Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 54: Brother Yin Is the Only One

“Rumble…”

At this moment, there was a faint sound of thunder in the sky. Ji Yuan looked up. In addition to the clear sight of lightning in the distance, he could also vaguely see that the sky was fully overcast. It should rain soon.

“Sunny days are good, rain is even better, this is a good sign!”

After coming to this world, perhaps because of the relationship between his eyesight and his hearing, rainy days have become Ji Yuan’s favorite weather. To be precise, moderate rainfall was best, not to light nor too heavy.

No matter how normal Ji Yuan’s actions seemed to outsiders, they couldn’t hide the fact that his eyesight was bad. Only on rainy days could the world in Ji Yuan’s heart become particularly clear.

After picking up the willow branches that Yin Qing picked yesterday and briefly washing himself, Ji Yuan picked up an oil-paper umbrella and went out to the street.

Walking down the streets of Tian Niu Lane, the previous fragrance of jujube flowers had disappeared. Perhaps the neighbors on Tian Niu Lane would feel that something was wrong when getting up today, but they wouldn’t be able to tell what. Maybe those who were more sensitive would identify that it was the fragrance.

However, Ji Yuan, at least, hadn’t had any of the villagers he had met ask him about the fragrance of the flowers.

After leaving Tian Niu Lane, he arrived on the street.

Ji Yuan happened to hold his umbrella above his head two seconds before the rain began to fall. He listened to the raindrops falling on all sides of the street, and even on the pedestrians and street dogs who were caught off guard, and he couldn’t help but show a knowing smile.

At this moment, everything in Ning’an County within the range of his hearing was completely “alive” in Ji Yuan’s heart!

Despite having lived in Ju’an Pavilion for several months, there weren’t many rainy days. On the contrary, now that he was about to leave, it was close to the time of Mangzhong,¹ in the rainy season of Huangmei.²

If there were meticulous people who could observe Ji Yuan walking in the rain at that moment, they would find that, even though the lower body was difficult to shield with an umbrella, Ji Yuan was still not wet.

“Mr. Ji~! Do you want to eat braised noodles today? There is beef offal, which is rare!”

Passing by the Sun Ji Noodle Stand, Old Man Sun under the awning shouted to Ji Yuan, who was holding an umbrella. Ji Yuan turned around and could vag uely see that there were many diners and passers-by sheltering there from the rain.

“No, I have something to do at the City God Temple!”

“Okay, then walk slowly. Do you want me to leave you a beef offal?”

“No need!”

Ji Yuan politely declined and walked towards the City God Temple.

Due to the rain, the number of people on the streets plummeted. The same was true for the Temple of the City God on the Temple Administration Lane. Walking into the temple, like a commoner paying for blessings, he bought some sandalwood from a vendor who had moved to the front hall. He then went to the main hall to burn three sticks of incense for the county’s City God.

As soon as the incense was inserted, Ji Yuan bowed slightly towards the statue of the City God, and then left the temple and headed towards the outer temple building opposite.

Stepping into the gate of the building outside the temple, he saw that there was a busy scene inside. After all, many people came inside to shelter from the rain. Those who had spare money bought a pot of tea, and many went up to the second floor to listen to stories and join in the fun.

“Oh, it’s Mr. Ji!! Please come in, come in. Are you still ordering takeaway cakes today?”

A waiter who knew Ji Yuan warmly came over to entertain him.

“No. Is there room on the third floor? Prepare to order something to eat there. Some friends will come over!”

“Alright, alright, come with me, there are plenty of empty seats on the third floor!”

By the window railing on the third floor, after Ji Yuan was seated, a table of signature pastries from the outer-temple building and a pot of Niu Kui Mountain camellia tea that had just been picked this spring were quickly served. Since there was no need to cook them beforehand, they were brought out quickly.

Just a few minutes later, an old man in a black robe went up to the third floor and bowed to Ji Yuan from a distance. Ji Yuan quickly stood up and returned the salute.

“Mr. Ji, how are you doing recently?”

