——
During her three day vacation, Jiang Lingzi would chat with him everyday.
Junior Jiang was very good at holding a conversation and had never allowed an opportunity for awkward silence to prevail.
From this, she was able to learn more about him. He enjoyed basketball, PUBG1[1] PUBG is an acronym for PlayUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a battle royale shooter that pits 100 players against each other in a struggle for survival., and eating the claypot rice2[2] Claypot rice is literally, rice cooked in a clay pot. Of course, there are also some veggies and meat added but it can vary depending on the person who’s cooking it.
from the second floor of the North Dining Hall.
And with this, Jiang Lingzi began to understand there really was such a thing in the world as having the mental capability to chat on the phone until three in the morning and still not want to sleep.
His every message was like a star, lighting up her boring vacation. As she tossed and turned deep into the night, they lit up her pillow side.
……
The day before she returned to school, she received a long-awaited skater dress. It was a light gray tulle style, and it looked as if she had donned the ethereal beauty that could only be found in a fairyland.
She couldn’t hold it in and asked Junior Jiang:
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“Gal usw tskdt cynj vs pnbssz vsxsaaso?”
Fbl oydvle vs olya vbkp ealpp yde xllv bkx ytykd.
Kwdksa Kkydt: Zlp.
Kkydt Nkdtgk’p lulp zkv wr: Ebyv vkxl kp uswa vaykd?
Kwdksa Kkydt: Wswa kd vbl yqvladssd.
Kkydt Nkdtgk srldle wr vbl vknjlv rwanbypkdt yrr sd vbl prsv, vbld olyjzu okvbealo qasx kv. Mbl vaykd qsa vbyv vkxl oyp yzalyeu qwzzu cssjle, lhld vbl pvyvksd vknjlvp bye clld pdyvnble lxrvu.
Rv oyp bla obs oypd’v yzlav ldswtb yde byed’v cssjle vbl vknjlvp yp lyazu yp rsppkczl.
Kkydt Nkdtgk oyp wdkxytkdyczu ekpyrrskdvle cwv nswze sdzu altalvqwzzu alrzu: Mbld ol yald’v vyjkdt vbl pyxl vaykd.
She inwardly comforted herself. In anycase, she could still see him after returning to school.
Junior Jiang replied with a smiley face: Next time, I’ll order your’s along with mine.
Jiang Lingzi cheered up immediately: Okay.
——
After the holiday ended, Jiang Lingzi returned to the school.
Her roommates surrounded her, interrogating and pestering her for Junior Jiang’s picture.
It was a pity his Moments screamed ‘straight guy’3[3] The ‘straight’ here is referring to the stereotype of how men who are a bit more bent will be more into selfies.. There were no selfies and she could only shake her head and put up her hands.
It was night, Jiang Lingzi hid beneath the covers while sending him a message.
Spirit Sauce: Are you sleeping?
Junior Jiang: No.
Spirit Sauce: I haven’t either.
Junior Jiang: Do you have class tomorrow?
Spirit Sauce: Yes, you?
Junior Jiang: Do you want to go out and eat tomorrow night?
On the upper bunk, appeared a large glimmering “chrysalis” which began trembling. For fear of waking up her roommate, Jiang Lingzi tightly covered her mouth while laughing uncontrollably.
Spirit Sauce: What are we eating, your favorite claypot rice?
Junior Jiang: Do you want to eat it?
Spirit Sauce: I’ve already had it.
Junior Jiang: What do you like to eat?
Spirit Sauce: I’m not picky, I’m easy to feed.
Junior Jiang: How about we eat out?
Spirit Sauce: I want to eat claypot rice.
Junior Jiang: Ok, no problem.
The next day, Jiang Lingzi rummaged through her suitcase for her war armor, the skater dress. She stood before the mirror and posed.
Her roommate sensed something was up: “What are you up to?”
Jiang Lingzi put a finger on her lips: “Shh——As Buddha said, it cannot be said.”4 [4] Fun fact, this is referring to something said by Buddha. The meaning here would be you understand what you understand and you don’t understand what you won’t understand regardless of how someone tries to explain it to you.
She had butterflies in her stomach until the evening, Jiang Lingzi fixed her hair and then set out determinedly for the North Dining Hall.
At their designated meeting place—— She had been drawing circles on the ground with her feet in front of the stairs of the first floor with her hands behind her back for a while.
She suddenly heard someone call out her name: “Jiang Lingzi.”
