[TGCF Extra - Chapter 245]
Lanterns & Riddles, Yuanxiao Night - The taste of yuanxiao is the taste of reunion!
Yuanxiao Festival, a lovely night since sundown.
Although it was considered the start of spring, winter was not yet distant, and the wind was crisp and cold. Xie Lian hefted a huge sack as he walked slowly along the side of the road, a faint red flush on his face from the wind.
The sack contained a jumble of scraps he had just collected. He did not know if they were of any use, but regardless of whether they were of use or not, it was to be his only livelihood from now on.
Not too long later, he came across a stall by the side of the street.
The stall was called "Heji Xiaoshi" [1], and sold some snacks and small bites. It appeared that the stall-owner's family of three were sitting at a small table placed towards a lane. A slim and rather pretty lady was bustling amidst rows of tables; she did not heed the stall-owner as he called for her to stop bustling about and to take a seat at the table, instead only saying, "be there soon," her voice like an oriole's call. Although customers sat at the other tables in twos and threes, but all of them seemed to be there for the young ladies passing by, as they sat and chatted casually before heading home after a while. After all, it was Yuanxiao Festival today.
In front of the stall was a small pot. The contents of the pot - white, round, glistening little objects, piping hot in a roiling boil - made him slow down his footsteps.
Xie Lian remarked internally: "Ah, it's yuanxiao."
When he was little, every Yuanxiao Festival, Xianle's king and queen would eat a meal of yuanxiao with him. Xie Lian was an extremely picky-eater, and did not like yuanxiao. Even the tiny delicacies made by renowned chefs, served to him in dishes of gold and jade, were not to his liking. He disliked how they were too sweet, how they made his teeth feel funny when he ate them; he would not eat this filling, nor would he eat that filling; a couple of bites and he would be done.
Afterwards, when he had grown up a little and run off to cultivate on Taicang Mountain, he only went home for Yuanxiao Festival occasionally, and all in all only ate a few meals. Thinking about it now, Xie Lian discovered that he could not remember just what yuanxiao tasted like.
Xie Lian darted a few glances cautiously from the side of the stall, and set the huge, ugly sack down from his shoulder cautiously, and finally, stepped cautiously towards the stall.
He took off his straw hat, and held it in his hands as he said, "Boss [3], could I have a bowl of yuanxiao? Do you have any here?"
The stall-owner was quite old, and gave Xie Lian a look, but before he could answer, that slim young lady replied with a smile, "Yes, you have a seat first!" With that, she hurried to prepare a bowl. Xie Lian, but saw the stall-owner shake his head. He found it strange, and wondered if it was because he looked dirty, such that he was displeasing to others, and he looked down deliberately to study his clothes. After ascertaining that he was not dirty, he felt slightly relieved, and asked, "What is it?"
He thought, if the stall-keeper did not like that he had brought that sack in, he would just place the sack outside. But the stall-keeper gave him another look, and shook his head, saying, "Pitiful. How pitiful."
Xie Lian said, "Ah? What did you say?"
The stall-keeper said, "On Yuanxiao Festival, a single person s itting at an outdoors stall in the cold, eating yuanxiao, is too pitiful, surely."
"......" Xie Lian said, "Don't be like that. Aren't you making a business......"
The stall-owner did not speak to him further, but started collecting bowls. After sitting for a while, Xie Lian felt that the people around him were studying him, or rather, studying him and that extraordinarily and unexpectedly large sack beside him.
The stall-owner's daughter came over furtively, crouching down to poke at the sack, as though curious about what the bulky items in it were, and only going back after her mother had called a few times for her. At this time, Xie Lian had yet to cultivate the thick skin which even knives and spears could not penetrate [3], that he would have in the future. He could not help but use his leg to kick the
huge sack under the table, hoping to stuff it in a place where the passers-by would not be able to see it. Alas, the stall was small, and its tables and chairs and benches were also small, such that it was simply impossible to hide such a thing. Xie Lian had no choice but to cough lightly, and do his best to ignore the gazes of the people around him.
He would get used to it. It was no big deal.
