CH 25.1

Please, Don't Be Angry

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

A few days later, fresh vegetables are running low in the restaurant. Bai Yao has ordered seafood from the suppliers online, but he is able to visit the markets personally to check out high quality vegetables.

He does his best to make time for picking out excellent vegetables in the market down south in town, only ordering online alongside if he’s too busy or if the weather is too bad.

This is a pleasant day, so after breakfast, Bai Yao decides there’s enough time to head to the markets for vegetable hunting.

Mu Mu’er sees Bai Yao change, and immediately stands up and stays close by with hopeful eyes. He does not know what he’s going to do, but he knows he will be leaving.

After learning he’s going to the markets, Mu Mu’er immediately decides he wants to go as well instead of staying home alone.

Bai Yao is hesitant. The markets are quite chaotic, and there are still lots of tourists around. Safety is a concern, though it might also be a good idea to show Mu’er around town and have some contact with other humans.

The restaurant at the far north of Qiaohai is connected to the town centre by a cobblestone road, about twenty minutes apart by walking.

Meanwhile, there is a small dock just to the right of the beach, where some tourists are lining up for a ferry.

It’s one of the more popular attractions of Qiaohai – the island not far from land. They say you haven’t truly been to Qiaohai if you skip visiting the island.

When visibility is good, the mountaintop of the island and the azure coastline can be seen clearly from the coast.

This is also where the name Qiaohai comes from a great construction project some dozens of years ago to build a bridge connecting the island to Qiaohai.

Not long after the foundations were erected, however, a large tsunami has levelled the entire bridge that was less than a year from completion. Oddly enough, the tsunami did not cause nearly as much damage to the town as the bridge itself.

Superstition back then quickly condemned the building of the bridge and proclaimed the tsunami divine will – that something will happen to the bridge even if it is built again. While the bridge was abandoned, businesses and houses set up for the construction back then remained, and so did the name to commemorate the bridge-that-never-was.

Although it was a good idea the bridge was not built too. If the scenic island was really connected to land, then Qiaohai would be nowhere near the quaint little seaside town it is today.

If the tourists could drive all the way to the island, there would have been an influx of cars and tourists, ruining the unique serene atmosphere small seaside communities foster.

A small ferry service was established instead, and has become part of the local tourist board’s project.

Back at the restaurant, Bai Yao tells Mu Mu’er to dress in the overalls that he bought online. He considered purely the comfort compared to wearing T-shirt and shorts, and not the aesthetics at all.

Mu Mu’er doesn’t know how to wear one, though, so Bai Yao has to teach him how to attach the bib straps properly.

“How do I look?” Mu Mu’er looks at himself in the mirror after wearing.

The straps feel odd to him, and he keeps trying to pull them off, but the entire overall would drop if he does, so he can’t.

Bai Yao sits by the bed, trying to stifle his laughter while nodding. He bought a size too big, so it looks a little like he’s wearing a big blue bag, or like a doll.

“Looks great,” Bai Yao nods as seriously as he can, “Mu’er is the prettiest boy of the entire town.”

Mu Mu’er smiles happily, while feeling the clothes on him carefully, no longer trying to fiddle with the straps.

This is at least better than telling a sea otter with no sense of human fashion that overalls don’t look remotely fashionable good, and he only bought it to prevent him from trying to undress himself.

After that, they get ready to leave. Bai Yao locks the door with his key while Mu Mu’er looks around curiously outside the restaurant.

The weather is pretty mild this early in the morning, and the seashell wind chime is singing crisply in the wind. Mu Mu’er stares at it for a while before determining this is not edible and looks away.

He has never looked at the surroundings outside as a human form. Mu Mu’er looks at the street, then at the small house next door, and finally, at the coast.

Bai Yao has locked the door, and turns to ask Mu’er if he’s ready to go, when he notices him staring at the beach with a sort of melancholy.

The most noticeable thing along his gaze is the group of tourists, but the tourists are actually taking photos of a group of sea otters, who are currently relaxing on the soft and warm sand.

Mu Mu’er isn’t looking at the tourists, but the sea otters. He seems wholly absorbed, unblinking, unmoving.