You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 68 Side Story 1 Part 2

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 68 Side Story 1 Part 2

What Zhao Yi didn’t expect was for the girl inside the restroom to start screaming when she heard his voice near the door: “Ahhhh. Don’t come in. There are three mops here. I’ll swing them all at you!”

He was annoyed and amused at the same time: “I never hit girls.”

“Then why don’t you leave?”

“You come out first then I’ll go.”

“I’ll come out after you leave.”

“You come out first.”

“You leave first.”

Neither of them would give in. Zhao Yi lost his patience and put his hand on the door knob: “Come out, I promise I won’t hit you. I just want to see what you look like.”

The girl inside held onto the door knob tightly and wouldn’t let go: “You think I’m stupid? If I let you see my face, then will I have any chance of survival later?”

“......Have you watched too many TV dramas?”

Zhao Yi started to push on the door with force while the girl inside also started yelling: “Help, anyone here, help– –!”

Her yelling caught the attention of the PE teacher. Zhao Yi had no choice but to give up and sneak away. At the time, he didn’t know that the girl inside was actually Xu Huaishi.

He found that out later on, purely because Xu Huaishi exposed it herself.

One week later after that encounter, it was Wednesday again. After the same PE class was over, Zhao Yi, holding the basketball, went back to the classroom along the sports field. He met a group of chatty girls on the bleachers nearby gossiping about movie stars.

One of the girls was cheerfully blabbering. But she paused as soon as she saw him.

The girls next to her pressed on: “Then? How did your Shican Gege respond?”

She clammed up and her face turned pale as if she had seen a ghost. She quickened her steps to pass by him.

Zhao Yi was curious and turned to take a look at her. It happened that she also turned to look at him.

When their eyes met, he suddenly realized that this girl must’ve been the one inside the restroom and she was afraid that he would recognize her voice.

In fact, Zhao Yi had already totally forgotten about the whole episode by that point, not to mention her voice. But now, he had a good look at her face.

This girl had an interesting personality and looked pretty good as well.

He started inquiring about her afterwards and learned her name. Not too long afterwards, he learned that she had chosen liberal arts track.

Zhao Yi figured that he didn’t like studying anyways and liberal arts seemed easier. He checked the box for liberal arts as well and decided to gamble on meeting this interesting soul.

At the beginning of the next semester, he got his wish and was assigned to the same classroom as her.

The classroom teacher was the language teacher and the girl happened to be the top student in the class in the same field. On the first day of class, the classroom teacher assigned her to handle the roll call. When it was his turn to be called upon, the girl confidently called out: “Zhao Tie– –!”

No one in the classroom responded.

Three seconds later, Zhao Yi raised his hand with gritted teeth: “As the Language class representative, don’t you know the word you're reading? That’s Yi; che(车) shi(失) Yi.”

The whole class burst into laughter.

She looked up from the roll call sheet and was obviously shocked when she saw his face. But she kept her chin up and bravely said: “Can’t a course representative be allowed to be  nearsighted?”

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 68 Side Story 1 Part 1

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 68 Side Story 1 Part 1

After the engagement ceremony, they began filming the movie. The set needed to be rearranged and the extras got a fifteen-minute break.

The students scattered back onto the bleachers and drank the hot brown sugar ginger tea prepared by the movie crew. They began noisily discussing what had happened earlier. The girls were saying one after another “First High owes me a mutual crush.” Only Xu Huaishi was crying hard in a corner.

While she was emotionally crying with tears of joy, she suddenly heard a voice which spoiled the mood: “Xu Huaishi, why are you crying like a goofball?”

Xu Huaishi looked up and saw Zhao Yi standing right in front of her, towering over her with his over 180cm height.

She wiped away her tears with her sleeve and stared at him: “Who are you calling a goofball?”

Zhao Yi: “Tsk, are you a girl? Don’t you carry tissues with you?” As he was talking, he took out a packet of tissues and pulled out a sheet for her.

