Chapter 6: 6

Chapter 6 - Spring Festival

After the results of the midterm exam were released, no one in Class 1 was surprised to see Shen Shao in first place. Anyway, by now they were used to hearing the teacher praise Shen Shao by name. They were numb to it.

The first class of the afternoon was Chinese. After the graded papers were handed out, according to the previously established custom, the teachers would choose two of the best-written essays and read them out loud to the students. This time the essay topic was “My Parents”. Among a pile of compositions about how hard their parents worked and how much they cared about their children, Shen Shao’s composition stood out. When the teaching group did the grading, they spent a lot of time discussing his essay.

The Chinese teacher of Class 1 was an elder who’d retired but later returned to work. Every time the students stood up to bow and say “Hello teacher” before class, the elderly man would seriously return the bow, then tell the students to sit down.

“Everyone’s score improved this time, but there were several knowledge points with a high error rate. You students should pay more attention.” Mr. Gu discussed some of the items where mistakes were more common, then turned to the pair of papers he returned yet. “The Chinese subject teachers thought two of the student compositions were especially good. I’ll read them to you now. Everyone, do your best to learn and strive to write a strong essay next time.”

The first essay was by the Chinese class rep. As Shen Shao listened to it he thought the little girl’s writing level was high. The essay was touching, and she was a clearly good kid who was loved by her parents.

“The second composition is by Shen Shao,” Mr. Gu picked up the paper and put it down again. He glanced at the students below the podium. “Recently I heard some rumors. Everyone here is a junior high school student, not one of those little kids from second or third grade. You should already know the difference between right and wrong.”

The whole class knew Mr. Gu was talking about Shen Shao, so they looked over at him.

Mr. Gu pretended not to see everyone’s reaction. He began to read Shen Shao’s essay.

“When I saw my mother lying in a cold coffin, I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. The adults told me that if any tears fell during her funeral, she wouldn’t be able to walk the path of reincarnation, so I held back my tears.

“The day my dad left, the sun was bright, so bright that as I stood inside the house I could see the sweater under his suit jacket. My mother knitted that sweater for him over several months, but now he was wearing it as he left to find happiness with someone else.”

Twelve-year-old children are ignorant in many ways, but they’re also kind. The teacher hadn’t finished reading the essay, but several of the girls already had red eyes. Even the boys who usually made trouble had heavy hearts. They didn’t know what kind of life Shen Shao was living now, but they knew they themselves couldn’t live a single day without their parents.

But Shen Shao not only lived that way, he also studied hard, was decent and honest, and treated people warmly. If they gossiped about him behind his back, it would be too cruel.

After Chinese class ended, the atmosphere in the room was solemn. Yang HongQiang hugged Shen Shao’s shoulder with reddened eyes and said, “Xiao Shao, in the future my parents will be your parents too. They like you a lot.”

Shen Shao looked at Yang HongQiang, smiled, and patted him on the back. “OK, then from now I’ll go to your house every day to eat,” he said cheerfully.

“No problem. My mom’s cooking is that good, OK?” Tang HongQiang gestured with his thumb. He felt better when he saw Shen Shao’s cheerful face.

Shen Shao’s mood must have spread to the other students. Gradually the atmosphere became more relaxed. However, from that day forward, not many students talked about Shen Shao’s parents anymore, and they went home to their parents with more appreciation. After all, their parents were still around, and their dad wasn’t nearly as bad as Shen Shao’s.

The students in the other classes heard the contents of the essay soon after. For them, Shen Shao gradually turned into a model of a person with a sad life history who still managed to do everything well. In some ways, Shen Shao became their idol.

In this atmosphere of “you’re good, I’m good, everyone is good”, the first semester of junior high school came to an end, and Shen Shao returned to the countryside with the highest end-of-term exam score in the county.

Because his house had been empty for several months, Shen Shao spent a day cleaning. He also went out to find some anti-mosquito herbs and lit them in an old enamel basin to fumigate the house.

By the time he finished these chores, it was already dark. Shen Shao had just finished washing his feet when someone knocked at the door. His eldest uncle’s dog began barking loudly.

“Shen Shao, are you home?” The person at the door seemed to have noticed that the lights were on, so he raised his voice and called out, “It’s Shen QuanFa, the secretary of the village committee. We came here to talk to you.”

