Sunday, May 10, 2015

The Rental Shop Owner - ch2+3+4

Translator: ayszhang
Proofreaders: krabbykabbi, Luzo & Red
 

Happy Mother's Day! For any mothers out there reading our blog :)






02


Ding Hongmei looked afraid with her aged face scrunched up while she cowered on an ink-black bench. It seemed like she was really delighted to see me but did not know what to say.

There was a woman in the house, all right, but the place could not even compare to a pig sty. Aside from the disgusting, sour and rotten smell in the air, the table was coated with dust and on top of it was half a bowl of instant noodles from who-knows-when, manifested with a green film of mould. The original red brick floor simply could not be seen. It was plushy beneath my feet—a carpet woven from peanut shells, sunflower seed shells, cigarette butts and some unknown substance.

I kind of understood why Shen Bin had reminded me of trash. It is hard not to become trash when you live in trash.

The old woman looked shamefaced and grabbed something from the kitchen that might be called a washcloth of sorts and started wiping the table and chair.

“Comrade Qian, sit, sit! How ‘bout a glass of water?”

Comrade again, ugh. And where could I possibly sit in this tiny place?

“It’s all right. I’m just dropping by. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be out in a jiffy.”

She stopped wiping and faltered before stuttering with her grey lips, “In a jiffy? Oh, but…”

Now she looked more like how she usually does, a sorry, pathetic face. I sighed. Why had I punched him again? With a mom like this, he didn’t even need me to teach him a lesson.

“You know, Comrade Qian, our lil’ ‘un always talks about you!” Her smile was awkward: it was more like a frown. “He said you’re a good man. Lets him watch films for free. He learned a lot, I tell you, even wanted to give you something for New Year’s. I don’t know why he’d hit you though. He couldn’t have. Must’ve been sick or something. It wasn’t on purpose. Could you find it in your heart to forgive him?”

I suppose she didn’t even know that her son had assaulted another person.

The rascal said I was a good man and let him watch films for free as if it were actually the case. But it must have been a waste of my world-class films watching them in this pig sty.

I didn’t feel too comfortable and left fairly soon.

A while later, I heard the hulk that Shen Bin had beaten up died.

I really regretted it. I mean, why had I stooped to the level of a kid? My old man kept sighing, saying that we had collected bad karma. My old lady might have said one thing but she was more or less uneasy inside as well. Especially after knowing that the big fellow was a bastard who trafficked children, she became even more worried that they would take revenge. However, we didn’t hear anything from Shen Bin’s lackeys and Shen Bin’s mom never showed up again.

Some time later, it was the court hearing.

I sneaked in to listen.

When the rascal was brought out, I was astounded. He was healthy as a buck, as if nothing had happened. And there I was, prepared for the worst case scenario—say insanity or disability, or at least depression or despair—but he looked to be in even better shape than he had before. Better looking, too. I think steam was coming out of my ears.

Afterwards I realised, no matter how bad prison food was, it was better than the pig sty trash; no matter how uncomfortable prison was, it was better than the pig sty. It was no wonder that he gained some weight and livelihood. Also, his hair was shaved short, his clothes were cleaner and sharper and he had a more proper expression, too. He actually looked like a human being for once.

Surprisingly, he became a man only after being locked up. I wondered what his ma, Ding Hongmei, had to say about that.

I spotted her sitting in the gallery with her shoulders curved inwards, sobbing, and I started feeling bad again. Yet that damn jerk did not look one bit remorseful. He totally deserves the punishment, I thought.

But I was still shocked when the judge found him guilty of manslaughter and sentenced him to ten years in prison.

Shouldn’t it be justifiable homicide out of self-defense?

The big fellow was…

It should be justifiable homicide!

Ding Hongmei bawled her eyes out, crying for mercy to the judge, and lunged forth to hug her son. Then, I finally saw him do something. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes and then he was brought out by the police.

He did not look at me once from beginning to end.

As if I wasn’t the one who did this to him.

The second brother actually came over afterwards to explain this to my old man. He said that the security bureau, the control yuan and the court were all managed by the Party and they were just, but the fellow had acted up and insisted that the two of them were fighting and it had only gotten out of hand. There was no way for the judge to say it was self-defense!

My heart skipped a beat for some strange reason.

Shen Bin’s lackeys came once after that. They didn’t wreck my shop or steal anything and only said, “Shen Bin’s the real deal. Busted Ol’ Wu up with three punches. His name’s big on the streets now!”

Fuck. Who did they think he was? Flowery Monk, Lu Zhishen? On the streets, my ass. Obviously someone had been watching too much Young and Dangerous.





03


The whole thing ended just like that and I went back to running my little rental shop.

Summer came in the blink of an eye. Students went on summer break and business was good.

The girls liked reading romance novels so I stocked up on pirated pocket books from Taiwan despite the strict watch on piracy from the ministry of commerce. I mean I could not just let money slip through my fingers. I hid the pirated books in the back room and only regular customers could go in. If people came to investigate, I would lock the back room door. I made it through quite a few surprise checks and built a good reputation. Many girls would come from the other side of town to borrow books.

Later, some of them asked me to get some manga. There actually was manga in the shop—Slam Dunk, Case Closed, Saint Seiya, all the ones airing on TV—but they pouted and complained. “It’s 1998 for god sakes!”

Are those out already? I wondered. To be honest, my generation grew up watching martial arts movies and movies from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the only cartoon we had were Havoc in Heaven, Astro Boy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers and the like. All I knew about these things they called manga was that they were like comic strips, thus the manga books I bought were not up to par with my videos. The girls kept nagging me about Zetsuai 1989, Ranma ½, Rurouni Kenshin, RG Veda and other stuff I had no knowledge of, but kids were the biggest market for my business so I had to keep learning. I bought Zetsuai 1989 and some of their so-called classics, as well as a set of Japanese romance novels they recommended countless times to me.

