translator: honeydew
The author has something to say:
Here comes a new novel _(:з」∠)_
I’ll explain that this novel is an expansion of my other novel “Fight for Peace and Love” in which I first heard ‘your five elements are lacking me’, there will be some similar settings, but the plot is generally different.
Zhou Jiayu woke up in the dark. He opened his eyes, and all he could see was pitch black. He twisted his body slightly and found that his arms and legs were bound up, unable to move at all, with his cheek forced to the ground and the faint smell of blood lingering in his nostrils. Wasn’t he dead… where was this, could there really be a hell after death? Zhou Jiayu’s mind was a little confused, but before he could find the answer to his question, the darkness in front of him was dispelled by a beam of bright light.
“That’s him?” A man’s voice sounded.
“That’s him,” replied another.
Zhou Jiayu heard this and was about to ask a question, but the two men walked up to him and grabbed his arms roughly, dragging him out of the room like a sack.
Probably because he had stayed in the dark for too long, after being dragged out, Zhou Jiayu couldn’t bear the harsh sunlight outside. With his eyes closed, he felt himself being dragged through a long corridor and then thrown into the middle of a spacious hall.
“Sir.” The voice that had sounded before reappeared, seemingly talking to someone else. “He’s been brought over.”
At this moment Zhou Jiayu’s eyes finally adapted to the surrounding light. He raised his head and saw the man sitting in front of him.
The man had an extremely beautiful face, with thin lips and a straight nose. His narrow phoenix eyes were slightly closed, as if he were taking a nap. His skin was exceptionally pale, resembling transparent jade, stunning but also a little unworldly.
“Zhou Jiayu?” The man said lightly, tone cool and emotionless, as if he was calling someone who was dead.
“Cough cough, who are you?“ Zhou Jiayu’s throat was a little sore, so he coughed a few times before asking in a hoarse voice.
The man didn’t answer at all, but pointed at the corner of the hall, and said coldly: “What is that?”
Zhou Jiayu twisted his head to look, his face surprised.
The hall was really a bit strange. It was too big to be a living room, and in the hall there were seven thick, richly ornamented wooden pillars, with various patterns carved. Zhou Jiayu glanced roughly and found that some of the pillars had all kinds of birds and animals on them. The man had pointed to the top of a pillar, and Zhou Jiayu initially thought he was trying to make him identify the pattern, but after carefully examining it, all the hair on his back stood up straight.
He saw countless thin white threads hanging from the top of the dimly lit pillar, and there seemed to be something hanging from the bottom of those threads. Zhou Jiayu was horrified and even involuntarily shrank back: “What, what’s that? A spiderweb?”
“What else could it be?” The man continued to ask.
Zhou Jiayu glanced again and said hesitantly, “I, I can’t see clearly, but there seems to be something shiny hanging from the spiderweb…”
After a moment of silence, the man lightly tapped his finger on the armrest of his chair and said, “Take him away.”
Before Zhou Jiayu could react, he was dragged out again.
However, the people who dragged him this time were a little gentler, at least willing to let him stumble on his own.
Zhou Jiayu followed them along a slate path in a lush garden for more than ten minutes, before finally being locked into a small room.
“Stay inside quietly,” one of them said impatiently. “If you run out and get killed, no one will collect your body.”
Zhou Jiayu watched them slam the door and leave, feeling as though he were in a dream— he had just been directly hit by a truck, how could he have appeared here?
This question was answered when Zhou Jiayu saw a mirror in the room. What appeared in the mirror was a good-looking and completely unfamiliar face. When he smiled there was a cute dimple at the corner of his mouth, and coupled with his pair of attractive peach blossom eyes, at first glance anyone could tell he was very popular among girls.
Zhou Jiayu: “Fuck— who’s this?”
He cupped the mirror as if he was petrified, completely dumbfounded.
Zhou Jiayu was an ordinary civil servant and a staunch atheist. What happened before his eyes was beyond his comprehension.
However, he did not realize that this was just the beginning. As he was holding the mirror and reflecting on his three worldviews, a soft and delicate voice rang out in his mind: “Hello, hello.”
Zhou Jiayu shuddered when he heard this, wondering if he was crazy or had his personality split.
The soft voice continued: “Hello, Zhou Jiayu, you may call me Jiba.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…a good name.” Ji and then Ba, civility could go fuck itself.
