CH 21

There weren’t any trees by this road. Mo Yan drank some water as she rested in the shade of their wheelbarrow. After a while, she returned to continue working.

Mo Ling was unwilling to stop as she saw the stalks of medicinal herbs right before her eyes. This piece of ownerless land was full of treasures.

They only rested in the shade of the tall weeds and ate some rations for lunch before immediately going back to work.

Mo Ling only decided to leave when it was dark and they couldn’t tell which medicinal herb was which anymore. Their wheelbarrow was piled high with them, and even the baskets hanging by the wheelbarrow’s sides were mostly filled.

She walked in front, pushing the wheelbarrow, while Mo Yan walked behind her. Their clothes were sweaty after all the hard labour they had done, and they clung to their bodies.

They went past the pond, and went uphill back to their home. The wheelbarrow could only go up the hill halfway and couldn’t go any further, so it went the other way. Mo Ling was almost bowled over by it, and Mo Yan was so scared she hurriedly tried to help her sister.

“Sis, careful! Don’t fall over!”

At this time, their neighbour Dagan was carrying a bucket and was about to fetch water from the well. He had to work on the fields during the day or find part-time jobs. He could only do these domestic chores in the very early hours of the morning or late at night.

Dagan saw them and ran over to catch the wheelbarrow and stop it.

“Mo Ling, your family doesn’t have any sheep or livestock, so why do you have so much grass with you?”

Thankfully, it was dark, so he couldn’t clearly tell what was in their wheelbarrow.

Mo Ling replied calmly, “Dagan, are you going to fetch water? There hasn’t been any work for me to do at the fields these past few days, so I decided to fetch some grass to feed lambs we’re planning to buy a few days later!” [1]

Dagan put down his water bucket and helped them push the wheelbarrow uphill. “Next time you need any help with heavy labour, feel free to call me. We’re neighbours after all. Although my mum has a foul mouth, she doesn’t really hold anything against you.”

“Ok! Thank you Dagan.”

Dagan retrieved his water bucket and left, while Mo Ling pushed the wheelbarrow all the way back home. The Mo family home’s door was open, waiting for them to come back home.

After Mo Ling entered, Mo Yan closed the door and locked it.

Mrs. Liang heard noise coming from the door and left the kitchen, “Why did you come back so late? I was worried for you two.”

That was the nicest thing Mo Yan had ever heard Mrs. Liang say up to this point.

Mo Ling put down the wheelbarrow and Mo Yan went to wash her hands. She untied the dirtied bandages on her hand and saw the wound had already clotted over, so she threw them away, hurriedly washed her hands and went to have dinner.

After being busy for an entire day, Mo Yan was ravenous. The biscuits they had today were especially good, and not only did she eat an entire biscuit, she also drank an entire bowl of congee before going to the threshing field to tell stories. She didn’t dare wait any longer.

She did hard labour for an entire day and was very tired. She really didn’t want to tell stories today. However, she made the original storyteller leave, and she felt like she had a duty to tell stories now. Fortunately, she liked telling stories. She didn’t mind not receiving much as long as she made people happy.

Mo Yan stood behind the desk. Before she could say anything, she involuntarily let out a yawn.

Er Dan the village idiot giggled and said, “Sleepy, naptime!”

Cao Zhang walked forward and quietly asked, “Are you tired? If you are, you don’t have to tell stories today. After all, people mostly come here to sit and chat. Listening to stories is just a bonus. Aside from that, you don’t even get a kilogram of wheat for telling stories one night.”

“But I’ve already come here. I know, how about I tell some jokes instead?”

Mo Yan recalled two jokes from her degree in classics in her previous life, made some alterations to make them fit the current historical era, and told them to the audience. [2]

The jokes made everyone burst into laughter. They kept complimenting Mo Yan and saying she was much better than the previous storyteller.

As she thought about the old man who was the previous storyteller, Mo Yan felt a little guilty. After all, she stole his business in this village.

When the governing official of the village came over with the basket to collect food as usual, Mo Yan asked him who the previous storyteller was and how he was faring. He replied, “Oh, he’s a distant relative of mine. He decided to retire not long ago.” [3]

So he was a distant relative of the governing official. He must’ve wanted to earn something by relying on connections, but she ended up taking his business.

“Do you know where he lives? I feel bad for taking his business.”

“No problem. He lives in the Zhao family’s manor roughly three kilometres away.”

Mo Yan vaguely remembered Mrs. Liang talking about that place. There was a clinic there, so she could go check if it needed any medicinal herbs as well.

“Ok, I’ll go there when I’m free.”

“You’re such a nice child!”

“Also, people shouldn’t have to give me any wheat from now on. None of us are well-off, so you should keep your grain for yourselves! From now on, just come here as long as the weather isn’t poor and sit here and chat. It’ll put a lot of pressure off my shoulders to do well. Other people should also be allowed to tell stories too, so we’ll be able to hear many new stories.”

Mr. Tian was the first to agree with this. He had thought about this for a long time, but he wasn’t willing to propose it as he was afraid no one would support him.

The governing official said happily, “Yan’er, you’re young but you aren’t greedy. You’ll go far in life with that attitude.”

When the other people heard they wouldn’t have to give food from now on, they all praised Mo Yan for being generous. The night was still young, so no one was in a hurry to leave. They kept chatting in the threshing field.

Mo Yan turned back to leave, handing Cao Zhang his fan back, “Young Mr. Cao, here’s your fan back! I won’t need it anymore.”

Cao Zhang didn’t have any reason not to take it, and Mo yan bid him goodbye. “I wish you good luck in your future endeavours!”

Cao Zhang nodded and turned to retrieve his lantern.

On the way back home, Mo Yan heard footsteps but assumed it was Lu Junming again and proceeded to ignore them. She only stopped and turned back to look when she heard the footsteps carry on behind her when she entered the doorway and saw Mo Feng.

Mo Yan had never once called him ‘Brother’ after transmigrating over. In her heart, she truly believed that he wasn’t fit to be considered her brother.

Mo Feng didn’t stop and walked past Mo Yan. When he walked past, he said to her, “You’re going to tell stories for free? What’s wrong with you?”

Mo Yan entered and saw Mrs. Liang and Mo Ling sorting medicinal herbs in the courtyard, a lit lantern next to them. The chinese foxgloves were in a large basket and the dandelions were in a large pile next to them.

They couldn’t be exposed to bright sunlight, morning dew, and had to be prepared more meticulously than rations.

Mo Feng immediately told Mrs. Liang about Mo Yan not accepting any wheat after telling stories when he entered the courtyard, and she instantly said, “Then don’t go from now on. Instead of telling stories for nothing, you work more at home instead. Preparing medicinal herbs isn’t very tiring, you can do that.”

Mo Yan guessed she would say that and replied with a sigh, “Mum, living in the village requires some goodwill with other people. We all live close by and see each other all the time, so we have to maintain good relationships with them.”

Post-edit notes: I wish Mo Feng was just kept in the background. He’s much more annoying when he’s actively trying to work against Mo Yan.

[1] This will probably come back to bite them.

[2] Finally! Mo Yan transmigrating is actually mentioned!

[3] He probably has a name but I forgot it.