Translator: ayszhang
Proofreaders: Luzo & Red
The Rental Shop Owner epilogue
Epilogue (10 Years with Shen Bin)
I’m
Shen Bin.
I’ve
known Ah-ge for ten years now.
I’m
twenty-eight and Ah-ge is already thirty-four, hahaha.
We’re
in Shanghai now, living a good life and making a shit ton of money. We never
thought ten years ago that we’d get to where we are today. Shanghai’s been
developing so quick, thank god I got out early. If I stayed in there for ten
years, I’d be a moldy piece of junk who doesn’t know what the hell is going on.
I
didn’t know for a long time that Ah-ge wrote this thing and that it’s about us.
It was the girl from the store, Ah-Fen, who told me about it!
She’s
in Shanghai, too. She’s married now and her kid’s growing up too, but she’s
still reading BL or whatever—the you-know-what kind.
She even made a bunch of lady-friends who always come to the store acting all
suspicious.
But I guess they come to look at me.
The super hot stud, duh!
We’ve
been through a lot these years and Ah-ge’s still going on blind dates. Sigh.
But
there’s been less and less because everyone knows he’s picky. Muma
told me to talk him into lowering his expectations and told me to lower mine,
too.
It’s
a hard situation.
Okay,
I’ll start from the top. I only have a junior high education so please bear
with me here.
The
year 2000, Ah-ge and I came to Shanghai together. At that time, the area around
Century Park was just like the wilderness. The houses were nice but not very
hospitable. We decided we couldn’t live there so we rented out the blank house
and rented a place by Dongchang Road, near Yaohan. They were all old state-owned
buildings, a lot like the villages back home. We were on the sixth floor. The
bottom floors all had security grilles on the windows and made it look pretty
much like a jail.
We
rented a two room, semi-furnished, for two hundred a month. Adding on the rent
from the house by Century Park, we earned about seventy bucks a month.
I
learned a bit about computers when I was in the slammer, but really it wasn’t anything
major. Computers change really fast. One year it was still 586 but then the
next year it was Celeron and Pentium. I figured it was a good business. A
computer that cost eight hundred bucks only lasts you a year or two before a
newer generation comes out—it’s almost like fashion,
right?
The
computer section in Yaohan had just opened at the time and I first worked at a
branch of a brand name store. After I got myself familiar with the place, I
found a few people and started to assemble parts and sell pirated cell phones
along with it. It made good dough.
Ah-ge’s
luck turned for the better after meeting me, hahaha, he just doesn’t wanna admit
it.
His
major isn’t very hot on the market but there was the Shanghai Skilled Worker
Program or whatever at the time and university grads were valuable. He was
pretty good with English so he found a biotech company headquartered in Hubei
with a location in Shanghai through a classmate. But at the old age he was
(lol) —which was true, there’s no use giving
me those looks—he
only made, like, two hundred fifty dollars a month as a beginner associate. I
mean, I was much better off just selling pirated phones.
But
Ah-ge wasn’t interested in that. He wanted a job just to get a registry in Shanghai. I on the other hand got a blue-stamp
because of the house. He worked hard for half a year before going back to his comfort
zone and opening a video store here.
Shanghai
is such a big place and rush hour is horrific. There’s not many people who got
the time to rent videos. They usually just buy it. It’s different from how it
is back home. The same goes for books and manga, too. I didn’t even know where
those kids get so much cash. They’re such spenders. It wasn’t until later that
I found out that the farmers in Pudong are just stinking rich. Ask anyone you
see on the street and they’ll have a few houses from having their land bought
out.
Ah-ge
found a small store front downstairs to sell videos. The business wasn’t that
great at first but somehow it boomed. He’s definitely talented in these things,
haha.
It
was after we lived there for a year or two when I went to collect rent that I
saw a huge parade of cars heading to the new development just next door. Turns
out it was a group of real estate shoppers from Wenzhou, buying
out hundred-thousand-dollar houses like it was nothing.
I
told Ah-ge after going home. He kept turning and tossing that night and didn’t behave
in bed either. Later, he decided to sell the shops and the house back home and
buy houses in Shanghai.
Haha,
pretty good intuition, huh.
Ever
since then, Ah-ge has been completely immersed in buying and selling property.