In the end, business was absolutely great. Wave after wave of girls lined up to rent my books.

I was utterly puzzled. We had not been this excited back then to read about Qiao Feng, Chu Liuxiang or Xiao Qiushui! Tsk, tsk.

My little shop was small but busy and became an oven in the summer. I considered getting an air conditioner but it seemed like a waste of money too. The money I earned in a month would go entirely to pay for hydro.

That day was scorching hot and no one was coming in during the middle of the day.

I wiped myself off, stretched for the sky and turned on the TV. I could only watch TV. My second-hand Shinco VCD player had finally gone to its last resting place so I was also considering getting a DVD player.

Ah, it all cost so much money!

“Oi, Qian!” Three thugs came into my shop. I took a good look at them. They turned out to be Shen Bin’s buddies.

How long has it been now? And they’re here again?

“What, you don’t recognise us no more?” They didn’t look friendly but they didn’t sound too bad either. I let out a sigh of relief.

They were kids after all. There was nothing I could do but I could not help but think that the rascal would not have ended up behind bars if it were not for me. I mean, ten years! He was eighteen and would be twenty-eight when he came out. There was no way that prison life would be nice. All the naughty pups that went in came out as big bad wolves. I had a wild imagination and immediately thought of a lot of prison-themed novels and movies.

Sigh. I just felt like I had wronged him.

Therefore, I said in a rather kind tone, “Of course I do. You’re Shen Bin’s bros. How is he doing in there?”

Only the leader of the three was okay to the eyes; he looked like a mini-sized “Chicken” Chiu. The other two had not yet even hit their growth spurt, yet they were acting all high and mighty with a half-burnt cigarette in their mouths. I wanted to laugh so badly.

“Yer not such a bad person. He’s doin’ fine!” The smallest one bragged.

“What can I do for you? You want to rent videos? I can give you a dis—.”

“Fuck your movies. Only Shen Bin likes that shit!”

They shared a look with each other and then Mini-Chicken spat, “Hey, you Qians made Shen Bin go in the slammer for ten years. Shouldn’t you at least show some goodwill?”

Were they trying to wring money out of me?

I closed the shop and got dragged along by them. It was so damn hot that I was sweating too much to keep my eyes opened.

I arrived at the Shen pig sty on the old street once again.

“Stop it. I can walk myself,” I grumbled as I was pushed into the house.

Last time I had only gone into the living room. This time I was pushed into the room where you sleep (I couldn’t find it in my heart to call it a bedroom). There was a wooden bed that still had some colour on it with a black, grimy white canopy, and someone was lying on it, probably Ding Hongmei. I almost did not recognise her dishevelled hair, bloated stomach and thin, twig-like arms and thighs.

Apparently, she was about to die.

How could that be? I was dumbstruck.

This was none of my business.

But they also said she had had terminal breast cancer for a long time and did not have the money to treat it. Now the cancer had spread to the body and she was waiting to die at home.

Yeah. She got the disease herself. It had nothing to do with me.

But last time I saw her, she was only a bit old and dirty, not sick.

Maybe it had gotten worse because of the stress?

I became even more confused. Why had they made me come here when it had nothing to do with me?

The three of them were not shy about it either, shouting, “She’s gon die. Shen Bin’s in the slammer and they don’t got no family and we ain’t got no money. There should at least be a whatchamacallit—service or whatever! You or your family…shouldn’t you help out?”

Memorial service? I laughed. Who would come to commemorate a promiscuous widow like her?

It turned out they came to me to get money to cremate her and buy a container for her ashes. Mini-Chicken even became red in the eyes. I suppose they were still kids after all.

Ding Hongmei woke up. The final surge of energy kicked in and she was fairly conscious. She took a long look at me. “Comrade Qian, you came to see me. Our Lil’ Bin said you’re a good person. You have to look out for him! He’s not bad. It was my fault. I tell you, he’s not bad…”

Her claw-like hand clasped around my wrist. It was cold. I did not feel sweaty at all despite the burning temperature, and actually felt chilly.

I arranged her undertaking behind my mom’s back.

I stuck to the simplest options but even so I spent over one hundred bucks. It was enough for me to buy half an air conditioner, or over two hundred disks, or hundreds of books…

That widow actually had not saved a single penny! Even their house was state-owned. The department that the abuser worked for had not given them the boot out of pity. Now that no one was living here, they were going to take it back. I went through it again but there really wasn’t much except for garbage. It made me very curious as to how she had the money to get the fruits for me.

Wait a second. I felt something was off.

I searched through the dump again and finally found a flat cardboard box inside a beaten wood box underneath Shen Bin’s metal cot. Inside was some plastic wrap and inside that, was a half-new BBK VCD player. It was not dirty or dusty at all.

Shen Bin’s buddies started buzzing, “Oh man! How could we’ve forgotten about this? It could prolly sell for some dough!”

“You wish. Shen-ge treasures this shit. No way he’d let you sell it!”

“But it’s to bury his ma. Gotta sell it no matter what.”

“But what could we get for this antique?”

“Oh yeah. Qian-ge, how much could we get?”

They really were kids. They had started calling me ‘Qian-ge’ since I helped with the funeral.

I brought that player to my shop since I needed one. Now I did not have to buy a new one.

Huh! This junk’s pretty darn good. Can read all sorts of formats too!





04




The ordeal should have ended after that, but for some reason I felt… I did not even know what I felt.


