Chapter 191 - 179: Lantern Festival
Chapter 191: Chapter 179: Lantern Festival
It had rained on the Lantern Festival, hiding the stars and moon. The ground outside was wet, spoiling any chance for fun.
Xiao Man’s home, however, was filled with lively laughter and cheer. All the rooms were brightly lit, and a hundred-watt lightbulb had even been strung up in the large pear tree, illuminating the threshing ground below. The rain had long since stopped, leaving the ground clean and clear. Three braziers, filled to the brim with charcoal, burned a brilliant red. Under the pear tree, a stone table was lined with bowls and plates of pork, chicken, and fish, all pre-marinated. Beef was a rarity these days, as ploughing oxen were protected. They couldn’t be slaughtered for meat unless one accidentally fell to its death on a mountain or was too sick to move.
There were also freshly washed vegetables, glutinous rice cakes, and parboiled, sliced potatoes. Some of the food was already on skewers, but some wasn’t, so a few of the girls were busily skewering the rest under Xiao Man’s direction.
On another table sat more bowls and dishes, holding oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, chili powder, Sichuan pepper powder, toasted sesame seeds, ketchup, and honey. This way, everyone could season their own barbecue to their liking.
Aside from Secretary Mo’s children, young and old, Guan Ailan, Mo Linghui, Mo Shuixia, and Liang Xiuzhen were there with one or two of their younger siblings. Lin Liuping also came after closing the co-op store for the day. She had already stopped by earlier to give Grandpa and Grandma a holiday gift—two chickens, some candy, noodles, and liquor. She had to eat her Lantern Festival dinner at her uncle’s house but promised she would come back later for the barbecue.
Grandma had scrubbed Tang Haocheng’s clothes clean. Xiao Man had a couple of solid-colored sweaters that fit him, but all her jackets were too feminine. Fortunately, Zheng Shaolian had left a short coat behind, so Tang Haocheng wore that. It was wide and long on him, but at least he had something to wear.
As for pants, she gave him a pair of black woolen pants to wear as trousers. Xiao Man had brought several pairs of sneakers back from Beijing, and since his feet were large, he could wear a pair of those too.
Even in such a bizarre outfit, he still maintained his cool, cocky swagger, carrying himself as if he were someone important.
Aside from Grandma, no one made a special effort to approach him. Xiao Man had already instructed the other kids, "That boy over there—unless he talks to you first, don’t bother him!"
Tang Haocheng couldn’t just trail after Grandma all night. ’What would that look like?’ He was already eleven, and there were even younger kids in the courtyard who knew how to have fun and take care of themselves. They were grilling their own meat, holding a skewer in each hand and taking bites from one, then the other. He stood alone under the eaves for a while, looking down on the crowd and playing the part of the cold, aloof observer. But eventually, he couldn’t resist. He moved a stool over to a brazier on the threshing ground, grabbed a few skewers of raw meat, and started grilling them himself. Nearby, Qiu Xiaohu kindly showed him how to turn the skewers, and Mo Zhiyuan told him to go brush on some seasoning once the meat was half-cooked. He followed their instructions, even saying a polite, "Thank you." The kids were curious about him, and soon one asked a question, then another. He answered each one, and gradually, he started to fit in.
Before long, somehow, all the boys and girls were gathered around him. He just had to sit there leisurely answering questions, and someone would naturally grill meat skewers for him and hand them over to eat!
Xiao Man was speechless.
Mo Chengfu laughed and said, "This brother of yours is really something else. He doesn’t have an ordinary mind. He can answer any question, and his explanations are always so clear and logical. It’s like he knows everything about heaven and earth!"
Xiao Man looked at Tang Haocheng, who was surrounded by the other children, his face flushed from the heat of the fire. She pursed her lips. ’He does have a good brain... an incredible memory and an incredible capacity for learning. I wouldn’t say he knows everything between heaven and earth, but he definitely knows more than the average person. In a few years, he’ll become Huaxia Country’s youngest and most brilliant military scientist...’
