Day: June 11, 2022

Chapter 3

TL: Hoenimochi
TLC: Hoenibean

       When Zhou Yan’s son was hospitalized, Chen Yuncheng took a day off to visit the hospital in the afternoon.

       Before he left, he picked up a carton of milk from the kiosk, pulled down the shutter and locked it, and then walked towards the subway station.

       Zhou Yan was not in the hospital, and Chen Yuncheng only saw his girlfriend Gu Yaojia in the ward with the child.

       Chen Yuncheng sat down and chatted with Gu Yaojia for a while.

       When asked where Zhou Yan had gone, Gu Yaojia did not look too good and said, “He went to get some money.” He could hear that she had some complaints in her tone.

       After all, Gu Yaojia was still young. Before, when she was only with Zhou Yan, they were happy and had nothing to care about. However, once they had children, they were held back by many of reality’s worries.

       Now that the child was sick and needed money for treatment, it was not easy to feel fulfilled in many ways.

       Chen Yuncheng listened quietly and had nothing to say. He glanced at the sleeping child lying on the hospital bed, stood up, and said, “Then you all have a good rest, I’ll go first.”

       “Cheng ge, thank you,” Gu Yaojia accompanied Chen Yuncheng to the door of the ward.

       Chen Yuncheng waved his hand to tell her that she didn’t have to send him off. He walked through the corridor where people came and went, before heading towards the elevator.

       This was one of the largest hospitals in Chongfeng City. Every ward that Chen Yuncheng passed by was full of patients and there were loud noises everywhere. Some children were crying, and some family members were sitting at the door of the ward chatting. The inpatient building seemed to have the central air conditioning turned on. The air was dry and muggy, with a unique smell only belonging to the hospital. The window at the end of the corridor was open, but it only opened a little and was firmly stuck. The gap was only as much as a slit that even a child could not get through.

       Today was not the weekend, nor was it lunch time, so he didn’t see anyone at the elevator.

       Chen Yuncheng waited for more than ten seconds. When the elevator door opened, he saw a man standing inside.

       The man was very tall and wore a simple white coat that couldn’t completely hide his excellent figure. His expression was indifferent, but the moment the elevator door opened, his eyes fell on Chen Yuncheng’s face.

       Chen Yuncheng did not avoid his gaze. He walked towards the elevator, and at the same time, saw the work card on the man’s chest. In addition to the picture, the words “Ning Junyan” were particularly prominent.

       It turned out that he was really Ning Junyan and Chen Yuncheng was not mistaken.

       He walked in, turned his back to Ning Junyan, and his eyes fell on the constantly flashing floor lights.

       The elevator door slowly closed and the elevator began to descend.

       When they went down two floors, the elevator stopped, and seven or eight people came in at once from outside and filled the entire elevator in an instant.

       Chen Yuncheng subconsciously backed up and felt his heel step on something. He quickly stopped his steps, turned back and said, “I’m sorry.”

       Ning Junyan, who was stepped on by him, did not speak.

       Chen Yuncheng stood beside Ning Junyan and leaned against the innermost wall of the elevator.

       Later, some people came in the elevator, and it became more and more crowded. The air in the small and closed environment was turbid. Chen Yuncheng smelled smoke and sweat that didn’t belong in winter. There was also a little bit of what seemed like a perfume on Ning Junyan.

       With his hand hanging by his side, he accidentally touched the back of Ning Junyan’s hand, so he subconsciously looked down and saw the expensive high-end watch on Ning Junyan’s wrist, as well as the worn-out white marks on the cuffs of his own down jacket.

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly thought that it was good that Ning Junyan did not recognize him.

       The elevator of the hospital went down to the first floor and all the people in front walked out. When Chen Yuncheng followed behind Ning Junyan was still behind him.

       He stepped out of the elevator, looked up to identify his next direction, and was about to walk towards the door of the inpatient department.

       At this time, he suddenly heard someone calling his name from behind, “Chen Yuncheng.”

       How old was Ning Junyan the year they got separated? Chen Yuncheng remembered that Ning Junyan seemed to be fourteen, because at that time he was twelve years old, and he knew that Ning Junyan was two years older than him. The fourteen-year-old Ning Junyan was in a period of rapid development. He was growing taller and his voice became deeper and unpleasant, so the last thing left in Chen Yuncheng’s memory was only a shadow of the boy whose voice had changed.

