Chapter 11 : The Grieving Meishan

Meishan Residence was actually small and exquisite. It also had excellent scenery. Xin Mei could not sit still after drinking a cup of tea in the main hall. She went out to stroll on her own, leaving behind the two men, with one silently condensing, while the other feeling uneasy.

“General, please, please have some tea...” Meishan poured the tea with his trembling hands. As a result, half of the tea fell on the table.

Pinenut Candy / sōngzǐ táng
Source | Baike Baidu

"General, please eat...eat some tea fruit..." He then brought out a plate of pinenut candy, with half of the candy inside the plate shook to the ground.

Lu Qianqiao sipped his tea and lightly asked, “You seem to be afraid of me?”

"No, no..." Lord Meishan hung his head in shame. He was just at a loss when it came to this single-handed and aggressive race who when fought, would fight fiercely. In case he offended them, with just a slap of the hand from one of them, he would easily turn into slag.

“I heard that you know everything from heaven to earth. This time I come...”

“I know I know!” Lord Meishan hastily nodded his head, “I can guess what the General wants to ask. As for how a mixed descendant of the War Demon Clan with ordinary people will survive the transformation at the age of 25, I can ask my Little Crow to look into it. You can rest assured.“

Little Crow had always been known as his third eye. For this kind of task, it seemed like it wouldn't be that difficult, so it should not be a problem for him to hand the task over to Little Crow.

“Ah...the matter is not that difficult, except...that...my side will not accept gold and silver treasures. If the General can beat me in drinking, well this, of course...“

When it came to requesting payment, he started to stammer. Occasionally, he would look up and take a peek at Lu Qianqiao’s face. He saw Lu Qianqiao’s eyebrows wrinkled, then Lu Qianqiao raised his hand and explored the inside of his chest clothes. Meishan was so shocked that he waved his hand repeatedly, “How could I ask payment for something this small? No need, no need to pay!”

Lu Qianqiao stared at him and put down his hand, “I am not good at drinking. I heard that you are crazy about alcohol. Therefore, this time I will use the ancient speciality of my clan, which is the recipe to brew a wine that we usually use to offer our thanks to God and our honour to Heaven. However...“

He looked at Lord Meishan’s shrunken figure, and smiled, “Since you don’t want it, then I shall thank you very much.”

.....retribution! This was the retribution for his cowardice!

Lord Meishan left the main hall with tears in his eyes. He wanted to find a quiet place to mend his broken heart and he happened to pass by the kitchen. He saw a group of soul-spirits in white shirts and red skirts cheering in front of the kitchen door. Feeling curious, he leaned over and saw Xin Mei cutting vegetables on the chopping board. She made the huge and thick kitchen knife look like a willow knife with its dazzling gleam flashed wildly. In a blink of an eye, several plates were neatly stacked with shredded and sliced vegetable pieces.

Marvellous!

Trembled with excitement, Lord Meishan rushed to the front and clapped his hands with all his strength. Xin Mei wiped her hands and asked him, “Meishan daren, I heard that immortals don’t eat meat, so I will prepare vegetarian dishes. What do you like to eat? “

Lord Meishan answered with a trembling voice, “I want to eat...eat tofu...”

She nodded. She then fished up a piece of tofu from the basin and compared it with a kitchen knife. The big knife didn’t seem inappropriate. Someone handed her a knife as thin as a cicada’s wings as a replacement. She looked back and smiled, “Then, I’ll carve Meishan daren from the tofu. Let’s cook it steamed.“

Lord Meishan was in tears.

An example of steamed tofu Chinese style
Source | China Sichuan Food

So, that was how the menu for that day dinner ended up. Tofu Meishan was steamed and served on the table. Xin Mei picked up its head with a pair of chopsticks and put it into Lord Meishan’s bowl. She then said, “This is your head, Meishan daren. You should eat first.”

Meishan had never eaten such a delicious meal. He ate it without paying attention to anything and ended up groaning while holding his ball-sized belly.

Xin Mei was very worried, “Meishan daren, your belly looks like a ball. Why don’t you lie down for a while?”

He was reluctant to leave, and he noticed that Liu Qianqiao was busy drinking his soup with his head bowed down. He wanted to be brave enough to hold Xin Mei’s snow-white hand and made some tender remarks. First, he praised her superb cooking skills and then said that he didn’t have the time to thank her for her help last time, which was the time she had carried him upstairs and took care of him tenderly at the restaurant.

However, as soon as he reached out his hand, Liu Qianqiao put down his bowl and gave him a look.

Meishan immediately drew back his hand and lowered his head, feeling dejected as he toyed with his sleeve.

