Chapter 2 : 遇见 ( Meeting)
When he opened his eyes again, Zhong Ziqi could feel that he was feeling better, he didn’t have that heavy feeling as if he was carrying a lot of loads. It was already dark outside, his stomach rumbled while he was looking around the room. There were two large boxes in the corner, a square table and two chairs in the middle of the room, but nothing to eat.
He propped himself up, went to the dressing table, picking up a bronze mirror, his face waxy, his hair scattered, he looked like a madman. Unconcerned by it,he put the mirror back. While holding an oil lamp and past the door frame, he walked to the kitchen according to his memory.
At that moment, the moon was high outside and the frogs and crickets were chirping.When he pushed open the kitchen door, he searched carefully but he only found a steamed corn bread, the texture of it was very hard, Zhong Ziqi was so hungry that he opened his mouth and ate it. When he choked on it, he went to the water jar and drank some water.
[窝窝头
wowotou /Wotou, also called Chinese cornbread, is a type of steamed bread made from cornmeal in Northern China.]
The wowotou was made from coarse flour, which was hard to swallow and scraped the throat.Zhong Ziqi, in his heart, could not help but mock, this family is good enough. The nephew was sick, they did not go find a doctor for him, cook meals but did not leave food for him. Every account he would remember it, it is possible that he was influenced by the memories of the original owner, he also particularly disliked this family. But it wasn’t that easy to leave this place. He was a ger, a newcomer to this world, and it wasn’t safe to go anywhere, so he might as well stay in this village, where his safety was at least guaranteed.
The next day, at dawn, Zhong Ziqi was shaken awake,immediately saw the annoying face of his uncle, who looked at him without saying a word.
Li Xiujuan, with his hand on his waist, said in a loud voice: ” You still have time to lie in here, look how bright the sky is! Hurry up and go out to work!” After saying that, he gave him a cold glance.
Zhong Ziqi was silent, he was going to go out in a few days, so it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble. it would not be good to talk back to Li Xiujuan, so just wait until he is free.
[多一事不如少一事: it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble (idiom) / the less complications the better]
Outside the house, the sun was just peeking out. The house he lives in, on the side, was built by his own father, Zhong Zhenhang,the tall brick house built in the middle was also paid for by his father, but is occupied by his eldest uncle’s family, his grandfather and his grandmother.
His father had found a good job in town and the money he got back every day made his eldest uncle’s family greedy.
They were so lazy with their land that they couldn’t be bothered to do anything.Now that they had a money earner, they couldn’t possibly push it out.On one occasion, when Zhong Zhenhang proposed to split the family, no matter what the reason is,they refused to do so. Later,Zhong Zhenhang, who is a man of great affection, did not mention that matter again.
Early in the morning, Zhong Ziqi did not know where to start. Seeing the eldest uncle who came into the kitchen, he hesitated to go in. With a light voice, he asked: “What do you want me to do?”
“What? There’s plenty of work, chopping wood, picking water, watering the vegetable patch, and those old hens out there that haven’t been fed yet, you said which one isn’t work……”
Zhong Ziqi left without waiting to hear until the end, it’s really fucking noisy!
Li Xiujuan halfway through his speech,just realized that the person in question was no longer there, so he spat out a flash of doubt in his mind. He felt that this boy was different from his usual self today, but what exactly was different? He didn’t seem to be as submissive as he used to be and didn’t let him bully him.But no matter what, at least he wouldn’t be looking for death anymore, therefore he would be able to keep his silver.
Zhong Ziqi went out of the kitchen to look around the courtyard, realising that there was not much he could do himself. He remembered that picking water and chopping firewood were usually the work of a man, so he did not bother to be stupid and do all the work.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, there is a sloping road and many tall trees on the road. Zhong Ziqi found that all the houses in this village were built without any pattern. Behind the village stands a big mountain with lush trees and wildflowers in full bloom, nothing more beautiful can be imagined.
