Crossing Over to Yamada Love

"Fifth Brother, our family isn't short of money, so don't take Lanlan's half of the profits. When we go out to eat, just ask her to cook us some good food." Little Fatty Xue Linglei looked at Mo Lan's wrinkled little face and felt a little sorry for her.

"Okay, come over for dinner then. Lanlan will definitely cook something delicious for you, I guarantee you'll like it." Mo Lan's face lit up again at the mention of food; she had no resistance to delicious food.

"Okay, okay. What kind of food does your family usually cook?" The chubby boy got excited about food as soon as he heard about it.

"Hehe, you'll find out when the time comes. I can't tell you now." Mo Lan smiled mysteriously, choosing to keep it a secret.

The chubby boy pouted, feeling a little itchy inside, constantly wondering what delicious food the girl would prepare to treat them.

"Alright, two hundred taels, half the profits plus a meal every day at noon." Xue Lingfeng nodded in agreement to Mo Lan's request, only adding a meal.

“Okay.” Mo Lan nodded, then added, “We’ll only provide enough food for three people for lunch. You can eat whatever we cook, okay? You can’t order your own food. If there are more than three people, we’ll have to charge extra. Otherwise, if the young master always brings a bunch of people, we won’t be able to make any money.”

"Okay." Xue Lingfeng agreed, then asked the shopkeeper for pen and ink, wrote an IOU, and gave Mo Changhe twenty taels of silver as a deposit. He would have the rest delivered tomorrow.

A signature and fingerprint are required when writing an IOU. Mo Lan sent Mo Changhe to do it. Although she can write, she is too young, so her signature and fingerprint would probably be useless.

Mo Changhe could write, and the girl seemed to be able to read as well, which surprised the two Xue brothers.

After carefully putting away the IOU, Mo Lan breathed a sigh of relief. The matter was finally settled. The jade pendant was much safer in the hands of the young master of the Xue family than in the pawnshop.

After bidding farewell to the young master of the Xue family and leaving the restaurant, Mo Lan and her father began to look around, searching for shops selling tables and chairs, asking about prices. They inquired about many, but the prices were all quite high, so the two shook their heads and left. They then looked at general stores for pots and pans, but the prices there also made them shake their heads.

Anyway, there were still some days left, so there was no need to rush. The two of them bought some food and went home. Half of what they bought last time was taken by the second wife, so there wasn't much left. The next day was the rice planting day they had agreed on with Mo Lan's maternal grandmother's family, so they needed to eat something good to nourish their bodies.

On the way back, Mo Changhe was somewhat silent, clearly still reeling from what had happened at the restaurant. He felt that Lanlan seemed a little unfamiliar at that time.

"Father," Mo Lan called softly to Mo Changhe.

"What's wrong with Enlan?" Mo Changhe looked at his daughter, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

"Do you know about Grandma's experiences when she was young?" Mo Lan's voice was very soft, so soft that even Old Liu, who was driving the carriage, couldn't hear it.

"No, why is Lan'er asking this?" Mo Changhe looked at his daughter with some curiosity.

"Grandma told me a lot of things and taught me so many things that Lanlan didn't know before. So now Lanlan knows a lot and understands a lot. Does Dad sometimes feel that Lanlan is different from before? That's because Lanlan wants to grow up, wants her family to have a good life, and doesn't want her family to be bullied anymore. Lanlan is forcing herself to grow up. Will Dad become distant from Lanlan because Lanlan has grown up and not love her as much as before?"

Mo Lan's voice was low, and as she spoke, tears began to well up in her eyes. She had the soul of an adult, which meant she couldn't be as carefree as a child. Without a childlike heart, she missed out on a lot of happiness, and she didn't want her mature demeanor to create a rift between her and her family.

She'd already tried her best to get her grandmother to stand up for her in many situations, but sometimes she had to prove herself because she wanted to fight for it. She wanted her family to have a better life!

"Girl, how can your father be distant with you? I'm just a little surprised. I didn't expect Lan'er to force herself to grow up for the sake of the family. It's all because your father wasn't good enough." Mo Changhe looked at the tears in his daughter's eyes, his heart ached, and he hugged Mo Lan tightly.

"Father is doing well. He's helping us open the shop, and things will only get better for us." Mo Lan leaned against her father's broad chest, feeling very safe and secure.

"Yes, I will," Mo Changhe replied softly.

After paying the fare, the two jumped off the oxcart and began carrying their belongings into the yard. Hearing the noise, Qiu and Momei rushed over to help, and Qiu took the bag from Molan's hand.

"Why are you buying things again? Don't we still have food at home? You're wasting money again." Qiu said, looking at the things her husband and daughter had bought. The family didn't have enough money to open a shop, and they were just wasting money by buying things.

"Oh my, you've bought things again! What did you buy this time? Yesterday you were complaining about being broke and today you've bought so much stuff. This must be all the ill-gotten gains you've made over the years." Cui Shi happened to walk out of the room and saw Mo Lan and the others. She opened her mouth wide and began to mock them.

The group ignored her. Since they had separated the family, they wouldn't get any of the food. Let her say whatever she wanted. They took the food directly to the main house to prevent it from being taken away if left in the kitchen.

