A step into the past - 寻秦记 - by Huang Yi

[gqonmars2]

This is good. Time to see XSL in action again with the ladies.

Thanks Jean.

[slyphiad]

Awesome update. Just got a job so been busy for awhile. When I saw what Jean's been up to since, I was like wow so much already.

[Jean]

nope.... it's Zhao Ya. Remember he offended her by leaving the house just before the feast?

hmm... I was thinking back... and how time flies! My baby is going to be 1 at the end of the week and I remembered the same time 1 year ago I was in the hospital posting that I will be out of action in translating. haha.... hopefully I can manage to finish this novel before she legally becomes an adult. :P

[Eagle]

nope.... it's Zhao Ya. Remember he offended her by leaving the house just before the feast?

hmm... I was thinking back... and how time flies! My baby is going to be 1 at the end of the week and I remembered the same time 1 year ago I was in the hospital posting that I will be out of action in translating. haha.... hopefully I can manage to finish this novel before she legally becomes an adult. :P

Thank you for clarifying. I thought Zhao Zhi was still upset from XSL teasing.

I believe you will prepare a nice party for the baby's birthday. Can see a happy mummy smile. Is the baby walking already?

[balikpapan]

Yeah, time flies like cloud in the sky. Your little princess name is Sheryl, right?
It could be that we would use the same currency when you are done with the translation, Jean.

[shadow8899]

nope.... it's Zhao Ya. Remember he offended her by leaving the house just before the feast?

hmm... I was thinking back... and how time flies! My baby is going to be 1 at the end of the week and I remembered the same time 1 year ago I was in the hospital posting that I will be out of action in translating. haha.... hopefully I can manage to finish this novel before she legally becomes an adult. :P

Oh my god. I can't believe it has been that long. Happy Birthday to your little Princess.

[Shi-Potian]

honestly me neither.. . .I have absolutely no sense of time seeing as I figured[though I didn't really think about it lol] that she would be about 6-8months lol

Thanks for all the updates Jean really appreciate it!

[Shi-Potian]

Also I must throw my heartfelt thanks out to Sylphiad if he is still trucking away in obscurity I really appreciate and any all translations which are out there.

If you are still trying to get the translation done then all I can sy is thank you for continuing while probably very few in this forumn even know your helping to translate it.

[Jean]

Yeah, time flies like cloud in the sky. Your little princess name is Sheryl, right?
It could be that we would use the same currency when you are done with the translation, Jean.

A little off target, it's Sherylyn, but you've got good memory nonetheless!

She's gonna be 1 this sunday.

This is her with my dog. On occasion she likes to pluck his fur, poke his mouth, take his toy or attempt to eat his ears or tail.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/...cd8e2ee5_o.jpg

But they still love each other

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/...480de8c1_o.jpg

ok... and now to continue....


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Although Xiang Shaolong’s heart was stirred, he knows that he must never touch this girl for after all the Wu family and the Guo family are arch enemies.

When he stepped up to the stone bridge, Ji Yanran ignored Li Yuan and turned around, saying with a smile, “Mister Dong! We were just discussing about the meaning of life and death, I wonder what your thoughts on this are?”

Xiang Shaolong knows that this pretty lady loves a discussion, from ruling a country to things like this, whether life has any meaning. And this is an era where everyone is fighting for a chance to speak and where ideologies are expanding like an explosion.

The mood for such idle discussions are mostly found in the noble and scholarly circles, just like Confucius and his peers not too long ago who loved to talk about life and philosophy all day long. A pity that he’s not too knowledgeable in this area so although he knows that Ji Yanran is giving him a chance to show off so that he can smoothly start his pursuit of her, there is nothing he could do. He replied with a wry smile, “I’m just an unrefined man, how would I understand such profound ideologies?”

Ji Yanran thought that he was pretending to be modest before expounding his ideas but before she had a chance to reply, Li Yuan interrupted, “A pity that Mister Zou is not here, otherwise he will certainly give a very remarkable view. Heh! Why don’t we seek Mister Dong’s advice on rearing horses!”

Anyone with a brain would know that he was putting Xiang Shaolong down, implying that besides horses, he knows nothing else. And in this era, rearing horses is considered a lowly occupation so he was deliberately jabbing at Xiang Shaolong’s status.

Xiang Shaolong was secretly furious but he was even more worried that he’ll press on to ask questions about horses. Although he had crammed some knowledge in this area, his expertise is still very limited. He pretended to be nonchalant and said, “I’m sure you’ve come out with a conclusion after discussing for so long, why not enlighten me on this.”

Guo Kai, the conniving Confucian scholar said, “I still believe in Confucius’s words ‘if you cannot serve men, how can you serve spirits’, so I might as well not think about anything beyond life and death.”

