Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Mo Lan collected a basketful and ran back to the tree to empty it into a sack. Although it was a lot of work, she was too weak to lift the sack, so she had to use this clumsy method.

"Lanlan, come quick! There are so many walnut trees here, full of walnuts. I can't pick them all myself, can you pick them?" Mo Lan had just thrown a walnut into her basket when she heard Liu Hu calling her loudly.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Wait here." Mo Lan emptied the taro from the basket into a sack, then ran towards Liu Hu.

Actually, compared to pecans, Mo Lan prefers picking pine cones because they are bigger and more satisfying to pick.

Mo Lan ran to Liu Hu's side. There was a grove of hickory trees there, with many withered leaves on the ground, and hickory nuts under the leaves.

Mo Lan squatted down and began to pick pecans into the basket. The pecans had yellowish-green skins and looked like small pears. Some were single, while others were in groups of two or three. On one branch, there were six pecans stuck together.

Picking walnuts hardly requires moving; you just squat there and scoop them into the basket, and in no time you can fill the basket.

"Lanlan, my sack is full. Do you have any room in your sack?" Liu Hu asked Molan, looking at the basket full of walnuts and then at his own nearly full sack.

“My sack is under that tree over there, it’s more than half full of hickory nuts. Why don’t we ask my grandpa to bring it down the mountain? There are still some sacks on the truck, let’s get those and continue filling them.” Mo Lan glanced at the hickory nuts on the ground, then looked at the dense pine forest. They had only picked a few, there were still so many left.

“Okay, this sack is too heavy for me to carry. Let’s ask Grandpa Quan to help.” Liu Hu nodded in agreement. He had just tried to carry the sack by himself and found that he couldn’t do it alone. Otherwise, he would have carried it down the mountain.

They called out to Mo Quan, who came over with an empty basket and sack. It turned out he had already gone down the mountain to look for Liu Hu and his granddaughter.

"Tiger, are you sure you can do it? If not, you and Lan'er can pick it up here. I'll carry it in two trips. Don't try to be a hero. You're still growing, and it won't be good if you get tired." Mo Quan was afraid that Liu Hu would get tired, so he didn't say anything. It wouldn't be right for his own kid to be used by his own.

“Sir, we can manage. Let’s go, we’ll each carry one end. If I get tired, I’ll call you and we can take a break.” Liu Hu was very honest. He let Mo Lan pick up the walnuts first, while he and Mo Quan each carried one end of the sack down the mountain.

When they returned, Mo Lan had filled another sack with pine cones and walnuts. She looked at the sweat on her grandfather and Liu Hu's foreheads, wiped her own forehead with her sleeve, and said to them with a smile, "Grandpa, Brother Hu, sit down and rest for a while. We're not in a hurry. We'll get as much as we can, and if we can't get it all, we'll come back tomorrow. Don't tire yourselves out."

“Okay, Tiger, sit down and rest for a while. Speaking of the young men in our village, I have high hopes for Tiger and Cheng Xiao. Last time, Cheng Xiao even came into the mountains with us to pick mushrooms. I didn’t realize that the son of a scholar could endure hardship.” Mo Quan praised Liu Hu and Cheng Xiao while fanning himself with his sleeve.

"Yes, Cheng Xiao is a nice guy. He was hilarious that day. He saw a bunch of fake mushrooms and asked me to pick them, but when he saw the real mushrooms, he thought they were fake and didn't want them. It cracked me up. But he's a good person. He even helped me pick dandelions before." Mo Lan chuckled as she talked about Cheng Xiao picking mushrooms last time.

Liu Hu grinned, but in his heart he was wondering: Why is Lanlan always with Cheng Xiao? Do they pick wild vegetables and mushrooms together? Will I have to accompany Lanlan into the mountains more often in the future?

"Tiger is amazing too, he picked up so many taro and walnuts, but I'm the one who picked up the most. I'm the best." Mo Lan laughed, tilting her head back and raising her chin high, joking with the two of them.

"Yes, our Lan girl is the best. She would love to move a mountain to our house." Mo Quan chuckled as he teased his granddaughter.

"That's right, when we have money, we'll definitely buy this mountain!" Mo Lan nodded vigorously without any shyness.

Liu Hu watched from the side, secretly laughing.

After the two of them had rested for a while, they went down the mountain again to carry sacks, while Mo Lan continued to pick pine cones and walnuts.

It was already dark when they got home. The group had just pushed the cart into the backyard and hadn't even had a chance to wipe the sweat from their brows when someone came running over, saying repeatedly, "Tiger, Tiger, are you alright? You silly boy, you didn't even tell your mother you were going up the mountain. You scared your mother to death! Look at all this sweat, you must be exhausted."

Mo Lan wiped her sweat. Listening to Liu Hu's mother's repeated questions, she felt a chill run down her spine. Sigh, she had only thought that Liu Hu could accompany her up the mountain so that she would have company, and she had forgotten that he also had a troublesome mother.

"Mom, it's okay, I'm not tired, just a little hot. Don't worry about me. Lanlan is even younger than me, and she's not tired at all. How could I be tired?" Liu Hu was a little embarrassed by his mother's words.

"You silly child, it's tiring going up the mountain. I don't even want to do anything for you at home, but you're doing this to someone else! Look at all this sweat. You'll break your mother's heart." Liu Hu's mother said while wiping her son's sweat. She was selling eggs from the Mo family, so she couldn't be too harsh. If it were any other family, she would have started scolding them long ago.

