Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 67: Presumptuous Conjecture

However, a couple people actually noticed Ji Yuan in the corner. When the restaurant staff member led him to the side just now, many people had seen him.

Ji Yuan and the shop assistant spoke in low voices. Others could not hear them clearly, so their normal understanding of the incident was: a poor, disheveled, down-on-his-luck man came into Huike House and wanted to eat. The people in the restaurant were afraid of him affecting their business, so in the end they brought the man to sit in an out-of-the-way corner.

Just by looking at his appearance, no one could imagine that Ji Yuan would order such a large table of dishes. They predicted that it would probably be just some steamed buns with boiled water, and at most a portion of pickled vegetables.

Naturally, some people whispered about Ji Yuan, and many of their phrases included words such as “poor man” and “smelly.”

Ji Yuan didn’t care whatsoever. They could just eat their own food, he didn’t want leftovers from their table. Who could know, when his dishes were served, they might surprise everyone.

However, as he waited, Ji Yuan had also been paying attention to some interesting things. For example, three or four tables away from him sat a man wearing a Taoist robe and holding a bamboo whisk.¹ Next to him was a child about fourteen or fifteen years old, also dressed in a Taoist robe.

This was the first time Ji Yuan had seen a Taoist priest in this world. Of course, this man was just an ordinary Taoist priest, not an immortal master.

The pair seemed to have encountered some difficulties.

The Taoist boy was holding a bowl of water and gulping it down. After drinking, he wiped his mouth and asked the Taoist priest next to him with a worried look on his face.

“Master, we’ve already almost spent all money on these dishes. We can only eat steamed buns and cabbage this time. When will we be able to return to Du Yun Monastery?”²

“There’s no rush for the money. After eating this meal, I will find a street corner to set up a fortune-telling stall. I’ll be able to earn some money for food. As for the return trip, we’ll have to take our time.”

The Taoist priest also drank water to fill his stomach, responding to his disciple’s complaints. However, when the latter heard that he was going to set up a fortune-telling stall, he immediately grew a little anxious.

“Master, you’re going to set up a stall to tell fortunes again… Don’t… Last time in Qingliu County, someone knocked over the stall and beat us up. You haven’t learned your lesson yet!”

“Hey, don’t mention that again. I’ve learned my lesson this time. I’ll say only what should be said, and only the good things. I won’t speak of anything bad until the day I die. I’ll definitely stop while I’m ahead, focus on making money first, and just ignore those vicious people.”

The Taoist priest also seemed a little ashamed of his past. His current self-confidence weakened a lot.

“You always say that…”

The disciple muttered in a low voice. It was likely that the Taoist priest didn’t hear him, but Ji Yuan heard it clearly, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Interesting. No matter how one looked at it, they seemed like two buffoons, or one big clown and one worried apprentice.

“Sir, your white steamed buns and braised cabbage are ready. Please enjoy!”

A waiter came with a large wooden tray to serve the dishes. He brought out the steamed buns and cabbage for the master and the apprentice and set them on the table, and then left to serve dishes to other tables.

The Taoist priest gaze and the boy’s eyes clearly met over the bowls of meat and vegetables on the waiter’s second wooden tray. Only after the other party had left did they reluctantly move their gaze back to their own table.

“Hey…let’s eat…”

“Yeah…”

The two of them sighed like eggplants that had been withered by frost.³

This really made Ji Yuan amused. It wasn’t that he was unkind, but rather the atmosphere was quite comical.

“Sir, your dishes are ready! This is the braised pork elbow, steamed rice cake, boiled cabbage, stir-fried turnips, and pickled radish. The old hen soup and stewed three delicacies are more labor-intensive, so please wait a moment!”

The waiter who brought the dishes to Ji Yuan’s table called out the names, then placed the dishes on the table.

The waiter at Huike House had a habit of announcing the names of the dishes particularly loudly when serving tables that had ordered intricate dishes, as if he wanted to be heard not only by the people in the hall, but also by the people in the street outside. When he served the dishes to the Taoist master and his disciple, his voice had been much quieter.

