Title: 不正经关系 (Improper Relationship)
Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)
Translator: 月野 見事 (TsukinoMigoto) @ kin0monogatari
Protagonists ：严海安 (Yan Hai’an – MC), 孙言 (Sun Yan – ML)
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Yan Hai’an went to the bar again. No matter how bored he was, he had no choice but to drink a glass of wine quietly and be by himself. Li Xi seems to come here every day to check in on him, and he always sees him every time.
Yan Hai’an feels that his interest in himself has not subsided, but he still wants to take things slowly. He controls the distance between them very comfortably. He chats while having a glass of wine with him. It was indeed quite pleasant.
When Li Xi seemed to be more serious, Yan Haian wavered more and more.
What if you give this nice guy a try? He thought to himself.
The too long window period made Yan Hai’an think too much. Even if he had this idea, he could never take that crucial step. Fortunately, Li Xi was very patient this time and was willing to get along with him like that.
After adjusting his mood in the bar, Yan Hai’an was more able to deal with Mo Yisheng. Because of that disagreement they had, Mo Yisheng was sulking for several days. But Yan Hai’an treated him like an ignorant child. He ignores him but still takes care of him just as meticulously as usual.
Mo Yisheng was so sullen that he couldn’t take it anymore.
He repeatedly told Yan Hai’an that he didn’t need to flatter those who didn’t know how to paint. And that if he just put his mind on this kind of place, he wouldn’t be able to paint anything. Yan Hai’an laughed and said: “I don’t paint anymore, Yi Sheng. You know, I have no talent in this area. You are in charge of painting, I am in charge of socialising. It’s just our division of labour and cooperation, is it not good?”
Mo Yisheng couldn’t refute and finally just said: “But you used to like to paint…”
His thinking is very simple. Painting is a sacred thing and cannot be spoiled with dirty politics. However, for Yan Hai’an, if he likes it, he doesn’t have to care about it.
He has no intention of entangling with Mo Yisheng regarding this topic. And they have to prepare to go to the small ancient town with the rest to collect folk customs. They will stay there for at least a week. A lot of things need to be prepared and arranged.
They did not go with Li Qing. They drove there by themselves. Yan Hai set up the navigation and took three wrong routes back and forth before finally finding the right route. Since it is really undeveloped, the road is also filled with ditches. The two were shaken over and over by the harsh road. Yan Hai’an felt that the car might fall apart at this rate. Fortunately, the weather was fine. If it rained, the road would also be muddy.
They arrived at the designated area two hours later than the scheduled time. The meal time was already over by then. Both of them are so hungry that they feel like their chests are heavy. Yan Hai’an stuffs some biscuits to Mo Yisheng’s hands, calls Li Qing, and asks about the way.
Mo Yisheng nibbles the biscuits he has in his hands. He stares at the scenery outside while clinging to the window. There are ducks passing by on the side of the road. Yan Hai’an slows down the speed of the car carefully so as not to let the car run over them.
Turning left and right, Yan Hai’an finally saw Li Qing standing at the door of a residential house from a distance. It was rare of her to dress so casually. She was wrapped in a light grey sports suit with minty green sunglasses on her head. She waves at them.
“It’s been hard work.” Li Qing has a ponytail on her head. She only wears light makeup today and she is very energetic. “But it’s good to come here to clear your lungs occasionally. Are you hungry?”
They are going to stay there. Li Qing came to pick them up on purpose. Yan Hai’an parked the car on the side of the road outside of the residence area and followed Li Qing into the residence with Mo Yisheng.
The yard was cleanly swept. There is a group of small geese accompanied by one big goose in the corner. An elder woman came out to greet her, wrapping her arms around her waist: “Come on? Let’s eat first? It’s still hot on the stove.”
Li Qing introduced Yan Hai’an and Mo Yisheng to hee: “Wu Dajie, this is the person who will live in your house. I’ll leave it to you later.”
Wu Dajie’s skin looks a bit rough. She puts on an enthusiastic smile. She had prepared a large pot of roast chicken with potatoes for Yan Hai’an and Mo Yisheng. The vegetarian dish for dinner was stir-fried green rapeseed.