Anyhow, the days went by just the same: lots of dates set up by the parents. And wouldn’t you know, I got lots of yes’s. If I had a dollar for every time I rejected someone, I would have been rich. Gradually, the word got around that the Qians’ kid had high expectations and the recommendations decreased too. Of course, that was the better way to put it. Maybe in a few more years, they would say I have some weird illness—the kind you can’t show anyone.


I thought I would just see where it goes. My parents were crazy for a grandkid. Maybe I should just get married. But I couldn’t just cheat the girl. Maybe I should just ditch this place and go find some man. But I just got my business running (Who was I kidding here. But really, I wanted to start my own chain of record stores called ‘Qian Jr.’s Records.’). Ugh, I guess I should just go become a monk!


There was no point for me to waste more effort thinking about it. I’ll just figure something out when the time comes, I thought.


Near the end of ‘98, I hired a young lady who was kind of related to me to look after the shop because I was preparing to open a second shop in the developing east side of the town. It got really busy and I had to buy more stuff to stock the new shop with.


There were only two places to do so at that time. You either went down south to Guangzhou or east to Shanghai.


I ended up going to neither this time, mainly because I was not too familiar with those places. There was more variety but I would not have gotten any good deals. At any rate, the most important for a new shop was Mainland stuff and they had that anywhere. So I ended up going to City N nearby.


To come back on the same day, I had to leave at four-thirty in the morning. After eating breakfast in City N when the sky was barely light, I had to rush to grab the disks and books and eat some quick lunch before rushing back in the afternoon.


That day turned out really well. I ran into someone I knew and got everything done in a jiffy. He even dropped me off at the bus station, no extra charge.

Seeing that I still had plenty of time, I wandered around with no particular aim. The wholesale markets were close to the outskirts so there was not much going on. I was just wondering if I should head into the city centre and–

Oh hey!

It was not my first time stocking up in City N but I noticed for the first time that the city prison was near the book markets.

Wasn’t the punk, Shen Bin, locked up there?

I had nothing on my hands so I went to visit him for some goddamn reason.

The correctional officers were pretty mild and down-to-earth, not how I had pictured them in my mind. I had thought that all the prison guards would look like those rapists in Sleepers, or that evil warden in The Shawshank Redemption. I admit I was fairly immature and had a wild imagination.

The officer said he thought Shen Bin didn’t have any relatives since the only ones to have visited were his delinquent buddies from before. He probably thought I was the only decent-looking person to visit Shen Bin.

He also said that Shen Bin was too young, that if he had been born a few months later, he would be considered a minor and would not even be locked up there. The prison was a complicated place and he told me to be watch out for him and guide him back to the right path.

I agreed profusely.

Turns out there were still nice people in this world.

But on what basis could I watch out for him? If it hadn’t been for my punch… I tasted a bitter tang in my mouth. Yeah, the kid was only eighteen.

The prison in City N was not as advanced as it is now. There were not a glass and a phone but instead a big room and a long row of tables. The prisoners sat on the south end and the visitors on the north end.

As I watched him come in, I had no idea what to say. Why did I even go in the first place?

It was actually the first time I had a good look at him.

He was a bit fatter than before and not as snazzy. He even grew.

Actually, his eyes and brows did look like Ding Hongmei’s, very clean. His eyes were less disgruntled but still impenetrably black.

He did not say anything. No expression, either. He just pursed his lips.

I couldn’t just sit there and not say anything.

“I, um, I didn’t bring anything. I would’ve if I knew…”

That was the first thing I said to him which he still laughs about after a long, long time. But it was pretty stupid.

He still didn’t make a sound.

I thought to myself, I don’t owe him anything and I even took care of his old lady’s funeral and…

“How’s everything? Did you get bullied?”

No reply.

“Study hard.” I remembered he was a hillbilly.

Still no reply.

I began to regret it. I must have been crazy to go there in the first place.

“Okay, I’m gonna go then!” Then I got up from my seat.

“Yo, I’m doin’ fine. What I got locked up for is this inside.”

Seeing the kiddo across from me stick his thumb up and smirk arrogantly, I felt kind of warm inside.

I nod. “That’s great. You study hard though. Your mom said you’re a good kid.”

His face darkened.

Did I say something? I thought Ding Hongmei loved this son of hers.

He stood up too and pointed his chin towards me. “Your videos ain’t half bad, bro. Can’t get them in the slammer though,” he said before leaving.

After coming out from the prison, I began to feel antsy.

He’s doing okay in there. Better than before.

I’m going to be thirty-something by the time he gets out. A poor, old man, hah.

_______________

ayszhang: >u< What do you guys think of the story so far?
And again, Happy Mother's Day! Don't forget to visit your momma or give her a call if you're away from home <3

Or she'll come and snatch you away!!! Like Momma Panther is doing here ^^


 
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The Rental Shop Owner - English Translation by ayszhang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

84 comments:

  1. Yayy! Happy Mothers' Day <3

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  2. aH reading this update makes me feel so nostalgic. All the media referenced were the things I watched/read growing up. I'm a big fan of the Young and Dangerous series. And I can't even believe Sleepers was referenced. I didn't think it was that popular overseas. But I guess it does have a lot of big name actors in it.



    I feel so sad for Shen Bin's situation. It's like he doesn't even care if he gets locked up because his life outside wasn't any better. I feel even worse for his mom = *( At least she had a proper funeral. So nice of Qian to do that even though he was complaining all the way hahah.



    Happy Mother's Day. Cute picture!

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  3. I wasn't too sure about reading this at the beginning but now that i have given it a chance I actually like it despite the fact that i dont normally read this genre. 😊 thanks for sharing!

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  4. :D thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. Well, he's supposedly one of those people who watches tons of movies and reads a ton of books. And we'll get an explanation later. But yeah so many references hahaha. I'm glad you found it nostalgic! ^^

    :) have a good one

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  6. 😰 Well to be honest I don't know many of the references either! ...

