Received A Wife From The Civil Affairs Bureau Ch.42

Jiang Ziquan’s thoughts were tormented by the things she learned about the eight trigrams and Su Qingwen. She could not sleep as she shifted and turned in her bed until eventually, she gave up. Looking at the time on her phone, she could see that it was two o’clock in the morning. The room was swallowed in darkness and one could not see anything. She sat up and dug out a cigarette, lighting it as she inhaled. This was her first time smoking in a long while ever since her relationship with Shen Yumo had gotten more. After all, Teacher Shen’s occupation did not approve of smoking so she had secretly tried to quit smoking. 

After smoking half of the cigarette, she snuffed it out and laid in the bed to try sleeping again.

She closed her eyes and didn’t know how long it took before she felt a smokey sensation in front of her eyes. However, it was like her eyes were enveloped in a layer of cloth and no matter how much she struggled, she could not open her eyes. A dream then, she thought. 

There was a bright light in the distance, she could sense it even though she closed her eyes. After a few moments of hesitation, she walked forward a few steps, the light getting brighter and the temperature getting colder. She couldn’t help rubbing her shoulders as she trembled in the cold. Suddenly the cloth fell away and the scene before her was dazzling. A shrine with looming pillars appeared in front of her, and she curiously walked over for a closer look. On the pillars were phoenixes, carved in an extremely lifelike fashion. 

Footsteps suddenly sounded near her and frantically Jiang Ziquan hid behind one of the pillars. A little Daoist priest appeared, wearing a white Daoist uniform, but the pristine white was covered in dirt across the chest. The face was also obscured by dirt and one could not see their features clearly but the eyes were shining brightly. There was a jake pendant hanging on the Daoist’s waist and looked like the perfect picture of pious devout if not for the large jar of wine in the Daoist’s hands. The Daoist’s eyes looked left then right and opened the wine jar with a toothy grin when she saw no one was around. 

“Tsk, tsk, drinking at such a young age. She will become a drunkard when she grows up.” Jiang Ziquan murmured under her breath, her legs feeling a little sore from standing for so long. 

“Who’s there?” The little Daoist quickly hid the jar of wine behind her and looked up in alarm. 

Jiang Ziquan thought that she had been found out and stepped forward when she heard another voice reply, “And who are you?”

This new voice was extremely soft and gentle but the person tried to sound imposing, making it sound a little odd. 

Following the young Daoist’s gaze, Jiang Ziquan saw another young child, this one with a silver hat on her head and veil covering her face. The young girl wore red and white clothes, embroidered with a phoenix. A bracelet of bells was fastened around her ankle and made a pleasant ringing sound with every step she made. 

“Sister shrine maiden, want to drink together?” The little Daoist immediately shot the young girl a wide grin and shook the drink in her hand: “I stole this directly from the altar, it has a very sweet smell to it.”

The shrine maiden paused, seemingly to hesitate, but before she could do anything the little Daoist had trotted her way over to the shrine maiden and pulled her to sit down on the ground. 

Jiang Ziquan grudgingly admired the fact that the Daoist had some smooth moves, despite the fact that a Daoist could not fall in love or get married. The little Daoist in her dirty clothes seemed out of place sitting next to the immaculately dressed shrine maiden, painting an interesting scene. 

“My Daoist name is Qingyan, what about you, sister?” The little Daoist seemed to not care about the young shrine maiden’s nervousness and her pair of big eyes were filled with joy as they stared intensely at the shrine maiden.

The young shrine maiden gritted her teeth and whispered, “My parents call me Zhe Shuang.” After saying so, the young shrine maiden looked down shyly. 

“Zhe Shuang. It’s a good name and, sister, you smell nice too.” The little Daoist huddled closer with a smug expression and said, “Even better than the aroma of my chicken legs.”

Jiang Ziquan could tell from the way the girl clenched her hands that the young shrine maiden was embarrassed and her small movements were very similar to what Teacher Shen did when she was embarrassed. The little Daoist couldn’t see the blushing face of the other and instead took out two chicken legs from within her sleeves. A somewhat reluctant look appeared on her face, “Sister Zhe Shuang, here, you can have this.”

