newbobooks Chapter 49 Monsters Always Accuse Others of Being Monsters
Chapter 49 Monsters Always Accuse Others of Being Monsters
"Mom, are we going to Grandma's house to wish her a Happy New Year today?" Wenjing asked after setting off the firecrackers.
“Of course I’ll go,” Deng Xiuzhen replied.
Normally, they would spend New Year's Eve at the husband's family home, and then visit Deng Xiuzhen's parents on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
This year is a special case; Qin Yanlin has disappeared, and her in-laws are resentful of her, so she'll definitely have a hard time if she goes back for the New Year. But she still has to visit her parents' home for the New Year.
It is a Chinese tradition to visit one's maternal family with gifts on the first day of the Lunar New Year, a tradition that Deng Xiuzhen keeps firmly in mind.
Perhaps it was because the child was sensible, or perhaps it was because she had received news about Qin Yanlin, but Deng Xiuzhen slept soundly that night.
The next morning, after setting off the firecrackers to open the door, Deng Xiuzhen took her child and went to visit her parents. However, there were few buses on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so she had to walk a distance to get to her parents' home.
(Setting off firecrackers at the door is a traditional Chinese New Year custom. At dawn on the first day of the Lunar New Year, people get up and set off firecrackers as soon as it gets light, signifying good fortune and announcing the start of the new year.)
When they arrived at the Deng family's house, it was already past 11 a.m.
Xiumei was washing vegetables at the door when she saw Deng Xiuzhen. She quickly pulled her aside and said, "Xiuzhen, what brings you here?"
Deng Xiuzhen said, "I've come to wish my parents a Happy New Year."
Xiumei said, "You'd better go back quickly! Otherwise, Mom will get angry when she sees you."
"Losing your temper?" Deng Xiuzhen asked, puzzled. There are several customs associated with the first day of the Lunar New Year. First, you can't throw away trash on the first day, as it represents wealth; throwing trash on the first day will bring financial losses for the entire year. Second, you can't get angry on the first day, because if you do, there will be no fire, which represents both incense and other offerings...
He Taoxiu is very traditional and superstitious. Just like her preference for sons over daughters, she takes the Lunar New Year very seriously. In her belief, the Lunar New Year's Eve and New Year's Day must be spent in harmony and happiness to ensure a prosperous and fulfilling year. He Taoxiu cares deeply about these things, so why would she lose her temper on the first day of the Lunar New Year?
"Before the Lunar New Year, my mother went to several temples. The monks and Taoist priests said that the Bodhisattva said the house was haunted by evil spirits, which would not only cause financial loss but also bring misfortune and the end of the family's incense offerings."
Mom secretly invited a Taoist priest to our house to perform a ritual, and he predicted that you were the jinx. Now Mom firmly believes that you are the one who caused Chunlin to go to jail, and that you are the one who caused Yanlin to disappear.
"If it wasn't your fault, how could Yanlin suddenly disappear and we can't find him anywhere?" Deng Xiumei explained in a low voice.
"Isn't this superstition?" Wenjing leaned closer and said.
"Hey, why did you suddenly come over like that? You scared me half to death!" Deng Xiumei said, patting her chest.
"Auntie was so scared, did she do something wrong?" Wenjing said with a smile.
"Are you talking nonsense?" As soon as Deng Xiumei said it, she realized she had made a mistake and spat repeatedly.
"Mom! Mom! Run!" Wenxin suddenly shouted.
Deng Xiuzhen looked up and saw He Taoxiu walking towards her with a bowl of something in it. Judging from her posture, it looked like she was going to splash it on her.
"Mom, move aside!" Wenjing said, pulling Deng Xiuzhen so she stumbled. This saved her from the thing He Taoxiu threw at her.
Deng Xiuzhen turned her head and saw blood all over the ground!
Deng Xiuzhen knew that what Xiumei said was true: He Taoxiu was splashing her with blood, which was either chicken blood or dog blood. She probably thought that she would come today and prepared to splash her with blood to exorcise evil spirits.
