You're Beautiful When You Smile - Chapter 35 Part 5

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

You’re Beautiful When You Smile

Chapter 35 Part 5

Tong Yao went out the door.

She sent a WeChat message to Lu Sicheng as she left the house, asking
him where he was, whether he had located his friend, Pope, and that she
had left the house and would call him when she got there…...Holding the
cell phone in hand, she waited for ten minutes without receiving any response
from Lu Sicheng. She muttered: “Is his phone dead?” She put her phone into
a pocket and quickened her steps-- --

It was raining hard and the wind was strong. An umbrella was of little use.
When Tong Yao arrived at the mall, she was soaking wet…...The cool air
inside the mall made her shiver and sneeze. She pulled out her phone to
call Lu Sicheng. At first it was silent on the other end of the line, then she
heard the disappointing voice prompt-- --

[The number you’re calling cannot be reached at the moment……]

Tong Yao took the phone away from her ear and looked at it as if it was
some kind of monster. She couldn’t believe that the jerk’s phone was out
of battery right now…...She was standing dumbfoundedly at the entrance
and desperately looking at the humongous mall……

She sent a message to Xiao Rui telling him the unfortunate news that she
couldn’t get in touch with Lu Sicheng. Tong Yao then started searching every
coffee shop at every floor of the mall. For now, she still had confidence at her
captain’s intelligence.

Until, she saw the next door captain, Liangsheng, who was as confused and
anxious as her, at a bakery on the third floor.

Liangsheng looked even younger than Tong Yao. He was wearing a short
sleeved top with fuzzy hair and looked like an easy going person. When he
saw Tong Yao, his eyes instantly brightened up as if he had been rescued.
He rushed over, holding onto her arm: “Ahh, you’re the Mid next door. Do
you have time now? Could you please do me a favor-- --”

Tong Yao: “......”

Tong Yao: “I know you’re looking for your AD, I’m looking for our AD too-- --
As far as I know, about half an hour ago your AD got lost and sent a WeChat
message saying that he was lost and asking our AD to come get him. Then
our AD set out here…...half an hour later, your AD and our AD disappeared
together. His cell phone has been turned off. I’m here to look for him.”

Liangsheng: “............................................”

Tong Yao pulled her hand back, patted his shoulder, felt like she had finally
found a comrade: “Hurry, call your AD, let him tell our AD to pick up the phone.”

Liangsheng answered: “Oh.” But he didn’t do anything.

Tong Yao: “......It can’t be that you don’t have his number?”

Liangsheng: “He doesn’t speak Chinese, why would I have his number for.”

Tong Yao desperately covered her face with both hands. The “solo journey”
turned into “a desperate search party of two people.” She and Liangsheng
together searched aimlessly for the people they were looking for-- --

Until, another half an hour later.

The two of them wished that they could turn the mall upside down and shake
it as they reached the arcade on the top floor. They could hear the sound of
the machines from afar.  Tong Yao covered her ears and asked Liangsheng:
“Those two have a combined height of at least 4 meters, they couldn’t possibly
be in this childish place?”

When she finished, she noticed the young man next to her had fixed his eyes
at a place not too far from them-- --

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

Those Sweet Times - Chapter 19 Part 2

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

Those Sweet Times

Chapter 19 Part 2

Tonight was particularly windy and cold. Xiang Nuan pulled her sweater
tighter around her body and wished she could put her hands into the
pockets, but she had to carry her notebook.

Lin Chuyan noticed and took her notebook to place it in the pocket of his
windbreaker. He could still fit his hand into the same pocket. Xiang Nuan
felt that his pocket was like a small book bag.

The two of them walked to the convenience store against the chilly wind.
Xiang Nuan got her favorite oden and corn. Lin Chuyan ordered a bowl of
seaweed and fish ball soup and a big bun with spinach and shrimp filling.

At the register, the clerk said: “Today’s Singles Day, couples can get half
price.”

Xiang Nuan protested: “It’s Singles Day, why do couples get a discount
and singles can’t? It’s not fair.”

“Well, the world is quite unfriendly towards singles.”

“Alright, actually, we’re couples.” She pointed at herself and Lin Chuyan.
“Give us the discount.”

“I’ll believe it if you kiss each other.”

Xiang Nuan looked over at Lin Chuyan, who was also looking at her. They
looked at each other for a few seconds, Xiang Nuan felt that handing over
her first kiss just for a 50% discount on a late night snack was…...not inline
with core Socialist values.

She waved her hand. “Alright, we aren’t couples. How much is it?”

At the corner of the convenience store, there was a L shaped counter next
to the window for people to eat their food. The two sat on the stools, ready
to eat.  The corn was steaming hot, she put it down on the counter and blew
on it to cool it down faster.

After a while, she noticed that Lin Chuyan was flipping through her notebook.
He commented as he flipped the pages: “You have pretty handwriting.”

Compared with her contemporaries, Xiang Nuan was quite good at calligraphy,
both with brush and stiff pen. After all, her father was an artist of Chinese painting,
which demanded a very high skill in calligraphy. People would roll their eyes if
they saw a pretty painting with terrible inscriptions.

