[Translation] Don't Let The Country Go (不讓江山): Chapter 8 — Breakfast

 

Longmei Daoist watched the other man shut the door. He reached out instinctively as if to stop him, but his hand froze halfway in the air, because at that moment he suddenly realized something.

Some kinds of pity cannot be begged for.

And pity obtained through begging is humiliating too.

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

Longmei Daoist murmured softly to himself as he turned and walked away. Naturally, he felt somewhat upset and regretful, but once he thought about little Li Diu Diu already having entered Four-Page Academy, happiness returned to his heart again. So what if he temporarily had nowhere to stay? It wasn’t going to be like this forever.

Not long after he left, Zhou Huaili arrived outside Wuwei Temple in a carriage. He could more or less guess what kind of treatment Longmei Daoist would receive, but after arriving, he saw nothing.

Zhou Huaili had his driver go ask around. The middle-aged daoist who had driven Longmei away heard that someone sent by former official Lord Zhou had come to inquire, so he immediately piled on smiles and answered that… no one had come before, and he definitely had not seen any ragged old daoist. He added that if the man came again later, he would certainly treat him well.

Once Zhou Huaili’s carriage left, the middle-aged daoist spat on the ground.

“Bah! Just some minor official who already lost his post. What’s there to be proud of?”

Bang — the door shut again.

Longmei Daoist had not a single coin left on him. His stomach growled with hunger, and as the sky gradually darkened, he couldn’t help feeling a little regretful. Had he known earlier, he wouldn’t have peed in the woodpile where they slept last night. Now he had to search for a new nest.

Jizhou City enforced a curfew. After dark, no one was allowed to wander the streets freely. If government patrol officers discovered someone outside, they would throw them directly into prison and treat them as thieves. Otherwise, Longmei wouldn’t have needed to crawl into woodpiles with Li Diu Diu to sleep.

As he walked, Longmei Daoist thought to himself that although he had no money for food or lodging, at least there was no shortage of woodpiles.

He found a hidden corner and waited until the streets were completely deserted. Then he picked another pile of firewood and crawled inside, covering himself with dry sticks and straw until he disappeared beneath them entirely.

He was already used to it anyway.

Little Diu Diu must already be sleeping beautifully in a clean room, with a thick warm blanket and a comfortable pillow.

How wonderful.

Thinking these thoughts, Longmei Daoist fell asleep.

Another morning arrived.

Longmei Daoist had to get up very early. If the owners came out to collect firewood and discovered him, what if they dragged him to the authorities?

After getting up, he stretched lazily, then stood by the roadside facing empty air, muttering to himself while waving his hands around.

Like a madman.

In reality, he was helping Li Diu Diu tidy his clothes, and plucking dry grass from his hair.

“How foolish.”

Longmei Daoist mocked himself softly.

Yet he still felt as if little Diu Diu were standing right in front of him, head tilted upward, saying:

“Master, I’m hungry.”

His own stomach rumbled loudly. Longmei wandered the streets for a while, then found a spacious area and sat down. He planted his fortune-telling banner into the ground and tried not to move too much.

The more he moved, the hungrier he became.

What was little Diu Diu eating now?

At Four-Page Academy, Li Diu Diu stared blankly at the lavish breakfast spread across the long table before him.

After following his master around for so many years, he never knew breakfast could be eaten like this. Up until now, the height of his imagination regarding food was simply getting to eat braised stew one more time.

Rows of iron pots lined the dining hall, filled with all kinds of porridge: white rice porridge, millet porridge, pumpkin porridge, eight-treasure porridge. There were also at least five or six kinds of soups. Li Diu Diu had never seen so many varieties of staple foods and side dishes before. Every kind of food dazzled the eyes.

Standing there staring at the food like an idiot, Li Diu Diu thought:

What is Master eating?

Although he knew Master was probably eating decently at Wuwei Temple, he still secretly slipped two eggs into his clothes while no one was paying attention. Thinking carefully about it, he and Master hadn’t eaten eggs in who knew how many years.