Deng Xiuzhen grabbed Wen Yu and ran. She knew He Taoxiu well; if her mother considered her a jinx, she had probably prepared more than one bowl of blood since she was coming back today. Perhaps there were other tricks besides splashing blood.
Wenjing and Wenxin ran right behind her.
I ran quite a distance before I dared to stop and breathe a sigh of relief.
I had originally planned to visit those relatives for the New Year, but now I don't need to. Although feudal superstition has always been resisted, some people only openly oppose it, while many others still believe in it behind the scenes. Especially those who consider their daughters to be jinxes—they believe in it in droves.
They only breathed a sigh of relief after arriving at the bus station and boarding the bus.
The family looked rather disheveled. Wen Yu, being young, was exhausted from running around and was panting heavily with his little mouth open.
Wenxin lost one of her shoes, but luckily she found it and was putting it back on at that moment.
Seeing this scene, Deng Xiuzhen felt a pang of sadness, and her eyes reddened slightly.
Fortunately, it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there weren't many people on the bus. After the ticket seller bought their tickets, they sat down by the door.
Wenjing leaned close to Deng Xiuzhen and whispered, "Mom, don't overthink it. Some people are just superstitious. We should stay away from those superstitious people."
Look at Grandma, the way she looked just now, she looked just like the witch from the Seven Dwarfs. If you ask me, it's because they have something to hide!
"That's right, it's on TV. Bad guys like to say others are bad, and monsters always wrongly accuse others of being monsters. Grandma herself is the monster!" Wenxin chimed in to support her.
Deng Xiuzhen was both amused and exasperated, and said, "Don't talk nonsense, that's my mother."
Wen Yu finally caught his breath and said loudly, "Only my mom is the best person!"
The ticket seller, upon hearing this, teased him, "Are you saying we're bad?"
Wen Yu blushed instantly, which made everyone laugh.
The sadness that had just risen in Deng Xiuzhen's heart vanished without a trace.
Back in the alley, I ran into Old Man Zhao. I asked them why they looked like that.
Deng Xiuzhen recounted what happened at her parents' home.
Old Zhao laughed and said, "What era are we living in? How can there still be such superstitious people?"
I heard they hadn't eaten, so I told them to hurry up and eat. We hadn't finished yesterday's dishes, so we cooked some more today.
They didn't stand on ceremony. Firstly, it would be a waste for Old Zhao to leave so much food uneaten; secondly, it was already two o'clock, and they were indeed quite hungry.
After the meal, Old Zhao asked Deng Xiuzhen about the dream she had.
Deng Xiuzhen recalled Wenjing's instructions and what Wenjing had said: if Wenjing was wrong, people would think she was crazy; if Wenjing was right, people would think she was a charlatan.
Then I remembered how I almost got splashed with blood by my own mother today.
She really didn't dare to say it.
She pretended to think about it seriously for a moment, and then said, "The dream was blurry. It seems like there were only two things, and I don't remember anything else."
Old Zhao looked somewhat disappointed, though not obviously, but Deng Xiuzhen, having paid more attention to Wenjing's words, noticed it.
During the Spring Festival, everyone prepares a lot of supplies, but Deng Xiuzhen and the others were too preoccupied with Qin Yanlin's matter to prepare anything.
But with Wenjing's careful planning, the family had prepared some supplies, and with the cured meats they bought to smoke with Old Zhao, there wouldn't be any problem waiting for the vendors to set up their stalls after the first few days of the lunar new year.
For the next few days, they stayed at home and did not go out.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Deng Xiuzhen went out to find work.
After listening to Tian Guoqiang's words, she believed that Qin Yanlin would come back, but no one could say for sure when.
Children need to go to school, and families need to make a living; they must have an income.
Now that she's lost her numbness, she can't afford to buy it again. Not only does she lack the capital to start a business, but it's also difficult to do it alone.
She has three children to take care of. Although they can cook for themselves now, it's not good to have no adult to look after them at home. So she can only find work nearby.