TN –
Thanks to the child support form “Vailen”, there will be 8 extra chapters this week. This is the 4th.
Shi Yuebai’s hint was obvious, but he didn’t say it out loud. Third Flora couldn’t do anything about it – after all, it’s not a crime to think about things in your heart.
Wang Laowu, who drove them to the station, repeatedly reminded them to make sure to handle their underground relationship well so as not to be caught in bed, to avoid a tragic loss of money.
From now until completion and payment, it’s a total of eight days. Please exercise the self-control that an adult should have, okay?
Okay, of course, okay.
Xu Yintang, with luggage in one hand and Shi Yuebai in the other, answered sincerely and promptly. When he turned around, he received a long string of concerned text messages from Wang Laowu.
Personal safety is not a problem, but the issue of potentially facing a huge problem due to falsely reporting a brand-new, unopened product is a significant concern.
However, after Xu Yintang replied to Wang Laowu with a sentence like “If exposed, I will handle it properly,” his phone became as quiet as if it were powered off.
The village attached great importance to the two of them, specially sending someone to the station – a woman with slightly dark skin and slender, more youthful than the woman from Wang Laowu’s office, with a wild and healthy beauty.
“Blue… Moon and Sugar, right?” The woman looked at Shi Yuebai, then at Xu Yintang, and her gaze returned to Shi Yuebai. “I’m Jiao Jin, you can call me A-Jin.”
Shi Yuebai, noticed that A-Jin’s attention was mostly on him, took the initiative to step forward and took on the social responsibility. “Hello, BlueMoon.”
“Sugar.” Xu Yintang nodded.
A-Jin’s smile was radiant, revealing a set of neat and white teeth. “The names of you outsiders are really strange.”
Following her towards the direction of the car, Xu Yintang smiled and asked, “Is there anyone else besides us?”
Although A-Jin preferred Shi Yuebai’s style, she didn’t reject Xu Yintang’s initiative to talk. “Of course, there have been many guests lately, and some of them are quite handsome.”
She then changed the topic, encouraging Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai, “You two must do well. Don’t be surpassed by the guests. Otherwise, the High Priest won’t be happy and might throw you into the sea to feed the fish.”
Her tone didn’t sound like a joke, and Shi Yuebai raised an eyebrow, responding with a casual joke, “Rest assured, we provide value for money.”
A-Jin chuckled a couple of times, “Alright, you guys are not too nervous. The job of being ‘immortals’ is easy. Just treat it as playing. The beaches and the sea outside the village are beautiful. If the weather is clear tomorrow afternoon like today, I’ll take you fishing at sea.”
She said with a smile, driving the car onto the road. Despite the remote location of the village, the road was smooth and wide, and as the road curved, they could gradually see the sea on one side.
The sparkling sea connected with the horizon, the sun turning the sea water white, revealing a faded gray-blue color.
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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Cr C-Alc’r mjg fcafgfv atf nliijuf, We Tlcajcu cbalmfv atja atf kbwfc bc ybat rlvfr bo atf gbjv kfgf mjralcu meglber uijcmfr.
Ktf kbwfc kfgf kfjglcu mbibgoei fatclm mbraewfr, ibcu rxlgar mbnfglcu atflg offa, jvbgcfv klat wjcs qfjgi jcv rtfii pfkfigs. Olxf C-Alc, atfs kfgf yfjealoei jcv fzevfv j cjaegji tfjiats mtjgw.
Xu Yintang also noticed the absence of many men nearby. The few men present were obviously different in dress and demeanor from the village women, wearing either Western suits or traditional Chinese attire. It was evident that they were guests bidding for the elixir.
“The sisters in the village have been looking forward to meeting you.” A-Jin opened the car window and greeted them a couple of times, speaking in a dialect that Xu Yintang couldn’t understand, with a melodious and pleasant tone, rhythmic like singing.
Soon, two girls walked over, looking at Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai through the car window. They cheerfully spoke in the local dialect to A-Jin, who laughed and scolded them before driving a bit further and stopping in front of a small courtyard.
“This is Aunt A-Gen’s house. You’ll be staying here during this time.” A-Jin hopped out of the car and shouted, and soon, a middle-aged woman opened the door for them.
A-Jin said to her, “Aunt A-Gen, these two are the ‘immortals’ this time. Please take care of them.”