The soft voice: “…”
The atmosphere instantly became awkward, and as Zhou Jiayu pondered about whether his split personality had heard what he was thinking, a vague image appeared in his mind— he saw a little bird standing on a turtle shell. The bird was covered in black feathers and had three legs. At this moment, its small black eyes, as round as soybeans, were carefully staring at Zhou Jiayu.
Zhou Jiayu still hadn’t come to, and even began to wonder if he was already dead, and these were just his hallucinations before he died.
The little bird who called itself Jiba opened its mouth and said, “Hello, I can explain everything to you.”
Zhou Jiayu remained silent.
Jiba clearly sensed Zhou Jiayu’s doubt, and instead of speaking further, it vigorously flapped its wings.
Zhou Jiayu’s sight went dark, and other images appeared. Many images flashed by in his head, somewhat chaotically. After carefully observing them, Zhou Jiayu finally roughly understood everything that had happened to him.
The former Zhou Jiayu died and was transmigrated into the body of a person with the same name and surname. Unfortunately, after his rebirth, he was no longer a civil servant who worked 9 to 5 but a swindler who was almost beaten to death.
The person who caught him was called Lin Zhushui, a big shot in the feng shui community.
The swindler’s deception using ghosts and gods had failed, and moreover had committed a taboo in the field of feng shui. However, just as he was about to be executed, for whatever reason, Lin Zhushui spared his life.
After learning this, Zhou Jiayu felt his three worldviews had been flipped upside down. He sat wordlessly on the wooden bed and said faintly, “Why did you save me?”
Jiba said, “Not to save you, but to save Lin Zhushui.” As the bird spoke, it ruffled the white down on its chest with its pointed beak.
Zhou Jiayu could see the little bird’s actions clearly, and asked: “And what about you, what are you?”
Jiba changed from lying down to standing, revealing its three legs, gesturing for Zhou Jiayu to look.
After seeing this, Zhou Jiayu sucked in a breath of cold air: “So the rumors of KFC’s mutant chickens are actually true.”
Jiba: “…” Faint flames began to ignite around it.
Zhou Jiayu saw that little Jiba seemed to be angry, so he quickly corrected himself: “I’m kidding, I know that birds with three legs are very special. They’re called three-legged crows, right?” The three-legged crows, also known as golden crows, were birds that existed in myths and legends. It was said that the nine suns shot down by Hou Yi were transformed three-legged crows.
Jiba snorted softly and said, “I want to save Lin Zhushui. You must help me.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“How can I help?” Zhou Jiayu asked.
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Alyj rjlv: “Ktja’r yfmjerf sbe vbc’a xcbk ktja tf vlv.”
Then Jiba passed down the body’s memories, and Zhou Jiuyu knew clearly what wonderful deeds his body had done. After reading through the memories, Zhou Jiayu thought to himself that if this person were sent to the police station, his verdict would be particularly bad, either a death sentence with reprieve or the firing squad. It was alright for swindlers to cheat some money, but this person almost killed several children under the name of feng shui. Fortunately, Lin Zhushui’s people arrived just in time, however, the evil things this person did before were already enough to make everyone hate him.
After listening to Jiba’s words, Zhou Jiayu sorted out his thoughts. He was saved by it, so he had to repay the favor and help the little bird save Lin Zhushui— but as for how to save him, the little bird’s statements were vague. Although Zhou Jiayu knew the general situation, he was still full of doubt and wanted to make contact with the outside world to prove that the little bird in his mind was not just a hallucination. But now it seemed there was no chance. He said, “I pretty much understand.”
The room where he was confined was very crude, with only a bed, a table, and a stool. The door was locked and the windows were set with densely packed bars. It was obviously not a room for guests to use.
Zhou Jiayu had already been beaten up, and his whole body was very sore. He had received too much information just now, and he quickly became exhausted.
He laid on the hard bed with a stomach full of disbelief, closed his eyes, and fell asleep in a muddle.
The next day, Zhou Jiayu was awakened by someone.
The man who woke him up was someone who dragged him into the room yesterday. He seemed very youthful and looked much younger than Zhou Jiayu.
He impatiently kicked at Zhou Jiayu’s bedframe and said, “Get up.”
Zhou Jiayu sat up in a daze, raised his hand and rubbed his eyes: “Good morning.”
