Crossing Over to Yamada Love

"Oh, can I get a discount if I take them all?" Mo Lan asked. Bargaining is a woman's natural habit. In fact, even when she can't get a price down, she will casually ask this question.

"You want them all? There are still twenty or thirty watermelons left. Can you decide for yourself, daughter?" The man looked at Mo Lan with suspicion. He had only thought that the child was just being greedy and he wanted to buy one to satisfy her craving. Who knew that she would ask for them all as soon as she opened her mouth? Was he just teasing her?

"Yes, I'll take them all. Grandpa, you might have some unripe or some overripe watermelons. I won't be picky, I'll take them all. Can you give me a discount?" Mo Lan said earnestly.

"Lanlan, why did you buy so many watermelons?" Qiu Dajun brought over a bowl of cold noodles, placed it in front of the father and son, and then asked Molan in confusion.

"Young man, this girl says she wants all the remaining watermelons. Can she make that decision?" The man was clearly skeptical of Mo Lan and asked Qiu Dajun.

"She can, she can. This family spoils her a lot, and she keeps her word." Qiu Dajun glanced at Mo Lan, then said to the middle-aged man.

"If you can make the decision, that's fine. This girl is beautiful, so it's only right to spoil her. I'll sell her to you for three coins a pound." The man slapped his thigh and said the lowest price.

“Okay, you guys eat first, and we’ll weigh you when you’re done.” Mo Lan sat down on the stool next to them and waited.

"Dad, this cold noodles are sour and spicy, they're so satisfying to eat. Cui'er will definitely love it. I'll bring her a bowl back later." The young man was sweating profusely as he ate, but he didn't forget to bring some back for his wife.

"Okay, Cui is pregnant and loves this spicy and sour food. Your mother loves it too. I'll take two bowls back with me later." The man chuckled and agreed. The watermelons were all sold out today, so it wouldn't hurt to bring some food back for his wife and daughter-in-law.

After finishing their meal, they began weighing the watermelons. There were twenty-six in total, weighing 248 jin (approximately 128 catties), which cost 744 wen (approximately 324 coins). After deducting 21 wen for the meal, the Mo family gave the father and son who sold the watermelons 723 wen. Watching the father and son leave happily, Mo Lan instructed everyone to put the watermelons into the cellar.

"Why did you buy so many expensive things? How can we possibly finish them all? Won't they go bad?" Mrs. Qiu asked her daughter.

"Leave it for a while, it should be fine," Wang replied leisurely to her daughter-in-law.

"Mother, do you recognize this? Is it delicious?" Qiu asked hurriedly, afraid that her daughter would waste the money.

"It's very sweet. It's been frozen in the river on this day, so it's very refreshing to eat it. But Lanlan did buy a bit too much. I'll send some over to your and your sister-in-law's families later." Wang Shi was never stingy with her two daughters-in-law.

"Thank you, Mother, but how do we eat this? You have to tell me first. My mother and the others have never eaten it before, so they're probably not sure how." Qiu Shi wasn't embarrassed at all. She had never eaten this before. Asking for clarification wasn't shameful.

Wang picked up a watermelon, placed it on the cutting board, and then swiftly sliced ​​it off.

Mo Lan could tell from her grandmother's expression that she was familiar with watermelons and must have eaten them before.

The watermelon was cut open, revealing red flesh and black seeds. Mo Lan went over to take a look and, sure enough, it had a dry, sandy texture—her favorite variety.

"Huh? Why is it red inside? Are these seeds?" Qiu looked at the cut watermelon with great surprise.

Wang cut the watermelon into pieces, handed one to Qiu, and said with a smile, "Try it."

Without any hesitation, Qiu took a bite of the red flesh.

"It's so sweet, and a little sandy, it's delicious." After tasting it, Qiu wanted to give the watermelon to Xiao San'er.

"You eat it, there's plenty of watermelon here." Wang told her daughter-in-law to eat it herself, and then distributed the watermelon to everyone.

They ate with juice dripping from their mouths. Mo Lan made them spit the watermelon seeds into a basin, then added water to wash them clean and let them cool. The watermelon rinds were also washed clean, and a layer was peeled off to be used in stir-fries that evening.

She delivered three watermelons to Liu's and Qiu's families, and also gave one to Mo Jin. After finishing her tasks, Mo Lan had her mother soak a lot of soybeans. When Qiu asked her what she was doing, Mo Lan smiled and told her to ask Wang, which made Qiu grumble at her.

The next day at noon, a plate of stir-fried watermelon rind appeared on the Xue brothers' dining table.

"What's this? It's crunchy and refreshing." The chubby boy asked Mo Lan while chewing.

"Watermelon rind," Mo Lan said with a grin.

"What?" The chubby boy's hand trembled and his chopsticks fell to the ground. Xue Lingfeng and Xue Lingyun also stopped eating and stared intently at Mo Lan.

"Why are you looking at me?" Mo Lan asked the three of them, feigning ignorance.

"You! You! You actually gave us watermelon rinds! You guys eat watermelon, and you give us watermelon rinds! Who left these?!" The chubby boy felt his insides churning; he was about to vomit.

