Schedule


You're My Belated Happiness releases every week Tuesday and Thursday at 11am PST.

Monday, September 3, 2018

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.

1 comment:

  1. thank you Somesing for the translation. Very interesting, I am already hooked.

    ReplyDelete