Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Mo Lan suddenly felt her arm lighten. She shook her arm vigorously, then bent down and lifted the wooden basin with Mo Mei.

It's heavy, though not as heavy as the rice porridge basin, it's not light either. We haven't even left the village yet, can I make it to the fields? Mo Lan felt utterly helpless.

"Lanlan, where are you all going?" A young man walked up to Molan and asked.

Mo Lan looked up and saw Liu Hu. She had been so focused on the basin that she hadn't noticed him.

"I'm taking food to the fields. What, haven't you planted rice seedlings?" Mo Lan said, blushing slightly. But don't misunderstand, she wasn't shy; she was just tired.

"Oh, my family is transplanting rice seedlings in a couple of days. Let me help you carry it." Liu Hu looked at Mo Lan's struggling little face, her arms were even trembling a little, and a feeling of heartache flashed through his heart, though he himself didn't know why.

Mo Lan didn't stand on ceremony. She was too young and not strong enough, so she was happy to have someone help her, especially since the person was Liu Hu, whom she had a good impression of.

As soon as Liu Hu lifted the wooden basin, Mo Lan rubbed her arm vigorously while chatting with Liu Hu.

The group walked for a while, taking a break before finally arriving at the Mo family's field. From afar, Mo Lan saw her grandfather and the others bending over, planting rice seedlings. Each of them had rolled up their trousers and stood in the field, which was quite wet. Watching everyone working tirelessly, Mo Lan sighed inwardly, thinking, "Nothing is easy."

"Grandpa, Grandpa, Uncle, Dad and Mom are here for dinner!" Mo Lan called out, cupping her little hands like a megaphone.

"Yes." Responding voices came from near and far in the field as everyone walked towards the edge of the field after planting the rice seedlings.

Upon reaching the edge of the field, everyone washed their hands with the puddles in the field before walking towards Mo Lan and the others.

After delivering the items, Liu Hu told Mo Lan and went back home, afraid that if he returned late, his mother would ask him all sorts of questions.

Mo Lan waved to him and continued to stand on tiptoe, watching the crowd emerge from the field.

"You're all here! What did you make? It smells really good." Mo Quan shook the water off his hands, wiped them on his shirt, and asked Mo Lan.

"See for yourself, hehe." Mo Lan smiled but didn't answer, letting Mo Quan see for himself.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed. Wasn't that her second grandfather, Mo Jin, who had come last? Why was he here too? Judging from the looks of it, he was here to help with the rice planting. Mo Lan sized up her second grandfather a few times and noticed that his eyes were somewhat vacant, and his face lacked its former vitality. It seemed he hadn't been having a good time these past few days.

Mo Quan lifted the lid of the large wooden basin and was surprised to see braised pork inside. He had never eaten it more than twice in his life. However, he quickly regained his composure and invited everyone to sit down.

Mo Mei and Mo Lan began serving rice to everyone, while Er Lang placed the dishes on the ground and started serving chopsticks to everyone.

"Lan'er, why did your grandma prepare such delicious food? These are all guests, why are you being so polite?" Qiu Shi sat on the ground, looking at the pot of braised pork, and asked Mo Lan with a frown.

"Grandpa, Grandma said that transplanting rice seedlings is too busy and everyone is working hard, bending over and exhausting themselves. Let's make some meat to nourish everyone, so that they'll have more energy to work." Mo Lan said to her grandfather with a smile.

"Your grandma is too kind." Qiu Shi looked at her granddaughter's smiling face and felt truly happy. She felt her backache was not so bad anymore and her whole body felt much more relaxed.

Everyone picked up their rice bowls; there wasn't much talk in the fields, so they just ate together.

Mo Jin looked at the rice and millet porridge that Mo Lan handed him, a hint of hesitation flashing across his face.

"Second Master, eat quickly. We still need to plant rice this afternoon. You won't have the strength if you don't eat your fill." Mo Lan put the rice in Mo Jin's hands. Regardless of the reason, the brotherhood between Mo Jin and Mo Quan was there. She didn't have much of a personal opinion about Mo Jin, so she treated him the same as before.

"Yes, Second Master, I'll eat now. Thank you, Lan'er." Mo Jin held his rice bowl, his eyes moist. Lan'er was a good girl; all of this was the result of his good-for-nothing son's misdeeds. He didn't even have the face to see his elder brother anymore. He knew his brother was planting rice but hadn't come to help, and he felt guilty about that. Today, he had come with a heavy heart, but everyone treated him the same as usual, which made him even more upset. How could he possibly have the face to eat this meal?

"What are you standing there for? Eat up!" Mo Quan said to Mo Jin, who was standing still.

"Okay, I'll eat now." Mo Jin wiped his eyes and replied to his brother.

Mo Lan and her two siblings sat to the side waiting, declining everyone's offer to eat with them, saying that there was already food left at home.

Everyone picked up a piece of braised pork, poured some broth into their rice, and then stopped eating the braised pork and started eating other things instead.

Mo Lan frowned. Was the meat not cooked well? Why isn't anyone eating it?

Thinking of this, she secretly asked Qiu Shi, "Mother, is the meat not cooked well?"

"It's delicious, it smells wonderful, Lan'er, have a taste." Just now, Qiu had only picked up a piece of meat, and she ate half of it in one bite, leaving the other half uneaten. Now, hearing her daughter's question, she hurriedly picked it up with her chopsticks to feed it to Mo Lan.

Mo Lan hurriedly declined, saying, "Mother, please eat. Mother has been working hard all day. Please eat more. If it's so delicious, why did you only eat one piece and not more?"

