[Translation] Don't Let The Country Go (不讓江山): Chapter 12 — Lost

On the streets of Jizhou City, it was another morning that made people feel refreshed and invigorated. It had rained lightly during the night, and the air carried the faint scent of fresh earth.

Inside a pile of firewood, the old Daoist Changmei sighed with emotion. How was it that ever since Diu Diu was no longer by his side, he couldn’t even earn any money anymore?

Back when that little fellow was with him, there was never a shortage of business. Even traveling through the chaotic lands of the Seven Counties, they could still make enough to get by. But now, here in this prosperous city full of polished and respectable people, why was nobody seeking fortune-telling or divination?

His clothes were soaked through, and he had nowhere to hide from the rain, so he could only endure it. It wasn’t that there were no eaves to shelter under, but he didn’t dare let anyone see him at night. Looking as disheveled as he did now, if the night patrols spotted him, they would drag him away immediately.

Thrown into prison, then someday, when the timing was right, he’d probably be hauled out to take the blame for someone else and have his head chopped off. The only reward would likely be one final meal before execution.

That sort of thing wasn’t rare in Great Chu.

It happened everywhere.

Climbing out of the woodpile, the old Daoist shook out his clothes. By instinct, he reached out toward the empty air in front of him and made a few adjusting motions, as though tidying someone’s clothing.

Then he smiled.

Quite proudly, in fact.

“Pretty good, pretty good… Diu Diu’er won’t have to live like this anymore.”

He pulled out his divination banner from the pile. It was worn so badly it barely looked usable anymore. At that moment, realization suddenly struck him—it was precisely because he looked so ragged that no one came to him for fortune-telling.

What city folk would believe that a miserable-looking Daoist, one step from starving to death, could truly glimpse ten years into someone’s future?

Even if they wanted fortunes told, they would go to proper Daoist temples instead, where the priests looked dignified and respectable. One stick of incense cost money. One peace talisman cost money. Asking about your future cost money too.

Changmei thought to himself that perhaps he really ought to leave Jizhou and wander the Seven Counties again. He would see whether he could make any money today, but if he still couldn’t, then it truly was time to go back.

At least the common folk of the Seven Counties trusted him. At the very least, he could get a meal there.

He hadn’t eaten in two days and two nights, yet he still stubbornly held onto his final bottom line—he would not beg, would not steal, would not pick discarded vegetable leaves from the ground.

This was his respect for the Dao.

After straightening his damp clothes, he once more stared at the empty air before him. Smiling faintly, he murmured softly:

“Diu Diu’er…”

He had still been smiling one moment earlier, yet suddenly tears poured down his face uncontrollably. Covering his face with his sleeve, the old man wept so hard his shoulders trembled.

“Master misses you.”

Dragging his feet, he slowly walked away. After a short distance, he turned back once more, as though hoping that the instant he looked behind him, little Li Diu Diu would come running toward him, shouting that he missed him too.





Four Pages Academy.

Li Diu Diu sat there looking troubled. Not because he didn’t know what to eat, but because the dining hall had suddenly become crowded.

Yesterday morning, there had only been a few people there, including Xiahou Zhuo. But today, dozens upon dozens of students had gathered, so many that even Aunt Wu looked shocked.

“It’s him! It’s him! That little guy can really eat! It’s amazing to watch!”

One young student became excited the moment he spotted Li Diu Diu.

Pointing at him, he shouted, “This guy ate eighty dumplings yesterday morning!”

Li Diu Diu shook his head and quietly corrected him.

“Seventy-nine.”

Just then, Xiahou Zhuo walked over. He glanced at Li Diu Diu and said, “Same as yesterday. I still want to watch you eat dumplings. Four servings. Eighty copper coins.”

“One hundred,” Li Diu Diu replied.

Xiahou Zhuo frowned slightly, a trace of dislike surfacing between his brows.

“Why?”

Li Diu Diu answered, “I just asked Aunt Wu. Vegetable and meat prices have gone up.”

Xiahou Zhuo stared at him like he was some kind of monster.

He thought: What do rising food prices have to do with you? The meals in the dining hall are free for students. No matter how expensive food gets, it’s still free.

And yet… the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it somehow sounded.

“Fine then. One hundred copper coins.”

Xiahou Zhuo stepped back a few paces and made a gesture of invitation.

