Chapter 2: Borrowing Rice借米

those better off than us avoided associating with our family, fearing they''d be dragged down.

穷人家中无亲戚，父亲只得垂头丧气往回赶。这个世界上在很多时候从来没有真正的雪中送碳，只有锦上添花。因为我们家实在太穷，家境好点的亲戚没有哪个亲戚愿意和我们家来往，怕受牵连，怕被拖后腿。

My father passed an apple orchard that appeared unattended on the way home.

在回家的路上，父亲经过一片很大的苹果园，四周一个人都没有。

At that moment, he saw a glimmer of hope, thinking that bringing a few apples home for his children would be better than nothing, as we had nothing at home to eat. Eating some apples could at least prevent us from being too hungry during the New Year.

父亲眼中看到了希望，他想着能摘几个苹果回去给孩子吃也好呀，不然家里什么都没有，吃点苹果至少可以保证过年的时候不至于那么地饿。

With this thought, my honest father stealthily picked apples from the trees at the orchard''s edge, hoping for the best.

于是老实巴交的父亲抱着侥幸心里偷偷的去把园外树上的苹果摘了下来。

The ancients once said, "A single ripe apricot escapes over the wall," but now multiple apples are doing so.

古人云是一颗红杏出墙来，而现在是多个苹果出墙来。

But as he reached for the third apple, someone suddenly appeared, catching him red-handed.

可是正当我父亲要摘第三个苹果时，果园里突然来人了，把我父亲抓了个现场。