He’d ride his stupid old bike around and about the neighbourhoods. Starting
from Century Park, to Huamu, Sanlin, Yangpu
and Minhang, he practically looked through every alleyway.
We
made some calculations last night. We can retire ahead of time!
All
in all, Ah-ge, the educated one in the family, makes a bit more than me. But he
is Ah-ge after all!
Ah-Fen
married a small business owner in ’02 and came to Shanghai, too, to help out at
the store. Her husband and I work together with computers and the partnership
is going well.
Ah-Fen
is still kinda weird and wacky. Her daughter’s already three and she’s still
watching inappropriate videos, all from Japan, too. Thankfully, I’m a good
person and I keep her secret for her.
She
always hogs the computer when she watches the store and goes on this pink-themed
forum, scrolling through it endlessly every waking minute of the day (and
night!). Sometimes she’d even grin with her pearly whites all showing—creepy! I think she made a few internet friends,
saying that she’s getting business for the store. Then, a few girls showed up
at the store. There was a master’s student too. She looked pretty cute but I
don’t think Ah-ge fell for her. If he dare…hmmph! I’ll make sure he says
goodbye to his little friend!
Ah,
screw it. If I did that I’d suffer too. I’ll torture him. No, that’s too much.
Oh well, he’ll never change anyways!
We’re
the kind that’s been through hell and back!
Anyways,
back to the story of those little girls, they hid it pretty well but I could tell
right away. They came into the store and kept staring at me and Ah-ge.
The
hell you looking at?
Ah-ge’s
really slow with these things and didn’t give a damn and kept doing his
research on real estate. I had to take care of my computer business too, so I
had to go. Surprisingly, two of them followed me!
Dayum!
Am
I that hot?
Hahahahaha.
When
I got to the computer section, the girls asked me for fake Samsung phones while
staring at my neck without even blinking. I thought I must’ve had something on
my neck.
They
kept looking until I felt a bit creeped out. But you see, I’ve started a new
life for so long and my temper got a lot better. I went to the restroom to look
in the mirror and it turned out I had a red mark on my collarbone. It’s all
Ah-ge, kissing me like crazy the previous night.
I
was a bit weirded out.
What’s
going on in the girls’ heads nowadays? Thank god I didn’t have to marry one.
After,
the girls came to hang out a lot and we got to know each other. A few of them
are pretty close with Ah-ge, always discussing some writing. I felt a bit down
and wondered what Ah-ge was writing behind my back.
But
honestly, I’ve thought through it. I might say I’m gonna do this and that if he
had a change of hearts, but I’m just a damned nobody while he’s the only son of
the Qian family. Muma and Jiye (godfather) both
really want to have a grandchild.
If
a girl is what it takes, I’d be okay with that, really…
I
brought this up the other day and Ah-ge’s face just went sour.
He
turned into a monster at night and I couldn’t even get up the next morning. Do
not try this at home, kids.
My
Ah-ge is very fierce to start with. He might look skinny and he might be
shorter than me, but he dared go up against Brother. Of course, it was for me…
I’ll
always remember.
I’ll
be with someone who’d do that for me for as long as I’m alive.
So
I gotta live on and listen to him, not go down the wrong path, not fight and
not curse—be the model gay man of the new century.
Even
if he gets married. I won’t complain.
His
son will be my son.
But
I won’t tell him this. I’ll just keep it inside.
He
always says that love is dedication. If he got married while liking me, that’d
be unfair for the girl.
I’m
happy when I hear that. There’s actually tons of people out there who has a
mistress or maybe two or three or four mistresses. Ah-ge is one of the last men
on earth. A real man.
I
was right about him.
My
intuition is much better than Ding Hongmei, I mean, my
ma.
We’re bringing Muma and Jiye to Shanghai for New Year’s this year.
Lin Dongfu and the gang are coming too.
It’s actually been ten years.
So much has happened in ten years, but it seems fast to me, a lot
faster than the eighteen years before that. I just feel joy and happiness
everyday. I haven’t forgotten about the past—being bullied and killing people—but
it has really just passed by.
And
it’ll just keep passing by.
