Act 28: Fighting for Love
I'm Handsome: Shuaige, answer me! Can you at least say one word?
I'm Handsome: You're not at the shop? Why don't you open the online shop?
I'm Handsome: It'd be great if I had the teleport skill like a ninja, just shout 1 2 3 and you'll appear!
I'm Handsome: No, that doesn't seem right, it's not a ninja skill more like it's a wizard's magic!
I'm Handsome: Ey, if I shout "I love You", will you come out?
I'm Handsome: If you're like this I don't know what to do!
I'm Handsome: I miss you, I really really miss you…
I'm Handsome: I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong
I'm Handsome: Shop owner…
I'm Handsome: If you don't pay attention to me, then I…
I'm Handsome: I will %¥%&%@@#^&%*
I'm Handsome: I really have no other way (T.T)
Fighting for Love, Date: July 27th.
Liang Ze had been spamming Hang Hang's TaoBao w.a.n.g w.a.n.g account for more than a week now. He had been doing it first thing in the morning everyday but still there was no response, the other's status has always been offline.
Hang Hang was not at the shop and the online shop did not seem to be open either.
Online shop?
With that thought Liang Ze immediately came to his senses.
The online shop is not open? Is it possible?
From his favorites tab Liang Ze looked for Hang Hang's shop address and then clicked on it.
What the f.u.c.k! The shop owner's w.a.n.g w.a.n.g is on!
Liang Ze clicked so that the dialog box popped up, it was all black.
What's the meaning of this?
Liang Ze scratched his head.
Is there…something wrong with w.a.n.g w.a.n.g?
Liang Ze was pondering this for a long time, but decided on registering a new ID: The One I Love is You
Liang Ze requested to add Hang Hang's ID Love 123, and after waiting for just a few seconds it got accepted.
Liang Ze immediately jumped around in happiness.
It's blue! It's on! Nothing is wrong with w.a.n.g w.a.n.g!
The One I Love is You: Shop owner!
Love 123: Yes, I'm here ^_^
Liang Ze looked at that smiley emoticon and could not refrain himself.  Hang Hang, this must be Hang Hang!
The One I Love is You: Guess who I am?
Love 123: ?
The One I Love is You: Take a guess!
Love 123: ……
The One I Love is You: Shuaige! I really miss you!!
The One I Love is You: It's me! Liang Ze! Shop owner, I really miss you!
The One I Love is You: When I used the old ID to talk to you, yours is always black (offline); so today I registered a new ID and everything went well.  Shuaige, you've been gone for so long, where did you go?
The One I Love is You: Did you have fun on the trip?
The One I Love is You: …why is it black again?
Liang Ze stared intensely at the screen, Love 123 showed offline again.
Extremely puzzled, Liang Ze looked for a TaoBao Customer Service Agent.
【Question: h.e.l.lo, I'm a TaoBao old user, I think there is something wrong with w.a.n.g w.a.n.g. I was talking to my friend for a short while when suddenly his status went black; I switched to another ID and I could talk to him a bit but then it went black again. Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you!】
A reply came 10 minutes later:
【Answer: h.e.l.lo dear user, to answer your question, it is because the other party has listed you in their blacklist; the other user does not want to continue to communicate with you. I hope this answers your question.】
This…
Obviously, Shuaige does not want to talk to him.
So there was nothing wrong with w.a.n.g w.a.n.g (T.T)
Also, Hang Hang had returned (☆_☆)
Fighting for Love; Date: August 2nd.
Liang Ze did not sleep for a few days after knowing Hang Hang had put him in the blacklist, he realized the seriousness of the situation. Truth was, whether he went on a trip or not he just did not want to talk to him, because…Hang Hang did not want to pay attention to him. He really did act according to that phrase — To pretend that they don't know each other =.=
You, Hang Hang, can act like strangers, but I, Liang Ze, cannot!
Liang Ze had been thinking about it for a few days and realized the situation was not good!
He admitted that he was in the wrong, he had hurt Hang Hang's feelings.
