Crossing Over to Yamada Love

And so they sweetly shared a bowl of steamed egg custard. After Wang Shi took the bowl away and left, Mo Lan stretched her arms, intending to get up and get out of bed.

"Sister, lie down quickly, the doctor wants you to rest." Xiao San'er hurriedly called out to Mo Lan as she saw her movements.

Mo Lan broke out in a cold sweat. She was fine now, but she had to pretend to be sick. In order for the second wife to do some housework, she had to bear with it.

She looked at the kang (a heated brick bed) beneath her; she couldn't lie down anymore, so she decided to sit.

So she sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and chatted with the little guy.

As she listened to Xiao San'er's innocent words, Mo Lan pondered the situation of her family. They ate two meals a day, usually around 9 or 10 am and another around 4 pm. Of course, those who were better off had three meals a day.

Skipping breakfast in our family for a long time can easily lead to health problems. How can we switch to a three-meal-a-day system? Our current standard of living is a bit tight; adding another meal means consuming a lot more food. We can't afford it. The road to change is long. I'll wait a few days until I have some free time and look around before deciding.

The door opened, and Mo Lan saw her elder sister, Mo Mei, enter. Mo Lan understood that this was what she had requested the previous night—that Wang Shi and Mo Mei accompany her. Wait, she hadn't come empty-handed; she was carrying a sewing basket. Was she going to do some needlework?

After answering her sister Mo Mei's barrage of questions about whether her head still hurt, Mo Lan looked at the sewing basket, which contained a considerable amount of silk thread, a few scraps of fabric, and a pair of scissors. The thread was mostly short; what could she possibly make with it?

Seeing her younger sister staring at the sewing basket she had brought, Mo Mei smiled shyly and said, "My aunt taught me embroidery, and I've only learned a little bit. She gave me a few scraps of cloth and some leftover silk thread to practice with."

Mo Lan nodded knowingly. It seemed her mother's embroidery skills weren't very good, but her aunt Liu's were quite good. She had taught her sisters before, but the original owner of this body couldn't sit still and only learned a little before giving up. As for herself, she knew a little sewing and cross-stitch, but were those the same as embroidery?

Mo Lan smiled at her sister, telling her to sit on the kang and practice. Outside, they heard Feng's cursing and Cui's complaints. They were probably assigned tasks they didn't want to do but couldn't refuse, so they vented their frustration with cursing and complaining.

Soon after, Wang Shi came in. Seeing the three figures on the kang (a heated brick bed), she smiled happily. She also found her sewing basket, got on the kang, and skillfully put on a thimble and started sewing shoe soles.

"Huh, doesn't Grandma embroider? If she really is a young lady from a wealthy family, then she should have excellent embroidery skills, so why doesn't she use them?" Mo Lan wondered.

But when she saw her grandmother sewing shoe soles, she understood: her grandmother's eyesight wasn't very good. Embroidery requires a keen eye and is hard on the eyes. Her grandmother's eyesight must be failing. Sigh, she thought, "In that time and space, eyes existed; here, there's probably no way to improve that."

"What's wrong, Lan'er? Why are you sighing? So many of us are with you, aren't you happy?" Madam Wang asked Mo Lan.

"I just feel so useless because Grandma and my sister both have things to do," Mo Lan said, making excuses.

"I have nothing to do either. My second sister and I are useless together," said the little girl, blinking her big eyes.

"Great! My little San'er is useless with me, so I'm not afraid anymore." Mo Lan pinched the little guy's cheek. He really doesn't have much meat on him yet. I'll definitely fatten him up in the future; he'll feel so nice to touch.

"Yes, Little San'er will stay with Second Sister." The little guy didn't pull away from Mo Lan's hand; he seemed to know that this was a sign that his sister liked him.

Time passed in their chatter, until voices came from outside; the men were probably returning from working in the fields. It's really hard work, going to the fields so early every day, their stomachs still empty. No wonder they age so quickly.

