translator: honeydew
Zhou Jiayu gulped and walked slowly to the table.
The pocket watch was placed on the table, with several pieces of broken glass on its surface. It seemed to have been accidentally dropped and broken. The metal chain, however, looked about 80% new, and it seemed to have been replaced.
Zhou Jiayu looked carefully, but couldn’t deduce anything. As he stood in distress, Jiba suddenly popped into his mind, forcefully stepping on the turtle shell under its feet. The turtle that Zhou Jiayu had originally thought was just a turtle shell slowly extended its head… then scattered images appeared in front of Zhou Jiayu’s eyes.
These images pieced together intermittently to form the life of a Republic of China actor. Zhou Jiayu was dazzled, and when the scene turned dark a thin layer of cold sweat broke out on his body and his face turned a little pale.
Shen Yiqiong saw Zhou Jiayu standing there silently, and thought that he probably didn’t know anything while wondering why his master cared so much about a swindler. Of course, he thought this on his own, completely afraid to say such a thing in front of Lin Zhushui.
“What have you seen?” Lin Zhushui’s voice was faint, but it summoned back Zhou Jiayu’s distant consciousness.
Zhou Jiayu reached out and wiped away the cold sweat from his voice, whispering, “I saw a man.”
Shen Yiqiong, standing next to him, frowned upon hearing this, and thought in his heart: How could it be a man? What he and Shen Erbai felt on the pocket watch was feminine yin qi.
The study of feng shui was based on the division of yin and yang. Everything was divided into those two categories, whether human or earth. Women were yin, men were yang, yin was to the north and yang was to the south. Jiangyin and Luoyang's names both referred to their geographical locations. If they couldn’t even distinguish between yin and yang, what kind of feng shui were they learning?
Shen Erbai’s expression was similar to that of Shen Yiqiong, and he clearly disagreed greatly with what Zhou Jiayu said. If it wasn’t for the presence of Lin Zhushui, he might’ve had an argument with Zhou Jiayu long ago.
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhushui did not say if it was right or wrong. He seemed to have a complete understanding of the emotions of the people around him, and said, “Yiqiong, you don’t think so?”
Shen Yiqiong hesitated for a moment but said, “Sir, what is really attached to that pocket watch is clearly a woman’s yin qi.”
Lin Zhushui was silent.
Shen Erbai also nodded and said, “Yes, and the yin qi is extremely heavy. It should be due to illness and death, and her resentment before death was definitely not light.”
Lin Zhushui originally didn’t have much expression on his face, but after hearing Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai’s answers, his face instantly turned frosty. He said, “I’ve taught you both for five years, and you’ve only learned this much?”
Shen Yiqing and Shen Erbai’s expressions instantly became very ugly.
“Zhou Jiayu, speak.” Lin Zhushui’s voice was as cold as ice.
Zhou Jiayu was a bit scared by Lin Zhushui’s reaction, and he even felt his body was a little cold. Shen Yqiong and Shen Erbai’s unfriendly eyes bored into him, as if they wanted to eat him alive.
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
“Sir asked you to speak.” The relationship that had eased slightly due to the beautiful food had once again returned to freezing point, and Shen Yiqiong spoke in an almost gritted tone.
After studying with Lin Zhushui for so many years, he was inexplicably suppressed by a swindler with a bad character. Anyone would have some anger in their hearts.
Zhou Jiayu even strongly suspected that if it weren’t for Lin Zhushi’s presence, Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai would’ve rushed over and directly tore him apart.
“I just feel like this pocket watch belongs to a man…” Zhou Jiayu could only explain. “He should be a theatrical performer, that’s all I can feel…” In fact, he saw some other scenes from Jiba, but given the current imposing atmosphere, he hesitated for a moment but still didn’t say anything.
“Yin qi is not unique to women,” Lin Zhushui said coldly as he reached out and grasped the pocket watch. “Do you really think this profession is so simple?”
Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai listened quietly and obediently to his teaching.
“The owner of the pocket watch is Ren Zixiu, a famous figure during the Republic of China period.” Lin Zhushui felt the surface of the pocket watch with his fingers and continued. “He had been learning qingyi since childhood and liked to wear women’s clothing in his daily life.”
Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai were both slightly stunned, as if they hadn’t expected this.
