CH 62

Mo Yan didn’t follow her in and waited outside. Chao Zhang came out and asked, “Yan’er, you’ve come here? Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet, I’m accompanying my sister to change her medicine.”

Chao Zhang went back inside and came out again with something in his hand, which he tried to hand to Mo Yan.

She subconsciously dodged, after which he showed her what was in his hand, “These are dried apricots, they’re sour and appetising. My mum says all women like eating them.”

Mrs. Cao came out too, still with a handkerchief by the corner of her mouth, “Zhang’er, don’t speak nonsense! She’s still a girl, how can you call her a woman?” [1]

Cao Zhang refuted, “She’s going to become a woman sooner or later, and didn’t you say you’ve liked eating dried apricots since you were young?”

“How can that be compared to this?”

Mo Yan shook her head at Cao Zhang, “I don’t like sour food.”

“Try it first, you won’t know if you like it if you’ve never had one.”

He put one by her mouth, but Mo Yan didn’t eat it out of his hand. Instead, she took it and said, “Then, I’ll thank the young Mr. Cao!”

She put it in her mouth. It was both sweet and sour, and was also very chewy. But then, Mo Ling came out of the room and saw her eating the dried apricot, and started to berate her, “Are you asking for food again? What did our mother teach you?”

Cao Zhang defended her, “It was just a dried apricot, nothing much. You don’t need to berate Mo Yan like that.”

“It’s a matter of manners, not whether or not it was something expensive.”

Mo Ling dragged Mo Yan out. When she passed the kitchen, she took a look at Mr. Tian, who was helping Ms. Li set the table for dinner.

Mrs. Cao glared at her son, “You just had to force her to accept it!”

Cao Zhang put a dried apricot in his mouth and said, “When she was berating Mo Yan, it kind of looked like you when you’re lecturing me.” [2]

Mrs. Cao stepped into the kitchen and shot a dirty look at Mr. Tian, “It’s the teacher’s fault for a student’s faults. Did you hear what he just said?”

Mr. Tian smiled and gestured for her to sit, saying, “Boys will be boys, there’s no harm in that.”

“You’re coddling him!”

Mo Ling dragged Mo Yan quicker and quicker, until she couldn’t keep up any more, “Sis, slow down a bit.”

Mo Ling flung off her hand before fuming, “Why did you follow me to change my medicine? I bet you just came to beg for something to eat.”

Her sister, who normally loved her to bits, had just scolded her for no particular reason today. Mo Yan couldn’t help but be angry.

“Why are you scolding me and not Mr. Tian? He eats at the Cao family every day. That’s not begging for food, that’s eating for free!”

And saying that, she walked ahead with large steps, leaving Mo Ling behind to fume.

When Mo Yan returned home, Mrs. Liang was preparing dinner. “Why didn’t you make dinner? Where did you run off to?”

Mo Yan huffed and sat down, “I had to go watch Mo Ling change her medicine.”

Judging from how angry she looked, Mrs. Liang could guess what had happened.

“Did she go to the school?”

“She just had to pass the school on the way to the Cao family!”

“Then did she…”

“Thankfully, I caught up with her, but I got scolded by her!”

“Yan’er, I’m lucky you’re so intelligent. We can’t let her get near that Mr. Tian.”

When Mo Ling returned, the two of them didn’t mention him anymore, and they all sat down to eat dinner together.

After washing up, Mrs. Liang took out the clay jar with the drunken dates and put it on the kitchen table. The faint scent of wine and the sweetness of the date diffused into the room.

She took out a handful and stuffed one into Mo Yan’s mouth. It was sweet, with the faint taste of wine, and it was soft without being chewy. It was truly a unique taste.

“Mum, these drunken dates are delicious!”

“I’ll give a bowl to Lu Junming tomorrow. We’ve gotten so much from him, so we have to return the favour somehow.”

“He’ll definitely like this.”

“Give a bowl to your grandma too. She loves drunken dates and reminisces about them every year.”

We have to give drunken dates to that old woman too? If she likes them so much, why didn’t she go help collect them? However, Mo Yan knew there was no use in disagreeing.

The next day, Mo Yan took a few drunken dates before going on her morning run. When she ran to the Lu family and Lu Junming came out, she put one by his mouth and said, “Open your mouth.”

Lu Junming didn’t ask what it was and did as he was told.

“These dates have the taste of wine, it’s really interesting!”

“Does it taste good?”

“Yeah, I’ve never had these before!”

Knowing she had something he’d never tasted before made Mo Yan happy, “It’s a family recipe, so of course you haven’t. They’re called drunken dates, and they’re made by steepling dates into wine. Mum’ll send you some later.”

“Your mum can make a lot of dishes.”

“How about your mum?”

Mo Yan regretted asking as soon as the words left her mouth, and Lu Junming stopped smiling and furrowed his brow, “She can also make a lot, just not what your mum can make.”

The two ran two laps around the pond, with Lu Junming slowing down for Mo Yan, “Yan’er, I want to let my mum live here.”

This was a little hard, and Mo Yan didn’t know how to respond. His mother was a nameless mistress, while he was the heir of the Lu family. Would he be able to recognise her as his mother at all?

Aside from that, Lu Junming currently lived with his grandpa and didn’t have any income. How would he be able to support his mother?

“You need to earn your own money to support your mother.”

“I’ve thought about this. If I want her to live here, I need to find her a place to live. She can’t just live with my grandpa. But I don’t know any trades and can’t even farm. However, there are a lot of things in the Upper Valley which aren’t available here. I might be able to make a profit from selling those.”

Mo Yan’s eyes brightened, and she grew excited, “Yeah! You can open a business in the market. What’s in the Upper Valley which isn’t available here?”

“The Upper Valley has a large swamp, and it’s famous for its lotus seeds and lotus roots. We also have salted duck eggs, and they can compare to the ones your mum makes. Aside from these, we have a lot of seafood and textiles.”

“So make a business selling specialty goods from the Upper Valley. If you start small and your wares are good, you won’t be losing money.”

At the time, transportation was uncommon and information couldn’t flow easily, so people living just two hundred kilometres apart would have very different cultures and produce very different goods. If he sold those, the people here would find it new and unique.

“When you’re free, go check out empty stalls at the market! Don’t start too large and see how it goes. If it goes well, you might be able to support your mother by next year!”

“But I don’t have any startup money!”

Mo Yan pointed at the jade at his waist, “Lu Junming, just the jade on your waist alone is probably worth two hundred dollars at the very least. If you sell it, you won’t be fretting over not having any startup money anymore.”

“But I’ve been wearing this since I was born. My grandpa had this specially carved.”

“Are you not willing to sell it?”

Lu Junming smiled, “I’m willing.”

Post-edit notes: Going from fretting about Lu Junming doing something inappropriate to talking about Lu Junming starting a business…this is another new plot point that can be discussed and expanded upon!

[1] I forgot how…unlikeable Mrs. Cao is.

[2] Is this foreshadowing about the worst-case scenario? Will Mo Ling end up like Mrs. Cao if she continues on like this?