CH 17

Seeing that Lu Junming didn’t eat much, Mrs. Liang kept asking him if he had eaten enough. But Lu Junming’s mind was filled with the sight of Mo Yan dipping her cornbread in the sauce Mrs. Liang made.

“I’m full. You should give more for Mo Yan to eat, she cut her hand this morning and lost a lot of blood. She needs to recuperate.”

When Mo Yan’s second grandmother came back, Mo Ling already knew that her sister had cut her hand, but she hadn’t had the time to look at it earlier. Now she saw that the bandages on her hand weren’t theirs, and how Lu Junming arrived at lunch instead of dinner, Mo Ling pieced things together.

Mo Ling replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.” She took a piece of bread and handed it to Mo Yan, “Eat more so that you can grow up quickly!”

Mrs. Liang’s face darkened but she didn’t say anything.

After sending Lu Junming away, Mrs. Liang quietly asked Mo Ling, “Do you think there’s something between them?”

Mo Ling replied with a cold face, “You should ask Yan’er.”

“Ask her what? Is there really something going on between them?”

“She’s still young. They’re just two kids playing around, that’s all.”

Mo Yan woke up from her nap as Mrs. Liang was working. When she saw her daughter coming out, she smiled and said, “Yan’er, you’re up. Go and drink some water.”

Mo Yan thought she hadn’t woken up and was still dreaming. When did mum become so concerned about my well-being?

She went to the kitchen to drink some water, and saw that there were no less than ten salted eggs in a basket! When she touched them, they were still warm, so they had only been cooked recently.

At lunchtime, Lu Junming had said he wanted to buy salted eggs, and she had cooked them right away. No wonder she’s being so nice to me – she thinks I’m coming into use.

Mrs. Liang forgot that Mo Yan wasn’t as gluttonous as Mo Feng. She didn’t mention the salted eggs at all and waited for Mrs. Liang to say something.

Mo Yan went to flip the medicinal herbs drying under the shade of the tree, gently brushing the soil off them to the ground. After almost an hour, Mrs. Liang finally couldn’t help herself, “Yan’er, are you still going to the pond today?”

“No, I can’t dig for herbs because my hand is injured, and the ducks are old enough to not need to be checked on anymore.”

“Sir Lu applied medicine to your wound and wrapped it. Shouldn’t you go and thank him?”

Mo Yan had had to go to the Cao’s to thank them after only taking two cooling pills for free from them in the past.

While still working on the herbs, Mo Yan replied, “Ok, I’ll go thank him tomorrow.”

Mrs. Liang thought, It’s almost the end of the afternoon. I have to make dinner soon.

“Didn’t Lu Junming say he wanted to buy salted eggs at noon? Can you bring them to him?”

“Mum, you’re the one who wants to work for the Lu family, not me. You have to ask them sooner or later.”

“But I refused them before, and now I’m going to ask them for a job. If I encounter Mrs. Zhang, there’s no way we won’t get into a fight.”

“If you’re afraid of getting into a fight, there’s no way you’re getting the job!”

“I don’t know if Lu Junming has told his grandfather yet. If he hasn’t, I’d have invited him to lunch for nothing.”

“Then you should go in person to show your sincerity to Sir Lu.”

“Yan’er, then come with me so you can help resolve any arguments. Aren’t you good friends with that Lu Junming boy?”

“Alright, let’s go!”

Mrs. Liang put down her needle and thread, tugged at her slightly wrinkled lapel and went to the kitchen to take out the salted eggs. On the way out, she drove the chickens that hadn’t gone out to try and find food out of the door and closed the gate to prevent them from damaging the drying herbs.

The two arrived after a short walk.

When Sir Lu saw them enter the courtyard, he greeted them with a smile and said, “Xiaosan’s wife, you’re here? Come in and sit down.”

Mo Zhenian’s nickname was Mo Xiaosan. [1]

Mrs. Liang handed him the basket in her hand, “Sir Lu, Junming said he liked the salted eggs I made for lunch, so I cooked a few and brought them to him. This is also to thank you for helping apply medicine and wrap her wound.”

Grandpa Lu took the basket and replied, “You’re too kind, everyone in this village has to help each other out. In the future, when I am gone, I will have to ask everyone to help with my funeral!” [2]

“What are you talking about? You’re so strong and healthy, you’ll live for a hundred years. You have to see Junming get married, no matter what.”

“Thank you for your kind words. I have something to ask you; if you hadn’t just arrived, I’d have asked Ming’er to find you.”

“What do you want to ask me?”

“The daughter-in-law of the Zhang family who used to cook for me and Ming’er is no longer coming, so I was worried about finding a new cook. After lunch, Ming’er came back and said he likes your cooking, so I want to hire you to cook for us. Is eight hundred dollars a month acceptable?” [3]

“Yes!”

Things had gone really smoothly!

Neither Mrs. Liang nor Mo Yan believed Mrs. Zhang had actually left. Lu Junming must’ve told his grandfather.

Mo Yan pointed towards the kitchen, “Mum, the kitchen is over there.”

As she left the kitchen, Lu Junming walked out of his room. He didn’t say anything and just smiled at Mo Yan, who smiled back at him.

Lu Junming knew that Mo Yan wouldn’t stay for dinner, so he asked her to come tomorrow to reapply her medicine. Mo Yan said, “Mr. Cao says I need to do more exercise, so I’ll be running by the pond in the morning. I’ll come to yours to do that after I’m done.”

“Ok, see you tomorrow!”

Mrs. Liang’s cooking skills were much better than Mrs. Zhang. She stir-fried two dishes with ingredients they already had, made two biscuits and cooked some millet rice.

The chunks of vegetables she chopped up looked uniform and the colours of the stir-fried dishes were bright, making them look very appealing.

Mrs. Liang cleaned up the kitchen and said, “Sir Lu, please enjoy your meal. Leave the bowls for me to wash tomorrow and put all the clothes that need to be washed in one place. If there is anything else, ask Junming to call me.”

When she got home, Mo Yan served up the leftovers from lunch for dinner. There was only one piece of white bread left, which Mo Feng grabbed before he sat down.

Mo Ling rolled her eyes at him, “Have you never eaten before in your life?”

Mo Feng took a bite out of the piece of white bread, “If I could eat this every day, would I eat as quickly? It’s because this family is so poor!”

“Then go and earn money! All you do is eat and eat and eat!”

“Why don’t you earn it then? You can’t even harvest wheat for half a day!”

“What about you? You’re fourteen, and you haven’t earned a single dollar for the family! All you do is eat! You’re dumber than Er Dan!” The more she cursed, the angrier she got, and she picked up the broom standing on the wall and swung it at Mo Feng.

Mo Feng tried to block the broom, but it hit his arm and hurt his shoulder. He put his hand over it and cried out, “How dare you hit me! Let’s see if mum deals with you when she comes back!”

While he was talking, Mrs. Liang entered the door and saw her son covering his arm and complaining of pain.

“Did you hit him, you whelp?”

Mo Ling replied without showing weakness, “Yes, I did, and I regret it. I should have broken all four of his limbs. It’s not like he’s going to earn money with them anyways!”

“What are you talking about?” With that. Liang’s slaps fell on Mo Ling’s body. She didn’t move a muscle and just glared at her with anger.

Post-edit notes: And she gets the job!

[1] It’s funny to me, because ‘xiaosan’ means ‘mistress’.

[2] That is some very morbid humour.

[3] That’s almost quintuple the amount Mo Zhenian brings back home!