Translated by Wook
Edited by sienz
Bai Zhenting deliberately matched Qiu Yunping and Bai Shiqi. Unfortunately, there was no attraction whatsoever between the two. Qiu Yunping didn’t understand the master’s intent, while Bai Shiqi pretended to be confused about the situation. She wanted to drive Qiu Yunping away as soon as possible, and said in a particularly considerate way: “Miss Si is not familiar with the way of life here, so you have to take care of her.”
Qiu Yunping’s heart was pounding because of her words without understanding the underlying meaning. He wanted to ask more questions, but in his heart he thought— Bai Shiqi himself probably would not be able to go out most of the time, so he could only entrust his concubine to me.
With the devil in his heart, he felt even more guilty towards Bai Shiqi’s magnanimity. He stumbled in his words: “… I must take good care of Miss Song Si.”
Miss Song Si was stopped outside the door of Bai Shiqi’s room by Su Shi’s momos. Even though she had been begging to be of help, she was still stopped by Su shi. Montonely, she said: “Shiqi was injured severely. His body was damaged too much, so he has to stay in bed properly to recuperate.”
After she went back, she discussed with Zhen’er: “Madam Su has been preventing me from serving Master. Does she think… that because of my bad background, I won’t be sensible and hurt Master further… .” She was so sad that even the rest of the words could not be said.
She speculated in her heart: The women from prostitution are charming. Su shi keeps prohibiting Miss Song Si to meet up with Bai Shiqi, perhaps she is afraid that Miss Song Si will be entangled physically with Bai Shiqi and hurt her son’s body further.
She had been a storyteller who only sells her skills and not her body, and she had been influenced by a great principle since she was a child, so she had a bit of arrogance in her bones. She felt very aggrieved when she really became a concubine, and truly wished she could run to Su shi and make it clear: I truly want to be of help, not to take advantage of your son’s illness for my own benefits and aggravate his wounds further.
Zhen’er comforted her in distress: “Miss, there are so many opinions in this big residence, we might as well leave by ourselves. They could not see how important the master is in Miss’ heart anyway!”
Miss Song Si could not let go of Bai Shiqi in her heart. She hated that she could not jab her forehead: “What nonsense is this little girl talking about? Master is… He is a good person!” Her cheeks were already red: “I always think that he is the moon in the sky, so now I’m satisfied to stay by his side.”
“But… Even though you’re living in the same house, you can’t even see him!” Zhen’er stomped the ground and said anxiously: “We don’t even know if you will ever be able to see him!”
The little maidservant was anxious for her master. She heard that Qiu Yunping had been taken by the leader to visit the patient, so she stayed outside. The moment he came out, she complained bitterly: “Mr. Qiu, my miss has never seen Master, she doesn’t even know how severe his injuries are. Can you please tell my miss so she can feel relieved?”
Qiu Yunping’s heart swayed between ‘seeing’ and ‘not seeing’ her. In the end, his desire to see the beautiful woman took the upper hand. He followed Zhen’er, and the moment he saw Song Si, all his former hesitations vanished.
He had made up his mind to have a proper attitude towards Song Si, but when he saw the pitiful appearance of the real person, looking haggard and still begging him “Mr. Qiu, did you see my master? How is his body?”, his heart swayed, wishing to take care of her personally.
“Don’t worry, the Young Leader is fine now.”
“Really?!” Song Si was surprised and delighted: “My master is really fine? Then how long till I can see him?”
Qiu Yunping could not bear her disappointment and stammered: “About… About a few days later?” He summoned his courage and said: “You have to take care of yourself too. Don’t let yourself get sick from waiting for the young leader to get well. Then he’ll worry about you instead.”
Miss Song Si’s taut heart was finally eased. She asked many questions about Bai Shiqi’s injuries, however, Qiu Yunping had only entered the room for a short while. After Bai Shiqi was helped by Zhu Shoumei, she lied down the whole time. With the exception of her pale face and shortness of breath, she still joked around as usual. Qiu Yunping did not feel that Bai Shiqi’s injuries were heavy.
