Chapter 14

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Nannan’s honey trap

Ye Xiudu examined the tiny figure through the curtain, stretching his hand to calm the black panther again. Was that how Mo Xian looked after someone else? Letting him unexpectedly appear in this hall all by himself.

Nannan’s small body leaned in slightly as he squinted his eyes to try and see better who was on the other side of the curtain.

But the other party was motionless and silent like a statue.

‘Could it be that the person was sleeping? Or could it be that it really was a statue and not a person?’

Nannan wasn’t Yu Qingluo. His mind wasn’t as apprehensive as hers. Following the principle of ‘if you have a doubt, you must find an answer to it’, he immediately ran towards the curtain and silently reached out his hands to draw it open. ­

Ye Xiudu frowned, while a hand was still resting on the panther’s back, he kept his eyes on the child’s approaching figure. He has always been thinking that this child shouldn’t be as simple as he seemed.

“Wow!” Nannan exclaimed, his eyes widening in amazement and he threw himself forward, quickly hugging around the panther’s neck. And started to rub his head on it.

“A panther! it’s a panther! Who would have thought a panther would be here! A real panther!! So cute, come. Little treasure, give me a hug. This little master will hurt you dearly.” Nannan closed his eyes shut while hugging the animal’s neck tighter. The black panther reacted, almost reaching to bite this impudent kid’s head off.

If it wasn’t for Ye Xiudu calming it gently, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this hall soon be turned into a bloody scene.

He didn’t speak, only squinted his eyes to look at the child. Seeing his excitement, it seemed that he did not remember that time they met when he was drunk.

“Panther, do you like me too? Of course, this little master is so handsome and suave, you certainly like me! Then, wouldn’t you like to leave with this little master? Of course, seeing your silence I already know your willingness.”

Ye Xiudu was baffled. This kid has only been speaking one-sidedly, but unexpectedly still thinks he can try and swindle his panther away?

Isn’t he being too dismissive of its owner?

“The black panther only recognizes one master.”

The black panther beside him, almost as if understanding his words shook its head in apparent agreement.

Nannan suddenly seemed to realize that there was someone else in front of him. He raised his head in an abrupt movement staring at Ye Xiudu sharply.

“Are you little panther’s[1] owner?”

‘Little panther? Isn’t he acting far too familiar?’

Ye Xiudu gave a cold snort: “Naturally.”

“…” Nannan gave him a look, then lowered his head and looked to the panther, then then tried to compare their body sizes. He naturally noticed that he was not an opponent to this person at all. In other words, he couldn’t try it the hard way at all.

Then… the soft way? How should I try it then?

Honey trap? Incorrect, he being such a chaste[2] person could not spoil himself.

Beauty[3] trap? Mother isn’t by his side, so he has no beauty he can use for that.

Ye Xiudu watched the kid’s beady eyes rolling around in deep thought, understanding in a second what his intentions were. But he wasn’t meaning to underestimate this child, as just a while ago Mo Xian suffered big losses in his hands. He knew that this child wasn’t like the others, he was probably one of those few born prodigies.

It’s just that, this child… was it really only because of Mo Xian’s wine that he decided to follow him into the Mo Residence?

Nannan, after thinking for a long time finally raised his head with caution. Grabbing the man’s hand carefully.

Ye Xiudu frowned and pulled his hand out of his.

Nannan was confused, Ye Xiudu’s reaction was completely different from the scene he was expecting to enact, so instead, he decided to reach out and grab his clothes.

Ye Xiudu tried bearing, at least for a while, letting him hold onto his sleeves.

“Little panther’s owner. How about we discuss some business?”

“I refuse.”

Nannan’s expression collapsed. His entire bun-like face wrinkled in anguish: “I didn’t say what business this was about, how can you just refuse?”

“The black panther has only one owner.” There was no need to think hard about it to understand what the kid wanted to talk about.

Nannan’s cheeks bulged, his eyes were looking at him straight filled with indignance. His little hands were still holding firmly onto Ye Xiudu’s sleeves.

After a bit, as if he had made a decision in his mind, he finally withdrew his gaze. Lowering his head and looking upwards his face changed 180 degrees, into a dazzling smile.

Forget it, he must sacrifice himself a bit and make use of the honey trap stratagem!

“Little panther’s owner, don’t you think Nannan is extra cute~?”

Ye Xiudu’s lips twitched, he then proceeded to nod slowly. It was not easy to see him being so patient as to accompany a child in his nonsense. “Hm, cute.”

“Then could you bear to see Nannan’s so heartbroken and painful that he would wish he was actually dead, breathing his last breath before he is gone from this world forever?” Blinking his eyes, Nannan’s body had almost leaned completely over Ye Xiudu.

Ye Xiudu couldn’t hold himself anymore and turned his head towards him, a complex expression on his face: “You are a male.” How could this kid only use proverbs that are used to describe women?

Nannan nod: “Oh, that’s not the point. Of course, I know I am a man. If you doubt it, I can put my pants down and show it to you. What I want to say is… Huh? Is it because I am male that you don’t know how to pity me, have the urge to protect me nor wish to oblige to all my requests? So, are you saying…” Nannan used his hands to prop his chin up: “So are you saying that using a male-honey trap won’t work?”

“…” Ye Xiudu was suddenly curious about who this kid’s parents were, and how eccentric could they be to teach a child such things.

Nannan’s brains wheels once again started turning, his fiery eyes burned brightly as he stared fixedly at the panther. As it felt the kid’s eyes, the animal’s stance became cautious.

Ye Xiudu glanced at him, going back to stroke the panther’s back without paying any mind. He wanted to see what other ideas this kid had.

As Nannan was deep in thought, some rapid footsteps came from outside the door.

Ye Xiudu’s eyes narrowed as he looked up…

Translated by C, The Apostle of Coffee

Edited by NoveLeo, Life is a Drama

Translator’s Notes

[1] – in the original, he calls the panther (豹豹) which is a repetition of the ideogram for panther (豹子). In chinese normally when you are close to a person, one of the intimate ways to address them is by using this kind of repetition of the last character of the person’s name, hence Ye Xiudu’s sentence following Nannan’s.

[2] – Although I translated it as ‘chaste’, Nannan utilizes an idiom instead: 冰清玉洁 (Bīngqīngyùjié) which mean ‘Clear as ice and clean as jade’. It’s an idiom that stands for ‘uncorruptness, purity, chasteness.

[3] – 美男计, 美人计 (Měinán jì, měirén jì) – In this chapter, Nannan utilizes 2 expressions to refer to a ‘honey trap’. They are performed by a male and a female, respectively. The first one literally translates as a Beautiful Male Trap (and it uses 美, which is an adjective to refer to women or men with a more feminine beauty, the second 美人 literally means ‘Beauty’. If you are used to reading Harem stories, you might be able to see this term applied to a low ranked concubine in the imperial Harem as well).