Chinese BL Translations: Spring Once More ch6

Translator: ayszhang
Editor: Marcia
Beta reader: Dairytea

(Traditional Chinese cover scanned by Dairytea)

Chapter Six

Understanding the thought that goes into the naming of a beauty is a task just as profound and complex as understanding the beauty herself. The names of beauties of the past especially pose a challenge.

If we review the names of all the fair maidens throughout the millennia – Yuhuan, Zifu, Zhaojun, Wenjun, Nanzi, Meiniang – every single one is delicate and full of allure. Every beauty must have a name that matches her appearance.

Ruoshui...Ruoshui... Definitely a hundred times better than Yan Ni. The saying goes “the lady is like water,” but I wonder if it’s her eyes, her figure, her soothing voice or her gentle affection that is like water.

I fidget anxiously, unsure whether I should sit on my grand bed or stay standing. I’ve had a handful of girlfriends in my two decades of existence, but it’s the first time I’ve felt this excited. Fuck! What’s with this guilty feeling at the last minute?! What’s there for me to feel guilty about? I came here to enjoy life, didn’t I? And the best part of life is of course sex! I swear I’m going to go through every one of those sticks in that container and enjoy myself to the fullest!

But still I’m nervous about my first sexcapade in this life. I pace back and forth in my room no less than a dozen times, debating with myself. Should I leave the candle lit or blow it out? No, definitely lit so I can see her face. If anything is off, I can still pick another stick. Number two, eh? I wonder how the prince ordered his concubines. By chronological order of entry into the manor, or by appearance? What should I say to get the mood going when she comes in? I mean, we can’t just get down to business…right?

I hear footsteps coming down the walkway followed by three knocks on the door. It must be Lady Ruoshui. My stupid, little heart starts thumping, and I swallow hard before calling out, “Enter.”

The door gently swings open. My stomach tightens for a second before relaxing. I stare at the visitor. “The hour is late… What matter brings you here?”

The visitor was not Lady Ruoshui but a young man – the kind that ignites my fury.

Ma Xiaodong hates pretty boys. Everyone who knows me knows that. To think that I lost my childhood sweetheart and our pure love to this kind of trash.

Xiao-Xian and I made a promise when we were three years old that she would become my wife. But as they say, a woman’s heart is like water, prone to change. When I was in junior high, she became infatuated with a pretty boy singer called Lin something and kept singing The Rainy Season when I was Seventeen^{^[1]} all day long. Then it got worse in senior high. This time it was some South Korean group called OT or something,^{^[2]} and she went crazy over one of its members. She began to judge me asking why I couldn’t be as good-looking as him. I took it all stoically for my dear Xiao-Xian. I took it until university when F4 came out of nowhere. She forced me to sing Meteor Rain while telling me how wonderful it would be if I looked like Zaizai.^{^[3]} That was the last straw. One day while she was drooling in front of the Lupiao commercial^{^[4]} on TV, I asked her unsparingly, “Why do you always like mops?”

She stared at me. “What do you mean mops?” I kindly explained to her, “Look, if you turn these guys upside down, they look just like mops.” She gave me a slap across the face and left after saying, “The jealousy of ugly men!” And that’s how my decades-long first love fell apart.

From then on, I always get this ball of anger in my chest whenever I see that kind of species. And the one before my eyes right now, well, let’s just say Xiao-Xian would call it the rarest of rare specimens. It’s very different from all those other ones I mentioned, but it’s be a one-in-a-million even in this era. It’s so tall and skinny that it might just topple over with the slightest breeze. Its facial features are soft and delicate, and its loosely tied hair makes it all the more difficult to identify the gender. To top it all off, its robe is practically falling off its shoulders.

I clench my teeth. I’ve gotta get rid of this…this thing before Lady Ruoshui arrives, or else my delicious meal will be over before I even get to taste it!

“This gentleman here, we must retire for the night as it is late. If you have matters to discuss, tomorrow will do.”

The pretty boy looks at me with changing emotions in his eyes, but instead of leaving he closes the door and starts gliding towards me. My anger is reaching critical mass. Who in this damn manor dares not obey the prince’s orders?!

“Good sir, did you not hear our words?”

His long, slanted eyes half close as he smiles and murmurs. “Milord.” I shudder as his voice runs along my spine down to my toes.

The pretty boy continues, “Milord, it was you who summoned me to serve you tonight. As I feared, Your Highness has forgotten even poor Ruoshui.”

[1] A song by Taiwanese singer Lin Zhiyin a.k.a. Jimmy Lin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h08JAFZ758Y

[2] Most likely the first idol group in South Korea, H.O.T.

[3] The Chinese nickname of F4 member, Vic Chou.

[4] A shampoo commercial released in 2002. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ7EBW-2Iuo

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Dairytea: Can our MC resist his charm?! Find out in the next chapter!