Jiang Ziquan looked at the greasy chicken legs and sighed in her heart. This little Daoist was breaking so many rules of the Daoism that her master or teacher might break her legs later if she was found out. 

“You’re not going to eat it?” The young shrine maiden had noticed the priest’s reluctance and asked with a frown. 

The little Daoist scratched her bald head sheepishly and said bashfully, “My Master said that those who do not eat meat or drink alcohol will easily grow more hair if we suddenly eat meat again. He also said that practitioners are supposed to be compassionate and cannot eat something that takes another’s life.”

“Then I will take your place. I will be a vegetarian. So every time you eat meat, just transfer my good karma onto yourself. That way, everything is balanced out.” The young shrine maiden felt like what she said was a good plan. There was a little excitement in her tone when she grabbed the Daoist’s hand and added, “Promise that you’ll come to visit me again tomorrow and I’ll even give you something that won’t make your hair grow.”

A light radiated in the Little Daoist’s eyes as she weighed her options and then thought that the shrine maiden’s plan was indeed a good one. She hugged the shrine maiden gently, “Thank you, Sister.”

After saying so, the Daoist took a big bite out of her chicken leg. She looked no different from a common beggar on the streets with her small face covered in oil, becoming even dirtier than before. 

Zhe Shuang lowered her head to hide a small smile and then took out a light blue handkerchief from her sleeve to carefully wipe this beggar’s face. A pair of delicate eyebrows were gradually revealed and little Daoist grinned, “Thank you, Sister.”

Jiang Ziquan felt that this face was very familiar and studied it for a while before she fell back in shock, “Isn’t that me?”

Suddenly, Jiang Ziquan opened her eyes, the bright light blinding her eyes. Wiping the sweat on her forehead, she realized that the sun wasn’t completely up yet. Her mind recalled the dream from just now and remembered that the little priest was like her. No, the priest is her, but not quite her. Although the face was still very young and immature, she was sure that it was her face. However, the priest’s behavior was different, for the little Daoist’s flirty moves was something a person like her, someone with no love experience, could never do. 

Then was the other girl Shen Yumo? She didn’t see the young girl’s face so she wasn’t sure. 

After a while, she waved off that thought, it was just a dream. Why could every girl she sees in her dream be Teacher Shen?

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“Everyone had worked hard and suffered greatly for the recent mock exams, and the results speak for themselves. Our school has made relatively great progress overall, but we can not let arrogance go to our heads. There is not much time left until the college entrance exams and if everyone can hold out a little longer, we will succeed. Especially for some of the younger people. They need to be a little more motivated if they wish to be more serious about their students’ future.” The headteacher’s spittle flew everywhere during his speech and when he talked about young people, he deliberately glared at Shen Yumo. 

She Yumo was currently sitting with her back straight, and she was debating whether or not she should go directly to the headteacher’s office after the meeting to admit her mistakes. That way, the headteacher will not attack her for this again in the future.

“Teacher Shen, do not beat yourself up over this. It’s tough being a literature teacher for third-years, especially if it’s your first year teaching kids around that age. Don’t be discouraged.” Xu Yan patted Teacher Shen’s arm. Her class was even worse than Teacher Shen, but since they did poorly in all subjects, the headteacher didn’t pick on her. She knew that Shen Yumo was a responsible person and is a serious teacher, it’s just that her soft personality was not that great for disciplining students.

“I know, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Shen Yumo gave her a reassuring look and then turned back to the headteacher.

“Alright, that concludes today’s meeting. Teachers, make sure to write a summary and turn it in later. Make sure to write a deeper reflection this time.” The headteacher finished, grabbing his thermos as he left. 

“As a teacher, you should prioritize the student’s grades first and do not let private matters cloud your judgment. We do not want the parents to worry about their children’s learning, after all.” Zhou Kairui took a sip of water, slowly and lazily organizing his documents. 

