CH 102

Mrs. Liang took a deep breath as she carried the last dish in, forcing a smile on her face before entering.

“Cousin, cousin-in-law, happy New Year!”

She put down the plate in her hand and invited everyone to sit down. The two children sat down on their own, picked up the chopsticks and immediately started eating.

The old lady said with a serious face, “You’re paying your New Year’s greetings, and your uncle’s here! Act like it then.”

Mrs. Liang waved at and called Mo Feng vigorously, “Feng’er, come kowtow to your aunt and uncle quickly. Why are you so unruly!”

Mo Feng was angry at being scolded for no reason, but Mo Zenian was still there, so he could only bear with it, and kowtowed to them to pay New Year’s greetings.

As he was kowtowing, his aunt’s family was discussing which dishes were cooked well.

Mo Yan’s aunt said, “This pork hock isn’t as good as last year, it’s too dark.”

Their cousin said, “This chicken looks okay, but I don’t know how it tastes.” Before he finished speaking, his wife had already torn off a chicken leg and put it into their son’s bowl, “Hurry up and eat, Xiao Hu.”

Xiao Hu looked seven or eight, but compared to Zhou Liangsheng, it was like night and day. Even Zhao’er is much more polite than him. [1]

Their daughter saw that her brother had a chicken leg, and wanted one too. Her grandma tore off the other chicken leg and put it in her bowl, “Chun’er, have a chicken leg too.”

Mo Feng stood up to go to the kitchen, and several voices rang from behind him, “He’s such a mannerless child!” [2]

He entered the kitchen and saw Mo Yan eating. He sat down angrily and said, “Why is there so little here, while their plates are so full? They’re all a bunch of gluttons.”

Calling them gluttons as a glutton himself showed exactly how large of an appetite their aunt’s family had. Right then, Mo Yan really felt like she was lucky to be a girl, as she didn’t have to pay New Year’s greetings to those people.

They could hide in the kitchen, but as the hostess, Mrs. Liang couldn’t hide. She had to serve them carefully with a smile on her face.

There was the sound of dishes breaking from the house, followed by the voice of Mo Yan’s aunt, “Oh, this bowl is so slippery, has it not been cleaned? Don’t let it scratch our Chun’er’s delicate hands.”

Then Mo Zenian said, “Isn’t it just a bowl? Go get another one.”

Mrs. Liang also came to the kitchen angrily. She didn’t get a bowl immediately, but sat down at the table, “They’re all barbarians, and they even complain we have no manners. I think their manners are all growing on their backside!”

Mo Yan was amused by her words, and Mrs. Liang rolled her eyes, “You’re still laughing? When you marry in the future, you have to marry into a good family. I’d rather you never get married than become like me.”

Their aunt called out, “Why does it take you so long to get a bowl? Are you buying it now?”

Mrs. Liang sighed, picked up the bowl and went out. Mo Yan said, “Mother, why haven’t you been coughing? They don’t know that your cough has been cured! It’s been a busy morning, and you’ve been working in the kitchen, you should be coughing severely by now.”

This reminded Mrs. Liang. She returned with the bowl, and started coughing as soon as she put it down.

Everyone at the dinner table was busy eating. No one asked her if she was alright, and no one cared when she left.

Sitting in the kitchen, Mrs. Liang said, “Ling’er, bring a bowl of soup to your mother.”

The siblings were already full. Mo Yan looked at Mo Feng and Mo Ling, and said, “Say, do you want to add a few more ingredients to the soup?”

This time, even Mrs. Liang agreed. Mo Yan got up and added a ladle of salt into the soup. Then, she stirred it, put it into a big bowl, and took it over.

“Here comes the soup, make room quickly.”

They were almost finished eating by then. Her sister-in-law didn’t help make room, but poured a ladleful of soup in her own bowl: “It happened to be a little choking, the soup is here, let me Drink a sip.”

It was Mo Zenian who made room for Mo Yan to put down the soup bowl. After she put it down, she didn’t leave, and lingered for a while.

Her cousin-in-law was the first to drink the soup, and she drank a large mouthful. Then, she coughed because of the saltiness. After coughing, she beat her chest and said, “How is this soup so salty? I have to kill the salt seller!”

Mo Yan’s aunt was also about to drink the soup. When she heard about the salt, she took a small sip, then put the bowl on the table and spat on the ground, “It’s so salty. Your daughter-in-law is well-known in the village as a good cook, and she even goes out to cook for other people! She must’ve done it on purpose.”

Mo Zenian didn’t know Mrs. Liang cooked at the Lu family. He tasted the soup and it was indeed very salty, so he called out loudly, “How did you make such a disgusting soup?”

Mo Yan said calmly from the side, “Don’t blame my mother, I put the salt in this soup. She can’t make all of this food alone.”

This sentence drew the ire of all the people.

The first one to speak was her cousin-in-law, “Can’t you cook? You should’ve less salt!”

Mo Yan lowered her body slightly and said, “I really can’t, my sincerest apologies.”

Her aunt wore an ugly face, same as her mother, “You’ve always been useless and idled at home for nothing!” Even her uncle, who had said nothing, showed his assent.

Their cousin was stuffed with wine and food, and stood up with a burp, “Let’s go home, don’t get angry here. This place is so infuriating every year.”

It was a good thing that they were leaving, but Mo Yan stopped him and said, “Wait a minute, I have some presents for everyone as an apology.”

After rummaging around for a while, she came out with a gift box. When Xiao Hu saw it, he jumped off the chair and snatched it immediately, “It’s the one grandma took from great-grandma’s house last time. It’s delicious!”

Mo Yan bowed to her aunt and said, “The New Year’s gift we gave to my grandma was taken by you. If you wanted it, just ask me directly, why bother taking it from her? Since she hasn’t tried it yet, why don’t we give this box to her first! When our shop re-opens, I’ll give it to you.”

Mo Yan stretched out her hand to take the gift box. Not only did Xiao Hu hold the gift box without letting go, he batted away her hand, “Go away, this is mine.”

Her cousin-in-law was unhappy, and raised her voice, “Isn’t it just a box of food? You’re asking for it back after giving it to the child, what kind of person are you?”

Mo Yan calmly said, “When there’s delicious food at home, elders should eat the first bite first. If the younger generation, especially children, eat the first bite, it’ll shorten their life. This is what my grandma taught us. When my family makes fried pancakes or dumplings, we give them to her first, isn’t that right, grandma?”

Mo Yan’s aunt turned her head to look at her mother, hoping that she’d support her, but her mother nodded.

Mo Yan’s cousin-in-law had nowhere to vent her anger, and her face was red. She reached out and roughly opened the gift box, and shoved two pieces of food to the old woman, “Eat, don’t shorten my son’s life.”

Post-translation notes: This family is truly irredeemable…can Mo Yan’s aunt and her family just leave and never come back? They’re slimy and disgusting. As always, thank you for reading!

[1] Even Zhao’er? Zhao’er is a perfectly obedient child, thank you very much.

[2] I never thought I’d feel sorry for Mo Feng, but the greater evil makes him more sympathetic in contrast.