RL (AT) Chapter 24: Night of the Lantern Festival

Chapter 24: Night of the Lantern Festival

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

After the house was built, Cheng Yan went to town to get everything he needed ready. On the day of the Lantern Festival, the Lin family had a lot of things to prepare. Cheng Yan went to help in the early morning.

The dried fruit was packaged that morning. Mama Lin and sister-in-law Lin had bought several colors of transparent gauze, cut and sewed them into a simple small cloth bags, and then put the dried fruit into it. Father Lin and Cheng Yan moved the jars out of the warehouse, while Lin Cheng went to town and rented a cart from Zuiyun Plaza. Seeing that Yan Ningxi happened to be there, Lin Cheng talked to him about something.

The Lantern Festival started at night and they had to transport things to town in advance. Before that, Lin Cheng wanted to borrow a place from Yan Ningxi to put their things. Yan Ningxi asked Lin Cheng to put things in the backyard of the Zuiyun Plaza, where they could enter through the back door.

By the afternoon, everything was ready, packed and put on the cart. After that, the Lin family was relieved. Lin Mo was tired and lay on the table. Lin Xiaoya was allowed to run around beside him but he didn’t want to move.

Lin Xiaoya pulled Lin Mo’s clothes and looked up at him. “Fourth Uncle, do you want to see the lights at night?” 

“Yes…” Lin Mo had no energy.

“Can Xiaoya go, too?” Lin Xiaoya continued.

“Mn…”

“Good.” After getting the answer, Lin Xiaoya ran away again.

When Mama Lin and sister-in-law Lin finished their meal, Lin Cheng came back with a carriage. After supper, they went back to the house to change their clothes. After all, it was the annual Lantern Festival. One had to dress well before they went, even though they were just going to set up a stall.

Mama Lin took the new clothes she made in the morning to Lin Mo’s room, “Mother made you new clothes, try them on.”

Lin Mo saw Mama Lin hold up the new clothes for him to see. The cloth was very good and a light blue color and Mama Lin had even embroidered some bamboo on the collar and the ends of the sleeve. But Lin Mo felt a bit of a headache.

“Mother, it’s just the Lantern Festival. Do we have to dress so well? Besides, it’s useless for me to stay at the stall and be dressed like this.” Lin Mo knew that this was also a festival for blind dates, but he and Cheng Yan had already reached the point of talking about marriage, and he didn’t need to choose anyone else.

“There’s me, your father and your big brother watching the stall. You and Cheng Yan can take Xiaoya to play.”

“But…”

“Listen to mother, change into it quickly. I know you don’t like headdresses. So mother made a hair band for you, and you will wear them.” Mama Lin placed the clothes in his hand and left.

Lin Mo held the clothes in both hands and looked at the figure of Mama Lin leaving. He looked down at the clothes, sighed, and finally changed into them. After Lin Mo changed, he felt something was wrong. Looking into the copper mirror, he found that the color was too bright, which was quite different from the dull coloured clothes he usually wore.

A ger would style their hair like a woman’s. They would also take some gold and silver jewelry to add to their head and put rouge and gouache on their face. But Lin Mo simply tied a ponytail as usual, and put on the hair band that was the same color as the clothes he was wearing now.

After that, Lin Mo went out. He found out after he left his room that Mama Lin wasn’t exaggerating. Everyone had changed into new clothes. Even if they were not new, they still used clothes which hadn’t been worn many times.

Lin Xiaoya fiddled with the bell bracelet on her hand and looked up when she heard the door opening. When she saw Lin Mo coming out, she stared, “Wow, Fourth Uncle!”

Lin Xing, who had been looking down at his new clothes, heard it and looked up, then ran to Lin Mo in the next second, and walked around him. “I almost couldn’t recognize Fourth Brother. The clothes look good, but Fourth Brother is better looking!”

“I knew Mo’ger would look good in it.” Mama Lin laughed.

Sister-in-law Lin, who was helping her son with his clothes, looked up and said, “Mo’ger has a very good appearance. It’s just that he doesn’t like to dress up very much at ordinary times, and the clothes he wears are a little dark.” 

Lin Cheng nodded and didn’t speak. His wife said the correct thing. In his past life, after their family moved to the Imperial City due to Lin Xiu’s success, many people came to their home to propose marriage. Although the family later made it clear that Mo’ger did not intend to marry, the number of people who came did not decrease.

Lin Xiaoya went to Lin Mo, spread her arms and turned around, and asked, “Fourth Uncle, does Xiaoya look good?” 

“Mn, cute.” Lin Mo nodded.

Lin Xiaoya was really cute. She was wearing a pink dress and a pair of bell bracelets on her wrists. When she walked, the clear bells sounded from time to time. There were two small balls on her head, and the pink hair ribbon was tied into a bow.

After his mother helped him, Lin Xiaonan also ran up to Lin Mo, and looked up at him expectantly, without speaking.

“Xiaonan is cute, too.” Lin Mo bent down and touched his head, laughing.

“Hmm.” Hearing Fourth Uncle’s praise for him, Lin Xiaonan’s eyes brightened and he nodded heavily.

“Fourth Brother! Fourth Brother, how about me? What do you think of me?” Lin Xing also opened his arms and turned around, looking forward.