Zhao Ya was apparently in high spirits as she laughed, “Scholar Guo is really wily, only knowing how to avoid and refusing to face this most important lesson in life.”

Li Yuan said proudly, “Whatever we do, there must be a goal so why do we only choose to ignore the question of our existence. Since heaven has given us precious life, we should burn brightly and warmly just like the colorful lanterns hanging high on the trees, only then will our lives not be lived in vain.”

Xiang Shaolong has to admit that there is some truth and imagination behind this person’s words. He looked at the ladies around, Zhao Ya’s eyes revealed a look of intoxication, Ji Yanran was concentrating very hard on his words too while Zhao Zhi and Guo Xiu’er paused in their private talk to listen intently.

Xiang Shaolong secretly thought that this doesn’t look well so after searching through his mind, he said, “What Brother Li said is just an attitude towards life, but it’s not a conclusion about the meaning of life and death.” Guo Kai and Han Chuang both revealed a look of surprise for they did not expect this unrefined man’s mind and observation skills would be so intricate.

Li Yuan chortled and said, “Well said Mister Dong, but just like what Zhuang Zi said, ‘when man take what is small and try to fill up what is great, they will end up confused and will not achieve their end’. As long as we’re being restricted within life and death, we can never find the answer about life and death, just like the snake in summer will not know what is the snow and ice of winter. So the only thing we can do is to have an attitude to achieve something so that we will not waste our short lives.’ He spoke flowingly, melodiously and with such feelings that he really has the charisma of a debater that will stun others into admiration. No wonder even Ji Yanran is looking at him differently. For the moment Xiang Shaolong was speechless.

Li Yuan saw his expression and was secretly laughing. There’s no way he will let him off so he pretended to be humble and sought his opinion, “And what is Mister Dong’s attitude towards life?”

Of course Xiang Shaolong can randomly find some words to say but if he wants make it sound even more impressively than this person, there’s no way he could even if he wanted to.

Han Chuang is now on the same side as him so he helped ease the situation by saying, “Tonight’s discussion is really unique and interesting, why don’t we pause for now and continue during the feast!” Zhao Ya said unhappily, “It was such an exciting discussion yet you’re in such a hurry to start the feast. Zhao Ya still wants to hear more of Mister Li’s excellent theories!”

Ji Yanran said gently, “We haven’t given Mister Dong the chance to speak?”

Looking at Ji Yanran’s expectant eyes, he remembered his mission to pursue her publicly so how can he make himself look so useless? Just as he was lamenting, he suddenly had an idea and remembered that he once heard of a story in his era, and maybe he can use it to reflect the situation now. He walked to the bridge and came next to Ji Yanran. He first looked deeply into her eyes before revealing his white and perfect teeth to Zhao Ya in a slight smile before he turned around and placed both his hands on the side of the bridge, lifting his head to look at the night sky. The moon up in the sky was pure and bright, round and so far away.

Everyone knows that he has something to say but they have no idea what kind of insight he could give that can be better than Li Yuan’s so they all breathed steadily and quietly, getting ready to concentrate on his words.

************************************************** *

What modern story will he be using? Harry potter, transformers, hidden dragon crouching tiger or.... ???

[kamensilver]

Thanks for feeding us our addiction and a happy birthday to your daughter.

hmmmm I don't think he'll use any movies theme to answer the question, perhaps a religous one?

[Han Solo]

He's gonna use Li Bai's poems?? Perfect setup with beauties and moon.

Btw, Jean, cute little kiddo that you got there. Her head is smaller than the dog's. hehe.

Thanks for the translation.

Han Solo

[SkyWalker]

Awwwww....your daughter & your dog are both soooo adorable!!!!

Thanks for the great work on the translation Jean! Much appreciated.

I agree w/ Han Solo...I think he's going to use the Li Bai's famous poem. Once he started to look at the sky and the moon, the first thought that came to mind was Li Bai. Can't wait for the next translation!

[ROI]

Awwwww....your daughter & your dog are both soooo adorable!!!!

Thanks for the great work on the translation Jean! Much appreciated.

I agree w/ Han Solo...I think he's going to use the Li Bai's famous poem. Once he started to look at the sky and the moon, the first thought that came to mind was Li Bai. Can't wait for the next translation!

can't be li bai if it's a story from the modern era.

[gqonmars2]

Well, he should whip out some Shakespeare, that would do it.

-- quote

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

gosh, how people write like that

Thanks Jean.

[smurf120]

such a cute baby! I thought she was only 6-7 months too. Probably since I associated the story hiatus to December/winter vacation.


Can't believe XSL invocation on philiosopy will make for a cliff hanger also!

[nexus]

Hi Jean,

You sure got a lovely baby and nice irish setter.

