Don’t Be a Kept Man

” and “Money”, “Life”, “Power”, respectively.
The world has its own rules for fate and destiny in the way it moves along with time.
These were the punishments they could not not accept for peering through the heavens’ will.6

For the three of them to be gathered like this by coincidence, it could be said to be fate.

Yan Yu smiled and nodded his head, 

“Happy New Year.”

Xun Chuan heard the fireworks exploding in the sky and his head tilted up to take a look.
A flash of radiance greeted his eyes and he answered back, 

“Happy New Year.”

Su Qing grabbed two big red pockets out of her pocket and gave one to Xun Chuan, and the other to Yan Yu, 

“This year has had a lot of hurdles for the both of you, and I’ve also troubled you a lot.
May this coming year be hurdle-free for you both and may you both be successful in whatever you may do.
May the both of you live long lives.”

Yan Yu was just about to receive the red pocket when all of a sudden a chime sounded out in his brain.
His hands shook and the red pocket fell into the bowl of soup on the table.

[ Ding! ]

[ This service is about to end.
My dear host, you have successfully risen up with fervor, perfectly committing yourself to the definition of being self-sufficient and self-reliant.
Through the judgment of the galactic judges, you have reached the passing mark.
May you please continue to walk down this path, keeping up this commitment for the rest of your life~ ]

Yan Yu subconsciously sighed a breath of relief but then paused in surprise after mulling over the words, 

“You are leaving?”

And he thought the system would latch into him for his entire life.

[ Ding! Because my dear host, you don’t need this system anymore.
This is a good thing as there is no meeting that will never part under these skies.
That’s why you must treasure each minute, each second we are together~ Life is also just like this.
Please continue down this path without hesitation.
Don’t make a second mistake after you’ve done it once ]

Sweetness comes after bitterness… sweetness comes after bitterness. 

Because there was a bitterness before, the sweetness that comes after is all that much more precious.
After what Yan Yu has experienced, the system believed that he must understand this logic more than anyone else.

Yan Yu was silent for a moment before he smiled, 

“Thank you.
And thank you for the causality of what happened.”

To meet was the beginning, to leave was the end.
For a shu-shi to divine as much as they could, in the end, wasn’t it for the beginning and the end, a cause and an effect, this cycle.

[ Ding! Withdrawal process has been initiated.
Please, my dear host, make your preparations,

Starting Self-Check,

Self-Check Complete.

Withdrawing,

20%

50%

100%

Withdrawal Success. 

This service has been completed to the fullest.
May the mountains never change, may the water keep flowing, and may we never see each other again~ ]

A ball of blue light floated up from his body, flying up towards the falling white snow.
Seeing Yan Yu blanking out, Xun Chuan bumped him with his arm, 

“What are you doing? Gone dumb?”

The dishes were almost cleaned out, leaving only some of the last soup remnants in the bowl.
Xun Chuan pulled out a tissue to pick up the red pocket, and wiped it before handing it over to Yan Yu.

Yan Yu didn’t take it, 

“Keep it.
Leave it all for you to manage.”

Xun Chuan paused, and then threw himself into Yan Yu’s arms.
He held in his laughter as he said, 

“I’m not eyeing your money.”

Yan Yu received the red pocket, looked at him and asked back, 

“Then are you eyeing my body?”

Xun Chuan kicked him under the table.

Seeing everything from beginning to end, Su Qing, sitting just on the opposite side of them, quietly covered her face.
Revealing only a pair of tea colored eyes, paired with her silky smooth black hair, you could just faintly tell how beautiful she had once been, 

“Both of you, enough please.”

Yan Yu only smiled and then covertly slipped the red pocket into Xun Chuan’s pockets.

Life is so short and bitter, why forsake each other.

Notes:

Well, we’ve reached the end of Volume 4! It’s been a heck of an emotional ride for sure (although, Plum as cold hearted as you are >: ( can’t say the same!!! lol), but hopefully you’ve enjoyed it all the same.
What did you think of the volume, and which one has been your favourite so far? I don’t really have a particular preference myself (as I guess that’s why I like QT haha, read a lot of different settings fast but with almost the same premise), at least so far, but I would consider Volume 4 to be fairly memorable, just based on the setting (although… honestly, all volumes I’ve translated hold a place in my heart, just given the amount of time I’ve spent on them haha).

In any case, like I mentioned last friday in Chapter 106, we will be back with Volume 5 Chp 109 (time sure flies…) July 19th! It’s going to be different again from Volume 4, I would say, maybe a bit more in line like Volume 1, where it’s set in the modern ages, with a scumbag of a protagonist and an interesting love partner he will have 

 

 

Footnotes

*1 A lot to unpack here, but on a very brief note, when someone passes away, a memorial tablet (or as google says spirit tablet) is usually a wooden rectangular shape with a base at the bottom (to stand upright when placed down), sometimes with a bit of something like a crown moulding either around or at the top (there’s a bit of variation just quite like how grave plates can be – which you could think of what this is, just a smaller version of a grave plate).
Sort of like making a little altar of sorts, but it’s to honor those who died (or in some cases, can be to certain gods as well) and usually has their name/title. 

