Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Mo Lan pulled her arm and said coquettishly, "Lan Lan knows that Grandma loves Lan Lan the most. My father can't go to town with us. That day, it was just me and Auntie. We are a woman and a child, and we can't do any heavy work. Grandma, please feel sorry for Lan Lan and ask Brother Da Jun to come and help us."

"You little devil!" Qiu Changshi tapped Mo Lan's forehead, chuckling and scolding, then turned to Da Jun and said, "Da Jun, why don't you go to town to help out? Don't tire your sister out."

"Okay, Grandma." Qiu Dajun replied, grinning as he looked at Mo Lan. His cousin was much smarter and better at coaxing people than before.

Mo Lan nestled in her grandmother's arms. She had just noticed that her two aunts hadn't changed their expressions when her grandmother said she'd help even without payment. She was quite pleased. At least these two aunts weren't the kind of people who were greedy for money; she would definitely help them more in the future.

After everyone had learned the ropes, Mo Lan looked out the window at the sky. It was almost 3 p.m. She rubbed her neck and asked Qiu Changshi, "Grandma, how did you get here? We have a sack with us when we leave. How are you going to get it back?"

"It's not far, we walked here. What's there to be afraid of with two sacks? There are three men here, we're not worried about not being able to carry two sacks home." Qiu Changshi laughed loudly and pointed to Qiu Shi and the others who were chatting on the stool.

"Don't worry, Lanlan, these things are no problem for your uncle. I can even move things that are heavier than this," Qiu Baosheng patted his chest, reassuring his niece. His bearded face looked very approachable.

“That won’t do. It’s several miles, not a short distance. I’m afraid the sacks will be too heavy to carry halfway there. My brother and I will go to Grandpa Liu’s house later and he can take you back in an oxcart.” Mo Lan looked at the sacks and frowned. She knew how to move things. At first, it might not feel too heavy, but the distance was too far, and it would only feel heavier and heavier as you walked. She didn’t want to exhaust her grandfather and uncles for a few coins’ worth of money.

“Taking a ride costs money, and we country folk aren’t so delicate. Lanlan, listen to your grandma, you can’t go and call a ride!” Qiu Changshi glared at Molan, forbidding her from calling a ride. With that money for a ride, you could buy quite a lot of things.

"Grandma, is health more important or money? Won't you feel bad if Grandpa gets exhausted? Besides, we need to use Grandpa Liu's car to go to town in a few days. It's not market day, so we need to let him know in advance." Mo Lan seriously corrected her grandmother's thinking. You should care about people, not just money!

"You little rascal, you're so talkative, even adults can't argue with you. You can call a car, but Grandma will pay for it, you can't ask your grandma for money." Qiu Changshi looked at her granddaughter with amusement, noting that she had become quite eloquent in just a few days.

"Alright, it doesn't matter who takes it. We'll give Grandma more money after we sell this sachet." Mo Lan leaned against her grandmother's chest, not caring about the cost. It wouldn't be much anyway. At most, it would be 10 coins. She was afraid her grandmother would lose face if she asked her for it herself.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Qiu Changshi and the others declined Wang Shi's offer to stay for dinner. They rode in Old Liu's oxcart and went home. She knew about her daughter's in-laws' situation. They had already given up everything they had for lunch. If they stayed for dinner, her daughter and grandchildren would probably have to eat pickled vegetables to survive the next day.

With tears in her eyes, Qiu saw off her parents and brothers and sisters-in-law. Only after the carriage was out of sight did she silently turn around and go to the kitchen.

Looking at the bean sprouts in the basket on the cutting board, her tears streamed down her face again. Her mother had brought not only a basket of homegrown bean sprouts and leftover string beans from last year, but also a pound of meat and 20 eggs. These were the most respectable gifts her family could offer. However, with all this, her mother was probably even more strapped for cash. They feared they wouldn't have a decent meal for days.

"Mother, things will get better. Don't think too much." Mo Lan went into the kitchen and saw Qiu Shi with her back to her, her shoulders shaking constantly, clearly sobbing.

She led her mistress over, gently hugged Qiu, and comforted her.

Mo Mei silently walked over and hugged Qiu Shi as well.

Mrs. Qiu squatted down and hugged her three children, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't cry, Mother. Little San'er loves you. When Little San'er grows up, he'll earn lots of money. Then he'll take care of you, Mother, and Grandma too." Little San'er stretched out his tiny hand to wipe away Qiu Shi's tears.

"Mother, don't cry, Mother, don't cry. Mother is waiting for my little third son to grow up and earn lots of money to support you." Qiu forced herself to stop crying and hugged her three children tightly.

Liu, standing nearby, also wiped away her tears, her heart aching with sorrow. Although her younger brother and sister-in-law's family was poor, they were very loving. Her own parents also loved her and had often helped her in the village. But her younger sister, fearing her parents would favor her, always mocked and ridiculed her whenever they met.

They say she's a jinx to her husband! They say she's unlucky! They say she lives off her parents and will bankrupt them sooner or later! If her mother gives her a little money or a few things, she makes a huge fuss. She causes her parents headaches and anger. Whenever she goes back to her parents' home, she follows right behind, afraid she'll take even the smallest thing with her.

Sigh! She missed her parents, but they only had two daughters. Her younger sister had married into the same village, and if she went back, her sister would hear the news and rush over to argue. She was really afraid! Not wanting her parents to be angry because of the two of them, she endured not going back to her parents' home.

