Those Sweet Times - Chapter 88 Part 4

Translated by Team DHH at http://dhh-workshop.blogspot.com.

Those Sweet Times

Chapter 88 Part 4

Shen Zemu drank the wine quietly and watched the others toasting each other. He put down his glass to pick up the harmonica and started to play it.

The sound from the harmonica was clear and melodious. The tune he played was like affectionately telling a tale, but also felt like a sigh of loneliness.

Xiang Nuan couldn’t keep track how much she had drunk, but sometime later, she even invited Lin Chuyan to drink with her while interlocking their arms.

Afterwards, she insisted on going onto the rooftop to look at the moon. Lin Chuyan couldn’t stop her, so he took her arm and said: “I’ll take you there.”

He brought her up to the balcony. When they looked down, they could see their friends in the garden.

The lights on the balcony had turned on. Yang Yin looked up at the two of them standing on the balcony; Lin Chuyan was putting his arm around Xiang Nuan’s shoulder to keep her steady.

Yang Yin looked back and saw Shen Zemu was also looking up at them.

He looked quite peaceful.

Yang Yin was a little curious and asked Shen Zemu: “You don’t feel sad?”

Shen Zemu lowered his head and thought for a while before answering: “What attracted me is her innocence, but what stops us being together is also her innocence. There’s nothing to be sorry about; unsuitable is unsuitable.”

Yang Yin poured some more wine for him: “You’re too cool headed to fall in love. Let’s just drink.”

Chen Yinghu and Oblivion had already gotten drunk; they were singing while hugging each other.

Yang Yin and Shen Zemu clinked their glasses to make a toast: “One glass for tomorrow, one glass for the past.”[1]

Shen Zemu looked at the reflection of the moon in his glass and showed a rare smile: “En.”

……

Xiang Nuan stood on the balcony looking at the people on the ground instead of the moon. She felt everyone and everything on the grass looked especially gentle tonight, perhaps it was because of the lighting.

Lin Chuyan at first was hugging her shoulder, but later on he switched to embracing her from behind.

Xiang Nuan didn’t resist; she looked at her friends in the garden, Hu Ge and Oblivion were singing while Shen Zemu and Yang Yin were still drinking.

“Lin Chuyan.”

“Hrm?”

“I’m quite confused. My mom always tells me that it’s meaningless to play games. I sometimes feel the same way but look how many friends I’ve met through games. Except Shen Xuezhang, I met each of them from playing games. With so many good friends, how can it be true that playing games is meaningless?”

Lin Chuyan didn’t respond but tightened his hug. There was a breeze blowing over the balcony, he was afraid that she would catch a cold.

Xiang Nuan kept asking: “What do you think, whether playing games is meaningless or not?”

“Any experience has meaning.”

Xiang Nuan slowly sighed: “Why do I always feel that you make a lot of sense no matter what you say.”

“Because I’m your hubby.”

“Ha, it looks like you want to go to naughty corner again.”

Lin Chuyan lowered his head, used his chin to rub against the side of her neck, and chuckled lightly: “Please spare me.”

The two of them snuggled together without saying anything more. It was all quiet around them. After a while, Xiang Nuan suddenly said: “I feel the most meaningful thing I did in this game is meet you.”

Lin Chuyan used his lips to rub her ear and whispered in her ear: “Glad you realize that.”

“Hey, at a time like this shouldn’t you reply ‘so am I’?”

Lin Chuyan didn’t follow suit.

Xiang Nuan felt like she got short changed and bent her elbow to nudge the person behind her: “Say it, hurry, say it.”

“I love you.”

[1]: A footnote from the original author herself: This is a line from a song called “消愁” (Alleviate Sorrow) sang by 毛不易 (Mao Buyi).

Translated by Team DHH at http://dhh-workshop.blogspot.com.