“Mn, you are cute, too.” Lin Mo laughed.

“Ah? Why am I cute too? Isn’t cute for children?”

“It means you are as childish as a child.” Lin Chen saw that his brother was being stupid again. He couldn’t help mending the knife.

When Cheng Yan arrived, the others were ready, so everyone went out to town in the borrowed cart. Lin Mo was walking behind them, and Cheng Yan was walking beside him. Cheng Yan glanced at Lin Mo from time to time, but Lin Mo looked forward and didn’t look at him. He thought that Lin Mo looked much better than usual and Cheng Yan was determined to buy more new clothes for him in the future. But it would be better if only he saw him wear them.

When they got to town, it was already a little dark, and things were already set up. However, there were not too many people in the street now, so it was not crowded. They went to the backyard through the back door of Zuiyun Plaza and carried the things they had placed there into the cart. Except for Lin Mo, Lin Xing and the two children who were here for the time being, the others were going to set up their stall.

Lin Chen was not very interested in shopping, so he went with everyone. Lin Cheng knew how to sell faster and better si Lin Mo was not worried about that.

Cheng Yan looked at Lin Mo and said, “Wait here for a moment, I’ll be back soon.” 

“Mn.” Lin Mo nodded.

When Cheng Yan came back, it was completely dark. Now, the Zuiyun Plaza was full of light and shadows. The lights exposed from the building were shining on the trees and walls nearby. Because there were too many people at night, and children could be easily knocked onto the ground, so Cheng Yan held Lin Xiaonan and Lin Xiaoya in his arms.

“Ah! Lift up higher! There are bright lights outside!” Lin Xiaoya put her hand on Cheng Yan’s shoulder and pointed to the outside of the wall.

“There’s a lot of people.” Lin Xiaonan observed.

“Let’s go. Where should we look?” Cheng Yan looked at Lin Mo and asked.

“Both of them are not heavy, are they?” Lin Mo worried.

“It’s nothing.” Cheng Yan shook his head. Cheng Yan often went hunting and he could carry all the big guys back from the mountain by himself. Besides, the two children were being held up as if they didn’t weigh anything.

After going out, Lin Mo felt the atmosphere of the Lantern Festival. The whole street was covered with small lanterns of different colors. The shop doors were open, and two big red lanterns were hung on both sides of the doors, which lit up the street. The red light of the lanterns shone on the surroundings, and the warm light made the air even more ambiguous.

Lin Mo walked next to Cheng Yan. Lin Xing held his Fourth Brother’s sleeve in one hand, and then looked around.

It was completely dark, and the number of people on the street was gradually increasing. Walking in the street was a group of ger who went together, and the young men walking around had their eyes on them. No matter ger or man, each of them held a flower, which was the gift that would be used to exchange between two people after they expressed their hearts to each other.

However, the ger and the men had different kinds of flowers. After the exchange, others would be able to see that they had found the person they belonged to. And naturally, they would not be bothered again.

Seeing Lin Mo and Cheng Yan refuse flowers from men and gers for the third time, Lin Xing couldn’t help saying, “Fourth Brother, are you and brother Cheng going to buy flowers for each other? Otherwise, I feel that there will be people who will keep on disturbing you.” 

Lin Mo looked at Cheng Yan, and nodded when he saw the other party looking at him, “Then… Let’s go buy them.” 

Lin Mo didn’t want to buy flowers because he didn’t want to trouble himself with holding them. But now that he was in more trouble, suddenly he felt like there was nothing wrong with having a flower in his hand.

However, Lin Mo still thought it was a little strange. It was clear that Cheng Yan had two children in his arms but there were still many gers coming up to him. He obviously walked next to Cheng Yan, but there were still men coming up. So, was this also the age of not looking?

Sure enough, after buying the flowers and giving them to each other, the ger and the men who kept coming gave up. Lin Mo couldn’t help but look at Cheng Yan walking beside him. From this angle, he could see the side of his face. The warm light of the lantern reflected on his face and the lines and corners of his face were clear. He was also very good-looking.

Cheng Yan belonged to the tough guy type in modern times, almost the same kind of person as his older brother in the past. Cheng Yan naturally knew Lin Mo was looking at him, but finally he couldn’t help but look at him and ask, “What’s the matter?” 

“There are a lot of gers who like you.” Lin Mo had heard that many ger in Daling Village liked Cheng Yan but it was only now that he knew how popular Cheng Yan was.

“Huh?” Cheng Yan looked puzzled.

Lin Mo looked at him and continued, “Three wives and four concubines is normal for men.” 

Cheng Yan understood his meaning and said quickly, “I won’t, I’ll only have you all my life.” 

After knowing that he liked Lin Mo, Cheng Yan never thought that he would marry someone other than Lin Mo, or take in a concubine. There were no examples of concubinage in Daling Village, and Cheng Yan was sure that he had never liked anyone except Lin Mo. Even if he couldn’t remember his past memories, he was sure of this.

Lin Mo looked at him for a few seconds, and finally his eyebrows bent slightly. “Since you say that, I’ll believe you.”

Moreover, Lin Mo believed in his own vision.