“Teacher Zhou, I hear that one of your classes was first in language and another was second! You are indeed worthy to be called the backbone of Mingxing.”

Zhou Kairui smiled at the teacher who praised him and then shot a glare at Shen Yumo and Xu Yan. 

“Teacher Shen, do you want to have lunch together?” The scores for physics in his class were better than usual, so Xu Yao wore a smile on his face when he talked. 

Shen Yumo glanced at Xu Yao, and couldn’t help but think of Jiang Ziquan’s previous evaluation of him: “Gentle, good locks, romantic.” Just thinking like this made her heart sour and she forced a smile, “Teacher Xu, my house is close by, so I will just go home and eat. I will not be troubling you today.”

Xu Yao had kept believing that Jiang Ziquan and Shen Yumo’s relationship was not as loving as it seemed. Although he knew that Jiang Ziquan’s place was close by, he would still try to invite Shen Yumo to dinner only to be rejected again and again.

In fact, because he had been rejected so many times, the expression on his face remained the same. He pushed up his glasses: “Very well, then I will be leaving first.”

Xu Yan shoved Shen Yumo’s shoulder and teased, “This Teacher Xu has invited you to eat with him so many times that it’s become a habit. You’re hardworking and married already, so his face must be really thick if he keeps asking.” Then she thought about Jiang Ziquan’s appearance during the sports event the other day, “Although, I don’t think Teacher Xu will ever be able to catch up to her level of beauty.”

Shen Yumo’s face turned slightly red and she said embarrassedly, “She’s not that beautiful.”

Xu Yan heard those words and glanced at her before lamenting, “Yes, in the eyes of a beautiful person you probably think that other beautiful people are just the standard.”

Shen Yumo gave her a look and then heard the bell ring, “I’m leaving first, you should go back to your class.”

“En.”

Shen Yumo grabbed her bag and pondered what to eat for lunch. She did not know if Jian Ziquan would return home for lunch and after looking at the time, she sent a message: 

“Are you going home for lunch?”

A reply quickly came back and she opened her messages to see one sentence: “Come to the sports field.”

This…is she at the school right now?

Thinking that Shen Yumo quickly made her way towards the sports field. The sports field was located far away from the teaching building and other than a few P.E. classes, no one else usually goes there.

“Why are you here?” Shen Yumo felt shocked and then delighted, her joy at seeing Jiang Ziquan winning out in the end. 

Jiang Ziquan was sitting on one of the outdoor table tennis tables and smiled, “Because I missed you?”

Shen Yumo rolled her eyes and walked over to her side. A light breeze blew on her face and she asked, “How did you get in?” 

Jiang Ziquan turned and pointed at a hole in the fence not too far away. It was only big enough for a puppy to go through. 

“You climbed through the dog hole?!!” Shen Yumo glanced at her in shock and then looked at Jiang Ziquan’s clothes. Although she was wearing clothes that were more casual than usual, it was still not suitable for climbing through dog holes. 

“Are you that skinny?” She asked skeptically. 

“I lied. I jumped over the gate.” Jiang Ziquan had jumped fences and walls so many times during high school and was familiar with the terrain enough that it was easy for her to get in. She didn’t expect that the security was still the same as before, other than the fence getting a little rustier.  

“You actually knew that one can jump in through here.” Shen Yumo stood up and looked over at the fence in question. There was a part of the fence where it was damaged previously when the school repaired it, it turned out to be shorter than before. 

Jiang Ziquan did not wear high heels today and was actually a bit shorter than Shen Yumo who was wearing hers. She wasn’t used to the height difference and wrapped Shen Yumo’s waist as she struggled onto her tiptoes. Leaning close to Shen Yumo’s red ears, “Of course I knew, I also know about that little clearing in the school woods.”

A certain series of images suddenly appeared in Shen Yumo’s mind, and who knows what she was thinking as her face turned red, “Are you being shameless again?”

Jiang Ziquan let go of her waist and dragged her by the arm to sit down on the table as she said innocently, “Isn’t the little clearing just a place where two fruitless peach trees reside?”