The soul-spirits in white shirts and red skirts came in to clean up the leftovers. They could not help themselves from snickering when they saw Lord Meishan in a daze with his rounded belly. He glared at them with a red face, “It wasn’t the least bit like that! Hurry up the cleaning, then leave!“

The soul-spirits grimaced at him, picked up the empty dishes and went out briskly. Suddenly, one of them stumbled over the threshold, and a drop of soup fell on its red skirt. With a swoosh, it turned into a white paper with a small human-shaped cutout and floated down to the ground and a drop of soup could be seen on the white paper.

Xin Mei looked stunned.

Lord Meishan hastily waved his hands at her, “Don’t mind it. All the soul-spirits are transformed from white papers with my magic skill.”

He rubbed his painful belly as he picked up the piece of white paper and threw it behind him. It fell to the ground and turned back into a living soul-spirit in a white shirt and red skirt. It smiled back at the stunned Xin Mei and continued carrying the plate away.

Xin Mei looked pitifully at Meishan who had his face full of sweats, “Meishan daren, you better lie down. You’re gonna hurt your stomach. Gossip Immortal sure has a pretty bad digestive system, huh?”

How gentle and considerate...Lord Meishan was moved as he nodded his head. “Well then, I’m gonna lay in the room for a while. There are a hot spring outside and clothes you can change into. Go wash and wear whatever you like. Just make yourself at home.”

He was holding his belly all the way, with his arms supported by two soul-spirits, as he slowly returned to his room.

Xin Mei was taken to the hot spring bath by a soul-spirit. Beside the pool, there was a set of clean white round neck shirts. The material was as soft as silk and light as if it had no weight. After wearing it, she felt as light as a swallow.

The spirit ghost smiled and explained, “This is why the Master always tells every visitor to take a bath and change before entering the house.”

Xin Mei changed her shoes for clogs and walked all the way back to the guest room with cracking sounds. Then, she noticed Liu Qianqiao who had also changed into a white shirt, leaning on the trunk of a crabapple tree, looking like he was thinking of what to do. When he saw her coming his way, he only gave her an indifferent glance, then ignored her.

“Lu Qianqiao, are you in a bad mood again?”

Xin Mei suddenly leaned in and stared at his face.

She was so close that her breathing seemed to be spurting on his face. He felt a little flustered and a bit at loss. Don’t overdo it. After a while, he finally said, “How do you know how to cook?”

She smiled, "My father doesn't like the food cooked by the invited cooks. Only when I cook it, will he eat it. Do you think the meal was delicious?"

Before he could say yes, she already frowned, “It wasn’t delicious?”

“...delicious.”

“Then I’ll cook for you next time.”

His look gradually eased. His eyes and brows stretched out, as he looked at the miniature bamboo roots in his hand. Then, he asked in a low voice, “What about you? What kind of doll do you like?”

Xin Mei’s eyes suddenly lit up, “You want to make one for me? I like the heavenly maiden daren that was on the stage that day. It cut off other doll heads with just one swish!“

“...” Who taught this kid to be so violent?

He shook his head and began to use a knife to cut off the edges and corners of the bamboo root. He could feel her whole body leaning over, with a strand of her wet hair falling on the back of his hand, which was cool, itchy, and a little bit of...fragrance.

Somehow, his mood tonight had become especially good, better than ever.

Suddenly he felt a shadowy figure swaying far in front of him. He looked up and saw Lord Meishan with a sad face. He probably ate too much. He held onto the wall as if he were about to fall. Lu Qianqiao gazed intently at Lord Meishan for a moment, then bowed his head and continued cutting the bamboo root, while letting Lord Meishan with his ball-sized belly, which was full of bitterness and tofu, clutching his hair.

Did the General just look at him? Right? Right? Was it a warning? Was it a threat? Was he looking down on him? Or bragging? Or proud of himself by showing off?

Lord Meishan couldn’t free himself from being confused with the unclear meaning behind Lu Qianqio’s brief glance just now.

Tonight, with such lovely flowers, full moon, and the small breeze blew in a thousand kind of amorous feelings, the situation was extremely suitable for amidst the flowers under the moonlight. He managed to hide his ball-sized belly, wanting to find Xin Mei to talk about life ideals and so on. Who knew he would bump into her having amidst the flowers under the moonlight with someone else.

The lovely and gentle Little Mei. He missed his opportunity in his unguarded moment...

He went back to his room with tears in his eyes. He didn’t sleep well that night. His nightmare was full of Lu Qianqiao’s eyes and his stomach kept on twisted with pain.

The next day he slept until late in the afternoon. Remembering that Xin Mei was still in the residence, he felt both excited and sad. He planned to secretly stay near the guest room to see her. When he encountered a soul-spirit sweeping the floor along the way, it saw his cowardly appearance and said, “Master, Miss Xin and the General are in Phoenix Forest. Why don’t you just leave them alone?”

