Crossing Over to Yamada Love

"Jin, don't move, take good care of yourself. You really had a close call this time. Seeing you wake up, my heart can finally rest easy." Great Aunt Zhao Moshi held Mo Jin's hand and shed tears.

Mo Jin's tears also streamed down his face. He held his two older sisters' hands tightly, drawing warmth from them and using their love to soothe his heart, which had been frozen by his son. For a moment, the room was filled with people crying.

"Alright, stop crying. Jin'er is awake; we should be happy. Let's stop crying. Let's stop crying." Second Aunt Chen Mo wiped away her tears and stopped crying.

After calming down a bit, Mo Jin looked around. He was on the kang (a heated brick bed) in his elder brother's house, the room where his brother, sister-in-law, and Lanlan lived. They had probably been rescued and brought directly here; they were all on the same kang for easy access to treatment. But where was Feng Shi? Hadn't she come to take care of him?

Hearing Mo Jin's question, the second aunt glared and said, "Rely on her? That Feng is no good. After you were rescued, she and Cui have been arguing here. She can't help at all. If it weren't for the Xue family bringing out top-quality ginseng and good medicine to keep you alive, you probably wouldn't have made it back. That Feng keeps arguing that her sister-in-law and the others don't care about you and want to carry you back. You're injured like this, and she wants to carry you back? What is she thinking? She's afraid you'll suffer to death."

The second aunt quickly spat again, saying, "Pah, good luck and prosperity, what death or not, I, Jin, and my elder brother, may you both live to be a hundred years old. Jin, you and your elder brother should stay here and take good care of yourselves. Dasou is a good person, as are the people in Changhai House and Changhe House. They will not mistreat you."

"Don't worry, sister. I've been married into this family for so many years, Jin is like my own brother. From now on, this will be Jin's home. Once he recovers, we'll prepare a special room for him, and he'll live here from now on. Changhai and Changhe will take care of him in his old age." As soon as Wang finished speaking, everyone looked at her, and Mo Quan's eyes were filled with gratitude and joy.

Mo Changhai and Mo Changhe both nodded in agreement. The two aunts were overjoyed; if their brothers could settle down here, they would have nothing to worry about in the future. Chen Moshi got up to kneel before Wang Shi, but Wang Shi pulled her back.

Tears welled up in Mo Jin's eyes; he was both moved and ashamed.

Mo Lan nodded inwardly. Her grandmother must have thought this through carefully. Her second grandfather had broken his leg that year, and his legs were already weak. This time, the injury was so severe that even if he recovered, he probably wouldn't be able to do any heavy work. On the second branch of the family, Madam Feng did nothing, Madam Cui was even lazier, and her eldest son was idle and irresponsible. If her second grandfather went back there, he'd probably be worked to death in no time. It was better to let him stay here and retire. As for the other side, wasn't there Mo Ju to help? She'd heard Mo Ju was doing well in the Cheng family; let her manage it.

"I, I..." Mo Jin's lips moved a few times, but he couldn't say anything.

"Jin, don't say anything. Your sister-in-law has agreed to your request, so just focus on recovering. We're family. Let's not talk nonsense." Wang wiped away the tears from the corners of Mo Jin's eyes and spoke softly to him.

Mo Jin began to sob. The sight brought tears to the eyes of everyone in the room.

Chen Mo wiped away her tears, took out three taels of silver from her bosom, and said to Wang Shi, "Sister-in-law, Jin'er is here, and we can't help much, so we can only trouble you. This time, the medicine alone must have cost a lot. I don't have much silver here, but it's a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."

The eldest aunt was about to take out some silver from her bosom when Wang quickly stopped her. She said to the two women, "Eldest sister, younger sister, you're slapping me in the face. Take it back quickly. We've managed to make ends meet these past few years, and we haven't gone into debt. How can we accept your silver? Don't worry, I can't guarantee anything else, but the gold is here, and we won't mistreat it. Don't say anything more about taking silver."

The two old ladies took the money back and stopped being polite with Wang. They knew the Mo family was doing quite well. They didn't need their help; on the contrary, the Mo family would buy them many things during festivals. It wasn't that they cared about the gifts; they just felt comfortable knowing their brothers were doing well.

After chatting for a while, Liu and Qiu arranged for the two elderly ladies to stay. They were both getting on in years and had spent a lot of time watching over things during the day, so they were feeling a bit tired. They planned to stay for a few days to keep Mo Quan and Mo Jin company. Having someone to chat with would keep them from getting bored and help them recover faster.

Afterwards, many relatives came to visit. Liu's parents and Qiu's family members brought chickens, ducks, fish, meat, fruit and other gifts to see Mo Quan and Mo Jin.

Even distant relatives, upon hearing the news, came to visit. Some brought a few stalks of pickled cabbage, others a basket of eggs or something similar. They made a token appearance; no one came empty-handed, but there were no extravagant gifts either.

Mo Jin's two daughters had both visited once. The eldest daughter, Mo Hua, was alright; she bought some things, but when she saw Mo Jin's appearance, she shed a few tears, showing that she still cared about him.

