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.