Could it be… He's no longer a fool?
Even though Chen Jiuniang thought this, she did not dare to believe it. She quickly took a good look at her son, and was surprised to discover that he did not have that foolish grin on his face. When she looked into his eyes, they were bright and clear, and there was even a hint of slyness.
Chen Jiuniang was shocked, It really seems like he's normal! But why do I feel a sense of unfamiliarity coming from him?
While Chen Jiuniang was inspecting him, Ye Kong felt self-conscious and uncomfortable .
Old lady, what are you looking at? You must be feeling quite happy, now that your idiot son suddenly became handsome and intelligent!
Of course, Ye Kong did not say that out loud, "Mother, do you feel that I've become different from usual? Haha, you don't have to worry about it. I am still your son. As for why I am different, it's because I had a dream today. In the dream, an old man said to me: From today onward, you will no longer be foolish. And that's why, my brain got better… Hey, don't cry!"
When Chen Jiuniang heard her son speaking so fluently, her face was already filled with tears. She was simply overwhelmed with happiness, she shed tears of joy.
Chen Jiuniang was a woman who suffered a lot. She led a hard life due to her appearance and family situation. Her only saving grace was her skillful hands that allowed her to excel at handicrafts. However, no matter how kind or skillful a woman is, no one would be interested in her with that appearance. Unfortunately, cosmetic surgery did not exist in this world.
And so, Chen Jiuniang reached the age of 18 without getting married. Since she could not sit around at home without doing anything, she helped out by doing needlework. Chen Jiuniang might have faced difficulty when it came to love, but she had an easier time in her work life. Her skillfulness and the fact that she wasn't afraid of hardships quickly earned the recognition of the household of the "General Who Pacified The South". The mother of the general was so pleased with her work that she hired Chen Jiuniang to work at the manor.
(TN: In ancient China, it was normal for a girl to marry at the age of 13-16.)
While Chen Jiuniang was not living the good life, she was satisfied. Unfortunately, it did not last long. It was as if she was born under an unlucky star. One day, the "General Who Pacified The South", Ye Haoran1was drunk and had accidentally stumbled into the embroidery room. Chen Jiuniang was inside and it just so happened that Lord Ye saw her face from her right side.
At that time, Lord Ye had already achieved success at a young age, with numerous military exploits under his belt. As the saying goes, "If your teeth is healthy, your appetite is good. If your mood is good, your sex drive is high." 2 When the drunk general saw Chen Jiuniang working on embroidery, he dragged her to the bed and raped her.
(TN: I am not sure why there's a bed in the "embroidery room", but it's likely that Chen Jiuniang was a live-in servant.)
When the general woke up and saw her face, he was disgusted and wanted nothing more to do with her. For a man of power like him, that would have been the end of it. However, Chen Jiuniang unexpectedly got pregnant. After nine months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a chubby little Ye Kong, who was unexpectedly liked by the general's mother.
And so, Chen Jiuniang's luck took a turn for the better and she was added into the Ye household. Naturally, she was not given a status and was not even considered a concubine,3 and Ye Haoran never touched her again.
Even so, Chen Jiuniang was satisfied with this. She was given a compound to stay in, and had two maids and even an allowance. For a commoner, this was luxurious. And yet, before she could enjoy her new life, the general's mother passed away. The general's second wife became the head of the household. And so, her maids were transferred away and her allowance slowly decreased, while her workload steadily increased.
(TN: In ancient China, the men works while the women manages the household. Sometimes, even the men has no say when it comes to domestic matter.)
At first, Ye Haoran still tried to help Chen Jiuniang on account of Ye Kong, but as Ye Kong grew up and Ye Haoran realized something was wrong with him, he completely gave up on them. Soon, Chen Jiuniang's status was even worse than a servant. When she was still a servant, she only had to do work for the masters of the household. But now, even the servants made her work for them as well.
In short, Chen Jiuniang led an awful life. Not only was she ugly, her son was an idiot as well. Within the Ye household, it was the norm for her to be mocked and ridiculed.
