That"s a lot a abbreviations, but yeah I have yet to decide which to go for so another vote?~
Translated: Akiha
Chapter 1 The Cherry that Turned Red, The Plantain that Became Green
Holding onto the plantain in the garden, the hand occa.s.sionally brushing the trunk of the tree, the feeling on the trunk is so rough that it feels p.r.i.c.kly to the hand. Raising the head and staring at the plantain leaves that swayed gently, the surrounding felt peaceful and solemn. The summer wind lazily blew the baby hair; a hand is raised to brush the ticklish feeling. Stepping back and picking up plantain flower that had fallen onto the ground covered in dust, a thought crept up: Dust, oh dust. Since I"ve arrived at this world, since I"m a human for both my lives. Then the past shall be the past. What I should treasure is now.
“Young lady, young lady.” The clear voice washed away the remaining heat. A pale yellow silhouette lifted up the plantain leaves that hovered down. A slight sulk can be seen on her face, “Young lady came here to play hide-and-seek under the plantain tree again?” While saying that, she lifted me up:”Mistress has been looking for young lady for almost half a day. I was only able to find this mischievous you after asking old lady servant Xu at the front yard.” The fair and small finger lightly poked my cheek.
“Hua Mei, I only came out to take a bweather and walk around for a little.” Mimicking the childish tone that a five year old supposed to have, the mouth moved squishily,”When I walked here and seeing the pwantain twee gwew tawwer, so I came over to compare our heights.” While blinking my eyes, I hugged Hua Mei"s neck and snuggled her cheek:”Hua Mei, didn"t you say that I will gwow faster if I eat more? Why am I still not tawwer than this pwantain twee?” I puffed my cheeks up while pointing at the plantain, pretending to be angry.
“Hehe, young lady. The tree and human can"t be compared to one another.” The rouge on Hua Mei"s lips had a rich fragrance, making me can"t help but to drew my nose nearer to sniff it. “Eh, what"s with this weird face!” She lightly pushed my face away and say sullenly:”If mistress is to see this, who knows how will she lecture the servants in young lady"s yard. This must be because of how much they spoiled you.”
With my forehead propped on Hua Mei"s chin, I tilted my head to the side to look at the scenary that moved slowly in the opposite direction. This is my home for this life, it is the place where I had fell upon. “Young lady, are you feeling sleepy?” A soft and gentle whisper can be heard beside my ear. Lightly shaking my head, I leaned on her arm mushily:”I just want to gwow up soon.” Acting to be like a naive and pure child even though I still have my memories from my past life sure is a lot of work.
“How can such an adorable young lady grow up so fast?” The fragrance of orchid can be found on Hua Mei, “Young lady is the treasure that mistress had found after much effort. And the General even wanted to squeeze you who is like a small fairy into his sleeve.” A soft laughter surrounded the air.
“Greeting, young lady and miss.” The kid servant that had pa.s.sed by stepped back to the side of the corridor and bowed to show respect.”Mm, go and inform Nong Mo that the young lady has been found.” Hua Mei lightly waved her hand and the kid servant nodded his head and left.
I crossed and hold my arm, pursing my lips:”Isn"t she supposed to return to her own house today?” Nong Mo is a strong individual and is my biggest natural enemy.”Now you understood what fear is? Only this Nong Mo knew how to keep you under control!” Hua Mei straighten me up and looked at me wickedly,”This morning when Nong Mo had just stepped out of the residence, her eldest brother had left a message to the servant in charge of the gate that something happened to her sister-in-law"s family, so he won"t be able to fetch her home today.” What a bad coincidence, I intertwined my stubby fingers. I thought that since Nong Mo is away, I can have fun in my own room. Who would"ve thought that such a thing would happen. This time before the me who"s a small monkey even get to show the tail, the monkey king had came back from surveying the mountain. What should I do? What should I do?
