The woman finally apologized and pressed down the head of her child so he could say sorry.
Lin Jiayin walked in front of the boy, squatted down, and gently said, “It’s okay, but you have to remember not to run around inside the supermarket next time.”
The child replied sadly: “Okay.”
When Lin Jiayin stood up and was not looking, the naughty child made an ugly face and impersonated her, “Don’t run around inside the market.”
Lin Jiayin didn’t see it, but Shen Zhan saw it clearly, “Little brat, do you really want to be beaten up?”
The naughty kid immediately hid behind his mother.
The middle-aged woman opened her mouth but saw that Shen Zhan really wanted to beat up her son. She glared at him and took her son and hurried away.
Lin Jiayin looked at him: “You are too fierce.”
“Fierce?” Shen Zhan snorted lightly, “I even wanted to beat up his mother.”
“…” Lin Jiayin took a step back reflexively.
This scared action made Shen Zhan smile.
Shen Zhan: “I don’t hit women.”
“That’s good.” Lin Jiayin nodded and moved near him again.
“What? Do I look like a person who hits women?” Shen Zhan narrowed his eyes.
Lin Jiayin shook her head: “You don’t look like that…but you were really fierce just now.”
Shen Zhan pursed his lower lip and looked at her stomach, “Were you really not hurt?”
“Really not.” Lin Jiayin pressed her abdomen, “It doesn’t hurt.”
“Let’s go.” Shen Zhan pushed the cart, lifted his long legs, and walked forward.
After leaving Carrefour, the two went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
On the car back, Shen Zhan asked her: “Where should I drop you?”
Is he asking her whether they’ll go back to Senhe or not? Lin Jiayin thought for a while, then asked him, “Where do you think I should go back?”
Of course, she wanted to go to Senhe.
Seeing the red light ahead, Shen Zhan’s placed his slender arms on the steering wheel, and turned his head: “Why do I feel like there’s something wrong with your words?”
“Is there?” Lin Jiayin grabbed her hair. She looked out the window as she conceals her embarrassment.
The green light flashed and the car starts to move.
On the corner of her eyes, she saw that Shen Zhan was not looking at her. Lin Jiayin whispered sluggishly: “You just said I was your girlfriend.”
“Yeah.”
“Is that right?” Lin Jiayin was suddenly lost.
No matter how stupid she is, she understands that she and Shen Zhan are not really like a normal boyfriend and girlfriend.
Today was the first time she heard the words “my girlfriend” from him. After being happy, she suddenly felt lost.
She seems to want more as time goes by. At first, she thought she could just talk to him for a while. After they talked, she wanted to be his girlfriend. After she became his girlfriend, she became more greedy.
But it doesn’t matter, one step at a time.
There will always be a fruitful day.
“Continuously persisting and not giving up” is the life motto of Lin Jiayin!
Lin Jiayin’s mood suddenly brightened again, and she made a natural gesture of cheering.
“What do you want me to say?” Shen Zhan asked casually and glanced at her stupid cheering action with his peripheral vision. He couldn’t help but curl his lips.
Shen Zhan: “…”
The atmosphere in the car condensed after a few seconds.
Lin Jiayin swallowed and whispered: “I’d better go back to school, I didn’t change my clothes yesterday.”
In the end, they went back to the dorm.
Tao Mo was sitting on the chair looking at the phone. She saw Lin Jiayin coming back with a big bag full of things. “You went to the supermarket?”
Lin Jiayin: “Yeah.”
Tao Mo opened the bag: “It’s all chocolates. It’s so many.” She squinted her eyes and looked up and down: “Did your boyfriend bought it?”
Lin Jiayin nodded.
“Tsk, that’s good.” Tao Mo sat back in her seat again, “No wonder you really want to delete that post.”
Speaking of deleting posts, Lin Jiayin suddenly remembered it.
She took out her phone and entered the school forum. The person who posted the article did not reply to her, so she sent another private message.
“Do you think this bag looks good?” Tao Mo handed the phone to her.
Seeing the price, Lin Jiayin frowned. “It’s good-looking, but it’s too expensive.”
This single bag costs eight thousand yuan—almost half of their tuition fee.
“What’s expensive? It’s only eight thousand. Most of the female students in our class have bags which cost more than ten thousand yuan.” Tao Mo scanned the detailed image of the bag.
Lin Jiayin opened her closet, “My bag is pretty and it’s only 80 yuan with free shipping. Do you want me to send you the link?”
Tao Mo raised his head and glanced, curling his lips: “Forget it. I still want to buy this bag.”
“It’s too expensive.” Lin Jiayin walked over, “It’s eight thousand yuan.”
“It’s only eight thousand. I saw Zhang Zhihan’s bag today. It’s the new style of LV1I think that’s Louis Vuitton, a luxury brand.. The official price for her bag is fifty-eight thousand. Meanwhile, the price of this bag I’m interested in is only a fraction of that.”
“But her family is rich.” Lin Jiayin touched her cheek and said seriously.
