CH 100

Before going out, Mrs. Liang asked Mo Ling to clean up the table and put the dried fruit on a plate.

Mo Yan went to help. When Mo Zenian went to the toilet, Mo Feng took the opportunity to tell Mo Yan about going to the school for storytelling.

“Sure! I have to stay on vigil tonight, so I can’t go to bed too early, and staying at home will be boring. Tell Mo Ling, and bring some candied fruit.”

Mo Ling, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen, told them to leave first. She said she’d tidy up the house before going.

Mo Yan put some dried fruit in a small bamboo basket. Then, she put on her cloak and went to the school with Mo Feng. When they were just about to leave, Mo Yan handed over the small basket in her hand to Mo Feng, telling him to go first, and went back to the kitchen.

She took two plates and put some meat onto each. Mo Ling didn’t ask what she was doing when she saw it as she knew that Mo Yan was taking it to their second grandma.

She put them into a bamboo basket and put two steamed buns on top before carrying it to the back courtyard.

The rooms in the back courtyard both had their lights turned off. She gently walked to her second grandma’s room, and heard her cough. Knowing that she was still awake, Mo Yan softly called for her.

The lights in her room lit up, and Mo Yan’s second grandmother came out with her clothes on, “Yan’er, what are you doing here?”

Mo Yan handed over the basket, “I can’t invite you to have New Year’s Eve dinner with us, so I brought you something to eat.”

She looked at Mo Yan and then at the basket in her hand, and reached out to take it. After that, Mo Yan immediately turned around and ran away.

When she entered the school, she saw the brightly lit classrooms and heard the noise of people inside. It seemed like it was very lively.

The room was full of people, and they were all young people from the village. Mo Feng was also sitting inside. There were no people of the older generation in there, not even Uncle Pingshun the governing official, who loved storytelling. He had to wait at home for people to pay New Year’s greetings.

As soon as they saw Mo Yan, everyone asked her to tell a joke. Mo Yan walked up to Mo Feng, took the small basket in his hand and put it on the table, “This is the dried fruit sold in our shop, please try it.” [1]

As soon as she took it out, everyone took out all the snacks they had prepared for themselves and put them on the table. Gathering a large pile of food and exchanging it with each other gave it the atmosphere of the New Year.

“It’s a pity we don’t have tea,” Mo Yan said.

Someone said, “I’ll go boil water,” while someone else said, “I’ll get the teapot and teacups.”

Cao Zhang’s voice came from the door, “I have the tea leaves.” He held a small earthen pot with the tea leaves in his hand.

He had just returned from the metropolis, and everyone gathered around him to ask questions. However, Cao Zhang said they didn’t understand matters pertaining to studying, so they urged Mo Yan to tell stories.

She left in a hurry as she was afraid that Mo Zenian would find out, so she didn’t bring a piece of wood. She slapped the table with her hand and said, “You can’t talk about superstition during the New Year, so I’ll tell you something comedic.”

At this time, Er Dan the village idiot ran in. Someone tried to chase him away, but Mo Yan stopped him and said, “Let him stay here! He likes the liveliness.”

She asked Er Dan to stand aside, grabbed some food and stuffed it into his hand, “Stay here and don’t make trouble, or they will drive you out, understand?”

Er Dan nodded and stood there eating obediently.

The first joke was “You aren’t allowed to hit children during the New Year”. It was just a small joke, but everyone laughed very happily, especially Er Dan, who laughed the most.

The water finished and the tea arrived. Cao Zhang gave the first cup of tea to Mo Yan, “Here, let’s give the first cup to our storyteller.”

Everyone took turns to tell stories, and the atmosphere was very lively. It was a happy scene, but it was a pity that Lu Junming wasn’t here, and she didn’t know what he was doing now. Mo Yan felt a little regretful.

The sun had set long ago, but she hadn’t seen Mo Ling coming yet. Afraid Mo Zenian dragged her away to talk about marriage again, Mo Yan decided to return home early.

But Mo Feng was having a lot of fun and asked her to go back on her own. Cao Zhang offered to send her back, which she accepted.

The two walked near the entrance of the Mo family home. Seeing that someone was walking over, Mo Yan said, “It should be my mother coming back home. You should go back!”

After Cao Zhang left, a figure approached her quickly. Mo Yan was so frightened she wanted about to scream, but they covered her mouth with their hand, “Don’t scream, it’s me.”

Mo Yan pulled his hand away, and twisted his arm, “Lu Junming, do you want to die? You scared me so much!”

Lu Junming endured the pain and said, “Are you cursing me to die during the New Year? Cursing people is very effective during the New Year!”

“Who told you to scare me!”

“Quickly touch wood, pei!”

Mo Yan raised her hand to touch his shoulder, and said, “Pei!” Both of them couldn’t help but laugh.

“What are you doing here?”

“I went to the school, but I didn’t step in.”

“Then how long did you stand outside for? It’s so cold outside!”

“It’s okay, I’m resistant to the cold.”

Mo Yan went to touch his hand, which was really cold. She lifted it up and breathed on it to warm it up, “Poor child.”

There was another burst of laughter, but he didn’t dare laugh too loud.

“Where will you eat tonight?”

“I’ll eat at my mother’s first, and then go back to my grandfather’s to eat again. I’ll stay at his house tonight too.”

They heard the sound of someone coming over, who was probably one of the neighbouring children, which Mo Yan had seen in the school.

“Hurry up and go home! It’s cold outside.”

“When will your shop open?”

“We haven’t decided yet! I’ll discuss it with my sister.”

Mo Yan went back home, leaving Lu Junming behind. Unbeknownst to her, he wandered outside her courtyard for a long time, then the pond, and didn’t go home until midnight.

Both Cao Zhang and him liked Mo Yan’s cheerfulness and optimism, and both envied the liveliness of her family. In their eyes, even quarrels were fine, but they didn’t know about Mo Yan’s suffering.

It was a good thing the gate wasn’t locked, or she wouldn’t dare to come back so late. Mo Yan originally wanted to go back to the house quietly, but when she entered the yard, there was a crunching sound at her feet. Looking down at the feet, the road from the courtyard to the house was paved with sesame seeds and straw.

Dodging them, she entered the house cautiously. The oil lamp in the main room was brighter than ever, and the incense in the altar was still lit.

In addition to the dried fruit she put on the table before going out, there was also a teapot and teacups, which must’ve been used. As the head of the family, tonight he sat in the main room and waited for the others to come to pay New Year’s greetings.

She went back to the room and saw Mo Ling was lying down on the kang.

“Sister, why didn’t you go?”

“I don’t want to go!”

It was only then that Mo Yan remembered the gossip Mrs. Liu had spread. She definitely didn’t want to be talked about. She got on the kang, and put her cold feet into her sister’s blankets. Mo Ling turned around half a circle, forcing her feet out, and she put them in again.

The two sisters were fighting when they heard Mrs. Liang coughing loudly, and Mo Ling quickly turned off the lights and went to sleep.

Post-translation notes: Everyone is envious of everyone, that’s how the world works…as always, thank you for reading! And it’s the big chapter 100 too! Here’s to another…200 I think? We’re roughly a third of the way through the story.

[1] I’m surprised he just didn’t eat all of the dried fruit.