The man ignored Zhou Jiayu and his attitude was very bad. If it had been last night, Zhou Jiayu might’ve slandered him a few times, but after Jiba gave him a quick run-down of what this body had done, he felt that he deserved it…
“Let’s go.” The man said, and walked out.
Zhou Jiayu walked slowly behind him, feeling a slight swelling and pain in his right ankle, presumably injured when he was beaten.
The garden was enormous, surrounded by lush vegetation, with the sound of flowing water heard from afar, the environment was beautiful. However, the scenery was all the same, and if someone unfamiliar walked inside they would soon lose their way.
After following the person for more than ten minutes, Zhou Jiayu suddenly saw a very beautiful three-story wooden building.
The small building had a simple and unsophisticated design, surrounded by a fence. Before entering, Zhou Jiayu could smell the faint scent of sandalwood. The scent was not strong, but quite refreshing. He followed the person into the building and walked into the dining room, where he saw two young people eating breakfast at the table.
“You will live with us in the future.” Although the person who led Zhou Jiayu was introducing him, he had a rather bad attitude. His gaze toward Zhou Jiayu was filled with disgust, and it was obvious that if he hadn’t been instructed to, he wouldn’t even want to talk to Zhou Jiayu at all.
“Alright, thank you,” Zhou Jiayu said politely.
There was a bowl and a set of chopsticks placed at the edge of the table, some distance away from the rest of the table. Zhou Jiayu looked at it and confirmed that it was indeed reserved for himself. He sat down silently, ate a steamed bun, and drank a bowl of porridge.
“The room on the far right of the third floor is your room.” After breakfast, the person who led Zhou Jiayu threw a key at him. “Don’t run around if you have nothing to do.”
“Thank you,” Zhou Jiayu said.
After breakfast, everyone dispersed. Zhou Jiayu was the last one to leave. He hesitated for a moment as he looked at the bowls and chopsticks on the table, but still took them to the kitchen to wash.
At this moment, the small wooden building was quiet. If Zhou Jiayu hadn’t seen the people head upstairs, he probably would’ve felt like he was the only one in the building.
Zhou Jiayu washed the dishes and took the key given to him to the end of the third floor.
The house assigned to him was still very simple, but it was already much better than the previous room. It had a window, beside which there was a green plant. The bed was single-person, with a table and chair next to it, and a wardrobe opposite. Zhou Jiayu opened the wardrobe and looked inside, and found that there were actually several changes of clothes, which seemed to be for him.
This treatment of a prisoner was not bad… Zhou Jiayu thought in relief.
Such an idea persisted all the way until lunchtime.
Zhou Jiayu looked at the time and went downstairs to help. However, when he arrived on the first floor, he saw the three people who had previously gathered together sitting lifeless on the sofa, with expressions of hopelessness on their faces.
The person who led Zhou Jiayu couldn’t hold back and said, “Who’s cooking today.”
Another person said, “I did it yesterday.”
The third person didn’t speak, and in the end, was stared at so much he couldn’t endure. He put down his phone and said in a bitter voice, “I’m willing to cook, but are you guys willing to eat what I make?”
All three of them fell silent and said nothing else.
Zhou Jiayu, the guilty newcomer, dared not speak and could only sit quietly by the sofa pretending to be a wooden carving.
Finally, the person who led Zhou Jiayu stood up and walked toward the kitchen with deep hatred on his face. The other man shouted, “Shen Yiqiong, don’t cook noodles, I feel fucking sick whenever I see noodles—”
Shen Yiqiong said angrily, “Shen Erbai, don’t talk garbage, you go cook if you’re willing!”
Zhou Jiayu heard their names and wanted to laugh, but also felt that laughing at the moment seemed inappropriate. Later on, he found out that there were four people around Lin Zhushui, Yiqiong and Erbai, Zhaosan and Musi, all quite negative names.
Zhou Jiayu was sitting as quietly as a chicken, thinking they wouldn’t see him. However, Shen Yiqiong turned his head to look at Zhou Jiayu and said, “Hey, what are you smiling at?”
Zhou Jiayu felt a bit wronged: “I didn’t smile.”
Shen Yiqiong said: “You obviously smiled! Your eyes are still curved!”
Zhou Jiayu said despairingly, “I was just born like this.” His body was born with peach blossom eyes, this couldn’t be blamed on him!
