Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Mo Lan let out a long sigh of relief, leaned weakly against her grandmother, and smiled weakly at Qiu Shi, saying, "Mother, I'm not feeling bad anymore, Lan Lan is much better."

"Lan'er, be good, Mother isn't upset. You should get some sleep, and you'll feel better when you wake up." Although Qiu said she wasn't upset, large tears still fell from her eyes.

"Auntie, give some ginger soup to Brother Hu and Cheng Xiao. They went into the river to save me. And Dad, let him have a bowl too." Mo Lan said weakly to Liu Shi, holding Qiu Shi's hand.

"Don't worry, Lanlan, your aunt has cooked a lot. I'll serve it to them right away. Just cover yourself up and take a nap to sweat it out." Liu's nose also felt a little sore. After saying that, she hurriedly turned around and went out to serve ginger soup to Liu Hu and Cheng Xiao.

"Auntie, how is Lanlan?" Cheng Xiao and Liu Hu hadn't left; they were warming themselves by the stove. When they saw Liu Shi come out, they quickly stood up and asked.

"Lanlan drank the ginger soup and she seems a bit better now. She just reminded me to make sure you both had some ginger soup. Please have a bowl, thank you for saving my Lanlan. But what happened? How did Lanlan fall into the water? Tell your auntie after you finish your soup." Liu served each of them a bowl of ginger soup and asked Cheng Xiao and his companion repeatedly.

Both of them fell silent. They held their ginger soup and drank it, neither speaking a word in tacit agreement.

"Auntie, we found a place in the pine forest with lots of pagodas, but there was a river across it. Moju insisted on going over to collect them, and Uncle Changhe couldn't stop her, so he told her to go over. When crossing the river, Moju jumped over the stones a little too hastily. She and Lanlan were standing on the same stone, and I don't know if Lanlan lost her footing or if they bumped into each other, but they both fell into the river." Liu Hu finished his ginger soup and slowly told the story.

Liu frowned. Mo Ju? Why was she with her family?

“I was reading under that tree when Moju said she happened to be passing by and greeted me. Just then, I saw Grandpa Quan’s car coming, so I thought we could go into the mountains together to collect acacia seeds. Moju said she was also going into the mountains to collect acacia seeds to sell and help pay off her family’s debts, so we went together. I didn’t know this would happen. It’s all my fault. I wasn’t watching Lanlan. If I had been following behind her, none of this would have happened.” Cheng Xiao continued Liu Hu’s words, her tone full of self-reproach.

"Cheng Xiao, this has nothing to do with you. It wasn't you who pushed Lanlan into the water. Don't blame yourselves. Your auntie is thanking you. Hurry up and warm yourselves by the fire. I gave you clean clothes, but you didn't change. Hurry up and warm yourselves so you don't catch a cold." Liu didn't blame the two of them. She made the fire in the stove burn brightly, which not only warmed the kang (heated brick bed) but also dried their wet clothes quickly.

"They're all crazy! I haven't even blamed that girl for knocking our Lanlan into the water, and they're making a scene at me, making me responsible for Moju falling into the water. What kind of logic is that!" Mo Changhe entered the backyard, full of complaints, clearly feeling unappreciated for sending Moju there.

"What? Did your second aunt and that Cui woman complain about you?" Liu handed Mo Changhe a bowl of ginger soup and asked him with a frown.

"Let's not talk about it, it makes me angry! They said a perfectly fine girl went up the mountain with us, and we brought her back half-dead, saying we intentionally harmed her. They wanted me to give them money. If it weren't for my second uncle stopping them, they would have fought and wouldn't have let me come back. How's Lanlan?" Mo Changhe asked, taking a big gulp of ginger soup.

"She's feeling better. She drank some ginger soup and is probably asleep now. They're always unreasonable over there, so just ignore them." With outsiders present, Liu couldn't say much and could only advise Mo Changhe.

"Uncle Changhe, don't be angry. We'll be your witnesses. It wasn't your family that harmed Moju; it's all her own fault. If her mother comes looking for trouble again, just call us out." Cheng Xiao, warming himself by the fire, continued Mo Changhe's words. He didn't dare go home in his wet clothes, afraid his parents would find out what happened. He wasn't afraid of being scolded, but he was afraid they would blame the Mo family, which would go against his original intention. He guessed Liu Hu had the same thought, so the two of them dried their clothes by the Mo family's stove before going home.

Liu Hu nodded in agreement with Cheng Xiao's words. He had no good feelings towards the women from the second branch of the Mo family.

"Zhong, Hu Zi, Cheng Xiao, I'm so grateful to you two today. I don't know how to thank you enough." Mo Changhe was very grateful to the two men, and he remembered their kindness in his heart for going into the water to save his daughter.

"Uncle, what are you saying? There's no need for gratitude. Just let me come often from now on. I really love your food." Cheng Xiao smiled slightly, telling Mo Changhe not to be so polite.

"Sure, you'll all be coming here from now on. I'll make sure you're well-fed, no doubt about it." Mo Changhe readily agreed.

After seeing Liu Hu and Cheng Xiao off, it got dark. Looking at Mo Lan sleeping soundly on the kang, none of the Mo family members had much of an appetite. They quickly ate some rice and, at Wang Shi's urging, went back to their rooms to rest.

In the middle of the night, Wang placed her hand on her granddaughter's forehead again. Hmm? It was a little hot. It wasn't hot when she tested it with her forehead. Wang was afraid that it was just her imagination, so she quickly got up and pressed her lips to her granddaughter's forehead. Her hand might not be accurate when testing the temperature, but her lips were more reliable.

