Disclaimer:
1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
The next day was the Mid Autumn Festival. At Liu Xu’er’s family’s side, everyone had gotten up early. Then Liu Shu, Liu Lin and Liu Tao quickly started to pile the cart full of things. Ye and nai were both staying with dabo in the village, so the entire family needed to head back to Taohua village to celebrate the occasion. There were quite a lot of things to bring back.
When Liu Xu’er came out of the backyard, she wondered if Shi Cheng would be by today? He should be right? How was he to spend the holiday alone? That would be so lonely. It really wasn’t like Shi Cheng to suffer needlessly.
Just as she was wondering, Shi Cheng came in from outside. When he came in, he told Liu Shu, “Liu Shu, I’ve brought a cart along as well. If you don’t have enough space here, why don’t you place some things on mine?”
Liu Shu saw his large cart, smiled and nodded, “We can put all the items on our cart, but will probably let all the people sit in yours. Then that would be perfect.” Shi Cheng nodded and started to help him move things onto the cart.
Liu Tao agreed, but there was still a feeling of awkwardness. Scratching his head, he entered and called out to the newly wedded woman in the house. “Mum.” Then he turned and ran back out.
The young fellows then started to move everything off the cart. Liu Gao shi and Old Man Liu had all moved into this new place recently. Because no one had stayed at the old residence for a year or two, there was a mild leak at the old house when it rained a few days ago. So they had decided it would be easiest to move in and stay with Liu Changqi instead. It was just that without any children, the place felt a little cold.
Now that a whole big bunch of the younger generation had arrived, Liu Gao shi was delighted. She came out and called each of them by name, and all of the children called out, “Nai”. Even Shi Cheng had joined in the chorus and called her “Nai!”
No one except sharp Liu Sen caught it. Laughing uproariously, he pointed at Shi Cheng and said, “Shi Cheng ge has started to call nai!”
He shi was both exasperated and amused. She went over to smack him, “Don’t you have anything to do? Quickly go and move things down!”
The few lads started to move everything into the courtyard. What needed to be placed in the kitchen was moved there, and what needed to be put in the rooms was transferred to the rooms.
When dabo had gotten married, Liu Xu’er had come back. But because she was of the younger generation, and because the bride wore a veil to her room, Liu Xu’er didn’t manage to see her clearly. This time, she finally managed to get a good look. It turned out she was still very young – it seemed she was still in her 20s. Likely because she hadn’t met with most of the family members, her face was flushed red, and she stood to the side. She looked like she didn’t know what to do with herself.
This forced He shi to take charge of the situation. Smiling, He shi greeted her and invited her to join He Ruyu and herself in the kitchen. The three of them could prepare the meal together. Wang shi, Zhou shi and Aunt Zhang would be their assistants, washing the vegetables and what now.
Liu Changgeng and his brothers went into the main room with Old Man Liu and Liu Gao shi to chat with them. The younger generation all squeezed into the room as well, calling out to their grandparents and taking some melon seeds for snacks. Their grandparents checked in with each of them, extensively asking everyone about their situation. The atmosphere in the room became rather lively.
Liu Xu’er was the first to be questioned, then Old Man Liu started to smoke, so she came out and prepared to head to the kitchen to help out. She had just gone a couple of steps when she heard someone at the door call out, “Oh my, this house is rather lively today!”
She turned and saw that there were quite a few village women crowding at the door. Smiling, they came in and pulled at Liu Xu’er’s hand. Liu Xu’er could only stand there, smile and invite them into the room. When they refused to enter, standing in the courtyard to chat instead, Liu Gao shi headed out and started to smilingly greet them. There were tables and chairs placed in the courtyard, so she invited them to have a seat and chat. It seemed as though the women really were free – they sat down and started to chat. But they kept holding onto Liu Xu’er and refusing to let go of her hand.
When Liu Gao shi saw that, she understood their intentions. The Liu Xu’er of today was not the Liu Xu’er of before. Now everyone who saw her would need to treat her with respect – no one would dare to treat her like a child or dismiss her.
Liu Xu’er sat down and spent a while talking to them. When she finally managed to extricate herself, she hurried away and tried to burrow herself in the kitchen. But when she got there, she saw there were too many people in the kitchen, so she had no choice but to head back out. Terrified she would be caught again, she quickly headed to one of the side rooms to eat melon seeds.
