Chapter 77 Radish & Pork Bone Soup (c)
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
Feng Luo calmly looked at her, “Why are you telling me this? Surely this has nothing to do with me?”
With this devastating line, whatever argument Meng Li might have prepared was completely blocked. Shiyu felt the anxiousness in her heart eased. If this guy still insisted on staying together with this treacherous female after being tricked and cheated on like this, she would have to seriously consider breaking off relations with that guy. After all, being friends with someone who was being led around by the nose and trying to drag him out of the clutches of a bad woman would be too tiresome, ah.
Thankfully, Feng Luo was not so stupid as to jump back into the pit trap that he had been languishing in these past months.
Good, very good.
A smile of relief spread across Shiyu’s face.
However, not everyone was smiling. In fact, Shiyu’s smile might as well be a thorn in their heart. Meng Li’s heart clenched with bitterness at the sight of that smile. When she thought back to everything that had happened, all she could see was this: [1] If not for Shiyu, Feng Luo would not have abandoned her. If not for Shiyu, Feng Luo would still be with her.
Shiyu…
She will carve this hateful name onto her heart, thought Meng Li bitterly as she lowered her gaze…
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After dealing with the lunch rush, Shiyu went to her classroom with the Wen Xian, whom she had seen neither hide nor hair of for a long time. As per the usual practice, the lecturers were to give their usual pre End of Term Competition talk. [2] It was probably going to be the standard things: work hard, don’t cheat, if you do, don’t get caught, battle for glory and honour, yada yada yada…
As they were walking towards the classroom, Wen Xian suddenly said, “Ever since you stop coming to the cafeteria, the chicken soup tasted different.”
“Ah…”
“Thank you,” said Wen Xian simply. He had always been a little sensitive about his background. He knew that the original Chicken Soup he’d had were always fragrant and mellow with a scent of medicinal herbs. It would inevitably warm him up whenever he drank it. After Shiyu had gone into seclusion, the chicken soup that Uncle Gan had been giving him was… well, let’s just say he could barely keep it down after the first sip.
Perhaps his taste buds had been spoiled, he thought ruefully. After tasting good food made by Shiyu, he finally realised the huge gap between Uncle Gan’s Dark Cooking and normal food.
“When we were at the cafeteria, I noticed that Meng Li girl’s eyes. You had better be careful, I think she might be planning to retaliate.” There was no mistaking the ill will brewing in her gaze when she glared at Shiyu.
“I will, but thank you for the reminder,” Shiyu said.
“There are some people you should always be careful of,” he continued. “Even though they’re in the wrong, they refuse to admit anything and put the black pot [3] on other people’s head.”
“Hmm, how should I put it,” Shiyu scratched the back of her neck as she put some thought into arranging her words. “It’s like this, for every action, there’s a reaction. When I ratted out on her infidelity, I have already prepared myself to face the consequences. In other words, I got into trouble knowingly.”
“Is that so?”
“Isn’t it so? By blocking other people’s path, I’ve made myself into an obstacle. And obstacles are things people naturally want to get rid of. It’s perfectly logical.” Moreover, there’s no reasoning with evil people, it’s best to let one’s fist do the talking.
Wen Xian did not really understand what Shiyu was saying but nodded along anyway.
“By the way, we’ll have a two month holiday after the End of Term Competition. What are your plans?” he decided to change the subject.
“Go home, ah! Speaking of which, it’s been a long time since the last time I’ve been home. It’s about time I return.” She still has to find a Thunder Seed or Fire Seed for Lao Er. The only one she has in hand now was the Azure Seed. If she couldn’t find anything else, it was probably best to let him use this one.
At the thought of her brothers and sisters, Shiyu’s heart constricted a little. She must buy some nice souvenirs for them when she goes back.
“By the way, what are your plans, Wen Xian? Would you like to visit my house?” she vaguely remembered that Wen Xian has no relatives around.
Wen Xian’s face flushed with a little embarrassment, “Would it be alright?”
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? My four brothers and sisters are very lively and noisy. When the time comes, you can pack your stuff and come with me to Qing Shan City and stay for a while. We’re pretty near to Spiritual Beast Mountain too, so we can go and explore the foothills of that place to catch Spiritual Beasts and pick medicinal herbs to sell for money, ah. Oh, and dishes made with Spiritual Beast meat taste pretty good too, so if we catch any you can try some.”
