Crossing Over to Yamada Love

When they arrived home, Qiu and the others rushed over to help unload the things. Seeing the empty wooden boxes and barrels, they finally felt relieved and smiles appeared on their faces.

"Father, come and eat, the food is all set out." Qiu put the bowls into a large basin and told Mo Quan and Mo Lan to eat, while she prepared to wash the dishes.

"Second son's wife, we'll wash up together after we finish eating. You've been busy all day, come and eat." Wang Shi wiped her hands clean and walked towards the dining table, calling to her daughter-in-law.

Mo Lan also went up and tugged at her mother's sleeve, urging her to come over and eat together.

On the table was a large bowl filled with vegetable soup, which contained large pieces of fatty meat, tofu, spinach, lettuce, and potato chunks—a veritable hodgepodge. There was also a small bowl of mixed flour flatbread.

Wang took a sip of vegetable soup, took a bite of her flatbread, and said, "I thought you wouldn't sell out your steamed buns, so we'd have some for lunch. But you sold them all out; we didn't bring back a single one."

Mo Lan noticed that although she said they sold out, her eyes were full of excitement, which meant that their buns were delicious.

Mo Lan first drank some soup to fill her stomach, and then began to excitedly recount the process of selling steamed buns. Her quick wit and clear pronunciation, coupled with her rich expressions, amused everyone.

"Really? You really want us to steam more buns tomorrow? That's wonderful! Now I can finally put my mind at ease. I've been so worried these past few days, afraid that the buns won't sell." After hearing Mo Lan's words, Qiu Shi breathed a sigh of relief, a happy smile spreading across her face.

"Lanlan, that Master Qin wants a couple of snacks to go with his drinks. What should we make and send them over tomorrow?" Liu Shi asked with a smile, now feeling relieved.

"I haven't decided yet. Let's discuss it together later and everyone can give me some ideas." Mo Lan hadn't decided on what kind of snacks to have with the drinks either; she needed to think about it carefully.

"You'll have to ask your grandmother and your aunt; I won't interfere," Qiu said with a smile. She was an outsider in this area and couldn't offer any useful advice.

Before anyone could respond, a boy came running from the front yard, shouting, "Water's out! Water's out! We've dug up water! Come quick!"

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly put down their food and stood up from their stools. Mo Quan quickly took two steps forward and asked in a trembling voice, "Little calf, what did you say?"

The one nicknamed "Niuduzi" (Ox Calf) was Liu Biao's eldest son from the same village. His real name was Liu Daniu. He was quite mischievous when he was young, and once his father angrily scolded him, "You little ox calf!" After that, everyone called him Niuduzi. This time, when the Mo family was building their house, his father came to help, and Niuduzi also came along to assist, earning a little extra money.

"Grandpa Quan, they've found water! Uncle Changhe asked me to tell you that they've found water." Niu Duzi was very excited, his young face full of smiles.

"It's really surfaced? Quick, quick, let's go take a look." Mo Quan's beard twitched with excitement as he strode forward.

"Let's go take a look too." Madam Wang was also a little excited, her eyes shining, and she led the group forward.

Mo Lan let out a long breath. No wonder everyone was excited. This was the second well they had dug. The first one was dug very deep but they didn't find any water. In the end, they had no choice but to ask an old man in the village to look at the waterline, so they chose this place to dig. If they hadn't found any water, they probably wouldn't have been able to dig a well here. Now that they've found water, how could everyone not be excited?

Mo Lan walked forward with the others. The road was messy, with bricks, tiles, wood and other debris piled up everywhere. You could easily trip over something if you weren't careful. When they arrived at the place where they were digging a well, a lot of people were gathered around, all with smiles on their faces, talking about it.

Mo Lan ran over and stood on a mound of earth to peer inside. The mound was made from soil dug out of a well and hadn't been moved yet. Even with her feet on the ground, Mo Lan still couldn't see clearly, so she had no choice but to jump down and squeeze into the crowd.

What a huge hole! It was so dark you couldn't see anything clearly. Mo Lan was about to run to the hole to take a look when Mo Changhe pulled her back. Mo Changhe, who had been all smiles, now had a stern face and said, "Girl, are you crazy? What if you fall in!"

Mo Lan honestly lowered her head and admitted her mistake. Her father was just worried about her, afraid that she might accidentally fall and get seriously injured.

Alright. Since she couldn't see what was happening below anyway, Mo Lan decided to stop watching the commotion and go back to the backyard to continue eating.

After she finished eating to her heart's content, she found some baking soda and poured it into the large wooden basin for washing dishes. She then picked up a rag and began washing the dishes. Looking at the grease that the baking soda had washed away, Mo Lan nodded in satisfaction. There was no dish soap here; they just washed dishes with water. Because water was inconvenient, some less particular families would simply wipe the dishes with a rag and call it a day. Sometimes there would still be dirt in the bowls, but they would still eat them the next time.

Our family is considered good. Although my mother isn't very particular, at least she wouldn't just wipe it with a cloth and call it a day. She would always wash it with water, and then my aunt would take a rag and wipe it carefully. It wouldn't be super clean, but at least you wouldn't see any dirt.

Mo Lan knew she shouldn't be so particular, but they were opening a shop, and the bowls had to be washed clean.

