Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 34: Chew Your Food Thoroughly
On the rocks by the riverbank below the hillside, Zhu Ping’an and the scheming little girl stared at each other, and the atmosphere became strangely awkward.
“Why did you call me over?” Zhu Ping’an spread his chubby little hands and asked helplessly.
“Haha, you spoke first, so you lost!” The cunning little girl, full of excitement, jumped up from the rock, clapping her hands.
Lose? What was she talking about? When had he agreed to play a game about who spoke first? Zhu Ping’an was speechless. And this girl had changed into another new outfit. Even if she was rich, did she have to be so extravagant as to wear something different every day? She was clearly a little fox, so why dress herself up like a butterfly? Admittedly, it looked very pretty, but it was still terribly wasteful. Did she wear each outfit once and throw it away?
“Hey, what does your eye-rolling mean?” The cunning little girl, Li Shu, put her hands on her hips and approached Zhu Ping’an, angrily questioning him. “I’ll tell Master Sun that you didn’t pay for class and were eavesdropping…”
Fine, you win!
“Alright, young lady. Just tell me what you want,” Zhu Ping’an said with a sigh, thoroughly defeated by the scheming little girl’s threat.
Sure enough, he had that annoying look again!
“Hey, what’s with your attitude? Do you want me to tell the teacher?”
The cunning little girl, Li Shu, pouted and poked Zhu Ping’an’s forehead with her chubby little finger, her expression unfriendly.
“I believe you. Of course I believe you.”
When it was time to lower one’s head, then lower it. Zhu Ping’an was not the sort to suffer merely for the sake of pride. What was wrong with bending a little? Strong winds reveal sturdy grass: the grass bends beneath the gale, yet when the wind and rain pass, it still raises itself to receive sunlight and dew. A pine might stand rigid beneath heavy snow, but in a true blizzard even a pine could snap. So long as he remained rooted in the ground and did not betray his principles, what harm was there in bending his back or lowering his head?
“Did you eavesdrop on the lesson? Was it interesting? Tell me what you heard,” the cunning little girl asked with her big, round eyes filled with curiosity. Of course, her haughty and spoiled nature was unchangeable. “Hmph! I’m only giving you this chance because I pity you.”
“I heard the Three Character Classic: ‘People at birth are naturally good. Their natures are similar, but habits make them differ…’” Zhu Ping’an recited.
“Are you wasting this opportunity?” The cunning little girl, Li Shu, expressed her dissatisfaction.
“I also heard the Thousand Character Classic: ‘Heaven is dark and earth yellow; the universe is vast and primordial. The sun and moon wax and wane…’” Zhu Ping’an continued.
“Forget it; I’ll just go tell the teacher,” she declared.
The cunning little girl stood up from the rock, strutting her little legs, looking ready to report him.
“There’s also a story about a little red dress,” Zhu Ping’an said, seeing that the cunning little girl was putting on a show again, and he had to bring out a story from when he had entertained children at the orphanage.
“Ah, then I’ll reluctantly listen for a bit.”
The cunning little girl withdrew her short legs that had just stepped out and sat back down on the stone.
Sure enough, telling children a story is best done with fairy tales.
“Once upon a time, there was a lovable little girl…” Zhu Ping’an began to speak slowly.
“Lovable? Am I not cute?” the cunning little girl interrupted Zhu Ping’an and asked.
The wolves in the stories are cuter than you! Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud.
“Not cuter than you…” Zhu Ping’an tugged at the corners of his mouth and said reluctantly.
The cunning little girl was satisfied, proudly demanding Zhu Ping’an to continue.
“Once upon a time, there was a lovable little girl who liked to wear a very beautiful red dress that her grandmother gave her, so people called her Little Red Skirt.”
The cunning little girl pouted and said quietly, “I wouldn’t wear the same outfit every day.”
