Quick Transmigration: I'm Almost DeadCh90 - Hiding the ace

We're recruiting a translator for this novel.
Join us!

Translator: Lattenights

Editor/TL-checker: PJ/xiaoxiao W6nU53


The boat stopped at the riverbank. Chen You was about to disembark when the boatman stopped him, stating that he hadn’t paid for boat fare.

Chen You took out an extremely flamboyant yet small money pouch. “How much?”

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

The boatman was fixated on his pouch. “Five Wen.”

Five Wen should be five copper coins, ba. 9uiy17

Chen You felt the insides of his pouch and counted five copper pieces. “Hey, old brother – you shouldn’t look at it anymore. Even if you continue staring at it, it is not yours, and it will not become yours.”

The boatman, “…”

He stared at the young man’s back, “With that foolish demeanor of yours, you’ll definitely be marked once you enter the city.”

Chen You didn’t hear him, but the system notified him about it.

hK7tg

“Do I look like a fool?”

The system said, “You were constantly gaping left and right at the bow of the boat, it really was foolish.”

Chen You walked hurriedly, even wanting to jump about, “I- that was because I had just arrived to the ancient world. I’m like a cooing toddler who finally got to touch the ground for the first time and am super curious about everything, okay. ”

He walked as he looked about, “I’ll be honest with you, even if it’s the small pebble at the side of the road or a pile of cow dung – it’s all very refreshing to me. I really want to cup it in my hands and touch it to see if they’re like what we have in the modern world.” FuoSIV

The system said, “I can tell you that it’s the same.”

Chen You said, “Damn.”

A wide street stretched out before him from under his feet, with both sides occupied by shops in various sizes selling all sorts of things. There were crowds of people adorned in robes ‒ it was very lively.

Chen You took in a deep breath, and took a step forward into the crowd. 51jEuA

From this day onwards, he was also one of the ancients.

Jiang City was merely a small city in Jiang Nan, yet it was already so prosperous. One could only imagine the condition the capital was in, since it was located just below the emperor’s feet.

He didn’t know if he would ever have the opportunity to see the capital with his own eyes someday.

Due to Chen You’s current identity as a pimp, that little bit of melancholy vanished in a bit.

  92hRTQ

There were a few children playing around, and one of them bumped into Chen You. He even fell onto his bum and sat on the floor.

Chen You helped the child up and looked at him with a benevolent gaze. Chen You touched his face and rubbed his head.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Ancient little buddy, hello ah.~

The little kid pouted and began to wail. dba1dc

Chen You, “…”

He rushed over to the side and bought a stick of Tang Hu Lu, and just like that, the kid immediately smiled.

Chen You wiped off a layer of sweat.

Be it in ancient or modern times, children are so hard to handle ah.  0ZPBwg

“Fourth ge, now that I think about it…Till now, I’ve never met a target who’s a child, ai.

The system said, “Do you want to have such an encounter, then?”

“Don’t want,” Chen You said, “I totally don’t want to!”

He sneered. “If the target is a kid, if I’m not played to death by him, it would be him who plays me to death.” qJu6 d

“Steamed buns, hot steamed buns—”

When he heard the vendor’s self-promoting cries, Chen You wasn’t hungry yet. When he saw the rotund physique and face of the bun shop owner, he felt ravenous.

Grabbing his money pouch, Chen You went over to the store and bought two buns. With just a bite, the juice of the fillings inside spilled out.

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.

Ancient buns are also made of wheat powder, ai. pG6HBi

The system said, “Ya, not white powder.”

Chen You nearly burnt his tongue, “I’ll bite you ah!”

Ktf rsrafw, “Kjxf mjgf bo sbeg lwjuf.”

Jtfc Tbe yifk bc atf yec, jcv atfc jaf j wbeatoei. “Rbcf bo sbeg yerlcfrr.”Lf olclrtfv boo ybat yecr, jcv yfujc ab jvwlgf atf jeatfcalm jcmlfca abkc jcv lar qfbqif klatlc. 2P3dEi

Dfuujgr, kjlafgr, ugjcclfr klat rajuufglcu obbarafqr – jcs bcf bo atbrf kjr fcbeut obg tlw ab rajgf ja obg tjio j vjs.

