[Translation] Don't Let The Country Go (不讓江山): Chapter 15 — Xiahou Zhuo

 

Li Diudiu’s life seemed to return to calm after the brief ups and downs of the past two days. Every day, he was the first to arrive and open the classroom, fetching water and preparing tea for Instructor Yan Qingzhi. Every day, he was the last to leave, cleaning the room and locking the door afterward.

Even Zhang Xiaolin, whom he had beaten before, did not make any excessive moves against him. Perhaps it was because everyone knew Li Diudiu had been getting close to Xiahou Zhuo these past few days. Everyone feared Xiahou Zhuo.

People were just like that. Otherwise, how would the phrase “borrowing a tiger’s might” have come about?

Li Diudiu had no desire to become that fox living off someone else’s power. Over the next two or three days, he never ran into Xiahou Zhuo in the dining hall again. He figured that fellow had probably only found him interesting because he was strange, and there likely would not be any further connection between them.

Finally, it was the ninth day since he had entered the academy.

Li Diudiu’s emotions were becoming impossible to suppress. He grew more restless by the moment.

All the emotional support in the life of an eleven-year-old child rested on his master. Tomorrow he would finally get a day off. Tomorrow he would finally see his master again. Xiahou Zhuo had said his master would definitely wait for him outside that Daoist temple, and Li Diudiu believed it completely.

“Hey, brat.”

Just then, Zhang Xiaolin called out to him while Yan Qingzhi was out of the room. Li Diudiu did not react much, but Liu Shengying beside him shuddered in fright. The child still had not adapted to life away from home, even though he returned home every afternoon after classes.

In the entire Four-Page Academy, only Li Diudiu was an exception. Even after lessons ended in the afternoon, he was not allowed to leave campus, because Yan Qingzhi had made that rule specifically for him. The reason was that he was poor. No one knew what kind of logic that was.

Li Diudiu turned his head to glance at Zhang Xiaolin but said nothing.

Zhang Xiaolin sneered.

“You think you’ve climbed onto Xiahou Zhuo’s branch now? Let me tell you, he’s finished. And so are you.”

Li Diudiu’s heart tightened.

“What happened to Xiahou Zhuo?”

he asked.

Zhang Xiaolin laughed.

“Haven’t you noticed nobody’s seen him in the academy for days?”

“What happened to Xiahou Zhuo?”

Li Diudiu repeated.

Zhang Xiaolin said,

“Beg me. If you beg me, I’ll tell you.”

Whoosh—

Zhang Xiaolin suddenly felt the world blur before him, and then his body lifted inexplicably into the air…

He was half a head taller than Li Diudiu, yet in that instant, Li Diudiu had grabbed him by the collar with one hand and hoisted him up.

Li Diudiu said word by word,

“I’ll ask you one more time. What happened to Xiahou Zhuo?”

Having already been beaten twice by Li Diudiu, how could Zhang Xiaolin not be afraid? His face turned pale, though he still tried to act tough.

“I’m telling you, Li Chi, your backer is gone now. Xiahou Zhuo offended someone he shouldn’t have and got beaten to death. You’d better watch yourself. Without Xiahou Zhuo protecting you, let’s see how arrogant you can still be.”

Li Diudiu’s expression changed drastically.

“He got beaten to death?”

Zhang Xiaolin snorted.

“Scared now? Then hurry up and put me dow—”

“Aaaah!”

Whoosh—

Zhang Xiaolin flew through the air and crashed heavily onto the ground, the impact knocking the breath out of him. By the time he recovered, Li Diudiu was already gone from the classroom.

Xiahou Zhuo had once told him that if anything happened, he could go find him at that private courtyard. Li Diudiu still did not fully understand just how special Xiahou Zhuo was, but the fact that he could live in such a unique private courtyard within a place like Four-Page Academy already said enough.

Because of that, Li Diudiu believed no one in the academy would dare provoke Xiahou Zhuo. He did not believe Zhang Xiaolin’s claim that Xiahou Zhuo was dead.

