Fate Trading System – Chapter 143

Plan A

Red Moon in the Barrier 7

Going mad

Su Xin left without understanding what was happening. Grandmother Tong seemed to want to tell her something, but couldn’t express it clearly, and it was as if she saw something else, then fell silent.

Mu Qi was still holding her hand on the way home, palm slightly warm. Su Xin, being quite shameless, held on without letting go, putting Mu Qi’s hand together with hers in her pocket. Her other icy hand, however, wasn’t crazy enough to grab Tong Qing’s, and instead stayed obediently tucked in her pocket, cherishing that bit of warmth.

“Sigh.”

Tong Qing sighed like a little adult, occasionally glancing at Su Xin while walking.

“What’s wrong? Seeing you sighing non-stop, like a little old man.”

“Elder Sister, I’m scared.”

“Scared of what? Elder Sister is here.”

“Father and Mother have been gone for so long. I didn’t understand then, but I understand now. Don’t treat me like a child, I understand a lot.”

Tong Qing said seriously.

“I know, our little brother Qing is the most capable, understands so many things.”

Su Xin smiled in agreement, wanting to cheer up her little brother.

“Elder Sister, don’t leave me. Look how pitiful Uncle Tong is. If you leave me, I’ll be even more pitiful than Uncle Tong.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Don’t jinx your Elder Sister. I will stay with you, and we’ll both live to be a hundred years old. Little Brother, don’t overthink things. Elder Sister still needs to take you out of the village, show you the outside world. Then Elder Sister will work hard to earn money for your education, seeing you healthy and well – that’s Elder Sister’s greatest wish.”

This was the original owner’s greatest wish. Su Xin repeated it completely, feeling somewhat moved in her heart.

If it wasn’t like this, there would be no way to truly empathize.

“Mm-hmm.”

Mu Qi stood beside her, listening to Su Xin’s description of the future blueprint, looking lost in thought.

“When you leave, can you take me with you? I can cook for you.”

Mu Qi asked quietly, her voice mixing with the wind and snow, unconsciously softening people’s hearts.

“Of course, it would be very fortunate to always eat your cooking.”

Su Xin nodded. She couldn’t wait for Mu Qi to come along. Once out of this village, Su Xin would have her own ways to earn money, but even with money, they couldn’t possibly order takeout or eat out every day. Although outside there would be modern kitchen appliances and no need to light fires themselves, it wouldn’t make much difference – the food she cooked would still taste just as bad.

“Okay.”

Mu Qi nodded, lowering her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

“But… can we get out?”

“Of course, no matter what method it takes, I will definitely take my little brother out. That’s for certain.”

Su Xin said with certainty.

“You really care about Ah Qing.”

“Of course, he is my little brother.”

“Of course, she is my elder sister.”

The siblings spoke in perfect unison, looking at each other and smiling. Mu Qi also showed a faint smile at the side, but her eyes carried a lingering gloom that wouldn’t go away.

An unwillingness rose from her heart, and Mu Qi gently pressed that spot, feeling somewhat confused.

Su Xin deliberately paid attention to tonight’s moon, which was hazy with a jade-like color, very beautiful.

Su Xin closed the window – it was a normal moon.

Thin mist spread across the night, white snow flew chaotically, weighing down the tree branches.

The snow fell intermittently, sometimes heavy and sometimes light, coating layer upon layer.

The village fell into its usual silence. Although everyone lived close to each other, nobody could hear sounds from other homes – there was no noise.

Su Xin closed her eyes, gradually falling into sleep.

Su Xin was awakened by faint sounds, but she kept her eyes closed, maintaining steady breathing, appearing as if still asleep.

It seemed people were talking, their voices very, very soft.

“Give up.”

“Why? I waited so long, didn’t you promise to help me?”

“I cannot…”

“Is it because of her…”

“I don’t know…”

“Just wait, I’m not in a hurry. There are still eight years – that’s very, very long.”

Who was speaking?

Su Xin tried hard to distinguish the two voices. They were both women’s voices – one gentle and lingering, carrying hesitation and confusion, the other clear and sharp with a questioning tone.

Master Fourteen, help me check if Mu Qi has moved beside me?

【No, eyes closed.】

Su Xin wanted to listen more, but the voices suddenly disappeared. She didn’t know if they had finished talking or if they realized they’d been discovered.

The night returned to quietness. Su Xin closed her eyes, falling asleep for the second time.

It was snowing, and the New Year wasn’t far away.

Su Xin looked at the hanging old-style calendar, counting the days – seventeen days until the main New Year celebration.

The original owner never celebrated Little New Year [traditional celebration about a week before main New Year], after all there were just two people at home, nothing much to prepare. Though it was called New Year, it wasn’t much different from normal days – same sky, same people – just eating things they usually couldn’t afford, wearing new clothes, exchanging blessings, and visiting neighbors.

Spring Festival, for Chinese people, is ultimately a very significant day. Even though some families’ New Year atmosphere is getting lighter, with no difference from ordinary days, not visiting relatives, not wearing new clothes – the meaning in people’s hearts is still different.

“In a couple days, let’s go catch two fish. How can we not eat fish during New Year? It means ‘having surplus every year’ [年年有餘, wordplay as ‘fish’ and ‘surplus’ sound similar in Chinese], okay?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Tong Qing nodded, he was going to follow along anyway.

