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Internalized fatphobia, misogynyHei Xin had hired a huge bunch of craftsmen to share the work and get things done. They not only had good skills, but the speed that they worked at was especially fast. In the span of a day, they’d widened the two rooms into one and crafted a new 12 chi11 chi is equal to 0.333 meters or 1.094 feet. So the new bed is about 4 meters or 13.1 feet wide. wide bed, as well as rushing the huge 12 chi wide bedclothes. And, Hei Xin was especially meticulous to have the base of the bed be made solid2The base of the bed is made of solid material, rather than hollowed out/empty inside. The author doesn’t indicate what kind of material, but I’m assuming it’s a wooden bed base. so that no matter how anyone lying on the bed tossed and turned, they would never be able to collapse the bed and bedding.
After nightfall, Wu Ruo stood in front of the large bed and stared at it for an entire two joss sticks of time3In the past, Chinese people measured time by how long it took for one joss stick to burn. For reference, this is a joss stick and it’s a kind of incense used for worship. It can be offered to deceased ancestors/family members, and also to gods and deities.
So, how long did it take for one joss stick to burn? According to Baidu, it takes 2 minutes and 30 seconds for one joss stick to burn. I’ve also seen Baidu results that say one joss stick takes 30 minutes to burn, but I think that’s referring to the bigger and thicker joss sticks like the ones in the background of this photo.. If it weren’t for the blankets on top of it, he was about to think that it wasn’t a bed but a small room instead.
He used the pillar of the bed as a support to sit down on the bed, and wondered in his heart, did Hei Xuanyi really intend to sleep together with him on the same bed?
But in his previous lifetime, the two of them had never slept together before. In this lifetime, could it be because his attitude had had some changes, so the situation had also changed accordingly?
Wu Ruo sighed.
Well, sharing a bed was just sharing a bed, that’s all. In any case, the bed was so big, if the two of them slept on one side each, it was as good as sleeping on separate beds. Besides, both he and Hei Xuanyi were both men. There was no need to be like a woman and worry that Hei Xuanyi would take advantage of him. And also, the him right now was so fat, how could Hei Xuanyi possibly take a fancy to him?
Wu Ruo curled his lips self-mockingly.
He thought too highly of himself, just because they would be sleeping together didn’t mean Hei Xuanyi would touch him.
Wu Ruo took the initiative to lie down beneath the covers.
Not long after, Hei Xuanyi walked into the room with hair that hadn’t dried through yet draped over his shoulders, took off the outer robes he was wearing, and laid down by Wu Ruo’s side. In a danzhi4More ancient Chinese methods of telling time! A danzhi supposedly refers to the time it takes to snap your fingers (with your middle finger and your thumb).
The word 弹指 (danzhi) means to snap your fingers, in modern usage. Baidu says a danzhi is about 5 seconds. I’m not sure if the author meant the modern usage (literally in the snap of your fingers) or the ancient Chinese measurement of danzhi (about 5 seconds).
In any case, there will be a reference in the glossary for all the ancient Chinese methods of telling time because I think they all show up at least once., the candle flames in the building instantly died out.
Wu Ruo wasn’t quite used to someone sleeping next to him, so he tossed and turned in bed, causing the cold wind to seep between the blankets, and couldn’t sleep soundly no matter how he tried5怎么睡都睡不暖: literally means “no matter how he sleeps, he couldn’t sleep warmly”. Which is a contrast with the line before where the author writes that the cold wind keeps seeping in, so he couldn’t sleep warmly. However, it didn’t make sense translating directly into English and so I chose “sleep soundly” for the text. Here’s the cultural nuance in the footnotes instead!.
“Sleep.” Hei Xuanyi said in a low voice.
If he could fall asleep, he wouldn’t be moving here and there already. Wu Ruo rolled his eyes, and then, rolled over again so that his back was facing Hei Xuanyi.
Suddenly, a forearm rested on top of his waist, then, the person behind him leaned closer against him.