He sprinted all the way to the courtyard. By the time he reached the gate, he realized his hands were trembling. He did not know whether it was from nervousness or from the run.

The courtyard gate was shut. Li Diudiu swallowed hard. Just as he raised his hand to knock, it trembled even more violently.

This was not the first time he had encountered death. The first time was when his family and relatives died in the plague. But back then, he had been too young to understand anything.

Just as he was about to knock, the gate creaked open.

Xiahou Zhuo stood there, one arm suspended in a sling, apparently about to go out. The moment he saw Li Diudiu’s pale face, he froze for a second.

Then he burst into loud laughter, laughing so hard he bent forward and backward, though nobody knew what was so funny.

“What the hell are you laughing at?!”

Li Diudiu roared and turned to leave.

Xiahou Zhuo followed behind him shamelessly.

“Were you worried about me?”

he asked.

Li Diudiu replied,

“I just came to see whether you’d died in your own courtyard.”

“A lot of people want me dead. But there aren’t many who can actually kill me.”

Xiahou Zhuo grinned.

“You’re the first person who’s ever worried about me.”

“That’s impossible,”

Li Diudiu said.

“Don’t you have any friends?”

Xiahou Zhuo looked at him and nodded.

“Now I do.”

He let out a long breath and asked,

“Can you drink?”

Li Diudiu shook his head.

“Master doesn’t allow it.”

Xiahou Zhuo said,

“Your master isn’t necessarily right about everything. Come on, go back with me and drink.”

His right arm hung in bandages, and there were wrappings around his neck too. It looked like he had injuries elsewhere on his body as well. Yet there was not a single bruise visible on his face. Only someone narcissistic to a certain extent would care about that.

Xiahou Zhuo led Li Diudiu back to the courtyard. He carried out a jar of wine, then used his left hand like a blade, striking off the seal with a single palm strike.

For some reason, Li Diudiu thought it looked kind of cool.

Xiahou Zhuo poured two bowls of wine and pushed one toward him.

“Drink.”

Li Diudiu asked,

“Why are we suddenly drinking?”

“Drink first, then I’ll tell you.”

Xiahou Zhuo picked up his bowl and gulped it down in one go.

Li Diudiu raised his own bowl and took a sip.

His master had once said alcohol was spicy and damaged the brain. Children should not drink, or they would become idiots. The main reason, though, was that his master could not bear to spend money on alcohol.

Still, the old man craved wine. As they wandered through the seven counties, whenever he saw an empty wine jar or flask, he would go sniff it.

Back then, Li Diudiu had not found his master pitiful or admirable. He only thought the old man was stingy.

Now, however, Li Diudiu finally understood how much his master had sacrificed for him over the years.

He took another sip. It did not feel like much. There was even a slight sweetness to it.

So he lifted the bowl and drained it in one breath.

Instantly, warmth spread through his stomach, and Li Diudiu actually felt rather wonderful.

“How is it?”

Xiahou Zhuo asked eagerly, clearly waiting for him to cough.

But Li Diudiu had no reaction at all. He even smacked his lips and grinned foolishly.

“It’s sweet.”

“Sweet?”

Xiahou Zhuo stared at him.

“Open your mouth.”

Li Diudiu obeyed.

Xiahou Zhuo said,

“Say ah.”

“Ah…”

Xiahou Zhuo examined him.

“You didn’t hide any wine in there… Is there something wrong with your tongue?”

Li Diudiu replied,

“It really tastes good. Sweet.”

Xiahou Zhuo sighed.

“Monster.”

He poured Li Diudiu another bowl. This time, however, Xiahou Zhuo did not drink all at once. Instead, he sipped slowly from the bowl, looking as though his heart were full of worries.

Li Diudiu asked,

“You still haven’t told me why we’re drinking.”

Xiahou Zhuo smiled.

“Almost every student in this academy has been bullied by me. Even the instructors don’t want to provoke me. So I really don’t have any friends.”

