Chapter 1: Oh! My Sweet Liar! (Wang Fei Bu Kao Pu)
FlamingoBees
Translating Chinese Historical Dramas for your enjoyment... and mine! :)
Wang Fei Bu Kao Pu
Chapter One:
Back to the Southern Tang Dynasty
In mid-March, when the peach blossoms were in full bloom and the beauty of spring was all around, it should have been a delightful time. However, for Xiong Xiruo, it was anything but pleasant.
In the large school office, Xiong Xiruo hung her head, enduring the attention of everyone around her. The stern admonitions of her homeroom teacher and the exasperated rebukes from her parents filled her ears.
Yes, Xiong Xiruo had been called in for yet another parent-teacher meeting.
“Will you dare to do this again in the future?” Xiong’s mother glared at her.
“No, I won’t…” Xiong Xiruo subtly pursed her lips. Her voice was timid yet sincere, but in her heart, she thought, Cut it out, is there anything Xiong Xiruo is afraid to do?
There’s a saying, “You can’t wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.” Xiong Xiruo was probably that kind of stubborn, unmanageable person!
Even the homeroom teacher, who had taught for over a decade and seen many types of students, found Xiong Xiruo to be a unique challenge. He couldn't believe a single word she said. Her grades were the worst in every subject, and every teacher had complaints about her. Whenever he tried to talk to her, she stood there like a wooden post with eyes, head lowered, no matter how much he tried to reason, plead, or get angry, she wouldn’t utter a word.
The homeroom teacher had no choice but to keep calling her parents in. But he couldn't just give up on the remaining students in his class for the sake of Xiong Xiruo. So over time, he learned to turn a blind eye to her antics.
If it weren’t for Xiong Xiruo being publicly criticized by the school this time, the homeroom teacher might have let her off the hook.
“Still saying you won’t do it again! Apologize to the teacher!” Xiong’s mother gave Xiong Xiruo another cold glare, her tone severe. “Wait until we get home; I’ll deal with you!”
“Mrs. Xiong, please don’t be so angry. The child is still young. A few words of oral education are enough; corporal punishment is not advisable,” the homeroom teacher, noticing Mrs. Xiong's anger, quickly interjected. “Xiong Xiruo just hasn’t grasped the joy of learning. Some students are like this; they’re simply not inclined to study.”
Xiong Xiruo took a deep breath, feeling unexpectedly touched. She hadn’t realized how nice the homeroom teacher was until this moment. If she had known, she would have drawn him as the village chief in her comic this time, rather than a mere production team leader.
“What are you dazing off for? Apologize!” Mrs. Xiong pushed Xiong Xiruo and, with a smile, said to the homeroom teacher, “I’m truly sorry, teacher. We will make sure to educate her properly when we get home.”
“I’m sorry, teacher!” Xiong Xiruo bowed deeply to the homeroom teacher. “Next time, I’ll definitely draw you as the village chief.”
“What are you saying!” Mrs. Xiong quickly tapped Xiong Xiruo on the back of her head and whispered, “Be serious!”
“Ha ha, that’s not necessary. It’s getting late; you should go home with your parents. Just don’t make mistakes like this again,” the homeroom teacher said with a warm and kindly smile. “Mr. Xiong, Mrs. Xiong, you can take Xiong Xiruo home now.”
“Thank you, teacher. Sorry for the trouble. We will definitely educate her properly,” Xiong’s father said, his smile awkward.
As the family of three left, the homeroom teacher’s smile faded, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking, Thank you for only making me the production team leader in your comic, Xiong Xiruo. If you had really made me the village chief, the principal might have thought I had encouraged you to draw that!
Back at home, Xiong Xiruo flopped onto the sofa, her legs propped up on the cushions. “Mom, I’m hungry.”
“Hungry? So now you know hunger? Well, don’t eat. Just focus on your comics!” Mrs. Xiong threw her bag aside and sat on the nearest sofa, launching into a tirade at her daughter. “How could you do something like this? You’ve brought shame on the Xiong family!”
“Mom, you don’t know how popular my comics are. My classmates think of me as an idol now! Your daughter is the school’s idol!” Xiong Xiruo jumped up from the sofa, excitedly showing off. “Mom and Dad, the homeroom teacher didn’t explain it to you properly. What I drew was actually…”
“You turned the school into a poor rural village, and the school leaders and teachers became inept village officials, exploiting the ‘simple and kind’ villagers like you, making their lives miserable.” Xiong’s father interrupted Xiong Xiruo, finishing her thought.
Xiong Xiruo’s eyes lit up, admiring her father. “Dad, you understand me the best!”
“Old Xiong, she’s already 17. Next year she’ll be taking the college entrance exam. If you continue to let her be like this, she won’t even get into college! She’ll be abandoned by society!” Mrs. Xiong slammed her hand on the coffee table. “Not only will she be abandoned by society, but with this attitude, who would want to marry her? If she can’t get into college, can’t find a job, and can’t get enough to eat, she’ll end up starving!”