Zhong Ziqi went into the courtyard to find a knife, after he spoke to Li Xiujuan that he wanted to go out and cut some grass to feed the chickens. He went out, regardless of whether he said yes or not. With the knife and basket in his hand, Zhong Ziqi walked leisurely towards the foot of the hill, intending to cut some grass there.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, Zhong Ziqi had almost finished cutting the grass, so he was going to go back, otherwise it would be too late. According to the character of the family, they would never leave him any food to eat.
“Ziqi!” A clear voice rang out from behind.
Zhong Ziqi stopped in his tracks, looked back to find the person who had called out to him, a little shorter than him, dressed in light blue cloth, good looking with a red mole between his eyebrows, this person is also a ger. He searched his memory to find out who he was, this original body’s closest friend,Zhao Ning, he was sixteen years old like him and was at the age of marriage.
Zhong Ziqi silently adjusted his expression and smiled, “Xiao Ning.”
Zhao Ning took three or two steps to Zhong Ziqi’s side, sized him up and said angrily, “You’ve lost weight again, why have you lost so much weight when we haven’t seen each other for only a few days?”
As soon as Zhong Ziqi heard this, he knew that the original body’s suicide had been concealed, so he didn’t point it out: “It’s fine, I just don’t feel well these few days.”
“Is everything alright? Did you see a doctor?” Zhao Ning immediately asked worriedly.
“It’s fine, it’s been much better.”
Only then did Zhao Ning sighed with relief, then looked around and saw that no one was around so he came up to Zhong Ziqi and whispered, “Ziqi, I heard from my Amu ( Amu here could be mean as a mother or an aunt or the married woman who is older than your mom) that when you marry that fool Zhao Zheng’an, their family will immediately split you up.”
Zhong Ziqi was very uncomfortable with Zhao Ning’s sudden approach, but was immediately attracted to his words. Wasn’t that what he wanted?It would be better to live alone, having peace and freedom, even living with a fool was better than living with a big family,since he knew that there was nothing good about that family.
Zhong Ziqi hooked the corners of his mouth, he said with a smile, “That’s good, it’s not so bad to split up.”
“But… I’ve heard from those rotten gossipers in the village that if you split up, his family will give you guys at most two or three acres of land and probably even less money. This… how are you going to make a living then?” Zhao Ning said hurriedly.
The foot of the hill was not far from the Zhong family, as they spoke,they were already there.Zhong Ziqi patted Zhao Ning’s shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry, I have my own plan. Go back now! I’m going back for dinner too.”
[心里有数: to know the score (idiom) / to be well aware of the situation]
“Oh, okay!” Zhao Ning reluctantly left, wondering in his heart isn’t it Ziqi had always been very reluctant to marry Zhao Zheng’an?
Zhong Ziqi went into the yard, threw the grass into the chicken nest, washed his hands and went into the hall, where the family was eating. When they saw him coming back, his eldest uncle rolled his eyes and said,”It’s taken you so long to cut the grass, you must have been lazy, now you’re back at dinner time.”
Zhong Zhenping pulled Li Xiujuan and frowned: “Cut the crap! Ziqi, come and eat!” He looked like a good old man.
Sitting in the middle of the table, the old grandfather Zhong Wansheng and Wu, the grandmother watched the scene before them without a nibble. Zhong Ziheng and Zhong Zijun, both gave Zhong Ziqi a disdainful glance and poured the food on the table into their own bowls.
Zhong Ziqi sat on the stool in silence as if he didn’t see anything or hear anything, the food on the table was the lowest grade of coarse food, the dishes were just radish and cabbage, there was no meat at all. Zhong Ziqi took a bite of the food and found that there was not even much oil. It was really stingy!
In fact, this Zhong Ziqi, really misunderstand Li Xiujuan, except for the big and wealthy families, all ordinary people do not use oil in large spoonfuls, knowing that in these days, oil is not cheap, vegetable oil is delicious but expensive, why not buy two wen of fatty meat and fry it in lard, it can be eaten for a long time also the remaining few wens can be use to buy a few more pieces of fabric.
After eating, Zhong Ziqi didn’t care about anything else, he left immediately, he really didn’t want to stay here for a minute, he rushed back to his own room.
