You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 36 Part 1

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 36 Part 1

Fifteen minutes later a police car arrived downstairs at the restaurant.

Fang Zhen came up to get Ruan Yu: “Ms. Ruan, if it’s convenient for you, please come accompany us to your parents’ home to assist us with the arrest.”

Li Shican stopped Ruan Yu and asked Fang Zhen: “What’s the situation over there now, what’s the condition of the suspect, and is he armed? Will she be in danger if she goes over there? Can you guarantee her safety?”

“The SWAT team is already on standby near the home. What we can be certain as of now is that the suspect is in a stable condition and we can basically rule out the possibility that he’s carrying any firearms. But if we start taking action, Mr. Ruan and Ms. Qu would still be in a position that threatens their personal safety.”

“The reason we’re asking Ms. Ruan to work with us is so that we can persuade the suspect to surrender peacefully, to avoid any direct armed conflict as much as possible. The police will do our best to protect the safety of everyone present at the scene. Comrade, please trust us.”

Li Shican said with tightly knotted eyebrows: “To persuade the suspect to surrender? How about your negotiators and psychologists?”

“Our experts will be on site at the same time. However, considering the suspect has asked for help from both Mr. Xu and Ms. Ruan while he’s on the loose, we believe that Ms. Ruan would play an irreplaceable role in the negotiation process. Certainly,” he turned to face Ruan Yu: “Ms. Ruan has no obligation to work with us. If you have any concern about the situation, you can stay out of it.”

Ruan Yu shook her head: “I’ll go with you.”

Xu Huaishi pulled on the bottom of her top: “Jiejie……”

Ruan Yu lightly patted her hand: “Don’t worry. Your brother said the same thing over the phone as the police.” She looked over at Li Shican: “Don’t come with us. In case entertainment reporters get the news and come over, it’d cause trouble for the police operation. Could you look after Huaishi for me?”

Li Shican was quiet for a moment and nodded. Then he added: “Remember, safety comes first.”

Ruan Yu got in the back seat of the police car.

Fang Zhen asked her a few questions about the condition of her parents’ home. Then he spoke over the walkie-talkie to someone. He turned to speak to Ruan Yu afterwards: “Your parents are very wise and quite calm. They have given the police quite ample time to get everything in place. Right now, there’s no unusual movement inside the house.”

Ruan Yu could tell that the police officer was trying his best to comfort her. She squeezed out a smile: “Thanks.” After a short hesitation, she asked again: “Officer Fang, if it’s convenient, can I know more details about this case?”

Officer Fang nodded: “The suspect and the deceased were driving from Su City at 8 o’clock yesterday morning. Based on highway surveillance, the suspect was the driver. But other than subject 1’s fingerprints, the most prevalent, found on the steering wheel, there were also fingerprints of the deceased, subject 2, on it. Therefore, we can’t rule out the possibility that the deceased also drove the car through sections of the road where there’s no surveillance.”

“The chip in the dash cam is missing. It looks like someone has removed it. So it’s impossible to have a complete driving route. However, based on the destination on the GPS, the suspect and the deceased were heading to your parents’ place.”

It turned out that Zhou Jun was taking his girlfriend to visit his teachers.

Ruan Yu frowned and continued to listen.

“The scene of the crime is on an out-of-the-way path near the hills at the outskirts of the city. Since there’s no surveillance there, we don’t have information on what exactly happened. The body of the deceased was found outside the car. The fatal wound was to the head, caused by blunt force.”

“We’ve identified the weapon as the claw hammer inside the car, perhaps for emergency survival purposes. On the handle we’ve detected once again the same subject 1’s fingerprints as those on the steering wheel and subject 2’s fingerprints which belonged to the deceased.”

Ruan Yu interlaced her fingers while her index finger constantly rubbed back and forth over the fingernail of her thumb to alleviate the nervousness floating in the air. She couldn’t muster the courage to think about it any further.

“The cell phone of the deceased was also found outside the car. There’s one crucial phone record; it was at 10:32 when the incident was happening, the deceased had made a call to her father. On the phone, the deceased screamed and cried out for help. She repeatedly cried out words like ‘help, let me go, Zhou Jun’.”

“In addition, we found a tiny piece of flesh inside the deceased’s nail. It seems that it had come from the suspect while the crime was being committed. The DNA of the flesh and those of subject 1’s fingerprints all have to wait until after we arrest the suspect so we can confirm any matches.”

Though Fang Zhen’s description was basically quite objective, all the evidence seemed to point to Zhou Jun, especially the fact that he had run away and refused to cooperate with the police. The police, thus, considered him the prime suspect and had issued the arrest warrant.

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 35 Part 4

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 35 Part 4

“Yes, the police have issued a warrant for the arrest of the suspect. We just found out that he had contacted you this morning using someone else’s cell phone at 2:07 am. Do you have any news about him?”

Ruan Yu held her phone tightly and said: “No. I’ve just learned that he’s wanted by the police.”

“We hope Ms. Ruan won’t hide any information from us.”

“I’m not.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing: “Maybe a friend of mine will know something about him, but I need to contact this friend first.”

“Is that Mr. Xu?”

“Right, the reason why Zhou Jun contacted me early this morning is to find him.”

“We’re also trying to contact him but as of now, we can’t reach him by his cell phone.”

“He’s in San Francisco now. You can call him at his US number.” Ruan Yu hadn’t memorized that number yet and took a glance at Xu Huaishi.