Like a ray of light which cut through the glow of the setting sun, Jiang Lingzi raised her eyes and saw three male students standing at a place not too far away while looking at her. They were teasing and jostling each other. Junior Jiang was also amongst them.
He smiled brightly with his eyes curved.
He waved twice at her, said goodbye to his roommates, and jogged over.
Jiang Lingzi couldn’t control the curve of her lips. She didn’t have the courage to look at him and just nodded to herself.
The two headed up to the second floor.
An awkwardly sweet atmosphere seemed to pervade the space between them, like having been unexpectedly rained over with honey water.
Junior Jiang asked her: “Are you sure you want to eat claypot rice?”
Jiang Lingzi laughed: “What’s wrong? It’s not as if I’ve never eaten it.”
Junior Jiang replied: “After all, it’s the first time I’m inviting you to eat. It just seems a little too plain.”
Jiang Lingzi fiddled with her bangs: “It’s fine, I’d be eating leafy greens and millet porridge at the dorms if you didn’t invite me.”
She couldn’t figure out where it would be most appropriate for her to place her hands.
“Really?” This joke surprised Junior Jiang.
He actually believed it. How could he be so cute. Jiang Lingzi looked at him: “It’s a lie, you actually believed it?”
Junior Jiang snorted: “It’s all because you’re so skinny.”
After finding a vacant seat, Junior Jiang left to order.
And when he returned, he held two drinks in one hand and put them down on the table, one bottle of Coca-Cola and one bottle of Sprite.
“What do you want to drink?” He asked.
Jiang Lingzi told him: “I’ll take the Coca-Cola.”
He passed the bottle over and inserted a straw.
As he was about to sit down, someone suddenly called out to him: “Jiang Sheng!”
Jiang Lingzi looked to where the shout had come from and found several grinning girls curiously looking at them. They were most likely his classmates.
Jiang Lingzi curled her lips. Despite knowing he wasn’t hers yet, she still couldn’t help feeling the surge of jealousy which rose up.
After sitting down with him, she also called out his full name after failing to restrain herself: “Jiang Sheng.”
The young man raised his eyes which were sparkling: “Yes?”
Jiang Lingzi sucked in some Coca-Cola through her straw, using it to bury her emotions: “Just…… wanted to call you.”
Like how those second year girls called you just then.
He smiled neatly: “Eh, looks like you already know my name?”
Jiang Lingzi shook her head: “Yes. But I didn’t note your real name in my WeChat.”
He raised a brow: “What did you put in the remark5[5] The remark is actually one of the available input boxes located under the Edit Contact section of the WeChat settings. Previously, it was called Alias, but in the latest update, it is now called Remark. As can be deduced from the previous name, the remark box is essentially an alias or nickname you can give your contact to make it easier for you to know who is who.?”
Jiang Lingzi: “Junior Jiang.”
Junior Jiang frowned: “Is that name better than Jiang Sheng?”
Jiang Lingzi: “Perhaps. However, after hearing someone call you Jiang Sheng, it seems to sound like a pretty good name.”
Junior Jiang nodded: “Mm,” following which, he turned toward her, with a deadpan look: “Jiang Lingzi.”
Jiang Lingzi’s brain stuttered to a halt. Her heart rate sped up. Why was he calling her name in such a focused and stirring manner?
Junior Jiang kept his gaze on her and smiled: “My name is Jiang Sheng, not Junior Jiang, remember that.”
“Got it, got it…… I’ll change it after I get home.” She said these words in a voice smaller than a mosquito’s and lowered her red face right then and there.
——
For the next half month, the two would have a meal together from time to time.
Occasionally, they would bump into each other in the school building. Jiang Sheng would smile and wave to her from in the crowd. Jiang Lingzi would flush from the top of her head to the soles of her feet and still have to endure the chatter of her roommates.
“Please just get together already!”
“Hurry and catch this handsome guy! Don’t let other female wolves snatch him!”
“Don’t just chat with him all day without a clear stance!”
“The junior, himself, feels embarrassed. What are you doing, following in his footsteps and acting like a pure and innocent maiden?”
During the nightly slumber parties, her roommates would complain of this thinly veiled ambiguity which was still hidden by a paper window.6[6] In the past, windows were covered with paper rather than glass and of course, paper is quite flimsy and not all that great at hiding or protecting what’s behind it. Therefore, they’re saying that the ambiguity of their relationship is thinly veiled and could be broken with just a little force.
