CH 96

Although she said they’d come back early, they were still busy until evening. The two sisters tidied up the shop and went home with the meat they bought.

As soon as they entered the door, they saw smoke coming from the kitchen. Mrs. Liang was steaming buns. Mo Ling put the meat on the dining table in the kitchen, “Mum, I bought the meat, let’s stew it tonight! It’ll keep longer that way.”

“Ok.”

Why did she seem like she was in a bad mood? Mo Ling asked, “Did you argue with Dad?”

“No, he fell asleep as soon as he came back?”

“Then did the old woman in the back courtyard complain about us again?”

“No, your father hasn’t gone yet!”

“Then why are you in such a bad mood?”

Mrs. Liang asked, “Ling’er, do you know what the happy event your father was talking about in the letter is?”

“Finding a job for Feng’er. What, he didn’t get the job? That’s fine, just find something else.”

“No, it’s marrying you off!”

Mo Yan came in, put down the things in her hands and asked, “Who is she getting married to?”

“The son of his employer.”

Mo Ling remembered that her father had mentioned that his employers had three sons, but the second one had mental problems and was a bit stupid. If he was a healthy man with a good family background, Mrs. Liang would’ve been overjoyed. Seeing her like this, Mo Ling understood what was happening.

“He wants to marry me to that idiot?”

Mo Yan was startled. She didn’t expect this to happen.

Mrs. Liang coughed lightly and said, “He said that if you married, not only would Feng’er’s livelihood be secured, he would also get a promotion.”

Mu Yan frowned and said, “You’d marry your own daughter to a fool, just to get a promotion when you only earn a few thousand dollars every year?”

Mo Zenian, who had been standing outside the kitchen door for some time, lifted the curtain, came in and said, “Try earning a few thousand dollars yourself. I think you’re too used to idling around and getting free food, and don’t know how difficult earning money is.”

Mo Ling shielded Mo Yan behind her and said, “The money our family spends now, including the medicine Mother takes and the clothes she wears, are all earned by her. She doesn’t idle around at home and eat free food, that’s the job of your son.”

Hearing her complain about Mo Feng, Mrs. Liang stood up from the kitchen and said, “He’ll have a job after the New Year, and he won’t be idle at home anymore!”

Mo Ling gave her a hard look, “He’ll have a job, in exchange for my happiness. I’ll never marry that idiot. If you insist, it’ll be over my dead body!”

Mo Zenian pointed at Mrs. Liang, “Look, this is the daughter you raised!”

She retorted, “What’s wrong with my daughters, they can make money to support me and treat my sickness, that’s better than you!”

“No one takes me as the head of the family seriously, and didn’t they learn that from you? I don’t know any other women who would dare to yell at their husband!”

“You still know you’re a husband. When have you ever taken care of us? Our lives are so much better when you aren’t around.”

“Then get out of here!”

“Even if you want to divorce your wife, you have to have a reason. I gave you a son, and I took care of your mother! I should be the one to divorce you instead!”

“I’ll kill you, you shrew!”

Mo Zenian was about to tear Mrs. Liang apart when Mo Ling stretched out her hand to grab his arm, “Father, today’s incident happened because of me. If you want to beat someone, beat me instead, but I will never marry that fool anyway.”

Mo Ling was their first child, and Mo Zenian loved her very much when she was still a toddler. Now she was a young woman, Mo Zenian couldn’t bear to hit her.

“Don’t call him an idiot, he’s just more honest than ordinary people. Besides, he’s from a rich family. After marrying him, you’ll never have to worry about food or clothing ever again.”

“Father, food and clothing are important, but it’s all secondary to whom you’re sharing your life with.”

The chickens suddenly ran in, so someone was at the gate, but no one spoke, and no one came in. Mo Yan went out to take a look, and their neighbour Mrs. Liu was eavesdropping again. Seeing her coming out, she hurriedly turned around and pretended to just be walking past. Seeing her sneaky appearance, Mo Yan didn’t let her leave easily.

She deliberately raised her voice and asked, “Is something the matter?”

Mrs. Liu smiled awkwardly, “It’s nothing, it just sounds like Mo Zenian is talking, is he back?”

Mu Zenian came out of the kitchen, “Yes, come in and sit down.”

“No, no, I also need to stew meat at home!”

She even knew that they were stewing meat, so she must’ve been eavesdropping from the very beginning. Now, this matter will spread in the village. [1]

Mo Zenian went back to the house to grab things and was about to visit his mother in the back courtyard, and Mrs. Liang reminded him to take the gift box with him. Mo Zenian said impatiently, “It can’t be as good as what I brought back.”

Mrs. Liang was unconvinced, “Those are all goods brought back from the Upper Valley, they’re higher quality than your goods from Yi City.”

After hesitating, Mo Zenian took the gift box. It’d look better to take more, after all.

When he went out, Mrs. Liu asked, “Are you going to see your mother?”

“Yes, it’s been a year.”

After entering the back courtyard, Mo Zenian pushed her door open and entered her room. The voice of the old woman asked from the back room, “Who is it?”

“It’s me. Your third son is back.”

“Oh! My son is back.”

The old woman came out of the back room leaning on a cane, and she quickly took a look at the things on the table, “What’s in that little bamboo basket?”

“I don’t know either, my wife told me to take it. She said the children sold it. I’ll open it for you to try.”

“What can they sell? Don’t open it, I won’t eat.”

“Are you doing well?”

“I’m alright! I’m still alive, there’s no one around me, and no one in the house will know if I die.” [2]

“Mother, don’t say such unlucky words during the New Year.”

“You only come back once a year, who will care for your mother!”

“Don’t they come over? Ling’er fetches water for you every day.”

“They always just drop off food and leave. They must be so unhappy I’m so long-lived!”

Mo Yan’s second grandma said, “Don’t be dissatisfied. The children always send food to you when they make dumplings and flatbread. Don’t just complain.”

The old woman raised her voice and said, “It’s my blessing to have what I have. They should be filial to me, while you can only hope for someone to be filial to you!”

“I don’t have anyone. But since you have one, you should be content.”

“Shut up!” The old woman went to the door with her cane, and Mo Zenian hurriedly stopped her, “Mother, don’t be angry, they should be filial to you. I’ll reprimand them later.”

When Mo Zenian went out, Mo Yan’s second grandmother was waiting for him in the yard, “Zenian, you can’t just listen to your mother, the children are all filial! They don’t like talking to her because she’s always in a bad mood, and the children are afraid of her. ”

“Auntie, I know, don’t worry! If you need anything, just ask them.”

“There isn’t much that I need, and they take care of me a lot! They’re all good children.”

Post-translation notes: The characters are surprisingly fleshed-out…for once, ‘the old woman’ isn’t just a scowling face, and Mo Zenian has some redeemable qualities. I really want the second grandmother to make more appearances considering how wholesome she is. As always, thank you for reading!

[1] And as we also know, when Mrs. Liu hears about things, something bad always happens.

[2] The old woman has a decent sense of self-deprecating humour, and she’s probably the least bad character which is generally antagonistic, except for Mrs. Liang. She might even be more sympathetic as the story progresses!