Li Qing had eaten. She is smoking her cigarette and watching them gobble up their food at the moment. She speaks to them: “You will stay here during this visit. I have made the arrangement with Wu Dajie. You can decide for yourself how long you want to stay. You can give me a call and tell me whatever you need. I will bring them over for you.”
She has a lot of other things to do so she won’t be accompanying them here all the time. She will only send people to assist them or come over to see the situation herself every now and then.
Li Qing says: “You can soak in the hot springs at night. This is a major feature of this place. Every house has one just behind their houses. If you have nothing to do, you can just walk around to look at the village. It is home to a hundred years of history.”
Yan Hai’an had taken a look when he came in. The residence seemed to be old, with a distinct ancient style in appearance, with a bucket arch structure and a single building. There are some simple carvings on the beam and column frame in the courtyard, which may have been damaged after a long time and have worn out of its charm over the years.
Li Qing left without waiting for them to finish eating. Yan Hai’an and Mo Yisheng ate a pot of farmhouse roast chicken to the point where only a little soup was left, and they felt full.
When Wu Ningshu saw that they had finished eating, she came to clean up the empty plates. Yan Hai’an stood up to help her.
“No, no, you rest. I’ll do this by myself.” Wu Ningshu seemed a little embarrassed in front of them. She insisted on letting Yan Hai’an rest. But Yan Hai’an just helped her clean up the tableware despite her refusal: “Dajie, I have some questions to ask you.”
Wu Ningshu hurriedly said, “Ask away.”
Yan Hai’an had nothing else to do. He just wanted to have a good relationship with the host. So hevcasually asked where the best scenery was. Wu Ningshu didn’t know much about the aesthetic value of a scenery so she only told him about the general situation in the village.
This village is really small. It is enough to circle around the village by foot for about an hour. In the last century, there were only 156 households. But because of the blockade and backwardness of the area, most of them left for the city, leaving many houses empty. This is also what happened to Wu Ningshu’s family. Her husband died early and her three children which she had worked so hard to raise all went to the city to work. They would send some money to her every month. So now, she lives alone.
Wu Ningshu said: “A big boss came here half a year ago. He bought a lot of houses in the east of the village and said he would develop them. He brought people to repair the houses a few days ago. So, I said, there is nothing much to see in our village.”
She seemed a little embarrassed.
Yan Hai’an laughed. He could understand Wu Ningshu’s mood. She was born and raised in this place. So, she was ignorant of the beauty of the place. However, people like him and Mo Yisheng who lived in smoggy cities suddenly came here and fell in love immediately with the place.
They had been through a bumpy road for too long before. Meanwhile, Mo Yisheng’s work and rest time are always irregular. So he feels sleepy after eating. Yan Hai’an had no choice but to let Wu Ningshu take care of him while he went out to hang out while it was still daylight.
It is a good season now. The temperature in the countryside is a little lower than that in the city. The air is fresh and natural. There are green mountains in the distance and running water in the vicinity. It is a beautiful landscape for a painting. The terraced fields are piled up, and the greens that are stacked and stacked are fresh and tender, exuding the vitality of birth, and people will be in a good mood just walking on the road.
In addition to the ducks, there are also cattles being driven by. Yan Hai’an steps aside and looks at the beautiful scenery. So he takes a picture of the scenery with his handphone. It is for him to show to Mo Yisheng later as reference.
The roads in the village are all connected. Yan Hai’an doesn’t need to remember the route and isn’t worried about getting lost. Every road can be ventured into. He walks around aimlessly but then he hears the sound of renovation.
Scaffolding is erected outside the houses in front of him. Workers are going up and down working. And there are many building materials piled up at the corners of the walls.
Yan Hai’an unknowingly had walked to the east side of the village.
To be honest, the scenery here is better and more vast. Not only is it surrounded by mountains and rivers, but there is a bamboo forest next to it, which looks flourishing. Just by looking at it, you are already captivated. But it has been circled for development. Yan Hai’an feels like it is a little sad.
He continued to walk forward, wanting to go to the bamboo forest to have a look. However, someone came out of the construction site while speaking on the phone and happened to see him.
