Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, Mo Lan breathed a sigh of relief. These nursery rhymes were taught to Xiao San'er when she was leading him to dig for dandelions. She never expected them to come in handy today. However, Mo Lan smiled sheepishly, realizing that she had probably taught Xiao San'er to sing them off-key.

The childlike innocence dispelled much of the Mo family's gloom. The next morning, Mo Changhe took Mo Lan and rode an oxcart into town. The day after tomorrow was the agreed-upon day for planting rice seedlings, and they needed to get it done quickly. Otherwise, the busy rice planting season would delay things for many days.

At the pawnshop entrance, Mo Lan grabbed her father's clothes, preventing him from going in.

"What's wrong, Lan'er?" Mo Changhe asked his daughter, puzzled.

"Father, let me think about it. Let me think about it some more," Mo Lan replied, frowning.

Mo Changhe didn't urge her, letting her think it over. Actually, he himself didn't want to go into the pawnshop either. Mo Lan stood at the pawnshop entrance, looking up at the sign. She really didn't want to go in. As soon as she saw the pawnshop, she remembered the TV series she had seen in her previous life. She had a deep impression of the pawnshop owner's line: "Eaten by insects and gnawed by rats, a tattered and worn-out coat!"

This jade pendant is Grandma's keepsake, her only memento of the past. If they're lucky enough to make money and redeem it, that's fine. But what if they don't? Even if they do make money, the pawnshop can just give them a different jade pendant when the time comes. What can they do then?!

Mo Lan was extremely conflicted. She wanted to have the capital to start a business, but she was also afraid that the pawnshop would take her jade pendant. She couldn't let her grandmother lose her only memento; even if she lived a good life in the future, her heart would still be uneasy. Well, a little less silver didn't matter. The family had a dozen or so taels of silver, enough to buy things. When the time came, they could just work hard at home to steam buns and deliver them to the construction site. They could build it up slowly.

Mo Lan had just made up her mind and was about to ask Mo Changhe to come with her when she heard someone call out, "Hey, hey, Lanlan, Lanlan."

She was taken aback. "Hey, hey," that name sounded familiar. It must be that chubby little boy, Xue Linglei. She turned around to look for him.

A carriage stopped not far away. At first glance, it was unremarkable, showing no signs of luxury or ostentation. However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that the carriage was made of exquisite materials, with elegant craftsmanship throughout, especially the exquisitely carved floral patterns on the windows. The azure-blue curtain was only half-lifted, and the chubby Xue Linglei was waving at Mo Lan, while the aloof Xue Lingfeng sat behind him.

Mo Lan was slightly taken aback when she actually ran into them. Just yesterday, she had used their name to scare Ma Liu and the others, and today she had run into them. It's true what they say, you can't always be prepared for what you don't know.

She was stunned for a moment, then smiled and pulled Mo Changhe to come with her. The two arrived at the carriage, and Mo Lan softly greeted, "Greetings, Young Master Xue."

"You've come into town again. And who is this? Why are you all standing here?" the chubby boy asked Mo Lan curiously.

Mo Lan didn't answer him, but looked around. Although the carriage was parked by the roadside, passersby kept staring at them.

"The Hongtai Restaurant is up ahead. There are private rooms on the second floor. Let's talk there. Old Zhang, let's go to the Hongtai Restaurant." Xue Lingfeng glanced at Mo Lan in the car and said in a cool tone.

"Yes, young master," Old Zhang, the driver, replied, and drove off.

"Lan'er, are they the young masters of the Xue family?" Mo Changhe asked Mo Lan after the carriage left.

“Yes, it’s the Fifth Young Master and the Tenth Young Master.” Mo Lan nodded, but her mind wasn’t on Mo Changhe’s question.

"Let's not go to that restaurant they mentioned. We can't really talk to those rich young masters, and it wouldn't be comfortable for us to go there." Mo Changhe was somewhat reluctant to deal with the rich young masters.

"It's alright, Father. This young master of the Xue family is quite reasonable. Let's go and see what they want from us." Mo Lan had an idea in mind and pulled Mo Changhe to Hongtai Restaurant.

Hongtai Restaurant is a two-story building that occupies a large area. Its signboard is gleaming gold and looks very grand. Normally, Mo Changhe would never have entered it, but now he was pulled in by Mo Lan.

Since it wasn't mealtime, the restaurant was rather empty with few customers. As soon as the two men stepped over the threshold, the waiter came up to them and asked, "Are you two guests here for a stay or just for a meal?"

The waiter asked polite questions, his smile wasn't warm, and there was a look of disdain in his eyes, but thankfully he didn't chase Mo Lan and the other away.

"Young Master Xue invited us here. He said he would wait for us in a private room on the second floor. Have they arrived yet?" Mo Lan didn't care what the waiter thought or thought; it was none of her business.

"We've arrived. Young Master Xue is already in the private room upstairs. Are you really invited by Young Master Xue?" The waiter was a little skeptical. What kind of status did Young Master Xue have? How could they, poor people, possibly be worthy of his attention? However, judging from their expressions, they didn't seem to be faking it, since Young Master Xue was indeed in the private room upstairs.

