Chapter 64.1

Translated by Aviana

By the time the carriage arrived at the Luoxia village, the night had already fallen. Xia Hongzhi first got down the carriage and shouted from the gates outside.

Dahei and Erhei, unfamiliar with him, began barking at him.

Yang-shi was just about to go to bed when she happened to hear someone yelling from the outside, followed by Dahei and Erhei’s barks. Listening to this, she reckoned someone had come to look for her for some matter.

However, if it was an ordinary acquaintance, Dahei and Erhei wouldn’t bark this fiercely.

After draping outer clothes, Yang-shi stepped out of the room. Only when she walked into the courtyard could she clearly hear her eldest grandson, Honzhi’s voice.

“Is it Hongzhi?”

Xia Hongzhi replied from outside the yard, “Grandmother, it’s me. We have returned. “

Yang-shi excitedly quickened her pace and opened the courtyard gates. There weren’t any lights outside, apart from a faint light coming from a wind-resistant lamp hung on the side of the carriage. Upon hearing Yang-shi’s voice, Zhou-shi too stepped down from the carriage before hugging her daughter, Xia Lanju, down as well.

As soon as she saw her mother-in-law, Yang-shi, Zhou-shi’s eyes flooded with tears.

“Mother–“

This while, it had been very hard on Zhou-shi to be able to be adamantine. Her husband getting imprisoned had made her anxious to death to the point that her hair almost turned white. She didn’t dare to let out the vulnerability she was feeling, dreading that it might beget panic within the children’s hearts. Throughout the entire journey, she had been beside herself with apprehension. However, as soon as she saw her easy-going mother-in-law, she couldn’t endure any longer.

Yang-shi hurriedly stepped forward to give her daughter-in-law a hug. “What happened? Why are you crying? Where’s Dacheng?”

After crying a bit, Zhou-shi restrained her sobs, fearing that she might scare Yang-shi. She turned around to lift open the curtain and helped Xia Dacheng down along with the carriage driver’s assistance.

Xia Dacheng’s buttocks and back were seriously injured. Thus the two expended tremendous strength and care to cautiously help him down.

Nonetheless, even then, Xia Dacheng was tormented from shooting pain.

“Aiya, my child!” Yang-shi swiftly realized that the situation was anything but reassuring as soon as she saw this, and it wasn’t time for her to break down. She hastened up to Xia Dacheng and supported him into the house. Xia Hongzi and Xia Lanju couldn’t help them, so they silently walked to the carriage and collected their family’s belongings.

The carriage driver had already received the fare in advance. Once he saw that his customers had safely been sent to their destination, he turned the carriage around left.

Entering the house, Yang-shi helped Xia Dacheng settle on the kang in the main room. This kang was where Yang-shi slept daily. Thus, its temperature was already warm and cozy. After asking her two grandkids if they had eaten anything, she headed to the kitchen to prepare something first for them, without asking about his son’s injury.

Yang-shi made a big wok of noodles using mixed coarse cereals. Furthermore, she also extravagantly cracked a few eggs into it for her son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids to eat.

T/N: Here the Chinese term used for mixed cereals was 杂粮 (záliáng). Which usually refers to various minor coarse cereals other than five major crops (soybeans (豆), wheat (麦), broomcorn (黍), foxtail millet (稷), and rice). The mixed cereals include sorghum, millet, buckwheat, naked oats, naked barley, mung beans, kidney beans, fava beans, cowpea, lentils, job’s tears, amaranth, and the likes. The same term was also used in chapter 44 part 1

Yang-shi was sharp-eyed. Even though she hadn’t asked the children about it, and they haven’t said anything, from her son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids’ appearances, she could tell that she had suffered a huge ordeal.

Soon, piping hot noodles were served. The noodles were light yellow colored with chopped onions and two poached eggs sitting on top of the noodles in each bowl.

Zhou-shi and the kids had been starving for a long time. They had set off on the journey at noon and didn’t have extra silver to have lunch. Hiring a horse carriage was expensive in and of itself. Additionally, their travel would extend into the night, increasing the price even higher. After paying the travel fare, the remaining bit of silver that Zhou-shi had in her hands was used to buy another pack of Xia Dacheng’s medicine to take back home.

Zhou-shi brought a bowl of noodles over to Xia Dacheng, intending to feed him first. But Yang-shi took the bowl and went to feed her son, letting Zhou-shi eat her dinner first.

Zhou Shi and Xia Hongzhi both ate with relish. Only Xia Lanju found the dish unpalatable, as she found them a little rough when swallowing it.

Indeed they were rough. Most of the people in Luoxia village had coarse grains such as maize and sorghum as their staple food, for they were reluctant to eat refined grains and preferred to sell them. Although Yang-shi had a son who was earning well, she was frugal by nature. Thus, she usually ate a blend of coarse grains and refined grains. This time, when preparing the noodles dough, she specially added a bit more wheat flour. However, the noodles nevertheless had coarse grain flour in them and wouldn’t be able to produce the taste that a wheat flour noodle gives.

Xia Dacheng and the family usually used refined grains in the county every day. How could they now get accustomed to eating coarse grains now? Every year when Xia Dacheng and his family visited here, Xia Lanju would find the food here unpalatable.

However, no matter how unpalatable it was, she still had to eat. Although Xia Lanju was only ten years old, she still understood the current situation at home was unlike that of the past. Their entire family might even never return to the county again and remain in the countryside forever, becoming a peasant that her friends in the county spoke of.

As such thoughts flashed through her brain, tears began to trickle from the eyes of the ten-year-old little girl. Fearing that her parents might discover it, she dared not utter a sound as only tears flooded out.

Xia Hongzhi was seated opposite his younger sister while he was eating noodles. Seeing her younger sister silently weep, he caressed her head. In his heart, he resolved to study hard in the future and take his entire family to the county again.

No matter how mature a 13-14-year-old kid was for his age, his thinking process was nevertheless simple and straightforward. The only way for a person from the rural side and without any background to advance forward was the imperial examination. But the path of the imperial examination wasn’t easy. Thus, this kid, Xia Hongzhi, still has a very long way to go in the future.

On this side, Yang-shi fed her son noodles. When she watched her son wince while taking a bite, her eyes welled up with tears.

“Dacheng, my child, what terrible sin have you done for you to be in such a mess?”

Xia Dacheng let out a smile. But on his pale and weak face, it seemed unsightly.

“Mother, I’m fine. After I am done eating, I will explain it to you in detail.”

Truthfully speaking, Xia Dacheng didn’t know what to say to his mother. He was worried that she might find him someone unworthy of respect after he narrated everything to her. He was acutely aware that his mother certainly wouldn’t think as such. However, returning home after a long time in such dire straits inevitably made one feel embarrassed and humiliated.

Yang-shi wiped her tears and silently fed her son without any utterances.

*****

Chapter 64 Part 2 (Teaser)

A group of people grandiosity marched to Yang-shi’s place, attracting He-shi and Wang-shi’s attention.

However, no one paid any heed to her. Even the honest Yang Tiegen also stopped talking to them whenever he saw them unless He-shi took the initiative to speak. But now, He-shi also didn’t have anything to say to him. Ever since she got the hold of elderly support she needed, He-shi had reverted back to her former treatment of indifference and contempt.

Even Yang laoyezi wouldn’t take the initiative to exchange a few words with them during the few instances they run across. Perhaps, he wasn’t sure what to say to them, or maybe he simply felt too awkward.

on Feb 3 r d

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