Crossing Over to Yamada Love

“Grandpa Quan, Dad often tells me to move around more. Why don’t you take me with you?” Cheng Xiao said as he put the books on the cart, then smiled at Mo Lan and said, “Hello, Lanlan.”

"Hello, Young Master Cheng," Mo Lan replied with a smile.

"Grandpa, Second Uncle, I also wanted to go up the mountain to see how much the pagoda has fallen. I just ran into Young Master Cheng here. Can I go with you?" Mo Ju walked up to Mo Quan and said softly, her manners very polite.

"This? Does your grandfather know you went up the mountain?" Mo Quan frowned as he looked at Mo Ju. His second brother was also wondering why he had let a little girl like her run off to the mountains.

“My grandmother and mother both know that my family still owes a lot of debt, right? I was thinking that if I collected some locusts, I could sell them for some money. If my great-grandfather thinks I'm a burden, then so be it.” Mo Ju’s eyes reddened as she spoke. Although she was young, her current appearance was quite pitiful.

Mo Lan's smile remained unchanged, but her eyes flashed. This girl was dressed so conspicuously, yet she had no weapons in her hands. Was she going up the mountain to collect locusts? She must be kidding. It seemed she had her eye on Cheng Xiao. She was deliberately coming to attract Cheng Xiao's attention.

"Well... you should get in the car. It's fine if your family knows you're going up the mountain." Mo Quan was too embarrassed to say he wouldn't take her; he couldn't very well let a young girl go up the mountain alone.

"Thank you, Grandpa." Mo Ju replied happily, and hurriedly stepped onto the cart to sit next to Mo Lan.

"Sister, sit down. I've been sitting for ages, my butt hurts. I'm getting off to walk around." As soon as Mo Lan saw her get on, she felt really annoyed by Mo Ju and quickly got up and jumped off the cart.

"Slow down, you little rascal. Why are you being as naughty as a boy!" Mo Changhe couldn't help but lecture his daughter when he saw her actions, but he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes.

Mo Changhe pulled the cart and continued walking. Mo Ju sat there feeling like she was sitting on pins and needles. Looking at Mo Lan running happily behind her, the coldness in her eyes intensified.

"Liu Hu, you weren't home reading today?"

"It gets tiring to look at them all the time. Lanlan likes to collect the tower pieces, so I come with them when I have nothing else to do. Young Master Cheng is very diligent; he always has a book in his hand."

“I also like going up the mountain there. It was a lot of fun picking mushrooms with Lanlan last time.”

...............

Cheng Xiao and Liu Hu followed behind the cart, chatting idly.

Once inside the mountains, there weren't many pagodas left on the front slope. The lone ones you could find on the path were probably left behind by others who had picked up the leftovers and were making their way further into the mountains. You could also run into other villagers in twos and threes.

"Lanlan, look at this branch, it has so many pagodas on it."

Mo Lan, who was searching for the pagodas, heard Liu Hu shout excitedly. She hurriedly ran over to see, and sure enough, it was a tree branch with pagodas hanging in two places. She counted them and found there were eight in total.

"Brother Hu, you're amazing! You picked eight in one go. Let's take this one home and show it to Grandma and the others." Mo Lan took the branch, her smile impossible to hide.

Not far away, Cheng Xiao watched Mo Lan's beaming face and felt a pang of sadness. Why wasn't it him who found a pile of tree branches? If he had, she would have run over and smiled just as happily at him. After thinking this, Cheng Xiao quickly perked up. He needed to find a pile of tree branches too; that way, Lan Lan would be very happy too.

The group searched for the pine trees in the forest, calling out to each other every now and then to make sure they were all close enough not to get lost.

"Grandpa, Second Uncle, Lanlan, look, there's a big pine forest on the other side. Nobody goes there, so there must be lots of pine nuts. Let's go pick some!" Moju, who hadn't said much, suddenly called out.

The group ran to her side and looked over. The opposite bank was indeed a pine forest, densely packed with pine trees. There must be many pagodas, but a small river separated them.

The river wasn't very wide, only about two or three meters wide. The water was very clear and didn't look very deep, but it was very long, stretching as far as the eye could see. In some places, there were logs lying across the river, and in others, large stones were placed there, presumably to make it easier for people to cross to the other side.

There are several large rocks where Mo Lan and the others are standing. The rocks have been washed by the river for many years, so the bottoms are wet and some parts are covered with fine moss. Only a small part of the top is dry. The rocks are not far apart, and adults can cross them without any problem.

Mo Lan frowned slightly. The adults could go without any problem, but she had some issues. Her body was too small now. Although she was quite agile and could manage if she was careful, she was a little uneasy because Mo Ju had found the place.

"Lan'er, these stones might be a bit slippery, so you shouldn't go over there. You, Ju'er, Hu Zi, and Cheng Xiao, you guys stay here and pick them up. Your grandpa and I will go across to the other side and take a look." Mo Changhe glanced around, then turned back to his daughter and said.

"Okay, Father, be careful." Mo Lan nodded in agreement. If Mo Ju weren't there, she would definitely have made a fuss about going over, but now that Mo Ju was there, Mo Lan would rather be safe and stay put to pick up the tower.

When Mo Ju heard that Mo Lan had agreed to stay, a flash of resentment crossed her eyes, but she quickly concealed it.