“Young lady always jumped when Nong Mo"s name is mentioned, just like when the mouse meets the cat! Hehehe~” A gentle laughter echoed. I slighty twisted my body and pouted my lips outwards while looking at the Hua Mei that was laughing happily.
“I heard the voice of this child from distance away.” A beauty in red clothing with a small shoulder, tiny waist, beautiful eyebrows and eyes that slant upwards came walking up to us. A foreboding feeling crept up and I hid myself in Hua Mei"s embrace.
“I just went away for a while and young lady had shook off two old lady servants, a maid and had even wandered to Ming Xin Yard.” Looking at the red silhouette that"s approaching me , I tightly hugged Hua Mei"s neck and was not willing to let go no matter what. Suddenly, I felt ticklish at my armpit, it felt like having countless ants climbing on my body:”Hahahaha, hahahaha, good Nong Mo, please let me go this time.” I released my hand subconsciously and curled my body up, and was then carried over by her.
“How could we servants dare to let young lady plead to us?” She said that in a sour tone, and this is a dangerous signal. I bit my finger tip and looked at her with the most, most pitiable eyes:”Nong Mo, don"t be angry. I"m wrong, I apologize.”
“Hmph!” she glared and the pretty face was covered by a layer of cold mist, “How many times have young lady apologized to me? Do you know, with you disappearing on others, how much money will be deducted from the salary of Zhu Yun, old lady Liu, and old lady Shen for next month?” I found myself froze up a little and when I stiffly looked up, Nong Mo looked really serious. And when I looked at Hua Mei beside, she lightly nodded her head:”Although mistress is gentle and kind, but when it comes to things involving young lady, mistress will at times lose her temper.”
“I"m sorry.” I lowered my head feeling ashamed. I forgot that this is different from that world, forgot that there exists a hierarchy between the status of the people here. Curling myself in Nong Mo"s embrace for the whole time, she slightly creased her brow, and lightly sighed.
“Young lady, you don"t need to feel upset. All of these happened because they did not complete the duty and responsibility of taking care of you.” Nong Mo"s voice that was comparable to that of a bird can be heard, “Stop rubbing your forehead, the Cinnabar applied this morning is going to be smeared.” As she was talking, she rubbed the spot in between my brows with a handkerchief. “As long as the young lady becomes more obedient after this, we will be happy from the bottom of our heart.”
Sincerely nodding my head, I leaned myself on her while she"s carrying me. The height was enough to looked at the yard that became further and further away. A couplet can be seen on both sides of the yard door. The first verse are: “What is dreamt is both false and void, just like the heart of the plantain.” And the next verse continuing:”What is felt is both real and fake, at the same time just like the moon reflected on the water” Heart of plantain, the relection of the moon on the water, no matter how one searched for them, it was all to find a clear answer within the heart. The yard of clear heart, practising the good will. This must be the insight that the Han family has obtained every generations.[1]
“Qing Qing!” Right after entering Liu Feng Pavilion, a voice that touched the heart can be heard, “This child, where did you run off to? Mother was really worried about you.” Nong Mo carefully placed me down and I moved my short legs and jumped into my mother"s embrace. I"m so blessed. So soft and such a nice fragrance. I boldly toook advantage of the beauty:”Mother, Qing Qing was only walking in my own residence, so nothing will happen.” As expected of my, Qing Qing"s mother. Looking frail, quiet and with slight concern showing on her brows, the hair that softly brushed on her cheeks that was comparable to the autumn moon, and a nice body frame. Given ten years, I myself will also become a beautiful lady. Although not to the point of attracting the attention of the whole country, it can at least cause a ruckus in the city. Thinking up till this point, I began to laugh lowly, feeling proud.
“Mother, sister is laughing to herself again.” the voice that was still in their changing period sounding like speaking through a drake throat can be heard. I showed my tongue out after I turned towards the dignified and confident young man:”I"m not laughing to myself, I"m actually smiling happily. Because I have such a beautiful mother.” As I said that, I happily jumped into my beautiful mother"s embrace again.