Aunt A-Gen nodded and gestured in agreement. A-Jin then turned to Shi Yuebai and said, “Aunt A-Gen has a hoarse voice and can’t speak, but she can understand everything you say. I’ve placed some documents in your room. You can familiarize yourselves with our history. Rehearsal for the ritual will be at the activity center at 4:30, and Aunt A-Gen will take you there.”
Aunt A-Gen nodded enthusiastically, showing a warm welcome to the two guests staying at her place.
Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai were arranged to stay in the hall behind the living room; Aunt A-Gen’s house had limited rooms, and they could only spare one for them.
The bed was large enough, providing enough space for both of them to sleep comfortably.
After unpacking their luggage, Shi Yuebai released Casey Cat. Both of them quickly checked the room, making sure nothing suspicious was going on.
Meanwhile, Xu Yintang picked up the folder on the table and began reading. The document provided a brief overview of the legend and history of the village, focusing on the process of establishing the village – the main content of the Immortal Blessing Ceremony.
According to the legend, a hundred years ago, the village was not called the Jiaocun Village. It was just a remote, impoverished, and nameless fishing village. There was a girl named A-Jiao in the village, known for her kindness, beauty, and diligence.
…
(This section omits the description of how beautiful, kind, and hardworking A-Jiao was, spanning eight hundred words.)
In summary, one day the village experienced a terrible tsunami, and A-Jiao couldn’t bear to see the village submerged in seawater. She made a vow to the heavens, offering her own life to appease the anger of the sea.
The heavenly emperor was moved by her sacrificial spirit. Instead of taking A-Jiao’s life, two immortals were sent down to bestow blessings. These two immortals protected the villagers during the tsunami and formed a connection with A-Jiao. They even had children together, teaching them the immortal methods of medicine and alchemy. After A-Jiao passed away peacefully, they walked on water and left, returning to the Penglai Immortal Mountain.
Their children, in honor of their ancestors, changed the village’s name to Jiaocun Village. Over time, the villagers gradually adopted the surname Jiao, becoming renowned for their skills in medicine and alchemy.
After reading it, Xu Yintang made a brief comment, “Feels a bit strange, like a gender-swapped version of many legendary stories.”
Shi Yuebai leaned against his shoulder, scanning the contents of the document from this angle, and agreed with his view, “Especially the part about the two immortals. For a story passed down a hundred years ago, such a plot couldn’t have occurred.”
The themes of legendary stories were limited by the era, with celestial beings often paired with mortals, reflecting the mindset of ancient working-class people and literary workers who dreamed of feasting on swan meat and hoped for pies to fall from the sky.
Particularly, stories like A-Jiao’s, with a constrained love story and a heavenly figure overseeing marriages to reward virtuous mortals, closely resembled the prototype of the initial story “Dong Yong’s Wife.”
The heavenly emperor, moved by Dong Yong’s simplicity and filial piety, sent the celestial weaver to be his wife, helping him weave cloth to improve his life. After achieving his goals, Dong Yong retired, returning to the heavenly court. By flipping the genders and multiplying the number of weavers by two, it was essentially the same storyline as A-Jiao’s story.
With Shi Yuebai’s chin pressing into his shoulder, Xu Yintang adjusted his position, giving him half of the space, “The tsunami part makes sense. The presence of immortals or similar beings in a story like this is expected. The rest might vary.”
Including the reversal of celestial beings pairing with mortal women and mortal men with celestial women, it was highly likely that these changes were made to align with the current situation in Jiaocun Village, where women outnumbered men.
Shi Yuebai took up almost half of the chair, and his knee bumped into Xu Yintang’s. He leaned forward to flip through the documents.
“When it comes to the word ‘Jiaocun’ and being by the seaside, the most immediate association would be merfolk… There’s indeed a belief in consuming mermaid flesh for longevity, aligning with the potential of immortality attributed to elixirs.”
Xu Yintang nodded, “But when it comes to mermaids or beautiful beings, we need to consider what kind of role these ‘immortals’ in the story actually play.”
…
Regardless of the roles played by the two immortals in the legend, in the Immortal Blessing Ceremony performance, the “immortals” stood out among the local girls, attracting admiring glances from passing male guests.
Indeed, apart from Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai, all other actors were female, and they were all young, beautiful, and graceful local girls.
According to what Xu Yintang heard from passing guests, they referred to the girl resembling black pearls as “Mermaid,” seemingly associating her with the Jiao family name and recognizing her beauty and familiarity with water, just like the mermaids in the legend.