As Shiyu continued to wax on about the attractions of her hometown, Wen Xian’s heart suddenly filled with a yearning for a place he had never been to before. Ever since he was brought into this College by his mentor, he had never gone home. Even so, aside from Uncle Gan, he had not developed any close relationships with the people here. [4] His peers from long ago had surpassed him, leaving him behind to be scoffed at by the new students.
If Shiyu had not invited him, he might have joined some small adventure party to make some money on expeditions too. No matter what, as a student of this College, he still had to pay a nominal fee to continue to attend the next semester.
“Thank you, I’ll be in your care,”
As the two chatted together, they soon found that they have arrived at their class.
As expected, their lecturer began to talk on and on about the rules and regulations of the Competition. Shiyu was doing her best to keep her eyes open when she suddenly thought of her promised bout with Mo Yin. Would the girl still have the mood to challenge her now? [4] Haha, who was she kidding? That girl probably wanted to kill Shiyu even more now.
[5] Later that evening, as the Bamboo Villa people went on with their evening activities of cooking, meditating and novel reading, the peace and quiet was suddenly broken by cries of “Young Master!”Someone burst in through the gate, “Young Master!” over and over again [7]
Shiyu looked up curiously, the person looked vaguely familiar to her. From the way he kept calling for ‘Young Master’ at Lin Fan’s villa, he was most likely a Lin Clan servant.
As expected, Lin Fan came out to say, “Xiao Wu [8]? What are you doing here?” he was very surprised to see a servant from his clan. The family would be expecting him back within a week or so after the End of Term Competition, something must be very wrong for them to send a servant over at such a time.
“Young master, Uncle Wong [9] is- he probably won’t last very long,” Xiao Wu quickly informed him.
When Shiyu heard this, her heart stopped and she rushed in. Just in time to hear Xiao Wu’s next words, “It’s that old man who stays at your estate, ah. Miss Shiyu’s Grandpa.”
Shocked, Shiyu ran over to grab hold of Xiao Wu. “What are you talking about? What happened to my Grandpa? Isn’t he still fine when I left last year?”
“Th-the physician said that it was the result of an old internal injury, also, he’s very old…”
Shiyu thrust Xiao Wu away and flew upstairs. Not long after that, she was thundering down again, having packed up all she needed. [6] All thoughts of the End of Term Competition have evaporated from her mind.
“Lin Fan, I’m going home now,” there was no way she was going to stay here when Grandpa was struggling with his life at home.
Lin Fan understood what she was thinking and said, “I shall go with you.” The road to Qing Shan City was long, she could encounter danger on the way.
“No need!” Shiyu immediately rejected. “I’m leaving right away, I need you to inform the tutors for me. Also, for the Competition, take number one!”
With that last remark, she dashed outside.
She could not use Cloud Beast within the compound of the College and therefore could only run helter-skelter out of College grounds. As she was making her way out, she suddenly remembered Wen Xian and made a U-turn, running towards Wen Xian’s hostel.
Wen Xian was in the middle of meditating at the hostel garden when she arrived. He started at the sight of her, but before he could say anything she cried, “I’m going home now, you want to come?”
Though he was not sure what had happened, but Shiyu’s sudden appearance had a sense of urgency to it. So, he quickly ran inside to pack without much thought. His friend needed him, he was going to be there for her. It did not take long for him to pack since he did not have many possessions. Just a few changes of clothes as well as a bowl of wildflowers from his bedside table.
Once he had finished packing, the two of them hurriedly made their way out of the school. However, the moment they stepped past the College gates, they found Mo Yin waiting for them with a bunch of her friends.
[Gumihou: Oh no, Grandpa!]
[1] Structural Change: Repetitive introspection for drama. Also, much emphasis on denial. [2] Additional Information for Texture: To add interest to the story [3] To Put the Black Pot on someone’s head – to put the blame on someone [4] Additional Information for introspection. [5] Additional Information for Logistic Purpose: Prepare readers for a dramatic scene by emphasising how normal everything is. [6] Structural Change for Dramatic Purpose: Switch out the ‘Shiyu lost her motive to fight’ for later so that the reveal happened later rather than right at the beginning [7] Additional Information for Logistic Purpose: The paragraphs went from would Mo Yin still want to fight > Shiyu lost all motive to fight. Added more stuff in the middle [8] Xiao Wu – 小武, Lin Family servant, not Shiyu’s beggar cousin, Xiao Wu – 小五 [9] Uncle Wong – The nice Beggar Grandpa from Chapter 1 – It’s good that we now have his name after 77 chapters… T_T Banzai… I hope we learn more about him.
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