After Ji Yuan arrived in Ning’an County, except for that first time, he had only met the Old City God once. This was the third time, but there were no reservations between the two sides.

“Hello, Mr. Song! Thanks to you, I am living a very comfortable life!”

The two sat down, and Ji Yuan didn’t prevaricate.³

“I, Ji, have come to say goodbye to Lord Song at this time. I have something to do, and am planning to visit other states in this country, and some outside of it. I just wish to ask Lord Song for one thing.”

Old City God picked up a piece of rice cake, brought it to his mouth, and smelled it. He only bit off a small corner and tasted it. A burst of white air came out of one half of the pastry and went into his mouth. The part remaining in his hand was put back on the plate.⁴

“Please speak, Mr. Ji. If I, Song, can help, I will never refuse.”

“Well, Lord Song has sent his officers to give me bamboo slips several times, which have helped me a lot. You also know that I have difficulty with my eyesight, so I hoped to ask Lord Song for a map which roughly has the country of Da Zhen and its surroundings engraved into it.”

When Ji Yuan said this, he was just asking for a copy of the engraving.

“That is easy to do. The Martial Judge will personally supervise this matter tonight. I wonder how small an engraving Mr. Ji can discern?”

“As long as the order is clear, even the smallest detail can be distinguished!”

After the City God finished tasting the second piece of cake, he fixed his eyes on Ji Yuan.

“Okay, I’m sure Mr. Ji will be satisfied!”

Conversations between smart people were easy. After the business was finished, the two chatted while eating, and then dispersed after they had finished the food on the table.

After the two of them paid and left, a shop assistant came upstairs to clean the table.

She walked up to the table with brisk small steps, and saw that more than half of the pastries were still on the table. They looked whole.

“This…”

The shop assistant looked around, and saw that no one was paying attention. He grabbed a piece with a smile stuffed it into his mouth to chew.

“Nom nom… The dry powder is still very astringent… Which master chef in this building made it?”

He picked out a few more pieces to try.

“Nom, nom, nom… It’s so damn unreasonable!!”⁵

. . .

The fact that the jujube tree in Ju’an Pavilion bore fruit overnight really shocked Yin Zhaoxian’s family.

What was more, the Yin family’s father and son had heard Ji Yuan lamenting only yesterday that he couldn’t eat this year’s jujube, and the next day there were lots of fruits. This mystery was enough to amaze ordinary people for a lifetime.

The jujubes in the courtyard were plump and attractive in color. When they tasted it, their mouth was filled with saliva, and when they swallowed it, it left a fragrant aroma on their lips and teeth.

However, Ji Yuan only distributed some jujubes to the Yin family for the time being, and did not pass them out in the market, so as to avoid everyone’s surprise.

He had thought he would receive the City God’s engraving in one night, but he hadn’t expected to wait three days.

When Ji Yuan held it in his hand, he discovered that it was three pieces of jet black wood strips, each three fingers wide and two palms long, threaded together by thin threads with small buckles at the top and bottom. The stack made a paperweight of decent size, and, when unfolded and put together, it was a carved map.

The mountains, rivers, and waters in this image were meticulous, and the textures were not cluttered. There were also many place names all around. Overall, it was better than what Ji Yuan expected!

On the night of the third day, Ji Yuan thought about it and felt that he still had to leave something for the Yin family. He didn’t know how long he would be out.

So, a few months after coming to this world, he picked up the calligraphy brush for the second time.

“Then I, Ji, will act like a literary youth this time!”

In the blink of an eye, the spiritual energy of his body was poured into his mental concentration, and the spiritual energy of the surroundings slowly gathered. The book was just a piece of rice paper. It was both a letter and a copybook. There were not many words, but it took Ji Yuan most of the night to write!

Early the next morning in Yin’s courtyard, when Yin Qing was the first to open the door and was about to run out, he found a letter falling from the crack in the door.

The words on the front read: “To be opened personally by Master Yin. Left by Ji Yuan.”

“Dad! Mr. Ji left a letter on the door!!!”

“Coming!”

Yin Zhaoxian’s voice came from inside the house. He was still arranging his clothes when he arrived in front of the door. Then he frowned and took the letter from Yin Qing’s hand.