Li Diu Diu asked Aunt Wu for four servings of dumplings, then asked Xiahou Zhuo, “Do many people ask favors from you?”

Xiahou Zhuo answered lazily, “There’s not much in this academy that requires asking favors.”

Li Diu Diu fell silent for a moment, then shook his head.

“There is.”

“Like what?”

Li Diu Diu said, “For example, if I want to leave the academy, I still have to wait several more days. But I can’t wait anymore. I want to ask you how to get leave permission.”

Now Xiahou Zhuo looked at him even more like a strange creature.

“You only need to tell the instructor if you want to leave the academy. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that?”

“I know,” Li Diu Diu replied.

“But I’m not the same as you people.”

“What’s different?”

“I’m poor.”

Li Diu Diu lifted his head and looked straight into Xiahou Zhuo’s eyes.

“If I make a mistake, I’ll be expelled. If I ask for leave, I’ll probably just get humiliated. And even if I endure the humiliation, I still won’t get permission.”

Xiahou Zhuo asked, “What are you going out for?”

“To find my master.”

Li Diu Diu inhaled deeply and slowly let it out.

“I dreamed about him last night. He’s not doing well.”

Xiahou Zhuo nodded.

“I can help you. I’ll say I’m sending you out on an errand for me. I’m on decent terms with Instructor Yan Qingzhi, so he’ll agree.”

Then he paused.

“But… two taels of silver.”

Li Diu Diu immediately took out all the money from inside his clothes—the broken piece of silver and the hundred copper coins from yesterday. He had no money pouch, so he kept everything tucked inside his shirt.

Pushing it toward Xiahou Zhuo, he said:

“You can have all of it.”

Xiahou Zhuo took back only the two taels and pushed the rest back.

“That’s enough. I don’t take extra.”

After staring at Li Diu Diu for a moment, he added quietly:

“I’m charging you two taels so you’ll understand something—asking favors comes with a price.”

Li Diu Diu lowered his head.

“I knew that before entering the academy.”

Aunt Wu delivered the four servings of dumplings. Li Diu Diu immediately picked up his chopsticks and began eating.

While eating, he said:

“Aunt Wu, please cook four more servings… no, five.”

He placed a hundred copper coins on the table.

“This is payment for the dumplings. Since these aren’t for me but for someone else, I have to buy them. This morning you said food prices had gone up, so making five servings should cost about a hundred and twenty-five copper coins. I still owe you twenty-five.”

Aunt Wu was dumbfounded.

After hesitating for quite a while, she said, “Young master, I can’t take your money. The academy has no such rule.”

Xiahou Zhuo said, “Take it. What he said makes sense.”

Aunt Wu clearly respected—or perhaps feared—Xiahou Zhuo. She quickly nodded and awkwardly accepted the hundred coins, holding them as though they burned her hands.

Li Diu Diu stopped talking and focused on eating.

Very quickly, he finished all four servings of dumplings. The people gathered around watching him were utterly stunned. Most of them hadn’t seen it yesterday, and none could believe such a skinny little person could eat so much.

After he finished, Xiahou Zhuo said, “Now I can take you out.”

Li Diu Diu nodded and turned toward Aunt Wu.

“I’ll repay the twenty-five copper coins as soon as possible.”

Xiahou Zhuo pulled out his money pouch, counted out one hundred copper coins, and handed them over.

“I specifically had someone exchange silver for copper coins. You don’t need to owe anyone. This is today’s payment for watching you eat. A promise is a promise. Otherwise, a man’s no man at all.”

Li Diu Diu froze for a moment, silently committing those words to memory.

He counted out twenty-five coins and gave them to Aunt Wu, then bowed deeply toward Xiahou Zhuo.

“Thank you.”

Xiahou Zhuo turned and walked away.

“No need to thank me. I took your money.”

As he walked, he called out to the crowd:

“You all watched too. One hundred copper coins each for him. I won’t say it twice.”

The spectators hurriedly reached for money, clearly terrified of Xiahou Zhuo. But these noble young masters rarely carried that many copper coins. They usually only carried silver.

Seeing their troubled expressions, Xiahou Zhuo pulled out a piece of silver worth around five taels and handed it to Li Diu Diu.

“There are seventy or eighty people here. One hundred coins each. Is five taels enough?”