Liu Sen saw her and followed her into the room, he asked, “Jie, why are you hiding here? Look, I had to carry so many snacks while looking for you!” He showed her a tray. On the tray were fruits and quite a lot of snacks, including melon seeds, peanuts and two cups of tea.
Liu Xu’er was just feeling bored all by herself. She smiled and patted on the table, “Come over and put it down here…. Senzi is still the best! Always thinking of his jie.”
Liu Sen sniggered. In a lowered voice, he winked and said, “Jiefu is looking for you all over!”
Liu Xu’er smacked him, ‘Why are you still such a smooth talker? You should really change this habit of yours!”
Senzi smiled, and sure enough, after a while, Shi Cheng finally managed to find them. When he entered the room and saw the siblings sitting, drinking tea and eating melon seeds, he closed the door and smiled, “All the aunts in the courtyard are trying to hunt you down. They’ve been circling the courtyard looking for you.”
Liu Xu’er exclaimed and hurried to the window. She opened it to have a look. Then she hurriedly closed and locked it before coming back to sit at the edge of the kang. “Please do not let her know we are here… Do you know what she’s here for?”
“What?” Shi Cheng thought it over for a second before realising, “They made handicrafts for you before right? They’re the ones that went over to supply Liu Yun’er right?”
Liu Xu’er nodded and smiled, “Her daughter, Xiaolian. Mrs Yu and her daughter Xiaolian were the first to come over and tell me they wanted to stop.”
Shi Cheng shook his head, “Their skin is really thick.” Then he asked, “That’s right, is Liu Yun’er coming today or not? It would be awful if she came!”
Liu Sen let out an exaggerated shiver when he heard, “She wouldn’t, right?”
Liu Xu’er giggled and said, “No – she’s already married, why would she come back…..” Just as she said that, she felt someone come up to lean against the window. She instantly clamped her mouth shut and looked wide-eyed at Shi Cheng.
Shi Cheng had also noticed and was just putting a finger to his lips to shush her. Seeing her so frightened, he quickly patted her shoulder before quietly heading over to the window.
Liu Sen had also closed his mouth, and was staring hard at the shadows at the window.
When Liu Changshi was staying here, the windows had already been made of cloth and not the usual paper. When Shi Cheng had just got to the window, he could see someone using their fingers to stab at it. They probably thought it was just paper, and wanted to poke a hole to look into the room.
Liu Xu’er had also seen what they had just done. Revulsion rose in her – who were these people?!
Shi Cheng walked to the side, and got a peek from the other window. He shook his head, turned, gestured and mouthed to Liu Xu’er – It’s Mrs Yu!
Liu Xu’er frowned and was just wondering what she could say to scare her away? Or maybe she should just go out and tell her to scram? But this person was thick skinned – if she went out, she might just be caught again.
Just as she was thinking, they heard Xiaolian’s voice come in from outside, “Mum, have you found Xu’er?”
Mrs Yu answered, “No… How strange, they said she was just in the courtyard. How did she disappear so quickly? Did she go out?”
“Perhaps? Now that she’s such a popular person in the village, maybe she went out to brag?” Xiaolian immediately said.
Shi Cheng had just walked back from the window and spotted Liu Xu’er rolling her eyes. Senzi turned to look at Liu Xu’er and signalled a question – should they make some noise or not? Liu Xu’er shook her head. Softly she said, “Ignore them.”
Liu Sen nodded and continued to eat his snacks. Shi Cheng had also come to sit on the kang and picked up Liu Xu’er’s cup of tea to drink.
Mrs Yu and Xiaolian just continued to stand outside the window – they looked as though they were waiting. Mrs Yu had even sighed when she heard Xiaolian’s words, “But what choice do we have? After all, we’re the ones with a favour to ask… Oh, we were so blind before! Why did we trust Liu Yun’er’s empty boasting!”
Xiaolian then said, “Liu Yun’er really dares to just say anything. She had even told me before how much her husband trusts her, how he listens to her in everything…. Hmph! Even if he did before, after losing so much money, let’s see if he still listens to her!”
