Nan Feng remembered how she had to handle all these matters alone last year. This year, she had bee like a little helper. She couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s really nice to have a father and mother.”
And, of course, there’s her younger brother.
Many of the children she saw playing with Fu Ge did not recognize Nan Feng. This was partially because Fu Ge’s friends were mostly around fifteen and, partially because Nan Feng had been oddly looking in the past. But now she appeared as if she were a different person, which often led to those who played with Fu Ge to ask: “Fu Ge, is that really your sister?”
“Fu Ge, your sister is really pretty and she’s wearing a dress!” Very few girls in the village wore dresses; most wore hemp pants.
“…”
While the mune was large, the worship altar was small and could not acmodate so many people. Thus, Nan Quanyou and Lin Qiaoyun went in, leaving Nan Feng and Fu Ge to wait outside.
There were many people ing to pay homage to their ancestors in the afternoon. Nan Feng was outside watching Fu Ge pick up the spent firecrackers off the ground. The smell of incense and gunpowder filled the air, but soon a whiff of rouge invaded her nostrils.
The crowd outside was packed so tight that Nan Feng hadn’t noticed the people around her. However, as soon as she smelled the fragrance, she knew who had arrived.
Lin Qiaoyun used to apply a bit of rouge every day when she lived in the county town, but after moving to Daping village, she only applied it occasionally. She spent most of the year toiling in the fields, and despite not having to farm the fields today, she was too busy with New Year’s Eve preparations to remember to apply it.
Then the only possibility was Wenxuan’s mother.
“Is this Lady Feng?” Wenxuan’s mother asked as she approached, her eyes have been drawn to the graceful silhouette by the entrance of the mune from a long way off. The village girls usually dressed plainly. The one in a dress — a red one at that — could only be Nan Feng.
And her hair, styled in the flowing-cloud bun with the excess hanging down, fell just like a celestial maiden in paintings. The villagers nearby kept stealing glances at her. However, she didn’t seem to mind; her focus was solely on Fu Ge, who was still busy on the ground picking up firecrackers.
Nan Feng turned around and gave her a casual greeting: “You’re here to pay your respects too?”
Then she yelled to Fu Ge: “Fu Ge, the firecrackers over there haven’t finished burning yet, wait a little before you pick them up, don’t get hurt?”
Seeing that Nan Feng hadn’t glanced at her even once, Wenxuan’s mother felt slightly embarrassed. Regardless, she didn’t want to leave. There were too many people inside anyway, and it wouldn’t be her turn for quite a while, so she continued chatting with Nan Feng: “I heard from Wenxuan that your store has expanded into other counties?”
“Yes,” Nan Feng replied.
“You must be making a lot of money, right?” Wenxuan’s mother asked again.
“Ordinary.”
“What about Ye Ge? Why didn’t he e back with you two? Don’t the two of you usually e back together?”
“The Yamen doesn’t have holidays,” Nan Feng explained.
“Oh, then our Wenxuan’s job is better, he gets six or seven days off. He has enough time off to last until the sixth day of the new year. Although, he is quite busy usually – studying, teaching, and preparing for the imperial examinations. If he passes the exam, he’ll be the first in our village to bee an imperial exam passer,” Wenxuan’s mother talked with pride.
“Hmm,” Nan Feng didn’t really care how many days off Mo Wenxuan had.
“By the way, you and Ye Ge… I heard you got engaged?” Wenxuan’s mother asked.
“We did!”
“Well, marrying a guard isn’t too bad, at least he’s a minor official, but…”
Before Wenxuan’s mother could continue, Nan Feng noticed Nan Quanyou and Lin Qiaoyun ing out. She made an excuse to bid Wenxuan’s mother goodbye: “Auntie Mo, I have to go now.”
“Ah…” Wenxuan’s mother wanted to say something, but Nan Feng scampered off before she could.
Wenxuan’s mother was left sulking in place.
User Comments
0 comments from readers