Yan Hai’an: “…”
Sun Yan: “…”
“It’s really fate to meet each other over thousands of miles away.” Sun Yan took off his sunglasses and nodded coolly, “Where’s Yi Sheng?”
In such a beautiful paradise, suddenly encountering such a person is like stepping on shit with new shoes. Yan Hai’an thought that it’s already too late to ignore him so he said politely: “I came here to collect the materials. He stayed behind to rest.”
Sun Yan lit a cigarette and squinted at him: “Where are you guys staying at?”
It’s none of your business, was what Yan Hai’an thought about.
Yan Hai’an said: “At a residence.”
Sun Yan shook the dust from his clothes, and seemed dissatisfied with Yan Hai’an’s ignorance of his questions and answers: “I’m asking you where exactly?”
“The west side of the village.” It’s not that he doesn’t want to tell him. But he really doesn’t know how to describe where it is. In this village, there is no distinction between streets and house numbers. Everyone knows each other. Just ask them to know who they belong to. “The family’s name is Wu Ningshu…”
Sun Yan interrupted him impatiently and crushed the half-smoked cigarette with his foot: “Then wait. Take me there later.”
After speaking, he had already gone to another residential house under renovation. After a while, Yan Hai’an chased after him and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Sun, I have something to do.”
However, the man in front of him didn’t listen to him at all. It was as if he was confident that Yan Hai’an would wait for him. His long legs had already reached the other threshold. Yan Hai’an stopped in his tracks, all his insides burned, and he didn’t even look at the building materials piled up by the side for fear that he would pick up the bricks and rush to beat Sun Yan up without hesitation.
He stood silently for a moment, trying to calm down. But he couldn’t bear Sun Yan’s confidence any longer so he turned around and slipped away.
No longer interested in looking around, Yan Hai’an went straight back to Wu’s house. Mo Yisheng was still sleeping on the mattress. A thin blanket was all wrapped around him and his head was not exposed.
Yan Hai’an: “…”
Yes, you sure can rest, he thought.
He walked into the yard, where Wu Ningshu was feeding the geese: “Why don’t you take a nap for a while?”
“No, I won’t be able to sleep later at night.” Yan Hai’an called the studio and routinely asked about the situation over there. After the phone call, he took Mo Yisheng’s various supplies from the car into the house.
Wu Ningshu was busy in the kitchen. The big white goose, who had been fed outside, led a group of baby geese around the yard. From time to time, they poked their heads to look at him as if trying to expel him from their territory.
After Yan Hai’an was done with his work, he stared at the vigilant white geese in the yard, wondering if he had missed anything about their behaviour.
“Here it is?” The door was pushed open and Sun Yan stepped in. There was a man behind him, and he responded, “I asked. It’s here.”
Sun Yan turned his head and saw Yan Hai’an, and smiled grimly: “You ran pretty fast. Did I let you go?”
This man… Yan Hai’an couldn’t offend him but he was always haunted by him. Yan Hai’an was so annoyed by him that he wanted to beat him up with his fist. If he was a few years younger, his temper would have gotten the better of him: “Mr. Sun, I’ve already told you that I still have something to do.”
Sun Yan steps up in front of Yan Hai’an but speaks to the guy behind him, “I’ll stay here tonight to discuss some stuff.”
The other guy was probably his assistant, and he must have understood Sun Yan’s willful and domineering character very well. After Sun Yan said that, the guy looked around and found that there was movement in the kitchen so he trotted over.
Sun Yan smiled and said: “I really misread you. I didn’t expect you to have a little bit of a temper, eh?”
Being ridiculed so reluctantly, Yan Hai’an couldn’t help it no matter how good mannered he had become. He smiled and spoke sarcastically: “Mr. Sun must be joking. Those who have no temper are only the dead.”
***The author has something to say:
Yan Hai’an: (laughs) I really want to beat you up.
Sun Yan: (laughs)
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Next update: 2022.04.15
*Translator’s Note: ‘Wu Dajie’ = (Big) Sister Wu. Li Qing called her like this as a sign of respect. Her given name is Wu Ningshu. -K