There was a verse from a song that perfectly described the situation: "It was as if I was watching a tragedy, and there was no happiness at the end."
However, who could have foreseen that her son would suddenly become normal?
Since happiness arrived too quickly, she could only express herself through tears.
"Mother, don't cry." Ye Kong was panicking.
"My son became normal." Chen Jiuniang said, with tears in her eyes. "These are tears of joy."
"It's fine as long as you're happy." Ye Kong suddenly felt like crying as well. He held out his hand to wipe her tears away.
"Mother, don't worry. I'll definitely remove the scar on your face." Ye Kong said determinedly.
Chen Jiuniang thought that her son was only trying to comfort her. She wiped her tears and said, "I see, I will wait for you to grow up and treat my face."
"We don't have to wait until I grow up to do it." Ye Kong believed that as long as there was a will, there was a way.
Chen Jiuniang did not wish to see her son ruin his future just to treat her face. Now that he was normal, she wanted him to study literary arts and practice martial arts. She smiled and said, "This matter isn't urgent. I am used to people's stares."
"No way. From now on, you're my mother. If anyone dares to look, I'll beat them up until their own mother can't recognize them." Ye Kong declared.
"Silly child, you're saying foolish things again. How could you beat someone up just because they looked?" Chen Jiuniang laughed while chiding him.
"That's because they deserve it!" Ye Kong said and then laughed. He held onto Chen Jiuniang, "Mother, let's talk inside the house. There's a lot of things that I want to ask you about."
When Ye Kong and Chen Jiuniang were conversing under the moonlight, a man and a woman were awoke as well. They pulled open the curtains of their bed5 and lit a candle.
The man was in his forties. He was holding up his pants while muttering, "Who the hell is making all that ruckus in the middle of the night? Fuck, I just came back from night duty6. Is it so difficult to ask for a moment of peace while I have sex with my wife!"
The naked middle-aged woman lying on the bed replied, "Who else could it be except for that ugly bitch and her idiot son."
"I'll go and get them to shut them up." The middle-aged man said.
"Ah, Laosi7!" The middle-aged woman jumped off the bed to stop the man. She said, "Are you stupid? If you go and shut them up, how are we going to gain anything?"
The middle-aged man called Laosi scratched his head and asked, "We can gain from this?"
The middle-aged woman shoved the man angrily and scolded him, "Why are you so stupid? The housekeeper, Ye Cai8 steals from her pay every month and elder sister Ma9 from the kitchens extorts from her every few days as well. You're the only stupid one here!"
After listening to the middle-aged woman, Laosi finally understood. He laughed and said, "Looks like my wife is the shrewd one. Wait here while I go and extort some money from them. This ugly woman and her stupid son doesn't need money. They should let us use it to find a martial artist teacher for our son!"
Laosi's wife smiled when she saw that her husband had finally understood, "Good. Hurry up and come back when you're done, I am still not satisfied yet."
"Just wait for me!" Laosi said as he rubbed his wife's crotch before he walked out.
(TN: Did he needed to write such an awkward "romantic" scene between a middle-aged couple? Did I have to translate it?)
Ye Kong and his mother were just about to enter the house when Laosi, who had rushed over as quickly as he could, shouted at them, "Hey! What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night! Are you trying to keep us from sleeping!"
When Ye Kong lifted up his head, he saw a middle-aged servant walk into their yard. His clothes were in a mess and it looked like he just got out of bed. Ye Kong immediately recognized this person from the child's memories. Li Laosi was the steward of the night watch. He was also the distant relative of the general's second wife and often used that connection to bully Chen Jiuniang and her son.
"Oh, it's steward Li. I am really sorry. My son just recovered. I was so happy that I accidentally shouted. I am truly sorry." Chen Jiuniang immediately went forward to apologize.
"Shit, I have to look at your ugly face in the daytime, now I even have to listen to your braying at night. Apart from eating pig feed, is it even possible for that idiot to be normal?" Li Laosi relentlessly scolded her.
"Steward Li, I assure you that this won't happen again. It won't." Chen Jiuniang continuously apologized.
