Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 32: Peeking at the Widow
After dinner, the sun had set in the west, and the night gently enveloped the earth. The croaking of frogs filled the air, creating a lively yet lonely atmosphere in the night.
“Zhi’er! Zhi’er! Come out quickly—there’s something fun!” A child’s voice rang from outside the Zhu family gate. A moment later, two boys pushed the door open and came running in.
“You go play, Erniu and Heigou are here to see you.”
Chen, from the east wing of the house, listened closely and immediately knew who had arrived.
Erniu was the little rascal who had yelled that he would be called a “dog’s child” if he stole his sister’s snacks again after being scolded by his mother; Heigou, true to his name, was skinny and dark, with a nose as sensitive as a dog’s. He could smell delicious food from any house, and he would wait outside, staring hungrily at anyone eating until they either got annoyed or felt guilty enough to let him have a taste.
The two were good friends of Zhu Ping’an, and the three often played together.
Although Zhu Ping’an was very reluctant to play with these two snot-nosed brats, he still put on a cheerful face to play the role of a child and ran out joyfully.
“Come back early!” Chen reminded anxiously from behind.
“Yeah, I know.”
“We’re leaving, Auntie!”
The three children ran off hand in hand, with Zhu Ping’an practically dragged along by his two excited friends, stumbling after them without the slightest idea where they were taking him.
After running for a while, the two boys stopped in front of a somewhat secluded courtyard at the south end of the village. They put their small hands to their lips, signaling for silence, and pulled Zhu Ping’an into a corner to crouch down.
The two little rascals whispered to Zhu Ping’an, “Don’t make a sound, we’re going to show you something really cool!”
Then, like thieves, the two led Zhu Ping’an around to the other side of the wall. They skillfully lifted some wooden stakes from outside the wall to the corner, and Zhu Ping’an felt a bit speechless.
They had run all this way just to move wooden stakes? These little brats sure knew how to have fun, but what could possibly be so interesting?
The two friends didn’t notice Zhu Ping’an’s lack of enthusiasm; they eagerly urged him to step onto the wooden stakes they had carried over and peek over the wall. Their little eyes sparkled with excitement.
What’s so exciting?
Zhu Ping’an, feeling unenthusiastic, followed his friends’ gaze and looked inside. “Wow, what the…”
Beneath a jujube tree in the courtyard, a completely naked young woman was bathing. The place was secluded enough that she had evidently felt safe doing so in the open. Her figure was decent, though hardly comparable to the images once stored on Zhu Ping’an’s computer hard drive. Still, the accidental intimacy of seeing the scene in person was startling.
The sky was dim, and the moonlight added a touch of brightness to the scene.
However, wasn’t it a bit too early for five or six-year-old kids? Even modern children wouldn’t be this mature!
“Don’t look, don’t look. I’m still a child; I shouldn’t be watching this.” Zhu Ping’an decisively shut his eyes. It was not that he had suddenly become a saint—his former hard drive had held hundreds of gigabytes of such material—but this body was only five or six years old. This was something to think about again in another ten years. He was hardly unfamiliar with ideas such as multiple wives or romantic affairs; he simply felt the timing was very wrong.
“Quick, look! She’s amazing; she’s not wearing any clothes, but she can hide the little rabbit!”
Erniu and Heigou were in awe of the young woman.
What little rabbit?
“We searched for so long last time and couldn’t find where she hid her little rabbit!”
“Yeah, look! Can you see the rabbit? We couldn’t find it. Isn’t that cool? It’s like magic!”
What? Zhu Ping’an took another peek and was utterly bewildered. He never expected ancient women to be this bold.
This reminded Zhu Ping’an of a modern joke: “So scary! There’s a woman on the balcony across from me trying to commit suicide… I’m so scared. Should I call 120 or 110, or maybe 10086?”
“Look… we still can’t find the rabbit. Isn’t this magic cool?”
The two excited little rascals bragged to Zhu Ping’an.
So he had misunderstood the two boys. They really did think the woman in the courtyard was performing a magic trick and making a rabbit disappear.
Well, what did these little kids know, anyway?
The two kids were so mesmerized that they forgot they were standing on wooden stakes. One moment of inattention, and Erniu stepped wrong, falling to the ground with a thud.
The noise startled the young woman performing her “disappearing act.” She let out a shriek, quickly put on some clothes, and began shouting about catching thieves.
Although the courtyard was relatively secluded, there were still a few houses nearby; after all, it was a village, not a complete wilderness. The young woman’s screams about catching thieves alerted the entire mountain village.
“Run! The heat’s on! If we get caught peeking at someone’s magic trick, she’ll silence us!” The two boys grabbed Zhu Ping’an and bolted, terrified of being caught by the woman.
The village was already in an uproar, with people rushing out in their clothes, armed with sticks and forks, ready to help catch the thief. The woman shouted about catching a thief, but the villagers didn’t suspect that the so-called thief was actually three short-legged rascals slipping away through the crowd, allowing the three to successfully sneak back home.
By the time Zhu Ping’an came panting home, Chen had already heard that Widow Zhao had shouted about a thief. Seeing her son rush back looking flustered, she hurriedly checked him over, afraid some desperate thief might have hurt him in the commotion.
So, it was a widow; no wonder she dared to “perform magic” in her courtyard.
“No, I was playing war with Erniu and Heigou; I didn’t see any thief,” Zhu Ping’an shook his head, assuring Chen that there was no need to worry.
Upon hearing Zhu Ping’an’s words, Chen felt relieved and warned him not to go out to play for the next few nights. She suggested waiting until the village caught the thief before letting him play outside again.
Zhu Ping’an could only scoff inwardly. It would be a miracle if the villagers ever caught the “thief.” No one would imagine that he, Erniu, and Heigou—three tiny children—had been the ones peeking at Widow Zhao while she bathed.
However, he decided he wouldn’t join them to watch any more “magic tricks” in the future.