"Sister-in-law, please don't think about it so much." Qiu, who had stopped crying, looked up and saw Liu's red eyes. She knew that Liu must have been thinking about her family again, so she quickly comforted her.

"Okay, I don't want to think about it anymore. You guys go out and have some fun. Your mother and I need to get ready for dinner." Liu wiped away her tears, smiled, and started urging Mo Lan and the others to leave.

Mo Lan stuck out her tongue, gave her aunt a fawning smile, and then led Xiao San'er out of the kitchen.

Standing in the courtyard, she looked around and saw that her uncle was probably teaching Erlang to read. She decided to go find her grandmother; she had something to discuss with her.

Mo Lan led Xiao San'er to the main house and saw her grandfather and father sitting there smoking pipes and chatting, while her grandmother was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) sewing shoe soles.

She led her mistress onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and whispered in Wang's ear, "Grandma, I want to talk to you about something."

"What's wrong?" Wang asked, pushing the needle with a thimble and pulling the string to tighten the eye of the needle.

"What's wrong, Lan'er? You want to whisper something to your grandma? Are you going to let your grandpa hear?" Mo Quan couldn't help but tease, looking at Mo Lan's appearance on the kang.

"Let Grandpa hear it, but only after Grandma and I have finished discussing it." Mo Lan said to her grandfather with a smile, her expression quite mischievous.

"How dare you talk to your grandfather like that, you little brat?" Mo Changhe scolded Mo Lan with a stern face.

"What are you yelling about? Lan'er only talks like that because she's close to me. I like Lan'er like that. If you say anything more to her, you can leave!" Mo Quan's face darkened upon hearing his son's words, preventing his son from speaking ill of his granddaughter.

Mo Lan chuckled, looking at her father's helpless expression. She couldn't help but laugh; in truth, her father loved her very much. Although he scolded her, she could clearly see the care in his eyes. He only scolded her occasionally, afraid she would overstep her bounds.

"Grandpa, you talk to Dad first, I'll tell you after I'm done talking to Grandma. Don't you dare eavesdrop." Mo Lan now gets along very well with her grandfather Mo Quan, and her speech is no longer as stiff as before.

"Alright, I won't eavesdrop. I'll wait for Lan to tell me." Mo Quan happily cooperated with his granddaughter. He puffed on his pipe, smiling as he looked at the people on the kang (heated brick bed).

"You're so disrespectful, always fooling around with Lan'er." Wang glared at her husband.

Mo Quan chuckled twice, not refuting Wang Shi's words. Mo Changhe, who was watching from the side, secretly rejoiced.

"Grandma, in five days, I'd like to go to town with my aunt." Mo Lan began to gently tell Wang Shi her thoughts.

"You silly girl, you'll definitely object if I don't let you go. Well then, you can go with your aunt, but you have to be careful not to overdo it." Wang Shi didn't stop what she was doing and granted her request.

"Milk is so good." Mo Lan happily hugged Wang Shi's arm.

"Slow down, slow down. Don't let the needle prick you." Madam Wang hurriedly moved the needle in her hand aside, afraid that it might prick Mo Lan.

"Hehe." Mo Lan stuck out her little tongue and continued, "Actually, I wanted to borrow my dad for a day before entering the town so he wouldn't have to work in the fields."

"Oh?" Madam Wang stopped what she was doing, looked up at her granddaughter, wondering what she was up to now. Even Mo Quan and Mo Changhe looked over, clearly having heard Mo Lan's words.

"Didn't Grandma tell me a lot about wild vegetables? I'd like Dad to come with us to pick some wild vegetables a day first. Bracken fern, monkey leg fern, cucumber fern, and leafy greens are all about to come out now. I want to go into the mountains for a while. Is that okay?" Mo Lan asked her grandmother for her opinion and told her the names of the wild vegetables she needed.

“These vegetables can be found without going into the mountains. They’re by the roadside, in the fields, and on the plains. Why do we have to go into the mountains?” Wang Shi didn’t want them to go into the mountains. There were plenty of things in the mountains, but there were wild animals. She didn’t even want to imagine the consequences if they encountered snakes, bears, wild boars, or anything like that. Although the chances of encountering them were slim, she didn’t want her children to take the risk.

“But you can only find prickly ash shoots deep in the mountains. I can’t pick them myself, I need an adult’s help. We don’t need to go deep, we can just stay in the front of the mountain. Please let us go, Grandma.” Mo Lan pleaded with Wang Shi.

"Why do you like everything? That stuff is really prickly, why do you have to pick it?" Wang Shi softened her heart and gave in, she didn't want Mo Lan to go into the mountains.

"The thorny shoots are just sprouting now, they're so tender, they won't prick your mouth. They'll get old in a while and won't taste good. Didn't you say these wild vegetables are good for your health, Grandma? You said thorny shoots can calm the nerves, are good for the stomach and liver, and are good for the elderly and children. That's why I wanted to pick them. You've said so many benefits, so why won't you let Lanlan pick them?" Mo Lan wanted to pout at Wang Shi, but she was afraid of upsetting her grandmother. She could only lean against her grandmother, rubbing her head against Wang Shi's back.

"Where are we going to put all those wild vegetables we picked? We can't possibly eat them all ourselves." Feeling her granddaughter Fei's affection, Wang was making a final stand against her.

"I want to take these to town and see if I can sell them!" Mo Lan chuckled, grabbed Wang Shi's arm, and revealed her plan. All she had to say was for those wild vegetables.