Xu Huaishi accepted it but was unforgiving: “Are you a boy, carrying tissues with you all the time?”

“I’m……” Zhao Yi was speechless: “I knew that you’re going to cry like an idiot and especially put it in my pocket for you, alright?”

Xu Huaishi paused her wiping motion when she heard the word “idiot” and threw the tissue away and said: “What a bad tissue, so rough.”

“Rougher than my hand?”

Xu Huaishi didn’t get what he meant but saw Zhao Yi lifted up his hand and used his thumb to wipe the tears under her eyes. He sighed while carefully moving his thumb: “If I knew earlier, I wouldn’t have bought it. Guess it’s better to just use my hand then.”

Xu Huaishi froze from his touch. When she realized what was going on, she slapped his hand away and jumped up: “Your hand is certainly rougher……” As she was speaking, she hastily ran off the bleachers and almost tripped at the last flight of steps.

“Hey, aren’t you having night-blindness? What are you running for!” Zhao Yi chased after her with his long legs and grabbed her arm: “Where are you going?”

Xu Huaishi flung his hand away. The place his thumb had wiped was burning hot. She covered her face and said: “Wash my face. Your hand’s too rough. My face is going to be ruined!”

“......”

Zhao Yi watched her turn the corner to go into the girls’ restroom under the bleachers. He could only stop in front of the restroom and turn around to leave. But on second thought, it was late at night and there were so many outside people present at school, he sat down on the last step to make sure she was safe.

As he sat there, he recalled the first time he met Xu Huaishi in the exact same place.

During the first semester of their tenth grade, they weren’t in the same classroom since the students hadn’t been placed into liberal arts and science tracks yet.

At the time, his classroom had more boys than girls and his classmates were naughty and bustling. One time, during PE class, the boys had an argument over their game of basketball. After class, they had a brawl in the boy’s restroom.

He belonged to the group which won the fight. But he was too good at fighting and started being targeted by the others. He had bruises and scratches on his face. After the fight was over, he sullenly sat on the same step as he was sitting now. At the time he happened to look up and saw the girls’ restroom door was pulled ajar. With one eye peeking out. When the eye saw him sit there in his foul mood, it quickly pulled back.

Zhao Yi was surprised to see that, then he realized that this girl must have been hiding in the girls’ restroom when she heard the brawl next door and was scared to come out. She peeked out because the noise had stopped.

Zhao Yi yelled towards the girl’s restroom: “Hey, why so panicky? It’s all over now!”

From inside the restroom came a female voice which was pretending to be brave: “Then why aren’t you leaving if it’s over? You’re staying around like a door god![1]”

Zhao Yi was amused. He got up to walk closer to the door and asked a question as reply: “What about it, I can’t?”

[1]: 门神 (ménshén) or “door gods” are a common Chinese folk practice where deified figures are affixed to doors to protect against evil. 

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 67 Part 4 (FINAL)

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

This is the last part of the main story for You're My Belated Happiness.

We'll be translating the side story chapters starting next week which are focused on Xu Huaisong's younger sister.

---

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 67 Part 4

The director instructed all the extras to gather around Ruan Yu, forming a circle. Ruan Yu was forced to stand at the center of the sports field. She looked up at the dark blue sky.

The milky way was right above her and sparkling stars shone all over the sky.

Voice from all around her began counting down: “Five, four, three, two……”

As they said “one”, fireworks exploded; fiery balls shot up into the sky then fell back down with brilliant colors.

At the same moment, someone picked up one of Ruan Yu’s hands.

Ruan Yu almost cried out in fright but before the cry came out of her mouth, she saw the person who was holding her hand.

Under the flashing lights, she saw a man, wearing a classy suit and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looking down at her with a smile.

Xu Huaisong.

The same Xu Huaisong who should be ten thousand kilometers away at this moment.