       It was not at all like the present, where Chen Yuncheng heard the voice of an unfamiliar, low-pitched adult male.

       Chen Yuncheng turned around and saw Ning Junyan standing not far from the elevator door.

       There were no unnecessary pleasantries. Chen Yuncheng wanted to greet him with a smile and ask him when he recognized him, but Ning Junyan just said in a flat tone, “I’ll be off work in half an hour, is it convenient to have dinner together?”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded, “Sure.”

       He said it was half an hour, but in fact, when Chen Yuncheng got into Ning Junyan’s Land Rover, it was already almost an hour later.

       Ning Junyan took off his white lab coat and changed into a dark coat with a light camel coloured cashmere shirt inside.

       If these kinds of clothes were worn by Chen Yuncheng, it would be cold even if he had a fire on when he huddled in his kiosk every day.

       But Ning Junyan had sufficient heating both in the hospital and in the car. In this environment, Chen Yuncheng felt that after staying a little longer, he would even start sweating.

       As they arrived at the restaurant Ning Junyan chose for dinner, Chen Yuncheng took off his jacket as soon as he sat down, revealing his thin sweater inside.

       He still felt a little hot, so he picked up a glass of water and took a sip of lemonade. The water was cold.

       Ning Junyan sat opposite him and hardly spoke on the way out of the car until now, but when Chen Yuncheng took off his jacket, his eyes fell on him and he didn’t look away for a long time.

       After Ning Junyan finished ordering, Chen Yuncheng finally couldn’t help but say, “I thought you didn’t recognize me.”

       Ning Junyan also took a sip of water from the cup and said, “I did.”

       The two fell silent again.

       Chen Yuncheng was suddenly amused. He felt that he had found the same Ning Junyan that was in his memory. At that time, Ning Junyan was also like that, not willing to talk much and did not pay attention to anyone.

       He then smiled and said, “How long has it been? More than ten years, right?” He actually remembered when asking, but deliberately said it vaguely.

       Unexpectedly, Ning Junyan said, “Sixteen years.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “I didn’t expect you to be a doctor.”

       Ning Junyan looked him straight in the eyes, “What do you think I should have been?”

       Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “I can’t imagine.”

       Ning Junyan asked, “How about you?”

       Chen Yuncheng smiled, “I, ah, run a little business.”

       The waiters brought out their dishes one by one.

       After eating in silence for a while, Chen Yuncheng asked, “Are you married?”

       “No,” Ning Junyan answered quickly, and then asked, “Are you married?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “No, I’m still alone.”

       Ning Junyan nodded and said nothing.

       After they ate dinner and came out of the restaurant, Chen Yuncheng immediately put on his down jacket and wrapped it tightly around his body. He saw that Ning Junyan’s coat was still on his arm, and didn’t ask him if it would be cold, but just said, “Thank you for tonight, then I’ll go back first.”

       They didn’t even ask for each other’s contact information.

       Chen Yuncheng hesitated, but he saw that Ning Junyan didn’t bring it up, so he didn’t take the initiative to mention it either. Although it was Ning Junyan who invited him to have dinner together, he could feel Ning Junyan’s indifference and cold detachment. Maybe they were only going to have this one meal and would never see each other again.

       Ning Junyan looked at him and said, “I will send you off.”

       Chen Yuncheng said with a smile, “No need. I’m going to take the subway, it won’t take much time.”

       Ning Junyan’s tone was calm and he repeated, “I will send you off.”

       The valet boy at the entrance of the restaurant drove Ning Junyan’s car over, got out of the car and handed him the car keys.

       Ning Junyan didn’t speak anymore and walked toward his Land Rover.

       Chen Yuncheng had no choice but to follow.


Notes:
Another updatee~ I actually planned to update 3 chaps on the release date but because of things, I only can update 1 first and the other two today


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Chapter 2

TL: Hoenimochi
TLC: Hoenibean

       Chen Yuncheng walked toward the subway station. On the way, he tried to call Zhang Wenyong again, but the other party still didn’t answer. He had to leave him a message on WeChat, put the phone back in his pocket and trot across the street at the green light to enter the platform of the subway station.

       As he entered the station, Chen Yuncheng looked up subconsciously and saw a dark grey Land Rover passing by the street. In his haste, he didn’t manage to see the license plate number clearly before he lowered his head and stepped up and off the elevator.