Suddenly, he remembered something, and hurriedly reached his hand into the chest of his robes and felt around. His expression changed as he thought, "Now this is even more pitiful! Not only am I sitting alone at an outdoors stall in the cold, eating yuanxiao, on Yuanxiao Festival, I don't even have enough money!!!"
He had intended to slip away hurriedly, but just at that moment, the stall-owner came over with a large porcelain bowl, and set it down on the table, saying, "Five bits of money."
"......"
Xie Lian felt faintly as though he was unable to breathe, as he said, "Uh...... I......"
He coughed a few times, his fist raised before his mouth, as he heard the stall-owner say, "Is it that you don't have any?"
Xie Lian was just about to thicken his skin and stand up and scram, when he saw the large porcelain bowl being put on the table before him with a thud.
He froze, and heard the stall-owner say, "Forget it. Seeing how pitiful you are, I'll give you a bowl. I'll need to close up the stall after you finish this, so hurry up and go back. It's Yuanxiao Festival today,
you should be together with your family!"
"......"
Xie Lian sat down again, and although he remarked to himself that he had nowhere to go back to after he finished this bowl of yuanxiao, he said out loud in a soft voice, "Thank you."
The stall-owner also said, "It's so late out, and to go back back this late on Yuanxiao Festival is improper!"
His wife said, "He looks like he's worked hard too, and will be leaving soon, stop scolding him in the meanwhile. Miao-er [4], Miao-er, stop bustling about. Always having you come over to help, it makes us feel bad. Come here and eat with us."
That young lady said, "I'm not bustling around!" She put away the last table, and went over to sit and have a portion of yuanxiao with them.
The four people seemed to be waiting for another person to come back to join their gathering, as they talked and laughed. Xie Lian looked at them, held up his bowl, spooned a piece into his mouth, and drank a sip of sweet soup.
But he still did not know what its taste was. +
"Gege, gege?"
Only then did Xie Lian recall his attention. Hua Cheng was by his side, staring at him. In his red robes, Hua Cheng's brows and eyes were all the more brilliant, and the light from the lanterns gave his otherwise pale (to the point that he looked lifeless) face a layer of soft colour. Xie Lian grew slightly distracted as he looked, saying,
"What?"
Hua Chen said, "Is gege tired? Or is it that he can't walk?"
Xie Lian nodded without much thought. Hua Cheng said, "Sorry. I overdid it last night."Only after a while did Xie Lian react to what he had said, and hurriedly waved his hands, saying, "...... what are you saying, it is nothing of that sort! This has nothing to do with that!"
Hua Cheng raised a brow, saying, "Really? If this has nothing to do with that, that means, I did not overdo it? And so, I can......?"
"......"
Xie Lian suddenly recalled that they were still in middle of the main street of the Ghost City, and gave a startled, wary glance about. Indeed, at some unknown point in time, they had become surrounded by a huge crowd of misshapen and bizarre creatures [5], those with long ears extending their ears [6], those with with short ears stretching their necks, and seemingly all of them with eyes opened as wide as a copper bell, staring at them hard.
Xie Lian was so startled that, for a moment he did not know what to say. Finally, he exclaimed,
"San-lang ah!"
Hua Cheng gave a slight smile, and hid his hands behind his back as he said,
"Alright, alright. It's my fault, I'll stop talking."
Xie Lian had also already drawn back his gaze from the yuanxiao creature's stall by the side of the street.
On both sides of the Ghost City's main street hung a profusion of bright red lanterns, and the lanterns were covered with riddles. The crowd of ghosts clamoured,
"Guess a riddle! Guess a riddle! Guess correctly and you'll get a prize! Lots and lots of prizes!"
Hua Cheng said to Xie Lian, " Gege, give it a go? There are prizes."
Xie Lian walked up, saying, "Let me try?"
The crowd of ghosts grew excited, pushing at each other:
"Sh! Sh! Da bogong [7] is going to guess a riddle! Da bofu is going to guess a riddle!!!"
"......"