"Who left this? Let me think... Was it me? No. Was it Xiao San'er? It doesn't seem like that either. Was it my grandpa? Or my grandma? We all ate it, I really can't remember." Mo Lan tilted her head, frowned, and tried her best to think.

"You! You!" The chubby boy pointed at Mo Lan with his finger, his hand trembling slightly. He suddenly covered his mouth and ran outside.

"Come back!" Mo Lan called out to him hurriedly, but the chubby boy ignored her and ran straight out.

"Why don't you go throw up?" Mo Lan asked Xue Lingfeng and Xue Lingyun in confusion as he ran away.

"You little devil," Xue Lingyun said with a smile, while Xue Lingfeng's eyes flashed with amusement as he continued eating the watermelon rind.

Mo Lan secretly pursed her lips, knowing that these two were shrewd and couldn't be fooled.

A little while later, the chubby boy returned, his face pale. He sat down weakly, looked up, and saw his two older brothers still eating watermelon rinds. He couldn't help but ask, "Fifth Brother, Seventh Brother, why are you still eating?"

"Why aren't you eating?" Xue Lingyun asked in return.

"It's leftovers from Lanlan's family? That's so dirty!" The chubby boy asked incredulously, his eyes wide. Weren't his two older brothers the cleanest people?

"Hahaha, that girl just fooled you, you little fool." Xue Lingyun laughed loudly, not with his usual gentle smile, but with a more lively and captivating laugh.

"What do you mean? What did she lie to me about? Does she mean this watermelon rind wasn't leftover from her family?" The chubby boy seemed to just realize what was happening. He raised his head and said angrily, "Lanlan, you! Why did you lie to me!"

"What did I lie to you about? You're the one who's making things up. You insist that it was leftovers from my family. Don't you think we would serve you leftovers?" Mo Lan said calmly to the chubby boy.

"Then why didn't you explain it clearly?" the chubby boy complained to Mo Lan.

"I called you when you went out, but you wouldn't listen and insisted on running out. What could I do?" Mo Lan said innocently, and then tried to wink at the chubby boy with her big eyes.

"Then I just threw up for nothing, and I have nowhere to complain," the chubby boy said helplessly. This girl is really too clever, but her eyes are so deadly that my heart started pounding.

Mo Lan smiled secretly, then left.

In the afternoon, the Mo family cut open a watermelon, only to find that the inside was white and it was an unripe watermelon.

Seeing the unripe watermelon, Qiu was furious and kept shouting, "This expensive watermelon turned out to be unripe. Isn't this money wasted?"

"Mother, it's alright. Raw melon has its uses. We can just cut another one," Mo Lan advised Qiu Shi, urging her to cut another one. She found a deep bowl, put in some soaked soybeans, and then chopped up the raw melon and put it in.

After finishing, Mo Lan found a piece of fine cloth to cover it, and then tied the cloth and the basin together with a rope to prevent the wind from blowing the cloth away.

After she finished, she asked Mo Changhe to take the basin outside and put it in the sun to dry. She would do this for any unripe melon or ripe melon in the future.

It will be ready in the sun for more than a month, but it's crucial that it doesn't get wet during that time. If it does, it will attract insects—but these must be clean insects. If any do get wet, just pick them out with chopsticks, and you can still eat the whole thing. Once it's properly dried, it's called fermented soybeans.

That day, Mo Lan was opening the cloth to check her fermented soybeans. The fermented soybeans were ready; they had turned black and would be ready to be stir-fried and eaten in a couple of days.

"Lanlan, Lanlan!" Liu Hu ran in, breathless.

"Brother Hu, don't worry, what happened? Tell me slowly." Mo Lan handed Liu Hu a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.

"Lanlan, hurry up and change your clothes and come with me. My mom found a place with tons of mushrooms. She picked a whole sackful this morning and said she'd sell them to your family this afternoon. I know where that place is. I'll take you there." Liu Hu said happily, wiping his sweat. Lanlan loved going up the mountain to pick these things. With so many mushrooms, she must have a lot of fun picking them.

"Really? There are so many! But Tiger, if you take me to pick them, how will your mother pick them? I think I'm not going. Anyway, your mother sells them to my family. It's all the same." Mo Lan was excited at first, but then she thought better of it. It would be impolite for her to pick them herself since the other person found them.

“My mother will sell it to your family, but you’ll have to pay for it. If you go and pick it yourself, you’ll save a lot of money. Hurry up and go. Not many people know that place, so it doesn’t matter who picks it.” Liu Hu’s words were very honest.

Mo Lan couldn't help but laugh. If his mother heard this, she would scold him for siding with outsiders.

"Okay, I'll go change my clothes." Mo Lan smiled and went inside to change. She really wanted to go; she liked going up the mountain and collecting things. The more she collected, the more sense of accomplishment she felt, which was different from buying things.

"Lanlan, let me go with you. I'm free anyway." Mo Mei had also changed her clothes; having another person meant they could collect more.

“I’ll go too. I’ll pull the cart so we can load more.” Chen Xuan wanted to go as well.

Mo Lan thought to herself: "They're planning to pick all the mushrooms on the mountain! But the more people, the better; it's faster to pick them with companions."

The four changed their clothes, covering themselves completely, and followed Liu Hu.

Liu Hu led them a long way to a afforestation area. The pine trees were not very tall, but they grew densely together.