Xu Huaishi immediately understood what Ruan Yu wanted and wrote down the number for her.

After Ruan Yu hung up the phone, the air inside the private room seemed to become much more stagnant than if the air had stopped flowing from the air conditioning.

Ruan Yu didn’t want to interfere with police business and sent a WeChat message to Xu Huaisong instead of calling him: [Has Zhou Jun contacted you?]

There was no reply from Xu Huaisong. She started checking news reports on her cell phone while finding the whole situation quite inconceivable.

She and Zhou Jun had been classmates for two and a half years in high school. As classroom president, Zhou Jun always impressed her as a warmhearted, cheerful, and selfless person. When she saw him at the birthday party not too long ago, she found him to be the same cheerful person.

He even made fun of her and Xu Huaisong.

How could a person like him kill someone and run away? Especially killing his girlfriend.

Xu Huaishi was scared and asked worriedly: “Jiejie, why would he look for my brother?”

Ruan Yu frowned and said: “Because your brother is a lawyer; it happened in Hang City and he probably thought about your brother, to ask for help.”

Last time at the birthday party, Zhou Jun must have heard how Xu Huaisong showed off his excellent work experience to Ruan Chengru.

Besides, according to Xu Huaishi, their father had been a criminal defense lawyer before. If Zhou Jun happened to know about it, then it would make even more sense to ask Xu Huaisong for help.

Ruan Yu was waiting to hear back from Xu Huaisong when her cell phone started to ring again. This time it wasn’t from Xu Huaisong nor the police, it was from her mother.

When Ruan Yu picked up the call, Qu Lan asked first: “Yuyu, have you had lunch yet?”

“I’m having lunch now.”

“Oh. I just want to tell you that you don’t have to make the trip to come over this afternoon.”

Though Qu Lan was talking in a very pleasant voice, Ruan Yu’s heart, at that moment, was suddenly filled with an unknown sense of fear. She asked after a short pause: “What’s wrong? You and dad aren’t going to be home this afternoon?”

“We’re at home, but since it’s the holiday, we have another student visiting us now and we are going to invite him to stay at home tonight. Didn’t you say that you’re going to bring a girl over as well? We won’t have enough room for you two to stay.”

Ruan Yu didn’t speak for quite a while. When she spoke again, her hands were trembling: “Oh, is that so. Then we won’t come over……”

“Alright, then I’ll hang up now.”

“Wait……”

“Hum?”

Ruan Yu tightly clenched at the table cloth and tried her best to speak in a calm voice: “It looks like it’s going to rain today. You and dad better make sure the windows are closed.”

“Don’t worry. We know.”

The phone call was cut off.

Ruan Yu immediately covered her mouth.

Li Shican was getting nervous too: “What’s going on?”

“We have three guest rooms in our home. It’s impossible that there’s no room for me and Huaishi to stay. My mom is hinting something at me……”

Xu Huaishi gasped.

Li Shican picked up his phone: “Let’s call the police first.”

He started to dial the number of the police station as he spoke. At the same time, Raun Yu’s phone started to ring again.

It was from Xu Huaisong.

Ruan Yu answered the phone. She was doing alright before the call but once she heard Xu Huaisong’s voice, she began to cry: “Huaisong, has the police contacted you? Zhou Jun, it looks like he has gone to my parents’ place……”

It was quiet for a moment at the other end of the phone, then Ruan Yu heard a very steady and calm voice: “Don’t be afraid. Calm down and listen to me very carefully.”

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 35 Part 3

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 35 Part 3

Seeing that Xu Huaishi was pondering over the menu, Li Shican picked up a stack of papers to hand over to Ruan Yu: “The results of psychological treatment should be kept confidential. But Uncle Cen wants to give you peace of mind, so here you have it.”

Xu Huaishi confusedly raised her head but was interrupted by Li Shican before she could ask any questions: “I have some serious business to talk to Xuejie. Take your time to pick what you would like to eat in a while.”

Ruan Yu said “thanks” to him and started to flip through the papers while listening to Li Shican: “It has been confirmed that she hadn’t hired anyone to hack into your computer. At the time, she accidentally found out that the two novels were quite similar and took the opportunity to kick up a rumpus about it.”

“That’s strange……”

If it had nothing to do with Cen Sisi, then who stole her outlines of the story? Or maybe the outlines were never stolen.

But then what does that imply?

Ruan Yu sat still with her eyebrows tightly knitted.

It seemed that she had the answer in her fingertips yet there was still a piece missing.

Xu Huaishi, after finally understanding what the exchange between Ruan Yu and Li Shican was about, repeatedly tried to say something but stopped herself from uttering anything. When she looked back down on the menu, her good mood was gone.

She hastily ordered a few dishes, then picked up her cell phone to check Weibo.

She was thinking whether she should risk everything by showing Raun Yu her Weibo profile on her cell phone and admit her mistake to Ruan Yu.

However she was afraid that she would be loathed by her future sister-in-law if she did so.

While Xu Huaishi was debating about what she should do, the cell phone in her hand suddenly vibrated. There was a notification of a new Weibo post.

It was the update of the wanted notice from last night. It reported that it had been confirmed that the suspect and the victim were in a relationship and they were driving from Su City to Hang City to visit friends.

Xu Huaishi was shocked when she saw the words “from Su City to Hang City.”

She was saying that Hang City was a dangerous place and it turned out that the suspect was from Su City?

She checked the wanted notice again which came with a picture of the suspect and discovered that the notice did mention the hometown of the suspect. She focused on the picture last night and hadn’t paid much attention to the description.

