The Chronicle of Pig Gelding Chapter 8: Reminiscence Part 4

Both sides exchanged polite pleasantries at the village entrance for a long time, the exact same sentences repeated over and over by different mouths. An Ji had a slight grasp of Japanese culture, so she impatiently translated the same words to Kojima repeatedly, exhausting herself to the bone. By this time, it was already approaching noon.

No good deed goes unpunished, An Ji cursed inwardly, before agreeing in Japanese to Kojima's decision and translating his words for everyone else.

Secretary Liu was deeply moved upon hearing this. However, since it was already noon and the weather remained cold, he said, "The expert and Student An have traveled a long way through wind and dust. You must hurry into the village, come to my house for a hot meal, and get some proper rest!" With that, he turned and scolded the Scholar, "Hurry up and get home! Tell your mother to cook, and remember those two chickens—kill the big one first, make it fast!"

Upon learning that the expert and An Ji would be dining at his home, the Scholar was as overjoyed as a three-year-old child, leaping and skipping all the way back home.

Seeing this, An Ji couldn't help but chuckle secretly.

After walking along a short stretch of asphalt road, the group soon entered the heart of Xiangtang Village.

A strange and undulating range of mountains stretched out before their eyes. Why strange? At first glance, the mountains were covered with patches of snow-capped trees. But upon closer inspection, the branches of these trees grew in all directions, and the mountains were densely packed with rocks.

To ease the awkward atmosphere, Secretary Liu took the initiative to ask about Kojima's dietary preferences, which in turn sparked the others' curiosity about Japanese people.

With no other choice, An Ji once again impatiently translated the same remarks from different mouths to Kojima over and over again, and Kojima politely answered them one by one.

An Ji couldn't help but curse Secretary Liu internally for being such a busybody.

During the meal, everyone except An Ji drank quite a bit of potent grain liquor. It was Kojima's first time tasting homemade liquor from the Chinese countryside, and he was clearly captivated by its high alcohol burn.

Knowing that Japanese sake had a significantly lower alcohol content than Chinese baijiu, An Ji couldn't help but understand the Japanese inclination toward self-inflicted torment.

Once everyone was well-fed and well-soused, they gathered around Kojima to ask all sorts of questions, leaving only Liu the Scholar hovering constantly around An Ji.

Meanwhile, An Ji was driven mad with irritation by obscure vocabulary, constantly flipping back and forth through her dictionary.

Thus, the group chatted until nightfall, and An Ji was left half-dead with exhaustion, clutching her dictionary.

A tipsy Liu the Scholar continued to pester An Ji with endless questions, leaving her both exasperated and exhausted.

That night, An Ji willingly retired to sleep in the west wing room with Kojima. The not-yet-sober Liu the Scholar felt certain there must be something fishy about such an arrangement. Moreover, he was already completely infatuated with An Ji, which drove him to find out once and for all what kind of relationship existed between An Ji and this little Japanese fellow.

In the dead of night, after sobering up a bit, Liu the Scholar went out to the courtyard to relieve himself. Bathed in the moonlight, the Scholar found his urine flowing like a torrent. The sudden release of pressure made him feel somewhat weightless, as if in a dream, unable to tell whether he was relieving himself in a dream or in reality. How the Scholar wished he could linger in this moment forever; reality upon waking had never offered any sensation that could compare to this exquisite bliss.

A single stream of urine melted the snow, washed away his oppression, and purged his unfulfilled ambitions. Raising his head to gaze at the sky, the full, round moon brought tears of hot emotion to the Scholar's eyes. It also reminded him of An Ji's two "full moons"—moons belonging to another world, and there were two of them! The Scholar cracked a wide smile, realizing he could find some amusement here. At this thought, he gave a shiver of post-micturition bliss, his drunkenness completely vanished, and he grinned broadly to himself.

Inside the west wing room, the lamp on the desk was still lit, a Japanese-Chinese dictionary lay under its glow, and the quilt on the bed remained neatly folded.

Where were they? The Scholar felt a bit puzzled. It must be past midnight; where could they possibly have gone at this hour?

Recalling how Kojima and An Ji had repeatedly inquired about the Liu Family Ancestral Hall while chatting and drinking earlier that afternoon, and remembering their arrival at the village entrance, he seemed to have caught onto a clue. Without hesitation, the Scholar ran excitedly toward the village entrance.