Translator: Cheese
Tearing up
The news of Su Tian’s return from the capital passed through the town like the wind. Su Tian was back, so her mother must be back, too. That meant the dessert shop was about to open!
That night, Wang Haoxue pounded up the stairs and knocked on Su Tian’s door.
As soon as the door opened, the fat little girl gave her a big bear hug.
“Tiantian, I missed you to death!”
Su Tian patted her with amusement. “I almost suffocated to death.”
Wang Haoxue let go of her, chuckling.
“Tiantian, is it xiao Xue? Hurry and let her in, didn’t you get her a present?” He Qingwan’s voice came from inside the apartment.
Wang Haoxue responded, “It’s me, Auntie He.”
Su Tian: “Hurry inside ba. I got you a gift. Take a look, I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Wang Haoxue changed into slippers as she took a guess. “Is it delicious? I heard that there is a cake in the capital that’s super delicious.”
Su Tian helplessly pinched her. “How could you only think of eating ah?”
He Qingwan: “Young ladies are cute when they’re chubby. Tiantian’s just too thin.”
Su Tian, who had gained five pounds this month, didn’t want to talk.
She definitely didn’t think she was the female lead. After all, there was no protagonist who had to worry about their weight; they were all monsters who could eat and drink and still be as light as a swallow1.
She really hoped that researchers could develop a reliable weight-loss drug as soon as possible. That way, she would no longer need to worry about weight problems.
Wang Haoxue sat down. “Where is she too thin? Auntie doesn’t know, but all the girls in our class are envious of Tiantian’s figure. Du Rulan heard from who knows where that Tiantian grew up like this because she’s been eating your desserts since she was young. When I eat desserts at home, I gain ten pounds a month, hahaha…”
He Qingwan couldn’t help but laugh.
Su Tian came into the house. She picked up a paper bag and stuffed it into Wang Haoxue’s hand, saying, “You’re selling out Du Rulan again. Careful that she doesn’t find out and picks a fight with you.”
Du Rulan was the girl who came in with Wang Haoxue at the start of school, and the two were a bickering but loving pair2, attacking each other about their weights all day long. Du Rulan called her Fatty Wang, and Wang Haoxue called the other a bit, fat girl3. Their classmates had grown accustomed to the sight.
Wang Haoxue chortled, opening the gift as she spoke. “She can’t beat me…. Let’s see what gift Tiantian got for me.”
With that, she took out the contents of the bag.
“Wow, is it a watch? The packaging is so exquisite ah…”
Su Tian smiled. “You must like it.”
“Of course I do. How could I not like a gift you got for me?”
Saying this, she opened the box.
Wang Haoxue looked down. For a moment, she was stunned.
In the box lay a glittering bracelet. It was made of platinum, its face lined with fine diamonds inlaid in a serpentine shape. At the top lay a blue-grey diamond…
Her hand shook, and she nearly dropped the bracelet on the ground.
“Tiantian!” Wang Haoxue cried out.
Su Tian laughed. “Look at how scared you are. Of course I can’t afford to buy ah. It’s an imitation, a quality imitation. It’s just a few hundred dollars.”
Wang Haoxue blinked, her eyes fixed on the bracelet in her hand.
A fake? But it looked exactly the same as the one You Pinyan was selling that day. A high-quality imitation could be similar to this extent ah.
Su Tian had never spoken about her life in front of other people in class. They only knew that she came from the capital and thought that even if her family background was better than the average classmate, it was no more than middle class.
The same went for Wang Haoxue.
She had doubts in her heart, but she thought about how that bracelet sold for 18,000 yuan even at a discount. How many desserts did Auntie He have to sell to make that much money ah? Moreover, even if it were true, why would Su Tian insist it was a fake?
Was she not afraid to throw away a bracelet worth 18,000 yuan or give it away?
Although Wang Haoxue definitely wouldn’t do this, what if?