Faced with the overwhelming clamour of the crowd, almost as though they were expecting him to break into a dance, Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry. Just as he was thinking of picking a riddle at random, a tentacle from goodness-knows-where anticipated him, passing him a lantern and saying,
"Please! Please!"
To Xie Lian, any of them would be the same. And so, he received the lantern, and gave it a look. There were four words on the side of the lantern with the riddle:
"Found a white head."
Xie Lian did not even need to think, saying:
"I."
Hua Cheng clapped his hands, praising, "Gege, you're amazing."
The surrounding crowd of ghosts clapped along thunderously with him, whooping and howling, and an indistinct, pitch-black shape
even did somersaults in the air as it cheered, which felt a bit much.
Xie Lian felt embarrassed, saying, "Actually, this...... was really simple ah."
The tentacle again passed him a second lantern, saying,
"Please! Please"
Xie Lian received the lantern, and this time, the riddle read: "One day in the Spring Festival."
Similarly, without even needing to think, Xie Lian spoke the answer,
"Husband." [9]
Hua Cheng raised his hands once again and applauded.
Xie Lian said, "No need. This was simple too."
Hua Cheng beamed at him, saying, "Really? But, I do sincerely think that gege is amazing."
Xie Lian remarked internally, "Nonsense, nonsense. If you personally came up with a riddle on the lantern, and I could solve that, now that would be amazing......"
At that moment, the tentacle yet again passed him a third lantern, singing,
"Please! Please!"
Xie Lian looked, and his brows crinkled slightly. The crowd exclaimed too,
"Wah! This time, it's tough!"
Xie Lian nodded his head. Indeed, this riddle could not be figured out with a glance:
"Shyly lowering one's head to express adoration."
"But, it was not too difficult." After a while, Xie Lian said,
"The word 'shyly" refers to the mimosa plant, take the part of the word for grass; 'lowering one's head', take the head of the word for 'lower'; 'to express adoration', take the heart of the word for 'pour'. Put the three together, it's...... 'Hua'. The answer to the riddle is Hua." [10]
After he finished saying that, he tugged on his year. As expected, once he gave the answer to the riddle, the ghosts all around them started to dance wildly, without any restraint or decorum, their gestures overblown, in a manner that was almost nauseating.
Hua Cheng smiled as he looked at him, saying, "Gege, this time, you were truly amazing."
The tentacle once again raised a lantern and offered it tentatively. With a smile of his own, Xie Lian said,
"I have something even more amazing. Would you believe me if I say that, this time, I can guess the answer without even looking at the riddle?"
Hua Cheng widened his eyes, and said, "Oh, really? Gege has such a special move?"
Xie Lian received the lantern, saying, "Of course. I'm guessing, this time the answer is 'Cheng'. The 'Cheng' in 'Hua Cheng', right?"
Raising the lantern to look, indeed, "Once the dagger handle and blade of the dagger move they fix towards the south direction". Xie Lian said,
'once the dagger and handle move', invert the word for 'handle', you get the word 'soil'; retain the word for 'blade'; 'fixed towards the south direction', take the word for 'direction' as the south portion, and fix words for 'soil' and 'blade' in the centre, it becomes 'Cheng'.This would have been the hardest riddle, what a pity......" [11]
What a pity, he had guessed the rules of the game first. String the four answers together, and what do you get? With Xie Lian having seen through their ruse, the crowd of ghosts did not dare to cheer, but instead began to cough, each of them glancing towards the sky. When Hua Cheng's gaze swept slowly across them, they seemed as though greatly frightened, some of them diving into the lanterns, some of them diving into the ground, each of them hugging their heads and crying,
"Cheng-zhu [13], don't be angry!!! It was not my idea!!!"
"It wasn't mine either!"
"Bullshit! You were the one who agreed the most loudly!!!"
In a soft voice, Hua Cheng said, "Scram."
In an instant, every human and ghost on the street disappeared as though like clouds blown away by the wind, with no one left behind. XIe Lian hung the lantern back onto its rack, and said with a smile,
"Let's go back."
