Kapsoura Translates

 Ever since leaving the house, Yaoyuan’s ears have been stuffed with the earbuds from his CD player; whenever Tan Ruikang said something, he just nodded superficially and didn’t respond. He wore the strap of his school bag diagonally, while Tan Ruikang wore his on one shoulder, so every once in a while he needed to adjust it by lifting it up. Yaoyuan pulled the strap of his satchel over Tan Ruikang’s head so that it hung diagonally instead. Tan Ruikang smiled, gentle and without any aggression, and said something. Yaoyuan mn -ed, not having heard it at all. Yaoyuan almost never lets Zhao Guogang or the company driver drive him, although getting driven would let him sleep more, it took out a lot of the fun. There was a minibus that stopped in front of their home that went directly to the school, and there were lots of seats in the early morning, so there was no need to crowd. To get up every morning and bus for half an hour while listening to some music was a very pleas...

Three days before school started, Yaoyuan was still struggling against his biological clock; after all, it was very difficult to readjust from the nocturnal lifestyle he had been living all summer. On this day he went to bed in the early morning and when he woke up again at 11 o’clock, neither Zhao Guogang nor Tan Ruikang were home; they’d both left. Yaoyuan was annoyed, feeling a little like his dad had just been stolen. Seeing the note on the table, he knew they wouldn’t be back for lunch.  They probably went to take the exam…hopefully everything goes smoothly, and after a few days he’ll pack his bags to move on campus. Yaoyuan laid on the couch and called his friend Qi Huiyu, conveniently complaining to him about his second cousin. “Yeah, it’s just like that where he’s from.” Yaoyuan said: “It’s pretty sad too, after elementary school they go to middle school, then marry a wife, build a house, work the fields, raise some chickens and pigs, and their whole life just ...

Yaoyuan took him to call for a ride, Tan Ruikang said: “Aren’t there any buses? You call for a ride to school too?” Yaoyuan sat in the passenger seat, and uneasily said: “I take the bus to school… it’s rush hour right now, I don’t want to crowd onto a bus.” Tan Ruikang stared at the taxi meter and said: “Taxis are too expensive in big cities.” The favourable impression Yaoyuan had just begun to develop towards him thoroughly disappeared once again, but he also couldn’t just tell him to let it go. He could only change the subject, saying: “What do you think about the environment here.” “Very clean.” Tan Ruikang said: “Much cleaner than our village, even the roads here are cleaner than our house, you can practically use it as a bed.” Yaoyuan: “.........” The taxi driver smiled: “Where’s the little fella from?” Tan Ruikang said: “Hunan.” The taxi driver said: “Everyone’s from all over the country, but once you’re here you’re a local, haha, what a migrant city.” “We’re here.” Yaoyuan got o...

 Zhao Guogang hasn’t returned yet, but Yaoyuan was already thinking of excuses to get rid of this guy, or maybe he should figure out how long he was staying for or whether he’ll be touching his stuff… and so on and so forth. Yaoyuan guessed that he was probably here to look for work because he had run out of money for school after middle school. This was very common back in the old village—people coming to a migrant city like this one to earn a living. He hoped the worst case scenario wouldn't happen, Yaoyuan could almost imagine this Tan Ruikang guy staying at home with nothing to do, eating and living here for free for months on end. He decided to figure out his intentions. Yaoyuan’s home was renovated very nicely, they had a pomelo wood flooring that was rare to see even in Shenzhen at that time, Tan Ruikang was a bit at a loss when he entered. He took off his shoes, the socks on his feet had two holes at the toe. He sat down on the couch, and said: “Is uncle not ba...