You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 3 Part 3

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 3 Part 3

Xu Huaishi and Zhao Yi used the excuse that they had forgotten their homework in their classroom and were allowed to retrieve them. They ran towards the school archive building in the afterglow of the setting sun.

At this hour the archive was already closed. Zhao Yi used various excuses to pester the guard at the door and Xu Huaishi looked for the right moment to slip through the gate, making her way to the second floor.

The building was empty, the glow from the sunset came through the window, lighting the hallway, and the leaves on the trees outside the windows cast mottling shadows on the floor. Xu Huaishi tread softly and even breathed lightly as she turned a few corners. Finally she reached the wall which had all the names of alumni from all the classes throughout the years.

First High School had been established close to 50 years ago and this archive building was built over 20 years ago. The wall was crowded with pictures.

Xu Huaishi focused on the column for the class of 07. She reached over with her index finger to go over the pictures one row after another. Her heartbeat quickened, from nervousness, the sense of adventure, and excitement.

To a seventeen year old girl, compared to being detestably plagiarized, she was more willing to believe in her subconscious that there was a secret that had been buried for ten years.

But the very next moment, she heard steps coming from the staircase. A middle aged man’s exasperated voice could be heard: “Which class are you from? What are you doing here after school, uhm?”

Xu Huaishi screeched, turned around, and ran, without having the chance to get a good look at the pictures. She ran down from the other staircase in a fluster.

The man ran right after her. She staggered down the stairs but saw there was another man standing at the gate when she had reached the lobby. She had no choice but to turn around, as she began to despair, she heard a familiar voice coming from the lady’s restroom: “Come here!”

She dashed over and saw Zhao Yi was right outside the window. She threw her backpack out to him, then pushed herself up with both of her hands against the window sill and jumped out of the window.

Zhao Yi caught her, carried her backpack on his shoulder, and dragged her by the arm as they ran to the grove behind the school archive.

The two of them quickly disappeared. The guard was left behind yelling and stamping his foot.

Zhao Yi stopped running after noticing that they had gotten away safely. He threw down Xu Huaishi’s backpack and fell down onto the grass. He said while catching his breath: “Xu Huaishi…… is there a long lost family in the archive building, why do you have to sneak in at this hour? You can make a request on Monday to go in. Your family can’t run away, right?”

Xu Huaishi was also catching her breath and took a while before replying: “If I don’t get to the bottom of this, I won’t be able to sleep the whole weekend!”

After saying so, she also fell onto the grass and said in irritation: “I just missed it by this much!”

“No matter what, you’re on your own now!”

Xu Huaishi certainly knew that it would be impossible to try to sneak into the archive building now. To ask her brother directly would mean to let him know that she had published his private “crush history” online behind his back. The consequences of that would be even more horrific than getting punished and writing a self-reflection report at school.

So she really had to suffer for a whole weekend?

She was unwilling to give in. She kicked her legs in the air a couple of times. Then she suddenly recalled something and said: “Wait, wait……”

In addition to the message from Wenxiang, she could also look for clues in Wenxiang’s story to prove that Wenxiang is Ruan Yu.

She remembered that she had read a scene in the story while she was still at the bus stop. In the story, the male lead “He Shiqian”' would go to the school’s arts building to play piano at break times and the female lead “Lin Xisheng” had written down a row of English letters -- --LXSXHHSQ, which means “Lin Xisheng likes He Shiqian,'' on the wall of the piano room He Shiqian used most often.

Which would mean……

The sun had completely gone down the horizon. Xu Huaishi pushed herself up from the ground and took a look at the round dome of the arts building which was disappearing gradually in the darkness. She said: “Zhao Yi, have the walls of the arts building been repainted in the past few years?”

Zhao Yi didn't know where she was coming from and said: “Our school is so stingy. I don’t think they have.”

“Then, let’s take a risk one more time?”

“......”

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Huaishi checked her cell phone while arching her back on the spiral staircase of the arts building. She said: “I found it. In the story it said it’s room 401, the wall behind the piano!”

After saying so, she pushed Zhao Yi, gesturing for him to lead the way while repeating: “401, 401.”

Zhao Yi frowned and lowered his voice to say: “401 is the painting room. How can it have a piano in it?”

“Hum?” Xu Huaishi was taken aback.

Could it be possible that the author made the room number up so as not to be too realistic? Then, didn’t it mean that they had to go check room by room?

“Hurry, think again!” Zhao Yi rushed her in a small voice.

Think again, think again.

Xu Huaishi held her head and tried hard to recall the story. Moments later, something flashed by in her head. She said: “Do you know from which piano room one can see the second classroom on the fourth floor of the classroom building?”

She remembered in her brother’s draft messages, he had mentioned that when he looked out from the piano room, he could see that girl leaning against the railing in front of her classroom enjoying the sunlight.

“The west most one, room 301!” Zhao Yi quickly determined.

“That’s it then, let’s go!”

The two of them lowered their bodies and swiftly went to the third floor.

The door to room 301 was locked. Zhao Yi sighed: “Do you have a hairpin? The thin kind.”

Xu Huaishi pulled off one from her hair. Then she used her cell phone as a flashlight for him.

Five minutes later, the door unlocked with a click. She was ecstatic and rushed to the back of the piano with her lit cell phone.

Xu Huaishi was slender enough to squeeze in between the piano and the wall. The light from her cell phone lit up the old and yellowish white wall. Though the paint in some areas of the wall had peeled off, the line of English letters written with correction fluid was still clear to see right in the middle of the wall.

-- --RYXHXHS

Zhao Yi, unable to squeeze further in, glanced over the letters from outside and tried to make it out: “ri, ya, xiu, hei, xiu, hei…...she?”

“......”

Xu Huaishi turned to stare at him. When she turned back to face the letters again, she was almost overwhelmed with emotion.

Her index finger lightly touched the rough finish of the wall as if she was afraid to break it. She said it softly: “It’s…...Ruan, Yu, xi, huan, Xu, Huai, Song.”[1]

[1]: To keep in line with the original language, each English letter matches the start of a Chinese character’s pronunciation. “xi huan” (喜欢) means “like(s)” in Chinese.

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