Chapter 393: Something Bothers Wang Daquan
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was the Spring Festival. It was noisy and lively in the Southern Suburbs as men and women who had left to work in other parts of the country, or migrated had come back for their reunion. The streets were thronged with familiar faces, which were almost never seen at other times of the year. People were wishing and greeting one another with auspicious words, and lanterns were hung abundantly in front of houses to mark one of the biggest festivals.
It had been a few years since the last time Hao Ren had a warm and lively New Year. Vivian had prepared a New Year's Eve feast; there was so much food that the dinner table was filled to the brim and overflowed to the tea table. It was a challenge for all 10 of them—not including the cat and the fish—to cramp together at one table. Nevertheless, they did not mind the crowd—they cared more about the warm atmosphere of togetherness than anything else. As usual, Lily could not sit still and she meandered around the house restlessly. The four ascetics were planning to continue challenging the cold outside before Hao Ren dragged them inside the house. If roasting rabbit meat in the cold wind was deemed proper in the name of religion, than it was more proper that they be invited inside for the Spring Festival.
Big Beardy and his company could not argue about it. They came inside and joined the rest for dinner with all the noise as well as activities.
With a roasted lamb shank in her hand, Lily meandered around the house and wished each and everyone the usual New Year phrases. She was so high that it almost seemed like she was on drugs. Even Vivian was caught up in her act several times. After a round of toasts, Hao Ren in his capacity as the "head of the family" began to speak. "For the past year... Umm, probably less—since Lily only came here about half a year ago—it doesn't matter how long we've known each other. I want to thank you for your support. We have so many of and we come from different races, yet we live together under one roof. That's not easy. So, let us be together like a family, and make our team a world-renowned brand. A toast to..."
Kicking Hao Ren on his leg, Vivian who was next to him said, "Save it, mate. You've been raising your wineglass for like 10 minutes, yet you haven't had a sip. Don't pretend you're drunk."
Hao Ren sat down embarrasingly. "I'm not really a drinker. I was hoping you would sing along."
Lil Pea, who was lying on the table saw the wineglass in Hao Ren's hand. She got up and poked her head inside to take a little sip of the contents before she grunting and flopping onto the table like a fish out of water. Vivian quickly took the glass away and said, "How could you let her—"
By then, the crackling and popping of firecrackers were rattling throughout town. Lily scurried up to Hao Ren and reached her oil-soaked claws out and demanded, "Landlord, give me the firecrackers. I'm going to light it up outside."
Looking at the cute maiden delightfully, Hao Ren took out a bunch of firecrackers and went out with her.
As the firecrackers popped and crackled, Lily jumped up and down like an overjoyed child. Even the steady maiden, Nangong Wuyue was thrilled and they both of them laid the bangers on the ground in patterns as if they were going to set themselves on fire.
Becky and the four ascetics looked on in horror. Big Beardy pulled Hao Ren by his sleeve and asked, "That's how it goes every year?"
"Yup," Hao Ren said, still holding on to a half-burned incence stick, which he used to light the bangers. "But, it's not like that every where—at least, not in the city. They don't give a hoot here in the countryside."
Becky looked at Hao Ren with admiration. "The people of this world are braver than we are. The way you guys set off the explosives at your own front door to celebrate your important day every year is astounding. It's like the legendary berserkers..."
Meanwhile, Lil Pea had slipped out of the house and hobbled right to Hao Ren's feet. No one had noticed her amid the hoo-ha.
The little mermaid looked at the fire popping out of the bangers. She was scared but also excited. She found a banger on the floor, which had not gone off and examined the red explosive tube. It smelled like food to her before she peeled off the end of the red tube and found some black powder flowing out of it.
The little mermaid pondered for a while, thinking that she should be more exploratory. She emptied the black powder into her mouth.
Seconds later, the little mermaid wailed loudly as she spat gunpower out of her mouth. At this point, Hao Ren as well as Vivian were already alerted, and they saw what was happening. They were scrambling around to help her. "I didn't know she came out..."