Shen Shao pulled the door bolt and opened the door. Three middle-aged men stood outside, holding various things in their hands. When Shen Shao opened the door they turned off their flashlights. Shen Shao knew them—they were the secretary, director, and accountant of the village committee. He immediately asked them to come in and sit down, then went to the kitchen and poured three cups of tea.

A box of bitter tea only cost one yuan per box, but the three men didn’t dislike it. After a few sips, Shen QuanFa put down his cup and said, “Shen Shao, I heard you’re in the top class of the experimental junior high. How are your grades?”

“Not bad.” Shen Shao glanced out of the window and said with concern, “Uncle Shen, why are you walking around at night?”

“Oh, it’s fine. I heard from FengWa that you won first place in the county this time. It’s really a credit to our Shenjia Village. Some people from another village asked me about it the other day.” Shen QuanFa’s daughter was a second year student in the experimental junior high and knew about Shen Shao at school. “We came here to bring you some things on behalf of the village. You’re a half-grown child with nothing prepared. How can you celebrate Spring Festival?”

Every year when the village celebrated the Lunar New Year, the village committee would send some New Year’s goods to the poorer households in the village. Shen Shao, a minor, normally wouldn’t be included. However, after learning about Shen Shao’s grades, Shen QuanFa thought he was a promising child who might become the golden phoenix of Shenjia Village in the future. Therefore, after discussing it with the village committee members, they decided to add Shen Shao to the list.

Of course, Shen Shao refused to accept anything, but Shen QuanFa’s attitude was firm. In the end, Shen Shao was forced to take the gifts.

After sending the three out, Shen Shao returned to the house and looked at the things sent by the village. Two catties of lard, five catties of vegetable oil, three catties of fresh pork, three catties of bacon, and a chicken weighing two or three catties. In the future these things might not be considered valuable, but at present they weren’t bad at all.

Shen Shao put the food away, then decided to go shopping for Spring Festival goods tomorrow. Even if he was alone, he didn’t want to be too casual about the holiday.

Early the next morning, Shen Shao went to the city and bought some things for the New Year. When he was hurrying home, he met some people from the same village and accompanied them back.

He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but he felt that after his rebirth, his memory was exceptionally good. It was like his soul had been scrubbed clean. Even his hands and feet were faster than in his previous life. Of course, it was possible he was just in a different state of mind and that made it easier to do things.

When he saw people he knew on the road, he was always able to remember which ones were family and which of their acquaintances were relatives. It took a while for him to notice how his memory had improved. At first he thought it was normal that a person who’d gone from a mature adult to a child would have a sharper brain. But it was now almost half a year since his rebirth, and he was pretty sure his brain hadn’t been quite this good at the same age in his last life. Back then he had to recite those classical Chinese texts multiple times before he could keep them straight. They were now much easier to memorize than in his previous life.

He couldn’t figure out what was going on, so he stopped thinking about it. Anyway, his rebirth was incredibly weird in itself, yet it happened. His brain becoming smarter wasn’t nearly as strange.

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“Shen Shao, you bought so many things by yourself. Aren’t you going to celebrate Spring Festival with your eldest uncle?” Shen GuangHui, a man from their village, saw Shen Shao carrying some packages and worried it would strain his hands, so he asked Shen Shao to put the packages in his carrying pole. Anyway, he was used to doing farm work, and his carrying pole was empty. For him, ten catties of things was almost the same as nothing at all. He heard people say that if a half-grown child carried heavy loads it would affect his height. Since he could help, he’d help. Anyway, it was no trouble.

“Eldest Uncle’s family asked me to join them, but I don’t want to bother their family all the time,” Shen Shao replied with a smile. “I’ll be on my own in the future. It’s better to learn to be independent.”

When Shen GuangHui heard this, he had a bad taste in his mouth, and despised the behavior of Shen Shao’s father, Shen JianBing, even more. All for the sake of a loose woman outside, his wife was so upset she drank poison and killed herself, and he didn’t even care about his own son. Was that the behavior of a human?

Fortunately Shen Shao was sensible and motivated, otherwise that man would have ruined a good child for nothing. He heard that Shen Shao was well-liked by his teachers at school, and his grades were among the best in the county. Shenjia Village never had such a capable child as Shen Shao.