Even if they threatened her, Jiang Lingzi had her own plans.
She was thinking, I need to find a suitable time and tell him my feelings.
Later on, during the May 1st holiday, Jiang Lingzi learned her lesson from the time before and camped out at the ticket purchase app in advance.
Of course, she had to first ask to see what plans Jiang Sheng had.
After spending a whole night picking train times, Jiang Lingzi sent a WeChat message to Jiang Sheng, as she usually did.
Spirit Sauce: How are you going back on May 1st?
Jiang Sheng quickly replied: Taking the train with my girlfriend.
Jiang Lingzi’s heart sank. How could that be……
Why, all of a sudden, does he have a girlfriend?
Weren’t we talking just fine these past few days? Where did it go wrong?
Her mood fell to rock bottom, the sudden bad news threw her mind into turmoil.
But she still feigned indifference as she answered: All right.
Another reply came from the other end.
Jiang Sheng: You agreed?
Spirit Sauce: What?
Her eyes blinked in bewilderment, but the next moment, they widened. Elation surged through her. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, all because of two new texts which flashed onto her screen. Both were from Jiang Sheng:
【So is it convenient for you to tell me your ID number?】
【To keep my girlfriend from getting confused again, I am going to book the tickets for us.】
Final Thoughts:
Translator:
Ahhhhhh! Slyyyyyy, so slick! But also so misleading hahahaha. Poor guy, he was so confused when he interpreted her ‘all right’ as an agreement to his proposal when really she was misinterpreting his message as letting her know he had a girlfriend.
Back to my review: It’s just so sweet! A super sweet story! Although this doesn’t give a typical ‘Oh, and they lived happily ever after’ ending. I’m actually not put off by it. I think it’s quite realistic in how it merely depicts one part of young love. In one lifetime a person might go through several ‘loves’ or relationships before finally settling down but in any case, there’s always that first love milemarker. We don’t know her ending but you get to follow her through her first love and squeal see how sweet and lovely it is as well as see the confusion, anticipation, hesitation, and bouts of uncertainty rise and subside.
My first time translating a one-shot and I can’t help but pat myself one the back. The author certainly likes their analogies and even though it’s given me a few rough patches it’s been a lovely story to read and translate.
QC:
Hiya, Ame here! I went through this qc pretty quickly because Z is an awesome translator and this story is just so cute and… cute! It’s super relatable too, as to the FL’s thought processes over meeting a new guy she kinda likes or has an interest in. Well, that’s all that’s relatable for me though, I sure didn’t get such ‘fateful’ or ‘chance’ encounters when I was in university… Anyways, oh, why wasn’t there Junior Jiang’s pov!!?? Wished this was a one-shot series but oh well……..
Credits and appreciations:
To the author, thank you for bringing us such a lovely story!
Many thanks to my lovely QC, she works so hard and without her, the quality of my tls would not be as good as they are now. Sending my ꒒ ꒩ ꒦ ꒰ your way! ⭑♡ˊ⌒(⭒ᵔ દ ᵔ⭒)ノ ｡･:◃*⭑ ༘ To my readers, I hope this sweetens your day, it certainly has sweetened mine. I hope everyone has enjoyed this oneshot and isn’t too annoyed with my long long long footnotes and I wish everyone a wonderful day~ See you all next time!
Index:
[1] PUBG is an acronym for PlayUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a battle royale shooter that pits 100 players against each other in a struggle for survival.
[2] Claypot rice is literally, rice cooked in a clay pot. Of course, there are also some veggies and meat added but it can vary depending on the person who’s cooking it.
[3] The ‘straight’ here is referring to the stereotype of how men who are a bit more bent will be more into selfies.
[4] Fun fact, this is referring to something said by Buddha. The meaning here would be you understand what you understand and you don’t understand what you won’t understand regardless of how someone tries to explain it to you.
[5] The remark is actually one of the available input boxes located under the Edit Contact section of the WeChat settings. Previously, it was called Alias, but in the latest update, it is now called Remark. As can be deduced from the previous name, the remark box is essentially an alias or nickname you can give your contact to make it easier for you to know who is who.
[6] In the past, windows were covered with paper rather than glass and of course, paper is quite flimsy and not all that great at hiding or protecting what’s behind it. Therefore, they’re saying that the ambiguity of their relationship is thinly veiled and could be broken with just a little force.
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