Shen Yiqiong: “No matter what, you just smiled. Since you smiled, you go cook—”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
Shen Erbai listened and disagreed, “You’re making him cook? Aren’t you afraid he’ll poison us? Even if he doesn’t poison us, what if he spits into the food?”
Zhou Jiayu nodded approvingly from the side, thanking Shen Erbai for coming up with new ideas for him.
Shen Yiqiong said: “No problem, I’ll keep an eye on him. Do you know how to cook?”
Zhou Jiayu sighed and stood up obediently, saying, “A little.” After work, he lived alone and enjoyed eating, so naturally his cooking ability was quite skilled. He was just worried that the food he made would not suit the tastes of these three people and would be criticized. After all, the way they looked at him now could not be considered friendly.
“Then you go cook, I’ll watch you from the side,” Shen Yiqiong said in a gloomy tone. “You know what situation you’re in right now, if I find you doing anything fishy…”
Zhou Jiayu: “…alright.”
So Zhou Jiayu was escorted by Shen Yiqiong to the kitchen. He first looked at the ingredients in the refrigerator, then asked Shen Yiqiong what he wanted to eat.
Shen Yiqiong said: “Anything, as long as it’s not noodles, the more meat the better.”
Zhou Jiayu took out two pieces of fresh meat and steamed the rice. The ingredients here were not too plentiful, but he had no problem making a few home-cooked side dishes. He shredded the meat, coated it with batter, and stir-fried it with green peppers. He also stir-fried a bowl of vegetables and stewed a bowl of tomato and egg soup.
While Zhou Jiayu was cooking, Shen Yiqiong watched eagerly beside him. His gaze was like a studious elementary schooler looking at a new book, and his longing made Zhou Jiayu feel like he hadn’t eaten for a few days.
Zhou Jiayu had just taken the shredded pork with green pepper out of the pan, and asked embarrassedly, “Do you want to have a taste first?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “I’ll taste taste taste!”
After he finished speaking he took a large chopstick’s worth and stuffed it into his mouth. Scalded tears came out of his eyes and he nodded uncontrollably, saying, “How come you really can cook?”
Zhou Jiayu hummed and said, “I usually cook at home when I have nothing to do after work.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Yiqiong asked suspiciously, “You swindlers have work schedules?”
Zhou Jiayu: “…we strike a proper balance between work and rest.” He’d almost forgotten he was a swindler who didn’t have a real job.
Half an hour later, the food was brought to the table. Zhou Jiayu had prepared three dishes and one soup, which would be more than enough for four people.
The three of them weren’t polite at all. They grabbed their chopsticks and began to dig into their rice, eating like refugees who had been hungry for a long time. Zhou Jiayu was dumbfounded.
In the end there wasn’t even a mouth of soup left over. Shen Yiqiong had taken the last dregs to eat with his rice.
Zhou Jiayu was a bit scared and didn’t move his chopsticks much. He only ate until he was half full. He looked at the three people lying in food comas on the table, and was about to stand up and tidy the dishes when Shen Yiqiong stopped him.
He said, “My name is Shen Yiqiong. He is Shen Erbai, and this is Shen Zhaosan.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded. “I’m Zhou Jiayu…”
Shen Yiqiong said, “I know what your name is. Anyways, you’ll be living here in the future, so the task of cooking will be delegated to you.”
What else could Zhou Jiayu say? He nodded and agreed.
“There’s a study on the left side of the third floor. You can go in and take a look when you’re free, but you can’t take the books outside of the study.” After eating his voice was softer, and Shen Yiqiong’s attitude was much better than before. Although he still couldn’t be considered eager, he was at least willing to tell Zhou Jiayu some things.
Zhou Jiayu nodded.
Shen Yiqiong said, “You go up and rest, I’ll wash the dishes.”
Zhou Jiayu hesitated for a moment and agreed. He knew living here was a semi-permanent arrangement, and it was good to share work responsibilities with one another.
After lunch, it was break time. Zhou Jiayu took a nap and then got up to go to the study at the end of the left corridor.
The study was quite large, and Zhou Jiayu was dazzled by the books in it. He had at least heard of 《Tui Bei Tu》, 《Book of Changes》, and some other titles, but he had never seen many of the books, and their contents were even more obscure, making Zhou Jiayu doubt his life.
