Chapter 4 Kaguya

  Luoxing returned home at night and faintly heard a voice in his mother's room. His mother must have woken up and was talking to Ah Po.

  "Others are not bad, I know the root of it, and the child is honest and hardworking......" Seeing Xing Ye entering the house, Luo Ah Po's words didn't continue downwards, but instead turned around and said: "Ye Zi has returned, dinner doesn't need to be cooked, your uncle Qiang went up the mountain and caught two wild chickens, when he comes back they'll be done and let Xiuxiu send them over for you."

  The mother and daughter thanked Luo Aba and escorted her out of the door under the starry night sky.

  At night, I returned home and saw my mother stroking a book placed beside her bed, with a thoughtful expression.

  "Ah Po is really good, she always thinks of us when there's delicious food." Xing Ye looked at her not speaking and said: "Third Aunt's son has sent a letter, Third Aunt asked me to help her write a reply."

  Looking at her mother who still didn't respond, Xing Ye became somewhat worried and stepped forward, but Yu You Yue suddenly lifted her head and said:

  "Yèzi, with grades as good as yours, it's a waste not to study further. Huìyè has been wronged greatly, you absolutely cannot let things be delayed again, and definitely can't end up like your older brother."

  "Mom, I..." Suddenly in the middle of the night, was it Grandma who said something that stimulated Mother.

  "Promise mom that you must go to college and complete your studies. This is my wish as well as your brother's." Yu Youyue said firmly without waiting for Xing Ye to speak.

  Luoxing Ye looked at her mother's solemn expression and nodded seriously in response, which was also her goal.

  "Mom, don't worry, I will definitely do it."

  Yu Yugetsu smiled with a hint of comfort after getting his daughter's guarantee, but Seiya saw the indelible pain in her mother's smile, and the experience of his brother Teruya had become an eternal pain for both his mother and himself.

  Brother Huiye has always been the pride of Xīnyè, he loves his sister who is not related by blood. He excels in both character and learning, serving as a class officer from primary school onwards, with all sorts of awards covering the walls. Yet this excellent brother failed to get into university, Xīnyè remembers him locking himself in his room crying for a whole night after coming back from school, but the next day he came out as if nothing had happened and suggested going to work.

  Because he knew his young sister was going to school, his sick mother needed treatment, and there was no extra money at home for him to retake a year, he feared increasing the burden on his parents, so he didn't mention re-taking the exam, but instead went to work in the quarry despite his family's objections.

  More than ten hours of hard work every day, his palms and shoulders were worn out, but he never complained about the hardship. After several months, the hands that could write good calligraphy had thick calluses, and his fair skin was tanned dark and shiny.

  On the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, Xing Ye clearly remembered that before her brother left, he pinched her little nose and said that after receiving his salary, he would take her to the county town. She was delighted at home, constantly thinking about buying two good bottles of wine for her father, a new set of clothes for each person, and a new school bag, as she was already in junior high school and still using the one from fifth grade. However, she waited until nightfall, but instead of her brother returning, she received news from the mine that her brother had injured someone and been taken away by the police station. The next time Xing Ye saw her brother was on the trial bench in court.

  The mine owner had been withholding wages from the workers, and my brother had only received a few hundred yuan in living expenses after working for half a year. My young and vigorous brother went to ask them for money, but was beaten up and thrown out. Three thousand yuan was supposed to be used for my sister's tuition fees and our mother's medical expenses next year. In desperation, my brother went forward again to demand the money, but was brutally beaten by the mine owner and five or six thugs. My injured brother fought back like a madman, but only targeted the mine owner, breaking his nose and splitting his head open. The other party reported the incident to the police, and as a result, my injured brother was taken away by the police, while the mine owner and his men were taken away as victims and witnesses.

  The flustered father went around asking people to inquire, bringing gifts to visit the injured mine owner, hoping to release his brother. Before seeing anyone, he was driven out by a young and beautiful woman. The other party loudly said that it's lenient to beat someone in the county town and make my brother eat prison food. It wasn't until later that I found out that the woman was the mine owner's sister, the newlywed wife of the county public security bureau chief.

  Everyone was evading, even those workers who didn't get paid either, dared not to stand up and testify for my brother. All the responsibilities were pushed onto my brother's shoulders, and the nature of the case changed from a fight to intentional injury. My 19-year-old brother was sentenced to five years in prison.

  Just as Xing Ye was tidying up her brother's room, she found a neatly folded piece of paper under his pillow. When Xing Ye handed the paper to their father, this nearly fifty-year-old man burst into silent tears.

