Kays Translations

Chapter 228: Women and Petty Men Are the Hardest to Deal With

The old hen made its final contribution. Mother stewed the chicken soup until it was rich and fragrant—full of motherly love. Zhu Ping’an drank two bowls of soup in one go and only finished after eating three pancakes.

After the meal, people began to visit the house one after another, either to offer congratulations and gifts or to make connections. Chen refused all the gifts, and as for those trying to establish connections, Zhu Ping’an dealt with them on a case-by-case basis depending on the circumstances. This situation lasted for two days before things gradually returned to normal.

Cattle and sheep roamed leisurely on the sunny hillside, munching on fallen leaves and dry grass. A shepherd boy, wrapped in a cotton-padded jacket, leaned against a tree trunk and slept soundly—it looked like a paradise isolated from the world.

Zhu Ping’an passed by the foot of the hill, carrying his schoolbag slung over one shoulder, heading toward Shanghe Village.

The Li family of Shanghe Village had already gotten used to Zhu Ping’an. From entering the door to walking into the study, it all felt as natural as coming home. Of course, that is, if it weren’t for a certain black-bellied and willful young girl—

“Hey, Zhu Ping’an, how can you just walk in without knocking?!”

Inside the study, Li Shu held a chess piece in her hand, looking stunningly beautiful. Her big, black, sparkling eyes glanced sideways at Zhu Ping’an who had just entered, her face filled with a half-smile, half-mischievous air of arrogance.

An exquisite face paired with a spoiled temper.

It felt like a budding poppy flower silently spreading its fragrance throughout the room—its beauty was suffocating, like an angel and a devil in one.

“It’s a study, not a boudoir,” Zhu Ping’an replied calmly, bringing a gust of cold air into the room with him.

“Scoundrel!”

The black-bellied girl, Li Shu, glared hard at Zhu Ping’an and pouted, her cheeks flushed, as if accusing him of teasing her.

“Here, this is the content for the last few sessions.”

As he spoke, Zhu Ping’an took out a stitched booklet from his bag and placed it on the desk. Then he pulled out the book he had borrowed last time and shook it at the black-bellied girl, indicating that not a single one was missing, and walked toward the bookshelf.

The black-bellied girl was playing chess with the little bun-faced maid. Seeing Zhu Ping’an’s indifferent attitude toward her, she was rather annoyed and glared at his back a few times. Then she took out her dissatisfaction on the chessboard—strategizing, attacking, pressuring… With a flurry of moves, she quickly took out more than half of the already disadvantaged maid’s pieces.

“Miss～～” The bun-faced maid’s eyes were red from losing, looking pitifully at her mistress.

“Who told you to be so dumb? I already gave you a head start of three pieces, and you’re still losing so badly. What a buzzkill!” Li Shu said angrily as she swiped the chess pieces away, leaving the board in a mess.

The bun-faced maid puffed up her cheeks in grievance and suddenly noticed Zhu Ping’an browsing the bookshelf behind her. Her watery eyes lit up, and she said to her mistress, “Miss, I’m not good at chess, but there’s someone who definitely is.”

The black-bellied girl’s eyes flashed, as if she had instantly guessed who it was, but she put on an indifferent look and asked casually, “Who?”

“Zhu Ping’an. He’s a juren—he must be good at Chinese chess.”

“Him?” The black-bellied girl snorted lightly. “Who knows if he’s actually good.”

The bun-faced maid, Hua’er, rolled her eyes and stood up, walking toward Zhu Ping’an who was still flipping through books behind the bookshelf. She said a couple of sentences to him once she reached him.

Li Shu saw Zhu Ping’an glance in her direction, then shake his head.

It was obvious that Hua’er had gone to ask Zhu Ping’an to come play chess with her, but he actually refused! That made Li Shu very displeased—her lips pouted high.

You don’t want to keep me company, huh?!

“Hey, Zhu Ping’an, come play chess with me,” Li Shu said, pouting and bossily ordering.

Hearing this, Zhu Ping’an glanced at the black-bellied girl, then curled his lips in disdain.

