CH 5

Jiang Laien glanced at the steaming bowl of noodles in front of her and said softly, “Thank you.”

“No need …” Ye Kehuan caught the look. “It’s just a bowl of noodles. Go ahead and have a taste, you don’t need to be polite.”

When she heard this, Jiang Laien picked up her chopsticks and took a small bite of the egg.

It tasted the same as before, only more fragrant.

This unconsciously drew up memories of Jiang Laien’s life back in junior high. Because her family was often away from home, she often did everything she could to get Ye Kehuan to come over and play with her.

She pretended to be tired of eating takeaway and pretended to not know how to cook, because only like this would Ye Kehuan be standing in her kitchen, wearing an apron to cook for her like an exclusive chef. These were the opportunities that gave them more contact.

She loved to eat the things Ye Kehuan made, loved to watch Ye Kehuan’s figure as she cooked, and loved to play games with Ye Kehuan after the meal.

She was actually quite good at playing games, despite not playing it often and not being very good at it. She often deliberately lost to Ye Kehuan because she loved to watch Ye Kehuan cheer whenever she won.

Those were her most cherished times.

While thinking of this, Jiang Laien felt her eyes being enveloped by the steam emanating from the soup.

Jiang Laien opened her vermillion lips slightly a beat later. “Delicious…”

“If you think it’s delicious, then have some more,” Ye Kehuan toyed with the small pendant on her phone case, her eyes never falling on Jiang Laien. “Enjoy your meal. I’ll go back to my room first.”

However, as soon as she walked up the stairs, she heard Jiang Laien calling from behind: “Ye Kehuan.”

Ye Kehuan froze instantly and stood still, but Jiang Laien didn’t continue.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Kehuan turned around and looked down after a moment.

As she held the chopsticks, Jiang Laien felt that there were too many things swirling around her head that she wanted to ask, but she didn’t know where to start. In the end, she simply asked, “Do you…not want to see me?”

She’d always felt that they needed to sit down and have a good talk.

Ye Kehuan’s back stiffened.

She tilted her head slightly. “Why are you suddenly asking this?”

Jiang Laien tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ears and whispered softly, “I noticed during the meeting today.”

“What?” Ye Kehuan looked up.

“When the director said that he arranged for us to be grouped together. You had quite the awkward expression on.” Jiang Laien squeezed her chopsticks and finally said the thing she’d held back.

When Ye Kehuan heard her words, she felt as if she’d stabbed a sore wound and couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t help but to purse her lips tightly, lowering her to fiddle with the pendant on her phone again.

Past scenes appeared all at once in her head. They were a tower of heavy boulders weighing down, suffocating her.

She squeezed her phone and stared at the ceiling for a long while. Her lips stretched into a wry smile. “What should I say?”

Jiang Laien looked at her. “Say whatever you want to…”

Ye Kehuan couldn’t help it any longer. She twisted around to look at her. “Alright then. I want to ask: why did you do that back then? Were you dissatisfied with me? If you were, what could have changed to satisfy you1?”

Ye Kehuan wore a smile, but the corners of her lips were raised in an odd way, making her expression look unnatural.

“I…” Jiang Laien choked on her words briefly, not knowing where to start.

“In all my life, I’d never treated someone as well as I did to you. I’d always put you first, but you’d suddenly changed, first alienating me, then transferring schools. What am I to you? A virus? A plague? Something that you feared so much that you’d avoid?” Ye Kehuan looked at her calmly and raised a finger to point at her chest while she spoke.

Jiang Laien’s pupils tightened. What should she say? It was impossible to tell her that she’d liked her at the time, and because she’d started to fall in love, she got jealous and began to slowly distance herself, right?

If she said this, and Ye Kehuan was straight, and perhaps even homophobic, wouldn’t that just create a bigger barrier?

“I…” Faced with Ye Kehuan’s questions, Jiang Laien was overcome with anxiety and could not explain herself. Suddenly, everything became a mess.

“So, how should I satisfy you2?” Ye Kehuan continued to ask, grinning.

“No, I—I was…” Jiang Laien pressed down tightly on her lower lip, not knowing what to say.

“Since you didn’t want to mind me then, go ahead and continue now. Continue ignoring me. What point is there asking these questions now…” Ye Kehuan looked at her, her voice slowly getting lower as she spoke.

The atmosphere between the two became tense.

Jiang Laien froze. She felt as if her heart had been pierced with a sharp steel needle. A fine layer of mist gradually appeared in her eyes, and she hurriedly raised her hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, turning away her head. Her nose also became a bit blocked soon after.

“Yeah. I understand what you mean.” A long while later, Jiang Laien nodded.

It was Ye Kehuan’s turn to freeze now. She didn’t know what had just happened; her emotions seemed to fluctuate far too much just now, and her agitation should have scared her.

Slowly letting go of her arm, Ye Kehuan looked at her, not knowing what to do. “I just…”

Ye Kehuan’s throat was stuck again halfway through her words, and she was unable to say another word.

Jiang Laien immediately grabbed a large potion of the noodles and stuffed it in her  mouth violently.

Looking at Jiang Laien, Ye Kehuan pursed her lips tightly. After some time, she said, “Um, the noodles are a bit clumped.”

“It doesn’t matter…” Jiang Laien bit the noodles and swallowed hard. There were still tears on her eyelashes, and the tip of her nose was red. “There were still some teardrops on his eyelashes, and the tip of his nose was red. “I love eating them.”