Chapter 2 : 遇见 ( Meeting)
When he opened his eyes again, Zhong Ziqi could feel that he was feeling better, he didn’t have that heavy feeling as if he was carrying a lot of loads. It was already dark outside, his stomach rumbled while he was looking around the room. There were two large boxes in the corner, a square table and two chairs in the middle of the room, but nothing to eat.
He propped himself up, went to the dressing table, picking up a bronze mirror, his face waxy, his hair scattered, he looked like a madman. Unconcerned by it,he put the mirror back. While holding an oil lamp and past the door frame, he walked to the kitchen according to his memory.
At that moment, the moon was high outside and the frogs and crickets were chirping.When he pushed open the kitchen door, he searched carefully but he only found a steamed corn bread, the texture of it was very hard, Zhong Ziqi was so hungry that he opened his mouth and ate it. When he choked on it, he went to the water jar and drank some water.
[窝窝头
wowotou /Wotou, also called Chinese cornbread, is a type of steamed bread made from cornmeal in Northern China.]
The wowotou was made from coarse flour, which was hard to swallow and scraped the throat.Zhong Ziqi, in his heart, could not help but mock, this family is good enough. The nephew was sick, they did not go find a doctor for him, cook meals but did not leave food for him. Every account he would remember it, it is possible that he was influenced by the memories of the original owner, he also particularly disliked this family. But it wasn’t that easy to leave this place. He was a ger, a newcomer to this world, and it wasn’t safe to go anywhere, so he might as well stay in this village, where his safety was at least guaranteed.
The next day, at dawn, Zhong Ziqi was shaken awake,immediately saw the annoying face of his uncle, who looked at him without saying a word.
Li Xiujuan, with his hand on his waist, said in a loud voice: ” You still have time to lie in here, look how bright the sky is! Hurry up and go out to work!” After saying that, he gave him a cold glance.
Zhong Ziqi was silent, he was going to go out in a few days, so it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble. it would not be good to talk back to Li Xiujuan, so just wait until he is free.
[多一事不如少一事: it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble (idiom) / the less complications the better]
Outside the house, the sun was just peeking out. The house he lives in, on the side, was built by his own father, Zhong Zhenhang,the tall brick house built in the middle was also paid for by his father, but is occupied by his eldest uncle’s family, his grandfather and his grandmother.
His father had found a good job in town and the money he got back every day made his eldest uncle’s family greedy.
They were so lazy with their land that they couldn’t be bothered to do anything.Now that they had a money earner, they couldn’t possibly push it out.On one occasion, when Zhong Zhenhang proposed to split the family, no matter what the reason is,they refused to do so. Later,Zhong Zhenhang, who is a man of great affection, did not mention that matter again.
Early in the morning, Zhong Ziqi did not know where to start. Seeing the eldest uncle who came into the kitchen, he hesitated to go in. With a light voice, he asked: “What do you want me to do?”
“What? There’s plenty of work, chopping wood, picking water, watering the vegetable patch, and those old hens out there that haven’t been fed yet, you said which one isn’t work……”
Zhong Ziqi left without waiting to hear until the end, it’s really fucking noisy!
Li Xiujuan halfway through his speech,just realized that the person in question was no longer there, so he spat out a flash of doubt in his mind. He felt that this boy was different from his usual self today, but what exactly was different? He didn’t seem to be as submissive as he used to be and didn’t let him bully him.But no matter what, at least he wouldn’t be looking for death anymore, therefore he would be able to keep his silver.
Zhong Ziqi went out of the kitchen to look around the courtyard, realising that there was not much he could do himself. He remembered that picking water and chopping firewood were usually the work of a man, so he did not bother to be stupid and do all the work.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, there is a sloping road and many tall trees on the road. Zhong Ziqi found that all the houses in this village were built without any pattern. Behind the village stands a big mountain with lush trees and wildflowers in full bloom, nothing more beautiful can be imagined.
