Crossing Over to Yamada Love

As soon as Mo Lan entered the partition, she saw Xue Lingyun's smile. She was stunned for a moment. That smile was like a gentle spring breeze, warming people's hearts and making them feel comfortable.

Mo Lan quickly composed herself, thinking to herself: No wonder they say handsome men can be dangerous. These two young masters from the Xue family are both prodigies and should not be approached.

"Greetings, three young masters Xue. The dishes are here. Are you satisfied?" Mo Lan said, pulling Xiao San'er to stand aside as she watched Mo Changhe and Qiu Dajun serve the dishes.

The three Xue brothers stared in disbelief at the dishes on the table. They didn't recognize many of these dishes. What was going on? Were there any they didn't recognize?

Mo Changhe and Qiu Dajun said "enjoy your meal" and left, leaving Mo Lan and Xiao San'er there to keep them company, as Mo Lan had to provide explanations.

Mo Lan didn't speak first, but waited with a smile for the three of them to ask questions.

"Is this an egg? Why is it yellow and black? I've never seen one before!" The chubby boy couldn't help but ask first.

"These are made from eggs. The yellow ones are called 'biandan' (century eggs), and the black ones are called 'pidan' (century eggs). This dish is called 'two-color pidan' (two-color pidan). The reason why the yellow ones are called 'biandan' is because it means that they are transformed from eggs. As for why the black ones are called 'pidan'..." Mo Lan said with a smile.

The adorable little girl blinked her big eyes and replied, "Because it comes from eggshells."

"Haha, that's just kidding, well said." The chubby boy couldn't help but laugh, and suddenly felt a great liking for Xiao San'er. Even Xue Lingfeng and Xue Linglei's eyes were filled with smiles. The childish baby was very cute.

Mo Lan smiled and patted Xiao San'er's head, saying, "San'er is right, it's just that it's mischievous."

"Not bad, not bad. What about this? What kind of meat is this shredded? Why is there so much chili shreds? Can I still eat it?" The chubby boy asked, pointing to another plate.

“This is shredded beef, it smells really good, you can’t eat spicy food.” Mo Lan drew out the “ah” at the end, looked at the little fat boy’s slightly droopy face, found it very funny, and added, “These chili pepper strips are made from sweet peppers, they’re not spicy.”

"You little rascal, you're just trying to trick me. But as long as it's edible, that's fine. So what's this?" The chubby boy wasn't annoyed and pointed to another plate, asking.

"This is called Guo Bao Rou (sweet and sour pork), it doesn't taste good, you don't need to eat it, it's for Young Master Xue the Fifth and Young Master Xue the Seventh," Mo Lan said seriously with a straight face.

The chubby boy looked at the plate of meat with some hesitation. The outside of it didn't look like meat; it must have been fried. It looked quite tempting, so why didn't it taste good?

"Sister, it's delicious! The meat is so good, it's sweet!" Little San'er tugged at Mo Lan's sleeve, frowning, not understanding why her sister said the meat wasn't good.

"Ha, you little brat, you're trying to trick me again. I'm not falling for it. I'll eat it right now and show you." The chubby boy knew he'd been fooled, and defiantly picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and took a bite.

"It's delicious, a little sweet, and very crispy. This plate is mine now, Fifth Brother, Seventh Brother, don't take it!" The chubby boy finished a piece in a few bites, pulled the plate in front of him, and protected it with both hands.

Mo Lan smiled at him, a gentle smile. The reason she associated with these young masters of the Xue family was because they were unpretentious, especially the chubby boy who was very genuine when no one was around.

"No one's going to take it from you, Lanlan, so what's this plate?" Xue Lingyun glanced at the chubby boy with amusement, then asked Mo Lan.

"This dish is called 'Home-Style Tofu,' it's tofu coated in egg and deep-fried. Try it." Mo Lan looked at the plate of tofu, thinking: I made quite a lot earlier, and there's still a lot left. I ate it with my family for lunch. This stuff takes quite a bit of work to make. First, you have to cut the tofu into thin, even slices, then coat each slice in egg and fry them until golden brown. Then, you stir-fry some evenly marbled pork slices in a pan, add the tofu, stir-fry again, and finally pour on the prepared sauce before serving. This sauce is also very important; if it's seasoned well, the flavor is absolutely delicious.

"This is bone broth, and here are three vegetarian buns and three meat buns. I wonder if you gentlemen are satisfied?" Mo Lan asked, pointing to the buns and soup.

"I'm satisfied. I've never eaten any of these dishes before. Is this your family's recipe?" The chubby boy asked Mo Lan without any politeness, while eating the food.

"Yes, they're all family heirlooms. And those two over there, would you like the same dishes as here, or just steamed buns and soup?" Mo Lan asked. The two over there were probably the Xue family's coachman and steward, and they were sitting alone.

"Go ahead and do what you think is best, just remember to collect the money from them," Xue Lingfeng said calmly. This was his first sentence upon entering the room, and his aloof demeanor remained unchanged, making him unapproachable.

"Alright, you guys eat, we're going out now." Mo Lan smiled and led Xiao San'er out.

The three members of the Xue family picked up their chopsticks, tasted the dishes, and were quite satisfied. The aloof Xue Lingfeng thought to himself: That girl will definitely serve Steward Xue and the others the best food, she will never serve steamed buns, otherwise how will she make money?

After having Qiu Dajun serve the dishes to the Xue family's steward and coachman, Mo Lan felt her ears getting hot and thought to herself: Could it be that the Xue family's young masters are talking about me?

