Crossing Over to Yamada Love

At this point, Mo Lan began to sob softly; she had no choice but to portray the feeling of a nine-year-old girl who had been wronged.

"What's the result? Tell me quickly!" Cui urged from the side.

At that moment, Erlang also came in with Moju, followed by Dalang.

Mo Lan glanced at her second cousin and her older cousin. These were the two pitifully thin men her third aunt had described? This eldest son was nowhere near as slender and tall as bamboo. He was clearly a little fatso. Looking at his chubby face, Mo Lan suppressed a laugh. He really was a pig!

Mo Ju, on the other hand, was neither fat nor thin, with exquisitely beautiful features, a delicate little girl, only her skin was slightly dark. She was wearing a pink dress. Although cute, the bright color made her skin appear even darker. Who did her skin resemble? Mo Lan pondered. There wasn't anyone in the family with skin that dark.

As soon as Dalang entered the room, he climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and leaned against his grandmother, Feng, saying, "Grandma, why isn't dinner ready yet? I'm starving."

Madam Feng looked at him affectionately and said, "Dinner will be served soon. Look how hungry my dear grandson is. You must eat more later."

"Eat more? If he eats any more, he'll really turn into a pig!" Mo Lan secretly pouted.

Mo Ju stood silently in front of her mother, Cui Shi, with her head down, seemingly lost in thought.

"Lan, now that Ju has arrived, you can continue." Mo Quan tapped his pipe, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"Oh." Mo Lan snapped out of her reverie. She had been so focused on Da Lang that she had forgotten where she had left off. She gathered her thoughts, her face contorted in a grimace, and she stammered, "Then, then Brother Bamboo came up and tried to snatch my bird eggs, and Sister Chrysanthemum helped him. After they took them, they were afraid I would try to snatch them again, so they threw the eggs on the ground. The eggs broke right then and there were eggs all over the ground. I wanted to go and see if there were any that weren't broken. Then Sister Chrysanthemum pushed me from behind."

Mo Lan recounted the whole story with great grievance, blushing as she spoke. Her transmigration was caused by a bird's egg—it was truly...

"Nonsense! We've never seen you, nor any bird eggs. Let alone tried to steal them from you. How could Chrysanthemum push you? You tripped over a stone, fell, and bumped your head. You're just a wild girl!" Dalang jumped off the kang (heated brick bed) upon hearing Molan's words and loudly retorted.

"You didn't even see me, how do you know I tripped and fell while walking?" Mo Lan retorted.

"Chrysanthemum and I were playing at the village entrance when we saw you trip and fall from afar. Just then, Erlang came back from the other side of the mountain, and I told him that you had fallen. He carried you back." Dalang gave her the answer.

So that's how it is. Mo Lan understood why the adults all assumed she had fallen on her own. It turned out that the chubby boy had lied to everyone.

“There were seven bird eggs, what a pity,” Mo Lan said, ignoring him and pouting.

“There are seven, but there are only four,” Dalang replied.

"The bird eggs are red, I wonder what kind of bird they are, it's so strange!" Before anyone could react, Mo Lan continued.

"Nonsense, it's clearly white..." The chubby boy, Da Lang, seemed to realize something and stopped talking.

Mo Ju remained silent until she heard her brother reveal the truth, then glared fiercely at Mo Lan. Her gaze was unlike that of a ten-year-old girl.

"You actually stole that girl's bird eggs! I'll beat you to death. You're such a coward!" Upon hearing her son's confession, Madam Cui raised her hand to slap him on the back, but although she raised her hand high, the slap landed very lightly.

"Why did you hit me? It's because that wild girl wouldn't give it to me willingly. What's wrong with me taking it? I'm her brother, so it's only right that I hit her." The chubby boy was very arrogant.

“You can do it for a bit. My grandson is so precious. He is the eldest grandson of the Mo family. How can he be compared to a mere girl? Besides, Lan is fine. Let's just let this matter go.” Madam Feng stood up and protected her grandson.

