CH 83

That’s not a very long distance, but neither is it a short distance either. Lu Junming would have rushed back home if he was the only one there, but he still had to factor in Mo Yan’s decision and well-being.

Now she’d said she wanted to rush back home, Lu Junming picked up the pace so they could return as soon as possible.

They arrived at the village at night. Lu Junming got down from his horse first, then went to help Mo Yan.

They had just gotten off when Mo Ling’s voice could be heard, “Mo Yan?”

“Sis!”

The door opened, and Mo Ling saw him helping Mo Yan down from the horse, and asked, “Yan’er, what happened to you?”

“I’m fine, my legs are just numb from being on horseback for the entire day. How did you know that we returned from the Upper Valley?”

“It’s quiet at night, and I could hear a galloping horse. I guess it was you two and went outside. Why did you arrive so late at night?”

“There was just a little more to go, so we wanted to hurry home to avoid being on the road for another day.”

The sound of Mrs. Liang’s coughing came from the courtyard, “That’s right! If you can go back home, why would you bother with camping outside?”

“Mum, why are you outside the house! It’s so cold today!”

“If you know it’s cold, why don’t you hurry up and get inside.”

Mrs. Liang went to return inside, and Mo Ling went to help Mo Yan. Lu Junming handed the package to Mo Ling, “It’s too late, I’ll go back first.”

Mrs. Liang said, “Come inside and warm yourself up first.”

As she was afraid of the cold, there was a stove inside the house.

The Mo family went into their house. Mo Ling put the package onto the kang, and Mo Yan took off her coat. “Mum, we’ve bought a lot of materials, and we’ll find one to make new clothes for you for the New Year. We haven’t bought you already-made clothes from a store.”

Mrs. Liang replied when coughing, “I can’t even leave the house for long, don’t bother with me. Make a set of nice clothes for your brother instead.”

Mo Ling warmed up some leftovers for Mo Yan. The food she was used to having felt more easier to eat than the fish and meat from the restaurant. After drinking some warm congee, she felt warm and she felt calmer than she did before.

“Sis, let’s go to sleep! We have to wake up earlier in the morning tomorrow to clear a place to put our goods in the city. Brother Cheng will probably be there by noon.”

That night, the sisters slept in Mrs. Liang’s room, and Mo Yan told them about what had happened during her trip to the Upper Valley. Lu Junming’s two rotund sisters, his weird friend Chi Jie, his intimidating father, and their conversation at the city entrance.

Mrs. Liang and Mo Ling laughed so hard there were tears in her eyes, “He doesn’t use his dad’s surname but rather his grandpa’s? He doesn’t seem like such a funny person!”

After a night of good sleep, the sisters went to the city early in the morning. Before opening for the day, they went to sweep Ms. Hua’s courtyard.

Ms. Hua came out and asked what they were doing, and Mo Yan replied, “Don’t worry, we’re just clearing space for our imports.”

After sweeping the courtyard and making some racks, they waited for the imports to arrive. They had bought a lot of goods with them this time, and Mo Yan thought about how the supermarkets in her previous life separated their goods by category. This made them easier to find and retrieve.

She told the idea to Mo Ling, who thought it made sense, and they separated the racks into various categories. They left a space along the middle, so they could get inside.

At the very least, silk was a precious commodity and couldn’t be put outside. Ms. Hua’s house had space, but she didn’t know how to store it, so it was ultimately not the best option.

Lu Junming had come over to take a look, and kept on praising Mo Yan for organising it well. When it came to the silk, he had long since made preparations. They’d put it in his mother’s storage room.

Wang Wang the kitten came over, and Mo Yan picked it up. It had grown a decent amount in just half a month. Lu Junming reached out to stroke it, “I feel like you should own a dog too, since people can just enter and exit this courtyard as easily as lifting a finger.”

Ms. Hua was afraid they would no longer rent their courtyard, and rushed to explain, “There aren’t any thieves in this city, and I’ve never heard of anything being stolen by anyone.”

“Not all criminals are thieves, some criminals are much more ruthless than thieves!”

Mo Yan thought about Manager Liang, and her heart chilled, “It seems like we really do need to own a dog. Ms. Hua, when the imports arrive, keep an eye out, and don’t let any strangers inside. No, don’t even let people you’re familiar with in!”

Ms. Hua asked timidly, “What about Mr. Cao?”

“What’s Mr. Cao doing here?”

“It’s nothing. Ok, I won’t let anyone get in, and if they want to speak, I’ll talk to them outside.”

“Yes, immediately tell us if anyone suspicious goes to the front. I’ll pay you.”

“There’s no need, I’m not doing anything anyways. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Zhong Cheng’s caravan arrived at the city at noon. As Mo Ling had business in the storefront, she didn’t go to help them unload the wares.

Mo Yan and Lu Junming instructed the workers on how to categorise and place the wares, paid them, and let them go.

Zhong Cheng was unwilling to trust anyone else with the valuable silks, so he put it all on his carriage. To prevent them from wearing out, he placed two layers of cloth bags underneath and securely covered them with an oil tarp above.

Lu Junming was going to take him to his mother’s storage room when he took out a small box and handed it to Mo Yan, “Yan’er, this is for your sister.”

“Give it to her yourself! She’s in the storefront.”

Zhong Cheng pointed at his unhealed bruises, “It’s not convenient for me to see her right now, can you give it to her first? I’ll come over again in a few days.”

Mo Yan accepted the box, and opened it. Inside was a peach blossom hairpin. Small flakes of pink jade made up the petals, and a pearl made the interior. There was also a tassel made of a string of very small pearls.

“It looks great. Brother Cheng, you really have an eye for this!”

Lu Junming also walked over, and said, “The jade is pretty high-quality. Although it’s just small flakes, this isn’t a cheap accessory!”

Zhong Cheng shook his head and smiled, “It was just two silver taels, not too much. About the amount I earned from this trip.”

She closed the box. “My sister will definitely love this.”

“Your sister has fair skin, which will complement the pink hairpin well.”

Lu Junming sat on the other side of the carriage and led him to his mother’s storage room. Mo Yan brought the hairpin to the storefront, and handed it to Mo Ling when there weren’t any customers around. “Brother Cheng bought this for you.”

“Then why did he ask you to give it to him?”

Mo Yan giggled, “Do you want him to personally gift it to you and put it on?”

Mo Ling glared at her, “I can’t accept a gift from the opposite sex.”

She feigned anger. “This gift was very expensive, and he can’t return it. Besides, he’s already bought it for you!”

It was then that Mo Ling finally took a good look at the hairpin, and couldn’t take her eyes off it. “This hairpin is so beautiful, mum’s silver hairpins can’t compare!”

Mo Yan took it and put it in her bun. A peach blossom was in her hair, and a tassel made of small pearls gently waved by her ear, making Mo Ling’s face even more enchanting.

“Sis, you look great!”

A customer came, so Mo Ling went to help him, and Mo Yan went to retrieve some dried fruits from the back. They forgot to take the hairpin out, and their customers all couldn’t help but take a few more looks at it. Their business was better than usual that day.

The dried fruit was all transported using large straw baskets, and they were padded with a few layers of cotton so the goods wouldn’t be ruined. If a basket held two kinds of dried fruit, the two would be separated with a white cloth.

The cover of the basket was tied to it tightly using rope, so the dried fruit wouldn’t fall out even if they were flipped upside down. What was inside each basket was written on the cover.

Post-translation notes: I have four tests next week, so the chappies may be delayed, but I’ll try my best to get them out. Hopefully, I’ll see you on Wednesday, and thank you for reading!