"Come with me." After thinking for a moment, the waiter decided to take them upstairs. After all, if they really were invited by Young Master Xue, and he was chased away, he would be in big trouble.

The two followed the waiter upstairs to a private room. The waiter stopped them and went in to inquire.

"Young Master Xue, a man and a little girl have come and said you invited them. Is that true? If not, I'll send them away."

"Oh, let them in." Xue Lingfeng's voice was always so cold and aloof.

"Yes, yes, I'll call them in right away." The waiter nodded and bowed, then turned around and called Mo Lan and the others in.

The two entered the private room. Mo Lan glanced around and found it acceptable; while not luxurious, it was very clean and tidy. Especially since the room was by the window, the breeze was quite pleasant.

"Say what's on your mind," Xue Lingfeng said casually, holding his teacup.

Mo Lan looked at him closely. Today he was wearing a light blue robe and thick black boots. Although his attire was not luxurious, it still made him look noble and handsome. He really looks good in anything! Mo Lan sighed, "It's just too cold, which makes him hard to approach."

"Father, please sit down." Mo Lan stepped forward and pulled out a chair for Mo Changhe to sit on.

"No, no need, Father, you can stand." Mo Changhe felt uncomfortable all over, not knowing where to put his feet. He just wanted to finish speaking and leave as soon as possible.

"Sit down." Xue Lingfeng glanced at Mo Lan indifferently and invited the two of them to sit down.

Mo Lan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down in the chair, smiling at the chubby boy. Mo Changhe saw that his daughter was sitting down, and he was about to say something to her, but seeing that the young master of the Xue family did not look unhappy, he swallowed his words and then sat down as well.

"Lanlan, you haven't answered me yet. What are you doing in town?" the chubby boy asked Molan with a grin.

Mo Lan pondered for a moment, then slowly raised her head to look at Xue Lingfeng, before speaking to the chubby boy: "Didn't you say you were going to build a villa last time? We were thinking of opening a food shop, selling steamed buns, local snacks and such. But opening a shop requires capital, which our family can't afford, so we thought we'd pawn some things to see if we could get the shop up and running."

“Yeah, opening a shop requires capital. How could your family, which is so poor, afford to open one? How much silver do you need?” The chubby boy looked at Mo Lan with pity.

"Let me see it." Xue Lingfeng said something out of the blue. Mo Lan was taken aback, then took the jade pendant off her neck, stood up and handed it to Xue Lingfeng.

Xue Lingfeng glanced at it casually at first, then sat up straight, put away his nonchalant expression, took the jade pendant from Mo Lan's hand, and examined it carefully.

This was actually a piece of fine mutton-fat jade. The person who could possess this jade pendant was definitely not an ordinary family, and it was not something that this girl should have. Why was it in her hands? Xue Lingfeng was a little puzzled.

"Why not?" he asked in a cool tone.

"This is an heirloom. If we pawn it, we might not be able to redeem it later." Mo Lan didn't hide her thoughts and said whatever she thought. Although her soul was that of an adult, she felt that she was no match for playing mind games with such a scion of a wealthy family. It was better to be open and honest.

Xue Lingfeng looked at Mo Lan seriously. He had once again been impressed by this girl today. He hadn't expected her to know the ins and outs of the pawnshop.

"How much do you plan to pawn?" Xue Lingfeng ignored the chubby boy who kept muttering about wanting to see the jade pendant, and instead asked Mo Lan how much money she planned to pawn.

"I'll give you the jade pendant as collateral for two hundred taels of silver, write an IOU, and repay it in three years. Then you can return the jade pendant to me, how about that?" Mo Lan stated her idea. After she finished speaking, Ren Xue Lingfeng and the chubby Xue Linglei looked at her in surprise.

At this moment, Mo Changhe's eyes widened even more. He couldn't believe his ears. Lan'er actually said that the jade pendant was worth two hundred taels of silver. Two hundred taels! That's a huge pile of silver! He had never even dreamed of seeing so much silver. This girl really dared to ask for that much.

"Lanlan, do you know how much two hundred taels of silver is? You don't need that much to open a shop." The chubby boy thought Molan had misspoke and corrected her from the side.

Xue Lingfeng didn't speak immediately. He glanced at Mo Lan, a cold glint in his eyes, and said, "What benefit do I get?"

"Benefits, huh?" Mo Lan drawled out the last syllable of "ah," then thought for a moment and said, "Young Master Xue isn't a loan shark, so he definitely won't ask for interest. How about this: after the shop opens, I'll give Young Master Xue half of the profits, plus a jade pendant for him to wear for free for three years, how about that?"

"Half a share?" Xue Lingfeng raised an eyebrow. This girl was really shrewd. She wanted him to wear the jade pendant for free for three years, but why didn't she just say she wanted him to keep it for her for free for three years? "That's right. Our family runs a shop, and everyone contributes. There are ten people in our family now, so we divide the profits from the shop into ten shares. Lanlan's share is one share. Giving you half a share already takes away half of Lanlan's money. Does the young master want to take all of Lanlan's share?" Mo Lan's face scrunched up at the end, as if she had suffered a great injustice. Xue Lingfeng found it somewhat amusing. This girl had always spoken to them with maturity, but now she showed a childlike side, which was quite cute.