Shen Yumo thought that she might’ve misunderstood her and raised her head to apologize, only to see Jiang Ziquan smiling at her. She pointed a finger and began, “Jiang—mmph!”

Her lips were covered before she could even finish her sentence. 

Jiang Ziquan’s hands were wrapped around her waist again, and her lips were pressed against hers. Her bag was knocked onto the ground by the sudden movement and her body seemed to heat up as she felt a tongue probe at her lips. However, she clenched her teeth and prevented Jiang Ziquan from taking it further. 

Helpless, Jiang Ziquan could only kiss those red lips over and over again, and then leaned forward to whisper into Shen Yumo’s ears, “No one is watching, Teacher Shen.” This caused Shen Yumo’s body to burn up even more. 

Seemingly noticing the change in her body, Jiang Ziquan moved down and bit that fair and slender neck gently. This caused Shen Yumo to cry out and pushed her away. 

Jiang Ziquan helped her smooth out her clothes and then stepped back, pretending to behave herself. 

It took awhile for Shen Yumo to calm down. She touched her lips and then saw that the other was licking their own. In a somewhat annoyed tone, she said, “Did you really come to the school just to bully me?”

Jiang Ziquan gave Shen Yumo an aggrieved look who returned it with an irritated glare. She lowered her head and whispered: “I originally wanted to just experience the feeling of when the ‘lovers meet again’ [2] but,” she mumbled this part, “I didn’t expect that-”

“Didn’t expect what?”

“Didn’t expect that seeing Teacher Shen again would be so arousing.”

Shen Yumo glanced at the serious expression on Jiang Ziquan’s face and then thought about her own body’s reaction just now. She couldn’t help but blush, “You’ve really haven’t been in love with someone before?”

“En.” Jiang Ziquan nodded solemnly: “There is no doubt that Teacher Shen is my first and only love.”

Shen Yumo felt the air tighten around her and her heart beat furiously. She didn’t dislike kissing Jiang Ziquan, quite the opposite, it was just that the location was too shameful. She bit her lip and then after a long time, she let out one sentence, “It was good.”

Jiang Ziquan stared directly at her blushing face and said after a while, “I will try harder in the future and make it feel even better.” 

One of the books that had spilled out from the knocked over bag flipped to a page when a gentle breeze flowed by. The page is turned to and coincidently landed on a story titled, 《Rascal》. After glancing at a few lines, Shen Yumo then hummed indifferently, “En.”

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T/N notes: 

[1] Female Daoist priests don’t usually shave their hair, but they do when they are younger, like in avatar the last airbender where every air nomad shaves their head when they are younger but the female grows their out when they are older.

[2] Lovers meet again: Technically it’s a song called 《Husband and Wife Both return home》but I thought it would sound better to just write out the meaning of the song which is “lovers meeting again”. The song is from a famous Chinese opera called Tian Xian Pei. If you want to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Xian_Pei

Daoist priests usually look something like this (sometimes without hair): 

The word “shrine maiden” had a more proper term in this context which is the word: Miko (巫女). It means shaman, witch, temple maiden but is now a term most associated with the Japanese equivalent of a shrine maiden. However, like most aspects of Japan’s language, the term ‘Miko’ is a term that originated from China, but an ancient term rarely used nowadays. So I decided to just go with shrine maiden and I could only find Japan’s version of a Shrine maiden costume: 

Fun facts: 

• The name Qingyin (清音) means ‘voiceless sound’ 
• The name Zhe Shuang (谪霜) roughly means ‘to punish the frost’ but most likely is alluding to one of Su Zhe’s (苏辙) writings 《An elegy of Lord Wang (rough translation)》. It uses the words to create the phrase: ‘Fallen Fairy Goddess’.  

*Sidenote: Remember, the term “Sister” in Chinese is used for anybody, regardless of blood relation or not. Unlike in Korea where you call an older woman Noona or Unnie, Chinese only has like one broad term for every older female and it’s usually just ‘Sister’. Either older or younger sister, but at a certain point it doesn’t matter. 

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