You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 12 Part 1

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 12 Part 1

Xu Huaisong sat down and put the kitten next to him. When he looked up, he saw Ruan Yu was looking sideways at the kitten while pulling all the documents closer to her.

The kitten was lying on its back with all four legs in the air, wiggling about.

The tip of its fuzzy tail tickled the back of Xu Huaisong’s hand which he felt was too much of a distraction.

Xu Huaisong moved the kitten a little further away from him, then looked down to flip the papers in hand and said: “There are a few questions……” He paused suddenly.

It seemed that Ruan Yu wasn’t listening to him. She kept pushing herself up against the edge of the table and the upper half of her body was leaning forward almost at a 60 degrees, looking as if she was going to fall through the screen.

But the angle of the camera was limited and she could only see one of the kitten’s ears no matter how close she was to the screen.

Xu Huaisong quietly coughed once.

Ruan Yu regained her posture and sat up straight: “Ah, Mr. Xu, go ahead.”

“Chapter 14, the third paragraph.”

Ruan Yu flipped to the page and found the paragraph happened to be talking about cats. It was about when the female lead passed by the Arts Building and she saw the male lead feeding stray cats in the bushes.

To make it more romantic, she had made some changes in her story from what had really happened. The setting in her story was that the male lead didn’t really like cats, he was taking care of the cats only because the female lead liked them.

“I don’t like cats, I like you.” This soliloquy in her story was exactly the same as in “Poem Writer’s” story.

For this identical sentence, Ruan Yu had thought hard but couldn’t find the angle to argue that it was her original idea.

Seeing that Xu Huaisong was very businesslike and didn’t seem to remember any part of the episode. Ruan Yu was relieved and asked: “Do you have any suggestions?”

He nodded: “There’s a slight difference between the two. The mindset you created for the character is to ‘like because she likes,’ but the other story isn’t so.”

“Hum?”

Ruan Yu was taken aback. She turned to check the other story and read the related paragraph twice, then suddenly understood the difference.

The male lead in the other story didn’t start to like cats because of the female lead. He actually had anticipated that the female lead would be passing by the Arts Building and purposely fed cats there to make a good impression on her.

“Poem writer” had used an indirect way to describe the truth of the situation in her writing in this scene. Ruan Yu on the other hand had a preconceived mindset, therefore, she couldn’t clearly see the differences.

Though Ruan Yu was the original writer of the story, the adaptation made by “Poem Writer” indeed made the persona of the character have more dimensions.

Ruan Yu made a note of it so she could use that as a counterpoint. Then she asked: “Is there more?”

“Chapter 3, paragraph 7.”

Ruan Yu went to look for the section and it was the episode about the female lead rejecting an “unwanted romantic encounter.”

Because of her dad, Ruan Yu was well known among the students in Xu Huaisong’s class. One of the male students of room 10 started to chase her.

The boy was an ignoramus type of person. The female students of the school had nicknamed him as a “Dao Ming Si”[1] type of domineering boss. He had used all sorts of childish methods to chase after her. One time, he announced in his class that she was his.

His behavior was very disturbing to Ruan Yu. When she had heard what he had said in his class, she cried from anger and anxiety. She courageously went to room 10 and stood outside the classroom, in an aggressive posture, to reject him in front of the whole class. She told him to stop his relentless behavior which was quite bothersome to her studies. In the end, Ruan Yu said: “What’s so great about Dao Ming Si. What I like is Hua Ze Lei!”[2]

The boy was dumbfounded and the other students in room 10 burst into laughter.

This episode looked like a subplot, but it actually wasn’t.

In Ruan Yu’s setting, this episode, in addition to his own disposition, was the reason why the male lead didn’t confess to the female lead.

Because he liked her therefore he didn’t want to bother her-- --This was the excuse Ruan Yu had made up for him.

Ruan Yu looked up to the screen and asked: “What’s wrong with this part?”

She remembered that there weren't any similar lines in the other story. “Poem Writer” didn’t write a similar episode but after reading Ruan Yu’s outlines, developed a different scenario-- --The male lead took note of the female lead’s words and tried to change himself into a more Hua Ze Lei like person from then on.

Xu Huaisong blinked: “It’s unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable?’

“The reason here isn’t persuasive enough.”

“Then, what’s the reason why he didn’t confess?”

Ruan Yu blurted out but was shocked by her own question. What was she doing, she had started to discuss how to write a novel with a lawyer? Besides, hadn’t they strayed from the topic?

Xu Huaisong cast his eyes down with unclear emotions in his eyes. He picked up the coffee cup to drink.

But he had forgotten that the kitten was next to him. The moment he picked up the cup, the orange kitten lifted its claw trying to grab it. His hand shook and coffee spilled over the kitten’s bottom.

The kitten gave a high pitched meow. Ruan Yu followed with “aiya” in a loud voice.

Xu Huaisong was stunned by the two overlapping loud sounds. Before he could react to it, he heard Ruan Yu asking him: “Is the coffee hot? Wipe it, quick!”

He looked at the back of his own hand.

The coffee also spilled over on his hand, didn’t she notice it?

Xu Huaisong gave Ruan Yu a glance and said: “It’s not hot.” He grabbed some napkins to wipe the back of his hand then picked up the kitten to wipe it.

Ruan Yu hurriedly stopped him: “Use wet wipes! The dry ones are too rough on it.”

He looked at her again and turned around to look for wet wipes.

But after he finished wiping the kitten, the bottom still felt sticky.

It looked like the kitten wouldn’t be able to clean the area itself. Ruan Yu asked: “How old is it? Old enough to take a bath?”

“A little older than three months.”

“Then you go wash it. The case can wait till later.”

[1]: Dào Míng Sì (道明寺) is the last name of a character in a popular Japanese manga called “Hana-yori Dango,” it’s English title is “Boys over Flowers.” (The original Japanese character’s full name is Doumyouji Tsukasa) The manga has been adapted into live dramas and movies and is generally popular throughout Asia.

We, the translation team, have never read it, but from our understanding the character Dao Ming Si is from a rich family and thinks highly of himself. When he likes something, he will do whatever he can to get it.

[2]: Huā Zé Lèi (花泽类) is another character from Boys Over Flowers. He’s the sort of cool and mysterious lone wolf character. The original Japanese name is Hanazawa Rui.

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