“There is indeed yin qi on this pocket watch, but as for where it comes from, I’m afraid none of you could say,” Lin Zhushui said coldly. “You still want to join the excitement next month like this? Are you not afraid of losing my, Lin Zhushui’s, face?”
After he finished speaking, he smoothly took away the pocket watch and turned around to leave.
Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai were both disheartened.
Upon seeing this situation, Zhou Jiayu quietly turned around and was about to slink off. However, before he could go upstairs, he was fiercely grabbed by Shen Yiqiong from behind.
“Friend, where are you going?” Shen Yiqiong smiled grimly. “Why don’t you talk with us for a while?”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” Would you please retract your teeth? Coming this close, I thought you were about to bite me.
Zhou Jiayu, who attempted to escape, was recaptured to the living room and thrown onto the sofa.
The two people who were criticized by Lin Zhushui immediately surrounded Zhou Jiayu, sandwiching him between them, saying, “Zhou Jiayu, how on earth did you know?”
Zhou Jiayu curled into a ball and whispered, “Know what?”
Shen Yiqiong rapped the table heavily: “Of course, how could you tell the owner of that pocket watch was a man?”
Zhou Jiayu: “…I guessed.”
Shen Yiqiong laughed coldly: “Oh? How did you guess?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “That pocket watch was obviously a men’s watch, which girl would use such a big one?”
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.
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Zhou Jiayu whispered, “So I really just guessed…” In fact, he only found out the identity of the owner of the watch after Lin Zhushui mentioned the surname Ren. Coincidentally, he had a friend who was also a theater fan, and he learned some convenient things about theater. The owner of the pocket watch, Ren Zixiu, was a famous qinyi figure at that time, and anyone who came into contact with Beijing Opera would know about him.
Shen Erbai was quiet for a long time before he said in a faint voice, “No wonder you’re a swindler.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
Shen Yiqiong let out a long sigh, stood up, turned around, and walked away. Shen Erbai followed behind him, and together their backs look like they carried the vicissitudes of life.
Left alone on the sofa, Zhou Jiayu didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
In fact, after entering this body, he had been a little confused and didn’t know whether this was the same world as the one he had died in. It wasn’t until today when Lin Zhushui heard the somewhat familiar name Ren Zixiu that he was certain it was and realized that he had indeed been reborn. Zhou Jiayu sat on the sofa pondering.
In his head, Jiba asked: “What are you thinking about?”
Zhou Jiayu said: “Thinking about whether my original body died or not.”
Jiba: “Of course it’s dead, otherwise I wouldn’t have summoned your soul.”
Zhou Jiayu smiled bitterly and sighed, “That’s right…” Thankfully, he was a loner. His parents died when he was young and he grew up with his grandmother. A few years ago, after his grandmother passed away due to illness, he could be counted as permanently having no one else to care about and no one to care about him. And the most tragic thing was that, having died in a car accident, he didn’t know who he’d have to trouble with the aftermath.
“Let’s work hard. When Lin Zhushui’s fate comes to life, no one will stop you from doing whatever you want,” Jiba said.
It seemed like he could only do it this way, Zhou Jiayu thought.
Due to the severe blow dealt to them during the day, both Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai wilted.
Zhou Jiayu felt a little guilty because his golden finger hurt them, so he cooked a big meal with the ingredients he had received today.
Shen Yiqiong, who was not in a good mood, ate the fragrant fried lamb chops made by Zhou Jiayu and praised them, saying, “It was indeed a good choice to ask them to bring lamb. I knew you would definitely prepare it well.” The lamb chops were roasted on the outside and tender on the inside, the temperature just right. After a bite, the whole mouth was full of rich meat, and the taste was not too strong. After adding seasoning, only the meaty aroma of lamb remained.
Zhou Jiayu asked curiously, “Did you eat noodles every day before I came?”
Shen Yiqiong’s face was ugly: “Yes, and fried rice.”
Zhou Jiayu said: “Can’t you order takeout here?”
Shen Yiqiong: “No, Sir asked us to eat less outside food.”
Zhou Jiayu let out an ‘oh’ and finally understood why they mentioned cooking with a bitter expression.