Jizhou had grown increasingly chaotic these past few years. Ordinary people lived miserable lives. The lives of people outside the city and inside the city were practically two different worlds. It felt like there hadn’t even been chickens outside the city for years anymore.

The academy students lived in luxury, while starving commoners outside the city became bandits because they couldn’t find food.

The plump kitchen auntie in the dining hall was seeing little Li Diu Diu for the first time. The boy wasn’t very tall, but he was handsome and delicate-looking. The expression on his face as he stared blankly at the food was something she had never seen before.

Which student at Four-Page Academy would come eat this early?

Which student would look at food with sparkling eyes like that?

“Young master?”

Auntie Wu asked cautiously,

“Are you dissatisfied with the food somehow?”

She simply couldn’t believe a student of the academy could truly be this fascinated by breakfast. No… it wasn’t disbelief. She simply had never even dared imagine such a thing.

“No, no.”

Li Diu Diu hurriedly bowed.

“It’s just that I’ve never eaten this many things before… no, I mean, I’ve never even seen this many edible things before.”

Auntie Wu looked increasingly nervous.

“Young master, if there’s anything unsatisfactory, please just say it.”

Li Diu Diu shook his head.

“Auntie, I’m not some young master. My family has no money or status, and I don’t have parents. Master said my parents were farmers, so I definitely can’t be called ‘young master.’ I’m just a poor student.”

After thinking a moment, he added:

“You probably just haven’t seen a poor student before.”

Auntie Wu’s expression became even more uneasy.

“Young master, please don’t joke around…”

Li Diu Diu was too lazy to explain further. He pointed at something unfamiliar and asked:

“What’s this?”

“That’s eight-treasure rice.”

Auntie Wu hurriedly answered.

“Does it look bad?”

Li Diu Diu asked,

“Um… can I take one serving away with me?”

Auntie Wu replied,

“Eight-treasure rice is sticky food. It tastes best hot. If you take it away, it’ll harden once it cools down and won’t taste good anymore.”

Li Diu Diu thought about how today was his first day of classes, and that he wouldn’t be able to visit Master at Wuwei Temple until ten days later.

So he nodded.

“Then I’ll eat one serving.”

Auntie Wu said,

“Young master, you should first drink some porridge and eat something light. Otherwise your stomach will hurt if you directly eat the eight-treasure rice.”

“There are this many rules?”

Li Diu Diu felt completely out of place in this dining hall.

“Um… Auntie, I just took two eggs.”

“Huh?”

Auntie Wu froze, then quickly replied,

“Young master, you’re too polite! Everything here is prepared for you students. Eat whatever you want, take whatever you want.”

Li Diu Diu turned around and looked at the dining hall. Altogether, there weren’t even five or six people eating there, yet enough food had been prepared for over a hundred people.

He couldn’t help feeling slightly irritated.

“With this much food, wouldn’t the leftovers be a waste?”

“What does that matter?”

Auntie Wu smiled.

“This is Four-Page Academy after all. How could the academy’s meals possibly be poor? If the food were bad, it wouldn’t match the academy’s reputation.”

Li Diu Diu nodded and muttered to himself:

“Reputation, huh…”

Auntie Wu nearly panicked again, thinking she had said something wrong.

Following Auntie Wu’s advice, Li Diu Diu took a bowl of porridge, some steamed bread, a few side dishes, and one serving of eight-treasure rice.

Just as he sat down to eat, Zhang Xiaolin and Sun Rugong entered side by side. The moment Zhang Xiaolin saw Li Diu Diu sitting there, he burst into laughter.

“I told you. That poor brat would definitely be here.”

He walked over and sat in front of Li Diu Diu, tapping the table with his finger.

“Poor brat, you’ve never seen this much food before, have you?”

Li Diu Diu glanced at him and nodded.

“No.”

Zhang Xiaolin laughed.

“Well, can’t blame you. You’re just a poor brat. If you want to blame someone, blame your parents for not giving you a good background.”

After saying that, he looked at Li Diu Diu’s academy uniform and laughed again.