"Grandpa, if Second Uncle has a lot over there, just call out. I want to collect more pagoda seeds too." Mo Ju didn't insist on going over, but instead asked Mo Quan and Mo Changhe to call out if they saw a lot of pagoda seeds.

“Okay. We’ll go now, don’t wander off.” Mo Changhe nodded and crossed the river to the other side with Mo Quan.

Seeing that they had passed by so easily, Mo Lan smiled and said to the three of them, "Let's have a contest to collect the tower pieces. Let's see who's the best."

“Okay, how about we split into pairs? That way we can look out for each other and not get lost. I’m not very good at collecting tower pieces, so Lanlan, I’ll team up with you. You can teach me how to collect more tower pieces.” Cheng Xiao immediately suggested after hearing Mo Lan’s words.

"I found Lanlan. Young Master Cheng and Moju, why don't you two team up? You two are more familiar with each other and can cooperate to collect more." Liu Hu didn't buy into his argument and also suggested teaming up with Molan.

“Lanlan and I have picked dandelions and mushrooms together before. The two of us can work together better. Hu Zi, you know how to pick them anyway, so why don’t you help Mo Ju? She urgently needs to pick more to sell for money.” Cheng Xiao wasn’t angry. Instead, he brought up Mo Ju and asked Liu Hu to help.

"This..." Liu Hu was a little embarrassed. He wanted to be in a group with Mo Lan, but he couldn't refute Cheng Xiao's words. He was indeed better at picking up tower pieces than Cheng Xiao. He asked him to help Mo Ju. Although Mo Ju was also cute, he just didn't like her. He couldn't say why he didn't like her. Maybe it was because he didn't like the way she looked at people.

"Alright, why bother with grouping? We can't go too far, let's just pick up whatever we can find around here." Mo Lan noticed Liu Hu's predicament and helped him out. Personally, she didn't like Liu Hu being with Mo Ju either, lest this innocent kid get tricked.

Cheng Xiao and Liu Hu nodded and began searching for the tower a few steps away from Mo Lan.

Throughout this, Mo Ju remained silent, listening and watching. They were all vying to be in a group with that wretched girl, how could she not hate them! Why did his gaze never fall upon her? No matter how she tried to attract his attention, he was always gentle and polite to her, but only when he saw that wretched girl did his eyes flash with a different light. No! Cheng Xiao is mine! He must be mine! Only by marrying him can I stop suffering and finally deal with that ungrateful Mo family!

Mo Ju's face was somewhat ferocious, but she kept her head down and no one noticed; everyone thought she was looking for Ta Zi.

Mo Lan had just filled her small basket when she heard Mo Changhe calling her. The group hurriedly ran to the riverbank and saw that it was indeed Mo Changhe who had returned. He was carrying a large burlap sack, which was bulging with tatami.

"Dad, you've already collected so many in such a short time!" Mo Lan was very excited when she saw the sack full of pine nuts. There must be a lot of pine nuts to harvest. In time, some can be sold, some can be used for cooking, and the family can have some to eat themselves.

"There are fewer people going over there, so fewer pieces of the pagoda have been picked up. They're all over the ground. Your grandpa is still picking them up there. I'll just grab two sacks and head over." Mo Changhe wiped his sweat, a broad smile on his face.

"Second Uncle, let's go too. We can pick them up, and we can pick up quite a lot more." Mo Ju looked at Mo Changhe expectantly.

"Ju'er, your second uncle will give you a bag of pagoda seeds when we get back. You two should wait here." Mo Changhe was somewhat reluctant to let his daughter cross the river. With two young men around, he, as her father, couldn't carry her across. Although Lanlan was fine if she was careful, he was still worried about the possibility of something going wrong.

"Second Uncle, it's not mine, I don't want it. If you don't want it, then forget it, I'll go over there myself." Mo Ju stopped begging Mo Changhe and walked to the stone by herself, tentatively trying to go over.

"Alright, alright, all of you, go ahead. I'll go to that rock in the middle of the river first. You all come over one by one, be careful." Mo Changhe had no choice but to agree when he saw his stubborn niece. He walked across two rocks first and stood on the large rock in the middle to wait for his daughter, so he could catch her if she lost her balance.

Mo Lan followed behind Mo Changhe, gently stepping over two stones. Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult. Mo Ju followed behind Mo Lan, while Cheng Xiao and Liu Hu brought up the rear.

Seeing that his daughter had stood firmly on the middle stone, Mo Changhe felt relieved. He then moved two more stones to the other side of the river to wait for his daughter.

"Ah!" Mo Lan cried out, her foot slipped, and her body tilted and fell into the river. As she fell, her subconscious would try to grab something, and what Mo Lan wanted to grab was Mo Ju. She grabbed Mo Ju's clothes with one hand and pulled hard. If they were going to fall into the river, they might as well fall in together.

It turned out that Mo Changhe had just left the large rock in the middle. Before Mo Lan could even take a step, Mo Ju jumped over from behind. After jumping over, she seemed to lose her footing and reached out to support Mo Lan with both hands. But instead of supporting her, she forcefully pushed Mo Lan, causing her to lose her balance. Mo Lan stumbled forward, stepped on the moss, slipped, and fell down.