She read the notice again– –Male, 26, from Su City, about 176 cm high……

The suspect was the same age as her brother and also from Su City. It was very likely she had seen this man before.

She clicked the picture and enlarged it. She looked at it carefully once again.

Ruan Yu noticed Xu Huaishi burying her head in her cell phone checking something with a rather troubled look on her face. She turned her head and asked: “What’s wrong?”

Xu Huaishi pointed at the phone screen and said: “I seem to have seen this person somewhere, but can’t recall……”

Ruan Yu leaned over to look at where Xu Huaishi was pointing: “Hrm? That’s my high school classroom president. Why do you have his picture?”

Xu Huaishi’s mouth dropped open wide: “Ah, then it must be that time when I was looking for your picture among all the graduates at the school archive, I also saw this picture of his!”

Before she enquired why Xu Huaishi would go to the school archive to look for her picture, Ruan Yu asked after a short pause: “So what about this picture?”

Xu Huaishi handed over her cell phone with a shaky hand to let Ruan Yu look at the news.

Ruan Yu glanced over the news and was dumbfounded. She couldn’t speak for quite a while: “How could it be…… We just met not too long ago….. No, he contacted me this morning at 2 am!”

No wonder it wasn’t from Zhou Jun’s own cell phone; he must have been under police surveillance already.

Ruan Yu’s head was in a muddle. Li Shican by now also understood what had happened: “Think back carefully, what did he say to you?”

Ruan Yu took out her cell phone to look for Zhou Jun’s message when she suddenly received a call from a familiar looking number.

Li Shican seemed to have recognized the number as well: “That number looks like it’s from the police station we went to last time. Answer it.”

Ruan Yu picked up the call and heard a voice from the other side saying: “How are you, is this Ms. Ruan?”

“Is this Officer Fang? It’s me.”

“Is it convenient for you to talk now? I have a case here that I need to discuss with you.

Ruan Yu could hear the uncertainty in Fang Zhen’s voice. Ruan Yu guessed that he wanted to talk about Zhou Jun with her but was afraid that Zhou Jun was with her right now.

Ruan Yu answered: “It’s convenient. Are you going to talk about Zhou Jun’s case?”

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 35 Part 2

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 35 Part 2

After a while, Xu Huaishi said: “Aiya, let’s not talk about unhappy things. What are we going to eat for lunch?”

“I’ll make lunch for you, then I have to go out and have lunch with a friend.”

“A male friend or a female friend?”

“Just an ordinary male friend.”

“An ordinary male friend?” Xu Huaishi looked very surprised: “How can a male friend be just an ordinary friend? My brother’s going to cry!”

“......”

“He truly is just an ordinary friend.”

“Then, can you show me a picture of this friend of yours? I can tell whether he’s ordinary or not just by taking one look at him.”

What kind of logic is that?

Ruan Yu was silent for a moment. Since she was going to tell Xu Huaisong that she was going to lunch with Li Shican anyway, there was no point in hiding it from his sister. She said in the end: “Just take a look at the wallpaper of your cell phone.”

Xu Huaishi was taken aback. She hesitatingly slid open the screen of her cell phone and saw the picture of Li Shican.

She lifted up her cell phone dumbfoundedly: “You aren’t telling me now that the one you’re going to have lunch with is my boyfriend?”

Why did this question sound kind of weird?

Ruan Yu nodded: “We were from the same university. Your brother knows about him. Don’t you worry.”

“Oh my goodness!” Xu Huaishi was speechless from the shock. But soon enough, her focus shifted to another issue: “My brother knows about him and wouldn’t tell me, wouldn’t help me to get his signed autographs and limited edition albums? It really pisses me off! Think about how I’ve worked my heart out……”

Xu Huaishi abruptly stopped herself.

Ruan Yu asked: “Then, I’ll ask for them for you later?”

Xu Huaishi got up from bed to hold onto Ruan Yu’s thigh and looked up at her to say: “Jiejie, for the sake of us sleeping together for one night, I beg you to let me go with you to take a look at him. Just a look from afar!”

Ruan Yu didn’t expect it would turn out this way.

Finally she had no choice but to send a message to Li Shican: [I have a meimei who’s your fan and wants to come to look at you. Not sure whether it’s convenient to you or not……]

Li Shican: [It’s fine. Ask her to come for lunch with us. I’ll make sure that we won’t be photographed.]

Xu Huaishi, who was looking at Ruan Yu’s cell phone, was as happy as a clam.

Li Shican: [However, this would count as lunch for meeting a fan, not paying back my favor. You better make sure of it.]

Ruan Yu paused, then showed the message to Xu Huaishi: “See, this means that I’ll have to buy him another meal in the future.”

Xu Huaishi, who by this time had already forgotten about her concerns for her own brother, waved her hand and boldly said: “Then you just buy him another meal! What does that matter, my brother won’t be that petty!”

Ruan Yu thought to herself that Xu Huaisong might actually be that petty, but she didn’t have the heart to stop Xu Huaishi from chasing her idol. She agreed to take Xu Huaishi to go with her and made a plan: “How about this, we’ll go first to eat with Li Shican, then I have to go to the suburb to visit my parents and you’ll go with me as well?”

“No problem!”

At noon, they went together to the restaurant that Li Shican had reserved and went into a private room on the top floor.