  That was my brother's university admission letter, the civil engineering major of Hua University, which is one of the best schools in the province. It wasn't until then that everyone realized why my brother cried that night - it wasn't because he didn't get into college, but because he had already made up his mind to give up school, and he didn't want to add any more burden to our family.

  The father cried, the mother also cried, and the neighbors who knew about it cried. It was such an obedient child, originally supposed to be the first college student in the town, he would have had a brilliant future, a perfect life, but now he has become a prisoner, whose fault is this?

  At midnight, I thought of my brother and felt a pang in my heart. At that time, I was ignorant and only knew how to cry. Now thinking back, the mine owner relied on the power of the public security chief and was unscrupulous. My brother in the detention center would definitely be hit and retaliated against by him, and I don't know how much suffering he will endure.

  In the days that followed, both parents lived in self-reproach, especially her mother who thought that if it weren't for her illness, she wouldn't have dragged down the whole family. Although her father never said a word of blame and always comforted her, she still harbored resentment, only no longer expressing it.

  "Yèzi, Mom was also a university student at Yanda, but she didn't graduate," said Yu Youyue.

  Luoxing widened her eyes in surprise. All along, her mother was indeed different from the ordinary small-town women, more delicate and elegant. She thought she was just a city girl, but unexpectedly, she was also a university student. University students were rare ten or twenty years ago, let alone Yan Da, which is a century-old prestigious school!

  "How can you not believe, this is a family tradition, your grandfather was also an excellent student at Yanda University and even got his Ph.D. in France. And both of your uncles are university graduates too, so my little Yezi will definitely get into university as well." Yu Youyue smiled as she looked at her shocked daughter.

  Although Luo Xingye was surprised by her mother's family background, what made her even more curious was that her mother had brought up her own past and family, which she had never done in the past sixteen years. When she was a child, she had asked about it out of curiosity, but her mother had always changed the subject. After growing up, she understood that her mother didn't want to talk about the past, so she stopped asking. Why did her mother bring it up now?

  "A hundred years of Yanda, I've never heard you say...". Xing Ye had a belly full of questions to ask, but unfortunately, the doorbell rang.

  "Go and open the door quickly, I'll talk to you about it later."

  Xīng Yè went to open the door and it turned out that Luó Sān Shěn had sent Liú Yào Fā to find Xīng Yè. Third Aunt took out 2,000 yuan to give to Xīng Yè.

  "This was left by Manager Liu. After you mentioned it, he changed his mind and said that the compensation would be discussed separately. These two thousand yuan are for your mother to nourish her body."

  Leave one thousand yuan tonight and return the other one thousand yuan to Aunt San. "Uncle San helped with things, and there are expenses. This one thousand yuan, Uncle San will use it first."

  Luo Jia's third aunt refused at first and only handed it over after being pulled back and forth with Xing Ye for half a day. She then went inside and said a few words to Xing Ye's mother before leaving.

  Third Aunt had just left when Xiu Xiu brought over a clay pot.

  "Yeh zi jie jie, Ah Po wants me to deliver chicken soup, it smells good."

  Xīng yè wèn qǐ xiù xiù de xué xí, xiù xiù huān kuài de hé xīng yè shuō qǐ lái.

  Translation:

  Starry night asked about Xiuxiu's studies, and Xiuxiu happily told Starry night all about it.

  Xiuxiu had been close to Xingye since she was a child, and Xingye also liked her for being obedient. When Xingye saw that Xiuxiu's braids were loose after a day, he took out the butterfly clips he made in the past two days, which were actually just scraps of flower cloth sewn together and attached to hair ties, very cute and suitable for little girls to wear. Sure enough, Xiuxiu loved them, and as soon as she heard they were for her, she asked Xingye to help her put them on.

  Xīngyè didn't braid her hair, but instead divided it into two strands and coiled them into two small buns on top of her head. Then she put on a bow tie, and a lovely little girl appeared. Xiùxiù admired herself in the mirror, saying how good-looking she was, praising Xīngyè's skillful hands, and complaining that her mom only knew how to braid hair. She ran off to show her mom and grandma.

  Laughing as I watch her leave at night, kids are really easy to satisfy, getting so happy over such a small thing.

  At night, the chicken soup was boiled on the stove, and the floating oil was skimmed off with a spoon. Mother liked to eat light food, so she carefully shredded a piece of chicken into thin strips and cooked it with plain porridge, fearing that mother might not be able to finish the chicken, so she made some chicken porridge instead!