Crossing Over to Yamada Love

"Why did you bring back so many wild vegetables? What are all these? There's even mugwort! Is this edible?" Cui shouted as she looked at the wild vegetables on the cart. After shouting, she threw what she thought was mugwort, Huang Gua Xiang, on the ground.

Mo Quan frowned at her, said nothing, and went into the main house with a gloomy face. Mo Lan told her not to touch anything in the car, or she would have to pay double the price, and then went to wash her hands and face to prepare for dinner.

Mo Lan washed herself clean and went into the main room. Her grandparents were on the kang (a heated brick bed), and food was already laid out on the small kang table. Looking at the steaming food, Mo Lan's stomach growled. Although it wasn't the best food, it was the family's love that mattered.

The group sat down at the kang table and wolfed down their food. The food they had brought up the mountain had long been digested and gone, so everything tasted delicious now.

"After you finish eating, go back to your rooms and rest for a while. We'll take care of the leftovers," Wang said to the others with concern, looking at Mo Lan who was wolfing down her rice.

"Grandma, I'll go with you later. I still need to learn how to cook those dishes." Mo Lan swallowed the sorghum rice and replied to Wang Shi's words. She had to watch over the preparation.

"Alright, take your time eating. Your mother and the others pick out the wild vegetables first, and Grandma will help you prepare them later." Wang patted Mo Lan's back, telling her not to rush.

After everyone finished eating, Mo Changhe led Dajun and Erlang back to their house to rest, while Wang Shi and Mo Lan came to the courtyard.

In an open space in the courtyard, Liu, Qiu, and Mo Mei were picking through the wild vegetables that Mo Lan and the others had brought back.

"Ah," Mo Mei exclaimed softly.

"What's wrong, Mei'er?" Qiu asked hurriedly upon hearing her daughter's voice.

"It's nothing, I just didn't notice and got pricked." Mo Mei's face was flushed, clearly a little embarrassed. The prick didn't hurt; she only cried out because she wasn't prepared.

"Sister, stop doing that. Even though those thorny shoots are tender, they still have thorns. Could you go boil some water for me? We'll need it later." Mo Lan walked over to Mo Mei, checked the spot where she had been pricked. It was nothing serious, and she didn't want her sister to get pricked again. Her hands were delicate and easily pricked. It would be better for her to boil the water.

"Okay, I'll go boil some water. Lanlan, don't do it, be careful not to prick your hand." Mo Mei replied, stood up, and reminded her younger sister.

"Okay, I understand," Mo Lan replied, but her hands began to sort the mountain vegetables that Qiu and the others had cleaned.

Mo Lan had Liu and Qiu pick out the vegetables, while she and Wang carried the selected vegetables into the kitchen.

"Blanch these in water and we'll eat them tonight. Leave me some of the rest fresh so I can take them to town tomorrow. Pickle the rest." Mo Lan placed the basket on the chopping board and told Wang Shi how to prepare the wild vegetables.

"So much pickled, where would we get so many jars?" Wang frowned. There were only two jars at home, how could they possibly hold so many wild vegetables?

"Isn't there a big vat for pickling sauerkraut? If we're not pickling sauerkraut now, let's pickle wild vegetables in the vat first." Mo Lan thought for a moment, saw the big vat in the corner, and offered her idea.

"Alright. We'll use the jar then." Wang agreed, checked that the water in the pot was boiling, and poured the prickly ash sprouts from the basin into it.

"Didn't Grandma say that these prickly ash shoots only need to be blanched, and that they won't taste good if they're overcooked? They should be taken out now," Mo Lan reminded Wang Shi, who was constantly stirring the prickly ash shoots in the pot.

"Okay, that's about it. Lan'er, move away a bit. The milk is almost out, be careful not to burn yourself." Wang Shi started using a strainer to scoop the prickly ash shoots into the basin of cool water. The boiling steam hit her face, making her look very hazy.

Mo Lan looked at Wang Shi's face from the side, and for a moment it was as if she had entered another world. After a while, she came back to her senses and looked at the bright green prickly ash sprouts in the pot. The color was really pleasing. After blanching in water, the prickly ash sprouts could be pickled, and unlike other mountain vegetables, they would not turn black, but would always remain bright green. If you took them out to eat in the winter when there were no vegetables, they would not only be delicious, but also very appealing.

"Then blanch the wild vegetables, followed by the bracken, then the cucumber, and finally the hairy shank. That thing has so much hair on it, it'll make the water dirty after blanching it," Mo Lan explained the order of blanching the wild vegetables, afraid that Wang Shi would throw the hairy shank in to blanch first.

"Yes, Grandma knows. Mei, go to your mother's and get some more of the best ones for Grandma. All of these are blanched." Madam Wang stirred the bracken in the pot and asked Mo Mei to go get some.

"Mmm." Mo Mei responded obediently, stood up and went outside to get some wild vegetables.

"Tell me quickly, how do we pickle these mountain vegetables? What should we pay attention to?" After Mo Mei left, Madam Wang immediately asked Mo Lan in a low voice.

Mo Lan chuckled and began explaining how to pickle the mountain vegetables, how much salt to use, and how to weigh them down with stones. She clearly explained all the precautions to Wang Shi.

Wang silently made a mental note of it, but before she could ask any more questions, Mo Mei had already returned with a basket.

Mo Lan watched as her grandmother swallowed the words she was about to say, and couldn't help but find it amusing. It was as if she and her grandmother were underground agents, having to keep everything they discussed a secret, afraid of being discovered.

