Chapter 9: Chapter 6: Fried Rice_2
Let me start by analyzing the source text:
Literary genre: This appears to be a rural Chinese drama/slice-of-life novel, likely set in the collective farming era (references to "production team" - çäș§é).
Language style: The text is written in a straightforward narrative style with dialogue. It has emotional elements showing the protagonistâs difficult life.
Tone: Melancholic, with themes of mistreatment, poverty, and familial conflict.
Plot keywords: child abuse, rural poverty, family conflict, identity crisis, collective farming era, food scarcity
Characters:
- Mo Xiaoman (è«ć°æŒ) - Female protagonist, a young girl who believes sheâs not her parentsâ biological child, mistreated by her family
- Granny Mo (è«éżć„¶) - Female, Mo Xiaomanâs blind grandmother who cares for her
- Liu Fengying (ćć€è±) - Female, likely Mo Xiaomanâs mother or stepmother, treats her harshly
- Mo Xiaofeng (è«ć°ć€) - Gender not explicitly stated but likely female, another child in the family who gets better treatment
- Mo Xiaozhi (è«ć°æ) - Gender not specified, another child
- Mo Xiaohua (è«ć°è±) - Gender not specified, another child
- Aunt Han (é©ć€§ć©¶) - Female, neighbor mentioned briefly
- Grandpa (éżć Ź) - Male, Mo Xiaomanâs grandfather who is away gathering herbs
Now Iâll start translating the text, ensuring all the glossary terms are properly used and following all the specified rules.
I notice that this text has several meta-textual references Iâll need to be careful with, particularly around word counts or character descriptions.
Hereâs my translation:
The wooden loft had no panels on its four sides, making it appear somewhat empty. In previous years, corn and peppers harvested from the private plot would be bundled into strings and hung along the rafters around the loft.
Mo Xiaoman changed into her clothes after finding them in the messy pile hanging on the bamboo pole. She didnât have many clothes, and all were tattered. Liu Fengying constantly criticized her for not knowing how to maintain them, saying her patching jobs were crooked and ugly. But what needlework skills could a young girl have? With endless chores every day, it was already an achievement to sew patches that stayed attached!
After changing, Mo Xiaoman tore a blank page from a notebook in Mo Xiaofengâs schoolbag and placed it over a small bowl. She wrapped the entire bowl in an old piece of clothing, stuffed Liu Fengyingâs notebook into her pocket, and pulled her shirt down to cover the pocket opening. Then, with creaking steps, she descended the wooden stairs from the loft.
The women in the courtyard had been talking for hours and were about to disperse. After the downpour, there was still half a day left. This was during the production team era, when work required the team leaderâs assembly and assignment. Since the team leader wasnât calling for members now, people seized the opportunity to tend to their household chores. After all, besides the production team work, each family had their own private plots and vegetable gardens inherited from their ancestors.
Liu Fengying, unwilling to chat with the other women, was pretending to check Mo Xiaofengâs hair for lice. Mo Xiaozhi and Mo Xiaohua were crouched nearby, with Xiaozhi imitating Liu Fengying by rummaging through Xiaohuaâs hair!
Seeing this scene, Mo Xiaoman suddenly felt her scalp tingle and itchâpossibly, likely, definitely! In her current body, Mo Xiaoman also had lice!
In her previous life, she had experienced hardship, but the last decade or so had been quite refined. As they say, itâs easy to go from frugal to luxurious, but difficult to return from luxury to frugality. She had grown accustomed to a modest yet comfortable lifestyle. Now, confronting lice again, Mo Xiaoman felt somewhat devastated, her little face scrunched up as if sheâd eaten a raw bitter gourd!
No, no, she needed to leave quickly and get herself clean!
Mo Xiaoman squeezed her eyes shut, pretending not to see the mother and daughters, and walked straight toward Grandmaâs small room with the old clothes in her arms.
Liu Fengying noticed her, however, and shouted: "Mo Xiaoman! What are you doing?"
Mo Xiaoman: "Nothing!"
"The water vat is empty. Why arenât you fetching water instead of running around?"
"I fell into the river today and got scared, then got soaked in the rain. Iâm not feeling well and need to rest!"
"You!" Liu Fengying gritted her teeth, thinking: âYou worthless life, it wouldâve been better if youâd drowned!â She glanced toward the courtyard gate, but ultimately didnât voice these thoughts. Instead, she shouted: "What are you holding in your hand?"
"This clothing is too tattered to keep. Iâm giving it to Second Auntâs cat to use as a bed!"
"Well, well, Mo Xiaoman, getting fancy now, are you? Do you think youâre swimming in money? A perfectly good piece of clothing, and you just decide to throw it away... Stop right there!"
Liu Fengying rushed over, hurling insults, but Mo Xiaoman had already darted into Grandmaâs room, closed the door, and slid the wooden bolt in place.
Outside, Liu Fengying was fuming and cursing. Mo Xiaoman quickly pulled out the bowl of egg fried rice from the old clothes and handed it to Grandma, who was sitting on a low stool. She whispered: "Grandma, they made egg fried rice for lunch and left a bowl for... for my father! I stole it. I ate half, and you can have the other half!"
