Crossing Over to Yamada Love

"Mother, sister, my brother will definitely pass the imperial examination and become a scholar. I also want to pass the imperial examination and achieve official rank like him. If we both achieve official rank in the future, we won't be afraid of anyone bullying our family." Sanlang finished his homework and stood up to say to Qiu Shi and Mo Lan.

"My third son has such high aspirations. I'm really looking forward to his good news." Mo Quan patted his grandson's head. This little grandson is quite good; he's handsome and studies diligently. He's very well-behaved.

Sanlang chuckled. Seeing the loving looks on his face from everyone in the room, he felt quite pleased and happily went back to studying.

A few days later, Erlang returned, and the Mo family was very happy. Qiu hurriedly cooked her son's favorite dishes. After Erlang finished eating, she took out the new cotton clothes and trousers she had made for him to try on.

Erlang has grown into a handsome young man. Standing there, he is tall and dashing. Although he looks somewhat scholarly, he is very strong, probably because he has been working since he was a child.

He kept a slight smile on his face, and answered every question seriously, no matter who asked, because this was his home, and his family was sitting here. Only here did he feel warm.

Saburo stood beside Erlang. He admired his older brother greatly. Once his brother had rested, he wanted to have a good chat with him and ask him about any questions he didn't understand. He was confident that his brother would know the answers.

Several days have passed since Erlang returned home. The excitement has died down, and the Mo family has returned to normal, going about their business as usual.

Looking at Mo Lan's cross-stitch, Qiu was amazed. Her daughter had finished this quick embroidery. At first, she was skeptical. Could one embroider flowers on such fine white linen? Even if one could, it certainly wouldn't look good. Besides, her daughter was too restless to sit still; she might give up after two days.

But her daughter persisted, and embroidered so beautifully. She had never seen such a large-scale embroidery work before, with such a color scheme. The flowers were so lifelike; they looked incredibly beautiful from afar.

"Lan'er, I'm impressed! This skill is truly amazing. Your grandmother is a real expert! We thought she was blind and didn't like embroidery, so your aunt and I never asked her for help. Who knew she had such a talent? Now you're so lucky to have learned it all." Qiu was very happy. Her mother-in-law was so good to her daughter. With this skill, she wouldn't have to worry about the future.

"This embroidery is different from ordinary embroidery; it's not suitable for everyone. A master taught me when I was young; it's considered a unique skill. Back when our family wasn't well-off, I embroidered it to sell for a good price, but I was afraid the second branch of the family would try to take advantage of us, so I never did it. Recently, I thought I shouldn't take this skill to my grave, so I taught it to Lan'er. Who would have thought Lan'er would grasp it so quickly and actually learn it? Her embroidery is even better than mine!" Wang Shi looked at Mo Lan and laughed. Her granddaughter always attributed everything new to her. But she was happy to play along.

"Lan'er is clever. To be honest, this embroidery technique isn't difficult. I've watched it for so many days and I can embroider it too, but I can't draw this pattern." Liu Shi looked at Mo Lan's cross-stitch with admiration. She could embroider, but she couldn't draw, which was something Mo Lan couldn't do.

Mo Mei remained silent. Her sister had said that she was happy and touched that the embroidery was for her dowry. It was so beautiful; if it were hung up, it would definitely enhance the room's appearance. Her sister had put a lot of effort into this piece, sitting here embroidering whenever she wasn't busy. She used to be unable to sit still. Mo Mei was truly blessed, not only with kind elders but also with such wonderful siblings.

I also want to embroider more of Lanlan's dowry. She doesn't like other needlework, so I'll embroider all her everyday items for her.

Mo Lan smiled at the group, thinking to herself: Now you know how amazing I am, it's not that I can't embroider, it's just a matter of whether I want to or not.

"Lan'er, this is beautiful, but how do we hang it? Can we stick it to the wall?" Qiu asked, puzzled. Her daughter said it was meant to be hung on the wall for people to see, but how could she hang it?

Hanging it won't work; there's no frame for it here. Mo Lan smiled at her mother and said, "Once I've finished embroidering it, I'll have Father go to town to have it set up for my sister, making it into a screen. We can put it in the house and just take care of it on a regular basis."

“Yes, it would be great to make it into a screen. It would definitely look beautiful. When this screen is carried out, I reckon everyone in the manor will be extremely envious of my Mei’er.” Madam Qiu nodded repeatedly with a happy expression.

Mo Mei blushed slightly and said softly, "Lan'er, I won't stand on ceremony with you. My embroidery skills aren't very good, but I'll take care of all your everyday items and embroider them for you. Please don't mind."

"How could I possibly complain? I'm overjoyed. Thank you, sister. This has saved me a lot of trouble." Mo Lan put down her needlework and hugged Mo Mei.

"These two girls," Qiu said with a smile. She was pleased that her two daughters got along so well, and that they could help each other in the future.

"Lan'er, you should embroider the next one yourself. Draw the pattern for the one at home and explain it clearly to your aunt. Your aunt will embroider it for you. Otherwise, I'm afraid Lan'er will get really bored. Besides, you're still young, and it's not good for your eyes to be exposed to this all day." After thinking for a moment, Liu Shi spoke to Mo Lan.