Ruan Yu’s mouth hung slightly open, she couldn’t be more shocked. She stiffly turned her head to look at the people around her and saw everyone was looking at them with smiles on their faces. Finally, she realized what had happened.

Indeed, no movie is shot this way.

There wasn’t any eccentric movie crew, only people who had been bought over. Hundreds of people who had been bought over.

She fixed her eyes on Xu Huaisong and belatedly, her heart started to pump faster and faster at the same frequency as the exploding fireworks above her head.

However, this time, he didn’t let her hand go until the end of the firework show.

Ruan Yu sensed what might come next and nervously swallowed.

There were over a thousand people around her, but no one was making a sound. Everyone was waiting for Xu Huaisong to open his mouth.

Then, they saw him, under the lighting as bright as daytime, holding the hands of his female lead and said: “Eight years ago, on this day, I told a lie to fool the girl I like. Eight years later, on this day, I fooled her again. I let over a thousand people fool her with me for the whole day. The purpose of these many lies is to explain the original one. It’s to tell her that while I did tell a lot of lies I had one heart that was always fond of her all along.”

Xu Huaisong grinned, took out a deep blue ring box, opened it, and knelt down on one knee facing Ruan Yu.

The people around them finally burst into whoas and cheers.

A lump came up to Ruan Yu’s throat and her eyes began to fill with tears. The diamond ring and Xu Huaisong that were reflected in her eyes seemed to be even brighter than the stars in the sky.

Xu Huaisong looked up at her and continued: “I spent eight years’ time wandering back to this day and coming back to her again. I want to tell her that for the next eight years, eighteen years, eighty years, I don’t ever want to be separated from her again. Ruan Yu, will you marry me?”

– –Ruan Yu, will you marry me?

Before this moment happened, she thought, as a writer of romance novels, she would have many ingenious answers to this question.

Many romantic, original, and inventive answers.

But when the moment actually was here, she lost the ability to think amidst the quietness surrounding her.

Just like responding to “I love you”, there seemed to only be “I love you too.” She couldn’t come up with a unique answer.

As two ordinary people, when they fell in love, they still couldn’t avoid the most conventional conclusion in the end.

And she, like all the women in love all over the world, teared up and solemnly nodded her head at the man who was staring at her and said to him: “I do.”

-----------------------The End--------------------

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 67 Part 3

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 67 Part 3

Ruan Yu sat down right across from Li Shican and Sun Miaohan. Seeing Ruan Yu rub her hands, Li Shican immediately handed over a hot-water bag: “There’s an extra one, for you.”

Ruan Yu thanked him and asked at the same time: “How is it going?”

Sun Miaohan patted her chest: “No problem!”

Li Shican also nodded: “It’ll be good.”

Ruan Yu didn’t feel particularly comfortable with their overconfidence. She cautioned them: “Even though it’s only a six-word line in this scene, the emotion involved is actually the most powerful one in the whole movie. It’s a feeling like the pressure underneath a geyser building up to the edge of explosion but is abruptly suppressed……To be able to project that kind of emotion without any lines is the most difficult part. I was wondering why they wanted to start off shooting with this scene.”

Sun Miaohan quickly responded: “Probably to save money. There’s a ready source of extras, atmosphere, and props.”

Ruan Yu nodded but lightly frowned and said in a small voice: “But, why do they have to wait till midnight to shoot the scene?”

Ruan Yu thought the night sky now wouldn’t be that much different from that of midnight, wouldn’t it be better to start shooting earlier so they could all wrap up the work earlier? She would like to have time to be with Xu Huaisong on the phone when the New Year came.

Sun Miaohan scratched her head and didn’t know what to say. She elbowed Li Shican.

Li Shican explained: “Uhm, Uncle Cen has a strong sense of rituals and thought it would be a good omen this way. He asked the director to shoot the first scene right at midnight. I think it gives a very nice overtone to the movie, right, Miaohan?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s quite nice!”