Before they went into the private room, Xu Huaishi kept breathing deeply. But when she actually saw Li Shican in person, she still felt dizzy and said while holding her chest: “I must be dreaming……” 

Li Shican stood up when he saw them coming into the room. He greeted Ruan Yu, then took a look at Xu Huaishi: “Why I didn’t know that Xuejie had such an adorable meimei.”

Xu Huaishi couldn’t utter a word while fixing her eyes on Li Shican. She held onto Ruan Yu and said: “Jiejie, I’m going to faint……”

Li Shican laughed out loud and asked again after Xu Huaishi sat down: “What’s your name?”

“Me…… me.” She stammered: “Xu Huaishi.”

Li Shican obviously was a little taken aback and looked over her face once again. He asked Ruan Yu: “This is Lawyer Xu’s sister?”

Ruan Yu made a hollow laugh: “En. Yes.”

Li Shican supported his face with his elbow while looking straight at Xu Huaishi and asking in great interest: “Then, do you think your brother is better looking or me?”

With the face she had idolized for so many years right in front of her, Xu Huaishi answered without any hesitation: “You’re better looking for sure!”

Ruan Yu: “......” She felt sorry for Xu Huaisong.

Li Shican laughed: “You have good taste. I’ll buy you a good lunch.”

He handed over the menu to her as he spoke: “Order whatever you like.”

Xu Huaishi’s eyes glittered as she looked at the menu

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 35 Part 1

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 35 Part 1

Ruan Yu actually woke up unusually early the next morning, probably from sleeping on an unfamiliar bed and not used to someone else sleeping right next to her.

She woke up at the crack of dawn and the first thing she did was to grab her cell phone on the nightstand.

There wasn’t any new message on WeChat, but there was a text message from a strange number: [I have urgent business to talk to Huaisong. If you’re with him, please let him know. Zhou Jun.]

It was from her old high school classroom president whom she had just met at the birthday party. The message was sent at 2:07 am. Xu Huaisong was still on the airplane at that time.

They should’ve already gotten in contact at this hour, Ruan Yu figured.

She sent a message to Xu Huaisong to confirm it: [Are you off the plane?]

Xu Huaisong: [I just got out of the airport. Didn’t contact you because I thought you’re still sleeping.]

He added: [My dad is temporarily out of danger and has been transferred to the ICU. I’m on my way over there.]

Ruan Yu was relieved to hear that and superstitiously thought that the rainbow had actually brought some good news.

She replied: [That’s good. By the way, Zhou Jun is looking for you.]

Xu Huaisong: [I saw his message. But his cell phone is turned off now. He should contact me again if he needs to find me.]

They ended their exchange.

Ruan Yu was relieved to know that Xu Huaisong’s father was doing better. She quietly got off the bed and lightly breathed out a sigh of relief. Then she heard a rustling sound behind her from the bed.

Xu Huaishi was waking up. She said while rubbing her eyes: “Jiejie, you’re up so early!”

“Sorry to wake you up.”

“Has my brother gotten off the plane yet?”

Ruan Yu nodded: “En. Go back to sleep.”

Xu Huaishi somehow noticed something from Ruan Yu’s relaxed demeanor: “The problem is resolved?”

“As of now, but we still can’t let our guard down yet.”

Xu Huaishi wasn’t feeling sleepy anymore. Hearing what Ruan Yu said, she recalled the way Tao Rong whispered to Ruan Yu yesterday. She sat up and said with a frown: “Has anything happened to my father?”

Ruan Yu almost choked.

Was she really this bad at pretending?

“Aiya.” Xu Huaishi sighed: “I’m old enough already, why do they have to hide the truth from me? Then, is my father out of danger now?”

Ruan Yu had no choice but to tell her the truth: “En. But don’t worry, your brother is there.”

Xu Huaishi lowered her head. After a while. She bit her lips and said: “Jiejie, someone said that my father suffered a stroke because he committed too many sins.”

Ruan Yu didn’t know who this “someone” was, but could tell that she wanted to tell her something.

Ruan Yu went back to sit down on the bed: “Who said that?”

“A family member of a plaintiff.” Xu Huaishi took a deep breath: “Ah, Jiejie, I shouldn’t have told you this. My dad may not be a good person, but my brother is different. Please don’t think all lawyers are bad people.”

Ruan Yu was confused: “What exactly are you trying to say? You can tell me and it won’t change my opinion about your brother.”

Xu Huaishi hesitatingly quieted down. She mulled it over for quite a long time before continuing while holding onto her knees: “My father, he…… used to be a criminal defense lawyer, defending murderers. My parents got divorced not because there was a third person; they just have different outlook on life. My mom couldn’t understand my dad’s work and unable to accept the fact that we were living off the money from murderers…… I’m also very afraid of my father, I don’t like him……”

Ruan Yu paused before saying: “How about your brother?”

“At the time, he went with my father probably because of me. However, mom and I don’t know how he views my dad now. He studied law and became a lawyer as well. In my mom’s heart, she actually……”

Xu Huaishi didn’t continue. Ruan Yu nevertheless seemed to have a rough idea that this was the root of the estrangement between mother and son.

Xu Huaishi laughed: “But my brother isn’t a criminal defense lawyer, you don’t have to worry.”

Ruan Yu touched Xu Huaishi’s head: “Even if he’s a criminal defense lawyer, I won’t worry about it either.”

Xu Huaishi was surprised: “Won’t you be afraid?”

