Vocabulary

castle construction with high earthen ramparts

painstaking (e.g. effort); excruciating (e.g. hard work); grueling

to have another round of drinks (at a different place or with different company); to start drinking again; to have a fresh round

moment of anguish; fleeting suffering

front-page article; top story; lead

experiencing heat (e.g. in a sauna)

warming room

Platycarya strobilacea (deciduous tree)

to achieve one's ambition; to attain one's goal; to fulfill one's aspiration

good-for-nothing; deadweight; parasite; waste of space

parrot's-feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum); parrot feather watermilfoil

shaggy soldier (Galinsoga quadriradiata); Peruvian daisy

vehicle paying tolls via ETC (electronic toll collection system)

attach to make sabaki; contact play for sabaki; sabaki starts with an attachment

doctor who curries favor with patients instead of practicing skilled medicine; quack doctor who flatters his patients; incompetent, flattering physician

to lose one's means of livelihood; to become unable to earn a living

measles

small mouse; small rat

to bud; to sprout

darkness of the night; black of night; dead of night

dedicatory match; ceremonial match

exiled person; banished person

to make a living

uncle

needless to say; as a matter of course; of course; not to mention

paying rice as tax

tax levied on mountain or forest ownership (Edo-period)

looking gentle and beautiful like a bodhisattva on the outside but, being wicked and frightening like a demon on the inside

emperor's handwriting; imperial autograph

Xi Ou (a branch of the Baiyue that inhabited present-day Guangxi)

to become drenched in sweat; to work up a sweat; to sweat profusely

kidnapping for profit; abduction for financial gain

milk delivery

to pull out bit by bit (with both hands); to reel in

popular star; public favorite; popular celebrity

miserable; wretched; pathetic

super tropical night; night in which temperature doesn't fall below 30 degrees C

acquihire; acqui-hire

mausoleum

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