‘If he left a message, then Mr. Ji may have left without saying goodbye? ’

Looking at the words on the envelope, the exclamation ‘good words!’⁶ sounded in his heart.

Then he carefully opened the letter, took out the folded rice paper and unfolded it, the contents of the letter came into view, and he also saw that Ji Yuan addressed him with a special title for the first time.

“Gift to Yin Zhaoxian

I became acquainted with you after Guyu,⁷ and we are parting ways in Mangzhong. For a while, when I lived in the small pavilion, you were my only friend in this county.

Remembering our first meeting at the stall, it felt shallow, with laughter and words, and Brother Yin seemed aloof;

However, although you are only a county scholar, you are worthy of the books of the sages. You know truths⁸ and are good at learning. You are good at studying but do not assume yourself to be correct. You learn and practice, and encourage and strengthen yourself;

A gentleman seeks the righteous path to his desires, while the common people find joy in not disturbing others. Who embodies this? Ning’an County’s Yin Zhaoxian;

It is a pity that the bright moon cannot always be in the sky, that there is no endless banquet in this world. I left, alone on this night with the stars hanging in the sky. Please don’t blame me: ⁹

I left without saying goodbye, and left you a letter before I went. To sit across from each other and play chess once more, we will meet again in time;

I hope you will teach and educate people meticulously, that your contribution to the country will take more than a brief moment in history, that your mind remains as good as it was before, from the beginning to the end;

In the future, you will write books and biographies, benefiting the children of hundreds of families, educating the people of the world, and be the father of a great era of Confucians;

When the time is right, you will travel the mountains and rivers, tread heaven and earth, face tumultuous waves without changing your countenance, move calmly even in rough waters, have countless experiences, and have righteousness in your heart!”

When Yin Zhaoxian read the last word, his scalp felt a little numb, and the muscles of his arms and legs were tensed and trembling uncontrollably.

He took a deep breath, faced the sky outside the door, raised his chest, and clasped his hands behind his back, with infinite ambitions brewing in his heart!

. . .

On the official road dozens of miles outside of Ning’an County, Ji Yuan raised his right hand with a bewildered look, and a phantom chess piece vanished in a flash.

“Uh… this… what’s going on?”

T/n: that whole letter section reads like a prose poem, and was absolutely a headache to translate

1. 芒种 (Mángzhòng) 9th of the 24 solar terms, in our calendar between 5-6 June and 20-21 June. The traditional Chinese lunisolar (sun & moon) calendar is divided into 24 periods that match astronomical events or phenomena. Time varies slightly each year since the Sun’s speed along the ecliptic varies. ↩︎
2. Mid-June to early-/mid-July, characterized by continuous rain and high humidity, specifically in the southern half of China. Literal translation is “yellow plum season” since that’s the season when the plums are yellow and mature. ↩︎
3. Lit: talk nonsense ↩︎
4. T/n: reminder that the City God & associates are spirits/non-mortals, they “eat” the spiritual energy, not the thing itself. ↩︎
5. Basically what’s happening here is that the food that the City God “ate” wasn’t eaten, per se, just had the spiritual energy sucked out of it. That’s why it tastes horrible now. (That waiter is valid, though, I would do the same thing) Also one of the Chinese commenters remarked on this line, “it turns out that the school cafeteria gives us food that the gods have eaten all day long” which… I whEEEEZE- ↩︎
6. In the sense of: “beautiful calligraphy!” ↩︎
7. Guyu is the 6th solar term, from ~April 20th to ~May 5th. Marks beginning of warmer temperatures and the onset of the rainy season. ↩︎
8. 理 (lǐ): inner essence / intrinsic order / reason / logic / truth / science / natural science (esp. physics) / to manage / to pay attention to / to run (affairs). Another word whose myriad meanings get lost in translation ↩︎
9. T/n: some of the original Chinese commenters really clarified this translation for me. Apparently it’s either a reference to or in the style of a Chinese farewell poem, which explains the flowery language. ↩︎