Luo Qi entered the small alley. Coincidentally, it was the time for students to have a meal before their evening self-study. The street was full of stalls selling various snacks, and many students had come out looking for food.

She hasn’t been here for ten years, and yet the alley remained the same.

The car repair shop was still there. In front of the door, the tall, thin and deaf-mute owner was repairing a tire. Diagonally across from the car repair shop, the lady who sells oden was wearing a gray apron with black stripes, similar to the one she used to wear before.

Luo Qi hadn’t eaten oden in years, so she stood at the end of the queue.

A few students in the front were being lively, pushing and shoving, shouting at each other to treat the other, just like Luo Qi and her friends used to do when they were students.

One student suddenly turned his head and shouted towards the car repair shop across from them, “Teacher Lu, do you want one? But this guy over here is a stingy, little guy, so he won’t give you anything unless you pay for it!”

The other boy who was called ‘stingy, little guy’ grabbed the student by the back of his neck and asked, “Who are you calling ‘stingy’? Do you still want to eat?”

“Teacher Lu, save me!”

Several people scuffled into a ball, laughing, fighting, squealing like little pigs.

Luo Qi turned to look, wondering if ‘Teacher Lu’ could be Lu Baisheng, and instead her gaze met that of the boss in mid-air.

While she was lining up, Lu Baisheng and Jiang Shenghe had come to the car repair shop.

Lu Baisheng nodded to her and said ‘hello’, and then said to the students, “I’ll treat you today, but I won’t treat you next time if you keep finding trouble.”

“Teacher Lu, we didn’t fight, this is true!”

As he said that, he elbowed the other person again.

Lu Baisheng was familiar with the oden proprietress and often helped students pay the bill, so he simply said, “I’ll pay later.”

“Okay.”

Someone’s school uniform was pulled off in the scuffle and had fallen to the ground; it had been stepped on several times and looked a bit worse for wear.

Luo Qi helped pick it up.

“Thank you, beautiful older sister.”

“You’re welcome.” Luo Qi left the queue and went to the car repair shop to greet people. 

Fortunately, she was still in line and hadn’t bought any yet. If she had to eat her oden in front of the boss—then couldn’t possibly finish it!

“Teacher Lu, long time no see.”

“It’s been a long time. Just now, I was asking Jiang Shenghe why he didn’t ask you to come here.”

Luo Qi then looked at the boss and greeted him politely, “Chief Jiang.”

Jiang Shenghe couldn’t help but notice that from ‘Teacher Lu’ to ‘Chief Jiang’, the smile on her face also changed from a genuine, bright smile to a professional, fake one.

The garage owner couldn’t hear, and Luo Qi couldn’t say ‘hello’.

Lu Bai said to his brother in sign language: Her name is Luo Qi. She used to study here and also had her bike repaired in the shop.

The boss has repaired so many student bikes over the years that he couldn’t remember who she was anymore after so many years.

Lu Baisheng said again: She is the girl Jiang Shenghe likes. It has been ten years and he finally has the opportunity to pursue her.

The boss smiled and replied in sign language: That’s great.

When Luo Qi saw Lu Baisheng communicating with his wife’s brother in sign language, without any barriers, she was more moved than shocked.

The shop owner turned to face her, smiled at Luo Qi, and invited her to sit in the shop.

Luo Qi smiled back.

Lu Baisheng welcomed them in. There were various electronics and vehicle accessories stacked in the shop; it also had a small kitchen inside. “Don’t dislike it, it’s a small place.”

Luo Qi, “It’s not small at all. Our living room is not as spacious as this.”

Jiang Shenghe glanced at her and couldn’t imagine how crowded her house was.

Lu Baisheng put away the folding table and placed it against the wall. He took some chairs and handed one to Luo Qi.

Jiang Shenghe was no stranger to the store. Every time he came to Suzhou City, he would sit here for a while.