    Thank you for giving it a try <3 I hope it doesn't disappoint!

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  7. I feels really sad for SB's mom. She was so abused by her dead husband so much that she cowered and talked so respectfully to a young man who is almost half her age, and probably thought that she not worth anything and like dirt, and keep on apologizing for minor incident that cause by her son.

    I don't know if still true to this date or not but I heard that when you are in prison in China (and most of Asian countries), your own family have to provide foods and the necessary to you because the prison doesn't provide for it (not like in the US where taxpayers have provide for them years and years on until they either release or die of old age or natural causes or receive the death penalty) in order for your survival in prison because I don't believe his mother has any money to send to him (not unless she sent all of it to him but doesn't keep any for her cancer treatment). The way QJ described how SB looks better (as of little fatter) now than when SB was freed if he was selling himself in prison for the foods and necessary (such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste and etc...). Anyway, the situation and living conditions of his home would make anyone (that is human with feelings) heart break and cry.

    AZ, thank-you for these chapters and the aaaaawwwwww so cute picture of loving panther mother and her cub. Wishing your mom and everyone mom a wonderful, joyful and happy Mother's Day.

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  8. =A= I hope he isn't selling himself for neccesities...
    Ummm. I don't think you need to pay for food in there but you would get better treatment if you did. You probably get the cheapest (shitties) food if you didn't pay or bribe the prison ahead of time. But keep in mind there are also gangs in the prison so he could have joined one and thats why he has gotten fatter and grown taller? Maybe.
    .
    You're welcome :) hehe I know right~ I love cats~
    Wish you a great day too! <3

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  9. I'll give you the quick run down some of the titles mentioned here that I know. Zetsuai 1989 is about a high school who came from a broken home (his mother committed suicide and tried to kill him too) dream to become a pro soccer player and a high school age boy (from a dysfunctional rich family) who doesn't go to school because he is a celebrity (a popular singer) and really, really loves the soccer player boy. There is an animation (but it only finish half way, typical of most anime) and a completed manga series (in my opinion, it is a sad ending). Close Case (American's title, I don't like the name. I like the Japanese name better, and it calls Meitantei Conan) is about a detective freak (crazy for it) high school boy who got shrunk into an elementary kid (1st grader) but still retained his highly intelligent mind, and who goes around secretly helping the police solving murder, attempted murder, embezzlement and others cases. Both manga and anime series are still on-going. Rurouni Kenskiin is about highly skill a roaming samurai during the Meiji period. There anime (finished), manga series (still on-going) and Japanese film version on this.

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is about 4 ordinary turtles who got mutated by hazardous chemical (illegally pour down the drain by violator) into human standing talking turtles that are trained by a mutated man (by the same chemical into a rat) to be come ninja to help him take revenge for his master being killed by his master former evil student. The version on mutated man is different in the comic/cartoon and movie (in movie, it said that the man is originally a rat). Transformers are about the war between the good autobots (automobiles turning into giant robots) and the evil flying bots leader [(mostly flying machine) who wants to control everything in their home planet] in their home planet and were transported to earth (again different version between the comic/cartoon and American movies). The Shawshank Redemption is a very low level of intelligent (almost a child level) of big black was wrongly put in prison and the lawyer who try to help and everything to get him free (I can't remember too much of it because I read and watched too much of everything that most things are still vividly remain in my mind and others are murky).

    That all the titles that I recognize in these chapters.

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  10. You mentioned that you love cats. I have cat story to tell you. Hope this story put a smile on your face.

    We have this stray cat that my boss rescued by in 2008, when it was abandoned by its mother when he was a sickly kitten, and nursed him back to health, and now he permanently our company's cat. Since he is the company's cat, he kind of drag a couple of other stray cats to our company, and we end up take care of them too. Anyway, you know when cats mates (springtime for them), they either do it somewhere no one can see and almost always at night time. It happened sometime in early March, after my day at work, and I was about to leave. As soon as I opened the office door and started to step down the stairs outside of the office, low and behold, right in the middle of the step, I saw the company cat (the one that we rescued) pumping another stray female cat. I retraced my steps back into the office, and told one of my coworker that our cat was pumping another cat, and she didn't believe me and said "No Way!", and I said "If you don't believe then come outside to take a look because the cat was still pumping the other one." She came a look and saw it but then she started to lecture the cat and it them away, and they dispersed. I turned to her and said "You took away his fun and his thing is still up. Now, how is he going to get rid of it, huh?" and we both started laughing.

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  11. Omg hahahahahahhaa. You're so considerate!!! XDD "his thing is still up".

    But I thought cats couldn't dismount their mate until they finish ejaculating? :o or are those dogs??

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  12. I don't know much (nothing at all really, I am more into human mating) about nature mating so I just made a crack joke of it with my coworker.

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  13. Omg (//o\\) hahahahaha. Me, too. Me, too. But I've read quite a few chinese BL stories involving beastiality (i can never spell this word right D:) and dogs, cats and snakes are a crowd fave

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  14. I read quite a few of Japanese yaoi manga but mostly fantasy that they turn to human but still retained some of their beastly parts on them. Not my cup of tea kind of manga, eventhough, they turned into human. Like I said, I am 100% human mating (but with the beastly vigorous stamina. The harder you pound, the more I like).

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  15. Just adding to the explanation. Regarding the wrongfully accused African American in prison, that's To Kill a Mockingbird (though the childlike character description is actually from The Green Mile). Shawshank Redemption is about a wrongfully accused accountant who gets put in jail. *spoiler* He gets bullied/raped in the beginning but then makes friends and used his accounting skills to help the corrupt warden cheat money and therefore gains a very solid standing in prison. (hence the scary warden reference in this chapter). He then famously escapes prison through the sewage pipe, steals the warden's secret funds (while exposing his corrupt ways) and flees to Mexico where he eventually reunites with his prison buddy who became his best friend. It's a very good movie and I highly recommend it.

