Crossing Over to Yamada Love

"You said it smells strange, so what about the cold noodles?" Mrs. Wang found her granddaughter's expression amusing.

"There are many kinds of liangpi (cold skin noodles), including rolled noodles, rice noodles, and even mung bean noodles. After making them, you add gluten, bean sprouts, or cucumber shreds, season them, and then mix them with some chili oil and sesame paste. It's so delicious you'll never get tired of it! Especially on hot days, it's spicy and refreshing, so satisfying!" Mo Lan said, then seemed to remember something and hurriedly asked Wang Shi, "By the way, Grandma, I haven't seen sesame paste here. Is there anywhere to buy it?"

"Sesame paste? Is it made from sesame seeds? Tell me how it's made." Wang Shi had obviously never heard of this before and asked Mo Lan with a puzzled look.

"It seems you need to wash the sesame seeds, dry them, then roast them in a pan, and grind them until they become sticky. Then, add some water or oil to thicken it, and you'll have sesame paste. Oh, and grind some peanuts too; they're delicious that too. Adding them in will definitely make it very fragrant." Mo Lan only vaguely knew how to make it; she'd only ever eaten ready-made versions and had never made it herself.

“Okay, let’s try making them all once the corn is ready. But didn’t you say that cold noodles are good to eat in the hot weather? It’s getting cold soon, do we still need to make them this year?” Wang asked after thinking for a moment.

“Go ahead and make it. When it’s cold, we’ll eat stir-fried cold noodles. They taste even better when they’re hot. In the summer, we eat them cold, but when it’s cold, we eat them stir-fried. But…” Mo Lan paused here, looked up at the sky, and said softly, “In another month or two, those craftsmen will probably have to stop working. When that happens, we’re afraid we won’t have any business to do. We’ll have to wait until they start working next spring, so we might not have any income for the next three or four months.”

"Oh, there's nothing we can do about it. It's cold here. If it were in a town, it would be better, at least people would be able to eat at the shops. But here, who would come all this way? We can only hide for months of winter." Wang knew her granddaughter was telling the truth, but she had no way to solve the problem.

"It's alright, we'll be able to pick walnuts and pine cones in a few days. We can go up the mountain and pick a lot then. When it gets cold, we can harvest these and use them to make new dishes next spring." Mo Lan became happy again at the thought of going up the mountain.

"You silly girl, you've got so many tricks up your sleeve. There are quite a few corn cobs on that mountain, but they're hard to get. They're all sticky and oily, and if you touch them, your hands will be covered in oil for days and you won't be able to wash them clean. Nobody wants to pick them up, but you're always thinking about these things." Wang picked up the woven corn and put it aside, her face beaming as she looked at her granddaughter.

The Mo family's corn had been drying for several days and was almost completely dry. All the corn stalks in the field were harvested and used as firewood. The Mo family members also started husking the corn in their spare time.

Mo Changhe was a specialist in rinsing corn. He would take a diamond-shaped awl and make a slit every two rows, then throw the corn there for the others to rub.

While shredding the corn, take a shredded corn cob and rinse the corn together, and with a little force from both hands, the corn will fall down. This method is much less strenuous than shredding it directly.

"This year's corn is really growing well. In a couple of days, Changhe, take it to your Uncle Cui's house in Cuizhuang to grind some cornmeal. Grind it finely so we can eat it ourselves, and feed the pigs the coarse bran. We can also make some good cornmeal porridge." Mo Quan said to his son while rubbing the corn.

“Okay, Dad, I’ll take it in a couple of days, and bring two more bags of wheat, and grind the flour together.” Mo Changhe said to the corn without looking up.

“Okay, Dad will go with you. We'll also go see Brother Zhang’s house to see if the big flat-bottomed iron pot we ordered has been made yet.” Mo Quan was still thinking about the flat-bottomed iron pot that his family had ordered. His wife had asked him to make it, saying it was for making some kind of steamed bun. Anyway, it was a new food, and he didn’t know anything about it.

"Okay, let's go later then. I reckon it's about time." Mo Changhe straightened his back, stretched his back to ease it, and then picked up the corn again.

That day, Mo Lan had just finished lunch and was wondering if she could go up the mountain to see if the pine cones and hickory nuts had fallen yet. Meanwhile, at home, they were experimenting with making baiji buns and braised pork, among other things.

The steamed buns were either overcooked or undercooked, and the braised pork didn't taste as good as the ones Mo Lan used to eat. Seeing everyone else experimenting with such enthusiasm, she felt restless. She wanted to go up the mountain to collect pine cones and walnuts, but her family wasn't very interested and wouldn't let her go alone.

"Lanlan, what are you wandering around for?" A questioning voice came from the front yard. Mo Lan, who was wandering around aimlessly, saw Liu Hu carrying a basket of eggs.

"Brother Hu is here! You haven't been delivering eggs as often lately. Have the chickens been laying fewer eggs?" Mo Lan smiled at Liu Hu and led him to put out the eggs.

"It's getting colder, and the chickens are laying fewer eggs. My mother said they probably won't lay any more eggs for a while, until next spring," Liu Hu said with a slight smile, following behind Mo Lan.

