CH 47

Maybe it was because she ran every morning, or maybe it was because she could eat meat and eggs. During this time, Mo Yan’s face became rosier, and she hadn’t gotten sick once.

She and her sister went to do business every day, while Mrs. Liang took Mo Feng to dig for medicinal herbs. The life of the Mo family was peaceful for a few days.

When they came back from town, they could smell the smell of stewed meat as soon as they returned home. When they passed through the back yard, the smell became stronger.

Mo Yan couldn’t help but look inside. Their second grandmother was not in the yard, but the door to her house was open, so she should be there.

A bench was placed at the entrance of the north house, and their grandmother was sitting there. There was smoke from the kitchen constantly coming out of the house, and the smell of the braised meat came from there.

A woman almost in her fifties came out of the house, “Mum, the smoke is gone, come in!”

This was her daughter, or Mo Yan and Mo Ling’s aunt.

Mo Ling’s face was gloomy, and her tone was colder than usual, “Yan’er, go home quickly.”

They couldn’t watch others eat, let alone beg for food. This is what Mrs. Liang taught them. But this is our grandma! So why is my sis’ reaction so large?

When they went to the front door, they saw Aunt Zhang, who smiled and said, “Yan’er, your grandma’s braising meat! Why aren’t you eating some?” [1]

Mo Ling hurriedly replied, “Our family has no shortage of meat.” After that, she asked Mo Yan to open the door, and Aunt Zhang went home.

Mrs. Liang was not there, so Mo Feng was working on the medicinal herbs under the tree, but he was impatient and messily rummaged through the medicinal herbs in the basket.

Seeing them return, Mo Feng stood up and asked, “What did you buy?”

While sorting the herbs, Mo Ling said, “Mum didn’t allow us to buy anything, did she? The last time we bought that pig skin and lard, she yelled at us for half an hour!”

Knowing that he smelled braised meat and wanted some, Mo Ling said, “Today we’ll have noodles, with fried bean sauce, pork lard and eggs.”

They bought some pork lard last time, and had used the residue for dumplings. They were reluctant to have it every day, and only added a little from time to time.

Mo Ling scooped up white flour and began to knead the noodles. Mo Yan went to the fields to get some beansprouts, and washed them.

As soon as Mrs. Liang entered the door, she could smell the fragrant fried bean sauce, and the smell of meat from the backyard. She didn’t complain this time but said, “You should’ve waited for me to come back first, you might have ruined something.”

It was rare for them to eat lo mein twice a year. Mo Feng ate two large bowls. He didn’t stop until he was completely full, and even Mo Yan ate most of half of the bowl. Mo Ling and Mrs. Liang each only ate half a bowl, and took half a piece of bread and dipped it in fried bean sauce. Finally, they each drank half a bowl of soup, which was barely enough to sate them.

Although he was full, Mo Feng was still unsatisfied, “People who don’t do anything get to eat meat, and people who work hard can’t even drink meat broth. Why?”

Mo Ling covered her mouth with a smile and said, “Talk about yourself! You work the least and eat the most out of all of us.”

Mo Feng rolled her eyes at her, “I was talking about the one in the backyard.”

“She raised a good son! Her son gives her money so she can eat meat. Will this be the case in our family in the future?”

Mo Feng didn’t want to answer, so he went back to the house hiccupping. Mrs. Liang didn’t forget to instruct him to not lie down while he’s full.

After returning to their room, Mo Yan asked Mo Ling and found out that today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and their aunt came back to burn paper money for their grandpa. The Qingming Festival would be another day where they would make braised meat.

Ever since she had her master’s books, Mo Yan’s life has been much better. Whenever she has time, she’d take one out to read, and then tell a story after a few improvements.

Actually, storytelling really was a pleasure for her. If it wasn’t for this, all she could do was sleep when it was dark. She’d grow bored very quickly.

Mo Yan read for a while and then fell asleep. When she woke up, her sister and mother were washing wheat in the courtyard.

There wasn’t much white flour left at home, so they had to hurry up and make some more.

The two washed the wheat several times in a large wooden basin, scooped it with a sieve, then spread a mat on the ground and put the washed wheat on it to dry. Mrs. Liang didn’t dare to leave for a moment and stared at it for fear that the chickens would peck at it.

Seeing that Mo Yan had woken up, she let her watch the chickens. Mo Yan took her book, moved a small stool and sat in the shade of the nearby tree, holding a small wooden branch in his hand. As soon as any chickens approached, they were driven away by it.

Fortunately, the weather was hot, and the washed wheat had almost dried in half a day. They put it in the house at night. Because it was going to be grinded tomorrow, they didn’t need to put it in a bag, and just put it in a large basket and carried it into the house.

The next day was market day, so the Mo sisters came back later than usual. Mrs. Liang and Mo Feng didn’t go to dig up the medicinal herbs, because the wheat washed yesterday hadn’t fully dried yet, and it was placed in the yard to dry. Someone had to watch it.

There was an open space between Mo Yan’s house and where her grandmothers lived, with a tree and a millstone. There is also a pile of firewood next to it, picked up by the second grandmother. The old woman didn’t let her put it in the yard, so she had to pile it here and come out to get it when she was cooking.

In the afternoon, Mo Ling fetched water to wash and dry the millstone, then she pushed the basket of wheat over with a cart.

Mrs. Liang took a bag to store the white flour as well as a brush and dustpan, and called Mo Feng and Mo Yan to help turn the millstone with them.

This work wasn’t particularly tiring, but it required endurance. It took a lot of turns of the millstone to grind white flour out.

This work wasn’t something they did every day. Mo Feng felt that it was interesting, so he rushed to help push the millstone.grinder. Mrs. Liang spread the washed wheat evenly on it, and Mo Ling and Mo Feng pushed it together. If wheat was about to be pushed out of the millstone, Mr. Liang used a small brush to sweep it back in.

After turning the millstone an untold amount of time, a white powder was finally created. Mrs. Liang picked up a pinch, looked at it carefully, and said, “Okay, let’s take a break! I’ll go collect the white flour.”

She swept the powder on the millstone into a pile and put it into the bag. This was white flour.

Mo Yan’s second grandma heard the sound of the millstone being turned outside and came out to talk to them. She didn’t like visiting on weekdays, and it is rare for her to get to chat with people, so she simply sat by her pile of firewood and talked to them.

“Looks like our Feng’er is about to grow into an adult,” she said.

Mrs. Liang said with relief, “Yeah! He will be fifteen after the new year, and doesn’t that make him an adult? He’s also considered tall in his school.”

“Yan’er looks much better recently, and her face has turned rosy.”

This time, Mo Ling answered, “She gets up early to exercise every day. Recently, her complexion has improved a lot, but she still has a small appetite. Yesterday, she didn’t even eat a bowl of noodles, while Feng’er had two bowls.”

Post-edit notes: We haven’t seen Mo Yan’s second grandma in a hot minute!

[1] Isn’t she still hostile towards the Mo family for stealing her business?