Rock Sugar And Pear Stew

Chapter 40 - See how it goes (Translated by Xing and edited by Souhi)

Tang Xue had just stepped out of the dormitory building when she spotted Yu Yan standing outside.

The sky was overcast today. Even though he looked quite good standing there quietly all by his lonesome self, he appeared a little forlorn.

Tang Xue called out, ""Yu Yan, why are you here?" As she said this, she suddenly recalled the scandalous nonsense that she had just seen. She prayed that Yu Yan had not seen it.

When Yu Yan saw Tang Xue, he immediately turned and left.

Tang Xue quickly followed him. "What"s wrong? What are you keeping silent?"

Yu Yan picked up his pace.

Tang Xue felt that he must had found out about that incident. In this time and age, gossip spread even faster than viruses could reproduce.

She hurried after him and tried to tease him into speaking. "Hmm, could it be that the pill Xia Menghuan gave me is working? I"ve really became transparent?"

Yu Yan kept a stoic expression and refused to look at her.

Tang Xue reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Hey."

He finally stopped and turned to glance at her. His gaze travelled down and landed on her hands.

Yu Yan"s mouth twitched. He stared blankly at the pair of fair and fine-looking hands on his wrist, feeling immensely upset all of a sudden.

"Doing this," he shook his wrist, his soft eyes slightly confrontational as he asked, "Aren"t you afraid that Li Yubing would see?"

"I knew you misunderstood," Tang Xue explained, "There"s really nothing going on between Li Yubing and me."

If she had said this previously, Yu Yan would have definitely believed her without hesitation. However, it was different now. Only heaven knew how his heart crumbled when he saw those ambiguous photos.

"Liar," he replied. His voice was a little aggrieved and accusatory.

"It"s true, he just wanted to take a look at the scar on my head. If you don"t believe me, see for yourself. Here." Tang Xue lowered her head and parted her hair for him to see. She paused for a while before straightening back up. Yu Yan looked at her steadily, his eyes clearly showing his disbelief.

"Wait, I"ll call Li Yubing and get him to explain personally." Tang Xue took out her phone, dialled Li Yubing"s number and tapped on the "speaker" icon.

When the call connected, the first thing that Li Yubing said was "what do you want to eat tonight?"

Tang Xue was annoyed with how carefree he was. She scolded, "Li Yubing, you still have the mood to eat? I"ve been ruined by you!"

"Mm?"

"Someone took photos of us earlier at the sports field. The rumours are really bad now and the whole school is mistaken about us. It"s all your fault for wanting to look at the scar on my head." The last sentence was the main point. Right after saying this, she sneaked a look at Yu Yan.

Yu Yan perked his ears as he waited for Li Yubing"s reply.

On the other side, Li Yubing felt that something was off as he held his phone and heard what Tang Xue just said. It felt like her manner of speech was slightly different from how it was usually like when the two of them were alone. Her words were also a little measured and long-winded.  Was he mistaken? This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

Li Yubing did not affirm nor deny Tang Xue"s words. He retorted, "You"re the one who pounced on me first."

Yu Yan"s face fell even further.

Tang Xue rushed to explain, "It"s because you were being a jerk and provoked me. I was trying to beat you up."

"Heh," Li Yubing gave a sudden laugh. Seeing how Tang Xue hurriedly explained matters, he was more or less certain that this brat had someone else beside her. Li Yubing revealed, "Why not mention that time when you acted like a rogue towards me in the music room?"

Yu Yan felt like hitting someone.

The issue was getting more and more complicated. Tang Xue really had to admit that Li Yubing was the bane of her existence. She held her head and said, "Is it even meaningful to mention something that happened so long ago? Let"s talk about now. You"re not my boyfriend and I"m also not your girlfriend, isn"t it?"

Stated clearly like this, Li Yubing had nothing else to say. He kept silent for a while. Then, he asked, "What"s your point?"

"Since we don"t have that kind of relationship, please clarify it to everyone. Oh, right, let them delete that post as well—it leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"Why not make things clear yourself?"

"You"re more famous than me; your words carry more weight. I"m someone inconsequential and my words don"t count, get it? What"s more, do you know that the account which started this is called "Li Yubing"s Gossip Information Counter"? I"m embroiled in this because of you!"

Tang Xue hung up and purposely shrugged towards Yu Yan.

Even though the entire process was a little suspicious, the end of the conversation was still quite convincing.

Yu Yan could not figure out why he still felt so conflicted. Tang Xue saw that his dismal expression did not lighten. She nudged his arm. "Hey, I"ll treat you to a movie?"

Yu Yan pursed his lips and nodded.

At Li Yubing"s end, he searched up the account "Li Yubing"s Gossip Information Counter" and followed it. There was an odd sense of satisfaction from following his own gossip.

The latest post by this account was the one on Tang Xue and him. He clicked in and appreciated it for a moment. Tsk tsk, how lewd. He saved the images.

Only then did he message the account.

After exiting the account, he texted Tang Xue: Do you still want to have dinner together tonight?

Tang Xue: No.

Tang Xue was extremely upset after seeing the gossip. Here, she went out with Yu Yan with the intention of lightening up her own mood.

They planned to grab a meal before the movie. When choosing a restaurant, Tang Xue browsed through the reviews and asked Yu Yan what he felt like eating. Yu Yan leaned over. Heads next to each other, he pointed at the screen. "This one."

That was a restaurant serving western cuisine. It had good ratings but was a little expensive. Tang Xue nodded. "It seems a bit pricey."

Yu Yan said, "I"ll treat you."

Tang Xue had returned him the money from selling his medal quite some time ago. As he did not have much to spend on, he was now a person of minor wealth and giving a treat was not a big deal.

