Feng Mang

Chapter 7:    I don’t believe that I can’t catch you!

Translator: Aafkee

Proofreader: ChaiTea

When they arrived at an apartment building, Han Dong said, “We’re here.” “Oh my, the place isn’t bad at all.” Li Shang was quite surprised, “The district is pretty good, and the building is pretty new, too.” Han Dong chuckled, “It’s a shortcoming of mine. I’m very particular even when I don’t have money. I’ll never treat myself unfairly.” Only when Li Shang went inside the apartment, did he realise that the hundred square metre apartment was split into ten compartments and that was not even including the shared toilet and kitchen. Han Dong lived in one of those compartments. To put it bluntly, it was a group rental department, which was only a tiny bit better than a basement room. “Come on in.” Han Dong opened the door for Li Shang. Li Shang could only smile externally, speechless*. The whole room could not be simply described as “messy”, since almost everything was piled on the floor. Deflated rubber, newspapers and magazines, bottles and cans, clothes and snacks… Was there even a spot where they could place their feet? (T/N*: I’m trying to describe this sweat face emoji -> ) “I was in a rush in the morning, so I didn’t get to tidy up.” Han Dong said, “Go ahead and find a spot to sit down.” Li Shang took a look at his surroundings. There was not even a single chair, where could he even sit? Han Dong picked up a piece of deflated rubber from the pile of junk, stepped a few times* and an inflatable chair appeared. (T/N*: Probably referring to an air pump.) Li Shang asked again, “Where do you sleep at night? On the floor?” “Can’t you see my bed, here?” Pa-pa-pa. Han Dong stepped rapidly for a while again and an inflatable mattress appeared. A few more steps later, an inflatable pillow appeared as well. Li Shang swallowed, “Don’t tell me even your computer is inflatable?” Han Dong tossed him a cold look, “Yeah, I am even inflatable.” Li Shang switched on the computer in passing. Since it was slow to start up, he took advantage of the time to size up his surroundings. There really was not a single decent piece of furniture. If it’s not inflatable, it’s foldable. If it’s not plastic, it’s rubber. When he glanced over at the computer monitor again after ten or so minutes, the computer was still not ready. My god… Li Shang sighed incessantly. You call this being particular? If he was to be a little stricter with himself, wouldn’t he be living in the pit latrine?
“If I have to say, other than the bad soundproof; everything else is not too bad.” Han Dong was quite content with what he had. Li Shang asked, “How bad is the soundproof?” Just as the question left his mouth, a faint voice that was from three walls away could be heard, “All ten of us in the house share one alarm clock.” Li Shang did not know what to say. Han Dong moved the mouse, “Let me show you the movies I was in. Have a look at this first, my scene is at 11 plus minutes.” He said as he dragged the slider to 10 minutes. Li Shang felt especially expectant as he waited. When it was at 12 minutes, Han Dong asked, “Did you see it?” “Huh?” Li Shang blinked, “Did you appear just now? I didn’t notice!” “It was such a clear action shot! How can you not see it? Rewind, rewind, pay more attention.” Li Shang didn’t even dare to blink this time, but he still could not catch it in the end. “How about this, why don’t you help me by pausing the video when it is your scene?” Li Shang said. Just over the 11 minutes mark, Han Dong suddenly clicked the mouse but it was too early. The video was played again and he clicked again, “Fuck, I’ve missed it.” He rewound again and tried again, “It’s too early again.” And then, “Damn, it’s too late again.” Li Shang was silent. Han Dong rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his fists, “I don’t believe that I can’t catch you!” This time, when he was quick, fierce and accurate… the computer crashed. “It’s not a problem, we can reboot.” Han Dong said. Li Shang felt sorrow in his heart, so much so that it hurt his balls. He, finally, understood what Han Dong meant by “won’t even be able to watch them”. Given the difficulty in catching the scene and the computer’s specifications, two scenes were enough to take them the whole night.