"Lan'er, why are you washing the dishes? Put them down, Mother will wash them later." Qiu returned with the others and saw her daughter washing the dishes. She was happy but also a little worried. Her daughter had been busy lately and her face had become thin from exhaustion.

"Grandma, Mother, Aunt, you're back! Come and eat, why isn't Grandpa back yet?" Mo Lan didn't stop what she was doing, but carefully washed the dishes.

“Your grandfather is watching the commotion and says he’s not eating anymore. Girl, stop washing up, you should rest too.” Madam Wang also told Mo Lan to stop.

“It’s just a few bowls, it doesn’t matter who washes them. I just poured some baking soda in, and the bowls are so easy to wash now. Look, they’re clean in no time.” Mo Lan held up the bowl in her hand for everyone to see.

“Washing with baking soda is clean, but baking soda is for steaming dry food. Why are you wasting it like this?” Mrs. Qiu said to her daughter, noticing that there was much less baking soda left over.

“Mom, we’re in business. If the dishes aren’t clean, people eating there will feel uncomfortable. Besides, there are all sorts of people eating here. What if someone is sick? What if they get sick if we don’t wash the dishes properly? I’m saying, after washing the dishes, it’s best to scald them with hot water. That way, we can eat with peace of mind,” Mo Lan explained to her mother. There’s no concept of infectious diseases here. With so many people eating, if someone has a contagious disease like hepatitis, that would be terrible. Scalding them with boiling water at least reduces the risk considerably.

“Lan’er is right. We run a food stall, and all kinds of people eat here. Better safe than sorry. It’s better to keep things clean. From now on, let’s keep our own bowls separate so they don’t get mixed up.” Madam Wang was the first to stand up for her granddaughter and suggested that they use their own bowls separately.

Mo Lan nodded. Her grandmother was getting better and better at understanding her. As soon as she opened her mouth, her grandmother basically understood what she meant and picked up on everything she wanted to say. Not bad!

"Okay, from now on I'll scald them with boiling water after washing them." Mrs. Qiu nodded in agreement.

****************

"Dad, Dad, be careful not to fall. Why don't you go back to your room and sleep?" Mo Lan called out to Mo Changhe, because she saw him nodding off. No wonder, Mo Changhe had been exhausted lately. There were so many small things to do while building the house, so many requests, and he was mostly managing everything by himself. Now, even when he took Mo Lan to town to buy things, Mo Changhai or Mo Quan accompanied her. You can imagine how busy he was.

"Hmm, ah, you're done talking? Hehe, I accidentally dozed off." Mo Changhe opened his eyes with difficulty, feeling that his mind was still a little groggy. After dinner, his father said that everyone should sit together and discuss the money from selling steamed buns, and how many steamed buns to steam tomorrow, etc. But he had only listened to two sentences before he fell asleep in a daze.

"That's enough. You should all go back to your rooms and rest. You've all had a long day, and you'll have to work hard tomorrow." Madam Wang waved her hand, signaling everyone to go back to their rooms.

"Has Lan'er decided what to do tomorrow?" After everyone left, Madam Wang asked Mo Lan while spreading out the quilts on the kang.

"I have some ideas. I'll have my uncle accompany me to town tomorrow morning to take a look before making a decision." Mo Lan had actually been considering this matter, but none of them really suited her taste.

"Alright. Go to sleep, you have to get up early tomorrow." Wang laid out the quilt on the kang (heated brick bed), patted it, and gestured for her granddaughter to lie down.

"Mmm," Mo Lan responded, lay down, and soon fell asleep.

Just as dawn was breaking, Mo Lan was woken up by Wang Shi, who handed her a bowl of boiled egg water.

Mo Lan rubbed her eyes, yawned, picked up the bowl, and blew on it as she drank. She cracked the egg into the bowl, held the kettle in one hand, and gently stirred it with the other. The resulting egg drop soup was fine and delicate, very even and pretty. Wang Shi probably added a little bit of rock sugar, giving it a sweet taste.

Mo Lan drank more than half a bowl before she couldn't drink anymore and handed the bowl to her grandmother.

"Are you full?" Wang asked, taking the bowl.

"Mmm, I'm full." Mo Lan patted her belly through her clothes.

"You," Wang said with a smile, then drank the rest of the egg water. When she got to the bottom of the bowl, she saw that there was still some egg stuck to it, so she quickly stirred it with her chopsticks and then put it in her mouth.

Mo Lan felt a pang of sadness. After the family split up, she suggested that everyone eat something in the morning so they wouldn't be on an empty stomach. Wang Shi did as she was told, often cooking some porridge and pickled vegetables for everyone's breakfast. But recently, with the construction of the house, there were many people to eat, and the grain was being consumed at a rapid pace. Mo Lan felt sorry for the family members, let alone the Mo family. But it was the village rule that people had to be fed when they came to work, regardless of whether the food was good or bad.

So, although Wang Shi still had a lot of money left, she couldn't spend it recklessly. Every morning, she would make egg water for the people who were working, as it was nourishing. So she made a bowl for each of her son, daughter-in-law, Mo Quan, and the younger generation. As for herself, she secretly gave her share to Mo Quan and Mo Changhe.