"Brother Bamboo and Sister Chrysanthemum not only snatched my bird eggs, but also pushed me. They... they even cursed at me, saying..." Mo Lan rubbed her eyes as she spoke haltingly. "You little brats, you second branch of the family protect your grandson like this, treating me like I'm not even human. You say I'm framing you? Well, I'll prove you wrong then."

“What do you want to say? Lan’er, don’t be sad, just say it,” Wang replied. But her voice was chilling.

“They said: Our eldest son’s family is a bunch of poor devils, all we have are two sickly girls, or unlucky fools, we don’t deserve to eat bird eggs… It would be a waste to give us bird eggs, so they’d rather smash them. They also said, they also said that our eldest son’s family is always skimping on the second son’s family’s money, not giving them good food. They also said, they also said that if it weren’t for the second son’s family supporting us, our eldest son’s family would have starved to death long ago.” Mo Lan’s words were long, but no one interrupted her. She spoke somewhat haltingly, but this was more like the normal behavior of a 9-year-old child. Too fluent and smooth a speech would have aroused suspicion.

After speaking, Mo Lan stole glances at the expressions of everyone in the room. Her grandfather, Mo Quan, had a somber face, as did her grandmother, Wang Shi. Her father, Mo Changhe, had a strange glint in his eyes, as if he were suppressing something. Her mother, Qiu Shi, stood to the side wiping away tears. Erlang clenched his fists, and his younger brother, Xiao San'er, stared wide-eyed at the siblings from the second branch of the family, as if he wanted to devour them.

The second grandfather, Mo Jin, was furious, while the second wife, Feng, looked somewhat embarrassed. Cui, however, seemed unconcerned. The eldest son glared. Mo Ju also stared at her menacingly.

"You're talking nonsense! We never said any of those things. You made them up yourself!" Dalang shouted at Molan.

"Second Grandfather, I know my eldest uncle is unwell and always needs to take medicine, which has troubled you all. I'm just a useless girl, I don't deserve to eat bird eggs, Brother Zhu and Sister Ju are right. But my brother and Xiao San'er are still grandsons of the Mo family, right? How come they are considered unlucky?" Mo Lan asked her second grandfather, Mo Jin, her eyes red.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I have parents, I'm not a wild girl, am I?" Mo Lan asked Mo Quan and Wang Shi with a sorrowful expression.

Little brat, you can shout, but I'll just play the victim. You just lied, let's see who everyone believes now.

“Yes, how could my Lan’er be a wild girl? Don’t listen to what others are saying. Those who say such things have no manners. We won’t follow their example.” Madam Wang stroked Mo Lan’s hair to comfort her. But her eyes were cold as she stared at the people from the second branch of the family.

"You two better kneel down right now and apologize to your great-grandfather and the others. Beg Lan'er for forgiveness. If you dare to say anything more, I'll beat you to death later!" Mo Jin stood up angrily and shouted at the brother and sister.

“I won’t kneel! We did nothing wrong! Uncle and Aunt were just a bunch of sickly, short-lived wretches. Meizi and Lanlan were just lowly wild girls. Erlang and Xiaosan’er were just unlucky wild boys. The eldest branch of the family always skimped on our money. Isn’t that what Grandma and Mom always said? Why can’t we say it?” Dalang shouted at his grandfather, straining his neck.

The room was eerily quiet because of his words. Suddenly, a figure rushed in from outside, knelt down on the kang (heated brick bed) where Mo Quan and the others were, and kowtowed, saying, "Father, Mother, Second Uncle, Second Aunt. It's all our fault. It's because of my and my husband's poor health that we've burdened the family. From now on, we will never take medicine again. Why don't you separate us from the family? We don't want to be a burden anymore." The voice was incredibly pitiful.

Mo Lan's eyes stung as she looked at the newcomer. Dressed in plain clothes, she was in her thirties with delicate features, but her tearful appearance was so pitiful.

This was her aunt, Liu, a very gentle woman. Mo Lan felt a pang of regret. Had she known her aunt was out there, she wouldn't have falsely accused the brother and sister. Now look what happened. Although everyone believed her, she had caused her aunt so much heartache. It wasn't worth it.