Chapter 39.1 Sashimi (a)

Translated by Ultra

Edited by Gumihou

 

There’s no doubt about it.

Lin Fan has made his appearance.

A little excited, Shiyu rubbed her hands together, one of the two biggest thighs in this world has just arrived in time to be hugged, ah! In fact, it was the firmest, most stable thigh amongst thighs, one that would not topple no matter what. She pushed up her sleeves, ready to do all she could to stick herself to that thigh like a bad sticking plaster [1].

However, before meeting this Big Thigh, she planned to attend the Trading House Auction first, just to see if there was anything of interest to buy. The event was to be held on the following morning, and guests would sit according to the grade of their invitation letter.

 

Shiyu arrived early and was led by a maid into the auction hall. The actual hall was very spacious and finely decorated, giving it a great air of opulence. There was enough space to seat more than 5,000 people comfortably. There were already quite a number of people milling about the room, contributing to the lively atmosphere. However, the rows of seats closest to the front were still empty.

Since it was not yet time for the Auction, Shiyu decided to take look around at the market place first. However, just as she turned a corner, someone caught her by the elbows and literally dragged her up a set of stairs.

She was about to scream for help when she saw the person dragging her away. Her thumping heart settled a little and she said, “Lin Fan, why are you here?”

Lin Fan was looking down at her with a very odd expression. He looked surprised but was more pleasantly surprised than shocked. “You’re… alright?”

Before Shiyu could say anything, he added, “It’s good that you’re fine.”

Just what kind of trouble did you think I’d get into, ah… [2]

A large sweatdrop appeared on Shiyu’s forehead. [2]

Let’s change the subject. [2]

“That’s right, how is my family? Has Xiao Qi and the rest improved in any way?” Shiyu asked.

“Your family is fine. Xiao Qi is being taught by my father. Lao Er is still the same. Grandpa is getting healthier. The only problem is, everyone misses you.”

“I missed them too. I should find time to go and see them.” After all, she has a very convenient Cloud Beast to ride on.

“Yes, when the time comes, I shall go with you.”

As Shiyu continued to inquire after her family, Lin Fan appeared quite willing to stand around and answer all her questions. After a while, Shiyu thought to ask Lin Fan if he was also here to participate in the auction when a curvy woman with fat in all the right place came over. [3] She scowled at Lin Fan, immediately launched into a diatribe. “I was just looking for you. Where have you been? I thought you’ve disappeared on me again.” Her eyes finally caught sight of Shiyu, and she asked, “Just who is this young lady? You sure have a bad habit of kidnapping random girls! You’d better be careful, if Yan’er finds out, well, you know how angry she’ll get if she finds out you have so many close female friends.”

For some reason, this little speech made Shiyu very uncomfortable. Why did this woman make it sound like she’s sticking to Lin Fan for no good reason?

Lin Fan frowned, “Yan’er is my little sister.”

“Of course she is, and such a wonderful little sister too~ However, it’s not good to be greedy you know? Just how many little sisters do you intend to devour, hmm?” the woman teased.

At the thought of Lin Fan’s future harem, Shiyu sniggered inwardly.

“Instructor!” Lin Fan’s face did not look too good, but he still pushed Shiyu forward, “This is Shiyu, she’ll be entering the College with me.”

“This girl?” the woman frowned, her sexy eyes swept over Shiyu from top to bottom. “She’s not one of our College students, I’m afraid this is against the rules.”

“Then, I shall not enter the College.” Lin Fan’s answer was very straightforward.

The woman’s shapely eyebrows rose, before slamming down in anger, “Are you threatening me?”

“I am merely stating a fact. As long as we are within the Imperial Capital grounds, where she is, there I am,” said Lin Fan simply.

Seeing that she would not be able to talk sense into Lin Fan, the instructor turned her gaze over to Shiyu, “People who have nothing to do with the College aren’t allowed within its hallowed grounds. This has always been part of our rules. Are you hoping that Lin Fan will delay his best learning years just for you?”

Shiyu tilted her head to one side and beamed eagerly, “I want to enter the College. Since Lin Fan is willing to help me, surely it’s all fine?” She patted Lin Fan heartily on the back. “Many thanks to you, my good brother.”

“And if we refuse to allow you entry? You understand that this College will have nothing to do with Lin Fan in the future.”

“Oh, then it will be your loss.” After some thought, Shiyu added, “In fact, it will be a great loss for you.”

