CH 116

Mo Yan entered her second grandma’s room and saw her sitting on the kang, looking out through the window.

Seeing Mo Yan come in, she sighed and said, “What a good child, I pity him!”

Mu Yan put the plate on the edge of the kang, “His parents committed sins, so he has to suffer the retribution.”

Mo Zheng cried out from the yard, but no one went out to see if he was alright. Mo Yan couldn’t help but take a look. She saw him lying on the ground. Xiao Hu was riding on him, grabbing his collar and spanking him as he kept shouting “drive, drive”.

Looking at the old woman’s room, there was a figure standing inside which looked like Xiao Hu’s grandma. Mo Yan stood at her second grandma’s story and yelled at Xiao Hu, “Where did you rascal come from? How can you bully others without being reprimanded?”

Xiao Hu’s grandma was immediately drawn out by the sound. She stood at the door of the old woman’s house and said coldly, “Who’s little bastard is swearing in the streets? My grandson is from the main branch of the family, he’s appreciating that bastard by riding on him.”

Mo Yan went over to pull Xiao Hu up and pushed him aside, “If you can’t be sensible, what use is being from the main branch of the family? You’re still a little rascal!”

Mo Zheng got up and grabbed her skirt, wiping away tears and sobbing.

Seeing that Mo Yan dared to touch her grandson, the woman rushed over, “You dare hit my grandson? I’ll tear you apart!”

Just as she was about to slap Mo Yan, her second grandma stood at the door of her room, “Yan’er’s my guest. If you dare touch her, don’t blame me for being rude.”

Mo Yan’s second grandma was the woman’s elder. She wouldn’t dare fight her.

“Auntie, didn’t you see him beat my grandson?”

“She is your grandson’s elder, and she disciplined him for you. You should thank her. Besides, I only saw your grandson bullying that child, and Yan’er just pulled him away.”

The woman pointed at Mo Zheng and said sternly, “It’s all your fault!” He was so frightened that he hid behind Mu Yan.

“Today’s the fifteenth, what are you doing at your mother’s house?”

The woman said, “Why can’t I?” [1]

Mo Yan’s second grandma sneered and said, “You’re no longer young, shouldn’t you be at your own home? Are you trying to snuff out the lamps to bring bad luck to your natal family? ”

Mo Yan fixed her eyes on the woman and said, “I wondered why we were so unfortunate every year, so it’s all thanks to you!”

“Only an insolent whelp like you would accuse me of such trivial wrongdoings.”

She sneered and replied, “So you also know you’re in the wrong, why don’t you scram with those grandchildren of the main branch of yours!”

Mo Yan’s aunt would’ve never imagined that sickly girl would dare to scold her.

“You little brat, your parents have divorced and you’re no longer of the Mo family? I should be the one telling you to scram!”

“Whether I’m part of the Mo family doesn’t depend on you. Since I can stand here, it must be legal, but you’re standing here as an ignorant fool who doesn’t know the rules!”

The old woman just came out of the house and said to her daughter, “Stop arguing, go and help me fetch water first! The water reservoir has bottomed out.”

Mo Yan’s aunt said to the old woman angrily, “How can I fetch water? I’ve come all this way, and now I have to fetch water for you even without having eaten any food.” .

Mo Zheng tugged on Mo Yan’s skirt, “Sister, I’m afraid!”

No matter how innocent this child is, she had no reason to take him back. She couldn’t get past the barrier in her heart, not to mention Ms. Liang.

She tore his hand away and went out. Her second grandma reached out to the child and dragged him to her room.

When she got back, Mo Ling saw that her expression wasn’t good, so she asked, “Did they make things difficult for you?”

“They tried to, but I scolded those crows away.”

Ms. Liang said with a smile, “You’ve finally learned!”

Mo Ling also jokingly said, “That’s thanks to your teachings.”

The family happily continued to make lanterns and prepared dinner. The weather was slowly getting warmer, and the things left over from the New Year have to be cleaned up. They stewed meat with mushrooms and cabbage, as well as Ms. Liang’s frozen tofu. She also made croquettes, recooked pork, tofu boxes…

It was a full table of dishes again, comparable to the New Year’s Eve dinner. Because of the presence of Mo Zenian and the old woman, although the food was good last time, they didn’t enjoy it. The dinner on the second day of the New Year also tasted good, but the atmosphere didn’t need to be stated.

Today, there were only the four of them, so the atmosphere was finally like the New Year.

Even Mo Feng came out of his room to clean the yard. He was already fifteen years old, and although he couldn’t go to Yi City, he had still thought about his future. He still wanted to be a useful person and live a decent life.

When the family sat down to eat, a chicken squatting behind the gate suddenly ran in. Ms. Liang snorted coldly, “The woman opposite us must be eavesdropping again.” After she finished speaking, she deliberately raised her voice and asked, “Feng’er, does the meat taste good today?”

Mo Feng replied loudly, “It’s delicious, even better than the food from Dengyun Restaurant!”

They listened attentively and heard someone trying to open the door. If the neighbour was eavesdropping, she would be careful not to make any noise.

Mo Yan stood up and went out to look, and saw a small face poking through the half-opened door, looking in with two big black eyes. It was Mo Zheng!

She went over to open the door further, “What are you doing here, go back!”

Mu Zheng timidly grabbed her skirt with his small hands, “Sister, I’m hungry!”

Although he looked pitiful, she grit her molars and thought to herself, am I being stalked by this kid?

“Where’s your father? Doesn’t he give you food?”

“Dad’s not at home.”

“Where’s your grandma?”

“The old lady said that there was no water in the house, so she couldn’t cook. She told me to go out and beg for food. I could smell food coming from here.”

She couldn’t let him eat inside. Mo Yan went back to the kitchen, put some food onto an empty plate, and put a steamed bun on top. Ms. Liang asked her what she was doing, and she told her there was a beggar at the door.

Mo Yan handed the plate to Mu Zheng, “Take it back and eat, and don’t come here again.”

Mo Zheng thanked her, carefully turned around and walked back with the plate in hand, and Mo Yan told him as he was walking back, “Go to your second grandma’s to eat.”

Mo Zenian had disappeared after leaving his child behind.

The family was having dinner happily when they heard crying from outside their courtyard, “What’s the use of me living such a long life! Why can’t I just pass away earlier!”

The cry passed the Mo family courtyard and went towards the south of the village. The ancestral grave of the Mo family is over there, and it was just through a small willow forest.

Post-translation notes: I saw a comment about how Mo Zheng isn’t really pitiable since he’s clearly cunning enough to beg for food, but on the other hand, his grandmother doesn’t like him and his dad’s a wastrel. He’s also five years old who’s been called a bastard and mocked for it for most of his life, come on he’s just a toddler.

[1] I’m pretty sure the author was referring to a different tradition completely here and I’m not sure what they were trying to say as a native Chinese speaker, so I ended up trying to modify it entirely. There are a few small bits in the previous chapters which were also like this, and I’m sorry if these are rather confusing; I’ll mark them out in later chapters. It’s hard to translate since a lot of this is based on very specific and archaic Chinese traditions.