However, combined with Ji Yuan’s previous impression in people’s minds, the dishes he ordered showed a big contrast. Many people appeared to be nothing special on the surface, but deep down harbored a surprise.

The waiter had just put down the last plate of pickled radish and was about to leave when Ji Yuan stopped him and looked at the master and disciple pair.

“Waiter, please tell the two Taoist priests over there that I would like to invite them over for a meal together.”

Having said those words, Ji Yuan took another look at his own appearance and added another sentence.

“Well, if they don’t mind.”

With the fun he had experienced just now, Ji Yuan was willing to take the trouble to treat them to a meal. And from the content of their previous words, it seemed that the Taoist fortune-teller was not merely a charlatan.

“Uh… okay, I’ll tell them!”

The waiter carried the wooden tray and ran to the table where the Taoist master and his disciple were eating steamed buns and cabbage.

“Well, sirs, the gentleman at the corner said that if you two don’t mind, you can go over there and eat together. Yes, it’s the man smiling at us.”

The two Taoists, one big and one small, looked in the direction the waiter was pointing.

“Him? He can pay the bill himself… Whether he can afford it or not, Xiaowen, let’s go!”

The Taoist priest muttered something and smiled at the waiter, then hurriedly brought his disciple to Ji Yuan’s table, not forgetting to bring his own white steamed buns and braised cabbage with him.

As he pulled the bench back and sat himself down on it, the Taoist priest introduced himself.

“Uh, heh heh… I don’t know what this gentleman’s name is. I am Diviner⁴ Qi Xuan, also known as Taoist Qingsong, and this is my apprentice Qi Wen. Might I know why you took the initiative to invite us, this master and disciple pair, to a meal?”

At this moment, the Taoist boy didn’t say a word. He just sat in his seat and stared at the dishes.

“My name is Ji Yuan. It’s just that I rarely see Taoist priests. I wanted to invite you to have a meal together so that I could see something new.”

Neither of them greeted each other, they just moved straight to chatting.

“Oh, alright…”⁵

The Taoist was suddenly stunned and stopped halfway through his words when he realized that Ji Yuan’s eyes were bright, but pale. The words, “are you blind?” got stuck in his throat, and he nearly blurted them out.

“Okay, okay, let’s stop talking for now and eat. The food won’t taste as good when it’s cold.”

Ji Yuan knew that if he didn’t say anything, the master and disciple would still be cautious and not pick up their chopsticks without his approval.

“It just so happens that you ordered the white steamed buns, and I forgot to order rice. Alright, they perfectly complement!”

As he spoke, Ji Yuan took the lead and grabbed a steamed bun, taking a bite, then stretched out his chopsticks to pick up some vegetables to eat. The master and disciple on the side couldn’t restrain themselves any longer, and started eating as well.

Although their situations were slightly different, the three of them all hadn’t tasted delicious food for a long time, so they couldn’t stop eating and enjoyed the dishes very much.

Ji Yuan’s manners when eating were not bad, as he had formed this habit over the past few months. His actions in picking up the food, chewing, and swallowing were all graceful, and his eating speed was surprisingly not too slow.

The two Taoists, master and apprentice, were eating so voraciously that it was a wonder they didn’t choke.

With this contrast, the diners at the nearby tables who were paying attention to this scene saw a strange illusion forming, as if Ji Yuan, who was dressed in slovenly, dirty, and smelly clothes, had an imposing demeanor, was while the two Taoists, one old and one young, were two down-on-their-luck men.

As the remaining dishes arrived, Ji Yuan ordered two more plates of side dishes and three large bowls of rice. The three of them ate together⁶ and polished off most of the dishes on the table.

In the end, the master and disciple each ate half a bowl of old hen soup, and finally couldn’t eat any more.

Watching the two Taoists, master and disciple, rubbing their stomachs with contented looks, Ji Yuan smiled.

“You two Taoists priests, are you not going to eat any more?”

“Oh burp! I’m full, I’m full…”

“I can’t eat any more! I’m so full…”

“Haha, well then, I’ll take care of the rest.”

