” and “feel the need to repay”: 滴水之恩, 涌泉相报 is a saying where one would have to repay one’s help, no matter how small.10 turtle essence: soft-shelled turtle essence.