Crossing Over to Yamada Love

When they arrived at Mo Lan's shop, she jumped off the cart and said to Cheng Xiao, "You've picked quite a few mushrooms. Let me put them in this basket for you to take back."

"No, no, I don't want to. You should go back with Grandpa Quan. I should go back for dinner too." Cheng Xiao hurriedly waved his hand to decline. If his parents found out he went up the mountain to pick mushrooms, he would definitely get a severe scolding. He still wanted to spend more time with this girl in the future. Being punished and not allowed to go out would be a loss.

"Alright then, we'll make you mushroom soup when you come back next time, hehe, you should go back now." Mo Lan waved to him and went to the backyard.

"Father, Lanlan, you're back! You must be exhausted. I've already prepared the water, come and wash up." When Qiu saw the two of them return, she hurriedly went to greet them, took the cart from Mo Quan, and pushed it to a corner for them to wash up.

Mo Lan washed herself clean and checked herself. She only had a bite mark on her hand, and everything else was fine. But Grandpa was in a bad situation. He gave the hood to Cheng Xiao, who probably had quite a few bite marks.

"You've picked quite a lot! I was saying mushrooms wouldn't be growing right now. I didn't expect to bring back so many." Mrs. Qiu lifted the mushrooms down and dumped them in the yard, then began to sort them.

There are many broken leaves and dry grass inside the mushroom, as well as the mushroom root, which must be cleaned off with a knife.

"Mother, pick out the small ones and the incomplete ones. We'll make soup with them at noon. The rest we'll dry and stew with chicken in the winter." After instructing her mother, Mo Lan ran to the vegetable garden in front to pick some bok choy.

The cabbages at this time of year are small, just tiny green heads that look fresh and juicy. You pull them out by the roots, wash them clean, and then cut them in half lengthwise.

First, sauté some chopped green onions in a pan, then add some pork belly and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add water and start stewing. Once the water boils, add the stir-fried mushrooms, some potato strips, and bok choy and stew.

Mo Lan ladled out a little of the soup from the big pot and tasted it. It was so fresh and delicious, the flavor was simply irresistible.

If we serve this to the Xue brothers at noon, and then add a three-bar toast and a fried topping, it will definitely smell delicious.

Thinking of this, Mo Lan hurriedly ran to the front and picked eggplants, squash, and peppers.

After washing the potatoes, I added water to the pot, placed the potatoes at the bottom, put a steamer rack on top, and then put the eggplant and squash on top. I also put a few bowls of sauce in the pot. This sauce was homemade and contained chopped green onions, chili flakes, and a little oil. This way, the steamed potatoes will be both spicy and fragrant.

Just as the potatoes were ripe, Qiu Dajun ran over and said that the Xue brothers had arrived. Mo Lan hurriedly told him to take the prepared squash, eggplant, and potatoes over on a tray.

After the dishes were served, Mo Lan walked towards the Xue brothers' private room with a smile, but she was stopped by Steward Xue before she got there.

"Hello, Steward Xue," Mo Lan greeted with a smile.

"Miss Lanlan, can I ask you something?" Steward Xue looked at Mo Lan with a troubled expression.

"What is it? Manager Xue, please speak freely." Mo Lan was puzzled. What could a manager like him possibly need to discuss with her?

"Miss Lanlan, could you please switch the food for the gentlemen with ours? Old Xu and I eat good food every day, but the gentlemen are eating cornbread every day, and today they served us potatoes and squash. They've never eaten anything like that before. Miss Lanlan, please switch it. Or I can secretly give you the money for the gentlemen's meals, and then you can switch it." The steward said helplessly. He knew the master had an agreement with this family that his lunch wouldn't be paid for, but look at what they were serving him—aside from a few good dishes the first couple of days, it was all coarse food. It was hard for the master to eat it.

"Manager Xue, is this the idea of ​​the Xue young masters?" Mo Lan asked Manager Xue gently, not in a hurry.

"The gentlemen didn't say anything, but it was Old Xu and me who couldn't stand it. We are servants, yet we eat better than the masters. What kind of behavior is this!" Steward Xue complained to Mo Lan.

"Manager Xue means well, Lanlan understands, but Manager Xue, think about it, what good food haven't these young masters eaten? Even if our little shop makes the best food, they wouldn't appreciate it. On the contrary, I think they would prefer these country-style dishes. Besides, although these are country-style dishes, they are all good, not necessarily bad. If you really can't stand it, I can go in and change the dishes." Mo Lan spoke from the heart, the truth. No matter how good the food in her shop was, the Xue brothers might not care.

"Then I'll have to trouble Miss Lanlan." Steward Xue bowed slightly, still insisting on changing the dishes.

Mo Lan walked into the partitioned room. The Xue brothers were eating. Xue Lingfeng had just put an eggplant in his mouth after dipping it in sauce; Xue Lingyun had a piece of land in his mouth and was dipping it in sauce. The chubby boy had a large pumpkin on his plate and was putting it in his mouth.

The three of them didn't pretend to be refined when they saw Mo Lan come in; they ate as usual, since this girl was naturally unpretentious.

Mo Lan walked to the table and knelt on the stool. She couldn't stand up because she wasn't tall enough, and sitting down wasn't tall enough either.

She picked up the soup bowl and used a ladle to serve soup to the three of them. After placing the soup in front of them, she said softly, "I picked these mushrooms on the mountain this morning. They taste pretty good. You should try them."