But it was true that he had seen Bai Shiqi with his own eyes, so a word from him was still better than a hundred words from Zhen’er. At the end, he said: “The young leader let me take care of Miss Si. If there’s anything you need, just send a message to the outer courtyard and I will take care of it.”
All of Miss Song Si’s thoughts were glued to Bai Shiqi. She was happier to hear that Bai Shiqi was recovering well than if she had drunk a precious elixir herself: “Thank you very much, Mr. Qiu. If you see my master again, would you please tell him… that I’m fine, so he does not need to worry, and that he needs to focus on his recovery.” So that we could be reunited.
When Qiu Yunping came out of Miss Song Si’s room, he still looked bashful and timid. Her hopes and expectations to see Bai Shiqi from the bottom of her heart made him sour.
[If you’re an avid Chinese novel reader or drama watcher, you would know that sour is an expression of jealousy.]
He could not understand the way Leader Bai’s mind worked recently. The first day he pushed him to accompany Bai Shiqi, and he treated it as an errand. But, the next day, Leader Bai once again sent someone to urge him to Shiqi : “Leader Bai said that Young Leader looks bored being stuck inside the room. He is usually lively, he must feel sick if he’s being kept inside the room all day, so Leader Bai is asking Mr. Qiu to accompany the young leader.”
Qiu Yunping: “… …” He really did not know what two grown men could possibly do to accompany each other.
The most important thing was that in the past, he and Bai Shiqi mainly drank while checking accounts, or went outside to hear stories together. These activities were all laborious and not really suitable for a sick person.
What’s even more bizarre was that nobody knew what kind of nightmare Leader Bai had suffered from, but he did not invite Zhao Ziheng, the best boredom reliever, and even Zhao Wujiu had been turned away repeatedly, but he, instead, had to accompany Bai Shiqi.
“Did Leader Bai say anything else?”
“The Leader has instructed Mr. Qiu to accompany the Young Leader!”
When Qiu Yunping braced himself and pushed open the door to Bai Shiqi’s room only to find Zhu Shoumei sitting inside while holding a medical book, he was secretly relieved for some reason.
Bai Shiqi not only had given him food, but also the fame or fortune he possessed today. Bai Shiqi had been treating him well, and he still bore shady thoughts he shouldn’t have had about Miss Song Si. It was true emotions were the hardest thing to restrain in the world.
When Zhu Shoumei saw Qiu Yunping comin in, he did not intend to leave. He only raised the medical book in his hand and gestured: “I’m making a new prescription, you guys can chat.”
Qiu Yunping felt really awkward. Truth to be told, he did not know what to talk about. With Bai Shiqi.
Bai Shiqi rolled her eyes. No one could tell how many curses she had been spewing in her heart, but she smiled towards him: “Qiu Yunping, I’m so bored, I even managed to come up with a new story. Do you want to write it down?”
As soon as Qiu Yunping heard this, all his melancholy was gone. Only the silver sent from the bookstores all over the world was in front of his eyes. He trotted over and said with a flattering smile on his face: “Tell me, I’ll listen to you!”
Zhu Shoumei: “… …”
Bai Shiqi was seriously injured. She still had shortness of breath when she spoke for a long time, so she made the long story short and only talked about the important points. She talked about ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes’ trilogy, making Qiu Yunping spirited. Seeing that she was tired and wanted to rest, he was so eager to leave to polish the writing. When the cold wind outside blew, goosebumps appeared— Could it be that his shady thoughts of coveting other people’s concubine was found out, so Bai Shiqi deliberately mentioned Jiangnan’s Seven Monsters to beat him back to his place?
[Jiangnan’s Seven Monsters is mentioned in The Legend of the Condor Heroes.]
He had promised Bai Shiqi to take care of Miss Song Si, but he also had other thoughts.
After Qiu Yunping went out, Zhu Shoumei was surprised and asked: “Qiu Yunping is famous in Jiangnan, are all his stories… were provided by you?”
