Chapter 392: Family
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Hao Ren took the carton out and placed it on the table, it attracted everyone’s eyeballs. Even Becky, who was lying on the couch watching TV listlessly, smelled the scent and turned looking. The fruits was giving out a golden glow which drifted off like a mist in all direction. This mysterious mist-like glow suggested that the fruits were out of this world. Lily was always the first out of the gate when it came to eating. She picked up on of them and sniffed incessantly. "What is this? Apple? Why is this colour?"
"It’s my year-end bonus. Though it’s categorised as a staple food, I think it’s the most valuable thing I’ve ever got." Hao Ren was almost half-crying and half-laughing as he told the origin of the golden apples. "Oh, besides, I’ve also got a couplet. But let’s just leave it to another time. Now Let us share the apples evenly among us. If what Raven said is true, eating the apples might extend your attainment by at least several years..."
Lily’s brows pulled together instantly. "We’re otherworldlings, not spirits. We don’t attain our current abilities by practicing like those spirits."
Instantly, all eyes on her. Vivian jabbed Lily’s head and said, "You’re supposed to be the least qualified person to say that! Don’t you forget your a husky spirit!"
As the two were about to quarrel, Hao Ren quickly shoved the apples in their hands and diverted their attention. Everyone got two apples and there was even one left. Hao Ren put one of his into the dimensional pocket while he munched the other one. He walked around with an extra apple contemplating who he should give it to . Then he saw Lil Pea was gnawing the table.
"The kid’s biting things again." Hao Ren quickly picked the little mermaid up then an idea crossed his mind. He placed the apple before Lil Pea and asked, "Hey honey, do you want it?"
Vivian, who was munching her apple graciously, looked up and said to Hao Ren, "The kid’s only interested in wood."
But before Vivian’s voice trailed off, Hao Ren saw Lil Pea already went around and checked the golden fruit out before she banged her head against the apple--she wanted to take a bite but the fruit was too smooth and round, she didn’t know where to begin with.
Lil Pea banged her head on the apple a few times but still couldn’t get her teeth on it. She looked up at Hao Ren, tail wagging. She yelled. "Dad-dee! I want this!"
It was a surprised. Hao Ren had never thought of the little mermaid would be interested in the golden apple as he had tried many times before with normal fruits which she wasn’t interested in. So he thought it mustn’t be the scent of the apple that was attracting her. Perhaps the golden apple had something special that had influenced her.
Nevertheless, it was a good thing. Hao Ren quickly cut the apple in half and further in smaller pieces before shoving them to Lil Pea. He offered the other half to Rollie the cat which was loitering at the doorway. "Hey, Rollie! Here is a good stuff for you..."
After that, Hao Ren found himself a good spot on the couch and watched the TV. He began to feel like he was living a mythical lifestyle—everyone had got two golden apples, even his cat had got half of it. He looked at Rollie which was snoring at his feet and said thoughtfully, "How would Hesperides feel if she saw this..."
Busying at sorting out the groceries, Vivian said without looking up, "Zeus had similar but different fruits on the tree in his backyard. I tried it and it was sour. But that was already considered a luxury back then."
Hao Ren looked up, noticing Lily was wrestling with her mind about the last apple in her hand. So he asked her, "Did you feel anything after eating the apple?"
"I’m not full yet." Lily answered very honestly. "I would like finish the second one but it’s already the last one."
"You really want to finish all at once?" Vivian shot Lily a glance. "That fruit is divine, you should save it. Why not you come and help me pluck the garlic chives. I’ll get the ingredients ready tonight and we’ll make dumplings tomorrow. Just in time for New Year! Oh ya, Biggie, could you please help me swap the gas cylinder out..."
"New Year..." Hao Ren’s mind drifted back in time as he heard the words.
It had been a long time since he had a real New Year. He had been alone all this while and almost forgotten how New Year was supposed to feel like. For the last three years or so, Spring Festival to him was just days of eardrum-rupturing noise of the firecrackers and hours of stare at the idiot box. And he couldn’t even remember when was the last time he had had a New Year’s Eve dinner!
He looked up and around the house; the noisy husky, the unforgiving-at-mouth but gentle-at-heart vampire, the siren who liked to sing but could never catch the key, the demon who could lift a 14-kg propane tank with just a finger, Becky who always lay on the sofa staring at the idiot box like he used to be, the little mermaid who was squelching on his arm, and the four ascetics who were so ever determined to challenge the bitter cold outside in the name of survival training or something like that...
And also not forgetting the naive stupid cat which was having a worry-free life.
Hao Ren let out a sigh. He felt a sense of satisfaction which he had never had before. The big house might have achieved full occupancy rate in the past, but nothing was like these strange creatures right here: these non-human beings hadn’t felt a bit of nervousness in the house right from the beginning; they were restless, they were noisy, and they were here as if it was their home. He felt a warm begin to fill his big house.
"What’re ya thinking?" Vivian looked up and found Hao Ren was looking at her too. "Why the salacious smile?"
Hao Ren grinned. "I look forward to this year’s Spring Festival."
Vivian was stunned for a moment before she smiled back. "I look forward to it too. I’ve never celebrated New Year with so many people before. It’s the first for me. It feel awesome save for the annoying Doggie."
"Have I offended you again?" Lily jabbed Vivian’s nose with a the garlic chives; though she sounded mean, their gestures were more playful than provocative. "I’m not fancy of celebrating New Year with Battie. But without a doubt, this year is going to be a blast—I still remember the same time last year, I was in Greater Khingan Range alone with no one to talk to. After the meal, I just slept through the day and found myself waking up on the second day of New Year..."
Nangong Wuyue was sharing her story too. "Me too was alone for all these years. During Spring Festival of last year, I was lying in a motel next to a train station listening to the crackling of the firecrackers whole night..."
"You guys had better times." Vivian twisted her mouth and said, "Last year, I spent my New Year in a cave in Shennongjia and I had rats for my New Year’s Eve dinner."
Hao Ren was almost tearful hearing Vivian’s miserable past: before she came here, her life was like a ten-thousand-episode tragic drama. But those days were behind her now.
Still lying on the sofa listlessly, Becky looked up. "I haven’t a clue of what you guys are talking about. But it sounds like Spring Festival is a big deal."
"Yup, it’s a big deal to us." Hao Ren glanced at Becky and smiled. "It’s our day of reunion. We all come from different places but we’re together. We should celebrate this jolly time and enjoy yourselves as much as you want."
There was a glow in Becky’s eyes before she suddenly turned dejected. "Jolly... that makes me think of my comrades in my home town. I hadn’t got a chance to say ‘hi’ to them the last time I was back, they might’ve assumed that I’m dead in some ruins somewhere. You’ve promised to find me the door so that I can go back."
Becky’s lament had stirred the emotion of others. Nangong Wuyue sighed as she said, "Same goes to my brother who might still hide in some ruins somewhere, and never bother to come back for even a day or two. He should at least call if he couldn’t make it back."
"I don’t know about Hesperides too," Vivian’s brows knit together. "I’ve never given it a thought during my wandering years, but as I settled down I realise I hadn’t really celebrated any days with her. I don’t even remember her birthday."
"Nangong Sanba might be stuck in the santuary in Athens. We mightn’t be able to contact him for the moment." Hao Ren sat up. "I’m afraid they wouldn’t be able to make it back for this year’ Spring Festival. But you guys have reminded me. Let’s look forward to next year when we will surely be able to get everyone together."
The next day, with the blast of the first firecracker in front of Hao Ren’s house, the past was past and all things were anew again!