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  16. His prison buddy who he fucked with >u<?

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  17. Thank-you for clearing up for me. I get so confuse with so many things. Like said something vividly stay with me and others are murky.

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  18. That happens to me too! A lot of times I have to go back and re-read or re-watch things because I get mixed up. =P

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  19. Thanks and I'm glad i read this story. It seems good so far. 😊

    And to Marishi and Eye44can1, thanks for the long explanations. I appreciate it very much! 👍

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  20. Nee, nee, AZ, could I ask you a few questions? Do Canada celebrate Memorial Day? Is there a Victoria Day holiday? Are Victoria Day and Boxing Day the same kind of holiday as Memorial Day? Are Victoria Day and Boxing Day the same holiday day or completely different holiday?

    It just came across my mind because our Memorial Day is on the 25th, and I was just curious about Victoria Day and Boxing Day.

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  21. haha more like they shared a brotherly love.

    If it helps, I can also try to elaborate on any references that I'm familiar with. Hopefully that can help people enjoy the story more if they get all those subtle things that Qian is talking about haha. (I mostly know the 90's pop culture stuff)

    For example, Young and Dangerous is mentioned a few times and for people who aren't familiar with the series, it's basically about HK triads. And since the movies glamorized the lifestyle of violence/honor/brotherhood/sex/drugs etc.. when Qian said Shen Bin's friends watched too much Y&D he's implying that they're all proud acting like gangsters because they think it's cool.

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  22. oh yea....and Sleepers was another interesting reference. It's a movie about four young boys that get sent to a corrections facility after a prank goes wrong and they end up hurting someone. There they get repeatedly physically and sexually abused by the officers guarding them (the "rapists" reference) and they later grow up get a chance to plot revenge on those guards.

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  23. Very interesting. I grew with my family watching martial arts movies series (such as The Condor Heroes series, The Heaven Sword & Dragon Saber, Journey of the West and etc...) so I was influenced by their references even to this date; however, if I was to say, I don't watch these kind of long series anymore, I am more into 2 Hrs. max movies but in the genes of comedy or the ones with a lot of action. I was going to ask you what Young and Dangerous is about but was kind of busy so one thing let to another I kind of forgot. I think American has The God Fathers movie series and the TV series Soprano (I didn't watch) and was wondering if these are the same like the HK's Young and Dangerous.

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  24. There is Victoria day! It's later this month :) It's to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday.
    Memorial Day we don't have but we have Remembrance Day which commemorates the end of WWI on Nov 11.
    Boxing Day is just a day for shopping. Dec 26th XDDD

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  25. AZ, thank-you. So basically, Boxing Day is a day after Christmas big sale a day when everything related to Christmas are 50 to 75% off (never went to one in my life). Canada's Remembrance Day on 11/11 is like American's Veterans' Day which is also celebrate on 11/11.

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  26. Young and Dangerous are movies so if you wanna know for sure just watch it. It's pretty entertaining! :D

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  27. Ah yea! Veterans Day! :)
    Yup that's basically it. You're welcome

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  28. I surprisingly have never watched the Condor Heroes! Even though it's super popular. I heard the new version that came out a few years back was very good. And yea I think all gangster movies are pretty similar. The cultural aspect is different (like mafia vs triad vs yakuza) but the themes are very similar

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  29. Are they long? Long continuous TV shows or movies series, I don't really have the patience to sit and continuously watching them unless they are interesting. I rather read long books series instead because I have the patience for them because you can take the books anywhere with you unlike movies and TV shows.

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  30. Nooo they're not long. I think there's two or three movies only! Each is like your average action movie ;)

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  31. Yeah, I kind like the old version instead. The new version did not really click with me; however, the 2010 of was it 2011 version of Heaven Sword & Dragon Saber was very good until the ending part which I did not like (I thought it was stupid ending. I like the old version ending better).

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  32. I've never watched Condors either but everyone talks about it so I kinda know a lot about it. Kinda like how everyone knows a few Star Wars or LOTR references cuz its THAT popular.
    Yeah I agree. HK triad has its own traits. But one thing that always amazes me when I watch anything about the HK crime scene is that...HK is fucking tiny!!! I can't imagine so much activity going on in a miniscule island XDDD but but but, said miniscule island has 7 million ppl so haha

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  33. yes HK is so tiny and congested. But I can see how all those back alleys and questionable apartment buildings can be hideouts for shady business. The only thing that is so exaggerated are the scenes where they have open gang fights and shootings and the cops are no where to be found....

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  34. There also Macao Island where there a lot of hidden crime activities that most of us don't about unless we read the news about but then not much reported on it unless in involve the big heads.

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  35. Just like in some of America's cities. There are a lots of unsolved crimes here. However, unlike what you said about HK, it is actually really happened in America, and it is no exaggeration about the shoot out with criminals and gangs.

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  36. There aren't many people in Macao to begin with. Most of the crimes are related to the casinos I would think o.o

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  37. I KNOW RIGHT!!! And those lonnnnng car chases...I'm just like...Yo i've been to HK, and it's not THAT big <_<

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  38. No offense but...damn it's not safe in the states QAQ Guns are so easy to get!!!
    .
    I remember once I drove down to Washington state with my friend and we stopped at a gas station to fill up on gas and take a leak. The guy in the car next to us opened his trunk and there was a shotgun in it >A< my friend (she was driving) immediately closed the doors and locked them. I guess we Canadians are just too pacificist...