“One piece is enough. Let your grandpa, your maternal grandpa, and your father eat more. They’ve stopped eating, so I guess they think the same thing. That’s good. Lan’er can take the rest of the meat back later, and your grandma can heat it up and have another meal tonight,” Qiu said softly to her daughter.

Mo Lan felt a pang of sadness. No wonder everyone only picked up a piece of meat; they all wanted others to eat more, and even thought that they could reheat it for another meal later that night.

Mo Lan stood up, took a pair of chopsticks, and began to distribute the meat to everyone. She gave each person three pieces. If anyone hid their bowl and refused to take their meat, she would stand there and refuse to leave, saying that her grandmother had instructed that the meat could not be taken back and had to be eaten.

No one could dissuade her, so they all took the meat from her bowls and ate it with relish, even finishing off the soup in the meat bowl.

In no time, the bowls and basins were empty, and the rice soup was all drunk up.

Qiu Shi sighed comfortably and said, "If only I could live like this every day."

Amid his sighs, Mo Lan and the other two packed their things and headed back. When they arrived home, they put their belongings at the entrance of the kitchen and then went into Mo Changhe's room to prepare for lunch.

To her surprise, Mo Lan saw Da Lang as soon as she entered the house. She frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"My mother told me to come and eat meat." Dalang glanced at the three of them, then focused his gaze on the vegetable bowl in front of him.

"Don't you have meat at home?" Mo Lan was speechless. This Cui family really would do anything. She actually sent her eldest son over to eat meat.

"We finished the pig's head meat. My grandma thought my mom ate too much, so she didn't let her eat any at noon. We finished it in no time. My mom said you made a lot of meat and told me to come and eat my fill." Dalang answered without the slightest embarrassment.

Mo Lan raised an eyebrow and looked at the vegetable bowl. There were only a few pieces of meat in it, probably less than ten pieces if you checked. His mother told him to eat his fill, and she really had the nerve to say that.

"Go back. We don't have any extra food for you. These few pieces aren't even enough for us." Mo Lan ignored him and went up to the kang (a heated brick bed) to sit down and prepare to eat.

"You brat, you don't need to eat meat. I'm the eldest grandson of the Mo family, so I should eat the good meat. All the meat here is for me." When the eldest son heard that he wasn't given any, he got angry and reached out to grab the meat to eat.

Mo Lan reacted quickly, picking up her chopsticks and slapping Da Lang's hand. With a snap, Da Lang hurriedly pulled his hand back and started howling.

"If you shout again, I'll beat you up." Mo Lan stood up from the kang (a heated brick bed), glared at him fiercely, and said this.

"You dare, you brat! If you dare hit me, I'll beat you to death!" Dalang stopped howling and shouted at Molan, but kept rubbing the spot where Molan had hit him.

"Your face and body don't hurt anymore, do you want me to hit you with a broom again? Or do you want me and my brother to come at you together? Or maybe we can add Uncle too, he's an adult, his hits should hurt more than ours, right?" Mo Lan smiled happily at Da Lang.

Looking at Mo Lan's smile, Da Lang felt a chill. He then looked at his uncle, whose face was serious, and Er Lang, who was standing under the kang (a heated brick bed) glaring at him fiercely. He suddenly remembered Mo Lan's broom and Er Lang's fire hook, and he became afraid.

"You dare, dare to hit me? I'll tell my father." He took two steps back and turned to leave.

"Stop!" Mo Lan called out. Seeing him obediently turn around, Mo Lan said sternly, "If you dare to go back and complain, and get your grandma and mother to come and make a scene, my brother and I will beat you up as much as we can when no one is around." After saying that, she waved her little fist at him.

"Hmph. You brat." Da Lang didn't say whether he would go back and tell on her or not, and ran out.

Mo Lan turned around and sat down, letting out a long sigh. She didn't want to argue with Da Lang because she felt that Da Lang was just a child. She couldn't just give in to him because he was a child. Her own brothers and sisters were also children. She should take care of her own family first.

"You little rascal, you're getting more and more lively. Come on, eat!" Madam Wang said to Mo Lan with a smile, urging her to eat.

"Hehe, if we don't scare him a little, his second wife and third aunt will come and make a fuss, and we won't have a moment's peace. There are only a few pieces of meat, not even enough for us to eat, so why should we give them to him? It's only right that our third son eats a few more pieces." Mo Lan said with a smile, as she picked up a piece of meat and gave it to the third son.

"Sister eats, grandma eats, uncle eats, brother eats, everyone eats, and one piece is enough for the third one." The little guy smiled shyly, speaking very sincerely.

"Hehe, San'er is so sensible, eat more." Wang was also very happy to see her grandson and put another piece of meat in his bowl.

Everyone was eating their rice and some vegetables, but no one touched the meat. It seemed they all wanted the other person to eat it.

Seeing that no one was touching the meat, Wang first put a piece on Mo Mei's plate.

"Grandma, I don't like meat. Give it to Lanlan and brother." Mo Mei moved the bowl aside.

"Take it quickly, it's from the milk, you can't refuse it." Wang felt sorry for her granddaughter's understanding, and a comforting light flashed in her eyes.

Mo Mei silently held out her bowl, took the meat, and began to eat it with her rice.

Mo Lan took the meat from the milk carton, took a bite, and exclaimed how delicious it was! The saltiness was just right, with a hint of sweetness. The meat was stewed until tender and mushy, and it wasn't greasy at all. Mo Lan swallowed the meat with satisfaction, though it was a little cold. It would have tasted even better if eaten while it was hot.