Ch51.2 - The person he really likes

Translation Checker: Lunite

Editor: Lunite

When Meng Ting and Xiao Pang arrived at the hospital, they’d assumed they would be going to the Outpatient Department but were surprised to find themselves heading to the Hematology Department instead. As they went up the stairs, they passed by signs filled with words such as tumors, cancers, and the like. Some of the doctors were tightly dressed in protective attire and the people passing by had serious and heavy expressions on their faces. The entire floor’s atmosphere was gloomy which made the two children’s hearts sink.

When they arrived at the ward, they didn’t see Jian Mei.

A nurse came over and told them, “You’ve come at the wrong time. The patient in this room has high lymphocytes and went out for some other examinations. He’s most likely going to return late, and won’t be able to see guests. Come back tomorrow,ba.”

The two children, Xiao Pang and Meng Ting, looked at each other in dismay and could only nod. They had come here with a relatively calm mood, but now both of them left in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

Meng Ting reached the ground floor of the hospital, and under the light of the evening streetlights, she said, “Meimei will be okay, right?”

Xiao Pang replied stiffly, “I think he’ll be fine. They’ve been treating his leukemia for so many years, how could he suddenly relapse? Plus, he’ll be a junior high schooler soon. He studies hard all the time, and he even said he wanted to go to a medical university. We even planned which summer camp to go to after graduation. How could he possibly be…”

The more he spoke, the softer his voice became. Xiao Pang turned his face and sniffed.

Meng Ting was also very miserable. She felt like all of this had happened because she had called them to hang out. If something bad happened to Meimei, then wouldn’t she be the main culprit? As Meng Ting thought of this, she felt even more miserable and wanted to sob her heart out. She walked into her home in a daze, when she heard her mother say, “Tingting, your father is outside calling you. Why aren’t you movingah?”

Meng Ting came back to her senses and trotted to the door. “Dad?”

Her father took off his shoes after entering the door. “Tingting, I have news about the phone you’re looking for. My friend just happens to have it right now, and their house is pretty close to our house. I’ll go over and get it tomorrow.”

“Really?!” Meng Ting was so overjoyed that she didn’t know what to do. “How close is it? Let’s go get it now!”

Her father looked at her in doubt and said hesitantly, “Now? Are you in a hurry, Tingting? Let’s at least have dinner first.”

Meng Ting didn’t really know why she was in such a rush, but she felt uncomfortable in her heart. As soon as she thought of Jian Mei having a hard time sleeping and eating in the hospital, she wanted to do something to make up for it and couldn’t wait for even a short moment. “I’m not hungry, Dad. How about you tell me the place, and I’ll go to that uncle’s house myself to pick it up.”

“…This child.”

Meng Ting’s father had always been busy with work in his store. His daughter was also a sensible child and had never requested anything from them. When their daughter grew up, this old couple felt distant from their child. At times they wanted to do something for her, but just didn’t know where to start. Now that their child had finally asked for something, Meng Ting’s father couldn’t help but feel happy.

“Okay, Dad will take you there!”

Meng Ting couldn’t be more grateful. “Thank you, Dad.”

They went to that uncle’s house and fortunately, that phone was indeed Jian Mei’s phone!

Unexpectedly, however, there were obvious scratches on the surface of the phone and signs of it being knocked around and forced open. It was originally a very well-maintained phone, but now it looked pitiful.

The Uncle said, “That guy couldn’t turn it on no matter what he did and he even tried to use physical means but to no avail. I’ve been in this business for 20 years but to be honest, I’ve never seen a phone like that. If I wasn’t friends with your father, I’d definitely keep this phone to study it.”

Meng Ting smiled. “Thank you, Uncle.”

Her father led her back. Meng Ting took the phone and looked at it for a while. Thoughts ran inside her head and suddenly, she remembered that when she helped Jian Mei to get something before, Jian Mei had sat next to her and entered his password. Meng Ting had a good memory and although she hadn’t purposely memorized it at that time, she still remembered some of it. She hesitantly entered the password and the phone successfully transitioned into the unlocking animation.

It really worked.

VJyq Gfyq ENI N LfmmLJ IDtRtfIJz.