Xiang Nuan was focusing on her corn and only casually thanked him. But after
a moment, she finally realized something and went to grab her notebook. “Hey,
don’t look!”

But it was too late. He had seen everything.

-- --There were a few pieces of drawings stuck in between the pages of the
notebook. There were all drawings of Shen Zemu.

Lin Chuyan closed the notebook and raised it high above him. His arm was
much longer than hers.

“Give it back!” Xiang Nuan urgently said.

“What’s the hurry, I already know about it.” Lin Chuyan returned the notebook
to her.

Xiang Nuan blushed.

Lin Chuyan: “If he sees your notebook, then he would know that you have a
crush on him.”

“Don’t say it out loud……” Xiang Nuan muttered, her face got even redder.
She added: “He won’t see it.”

“What if he does?”

“Then, what should I do, should I tear them up?”

Lin Chuyan comforted her: “No need. I have a solution. It’ll be ok even if he
sees them.”

“What solution?”

“Close your eyes, count for 10 seconds.”

Xiang Nuan closed her eyes and started counting.

Lin Chuyan grabbed the pen which was clipped on the notebook. His hand
moved swiftly, taking less than ten seconds to add a pig’s nose to each drawing
of Shen Zemu.

Xiang Nuan counted to ten and opened her eyes. She saw a pig nose on her
god’s handsome face.

Ahhhhh!

She couldn’t believe her eyes and started to flip through all of the drawings,
five of them altogether. They were all altered. All the Shen Zemus now had
pig nose. What speedy hands he has? ! !

Xiang Nuan almost went mad. “LIN, CHU, YAN.”

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

Starlight Has No Past - Chapter 3 Part 2

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

Starlight Has No Past

Chapter 3 Part 2

The unusual coincidence made her forget her explanation.

Zhou Tingshen helped widen her wounds so the water could wash away
all the dog’s saliva and any possible germs. He mercilessly tore open the
wound without any pity in his eyes.

The excruciating pain almost paralyzed Ye Qiao, her legs becoming wobbly.
She took a deep breath to force herself through the pain. He held her arm
with his hand. She could feel the warmth of his body, yet his voice was without
any warmth: “You can really tough it out.”

Ye Qiao wasn’t comfortable being so close to him especially with his chest
bare. Furthermore, the way he treated a wounded woman was too rough,
treating her as if she were a wounded soldier on the battlefield.

She turned her head to check if he was only teasing her, but met with that
familiar indifferent eyes.

Other than his eyes however, everything about him seemed different from
the person she saw last night who was having an affair with a young student
in an old residential area at the middle of the night and frightening a clerk in
the drugstore. Neither of those images matched the religious man in front of
her who lived in a high end apartment building and even hung one of her
father’s famous painting as a decoration in the entranceway.

Ye Qiao didn’t know what to say. Then she suddenly realized something, she
abruptly turned her head back: “You set up that password because of the
painting at the doorway?”

Zhou Tingshen shut off the water, brought some alcohol to disinfect the wound,
and raised his head when he heard the question: “That’s right.” He dipped the
cotton ball into the alcohol and tried to hold her wounded hand. Ye Qiao
subconsciously pulled her hand back: “I can do it myself.”

Ye Qiao took the cotton ball and dabbed it lightly on her wounds. She clenched
her teeth and tightly closed her eyes from the stinging pain. She opened her eyes
a while later, with a look of excitement deep in her eyes.

Zhou Tingshen felt that she was applying it too lightly and too slowly, he held her
hand and wiped the alcohol on for her. Ye Qiao disapproved his aggressive method
of treating the wounds, but didn’t say anything. She fixed her eyes on his hand:
“Why were you at that place last night?”

While she was asking, Zhou Tingshen’s index finger suddenly moved a bit. Ye
Qiao shivered.

He laughed: “If you’re afraid of the pain, then turn around, don’t look.”

Ye Qiao didn’t move her eyes away from his hands: “I’m used to watching.” The
unknown was even more frightful than the pain. She was used to toughing it out.

“You want to look even if you’re afraid of the pain?”

“I’m not afraid of the pain.”

Zhou Tingshen repeated the trick, pretending to touch the wound again. She
shivered again. “There’s no point in lying.” Ye Qiao got annoyed: “You……” A wide
and thick palm suddenly covered her eyes.

At the same time, he doused alcohol on her wounds.

He was far from gentle, yet made sure the pain was bearable and quick. Ye Qiao
half opened her mouth; it ended up being less painful as she had expected. She
took two deep breaths and could see again.

She frowned and spoke coldly: “Has anyone mentioned to you that you’re really
annoying when you take things upon yourself.”

A typical Chinese man, a male chauvinist.

Zhou Tingshen didn’t seem to care, raised his eyebrows, and turned to ask: “You
like that painting, too?”

The painting at the doorway was the last oil painting by the master artist Xu Zang,
named <Secret of the Mortal World>. The artist used impressionist colors and lights
to weave six hidden numbers on the painting and created an image of sunset at the
river bank. Because of the numbers, it was also named as <679352> by collectors.

