Happy Divorce Prologue
Happy Divorce: Prologue Original translation is from tenderflower's blog.
She remembered that during the Lantern Festival that year, colorful lanterns were hung high, and the bright colors shone under the lights, expressing the lively celebration in every stroke.
She told her father and Aunt Lian that she was going to visit her aunt who lived in Yecheng — she wasn’t lying. She really was going to Yecheng, but she wasn’t going to stop there for the time being and planned to secretly go to the more prosperous northern city, Beiyang City, about twenty miles away from Yecheng.
When she arrived in Beiyang City, it happened to be the Lantern Festival. As soon as night fell, lanterns were hung high. Vendors lined up on both sides of the bluestone road. The streets were crowded with pedestrians, and children all carried small lanterns in their hands. The prosperity of this Beiyang City was no less than that of the southern capital where she lived.
She looked curiously at the surrounding vendors. There was actually a vendor roasting an oversized wild boar and selling fragrant barbecue. In this cold winter weather, the smell of barbecue was very tempting.
If she hadn’t been unable to stay in Beiyang City for a long time, she would have really wanted to stay in Beiyang City for a few days, a city that was completely different from the southern style.
“Bi Luo, where is he?” She asked the maid who came out with her. As early as when she planned to come to Beiyang City, she asked Bi Luo to inquire about everything.
“I heard that he will go to Dongzhui Tea House today, which is not far ahead... Are you cold, Miss?” It was much colder in the north than in the south. Bi Luo was worried that Miss who grew up in the south would not be able to bear it.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about me.” She shook her head, gathered up her velvet fox fur, and the white velvet hat half covered her face.
She walked in the direction Bi Luo said and soon she arrived at the Dongzui Tea House Bi Luo mentioned. It was already full of guests.
Bi Luo immediately stepped forward, “I heard he’s sitting with acquaintances in the second floor pavilion. Miss, I will go and ask if there are still seats on the second floor...”
“Shh.” She reached out and covered Bi Luo’s mouth. She looked up at the second floor. There was a man in purple sitting beside the railing. He was holding a Xun (instrument) made of black pottery in his hands. His slender fingers were tapping on the sound hole and playing a leisurely tune.
Amidst the noise, the clear and faint music seemed so distant, but it was as touching as a pebble thrown into the water.
She couldn’t help but move her eyes and stared at him blankly, not knowing whether she was fascinated by the enchanting melody or the man’s overly handsome face.
As if aware of the gaze downstairs, the man stopped and looked down.
Her heart skipped a beat. The man has a pair of beautiful eyes, with extremely deep pupils, like rare black pearls, but with a distant light.
“Feixi, why are you sitting here alone? Come on, let’s drink.” A man came to the balcony and blocked her sight. After a while, the man in purple was pulled away.
And she was still standing there, with the words she just heard echoing in her ears, or should one say, the name she heard.
Bi Luo quickly pulled down the young lady’s hand covering her mouth and shouted excitedly, “Did you hear that, Miss? That good-looking man in purple is...”
“I heard it.” She smiled, feeling her fingertips trembling slightly, unknown joy rising in her heart, and her cheeks feeling faintly hot.
Bi Luo smiled mischievously when she noticed the smile on the young lady’s face was different from before. “It seems like the young lady is very satisfied with her future husband...” Seeing the young lady’s sideways gaze, she quickly covered her mouth and pretended to be innocent.
This ghost girl! She pinched Bi Luo’s nose lightly, but she was not annoyed, with a faint smile on her eyebrows and eyes, “Let’s go to Yecheng.” Before leaving, she looked at the balcony again.
The man had disappeared, but the clear sound of the xun, his handsome face, and his deep and distant pupils were deeply imprinted in her mind.
Yan Feixi was her fiancé before she was born, but they had never met. She will marry into the Yan family next year. Perhaps because of her uneasiness about getting married and her expectations for a husband, she couldn’t help but want to take a look at the man who was about to become her husband.
She lowered her eyes and raised her lips slightly. Her heart was still pounding and her cheeks were burning with unspeakable joy. This was the first time she had felt this way.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but look forward to when she married into the Yan family. When he lifted the red veil, would he also like her?
She smiled, secretly looking forward to next year and imagining the beauty of the future, she felt a little happy in her heart.
But that little bit of happiness was extinguished not long after.
She closed her eyes, and the sky outside the window was blooming with gorgeous fireworks, and the brilliant sparks lit up the entire sky. But she, staying alone in the room, still had a smile on her lips, but it was so sad.
It was the same Lantern Festival night but in a different mood.
Lowering her head and looking at the paper tightly held in her hands, she trembled, but her back remained straight. Her fingertips dug deeply into her palms, but she no longer felt any pain.
“Miss...” Standing beside her, Bi Luo’s eyes were already red and she cried out sadly. “How could... how could they treat you like this.”
Yes, did she do something wrong? Why should she be treated like this?
It had been two years since she married into the Yan family. During these two years, she had been hostile and neglected by her husband, sneered at by her mother-in-law, and ostracized by her sister-in-law. She was completely disliked in this place.
However, she endured it all. She endured all unfair treatment and tried her best to do everything she could to please him and gain his affection.
And in the end? What did she get?
She slowly let go of her tightly clenched fingers, letting the paper in her hand fall, and a hint of mockery appeared on the corner of her lips.
A divorce letter.
Oh, what she got was actually this, it was actually this...
“Ha...” She laughed, a series of sad and cold laughter, which seemed to be joyful, mocking, and sad.
“Miss...” Bi Luo’s voice trembled. She looked at her with heartache, tears streaming down her face. “Miss, don’t be like this... If you want to cry, just cry. Bi Luo will accompany you.”
She knew Bi Luo was frightened by her, but she couldn’t stop laughing. Looking dimly at the fireworks scattered in the air, she thought about the sound of the xun she heard during the Lantern Festival that night.
The slow and long tone, the man sitting by the railing, the eyes that looked at each other for a moment... the joy that surged in her heart...
(And) Finally... the divorce letter that fell on the ground.
Ha. She closed her eyes, the laughter subsided, and eventually let the tears in her eyes slide down, one after another, staining her cheeks, while the sadness on her lips still lingered.
(T/N: those who are curious, here is an example of a Xun (instrument))
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Hey everyone, what do you think about this new translation?^^ I think it's time for a tear-jerker story. 🤧💦
It has been on my "doing list" for a long time now and I haven't done it. Therefore, I decided to start translating this book since it's a short novel anyway. 😌😋😊
Anyway, tell me what you think after seeing this prologue. Is it okay to continue or just drop it, hmm?🤨
Please tell me your opinion! 😇
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Please continue!! I'm curious how the story will unfold!
ReplyDeleteCamping...waiting for the next chapter
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