Chen You only admired them all for a short while, eventually reaching the entrance of a brothel.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Don’t ask him how he knew that it was a brothel – it was because this building’s plaque only had that one big word hung up high above the entrance,and nothing else.

With this sort of domineering aura, business surely cannot be lacking. WJlT9R

It was truly unlike the original owner’s Qing Feng Lou;it was refined and elegant. It would be weird to even have customers coming in.

Chen You had just halted his steps when a flower girl just that they’re came out of the building and rushed over to him, “Young Master, come inside please~”

“…”

Chen You pulled the woman’s claws off his hands. “No, it’s unnecessary.” tA6GIz

Elder sister, both of us are from the same industry, ai.

With how enthusiastic you are, if we met again, it would be super awkward ah.

The flower girl waved her small handkerchief. The powdery aroma that wafted out of it really stings the nose.“This gentleman is an unfamiliar face, you must have come from afar, right? Are you visiting relatives or friends ah?”

Chen You’s hand was grabbed once more, and his face turned crimson.“Elder sister, you* ‒ let go of me!” PNEJa1

F*cking hell, if you want to grab people then it’s fine, but you even want to pull me so aggressively, what the hell do you wanna do?

The flower girl suddenly seemed as though she found something good to play with. “Aiyo, this sir has already turned red ah – I haven’t even done anything.”

Chen You got angry, “If you still won’t let go of me, I’ll be screaming for help ah⸺”

The flower girl laughed like a trembling flower branch. eloUMa

Chen You took the opportunity to push her to the side and took off running. Even while running he could still feel the goosebumps along his arm.

F*ck me, that was really too frightening.

I’m really scared. 

This was scarier than on TV ah. People from these times could just approach you and be grabby.Their wrist strength was also huge, so it was something they’d definitely trained before. xEHb52

Chen You ran to a corner, huffing as he asked the system, “How did I manage to pick this world fragment out of that huge pile of fragments? Were you messing with me?”

The system was already used to accepting a wok and throwing it off, “You yourself said “Qing Feng Lou’s owner. It’s a pretty powerful existence. This one ba.””

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“…”

Chen Mental Retard was speechless. JtwgQC

He felt a few pairs of eyes trained on him, “Not good, a petty thief is now targeting me.”

The system, “Walk further ahead, and turn two more corners. You would then be in your territory.”

Chen You quickly clutched his money pouch tightly.

F*ck, it’s just my first day in the city and I’m already marked. Most of the silvers in the pouch were what the original owner got when he returned to his hometown.  wQNu4i

They are the silver needed to revitalize Qing Feng Lou. 

Now that he was here, these silvers were the key element that will determine how he would fare for the rest of his time in the mission world.

The thieves who were hiding in the crowd were dumbfounded. They somehow only managed to watch as the silly big fat sheep escaped from their clutches.

Chen You ran quickly, noticing a few brothels along the way. Bw OM8

Amongst them was one called Yue Xiang Ling . It was the biggest gigolo den in the city. Along with the brothel from earlier, they were both the leaders in the industry for male and female prostitutes.

Despite there being a large number of clients who swung both ways, these two pleasure houses would never merge together  they didn’t see eye-to-eye with each other.

Chen You sighed. There are a lot of rivals. 

“The mission target hasn’t appeared yet. Could he be the city’s bigshot ah?” xj CyN

The system said, “Guess.”

Chen You, “…”

Talking to people like you is no fun. 

After a while, he reached Qing Feng Lou. NsI3ZY

There were only a few people passing by the entrance. Compared to the liveliness he experienced earlier, this lot was simply too tragic.

Chen You strode through the threshold. There was nary a silhouette within.

Please support our translators at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

What welcomed him were… one, two… a total of six flies.

The original owner only came by once, and wasn’t familiar with anyone. This time around, Chen You didn’t have to put on an act anymore. He could freely be himself. O6M2yo

Alright, alright… he’d admit that somehow, in every world, he would always end up being himself again. His acting skills often went offline.

Chen You threw his bundle aside as he cleared his throat and roared, “Hello, is anyone around?!”

