Volume 1 Chapter 64 Moon Full

  The long-awaited Mid-Autumn Festival has finally arrived, but unfortunately it is not a formal holiday yet. However, since it's an ancient festival and coincides with Friday, the school showed mercy and announced that we can go home after the afternoon classes, and there will be no school tomorrow either. We'll come back for evening self-study on Sunday night. Upon hearing this news, my classmates cheered loudly. I quickly packed up and headed home.

  The Mid-Autumn Festival is a grand festival in the countryside, so my dad and mom have returned home. Even my elder brother has come back. My sister can't return home because she has to work, but my brother brought back several large mooncakes. Actually, I don't like eating mooncakes, but the atmosphere of sitting with family under the moonlight, admiring the moon and eating mooncakes is something I enjoy. The moonlight is soft and gentle, like water, shining on the small courtyard, casting a vague shadow on the few fruit trees in the yard. The oranges on the orange tree have been stolen by the village children who love to eat them, and the ones left on the top of the tree were picked by my brother today, saying they would be eaten while admiring the moon tonight.

  I specially invited Qiao Wei and Xiao Yang to my home's small courtyard to appreciate the moon together. After dinner, I moved some chairs into the yard, and my brother also brought out a small table from home. We arranged various snacks on it, including mooncakes, which were indispensable, as well as oranges and candies that my brother had brought back. With a pot of tea ready, our preparations for appreciating the moon were complete. "Yun'er, I'm here!" Qiao Wei exclaimed, bouncing into the courtyard with a mooncake in hand. Before long, Xiao Yang also arrived with a mooncake. Although everyone's mooncakes had different flavors, they looked delicious. My parents cooperated fully and brought out some additional snacks, such as roasted peanuts and rice cakes. We all sat together, eating mooncakes, chatting, and appreciating the moon, feeling joyful and content.

  We also talked about my mom's store, and she said business was especially good. She and my aunt were very busy. She also said that there were many regular customers, including a girl named Zhang Bao'er who bought the most clothes. I quickly told my mom that she was my good friend, so she could give her a discount. My mom smiled and nodded: "I already knew, of course we'll charge her less."

  After chatting for a while, I saw that my mom looked very tired, so I said: "Mom, you're tired, go rest!" My mom smiled and said: "I'm really tired, I'll go rest. You young people enjoy the moon." My mom went inside to rest, and after sitting for a bit, my dad also went to rest. Only my older brother and us were left.

  I suddenly remembered that my brother's factory had gone bankrupt after many years, and he had become a laid-off worker. His family life was quite difficult. Rather than waiting for that day to come, it would be better to change strategy now and start from scratch. I tentatively asked him: "Brother, do you like the factory you're working at now?" My brother replied indifferently: "What's there to like or dislike? It's not like we have a choice. As long as we have work, that's good enough." I shook my head: "That's completely wrong! Working in a job you don't like is totally different from working in one you do like. And can this job bring you long-term benefits? Haven't you ever thought about that?" My brother was deep in thought, and I seized the opportunity to persuade him further: "Brother, it's still not too late for you to think about it now. For example, why don't you go learn about architectural design? I'm sure whether it's exterior or interior design, there will be great prospects for development." My brother's eyes lit up: "Yeah, I actually do like architecture. But my family says it's manual labor, no future, and too dangerous. Sigh... what can we do?" I rolled my eyes: "Hey, why do you need to do manual labor? I'm telling you to go learn design, draw blueprints, and do measurements. Think about it, if you can decide how a house is built, that's a great sense of accomplishment!" Thinking about the sky-high prices of real estate in the future, I felt especially frustrated - if only we could be the ones doing this line of work, wouldn't that be wonderful!

  "Where should I go to learn then?" My brother was a bit moved. "Go to the provincial city, there must be places to study there. Take advantage of your youth and work hard, big brother!" I said firmly. Big brother took a deep breath: "Okay, I'll consider it. You guys play, I'll think about it carefully." Big brother went into the house.

  Looking up at the bright moon in the sky, I suddenly felt a surge of poetic inspiration: "Let's have a poetry recitation contest! Such good moonlight, it would be a waste not to recite some poems." Xiao Yang looked up at the moon: "Hmm, it is a bit wasteful." "Huh? Reciting poems? I don't know many!" Qiao Hui furrowed her brow: "Oh dear, I don't know many either. Let's just have fun! Otherwise, sitting here doing nothing is so boring. Come on, Qiao Jie, you agree, right?" I pulled on her arm and shook it, Qiao Hui smiled and agreed. "Since we're appreciating the moon, let's take the moon as our theme and recite some related poems, how about that?" I proposed. "Can we just say a few lines from each poem?" Qiao Hui was still worried. "Of course, no problem!" I chuckled lightly, "Don't be nervous, we're just having fun, it's not an exam, relax!" Seeing Qiao Hui's brow unfurrow, I smiled happily.

  "Then I'll go first!" Gazing at the round moon, I softly recited: "In the courtyard, white trees roost crows, cold dew silently wets the osmanthus flowers. Tonight, the bright moon is admired by all, who knows whose autumn thoughts have fallen?" "This is Tang Dynasty poet Wang Jian's 'Fifteenth Night Moon Gazing', very fitting." Xiao Yang nodded in appreciation and casually recited, "Among the flowers, a jug of wine, alone with no close kin. Raising my cup to invite the bright moon, together with my shadow we become three people." "This is Li Bai's poem," I smiled, "but he was 'Drinking Alone under the Moon', whereas we are really three people admiring the moon!"

  I raised a cup of tea and laughed, saying: "Li Bai is a pot of wine among the flowers, I am a cup of tea under the moon. We raise our cups to invite the bright moon, how many people are there in the shadow?" Suddenly, I thought of a question and wanted to test Xiao Yang, "You say Li Bai's poem has a problem? Since it's a solo drinking, shouldn't it be one person and one shadow? Why is it three people with shadows?" Xiao Yang furrowed his brow and pondered: "This question is indeed a bit difficult. Li Bai was a romantic person, I think, since he invited the bright moon to drink together, that means he considered the bright moon as a friend, maybe one of the three people is the bright moon?" "Wow... too awesome!" I couldn't help but applaud, knowing that this question had been specifically searched online when I was a teacher in my previous life. Unexpectedly, Xiao Yang understood it so easily, truly talented, and indeed, the first place in this grade is well-deserved!

  "It's my turn." Qiao Wei raised an eyebrow, "I said the simplest one, I was just afraid you guys would snatch it away." Clearing her throat, she recited: "The moonlight in front of the bed, suspected to be frost on the ground, raise your head to gaze at the bright moon, lower your head to think of your hometown." She finished with a hearty laugh. "This round everyone performed very well." I had another idea, "How about we make it more exciting? Those who can't recite within the time limit will be punished and have to perform a program, how's that?" "Ah, what kind of performance?" Qiao Wei asked curiously. "Anything you're good at is fine! This shouldn't be difficult for you, right?" I explained. Qiao Wei thought for a moment: "Okay, anyway, I'm sure to lose. I've forgotten most of those ancient poems." She looked at Xiao Yang, who was gazing at me with adoration and nodded slightly.