However, the three-legged crow Jiba came into use at that moment. It reappeared in Zhou Jiayu’s mind and began to explain some relatively rudimentary knowledge to him, such as the Six Yao, Bagua, the hexagram compass, and so on.
Zhou Jiayu listened in a muddle.
Jiba didn’t have any other option, so it changed his explanation and gave an example, “Feng shui is not all that mysterious. For example, in feng shui it is said that you cannot build a house at an intersection. The foul air there will make people feel irritable, and the people living there will be affected. This is what feng shui says, but in fact there is a lot of traffic coming and going at intersections, and with so much noise and exhaust emissions, it is normal for residential buildings to be affected.”
“So…?” Zhou Jiayu said.
Jiba said, “So when it comes to feng shui, things really aren’t that mysterious. Most of it can be explained by science, it’s just that science may have not caught up to a small portion of it yet.
Zhou Jiayu suddenly became more interested and said, “Now that you’ve explained it this way I’ve understood. But what are the few things that science can’t explain?” He remembered the hanging threads he had seen in the hall before and asked, “Those silk threads I saw, what were they?”
Jiba said, “That’s a manifestation of auspicious qi, which is quite complex. You definitely can’t understand it right now.”
Zhou Jiayu asked, absorbed in thought, “So my rebirth is related to feng shui?”
Jiba said, “It’s both related and not related. Let me tell you this. Your life and Lin Zhushui’s life are linked together. If he dies, you won’t be able to live.” Probably because he saw Zhou Jiayu’s deep suspicion of his rebirth, Jiba said this bluntly.
Zhou Jiayu: “Then what exactly do I need to do?”
Jiba said, “The specifics aren’t clear yet. You should learn a bit first. Learning is always beneficial.” It shook its fluffy feathers as he spoke.
In the study, Jiba taught Zhou Jiayu for an entire afternoon. Although his progress was not significant, he at least understood some basics.
The dinner that day was also made by Zhou Jiayu. Seeing that there weren’t many ingredients in the fridge, he decided to just make some noodles.
Unexpectedly, all three people in the room were very resistant to noodles. Shen Yiqiong claimed that he had had enough of noodles and felt nauseous whenever he saw them. Zhou Jiayu could only say helplessly, “But there isn’t much food in the refrigerator. Let me cook my own food first and I’ll make fried rice for you.”
Shen Yiqiong agreed.
As a result, after dinner was cooked, the three people held their fried rice and stared at the noodles in Zhou Jiayu’s bowl. They indeed looked very tasty. The noodles were fair and crystal clear, soaked in light soup, covered with emerald green onions and vegetables, and on top there was even a golden poached egg.
After taking a bite, Zhou Jiayu was a little unable to continue on and said, “Would, would you all like a taste?”
Without saying a word, Shen Yiqiong reached out his chopsticks, took a bite, and stared at the fried rice in front of him. “I want to eat noodles tomorrow, too.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
The other two weren’t as shameless as Shen Yiqiong, and could only endure and say no need.
These three people were clearly disdainful of noodles just now, but now they couldn’t help but stare at Zhou Jiayu’s bowl. Zhou Jiayu had a very uncomfortable dinner and felt relieved when he finally finished.
Zhou Jiayu had a very smooth first day, and at least learned the names of the people in the house. He returned to his room at night and took a hot bath.
Before, Zhou Jiayu didn’t pay much attention, but after taking off his clothes, he realized that his body was covered in blacks and blues. His skin was already fair, and now he looked even more miserable. However, upon careful consideration of the things that his body had done before, it seemed that being beaten up like this was not particularly excessive… Zhou Jiayu smiled bitterly to comfort himself.
At the moment it was early summer, and the weather was already slightly hot.
After taking a bath, Zhou Jiayu changed into a refreshing T-shirt and sat by the bed against the cool breeze.
The sky outside the window had darkened, and the lush forest was shrouded in darkness. In the wide area of the garden there were mostly tall pine and cypress trees, while along the path there were some straight emerald-green bamboo stalks.
Zhou Jiayu was enjoying the cool air when he suddenly saw a figure approaching the building from afar. He fixed his gaze and realized the person was actually Lin Zhushui, whom he had seen in the hall before.
Lin Zhushui was wearing a light-colored long-sleeved Tang suit, with the collar buttoned up to the top, his temperament was as cold as ice. His eyes were closed but his footsteps on the winding slate path were not slow at all. If it weren’t for Zhou Jiayu seeing it with his own two eyes, he would never have believed that he was blind.