Wang Haoxue finally accepted that the bracelet in her hand being an imitation as truth, and she was so moved she hugged Su Tian. “Tiantian, you must have been searching for a long time ba?”
Such a good imitation couldn’t be bought that casually.
Su Tian: “Luckily, we spotted it while walking around.”
Even though Su Tian played it down, Wang Haoxue was still overwhelmingly touched.
Tiantian went out to play and still remembered to get her a gift. Whether or not the bracelet was fake, whether it was hundreds, a few tens of thousands, or a few hundreds of thousands of yuan, she felt she would have to ride or die4 for Su Tian in the future.
What kind of dumb luck5 did she have to become friends with Su Tian?
To be able to get to know Su Tian was probably her greatest fortune in this life.
When Wang Haoxue left, He Qingwan handed her the specialty products from the capital and had her take them home. They were all snack foods, which were not worth much money. The main reason was to thank her and her father for taking care of Su Tian during this time.
The next day, five days after Sweet Summer closed, the doors opened again!
In the morning, before the doors opened, the entrance was packed with customers. Seeing He Qingwan and Su Tian approaching, they promptly made way for them, babbling about6 how anxiously everyone was waiting.
He Qingwan smiled good-naturedly and asked Su Tian to man the cash register.
Everyone began to praise Su Tian, especially some elderly customers. Tiantian came to help her mom, Tiantian was becoming more and more beautiful. Hearing it made Su Tian blush.
On the other hand, He Qingwan’s eyes were curved in complete joy
One compliment for Su Tian made her happier than ten compliments for her.
Liu Kaiyan also came as soon as the doors opened. He claimed he was bored at home and came to help He Qingwan out. In fact, Su Tian and He Qingwan both knew that he specially came here out of fear of trouble from Lin Xiuping.
But the mother and daughter duo didn’t expose him. They warmly thanked him and began to instruct him to work.
Liu Kaiyan breathed a sigh of relief and somewhat clumsily7 began to check out and pack.
The three were busy until noon. There were still many people waiting in the shop; they were all customers who had accumulated over the past few days, and they could no longer keep them waiting.
He Qingwan ached for Su Tian, and she asked her to go back to cook. After cooking and eating, she could bring the food, and the remaining two could eat.
Su Tian quietly consulted Auntie Wang. Lin Xiuping usually came over in the afternoon. And even if she came, Liu Kaiyan was there; he wouldn’t let He Qingwan suffer a loss.
She nodded and asked the two of them to keep working while she returned to cook.
Su Tian hadn’t gone far when she spotted Lin Xiuping stomping over in high heels.
At nearly the same time, Lin Xiuping spotted Su Tian.
The few days following Liu Kaiyan’s departure from home, Lin Xiuping and Liu Zhaoyang had been full of confidence. Liu Kaiyan had no money, and he had no friends. They had thought he would run into a wall, suffer some, and return home in a few days. He would honestly admit his mistakes and beg them to forgive him.
They would seize the chance to educate him, make him understand the viciousness of society and that he couldn’t leave his parents, and make him more obedient.
But slowly, as several days passed, Liu Kaiyan showed no intentions of returning home. They had seen him at school from a distance several times. Their son was spirited, going to school with that little bitch and that fat girl beside the little bitch.
They even played with the basketball she had thrown.
At that time, Lin Xiuping could no longer stand it, but Liu Zhaoyang stopped her, saying that as parents, they absolutely could not yield first. Otherwise, they would no longer be able to control Liu Kaiyan.
Lin Xiuping stubbornly held herself back.
But she didn’t expect that, after the National Day Holiday, her son would suddenly disappear.
Lin Xiuping completely panicked.
Her son was her hope, her everything. For more than ten years, she had done everything for her son, but he had suddenly vanished.
She asked her son’s teacher, but the teacher didn’t know. She asked the classmates, but the classmates didn’t know. No matter who she asked, there was only one answer–I don’t know.