Ruan Yu blinked and picked up the cell phone to complain to Xu Huaisong: [This movie crew is very weird, from the investor to the director to the actors. None of them seem to be that normal.]

Huaisong: [When you find the whole world’s not normal, you should self-reflect to see whether you’re the one who’s not normal.]

Soft Jade: [What’s wrong with you, do you have a knife hidden in your mouth?]

Huaisong: [To irritate the girlfriend then flatter her adds fun to life.]

Soft Jade: [It looks like you aren’t acting normal either. It could be that the abnormal one is really me……]

Ruan Yu put down the phone and waited for midnight in irritation.

By eleven thirty, hundreds of extras were finally being called by the director to get in place on the sports field. At eleven fifty, the two main actors also walked onto the field.

The crew kept checking the positions of the lighting and fireworks. By eleven fifty-five, someone called Ruan Yu’s name: [Ruan Jie, please come over to check the angle of the shot.”

Ruan Yu was just about to call Xu Huaisong so they could celebrate the coming of the New Year together. She heard the call, put down the phone, and went over in confusion.

Why would they want her to check on the angle of the shot? She wasn’t the director of the film.

Ruan Yu was led to the center of the field and the director started to speak in rather technical terminology that Ruan Yu didn’t quite get. In the end, she understood the last sentence: “Xiao Ruan, we aren’t going to shoot the main characters in the first shot. I’m going to take a full shot. You just stand here and see whether the feel matches the original story.”

“......”

Though Ruan Yu had never shot a movie before, she still felt quite weird about it. She carefully asked: “Director, this spot I’m standing on now is the center, right? I won’t be filmed standing here?”

The director said no, then explained to her with a bunch of terminologies again.

Ruan Yu was so confused that by the time she realized the time, it was already eleven fifty-nine.

The director slapped his thigh and raised his bullhorn to yell: “Get ready for countdown.” Then, he seriously made sure Ruan Yu understood him: “Make sure you stand right on this spot. Raise your head up, try to feel it with all your heart!”

“......”

Ruan Yu started to wonder what kind of eccentric filming crew she had encountered.

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 67 Part 2

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 67 Part 2

Ruan Yu sighed: “If I knew then that your brother would like me even if I dressed like a bear, I wouldn’t have been so silly dressing like that to suffer in the cold.”

They chatted as they walked onto the campus.

Xu Huaishi excitedly said: “Jiejie, are you heading to the sports field now?”

Ruan Yu nodded.

“Then wouldn’t you be staying in the cold until night? It would be heart-wrenching for my brother.”

“It’s work. I have body warmer patches on me. I should be fine.”

“The actors aren’t here yet and the crew is still setting up the filming set. You’ll just be sitting there if you go now. It’s better to walk around with me. I’ve asked a few classmates to celebrate New Year’s Eve with me tonight. I’ll treat you to some barbecue!”

Ruan Yu shook her head: “You go with your classmates. Our director is known to be very strict in this business. It wouldn’t be good if I take leave on the very first day of shooting.”

Xu Huaishi was quite disappointed: “But, I’ve already bragged to everyone that my future sister-in-law is in the filming crew……”

Ruan Yu, being called the future sister-in-law, felt like she should be responsible for Xu Huaishi. After a short silence, she said: “Fine, let me ask.”

Ruan Yu gave the director a call. Before she could fully state the purpose for the call, the director on the other side laughed to say: “Hum, you arrived this early. I probably forgot to inform you that you only need to be here before 10 pm.”

Ruan Yu was caught by surprise: “Then, now I……”

“It’s too cold. You don’t need to come over right now. I’ll let you know when all the actors are here.”

Ruan Yu hung up the phone and looked over at Xu Huaishi’s expectant face: “How about it, is the director easy to talk to?”

Ruan Yu nodded confusedly.

Why would people say the director is mean? He was as gentle as her own father.

In the evening, Ruan Yu, together with Xu Huaishi and her classmates who were extras for the film, went off campus towards a barbecue place nearby.