“You…” Li Shu stomped her foot angrily.

At this point, Hua’er was just about to persuade Zhu Ping’an, but her mistress’s sudden outburst rendered all her efforts meaningless.

“You… If you beat me in one game, you can pick any book you want. It’ll be yours from now on. How about it, dare to accept the challenge?”

The scheming girl provocatively stared at Zhu Pingan, her slender jade-like hand casually playing with a chess piece.

“Why not?”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping’an became interested. He had his eye on a thick book, one that would take several days to copy by hand. If he played chess with the scheming girl Li Shu and won, this book would be his. A business with no loss, why not take the chance?

To be honest, he had played a great deal of Chinese chess in his previous life and had even studied many game records. He was not much of a Go player, but xiangqi was one of his strengths. He especially liked sacrificing pieces to lay traps and draw an opponent unknowingly into a killing position.

The bun-faced maid eagerly helped Zhu Ping’an and the scheming girl Li Shu set up the chessboard, while the older maid and other little maids each performed their duties, serving tea and water.

First game: Li Shu opened with a cannon, and Zhu Ping’an moved a horse. Li Shu repeatedly pressed into his side and captured several pieces, but just as she began to feel pleased with herself, Zhu Ping’an delivered checkmate with a single move, winning without having taken one of her pieces.

Second game: Li Shu played much more cautiously, but she was still trapped in Zhu Ping’an’s scheme, losing the second round unknowingly.

“You only know how to cheat behind people’s backs!”

Li Shu, the scheming girl, who had lost two games in a row, was clearly not happy.

In the third game, Zhu Ping’an answered Li Shu’s complaint with a direct attack from the start. He rapidly used several classic xiangqi attacking patterns, taking her chariot, horse, and cannon one after another until only her general remained.

Li Shu’s expression at the time almost looked like she wanted to swallow Zhu Ping’an whole…

“Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Zai, Qian…”

Just as Zhu Ping’an was about to deliver the final checkmate, he heard Li Shu muttering the Nine-Character Mantra from across the board.

Then, to Zhu Ping’an’s surprise, Li Shu swiftly placed all the pieces she had lost back in their original positions.

“What’s with that look? This is a resurrection spell. If I say it once, I can bring them back to life.”

Li Shu looked at Zhu Ping’an with a smile, speaking confidently, her big watery eyes full of pride.

What the heck, now there’s a spell for resurrecting pieces?

The difference in skill was still obvious. Zhu Ping’an again captured most of Li Shu’s pieces until she had only two elephants and three pawns left.

Then Zhu Ping’an witnessed Li Shu’s shameless improvisation. She declared that her elephants could cross the river, while her pawns were elite martial artists hired at great expense and were even stronger than chariots.

Even so, Zhu Ping’an still checkmated her flying elephants and elite-martial-artist pawns.

In the end, Li Shu was once again left with a lone general.

Then came a move that completely overturned Zhu Ping’an’s understanding of Chinese chess: Li Shu used one of Zhu Ping’an’s own advisers to capture his general. What kind of rule was that?

“A heavy reward brings forth brave men. I spent a lot of money to buy off your adviser and turn him to my side! I planted a spy beside your general all this time just for this moment. When someone close to you suddenly turns traitor, how can you possibly guard against it?”

Li Shu rested her chin in her hand, looking at the bewildered Zhu Ping’an, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Women and petty men are the hardest to deal with.”

Zhu Ping’an looked at the triumphant Li Shu and shook his head slightly. “You manage to be both at once.”

“Cut it out, you’re talking like you’re about to become a monk!” Li Shu scoffed, rolling her eyes. Then she fixed her gaze on Zhu Ping’an with burning intensity. “You look down on women? Does that mean you won’t marry one in the future?”

“I only look down on you!” Zhu Ping’an glanced at Li Shu, replying indifferently.

“Really petty. Hey, what kind of wife do you want in the future?” Li Shu sneered, then teasingly asked, her eyes still burning with interest.

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