Mrs Yu then said, “That’s right! He too must have been deceived by her boasting, which was why he listened to her in the first place! Like us, she must have told him all sorts of sweet lies, and really believed he could make that much money…. I say, why is her husband so blind? Why did he choose her?!”
The instant she said that, Xiaolian immediately said excitedly, “That I know! Liu Yun’er only told me! It turned out it wasn’t through the conventional manner…. She was the one who liked him, so she thought of a plan to get him drunk and sleep with him! And she even deliberately hinted to her dad before that, so that he knew to go to town to look for her. Her dad caught them red-handed, and so insisted that he marry her. In the end, her husband was left with no choice. Oh Mum! You should’ve heard what she told me – she used so many sly strategies! At the time, I thought that she was a rather ruthless person….”
In the house, Liu Xu’er had covered Senzi’s ears with her hands. Liu Sen let her and continued to snack.
Shi Cheng went out, and frightened the gossiping duo outside. Mrs Yu gasped, “Oh, oh…. There was someone in the house?!”
Shi Cheng stood at the door and nodded, “That’s right, I was tired, so I took a short nap. But you kept on talking, so I woke up… That’s right, who are you here for?”
Mrs Yu started to give a smile and said, “Shi Cheng, we’re looking for…..” She hadn’t finished when Xiaolian gave her a tug and Mrs Yu fell silent. With a puzzled glance, she turned her head to look at her daughter.
Xiaolian looked at Shi Cheng, gave a coquettish smile, and in a delicate voice, said, “Shi Cheng di, you’ve also come.”
When her ‘Shi Cheng di’ travelled indoors to Liu Xu’er’s ears, she gave an involuntary shiver! Then she gave an astonished look toward the shadow at the window. This Xiaolian…. What was she planning?!
Liu Sen’s lip twitched and he said to her, “Jie, you must closely watch Shi Cheng ge today. Don’t let others get him drunk and sleep with him.”
That hit Liu Xu’er like a bolt of thunder! Turning, she shrieked, “What did you say! My god, this little brat dares to say anything….” Then she jumped up to beat Liu Sen, but Liu Sen had already jumped off the kang and started to run about the room, dodging her.
Disclaimer:
1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
The next day was the Mid Autumn Festival. At Liu Xu’er’s family’s side, everyone had gotten up early. Then Liu Shu, Liu Lin and Liu Tao quickly started to pile the cart full of things. Ye and nai were both staying with dabo in the village, so the entire family needed to head back to Taohua village to celebrate the occasion. There were quite a lot of things to bring back.
When Liu Xu’er came out of the backyard, she wondered if Shi Cheng would be by today? He should be right? How was he to spend the holiday alone? That would be so lonely. It really wasn’t like Shi Cheng to suffer needlessly.
Just as she was wondering, Shi Cheng came in from outside. When he came in, he told Liu Shu, “Liu Shu, I’ve brought a cart along as well. If you don’t have enough space here, why don’t you place some things on mine?”
Liu Shu saw his large cart, smiled and nodded, “We can put all the items on our cart, but will probably let all the people sit in yours. Then that would be perfect.” Shi Cheng nodded and started to help him move things onto the cart.
Liu Tao agreed, but there was still a feeling of awkwardness. Scratching his head, he entered and called out to the newly wedded woman in the house. “Mum.” Then he turned and ran back out.
The young fellows then started to move everything off the cart. Liu Gao shi and Old Man Liu had all moved into this new place recently. Because no one had stayed at the old residence for a year or two, there was a mild leak at the old house when it rained a few days ago. So they had decided it would be easiest to move in and stay with Liu Changqi instead. It was just that without any children, the place felt a little cold.
Now that a whole big bunch of the younger generation had arrived, Liu Gao shi was delighted. She came out and called each of them by name, and all of the children called out, “Nai”. Even Shi Cheng had joined in the chorus and called her “Nai!”
No one except sharp Liu Sen caught it. Laughing uproariously, he pointed at Shi Cheng and said, “Shi Cheng ge has started to call nai!”
He shi was both exasperated and amused. She went over to smack him, “Don’t you have anything to do? Quickly go and move things down!”
The few lads started to move everything into the courtyard. What needed to be placed in the kitchen was moved there, and what needed to be put in the rooms was transferred to the rooms.