The place was simply and plainly decorated but bustling. Grilled food, soda drinks, chatty students, and the childish truth or dare games filled the emptiness Ruan Yu felt when Xu Huaisong wasn’t around. She began to feel like celebrating the New Year and even felt like she was getting younger.

She joined in their noisy conversations until nine o’clock at night. She received a message from Xu Huaishong then: [I’m awake. What are you doing?]

Ruan Yu could finally put her heart at ease. She told Xu Huaishi that she was going to make a phone call, then got up to go outside of the barbecue place. She started a voice chat with him.

Xu Huaisong immediately picked up. Ruan Yu was shivering in the chilling wind but there was a smile on her face: “I’m having barbecue with Huaishi and her classmates. It’s so nice to be young. I’d really like to go back to being 17 years old.”

Xu Huaisong laughed, his voice sounded like he had just woken up: “What’s so good about being 17. It’s not even the legal age.”

Ruan Yu was surprised to hear that and just as she was about to ask legal age for what, she heard Xu Huaisong say: “Can’t even drink distilled spirits.”

“......” Ruan Yu wondered whether he got addicted to drinking it.

As they were both silent, Ruan Yu heard the noise of sirens on the phone.

Ruan Yu asked: “You’re outside?”

“Mhm, I’m driving out to get some breakfast.”

“Then why answer my voice chat. Drive carefully. Let’s talk later.”

“Alright.”

Ruan Yu checked the time after ending the voice chat. She gathered all the students to go back to school with her. The filming set had already been set up in the sports field with bright lighting surrounding it. Several huge cinematographic cameras stood on the field. The extras were sitting on the bleachers waiting for directions. Under the bleachers, crew members were busily running around.

Ruan Yu went separate ways with Xu Huaishi and greeted the director. She walked over to where the actors were resting and saw Li Shican and Sun Miaohan, wearing the uniforms of First High School, rehearsing with scripts in their hands.

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 67 Part 1

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 67 Part 1

Ruan Yu frowned after hanging up the phone. She opened WeChat chat with Xu Huaisong, scrolled up and down a few times, then put down the cell phone. A short while later, she picked up the phone again.

She wondered whether it was simply because his cell phone was out of battery or if there were some other reasons he couldn’t answer?

She knew that Xu Huaisong didn’t have a habit of overworking. This time it must be from the jetlag preventing him from getting enough rest in the first few days after he arrived in the US. He stayed up for the entirety of last night and was busy with the court hearing today. Could it be that he’s having some physical problems?

She figured that must be the reason, otherwise how would he go to sleep at 6 pm.

The more Ruan Yu thought about it, the more panicked she became. She began to look more and more anxious.

The other script writers in the car asked her whether there was anything wrong.

Ruan Yu shook her head to say nothing was wrong, but felt helpless when she cast her eyes down.

She was so far away from Xu Huaisong and didn’t know any of his friends over there. She pondered how she could make sure he was alright.

She scrolled her cell phone back and forth. Suddenly, she noticed that her fingertip rested on her WeChat chat with Lu Shenglan and paused.

She was too unsettled to allow herself a moment of hesitation. She clicked on the cursor and typed: [Ms. Lu, sorry to disturb you late at night. I can’t get in contact with Huaisong and am a little worried about him. I wonder whether it’s convenient or not for you to ask his roommate to check on him for me?]

The scenery outside the window quickly moved backwards. Ruan Yu clicked send.

There was no reply for the time being, Ruan Yu figured that Lu Shenglan probably didn’t regularly use WeChat.

The car drove down from the freeway and into the city limit of Su City. It wasn’t until the car stopped in front of First High School when Ruan Yu received a reply from Lu: [Please wait a moment. Let me contact him.]

Ruan Yu lightly breathed out. She got out of the car and saw Xu Huaishi stand in front of the school, waving at her: “Jiejie!”