Actually, there was a reason why Mo Lan prepared new food for the Xue family instead of ordinary food today. She wanted the Xue family to pay more attention to her shop so that they could seek her help if they encountered big trouble in the future. Since her family was a farming family without power, Mo Lan had to think more carefully.

"Lanlan, Young Master Xue and the others are leaving. How are we going to settle this score?" Qiu Dajun came to find Molan again.

Mo Lan pointed to a small bamboo basket on the ground, covered with a small blue floral cloth, and said, "Just collect the money from the manager's table, and continue to do so in the future. We'll provide meals for Young Master Xue. Also, there are fifty two-colored preserved eggs in here. Take them and give them to the manager, saying they're for the Xue family to try."

"Okay. I'm going out now." Qiu Dajun replied, picked up the basket, and quickly walked out.

"Lan'er, would the Xue family accept our preserved eggs? Who said it's a fresh food? It's still made from eggs. Do those wealthy families even care?" Qiu was a little flustered. In her mind, the Xue family was too powerful for her, a peasant woman. It wasn't that she felt bad about giving away eggs for free, but she was afraid that people wouldn't care.

"Mother, as long as we mean it, that's enough. We'll feel more at ease if they want it, and if they don't, we'll sell it ourselves. Don't overthink it," Mo Lan comforted her mother.

"Yes, Mother is just nagging. Alright, someone's coming from ahead, Mother's going to get busy too." As soon as she heard voices coming from ahead, Qiu hurried off.

Mo Lan also walked forward. Now that the Xue brothers had finished eating, she could start selling her two-colored preserved eggs. In this kind of weather, slicing a plate of preserved eggs, adding some finely chopped green chili peppers, and pouring in some salt and vinegar makes them smooth and refreshing to eat.

The three young masters of the Xue family and the steward had already left. After they went out, the craftsmen behind them began to discuss among themselves:

"I didn't expect the young masters of the Xue family to be dining here too. It seems the food at the Mo family's restaurant is truly excellent!"

"The young master of the Xue family is indeed handsome. Look at his appearance and demeanor; we can't compare to him."

"Yes, if I had good parents, I wouldn't have to suffer like this."

.........

"Uncles and elders, we have a new dish called Double-Colored Century Eggs. The young master of the Xue family just tried it and said it was delicious. He even took a lot back to his elders. Would any of you uncles and elders like to try some? They're one coin each, and you can buy two or more at a time. You can also pool your money to buy together. If you want some, just let us know the number you're interested in." Mo Lan cleared her voice and began to call out to the crowd.

"Let's have three at the table."

"We'll have two."

"Give us five."

When everyone heard that the young master of the Xue family said it was delicious, and they also saw that the steward of the Xue family had just gone out with a basket, they all started shouting that they wanted some.

After responding, Mo Lan went to the back and started peeling the preserved eggs and century eggs.

**********

Mo Lan got up early in the morning. Today she was going to go to town with Old Liu to buy meat. She was thinking of making some special dishes for the Xue brothers for lunch in the future. They didn't have to be expensive, as long as they were unique and made people satisfied.

Sitting in Old Liu's car, she looked at the fields on both sides of the road. The fields were now mostly rice and corn. The rice was doing well, but the corn was very tall, with ears of corn hanging down, some with one, some with two. It looked pleasing. The soil here is so good, so fertile, otherwise two ears of corn would definitely not have grown.

"Grandpa Liu, are there enough vegetables in your garden to eat?" Mo Lan chatted with Old Liu, who had nothing else to do.

"That's enough to eat. We have a big vegetable garden at home, and we grow a lot of vegetables. What? Isn't yours enough? I'll go back and have Dashengzi send some over to you." Old Liu had clearly misunderstood Mo Lan's meaning.

"Grandpa Liu, that's not what I meant. I meant that if you can't finish your vegetables, you can sell them to our shop. That way, we'll have some income."

"What are you saying, girl? Your shop uses Grandpa Liu's oxcart every day now, and he pays you a lot of money. My wife just told me the other day that things are much better at home. Right now, all the vegetables in everyone's gardens are ripe and cheap as can be. Why should we have to pay you for a little bit of vegetables?" Old Liu was a very honest man, which was why Mo Lan's family used him. When they were busy, they often asked him to help buy meat, and Old Liu had never shortchanged them on money.

"Grandpa Liu, you see, my family runs a shop, so we definitely need a lot of vegetables. If we run out, we'll have to go to town to buy more. Buying from strangers is never as reliable as buying from close relatives. In a few days, the vegetables will be almost all ready for harvest. Could you ask my aunt to cut some green beans for us, dry some eggplant, and some red peppers? In a few more days, she can dry some potatoes for us too. We'll buy all of these. They're not much more expensive than fresh ones. This way, my aunt will have something to do, and the family will have some income." Mo Lan explained her idea clearly to Old Liu.

"Sure, your aunt's knife skills are pretty good. I'll tell her when I get back today. Your family is so honest; they always rush to tell Grandpa Liu about any good things. I won't stand on ceremony with you. Just let me know when you need anything." Old Liu spoke sincerely. Ever since the Mo family opened their shop, he had been driving the cart for them, earning a fixed income every day. It was much better than the few trips he used to make to town. Now, with his daughter-in-law chopping, drying, and selling vegetables, life would only get better and better. And all of this was thanks to the Mo family, which he always remembered.