Ruan Yu thought about it then asked a question instead: “Will you be afraid of a doctor who has just saved the life of a severely injured criminal suspect? Or will you blame that doctor and question him ‘why do you have to carry out your responsibility as a doctor’?”

Xu Huaishi frowned; it seemed to make some sense to her, but she still couldn’t understand it fully.

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 34 Part 3

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 34 Part 3

Ruan Yu asked immediately after picking up the call from Xu Huaisong: “How’s your father now?”

“He’s still in the emergency room.” Xu Huaisong turned the conversation around to comfort her: “He’ll be alright.”

Ruan Yu replied in a low voice: “En. You focus on driving, don’t call while driving.”

“I heard from Chen Hui that you and Huaishi are staying at my place now?”

“Right. The two of us put together are over 40 years of age, there’s nothing you need to worry about.”

Xu Huaisong laughed, a little frustrated: “I’m afraid you’ll be bored, so I’m calling to tell you that the password to my computer is also your birthday. In addition, anything in the room is at your disposal.”

Ruan Yu hung up the phone and finally had something to do. With his permission, she moved his computer to the living room but paused a moment before typing in the password.

Xu Huaisong had set the password for both his cell phone and computer to her birthday, then, could the password to his bank account also have any special meaning, could it be also related to her?

309017……

Out of a narcissism complex, Ruan Yu started to match the numbers to herself.

30 – –Can’t figure it out.

90 – –No idea.

17– –She rather likes this number because it was her student number back in high school.

When she recalled that, she was dumbfounded in front of the computer.

She was number 17 in classroom 309.

Could it be that was the meaning of these numbers?

Yet she had never revealed any actual personal information in her novel. Then, how did he find out about it?

Ruan Yu couldn’t figure it out, but she didn’t feel it was right to bother Xu Huaisong with a question like this at such a critical moment. She had to hold back her curiosity for the time being.

When it was close to dinner time, Xu Huaishi was still too lazy to go out, besides she still had a lot of practice sheets to do. Ruan Yu therefore called for some grocery delivery and started to cook dinner for her.

The aroma of the food began to distract Xu Huaishi. She put down her homework and ran over to the kitchenette. She watched Ruan Yu pan frying salmon and excitedly said: “Wa, wa. My brother must have eight lives of bad luck so he can pick up such a treasure like you in this life!”

Raun Yu was busy frying the fish and just smiled without denying it.

The sunlight that came in from the window shone on her face, making her smile even more gentle.

Xu Huaishi couldn’t resist: “The side view of your face is so beautiful. Could I shoot a short video to send to my friends’ circle?”

Ruan Yu smiled and was quite easy going: “Yeah, sure.”

Xu Huaishi shot a video of the side view of Ruan Yu’s face and put the caption to show her friends: [Those of you who cast greedy eyes at my brother’s good look, the Maggie Cheungs, Gao Yuanyuans, and Joey Wangs of First High School. All of you, take a good look at this. This is the one who’s qualified to be my future sister-in-law. Goodbye, all of you!]

After showing off her future sister-in-law, Xu Huaishi happily leaned onto the windowsill, waiting to see the praise from all her girl friends. When she looked down through the window, she was surprised by her discovery: “Ya, Jiejie, come quick, look!”

Ruan Yu had just put the fish onto a plate and walked over to the window to take a look. She found the gardener of the hotel watering the trees with a high pressure water gun. Sunlight was striking the water mist and she saw a rainbow.

It was as if the rainbow was foretelling some good news.

Ruan Yu hurriedly went to get her cell phone and took a photo of the rainbow. As she was about to send the photo to Xu Huaisong, she stopped herself out of fear of interfering with his driving. She waited until 2:30 in the afternoon, when she was certain that his airplane had taken off, then sent the photo with a message: [To you.]

Since Xu Huaisong would be in the air for a dozen hours, Ruan Yu didn’t bother to check her cell phone anymore until she laid down on the bed with Xu Huaishi that night.

Ruan Yu didn’t feel comfortable leaving Xu Huaishi at the hotel all by herself so she stayed to keep her company. She asked the cleaning crew to change the bed sheet and bring over two blankets.

Xu Huaishi was happy to get close to Ruan Yu, she even wished that she could be sleeping with Ruan Yu under the same blanket. She excitedly chatted with Ruan Yu, sharing all the gossip from school.

Ruan Yu had received a message from Li Shican, asking her to go out for lunch tomorrow. She planned to prepare some lunch for Xu Huaishi tomorrow morning before going out. But since Xu Huaishi wouldn’t stop talking, she felt that she would probably sleep all the way till noon the next day.

At 1am, Ruan Yu yawned: “It’s enough, it’s enough, let’s talk tomorrow. Go to sleep.”

Xu Huaishi was still wide awake and said: “Jiejie, you go to sleep. I’ll check Weibo for a little while longer.”

Ruan Yu replied with an en, turned over, and just as she was about to doze off, she heard Xu Huaishi gasping for air next to her.

Ruan Yu was startled and turned her head to ask: “What’s wrong?”

Xu Huaishi said while holding her cell phone: “I saw a wanted notice on Weibo. Whoa, Hang City is such a dangerous place. There’s a murderer on the loose here. Fortunately we didn’t go out today.”

Ruan Yu wasn’t bothered by the news too much since news about any crime in the information age would be all over the internet. She yawned and said: “Hang City is a pretty safe city.”  she fell asleep right after saying so.

She, therefore, didn’t hear Xu Huaishi murmuring afterwards: “Gee…… why do I feel the head-shot of this suspect looks kind of familiar?”