Not to mention Cui standing in the courtyard loudly mocking and cursing, once Mo Lan and the others entered the house, Wang Shi and Liu Shi were both doing chores on the kang (a heated brick bed), and Xiao San'er was playing alone on the kang. Mo Jin was not there; he must have gone to the fields to check on things.

After calling out "Grandma" and "Auntie," Mo Lan took off her shoes and climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed), where she began whispering with Xiao San, while Mo Changhe started reporting on the situation in the town.

Wang listened attentively the whole time. Although she had some questions, she did not interrupt Mo Changhe until he finished speaking and took out the IOU, handing it to her.

Wang took the IOU, squinted at it, and began to read it, which proved that she could read. After reading it, she put the IOU away and said, "From what you've said, the young master of the Xue family is a decent person. The jade pendant is good with him, probably better than at the pawnshop. I'm afraid you couldn't get this much silver at the pawnshop."

"Yes, Mother, the time Lanlan asked for startled me. I don't know what she wants so much money for." Mo Changhe still finds it hard to believe when he recalls when Mo Lan asked for two hundred taels of silver.

"Hehe, Lan'er is quite clever; she's probably come up with some mischievous idea. When your father comes back, call your older brother over so we can discuss it." Madam Wang smiled and gestured for her son to sit down.

"Speaking of the eldest son, how is Changhai's health lately? Although he looks much better, I wonder if he still gets sick when no one is around?" Wang asked her daughter-in-law.

“Mother, he’s much better now. He used to have these cramps four or five times a day. When he was in pain, I would see beads of sweat constantly dripping down his face, and it would break my heart. Although he still has these cramps recently, they’re not as bad as before, and he’s in pain less often. He’s going out for walks more often now, and he’s not weak anymore. Yesterday he even said that in a while he’ll probably be almost a normal person again.” As Liu spoke, a look of joy appeared on her face. She looked at Mo Lan with gratitude, and Mo Lan returned her a sweet smile.

When Mo Quan returned, dinner was already set out. Since the family had separated, they were now eating at the same table, and the whole family gathered together, making it quite lively.

Dinner consisted of steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat and water, rice porridge, two cold mountain vegetable salads, a dish of dandelion greens with dipping sauce, and a small dish of stir-fried pork with scallions. The meat that Mo Lan and the others bought today was all chopped and stir-fried by Qiu Shi, and put into a small jar. From now on, she'll scoop out a spoonful each day while cooking other dishes, and that will count as a meat dish. This way, one jar of meat will last for quite a few days. As long as it's stored properly, the meat won't spoil.

The family finished their dinner in a warm and peaceful atmosphere, without any noise. Everything tasted delicious. Mo Lan touched her little belly through her clothes and lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) next to Xiao San'er, listening to everyone discuss opening a shop.

After discussing it for a long time, the general consensus was to buy two or three acres of land at the village entrance, build a house in the front as a shop, and build a few rooms in the back for people to live in, selling things like steamed buns, mantou, and porridge.

"Let's buy ten mu of land, so we don't have to buy more later when we don't have enough. By then, people will probably raise the price," Wang finally said after listening to everyone's opinions for a long time.

"Mother, isn't ten acres too much? What are we going to do with all that extra land?" Mo Changhe was taken aback at first, then asked Wang Shi.

"We need to build a courtyard in the front, plant some things on both sides, and then build two shops. We also need a courtyard in the back for ourselves. The pigsty will be built last. We won't raise chickens anymore. We'll cultivate the remaining land ourselves. We'll decide whether to grow vegetables or grains later. Since we have enough money, we should buy more land." Wang explained her plan clearly.

"Two shops? Aren't they just for steamed buns and mantou? What's the point of having two shops?" Qiu looked puzzled, clearly not understanding her mother-in-law's meaning.

"Mother, if I made you eat steamed buns and mantou every day, wouldn't you get annoyed?" Mo Lan asked Qiu Shi in a crisp voice, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) with her hand supporting her chin.

"How could that be? If I could eat steamed buns and mantou every day, I'd be laughing in my sleep. They're made of white flour, and the buns even have fillings!" Qiu said earnestly, her expression full of longing for the prospect of eating white flour steamed buns and mantou every day.

Mo Lan was speechless. Yes, this wasn't modern times. Her family ate sorghum rice every day, and they certainly wouldn't feel enough if they could eat white flour. But they were in business, and people would definitely get tired of just selling these kinds of food.

“Mother, we may not have enough to eat, but what if some people don’t like steamed buns and mantou? Or what if they’ve had enough of steamed buns and mantou and want to eat something else? If we have nothing else, they’ll leave, and then what will we rely on to make money?” Mo Lan explained to her mother carefully.

"Who wouldn't love steamed buns and mantou?" Qiu muttered softly, then added, "But Lanlan is right, having more kinds of food is good, it's just that we don't know how to cook them."

"No rush. Food is made by people. I've eaten a lot of cheap and delicious food before. We can take our time." Wang said this to cover up for Mo Lan making new dishes later.

“Mother’s words make sense. We’ll take it slow, but this shop needs a name, right? What should we call it?” This time it was Mo Changhai who spoke.