“One day, Little Red Skirt’s mother said to her: ‘Grandmother is sick; please take some snacks to visit her.’ The mother also specifically instructed, ‘Your grandmother lives in the forest, and it’s a long way; be careful on the road and don’t play around!’”
Well, Zhu Ping’an had just changed the story of Little Red Riding Hood to that of Little Red Skirt. In the Ming Dynasty, girls didn’t wear hats, so he changed it to a dress instead.
“In the forest, Little Red Skirt met a wolf. She had never seen a wolf before and didn’t know that wolves were fierce, so she told the wolf why she was in the forest. The wolf, knowing this, deceived Little Red Skirt into picking mushrooms… The big bad wolf rushed to the little cottage in the woods, disguised his voice as Little Red Skirt to knock on grandmother’s door… ‘Gulp!’ The big bad wolf swallowed Little Red Skirt’s grandmother whole… The big bad wolf disguised himself as grandmother… The big bad wolf opened his big mouth, ‘Gulp!’ Without even chewing, he swallowed Little Red Skirt whole.”
“Did he eat them all?”
“Later, a woodcutter came along. The woodcutter took out a big pair of scissors and, while the big bad wolf was still asleep, quickly and carefully snipped open the wolf’s belly. Grandmother and Little Red Skirt were rescued from the wolf’s belly.”
Watching the scheming little girl listen so earnestly, Zhu Ping’an sighed inwardly. Children were much more willing to accept unfamiliar things. If he told this story to adults of this era, they would probably start asking how a wolf could speak, how its belly could hold an adult and a child, and why people who had been swallowed could come out unharmed.
After finishing the adapted version of the Little Red Riding Hood story, Zhu Ping’an asked, “What did you learn from this story?”
“You should chew your food thoroughly…”
Upon hearing this, the cunning little girl blinked her eyes and tilted her head as she said.
Chew your food thoroughly!!!
That’s not the point at all!
The point of Little Red Riding Hood was to teach children not to casually talk to strangers, not to wander off to play, and to return home when they were supposed to!
Zhu Ping’an had hoped that this story would make the cunning little girl stay away from him, a stranger, and stop playing outside. He wanted her to hurry back home and be the proper young lady who stays indoors.
However, he didn’t expect the cunning little girl to completely disregard common sense. Just one sentence about chewing food thoroughly left Zhu Ping’an completely bewildered.
The cunning little girl was listening to the story with great interest. This little poor kid’s storytelling was different from others; it seemed quite engaging.
“Well, seeing how hard you’re trying, I’ll give you another chance. You tell another story,” the cunning little girl said proudly.
“Uh…” Zhu Ping’an paused, glancing at the sun in the sky; it must be time for the teacher’s break. “Alright, let me tell you the story of the Frog Prince.”
“Once upon a time, there was a king. All his daughters were very beautiful, especially the youngest. Even the sun, which had seen everything, would be amazed by her beauty every time it shone on her face. Near the king’s palace, there was a dark, dense forest. In the forest, under an old banyan tree, there was a well…”
The cunning little girl listened intently, finding this little kid’s story quite interesting and the way he told it enjoyable.
The line about even the sun being amazed by the princess’s beauty made Li Shu feel as though the story were praising her. Ah, it made her a little shy…
“The little princess really disliked the ugly frog…”
At this point, Zhu Ping’an was interrupted by the scheming little girl muttering, “If it were me, I’d dislike that ugly frog even more. A toad dreaming of swan meat! Hmph! I like the best man in the world. He has to become the top scholar, and I want to be an official’s wife…”
This little brat was shameless, always talking about dowries and becoming an official’s wife. At her age, she did not even understand what embarrassment was.
“From then on, the handsome prince and the beautiful little princess lived a happy and joyful life…” Zhu Ping’an finally finished telling the story of the Frog Prince, despite being interrupted several times by the cunning little loli.
“What? A toad is still a toad and will never turn into a prince… Stewed toad or braised toad is fine, but it can’t turn into a prince…”