Ye Kehuan nodded and raised her hand to brush her nose, her eyes moving with the chopsticks in Jiang Laien’s slender fingers. “Okay.”

“Do you have anything scheduled tomorrow?” When Jiang Laien felt Ye Kehuan still standing there after a while, she turned her head slightly to ask. Her voice was soft and a little mute.

“Oh…yes, there is a scene to be filmed tomorrow at □□o’clock. I play a vicious female supporting role. It’s almost finished.” Ye Kehuan touched the back of her head. (TN: those boxes aren’t a formatting error)

“Then shouldn’t you go to sleep?” Jiang Laien squeezed her chopsticks tightly. “Otherwise, you won’t have energy tomorrow.”

“Well, I’ll go sleep now.” Ye Kehuan nodded, moving her feet slightly.

However, just when Ye Kehuan was about to turn and leave, she heard Jiang Laien cough violently behind her, so she turned to look back.

Ye Kehuan picked up a glass of water and put it in front of Jiang Laien. “Um, eat slowly, don’t choke.”

After saying that, she went upstairs.

Jiang Laien glanced at her back, coughed twice, and picked out a piece of lettuce from her noodles and stuffed it into her mouth. She chewed twice, then put down her chopsticks. She raised her hand to cover her mouth, chewing while sobbing silently at the same time.

Ye Kehuan returned to her room, quickly washed up, put her hands on the sink, and slowly closed her eyes.

A few moments later, Ye Kehuan walked out of the bathroom, stood by the window, and raised her hands to poke open the blinds to lean over and look out. It was silent outside with the occasional security guard patrolling.

Clenching her fist, Ye Kehuan gently smashed it against her forehead, feeling lost with her thoughts.

The sound of footsteps and sniffing came from outside the bedroom door interrupted the silence, but it soon resumed. Ye Kehuan put down the blinds and looked over.

She turned around and walked towards the door.

After finishing her noodles, Jiang Laien returned to her bedroom. Just as she was about to make the bed, she found that the bed in her room was empty, save for a Simmons mattress.

And the luggage she brought today was filled only with clothes, cosmetics, and toiletries.

She had completely forgotten about the bedding. She didn’t bring any over and she didn’t buy it when she moved today, so she had nothing.

Jiang Laien breathed a sigh. She sat on the bare bed while frowning, recalling what Ye Kehuan had just said. Her nose wouldn’t stop feeling sour. She didn’t even know what she was doing now.

Throwing a piece of clothing on the bed, Jiang Laien lowered her head and buried her face in her hands. Not long after, warm, slippery tears leaked from every finger.

Just then, a sudden noise sounded from outside her room. Jiang Laien couldn’t help but shake her shoulders. She immediately looked over and saw Ye Kehuan leaning against the doorframe.

So, Jiang Laien hurriedly wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. “What’s the matter?”

Ye Kehuan slowly straightened from the leaning posture. “Nothing, I just don’t think you don’t look too well, so I was a little worried. Are you crying?”

“No, I just caught a cold.” Jiang Laien immediately shook her head and continued to fold the messy pile of clothes in front of her. “The weather has been weird recently, and I sneezed several times when I was shooting.

“Then did you go see?3” Ye Kehuan asked after a while.

“I just came back. There wasn’t time to go.” Jiang Laien said. God was with her, letting her catch a cold so she could also cover up how she was crying like this.

“Then do you have medicine or anything?” Ye Kehuan asked again.

Jiang Laien didn’t speak this time and just shook her head.

“It’s late and your bed hasn’t been made yet.” Ye Kehuan tilted her head to look at the bedroom.

“I forgot to ask someone to arrange it. “Jiang Laien lowered her head, folded a shirt, and put it next to her.

“Then how will you sleep tonight?” Ye Kehuan walked over as she spoke.

Jiang Laien wiped her tears again, shook her head and said nothing.

Ye Kehuan let out a sigh. She raised her hand to rub her neck and said: “Then, go to my room and sleep tonight.”

Jiang Laien didn’t speak but put the folded pile of clothes aside. She raised her hand and covered her eyes.

Ye Kehuan sighed again. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t you hate me…” Jiang Laien’s voice trembled slightly. “If you let me go to your room, wouldn’t you panic?”

Ye Kehuan looked up and closed her eyes. “I just…I really just don’t understand why you suddenly alienated me then…”

“Because I was jealous of you and Du Mingan being in that damn relationship!” Jiang Laien yelled, finally unable to hold it back any longer.

Footnotes:

1: “Dissatisfied” was the literal translation. It felt a bit odd, and I considered changing it, but considering the context, this was probably the best thing that worked.

2: That’s not exactly what she said… but I couldn’t help it… Literal translation: “So, what exactly is it that I need to do to satisfy you?”

3: The doctor. She was wondering if Jiang Laien went to see the doctor after she caught a cold.

Translator’s Corner:

I hadn’t translated this in a while and I forgot how much tension there was. The chapter is late because I’m lazy and I had to take care of some health stuff, but chapter 5 is finally here. Per usual, if you find any errors, comment and I’ll get that fixed up.

In other news, twilightpavilion now has a Discord server. Feel free to chat there about this series, other series, and translations. Or you can join just to hang out with me and yell at me if I haven’t updated in a while.