Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 38: Pay Attention to Virtue

When Ji Yuan had finished he stood there, fallen leaves and the dust in the small courtyard still spinning endlessly.

There were no clocks, no watches, no internet, and no mobile phones, but now J Yuan’s biological clock had become extremely accurate. This was not because Ji Yuan was special, but rather that almost everyone in this world was the same way.

People with regular schedules for work and rest had an accurate sense of time, even on Earth in the 21st century.

It was almost evening now, and Ji Yuan was planning to go out for dinner.

In his last life, Ji Yuan only knew how to cook egg fried rice.¹ He had never cooked much, and hadn’t yet learned any recipes in this life. Plus, he found it troublesome to cook, so he always ate out to solve the problem. Anyway, it only cost at most a dozen to twenty coins.

After straightening his clothes and brushing his hair, Ji Yuan went out. There was no need to lock the courtyard, since no one dared come here anyway.

He walked around Tian Niu Square, picking a familiar shortcut. Occasionally, he encountered one or two residents of Tian Niu Square, most of whom would avoid him, and some of whom wouldn’t even say hello when passing by.

After half a month, pretty much everyone had figured out that Ji Yuan lived in Ju’an Pavilion. It was better not to mess with such an unlucky place.

Ji Yuan didn’t take it seriously. With his hands crossed him,² he took to the streets with his characteristic chic style.

After exiting the square entrance, it seemed that the outside suddenly became lively, and there were noises from the streets all around him.

After practicing martial arts, Ji Yuan’s walking speed had significantly improved. After walking for seven or eight minutes, he arrived at the Sun Ji Noodle Stall, which was one of the stores Ji Yuan usually frequented.

The stall was covered overhead with a large white cloth and oil paper with standing supports, with four small tables and a wooden cart underneath. This was Teacher³ Sun’s main employment.

Old Man Sun spotted Ji Yuan approaching from afar.

“Hey, Mr. Ji is here! I haven’t seen you for two days, please take a seat!”

Ji Yuan could smell the aroma of the food from the noodle stall as he approached. Hearing the familiar greeting, he responded with a smile.

“Is there any offal⁴ today?”

“Yes! Yes! I thought Mr. Ji would come by today, so I kept some good things for you! There was an old farm cow that died outside the city, so I received lots of cow offal. It’s much harder to find than haggis!”⁵

Teacher Sun was very good at talking.⁶ Those who ran small businesses focused on retaining repeat customers.

Moreover, this Mr. Ji should be a learned man. Seeing the man’s eyes, his other regulars mentioned that he might be blind, but he walked just like an ordinary person. This was a rare sight, so some diners privately commented Mr. Ji was a strange person.

“Okay, okay. Give me a bowl of braised noodles and a bowl of beef offal!”

Ji Yuan sat down with a smile and ordered his own dinner. Although the seasonings for Master Sun’s beef offal were simple, it had no fishy smell and was very delicious, since the ingredients were of good quality.

“Okay!”

Old Man Sun quickly got to work.

Not far away, the father and son of the Yin family were in the middle of going home after having finished their work for school. Because school was about to start, Yin Zhaoxian left early and returned late very often these days, and Yin Qing frequently went to help. Today was a rare day where they could come back early.

As they passed this street intersection, Yin Qing’s eyes lit up when he saw Ji Yuan in front of the noodle stall. He quickly pulled his father’s sleeve to make him notice Ji Yuan as well.

Yin Zhaoxian had wanted to visit Ji Yuan for a while. Now that half a month had passed and Mr. Ji’s complexion was rosy and he was safe and sound, he became more and more convinced of the changes in Ju’an Pavilion.

Looking at Ji Yuan, he didn’t seem to have noticed the father and son. He might as well seize this opportunity.⁷ Yin Zhaoxian thought for a moment, then deliberately pulled Yin Qing around for a certain distance, then walked back towards Sun Ji Noodle Stall, as if just having noticed something.

“Master Sun, please bring two bowls of braised noodles!”

Yin Zhaoxian greeted the noodle stall owner from nearby with a smile on his face. Old Man Sun, who was busy making Ji Yuan’s noodles, was very enthusiastic at the sight of Yin Zhaoxian.

“Hey, Master⁸ Yin!!! Come, come, please sit down, have a seat!”

The opening of a school in the county was a major event for the people of Ning’an, and Yin Zhaoxian, the prospective headmaster, knew a lot of people by now.

“Yeah!”

Yin Zhaoxian responded lightly, brushed off his clothes, and led Yin Qing to an empty table, then seemed to have suddenly discovered Ji Yuan.

“Hey, are you Mr. Ji? I heard that there was a new elegant scholar living in the square. If it weren’t for the heavy workload of this new school, I would have wanted to visit by now!”

Yin Qing’s face flushed; this was the first time he saw his father pretending so well.

Ji Yuan had just noticed the father and son of the Yin family, but he didn’t know what the two of them were doing when they walked past and then turned back. When they came over to the noodle stall, he realized that they wanted to “encounter” him by chance, and he just barely stopped himself from laughing.

“Indeed, Master Yin from Tian Niu Square is very knowledgeable. I have heard much about you since long ago!”

Ji Yuan turned his head in the direction of the Yin family father and son, allowing Yin Zhaoxian to see his pale eyes for the first time.

“This must be your son Xiao Yin Qing, right? Such a good child must indeed be from a scholarly family!”

“Mr. Ji, you still remember me?”

Yin Qing looked curiously at the gentleman, a little embarrassed.

“Hahaha, I will always remember the kindness of that load of water! If the two of you don’t mind, how about sharing a table with me? Of course, if Xiao Yin Qing is afraid, just pretend I didn’t say anything!”