But how could Li Laosi leave without seeing any silver? He shouted, "Do you think I am having an easy time? I have to wake up in the middle of the night for night duty, and when I was finally able to sleep, I get waken up by you! I am only getting paid a few silvers for this!"
From his words, Chen Jiuniang immediately understood that he was here to extort money from them. Frankly, the situation was not enough to justify the extortion. However, there was nothing she could do. They were only a mother and child with no one to protect them.
Chen Jiuniang's pay was already deducted to almost nothing. She was reluctant to spend it herself, and it would usually end up in someone else's pockets. It was the end of the month and she did not have much left. After searching her sleeves for quite a while, she managed to find a pea-sized piece of silver and handed it over to Li Laosi.
"Steward Li, as a single parent, I've often cause trouble for you. Please accept this little gift."
I wouldn't be bullying you if you weren't a single parent! Li Laosi snorted as he weighed the piece of silver in his hand with an unsatisfied expression. Isn't this too little?
"Are you trying to get rid of me with this little amount?!" Li Laosi threw the piece of silver at the ground and shouted, "Tomorrow morning, I'll report this to the second mistress10! Get ready to pack your bags and leave!"
Chen Jiuniang was panicking. If they leave the general's manor, they would end up having no one to rely on and would only suffer even more . The problem was that she really had no money left.
"Steward Li, please just take this money first. I'll owe you the rest. Once I get my allowance, I'll pay you back." Chen Jiuniang quickly picked up the piece of silver and forcefully stuffed it to Li Laosi's hands.
"That's more like it." Li Laosi kept the piece of silver before he threateningly continued, "Make it two ounces11!"
"Yes, I understand. It's two ounces. Please take care of yourself." Chen Jiuniang was relieved but was troubled again. There was still a few days until she would receive her pay, how would they survive with no money until then?
With his objectives met, Li Laosi was turning to leave. However, when he turned around, Ye Kong was waiting at the yard's entrance with a piece of brick in his hand.
Ye Kong was mad with fury.
This is too much! Even a thug wouldn't be this unreasonable! Just because I made a little noise in the middle of the night doesn't give you the right to extort us!
The worst part is, he knows that we don't have money, and yet he's already asking for next month's money, did he even think about how we are going to survive without money? Is he trying to force us to death?!
Ye Kong knew that he should keep a low profile since he was new to this place. He knew that being impulsive is stupid. He also knew that doing this might his life even more difficult. However, he was not the type of person to endure humiliation! Submitting to others was not something that he would do! If he endured it even a little more, he might even turn into a ninja12!
"Put down the money and apologize to my mother! Otherwise, you can forget about leaving this place!"
It was as if Ye Kong had returned to Hanzheng Street. He was standing there with a brick in his hand, with a cold-blooded smile directed towards Li Laosi.
Li Laosi was shocked by the current Ye Kong. He thought, When did he become so fluent? Could it be that he's really normal now? But so what if he's normal now? He's just a brat. What could a brat do?
Li Laosi might have been surprised by Ye Kong but he was not afraid. He snorted and said, "Just because you're normal now, do you really think you're a somebody? If you're going to talk to me like this, I might just decide to turn you into an idiot again!"
Li Laosi thought that a mere child like Ye Kong was only bluffing and would not dare to actually attack him. This brat couldn't even bear to watch a chicken being slaughtered. There's no way he would dare to attack me.
However, using a brick to smash someone's head happened to be the forte of a certain somebody. The victim count of those who had experienced it easily number in the thousands. In the first place, Ye Kong did not even possess a shred of hesitation. The brick collided with Li Laosi's face and elicited a cry of pain from him. He quickly squatted down and pinched his nose as blood poured out.
"Son, no!" Chen Jiuniang who had never seen such a bloody scene in her life, rushed forward to grab Ye Kong's arm in an attempt to stop him.
"Mother, an obedient horse is ridden, a kind person is bullied.13 The more you submit to them, the more these bastards would bully us. Hehe, I am trying to teach them that, from today onward, there's someone here that they can't bully!"