Wu Ruo’s body stiffened up, clearly able to feel the warmth coming from Hei Xuanyi’s body6There’s no translation note, I just wanted to say that they’re just snuggling in bed (not even them, just Hei Xuanyi towards Wu Ruo) and I’m already flipping my shit. I’m yelling into the wide, expansive abyss of the Internet..
He fidgeted uncomfortably, wanting the person behind him to remove their arm, yet he heard the other ask: “You have spiritual energy?”
Wu Ruo realised that Hei Xuanyi’s spiritual energy was making its way through his body, and could only honestly admit: “I always had spiritual energy, just that it’d been sealed away by someone, and the longevity plaque that my maternal grandfather sent over could break the seal inside of my body.”
He’d originally intended to hide this for some time, but he didn’t expect to be found out so quickly.
Hei Xuanyi’s spiritual energy stopped in the vicinity of Wu Ruo’s cultivation field and he abruptly narrowed his gaze: “Internal parasite?”
Wu Ruo was shocked: “You can feel that my body has an internal parasite?”
In so many years, his dad and the rest had never been able to probe into his body’s internal parasite, yet Hei Xuanyi had discovered it in an instance. No wonder the mystery person7In case anyone forgot, the mystery person refers to Ruan Zhizheng’s mysterious master from chapter 1. dreaded him.
Wu Ruo hesitated for a moment, then explained: “When I was still in my mum’s womb, I was poisoned with an internal parasite. That’s why I grew to be so fat.”
Just as he’d spoken, his stomach was kneaded forcefully by Hei Xuanyi. It was so painful that he furrowed his brows. He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d spent 10 over years with Hei Xuanyi in his previous lifetime, but he actually understood that this was Hei Xuanyi chiding him ‘if you knew you’d been poisoned with a parasite, then why didn’t you find an antidote as soon as possible’.
Wu Ruo lied, saying: “I only just discovered recently that I’d been poisoned with a parasite.”
This sort of internal parasite was extremely vicious, sucking the spiritual energy of the victim. Which was to say, no matter how hard he tried to cultivate in the future, it would all be futile because his spiritual energy would all be sucked up by the internal parasite. This was also the reason why he wasn’t rushing to cultivate. However, under the circumstance where one didn’t have spiritual energy, the victim would grow fatter and fatter, until the body burst.
In his previous lifetime, he had been cured of the parasite before unsealing his spiritual energy, so the case of having his spiritual energy sucked away had never occurred. However, when he’d listened to the explanation by Master8师父 (shi fu): the same kind of shi fu as Ruan Zhizheng and his mystery master. It’s the kind of ‘master’ where one takes disciples and trains them, unlike the master-servant relationship between Hei Xuanyi and the staff at Hei Manor, for example., he’d still perspired a considerable amount of cold sweat. Because if he’d been late to curing himself of the parasite by even a few months, his body would’ve burst from swelling up.
The person who had poisoned him obviously didn’t want him to raise his spiritual energy and didn’t want him to live either.
The depths of Hei Xuanyi’s eyes flashed with a cold glimmer, and he gently rubbed Wu Ruo’s stomach. Afterward, he pushed a thread of spiritual energy into Wu Ruo’s body. Following closely, the spiritual energy was completely sucked up by the internal parasite.
Wu Ruo was stunned, this sort of feeling was very familiar.
He remembered in his previous lifetime, during the period of time when he was learning how to cure himself of the parasite, he’d often feel someone rubbing his stomach in the night when he was sleeping. However, when he woke up, he’d never seen anybody. And during that period of time, he never gained weight again, could it be…
Wu Ruo hurriedly turned his body.
Yet Hei Xuanyi had withdrawn his hand, turning around with his back to Wu Ruo.
Wu Ruo looked at his back and inexplicably felt a little bit disappointed9Again, this isn’t a translation note. I’m just screaming internally because we’re finally getting some Feelings. I welcome anyone who also wants to scream to leave a comment so we can scream together..