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 34 Part 2

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 34 Part 2

Ruan Yu and Tao Rong chatted a little while longer before Ruan Yu’s cell phone started to ring.

It was a call from Liu Mao asking whether she was still at the hotel.

“I am.”

“Then you just wait there. Xiao Chen should be there pretty soon. Huaisong asked him to take you home.”

Ruan Yu was speechless: “Why bother Xiao Chen during the holiday? I can go home by myself, you can ask……” She suddenly paused and took a look at Tao Rong. She moved the cell phone away from her and asked: “Auntie, how did you get here?”

“We took the high speed train.”

“Then how about the way back?”

“Oh, right.” Tao Rong turned to tell Xu Huaishi: “Huaishi, go quickly check whether we can change the return tickets to an earlier time.”

Without checking, Ruan Yu knew it must be impossible to change the tickets now since it was the holiday, unless they were willing to stand all the way back to Su City.

Ruan Yu moved the phone closer again: “I really have to ask a favor from Xiao Chen now. Could you ask him to come over?”

Chen Hui arrived at the hotel in a short while. Ruan Yu made the arrangements with him and kept thanking him. Then, she went downstairs with Tao Rong, who insisted on not staying for dinner, and Xu Huaishi to see them off.

On the way down, Xu Huaishi seemed to want to say something but stopped herself until they were next to the car. She pulled on Tao Rong’s arm: “Mom…… I’m here already, can’t I stay a couple more days?”

“I’m uncomfortable leaving you here in Hang City all by yourself. Go back with me, we’ll come again when your brother’s back.”

Xu Huaishi followed her mother into the car with pouting lips. Half way into the car, she looked back at Ruan Yu with a pitiful look on her face.

Ruan Yu, understanding Xu Huaishi’s call for help, paused for a moment then stepped forward: “Auntie, if Huaishi would like to stay at Hang City for a couple of days, I’ll take care of her.”

Xu Huaishi didn’t know about the condition of her father and therefore wasn’t preoccupied with the bad news like her mother. She would be glad to stay for a couple days more.

But when Ruan Yu asked her where she would like to visit, she shook her head and said: “It’s too hot and crowded everywhere during the holiday. Actually, I just want to chat with you. We can go back up or go to your place.”

Ruan Yu didn’t expect her to be a homebody.

Ruan Yu gave it some thought. Then she first called her parents to let them know that she wouldn’t be going home today. Then she asked Xu Huaishi: “Do you want to stay here at your brother’s place or go to my place?”

“How far is your place from here?”

“About half an hour drive if there’s no traffic.”

“There's traffic now for sure! Nevermind, I’m sick of sitting in a car.”

The two of them went back to the room upstairs.

Xu Huaishi put down the backpack on her shoulders, took out a stack of practice sheets, and bitterly said: “Jiejie, you don’t have to take care of me. I have homework to do. You just go ahead with your own things.”

Ruan Yu couldn’t help chuckling.

Xu Huaishi probably had also mistakenly thought that she was living with Xu Huaisong and didn’t realize that she actually didn’t have anything to do here.

What could she do? Ruan Yu thought about it, then remembered the orange cat. She opened the door to the bedroom to check and found the cat nestled inside.

She carried the cat out of the bedroom. Xu Huaishi was surprised to see the cat: “Wow, my brother really has changed. He used to be super annoyed at taking care of cat hair or dog hair!”

Ruan Yu was surprised.

Didn’t Xu Huaisong like cats a lot back in high school?

Xu Huaishi excitedly ran over to play with the cat while asking: “What’s its name?”

“It only has an English name now. Do you want to give it a Chinese name, to be more like the natives?”

“Then, you give it a name. I heard from my brother that you’re a writer, you’re much more cultured.”

Ruan Yu thought how much more cultured did one have to be to name a cat?

Ruan Yu had an idea right away: “Let’s call it Pipi which rhymes with Tiffany. En…… Xu Pipi?”

“Good, good, goes with my last name!”

Ruan Yu chuckled and didn’t say “it’s going with your brother’s last name.” The next second, she received a phone call from Xu Huaisong.

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 34 Part 1

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 34 Part 1

All three of them, inside and outside of the door, were caught by surprise.

Before they had the chance to greet each other, Xu Huaishi cried out “wow” in a suggestive manner. Ruan Yu was embarrassed by the implication in the tone of Xu Huaishi’s voice and swallowed back the word “Auntie” as she was about to greet Tao Rong.

It was Tao Rong’s smile that melted away Ruan Yu’s uneasiness. Tao Rong said: “How are you, I’m Huaisong’s mother. Is Huaisong here?”

Ruan Yu smiled back: “I remember you, Auntie. Huaisong’s on his way back to San Francisco on urgent business. You probably just missed him.”

“Urgent business?” Tao Rong’s expression changed a little. “Is there anything wrong with his work?”

“No……” Ruan Yu felt it didn’t seem proper to have them standing at the door and moved a little away to say: “Please come in first.”

She led both of them to the couch and had them put down all the packages they were carrying.

Tao Rong explained to Ruan Yu: “We were afraid that if we told him that we were coming over beforehand, he’d probably drive all the way back to Su City to save us the trouble of making the trip. So we did tell him that we’re coming.”

Ruan Yu felt that Tao Rong seemed to act rather low key when she talked, as if she, as the mother of Xu Huaisong, wasn’t as close to her son as the woman who happened to show up in his hotel room. 