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  39. 'merica does love its guns. The NRA is one of THE biggest and influential lobbying groups in the US. It's a shame since there is so much gun related violence here. I live in a big city and there's just so much people in such a limited area that crazy stuff happens all the time. I don't necessarily feel unsafe but there is always that need to be wary of strangers and your surroundings.

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  40. Yeah, I only knew about when I read some of the news (rarely reported) regarding Macao's casino and David Beckham and came across about how the David Beckham was doing advertisement for this one particular casino, and how this casino's head honcho was former HK or was it Taiwan or China (I forgot) movie actor/producer that his family (he and his bother) are in the triads, and this casino also have partner with one of American's casino in LV.

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  41. Yeah, you are right. It not really safe in America in more. You not only have to look over your shoulders but also to your left, right and front.

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  42. it's an open secret that HK entertainment industry is controlled by triads. It was particularly bad in the 80s and 90s. I'm sure even now they still have influence in the shadows.

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  43. And the triads let HK's entertainment industries made movies and TV shows about them and trashing them in these shows?

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  44. OH nooo. The shows and movies usually glorify the triads :o

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  45. Yea, the shows do glorify them but then in the end the triads members either died in the shoot out, maned or jailed that the impression that I got when I did watch some (not many) of these movies though.

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  46. But the stories make the members seem like human beings just like any other trying to make a living. Like you could almost feel pity towards them o.o

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  47. Yea, I only feels a little pity toward them but only the bottom feeders and not the big head honchos though.

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  48. guess we have some new ranters here, ah.. *clap clap clap*
    nii_san bows to you in respect


    yepp, what i wanted to say is... i don't know what you're talking about but.. i like the word 'suicide' infact thats what brough me here XD

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  49. Awww D: I'm glad to see you back and ranting! Take care. We'll all miss you lots <333
    I expect a long comment on Thursday....and you need to comment on this new story's couple <3

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  50. omg you just love blood and gore don't you! XD

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  51. guess i have a busy schedual XD

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  52. Oh by the way ayszhang.. can you understand Arabic??

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  53. No :o I've never learned. Is it an alphabet?

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  54. Yaaaaaaaaay, finally i found something i know that ayszhang doesn't..
    ^^ Arabic my lovely language (i love it more now that i know i know it, and you don't.. but still, i don't speak a lot of languages like you >< you motivate me to study harder.. thaank you a bundle ^^)

    we have 29 alphabets, but some say it only is 28, considering the two alphabets to be the same.. it a bit complicated (escpecially, that ancient words before the existence of Islam >< Ohhh God, we studied those poems wrtten at that time. AGHHH, i had to explain every word !!! It made me realize how stupid i am >< thank God we overcome that period !! Now we are studying a simpler ones.. but they are still hard :( and i love poems wheather hard or not.. you're so lucky you don't study here, otherwise you'll take a zero in literature!! In class you can understand, but when the test paper is given to you, a different poem of the same thing you studied and still too hard >< but i'm not that bad, i understand most of the contents since i sometimes mix the meaning of a word with another one...)
    .... and a again.. this internet is driving out of mind !! >:(

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  55. eye44can1.. thank you so much for distrying my innocent view of cats.. i love cats soo much.. and i usually pass by a male cat that lays on top of a female cat and i see him biting her ear!
    i always though they were fighting so i always yell at him to leave her alone ( what a hero -_-)
    Does that mean they were actually doing it all along??
    See, i still had some innocence till i read you comment -_-
    i encountered that scence soo much, even two male cats fighting over a female cat!!
    Thanks, now i know that thay actually have sex too (i suspected that, no i was sure of that, but i couldn't imagine that because.. i just can't imagine it.. i remember when we were sooo young, and the teachers used to tell us that we have to put for example, a female and a male rabbits together in one place, and then a little rabbit appears !! siight.. i can't believe teachers used to lie to us, but still tell us that lying is bad !.. well they didn't lie exactly, just gave us half the truth... guess that's what makes children soo innocent, nice old days XD)

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  56. >o< I know Classics is harddddd. Thankfully Latin isn't mandatory in most places in the Western world. But yeah, we have to study the Classical language in China, Korea and Japan (though each to different extents). It's hard because no one speaks like that anymore T_T so it's rote memorization...*sigh*

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  57. The panther... she's staring into my soul lol. This story is interesting so far. I'm interested in seeing where it goes!

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  58. AZ, I just got home from work and turned on the computer and went straight to this site on these chapters and what do I see. To my surprise, my favorite kind of picture (GIVE ME MORE THESE TYPE OF PICTURES). thank-you but I will even thanks you a billion times over for more of these types of pictures.

    To nii-san, welcome back. I am glad nothing major happened to you from falling down the stairs. We missed your rantings. You had stated on CS's chapter 32 that you were depressed of HX's depressing situations, and you were crying your eyeballs out and won't be commenting for a while. Anyway, welcome back.

    Also, let me ask you a question. Since you stated that you are a girl, why isn't you user name by nee_san instead on nii_san, huh? i am just curious. Yeah, I know that my curiosity will get me kill one of these days (there is a saying "that curiosity will kill the cat." Yep, that will be me.

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  59. Either up-hill or down-hill, take you pick. Just kidding.