"Great! Auntie, you're so kind. You know I can't sit still. What kind of pattern should we draw at home? Landscapes, flowers, birds, fish, and insects? Tell me what kind you want, and I'll have a better idea and then figure out how to draw it." Mo Lan was very excited. With her aunt helping her embroider, she could save a lot of trouble. She only needed to draw the pattern and make sure the proportions were right.

After discussing for a long time, everyone decided to embroider a landscape painting and make it into a screen to put in the shop. In addition, Mo Lan would paint two more paintings, one for "Harmony in the Family Brings Prosperity" and the other for "Good Fortune, Longevity, and Peace." These two paintings would be placed in the inner courtyard.

As for Mo Lan herself, she planned to embroider a landscape painting for her future living room and a "Promise to Love You for a Lifetime" painting for her future bedroom. This "Promise to Love You for a Lifetime" painting would have a heart shape, two cheerful little figures, and the simplified Chinese characters for "I love you for a lifetime." She believed it would be very beautiful. She figured Xue Lingfeng wouldn't know the meaning of her embroidered simplified characters. Mo Lan blushed as she thought about it.

Although we've already agreed on what to embroider, buying fabric, getting needles and thread, and drawing the pattern are all things that can't be done in a short time. And then it will take even longer to embroider it.

Before they knew it, it was the 20th of the twelfth lunar month. The Mo family put down their needlework and began steaming dry rations. They were busy steaming rations for the New Year, one pot after another.

Mo Lan was tending the fire, pondering some things as she did so.

She picked up firewood and put it into the stove. Huh? What's that? She saw something dripping from the bottom of the pot into the fire.

She tilted her head, examining the drops closely. Could it be...? Could it be water dripping from a leaking pot?

This pot of dry rations has only been steaming for a few minutes. If the pot leaks, not only will the rations not cook properly, but something bad will happen.

"Mother! Come quick, come and see if this pot is leaking!" Mo Lan hurriedly called out.

"How could that be? It's the New Year, don't talk nonsense. How could an iron pot leak? Quickly spit twice." Qiu replied to her daughter, not taking it seriously at all.

"Really! Water keeps dripping from the bottom of this pot, come and take a look!" Mo Lan was anxious; even an iron pot can leak. Nothing is impossible.

"Coming!" Seeing that her daughter wasn't joking, Qiu hurriedly wiped the flour off her hands and ran over. Wang and the others also put down their work.

Mrs. Qiu crouched down and peered into the stove. Oh no! Her daughter was right; the pot might really be leaking.

She hurriedly got up and began to lift the steamer lid.

The dry food inside wasn't steamed yet, but we couldn't worry about that now. We took the steamer rack off the stove and looked inside the pot. There was only a little water left. It was really leaking. If my daughter hadn't discovered it early, the pot would have dried up in no time, and that would have been a disaster.

They put the dry rations on another pot, turned up the fire in the stove, and then Mo Changhe and Qiu Xiaojun lifted the pot off the stove.

There is a small hole in the bottom of the pot, but it's not big; it can be patched up and still be used.

Although it's not a big deal, encountering something like this during the Lunar New Year, and letting things slide, is very unlucky.

"Sanlang, are you home? Come on, let's go skating."

Just as the Mo family was staring at each other in disbelief, several of Sanlang's companions came to his house and asked him to go out and play.

Sanlang glanced at Qiu Shi. Everyone in the family was in a bad mood, so it was best for him not to go out at this time.

"Go away? You still have the mind to play? We've already messed up during the New Year, what bad luck! We can't even have a proper New Year, what is God trying to do?" Qiu felt sad and burst into tears after speaking.

"You all go ahead, I won't go. I'll stay home and help out." Sanlang understood his mother's feelings. He declined his companions' invitation and stayed home.

Mo Quan, puffing on his pipe, also sighed. There had been so many problems this year, and now that the New Year was approaching, they had made another mistake. What did God want for his family?

Seeing everyone's sullen faces, it's just a broken pot, why the fuss? But then again, people are superstitious these days. They're all concerned about things going smoothly during the New Year. If anything goes wrong, they feel like something bad must be happening to their family. Besides, their family has had a lot of trouble this year, so it's no wonder they're overthinking things.

"Mother, does the broken pot mean our family will have a hard time next year?" Mo Lan asked Qiu Shi, feigning ignorance.

"Of course, it's God's way of not letting us live a good life." Qiu wiped away her tears, feeling uncertain about what disasters might befall her family next year.

"Before we separated from Second Master's family, did we burn the leaky pot every year?" Mo Lan asked again.

"How could that be? We haven't missed a single pot in all these years." Qiu asked her daughter, puzzled.

"Did Mother feel comfortable living those years?" Mo Lan continued to ask.

"What's so comforting about that? When you lived with your mistress, life was so suffocating, it was unbearable. Lan'er, are you saying...?" Qiu suddenly seemed to understand. She stared wide-eyed at her daughter.