Even when she asked a boy who used to play basketball with Liu Kaiyan, the boy had mysteriously responded, “Didn’t you tell me not to approach your son? Now you’re asking me, how would I know?”
Lin Xiuping retorted in a shrill voice, “Who asked you not to learn well and take Kaiyan to become a degenerate!”
The boy sneered, cursed, “Psycho,” and left.”
Lin Xiuping finally remembered. Her son had left because of Su Tian. Her son must be hidden by Su Tian.
Su Tian was a celebrity in Luocheng. She easily found out about Su Tian’s dessert shop and Su Tian’s situation.
Her heart was full of disdain. No wonder she lacked upbringing–her mother was doing a small business, and she didn’t even have a father.
She ran to the dessert shop and found it was closed. Now she was even more certain that Su Tian had hidden her son. Otherwise, why did the shop close at the same time her son disappeared?
She had come over for five days. Finally, she’d heard that the dessert shop had opened today, and she immediately stomped over without stopping.
Spotting Su Tian, she rushed over, grabbing Su Tian’s wrist, and hissed, “Where did you hide my son?!”
The woman looked crazy. Her thick foundation couldn’t cover her pallid skin, the whites of her eyes were bloodshot, and her eyes were slightly bulging. She looked ferocious and terrifying.
Her wrist hurt so much that Su Tian couldn’t shake her off for a moment.
Su Tian knit her brows in an expression of pain. “Let go.”
Lin Xiuping grabbed even hard. Seeing Su Tian’s face, she itched to scratch her face and stop her from seducing her son.
She screamed, “You little bitch, give my son back!”
A passerby spotted the scene and rushed over into the shop to hurriedly call for He Qingwan. “Boss8, there’s a psychopath who grabbed your daughter. I don’t know what to do, hurry and…” go over to see it ba…
Before he could finish, He Qingwan had put down the things in her hand and rushed out.
She, a woman, actually reacted faster than Liu Kaiyan.
Liu Kaiyan immediately followed after her.
Tiantian was alone. Don’t get hurt.
He Qingwan hurried over and immediately spotted Su Tian being held by a woman. The woman was spewing out filthy words like “little bitch,” “vixen,” “wicked thing9,” and so on.
He Qingwan’s head was buzzing, and she couldn’t think. She rushed up and fiercely slapped the woman.
There was a loud “pa,” stunning everyone around them.
[1] 身轻如燕: originally an idiom from “Water Margin”
[2] 欢喜冤家: quarrelsome but loving couple
[3] Du Rulan calls Wang Haoxue Wang pangzi, which means “fatty” or “fat person.” Wang Haoxue calls Du Rulan a da fei niu, which literally means “big fat girl.” So the two are using different terms to call each other fat.
[4] 两肋插刀: lit. knives piercing both sides; to attach a great importance to friendship, to the point of being able to sacrifice oneself for it
[5] 狗屎运: lit. dog shit luck LOLOL but as negative as that sounds, it’s supposed to be a good thing
[6] 七嘴八舌: a lively discussion with everybody talking at once
[7] 生疏: clumsy in the way that you’re unfamiliar with the task
[8] 老板娘: can mean lady boss (lady proprietress) or wife of the shop owner
[9] 害人精: a creature (goblin?) that kills or harms people
Cheese: i said on this story’s toc page that i’d update about once every 2 weeks, but i had some extra time thanks to the holidays! consider yourself honored mwahaha think of it as a belated Christmas present / early New Years present
Cheese Translations 
Su tain:….
Go mom! Go!
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Deeply honored! As much as this woman is genuinely thinking about her son, I cannot feel any sympathy for her. She’s convinced she’s doing all this for his own good, but that conviction is … unreasonable.
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agreed, her thought process SOUNDS reasonable if you don’t see how she’s following through, but her actual execution is so harmful, especially for such a young and hardworking boy. what’s the point of having top grades if it’s at the expense of his happiness and friends?
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Muchas gracias por el cap!!!!!
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