“You and your honey coated tongue, always knows how to coax others.” Elder brother slightly lifted the robe of his clothing and sat on the stone stool. Picking up a cherry and feeding it into my mouth, he looked at me smilingly. Tsk tsk, being so charming even though he"s only a teen, so charming that he"s comparable to the stars observable at dusk.
The sweet taste and the fragrance of the fruit pulled my attention back. Looking at my brother feeling satisfied, I spoke spoiledly:”I want more!”
“Hehe~” Hua Mei cover her mouth as she laughed lowly. “What is it?” My beautiful mother creased her brow as she asked her curiously.
“Replying mistress, Hua Mei just thought about the nursery rhyme in the hometown.” She curved her lips and her eyes curved upwards as she smiled, “The fragrance of mugwort, covering the hall. The peach branch that"s arranged at the gate, and over the gate the yellow of the wheat can be seen. Fifth of May, it"s Rui Yang. Mugwort on the gate, the fragrance covering the hall.” Following her reciting, all of us clapped. Hua Mei smilingly walked towards me and squatted down:”Enjoying the Zongzi, scattering the white sugar. The sugar in the You Country hs the most fragrance and sweetness. Consuming one, asking for a pair. The mother rejects, teary eyes are shown. With a sad brow, the child sang while crying: Mother, look at me. I"m thinner than a cuc.u.mber, with no meat on my body. The mother laughed, saying: You"re not thin, but your face are thicker than the city wall!”
The excellent verses had made everyone laugh. While holding onto her stomach, mother helped me clean my mouth:"Qing Qing is really mother"s treasure, hehe."
"Hua Mei had recited it excellently. Isn"t that referring to our little Qing Qing?"
Brother smiled as he showed his teeth, and had his fill of laughter, “The gluttonous little kitten. Careful not to overeat with no one wanting to marry you who had become a fat lady.”
Squinting unhappily at my brother who was gloating:”Hmph, if no one dared to marry this fat me, then I shall just live off the family. Eat off of brother, drink off of brother, to the point brother will be so worried that he become thinner than a cuc.u.mber.” I turned my eyes away and stared at Hua Mei unhappily:”Sleeping lightly, waking up feeling cold, raising the beaded curtain and look into the mirror. Nothing can be seen clearly. asking Hua Mei, is it day now? But the birds reply nothing.”
All the laughter suddenly stop and all the eyes looked at me in surprise. With my palm facing the ground, the voice of a kid resounded:”Dressing up, opening the window, smiling brightly, but seeing the young man walk away. Turning back to ask Hua Mei, Why do you look so shocked. The maid"s hert jumped and hurriedly kneeled: Young lady, it was the carelessness of Hua Mei.” Coldly looking at her, I then continue:”The young lady knitted her brow: What happened? Hua Mei lowered her eyes and softly reply: Charcoal pen.”
Looking at the curious stare of the people around me, I showed a pure smiling face:”The young lady carressed the tail of the brow, asking hurriedly: Is it drawn?” Moving my short legs, I pounced into mother"s embrace, and emphasized on my next words:”Hua Mei shockingly stated:It"s not!” I unhappily glared at the beauty in yellow clothing.
All the masters and servants in the pavillion was shocked at first, and then their brows were smoothed out. And in the end, laughter ranging from high and low voices can be heard. My beautiful mother carried me onto her lap and smiled, asking me:”Dear Qing Qing, who taught you all these verses?”
This great me proudly raised my head:”No one, I created them myself.” After I said that, I pursed my lips outwards and continue pretending to be angry.
The laughter stoppped suddenly, eyesights filled with astonishment and inquisition were directed towards me. After I calmed down, I find myself panicking: How can I forget that I"m still a kid that has yet to learn any words. How can I cover this up?
[1] Ming Xin Yard 明心院 - 明心=understanding the heart. :") I also tried my best in
making the couplet/recitations rhyme, hopefully it does not sound weird.
And yup, I myself also don"t know what I"m translating at those recitations…..