“Ah!” Suddenly a loud voice rang out. It came from the unfamiliar woman, “Isn’t this the young master of the village chief’s household? Look at him, how handsome! As soon as you seem him you know he’s definitely going to be a big shot.”
What the h.e.l.l! What young master, do you think this is the feudal period?
w.a.n.g Dahu turned around and looked at the two people full of scorn.
The woman who just spoke up was around 38 or 39. Her appearance was both thin and short. She looked exhausted, and had high cheekbones. You could tell at a glance that she was bitter and sarcastic. The man was opposite, big and beefy. His face was gloomy and he had a trace of arrogance.
In just a moment, w.a.n.g Dahu recognized these people.
Kong Daguo, Yang Li.
Uncle and aunt to Li Qingran.
These two people weren’t from the village, but from the Kong family of the next village over.
As soon as he thought that, w.a.n.g Dahu remembered that yesterday his grandpa mentioned that he had to report to Kong Xiumei’s birth mother.
Yang Li was very interested in the village chief’s grandchild, Dahu. She kept talking about him, chattering incessantly. If it was a normal child, they would have already told her about their entire family’s secrets, but this wasn’t a normal child. Whether or not she praised him or complimented him, he ignored her. After releasing a stream of sentences, the hag slowed down and pouted like a child.
“Oh? What smells so delicious?” The man who was standing at the side this whole time suddenly sniffed, his eyes like darted around a rat’s and then settled on the tin in w.a.n.g Dahu’s hands.
Not waiting for w.a.n.g Dahu to react, the hag beside him instantly s.n.a.t.c.hed it into her arms.
“Oh my G.o.d! It’s rare to see meat!” Yang Li’s eyes shone. She shamelessly poked her hand in and put a piece in her mouth.
Chins fell to the floor! w.a.n.g Dahu widened his eyes and dropped his jaw as he looked at the scene. He thought: What African refugee camp did this woman run away from? You couldn’t blame him for being so surprised. At this time, the people in the villages ate whatever they grew on their own land. Even the government vigorously upheld policies to fostered farmers. There was no way they could be so “hungry”. It’s no different than being unable to eat for eight hundred years.
“f.u.c.k this b.i.t.c.h!” Kong Daguo angrily roared, slapping her, “Who let you eat?!”
Yang Li was. .h.i.t, her arms and legs shook and the entire tin fell on the ground.
“Useless woman, you can’t even hold a box properly!” Kong Daguo saw that and was even angrier. He scolded a few sentences, his face full of regret.
He was regretting the wastefulness of the food scattered on the ground! w.a.n.g Dahu watched the comedy play out in front of him, a cold light flashed in his eyes.
Yang Li was used to being hit, but no matter how embarra.s.sed or ashamed she was, she never dared to fight back against her husband. She only knew how to look pitifully at the mess on the floor.
“That… Little Tiger!” Yang Li shook as she asked, “I’m so sorry, my hand slipped and I dropped it. How about you go home and bring some more here!”
“Sister in law!” Kong Xiumei, who was silent the whole time, was so embarra.s.sed that she wanted to cry.
“Dahu, I’m really sorry!” Her lips flapped but she only knew how to repeat this line.
w.a.n.g Dahu naturally couldn’t let his “future mother in law” feel so embarra.s.sed. Hearing that, he smiled at her, but don’t think other people will be the same! He raised his head and spoke with the other family’s husband and wife, “Aiya, what should I do now, grandma told me to bring this food to grandpa. You people spilled all of it, grandpa will definitely hit me!”
After hearing that, Yang Li was even more scared, “What? Wasn’t this food for Xiumei?”
“I was only pa.s.sing by and came to visit Auntie. After that, I was going to go straight to the village committee. You two ruined my grandpa’s lunch, what should we do now? I’m warning you, don’t think that just because you aren’t from this village you can bully me. My aunt is also someone from the Kong village, and she’s an official too!” w.a.n.g Shoumin’s household had three children. At the head was a daughter, w.a.n.g Dahu’s aunt, who married into Kong village more than a decade ago.
The word “aunt” suffocated the husband and wife.
If you want to know why, we’ll have to tell the facts of long ago!
This woman Yang Le was fierce and vulgar. It is reasonable to say that such a woman is determined not to suffer in the hands of others, because she is very unruly! But unluckily, there was someone even unrulier than her. And even unluckier, that person was her mother in law. The old woman was the typical “black hearted, rotten corpse, who will someday be struck by lightning and disintegrate” (according to Yang Le). Naturally, there was something else besides this. The old woman strictly adhered to the patriarch. Yang Le started giving birth at sixteen. Up until now, she had five daughters and no sons. Therefore you could imagine her every day life.
The more you wanted to give birth, the less you could give birth. The less you could give birth, the more you wanted to give birth.
But the present isn’t like many years ago, when you could give birth as much as you wanted. Every village had the eight words “Marry late, late childbearing, less lives, better quality” on the walls[1].
You want to give birth?
Alright!
Sell your land, sell your house, go peddling, as long as you submit enough money for the fine, you can give birth.
That’s why Kong Daguo and Yang Li showed such penniless faces, because they really were “poor”.
That’s why they were particularly fearful of w.a.n.g Dahu’s “aunt”.
Because unfortunately, that aunt was the “female village chief”ーXiao* Jinfeng famous for being selfless in Kong Village.
*Xiao means little, but it’s also a t.i.tle of endearment.
The two were rivals.