Tao Mo didn’t say a word.
Most of the art students are from good families. She and Tao Mo should be regarded as one of the poorest in their school.
Tao Mo is from a single-parent family. Her mother runs a small noodle restaurant and there’s still a younger brother who is in high school.
“You can buy the same bag as mine. We can both carry matching bags like sisters.” Lin Jiayin sent her the link.
Tao Mo didn’t speak. She is still looking down at Taobao.
After a while, Tao Mo turned her head and said, “Jiayin, can you lend me some money?”
Lin Jiayin asked: “You don’t have living expenses anymore?”
Tao Mo opened his mouth and said nothing.
Lin Jiayin asked again: “How much do you want to borrow?”
Tao Mo tentatively asked, “Four thousand?”
Lin Jiayin frowned.
Tao Mo: “Three thousand will do!”
Because Tao Mo’s mother was not punctual in giving an allowance, Lin Jiayin would often lend her a few hundred yuan for emergency purposes, and Tao Mo would immediately pay her back after receiving money from her mother.
Lin Jiayin said: “You’re not really going to buy that bag, right…”
“I have four thousand yuan in my savings—which was enough, but I really want to buy this one now. I saw the comments that this one is the most cost-effective.” Tao Mo showed the phone screen to her with great interest. “It has a good quality and it’s made from genuine leather. I’m sure that it can be used for several years.”
Lin Jiayin didn’t look at Tao Mo’s phone, her eyes fell on her face: “Sorry, I can’t lend you money.”
Tao Mo paused. “Why?” She looked frustrated.
“I genuinely feel that there is no need to buy such an expensive bag.” Lin Jiayin looked serious.
Tao Mo acted like a baby: “You can just lend me three thousand for now. I’ll take two performance gigs. I can return you the money in the next two weeks at the latest.”
Lin Jiayin shook her head.
Tao Mo: “I will pay you back next week!”
Lin Jiayin pursed her mouth and shook her head slowly.
“Your mother left you with so much money. I’m only asking three thousand. You can lend me a bit.” Tao Mo shook her shoulder.
Lin Jiayin said, “The money my mother left me can’t be used.”
In fact, there are not many—just 200,000 yuan in total. Now, there is only 150,000 yuan left.
The tuition fees for dance majors are very expensive, and the costumes and preparation fees for performances and competitions are also very costly. Lin Jiayin earns her living expenses through her part-time job.
Unless she really needs money, she won’t just withdraw her mother’s savings.
Tao Mo was a little aggrieved: “I already have saved four thousand. I really want to buy this bag. It’s not that I won’t return it to you.”
Lin Jiayin smiled: “Well, I’ll gift you the same bag like mine, and you can take your four thousand yuan to pay back your student loan? How about that?”
The air froze for a moment.
The atmosphere in the bedroom suddenly became awkward.
After a while, Tao Mo smiled: “Forget it, I won’t buy this bag. It’s too expensive, and I don’t think it is necessary.”
Lin Jiayin: “That’s right!” She opened Taobao: “Which color do you want?”
Tao Mo shook her head, “No, I will buy it myself.”
Seeing her look a little gloomy, Lin Jiayin couldn’t say anything.
Tao Mo sighed, “I know this bag is expensive, and it’s not in the range I can usually afford, but they always look down on me.”
The degree of comparison in the art academy is very strong. Girls gather together to discuss major luxury items that can be worn from head to foot. When they spoke of earrings that cost tens of thousands, Tao Mo can’t even utter a single word.
“It’s okay if you can’t afford it now.” Lin Jiayin patted her chest, “When I became successful in the future, I will give it to you!”
“Don’t forget what you just said in the future.” Tao Mo smiled and climbed onto the bed, “I will go to bed first.”
Lin Jiayin was surprised: “You’re going to bed so early?”
Tao Mo said, “I’m sleepy.”
Since it was still early, Lin Jiayin moved her chair away, spread her yoga mat on the ground, and began to press her legs and stretch her waist.
Two hours later, her whole face was wet with sweat. Her skin was white and flushed, and it glowed translucently under the incandescent light of the bedroom.
She wiped her sweat with a tissue, tied her hair up, took a shower in the toilet, and brushed her teeth on the balcony.
Halfway through, she suddenly looked up and saw the sky full of stars.
She thought for a while, spit out the toothpaste foam, and ran back to the bedroom to get her phone.
When Shen Zhan returned home, he threw a box of chocolates in his hand on the table. Lin Jiayin forced it to him before getting out of the car.
He sank down into the sofa, looked at the pink chocolate box, and bent his lips suddenly. He doesn’t know what he’s laughing at.
He sat for a while, then went into the bedroom to take a shower. Afterward, his phone rang.
It’s Madam Tang Ye.
Shen Zhan paused before accepting the call.
A sweet female voice spoke.
“Dear son?”
Shen Zhan opened the glass door. A breeze blew through and flicked the slightly wet hair on his forehead.