A-Jin, among the performing girls, seemed to hold a prominent position. When she spoke, the other girls chattering around Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai quieted down and followed A-Jin’s orders.
“A-Duo, come with me to assist the ‘immortals’ in trying on their costumes.” A-Jin said, “The rest of you continue practicing. Just now, your performance looked like a joke; you’ll embarrass yourselves in front of the guests.”
The other girls were scolded into silence by her, and a girl with braided hair obediently responded and led Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai to try on the performance costumes.
“Don’t move; I’ll change the clothes for you.” A-Duo carefully took out two sets of clothes from the box. One set was a light gray-blue, resembling the seawater Xu Yintang had seen before, and the other set was a clear, sky-like azure.
The fabric of the clothes was soft and silky, like satin, yet it seemed seamless, with no visible patterns of threads crossing or cutting, let alone signs of stitching or cutting.
When A-Jin and A-Duo unfolded the clothes, Xu Yintang estimated that the size was slightly smaller than his own physique. However, when worn, they unexpectedly fit perfectly, with no part feeling loose or tight. They seemed more tailored than custom-made.
Looking at Xu Yintang in the changed clothes, A-Duo’s eyes sparkled with admiration, “This is the kind of demeanor an immortal should have.”
A-Jin also stared at Shi Yuebai, unable to take her eyes off, “Just…just…”
At this moment, there was a knock on the door outside the fitting room. “Sister A-Jin, sister A-Duo, the village chief is here.”
The “village chief” being referred to was the one who had been found out to be having an affair with someone’s wife by Third Flora’s butterflies.
This preamble was quite intriguing given the special circumstances in Jiaocun Village.
Xu Yintang blinked at A-Duo, “Since the village chief is here, shouldn’t we go and greet him?”
A-Duo initially responded casually, “It’s okay not to go,” but with Xu Yintang’s insistence and timely support from Shi Yuebai, she reluctantly changed her mind, “Going to meet him… wouldn’t hurt either.”
Xu Yintang agreed warmly. When they stepped out of the fitting room, the first person they saw wasn’t the village chief but the middle-aged woman from Wang Laowu’s law firm who had appraised them as “goods.”
She was walking towards the fitting room, probably inspecting their fitting effects. Upon seeing Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai wearing the performance costumes, she immediately furrowed her brows, expressing disapproval.
A-Jin and A-Duo seemed quite afraid of her. They awkwardly called out, “Priestess.”
After scolding them for a bit, mainly about not allowing people to casually wear clothes passed down from ancestors, the woman took a look at the two “immortals” in their costumes and revealed a hint of satisfaction on her stern face.
“It looks somewhat decent.” She nodded slightly, “Forget it, go like this. You’re all young people, let everyone have a look.”
As for what “somewhat decent” meant, according to the woman next to the village chief, it meant “as handsome as the village chief when he was young.”
Xu Yintang glanced at the elderly figure sitting at the top, with white hair, cloudy eyes, and wrinkled skin resembling dried orange peel. He wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.
When unsure of what to say, just smile with a beautiful face, revealing a smile that no one could criticize.
Shi Yuebai, more cooperatively, exchanged pleasantries with a diplomatic remark. During the conversation, the village chief seldom spoke, merely murmuring a couple of times with a glance, while the middle-aged woman beside him acted as if she had telepathy, interpreting his thoughts.
Without saying much, the village chief yawned, showing signs of fatigue. Leaning on his cane, he tried to walk away shakily. Xu Yintang, noticing this, reached out to support him. However, in the next second, he was squeezed aside by the woman next to him.
‘How was it?’
Shi Yuebai asked with his eyes.
We’ll talk about it when we get back.
Xu Yintang answered with a glance, rubbing his fingertips, seemingly still feeling the dry wrinkles he had touched earlier, and showing a faint smile.
This part-time job seemed to become more and more interesting.
How did the wrinkles feel sugar?
Maybe like scales??? Like a fishie? Or like someone had been wrung of their vitality far sooner than time would’ve done naturally?
ohoho that was my theory too! All the women are younger or middle aged, yet the men are old or not around? I think the women are mermaids that take the vitality from young human males, or perhaps can only reproduce every ten years by taking the lifespan of the men?
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
I don’t want to touch! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️
Cannibals, and the vilkiage chef could be dying the women are draining his vitality or something or he’s a walking corspe
I like mermaids 🤩🤩🤩
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