This was her first time seeing the contents of the phone but it was rather astonishing. The system was unexpectedly simple and there were many apps that she had never seen before such asAll Kinds of MedicineandAll Kinds of Books. All of these were very unpopular apps.

WeChat

Show unread messages.

Remembering what Xiao Pang previously mentioned, Meng Ting hesitated on clicking the notification. She was really curious about this Dazhuang-ge, who was the most important person to Jian Mei. She debated a few times but in the end, she still didn’t do it. She said to her father, “Dad, I want to go to the hospital.”

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Shen Meina was also a bit surprised. “You..”

Jian Mei called out to her, “Class Monitor.”

Meng Ting came back to her senses and looked at Jian Mei carefully. “Meimei, I came to see you.”

“It’s so late. Thank you for your trouble, Class Monitor.” Jian Mei’s face was a little pale and he looked thin in the hospital gown he was wearing. He had gone under a very painful examination earlier but he still had a shallow smile on his face. “I heard that you and Xiao Pang came over after school. I was going to send you a message later, but I didn’t expect you to come over.”

Meng Ting said softly, “I found your phone.”

“Really?!” Jian Mei’s eyes filled up with clear joy.

Shen Meina hadn’t expected that the phone would be retrieved. Meng Ting handed the phone to Jian Mei. When Jian Mei received it, he noticed the numerous scratches on it and felt very distressed. He couldn’t stop touching the phone and examining it but he hadn’t forgotten about Meng Ting. He looked up at the girl and praised her boldly. “Class Monitor, how did you find it? You’re amazing!”

Meng Ting was overjoyed. She smiled and said, “I didn’t find it myself, my father found it.”

As she looked at Jian Mei’s smile, she absentmindedly remembered that the reason why she liked this boy so much was because she was very boring and introverted in nature. Ever since she was young, if she wanted to be noticed, she had to put in a lot of effort, such as becoming the class president or the student with the best academic performance, to be praised, to be recognized, and for her parents to be proud of her.

She’d always hear things such as:

“It seems like Meng Ting only likes to study, right?”

“Class Monitor is always so serious to us.”

“The only thing she’s good at is school.”

In comparison to these harsh comments, Jian Mei was the best person she had ever met.

He could identify the strengths of even the most ordinary person, unearthing the fragile heart buried deep beneath their disguise.

Jian Mei never spared an inch in giving compliments to other people, always praising generously with comments like:

“You can even do handicraftsah, so awesome.”

“This is already really great.”

“The class monitor helped us arrange this. She’s very skilled.”

It was like walking alone in the rainforest with an umbrella. Other people might only notice the umbrella, but Jian Mei could see the person struggling underneath, suffering from the wind and rain.

Jian Mei took the phone and said to her, “Either way, thank you so much, Class Monitor. I’ll definitely treat you to a meal and make up for the mall when I leave the hospital.”

Meng Ting nodded. She hesitated for a bit before saying, “About that, Meimei…”

Shen Meina was a sensible person and knew that they had something to say, so she consciously left to give the two children space to be alone. Once she had left, the both of them looked at each other.

“What’s the matter?” asked Jian Mei.

Finally, Meng Ting said, “You don’t have to be polite with me. After all, we…aren’t we in that kind of relationship?”

Jian Mei didn’t respond. His low fever had already subsided but his voice was a bit hoarse and he couldn’t help coughing a few times. He looked at her in doubt and asked, “What relationship?”

Meng Ting looked at him in disbelief.

“Aren’t we friends?…Oh, right.” Jian Mei seemed to have realized something. He showed a faint smile at Meng Ting and said in a serious tone, “We’ll be good friends from now on!”

Silence permeated the entire room.

It was like a heavy hammer had come down on her.

Meng Ting felt extremely uncomfortable. She should’ve realized it a long time ago. She had made a misunderstanding that night and because she was too nervous, she hadn’t clarified herself, or maybe she didn’t dare to make it clear at all because she was afraid of hearing a straight rejection. She was actually very calculative and did it intentionally, keeping a mistake, a mistake. She wanted to live in the dream she weaved and if she could’ve, she would’ve never woken up for the rest of her life

At first, Meng Ting didn’t feel like crying, but when she lowered her head, tears streamed down her face.

Jian Mei, who had been lying on the bed, was stunned and sat up nervously. “Why are you crying, Class Monitor?”