After the men finished washing up and came into the house, Mo Lan answered their questions one by one. She repeated herself over and over, feeling much better. She was tired, but very happy because everyone cared about her.

It wasn't until mealtime that Mo Lan saw her mother, Qiu Shi. She and her aunt had been busy since they woke up, but they had no choice; there was so much work to do at home. They couldn't shirk their duties. Without the help of the second branch of the family, they had even more to do.

Lunch consisted of cornbread made from a mixture of various flours, with no wheat flour. It was probably a mixture of sorghum flour and some other flour, and it was rather dark in color. The side dishes included a large plate of shredded potatoes, a plate of pickled vegetables, a plate of spinach, and a bowl of spinach soup. There was absolutely no meat.

Mo Lan sat down on the kang next to Wang Shi and Xiao San'er, picked up the cornbread Qiu Shi handed her, and started to bite into it. It was truly awful. This was real cornbread, nothing like the kind from that time when people reminisced about the bitter past.

Mo Lan tried her best to chew and swallow, then scooped up a spoonful of soup and drank it.

"She already ate steamed egg custard this morning, and she's still trying to steal our food. Doesn't she feel ashamed eating like that?" Cui said, glaring at Mo Lan with displeasure.

Mo Lan glanced at her but didn't respond. Cui's lips were still a little swollen, but that didn't stop her from talking. She had been hearing Cui's loud complaints all morning, and now that she saw that Cui's clothes weren't as bright as when she first met Cui yesterday, she must have been very busy this morning.

Mo Lan thought to herself, "She's still not tired enough. If she were really tired, let's see if she'd still have the energy to talk."

"Just eat your food properly, I can't shut you up even if you're eating," said Madam Feng to her daughter-in-law.

"It's not that I can't stand some people who are fed and cared for even with the slightest injury, and who need someone to stay with them. Compared to me, who's injured like this and still has to work. If everyone were like those people, our families would starve." Cui vented her dissatisfaction.

“Yes, Third Aunt’s injury is really serious. Why did Third Uncle use so much force? Second Aunt, you should talk to Third Uncle.” Mo Lan chimed in.

"Eat, eat. If you talk any more, none of you will eat." Madam Feng tapped the table with her chopsticks. She glared at Madam Cui, that lazy old woman. All morning she'd made her do chores, but now she was aching all over. She couldn't do anything right. All she did was exhaust this old woman. Now she wasn't even quiet while eating. Saying her injuries were serious—wasn't that implying she was blaming her son for kicking her?

Cui mumbled something indistinctly, then started eating incredibly fast. Mo Lan watched in astonishment. Why wasn't she bothered by her injured mouth? Why wasn't she complaining of pain?

The meal passed just like that. Mo Lan ate quite a lot of vegetables and drank a lot of soup, but barely touched her cornbread. Anyway, she was bedridden and didn't have much activity, so eating less wouldn't matter.

After lunch, around 11 o'clock, everyone chatted for a while before going back inside to rest. It's March now, not the busy farming season, so no one is in a rush. During the busy farming season, the whole family has to work together. There's no time for a midday rest then.

Around 1 p.m., the men went to the fields again, while Wang, along with Momei and Xiaosan, accompanied Molan. A little while later, Liu also came in with her sewing basket.

"How is the eldest son?" Wang asked Liu after she got onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

"I feel alright today, not as much pain as before. I'm teaching Erlang to read now," Liu said with a gentle smile. "My sister-in-law said there's not much work left, she can do it all by herself, so she asked me to come and see if Mei'er's skills have improved."

No wonder Auntie came by herself; it turns out her mother hadn't finished her chores yet. Mo Lan turned her head to watch Liu Shi instructing Mo Mei on needlework. She was digging into the original owner's memories.

As far as I can remember, my uncle attended a private school for a few days. Even my own father attended for a few days. They knew quite a few characters. As for why they didn't continue their studies, it was probably due to limitations in their circumstances.