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. She meandered around the house restlessly. The four ascetics was planning to continue to challenge 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 the proper that they be invited inside for Spring Festival.
Big Beardy and his company couldn't argue about it. They came inside and joined the rest for dinner with all the noise and activities.
With a roasted lamb leg in her hand, Lily meandered around the house and wished everyone one-by-one with the usual New Year-phrases, she was high that she was almost like on drug. Even Vivian was caught up in her act several times. After a round of toast, Hao Ren in his capacity as the 'head of the family' began to speak. "For the past year...err, probably less—since Lily came here only about half a year ago— it doesn't matter how long we have known each other, I want to thank you for your support. We have so many of us who come from different races and yet we live together under one roof and that's not easy. So let us be together like a family, and make our team a world-renowned brand. Toast to..."
Kicking Hao Ren on his leg from beside him, Vivian said, "Save it, mate. You've been raising your wineglass for like ten minutes and yet you hadn't taken 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 content before she grunted and flopped on the table like a fish out of water. Vivian quickly took away the glass and said, "How could you let her..."
By now the crackling and popping of firecrackers were rattling through the town. Lily scurried up to Hao Ren and reached out her pair of oil-soaked claws and demanded. "Landlord, give me the firecrackers. I'm going to lit it outside."
Looking at the cute maiden delightfully, Hao Ren took out a bunch of firecrackers and went our 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 laid the bangers on the ground in pattern as if they were going to set themselves on fire.
Becky and the four ascetics looked on horrifyingly. Big Beardy pulled Hao Ren by his sleeve and asked, "That's how it goes every year?"
"Yup." Hao Ren said while still holding a half-burned incence stick which he used to lit the bangers. "But not every where—at least not in the city. But they don't give a hoot in the countryside."
Becky looked at Hao Ren admiringly. "The people of this world are braver than we do. The way you guys set off the explosives in your front door to celebrate your important days every year was astounding, it was like the legendary berserkers..."
Meanwhile, Lil Pea had slipped out of the house and hobbled to right at Hao Ren's feet. No one had noticed her amid the hoo-ha.
The little mermaid looked at the fire popped out of the bangers, scared but also excited. She found a banger on the floor which didn't go off and examined the red explosive tube which smelled like food to her before she peeled off the end of the red tube and found some black powder began to flow out of it.
The little mermaid pondered for a while, thinking 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. By now Hao Ren and Vivian was alerted and saw what was happening, they were scrambling. "I didn't know she has come out...""She swallowed the gunpowder! She swallowed the gunpowder!""Oh shit, really?""Go and get some hot water quickly...No, it's not for rinsing her mouth! Lily was frozen!""Wuyue! Please help! Get some hot water to defroze Lil Pea..."
The atmosphere in Hao Ren's house was lively but mostly for the wrong reason. Sort of.
After a long while of 'rescue attempt', Lil Pea had finally calmed down. Perhaps the chilly temperature had also helped in coaxing the little mermaid who might have gone into a semi-hibernation state. They had noticed that the little mermaid like to go outside. So Vivian had come out 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 snow scene outside in the comfort of her rice cooker. She couldn't get out but she could make do with that as she soaked herself in the 'hotspring' while watching her canine sister playing and lauhing as the bangers went off.
Hao Ren thought for a while before taking out a piece of red paper and wrote 'nian nian you yu', a pun which literally means there are fish every year denoting prosperous and abundance, before sticking it on the rice cooker. The he admired himself for his creativity.
"This is the couplet?" Vivian's brows pulled together as she stared at the couplet on the front door. " If it isn't for the fact that it was a personal gift from the Goddess, I would've recommended it not to be displayed at the outside..."
The couplet, under the personal brush strokes of Raven 12345, was now up on the front door. Excusing the writing, Hao Ren was hesitating 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 ranting topic for this year's Spring Festival.
Despite the unsightly appearance, the couplet indeed had some uses. With his mutated eyesight, Hao Ren could see a mysterious radiance shoudred his house and a wide area; it made anyone coming into the coverage of the radiance a sense of peace and serenity. Perhaps Raven 12345 was right; these two pieces of paper were enough to turn area within two-mile radius into a sacred land.
Suddenly, Becky had noticed one of them was absent. "Where's Biggie?"
By now Hao Ren only noticed Y'zaks hadn't joined them at the outside. He went back inside and surprisingly saw Y'zaks was sitting at the table drinking his wine all alone as if he didn't 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 knocked on the table. "Hey, dude, why are drinking here all alone? Don't you want to join them outside?"
"No thanks." Y'zaks sounded not in the mood. His face was pasted with his signature frightening smile. "I'd be better drinking here alone by myself. It's too noisy outside."
Hao Ren sensed something was wrong with him; though Y'zaks was more of a tepid character, he wouldn't avoid the crowd. Obviously something was in his mind. "So what's up, dude?"
Y'zaks had gulped down two bottles of shaojiu—a strong alchoholic drink. But man-made liquors seemed to have no effect on him. He exhaled, looked out through the window at the lights and fireworks; his mind was drifting away. "It's a reunion day, eh? It's a very good day. We the demons have no cush concept, though."
Hao Ren looked at Y'zaks whose face was filled with an unexplainable loneliness; he had never expected to see such expression on a demon. Hao Ren was hesitated for a long moment before he decided to asked, "I know you're a person with story. If you decide not to tell me, I'd just drink with you. If you decide to tell me, then I'll listen. It's New Year, mate. Don't keep things to yourself. You have us who might be able to help."
Y'zaks smiled and glanced at Hao Ren. "...I think I'd just tell you before you die from alcohol poisoning."
Hao Ren was stunned for a while. Then he heard Y'zaks sharing his mind. "Nothing big deal, just that I miss my daughter..."