Afterwards, Ji Yuan swept away the all of the leftovers on the entire table in a flash, not even leaving any chicken soup. The master and disciple were a little stunned.

After Ji Yuan finished the last bite of cabbage, he put down his chopsticks and waved towards the inside of the store.

“Waiter, please bring the bill!”

“Okay, sir!”

As soon as they heard the call to collect money, shop owners would be at their most efficient. A meal cost more than a hundred coins, and counting the copper coins was too troublesome, so Ji Yuan just gave a small piece of silver and asked the waiter to take it to the counter to be weighed and to settle the payment.

Seeing that Ji Yuan really had the money to pay the bill, both the master and the disciple breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sir, a Taoist priest is just a head, two hands, and two legs.⁷ If you want to see one, you could just take a look from a distance. You are a kind person to treat us to a meal. Why don’t I tell your fortune?”

“Fortune-telling? That’s interesting. Does the Taoist priest want to calculate with my eight characters,⁸ or read my face and palm?”⁹

“It’s best to use the eight characters, but face readings and palmistry also okay.”

“Okay, let’s use the eight characters first.”

Ji Yuan smiled and reported his birth date and eight characters from his previous life.¹⁰ Thanks to his uncle-in-law,¹¹ Ji Yuan had known his eight characters since he was very young. All of the fortune tellers at that time said that his birth date and eight characters were good.

After hearing his eight characters, the Taoist narrowed his eyes and calculated carefully. His good horoscope did not seem to be true. However, a while, Taoist Qingsong’s frown deepened more and more, and finally he looked up at Ji Yuan.

“You lied to me, right? These are your characters?”

“I guarantee it!”

Ji Yuan answered very naturally. He didn’t know his horoscope in this life, but the horoscope of his previous life must still be his own, right?

“You’re lying! If this was your fate, you would already be dead!”

“Master!!!”

The disciple to the side was very anxious. He was sweating a lot more since he had just eaten. His master had casually said such offending words again.

“Uh… oh, that, just now, ha, I misspoke, I misspo…”

The Taoist priest was halfway through spitting out the word “spoke” when he suddenly felt dizzy. His chest felt extremely tight. In the end, he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

The world spun around him…

“Pfft-“

A mouthful of blood sprayed over half of the counter, and Taoist Qingsong fainted directly on the table.

1. Bamboo whisks (chasens) are a standard implement in tea serving rituals, used to dissolve a brick of tea in hot water or froth a drink. ↩︎
2. 杜云 (dù yún): “Cloud Stopping,” 观 (guàn): Taoist monastery, translated as “monastery” or “temple” interchangeably. I’ll do my best to keep “Temple” for the spirits/Land & City gods, and “Monastery” for the Taoist/monk locations ↩︎
3. Look up “frost-withered eggplants” and laugh at how shriveled this imagery is 😀 ↩︎
4. 小道 (xiǎodào): this was a tricky one. In this context it specifically references “minor arts,” defined as “Confucian reference to agriculture, medicine, divination, and other professions unworthy of a gentleman,” so a man who has mastered an unorthodox path. It could also mean bribery. I decided on “Diviner” since that matched with the context, but just know that it’s a much broader term. Let me know if you think I should leave it as “Xiaodao.” ↩︎
5. Single character is 细 (xì), likely part of a composite word or phrase that I just don’t have the context for. Closest equivalent is “fine” or “nice.” ↩︎
6. Lit: “opened their stomachs together” XD ↩︎
7. i.e. also a regular human being ↩︎
8. Eight characters, also known as the Four Pillars of Destiny, refer to the characters assigned to your birth year, month, day, and hour, with 2 characters for each. ↩︎
9. T/n: If I tried giving an overview here it would be like 5 paragraphs. If you’re curious, feel free to take a look at the Chinese zodiac, Mien Shiang, palmistry and general Chinese fortune telling. ↩︎
10. T/n: LOL this fortune-teller guy is going to get so confused, Ji Yuan what did you expect XD ↩︎
11. husband of paternal aunt ↩︎