Crossing Over to Yamada Love

"Auntie, you're joking. I'm still young. Besides, marriage is a matter for my parents to decide. I can't presume to comment," Liu Hu said seriously, though his face was flushed.

“Yes, yes. That’s how children from good families should be. Unlike those wild kids who call their children ‘brother’ this and ‘brother’ that in no time, without feeling ashamed. My Ju’er is not like that. She’s a sensible and good girl. She’s not home right now, otherwise I could introduce you to her.” Cui Shi praised her daughter while glaring at Mo Lan.

Mo Lan rolled her eyes at her. "What did I do to you, sister? Don't you know that if one daughter in a family has a bad reputation, it's hard for the other daughters to get married? You're trying so hard to slander me just to promote your own daughter. You'll be crying when Mo Ju is rejected by everyone."

"Hehe." Liu Hu chuckled lightly, then glanced at Mo Lan without saying anything more. Looking at Mo Lan's nonchalant smile, he felt a little sorry for her. She was still so young, and she wasn't even hurt by her aunt's words. It was truly pitiful.

"By the way, Tiger, why did you bring so many goose eggs home? Did your mother send them?" Cui Shi stopped talking about the previous topic and asked Liu Hu why he had come.

"Grandma Wang and Sister Molan bought goose eggs from my family, but they couldn't carry them all, so my mother asked me to help deliver them," Liu Hu told Cui without hiding anything.

Madam Cui glared and shouted, "What! Bought them? How come I didn't know? Where did my aunt get the money? How could she buy so many goose eggs without even discussing it with us? Does she even respect the people of our second branch of the family?"

She jumped up after shouting, yelling as she walked towards the kitchen, "Auntie, you bought so many goose eggs without saying a word! If I hadn't just happened to see you, were you planning to hide them and steal some? You're really treating us second-generation family members like dirt!"

"What are you yelling for? If you think your voice isn't loud enough, go outside and yell. I promise I won't stop you." Wang Shi happened to be walking to the kitchen door with an empty basket. Hearing Cui Shi's shout, she frowned and said to Cui Shi.

“I was just saying a few words, why are you in such a hurry, Aunt? You bought it yourself and you don’t want people to talk about it. What kind of logic is that!” Cui retorted defiantly.

"All I hear is your nonsense all day long. We, the children of the second branch, are all born to stepmothers. We have nothing to eat or spend, and it didn't just start today. What's the use of your shouting? They're biased. As long as the first branch eats well, they don't care about the life or death of us, the second branch." Hearing the shouting outside, Madam Feng came out of the house. She first scolded her daughter-in-law, but what she said next was clearly meant to sow discord between Madam Wang and her daughter-in-law.

Mo Lan quickly glanced at Wang Shi, knowing that her grandmother was a very proud person. She was afraid that Wang Shi would lose face after Feng Shi and Cui Shi spoke ill of her in front of outsiders.

"Hehe, Tiger, thank you so much. You've worked so hard today. Please have dinner here tonight. Try my cooking." Wang ignored the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. There was no awkwardness on her face; instead, she smiled and invited Liu Hu to stay for dinner.

"No, Grandma, don't be so polite. It's only right that I deliver it. I don't deserve your thanks. I'll head back now. You all have your business to attend to." Liu Hu quickly stood up, took the basket from Wang Shi's hands, and bid farewell.

"Good boy, we won't keep you here any longer. Come visit us next time." Wang said politely as she saw Liu Hu off.

Mo Lan saw Liu Hu to the door, waved to him, and then went back into the courtyard.

"Second Aunt, Third Aunt, the doctor said that Uncle needs to eat dandelion and goose eggs to cure his illness. That's why I went to buy them. This money was leftover from when my aunt and mother went back to their parents' home last time, so it was given to me. That's why I bought the goose eggs today. Do you have any objections? Are you unwilling to let Uncle get better?" Mo Lan said with a serious face, putting a big accusation on the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

“How could I not want Changhai to get better? It’s just that his health is what it is, how can he get better? I’m just afraid of wasting his life. Let’s divide the goose eggs in half between the eldest son’s family and the second son’s family.” Madam Feng didn’t even look at Mo Lan, but instead asked Madam Wang to divide the goose eggs.

"I can give you half," Wang said, her smile gone, her face now grim. Seeing the two women's faces light up with delight after she said this, she gave a sarcastic laugh and added, "Then let's divide the family property as well."

"Oh." Madam Feng responded with an "oh," her smile abruptly vanishing. Why was this old lady bringing up the division of the family property again? She couldn't let it happen! This old lady was definitely up to something; she couldn't fall for it.

“If my sister-in-law says she won’t separate, then she won’t. What can I, as her sister-in-law, say? Changhai is my nephew, and I want the best for him too,” Madam Feng quickly changed the subject. She glared at Madam Cui, who was looking at her with confusion.

At this moment, Cui was wondering why her mother-in-law always disagreed with dividing the family property.

"Thank you for your concern for your nephew, Auntie." A deep male voice rang out. Mo Lan looked up and saw that it was Mo Changhai standing at the door of the house.

His face was still pale, and his body was still thin. He must have heard the voices of the people in the courtyard, and then got up and came to the door on his own. Although his legs weren't as strong as a normal person's, they were still better than the first time Mo Lan helped him out.

