Translator: Flying-Lines
As for her, that man was where all her faith went.
In fact, since a long time ago, I had no longer believed in love. Fortunately, it was Yu Guniang (a respected way to address young girls) who rekindled my hope on love, and she would always be my love.
---Digression
In fact, since a long time ago, I had no longer believed in love. It wasn’t because I was cursed by love or that I was a fickle man. The reason for it was I had witnessed how couples part for far too many times, how they turned from affectionate and sweet to hysterical and unwilling to compromise with each other. I believed that they must have loved each other in the beginning, but the feelings might be worn out by reality little by little, and only endless boredom was left in the end.
While it was Yu Guniang who rekindled my hope on love, and she would always be my love.
Yu Guniang had a very nice name Su Yu. But I was still used to calling her Yu Guniang. After all, a girl, who was so affectionate in love, was well worth being called Guniang forever.
It was on a night that I met her. That night, after drinking with my friend, I met her on the way home. She stood alone on the sidewalk and waited for the traffic lights. The night and her set off each other wonderfully, her figure, her pushed-back hair, so beautiful in the night. There was a large suitcase next to her, which suddenly fell and the stuff in it was scattered all over the ground as she was about to leave. Then I went up and gave her a favor, and she looked up at me and said “Thank you” to me. I nodded, helping her organize it. , I found that most of the stuff inside was letters when I got a chance to take a closer look. After it, she nodded at me, then turned to take a taxi.
I was petrified on the spot for a while. When I finally came to myself, I thought that this Guniang was really good-looking.
Later on, I forgot about this good deed I did. Half a year later, she attended an event of our company as a representative of Party B. She came towards me after the meeting. “Thanks for your help last time.” She said, smiling and generous. “You, you’re welcome. It’s just a little thing,” I smiled primly. She seemed to have sensed my nervousness and couldn't help but giggle at me. We exchanged our business cards when parting. "Su Yu", I read her name silently.
My colleague came over. He patted me on the shoulder and smiled, "This girl is so hard to impress that many people beat a retreat. Don’t even try." I only smiled and said nothing. Of course I knew that she was attached to someone. When I helped her pack the suitcase that night, I found that all the letters were from a man named Song Ming.
One weekend, there was a symphony of discord from the opposite door, as if someone was moving things. Looking through the peephole, surprisingly, I found that the new neighbor was Su Yu. Well, I didn't know if she knew it was me who was living across the hall. It gave me a déjà vu moment, the popular web fic <Days Living with the Airline Hostess> shared the similar storyline. However, I was not the hero, and Su Yu was not the airline hostess. So no dramatic scene would be seen between us, only grieving ones instead.
When I went out to walk the dog at night, she happened to about to go out. From her astonished look, I knew that she was unaware of my living here. I said first:
“Wow, what a coincidence! Did you come here to visit someone or…?” I had to pretend that I had no idea.
"I just moved here this morning. I didn't expect to be your neighbor. What are the odds!" Su Yu said, chuckling.
"Yes. Just as I am going out, I met you. And you are my neighbor now. Anything you need, just let me know.” I decided to stick to my “nice guy” image.
“Uh... I do need your help for something now,” said Su Yu embarrassingly.
“What’s the matter? Just tell me please.”
“The doorknob in the bedroom has dropped off. And I can't fix it. Can you help me with it?”
“A piece of cake.” Now that the words had been said, I had to deliver.
“Thank you so much. So come in please.”
The house was tidy. Thinking about my messy room, Thank God I didn’t invite Su Yu there. She played with the dog while I was fixing the door. Fortunately, the problem was not quite serious, tightening the screws back on was all I needed to do. However, it was deemed marvelous by Su Yu.
“It is great of you to fix it in just a few minutes.”
I knew, what between us was a solid fellowship rather than a budding romance..
“It's not that hard, but girls are not cut out for it.”
I didn't expect that the words would make Su Yu weeping. I regretted to say it, though I didn't know which words I just said were improper. Sometimes, the most embarrassing thing was that although you knew it was you that upset others, you had no clue what the exact reason was. So even if you meant to apologize, you didn’t know where to start.
I stood there, embarrassed. Su Yu said this to me while her eyes brimmed with tears:
“I'm fine. Thank you for helping me. But I'm a little tired and want to have a rest.”
"OK. I’ll leave you alone. And I’m gonna walk the dog. I’ll come if I am needed.”
Su Yu nodded and said nothing more. I took the dog away, who looked up at me in a judgmental way, “You bullshit of a good guy. Can you do anything right?” I stomped on the floor out of frustration, then doggo barked at me, as if asking why I did that. Thinking carefully, I knew it was impossible that the dog would judge me. It was me that thought myself quite silly. And the dog no longer bothered to look at me.
I didn't see Su Yu for days. And I was too shy to knock on her door. So I had no choice but wait.