Thanks for the translations, you are doing a superb job.

Nex

[akolaw]

something much more profound than that

[Shi-Potian]

Thanks jean appreciate the updates!

[Jean]

Hi Jean,

You sure got a lovely baby and nice irish setter.

Thanks for the translations, you are doing a superb job.

Nex

Haha Nexus, he's a golden retriever actually.... just on a deeper gold color.

[Jean]

end of chapter!


************************************************** *

The corners of Li Yuan’s mouth curved up into a slight sniggering smile.

Ji Yanran closed her beautiful eyes, she is confident that Xiang Shaolong will certainly say something philosophical that will make one contemplate over. To her, nothing is more interesting than contemplating over life’s questions and this is also the reason why she became good friends with Zou Yan. She fell in love with Xiang Shaolong because his words are refreshing and exceptional, different from the others.

Xiang Shaolong’s hoarse voice said slowly, “A tourist was walking in the desert, when suddenly a pack of hungry wolves appeared behind him, running after him so that they could feast on him.”

Everyone was alarmed but at the same time they felt a great interest for they did not expect him to suddenly tell a story. Just like how Zhuang Zi likes to use fables to portray his thoughts.

Xiang Shaolong’s voice reverberated through the quiet night, giving it an inexplicable feeling of mystery and power, especially when the topic is about the unfathomable question of life and death.

He continued in a very slow tempo, “He was startled and started running madly, fighting on for his life.”

Guo Xiu’er exclaimed ‘Ah’ and said, “How can he run faster than hungry wolves in the desert, he will certainly die!”

The rest of them smiled on hearing that but did not say anything because they all want to continue listening, even Li Yuan was no exception. But when he saw how pretty Ji Yanran looked with her eyes closed, looking so obedient and concentrated, he can’t help but feel jealousy burn in him.

Xiang Shaolong smiled and said, “No need to panic! Just as the hungry wolves were about to catch up with him, he saw a well in front which he has no idea how deep it could be and jumped in without a thought.”

Zhao Ya heaved a sigh of relief and asked, “The well is certainly filled with water, right?”

Xiang Shaolong looked at the little stream below him and shook his head, “Not only is it dry, there’s also a lot of poisonous snakes and on seeing that there’s food being delivered right to their door, they all raised their heads and hissed, waiting in anticipation.”

This time it was Ji Yanran’s turn to exclaim ‘ah!’ as she opened her pretty eyes and turned her dainty body around to look at him and ask, “What should he do? Why don’t he turn back and fight with the hungry wolves for poisonous snakes are more frightening than wolves.” Han Chuang laughed, “Women are all afraid of snakes and Miss Ji is no exception.”

Xiang Shaolong looked at Ji Yanran and said gently, “In his panic, he started grabbing around for something that might save his life and unexpectedly, heaven is fulfilling his wish and he grabbed a small tree that was growing horizontally between the well so he was suspended in midair.” Everyone remained quiet for they knew there will be more to the story.

Zhao Ya’s eyes lit up for in this instance, her heart only sees this man who is even more special and unfathomable than Li Yuan.

Xianf Shaolong continued, “Therefore the hungry wolves are above and the poisonous snakes are below. Although that person is in a dire situation where he can neither advance nor retreat but at the moment at least, he is safe.”

Everyone started to have some understanding. What Xiang Shaolong said is the reflection of life for when between life and death, who would not be in the situation whereby he cannot advance or retreat?

He continued, “Just as he was heaving a sigh of relief, he heard a strange noise. He turned towards where the noise was coming from in fear and was shocked to see a large number of rats chewing on the roots of the tree with their sharp teeth. This life saving tree has not much time left.” Guo Xiu’er and Zhao Zhi both cried out at the same time.

Xiang Shaolong looked deeply into Ji Yanran’s eyes, as if he’s telling this story only to her, “Just at this instant between life and death, he saw in front of his eyes on a leaf, a drop of honey. Therefore he forgot about the hungry wolves above, the poisonous snakes below and the small tree that was almost gnawed in half by the rats but closed his eyes and extended his tongue, totally concentrated on tasting that drop of honey.”

The bridge was so still that there was no noise at all except for the faint rush of the stream flowing past.

Xiang Shaolong stretched lazily and said, “And to me, that drop of honey is the meaning to life!”

No one spoke for even people like Guo Kai and Han Chuang who only knows how to hanker after wealth and fame, had their worries stirred up and they could relate with him.

Li Yuan saw that everyone was touched by Xiang Shaolong’s extremely deep thoughts on this matter and was feeling upset so he broke the silence and asked, “Where did this fable come from?”

Xiang Shaolong smiled and said, “The horses told me!” He then chortled and said, “I’m hungry!”

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