Crossing Over to Yamada Love

After buying beef, pork, and some seasonings, Mo Lan also bought two large carp. At noon, she planned to stew the fish in an iron pot for the Xue family brothers, with cornbread on top. She guaranteed that the cornbread would be incredibly delicious when dipped in the fish soup.

Huh? Just as Mo Lan was about to leave, she saw a large wooden bucket next to her, which was about half full of dried shrimp. The shrimp were quite big. Were they lake shrimp?

Mo Lan looked up and sized up the boy selling lake shrimp. He was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with long eyebrows, dark eyes, a high nose, and a small, somewhat pale mouth. His eyes also revealed a maturity beyond his years. He wore a dark blue cloth shirt and trousers, which, although not filthy, had several patches. The trousers were rolled up, and he wore a pair of cloth shoes whose original color was indistinguishable, covered with some dried mud.

"How much are these?" Mo Lan asked. Lake shrimp are a good thing. These fresh ones, stir-fried with red chili peppers, are fragrant and spicy, and perfect with rice.

"Do you want them all?" The boy initially didn't want to pay attention to Mo Lan because she was a child and he was afraid she would cause trouble. But when he looked at the two big fish in Mo Lan's hand, he had some hope, so he asked her if she wanted them all.

"I'd be happy to take them all if they're cheap," Mo Lan said with a friendly smile.

The young man pondered for a long time. He rarely sold his shrimp. Wealthy families didn't care to eat them, and poor families thought they were too expensive. If they had money, they would rather buy fish and meat. What was the point of eating shrimp?

"If you want them all, it's three coins a pound. No less. If you find five pounds in this bucket, it'll be fifteen coins for you." The boy thought for a long time before finally speaking.

Three coins a pound? Mo Lan was stunned. How could such good stuff be so cheap! Then she realized that the people here probably didn't like this stuff and thought it wasn't worth eating.

"Sure, but you'll have to lend me this bucket, otherwise I can't take it back. By the way, do you only have fresh shrimp? Do you have any dried ones?" Mo Lan asked the last question unintentionally.

"I also have dried ones, do you want them?" The young man breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the other party wanted them all. When the other party asked about dried ones again, he was really glad that he had dried all the ones that he couldn't sell before, and he had accumulated quite a lot.

"Yes, I want some dried too. Is your home far away? Why don't you bring me some dried too?" Mo Lan hurriedly said she wanted some when she heard there was dried food.

The boy frowned. His home was quite far away. He only came here to sell fish because most of the families who bought fish set up their stalls in this area.

"It's a bit of a walk, but I can run to get it. Can you wait a moment?" The young man rarely encountered someone buying from him, and he wanted to close the deal.

“Why don’t we go together? I came by oxcart. You see, it’s more convenient that way. We can go straight back after we buy what we need,” Mo Lan said to the boy, pointing to the oxcart beside her.

The boy instinctively wanted to refuse, but he swallowed his words. He thought the girl didn't seem like a bad person, and the oxcart was full of meat. His family was so poor, she wouldn't want anything from him. After thinking it over, he nodded slightly.

The boy, carrying a bucket, followed Mo Lan to the oxcart and placed the bucket on it.

"Lanlan, did you buy these shrimp?" Old Liu looked at the bucket and asked Molan.

“Yes, Grandpa Liu, let’s go with him to his house now, buy some dried shrimp, and have him sit in the front to give directions.” After saying that, Mo Lan got into the car and sat down.

The boy had originally planned to walk ahead, but after hearing Mo Lan's words, he lowered his head and then walked towards Old Liu.

"Hold on tight, we're going." Old Liu tugged on the reins, calling for the two to sit tight, and the oxcart clattered away.

Guided by the boy, they parked the car at a dilapidated doorway. Mo Lan looked around and thought to herself: Sure enough, this boy's family is not well-off. Although it is not the poorest slum in the area, it is not much better.

The boy pushed open the two dilapidated doors, removed the threshold, and let Old Liu drive the car inside. There was too much meat in the car, and parking it outside would be too conspicuous.

"Who is it?" Mo Lan was looking around the courtyard when she heard a voice coming from inside the house.

"It's me, Mom. Don't get off the kang (heated brick bed). I'll be right back in a bit." The boy called out into the house and went into a small hut next door.

Mo Lan looked around. The courtyard wasn't large. There was a row of green vegetables, two main rooms, and a small room. The houses were quite old, and there was basically nothing else besides these.

A moment later, the boy came out carrying a bag, showed the contents of the bag to Mo Lan, and said, "These are things I couldn't sell before, so I dried them up. Do you think they're okay? If they are, you can give me an estimate. I don't have a scale at home, so I can't weigh them."

Mo Lan reached into the cloth bag and rummaged through the shrimp. They were probably all lake shrimp that had been dried. They were very dry and looked quite good in color. The ones at the bottom weren't moldy either.

“Okay, how about I give you thirty coins for all of these in the bag, young man?” Mo Lan’s price wasn’t high.