As Lin Zhushui approached the small building, Zhou Jiayu rubbed his eyes heavily, suspecting he was hallucinating. He actually saw a pale mist around Lin Zhuishui, rolling around him like dark clouds gathering in the sky before a rainstorm.
“What’s that black mist?” Zhou Jiayu asked Jiba.
Jiba said, “It’s fate.”
Zhou Jiayu: “Fate?”
Jiba: “Yes, the fate of Lin Zhushui.”
Zhou Jiayu wanted to continue asking questions, but Lin Zhushui, who was originally walking on the path, suddenly turned his head and looked towards Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu’s heart pounded fiercely, and like a fish he slid down and crouched on the floor for a second before realizing. He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, “What am I so afraid of… he can’t even see me.” But still he waited a moment before sitting back by the window.
At that moment, Lin Zhushui had disappeared and the garden was once again silent.
From the direction Lin Zhushui was walking, he should’ve been heading towards this small building, but Zhou Jiayu didn’t hear anything and didn’t know where he had gone.
With all sorts of thoughts in his head, accompanied by the chirping of the cicadas in early summer, Zhou Jiayu fell asleep.
The next day, he realized that Lin Zhushui had indeed come here yesterday, because the three people in the building had become two. According to Shen Yiqiong’s words, it seemed that Shen Zhaosan had been sent out by Lin Zhushui to do something.
“I also want to go out,” Shen Yiqiong complained to Shen Erbai at noon. “Every day I stay at home and eat noodles…”
Shen Erbai lowered his head and looked at his phone, ignoring Shen Yiqiong.
Zhou Jiayu was not familiar with them and dared not speak up. He obediently prepared to cook lunch.
This morning, someone brought fresh meat and vegetables over. Zhou Jiayu took a look and took out the pork ribs to make braised spare ribs. He also made bamboo shoots with shrimp, and steamed eggs with hibiscus.
Shen Yiqiong was still not very assured about Zhou Jiayu, so he picked up a stool and kept watch in the kitchen.
At first, Zhou Jiayu didn’t understand why Shen Yiqiong was so worried about him spitting into the food. Later, he would realize that Shen Yiqiong was the one who beat him the hardest while he was covered with a sack. It was he who had kicked Zhou Jiayu’s swollen ankle… after getting along with him, Shen Yiqiong apologized, saying that he shouldn’t have kicked him so hard in the first place. Zhou Jiayu just smiled and said, “It’s okay, I spat a lot in the dishes behind your back anyways.”
Shen Yiqiong: “…”
But at this moment their relationship was not so good, so Shen Yiqiong, who liked to eat but couldn’t cook, could only stay by Zhou Jiayu’s side and keep an eye on him.
Zhou Jiayu took off his apron and filled up three bowls of rice. After he finished cooking and was ready to dig in, he saw the two people opposite him, who had originally looked like starving ghosts, suddenly sit upright and transform into relaxed and indifferent outsiders.
Zhou Jiayu was thinking about whether the two of them had fallen ill when he heard a familiar voice coming from behind him: “Eating?”
“Yes, we’re getting ready to eat. Has sir eaten yet? Do you want to eat with us?” Shen Yiqiong’s attitude was suddenly well-behaved and obedient.
“Who made it?” Lin Zhushui asked again.
“It, it was made by Zhou Jiayu.” Shen Yiqiong seemed a little embarrassed and continued, “It’s just because he had nothing else to do… so we let him cook.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhushui didn’t agree or disagree. He actually sat down and casually said, “Then I’ll try some.”
Shen Yiqiong seemed a little scared, as they had also invited Lin Zhushui to eat before, but Lin Zhushui refused every time. But then again, it didn’t seem like a good thing for their craftsmanship to be tasted by him…
Zhou Jiayu obediently lowered his head to eat his own meal.
The vegetables and meat here seemed to be specially supplied, and the quality was much better than those normally outside. The shrimp was very fresh fried together with the crispy asparagus, refreshing and sweet. The braised spare ribs were not bad either, soft and juicy, very delicious.
Due to the presence of Lin Zhushui, both Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai’s eating habits improved significantly. Zhou Jiayu, who had seen them eat yesterday, couldn’t believe that these were the same people he saw yesterday.