“Mom, don’t say it like that. How could I be abandoned by society? Aren’t you proud of having such a talented daughter? I’m the school idol now, and I’ll be an idol to more people in the future! I understand the suffering of the common people, so how could society abandon me? I’ve expressed their feelings through my art. They love me even more. Besides, I inherited your beautiful looks, so I won’t have trouble finding a suitor,” Xiong Xiruo said, hopping next to her mother and skillfully massaging her shoulders. “If you’re really worried about me starving in the future, you might as well save up for my retirement now. I’ll be frugal with my spending.”
“You’re so good with your words. Why couldn’t you say a single word in front of the homeroom teacher?” Mrs. Xiong snorted.
“The homeroom teacher doesn’t understand my pursuits. There’s no common ground with him. The most heartfelt words must be shared with those who truly understand me, and that’s you, my beloved Mom and Dad,” Xiong Xiruo said with a playful grin.
“Mom, I’m really hungry. Can you bear to see your precious daughter go hungry? If I get thin, my beauty will diminish,” Xiong Xiruo said, blinking her large, cute eyes, like a cartoon character.
Mrs. Xiong sighed deeply, defeated by her daughter’s sharp tongue. “I must have owed you in my past life. You’re the debt collector of this lifetime.”
Once her mother’s tone softened, Xiong Xiruo couldn’t help but secretly laugh. Well, she had once again managed to get through this crisis.
The word “fudge” was Xiong Xiruo’s life motto.
Whether it’s muddling through, dodging, or any other form of escapism, Xiong Xiruo’s lifelong goal was to live this way, mingling with her comics until the end of time. While others might aspire to more than mere survival, to Xiong Xiruo, even her vision of the future was just about scraping by.
After the “poverty village” comic incident, the school had heavily cracked down on this comic and implemented a supervision policy, prohibiting Xiong Xiruo from drawing comics secretly in class.
Whenever the subject teachers entered the classroom, their eyes were like hawk eyes, and if Xiong Xiruo made any move, they immediately came over to check.
To keep her comic from being cut short, Xiong Xiruo had to suppress her creative inspiration, gritting her teeth and staying up late at home to draw.
So, days turned into weeks, and after two weeks had passed.
One day, Xiong Xiruo, sporting a pair of dark circles under her eyes, arrived at the classroom, ready to announce to her classmates that her comic was finally completed. However, she was interrupted by a shocking news—
“Hey, have you guys heard? There’s a total solar eclipse today! It’s going to start soon!”
“Yeah, I heard! I’m not sure how long it will last, though. I’ve never seen a total solar eclipse before. I’m so excited!”
“As soon as I heard about it, I went online to watch some videos. It’s just like the sky going dark. I really want to see it with my own eyes!”
“That’s right, I heard that during a total solar eclipse…”
Xiong Xiruo, holding the comic book she had stayed up all night to finish, watched her excited classmates with a detached expression.
Hmm? A total solar eclipse? Had she been out of touch with the news for so long that she hadn’t heard about it?
Oh well, it wasn’t really her concern.
She decided to wait until after the eclipse to tell everyone about it.
Putting down her comic book, Xiong Xiruo planned to take a quick nap before class started.
Perhaps because she had stayed up too long or because she had finally finished her entire comic and felt relieved, Xiong Xiruo slept extremely well.
During the eclipse, darkness enveloped the world, and faint sounds of battle horses could be heard.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but suddenly, Xiong Xiruo felt her face illuminated by a bright light, so intense that even with her eyes closed, she could sense its glare.
Startled, she jolted awake, sitting up abruptly. “Has the eclipse ended? Xiaomi, why didn’t you wake me up!”
No one answered her. Instead of seeing the classroom’s desks, chairs, and classmates, she was surrounded by hanging paintings—landscapes, birds, beasts, and people—all created with ink, which in ancient times would be called Danqing.
The vibrant colors dazzled Xiong Xiruo. She had never seen anything like this and gasped in surprise, “Oh my gosh, am I still dreaming?”
“Over there, catch it!” a woman’s voice echoed around her.
Immediately, the sound of clucking chickens filled the air.
Xiong Xiruo turned around to see two chickens flapping their wings and flying towards her.
Oh no, she wasn’t afraid of anything—getting the worst grades in school, being called to parent-teacher meetings, drawing the school as a poverty-stricken village, or dealing with teachers trying to find fault with her.
But she was absolutely terrified of chickens.
Xiong Xiruo was so scared she fell to the ground. She saw two women in strange costumes rushing over to catch the chickens.
“Ah, an assassin!” The two women suddenly stopped, their faces filled with panic, and scrambled away in fear.
•••
Thank you for reading the first chapter! This is my first time translating so hopefully it was easy to read! Let me know in the comments, how are you liking the original story in comparison to the drama so far?
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