It was really hot; it wasn't her imagination. Wang was starting to panic. There was no way to call someone in the middle of the night, and her granddaughter had developed a fever again. What could she do?

A little while later, Wang touched her granddaughter again and found her even hotter, almost burning hot. Wang couldn't sit still any longer, so she got off the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Hey, Mom, why aren't you asleep yet? What are you doing?" Mo Quan probably hadn't been sleeping soundly either. Hearing Wang Shi get out of bed, he asked.

"Lan Ya's hair is hot. I'll go to the front and find some liquor to wipe her body," Wang Shi replied softly to Mo Quan while putting on her shoes.

"What! Lan'er has a fever? Will liquor help? Don't go, I'll go!" Upon hearing that his granddaughter had a fever, Mo Quan hurriedly sat up, got off the kang (heated brick bed), and put on his shoes.

"Okay, go get the liquor, I'll get some cold water to put on her forehead." Wang and Mo Quan groped their way into the kitchen.

They struck the bundle of straw with a flint and steel, and Wang went back into the house with a basin of cold water, while Mo Quan went to the front to find some liquor.

Mrs. Wang placed a cold towel on her granddaughter's forehead, then took the liquor that Mo Quan had brought and carefully massaged it behind her granddaughter's ears, neck, palms, chest, back, soles of her feet, and calves. She had overheard this method while chatting with her granddaughter, and she didn't know if it would work. But since her granddaughter had mentioned it, it must have some effect.

Wang kept changing the cold handkerchiefs, and whenever she had a spare moment, she would massage the soles of Mo Lan's feet. She had heard about this from her granddaughter, who said it could improve blood circulation. Regardless of whether it would help with the fever, she had to try it, even if it only helped a little.

Mo Lan remained in a daze, her head was heavy, and she couldn't open her eyes. She felt like someone was manipulating her, but she just couldn't bring herself to open her eyes.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye. After changing Mo Lan's handkerchief, Wang Shi touched her granddaughter's body again.

"Quan, Lanlan doesn't seem as hot as before. Can you touch her?" She felt that her granddaughter's body wasn't as hot as it had been just now. Her head was burning hot, but it seemed to have gone down a bit.

Mo Quan was sitting there smoking his pipe. He couldn't sleep because his granddaughter had a fever. He was very worried and thought that it would be dawn soon so he could go and ask Brother Chen to come and take a look.

Upon hearing Wang's words, he quickly moved over and touched his granddaughter's palms and soles.

"Yes, it's not as hot as it was just now, it seems to have subsided a bit. Hai's mother, is Lan'er getting better?" Mo Quan asked Wang Shi anxiously.

"This means our method works! Quickly bring the liquor over, I'll wipe Lan'er's face again." Madam Wang was also quite excited and hurriedly asked for the liquor, wanting to wipe her granddaughter's face again.

"Here. Wipe it clean again." Mo Quan got off the table, brought over the liquor, and handed it to Wang Shi.

Wang wiped her granddaughter's bowl again, but when she handed it to Mo Quan, she didn't notice that the bowl had slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.

In a daze, Qiu was still half asleep. She had been worried about her daughter all night. She had finally managed to drift off when she suddenly heard a loud noise, as if it had exploded next to her ear. She sat up abruptly, put on her clothes, and got off the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Mother, where are you going?" Erlang was also awakened. Seeing his mother get up, he asked softly.

"Mother will go check on Lan'er. You all go to sleep," Qiu said to her son as she put on her shoes.

“I’ll go with you.” Mo Changhe also sat up, it seemed he hadn’t fallen asleep either.

“I’ll go too.” Mo Mei sat up and got dressed.

"You all go to sleep. If you all go, how will your grandparents sleep? I'm just going to check on them. I can't rest easy. There's so much work to do tomorrow. If no one sleeps, who will do it?" Qiu stopped everyone and went out the door.

When she reached the door, she gently knocked and softly called out, "Father, Mother."

"Oh, it's the second son's wife. The door isn't locked, come in." Wang knew it was her daughter-in-law and invited her in.

Qiu pushed open the door and felt her way into the inner room. She was a little puzzled. Why wasn't the door locked? Were her parents still awake?

"Father, Mother, I've come to see Lanlan. Is she awake?" Qiu asked Mo Quan and Wang Shi as she reached the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Is this a cool handkerchief? My hands are so hot. Mother, does Lan'er have a fever?" Qiu Shi suddenly touched the cool handkerchief on Mo Lan's head, and then touched her daughter's hands, and was startled.

"Yes, Lanya had a fever, but she's feeling better now. She was really hot earlier, so I used liquor to wipe her body. I didn't put the bowl down properly, and it broke on the floor, waking you up, didn't it?" Wang Shi answered her daughter-in-law's question while massaging her granddaughter's feet.

"Why didn't you call me, Mother? I would have come to watch over her. Are you still awake? What if you get tired? Why don't we take Lan'er back to our room?" Qiu was worried about her daughter, as well as Mo Quan and Wang Shi's health.

"Stop fussing over her. Let Lan stay here. We're old and don't need much sleep. It's okay if she doesn't sleep, as long as Lan is alright. I'll go get another bowl of liquor." Mo Quan said, then went to get the liquor.

"Mother, you rest for a while, I'll massage you. Is there any special meaning to this foot massage?" After Qiu changed her daughter's handkerchief and her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized that Wang was massaging Mo Lan's feet. She went over and picked up her daughter's other foot to massage it as well.