But, he would always remember the day Hang Hang had said this: I've fallen in love with you.
He would not believe that for someone who loved another person deeply could have a change of heart in just a few months. If that is the case then, that is not love.
{Translator Input: WOW, since when did you get so smart =.= if only you were this smart from the beginning LOL}
Liang Ze naively thought that Hang Hang was just being angry and was currently hiding in his own sh.e.l.l of madness.  This time Hang Hang was like a silent firepower, but if he (Liang Ze) came to say he loves him, then maybe he (Hang Hang) would not be angry.
Therefore…
On that dark and windy night, Liang Ze carried a big speaker to No. 10 of Yan Dai Xie Street.
He wanted to — broadcast his undying love through the speaker.
Of course, he was not that much of an insensible person and he also understood the most basic human concept that everyone needs to rest at night. So, Liang Ze had decided that unless it was the last resort, he would never use the speaker. P.S: This big speaker, Liang Ze borrowed it from the Uncle at the newsstand.
Standing in front of the familiar courtyard Liang Ze pushed the door but it would not open, it must be locked from the inside.
Liang Ze looked around and conveniently the house right next door was doing some remodeling.  Since the house was under construction, heaps of wood and tile were scattered all around. Luckily for Liang Ze, the wall surrounding Hang Hang's yard was not too high.  He first moved a few pieces of wood over and then stacked the tile to determine the difference in their heights and then climbed up. He had calculated everything except the fact that the top of the wall had pieces of gla.s.s inserted in it. Feeling that his newly built booster (the tile and the wood) was about to collapse, Liang Ze did not pay much attention to the top of the wall.   He dangled the speaker by the mouth and supported himself so he could position himself to be able stand up on his jean clad legs.  In the next instant he felt the so-called pain, he did not feel himself get cut by the gla.s.s on the wall, instead Liang Ze knew that the pain he felt was from falling onto the ground like a sandbag in a horizontal position. Falling! f.u.c.k, being a cat burglar is not an easy job! Fortunately, he did not wear shorts on this mission=.=
Hang Hang suddenly heard a "boom" sound.  He was playing with Long Long and instinctively looked out the window, it was so dark outside that he could not see around his yard clearly. He thought was it a burglar? He was about to take up a bat and go down to check things out when he saw a shadowy figure step out.
{Translator Input: Let me clear up something; the reason I put "cat burglar" instead of "burglar" is because they have slightly different meanings, same idea just different ways of committing the act.
Cat burglar – a thief who enters a building by climbing to an upper story; in Liang Ze's case, he did climb up "an upper story" by climbing over the wall, keyword = climb; like a cat.
Burglar – a person who commits burglary.
I hope that gives you guys a clearer understanding of their word choice ^^}
It was ok to not have seen the person outside, by just looking at that shadow he knew who it was — Liang Ze. Just looking at that kind of posture besides him, who else could it be?
Hang Hang immediately hid away from the window and looked down, he saw Liang Ze coming closer.
That day on w.a.n.g w.a.n.g, just after two sentences Hang Hang immediately recognized it was Liang Ze. He immediately dragged his name into the blacklist, he did not want to hear him say anything about being friends or not being friends.  He had to understand that a break up is a break up. Then, what did he come here for?
Liang Ze looked up to the second floor where he saw that the curtain was down, but there was a light on in the room. Right now, he had mixed feelings rising up in him, how many times was he the one looking out from that window? But now, he was the one trying his best to take a peek inside that window.
He picked up some small stones on the ground and threw them up to the window, a sound of stone tapping against the gla.s.s window could be heard.
He was hoping that Hang Hang would hear the sound and come to the window.  Even better, he was hoping he would let him upstairs because only then he would have more confidence in himself. As long as Hang Hang gives him a chance, he believes he can convince him.
Unfortunately, the window remained close.
"Hang Hang!" Liang Ze shouted, "I know that you're inside, I want to talk to you!"
Was it embarra.s.sing? It was embarra.s.sing. Throughout Liang Ze's life, he had never felt so shameful, at least since he started to know things.
