CH 118

When she got home, Mo Ling cleared the table and said, “The old woman’s arduous days have just begun!”

Mo Feng said, “Someone’s fetching water for her, she won’t die of thirst.”

Mo Yan said, “People don’t only need to drink water, they also need to eat and wear clothes. We aren’t giving her food in the future. What will she eat?”

“She can buy that too!” Mo Feng replied.

Ms. Liang sneered, “Is the money her son gives her every year enough?”

Mo Ling also smiled and said, “That’s right! When her daughter comes again in the future, it’s hard to say if she has any food at all, not to mention meat.”

“Then she definitely won’t come!”

Ms. Liang went back to her room, collecting the clothes that were drying in the yard along the way. She folded the clothes, and opened her closet to put them in. She saw the shoes inside, all painstakingly made by her for Mo Zenian. She wanted to give them to him for when he returned to Yi City, but then they divorced.

These shoes are well made, but Mo Feng’s feet are smaller than Mo Zenian’s, so they wouldn’t fit well.

Mo Yan came in to get her clothes, when she saw Ms. Liang staring at the shoes in a daze. She approached and said, “Save these shoes for now, we can sell them to him later!”

Ms. Liang turned her head and said with a smile, “You’re getting too greedy!”

“Mom, don’t you understand yet? It’s hard to do anything without money. Since my sister’s marriage has been settled, it’s time to start preparing her dowry. I can take care of the wedding dress, but we need help with everything else. We have to make Mo Ling’s marriage a good one, and let the villagers know that our family doesn’t depend on our father.”

“Okay, I can start preparing for the furniture and the jewellery.”

“We should also go to our future in-law’s house to see how their wedding room is being prepared, how the family members are, and whether we can get along with them.”

“Why? We can’t back out anymore.”

“She has to marry, but we have to let our future in-laws know that she has the support of her natal family, so they wouldn’t dare treat her poorly.”

“We’ll discuss it later!”

It was nighttime, and Ms. Liang said happily, “It’s time to light the lamps!”

She put the lamps onto a plate, and lit them one by one. Then, placed them on the table in the living room to worship the gods.

After burning incense to the gods, she kowtowed and put a lamp in each room and every corner of the yard, muttering, “After lighting lamps on the fifteenth day of the new year, we’ll be healthy and safe for the rest of the year.”

The three children also lit the lamps, and walked around holding them up.

After the lamps had been extinguished, Ms. Liang pulled out the remaining wicks one by one, and put them on the yellow money paper with copper coins printed on them.

Mo Yan asked, “Mum, what are you doing?”

“The remaining wicks are unlucky, we’ll ignite them and send them out later.”

Mo Ling also came over to help. She wrapped the wicks in the paper, lit them using a lamp, and ran out with them.

Mo Yan was curious, so ran out as well. She saw Mo Ling holding the flaming paper and running all the way to the forest in the south. She only threw the scroll on the ground when her hands were about to be burnt, said, “All disasters go away”, then turned and ran back.

Seeing that Mo Yan had followed her, she took her hand and ran back, “What are you doing out here? Go quickly and don’t look back.”

As soon as they entered, Mo Ling immediately closed and bolted the door.

The next day, they still had to go to town. Mo Ling and Ms. Liang got up early in the morning to make flatbread. When Mu Yan got up, they had already made a large stack.

There was a wok sitting on the adjacent small stove. While watching the flatbread in the large stove, Mrs. Liang flipped the contents of the small stove. Mo Yan took a look, Weren’t those the lamps from last night? But they were slightly flattened.

The lanterns had been flattened into small pancakes, browned on both sides and put on a plate. Then, they were sprinkled with icing sugar while they were still hot.

Mo Yan couldn’t resist the temptation and reached out to grab one. Ms. Liang slapped her outstretched hand away, “It’s hot! Sticky things take a long time to cool.”

After they had cooled, Mo Yan picked it up with chopsticks. This time, Ms. Liang didn’t stop her. She tried to take a bite, but it was still very hot, so she could barely eat it. It was crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside, fragrant and sweet.

“It’s delicious!”

“You can’t eat too much. You have a poor appetite, and this is hard to digest.”

Mo Yan saw there were many lamps in the basket and found a small linen bag to put them in.

Ms. Liang asked, “What are you doing with so many? Your second grandma can’t even finish the ones you gave her yesterday.”

“It’s not for her, I want to give these to my brothers.”

“What brothers?”

Ms. Liang didn’t know about her sworn siblings yet. After hearing Mo Ling’s explanation, she just sighed and said, “It’s good to meet people outside. The people in this village just want to watch drama. How many of them are truly sincere?”

After getting ready, the two sisters were about to go out with a basket of flatbread. Ms. Liang called, “Feng’er, get up and help your sisters carry the basket. It’s quite heavy!”

Mo Feng indistinctly agreed, but Mo Yan stopped him and said, “There’s no need.” She was afraid that history would repeat itself. [1]

Ms. Liang said, “Let him help! When your sister gets married, you’ll still need your brother to help you. How can you do it alone?”

She wasn’t being unreasonable, but Mo Yan knew that it definitely wouldn’t work.

“Mother, don’t worry. When my sister gets married, we’ll do some other business.”

“This shop is doing well and makes money every day, it’d be a pity to close it.”

“I think your cough is healed. If you don’t want to close it, you can take my brother with you. I’ll pay the rent, and you can keep whatever you earn.”

Mo Feng happened to come out of his room, and repeatedly said, “Okay! You said that, don’t go back on your word.”

Mo Yan said, “I won’t. We’re a family, we can only live a good life when everyone’s happy. You’re already fifteen, and should have a business by now. You can also marry, fulfilling mum’s biggest wish.”

They still didn’t let Mo Feng go with them. Ms. Liang knew they thought he was too lazy, so didn’t hold it against them.

As soon as they arrived in the market, Mo Ling lit the stove, while Mu Yan went to Jiaolan Courtyard with the burlap bag containing the lanterns. As soon as she entered, she saw Lu Junming practising with his spear in the courtyard.

He didn’t wear an outer robe, but only a comfortable plain inner robe, loosely wrapped around his waist by a silk ribbon of the same colour.

He had mastered his spear, and its shadow coiled around him like a dragon. After finishing a set of drills, he stabbed the spear on the ground and took a deep breath.

Mo Yan couldn’t clap as she held the bag in her hand, so she could only praise him with her voice. Only then did Lu Junming notice her and say with a smile, “Yan’er, you’re here.”

Mo Yan raised the bag in her hand, “I brought you some good food.”

Ms. Zhao came out of the house, “Yan’er, let me see what delicious food you’ve sent us.”

Mo Yan first asked if she was well, and then explained to her how to eat the lanterns. After hearing this, she immediately understood, “This is a bit like the glutinous rice cakes from my hometown. I can make those, but these lanterns are new to me.”

Lu Junming found it interesting, and asked her to talk about lighting the lamps. Mu Yan used her storytelling skills to vividly tell him what had happened last night, which made Lu Junming feel very regretful.

“It’s very unfortunate I didn’t stay in the village last night.”

Post-translation notes: Nothing much to say here, thank you for reading!

[1] For reference, he ruined a bunch of goods by eating them and throwing the stuff he didn’t like onto the ground.