       He went back to his kiosk. Chen Yuncheng opened the rolling shutter door halfway, and after he got in, he closed the door and locked it from the inside.

       The lights in the kiosk outside had been turned off. He went straight through and entered the inner room, turning on an orange ceiling lamp on the roof.

       Chen Yuncheng picked up his cup, walked to the water dispenser, squatted down to get the water, and at the same time took out his mobile phone and called Gu Yaojia. The two of them had nothing much to add, but Chen Yuncheng advised her not to be too nervous. Zhou Yan was an adult. If there was still no news tomorrow, he would accompany her to the police.

       After the phone call, the water glass was also filled. Chen Yuncheng got up and picked up the glass of water, drank all the warm water down, put the glass on the table and walked toward the bathroom.

       The inner room of his kiosk only had one living space and a bathroom.

       The room was not very small, but the entire wall was lined with cardboard boxes, which were filled with drinks, beer, and other goods. The only space was left for a bed, a clothing wardrobe, and a small square table against the wall.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t watch TV again after taking a shower, but just lay on the bed and played with his mobile phone. He was actually a little absent-minded, not because of Zhou Yan’s matters, but due to the man he met at the entrance of KTV today.

       The moment the two brushed past each other, he felt that he knew the man, so he stopped and kept looking at the man’s back, hoping that the other party would also still recognize him.

       But when the man left without looking back, Chen Yuncheng began to be uncertain again. He thought to himself that they had been separated for sixteen years, and both of them were still children when they were separated. Was that person really the same person as the one that he remembered?

       Chen Yuncheng put down the phone and decided to temporarily put aside the distracting thoughts in his head and have a good sleep. He lay on his back on the bed and put his arms under his head and thought to himself, why does it matter if that person was Ning Junyan? To him, that life has long been an experience of the past.

       Chen Yuncheng woke up the next morning and opened the kiosk first as usual. He then walked to the noodle shop two shops away to eat noodles.

       He sat at the table near the door and exchanged a few words with the boss who cooked the noodles. When his noodles had just been served, a man sat beside his table.

       Chen Yuncheng raised his head and saw that the person sitting opposite was Zhou Yan.

       Zhou Yan looked haggard as he called out, “Cheng ge.”

       Chen Yuncheng took out a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder, stirred the beef noodles first, and then said, “Your wife has been looking for you all night.”

       Zhou Yan said, “My phone is out of battery.” After speaking, he saw that Chen Yuncheng’s face did not look very good and added, “I called her.”

       Chen Yuncheng picked up a chopstick and put the noodles into his mouth. After swallowing it all, he asked Zhou Yan, “Have you had breakfast?”

       Zhou Yan said, “Not yet.”

       Chen Yuncheng raised his hand to call out to the boss, “Cook another bowl of beef noodles.”

       Zhou Yan didn’t refuse. He looked like he was hungry. As soon as the noodles came up, he picked up his chopsticks and ate the noodles.

       Chen Yuncheng finished his bowl of noodles first and then sat beside him. He leaned on the back of the chair and looked at him.

       It was not until Zhou Yan finished eating the noodles when Chen Yuncheng asked him, “Are you full?”

       Zhou Yan took out a tissue to wipe his mouth and nodded.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Do you have something to tell me?”

       Zhou Yan folded the used tissues and put them on the table before staring at the half bowl of noodle soup left in the bowl, and said, “Cheng ge, can you lend me some money?”

       Chen Yuncheng asked him, “What’s the matter?”

       Zhou Yan said, “My son is sick.”

       Chen Yuncheng was a little surprised, “Sick? Is it serious?”

       Zhou Yan said, “It’s a heart problem. We can do surgery, but I can’t get that much money right now.”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

       Zhou Yan’s expression was a little painful, he raised his hand and rubbed his face vigorously, “I know you don’t have much money, so at first I wanted to borrow it from Yong ge, but I got into an argument with him and now I lost my job, so I really have no choice.”

       Chen Yuncheng whispered, “Zhang Wenyong was not originally a good person.”

       Zhou Yan said, “I can’t help it either.”

       Chen Yuncheng asked him, “How much money do you need?”

       Zhou Yan said, “At least a hundred thousand.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “How could I have so much money?”

       Zhou Yan did not speak.