“It looks like our Xiao Shao has grown into a little man.” Shen GuangHui smiled and didn’t say anything else. Shen Shao’s eldest uncle, Shen JianJun, was an honest man. Unfortunately, his family wasn’t well-off. As much as he might want to help Shen Shao, there was little he could do.

Nowadays no one’s family had much money, and Shen Shao was a growing boy who could eat someone out of house and home, not to mention the cost of school. How could Shen JianJun afford it?

Shen Shao was relieved when his fellow traveler changed the subject. He knew his eldest uncle and aunt were kind-hearted people, but his two cousins didn’t like him. He didn’t want to make his eldest uncle’s family unhappy because of him. What was more, he’d spent Spring Festival alone for years. He’d gotten used to it long ago.

On New Year’s Eve, Shen Shao got out of bed early, started the wood fire, cooked everything that should be cooked, and sliced all the vegetables that should be sliced. After a while, the smell of simmering meat wafted from the pot.

When Shen Hong and Shen Yuan passed by Shen Shao’s house, they smelled the aroma of roasting meat, and Shen Hong whispered, “Jiejie, Shen Shao is cooking meat at home.”

Shen Yuan looked at the smoking chimney. “Why do you care what he does? It’s not like he’s eating our food.”

“Who said he’s not?” Shen Hong snorted. “Let’s go home and have some meat too. Mom bought a braised duck yesterday. I could smell it in the cupboard this morning. It’s delicious.” She had a braised duck, but Shen Shao didn’t. A while ago, some villagers told her parents to have a son so their family line wouldn’t die out. Now that Shen Shao had no parents and his grades were good, there were rumors her parents would adopt Shen Shao. But she and her sister were their parents’ real children. Their family was poor and couldn’t even afford to buy new clothes except at New Year’s. Why should they spend money to support Shen Shao? Just because he was a boy?

Liu ShuLian sighed when she heard what her younger daughter was saying in the yard. After her daughters returned home, she lectured Shen Hong for a while. But after her daughter began to cry with a sad face, Liu ShuLian couldn’t bear to continue. Even if she didn’t take those rumors outside seriously, her daughter did. When Liu ShuLian thought of this, she sighed and decided not to send one of the braised duck legs to Shen Shao like she’d planned.

At noon, when Liu ShuLian and her family were eating dinner, Shen Shao came over with an enamel bowl full of cooked fish. “Eldest Uncle, Eldest Aunt, this is the pickled fish I made. I hope you like it. Please have a prosperous New Year.”

The fish was steaming hot. Afraid that Shen Shao would burn his hands, Liu ShuLian hurriedly took the bowl from him, then filled an empty plate with some braised duck and cooked bacon and gave it to him. She was relieved when he accepted it.

After Shen Shao left with the bowl, Liu ShuLian and Shen JianJun looked at the pickled fish with its rich aroma. They felt unhappy and a little guilty, but helpless.

 

TL Notes:

you’re good, I’m good, everyone is good – 你好我好大家好 – An advertising slogan from a shampoo ad which means something is good for everyone, or everyone is doing well (Baidu)

golden phoenix – 金凤凰 – An idiom which means a beautiful new thing

catty – 斤 – A traditional Chinese unit of mass also known as a jin. In modern mainland China, 1 catty = 500 grams

carrying pole – 挑子 – load carried on a shoulder pole; carrying pole with its load – The Chinese version is typically balanced on one shoulder with a weight hanging in front and back

as much as he might want to help… – 有心无力 – having a heart but no strength; strong in will but weak in power

a growing boy who could eat someone out of house and home – from 半大小子吃死老子 – A half-grown boy can eat Laozi to death

 

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Mr. Gu – 古老师 – Alternatively: Teacher Gu

eldest uncle – 大伯 – dà bó – father’s eldest brother

Shen QuanFa – 沈全发

Uncle Shen – 沈叔 – Shěn shū

FengWa – 凤娃 – A female name

Shenjia Village – 沈家村 – Alternatively: Shen Family Village

Shen GuangHui – 沈光辉

Shen JianBing – 沈建兵 – MC’s dad

jiejie – 姐姐 – older sister

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