Ruan Yu was surprised to see her there. She moved forward: “It’s so cold, why are you here?”

“Waiting for you!” Xu Huaishi searched behind her as she spoke: “Aren’t the actors coming with you?”

Ruan Yu smiled: “The actors won’t be here until tonight. Why don’t you keep waiting here?”

Xu Huaishi put her arm around Ruan Yu’s: “Never mind. As long as I’m with you, I’ll see all those stars for sure.”

Ruan Yu gave her a glance. Since one of her arms was now hooked by Xu Huaishi, Ruan Yu used her other hand to flip through her cell phone.

“What are you looking at, Jiejie?”

“I can’t get in touch with your brother. I’m a little worried.”

“Hrm? When did you try to contact him?”

“About an hour ago. Someone called him then but the call went to voicemail.”

“Hrm, but I called him about two hours ago.”

Ruan Yu was surprised. Xu Huaishi had spoken to her brother not too long before Zhou Jun tried to call Xu Huaisong.

Ruan Yu asked: “He’s alright then?”

Xu Huaishi humphed in a low voice: “He’s alright, just sounded very tired. I had woken him up and he was very annoyed. He told me that his cell phone is almost out of battery and I should hang up fast.”

Ruan Yu felt relieved.

It must be that the cell phone went dead while he was sleeping. She had let her imagination go wild again. She even contacted Lu Shenglan.

Ruan Yu was about to send another message to Lu Shenglan to tell her not to bother. But Lu Shenglan sent a message over before she could: [I checked. His roommate said he’s sleeping in his room and asked whether he should go wake him up or not?]

Ruan Yu hurriedly replied: [Never mind. Let him sleep. Sorry to trouble you.]

Ruan Yu felt completely relaxed now that the weight was finally off her mind. She turned to look at Xu Huaishi and found her wearing the knee length school uniform skirt. She asked: “Aren’t you cold, dressing like this?”

“The movie crew is coming to shoot the actual New Year’s Eve firework show at school. We’re all excused for afternoon classes. Me and some of my classmates signed up to be the extras for the shoot tonight, so we have to look good.”

“It’s such a huge sports field. Besides it’s in the middle of the night, with the fireworks flashing, who would recognize you?”

“Then, why did you wear short skirts eight years ago during the firework show?”

Ruan Yu was speechless. That was the pity of making all the details of one’s romance public.

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 66 Part 4

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 66 Part 4

Ruan Yu looked down to check her phone and found that the call was from Zhou Jun. She jumped straight up.

After picking up the call, Ruan Yu heard a slightly hoarse voice on the other end: “Ruan Yu? I’m Zhou Jun.”

Ruan Yu hesitated for a moment: “You can use your own phone now?”

“Mhm, today I’m…… out.”

Ruan Yu couldn’t speak and felt a lump in her throat. After a while, she said: “That’s great.”

She didn’t know what to say next. Zhou Jun, on the other end, smiled and also quieted down.

After a long while, both of them opened their mouths almost at the same time.

“The case is resolved……”

“Sorry……”

The latter was from Zhou Jun.

He sounded exhausted. After a short silence, he said: “You go first.”

“I was going to ask, is the case resolved?”

“It’s resolved. Otherwise, I’d have to wait a while before coming out.”

Ruan Yu didn’t get to the bottom of it to ask who was the real killer. She didn’t want to remind him of such a sore spot. She figured that the case could be resolved right before the holiday, it must be because of the findings during the winter solstice.

A lot of emotions went through her mind. After a short while, she heard Zhou Jun say: “About what happened before, I haven’t gotten the chance to apologize to you yet.”

“It’s quite alright. You take it easy first. After Huaisong comes back from the US, we’ll get together to grab a bite and have a good chat.”

“Is he in the US?”

“Yes.”

“I just called his number in the US but got the voice box instead. So I thought he’s still here.”

Ruan Yu was surprised: “Maybe his cell phone is out of battery. He’s sleeping right now.”