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  60. Momma panther ftw!!! ^A^
    Glad you like it :D
    Lol @eye44can1 you just love teasing ppl

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  61. Helloo there, i was cryiing soo much, iknew if i said i won't be commenting for sometime it will look like i won't be commenting for somedays, buut.. i take a looong time to rant (not because it's hard to find what tto rant about.. it's because i'm soo lazy that i don't type soo fast) and then i was preparing that comment... and suddenly the computershut on its own (how cruel right???) luckily i was saving it in gmail, it stays as a draft phewwwwww


    Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh, the looong awaiiited questioooooon !!!!!!!!
    nii_tan hits nii_san on her arm!!
    nii_san yells: OUUUUUUUUUUUCCHHHHH!! You know i'm injured because of yesterday!
    nii_tan:Serves you right! You know it's my turn to use the computer, go study for your exam, it's in te afternoon
    nii_san:what's wrong with you?? you're not even angry in real life, you're enjoying yourself drawing that strange looking Donkey
    nii_tan: Hmphh.. it's not strange (my sis was actually considerate to my condition so i'm taking advantage of the situation :p)
    Anyway, i woke up with some bruiqses here and there, some injuries i didn't know yesterday i had.. Ifeel like i was beaten by you guys for reall, as if all the fans, xiao, Murong, double H, even Sun le, appeared in real life and took revenge from me !!!!!
    although being bruesed a bit is kinda cook, as though i am a gangter.. i keep staring at my injuries and think: "i'm awesome!"


    Anyway, i don't know why my answere to your question turned into another stupid rant -_- really...
    Okay i won't keep you waiting loong, that question i already asked myself a loong time agoo, but not when i used nii_san as a username soo here are some reasons;
    the first one is that i simply write it just like that, all i wanted to do was comment ..
    the second reason is because nii_san is easier to type than nee_san since the N and I are nearer to each other than the N and E (what kind of reason is that)
    the thirsd reason is because nii_san is better looking than nee_tan
    the forth reason is because i like the pronounciation of nii more than nee..
    and lately i found out that... nii was actualyy a surname !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i mean look at the names i gave my family: nii_tan, nii_kun, Mrs_nii.. it looks lie a surname doesn't it?? it as if kun is my brother's name, tan is my sister's name, and Mrs just as a respet for my mom or something?? but my name being san is kinda strange soo...AGHHH my reasons are illogical!! Forget it, we all know that nii_san is a weirdo soo as i said before, you never know what's going on in that thick skucll of hers.. I myself don't know what's going on in there.. maybe i became crazy because i'm ill?? but even if i'm perfectly fin i type unreasonable things and ...
    Okay okay i'll stop.. if you keep reading that, you're gonna kill yourself right there !! And i can't murder you because if i do ayszhang will use his ultimate weapon...

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  62. >.< nii_san is an awesome name

    I won't be replying as often as I did in the past week or so because school started again. :( But know that I'm here, translating even on my bus ride to school orz (that's my secret to translating so much even though I have full time school XD) I'm almost done ch 36 ^o^ if I finish 37 before the end of this week I might consider doing another double release ;)

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  63. ohhh, see, you're good at everything (the reason why nii_san wants to win against you) i go to school on my feet, it isn't that far, and i don't even go early (because i either have history/geography or literature, wednesday and thursday were the two only days i don't start with a noisy sesion in the morning)
    but really, how do you take it?? my school ended yours started???
    you really are hard working ha???
    good luck in your studies anyway, don't let the your BL life doesn't effect your 'real' life.. i really really look up to you, i must be as hard working as you (determind)


    but i'm still feeling lazy ><

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  64. OMG! haahahahahahaha (laughing my head off), nii_san, U did kill me with UR (there are no word to describe) reason, and how lazy can U get with the e and the i buttons. And, U like to take advantage of UR situation, don't U? I would too if I was in UR position.

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  65. Aren't I a riot? And, I aim to please.

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  66. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee do; however, I don't wanna another bawling session; otherwise, instead of Ur shoulders getting wet, Ur whole body be wet from everyone tears.

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  67. his whole body???
    wet???


    O.O




    *brain explodes*




    I'm very very veeeeeery sorry ayszhang, i have imagined a very bad thing!!!
    body and wet were the key words to my naughty mind, it's not my fault it is eye44can1's fault!! Blame her! Not my fault noooooooooooooooooo TT^TT
    ayszhang got raped by the fans !!!!!! i wasn't part of it, i just imaginded it *innocent eyes*
    Suddenly ayszhang appears, pulls out a gun nii_san covers her eyes waiting for her moment to come and..........................






    eye44can1 gets shot!!!
    all fans get shot!!!
    ayszhang relouds the gun and directs it to his head then his last words:"the only way to get rid of nii_san!" then immediatly shoots himself!!
    and nii_san lives without chapters for the rest of her liiiiiifeee !!!!!!!
    .
    .
    .
    .
    the end :p

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  68. i found another reason :)
    ince i am a fujoshi then, doesn't nii seem better here? (does this make sence??)
    i thought of it as i was in my history and geography exam ^^
    i'm sure you'll be like "What?! how can you do that in an exam? you don't care about your studies?!!!!!" annd noo, that is not the reason, i was already doing bad so i pretty much didn't care!
    And now you're probably like:"What?! you were doing bad??i thought you said exam were easy for you" , annd indeed, that is what i said because i am a person who understands more and memorizes less. If i 'understand then i don't need to memorize, probably only revise a bit. But if i don't understand... then what's the point in memorizing? it is useless anyway , since i'm not even going to udnerstand the question.. and they say understanding the question is half the answer' briliant aren't i? -_-

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  69. i just got my first vote down, by my ownself XD






    -_- i know i know, i'm just bored, i have the exam in the morning but i don't want to revise, well since i'm good at these three last exams i don't feel like i need to revise but i'll do it anyway ... in a minute ("big fat liar" That voice again!!!! i'm gonna kill youuuuuuuuu!!!!!!
    "aghh, just go to revise, i feel bad just looking at you!" what the?.. alright i'm going.. seriously *goes to revise reluctantly* >:( )

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  70. XDD Oh boy. I'd love to be wet all over ;DDD sandwiched between two hot guys? heaven~

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  71. Nii_san, U traitor and betrayed me, and here I am trying to educate Ur mind to be muddy like mine. I bet U use me as your shield 1st and then when U ran out of option, U use everybody else and Urself last, don't U?