When dabo had gotten married, Liu Xu’er had come back. But because she was of the younger generation, and because the bride wore a veil to her room, Liu Xu’er didn’t manage to see her clearly. This time, she finally managed to get a good look. It turned out she was still very young – it seemed she was still in her 20s. Likely because she hadn’t met with most of the family members, her face was flushed red, and she stood to the side. She looked like she didn’t know what to do with herself.
This forced He shi to take charge of the situation. Smiling, He shi greeted her and invited her to join He Ruyu and herself in the kitchen. The three of them could prepare the meal together. Wang shi, Zhou shi and Aunt Zhang would be their assistants, washing the vegetables and what now.
Liu Changgeng and his brothers went into the main room with Old Man Liu and Liu Gao shi to chat with them. The younger generation all squeezed into the room as well, calling out to their grandparents and taking some melon seeds for snacks. Their grandparents checked in with each of them, extensively asking everyone about their situation. The atmosphere in the room became rather lively.
Liu Xu’er was the first to be questioned, then Old Man Liu started to smoke, so she came out and prepared to head to the kitchen to help out. She had just gone a couple of steps when she heard someone at the door call out, “Oh my, this house is rather lively today!”
She turned and saw that there were quite a few village women crowding at the door. Smiling, they came in and pulled at Liu Xu’er’s hand. Liu Xu’er could only stand there, smile and invite them into the room. When they refused to enter, standing in the courtyard to chat instead, Liu Gao shi headed out and started to smilingly greet them. There were tables and chairs placed in the courtyard, so she invited them to have a seat and chat. It seemed as though the women really were free – they sat down and started to chat. But they kept holding onto Liu Xu’er and refusing to let go of her hand.
When Liu Gao shi saw that, she understood their intentions. The Liu Xu’er of today was not the Liu Xu’er of before. Now everyone who saw her would need to treat her with respect – no one would dare to treat her like a child or dismiss her.
Liu Xu’er sat down and spent a while talking to them. When she finally managed to extricate herself, she hurried away and tried to burrow herself in the kitchen. But when she got there, she saw there were too many people in the kitchen, so she had no choice but to head back out. Terrified she would be caught again, she quickly headed to one of the side rooms to eat melon seeds.
Liu Sen saw her and followed her into the room, he asked, “Jie, why are you hiding here? Look, I had to carry so many snacks while looking for you!” He showed her a tray. On the tray were fruits and quite a lot of snacks, including melon seeds, peanuts and two cups of tea.
Liu Xu’er was just feeling bored all by herself. She smiled and patted on the table, “Come over and put it down here…. Senzi is still the best! Always thinking of his jie.”
Liu Sen sniggered. In a lowered voice, he winked and said, “Jiefu is looking for you all over!”
Liu Xu’er smacked him, ‘Why are you still such a smooth talker? You should really change this habit of yours!”
Senzi smiled, and sure enough, after a while, Shi Cheng finally managed to find them. When he entered the room and saw the siblings sitting, drinking tea and eating melon seeds, he closed the door and smiled, “All the aunts in the courtyard are trying to hunt you down. They’ve been circling the courtyard looking for you.”
Liu Xu’er exclaimed and hurried to the window. She opened it to have a look. Then she hurriedly closed and locked it before coming back to sit at the edge of the kang. “Please do not let her know we are here… Do you know what she’s here for?”
“What?” Shi Cheng thought it over for a second before realising, “They made handicrafts for you before right? They’re the ones that went over to supply Liu Yun’er right?”
Liu Xu’er nodded and smiled, “Her daughter, Xiaolian. Mrs Yu and her daughter Xiaolian were the first to come over and tell me they wanted to stop.”
Shi Cheng shook his head, “Their skin is really thick.” Then he asked, “That’s right, is Liu Yun’er coming today or not? It would be awful if she came!”
Liu Sen let out an exaggerated shiver when he heard, “She wouldn’t, right?”
Liu Xu’er giggled and said, “No – she’s already married, why would she come back…..” Just as she said that, she felt someone come up to lean against the window. She instantly clamped her mouth shut and looked wide-eyed at Shi Cheng.
Shi Cheng had also noticed and was just putting a finger to his lips to shush her. Seeing her so frightened, he quickly patted her shoulder before quietly heading over to the window.