Moqin arrived empty-handed, saying she had left her things with her mother. She then went on to say how much her mother missed Mojin, wanted to take care of him, and worried about the Mo family, and how the eldest branch of the family was preventing her from coming. Her words were quite sarcastic towards the eldest branch of the family. Before anyone could say anything, Mojin chased her away, telling her not to come again, as he didn't need her to visit.

After she left, Mo Jin felt terrible. His daughter's words were truly heartless. He was bedridden on the kang (a heated brick bed), unable to move. His medicine, meals, and everything else were prepared for him by his two wives from the eldest son's family. Even when he and his elder brother needed to urinate on the kang, weren't they cared for by his sister-in-law and Changhai and Changhe? They never showed any disgust towards him; in fact, every night they would wipe his body, massage him, and help improve his circulation. They were worried that if he lay in bed for too long, his blood wouldn't circulate properly and he might develop some health problems.

That year, when he broke his leg, which of his family members had ever taken such good care of him? Every time he urinated, Madam Feng would always cover her nose in disgust. Even when he had time to clean himself, she would scold him for ages. That unfilial son, Changsheng, never even came to his side, never once helped him with his bodily functions. But his two nephews never showed any disgust. He felt terribly ashamed.

After the relatives arrived, those in the village who were on good terms with the Mo family also brought gifts to visit the two, chatted with them, offered a few words of comfort, and talked about other things before returning home.

A dozen days later, Mo Lan had fully recovered, while Mo Quan and Mo Jin were still bedridden and unable to move, so far fewer people came to visit. Even when familiar faces came to visit, they would only come to chat when they had free time, and would no longer bring gifts.

Whether they brought anything or not, the Mo family treated them with great hospitality. The fact that they came to their door was a favor, and they had to greet them with smiles, regardless of whether they liked it or not.

Mo Lan listened to the gossip going around in the house. Things like whose son was getting married, or whose wife wasn't very well-behaved. And so on, the chatter never stopped.

Some people said there was a boy in their village named Gousheng, who was ten years old. He always complained that his stepmother abused him, but he had no injuries, his clothes were unpatched, and he was always well-fed. His stepmother was always cheerful and never spoke unless she smiled, so everyone thought she was a good person. Nobody believed Gousheng's story; they thought he just didn't like his stepmother and that's why he was spreading rumors.

Mo Lan smiled after listening to her two grandfathers. Being a stepmother is difficult, it's always been that way. However, the fact that he wasn't injured and his clothes weren't patched didn't mean he hadn't suffered any grievances at home. It's not that simple to look at things that way, but every family has its own troubles. This matter wasn't her concern, so she just listened and let it go.

Mo Lan looked out the window. The world outside was still silvery white. She loved snow. Snow was clean and pure. She had always thought that she was like snow, clean, pure and kind. But now she realized that the cleanliness of snow was only on the surface. What lay beneath was dirt, just like her heart, vicious and cold-hearted.

A shadow of sadness crossed Mo Lan's eyes. She harbored a deep-seated sorrow, a sorrow difficult to heal. So, although she still smiled faintly at people these past few days, the smile no longer reached the corners of her eyes and brows. She was no longer the Mo Lan she once was.

Qiu brought in the medicine, and Mo Lan turned around with a faint smile on her face and walked to the kang (a heated brick bed).

Wang was feeding Mo Quan his medicine when Mo Lan reached out and took the medicine bowl from her mother's hand. She wanted to feed her second grandfather herself.

Seeing that there was nothing for her to do, Qiu went out to do other things, leaving only the four of them in the room. It became quiet for a while, with only the sound of drinking medicine echoing in the room.

"Lanlan, do you blame your second grandfather?" Mo Jin swallowed his medicine and suddenly asked.

Mo Lan paused for a moment, but she didn't speak. She continued to scoop the medicine and feed it to her second grandfather.

"How could that be? Jin, don't overthink it. Lan won't blame you." Mo Quan finished his medicine and spoke up for his granddaughter.

"Big brother, I want to hear what Lanlan really thinks," Mo Jin said to Mo Quan. He knew his older brother loved him dearly. But he wanted to know what Lanlan was really thinking.

Mo Lan smiled at Mo Jin, and after Mo Jin finished drinking the medicine, she wiped the corners of his mouth clean with a handkerchief before saying, "Second Grandfather wants to hear what Lan Lan has to say, so Lan Lan will tell Second Grandfather. If there is anything inappropriate, Second Grandfather will not be offended."

"It's alright, Lanlan, just tell me." Mo Jin nodded to Mo Lan, indicating that she should just tell him.

Mo Lan pondered for a moment, then said softly, "Before the incident, Lan Lan did feel a bit resentful towards Second Grandfather. Although he was a good person and treated us well, I always felt that something was off. I felt that if Second Grandfather truly cared for us, he should have kept his family in check, preventing them from causing trouble and opposing us. But he couldn't control them. I always felt that Second Grandfather was still on his own side, and his actions towards us were just superficial."

"Girl!" Mo Quan interrupted Mo Lan, not letting her continue.

"Big brother, let Lanlan speak. What she said is right, it's all the truth. Let her speak." Mo Jin looked earnestly at his older brother.