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. She meandered around the house restlessly. The four ascetics was planning to continue to challenge 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 the proper that they be invited inside for Spring Festival.
Big Beardy and his company couldn't argue about it. They came inside and joined the rest for dinner with all the noise and activities.
With a roasted lamb leg in her hand, Lily meandered around the house and wished everyone one-by-one with the usual New Year-phrases, she was high that she was almost like on drug. Even Vivian was caught up in her act several times. After a round of toast, Hao Ren in his capacity as the 'head of the family' began to speak. "For the past year...err, probably less—since Lily came here only about half a year ago— it doesn't matter how long we have known each other, I want to thank you for your support. We have so many of us who come from different races and yet we live together under one roof and that's not easy. So let us be together like a family, and make our team a world-renowned brand. Toast to..."
Kicking Hao Ren on his leg from beside him, Vivian said, "Save it, mate. You've been raising your wineglass for like ten minutes and yet you hadn't taken 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 content before she grunted and flopped on the table like a fish out of water. Vivian quickly took away the glass and said, "How could you let her..."
By now the crackling and popping of firecrackers were rattling through the town. Lily scurried up to Hao Ren and reached out her pair of oil-soaked claws and demanded. "Landlord, give me the firecrackers. I'm going to lit it outside."
Looking at the cute maiden delightfully, Hao Ren took out a bunch of firecrackers and went our 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 laid the bangers on the ground in pattern as if they were going to set themselves on fire.
Becky and the four ascetics looked on horrifyingly. Big Beardy pulled Hao Ren by his sleeve and asked, "That's how it goes every year?"
"Yup." Hao Ren said while still holding a half-burned incence stick which he used to lit the bangers. "But not every where—at least not in the city. But they don't give a hoot in the countryside."
Becky looked at Hao Ren admiringly. "The people of this world are braver than we do. The way you guys set off the explosives in your front door to celebrate your important days every year was astounding, it was like the legendary berserkers..."
Meanwhile, Lil Pea had slipped out of the house and hobbled to right at Hao Ren's feet. No one had noticed her amid the hoo-ha.
The little mermaid looked at the fire popped out of the bangers, scared but also excited. She found a banger on the floor which didn't go off and examined the red explosive tube which smelled like food to her before she peeled off the end of the red tube and found some black powder began to flow out of it.
The little mermaid pondered for a while, thinking 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. By now Hao Ren and Vivian was alerted and saw what was happening, they were scrambling. "I didn't know she has come out...""She swallowed the gunpowder! She swallowed the gunpowder!""Oh shit, really?""Go and get some hot water quickly...No, it's not for rinsing her mouth! Lily was frozen!""Wuyue! Please help! Get some hot water to defroze Lil Pea..."
The atmosphere in Hao Ren's house was lively but mostly for the wrong reason. Sort of.
After a long while of 'rescue attempt', Lil Pea had finally calmed down. Perhaps the chilly temperature had also helped in coaxing the little mermaid who might have gone into a semi-hibernation state. They had noticed that the little mermaid like to go outside. So Vivian had come out 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 snow scene outside in the comfort of her rice cooker. She couldn't get out but she could make do with that as she soaked herself in the 'hotspring' while watching her canine sister playing and lauhing as the bangers went off.
Hao Ren thought for a while before taking out a piece of red paper and wrote 'nian nian you yu', a pun which literally means there are fish every year denoting prosperous and abundance, before sticking it on the rice cooker. The he admired himself for his creativity.
"This is the couplet?" Vivian's brows pulled together as she stared at the couplet on the front door. " If it isn't for the fact that it was a personal gift from the Goddess, I would've recommended it not to be displayed at the outside..."
The couplet, under the personal brush strokes of Raven 12345, was now up on the front door. Excusing the writing, Hao Ren was hesitating 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 ranting topic for this year's Spring Festival.
Despite the unsightly appearance, the couplet indeed had some uses. With his mutated eyesight, Hao Ren could see a mysterious radiance shoudred his house and a wide area; it made anyone coming into the coverage of the radiance a sense of peace and serenity. Perhaps Raven 12345 was right; these two pieces of paper were enough to turn area within two-mile radius into a sacred land.
Suddenly, Becky had noticed one of them was absent. "Where's Biggie?"
By now Hao Ren only noticed Y'zaks hadn't joined them at the outside. He went back inside and surprisingly saw Y'zaks was sitting at the table drinking his wine all alone as if he didn't 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 knocked on the table. "Hey, dude, why are drinking here all alone? Don't you want to join them outside?"
"No thanks." Y'zaks sounded not in the mood. His face was pasted with his signature frightening smile. "I'd be better drinking here alone by myself. It's too noisy outside."
Hao Ren sensed something was wrong with him; though Y'zaks was more of a tepid character, he wouldn't avoid the crowd. Obviously something was in his mind. "So what's up, dude?"
Y'zaks had gulped down two bottles of shaojiu—a strong alchoholic drink. But man-made liquors seemed to have no effect on him. He exhaled, looked out through the window at the lights and fireworks; his mind was drifting away. "It's a reunion day, eh? It's a very good day. We the demons have no cush concept, though."
Hao Ren looked at Y'zaks whose face was filled with an unexplainable loneliness; he had never expected to see such expression on a demon. Hao Ren was hesitated for a long moment before he decided to asked, "I know you're a person with story. If you decide not to tell me, I'd just drink with you. If you decide to tell me, then I'll listen. It's New Year, mate. Don't keep things to yourself. You have us who might be able to help."
Y'zaks smiled and glanced at Hao Ren. "...I think I'd just tell you before you die from alcohol poisoning."
Hao Ren was stunned for a while. Then he heard Y'zaks sharing his mind. "Nothing big deal, just that I miss my daughter..."