Liu Sen had also closed his mouth, and was staring hard at the shadows at the window.
When Liu Changshi was staying here, the windows had already been made of cloth and not the usual paper. When Shi Cheng had just got to the window, he could see someone using their fingers to stab at it. They probably thought it was just paper, and wanted to poke a hole to look into the room.
Liu Xu’er had also seen what they had just done. Revulsion rose in her – who were these people?!
Shi Cheng walked to the side, and got a peek from the other window. He shook his head, turned, gestured and mouthed to Liu Xu’er – It’s Mrs Yu!
Liu Xu’er frowned and was just wondering what she could say to scare her away? Or maybe she should just go out and tell her to scram? But this person was thick skinned – if she went out, she might just be caught again.
Just as she was thinking, they heard Xiaolian’s voice come in from outside, “Mum, have you found Xu’er?”
Mrs Yu answered, “No… How strange, they said she was just in the courtyard. How did she disappear so quickly? Did she go out?”
“Perhaps? Now that she’s such a popular person in the village, maybe she went out to brag?” Xiaolian immediately said.
Shi Cheng had just walked back from the window and spotted Liu Xu’er rolling her eyes. Senzi turned to look at Liu Xu’er and signalled a question – should they make some noise or not? Liu Xu’er shook her head. Softly she said, “Ignore them.”
Liu Sen nodded and continued to eat his snacks. Shi Cheng had also come to sit on the kang and picked up Liu Xu’er’s cup of tea to drink.
Mrs Yu and Xiaolian just continued to stand outside the window – they looked as though they were waiting. Mrs Yu had even sighed when she heard Xiaolian’s words, “But what choice do we have? After all, we’re the ones with a favour to ask… Oh, we were so blind before! Why did we trust Liu Yun’er’s empty boasting!”
Xiaolian then said, “Liu Yun’er really dares to just say anything. She had even told me before how much her husband trusts her, how he listens to her in everything…. Hmph! Even if he did before, after losing so much money, let’s see if he still listens to her!”
Mrs Yu then said, “That’s right! He too must have been deceived by her boasting, which was why he listened to her in the first place! Like us, she must have told him all sorts of sweet lies, and really believed he could make that much money…. I say, why is her husband so blind? Why did he choose her?!”
The instant she said that, Xiaolian immediately said excitedly, “That I know! Liu Yun’er only told me! It turned out it wasn’t through the conventional manner…. She was the one who liked him, so she thought of a plan to get him drunk and sleep with him! And she even deliberately hinted to her dad before that, so that he knew to go to town to look for her. Her dad caught them red-handed, and so insisted that he marry her. In the end, her husband was left with no choice. Oh Mum! You should’ve heard what she told me – she used so many sly strategies! At the time, I thought that she was a rather ruthless person….”
In the house, Liu Xu’er had covered Senzi’s ears with her hands. Liu Sen let her and continued to snack.
Shi Cheng went out, and frightened the gossiping duo outside. Mrs Yu gasped, “Oh, oh…. There was someone in the house?!”
Shi Cheng stood at the door and nodded, “That’s right, I was tired, so I took a short nap. But you kept on talking, so I woke up… That’s right, who are you here for?”
Mrs Yu started to give a smile and said, “Shi Cheng, we’re looking for…..” She hadn’t finished when Xiaolian gave her a tug and Mrs Yu fell silent. With a puzzled glance, she turned her head to look at her daughter.
Xiaolian looked at Shi Cheng, gave a coquettish smile, and in a delicate voice, said, “Shi Cheng di, you’ve also come.”
When her ‘Shi Cheng di’ travelled indoors to Liu Xu’er’s ears, she gave an involuntary shiver! Then she gave an astonished look toward the shadow at the window. This Xiaolian…. What was she planning?!
Liu Sen’s lip twitched and he said to her, “Jie, you must closely watch Shi Cheng ge today. Don’t let others get him drunk and sleep with him.”
That hit Liu Xu’er like a bolt of thunder! Turning, she shrieked, “What did you say! My god, this little brat dares to say anything….” Then she jumped up to beat Liu Sen, but Liu Sen had already jumped off the kang and started to run about the room, dodging her.