The young man hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the main room, gritted his teeth, and said, "Could we add some more? This isn't just ten pounds of dried shrimp."

"Is the lady feeling unwell?" Mo Lan didn't continue discussing the price, but instead asked the woman who had spoken earlier.

"You don't need to worry about it!" The young man instantly exuded a fierce aura, as if Mo Lan had stirred up a hornet's nest.

Mo Lan narrowed her eyes slightly, but she wasn't angry. The boy in front of her was going through a rebellious phase. His family was poor, and he had a strong sense of self-esteem, so when others asked him questions, he would feel sorry for him or have some ulterior motives, and he would act like a chicken with its feathers standing on end.

The boy's face was grim. He watched as the smile on Mo Lan's face disappeared. He knew he was wrong. She had only asked him with good intentions, but he had treated her like this. And she was just a girl. Would she not buy his family's shrimp? No way! Mother was waiting for the money to see the doctor and get medicine.

"Um, I didn't mean it, I hope you won't take offense. Just give me the money as you said." The boy's face was a little pale, and it seemed to take all his strength to say these words.

“Young man, I can give you the money if it’s a bit more. Since you know you were wrong, I won’t blame you. You’ll definitely use the money to get a doctor and medicine for your aunt, right? Medicine is expensive, and these few dozen coins won’t be enough to cover it all. So I thought I’d ask your aunt what’s wrong and see if there are any folk remedies that can cure it.” Mo Lan didn’t blame him; her goal was to help the young man.

"You know medicine?" The young man looked at Mo Lan with some doubt.

“Young man, I don’t know anything about medicine. I’m talking about folk remedies. My uncle took medicine for many years without getting better, but he was cured by a folk remedy. If you don’t believe me, ask Grandpa Liu.” Mo Lan pointed at Old Liu.

"Yes, Lanlan's uncle used to be bedridden. Doctor Chen took care of him and he took medicine for many years. Later, I heard that a folk remedy cured him. Although he can't do heavy work now, he can walk around without any problems." Old Liu was also very excited when he mentioned this. He now also believed in folk remedies for curing serious illnesses.

"What kind of folk remedy is it? Can you tell me?" The boy's eyes lit up when he heard what Old Liu said, and he hurriedly asked Mo Lan.

“Young man, everyone’s illness is different. The folk remedy that cured my uncle may not be suitable for my aunt. You need to tell me what illness my aunt has so I can know if it’s appropriate.” Mo Lan knew that this young man was grasping at straws in his desperation.

"Xuan'er, bring the people in. Mother is getting up." Before the boy could speak, a weak voice came from inside the room, clearly indicating that the person inside had heard them.

"Come in with me." The young man named Xuan led Mo Lan into the house.

The room was somewhat dark, with a dilapidated table, a few broken stools, and a large earthen bed with two worn-out quilts on it. A woman was leaning against the quilts.

Mo Lan sized up the woman. Her hair was simply coiled at the back of her head, with some loose hair in front, probably because she was lying down. She had willow-leaf eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes with fine lines at the corners, a straight nose, and a small, pale mouth. She was very thin, with pale, bloodless skin, clearly someone who had been ill for a long time.

She was dressed in light blue clothes, which were covered with patches. The boy hurriedly went over to support her, helped her adjust the quilt on the kang (a heated brick bed) so that she could lean back more comfortably, and asked, "Mother, are you dizzy? If you are, you should lie down."

The woman gave a weak smile and said, "It's nothing, please sit down. And who is this young lady?"

"I came to buy shrimp. I heard that you were sick, so I came to check on you. Please don't be offended, Auntie," Mo Lan said with a bright smile.

"She's a good girl. I'm sorry you had to see her like this, I'm not feeling well. Come and sit on the kang." The woman gently patted the kang, gesturing for Mo Lan to sit down.

Mo Lan didn't stand on ceremony. She climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), sat down, and asked, "Auntie, where do you feel unwell?"

"Sigh." The woman sighed softly.

The young man continued, “After my father passed away, my mother worked hard to raise me. She toiled every day and ruined her health, but she refused to see a doctor and kept putting it off until she fainted while working three years ago. Only then did we call a doctor. The doctor said that she had worked too hard and her body was not getting enough nutrition. He said that she couldn’t nourish her blood and told my mother not to work so hard anymore and to take better care of herself and nourish her body.”

"Mother agreed verbally, but behind my back she went back to work. She's fainted several times in these three years, and later she simply couldn't do any work anymore; she felt dizzy as soon as she stood up. I had no choice but to let Mother lie in bed every day. Mother's health requires doctors, medicine, and meticulous care, but as you can see, we don't have the money for all that. I'm just useless." The boy's eyes reddened as he spoke.

The woman gently patted the back of his hand and smiled lovingly, saying, "Xuan'er, don't blame yourself. Haven't you been taking care of your mother all these years? You had to go out to earn money, cook, and do all the washing and cleaning for your mother. It's your mother who has let you down and burdened you, making Xuan'er suffer."

"Mother, please stop talking." The boy quickly interrupted his mother, kneeling down to stop her from continuing.