“That, that, Dahu ah…” Yang Li stuttered, “Let, let me pick it up for you.”
After speaking, she actually bent down to scoop up the food on the floor.
Her two black hands were covered in oil.
w.a.n.g Dahu started to feel nauseated, this woman was r.e.t.a.r.ded!
“S-Sister in law, how could that be eaten?” Kong Xiumei couldn’t stand it, her eyes reddened and she spoke quickly.
Yang Li was only temporarily scared by w.a.n.g Dahu and spoke shakily, “He didn’t say it was for the village chief, I only picked it up on a whim. What are you screaming for!”
w.a.n.g Dahu saw her glare daggers at Kong Xiumei, and any thought of wanting to stop disappeared.
“I don’t care. You spilled all the food. Repay me, or else I’ll tell grandpa.”
w.a.n.g Dahu’s eyes flashed. He noticed these two people seemed terrified of the word “grandpa”, so of course he had to make good use of it!
Yang Li’s face immediately fell, but she didn’t dare to argue with w.a.n.g Dahu. She could only look sideways at her husband next to her. Kong Daguo grumbled a bit unwillingly and took some money out of his pocket.
“Little guy, I’ll pay. See it as compensation for your lunch!”
w.a.n.g Dahu glanced at it and without any trace of politeness, retorted, “Uncle, are you giving alms to a beggar? What can this small amount of money buy? Four buns and a bag of pickled veggies? The weather is so cold, do you intend to let my grandpa eat those kinds of things?”
When Kong Daguo heard that, his face got even darker. Dahu wasn’t scared of him. He lifted his head and craned his neck, preparing a “wronged” look.
Therefore, with the husband’s face as black as the bottom of a pot and the wife’s grinding teeth, a ten yuan bill made its way straight into w.a.n.g Dahu’s pocket.
Being “wronged” like that by a child, naturally the two people couldn’t keep their calm. They loitered for a while before leaving behind a “recuperate well” for Kong Xiumei and then grouchily went home.
w.a.n.g Dahu pouted*, no one needs you here.
*He actually made spitting noises but that sounded awkward.
He turned around and smiled at Kong Xiumei, “Auntie, wait a moment, I’ll go to the food stall and buy something for you and Ran Ran…”
“No, no need, you’re a good boy, we don’t want to trouble you any more!”
“It’s no big deal!” w.a.n.g Dahu turned around and walked outside.
“B-Brother Dahu!” Suddenly, Li Qingran stood up from his mother’s bedside and spoke with him, “Let me go with you!”
For a long time, the sound of “Brother Dahu” made w.a.n.g Dahu’s heart blossom.
He foolishly nodded, happily saying” Alright, alright!”
However, when they walked outside, the cold wind blew fiercely. w.a.n.g Dahu instantly regretted it, he forgot Ran Ran was dressed thinly.
w.a.n.g Dahu quickly wrapped Ran Ran in his cap, scarf, and mittens. If that “smelly brat” Li Qingran hadn’t refused in the face of life or death, he would have even taken off his jacket and put it on the other boy.
“Brother Dahu, thank you for earlier!” Li Qingran’s tender voice was transmitted through the layers of the cotton scarf.
w.a.n.g Dahu laughed darkly, “Ran Ran, your aunt and uncle aren’t really good people!”
Li Qingran nodded his head rapidly, his soft voice full of anger, “They’re bad people, always bullying my mom.”
At this point, Li Qingran wasn’t “a cold, distant person” yet. Although he matured earlier, he was still a child. Towards another child like w.a.n.g Dahu, they naturally became familiar. Taking advantage of the opportunity, w.a.n.g Dahu asked quite a bit about the Li family. However, the subject of “Father Li” may or may not have been intentionally ignored by the two children.
w.a.n.g Dahu used Kong Daguo’s ten yuan to buy two bowls of noodles, two bowls of pickled vegetables, a small bottle of tangerine juice and a few sausages. Finally, there was only one yuan left, which was used on ten pieces of “mint”* candy. The two people returned to the clinic, wanting to use Dr. Xu’s “stove”*. w.a.n.g Dahu’s sweet mouth not only allowed them to borrow the kitchen, but also conveniently netted them two eggs and a small cabbage heart.
*I have absolutely no idea why the author put these in quotes.
Using soybean oil to fry vegetables, pour water in and wait for it to boil, add eggs and sausages cut into small pieces, and in a moment a hot lunch was brought out.
After the three people finished eating, Dr. Xu came to change the medicine for Kong Xiumei. He advised her to get rest and reminded the two kids not to make noise.
w.a.n.g Dahu and Li Qingran returned to the ward next door.
“A ——" w.a.n.g Dahu meant for him to open his mouth.
Li Qingran blinked at him.
w.a.n.g Dahu smiled and brought the triangular shaped candy in his hand and stuffed it into that small mouth.
“Is it sweet?”
“…Yea!”
Translator’s Notes:
w.a.n.g Dahu continues being a little bada.s.s…
[1]If anyone knows if there’s an official translation for "晚婚、晚育，少生、优生 ", please let me know. I only know that this has something to do with China’s One Child Policy.
I started seeing black when translating this chapter… Also, I thought the writing style was really poetic when I first read it, but the s.p.a.cing of lines is kind of jarring… Should I fix it so paragraphs flow better even if it’s not true to the original?
The next release with be ROYLA instead of White Lotus because ROYAL is easier to translate and it’s shorter.