Although there was still an IV drip in his arm, Jian Mei stood up and took out a tissue from the drawer next to him. The IV drip swayed as he leaned over, but he still stretched his hand out and tried to give her the tissue. “Did I say something wrong, Class Monitor?”

Meng Ting frantically shook her head. She then looked up and, seeing him, hurriedly walked over to stop him. “Don’t move, don’t move.”

Jian Mei was pressed back onto the bed by her. The young man’s eyes were full of worry and confusion. He looked at the girl who had tears rolling down her face and felt overwhelmed. Despite being clumsy, he still wanted to say something comforting but he couldn’t come up with anything. In the end, he could only simple-mindedly say, “I won’t move. Don’t cry, Class Monitor. Why are you crying? Was it because I said I’d be good friends with you?”

Meng Ting cried even more.

She had already lost her face so she gave up. She opened her mouth and said directly, “Because I like you.”

The room fell silent.

Jian Mei stiffly looked at her. In other words, he was stunned and didn’t know how to react. As for Meng Ting, she was waiting for his reply as she wanted to get an answer.

After a while, Jian Mei reacted. He took out a few more tissues and handed them to Meng Ting, saying softly, “Don’t cry.”

Meng Ting didn’t reply. She was still sitting beside the bed and crying, crying out all her grievances. Finally, with a muffled voice, she said, “Do you like me?”

Of course, this question wouldn’t be answered.

Jian Mei just patted her back as if he was coaxing a child. He didn’t disdain her for her somewhat unreasonable and troublesome crying. The young man’s voice was very gentle as he asked her, “Class monitor, what do you like about me?”

Faced with this question, Meng Ting hesitated briefly before answering. “Because you’re very good.”

Jian Mei smiled faintly.

Meng Ting suddenly got a little angry. “What are you smiling for?”

“I’m not good at all.” Jian Mei’s face was serious. “It’s true.”

Meng Ting refuted him, “Nonsense. You have a good personality, you’re good at studying, you never lose your temper, and… you’re very good at taking care of people.”

Jian Mei listened to her description of him and didn’t feel happy being praised at all. Instead, he just shook his head gently. “No.”

Meng Ting looked at him in confusion.

“I’m not that kind of person.” Jian Mei sat on the edge of the bed and began to tell her patiently, “To be honest, I also often get angry and show some bad temper. I’m not good at studying and I often make mistakes and have to ask other people to help me out. I can’t even take care of myself, so how can I take care of others?”

Meng Ting felt choked with emotion and hesitated. “But…”

Jian Mei said, “Class Monitor, look. If I have to spend the rest of my life in a hospital bed, and if I’m not good at studying and have a very strange temper, will you still like me?”

Meng Ting was rendered speechless. She had never even considered these possibilities. The image of Jian Mei in her heart had always been near perfect.

Jian Mei didn’t look hurt when he saw her hesitate. He just concluded, “So, Class Monitor. I don’t think you like me, you only like the me that you see.”

“Class Monitor, in the future, you’ll find a boy who’s genuinely as good as you described..” Jian Mei took another tissue and handed it to Meng Ting to wipe her tears. “Everyone has a good side to them, but it’s only when you’ve met their other side and still like them, that your love is truly genuine.”

Meng Ting felt like the current Jian Mei was a little unfamiliar to her. She had always thought that this child was very simple and innocent, and had never expected him to be so insightful, which suddenly made her puzzled. “But Meimei, I’ve been your classmate for a long time and I’ve only seen one side of you. Have you met someone who can accept all your flaws?”

Silence filled the room again, before:

Ding-dong

The notification sound of WeChat rang out, breaking the silence.

Jian Mei picked up his phone and clicked on the app. In the past, he was always the one sending messages with little tidbits of information, while Dazhuang-gewould indifferently react. This time, they hadn’t contacted each other for two days. He had thought that Dazhuang-gewouldn’t think much of it, but when he clicked on WeChat, he saw more than two digits of unread messages.

So, he wasn’t the only one who was sad and worried when they lost contact with each other.

The author has something to say:

Look at my word count today!

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!

Translator’s Notes:

Thank you for greeting me and wishing me a fast recovery. Also, thank you to those people who have sent me kofis. To thank you guys, here is another chapter. Enjoy reading!