YM778.TV Chapter 34 – Disagreeable Words
“Wandering through the world, must chance meetings end up becoming acquaintances? What you and I wish for is to be able to drink wine happily. After finished drinking, we will go our separate ways and may never miss today. The name is but a mark. Would it be a fortune if you can recall it? Would it be a misfortune if you missed it?” Jun Xie remained immersed within his realm of sadness. Naturally, he would not give out his real name. If he had said out the words Jun Moxie, who knows if this man might end up panicking and flee out even in this heavy rain? After all, his notorious reputation as a debauchee can be considered quite the lethal object.
“Floating namelessly through the world, treating the human world as a game, ask not the gentlemen his name! Wandering through the world, must chance meetings end up becoming acquaintances!” The middle-aged man repeated the words. He could not help but be moved by those words. “Good sentence! A truly good sentence! I did not expect that this young brother could utter such great words. Not even a learned scholar may be able to replicate this feat. It seemed I was being rude again.” Looking at Jun Xie, he laughed leisurely. Little brother’s logic is reasonable, it is I who was too rigid in following customs, I am willing to accept another cup as punishment!”
Jun Xie hastily stopped him. “You keep drinking left and right while I have not even drunk a single cup. You are not by chance just finding an excuse to drink more than me, are you?”
The man became startled before breaking into laughter. He gulped down his cup before wiping his mouth. “Even though this wine is nameless, it can still be considered a good wine, strong and spicy! A real man should be drinking this wine! True, for the sake of drinking more of this wine, finding some more excuses is nothing.”
“This wine? This wine is considered good wine?” Jun Xie sneered. “I say brother, could it be that you have never had any good wine? This wine is only something you drink a little of when you have no better option at hand. If this kind of wine can be considered a good wine, then won’t there be countless good wine in this world?”
The man’s eye lit up as he said. “Old Song’s wine shop may not be big, but this wine is highly reputed in this city. All wine lovers treat it with reverence. If it were not raining today, then this place would have been a full house by now! That is also why you and me can enjoy this wine today. This is a lucky day for both you and me! You may not know this, but Old Song only sell twenty jugs of wine per day, ten in the afternoon and ten in the evening. He will not sell even a jug more! If your words were to be heard by Old Song, I fear he will not let you go.”
“Hahaha... You are a really great person. To think that you can make me smile at a time when I am feeling so depressed!” Jun Xie had originally not wanted to laugh, but could no longer hold it in at this moment. “How laughable! Such a weak wine actually has a limited supply? The wines that this young master has had before were at least a hundred times stronger than this!”
These words were in no way boastful. This strength of this wine was at best only at twenty per cent of a sorghum wine. In terms of quality, the wine was also slightly turbid. For Jun Xie who was accustomed to drinking the world’s finest wine in his past life, this wine was indeed inferior. In fact, people from the modern era might not even be willing to drink this wine. After all, the wine seemed turbid, as though it was lacking in hygiene!
[TL: Sorghum wine is a hard liquor with alcohol by volume of 40 to 60%. Normal beers have only 15%. So, that wine was even worse than beer.]
The middle-aged man’s face became somewhat unsightly. “Little brother, I can see that you are an elegant scholar, but how can you say something like this? Rice can be eaten in whatever way we like, but the same cannot be done with words! Even if you are to compare with the wine of the Royal Palace, this... I have also had the opportunity to try it. In comparison, it only had some extra flavour of luxury, and instead less spicy and vigorous! It has less ability to arouse a man’s blood. In my opinion, this wine is a fine wine that can rarely be found in this world! Little brother, saying things like the wine that you’ve tried before was a hundred times stronger than this wine is simply too much!”
“Hehe, oh? You do not believe me?” Jun Xie looked at him with tilted eyes. “If you do not believe me, then so be it. I have no reason to make you believe me, hahaha... However... drinking wine! Hahaha, fellow brother, do you know what it means to drink wine? Do you know what it takes for one to be considered to be drinking wine? Hahaha...”
The middle-aged man frowned and was speechless. In his mind, he had started regretting coming over. This kid was too abnormal; he had come over with such good intentions, and yet this kid did not show any appreciation at all! Not to mention, he was even so disrespectful. Even if he was a talent, he was still just a prideful and unrestrained scholar; it would be difficult for him to become a great renowned talent.