Lin
Dongfu, the little shit, he stopped selling motorcycles and started selling
Japanese cars back home and made a ton of money. He who used to do the worst in
school actually got married with a teacher from the provincial high. An English
teacher! And the other guys, one of them opened a poultry shop and another is
driving for a long-distance coach service. All are doing pretty good.
I
really like watching a few of the rated films that Ah-ge has. I can’t pronounce
the names but they’re awesome. It’s like reliving the days of my youth.
In
the last ten years, Ah-ge’s idol jumped down from the twenty-fourth floor and
Ah-ge started a gay blog as is the popular trend. But I’m not gay, I just like
Ah-ge.
Author’s
note
After so many years, I wrote a
short epilogue for the New Year’s.
Because Shen Bin is the narrator,
I became a bit wordy and couldn’t describe things that well.
The two are very happy.
Report over!
Author’s
note (2015)
I never knew that there was
someone who was translating danmei novels for people outside the country. I
wonder how my words sound translated into English, but nonetheless, I feel very
honoured. This story was not published like my other works but this is also the
story that is based on my home, on the people around me, and on the true Jiangnan of China. I hope those who read this short
story written by this small author can get to know more about this place. I
believe that love, in fact, has no boundaries in this world of ours. May you
all find happiness.
---FIN---
ayszhang: Aaaaaand, that brings The Rental Shop Owner to a close! :D Thank you all for the support. Special thanks to Anon-san, again, for the beautiful cover <3 Bye~ until the next story~
Chapters 16+17
The Rental Shop Owner - English Translation by ayszhang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Nice to see things from BinBin's perspective. Seems they're just living their lives normally and peacefully. It's funny how Ah Fen is posting about knowing a real life gay couple and telling her fujoshi friends to come and gawk at them like zoo animals lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the project! Yay for happy endings!
waaaahhh let's congratulate you for finishing these translations for past three days. thank you! XD
ReplyDeletei didn't expect that store clerk actually a fujoshi :)) and it's really based from real story? it even had epilogue note from its actual character too :))
finally....lovely story....thank u ayszhang and the ganks for this one
ReplyDeleteGreat ending. 1st, AF's outlook & now SB's version. Double funny & my sides are hurting double.
ReplyDeleteVery glad that their lives, the gang & AF's are going great for them.
AF is a real woman. Posting & sill reading about gay couples. She & her friends come to their store just to gawk at them.
*Clasping hands* & *big hug* to AZ. Thanks for the great story.
Thank you for the great story. I cried while reading BB's life and was worried even though spoiler said HE. This story is short but very nice. happy to learn they live good happy life. It's wonderful ending.
ReplyDeleteGreat ending ...i love it...
ReplyDeleteThanx AZ... .
ReplyDelete:) you're very welcome
ReplyDelete☺️😘❤️
ReplyDeleteIm glad it made you laugh!
I'm sure that once you become fujoshi-fied or fudanshi-fied you can never go back!!!
:D You're welcome~ When I say it's an HE it's an HE. You gotta believe me!!! >A<
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it! Please continue to support us ❤️
You're welcome :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I discovered the love & joy of reading & watching them about 7 years ago, and not once did I ever look & going back.
ReplyDeleteThat's the spirit 8D
ReplyDeleteI started only 4 years ago haha
Can't say i enjoyed this work so i am happy to see it end.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so mean lol.
; o ;
ReplyDeleteTo say the truth I had some difficulties to enter in this story at first. So I keep my mouth close. But I persisted to read it. And finally I fell for this couple in the end. Thank you for sharing !
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving the story a shot :)
ReplyDeleteLovely ending....-Snif-
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
It's okay you are a superb translator and hard working too <3
ReplyDeleteIt's extremely impressive how you can do such good translations so fast ^w^
; u ; i know~ so cute
ReplyDelete<3 not bad ;v; This gives me a one-shot feel [although it had a lot of chapters] Looking forward to the next projects and CS! ^﹏^
ReplyDelete>u< yeah it wasn't too long
ReplyDeleteThank you for the support <3
Sniff... sniff.. don't mind me... just keep scrolling down on the comments...
ReplyDeleteHappy endings just makes me tear up...
Oh right, I was just chopping onions, not really crying XD
Thanks for another completed work ayzhang and the proofreaders!
Sorry for the late reply!
ReplyDeleteXDD I'm glad you liked it!!! <3