       Chen Yuncheng sighed heavily and stood up. He paid the money for the noodles first, stretched out his hand to pull Zhou Yan up, and said, “Let’s go.”

       “Cheng ge?” Zhou Yan looked a little surprised.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t say much. He took Zhou Yan back to his kiosk and went into the inner room alone. He came out after a while, and then took Zhou Yan to a nearby bank ATM to withdraw 30,000 yuan.

       When handing over the money to Zhou Yan, Chen Yuncheng said, “I only have this much money. Keep and take care of the money yourself. Go do what you have to do.”

       Zhou Yan couldn’t reach out to take the money for a long time.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “What’s wrong?”

       Zhou Yan said, “I feel very bad for you, it’s all the money you’ve worked hard to save for the past two years.”

       Chen Yuncheng shoved the money to Zhou Yan and said in a flat tone, “Take it and pay it back slowly. I don’t need the money now anyway.”

       Zhou Yan and Chen Yuncheng walked out of the bank together. Chen Yuncheng walked in front with his hands in his pockets. Zhou Yan caught up with him from the side and said, “Cheng ge, are you still not thinking about finding a girlfriend?”

       Chen Yuncheng simply said “ah” without saying much.

       Zhou Yan added, “I will definitely return the money to you as soon as possible.”

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t say anything. When he was walking around the corner, he suddenly stopped and said to Zhou Yan, “Last night, I seem to have seen—”

       “Who?” Zhou Yan was puzzled.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t go on. Not far ahead was his kiosk, and he saw a police car parked on the side of the road.

       Zhou Yan followed his line of sight and saw the police carHe suddenly asked nervously, “Are the police troubling you?”

       Chen Yuncheng shook his head. He patted Zhou Yan on the shoulder, told him to go first, and then walked towards the kiosk alone.

       When he approached the kiosk, Chen Yuncheng first looked down at the police car and saw that it was empty. He then saw a slender figure standing against the glass container in the kiosk.

       “Officer Long,” Chen Yuncheng called out, his tone becoming enthusiastic unconsciously.

       Long Zhanyu turned his head to look at him, his slender fingers bent up and knocked on the glass of the counter. He said, “Get me a pack of cigarettes.”

       Chen Yuncheng smiled and said, “Okay, wait a moment.”

       When Chen Yuncheng went to the counter to get the cigarette, Long Zhanyu kept looking at him. When Chen Yuncheng turned his head, he saw Long Zhanyu’s dark eyes staring at him without blinking. He handed the cigarette over and said, “The brand you always smoke.”

       Long Zhanyu unzipped his down jacket and took out his mobile phone from his inner bag to pay.

       Chen Yuncheng asked, “Were you on duty last night? Why are you so early today?”

       Long Zhanyu gave a vague “um” and said, “Have you seen Zhang Wenyong recently?”

       Chen Yuncheng hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth, “I went to him yesterday and couldn’t find him.”

       Long Zhanyu took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and approached Chen Yuncheng, “Why were you looking for him?”

       Chen Yuncheng reached out, picked up the lighter on the counter and helped Long Zhanyu lit the cigarette he was biting at the corner of his mouth. He then said, “Something happened to one of my brothers. I wanted to ask him, but I didn’t even see him.”

       Long Zhanyu slowly exhaled smoke from the corner of his mouth, his eyes fixed on Chen Yuncheng, “Be honest.”

       Chen Yuncheng said in a serious tone, “I pledge to the authorities that I am being 100% honest.”

       Long Zhanyu moved away from the front of the counter.

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly said, “Officer Long, you look so good-looking. Aren’t you afraid of being harassed when you are handling a case?”

       Long Zhanyu grinned, turned, and walked outside the kiosk. He opened the driver’s door of the police car and sat inside.

       Chen Yuncheng walked to the door, waved his hand, and said, “Take care.”


The author had something to say:

I haven’t been very comfortable recently, so the update is still not guaranteed.


Notes:
But update for me is guaranteed one chapter/week every Saturday, ehe


Support the author by buying author other works and/or giving some jades here~
(note that there are several guides to maneuver in gongzicp or you can just google translate the page. Payment can be made with Apple pay method)

We now finally have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
Join here

Check out bean’s new novel here!
and her original novel about a sly cute dragon here~
Check out the other hoeni’s work here~
Check out the angst novel I co-tl with my friend here~

And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

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