When A Snail Falls In Love

Yao Meng & Shu Hang Short Story Part 2.2

I'm sorry, Shu Hang.

After half a year, this was what she said to him.

The next day, as Shu Hang flew back to Beijing, he felt an extremely deep sense of suffocation. He thought he'd had it in the bag, he thought her every smile and frown had indicated she had similar feelings for him. Who knew that once the situation came out into the open, she would stop feigning innocence and bluntly reject him.

It was nothing more than her depending on him. There was no love involved.

This thought grieved him terribly.

　　——
　　
This time, Shu Hang stayed away for a long time.

Yao Meng thought that perhaps any man would have a bottom line and patience. These days, Yao Meng definitely thought about him, thought about the faint smile that was always on his face, thought about how handsome he was as he unhurriedly explained those head-splitting economic theories and problems to her.

But, she was still not ready to start a relationship. She also had no idea if she'd ever be ready.

Later on, a lot of things happened. Lin City was yet again rocked by a serial murder case. Without knowing why, the first thought Yao Meng had was of Feng Ye. Perhaps it was a case of 'once bitten, twice shy'*, but the little bit of oddness about the case was enough for Yao Meng to tremble with fear. And, when she told Xu Xu about her intuition, Xu Xu was also stumped for words.

*一朝被蛇咬十年怕井绳 (yī zhāo bèi shé yǎo shí nián pà jĭng shéng) – lit. once bitten by a snake, afraid of a well rope for the next 10 years (I love this idiom! So graphic, and true! shl)

After that, it was time to probe, to see if they could lure the snake out of the hole. Yao Meng never knew where she gained the courage to meet up with Feng Ye and endure his kisses despite trembling, and even to steal one of the life-like dolls from his home.

Perhaps it was for the sake of the deceased Lin Qingyan.

The night that the police captured Feng Ye, Yao Meng sat in the bedroom in her villa. She was surrounded by successive rings of bodyguards, as well as the police officers that had been delegated to watch over her. However, when she looked at the quiet night, she was suddenly very frightened. She knew very well that Feng Ye would not be able to break through all the layers of security to revenge himself on her, but she was still fearful that, in the very next second, Feng Ye would appear out of the darkness.

Time ticked past slowly. As the night grew deeper, the dread in her heart correspondingly fermented and swelled. While her nerves were stretched taut to the point where she was senseless of anything around her, her handphone rang. She glanced at it. It was Feng Ye. She was so startled that she tossed her handphone away, and it landed in the toilet.

The phone rang persistently for a long time before finally stopping. She heaved a long sigh, and huddled in the corner of the bed.

(T/N: We realise that this scenario is different from what went down in Ch 68. Our suspicion is that Ding Mo wrote one ending for the web novel, and another for the print novel. Our translation for Ch 68 is based on the print novel, as we couldn't find the online version. Alternatively, Ding Mo wrote these short stories before deciding on the ending.)

Who knew that at this time, the house phone would suddenly ring. Yao Meng almost screamed. She looked at the phone on the sofa, both scared and furious. The phone did not stop ringing, and her anger was aroused. In a state of extreme agitation, she leapt off the bed in one swift move and stormed across to pick up the phone. "You beast! I don't have anything to say to you!"