If you recall from volume 2, when to those that were to be wedded to a man, they were said to not “carry on the incense” or something along those lines, mentioned in the first chapter of the volume I believe, and how they need male “main” descendants to keep on burning incense for their ancestors.
In this case, their ancestors would be on these tablets and lined up in rows, which if you have seen some cdramas on some ancient dynasties, it would be like the rows and rows of marked rectangular shapes and the male descendent kneeling before to say something like sorry I have betrayed all of you or our lineage, or please protect the family, etc.
etc.
The mourning portrait is really just a photo (generally the best one/most recent best photo) to display as who died/who they are paying respects to and in some cases, can be believed to become the eyes of the person to look upon or like an anchor (can be monochrome or color). 

 

And last but not least, 3 incense sticks, is a custom that apparently has many different explanations, but has been passed down for centuries like this – so when you pay respects to the deceased or to the gods, it is always(or maybe mostly) 3.
There’s apparently a whole lot of reasons for this, but there wasn’t exactly a particular “superior” theory that stands out, so I’ll just leave that as is… it’s kind of broad as 3 is apparently an important number in a certain number of religions/from history but nothing that really says why this tradition is passed down, although it has been a really cursory search, so if you are interested, you may be able to find more reliable sources! (personally for me, it’s about respect and to honour (and includes 3 bows as well), but you’ll find some variation in different family traditions).

 

*2 I call it an altar just to simplify things, but it’s really just considered the place of where you put that memorial tablet/photo and the incense as like a special table of sorts which usually can be moved, but depending on the tradition you follow, may have some ritual attached to “move” like to ask/bow, etc.

 

*3 Beauty leads to death: I’ve just translated this to fit her words, but in essence, what she really says is a 4 word idiom that basically describes a woman having great beauty but her life sucks

 

*4 This was a bit hard but I didn’t really just want to put Su Qing died to refer that she “died”… I’m using “ded” as in the english slang where you text someone “ded” or “i’m ded” kind of thing just to differentiate here that she didn’t really die, but just a phrasing of the word that she died on the spot… mentally/figuratively? Hopefully that makes sense lol (ﾉ´ｰ`)ﾉ

 

*5 Legend of the Condor Heroes: The first part of a wuxia trilogy by Jin Yong, an author you might have already seen referenced a lot in the previous volumes  and there’s a few versions of this in dramas and other media, which if you are interested, there are some on youtube that have eng subs! The one that Xun Chuan might be referring Yan Yu is watching is very likely either the 1976 or 1983 as they are the oldest adaptations… (although there is the 1993/1994 ones too, which I guess can also be a generation so : )

*6 So technically it’s supposed to be one word each, but obviously, when it’s all like synonyms of being alone/widower, etc, there’s not really much to distinguish if I just did alone, alone, alone, alone lol.
Anyway, to be a bit more precise, these problems come about because of fate/destiny.
The world is supposed to run a certain way, like reason/logic, or like how the world runs on a set of principles and no one should be privy to that information as that’s not something for “humans” to know.
Although, obviously that is based on one belief, kind of like if you believe in morals or a governing principle the world abides by (or has). 

With Shu-shis, especially in the realm of feng shui, these people are “peering through the heavens” as in looking at something they are not supposed to, or to glance at the wills of the heavens that are dictated by a certain ruleset and only the heavens should do that.
So in response to their “fortune telling/telling of the future/knowledge about something beyond the “human plane” like the destiny or fate of someone, like Newton’s 3rd law actually (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction), they have to suffer some consequences. 

In this case, it’s separated into two categories of the five disadvantages: to have 1) no wife/a wife that will die early, becoming a widow, 2) can’t ever marry (or re-marry) or misfortune in life with those around you, 3) lose your parents 4) can’t have kids (or if you did by chance, they die fast/early) and 5) to have some sort of disability. 

And for the three deficiencies: 1) power: not only no power like societal/job etc.
kind of power, but also no luck, 2) money: no money.
If you do have money, you will definitely meet a misfortune (hence why in most supernatural genres of shu-shis you might have read, the shu-shis usually donate or help those in need as that helps to hold back the misfortune/hurdle thrown at them once they have a lot of money) and 3) life: shortened life – I think this one is most commonly known when someone is a shu-shi or at least kind of the first thing that comes to mind is that heavens will take away the lifespan of someone who can “peer” into their will.)