It seemed that the mother and son were a little estranged, probably from living apart for so many years.

Ruan Yu explained: “He misses you two as well and had planned to go back to Su City for a visit. See, he bought all those gifts.” She pointed to all the gift boxes piled up in the living room: “He just hadn’t decided whether to go tomorrow or the day after, so he didn’t mention it to you.”

Tao Rong glanced over at all the boxes and smiled.

Ruan Yu got up and said: “I’ll go make tea for you.”

She went over to the kitchenette to make the tea. She heard steps coming from behind after a short while and looked back. Tao Rong was coming up to her in an awkward manner, lowered her voice and asked hesitantly: “Over in San Francisco, did anything happen to his father?”

Originally, since Ruan Yu didn’t know the current situation of Xu Huaisong’s family, she wasn’t sure whether she should tell Xu Huaisong’s mother about his father’s condition. Now, Tao Rong acted as if she didn’t want Xu Huaishi to notice anything. Ruan Yu nodded her head lightly and said in a small voice: “He seems to have had another stroke.”

Xu Huaishi, who was sitting on the couch and playing with her cell phone, heard some noise in the kitchenette. She looked over and murmured: “Mom, what are you whispering about with Jiejie?”

Tao Rong turned to give her look.

Ruan Yu changed the subject with a laugh: “You’ve come all this way, let’s give Huaisong a call.”

“Nevermind.” Tao Rong shook her hand: “He must be driving in a hurry right now. Let’s not tell him. We'll get going soon.” As she was talking, she looked down at Ruan Yu’s hand which was busy opening the tea package: “Don’t bother with that, either.”

Ruan Yu didn’t insist on making the tea and poured a glass of water for her instead. Tao Rong seemed absent-minded when she took the glass of water. Ruan Yu added in a small voice: “Don’t you worry too much.”

Tao Rong tittered as if Ruan Yu had read her mind. After a while, Tao Rong gathered herself again and asked: “Are you getting along with Huaisong alright?”

Ruan Yu almost choked, but she knew that under the circumstances, it was quite natural for the mother to misunderstand. While she was considering how to explain, Tao Rong seemed to have misread Ruan Yu’s silence and hurriedly said: “Please bear with him if you feel he has done something wrong. He hasn’t had girlfriends before, so he probably isn’t aware of many things.”

Ruan Yu was surprised and subconsciously blurted out: “He hasn’t had a girlfriend all these years?”

Tao Rong seemed more relaxed talking about this topic and was quite frank with Ruan Yu: “As far as I know, he hasn’t. As a Chinese person, it’s not easy to be a lawyer in the US; if you aren’t better than others, you’ll be easily discriminated against. Especially after his father fell ill, he has only had himself to rely on. He spent all his energy on his work and there hasn’t been any room for a relationship.”

Ruan Yu replied: “En.” Now she was no longer interested in Xu Huaisong’s past romances, which she had been curious about for quite some time.

Something seemed to have tingled her heart.

Tao Rong kept going: “Actually, there’s a flaw in Huaisong’s character.” As if she was afraid her words had scared Ruan Yu, she kept explaining: “I don’t mean any pathological flaw.”

Ruan Yu turned her head over: “Hum?”

Tao Rong sighed with a smile: “Has he told you about me and his father?”

Ruan Yu nodded.

“We had disagreements way before he started junior high school and this matter influenced him more or less. He’s easy to shy away from things. Sometimes you may feel that he isn’t direct and decisive enough, that’s because he cares for that thing too much. I hope you can forgive him for that. It's the fault of me and his father.”

Ruan Yu lightly patted the back of Tao Rong’s hand to comfort her: “I know now. Don’t you worry.”

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 33 Part 3

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 33 Part 3

The moment Xu Huaisong answered the phone, what they heard from the speaker was the piercing sound of sirens from an ambulance.

Almost instantly Xu Huaisong realized what was happening and quickly turned the steering wheel to park the car on the roadside.

At the same moment, they heard Lu Shenglan speaking while panting: “Huaisong…… your dad had another stroke and the caregiver called the ambulance. I got the news and just arrived……”

Xu Huaisong was quiet for a moment, then quickly asked: “How’s he now?”

“I’m not exactly sure yet, just letting you know first. You don’t have to rush back unless it’s necessary. I’ll keep you updated.”

Ruan Yu sensed that it seemed quite serious and was frozen to her seat.

In the speaker, she could hear random footsteps and some exchanges in English which she couldn’t understand fully. But all of the noises seemed to prove her suspicions.

Lu Shenglan turned to say in English to someone: “Here!” Then she hastily hung up the phone.

The mood inside the car seemed to stagnate. 

Xu Huaisong frowned and turned his head sideways to say: “I probably have……”

“You drive the car back to the hotel to get your passport.” Ruan Yu interrupted him: “I’ll book a flight for you.” She picked up his cell phone while talking.

Though she was quite decisive in making the arrangements, her hand still trembled while picking up his phone.

Xu Huaisong turned the car around to go back to the city while hearing her ask: “Password to unlock the screen?”

“Your birthday.”

Ruan Yu was anxious to book the earliest flight and almost couldn’t recall her own birth date. She paused a little before entering the password. Then she quickly found the APP which he usually used to book his flights.

“The closest one is at 11:20, you probably won’t make it. There’s one at 2:30 in the afternoon, will that do?”

“It’ll do.”

“The password for payment?”

“309017.”

Neither of the two was paying attention to the number as they spoke it or heard it.