Bai Shiqi had spoken a lot. Her lips were dry and she was thirsty. She stared straight at the teapot on the table, and Zhu Shoumei hurriedly poured a cup of warm tea. She drank for a few sips before she said: “Qiu Yunping failed many times in the imperial examination, but his essay was beautifully written and firm. It is quite suitable for polishing and writing stories. In any case, I have the story, but the writing style is his. Isn’t that fine?”
Zhu Shoumei had the words ‘A Match Made in Heaven’ popping up in his mind for no reason. He thought about it and said: “Have you ever thought that perhaps this is the reason Leader Bai keeps sending Qiu Yunping to accompany you?”
“What do you mean?” Bai Shiqi’s foolish appearance looked pretty cute: “What does this have to do with my father?”
Zhu Shoumei did not hold back any more: “Isn’t Leader Bai planning to find a husband for you?”
Bai Shiqi scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed: “… You noticed?”
Zhu Shoumei sat on the stool in front of her and said honestly: “Not only did I see it, but I also feel that you two are not suitable! That one surnamed Qin doesn’t have you in his heart, only fame and fortune.”
Bai Shiqi: “… …” In the face of her childhood playmates, she also did not want to conceal anything: “Not only Qiu Yunping doesn’t have me in his heart, I’m afraid he is even thinking about my woman.”
Zhu Shoumei: “Then do you still agree with Leader Bai to bring the two of you together?”
Bai Shiqi: “Otherwise? Are you going to find me a person of unknown origins? At least we can still control Qiu Yunping.” She was also anxious: “To be honest I don’t think I’m that old, but my parents think I’m old. What else can I do?”
Zhu Shoumei got up and walked to the front of her bed. After a while, he seemed to have made up his mind and said: “Shiqi, since Qiu Yunping is still not aware of the situation, why don’t I go and talk to Leader Bai that I’m willing to enter Bai family, so he can stop matching you with Qiu Yunping?”
Bai Shiqi spat out all the warm tea from her mouth: “… …”
Then said: “Shoumei, have you turned stupid??”
Zhu Shoumei: “… …” No one knew that he had turned stupid since many years ago. He had turned stupid on the day he was learning to diagnose the pulse by pressing on Bai Shiqi’s wrist.
Translated by Wook
Edited by sienz
Bai Zhenting deliberately matched Qiu Yunping and Bai Shiqi. Unfortunately, there was no attraction whatsoever between the two. Qiu Yunping didn’t understand the master’s intent, while Bai Shiqi pretended to be confused about the situation. She wanted to drive Qiu Yunping away as soon as possible, and said in a particularly considerate way: “Miss Si is not familiar with the way of life here, so you have to take care of her.”
Qiu Yunping’s heart was pounding because of her words without understanding the underlying meaning. He wanted to ask more questions, but in his heart he thought— Bai Shiqi himself probably would not be able to go out most of the time, so he could only entrust his concubine to me.
With the devil in his heart, he felt even more guilty towards Bai Shiqi’s magnanimity. He stumbled in his words: “… I must take good care of Miss Song Si.”
Miss Song Si was stopped outside the door of Bai Shiqi’s room by Su Shi’s momos. Even though she had been begging to be of help, she was still stopped by Su shi. Montonely, she said: “Shiqi was injured severely. His body was damaged too much, so he has to stay in bed properly to recuperate.”
After she went back, she discussed with Zhen’er: “Madam Su has been preventing me from serving Master. Does she think… that because of my bad background, I won’t be sensible and hurt Master further… .” She was so sad that even the rest of the words could not be said.
She speculated in her heart: The women from prostitution are charming. Su shi keeps prohibiting Miss Song Si to meet up with Bai Shiqi, perhaps she is afraid that Miss Song Si will be entangled physically with Bai Shiqi and hurt her son’s body further.
She had been a storyteller who only sells her skills and not her body, and she had been influenced by a great principle since she was a child, so she had a bit of arrogance in her bones. She felt very aggrieved when she really became a concubine, and truly wished she could run to Su shi and make it clear: I truly want to be of help, not to take advantage of your son’s illness for my own benefits and aggravate his wounds further.
Zhen’er comforted her in distress: “Miss, there are so many opinions in this big residence, we might as well leave by ourselves. They could not see how important the master is in Miss’ heart anyway!”