"Mom, it's really nothing. I insisted on going with them. Why are you blaming Lanlan and her family? Alright, you stand here for a bit. I'll help unload the truck, and then we'll go back." Liu Hu gently turned his head away, not letting his mother wipe his sweat. He wasn't a child anymore.

"What! Unloading the truck? Are you trying to break your mother's heart? Get up, I'll help you unload it." Liu Hu's mother grabbed her son, preventing him from moving.

"No need, no need. There are so many people, why do you still need Hu Zi to unload the truck? You all don't need to go back. The food is all ready, just have a bite before you go back." Qiu hurriedly stepped forward to let Liu Hu and his son, Mo Changhe, Mo Mei, Erlang and the others go forward to unload the truck.

"How could we accept this? Although Hu Zi worked for your family for half a day, we didn't do it for this food. My husband is still waiting for me to come home and cook for him." Liu Hu's mother said politely, but her eyes kept glancing at the food on the Mo family's table.

She saw it when she came to find Liu Hu in the afternoon. The Mo family was making meat-filled pancakes, and the aroma kept wafting into her nose. At that time, she was worried about Liu Hu, so she didn't ask for some. Now that her son is back, she's feeling more at ease. Her son did so much work for them for half a day, so it's only right that the Mo family gives them some pancakes!

Mo Lan glanced at Liu Hu's mother, walked to the table, and looked up at Wang Shi, who nodded to her. Mo Lan picked up a plate, put five roujiamo (Chinese meat sandwiches) on it, and handed it to Liu Hu's mother, saying in a clear voice, "Auntie, Brother Hu must be tired after coming up the mountain with us for half a day. Please take these roujiamo back for him. We really should thank Brother Hu today."

"No, no. Lanlan, we don't want it. You should take it back quickly." Liu Hu hurriedly waved his hand; he hadn't come up the mountain with her for this.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony, ma'am. This steamed bun smells so good! I must say, your family's food is always excellent; my husband has praised it to me several times. Ma'am, I'll head back now and bring the plate back to your family tomorrow. Please eat quickly, no need to bring it back." Liu Hu's mother hurriedly reached out to take the steamed bun, her smile deepening. After a few more polite words, she pulled Liu Hu back home.

After Mo Lan left, she immediately collapsed onto the dining table. She hadn't felt tired while picking things up on the mountain, but the car was too full on the way back, and she couldn't even sit down. On the way back, her legs felt like they were filled with lead. Now that she had dealt with Liu Hu's mother, she felt like her body had no bones. Even looking at the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), she felt like she didn't have the strength to eat it.

"Girl, come here, eat this bun, then have some porridge and get a good rest." Madam Wang held the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) to her granddaughter's mouth so she could bite into it.

The next day, when Mo Lan woke up, she still felt a little sore. She stretched her arms and moved her body a bit, then went to the front to help with the work.

Today, the Mo family is preparing to make roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), so in addition to making steamed buns, we also need to prepare the ingredients for roujiamo.

Early in the morning, everyone started by preparing the braised pork.

The meat was pork leg, with both lean and fat. It was washed, cut into cubes, and put into a large iron pot containing the old braising liquid I had prepared over the past few days. After bringing it to a boil over high heat, I skimmed off the scum that rose to the surface.

Then I started adding the ingredients: scallion segments, garlic, bay leaves, cloves, star anise, soy sauce, rock sugar, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, dried red chilies, cinnamon, Shaoxing wine, and salt. I basically used every seasoning I could find.

After simmering for about an hour, Mo Lan removed two pieces of firewood and turned the fire down to a simmer. The meat needed to be cooked thoroughly, which couldn't be done in a short time. The fire didn't need to be watched; she just needed to add a piece of firewood every now and then.

After she finished setting up the fire, she ran over to watch Mrs. Qiu make Baiji buns.

There's a specific way to leaven the dough for Baiji buns. First, you need to break up the starter with warm water, then add flour and mix it together. While kneading, add a little oil. After it forms a lump, keep kneading it until it becomes a smooth dough. Of course, this dough should be a little firm.

Cover the dough with a bamboo mat and place it on the stove to ferment. It doesn't need to be fully fermented, just slightly risen. This is called semi-fermented dough. When you cut the dough open, you'll see small holes inside, not large ones. It's important not to let it rise to twice its normal size like steamed buns or dumplings. Otherwise, the pancakes will puff up when you bake them, and they won't have the crispy outside and soft, chewy inside that semi-fermented dough produces.

After the dough has risen, place it on a work surface and then pinch off small pieces of dough, making sure they are all the same size.

After pinching off the dough pieces, roll them into even balls, flatten them, roll them into round cakes, and then place them on a work surface to rest for a while.

While the dough is resting, you can start the fire. Heat a flat-bottomed iron pan over low heat, otherwise the pancake will burn. Add a little oil to the pan, place the rested pancake in the pan, cover with a lid, and cook until one side is browned before flipping it over.

After flipping, cover the pan and let the other side bake. Repeat this process every now and then, flipping again. It takes about 10 minutes for a batch of pancakes to cook from the time they are placed in the pan until both sides are golden brown. The cooked pancakes will not harden even if left uncovered for a whole day, so it's fine to make more.