Xu Huaisong raced all the way back to the city.

Fortunately, the traffic wasn’t too heavy at that time of the day. They reached the hotel after an hour.

Once back in his room, he hurriedly went to the bedroom to fetch his passport. Ruan Yu said behind him: “You drive to the airport directly. If there’s anything that needs to be taken care of at the hotel, I’ll take care of it for you.”

After retrieving his passport, Xu Huaisong turned to stand in front of Ruan Yu: “I probably don’t have the time to see you home.”

“I’m an adult. You think I can’t go home on my own?”

Xu Huaisong rubbed her hair: “En. Be careful. I’ll let Liu Mao know and you let him know when you arrive home safely, alright?”

“Alright.” She pushed him to the door: “Hurry up.”

Xu Huaisong left for the airport.

Ruan Yu stood inside the hotel room feeling perturbed. Her brain seemed to have gone blank for a long while before she suddenly heard the doorbell ringing.

She thought it was Xu Huaisong coming back. She said while opening the door: “Don’t you worry, I can……” She stopped when the door was opened.

It wasn’t Xu Huaisong outside the door, rather it was Tao Rong and Xu Huaishi carrying a lot of bags.

“......”

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 33 Part 2

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 33 Part 2 

They shopped for three hours. The gifts filled the trunk of his car; for most of the gifts he bought them as two sets. He planned to go visit Ruan’s family tomorrow, then the day after go back to Su City to visit his mother and sister as well.

It was the first time that Ruan Yu realized that sometimes a man could be more keen on shopping than a woman, especially when he was trying to show off.

When Ruan Yu returned home from the shopping trip, she collapsed on her bed, unable to move anymore. While she was on the bed, she started thinking about how to tell her parents about the visit so as not to shock them.

Then, on second thought, her dad probably would be surprised but not shocked.

She then called her family to tell them that she would go back home tomorrow and someone would be giving her a ride there. She didn’t mention anything else.

After hanging up the phone to her parents, she happened to receive a message from Li Shican: [Xuejie, can you buy me dinner tomorrow, the one you owe me?]

Ruan Yu indeed owed him a dinner to repay the favors he had done for her. She was waiting for him to have the time to arrange it. Yet, it so happened that she had to go visit her parents with Xu Huaisong tomorrow.

Since she had made the plan with Xu Huaisong already, she had no choice but to reply: [I’m sorry, Xuedi. Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival and I have to go visit my parents. Is it possible to do it some other day?]

Li Shican: [I have two more holidays after tomorrow, take your pick. It’s not just to have dinner with you, I also want to let you know about how Cen Sisi’s doing. She has started to receive psychological treatment in Germany. The diagnostic result should be out in a couple days.]

Cen Rongshen had contacted Ruan Yu once earlier and told her that it was almost certain that Cen Sisi hadn’t done anything to threaten other people’s personal safety.

Ruan Yu, however, was still disturbed by the theft of her story’s outlines. Therefore she had asked the Cen family to help her confirm whether Cen Sisi had hired anyone to hack into her computer during her upcoming psychological treatment.

She knew that the hypnosis treatment would take time and didn’t push the family for an answer. Now it seemed that she should know the result in no time.

She typed: [Ok. I’ll give you a time tomorrow.]

Early next morning, Xu Huaisong arrived at Ruan Yu’s apartment building.

Before going out of the door, Ruan Yu figured that Xu Huaisong probably hadn’t had breakfast yet, so she brought two hot hard boiled eggs with her downstairs.

Once Ruan Yu got into the car, she took out the two eggs for him. Xu Huaisong was so stunned that he forgot to drive the car.

What does she mean by giving him two hard boiled eggs on this special day when he’s supposed to flatter her parents?

Could this be another “fox and rabbit” problem for him to solve?

Ruan Yu gave him a look: “What’s wrong? You don’t eat hard boiled eggs?”

Xu Huaisong mulled over what she meant by saying that and didn’t reply.

Ruan Yu thought he was just being a picky eater: “Hum, a lot of people don’t eat hard boiled eggs. They’re very good at building up your body.”

“Building up……” Xu Huaisong’s Adam’s apple rolled up and down: “Building up what?”

Building up what? Ruan Yu couldn’t really answer it. She just had the impression that her parents were always telling her that hard boiled eggs would make her smart.

Her silence in Xu Huaisong’s eyes indicated that she was thinking of something embarrassing to say. He slowly blinked his eyes a couple of times and said with uncertainty: “I shouldn’t need to build up……”

“Oh.” Ruan Yu nodded.

It’s true, he’s smart enough already and any more build up would probably turn him into a monster?

Ruan Yu didn’t push him to eat the eggs and put them back into the box while saying: “Then, you can have brunch later.”

Xu Huaisong replied with an “en” and started the car. He stepped on the gas pedal and the car lurched forward. He hurriedly turned the steering wheel back straight.

The reason why they decided to get on the road early in the morning was to avoid the possible holiday traffic. It didn’t take long for them to drive out of the city. The drive was going smoothly when Xu Huaisong’s cell phone started ringing.

Ruan Yu subconsciously turned her head to take a look. It showed on his phone screen that the caller was “Lu Shenglan.”

Xu Huaisong lowered his head to take a look: “You answer it for me.”

Ruan Yu was happy by his gesture but shook her head instead: “You answer it with Bluetooth.”

Xu Huaisong took a glance at her and instead of using Bluetooth, he turned on the speaker.

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