“Ever worn clothes made from fabric like this? Obviously not. Look at you protecting it with a cloth while eating because you’re afraid of dirtying it. You’ve never worn clothes this nice before. How pitiful.”

Li Diu Diu ignored him and continued eating quietly.

Zhang Xiaolin had originally intended to humiliate Li Diu Diu, but Li Diu Diu treated him like air and focused seriously on his food instead. Somehow, that made Zhang Xiaolin feel like he himself had been humiliated.

So he grew angry.

“I came to deliver a challenge.”

Zhang Xiaolin said,

“That sparring match in front of the teacher the other day — you only won because you sneak attacked me. I refuse to accept it. After classes this afternoon, let’s fight again in the woods behind the academy. If I lose again, I’ll walk around you whenever I see you from now on. But if you lose, kneel down and kowtow to apologize.”

Li Diu Diu raised his head and looked at Zhang Xiaolin’s face.

It was only a calm, indifferent glance.

Yet for some reason, Zhang Xiaolin suddenly felt as though he’d been slapped across the face again. His cheeks burned hot.

Li Diu Diu merely thought:

How boring.

Talk about kneeling and kowtowing to apologize sounded so childish.

“Don’t you dare not show up.”

Zhang Xiaolin slammed both hands heavily onto the table.

The loud bang startled the other students eating nearby. Some turned around angrily. Zhang Xiaolin immediately smiled apologetically at them.

After all, every student in this academy came from prestigious families…

Well, except Li Diu Diu.

That was why Zhang Xiaolin only dared bully Li Diu Diu.

“Okay.”

Li Diu Diu nodded and answered with a single word.

Zhang Xiaolin snorted coldly, grabbed Sun Rugong, and left.

From beginning to end, Sun Rugong hadn’t said a single word.

Yet Li Diu Diu felt this gloomy child was unlike any normal boy.

After traveling everywhere with his master through seven counties, Li Diu Diu had seen all kinds of people. His master always said to judge people by their eyes. A person’s thoughts and character hid there.

Zhang Xiaolin was merely loud and arrogant.

But Sun Rugong followed him here without speaking once. The contempt in his eyes toward Li Diu Diu only flashed briefly for an instant.

Yet that single instant made Li Diu Diu begin taking him seriously.

Auntie Wu stood nearby watching the three boys talk, utterly confused again.

Could this young master truly be a poor brat?

Li Diu Diu finished a bowl of porridge, ate his bread and side dishes, then pulled the eight-treasure rice toward himself.

The sweet-and-sour flavor mixed with preserved fruits made his eyes light up instantly.

He had never eaten rice this delicious before.

After finishing, he carried all the dishes back himself, then gave Auntie Wu a bright, sunny smile once more.

“Thank you. It really was delicious.”

Auntie Wu hurriedly bowed in return.

“Young master is too polite. Really, there’s no need, no need at all.”

After Li Diu Diu left, Auntie Wu looked at the dishes he had used.

Only a tiny bit of soup remained in the bowl. Not a single grain of rice had been left behind.

It was so clean she thought her eyes might be deceiving her.

How could there possibly be a young master like this in the academy?

Subconsciously, she looked around at the other empty seats left behind by departing students.

Leftovers piled everywhere.

Some foods had only one bite taken out of them before being abandoned because they “didn’t taste good.” Some dishes hadn’t even been touched at all.

The contrast could not have been sharper.

And yet… Auntie Wu honestly didn’t think Li Diu Diu was especially admirable.

She preferred those students who left lots of leftovers behind.

That way she could bring the leftover food home. Her children loved eating it, and her old husband could use the leftovers as drinking snacks.

As Li Diu Diu stepped out of the dining hall, he happened to glance back and catch Auntie Wu stuffing eggs into her own pocket.

Auntie Wu looked up at the same moment and saw him too.

Instantly, she became awkward and embarrassed.

Li Diu Diu simply smiled and walked toward the classroom.

Master had said:

Don’t embarrass yourself.

What a troublesome thing…