Jun Xie gave out a “heng” and said in a low voice. “The true act of drinking wine, is to drink in one’s emotions! Or even one’s thoughts! Pouring wine into one’s belly alone cannot be considered the act of drinking wine. That is simply the act of wasting good wine! Wine! Oh, dear wine! To think that not only were there no good wine in this world, there is also none who understands wine, what more the act of drinking wine! There is no such thing as wine tasting, no such thing as appreciation for wine! The virtuous sages of old were all solitary figures, only drinkers leave their names behind. How pitiful! Within this vast world, not a single drinker can be found! What a world encompassing sorrow! How uncalled for!”
Having drank his cup of sorrows, Jun Xie stood up. Raising his head, he gave a lengthy laugh. “A great distance of a million li, an ocean of humanity numbering over hundreds of millions; yet, not a single one can keep me company as I drink, and not a single wine is worthy of making me joyful as I drink! This world is simply too sorrowful! Ahaha, when drinking wine with a bosom friend, a thousand cups are too little, when words exchanged are disagreeable, even a little is too much! When the wine is not good, the people become wearier. Where is the meaning in such a way of drinking? I will take my leave!”
This kind of inferior wine... is actually a limited edition wine? When I point out its inferiority, someone actually objects? What the heck? Jun Xie’s heart was filled with fury; he felt as though he was playing the lute to the cow. This world seemed to consist of nothing but country bumpkins...
How can such a kind of person be worthy of accompanying me, the Evil Monarch as I drink?
A silver ingot fell onto the table with a “pa” sound. Jun Xie then walked out the door with a prideful laughter; his body penetrated the heavy fog filled rain, disappearing in an instant.
Even with his level of character, the middle-aged man found himself somewhat angered. This youngster was so young, and yet he was so conceited! No matter what, he was still someone with a lofty identity. To think that the wine that he liked the most and had considered as the best was actually worth less than thrash to the youngster! Wasn’t that simply implying that he...
However, his heart was a little envious of Jun Xie’s carefree and wilful nature, that personality of conceit and unrestrained arrogance! When will I be able to live such a life? This city is just like a huge cage...
“Even though he seemed unrestrained and arrogant, this straightforwardness may not be his true character. The virtuous sages of old were all solitary figures, only drinkers leave their names behind, what a good sentence!” The middle-aged man contemplated silently, raising his cup to drink. Could it be a psychological effect? Or was there some other reason? This wine, which he had always felt was insufficient for him, had suddenly felt harder to stomach.
“It is said that the ancients created poems for every seven paces they take. I always thought they were just flattering the ancients. It seemed that a poem for every seven paces is indeed nothing excessive, especially the last two sentences. It is truly something!” He gently murmured to himself. “When drinking wine with a bosom friend, a thousand cups are too little, when words exchanged are disagreeable, even a little is too much! Not bad, not bad at all. This scholar really does have some skill.”
Having said that, the middle-aged man suddenly stared blankly as he thought of something, then he laughed. “This bastard, he actually meant to say that I am not his bosom friend and that the words we exchanged were disagreeable, haha... he actually cursed at me before leaving, using such an indirect method to curse me... he is a truly learned scholar! However, in this entire Tianxiang Kingdom, the only other person who dares to openly curse me like this is but my royal brother. This brat had truly made me feel refreshed.”
In his life, Jun Xie has had many kinds of label placed on him, a mad assassin, a bloodthirsty devil and other incalculable names. However, this “learned scholar” was not one of them. Even Jun Xie could not have imagined that his reliving of old memories and his few successive verses had caused him to be labelled as a “learned scholar”! Not to mention, he was believed to be indirectly cursing at others while doing so. If he were to know about this, he would be filled with a sense of ridiculousness.
If Jun Xie had wanted to curse at someone, then he would undoubtedly point at the person’s nose when doing so. What do you mean indirect cursing? For Jun Xie, even the act of cursing someone face to face would not suffice.
The middle-aged man laughed for a good while. Suddenly, he felt something amiss. Turning around, he saw a short, thin withered looking old man gazing with dim eyes at the direction that Jun Xie had taken. He stood motionless, his face expressing regret.
[TL: This chapter had quite some ambiguous words. So, I may have screwed up some... Friggin poems... @]