The two of the walked towards Qiandeng Temple together, shoulder to shoulder. As they walked, Hua Cheng said with a serious look,
"Gege, please don't look at me like that. It really wasn't me who let them do that."
Xie Lian smiled, saying, "I know. If it was you, the riddles definitely would not have been designed like that."
Hua Cheng said, "Oh? Then how does gege think I would design the riddles?"
Unguardedly, Xie Lian said, "Of course it would be, 'my husband is San-lang'......"
Only after having spoken to this point, did XIe Lian realise what he had said something which he should not have said [15], and hurriedly shut his mouth. However, it was too late. Hua Cheng began to laugh loudly, saying,
"Gege, gotcha! Beautiful!"
"...... sly, sly......."
Just at that moment, the two of them arrived back at Qiandeng Temple. Upon entering the great hall, Xie Lian discovered that, unexpectedly, a table of items had been placed on the jade platform. Startled, he went up to take a look. They were two bowls of yuanxiao.
He looked back. Hua Cheng had joined him on the platform, and was saying,
"This was what gege was looking at just now while we were out, wasn't it?"
Xie Lian nodded his head.
Hua Cheng,
"Sit down and eat with me, gege."
"......"
But Xie Lian didn't sit, but instead threw himself towards Hua Cheng, burying his head against his
chest. He wrapped his arms around Hua Cheng tightly, refusing to let go. In response, Hua Cheng hugged him too.
After so many years, he finally remembered once again, what the taste of yuanxiao was.
Translator's notes:
[1] 贺记小食
[2] 老板 (lao ban): Literally, boss. A typical form of address in Chinese for the person running a store.
It was also used in the parts where I have translated as "stall-owner" (because "boss"in those sentences sounds kinda weird, I feel...).
[3] The Chinese concept of having a "thick skin", is to be impervious or insensitive to embarrassment, criticism etc.
[4] 妙儿, presumably the lady stall-assistant who was bustling about at the start of the chapter.
[5] 歪瓜裂枣奇形怪状的玩意儿: Literally, strangely-shaped things like crooked melons and broken dates
[6] Imagine a creature with long ears, holding said ears out vertically in HuaLian's direction.
[7] 大伯公: The Ghost City's inhabitants' title for Xie Lian. Literally translated as, big (or eldest) grand-uncle. But in this case, it can also mean something like master / lord, a title of respect.
[8] The riddle is 找到白头, i.e. found (找到) a white (白) head (头). The answer is 我, i.e. I. Take the 丿 stroke on the head of 白, and put it on the head of the 找 instead (like a hat!) - you get 我.
[9] The riddle is 春节一日, literally Spring (春) Festival (节) one (一) day (日). The answer is 夫, i.e. husband. Take away the 一 and 日 characters from the bottom half of 春 - you get 夫.
[10] The riddle is 含羞低头表倾心, with shyness (含羞) lower (低) head (头) to express (表)
admiration (倾心 - lit. pour out one's heart). The answer is 花, i.e. hua, flower. 含羞 refers to the mimosa plant, a.k.a. 含羞草. Take away the portion of the word which represents plant (草), you get 艹. Next, take the head, i.e. the front, of the word for lower (低), you get 亻. Finally, take the heart, i.e. the middle, of the word for pour (倾), you get 七. Arrange them together, you get 花!
[11] The riddle is 干戈一动南方定, the dagger (干戈, an olden type of weapon, with a long handle (干)
and a blade (戈)) one (一) move (动) south (南) direction (方) fixed (定). The answer is 城, i.e. cheng, city. Flip or move the first character in the word for dagger, i.e. 干, and you get the word for soil, 土. The second character in the word for dagger, i.e. 戈, remains. The word for direction, i.e. 方, is fixed in the south or bottom of the final answer-word. Put in the other two characters, 土 and 戈, with 戈 in the centre, you get 城!
[12] 我夫花城: My husband is Hua Cheng. :D
[13] 城主 (cheng zhu): Owner of the city. Hua Cheng's subjects' title for him.
[14] 我夫三郎 :DDDD
[15] Xie Lian realised that he had 祸从口出 literally, disaster comes from the mouth.