“Mom.”
She teased: “Do you still know your own mother? You didn’t even tell me when you returned after your competition abroad.”
Shen Zhan asked: “Is there anything?”
“Hey, I only want to make a phone call because I’m worried about my son. Why is your attitude so cold?”
“I’m doing good.”
“If you are really fine, why did you only answer your phone after receiving seven or eight call tries from your mother?”
“I was in the shower so I didn’t hear it.”
“Okay, I believe you.”
“Okay.”
There was silence, and then his mother sighed. “My dear son, mom misses you.”
Shen Zhan didn’t speak.
“Go home for dinner tomorrow. Mom will make you your favorite sweet and sour short ribs.”
Shen Zhan: “There are classes tomorrow—”
Tang Ye: “Stop. Don’t lie to your mother. Do you really not just want to go home?”
Shen Zhan: “I really don’t really want to go back.”
Tang Ye was still quiet for a while before she clicked her tongue.
Tang Ye: “You’re really straightforward. Aren’t you afraid of your mother being sad?”
Tang Ye: “Go home tomorrow.”
Who knows where Xiao Hei suddenly came from. He just appeared from somewhere and started rubbing against Shen Zhan’s ankle.
Shen Zhan knelt down and rubbed its head: “It depends.”
“You must come back.” Tang Ye glanced at her back. Lu Zhishu was sitting on the sofa while reading a financial newspaper.
She clutched her phone and whispered, “Your dad will not be at home tomorrow.”
Shen Zhan: “It has nothing to do with whether he is at home or not. I will come back in a few days.”
Tang Ye was unhappy: “If I don’t see you tomorrow, your mother will go to school to pick you up.”
Shen Zhan got up and transferred the phone in his other hand.
Tang Ye: “If you don’t speak, your mother will treat it as if you agreed.”
“All right,” Shen Zhan said helplessly. His mother could really do things like coming to school to pick him up just to bring him home.
Tang Ye: “Come back early. It’s been a long time since I saw my precious handsome boy.”
Shen Zhan answered with an “um.”
Tang Ye talked to him for a long time until another male voice asked, “Who are you talking to? Is it Shen Zhan?”
After the call, Shen Zhan turned and returned inside the house.
“Do you want to come in?” Shen Zhan looked at Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei meowed. Shen Zhan opened the glass door.
Xiao Hei meowed again. It turned its head and walked slowly.
Shen Zhan watched Xiao Hei enter, turn and nestle on the sofa. The bright light cast a faint shadow on Shen Zhan’s cold white skin. Although the room was bright as day, his expression was dull and unclear.
He started to smoke a cigarette.
The room was full of smoke and haze which covered up the inexplicable emotions reflected in Shen Zhan’s eyes.
He feels a little depressed, and a little uncomfortable.
He began to think about the attitude of his parents to him after the incident.
His mother was okay, except for not talking to him very much in the first few days. Later, she returned to her previous appearance.
As for his dad…
Shen Zhan smiled bitterly.
His father, who has always been proud of him, said: “If possible, I hope I have no son like you.”
Within half an hour, Shen Zhan smoked a whole pack of cigarettes.
The last cigarette was sandwiched between his two fingers. He watched the smoke rose up in the air.
Suddenly, his phone on the coffee table vibrated. He shook off the ashes from the cigarette, picked up the phone, and looked at it.
Lin Jiayin sent a picture. It looked like it was taken from the balcony of the school dormitory. On the wash table was a pink toothbrush cup that fits her usual style.
The content of the photo is the night sky—the night sky dotted with stars.
Lin Jiayin: [I’ll start counting the stars]
Lin Jiayin: [One, two, three, four, five…Oh but there’s too much]
Shen Zhan exhaled the smoke and prepared to type. The upper screen showed that she was still typing, so his hand stopped.
Lin Jiayin: [I like you as much as the number of stars in the sky]
Lin Jiayin: [You have someone like me who likes you so much]
Lin Jiayin: [Sleep tight, good night, sweet dreams!]
Shen Zhan lifted his lips and smiled, and his depressed mood was wiped out inexplicably.
[A very long rambling from the translator HAHAHA]: Tbh, I read this novel a long time ago and I don’t remember much of the details in it (When I decided to translate this novel to English, I feel like I’m re-reading it again). I can only remember the general impression and feelings I had when I finished reading this novel. I recalled that at first, I wanted to drop it because it was so slow-paced and LJY is always being ridiculed as stupid (which I’m really uncomfortable with). But in the end, the warmth between the characters and the rollercoaster of feelings the plot brought me made me finish it. It’s not a perfect novel with perfect characters. It’s not all just fluff and romance, there’s a lot of drama in it. Anyway, the latter half of this chapter made me recollect the feelings I had when I first read this novel. LJY’s acts of foolishness made me doubt life at times, but there’s the kindness and pureness of her which compliments SZ’s cold and dark personality. It sounds so cliche but LJY really brought “light” in SZ’s dark world.