Ye Kong shoved Chen Jiuniang aside and took another swing at Li Laosi. This time, the brick collided with his forehead. Li Laosi screamed in pain as he collapsed on his knees. He shouted, "Stop, I am going to die!"
"Apologize!" Ye Kong roared.
"Sorry, sorry." Li Laosi was already knocked dazed by the previous two blows, he only felt that he was bleeding all over his head. When he saw that Ye Kong was going to hit him again, he quickly grabbed onto Ye Kong's leg while pleading, "Eighth young master, it's my fault, please spare my life."
"If you did this in the first place, then you could have avoided all of this pain. A servant should understand his own position." Ye Kong cruelly smile while he patted Li Laosi's face with the brick.
"Yes, it's my fault for not knowing my place. I will never do it again." Li Laosi said as he took out the piece of silver from his sleeve. However, in his heart, he was filled with hatred for Ye Kong and his mother. He thought, I will definitely tell the second mistress when I get out of here and have her take care of you!
"Are you thinking of reporting this to your owner?" How could such a shallow thought get past Ye Kong? He rolled his eyes and said, "Let me tell you this, I am not afraid in the slightest. Do you know what I used to do? I was a thug! If someone dares to provoke me, I'll put my life on the line to take them out! Remember this! No matter how useless I am, I am still someone of the Ye family. If you're thinking of teaching me a lesson, that's not going to happen unless the Ye family dies out!"
"Son, forget it. I am scared." Chen Jiuniang was grabbing onto Ye Kong's arms again. She was frightened that he would accidentally kill Li Laosi.
"Get lost!" Having received Ye Kong's permission, Li Laosi quickly escaped without even daring to look back.
Chen Jiuniang sighed and said, "Son, what are we going to do if the general finds out about this? You just created a lot of trouble for us."
After beating Li laosi, Ye Kong was in a much better mood. However, he knew that Li Laosi would definitely look for someone to help him take revenge. How could a twelve year old boy like him survive the fallout?
I can only make myself stronger! And crush all of my enemies underneath my feet!
Ye Kong reaffirmed his confidence.
Since I am already here, then I have to achieve something. I rather die standing than live kneeling! I can't shame the thugs on Earth!
1 – 叶皓然 = Ye Haoran
2 – 牙口好胃口就好,心情好性欲也强 – This roughly translates to "If your teeth is healthy, your appetite is good. If your mood is good, your sex drive is high."
3 – The general did not marry Chen Jiuniang. Her social standing was only slightly better than a servant.
4 – 我仿佛看见,一出悲剧正上演,剧终没有喜悦 – This is a verse from 张学友's 吻别. However, there is a difference between this quote and the actual verse. The actual verse from the song is "我已经看见一出悲剧正上演, 剧终没有喜悦".
5 – Every bed in ancient China has a curtain that comes with it… At least, that's what I see in TV shows anyway.
6 – Night duty – The man was a 更夫(night watchman) whose job was to walk around at night while hitting a mini gong. This was for people in the past to tell the time at night. Depending on the region, their job scope may also include watching out for fire and catching thieves. It was specifically mentioned that he just did 三更, meaning that it was slightly after 11pm.
7 – 李老四 = Li Laosi, 李 = Plum, 老 = Old, 四 = Four.
8 – 叶财 = Ye Cai, 叶 = Leaf, 财 = Wealth
9 – 马姐 – 马 = Horse, 姐 = Elder Sister
10 – The mistress here refers to the feminine form of master, not the secret lover.
11 – 两 – Currency in ancient China weighted and the SI unit used was "ounce". However, you might find that the "ounce" back then might be really different from the modern day ounce. The standards for each dynasty was different and it was quite convoluted.
12 – This is a pun on 忍(endure) and 忍者(ninja). In the original text, it was 忍者神龟(teenage mutant ninja turtles), but I decided to change it to ninjas instead.
13 – 马善被人骑,人善被人欺 – The simplest way to explain this is that kindness is often taken for granted