After a short while, four youths stood in front of Chen You,

Chen You looked from left to right, then he looked again from right to left. aTkOnY

White faces, limpid eyes, soft lips, narrow waists and thin arms and legs all these were very good ah. They were perfectly in line with the standards of a slender pretty boy ma.

And yet, nobody wanted these guys?

Chen You dared not think too much about those who were already claimed from this establishment. What kind of gods were they?

He scratched his chin. mC5LSD

Even if the silvers in his pouch were of a considerable sum, it wasn’t really much. Anything needed money, so he still needed to be prudent with his expenses.

It was also unknown as to when the mission target would appear. What if he needed to wait for a long time?

Chen You crossed his legs. “You lot, report your host names.”

The four youths were stunned. They looked at each other before looking at the young man who sat on the chair in unison. oIQmdy

“Master, when you came previously, we…”

Chen You slapped the table and brought out the bearings of a pimp — pei, he meant boss.

“When I want you to talk, you better talk. What’s with the crap?”

The four youths began to flaunt their acting skills at this point. gKo5QU

The one on the furthermost left side trembled, the one to his side bit the bottom of his lip, and the next one after him clasped his hands tightly together.The remaining one on the right was the most powerful his body immediately swayed as two lines of tears rolled down his face.

Chen You, “…”

Please visit chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

Wait what – I didn’t even ask you guys to f*ck off. With all of you acting like this, it’s hard for me to keep posturing, you know?

“None of you are allowed to cry. This master doesn’t like crying.” Q9NiOI

The four youths stopped immediately.

At this moment, the one on the furthermost left was the first to speak. His voice was soft hearing it could even make a person’s bones go limp.

“This servant is called Chun Tao.”

“Chun Tao, not bad.” Cyo7hZ

Chen You gestured for another person to introduce themself. That youth had a palm-sized face, and his eyes were the biggest amongst the four, looking extremely adorable. He said that he was called Xia Li.

Chen You noticed that he liked to bite his lip while speaking.

When he heard that the third person was called Qiu Ji, Chen You felt that he could guess the name of the fourth person. He took a step towards that youth and asked, “You’re called Dong Zao?”

The youth covered his mouth as he chuckled, “Master is truly amazing.” vZIoC

Chen You, “…”

Hehe, this person who named them is truly capable.

“Then spring, summer, autumn, winter – speak up. Are any of you particularly skilled in anything?”

Chun Tao said, “I do have such a skill.” kgHh0

Summer and Autumn didn’t speak; it felt as though both were keeping their aces close to their chests.

Dong Zao said, “I can also blow.”

Chen You’s brows furrowed, “Both of you have overlapping skills ah. Keeping one is enough. The other must leave.”

Chun Tao’s and Dong Zao’s faces paled in an instant. 86FKPA

They hadn’t thought that this question would be so important, that it would be able to determine who remained or left Qing Feng Lou.

Xia Li and Qiu Ji who were in between them also paled, but they still kept their triumph cards hidden.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Chun Tao raised one finger, pointing at Dong Zao. “I can do bjs.”

Chen You said, “Then, the more senior one stays.” 5x8tcR

Dong Zao began to truly panic.

“Don’t. Master, amongst the ten current regulars that we have, all ten want bjs. Xia Li and Qiu Ji can testify for me. As for Chun Tao, he’s just talking crap he couldn’t actually do the real thing, and he isn’t as useful as me.”

Chen You looked at him.“Fine, then you stay.”

Dong Zao finally laughed, while Chun Tao ended up crying. WVaPo2

Chen You hurried them up. He still wanted to go up and have a look at the rooms. “Summer and autumn, it’s your turn now.”

Xia Li’s face flushed as he said very quietly, “Master, I can eat, and I can eat better than any of them.”

Chen You’s gaze swept over to him.

Aiyo, not bad. There’s a bright future ahead. I’ll be watching you. Y8Rrvf

“Fantastic, you can stay.”

Xia Li felt as though he managed to put down a heavy load.

Although the current Qing Feng Lou had dismal business, if he were to be ousted, he wouldn’t even have shelter from wind nor rain. And with their professions, they wouldn’t only be getting eye-rolls from the public, but they would even be bullied.