Miss Song Si could not let go of Bai Shiqi in her heart. She hated that she could not jab her forehead: “What nonsense is this little girl talking about? Master is… He is a good person!” Her cheeks were already red: “I always think that he is the moon in the sky, so now I’m satisfied to stay by his side.”
“But… Even though you’re living in the same house, you can’t even see him!” Zhen’er stomped the ground and said anxiously: “We don’t even know if you will ever be able to see him!”
The little maidservant was anxious for her master. She heard that Qiu Yunping had been taken by the leader to visit the patient, so she stayed outside. The moment he came out, she complained bitterly: “Mr. Qiu, my miss has never seen Master, she doesn’t even know how severe his injuries are. Can you please tell my miss so she can feel relieved?”
Qiu Yunping’s heart swayed between ‘seeing’ and ‘not seeing’ her. In the end, his desire to see the beautiful woman took the upper hand. He followed Zhen’er, and the moment he saw Song Si, all his former hesitations vanished.
He had made up his mind to have a proper attitude towards Song Si, but when he saw the pitiful appearance of the real person, looking haggard and still begging him “Mr. Qiu, did you see my master? How is his body?”, his heart swayed, wishing to take care of her personally.
“Don’t worry, the Young Leader is fine now.”
“Really?!” Song Si was surprised and delighted: “My master is really fine? Then how long till I can see him?”
Qiu Yunping could not bear her disappointment and stammered: “About… About a few days later?” He summoned his courage and said: “You have to take care of yourself too. Don’t let yourself get sick from waiting for the young leader to get well. Then he’ll worry about you instead.”
Miss Song Si’s taut heart was finally eased. She asked many questions about Bai Shiqi’s injuries, however, Qiu Yunping had only entered the room for a short while. After Bai Shiqi was helped by Zhu Shoumei, she lied down the whole time. With the exception of her pale face and shortness of breath, she still joked around as usual. Qiu Yunping did not feel that Bai Shiqi’s injuries were heavy.
But it was true that he had seen Bai Shiqi with his own eyes, so a word from him was still better than a hundred words from Zhen’er. At the end, he said: “The young leader let me take care of Miss Si. If there’s anything you need, just send a message to the outer courtyard and I will take care of it.”
All of Miss Song Si’s thoughts were glued to Bai Shiqi. She was happier to hear that Bai Shiqi was recovering well than if she had drunk a precious elixir herself: “Thank you very much, Mr. Qiu. If you see my master again, would you please tell him… that I’m fine, so he does not need to worry, and that he needs to focus on his recovery.” So that we could be reunited.
When Qiu Yunping came out of Miss Song Si’s room, he still looked bashful and timid. Her hopes and expectations to see Bai Shiqi from the bottom of her heart made him sour.
[If you’re an avid Chinese novel reader or drama watcher, you would know that sour is an expression of jealousy.]
He could not understand the way Leader Bai’s mind worked recently. The first day he pushed him to accompany Bai Shiqi, and he treated it as an errand. But, the next day, Leader Bai once again sent someone to urge him to Shiqi : “Leader Bai said that Young Leader looks bored being stuck inside the room. He is usually lively, he must feel sick if he’s being kept inside the room all day, so Leader Bai is asking Mr. Qiu to accompany the young leader.”
Qiu Yunping: “… …” He really did not know what two grown men could possibly do to accompany each other.
The most important thing was that in the past, he and Bai Shiqi mainly drank while checking accounts, or went outside to hear stories together. These activities were all laborious and not really suitable for a sick person.
What’s even more bizarre was that nobody knew what kind of nightmare Leader Bai had suffered from, but he did not invite Zhao Ziheng, the best boredom reliever, and even Zhao Wujiu had been turned away repeatedly, but he, instead, had to accompany Bai Shiqi.
“Did Leader Bai say anything else?”
“The Leader has instructed Mr. Qiu to accompany the Young Leader!”
When Qiu Yunping braced himself and pushed open the door to Bai Shiqi’s room only to find Zhu Shoumei sitting inside while holding a medical book, he was secretly relieved for some reason.
