Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Alright.”
At last, Lu Kang picked a female staff member named Qiao Xue. The reason he picked her was because she was an honest girl.
…
At school, Luosang was at her first class after winter vacation. She was falling asleep, as she had been so tired recently and never got a good night’s sleep. At last, she couldn’t keep her eyes open, so she decided to rest her head on the desk and take a tiny nap. As a result, she was awakened by Yan Su when the class was over.
“It’s a quarter past 12, yet you’re still sleeping.” Yan Si stood by her desk, holding some books.
“I’m so tired.” Luosang shivered, then stood up and said, “I slept for such a long while?”
“Yeah. You have no class this afternoon, so you can finally stay in the apartment and rest. Look at you, you have such a huge pair of dark circles under your eyes. I wouldn’t like the way you look now if I were your boyfriend.” Yan Su sighed.
Hearing the word boyfriend, Luosang felt as if her heart were aching. She would never forget the past winter vacation. It was like being on a roller coaster. At first, she couldn’t be happier, and then, she fell from the top and was covered in bruises.
“Let’s go and have some malatang[1]. I haven’t had malatang from the place near our school in a long time. I’ve missed it so much.” While speaking, Yan Su picked up Luosang’s bag.
They walked to the malatang restaurant they frequented. The owner greeted them. “I haven’t seen you girls in so long.”
“Yeah.” Luosang smiled. Ever since she started dating Nian Junting, she rarely went there because he would never eat in a place like that. The place probably hadn’t even achieved a B grade from the health department. Most of the time, Lusoang would let Nian Junting choose the places to eat.
She thought carefully, then realized that she and Nian Junting ate at home for most of their dates. They rarely went out shopping, eating, or even for movies. She felt that they had started living together like a married couple not long after they built a relationship.
Suddenly, she felt more and more upset. With all those bad feelings, she asked the chef to make her food super hot.
“Did you really break up with Nian Junting?” Yan Su asked with concern.
“He broke up with me. He said that he can replace me any time he wants.” Luosang sneered. “I gave him my first time, but he actually said that he can replace me. I’m so angry! Su, don’t ever have sex with any man before you marry him. He won’t cherish you.”
“Mr. Nian only said that because he was angry. Don’t you know about his awful temper?” Yan Su comforted her. “All couples are like this. People say all kinds of hurtful words when they’re fighting.”
“No. Maybe, he just doesn’t love me enough.” Luosang shook her head. “There are some things that you don’t know yet. His ex-girlfriend is back, and I…” Maybe I’m only a tool to fulfill his sexual needs, she thought.
The more she thought about that, the sadder she became. She picked up a piece of ham with her chopsticks, dipped it into the spicy sauce, then put into her mouth. The spicy taste almost made her cry.
“Don’t say that,” said Yan Su. “In fact, I think you did wrong, too. You see, my boyfriend and I can’t see each other during the New Year. So every New Year’s, I always cared a lot about who he was with. I wondered if he was with a boy or a girl. If it was a girl, I’d be so unhappy that I’d even cry. I’d be jealous. For other times, I can understand, but for New Year’s and Valentine’s Day, I always have strange thoughts. We all want to spend those special days with the people whom we love most.”
Luosang frowned. “But Chi Shengxu and I are just good friends. If he wants something else from me, things could have happened when I lived at his place. Why would he wait until now?”
“Try to think it from another angle. If Mr. Nian spent New Year’s Eve with a good female friend of his, would you be very mad?” Yan Su raised her brows and asked, “Also, what if he kept a present from that female friend?”
Luosang paused briefly, then fell into silence.
[1] Malatang (simplified Chinese:麻辣烫; pinyin:málàtàng) is a common type of Chinese street food.