Lin Zhushui’s aura was extremely strong. He sat diagonally opposite Zhou Jiayu, who lowered his head while eating and occasionally snuck a glance.
He also quietly observed Lin Zhushui up close for the first time.
Some beauties were only suitable for viewing from afar, but Lin Zhushui was clearly the type whose beauty was not affected by distance. His hands holding chopsticks were also particularly beautiful, with distinct joints, slender and fair, making him look elegant even when picking up food.
Although Zhou Jiayu had previously thought that Lin Zhushui was very pale, upon closer inspection, he found that his skin could be described as flawless. It was like smooth jade, and even made people want to touch it to see if it was as cold as jade— but of course Zhou Jiayu only dared to think about this in his mind.
The meal was exceptionally quiet, and there wasn’t even the sound of chewing at the table.
Lin Zhushui’s eating style was also beautiful, but his appetite surprised Zhou Jiayu a little. He had originally planned to have leftovers for dinner, but the three of them quietly finished all the dishes, leaving only a little soup left…
After they finished eating, Shen Yiqiong volunteered to wash the dishes, but Lin Zhushui said, “Wait a moment. I have something to tell you all.”
“Sir, what’s the matter?” Shen Yiqiong asked.
Lin Zhushui said: “The 14th day of next month, do you know what day it will be?”
Shen Yiqiong eagerly said, “I know, sir, who will go this time?”
Lin Zhushui said, “I originally wanted to go to Musi, but he hasn’t finished his work yet, and it seems he can’t come back in time.”
Shen Yiqiong said, “Then can I go?!”
Shen Erbai, who sat next to him and didn’t speak much, suddenly said, “I also want to go.”
Zhou Jiayu’s eyes were filled with confusion upon hearing this. He had originally intended to quietly leave on his own, but he also felt that standing up now was a bit abrupt. So he simply huddled in the corner and pretended to be air.
After listening to Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai’s self-recommendation, Lin Zhushui didn’t speak. Instead, he casually took out a pocket watch and placed it on the table, then said, “Open it and take a look.”
Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai approached and opened the cover of the pocket watch, only to find that it was already broken.
With his eyes shut, Lin Zhushui, sitting at the side, pointed at the table and said: “Who first?”
Shen Yiqiong carefully glanced at the pocket watch, his nose sniffing like a dog, “Female, no longer in this world, had children…”
Shen Erbai continued, “Probably died of illness, had a very difficult life…”
The two people spoke one by one, and Zhou Jiayu was full of confusion. They eagerly looked at Lin Zhushui, as if they wanted to ask for the final answer.
But Lin Zhushui didn’t have any expression, and his fingers tapped on the table, calmly saying, “Anything else?”
“Nothing else.” Shen Yiqiong scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Lin Zhushui said, “Female, passed away from illness, lived a very miserable life?”
Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai both nodded and said yes.
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhushui turned his head and said to the bewildered Zhou Jiayu, “Come and take a look.”
As soon as this sentence was uttered, all three of them were stunned, Zhou Jiayu most of all. He pointed to himself and said, “Me, me?”
Lin Zhushui nodded.
Ahhhh, thank you soooo much for picking this up! I read it in MTL a few years ago and was just about to start doing so again. I was even thinking of picking it up myself! Looking forward to reading with a proper translation!
Thank you for picking this up! I was worried this would be dropped forever! Now to wait till the translation passes c42~
I’ve literally been waiting for years! Thank you so much!!!!
Tho i really wanted to ask if its MTL or HTL?
HTL 🙂
I’m squealing with happiness rn! Thank you so much!!!!
The first chapter got me hooked already!
This chapter is so long! I like it! And that’s why I forgot everything that I want to say….
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Thank you thank you thank you sooo much!!!
This is my favorite story but sadly other translator stopped translating and even private the website… :((
BUT NOW YOU GUYS APPEAR LIKE ANGELS OF SALAVTION.
I swear I’m not a weirde just a really big fan of this novel T T.
I usually don’t do this since finances are tight but I’m def. Gonna leave some kind of donation when I figure our how it works <3
Oh, yay! This is one of those that was on my ‘to-read’ list but I got caught up on others, and by the time I returned, it had vanished from the Earth. Super grateful to you!
Aaahhh! ❤️ Thanks so much for the translation~