He was still thinking about the oden and sent a message to Lu Baisheng: [Order some oden for Luo Qi.] Then he transferred the money.

Lu Baisheng couldn’t help but smile when he saw the red envelope. He said to Luo Qi, “You sit down first, and I’ll pay the oden shop for the students’ orders.”

When he walked outside, he accepted the red envelope Jiang Shenghe sent him.

Now, they were the only two people left in the store.

Luo Qi asked, “Chief Jiang, do you come here often?”

Jiang Shenghe nodded, “I come three or four times a year.” Sometimes it may be more. He hasn’t been in Suzhou a lot for the past year, mainly because she had gotten engaged.

Lu Baisheng soon came back with a bowl of oden; he handed it to Luo Qi and said grandly, “No need, I already paid for everyone. I’m not so stingy as to not pay for yours, please, thank you for picking up the school uniform. The boss lady randomly added a few things together. Does it suit your taste?”

“Thank you, I’m not picky.” Luo Qi was embarrassed, “I already work—how can I let you treat me like your students?”

“Don’t worry. I treat them often.”

Lu Baisheng just accepted two hundred from Jiang Shenghe and returned the extra money.

He chatted with Luo Qi in Suzhou dialect, “Did you feel so unlucky when you were in line just now and saw Jiang Shenghe? You only wanted to eat oden and somehow managed to bump into the boss.”

Luo Qi: “…”

She smiled, glanced at the boss, and replied to Lu Bai reluctantly, “It’s not that bad.”

But in fact, her mood at that time was exactly as Lu Baisheng described.

Not only was she unlucky—she was extremely unlucky!

Lu Baisheng poured a cup of tea for Jiang Shenghe, then turned to chat with Luo Qi in the dialect, “No problem, feel free to complain about him. I, too, don’t want to see the principal when I go out to eat.”

Luo Qi laughed.

Jiang Shenghe looked at the two of them. They were chatting so happily, and she was smiling so happily. They were probably saying nothing but bad things about him.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

The atmosphere relaxed, and Luo Qi decided to start eating, but she couldn’t hold everything in her hands. The folding table had been put away, and there was no place to put her bag, so she could only place it on her lap.

There was a small stool next to Jiang Shenghe. He picked it up and placed it between them. At the same time, he lightly kicked Lu Baisheng’s chair.

Lu Baisheng received the signal and offered her the stool as a suitable place to put her things, explaining, “The place is too small and the welcome is not good. Luo Qi, please put your bag on the stool and make do with it.”

He then took a folding stool from the back and gave it to Jiang Shenghe, “This is for you to put your cup on.”

Jiang Shenghe put his mobile phone and water cup on the small stool, got up and went to wash his hands in the small kitchen at the back. There were pomegranates in the kitchen. He didn’t see anyone outside Lu Baisheng’s house, so he simply took a pomegranate.

The fruit was cut in half. He and Lu Baisheng could eat it while chatting about the development of the Yuanwei Medical field. This way, Luo Qi wouldn’t feel embarrassed eating oden by herself.

Regarding Yuanwei Medical, she occasionally expressed her opinions.

Lu Baisheng asked, “When is your appointment with He Wancheng?”

Jiang Shenghe said, “Three o’clock in the afternoon.”

“I have class that afternoon and don’t have time to accompany you.”

“No need for you go over there. Li Rui is here, too, this time.”

Lu Baisheng had classes in the evening, and they only stayed at the car repair shop for another half an hour. Jiang Shenghe picked up his cell phone and said to Luo Qi, “Let’s go.”

She and her boss walked off in tandem, Luo Qi always one step behind.

Seventh Year of My Secret Love for You translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

---

T/N: Oden is a popular Japanese street food consisting of a soy-based savory broth and various add-ons like fish cakes, tofu, hard boiled egg, vegetables, etc.

Apologies for not posting for a while, I haven’t been feeling well. If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi. Thanks for your support! ❤️

A list of all advance chapters is HERE.