Wherein ZZS doesn't get any.
As a staunch feminist (and proud of it) some passages in this chapter pisses me off. But I guess you could say that it's a veiled remark on the excess of nowadays' plastic surgery. Still, women aren't the only ones who can get obsessed with looks.
I'd say that ZZS is being a fair representation of the typical Chinese macho man.
Thanks Emma P for proofreading!
Notes
1. The original joke is CWN saying "夜来风雨声，眼泪流多少" or "After a night of wind and rain, how many are the fallen tears". It's a misquote of "After a night of wind and showers, how many are the fallen flowers" from Spring Morning by Meng Haoran. This one is really cringe because the poem is an entry-level piece taught to kids around 7 years old.
2. Veiled quip. Refers to Empress Zhao Feiyan who is reputed for her beauty and ability to capture the hearts of men, but also for her cunning and cruelty in palace intrigues.
3. 胭脂冢 fictional incense fragrance, to be understood literally in context.
4. 牡丹花下死，做鬼也风流么 colloquial phrase alluding to a man dying from having sex with a woman, but not regretting an instant of it. Too much sex leading to death is a common trope in Chinese imagination because a guy's sperm is linked to his internal energy.
5. 画皮 refers to the short story "The Painted Skin" by Pu Songling about a man falling for a demon who wears a mask that can transform it into a beauty.
6. 绿妖 lit. "Green Demon/Witch". 柳千巧 lit "willow thousand skills"
A misc. note on Wen Kexing being crazy.
Throughout the story, Zhou Zishu and Gu Xiang repeatedly express the opinion that Wen Kexing is "crazy" or "mad".
They do so for different reasons. Gu Xiang thinks her master is a madman, because of how ferocious/evil he can get. Whilst Zou Zishu refers to Wen Kexing's obsession with him as madness because he himself is in denial/won't believe that WKX is sincere in his attraction.
The reactions can get confused because of the nuance between 疯狂 "fierce craziness" (used by Gu Xiang referring to her master's ruthlessness), and 有病 "being sick" (used sardonically by Zhou Zishu) that isn't so readily evident in English.
Both are played for comedic effect.
i've been thinking what Chu Wanning is doing here coz translator's note said CWN HAHAHAHAHA i only realized it's Wei Ning when i scrolled back to the top to read it again 🤣🤣
I can see where it might be misogynistic but I feel like some of it might be a cultural thing? Obviously men can be extremely vain too, and I don't like that he assumes that all women will obsess over their appearance, but, during that period, a woman's livelihood was thought to depend on how attractive they were to prospective husbands etc. And the disguise thing; I saw it as him pitying her because she is someone who is very skilled in the art of disguises but also insecure about her appearance due to her scar, so the disguises would become an unhealthy coping mechanism rather than a tool as she begins to reject her original appearance, like someone with…
Would you look at that, could it be that ZZS is, secretly and unconsciously, jealous too? 👀😂
I always thought the crazy that ZZS said WKX got was a sickness in the brain, else why always bother him? Didn't know that people can get violent crazy and pining crazy mixed up... Guess it's the language limitation at works again.
Thank you for the awesome translations!
Zhou Zishu uses masks for his work, but criticizes her for doing the same just because her masks are pretty 🙄.
Still enjoying the novel, but yeah feminist in me is rearing up this chapter 😅.
Anyway, thanks for the translation!