It’s after two weeks that I met her again. Due to a blackout, she knocked on my door to ask me for a spare candle. I said, “There was only one left. Here you go.” The power was back on after two hours. She came again:
“Thank you. You haven't had dinner, have you?”
“No, I haven’t. The power was out when I was about to cook. But it's all right. I'll just go downstairs and grab a bite.”
“If you don't mind, come and have dinner with me. I just made dumplings." Su Yu smiled.
“Of course I don’t mind. Indeed I haven't had dumplings for a long time.”
I got acquainted with Su Yu more and more after these episodes. She was used to coming to my house for ice cream, and I often went to her place for meals. It surprised me that such a Guniang like her was good at cooking. In fact, getting along with her for so long, I was indeed attracted to her. After all, she was good-looking, with good cooking.
But I always felt that there was something separating us, but I couldn't figure out what it was exactly. I didn't know the reason for her staying in Beijing, away from her family and walking alone all by herself that night until her birthday.
That night, she sent me a message that it was her birthday on my way back home after work, and she asked me to buy some wine. I was overjoyed and went straight to the supermarket, selecting wine and picking gifts. When I arrived home at night, dinner was ready. In a moment, I suddenly felt that we were like a couple been together for more than ten years: I came back from work and bought some wine, and she had prepared everything, waiting for me. She came to ask why it took me so long to be back, that woke me up from my thoughts and I smiled awkwardly. We talked and drank a lot. And for multiple times I tried to ask her why she had always been alone, but I failed to utter the question. She seemed to have noticed that. Then she picked up the glass and emptied it, staring at me:
“I know you have questions in mind. I'm all ears.”
“Nothing in particular, I just wonder why I haven’t seen you in a relationship.”
Hearing the question, the light in her eyes suddenly faded. Her eyes went so dim that they looked like they belonged to a weather-beaten woman who had lived for a century. She slowly picked up the bottle and poured the wine into her glass. She took a sip of it, sighed and said:
"I am not always single. I have a boyfriend whom I met since middle school. He treated me very well, and we have been together for many years. Back then we aimed for the same university. I didn’t make it with three points shy. Then I discontinued study and started to work, sales, waitressing, you name it. Later on, I enrolled at an adult education college. When he was in college, I was working to support him. His parents died when he was a kid. And he said I was his only family. I cared for him so much that I was willing to do anything for him.”
Translator: Flying-Lines
As for her, that man was where all her faith went.
In fact, since a long time ago, I had no longer believed in love. Fortunately, it was Yu Guniang (a respected way to address young girls) who rekindled my hope on love, and she would always be my love.
---Digression
In fact, since a long time ago, I had no longer believed in love. It wasn’t because I was cursed by love or that I was a fickle man. The reason for it was I had witnessed how couples part for far too many times, how they turned from affectionate and sweet to hysterical and unwilling to compromise with each other. I believed that they must have loved each other in the beginning, but the feelings might be worn out by reality little by little, and only endless boredom was left in the end.
While it was Yu Guniang who rekindled my hope on love, and she would always be my love.
Yu Guniang had a very nice name Su Yu. But I was still used to calling her Yu Guniang. After all, a girl, who was so affectionate in love, was well worth being called Guniang forever.
It was on a night that I met her. That night, after drinking with my friend, I met her on the way home. She stood alone on the sidewalk and waited for the traffic lights. The night and her set off each other wonderfully, her figure, her pushed-back hair, so beautiful in the night. There was a large suitcase next to her, which suddenly fell and the stuff in it was scattered all over the ground as she was about to leave. Then I went up and gave her a favor, and she looked up at me and said “Thank you” to me. I nodded, helping her organize it. , I found that most of the stuff inside was letters when I got a chance to take a closer look. After it, she nodded at me, then turned to take a taxi.
I was petrified on the spot for a while. When I finally came to myself, I thought that this Guniang was really good-looking.
Later on, I forgot about this good deed I did. Half a year later, she attended an event of our company as a representative of Party B. She came towards me after the meeting. “Thanks for your help last time.” She said, smiling and generous. “You, you’re welcome. It’s just a little thing,” I smiled primly. She seemed to have sensed my nervousness and couldn't help but giggle at me. We exchanged our business cards when parting. "Su Yu", I read her name silently.
My colleague came over. He patted me on the shoulder and smiled, "This girl is so hard to impress that many people beat a retreat. Don’t even try." I only smiled and said nothing. Of course I knew that she was attached to someone. When I helped her pack the suitcase that night, I found that all the letters were from a man named Song Ming.