Zhong Ziqi went into the courtyard to find a knife, after he spoke to Li Xiujuan that he wanted to go out and cut some grass to feed the chickens. He went out, regardless of whether he said yes or not. With the knife and basket in his hand, Zhong Ziqi walked leisurely towards the foot of the hill, intending to cut some grass there.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, Zhong Ziqi had almost finished cutting the grass, so he was going to go back, otherwise it would be too late. According to the character of the family, they would never leave him any food to eat.
“Ziqi!” A clear voice rang out from behind.
Zhong Ziqi stopped in his tracks, looked back to find the person who had called out to him, a little shorter than him, dressed in light blue cloth, good looking with a red mole between his eyebrows, this person is also a ger. He searched his memory to find out who he was, this original body’s closest friend,Zhao Ning, he was sixteen years old like him and was at the age of marriage.
Zhong Ziqi silently adjusted his expression and smiled, “Xiao Ning.”
Zhao Ning took three or two steps to Zhong Ziqi’s side, sized him up and said angrily, “You’ve lost weight again, why have you lost so much weight when we haven’t seen each other for only a few days?”
As soon as Zhong Ziqi heard this, he knew that the original body’s suicide had been concealed, so he didn’t point it out: “It’s fine, I just don’t feel well these few days.”
“Is everything alright? Did you see a doctor?” Zhao Ning immediately asked worriedly.
“It’s fine, it’s been much better.”
Only then did Zhao Ning sighed with relief, then looked around and saw that no one was around so he came up to Zhong Ziqi and whispered, “Ziqi, I heard from my Amu ( Amu here could be mean as a mother or an aunt or the married woman who is older than your mom) that when you marry that fool Zhao Zheng’an, their family will immediately split you up.”
Zhong Ziqi was very uncomfortable with Zhao Ning’s sudden approach, but was immediately attracted to his words. Wasn’t that what he wanted?It would be better to live alone, having peace and freedom, even living with a fool was better than living with a big family,since he knew that there was nothing good about that family.
Zhong Ziqi hooked the corners of his mouth, he said with a smile, “That’s good, it’s not so bad to split up.”
“But… I’ve heard from those rotten gossipers in the village that if you split up, his family will give you guys at most two or three acres of land and probably even less money. This… how are you going to make a living then?” Zhao Ning said hurriedly.
The foot of the hill was not far from the Zhong family, as they spoke,they were already there.Zhong Ziqi patted Zhao Ning’s shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry, I have my own plan. Go back now! I’m going back for dinner too.”
[心里有数: to know the score (idiom) / to be well aware of the situation]
“Oh, okay!” Zhao Ning reluctantly left, wondering in his heart isn’t it Ziqi had always been very reluctant to marry Zhao Zheng’an?
Zhong Ziqi went into the yard, threw the grass into the chicken nest, washed his hands and went into the hall, where the family was eating. When they saw him coming back, his eldest uncle rolled his eyes and said,”It’s taken you so long to cut the grass, you must have been lazy, now you’re back at dinner time.”
Zhong Zhenping pulled Li Xiujuan and frowned: “Cut the crap! Ziqi, come and eat!” He looked like a good old man.
Sitting in the middle of the table, the old grandfather Zhong Wansheng and Wu, the grandmother watched the scene before them without a nibble. Zhong Ziheng and Zhong Zijun, both gave Zhong Ziqi a disdainful glance and poured the food on the table into their own bowls.
Zhong Ziqi sat on the stool in silence as if he didn’t see anything or hear anything, the food on the table was the lowest grade of coarse food, the dishes were just radish and cabbage, there was no meat at all. Zhong Ziqi took a bite of the food and found that there was not even much oil. It was really stingy!
In fact, this Zhong Ziqi, really misunderstand Li Xiujuan, except for the big and wealthy families, all ordinary people do not use oil in large spoonfuls, knowing that in these days, oil is not cheap, vegetable oil is delicious but expensive, why not buy two wen of fatty meat and fry it in lard, it can be eaten for a long time also the remaining few wens can be use to buy a few more pieces of fabric.
After eating, Zhong Ziqi didn’t care about anything else, he left immediately, he really didn’t want to stay here for a minute, he rushed back to his own room.