"She swallowed the gunpowder! She swallowed the gunpowder!"
"Oh sh*t, really?"
"Go and get some hot water, quickly... No, it's not for rinsing her mouth!"
"Lily froze her!"
"Wuyue, please help! Get some hot water to defrost Lil Pea..."
The atmosphere in Hao Ren's house was lively, but mostly for the wrong reasons... Sort of.
After a long attempt of "rescuing", Lil Pea finally calmed down. Perhaps the chilly temperature had also helped in coaxing the little mermaid, who may have gone into a semi-hibernation state. They noticed that the little mermaid liked to go outside. So, Vivian had come up with an creative idea: she took the rice cooker out, extended the power cord right outside the house, filled it up with water and flipped the power switch. When the water warmed up, she placed Lil Pea in the rice cooker; this way, the little mermaid could enjoy the snowy scenery outside in the comfort of her rice cooker. She could not get out, but she could make do with that. She soaked herself in the "hotspring" while she watched her canine sister play and laugh as the bangers went off.
Hao Ren pondered for a while before he took out a piece of red paper and wrote "nian nian you yu", a pun which literally meant "there's fish every year". The saying denoted prosperous and abundance, so Hao Ren stuck it on the rice cooker. Then, he admired himself for his creativity.
"This is the couplet?" Vivian's brows were scrunched together as she stared at the couplet on the front door. " If it hadn't been a personal gift from the goddess, I would've recommended not to display it outside..."
The couplet, written with Raven 12345's personal brush strokes, was now up on the front door. Excusing the writing, Hao Ren contemplated whether he should first take a selfie with the couplet and post it online before passersby did it—just to give the online community one more topic to rant about for this year's Spring Festival.
Despite the unsightly appearance, the couplet was indeed useful in some ways. With his mutated eyesight, Hao Ren could see a mysterious radiance shrouding his house and a wide area around it; anyone who came into its coverage had a sense of peace and serenity. Perhaps Raven 12345 was right; these two pieces of paper were enough to turn the area within a two-mile radius into a sacred land.
All of a sudden, Becky noticed that one of them was absent. "Where's Biggie?"
Only then did Hao Ren noticed that Y'zaks had not joined them outside. He went back inside and surprisingly, saw Y'zaks sitting at the table drinking his wine all alone. It was as if he did not hear the hoo-ha outside.
"Hey, Y'zaks! Y'zaks!" Hao Ren called out from the doorway at the great demon, who appeared to be in a stupor. He came inside and tapped the table. "Hey, dude, why are you drinking here all alone? Don't you want to join them outside?"
"No, thanks," Y'zaks sounded like he was not in the mood. His face was pasted with his signature frightening smile. "I'm better off drinking here alone by myself. It's too noisy outside."
Hao Ren sensed something was wrong with him; although Y'zaks was more of a tepid character, he would not avoid the crowd. Obviously, something was on his mind. "So, what's up, dude?"
Y'zaks had gulped down two bottles of shaojiu—a strong alchoholic drink. But man-made liquors did not seem to have an effect on him. He sighed as he looked out through the window at the lights and fireworks, his mind slowly drifting away. "It's a day of reunion, eh? It's a very good day. We demons have no such concept, though."
Hao Ren looked at Y'zaks, whose face was filled with an unexplainable loneliness; he had never expected to see such an expression on a demon. Hao Ren hesitated for a long moment before he decided to ask, "I know you're a person with a story. If you decide not to tell me, I'll just drink with you. If you decide to tell me, then I'll listen. It's the New Year, mate. Don't keep things to yourself. You have us. Who knows, we may be able to help."
Y'zaks smiled and glanced at Hao Ren. "...I think I'll just tell you before you die from alcohol poisoning."
Hao Ren was stunned for a while, and then he heard Y'zaks sharing his mind. "It's not a big deal, just that I miss my daughter..."