Shen Erbai’s heart was not as big as Shen Yiqiong’s, and after the Lin Zhushui incident during the day, his face was still gloomy. Zhou Jiayu knew that it might not be appropriate to ask certain questions with his current identity, but he couldn’t resist and whispered, “What exactly was the thing Mr. Lin was saying about next month?”
Shen Yiqiong was chowing on a lamb chop and vaguely said, “A big deal in the feng shui world.”
Zhou Jiayu: “A big deal…?”
Shen Yiqiong furrowed his brow as if hesitating to explain in detail to Zhou Jiayu, but Shen Erbai laughed coldly and said, “ A feng shui community competition, what are you asking about this for, are you planning to swindle a few girls back?”
Zhou Jiayu looked helpless. His identity as a swindler seemed to be irreparable for a while. But were there really competitions in the feng shui community? It sounded very impressive…
Shen Yiqiong spat out the bone of the lamb chop, sucked the juice from his fingers, and sighed, “It shouldn’t have anything to do with you. Knowing too much is not a good thing.”
Zhou Jiayu could only nod and agree.
Although he was reborn in the same world, Zhou Jiayu found that the place where he was reborn and the place where he lived originally were like two different dimensions. The content of the conversation between Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai could only be half understood by him, and the metaphysics of feng shui were too obscure and mysterious for Zhou Jiayu, who was only starting out.
Due to the Lin Zhushui incident, both Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai seemed to be in a bad mood for the next few days. Zhou Jiayu also noticed that Shen Yiqiong had often a feng shui compass in his hand and was often muttering around in the living room. If it weren’t for Zhou Jiayu’s own rebirth, he would have really thought that Shen Yiqiong had a problem with his head.
The atmosphere was suppressed for four or five days, until on a sunny afternoon, Lin Zhushui appeared again. The weather was hot, but he came in from outside without sweating a drop. He had his eyes closed and didn’t speak, like an ice sculpture emitting cold air.
Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai sat obediently side by side on the sofa, like two elementary school students seeing their homeroom teacher. Zhou Jiayu had just come downstairs and turned around quietly when he saw this scene, intending not to participate.
Who knew that, before he could take more than a few steps, a neutral voice would float into his ears: “Come here.”
Zhou Jiayu froze before slowly twisting around, reaching out to point at himself and saying, “Me?”
Lin Zhushui expressionlessly nodded.
Zhou Jiayu was stiff as a board. He struggled to turn around and descend the stairs as if he were paralysed. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he almost stumbled and fell.
Shen Yiqiong lowered his head and covered his mouth with his hand. Without a doubt, if it weren’t for Lin Zhushui being here, he probably would have laughed out loud.
Zhou Jiuyu despondently walked in front of Lin Zhushui and whispered, “Mr. Lin.”
Lin Zhushui’s expression did not change much. His thin lips lifted slightly, but his next words made everyone dumbfounded: “Next month, you go.”
Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai both showed shocked expressions as if they had been struck by lightning.
Zhou Jiayu’s peach blossom eyes were wide and round, and he didn’t dare believe his ears: “Me?”
Lin Zhushui said, “En.”
Zhou Jiayu was instantly stared at by two sets eyes. If it was a metaphor to say that Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai wanted to tear him apart and eat him, then now they obviously want to put this idea into practice.
Zhou Jiayu almost wanted to cry, and he said despairingly, “But, but Mr. Lin, I don’t, I don’t know anything…”
Lin Zhushui said blandly, “You don’t need to know anything.” In the field of feng shui, even experienced practitioners who had been practicing for decades could not be compared to talented newcomers. Not everything was fair in the world, especially in the matter of feng shui.
Zhou Jiayu still wanted to argue, but looking at Lin Zhushui’s expression, the words couldn’t escape his mouth.
Lin Zhushui said, “Yiqiong, bring him to my residence tomorrow night.”
Although Shen Yiqiong’s eyes turned red with anger, like a panting bull, he obediently said yes to Lin Zhushui’s command and dared not refute.
After saying this, Lin Zhushui left, the room behind him completely silent.
Zhou Jiayu glanced at Shen Yiqiong, didn’t dare to speak, and turned around to run. As soon as he entered his room, he heard Shen Yiqiong pounding on the door outside. Shen Yiqiong angrily said, “Zhou Jiayu, you despicable swindler, what kind of love potion did you give to Sir—”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
Shen Yiqiong said, “If you had the guts to woo Sir, then you should have the guts to open the door! Zhou Jiayu, don’t stay in there quietly!”