The chubby boy picked up the glass, took a sip, and said, "Not bad, very fresh and bright, with a refreshing aroma. Lanlan picked it, huh? I'll have to eat more later."

Xue Lingfeng and Xue Lingyun both took a sip and nodded. They had never had fresh mushroom soup before. They would occasionally eat chicken stew with mushrooms in winter, but this soup was even more delicious.

"Then you can drink first, and then try this mushroom. I'll take this downstairs to replace your dishes." Mo Lan reached for the plate of squash and potatoes.

"Hey, Lanlan, do you have anything else to eat? Don't take this away! I haven't even eaten the potatoes yet, and I want the squash and eggplant too." The chubby boy took the plate and wouldn't let Molan take it away.

"This? I'd better get you some better dishes instead." Mo Lan knew that Steward Xue was standing outside, and she was also a little embarrassed.

"This is great! The squash is very soft and sweet, the eggplant is sweet inside, the potatoes are delicious, and this sauce is amazing. I've never eaten anything like this before. I want more tomorrow!" The chubby boy said as he picked up another piece of squash and spread the sauce on it.

"Manager Xue, come in." Xue Lingfeng put down his soup spoon, wiped his mouth, and called out to Manager Xue.

"Master," Steward Xue bowed as he entered and called out.

"Your idea?" Xue Lingfeng asked softly, his face expressionless.

“Sir, Old Xu and I eat meat and fish every day, but you eat this. We feel bad about it, so we wanted to ask Miss Lanlan to change your diet. This is all coarse food, not what you should be eating.” Steward Xue didn’t hide anything and spoke his mind.

"What matters to me that I need you to make decisions for? Or do I need your arrangements for everything I need to do?" Xue Lingfeng's voice was not loud, but his words were sharp.

"Sir, I wouldn't dare. I just can't bear to see you eating these things," Steward Xue hurriedly bowed.

"Manager Xue meant well, Fifth Brother, please don't blame him. You should go and eat first. We all enjoy these dishes; they have a unique flavor. Don't make decisions on your own again in the future." Xue Lingyun said with a soft smile, advising Xue Lingfeng before dismissing the manager.

"Fifth Brother, eat quickly, or I'll eat it all!" The chubby boy saw that his two older brothers had stopped eating, so he hurriedly reached for the squash.

"Eat less, this stuff is hard to digest and makes you feel uneasy. Drink more soup," Mo Lan said to the chubby boy, stopping him from eating any more squash. She also pushed the mushrooms a short distance away from him.

"Okay, I'll have the soup. Lanlan wants this soup again tomorrow, it's delicious. These mushrooms are also tasty, I've never had them before." The chubby boy was obedient and started eating the soup and vegetables.

"Who knows if there will be any fresh mushrooms tomorrow? We'll just give you whatever's available tomorrow, no ordering!" Mo Lan rolled her eyes at the chubby boy.

"Lanlan, your family's meals are quite good." Xue Lingyun ate a few bites of mushrooms and drank a few sips of soup, then smiled and said to Mo Lan.

"What? Seventh Brother, Lanlan and the others aren't eating well. I went to check on them the other day. They said they'd give us the same food as them, but that's not true at all. They just eat leftover vegetables mixed together. Sometimes there's no vegetables left, so they just have some soup and rice to soak in, and that's all they make do." The chubby boy said while drinking his soup, describing Mo Lan's family's lunch.

Seeing the gazes cast by Xue Lingfeng and Xue Lingyun, Mo Lan glared at the chubby boy and said fiercely, "You're not allowed to run into our backyard anymore. If you run into the backyard to scout things out again, I'll beat you out with a stick."

"No way! I still want to mooch food in the backyard later, and besides, I want to visit Xiao San'er often. He calls me brother." The chubby boy wasn't afraid of Mo Lan's glare at all; on the contrary, he found her very cute.

“Little San’er calls you brother. You can go to the backyard again in the future. Don’t come empty-handed. Bring some good snacks for San’er or something.” Mo Lan stopped glaring and started to take advantage of the little fat boy.

"Alright, we have plenty of snacks in our household. I'll bring more for San'er next time. What do you like to eat? I'll bring you some too." The chubby boy said generously.

"Mung bean cake, donkey roll, pea flour cake, rose pastry, osmanthus pastry, sesame pastry, peony cake, rose pie, and so on. Just bring about ten pounds, we won't be picky." Mo Lan's little mouth rattled off the names of the pastries as if reciting a rhyme.

Seeing the chubby boy's wide-open mouth, Mo Lan chuckled. This chubby boy was really funny, and she quite enjoyed bickering with him.

"My family doesn't run a pastry shop, so we wouldn't have that many pastries. You little brat, you're always going against me, humph!" The chubby boy snorted, but his eyes were full of laughter.

"Someone's coming from ahead. I'll stop talking to you now and go serve the dishes to the managers." Upon hearing that someone was approaching, Mo Lan said something to the Xue brothers and then stepped out.

"Bring us some of these mushrooms and golden needle mushrooms. Also, bring us a hundred of those two-colored preserved eggs. Ask Manager Xue to calculate the cost." Xue Lingfeng said coldly to Mo Lan as she was about to leave.

"Okay, I'll install it in a bit." Mo Lan replied cheerfully and left.