The window still remained closed.
"Hang Hang!" he raised his voice, "I'm not here to tell you that I want to just be friends.  I came here to say that I agree, I want to be with you!"
Hang Hang was squatting down next to the window and heard everything clearly. If you said that his heart did not do a flip, then you are wrong.  But if you had thought he would open the door then you are sadly mistaken; because if he did so, then he was not Hang Hang. He is someone who always act according to his word. Towards Liang Ze, he felt that he owed the other man nothing, he had done all that he could.  He tried his best to accomplish all that he had done, and now, he had chosen to let it all go.
"Hang Hang, these days I've been thinking carefully about it, I…" Liang Ze wanted to shout out 'I love you', but he knew that he could not shout it out like that, or else this whole street would turn into a chaos of flying saucepans. Well, a man downstairs shouting 'I love you' to another man would cause a ruckus, right?
Hang Hang did not give any type of response.  After waiting for a long time, Liang Ze was getting impatient.  Today he was determined to call him down, he wanted to shout out loudly to make him meet him face to face.
Therefore…
He turned on the speaker…
"Hang Hang…Hang Hang…Hang Hang…" With this decibel in the silence of the night, it echoed loudly.
Hang Hang still squatting down next to the window, peeked out and saw that a few houses had their lights on. Feeling anxious he opened the window and then grabbed the frozen persimmons that he had put outside just a few minutes ago, he still wanted to show his face on this street! This is not something that you can just cover your face and let it go =.=
The frozen persimmons had not completely defrosted yet so they were still very hard.
Liang Ze saw something flying out the window above, they were coming from a hand.  Yes, he saw Hang Hang's hand.
And then, around two centimeters in front of him there was a very deep pit.
Liang Ze looked down — a frozen persimmon.
{Translator Input: The author wants to make a humorous joke here with Hang Hang's frozen persimmon. She wants to show that it is very hard, so hard that it can cause a big hole on the ground. You can say it's the author's figure of speech here. I know this is something I don't have to explain but just in case people will ask that they don't get what is going on, so I will just break the joke for everyone ^^}
After seeing that, one by one frozen persimmons flew at him. Liang Ze thought that if he was knocked in the head by one of them, he would definitely need a lot of st.i.tches.
Hang Hang watched Liang Ze running for his life from upstairs.
Hang Hang waited until Liang Ze left his place then he went downstairs with a plastic bag and picked up the frozen persimmon one by one.
He said: I agree with what you said, I want to be with you!
Hang Hang effortlessly shook his head. In life, people are afraid to step into the same wheel twice. There is a very good saying: If you're being deceived by the same person twice, then the problem is you.
Hang Hang is not someone to go back on his word.
Fighting for Love, Date: August 5th.
Liang Ze could see Hang Hang's determination and Hang Hang is not a monk. He could not use force on Hang Hang! Liang Ze had been going through his memories these past two days trying to figure out Hang Hang's character. Hang Hang is very soft-hearted, he prefers gentle over hars.h.!.+ Ok! Then let's use gentle seme method!
With his legs wrapped in bandages, Liang Ze walked into the flower shop. The bandages were from the night he confessed his love through the speaker =.= at that time he did not notice anything was off until he got home and saw all the blood. He went to the emergency room at the nearest community hospital that was open 24 hours and got five st.i.tches. When he returned the big speaker, the Uncle at the newsstand asked "did you get into some bad contact?" =.=
After he stepped into the flower shop, Liang Ze met the smiling lady and said, "Can you help me deliver flowers every day?" That lady replied back with, "Of course, just give us the address." Liang Ze wrote down Hang Hang's address onto eleven cards, he then put them on eleven bouquets of red roses where each bouquet held eleven roses. Written on each card was: Shuaige, I'm sorry! Before the florist saw what was written on the card, she asked how he wanted it to be delivered; but after reading what was written on the card, she asked, "Are you alright?"
Liang Ze waved his hands, "I'm alright! One bouquet a day!"