Yin Qing scratched his head in embarrassment. He understood that Mr. Ji still remembered that he did not dare enter Ju’an Pavilion at that time.

“We wouldn’t dare refuse Mr. Ji’s invitation. Qing’er, let’s sit down!”

Yin Zhaoxian got what he wanted, so he immediately sat down with his son.

“The noodles are ready!! Mr. Ji, Master Yin, young Master Yin, here are your braised noodles! The beef offal will take a little longer!”

Old Man Sun brought the food and placed it on the table.

“Okay, thank you!”

Ji Yuan smiled and nodded to Master Sun. Yin Zhaoxian, who was sitting quietly, was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly thanked Master Sun.

As the saying went, there were scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.⁹ As the number one scholar in Ning’an County, Yin Zhaoxian would not look down on a street vendor like Old Man Sun, but he still considered himself to be superior in his heart. Not to mention, he was the one giving the shopkeeper business, so why thank him?

But Ji Yuan thanked him. If he didn’t thank him, wouldn’t it look like he was trying to act superior to Ji Yuan?

“Hey, it’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

Old Man Sun said. His face was red. When he went back, his speed at preparing the food was a lot faster. Mr. Ji thanked him every time, and not to mention, being thanked by Master Yin made Old Man Sun feel like he had been given a lot of face.¹⁰

Ji Yuan smiled and didn’t say anything, just took the chopsticks and started to eat the noodles.

Saying thank you to service staff and delivery people was a habit that Ji Yuan had kept from his previous life,¹¹ even before he had passed away.¹² In his past life, there were more and more people who had a similar habit to Ji Yuan.

But in this world, based on his observations during the time he had spent here, Ji Yuan found that subconscious class structure was very prevalent, even with those who were learned and sensible. That was why Ji Yuan felt even more that the County God was deserving of respect.

Seeing that Mr. Ji was eating noodles by himself, Yin Zhaoxian hesitated for a moment without speaking, then invited his son to eat together.

The atmosphere throughout the whole meal was a bit awkward. Mr. Ji didn’t seem to have any intention of chatting. As soon as the beef offal was served, he just invited the Yin family to eat together.

Ji Yuan did not consider himself to be a saint. Judging from Yin Qing’s character, Yin Zhaoxian was by no means a cold-hearted person, but Ji Yuan felt that a Master¹³ should do better. If his students were admitted to the imperial examination in the future, they would be serving as officials and help build the country.

When they had almost finished eating, Yin Zhaoxian scrambled to settle the bill. Ji Yuan didn’t say anything, but had a brief word with Yin Zhaoxian before leaving.

Yin Zhaoxian stood, stunned, for a long time, the words still reverberating in his mind.

“Master Yin, the peddler is the mirror of the country.¹⁴ A teacher values virtue, and should consider themselves a role model for others!”

Yin Qing was a little impatient at the noodle stall, and tugged at his father’s hand.

“Dad, Mr. Ji is gone, when are we going home?”

Yin Zhaoxian returned to his senses, looked at his son, and then at Old Man Sun, who was too busy to notice due to the increasing number of diners.

“Let’s go home. We’ll go to Ju’an Pavilion to visit Mr. Ji tomorrow morning.”

1. https://omnivorescookbook.com/egg-fried-rice/ ↩︎
2. Elegant/sophisticated style of walking ↩︎
3. 老师傅 (lǎoshī fù) respectful form of address for an older man, means “teacher” even though technically this guy is not Ji Yuan’s teacher in the literal sense. I’m going to keep it as “Teacher,” in the sense of “expert” or “Sir” ↩︎
4. Offal: the internal organs of a butchered animal. Some cultures consider eating it to be taboo, others consider it a delicacy, others throw it like rubbish, others find it an insult, others just eat it normally, it really depends. The French foie gras and pâté fall under the “delicacy” category, for instance, as does (probably) the stew in this chapter. ↩︎
5. Haggis: sheep offal as opposed to cow offal ↩︎
6. i.e. very good at flattering ↩︎
7. 择日不如撞日 Chinese idiom, lit. “carefully setting an auspicious date does not beat seizing an opportunity,” tl: seize the occasion. Comes from the tradition of choosing auspicious dates for important events like weddings, funerals, etc., and a reaction to that with people saying ‘there’s no point in prevaricating, just do it, let everything take its course’ ↩︎
8. 夫子 (fūzǐ) different term meaning vaguely “Master,” this is specifically used in Ancient China to refer to teachers and scholars – basically a learned man. Note that this is NOT 老师傅 (lǎoshī fù) “Teacher” used in footnote 3; ALSO not to be confused with 书生 (shūshēng), the literal title “Scholar” (as with “Scholar Lu” in chapter 6, for example). In the interests of differentiating all of them, I will be keeping footnote 3 as “Teacher,” the last one as “Scholar,” and this term as “Master.” Honorific translation wheeee ↩︎
9. Classification of occupations used by Confucian or Legalist scholars far back in Chinese history. These are the four classifications of jobs, in an idealistic system (commercialization also changed these classifications later). There’s theoretically no socioeconomic implication or status difference between the classes, although in practice that’s a little different, as we’ll see in the next sentence. ↩︎
10. Being shown respect ↩︎
11. T/n: and you guys had better all be doing the same ↩︎
12. 实际上以前看过一些令人心酸的新闻 T/n: I have no idea why this sentence fragment is here, it’s literally the opposite of what he’s trying to say. I translated it to make as much sense as possible in English. If someone could explain what this means I would greatly appreciate it ↩︎
13. Same as before. Think “Headmaster” ↩︎
14. i.e. the quality of life and self-respect of the lower-classes is indicative of the wealth and well-being of the country ↩︎