Li Diu Diu nodded.

“It’s enough.”

Xiahou Zhuo handed him the silver.

“Starting tomorrow, nobody’s allowed to pay to watch you eat anymore. If I say no one can, then no one will dare.”

Li Diu Diu didn’t ask why. He simply answered:

“Alright.”

Xiahou Zhuo turned toward the others.

“You each owe me one tael of silver. Bring it to me tomorrow.”

“Yes, yes…”

“No problem…”

The crowd hurriedly agreed and moved aside to clear a path.

Xiahou Zhuo led Li Diu Diu out of the academy. He seemed extremely famous there. Most people they passed greeted him respectfully, while the few who didn’t simply pretended not to notice him.

When they reached the academy gates, Xiahou Zhuo told the gatekeepers:

“His name is Li Chi. I’m sending him out to handle something for me. Give him a pass.”

One of the guards immediately complied and wrote a pass for Li Diu Diu.

“You can return whenever you want. Since Young Master Xiahou is sending you on an errand, make sure you do it properly.”

It was as though Li Diu Diu had suddenly become Xiahou Zhuo’s follower.

Because of that identity, even the gatekeepers looked at him differently now, as if he had climbed onto a powerful branch.

But Li Diu Diu didn’t care about any of that.

Carrying five servings of dumplings and five taels of silver against his chest, he sprinted out of the academy.

All he wanted was to see his master as quickly as possible.





Half an hour later, inside the academy’s Forest of Books Tower.

Xiahou Zhuo sat with his feet propped on the table, completely lacking the behavior expected of a student. Yet the librarian instructor didn’t dare say a word.

Yan Qingzhi sat opposite him, narrowing his eyes.

After a long silence, he asked:

“Why?”

Xiahou Zhuo shrugged.

“You know I do everything on impulse. I like that little brat. So what if I toss some scraps to a stray kitten I picked up?”

Yan Qingzhi stayed silent for a long time before finally saying in a heavy tone:

“You’ll ruin him.”

Xiahou Zhuo still looked completely unconcerned.

“I know what you mean. You’re afraid a special kid like him will become someone’s lackey, abusing power under another’s name…”

He lowered his legs from the table and leaned forward, staring at Yan Qingzhi.

“Does pretending to be the villain tire you out, Teacher? You’re not like me. I’m a real villain… The old man deliberately had you tormenting that kid, didn’t he? I heard the little girl got so angry she smashed a clod of dirt into your face.”

Yan Qingzhi replied coldly:

“None of your business.”

“It is now.”

Xiahou Zhuo stood and walked toward the door.

As he walked, he said:

“He’s my little brother now. From now on, I’m backing him.”

After a few more steps, he stopped and glanced back at Yan Qingzhi.

“Listening to him talk about his master on the way out of the academy… even someone like me ended up soft-hearted.”

Yan Qingzhi waved dismissively.

“Get lost.”

Xiahou Zhuo grinned.

“See you later, Teacher.”

After leaving the tower, he strolled leisurely along, whistling as he headed back toward his residence.

He didn’t go home. He had his own private courtyard within the academy, completely different from the row housing where Li Diu Diu stayed. Li Diu Diu’s room might technically be private too, but compared to Xiahou Zhuo’s courtyard, it was worlds apart.

Halfway there, Xiahou Zhuo suddenly stopped.

He saw Li Diu Diu sitting by the roadside, crying so hard his body twitched.

Walking over, Xiahou Zhuo sat down beside him and glanced at the tightly clutched bag in his arms.

Inside were the five servings of dumplings.

“Couldn’t find him?”

“Mm.”

“Wuwei Temple is a place full of arrogant people. There’s no way they would take in someone like your master. If he went there, he would’ve been driven out.”

Xiahou Zhuo pulled up a stalk of grass and stuck it between his teeth, still looking utterly indifferent.

Li Diu Diu looked at him.

“You guessed that already?”

“Mm.”

Xiahou Zhuo said, “The Daoists inside those halls wear fine robes and greet guests like merchants. They’re not really Daoists anymore. Your master barely still counts as one…”

Sniffling, Li Diu Diu said:

“I lost my master.”

Xiahou Zhuo stood up and patted him on the shoulder.

“When the ten days are up, go again.”

“You’ll see him.”

“If… your bond is real.”