Ye Qiao’s facial expression changed a bit: “No, I don’t. You?”

“I don’t have the aptitude for these things. I can’t say that I like it or not.” He backed
away to lean against the wood and glass cabinet in the living room. His handsome
face and lean body reflected off the glass. The fingers with the thin ring were buttoning
the shirt one button at the time.

The air in the room seemed to freeze.

The dog slowly walked over and sat down in front of Zhou Tingshen.

Zhou Tingshen knelt down to stroke its sleek back. Desa closed its eyes in delight.
Zhou Tingshen used two fingers to squeeze the dog’s chin and twist its head to face
Ye Qiao: “Come, apologize to her.”

Ye Qiao was applying bandages on herself. When she turned her head, she heard a
loud bark. The dog had received strict training. The way it sat upright with a serious
look made it looked like a saluting soldier.

She was still scared of the dog. With a pale face, she wanted to smile but couldn’t.

“It looks like it hurt itself.” Ye Qiao slanted her head to look at its paw.

Zhou Tingshen lifted the dog’s right paw. Indeed, there was red gash on it, probably
from the broken pieces on the floor. He took out the first aid kit from the coffee table
to disinfect and bandage the cut. He seemed quite skilled at what he was doing and
had a serious look the entire time. The dog hummed a couple times towards him,
acting especially pitiful.

Ye Qiao could tell that he greatly cared for his dog. “I’m sorry.”

“Desa is a military dog. This is only a cut. You don’t have to say sorry.”

Ye Qiao could only change the subject: “And that pair of candlesticks, I’m not too sure
what I pulled to the ground. You take a look and I’ll pay everything back.” Ye Qiao’s
senses all came back to her when she mentioned the candlesticks. Ye Qiao was quite
solemn-- --when it involved hurting other’s religious belief, she felt it was a very serious
offense and didn’t even know how to apologize for it.

“You don’t need to pay for it.” Zhou Tingshen seemed to know why she was so serious
about the matter: “Do I look like a Christian?”

Ye Qiao shook her head. He didn’t look like a Christian who believed in heaven; he
looked more like the devil from the hell.

Zhou Tingshen smiled and shook his car keys: “Let’s take you to get a rabies shot. Let’s go.”

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

Starlight Has No Past - Chapter 3 Part 1

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

Starlight Has No Past

Chapter 3 Part 1

Ye Qiao’s first reaction was to close the door.

When her hand just reached the door knob, the German shepherd had
jumped to the door and bit onto her wrist. In pain, she pulled her hand back.
There were bloody teeth marks on the back of her hand. The severe pain
made her whole arm feel numb.

The German shepherd could reach up to her shoulder when it stood up.
There wasn’t any way she could avoid the attack when it charged right at
her. Ye Qiao was back to the door frame and started to retreat into the
entrance of 2302. She yelled while retreating: “Is anybody here?”

The dog followed her step by step. Its eyes were glistening as if it would
attack at any moment.

Ye Qiao’s whole back was tensed up as she hit the cabinet at the end of
the entrance. All the items on the cabinet fell on the ground. The candlesticks
under the Jesus picture broke into pieces. Amidst the confusion, Ye Qiao
grabbed a lighter and forcefully threw it at the dog’s head. The dog paused
from the pain and staggered back a couple of steps but its bloodshot eyes
were still madly fixed on her.

Ye Qiao almost had given up fighting back. She imagined how it would tear
open her skin or her throat. The bloody imagination of being dismembered
seemed to be what she had always desired in her mind, her blood screamed
for it.

She desired a total destruction.

Right at that moment, someone shouted next to her: “Desa!”

The dog instantly stopped its attack and laid down on the ground, a light
humming sound coming from its throat

Ye Qiao turned her head with a start. A tall man, putting on his shirt without
having the time to button it up, hurriedly approached her.

His half naked body showed off his tight muscles, full of power like an statue
from the classical period. It matched very harmoniously with the wallpapers
behind him, which were full of ancient religious images.

It was the man from last night.

The statue stood beside her. He pried open her clenched fingers and put the table
lamp in her hand back. He looked at her with questions in his eyes: “Ms. Ye?”

He even remembered her name.

Ye Qiao widened her eyes. She also recognized him, yet the incident had badly
shaken her. She opened her mouth, then realized that she didn’t know his name,
so she couldn’t utter a sound.

Zhou Tingshen closed the door and saw her bloody hand from the corner of his
eyes. He frowned: “Did you get bitten?”

Ye Qiao finally came to herself. The sharp pain and numbness came with every
little movement of her hand. She didn’t bother to explain why she was in his house,
but nodded: “Do you have water?”

Her wounds were quite deep, she needed to wash it.

When the water touched her hand, she felt like she had dipped her hand into a
pile of needles. After she got over the pain, Ye Qiao finally organized her thoughts
and spoke: “Sorry, I live across from you. I went out the elevator at the wrong door.
But your lock seems to have some problem. I don’t know why I can open it with my
password.”

Zhou Tingshen stopped her: “What’s your password?”

“679352.”

“That’s the password to my house.”

Ye Qiao: “......”

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