Zhou Jiayu inexplicably felt this line was very familiar.
Shen Yiqiong seemed to also have realized this line was not quite right. After a moment of silence, he said in a looming voice, “Come out, let’s have a good conversation.”
Zhou Jiayu: “I really didn’t do anything! I’m innocent!”
Shen Yiqiong said coldly, “Oh.”
Zhou Jiayu: “Believe me!”
Shen Yiqiong: “I believe you— no, there would be something fucking wrong with me if I believed you!”
So there was another noisy quarrel, and in the end, Zhou Jiayu lost all his strength and sat on the bed, “What did I really do? We all just stay in the building every day, shouldn’t you know?”
Shen Yiqiong knew, but he was still angry. The competition only took place once every four years, and previously Zhaosan went. This time Musi was supposed to go, but Musi couldn’t come back… He and Shen Erbai both thought that Sir would choose one of them, but suddenly Zhou Jiayu appeared.
Finally Shen Yiqiong angrily left, and Zhou Jiayu asked Jiba why Lin Zhushui picked him.
Jiba said, “Maybe he had a crush on me.”
Zhou Jiayu said: “Oh, so he had a crush on my Jiba.” After saying this, he felt like something was wrong, and after thinking about it for a while, he realized it seemed a little bit obscene and said in despair: “Can’t you change your name?”
Jiba said, “No can do, Ji is my family’s surname, and I am lao ba.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” Fortunately, your family’s surname was not Wang.
The two people downstairs, who were finally softened by Zhou Jiayu’s food, were once again as hard and unmovable as Jiba’s turtle shell.
At night, when he went downstairs to cook, Shen Yiqiong sneered and knocked on the table, saying, “Zhou Jiayu, I won’t eat what you make anymore.”
Shen Erbai said, “It’s ok, if he won’t eat, I’ll eat.”
Shen Yiqiong: “…”
Zhou Jiayu felt that he had been shot even while lying down, and even suspected that Lin Zhushui had deliberately done so to make Shen Yiqiong and Shen Erbai dislike him. But to be honest, Lin Zhushui had no motivation to do so. After all, sentencing him to death was just a matter of a sentence.
Judging from his appearance, Zhou Jiayu speculated that Shen Yiqiong should’ve only been seventeen or eighteen years old, not yet an adult but no longer a child. Later, when he became familiar with Shen Yiqiong he realized his guess was about right, because when they first met, Shen Yiqiong had only half a year left before turning eighteen.
As for children, they just had to be coaxed, and Zhou Jiayu didn’t think too much about it. However, what he really didn’t understand was why Lin Zhushui chose him to participate in that competition. He was the kind of person who still had to rely on a compass to distinguish between the southeast and the northeast.
Before Lin Zhushui left, he had told Shen Yiqiong to take Zhou Jiayu to his residence the next night. Zhou Jiayu didn’t take these words to heart, but Shen Yiqiong remembered them clearly.
So the next evening, Shen Yiqiong pulled Zhou Jiayu out of the house and said, “Sir asked me to take you over today. Let’s go.”
Zhou Jiayu was nervous and felt like a pig being dragged out to be butchered.
Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu left the three-story wooden building where they lived. This was also the first time Zhou Jiayu had a good view of the surrounding scenery since he arrived— before, he had been dragged in and dragged out.
The scenery in the garden was indeed very good, and even people like Zhou Jiayu who did not understand feng shui felt relaxed and refreshed.
After bypassing the lush pine and cypress trees, Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu walked to a small courtyard surrounded by a fence. The courtyard was planted full of bamboo, and in the bamboo forest murmuring streams passed through.
Zhou Jiayu asked anxiously, “Shen Yiqiong, what do you think Sir is going to do?”
Shen Yiqiong couldn’t help but say, “I don’t know. Maybe he wants to beat you up because he finds you annoying.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
Shen Yiqiong clearly still had a grudge against Lin Zhushui for choosing Zhou Jiayu in the end, muttering, “It’s really nice not knowing anything, if Sir chose me, don’t even talk about being beaten up once, I would be willing to be beaten to death.”