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  72. AZ, are U trying to cause me nosebleed? I bet Ur and LYHO while see blood gushing from my nose.

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  73. Nii_san, is that the only word that caught Ur eyes on my long explanation? Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh! No word to describe my feeling because it is the only WORD that caught Ur interest. Boy I am losing my touch (boo hoo hoo to myself).

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  74. i do ?? *innocent eyes*
    noo wayy XD

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  75. Yeah, U bet U did and don't give me that look my little buddy.

    Oh, yeah, by the way nii_san, it just occurred to me of ur reasoning of ur username. U stated about the nii part. Why don't U use the san as a surname as the American would say last name? Because U could call urself nee_san, ur bro. (bro_san or in ur case nii_san) little sis (sis_san or tan_san) and ur mother (Mrs._san or mama_san).

    Yeah, I know that my curiosity got the better of me.

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  76. because for me nii is better as a surname then the san... ain't cool to me.. plus.. me being named 'san' so i get some respect as a suprerior here *stands pridefully* hpmhh.. you beat me all the time so ofc i'll have my own ways of taking revenge...


    now that i think about it.. those reasons are really meaningless !Reasons should be made Before that not After.. it's like roolate
    the real reason why i named myself that is because it suddenly came up in my mind, i though it was nice and cute, so immediatly used it, and then addicted to calling my self nii_san.. :)


    Now that we're discussing about names.. why did U (i'm copying you now XD) use eye44can1 as your user name..
    hold on, i can guess the 'eye44', Are you perhaps a four eyes like me ????
    as for the 'can1' i don't think i can guess it...
    or was it just a name you came up on the spot and used it like me ????

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  77. Nii_san, U did pretty of guessing my reason. Yep, I am a 4 eyes just like U (but only to see for driving, watching TV or seeing anything from a far distance). However, actually, I 1st came up with the name 'eye41canA42Bme' but my older sister liked this username, and asked if she could it instead, and being a sweet little sister, I say "Sure, why not." while inside crying "She should have came up one on her own.", so I came up with this name on the spot, and use it from then on but then later I found that my sister didn't use the name after all. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh! The wasted of my talent.

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  78. I don't usually wear glasses hehe 😁✌🏼️

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  79. AZ, U sometime wear glass too? Yppeeeeeee! U finished up to chpt.36, so give, give (like when?).

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  80. yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy !!
    but...
    i didn't finish my surprise !!
    that's exactly why you're awesome, nii_san really needs to work harder, but laziness can't be cured easily ><

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  81. Yeah I have glasses prescribed but I rarely wear them XDDD
    ...Well, if I finish ch 37 before Sunday, I will consider releasing two chapters the next week or the week after that.

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  82. Well well Jiying,what a bad mouth you got there, or is it a bad mind? aren't you good at describing your soroundings.. too bad you describe what ever that looks bad.. you're too negative, looking at the dark side of everything..

    like a pig's inn? i wonder how bad that is.. *looks at her house* wooow, i'm living in heaven -_-

    ofcource he's gonna look healthier, i bet he didn't even have the money to buy food , so where did him mom get the fruis .. it makes her so pitiful >< she tried her hardest to get him something in exchange and Jiying's mom acted like that :(

    it reminds me when a child does something wrong, and then tries to persuade the person to forgive him by giving them what he has T^T i could just cry all day if i keep on thinking about it but i don't want to ><

    and then she dies :((((( and says that he is soo kind (if only she knows what he's thinking XD)

    well he is kind hearted.. he helped in the funeral.. this story really looks sad.. it doesn't have a bad ending, does it?

    Anyway, there was this funny (more like naughty) thing i thought of as i read the chapters.. where Shen Ben's friends come to take Jiying to to the lady's house.. as they dragged him there, i was trying to guess what they wanted him for, and then when they lead inside the bedrooom i was like "OH MY GOD, they're gonna rape him!!!!"

    and then when he saw that person lting on the bed, i was like "OH MY GOD, Shen Bin is out of jale, he's right there, he's going to rape him!!!!!!!!"

    guess i really wanna see people get raped these, huh...

    I don't those brats are bad either, just as he said they're just kids, trying to gain attention or something..

    Ohhhhh, sweet, he went to visit him.. he's so adorable not knowing what to do once he met him.. i mean come on “I, um, I didn’t bring anything. I would’ve if I knew…” XDDDD seriously Jiying, if it was me i'd explode right there and then if i was in Shen Bin's place(oh by the way Shen Bin , what a cute name ^-^)

    ohh, he said that he still laughs about that till now, that mean they are together, right?? soo that's a happy ending, right??

    guess we'll have to wait for 10 years so he they meet again, huh? (we're not gona wait that long are we?)

    woaaaahh, i totaly forgot the mother's day !!!!!!!!!

    ohh, mom probably forgot too ^^.. no no wait, we were making stuff for that day (some clubs gather to present what ever they make, either sell it or show it, andd Mrs_nii and I are part of it ^^ mom makes bracelets and some other stuff while i make roses and the sort :))

    Soo that means i knew that day caame, but just like usual i forgor..?

    i'm a person who forgets a lot, i'l tell you later to what extent i forget -_- it's very embarrassing but funny as well XD

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  83. Hahaha I hope you and your mom had a great Mother's Day!

    Omg HAHAHAHAHA rape? Oh my. You're the one with the dirty mind!!!

    :s Shen Bin's mom probably sold or pawned some things to buy the fruits.

    Jiying is so...he just likes to rant haha but he's a kind person XD

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