“You—” the woman looked very angry now. “Just who do you think you are, ah?!”

She snapped her sleeves and glared at them. Her next words sounded like it had been dragged out of her, “I’ll make the arrangements with the school now! However, there is a condition. Lin Fan, if you can’t obtain first place within three months, both of you are out! Expelled!”

Lin Fan happily said, “Thank you, Instructor. Oh yes, would it inconvenience Instructor to arrange for an independent courtyard for us…”

“Scram!!” The woman was clearly at the end of her tether. “You want a mile after I gave you an inch, huh? This old lady will tell you now, there’s only the dormitories for you, you hear? Dormitories! Sleep on the sidewalks if it’s not good enough for you!”

Then she stormed off.

She had only taken a few steps when she suddenly paused and turned around to sneer at them, “Well, well, what do you know? We do still have some independent estates available. I can arrange one for you. However, whether you can stay or not depends entirely up to your abilities.”

After leaving this cryptic remark, the instructor stormed off again. This time, there was a decided bounce in her step. The two would be College students looked at each other, neither of them could quite understand this weird instructor’s behaviour. However, since the boat had already sailed away, they decided to just go straight with the current and deal with things as they come.

“What will you do now?” asked Shiyu.

“The Instructor was planning to take me to the market to have a look around, but then we heard that there’s an auction going on.”

“Excellent, I was just going to the auction too.”

Speaking of auctions, Shiyu had never been to one before. Not in this life or the previous one. [4] She and Lin Fan made their way to the back of the hall and sat together, speaking quietly to pass the time.

Soon, it was time for the auction to start.

There were a total of 15 items to be auctioned off today. When the first item went under the hammer at 300,000 silver taels, Shiyu understood that she might only be able to participate as a spectator.

The second auction item was a Fire Seed.

The colour of the Fire Seed was gentle azure. The flame was not particularly strong and the seed itself was only the size of a thumb. The flames flickered from time to time.

“… this Fire Seed is called the Azure Flare, it possesses a moderate flame and could be used to forge weapons…”

The auctioneer really knew how to drum up excitement, but there were people in the crowd who knew a thing or two and muttered among themselves.

“That Azure Flare is already at its last legs, I’m afraid it would dissipate soon. There’s no point in purchasing something like this.”

Shiyu turned to Lin Fan, “Will Fire Seed’s flames really dissipate?”

“Everything has a lifespan and nothing can last forever. Fire Seeds have their own lifespan too. The more powerful types would last longer, but once it reaches the end of its lifespan, it will dissipate.”

Shiyu looked at the Fire Seed on the stage and felt a little sorry for it. It’s perfectly normal for people to prefer things that are useful to them. This Azure Flare would not be long in this world, it must have passed through several hands by now. She wondered if it has any spiritual awareness, whether it feels sadness or disappointment.

“…starting bid for this Azure Flare is 200,000 taels, the minimum bid is 1,000 taels.”

As she was pondering over this, the auction began. News of the Azure Flare being near the end of its lifespan had already made its round. When the price reached 250,000 taels, the reaction was mostly lacklustre. So, Shiyu decided to bid for it.

Finally, she got the Azure Flare at 300,000 taels.

Compared to this rather dull item, the ones that came after it was much more interesting. Various rare medicinal items and Magic Pills were put up. Since she could not afford these things, Shiyu merely enjoyed the auction as a way to broaden her horizon.

However, all thoughts of being a bystander flew out of her head when the second last item appeared. Shiyu’s heart leapt and her whole body trembled with excitement.

She must have this!

 

[Gumihou: Lol, I wonder what got Shiyu’s attention?]

 

[1] I’ll admit it. I’m the one who added this imagery. The sticking plaster in the ancient world is nothing like the band-aid of the modern world. A medicinal paste is dabbed on a waxed paper or coarse cloth and warmed until it was sticky before it is applied to the skin.

A properly made sticking plaster would stick to the skin, but readily peel off with the paper or cloth. A badly made sticking plaster will either not stick properly (the lesser evil) or stick to hard that it had to be scraped off the skin later…ouch!

 

[2] I added these lines to show her train of thought. Try reading without this line and you’ll see why I did that.

 

[3] The woman was depicted as a little vulgar and sexy, but rather than huge boobs and butt, I decided on ‘fat in all the right places’ remark since this is a female POV.

 

[4] I added the remark about her past life.

 

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