Hearing this, Tang Xue shook her head. "It"s alright, I"m treating! I"ll provide[1] for you today."

Yu Yan was about to reply her when she interrupted him with an earnest expression, "I"ll steal Li Yubing"s money to raise you."

Yu Yan had frozen at Tang Xue"s previous sentence. When he heard her next line, his lips quirked. He seemed a little shy and avoided looking at her. His gaze fell on the distant ground and he said softly, "You really do have the courage to say anything."

During the meal, Tang Xue checked the gossip account and saw that the post had been deleted. Li Yubing was quite fast in taking action. However, when it came to things like this, deletion did not make much of a difference. This was because the images had already circulated and people would have saved copies.

Her head hurt.

Forget it. Tang Xue rubbed her head and went to the washroom.

While she was away, Yu Yan settled the bill secretly.

When Tang Xue came back and realized it, she protested, "Didn"t I say that it"s my treat?"

Yu Yan"s mood had completely recovered. He raised a smile and appeased her, "You can treat the next time."

The movie was quite decent. When they came out after it was over, Tang Xue stopped in front of the claw machine at the cinema. She did not speak and gazed silently at the stuffed toys in it. This translation is meant to be released only on teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

Yu Yan asked, "Do you want to play?"

"I"m terrible at it." Tang Xue was a little helpless.

"Give it a try?"

They bought some game tokens. Tang Xue failed the both attempts she tried. She then scooted to the side for Yu Yan. "Do you want to play?"

Yu Yan moved in front of the joystick. This was his first time playing a claw machine in his 17 years. He was attracted to its novelty and turned to look at Tang Xue. He blinked and asked, "How do I play?"

"Aim carefully and be steady about it…" Tang Xue generously shared her years of knowledge.

Actually, it did not make a huge difference whether she shared it or not.

Yu Yan focused on the claw in the machine. With a concentrated gaze, he caught a Despicable Me minion stuffed toy.

When the minion was slowly raised, Tang Xue tensed and held her breath. Her eyes were fixated on the stuffed toy and she did not dare to speak for fear of distracting him.

Yu Yan safely delivered it into the chute while carefully controlling the joystick. Throughout the whole process, Tang Xue watched the minion unblinkingly.

Even when the minion was in her hands, she still felt that it was a little surreal.

"Are you sure that this is your first time playing?" Tang Xue asked.

Yu Yan nodded.

"Try again."

He tried and succeeded again. This time, he caught a small panda.

Yu Yan"s innocent face was bewildered. He queried, "Is it meant to be hard?"

"Oh, shush!" This arrogance was simply too maddening…

Yu Yan saw Tang Xue seemed to have gotten a huge blow. He scratched his neck and asked, "Are we continuing?"

"Yes!"

In the end, with two strings of stuffed toys hanging from her shoulders and a huge Doraemon in her arms, Tang Xue jaunted home under the stares of the crowd.

"I finally know why everyone calls you a prodigy," Tang Xue exclaimed with undisguised admiration while stroking the numerous stuffed toys.

"That"s not why…" Yu Yan was a little speechless. Seeing her like this, he was a little worried that the stuffed toys were heavy. "I"ll help you to take some."

"No, it"s fine!" Right after saying this, Tang Xue felt a little bad. She hurriedly took down one string of stuffed toys and pa.s.sed it to him. "Here, it"s the fruits of our labour, have half of it."

Yu Yan accepted the string of stuffed toys. After sending her back to her dormitory building, he returned it to her. Neither he nor his roommates were interested in stuffed toys.

Bringing back so many stuffed toys, she was met with her roommates" squeals of delight. She secretly revelled in their reactions and crouched on a chair to distribute the toys. "Here, here, here, everyone has a share."

Her arms full of stuffed toys, Xia Menghuan asked Tang Xue, "My king, where did all these came from? Don"t tell me you caught them, I won"t believe it."

"Yu Yan caught them. He"s a prodigy indeed." Tang Xue tsked and shook her head as she recalled how Yu Yan caught the stuffed toys. "This person can"t be trusted to roam about unsupervised, he"s capable of bankrupting people."

This was not what Xia Menghuan was concerned about. "You went on a date with Yu Yan this evening?"

Tang Xue was struck by her question. She swept her eyes across the room and realized that all three roommates were looking at her curiously as they waited for her reply. She shook her head. "Not really a date."

Xia Menghuan was confused. "I don"t understand. So do you or do you not like Yu Yan?"

Tang Xue held her chin and thought about it. She gave a long sigh. "Honestly speaking, Yu Yan is my cup of tea. But he"s too young now and I"m unable to make a move on him… I"ll raise him a little more and see how it goes. Mm, see how it goes."

Ye Liuying"s tone was a little weird. "What about Li Yubing?"

Tang Xue was puzzled. "What about Li Yubing?" Then, she recalled the afternoon incident and shook her head. "Oh, what happened earlier was really a misunderstanding. Don"t mention it anymore."

"But… don"t you like Li Yubing?"

Tang Xue gasped in shock and almost fell from her chair. It seemed that there was a huge misunderstanding about her?

She pointed at her head. "Like him? It"ll happen when my head gets cracked by the door!"

Translator"s Notes:

[1] Yu Yan froze as Tang Xue said 包养 (bāo yǎng), which has connotations of being provided for along the lines of a kept mistress or a sugar baby.

(￣▽￣)ノI refuse to believe that stuffed toys are that easily caught.

Ok, I take this back. When I texted Souhi that this chapter was up on Google Docs for editing, before she even clicked in and read it or my comment above, she told me that she just clawed three stuffed toys earlier that day.

Souhi: But Yuyan"s one shot one kill is horrifying