Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 35: I Told the Loli the Legend of the Condor Heroes
“Zhu Ping’an, I’ll give you one more chance. Don’t think you can just fool me because I have a good temper…”
“Don’t think that just because I’m patient, you can get away with this…”
“Hey, why aren’t you continuing to tell it!”
The scheming little girl, having gotten hold of Zhu Ping’an’s weakness, indulged in her princess temper. Although she plainly wanted to hear a story, she spoke as though allowing him to tell one were a favor.
Zhu Ping’an quickly realized that this girl was not someone an ordinary fairy tale could satisfy. She could not be treated like a typical child; her appetite for stories was much greater.
“Let me tell you a story from The Legend of the Condor Heroes.”
Vast grasslands, galloping horses, bows drawn to shoot eagles, heroes and beauties caught in lingering romance—who would not be moved by such a tale? The Legend of the Condor Heroes had been one of Zhu Ping’an’s favorite television dramas as a child, something he could watch again and again. As he grew older, he discovered that several adaptations existed, each with its own differences. Wanting the original story, he eventually read Jin Yong’s novel repeatedly and remembered much of it. Surely a story like this would satisfy the scheming little loli.
“Go ahead and tell it…” The scheming little girl blinked her eyes, sitting on a stone, and with her little hands, she pulled out a delicate pouch from somewhere on her body and took out a handful of peanuts and sunflower seeds.
With her chubby little hands, she held the seeds and began cracking them with her little mouth, clearly in high spirits.
Interestingly, ever since his rebirth—or rather, his transmigration—Zhu Ping’an felt that his memory had become remarkably good, especially for things he had read in his previous life. He could now recall perhaps eighty or ninety percent of them.
“The Qiantang River flows endlessly day and night, winding around the edge of Niu Village in Lin’an, and flows east into the sea. A row of dozens of cypress trees by the riverbank, their leaves as red as fire, is just in time for the August weather…”
The scheming little girl listened intently, enjoying the story as she munched on her seeds.
The scheming little girl clearly liked The Legend of the Condor Heroes. She had interrupted the first two fairy tales repeatedly, yet from the moment he began this story, she had not interrupted him once.
However, he couldn’t continue; he still had to go to class.
Thus, after Zhu Ping’an finished the part about Guo Jing shooting two eagles with one arrow, he abruptly stopped.
“Why did you stop telling it…”
The scheming little girl was deeply engrossed in the story and didn’t expect Zhu Ping’an to suddenly stop. She pouted her lips and looked angrily at Zhu Ping’an with her big eyes.
“The teacher only told up to here; I haven’t heard what comes next,” Zhu Ping’an said innocently. He lifted the bamboo tube he carried and took a sip of water before continuing, “So I have to go listen to the lesson now. I’ll tell you more tomorrow.”
The scheming little girl was extremely reluctant. She had finally found a story she liked, only for it to stop at the most interesting point. Children had even less patience for cliffhangers than adults; if adults could barely tolerate a television drama cutting to advertisements or making them wait until the next day, what chance did a child have?
“You’re not lying to me, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you should listen more later.”
“Okay!”
Zhu Ping’an finally managed to appease the scheming little girl. He put the fish basket back into the shallow water, broke off a small piece of flatbread he had brought with him, and scattered it near the basket’s entrance as bait.
The scheming little girl didn’t leave right away; instead, she watched Zhu Ping’an excitedly as he set up the fish basket in the water.
“What are you doing?” the scheming little girl, Li Shu, asked curiously while sitting on the stone.
“I’m setting a fish basket. In a while, when I finish my class and come back, I’ll be able to catch a lot of fish,” Zhu Ping’an said. After placing the fish basket, he walked out from the riverbank and sat on a stone, rinsing the mud off his feet in the river water. He only put on his shoes once his feet were nearly clean.
Upon hearing this, the scheming little girl suddenly looked Zhu Ping’an up and down, as if she were looking at a little beggar.
“Your family is so poor that you have to catch fish to eat? Here, take this. I can’t eat it anyway; I’ll just give it to my dog when I go back.”
The scheming little girl offered the bag in her hand to Zhu Ping’an, as if she were doing him a favor.
The girl’s manner was thoroughly condescending. Zhu Ping’an did not reach for the bag. Even a glutton had his dignity; no matter how delicious food might be, it was hard to swallow when it was handed over like charity.
The scheming little girl was surprised by his reaction. In her experience, poor village children usually rushed eagerly for anything she offered, so she could not understand why Zhu Ping’an did not gratefully accept.
“Just take it,” the scheming little girl said again.
“I have hands and can catch fish myself. You should take it home to feed your dog; I have different tastes from it,” Zhu Ping’an replied again, retaliating against the scheming little girl’s earlier comparison of him to a dog, mocking that she had the same taste as her dog.
“Eat it or not, I don’t care!”
The scheming little girl got angry and threw the cloth bag into the river. What kind of person was he? She had kindly offered him some food, and he mocked her in return. What an ungrateful brat! If it weren’t for the story he told, she wouldn’t have even thought of giving him anything! Jerk, jerk, really a little brat!
Zhu Ping’an frowned helplessly. She really did have the temperament of a spoiled young lady—utterly willful.
“Don’t forget to tell stories tomorrow, or else you’ll be in for it!”
The scheming little girl angrily walked away but still didn’t forget to threaten Zhu Ping’an to obediently tell her the story of the Legend of the Condor Heroes tomorrow.
Who knew what unfortunate fellow would end up marrying her in the future?
Zhu Ping’an tidied up his things and returned to his usual place outside the private school to listen in. Old Scholar Sun was leading the children through brush calligraphy. Zhu Ping’an arrived just in time to see him demonstrate the strokes at the front while carefully explaining several points beginners needed to watch for and patiently correcting the students one by one.
Zhu Ping’an benefited greatly, because several of the mistakes the children made were the same ones troubling him. Old Scholar Sun’s explanations suddenly clarified things he had not understood. After setting down his belongings, Zhu Ping’an dipped his brush in the water collected in the stone groove and practiced on his black wooden board while listening.
After several days of persistent practice, Zhu Ping’an had already grown accustomed to using a brush. His handwriting was still poor, but at least his hand no longer felt unfamiliar with it.
While Zhu Ping’an practiced, Zhu Pingjun and his deskmate were punished yet again for fooling around in class. The reason was simple: both wanted more room on their shared desk and neither would yield. While practicing calligraphy, one of them smeared the other’s paper, and the two ended up wrestling in the classroom.
Classrooms were often like that, with everyone crossing each other’s boundaries, stepping on each other’s toes—an age of mischief, where sparks flew when fiery personalities clashed.