Lord Meishan couldn’t help but get angry, “Aren't me your Master? How can you side with the outsiders in just one day?“

The soul-spirit just picked its nose, “You will only come back crying when you go there anyway. Can you properly beat the war demon just to steal a woman?”

...he really wanted to cry now.

However, in the end, he was still unwilling to accept the situation, so he went all the way to the Phoenix Forest. There, all Phoenix flowers had already bloomed, filling the forest like it was on fire as they spread out far like an opened brocade red satin. Xin Mei was sitting under a tree, sewing and mending with a needle and thread in her hand. The brilliant red colour reflected on her face, and she had a kind of quiet and gentle beauty. Looking exactly like a good future wife and mother.

Looking around, he didn’t see even a glimpse of Lu Qianqiao. Meishan felt ecstatic in his heart. He was already dressed up. He was going to walk over with his most handsome and natural posture. Suddenly, Xin Mei raised the clothes in her hand and asked, “Look, do you think this dress is ready?”

In her hand was a colourful...rag? Cloth dumplings? A cut out of a worn-out sleeve?

Suddenly, Lu Qianqiao’s voice could be heard directly in front of him, “That one doesn’t look like a dress.”

Lord Meishan’s hair stood up all over his body. Only then did he realise that Lu Qianqiao was sitting under the Phoenix Tree in front of him with his back facing him. Unlike Xin Mei, he was holding a bamboo root that had a strong rudiment of a figure.

Xin Mei pinched the lump of cloth as she looked at it left and right. She then seriously said, “Look closely, it does look like a dress. This colour matches with heavenly maiden daren which is the most conspicuous and the most handsome.”

“...it’s just a rag in the shape of a dress.” Lu Qianqao finally told her the truth.

Xin Mei put away the colourful clothes in a passive manner, thought for a moment, then she tried to explain it herself, “I...am good at everything except making clothes and shoes.”

Lu Qianqiao seemed to smile slightly, “Let's go back and just let Zhao Guanren makes it. He was always the one who did the doll’s clothes and hair anyway.”

As if he was tired, Lu Qianqiao put the bamboo roots on the ground, stood up and planned to walk for a while. As soon as he turned around, he saw Lord Meishan crying behind the tree.

Blooming Phoenix flowers were so bright and glaring that he had to narrow his eyes for a moment to make sure that it was really Lord Meishan. He was about to speak, but Lord Meishan had already turned around to hide his face and dashed away.

Did the General give him another look? Right, right? This time he was absolutely right! Lu Qianqiao was definitely warning him! With the identity of a rival in love!

He dashed all the way back to his room, and the soul-spirit that was in charge of sweeping the floor took a glance at him while continuing to pick its nose, “I've told you that you will definitely come back crying...”

*

After ten days passed in the Meishan Residence, Little Crow that went out to investigate Liu Qianqiao’s information still did not fly back. This kind of situation was very rare. Lord Meishan, who had been struggling with Liu Qianqiao’s warning eyes for days, finally felt that he was unable to continue to be like this.

It happened that it was sunny after the rain that day, and he stood at the gate while blowing a black wood whistle towards the sky. The whistle was linked together with Little Crow. In the past, as long as he blew it, no matter how far it flew, it would immediately sense it. Today, somehow, he had blown it for so many times, but not a single bird had flown over him.

Xin Mei stood beside him to help him look up at the sky. Seeing Meishan’s face turned green with anxiety, she kindly comforted him, “Meishan daren, it may have turned greedy outside or it has been entangled with beautiful female crows. Don’t worry, it will definitely come back after it has done playing around. “

Lord Meishan sucked in his runny nose and looked at her touchingly. Although it was said that saying comforting words was much better than saying nothing, he was still feeling sad. Nevertheless, this was Little Mei’s gentleness!

He raised his whistle and blew it again. Suddenly he felt something was wrong and looked up into the sky. He saw a small and exquisite carriage coming out from the cloud, which also happened to land at the front of his residence gate. The door of the carriage opened gently, as a beautiful and charming head stuck out from inside and smiled at the three faces by the doorway. That person then said, “Meishan, how could you leave Little Crow outside without taking responsibility?”

After that person had done talking, he jumped out of the carriage. He was wearing a wide-sleeved robe and his golden crown was shining. He was Zhen Hongsheng, the Fox Fairy whom Meishan had not seen for a long time.

He was holding a small black ball of feathers with many scars in his hand, which was Meishan's missing Little Crow.

Noob Translator's Musing

I'm going to take over this novel since it is short and very very interesting. Especially the characters Meishan and Xin Mei. A very unique story with a lot of interesting characters. These translations will not be as good as Hamster428 or Polar Bear Catcher, but I will try my best to make it still be a good read.

And one more thing, if you find some mistakes in this chapter or future chapters, please don't be shy to let me know.

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