{Translator Input: 11 Roses – You're my treasured one.}
When he received the first bouquet of roses, Hang Hang's face immediately turned pale. You think I'm a spoiled girl or something? This made him angry. He directly threw the card into the trash bin, as for the flowers, the gave a rose to each customer in the shop. Euphemistically speaking: Thanking the long time customers.
Until Liang Ze's legs got better the doctor told him to avoid strenuous exercise so his legs could heal quicker.  Liang Ze immediately went to the pet shop and right after he opened the door, he was met with an Uncle who was sniffing on a red rose=.=
Fighting for Love, Date: August 13th.
Flowers: Useless.
Liang Ze felt depressed.
What method can be used to move a person's heart?
Right! The most cla.s.sic style, love letter!
Motherf*ck, I'm afterall an author who makes a living off of my writing.
I don't believe that after reading the letter I write, you can still be this stubborn!
You don't give me a chance when it's in front of everyone so alright, I'll send you a letter to read when no one is around.  That'll do right?
Liang Ze wrote the letter very seriously, very emotionally and very touching.
From then on, the postman had a new problem. Everyday, he would see a letter addressed to No. 10 Yan Dai Xie Street from the Imperial College mailbox and everyday he would see the same letter from the No. 10 Yan Dai Xie Street mailbox, with an annotation: Don't know this person, return.
Just like that for half a month the postman Uncle delivered Liang Ze's letter back and forth in devastation.
Liang Ze sent out twelve letters and he received the same twelve letters back.
The letters were still sealed. The only difference to the letter was the note: Don't know this person.
Liang Ze took back the twelve letters and squatted down in front of the window in his bedroom.  He could not name what kind of feeling he was having now as he faced the crystal clear gla.s.s window with the bright neon letter sign "I love the Shop owner".
This was the first time that someone had made him feel this way.
Fighting for Love, Date: September 3rd.
Liang Ze decided not to give a d.a.m.n about anything.
He did not care about his pride.
He had decided to bring out his two most brazen character traits — Shameless and thick-skinned.
He grabbed a fis.h.i.+ng chair, a parasol and his laptop and headed over to No. 10 Yan Dai Xie Street.Parasol
Liang Ze set up the parasol right in front of Hang Hang's shop entrance and then placed the fis.h.i.+ng chair under the parasol.  He sat down, put the laptop on his laps and then started to write; if he did not start to write now, he wouldn't be too far away from being hunted (by his own editor).
The first person who saw Liang Ze was Ying Ying, she went into the store and told Hang Hang. Hang Hang said to ignore him (Liang Ze).
The second person who saw Liang Ze was Hai Hong, she went into the store and told Hang Hang. Hang Hang said to ignore him (Liang Ze).
Just like that a week had gone by and every regular customer would always ask, "Hang Hang, why is Xiao Liang working on his writing in front of your shop when the days are burning hot? What kind of thing does he want to experience now? Is he not afraid of heat stroke?" They would originally ask these questions to Liang Ze, but when they asked he would not answer so they decided to go ask Hang Hang.
The face Hang Hang responded with was as if he had just swallowed down a bitter melon.Bitter Melon
The moment the slender police officer (the one who talked with Liang Ze when he got arrested for a.s.saulting the trainer) saw Liang Ze again, he asked: "Mr. Writer, how did you end up here?"
Liang Ze replied: "Stepped on the gla.s.ses."
Fighting for Love, Date: September 10th.
Liang Bin came to bail Liang Ze out, the two brothers sat face to face with each other.
Liang Bin: Say it.
Liang Ze: What is there to say?
Liang Bin: How did you make Hang Hang so mad at you?
Liang Ze: …
Liang Bin: Let's go, you should come home with me for a few days; your sister-in-law is going to go into labor soon.
Liang Ze: I can't face sister-in-law…
Liang Bin: Can you wait until she gives birth to drop the news on her? I'm begging you as your older brother.
Liang Ze: I'm very pathetic, aren't I?