"You're welcome, you're welcome. Changhai, why did you come out? You're not feeling well, you should go back inside and rest." Madam Feng clearly didn't want to separate the family, so she stopped mocking Mo Changhai and instead told him to go back inside and rest.

“Lying down all the time is tiring, it’s good to go out for a walk. Otherwise, because of my sick body, my mother would have to suffer so much.” Although Mo Changhai was speaking to Madam Feng, his eyes were always on his mother.

Wang nodded to him with satisfaction; her eldest son had become much stronger.

"Mother, you and Lanlan are back. Husband, why did you come out by yourself without calling me?" Liu Shi came from the backyard with an iron shovel and happened to see the scene before her. She quickly put down the shovel and went to help her husband.

"It's alright, I can still walk a few more steps." Mo Changhai smiled gently at Liu Shi, and then, with her help, walked to Wang Shi's side.

Looking at the people standing there, Madam Feng and Madam Cui suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. Changhai and Madam Liu stood firmly behind Madam Wang—were they supporting her against their second branch of the family? And that girl, Mo Lan, had such a sharp tongue. Even that old woman had become less agreeable than before. If things continued like this, where would their second branch of the family have any standing?

"Husband, you work yourself to the bone for this family, do you know how badly this old woman is bullied at home? The whole family bullies the two women, we can't live like this! How are we supposed to go on living!" Seeing that she couldn't win in terms of numbers, Madam Feng plopped down on a stool and started slapping her thighs and howling.

"Second wife, you'll look more imposing if you cry while sitting on the ground, and people will be more likely to believe we're bullying you," Mo Lan kindly reminded Feng Shi. If you're going to be acting, you can't be afraid of getting your clothes dirty, right?

"Heavens above! How dare a mere brat point her finger at me like that? Why don't you send a bolt of lightning to strike her down?" Madam Feng then turned her ire towards Mo Lan. However, she didn't sit down on the ground. Her clothes were made of fine material; it would be such a waste to get them dirty.

"Husband, please come back quickly! If you don't come back, we'll be driven to our deaths! This is making it impossible for my mother and me to live! I gave birth to the eldest grandson of the Mo family! Heaven, why don't you open your eyes!" Cui Shi immediately followed her mother-in-law's method and joined in the crying and wailing.

"Mother, let's divide the family property. I'd rather have nothing than let you suffer like this and live like this for my sake. I'll talk to Father when he gets back." Mo Changhai looked at his crying mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, he was calm again. He then spoke of dividing the family property.

"What?! Changhai, you want to separate from the family too?" Madam Feng abruptly stopped crying, stood up from the stool, and stared at Mo Changhai in astonishment, her tearless eyes wide. She just didn't understand. Shouldn't this be the family he was most afraid of separating from? With his health, what would he eat and drink if the family separated?

But judging from his expression, he didn't seem to be joking. Oh well, I'll swallow my anger for now and deal with them when I find the chance later.

Having made up her mind, Madam Feng kicked and continued howling at Madam Cui, cursing, "All I hear you howling all day long is howling. You've made our family poor. Get up right now!"

"Mother, what do you mean?" Cui Shi was puzzled by her mother-in-law's actions. Why did her mother-in-law compromise as soon as she heard about dividing the family property?

“Whatever sister-in-law says, we’ll listen. Changsheng’s wife and I were just venting a little. Sister-in-law, please don’t take it to heart. Let’s just let it go. My brother has been working hard in the fields all day, so please don’t bother him with this. Besides, we’re family. A few words will pass, so why take it so seriously? We’ll give all the goose eggs to Changhai. We don’t need them, okay?” Feng said to Wang with a fawning expression, explaining her reasoning.

“Well, sister-in-law is right. We shouldn’t bother the head of the household with these kinds of things. Let’s just let it go.” Wang sighed and agreed to Feng’s suggestion.

"I knew my sister-in-law was the most reasonable. She's the most sensible person in our family," Feng said, flattering Wang.

"What are you saying, sister-in-law? I admire you the most in this family. But there's something I need to make clear." Wang didn't care whether Feng's words were true or false; she just wanted to get past the issue.

"What is it? Sister-in-law, please speak freely." Madam Feng was quite obedient at this moment, going along with Madam Wang's words.

"I bought 50 goose eggs, and they're kept in the kitchen. Changhai gets one a day, and no one else is allowed to touch them. If I find anyone stealing one, I'll make them return ten. I mean what I say. Don't blame me for being ruthless when the time comes." Wang Shi turned her gaze to Cui Shi.

Cui shuddered at her gaze and muttered, "I didn't say I was stealing food. Why are you looking at me so fiercely?"

"That's good." Madam Wang said calmly.

"We promise we won't steal any food, don't worry, sister-in-law. If there's nothing else, we'll go back to our room now. You go ahead and do your work, sister-in-law." Feng gritted her teeth, maintaining an unpleasant smile, and led Cui back to her room.

"Mother," Mo Changhai called out, clearly puzzled as to why Wang Shi didn't continue and divide the family property.

"The time isn't right, we can't separate yet." Wang drew out the last syllable of her sentence and then sighed.

Seeing the somewhat forlorn expression on Wang's face, Mo Lan tugged at her sleeve and said softly but firmly, "Grandma, there's no rush. We can wait!"