"Oh, right. People need to hibernate, and so do chickens, otherwise they'll get too tired and stop laying eggs. Tiger, my grandma and the others are making roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers), they smell so good. Go try a couple when they're ready." Mo Lan and Liu Hu chatted as they put eggs into the basket.

"No way, you're in business. I'm not eating. Why didn't you make some? I see you really enjoy cooking, don't you?" Liu Hu blushed. He was happy that Mo Lan offered him that roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), which meant that Lan Lan and he weren't strangers. However, he couldn't actually eat her food; otherwise, she'd accuse him of being greedy.

"I've been working on this for days, and I want to go up the mountain to pick pine cones and hickory nuts, but none of them will come with me." Mo Lan pouted slightly.

"I'll go with you. I don't have anything to do right now, so I'll take you to pick it up." Liu Hu looked at the little girl's slightly pouting lips and said the words without thinking. He didn't want her to be unhappy.

"Really! Come on, I'll take you to find my grandma. If you come with me, she'll probably let me go. We can have a competition to see who can collect more. You definitely can't beat me." Mo Lan was excited when she heard Liu Hu's words. Finally, someone would accompany her up the mountain.

Looking at her radiant face, Liu Hu felt a surge of indescribable emotion. The two put the eggs down, and Mo Lan ran ahead, with Liu Hu following closely behind.

"Grandma, Brother Huzi brought eggs. I've put them all away. He said he'd come with me to pick some tamarisk. Let's give him the money for the eggs when we get back," Mo Lan said happily, running up to Wang Shi and grabbing her sleeve.

"You silly girl, you're always thinking about going up the mountain, and you even drag Tiger along. Does he have nothing to do with you, wanting to go crazy with you?" Qiu was flipping a steamed bun in a flat iron pan. She could never get the heat of the bun right. Seeing her daughter's excitement about going up the mountain, she couldn't help but say something to her. She didn't know who this girl took after, always wanting to go up the mountain and not wanting to stay at home. The mountain wasn't even a good place. She didn't know why this girl had become so obsessed with going up the mountain.

"Mother, you'd better let me go. With Brother Huzi with me now, I'm sure I won't get lost." When Mo Lan saw that her mother had objections, she quickly loosened her grip on Wang Shi's clothes and ran over to pull Qiu Shi's arm.

"Yes, Auntie, I'll go with Lanlan. I'll definitely keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't run around," Liu Hu assured her from the side.

"Don't pull me, look, the pancake is burnt again. You silly girl, go on, go on. I can't control you, but don't run around like that." Mrs. Qiu had no choice but to agree to let her daughter go.

“Lan, your mother’s word doesn’t count. You have to come and beg your grandfather. Only if your grandfather agrees can it be done.” Mo Quan and Mo Changhe were chopping firewood when they heard their daughter-in-law and granddaughter talking. He put down his axe, squatted down, his beard twitching, and said to Mo Lan.

"You're so frivolous!" Madam Wang spat at Mo Quan with a smile in her eyes.

"Grandpa, good grandpa, grandpa is the best, please let Lan'er go." Mo Lan hurriedly ran over to massage her grandfather's back. She knew he was just teasing her, but she was happy to cooperate.

"Alright, Lan girl, you're really good at hammering. Come on, I'll pull up a cart and go with you. Today we'll collect a cartload of tower stones and come back." Mo Quan stood up with a smile, changed his clothes, and the group headed towards the back mountain.

Mo Lan jogged along the way. She liked to go into the mountains to pick things, whether it was wild vegetables, mushrooms, or walnuts. She liked to pick them all. Every time she looked at her basket full of things, she felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"Grandpa, look, pine cones." Before even reaching the back mountain, Mo Lan discovered fallen pine cones under the pine trees by the roadside.

The pine cones are not very big, and they are bright green in color. They are covered with layers of pine resin in some places. You have to be very careful when picking them so that you don't get the pine resin on your hands, otherwise they will be sticky and hard to wash off.

"I have one here too!" Liu Hu found one, picked it up, and shouted happily.

"Haha, the one Tiger picked is bigger than mine. Let's go, there should be a lot more up ahead. Let's go pick some up." Mo Lan was very excited and ran quickly up the mountain ahead. There were many more pine trees on the mountain than by the roadside. We could pick the ones by the roadside when we came back.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Mo Quan parked the cart, and the three of them, each carrying a basket, ventured into the pine forest. Each basket contained a large burlap sack, so they had no trouble filling it.

"I have one, two here! Wow, I found seven twigs under this tree, all in good condition. There are also two that have been gnawed by squirrels. Grandpa, Tiger, don't pick up the ones that squirrels have gnawed on!" Mo Lan shouted to the two of them.

"Oh, I see." The two looked at Mo Lan, who was looking excited, and responded, then started picking them up.

"Here's another one. This one's really big, it'd probably weigh about two ounces of pine nuts if you cracked it open." Mo Lan picked up a big one, her grin widening even further.

The basket was full, so Mo Lan took out a large burlap sack and poured the pagoda into it. It was so heavy! She frowned. With no other option, she dragged the sack to a pine tree, put it down, checked the direction, and then carried the basket forward again.