These sort of things happened every year. oVF4ze

Nobody would want to experience such a day for themselves.

Chen You looked at Qiu Ji, “How about you?”

Qiu Ji gnawed his teeth. “I’m a guy and also a girl.”

Good good good! Chen You’s eyes lit up, as though he was looking at piles of silvers that threw themselves at him. From today onwards, he would need a super big chest to be able to even store them. YiLAPV

He really couldn’t understand one after another, these guys just kept getting better.

How did Qing Feng Lou end up in such dire straits?

Please visit chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

Was it because of the particular antics of each host?

Chen You suppressed his curiosity, “Very well, the three of you can follow this master and keep working. Chun Tao, you pack up and get out.” V4clAK

“Master

Chun Tao prostrated himself on the floor, hugging Chen You’s thighs. “I’m begging you, please take in Chun Tao. There are still elders above and younglings below Chun Tao…”

Chen You’s head was throbbing. Brother, I can even recite your lines by heart now.

“Hold it.” 9uYzLN

He adjusted himself to the view of looking at someone from above. “Can you cook?”

Chun Tao said, “I can… but Chun Tao is a thin meat… The kitchen at the back, that sort of place is dirty, and also…”

Chen You directly raised his leg and kicked him away.

Ze8wmH

Translator's Note

Translator's Note

TL-checker believes that the melancholy was caused by the uncertainty of him ever visiting the capital, and vanished since he’s a pimp his own boss now.

Translator's Note

Candied Hawthorn fruit- I remember reading somewhere once about how the hawthorne was discovered to have good medicinal properties but it was really sour, and that’s how they came up with this idea to coat it with a sugar layer – I’m not too sure though, so don’t quote me on it haha

Translator's Note

不是我被他搞死,就是他把我搞死 – TL-checker said this: The first “play” is referring to when CY was bottomed by the target, the second play is referring to when CY is truly suffering because of the target’s deeds, e.g.,that Prince Albert piercing *cough*.

Translator's Note

A.k.a flour. The literal translation of what CY said is used here, for the system’s dead-pan humor to be understood

Translator's Note

It’s what heroin is also known as in Chinese – system was being sarcastic with CY lol

Translator's Note

A prostitute.

Translator's Note

Respectful you is used.

Translator's Note

Term here used is: 笑的花枝乱颤 – it’s negatively describing an uninhibited girl laughing in an unrestrained manner.

Translator's Note

Accepting blame regardless of culpability and washing oneself clean.

Translator's Note

He changed his name to 陈智障, which is – Chen(surname) Mental retard (First name), to scold himself

Translator's Note

It’s a metaphor for an easy, juicy prey – the author is not insulting people who are on the heavier end of the weight spectrum, apologies if my translation caused misunderstandings.

Translator's Note

Spring peach. I promise that the meaning of their names have some relevance

Translator's Note

Summer pear.

Translator's Note

Autumn orange

Translator's Note

Winter jujube. All their names are based off of fruits/veggies that have seasons in the noun – based on the pattern of having four seasons in a year, with only four of these guys remaining, the last one to complete the seasons is winter, which is why CY managed to guess DZ’s name.

Translator's Note

Adding this because there might be more innocent readers, since I myself only got it after re-reading it 3 times – It’s also an euphemism for drinking man juice.

Translator's Note

tldr: relieved

Translator's Note

It is referring to how Chun Tao has mouths to feed – e.g. above are the elderly and parents, while below are the children or even grandchildren, since Chinese people are expected to be filial to their parents and elderly and take care of them when they’re old, while children are naturally the responsibility of the parents.

Translator's Note

细肉 – to describe someone delicate

Leave a Comment

16 comments

  1. LOL! What a special process of elimination… even going so far as to kick him away. R uthless but understandable, we broke bitches cannot pity useless people 😤😤

  2. cant wait for CY to mess up the town with his pimpin’ skills 🤣🤣 and he will somehow end up more popular than his workers I bet

  3. “Fourth ge, now that I think about it…Till now, I’ve never met a target who’s a child, ai.

    This is flag? 😂 because one of CY skill is plant flag for himself.