"Grandma, why don't you teach Lanlan how to cook these wild vegetables tonight? That way, if anyone asks me when I go to sell them tomorrow, I'll know what to say, right?" Mo Lan wanted to cook wild vegetables for dinner, but was afraid of arousing suspicion, so she asked her grandmother to go with her.

“Alright, we’ll cook the wild vegetables tonight, so your mother and the others can rest.” Wang glanced at Mo Lan, knowing that she was going to tell her how to cook the wild vegetables that evening, and readily agreed.

And so, the two declined Liu, Qiu, and Momei's help, saying that they cooked every day and needed to rest for a day. Dinner would be provided to the grandmother and granddaughter. The two busied themselves in the kitchen, making a racket.

Once everyone was seated, Mo Lan looked at the kang table. On it were a plate of stir-fried aralia shoots with eggs, a plate of cucumber salad, a plate of hairy ham salad, a plate of dandelion greens with dipping sauce, and a plate of shredded potatoes. There was also sorghum rice. These things had surprisingly filled the entire kang table.

Before we even started eating, the fresh aroma of the mountain vegetables filled Mo Lan's nose, especially the plate of stir-fried eggs with wild thorn shoots; the enticing fragrance made her mouth water.

"The whole table is full of wild vegetables. Are they feeding us like pigs? How are we supposed to live like this?" Cui vented her dissatisfaction as she looked at the food on the table.

No one paid her any attention; there was no point in arguing with her every day. When Grandma told her to start eating, Mo Lan hurriedly began picking up the stir-fried eggs with thorny shoots. Grandma took a bite, Xiao San'er took a bite, then her mother took a bite, and then her aunt and Mo Mei took a bite. After she had taken a bite herself, the plate was empty.

There was no way around it; this dish on the table was the best. Not only did it have eggs, but the wild aralia sprouts themselves tasted delicious. Ignoring the clamor of Cui and Feng, Mo Lan began to eat the cucumber and the hairy leg. To be honest, although it only had salt and vinegar, the taste was alright. The unique fragrance of the wild vegetables lingered on her teeth. The wild vegetables were at their tenderest, making them truly refreshing.

Mo Lan was very satisfied with the meal, and everyone else also thought the mountain vegetables tasted good, much better than what they had eaten before.

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Mo Lan felt like she had only slept for a short while, but then she heard voices around her. She initially thought it was her grandparents whispering again in the middle of the night, but as she listened more carefully, she realized that it was Wang Shi giving Liu Shi instructions on what to do after entering the town.

And tell her that if she sells the money, Mo Lan can buy whatever she wants, and let Mo Lan decide for herself.

Mo Lan chuckled inwardly, then opened her eyes, got up, and went to wash her face and rinse her mouth. Even after sitting on Old Liu's oxcart, she was still a little drowsy, and even yawned twice, apparently exhausted from yesterday's trip up the mountain.

In a daze, the oxcart swayed into the town. Mo Lan regained her senses and asked Old Liu to stop near the cloth shop to wait for them.

"Brother Dajun, you and Grandpa Liu wait here for us. We need to go and let the shopkeeper see if he's satisfied with the work. If he likes it, then we'll move the things in the bag over." Mo Lan jumped out of the car and instructed the two of them.

“Alright, you two go ahead. I’ll watch over things here,” Qiu Dajun replied. Old Liu also assured them, and the two of them carried their bundles and headed towards the cloth shop.

Upon entering, Mo Lan saw two female customers selecting fabrics in the shop, with a shop assistant attending to them, while Manager He sat in the back looking at the ledgers.

"Madam Liu is here, and Miss Lan is here too." Manager He happened to look up and see the two of them, put down his ledger and gave them a friendly smile.

Liu nodded to him and said in a low voice, "Last time, Madam Fang ordered shoes and agreed to pick them up today. So I brought Lanlan over. I wonder if Madam Fang has arrived yet?"

"They're here, they're here. They're having tea with their wives in the backyard. Madam Liu, please come quickly." Manager He hurriedly answered Madam Liu's words and ushered her into the backyard.

Mo Lan let Liu Shi go into the backyard first, but she went to the counter and chatted with the shopkeeper.

"How did the shoes sell last time, Uncle Shopkeeper?"

"Not bad, quite a few pairs sold. It's all thanks to Miss Lan." Shopkeeper He stroked his mustache and smiled contentedly at Mo Lan. He had a deep impression of this little girl; despite her young age, she was clever and quick-witted, even managing to outmaneuver his wife without her being able to argue her way out of trouble.

"Uncle is satisfied with the shoes, but I wonder if he's satisfied with Lanlan's things?" Mo Lan took off the small package on her back, which contained only three sachets and three colorful ropes.

"Huh? What's this? What an exquisite sachet! And what's this rope?" Shopkeeper He's face showed surprise. This young girl had brought something new again. He held it in his hand and kept examining it.

"What are these? I've never seen them before. May we take a look, shopkeeper?" The two female customers next to them also came over when they saw the sachet and colorful rope in Shopkeeper He's hand. Their eyes flashed with surprise and delight.

Manager He glanced at Mo Lan, knowing that these were someone else's belongings and he had no right to dispose of them. He saw Mo Lan nod at him with a smile, so he placed the sachet and the five-colored rope on the counter, letting the two female customers examine them.

"Shopkeeper, are these new styles? They look quite nice, but I don't know what these two are called?" the older female customer asked.