“If I wave my hand, crowds of people will rush over. But they fear me—they don’t actually want to be my friend.”

“You’re different… By now, word about me getting beaten up has probably spread through the whole academy. Yet you’re the only one who came to see me.”

Li Diudiu smiled awkwardly. He did not know what to say.

“Maybe it’s because you’re still a child,”

Xiahou Zhuo said with a laugh, shaking his head.

“Children don’t think so much. You just felt some affinity with me and came to check on me.”

He exhaled deeply again, as though his chest were burdened with endless gloom.

Whenever Li Diudiu saw him, Xiahou Zhuo was always smiling. But behind that smile was pain he never told anyone about.

Before now.

Now he wanted to talk, but he felt embarrassed to say it aloud.

So first, he drank.

After two bowls of wine, Xiahou Zhuo’s face turned slightly red. Then he noticed Li Diudiu pouring himself a third bowl and nearly jumped in fright, snatching the wine jar away.

“It’s your first time drinking and you’re already drinking this much? Trying to die?”

Li Diudiu grinned.

“Hehe… tastes good.”

Xiahou Zhuo rolled his eyes.

“After this bowl, no more. If Yan Qingzhi finds out you drank during class time, he’ll finally have an excuse to expel you.”

“I don’t care anymore,”

Li Diudiu said.

“If he won’t expel me, then during the monthly exam I’ll purposely do terribly so he’ll kick me out. I don’t want to stay in this place anymore. I want to go find my master.”

“Bullshit!”

Xiahou Zhuo suddenly exploded with a curse.

“If you really do that, who would you even be worthy of? Worthy of your master?! If you dare intentionally leave the academy, I’ll… I’ll beat you to death.”

The final words were spoken with heavy emphasis.

Li Diudiu lowered his head.

“It hurts too much. I’m here eating well, living well, dressing well, while my master has no home and sleeps on the streets. It really hurts…”

He pointed at his chest.

“Right here. It hurts badly.”

“Then find a way to earn money yourself,”

Xiahou Zhuo said.

“Leaving the academy now is just running away. Only the most useless men run away. People with responsibility choose to face things.”

“What are difficulties? Difficulties are enemies. If you leave the academy now and go wander with your master through hardship and exposure, then you’re surrendering to your enemy.”

Xiahou Zhuo continued,

“Men can’t be like that. Men fight. Refuse to submit—to anyone. If someone wants to bully me, I fight them. If fate wants to bully me, then I fight fate itself!”

He looked at Li Diudiu.

“Remember this well: if you won’t submit, then fight.”

Suddenly, Li Diudiu felt a surge of heroic passion ignite in his chest. Perhaps the alcohol was finally hitting him.

The delicate-looking little boy slapped the table with a bang.

“Fight!”

His hand hurt.

Xiahou Zhuo watched him and smiled, somewhat satisfied.

“Li Chi… just listen to me talk for a while.”

Xiahou Zhuo leaned back, resting the back of his head against the chair as he stared up at the sky.

His voice was hoarse as he spoke.

“There are many people in this academy who want me dead. But it’s not because they personally want to kill me. It’s because someone else wants them to kill me.”

Hatred flickered in his gaze as he stared at the sky.

“My father is a very powerful man, high-ranking and influential. My mother was a servant…”

He lowered his head and looked at Li Diudiu with a bitter smile.

“Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? A man of such power believing that he and a little maidservant were true love… and so I was born.”

“But that household had no place for my mother. Nor for me.”

He lowered his head and looked at Li Diudiu.

“So I was sent away from the family. My older and younger brothers all know that although I was born from a concubine, Father favors me. They’re afraid I’ll one day take part of the inheritance. They all wish I were dead.”

Bang!

Li Diudiu slapped the table again.

“I’ll protect you!”

Xiahou Zhuo looked at his somewhat childish expression and burst into laughter again.

But as he laughed, his eyes gradually became damp…