The sky was dyed a uniform blue, with only a few light clouds. Under the blue sky that was so clear it had almost no impurities, the foothills of Beijing’s Tianshou Mountain undulated and stretched into the distance.

This place had excellent feng shui¹, a place for gathering and storing qi². Inside, there was water for saints to ascend, and it had produced wise rulers for generations. Outside, there were mountains where princes and nobles paid homage, offering eternal tribute.

This was the burial place of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

Chu Wan sat on the ox cart, smelling of cow dung and hay, looking up at the distant Ming Tombs Mountains, and sighed in her heart, ‘I’m back’.

How could she have imagined that she would go back to more than ten years ago, back to the foothills of Tianshou Mountain in 1984.

Chu Wan had grown up looking at the mountain range of the Ming Tombs; she was born here, at the foot of the Ming Tombs.

When she grew up, she married into the Lu family in the city according to the marriage agreement signed by the previous generation. The Lu family was a well-known family in the city, and it went without saying what she, a rural girl, would experience when she married into such family.

Taking advantage of the changes in the national cultural relics policies, she relied on the skills passed down from her family to make a good living in the antique markets. She bought and sold antiques, and gradually expanded her own collection. Later, she opened two antique shops in Liulichang. With her excellent vision and amazing courage, she made a considerable fortune.

By the mid-1990s, she has become a wealthy woman, and her finds were sold at major auction markets around the world.

Her career was going well, but her marriage was unhappy. Her husband, Lu Jianshi, was a complete jerk. He was unsuccessful in everything he did. He took advantage of her money and still thought he was the boss.

But she didn’t care too much.

The Lu family was powerful and influential. Even though the old man of the Lu family was gone, the uncles and aunts of the Lu family, including her father-in-law, have all taken good care of her. They have received the Old Man’s last will and instructions, which said that they must not let her suffer any injustice.

Therefore, she tolerated Lu Jianshi. After all, she was under the protection of the Lu family, and it was mutually beneficial for everyone.

She made such a large business by reselling antiques and offended many people openly and covertly. How was she able to get away with it? It was because she was the daughter-in-law of the Lu family.

No one dared to mess with the Lu family’s daughter-in-law.

Without the protection of her identity, how could she have such a comfortable life? What she had would have been coveted by others long ago.

She felt that she and Lu Jianshi each got what they wanted. She got the status of Lu family’s daughter-in-law, while he took advantage of her and did his incompetent best to ruin her.

Everything was going well, but she didn’t expect that her life would encounter a Chiung Yao-style³ bloody event.

She suddenly discovered that Lu Jianshi was keeping a mistress outside.

The key point was that the person he was raising outside was her distant cousin.

She earned so much money for the family, hard-earned cash, but she never got a penny back after he invested it into his many failed businesses. Today he wanted to do real estate, and tomorrow he wanted to invest in building a factory. He came up with many ideas on the spur of the moment, but in the end all the money he invested was wasted.

But wasn’t that money hers?

She didn’t mind his incompetence and just turned a blind eye to his failed businesses—so they lived like this. But who would have known that he actually used her money to raise her distant cousin outside?

And he even slandered her in front of her cousin. What did he say at that time?

He said, “Your cousin may look good and have the ability to make money, but she’s actually a piece of wood. She has no eyes for men and is obsessed with those old things all day long! Ever since I married her, my life had also become boring, but I still have to endure it!”

Chu Wan was surprised when she heard this. If you were unhappy, why didn’t you say so earlier? Who asked you to endure it?

At this point, Chu Wan felt somewhat regretful.

The engagement at that time did not say that she had to marry Lu Jianshi, only that she had to choose from among his many cousins. But she must have been blind. Otherwise, why would she choose him?

Now it seemed that he was the least capable one in the Lu family.

It would be bad enough if he was just a gigolo, but he even had the nerve to use the money he got from being a gigolo to keep a mistress, and even had the nerve to slander her behind her back.

She already planned to get a divorce after that.

But what happened was that while she wanted a divorce, he refused and became absolutely shameless, refusing to let her go.

She was a little annoyed. It happened that there were not many elders of the Lu family in Beijing at that time, only his Seventh Uncle was there, so she asked Seventh Uncle to come and she sought justice for herself.

After listening to her story, Seventh Uncle said without hesitation that the marriage must be severed. He would be the one to make the decision for her. If Lu Jianshi didn’t divorce within three days, he would force him to divorce.

Originally, she was very happy when Seventh Uncle said this. She immediately thanked Uncle Seventh and sent him on his way. She was ready to get a divorce from Lu Jianshi.

But who knew that when she was about to leave, Seventh Uncle’s ex-wife, who had been divorced from him for many years, suddenly came to find her. From the way she looked, it seemed that she was desperate and wanted to get back together with Seventh Uncle, but he must have ignored her. 

So she wanted to ask Chu Wan to help her put in a word with Seventh Uncle.

