Lantern Festival

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, every household in Haizi Village was filled with joy and celebration.

Thanks to following Lily Evans in the vegetable business, in just over ten days, every family had saved up some copper coins—enough to enjoy a lively and prosperous Lantern Festival.

But things looked quite different in the Evans household.

Old Mrs. Evans lay on the bed, her mouth twisted and drooling, while Mrs. Zhao tended to her. Wipe after wipe, the drool kept coming, and after several rounds, Mrs. Zhao lost her patience, tossed the handkerchief aside, and muttered, 'Let her drool if she wants.'

Just a few days ago, Mrs. Zhao was still proud that Old Mrs. Evans could dig up good things from Samuel Evans's house, flaunting her own cleverness for sticking with the old couple during the family split.

But now, with Old Mrs. Evans paralyzed, Mrs. Zhao felt downright unlucky. If she’d known, she would’ve split off too, saving herself from waiting on an old woman who couldn’t take care of herself.

The house was freezing, as cold inside as it was outside. With no money for charcoal, not even the old couple’s room could afford a brazier. They just had to tough it out.

Day by day, things only got worse at home. Mrs. Zhao was so worried, her hair was turning white.

Ever since Su Meixiang’s face was ruined, she stayed shut in her room and refused to do any chores. As for Su Shimao, he’d been studying since he was a child, never learned any farm work, and his pride was sky-high—he wouldn’t lift a finger for anything except to complain about wanting to read.

But they could barely afford food, let alone spare money for his studies.

Mrs. Zhao’s son and daughter had basically become useless—just eating and spending money.

Tofu Beauty and Liu Ru were both tough as nails. Back when Mrs. Zhao had Old Mrs. Evans backing her up, she could barely keep them in check. But after the stroke left Old Mrs. Evans half-paralyzed, Liu Ru and Tofu Beauty joined forces and started running the household. Mrs. Zhao didn’t dare order them around anymore.

So now, all the housework for the whole family landed squarely on Mrs. Zhao’s shoulders. She worked from dawn till dusk, handled all the meals, and still had to look after Old Mrs. Evans. In just a few days, her hair had turned much whiter.

The only labor left in the house was her husband, Su Daqi. But what good was that? Their farmland had already been mortgaged to pay the bill when they treated guests at Fragrant Pavilion last time.

The Evans family was truly down and out.

Just then, a heavy snow began to fall, thick as goose feathers. Mrs. Zhao, shivering in the cold, remembered they’d run out of firewood at home, so she headed toward the mountain behind the village to gather some.

Passing through the village, Mrs. Zhao saw the local children dressed in new, warm clothes, building snowmen and having snowball fights. Every household had red lanterns hanging at their door, and from afar, the bright red against the snowy white was stunning.

Watching all this, Mrs. Zhao felt both jealous and envious. Rubbing her frozen hands and stomping her feet, she trudged onward.

On the way, Mrs. Zhao ran into her neighbor, Mrs. Zhu.

Mrs. Zhu was carrying a basket, chatting and laughing with another young wife from the village.

Mrs. Zhao overheard Mrs. Zhu say, 'Oh, we’re making sweet rice balls tonight for the Lantern Festival. I bought a bunch of glutinous rice! My boy keeps begging for sticky rice ribs, so I picked up a whole lot of ribs, too.'

The other young wife lifted the cloth covering her own basket and said, 'My mother-in-law wants braised pork, so I bought a big piece of pork belly. I also picked up some wine for my husband, and some peanuts and spiced beans for snacks. Tonight’s Lantern Festival is going to be lively!'

Hearing their conversation, Mrs. Zhao could almost smell all those delicious foods. Her stomach started rumbling with hunger. She hurried over, grabbed onto the young wife’s basket, and peeked inside—sure enough, it was filled with good things.