“Then I’ll contact him later.”

“Alright.”

It seemed that there wasn’t much to talk about between the two. In half a year's time, it seemed that everything had changed.

When they fell into silence for the third time, Zhou Jun hung up the phone. Before Ruan Yu put her phone back into her bag, she recalled what Zhou Jun had said earlier.

Usually the cell phone service wouldn’t indicate why the phone call couldn’t go through, but instead transfer the call to the voice box. It was possible that Xu Huaisong’s phone was out of battery but it could also be possible that he wasn’t in the service area or didn’t hear the ringing.

Ruan Yu figured that, knowing Xu Huaisong was such a detailed person, it was impossible for him not to check the battery when he was setting up the alarm clock.

Puzzlement and uneasiness diluted the emotions she had earlier when talking to Zhou Jun. She picked up the phone and dialed Xu Huaisong’s number.

What she heard from the other end was a pre-recorded message: “This is Hanson, I’m currently not available, please leave me a message, I will call you back as soon as I can.”

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 66 Part 3

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 66 Part 3

Ruan Yu mumbled with a sad face: “Then why did dad ask him to drink with him?”

Qu Lan gave her a look and said while stretching the bed sheet: “You’re worrying that a few drinks will mess up the relationship between you two? Unless he’s roaring drunk downstairs, nothing will happen.”

“Roaring drunk certainly is impossi……”

Ruan Yu stopped mid sentence and suddenly sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

What did the policeman mention this evening? She was distracted by the case at the time and seemed to have overlooked some crucial information.

She looked up at the ceiling light and started recalling. Her eyes gradually widened.

It was Xu Huaisong who had knocked on dozens of doors labeled 302s at Jinjiang Community? The drunkard who had disturbed residents and caused mass hysteria turned out to be Xu Huaisong?

How could he behave that way after getting drunk?

Ruan Yu was concerned. After a while, she gasped and hurriedly ran out of the room. She ran into someone when she turned the corner.

Xu Huaisong was surprised and held onto her shoulder: “What’s going on?”

Ruan Yu reached over to touch his face: “You aren’t drunk?”

“No.” He was amused: “I can handle alcohol.”

“You can handle it, but you’d get roaring drunk as well!” Ruan Yu frowned as she was speaking: “Hrm, that incident was so embarrassing. I didn’t even know about it until now. I didn’t even apologize to my neighbors……”

Xu Huaisong was speechless.

Ruan Yu touched his face again: “You’re sure you’re alright?”

Xu Huaisong sighed: “I’m really alright. I didn’t embarrass you.”

“How much did you drink?”

“Just that half cup you poured.”

“Why did it take so long to drink such a small amount of liquor?”

Xu Huaisong laughed: “Because I was drinking chicken soup the rest of the time.”

“My dad butchered a chicken today? Why didn’t he offer some soup for me to drink?”

Xu Huaisong lightly scratched her nose tip: “It was especially prepared for me.”

The two of them stayed at Ruan’s home for one night. The next morning, Xu Huaisong flew to the US for work and Ruan Yu went to Global Filming.

The movie script had officially been reviewed and approved. Even the original title was luckily approved. Cen Rongshen instructed them to start shooting before the New Year. They decided to have the booting ceremony on the last day of the year. Then they would go to Su City’s First High School to shoot the first scene.  They were going to shoot the scene of the firework celebration on New Year’s Eve as a good omen for the movie.

Early in the morning of December 31st, Global Filming sent a car over to pick Ruan Yu up to go to the booting ceremony. They gave offerings to heaven and earth during the ceremony in the morning. After lunch, Ruan Yu rode with the crew heading towards Su City.

Ruan Yu was very busy the whole morning and didn’t have time to check her cell phone until after she was in the car. She was thinking of asking Xu Huaisong whether he had gone to sleep or not, but instead she saw a message he had sent over four hours ago: [I didn’t sleep very much last night and am going to bed early. I’ve set the alarm clock to sound after 12 hours. Will accompany you for the New Year countdown.]