Zhou Jiayu thought to himself that luckily Lin Zhushui wasn’t involved in any pyramid schemes, otherwise Shen Yiqiong would definitely be one of those college students who cheated relatives into going in together.
The two of them walked into the back of the bamboo forest. After following a gravel path, Zhou Jiayu saw a simple and unsophisticated house hidden in the forest. Its first floor was made of wood, which looked a bit old but not outdated. Shen Yiqiong knocked on the door of the small house and called out, “Sir.”
“Come in.” Lin Zhushui’s voice came from afar.
Shen Yiqiong pushed open the wooden door and brought Zhou Jiayu into the room.
The room was very spacious and bright even without the lights on. Zhou Jiayu didn’t know if it was his illusion, but he felt a little cold in the room, especially with the floor under his feet emitting cold air. Standing for a while, he felt a chill creep over him.
Lin Zhushui walked out from behind, wiping his wet hands carefully with a towel. He said to Shen Yiqiong, “Go.”
Shen Yiqiong nodded and turned to leave. Zhou Jiayu looked at his back with a pitiful expression in his eyes. It wasn’t until the door slammed shut that he called out with a trembling voice, “Mr. Lin.”
Lin Zhushui sat down in front of Zhou Jiayu and casually placed his towel on the table. His tone was light and ordinary. “Zhou Jiayu.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “En…”
Lin Zhushui spoke: “I didn’t originally intend to save your life.”
Zhou Jiayu was silent.
“The things you did were enough for you to die a thousand times over,” Lin Zhushui said.
Zhou Jiayu couldn’t refute this because Lin Zhushui was telling the truth. After Jiba showed him the memories of the original owner, even Zhou Jiayu felt that this person deserved to die.
Lin Zhushui said, “But since you can see auspicious qi and have some connection with the feng shui community, I will spare your life.”
“Thank you, Mr. Lin,” Zhou Jiayu said with difficulty.
Lin Zhushui stood up. “Come with me.”
At this moment, as Lin Zhushui approached, Zhou Jiayu realized that he was half a head taller than himself. Previously, he had thought Lin Zhushui was as delicate as a beautiful jade artifact. Now, it seemed the delicate one was probably him.
As he followed, Zhou Jiayu nervously asked Jiba, “What if Lin Zhushui wants to kill me?”
Jiba said, “Don’t worry, I’ve calculated it, you’re definitely not going to die today.”
Zhou Jiayu: “Really?”
Jiba: “Really.”
As soon as he breathed a sigh of relief, he saw Lin Zhushui stop and push open a door in front of him.
Behind the door, there was a boiling heat, and Zhou Jiayu realized the room was actually a bathroom. There was a huge stone bathtub, which was steaming hot with a strange medicinal smell lingering in the air.
Although the bathroom was right in front of him, Zhou Jiayu still didn’t dare believe his eyes. He turned red inexplicably and stammered, “Lin, Mr. Lin…”
Lin Zhushui spoke. “Go in.”
Zhou Jiayu: “Go, go in?”
Lin Zhushui said, “There’s a towel right there, soak inside for an hour, don’t get too hot, otherwise you will have to endure the hardships yourself.”
Zhou Jiayu listened in a daze and said, “So you’re letting me go in and soak?”
Lin Zhushui nodded and didn’t speak again. He turned around and walked away, leaving Zhou Jiayu facing this tub of water with bewilderment on his face.
Zhou Jiayu: “Lin Zhushui, what is his meaning behind this?”
“Hurry inside, he won’t harm you… well, he won’t use such a troublesome method to harm you,” Jiba said.
Zhou Jiayu was alarmed and said, “But I don’t even know what to do.”
Jiba spoke: “Maybe he dislikes you for being dirty.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
Jiba scratched the tender tip of its beak with a claw: “Fine, I don’t know either.”
Zhou Jiayu looked at the bathwater, hesitated for a moment, then slowly stripped off his clothes and sank into the bathtub.
The author has something to say:
hahahahaha you guys are poisonous, God Jiba hahahahaha
thank you for picking it up …i was waiting for a long time T_T
Thank you for picking this story ! It looks so cool !
In other books it would be start of nsfw, but not in this book
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Thanks for the translation ❤️❤️❤️