Granny Mo took the bowl, stroking its rim, then reached out to touch Xiaomanâs face and sighed: "I smelled it at noon. On days when they make good food, I donât say anything, but I know everything! This egg fried rice, wasnât it left for you?"
"Grandma, theyâd never leave anything for me! Since I can remember, whenever something delicious was made, everyone in the family got a portion except me!"
Granny Moâs expression grew sorrowful and confused: "Why is that? Youâre their eldest daughter, flesh of their flesh. How could they treat you so poorly?"
"Grandma, do you believe what I say?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Just tell me if you believe me or not?"
"Our little Xiao Man is an honest child. Youâve never lied to me. I believe you!"
"Then Iâll tell you!" Mo Xiaoman felt Grandma should know some of the truth.
"Go ahead, Iâm listening."
"I sleep in the loft with Mo Xiaofeng and the other young ones. My parentsâ room is right below. A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and overheard them saying Iâm not their biological child!"
"What?" Granny Mo was startled, nearly dropping the bowl. "Are you sure you heard correctly? Donât make things up!"
Mo Xiaoman took the bowl away, placed it on the small table, then knelt before Granny Mo. She rested her head on the old womanâs knees and said tearfully: "Grandma! I heard it as clear as day! You must know tooâtheir first child was born at the district hospital. Many people were having babies there, and they brought home the wrong child! Grandma! Your eyes havenât been able to see for years now, but do you remember what I look like? I donât resemble either of them at all, and theyâve known it for a long time! Why do they go to the city so often? Itâs to look for their biological daughter! Grandma, have you ever seen anyone as pitiful as me? I canât find my real parents, and my current ones work me like an ox. Itâs bad enough that I donât get enough food or proper clothes, but they also beat me constantly! Since I was little, how many beatings have I endured? Iâm just a girl! I do every chore they ask, and Iâm not mischievous or naughty, yet they still beat me! Grandma, I donât want to live anymore!"
Granny Mo held Mo Xiaomanâs head tightly in both hands, tears falling from her eyes, her lips trembling as she struggled to speak: "My child, youâre so young! Donât ever say such things! If they donât love you, Grandma loves you! Understand?"
Mo Xiaoman sobbed: "Grandma! Since theyâre not my birth parents, they have no right to beat or scold me. But Iâm still young, and no one would believe me. They wonât let me leaveâwhat can I do?"
Granny Mo paused, her fingers stroking through Xiaomanâs hair. As if making a firm decision, she asked: "Xiaoman, if your Grandpa intervenes to have you come live with us, would you be willing? Grandpa and I are old, and my eyes canât see. Living with us might still mean hardship, and we canât protect you for longâbut we can manage for three to five years at least! By then, youâll be older and can slowly search for your birth parents..."
Mo Xiaoman grabbed Grandmaâs hand: "Grandma, Iâd love to live with you and Grandpa! Youâll raise me, and when I grow up, Iâll take care of you in your old age! I donât know where my birth parents are. If theyâre not looking for me, I donât know how to find them either. Letâs all just live our own lives!"
"Good! When your Grandpa returns, Iâll speak with him. Donât worry, we have good reason to take you from your father!"
"Yes!"
Having received Grandmaâs promise, Mo Xiaoman felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She handed the bowl of rice to Grandma and placed chopsticks in her hand: "Grandma, eat quickly!"
Smelling the fragrant rice, Granny Mo couldnât help but swallow: "Xiaoman, youâve suffered so much in this household! Though I canât see, I know! Perhaps itâs better not to eat thisâI donât want you getting beaten again!"
"Eat it, Grandma! Liu Fengying is your daughter-in-law. Even if you live separately, she should share good food with you as a sign of respect. Itâs what you deserve! Today I nearly lost my life, came back to a severe beating, and Iâve had enough of their treatment!"
Granny Mo narrowed her eyes and nodded: "Very well. You donât need to go back to that room then. Stay with me and see if she dares to do anything to Grandma!"
Liu Fengying stomped around the courtyard, cursing, though not too loudlyâafter all, Aunt Han had just warned her. Mo Xiaoman ignored her. Seeing Grandmaâs shaky hands struggling to eat, she found a small spoon and fed her, one spoonful at a time.
Grandma swallowed quite quickly, prompting Mo Xiaoman to ask: "Grandma, did you eat lunch today?"
Grandma covered her mouth with a light cough, her expression calm: "Your Grandpa said the day before yesterday that he was going to gather herbs in the mountains and wouldnât return for a few days. For the past three days, Iâve only had three bowls of thin porridgeâone bowl each morning... Today at noon, your mother made egg fried rice, and your second aunt made minced meat pancakes. The children were shouting in the courtyard, boasting to each other. Even if they hadnât said anything, I would have knownâmy nose works just fine!"
Mo Xiaoman looked at her grandmother with sadness, unable to speak.