By now, almost everyone in Gongdao Village knew that Xiao Man wasn’t Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying’s biological daughter, which meant all those younger "siblings" weren’t related to her at all. Lin Liuping, Guan Ailan, and the others were extremely curious about this brother who had appeared out of thin air, especially since the two of them looked so alike. So, Xiao Man just told them the truth: he really was her biological brother, and he had run away to find her, but their birth parents had no intention of welcoming her back into the family.
The girls’ eyes all went wide. Guan Ailan, the most hot-tempered of the group, burst out, "What’s not to like about you? Why wouldn’t they want you back?"
Xiao Man explained, "They dote on their adopted daughter. She’s supposedly weak and frail, and she doesn’t want me to return to that family. That’s why—as you’ve all seen—Liu Fengying wanted to blind and cripple me, and why Mo Xiaoqiang tried to blow me up. That family—parents and daughter—are united. They just don’t want me back. Because if I go back, the other girl will have to be switched back, and she’ll lose her life in the city!"
"I... To hell with her and her whole family!" Guan Ailan suddenly swore.
Mo Shuixia added angrily, "That adopted daughter is Liu Fengying’s child, so of course they’re cut from the same cloth—all of them rotten to the core! If I ever see her, I’ll slap her a few times before I even bother talking!"
Mo Linghui was baffled. "Is there something wrong with your birth parents? Not rushing to get their own daughter back, but worrying about doting on the adopted one instead? That makes no sense."
Lin Liuping thought of her own father, who also treated the stepdaughter his new wife brought with her as several times more important than his own flesh and blood. She sighed. "It’s not as unheard of as you might think. Things like that really do happen. If you ask me, Xiao Man, you’d be better off not going back. Life is so good here with Grandpa and Grandma. Even Teacher Yu said you’re sure to get into a university someday. Living an independent life is much better than going back to that house to fight with the adopted daughter over every little thing."
Guan Ailan became agitated. "Fight over what? There’s nothing to fight over! Xiao Man has to go back! Make that adopted girl get her butt back to the village. By what right does she get to live in your house and claim your parents?"
"Exactly!" Mo Shuixia and Mo Linghui nodded in unison.
Mo Linghui said, "She needs to come back to the village and see the conditions you grew up in. Otherwise, all the hardship and suffering you endured will be for nothing, you know? Why should your parents get to dote on her like a treasure, while you spent your whole life being beaten and cursed by her parents? And in the end, they even tried to cripple you just so she could get everything? There’s no justice in this world!"
Lin Liuping asked, "Now that your brother’s here, your birth parents are sure to follow. When are they coming?"
Xiao Man replied, "It should be soon. Sometime in the next few days."
Guan Ailan rubbed her palms together eagerly. "Let them come! The sooner, the better! Hopefully before school starts, so I can get a look at the little bitch who stole your life for more than ten years and still refuses to give it back!"
The barbecue didn’t wind down until midnight, by which time all the meat and vegetables had been grilled and devoured. Grandpa and Mo Chengfu grabbed flashlights and started walking the children home in batches, focusing on those who lived farther away or in more isolated spots. Kids like their neighbor Qiu Xiaohu, or Guan Ailan and her brother, and Lin Liuping, all lived along the main road and didn’t need an escort.
Tang Haocheng had eaten a lot of meat and, after drinking some Digestive Tea, was now standing under the eaves and yawning. Once Grandma and Xiao Man finished cleaning up the mess, Grandma ladled out a basin of hot water for him to wash his face and soak his feet. She told him he would sleep with Mo Chengfu, but Tang Haocheng shook his head back and forth like a rattle. When Grandma offered to make up a bed in the guest room, he shook his head again. He wanted to be in the same room as Xiao Man. Naturally, Xiao Man refused. With his sudden arrival, she hadn’t had a single chance to enter her space all day, and she needed to get in there tonight to get some work done.
The argument continued until Grandpa returned. He settled the matter by simply carrying the long bamboo recliner from under the eaves into the main hall. Then he grabbed a new cotton quilt from Xiao Man’s room, spread it over the chair, and Tang Haocheng, without another word, lay down and fell asleep.