Chu Wan was baffled. This Seventh Aunt had hooked up with another man back then just a few months after marrying Seventh Uncle, and now they’ve been divorced for over a decade. Why would she want to get back together now? And she was even asking her to intercede?

She ignored Seventh Aunt and sent her away. At this time, Lu Jianshi, who was determined not to get a divorce and was angry and embarrassed, somehow got something in his hands.

He raised it, threatening Chu Wan, saying that she should agree not divorce him, otherwise he would smash it to pieces.

When Chu Wan saw what Lu Jianshi was holding up, her heart jumped to her throat.

He was holding the Nine Dragon Jade Cup that Chu Wan cherished as much as her own life.

She had clearly put it in the safe and locked it with three layers of locks, so how could he have gotten it?

Chu Wan used threats and inducements to get Lu Jianshi to put it down.

Lu Jianshi’s face turned grim. He said that he had been cheated out of the real estate company he had invested in and had lost everything. If Chu Wan didn’t help him fill the hole, he would be finished, so he didn’t want to divorce.

Chu Wan talked to him, saying that she could give him money, just name a price, but Lu Jianshi didn’t want the money—he wanted to continue living with Chu Wan.

Chu Wan thought about agreeing to it first and then thinking about other things later.

Lu Jianshi became proud and asked Chu Wan to write a document quickly and hand over her various documents and passbooks, otherwise he would teach her a lesson.

In order to threaten her, he deliberately waved the Nine Dragon Cup around and asked her to ‘show her sincerity’ quickly.

In order to keep him calm, Chu Wan lowered her posture.

At this point, Lu Jianshi had been coaxed by her to finally put down the Nine Dragon Jade Cup, but no one expected that the Seventh Aunt who had been sent away by Chu Wan earlier suddenly came back. She was crying as if she wanted to say something. Her sudden appearance distracted Lu Jianshi, and the Nine Dragon Cup somehow fell directly to the ground.

When Chu Wan thought of this scene, she took a deep breath, and felt her heart trembling.

She had clearly returned to more than ten years ago, to the foot of the Ming Tombs Mountains in 1984. She was now sitting on an ox cart and smelling the primitive scent of hay and cow dung from the 1980s.

But she still felt heartbroken.

The mystery behind the Nine Dragon Cup had plunged the Chu family into turmoil for half a century. It was a treasure that she has obtained after searching high and low, and it was a treasure that she has paid a fortune for.

This was a treasure that would be a stunning centerpiece in any museum.

She just watched helplessly as this peerless national treasure fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

When the Nine Dragon Cup fell to the ground with a ‘crash’, the jade fragments scattering everywhere, she saw flashes of white light, red light, green light, blue light and lights of many other colors appear in front of her eyes… She felt that the world around her had somehow transformed into something else.

When she regained consciousness, she was wearing an old, blue, cotton-padded jacket and sitting on an ox cart heading back to Yongling Village.

Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: Hey all! This is a new translation I’m doing in place of Seventh Year of My Secret Love For You that’s ending.

The title ‘pearls and jade’ is used to refer to something valuable—like jewelry or treasure. It also means ‘a talented man’. It’s the same as in the phrase ‘a talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven.’ So the title is a wonderful word play: Our FL, a beautiful woman, has both treasure and a talented man beside her, making her a winner in both career and love.

Rebirth. Scumbag-ex. The FL marries her ex’s Uncle instead. This is what it says on the tin—and it does deliver on the promise. But there’s sooo much more to the story than this. Complicated family relationships. The taste of the 1980s. Ancient dynasties. A crash course on porcelain and jade, and the idiosyncracies of long-dead emperors.

If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi and get access to advance chapters as reward. Thank you for your support! ☺️
Chapter 2 — Wanwan is Back
Chapter 3.1 — An Eye for Choosing a Man
Chapter 3.2 — An Eye for Choosing a Man
Chapter 4 — The Origin of the Marriage Agreement
Chapter 5.1 — Thick Skin is a Must
Chapter 5.2 — Thick Skin is a Must
Chapter 6.1 — He Gave Her Pocket Money
Chapter 6.2 — He Gave Her Pocket Money
Chapter 6.3 — He Gave Her Pocket Money
Chapter 7.1 — There Must be Compatibility Between Husband and Wife
Chapter 7.2 — There Must be Compatibility Between Husband and Wife
Chapter 8 — The Beauty of Line Carving
Chapter 9 — In My Eyes, This Is 200 Yuan

1. Feng shui is an ancient Chinese art and philosophy that arranges objects and spaces to create harmony and balance, optimizing the flow of energy (called qi) to promote health, happiness, and prosperity in life ↩︎
2. Qi or Chi is the vital life force or energy that flows through the universe and living things according to traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine ↩︎
3. Chiung Yao was a Taiwanese novelist and producer known for her melodramatic storylines. Oddly enough, her most famous work, considered the most watched Chinese-language TV series of all time—My Fair Princess—was a lighthearted family, love comedy.
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