It wasn’t even 7 pm over in San Francisco four hours ago. It was really quite unusual for Xu Huaisong to go to bed at this time of the day.

Since he remembered about the New Year countdown, Ruan Yu was satisfied and didn’t think too much into it. She figured that he must’ve been in a deep sleep by now and didn’t bother to reply to Xu Huaisong. Bored, she closed her eyes to rest at the back seat of the car. As she was dozing off, the cell phone in her bag started to vibrate.

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

You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 66 Part 2

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

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 66 Part 2

Ruan Chengru seemed surprised by Xu Huaisong’s answer. He shook his head to indicate that it wasn’t the case and said instead: “It’s because he’s a lawyer.”

“......”

Ruan Chengru looked at him baffled: “What’s wrong?”

Xu Huaisong shook his head: “Nothing, please continue. Why a lawyer?”

Ruan Chengru nodded and continued: “Because at the time Yuyu happened to need the help of a lawyer.”

Xu Huaisong frowned: “You mean?”

“The incident where people were slandering her.” Ruan Chengru smiled: “She thought she had been keeping me and her mom totally in the dark. Actually, we’ve known her pen name for years and have been secretly following her as well. We know everything. It’s just that she didn’t want us to know those bad things were happening to her. Since she didn’t want to tell us, we just pretended that we knew nothing about it.”

Xu Huaisong was taken aback.

“Our daughter has grown up and knows to be considerate to our parents. She wouldn’t tell us when she runs into difficulties. What can we do? We can only hope to find someone who can take care of her for us, to protect her, shelter her, and won’t even blink once no matter how hard and difficult it turns out to be.” He pointed at the empty cup in front of Xu Huaisong when he finished talking.

Xu Huaisong quietly nodded.

Ruan Chengru asked: “Another cup?”

Xu Huaisong lifted the liquor bottle and filled the cup to the brim. When he was about to pick up the cup, he suddenly heard Ruan Chengru say: “Yuyu said that you have some stomach problems.”

“Uhm.”

“If that’s the case, then you should only act according to your own capability.” Ruan Chengru pointed again at the liquor in Xu Huaisong’s cup: “Gallantry and bravado can’t make you a shelter for her. Most importantly, you have to protect yourself well before you can take good care of her.”

Xu Huaisong put down the cup: “You’re right.”

Ruan Chengru took the cup in front of Xu Huaisong away and replaced it with a new cup. He picked up the water pitcher to fill the new cup with warm water: “Drink this then.”

Xu Huaisong drank half of the cup and heard Ruan Chengru ask: “Water tastes much blander, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s bland so a lot of people, like you, will give up on it after drinking only half of it. But in our daily lives, how would you find so many fiery events like the taste of this distilled spirit?  Most of the time, our lives are as bland as this cup of water. It’s no big deal to withstand fiery events. It’s better when you can withstand the plainness of life.”

Xu Huaisong understood what his teacher was trying to tell him and drank the rest of the water in the cup.

Ruan Chengru smiled: “Alright, you’re my student whom I know well. I trust you. Go upstairs.”

Xu Huaisong nodded towards him: “Teacher, thanks for the lesson today.”

“If you want to thank me, then hurry and get to the point where you don’t have to call me teacher.”

Xu Huaisong laughed: “I’ll try my best to hurry up.”

While Ruan Chengru was patiently instilling “chicken soup for the soul” to Xu Huaisong, Ruan Yu was making the bed upstairs and worrying at the same time: “Mom, you and dad misunderstand. We know what we’re doing……”

Qu Lan gave her a look: “I know. We know you too well just by looking at you. How can we not know?”

At the beginning, they were shocked indeed. But later on when they saw Ruan Yu’s reaction as she walked out of the bathroom, she and Ruan Chengru knew that they had overreacted and misunderstood her.

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