Liang Bin: You've always been this pathetic.  The only difference is that now you're even more shameless!
Liang Ze: I've realized that I was wrong…
Liang Bin: Even if you're going to write ten thousand letters of repentance, sometimes there are matters you can't undo.
Liang Ze: …
Fighting for Love, Date: September 30th.
Zhong Yue Wen gave birth to a healthy and adorable baby boy, but there was not even a trace of a woman immersed in happiness after giving birth to her child that appeared on her face. Two weeks after giving birth she was able to get out of bed.  She immediately wrapped a blanket around her belly, wrapped a scarf on her head, wore a pair of sungla.s.ses, put on a pair of long pants and just like that she walked into Hang Hang's pet shop.
This was the first time Zhong Yue Wen stepped foot into Hang Hang's shop.
Hang Hang immediately stood up when he saw Zhong Yue Wen, one didn't need to be a genius to know that a baby was missing from Zhong Yue Wen's stomach.
"Sis Yue…"
"Hang Hang…"
"Slow down, slow down a bit." Hang Hang stepped forward and guided Zhong Yue Wen out of the pet shop.  She was still in her recovery period*, so if she was to get ill now it could affect her for a lifetime.
{Translator Input: In Chinese culture, this "recovery period" is called "Sitting a month" where the mother who just gave birth to a baby will be doing nothing but staying at home for a whole month. She is not to go out of the house, to some extent not even out of her own room; she should rest and just laze around on the bed for the whole month. After a month has pa.s.sed, she can get back to her normal life. But some restrictions may apply on her ch.o.r.es, most of them is light ch.o.r.es/work, the purpose is to make sure the mother won't get any lifetime illness.}
Under the sun light Zhong Yue Wen looked at Hang Hang, and Hang Hang looked back at Zhong Yue Wen.  The car not too far from them was very familiar to Hang Hang, and the owner of that car had made him become even more miserable. "Liang Ze…"
"Sis Yue."
The dialogue between the two of them was very long and slow, filling the air with a depressed atmosphere.
After listened to Hang Hang's version of the story, she compared it with Liang Ze's version. Zhong Yue Wen did not know what to say.
She decided to withdraw from this matter.
As Hang Hang slowly finished telling his story, he suddenly felt that something that been suppressed in his heart had begun to collapse. He realized that, perhaps, he would be willing to give it another try.
Fighting for Love, Date: October 6th.
Qi Ji made a long distance phone call to Liang Ze.
Qi Ji: Hang Hang called me.
Liang Ze: He told you that I'm really annoying, right?
Qi Ji: His voice was hoa.r.s.e when he called me.
Liang Ze: …
Qi Ji: We've known each other for many years, he has never been this uncomfortable.
Liang Ze: I…
Qi Ji: Don't play any more tricks.
Liang Ze: I'll not bother him anymore, my sister-in-law said to me…
Qi Ji: Come to his store everyday and buy something.  Remember to act normal, don't try to buy everything in the store on your first visit.  Just go there every day, buy what you need and don't try to talk to him.
Liang Ze: You…
Qi Ji: I know him. Your way of doing things will not work on him. Listen to me.
Liang Ze: He…will forgive me?
Qi Ji: Nonsense! If he does not, then why would I squat down in the middle of the desert to give you a call!
Liang Ze: …
Qi Ji: Hang Hang is this type of person. Don't let his smiling face fool you.  In fact, he's not an easy going type of person.  If it wasn't because he was happy when he was with you, I would not even bother to make this phone call.
Liang Ze: I don't know what to say.
Qi Ji: Just tell him what you want to say, but remember, it's not now. One day when he's ready to talk to you, you should slowly tell him then.
After hanging up the call, Liang Ze looked out the window and saw a crowd of people rus.h.i.+ng to seek shelter from the autumn rain. After so many cloudy days, he finally got to see a bit of sun today; even though the sun was still hiding behind the dark clouds, he did not worry about it. He only saw bright rays of suns.h.i.+ne being bestowed on him and Hang Hang.
Proofread: Jesse