Bai Shiqi not only had given him food, but also the fame or fortune he possessed today. Bai Shiqi had been treating him well, and he still bore shady thoughts he shouldn’t have had about Miss Song Si. It was true emotions were the hardest thing to restrain in the world.
When Zhu Shoumei saw Qiu Yunping comin in, he did not intend to leave. He only raised the medical book in his hand and gestured: “I’m making a new prescription, you guys can chat.”
Qiu Yunping felt really awkward. Truth to be told, he did not know what to talk about. With Bai Shiqi.
Bai Shiqi rolled her eyes. No one could tell how many curses she had been spewing in her heart, but she smiled towards him: “Qiu Yunping, I’m so bored, I even managed to come up with a new story. Do you want to write it down?”
As soon as Qiu Yunping heard this, all his melancholy was gone. Only the silver sent from the bookstores all over the world was in front of his eyes. He trotted over and said with a flattering smile on his face: “Tell me, I’ll listen to you!”
Zhu Shoumei: “… …”
Bai Shiqi was seriously injured. She still had shortness of breath when she spoke for a long time, so she made the long story short and only talked about the important points. She talked about ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes’ trilogy, making Qiu Yunping spirited. Seeing that she was tired and wanted to rest, he was so eager to leave to polish the writing. When the cold wind outside blew, goosebumps appeared— Could it be that his shady thoughts of coveting other people’s concubine was found out, so Bai Shiqi deliberately mentioned Jiangnan’s Seven Monsters to beat him back to his place?
[Jiangnan’s Seven Monsters is mentioned in The Legend of the Condor Heroes.]
He had promised Bai Shiqi to take care of Miss Song Si, but he also had other thoughts.
After Qiu Yunping went out, Zhu Shoumei was surprised and asked: “Qiu Yunping is famous in Jiangnan, are all his stories… were provided by you?”
Bai Shiqi had spoken a lot. Her lips were dry and she was thirsty. She stared straight at the teapot on the table, and Zhu Shoumei hurriedly poured a cup of warm tea. She drank for a few sips before she said: “Qiu Yunping failed many times in the imperial examination, but his essay was beautifully written and firm. It is quite suitable for polishing and writing stories. In any case, I have the story, but the writing style is his. Isn’t that fine?”
Zhu Shoumei had the words ‘A Match Made in Heaven’ popping up in his mind for no reason. He thought about it and said: “Have you ever thought that perhaps this is the reason Leader Bai keeps sending Qiu Yunping to accompany you?”
“What do you mean?” Bai Shiqi’s foolish appearance looked pretty cute: “What does this have to do with my father?”
Zhu Shoumei did not hold back any more: “Isn’t Leader Bai planning to find a husband for you?”
Bai Shiqi scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed: “… You noticed?”
Zhu Shoumei sat on the stool in front of her and said honestly: “Not only did I see it, but I also feel that you two are not suitable! That one surnamed Qin doesn’t have you in his heart, only fame and fortune.”
Bai Shiqi: “… …” In the face of her childhood playmates, she also did not want to conceal anything: “Not only Qiu Yunping doesn’t have me in his heart, I’m afraid he is even thinking about my woman.”
Zhu Shoumei: “Then do you still agree with Leader Bai to bring the two of you together?”
Bai Shiqi: “Otherwise? Are you going to find me a person of unknown origins? At least we can still control Qiu Yunping.” She was also anxious: “To be honest I don’t think I’m that old, but my parents think I’m old. What else can I do?”
Zhu Shoumei got up and walked to the front of her bed. After a while, he seemed to have made up his mind and said: “Shiqi, since Qiu Yunping is still not aware of the situation, why don’t I go and talk to Leader Bai that I’m willing to enter Bai family, so he can stop matching you with Qiu Yunping?”
Bai Shiqi spat out all the warm tea from her mouth: “… …”
Then said: “Shoumei, have you turned stupid??”
Zhu Shoumei: “… …” No one knew that he had turned stupid since many years ago. He had turned stupid on the day he was learning to diagnose the pulse by pressing on Bai Shiqi’s wrist.
