Faraway Wanderers - Chapter 14

Wherein the boys bicker, unobtainium is found and Gu Xiang is so cute.

Thank you Emma P for proofreading :)

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Notes

1. 金丝软甲, the Golden Chainmail is an old trope/legendary item in wuxia and Chinese lit in general. Wen Xiaobao has one in The Deer and The Cauldron. It is an object either gold plated or made of pure gold, with extraordinary protective properties. It can at least stop a bullet.

2. 琉璃 (liuli) refers to different types of crystal, semi-precious gem and glaze work. In context, the older meaning should be retained: a natural gemstone or crystal.

Liuli is one of the Seven Treasures of Buddhism alongside gold, silver, and other substances that vary depending on the source.

I choose to translate it as "crystal" because of the description: 流光溢彩 (lit. "flowing light overflowing colours") without a specified colour (whereas the author often describe the colour of clothes). It hints at something that is transparent or semi-transparent, and very shiny.

IMO, the author had the natural version of nowadays man produced artistic crystal in mind.

3. "牵着不走，打着倒退" idiom, lit "if a mule doesn't walk, beating it will only make it walk backward". Refers to mule's being stubborn. Let's note that Chinese mules are as obtuse as western ones.

"人不要脸天下无敌" idiom, lit. "if a person doesn't care about his face, he will have no enemies".

"Saving face" is very important in the Chinese culture. "Having face" basically means keeping poised/not being ridiculed= having a sense of shame. Consequently, if someone doesn't care about his face/doesn't have a sense of shame, then they can't have enemies because what others think doesn't matter to them. In context, it refers to WKX not taking "no" as an answer in all shamelessness.

Both saying are laced with irony because Gu Xiang is basically saying that ZZS is a mule, and WKX is a shameless person.

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