One weekend, there was a symphony of discord from the opposite door, as if someone was moving things. Looking through the peephole, surprisingly, I found that the new neighbor was Su Yu. Well, I didn't know if she knew it was me who was living across the hall. It gave me a déjà vu moment, the popular web fic <Days Living with the Airline Hostess> shared the similar storyline. However, I was not the hero, and Su Yu was not the airline hostess. So no dramatic scene would be seen between us, only grieving ones instead.
When I went out to walk the dog at night, she happened to about to go out. From her astonished look, I knew that she was unaware of my living here. I said first:
“Wow, what a coincidence! Did you come here to visit someone or…?” I had to pretend that I had no idea.
"I just moved here this morning. I didn't expect to be your neighbor. What are the odds!" Su Yu said, chuckling.
"Yes. Just as I am going out, I met you. And you are my neighbor now. Anything you need, just let me know.” I decided to stick to my “nice guy” image.
“Uh... I do need your help for something now,” said Su Yu embarrassingly.
“What’s the matter? Just tell me please.”
“The doorknob in the bedroom has dropped off. And I can't fix it. Can you help me with it?”
“A piece of cake.” Now that the words had been said, I had to deliver.
“Thank you so much. So come in please.”
The house was tidy. Thinking about my messy room, Thank God I didn’t invite Su Yu there. She played with the dog while I was fixing the door. Fortunately, the problem was not quite serious, tightening the screws back on was all I needed to do. However, it was deemed marvelous by Su Yu.
“It is great of you to fix it in just a few minutes.”
I knew, what between us was a solid fellowship rather than a budding romance..
“It's not that hard, but girls are not cut out for it.”
I didn't expect that the words would make Su Yu weeping. I regretted to say it, though I didn't know which words I just said were improper. Sometimes, the most embarrassing thing was that although you knew it was you that upset others, you had no clue what the exact reason was. So even if you meant to apologize, you didn’t know where to start.
I stood there, embarrassed. Su Yu said this to me while her eyes brimmed with tears:
“I'm fine. Thank you for helping me. But I'm a little tired and want to have a rest.”
"OK. I’ll leave you alone. And I’m gonna walk the dog. I’ll come if I am needed.”
Su Yu nodded and said nothing more. I took the dog away, who looked up at me in a judgmental way, “You bullshit of a good guy. Can you do anything right?” I stomped on the floor out of frustration, then doggo barked at me, as if asking why I did that. Thinking carefully, I knew it was impossible that the dog would judge me. It was me that thought myself quite silly. And the dog no longer bothered to look at me.
I didn't see Su Yu for days. And I was too shy to knock on her door. So I had no choice but wait.
It’s after two weeks that I met her again. Due to a blackout, she knocked on my door to ask me for a spare candle. I said, “There was only one left. Here you go.” The power was back on after two hours. She came again:
“Thank you. You haven't had dinner, have you?”
“No, I haven’t. The power was out when I was about to cook. But it's all right. I'll just go downstairs and grab a bite.”
“If you don't mind, come and have dinner with me. I just made dumplings." Su Yu smiled.
“Of course I don’t mind. Indeed I haven't had dumplings for a long time.”
I got acquainted with Su Yu more and more after these episodes. She was used to coming to my house for ice cream, and I often went to her place for meals. It surprised me that such a Guniang like her was good at cooking. In fact, getting along with her for so long, I was indeed attracted to her. After all, she was good-looking, with good cooking.
But I always felt that there was something separating us, but I couldn't figure out what it was exactly. I didn't know the reason for her staying in Beijing, away from her family and walking alone all by herself that night until her birthday.
That night, she sent me a message that it was her birthday on my way back home after work, and she asked me to buy some wine. I was overjoyed and went straight to the supermarket, selecting wine and picking gifts. When I arrived home at night, dinner was ready. In a moment, I suddenly felt that we were like a couple been together for more than ten years: I came back from work and bought some wine, and she had prepared everything, waiting for me. She came to ask why it took me so long to be back, that woke me up from my thoughts and I smiled awkwardly. We talked and drank a lot. And for multiple times I tried to ask her why she had always been alone, but I failed to utter the question. She seemed to have noticed that. Then she picked up the glass and emptied it, staring at me:
“I know you have questions in mind. I'm all ears.”
“Nothing in particular, I just wonder why I haven’t seen you in a relationship.”
Hearing the question, the light in her eyes suddenly faded. Her eyes went so dim that they looked like they belonged to a weather-beaten woman who had lived for a century. She slowly picked up the bottle and poured the wine into her glass. She took a sip of it, sighed and said:
"I am not always single. I have a boyfriend whom I met since middle school. He treated me very well, and we have been together for many years. Back then we aimed for the same university. I didn’t make it with three points shy. Then I discontinued study and started to work, sales, waitressing, you name it. Later on, I enrolled at an adult education college. When he was in college, I was working to support him. His parents died when he was a kid. And he said I was his only family. I cared for him so much that I was willing to do anything for him.”
