*big because, generous growth: a phrase which is 大为长进 in Chinese. The author was pretty clever here, the ‘wei‘ (为) in the phrase ‘da wei chang jin’ (大为长进) is a homonym for another word ‘wei’ (胃). 为 means because, while 胃 means appetite. 大 means big. So 大为长进 can be read as 大胃长进. The former means big reason, large improvement. To make it sound like an idiom I ensured alliteration. Meanwhile, the latter (大胃长进) means big appetite, large improvement. The author is thus saying that Xiao Ziling cooking skills improved because he had a big reason, and implying that his cooking skills improved because of his big appetite.
*aesthetics and aroma are accomplished: a phrase. Literally would be colour and aroma are accomplished, but in this case, colour means the quality of its looks. So aesthetics would be more suitable, plus, it allows for alliteration. ^^
*behead ahead, update late: 先斩后奏; an idiom. Meaning to act first and report later. Directly translated, it is: ‘first execute, later report‘. (report to the emperor). However, I used behead ahead, update late instead. This is because the pinyin of the idiom is xiān zhǎn hòu zòu (先 斩 后 奏). You’ll notice that ‘xian‘ (先; first) rhymes with ‘zhan‘ (斩; execute) and ‘hou‘ ( 后; later) rhymes with ‘zou‘ (奏; report). To preserve this layer of rhyme, behead ahead, update late would be more suitable, although it is not the direct translation of the idiom.
*opening door, seeing mountain: 开门见山; Idiom meaning to ‘open door, see mountain’. An elaboration: upon opening door, directly seeing the mountain outside. Mountain is directly outside your door. Hence, ‘opening door, seeing mountain’ means to get straight to the point or to be direct.
*drinking: Remember in Chapter one, when Xiao ZL told us of how his face had grown abscesses because he had drunk contaminated water? Yeah.
*big because, generous growth: a phrase which is 大为长进 in Chinese. The author was pretty clever here, the ‘wei‘ (为) in the phrase ‘da wei chang jin’ (大为长进) is a homonym for another word ‘wei’ (胃). 为 means because, while 胃 means appetite. 大 means big. So 大为长进 can be read as 大胃长进. The former means big reason, large improvement. To make it sound like an idiom I ensured alliteration. Meanwhile, the latter (大胃长进) means big appetite, large improvement. The author is thus saying that Xiao Ziling cooking skills improved because he had a big reason, and implying that his cooking skills improved because of his big appetite.
*aesthetics and aroma are accomplished: a phrase. Literally would be colour and aroma are accomplished, but in this case, colour means the quality of its looks. So aesthetics would be more suitable, plus, it allows for alliteration. ^^
*behead ahead, update late: 先斩后奏; an idiom. Meaning to act first and report later. Directly translated, it is: ‘first execute, later report‘. (report to the emperor). However, I used behead ahead, update late instead. This is because the pinyin of the idiom is xiān zhǎn hòu zòu (先 斩 后 奏). You’ll notice that ‘xian‘ (先; first) rhymes with ‘zhan‘ (斩; execute) and ‘hou‘ ( 后; later) rhymes with ‘zou‘ (奏; report). To preserve this layer of rhyme, behead ahead, update late would be more suitable, although it is not the direct translation of the idiom.
*opening door, seeing mountain: 开门见山; Idiom meaning to ‘open door, see mountain’. An elaboration: upon opening door, directly seeing the mountain outside. Mountain is directly outside your door. Hence, ‘opening door, seeing mountain’ means to get straight to the point or to be direct.
*drinking: Remember in Chapter one, when Xiao ZL told us of how his face had grown abscesses because he had drunk contaminated water? Yeah.