“Little Brother, I’ve already made your new clothes. I’ll take them out for you to wear that day.”

“Mm-hmm, Elder Sister, you have your own too, right?”

“Of course.”

There was no way to buy clothes here – New Year’s clothes were all self-made. The original owner was very skilled with her hands, but Su Xin was clumsy [literally: handicapped hands]. Thinking about how the original owner had already made all the clothes in her memories, Su Xin felt relieved.

“Qiqi, do you have new clothes?”

“Yes.”

“You can make them?”

“Mm-hmm, my embroidery is very good. When I was married… if you want any pretty clothes, I can make them for you.”

Mu Qi said with a smile, waving her hand.

Mu Qi’s hands were truly beautiful, long and slender, with rounded fingertips, fair and exquisite as if carefully carved, without any calluses, completely flawless.

Su Xin’s hands were rather rough, with scars and calluses. After all, doing farm work and various other tasks, these hands couldn’t help but be rough.

“I see. Did you bring any? Can I see your handiwork?”

Su Xin thought about how the original owner did embroidery, wondering if she could do it herself. Those memories were like images, and Su Xin still found it difficult to get started. She could do other things fine, but cooking was challenging – embroidery should be possible.

If not for being helpful that day, if not for binding with the system, Su Xin would never have imagined she’d be like this one day, using hands that once held guns to do embroidery.

“Of course.”

Tong Qing watched the two elder sisters discussing typical girls’ topics, then ran to his room and continued studying his poetry collection.

He read these poems over and over again. Even if he didn’t understand their meaning, he found them extremely interesting.

“In the sound of firecrackers, a year passes away.”

There was no spring breeze; it remained very cold.

The village had no shops, so whenever they could go to the market fair or town to shop, they would spend several days buying many things to stock up, including firecrackers.

Su Xin’s family didn’t need much, didn’t need to buy a lot, and didn’t buy those big fireworks – couldn’t afford them. The original owner usually bought the cheap small ones to enjoy New Year with her brother.

It was New Year, so everyone could properly relax, because it was universally recognized as an important day to treat oneself well.

Su Xin thought about taking Tong Qing to pay respects to their parents and offer incense once the snow stopped in the next couple days.

With everything that happened this year, who knew if the memorial ceremonies would proceed as usual.

Every activity had its organizers and managers, and paying respects [to ancestors] was no exception.

This activity was usually the village chief’s responsibility. The village chief was a 50-year-old man, still quite healthy, with a goatee, who liked to smoke pipe tobacco. But when winter came, he fell ill and hadn’t appeared much. It was said he was too sick to leave bed, so when Da Ya and Er Ya had their incident, and when Tong Manwen and Yang Cui had their incident, he didn’t visit their homes to ask about the situation – his family members went instead.

As the days drew closer to the New Year period, Su Xin watched the snow, wondering when this endless snow would finally stop falling – it was inconvenient for people to go out.

The seventh-day memorial services for Tong Manwen and Yang Cui had passed. Tong He watched his son and wife being buried, a cigarette between his fingers, his brow creased with sorrow.

Making and carving tombstones takes time. Tong Manwen, after suffering consecutive blows, had much more white hair at his temples.

But the disasters at Tong He’s family weren’t over yet.

That day at noon, while Su Xin was eating, someone came to announce another death, again from Tong He’s family.

Tong He was fine, Tong Xi was also fine – it was Grandmother Tong who died.

They said she wanted to go out but wasn’t careful, tripped over the doorstep, and hit her head on the hard stone slab, dying on the spot.

Now nobody dared to say anything carelessly. Tong He’s family was clearly being haunted by something, otherwise why would people keep dying one after another, and so frequently.

Tong He’s back was now completely hunched, as if unable to bear the weight of life.

How many days had it been? Things kept happening one after another – losing son, wife, and mother. Could there be anything more unfortunate?

Tong He once again arranged a relative’s funeral matters. This time Su Xin didn’t say anything, just let out a long sigh, bowed in Grandmother Tong’s direction, and left.

Su Xin still remembered how anxious Grandmother Tong looked that day when trying to tell her something. Grandmother Tong seemed scared at that time, although her expression remained blank and she made no sound, but the muscles in her face were trembling severely, and she swayed more than usual while walking.

Perhaps Grandmother knew some inside story, or perhaps she sensed something.

The snow that had been falling for many days finally stopped, leaving a thick layer on the ground that made a special crunching sound when stepped on.

The snowy ground was beautiful, but the strings of footprints gave it a special flavor [meaning/character].

Su Xin decided to go catch fish now, to keep them alive first, then let Mu Qi cook them for New Year’s Eve dinner the day after tomorrow.

The three of them went fully equipped with their gear, successfully caught two big fish and one small fish, and were preparing to head back home when they met Uncle Tong coming this way.

“Uncle, how come you came out dressed like this? Quick, go back home.”

Su Xin put down the water bucket and walked toward Uncle Tong, speaking anxiously.

In this freezing snow and ice, Uncle Tong was actually bare-chested, wearing only summer shorts below.

“Dead, all going to die!”

Uncle Tong clapped his hands – a man nearly 40 years old looking like a child, unshaven, yet laughing loudly “ha ha.”

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