CH 84

Mo Yan struggled to remove the cover of the basket to no avail, and finally asked Ms. Hua to grab a knife to cut off the rope.

She replied from the kitchen, probably as she was making dinner. She swiftly ran over with a knife, and ran back just as swiftly as Mo Yan was just about to ask her to see if she liked anything and to take some for Zhao’er. It seemed like she couldn’t keep her eyes off the fire for very long.

As she looked at the bright fruits, Mo Yan started fretting. The salted vegetables they sold in the past could just be stored in small bowls. How would they display these dried fruits?

While she was contemplating this and staring at the dried fruits, Ms. Hua grabbed a large bowl out of the kitchen and carefully left while holding it.

Where was she bringing her meal? Or was it for Zhao’er?

After she had gone for a while, Zhao’er bounced back home excitedly. When he saw Mo Yan, he bowed in greeting, “Big sis, I’ve come back for lunch, have you had yours yet? How about we have lunch together?”

“Zhao’er, didn’t your mum bring your lunch over to the clinic? Why are you here?”

“That’s for my master, I’m eating back home.”

After saying that, he rushed into the kitchen, and Ms. Hua arrived back home a few moments later, “Yan’er, I made noodle soup today. Would you like a bowl? It’s hot, and it’ll warm you up.”

Mo Yan replied, “There’s no need, I’m eating with my sister later. Could you grab a bowl so I can give Zhao’er some goods to eat.”

Ms. Hua shook her head repeatedly, “There’s no need, I can’t accept your generosity.”

“It’s just a few dried fruits for you two to try.”

She grabbed a small bowl, and Mo Yan selected a few types of dried fruits and jerkies, mixing them in the bowl. After grabbing a handful for her sister, she gave the rest to them.

Mo Yan went to the road and saw Zhong Cheng in his carriage. Although he had his back facing hers, she could recognise him. “Brother Cheng, are you going back home?”

He turned his head to the side, “What are you doing? Don’t call my name!”

Immediately following was Mo Ling’s voice coming from the storefront, “What are you doing? Why have you been avoiding me?”

By this point, he could avoid her no longer, and Zhong Cheng could only get out of his carriage dejectedly. Mo Ling raised her head and saw his bruised face, and asked, “What happened?”

He didn’t know what to do and started stammering, “I-I uh…got-got into a fight-”

As she looked at his flustered appearance, Mo Yan couldn’t help but feel pity for him, “Brother Cheng, relax, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

Mo Ling’s face darkened, and she asked, “Then why did you get into a fight? Who did you get into a fight with?”

Due to her anger, her face had the faintest hint of red, and the tassel of her hairpin by her ear was gently waving in the ear. Zhong Cheng couldn’t stop himself and said dumbfoundedly, “Mo Ling, you look stunning!”

She had come out of the storefront and started questioning him, “Tell me who you got into a fight with right this instant!”

As she had left the storefront in a hurry, she had forgotten to put down the kitchen knife in her hand. Zhong Cheng was so scared he hid behind his carriage, “You-what are you doing? Are you going to stab me or who are you going to stab?”

Standing by the side of the road while holding a kitchen knife was absolutely shrewish behaviour, but it didn’t affect her beauty in the slightest. Mo Ling finally noticed the kitchen knife in her hand and hid it behind her back. “I’ll stab the person who hurt you first, as what grudge do they hold against you to beat you up so badly? Then, I’ll stab you, for antagonising them to that point in the first place.”

Mo Yan shoved a piece of dried fruit in her sister’s mouth, “He’s innocent. He was just too enthusiastic to gain new customers in the Upper Valley, and caught the attention of the local caravaners. He’s really not to blame for this. Because of the fact he gave you such a nice hairpin, please forgive him!”

Mo Ling finally realised she was still wearing Zhong Cheng’s hairpin and hurriedly took it off before handing it back to him, “It’s too expensive, I don’t want it.”

Zhong Cheng smiled, “Keep it! It looks nice on you.”

“Yeah sis, accept it!” Mo Yan took the hairpin before putting all of the remaining dried goods in Mo Ling’s hands. “Try if these taste good, we need to figure out how to display these.”

He was about to leave when Mo Ling spoke, “How will you explain your injuries to your parents? Won’t they be worried for you?”

She was used to how Mrs. Liang treated Mo Feng when he was injured. If Mo Feng had been beaten up like this, she would be so worried she couldn’t eat for two days.

Zhong Cheng replied disdainfully, “What kind of man hasn’t been bruised while growing up before? It’s not the first time I’ve come back home injured. At worst, they’ll just scold me for a bit, it’s no big deal.”

Mo Yan put the hairpin somewhere secure before asking, “Brother Cheng, the pond in our village has frozen over. Has the river in yours frozen over too?”

“No, the waters move too quickly for that. At most, the sides might have some ice. Why?”

“The pond in our village has completely frozen over, and our ducks have nowhere to go during the day. They’re just lazing around at home and also need to be fed. I think my mum will probably cook all of them soon at this rate.”

“Then do you want me to bring them to my house?” Zhong Cheng asked.

“Yeah! Take them!”

“You’ve been taking care of them since they were ducklings, are you really willing to let me do this?”

“I don’t have the time to take care of them, and I’m scared my mum will actually cook them. Even if we foist them off to you, you’ll send us the eggs they lay, right?”

Zhong Cheng rushed to Chenzhong Village to take all of the ducks, while the sisters had more egg wraps for lunch. When she thought of the noodle soup Ms. Hua said she made, Mo Yan couldn’t help but sigh, “It’d be even better if there was a hot bowl of noodle soup. It’d really warm us up.”

“That’s not hard. We have a pot and a stove, I’ll make it for you.” [1]

“It’s fine, don’t bother. Ms. Hua offered a bowl to me earlier, but I declined. I saw her send a large bowl over to Mr. Cao.”

At this time, Zhao’er carried a large bowl from the clinic back home.

Mo Ling looked at his silhouette, “She’s a really caring person, isn’t she.”

Mo Yan started planning how to display the dried fruits, and decided to go for a walk in the market to see if there were any good bowls they could buy.

Glass appliances hadn’t been invented yet back then, and the ceramic vases they saw in the Upper Valley would be both expensive and too high-class. However, bamboo or willow baskets would do nicely.

There was an expert bowl-maker and basket-weaver in the city whose surname was Luo. He lived in the city, and stayed in his shop, receiving business via word-of-mouth. After some searching, Mo Yan had found out it was the courtyard with a large basket by the front door. The large basket served as the plaque for his shop.

As his courtyard was his shop, the front door was always open. Inside the courtyard were numerous baskets, of all shapes and sizes. There were both bamboo baskets, but also willow baskets.

Seeing an unfamiliar face come in, the old man weaving baskets in the courtyard asked, “Are you here to buy a basket or do you have raw materials I can work with?”

Not only did this place sell baskets, if you came in with willow strips, he would make a basket with them for you. He would only charge you the fee for making the basket, truly a hallmark of a reputable tradesman.

“I want to buy a basket, so I can display the dried fruit I want to sell.”

“A bamboo or willow basket? Round or square? Can you give me a measurement?”

Mo Yan couldn’t express her preferences clearly at short notice, and the old man went over to a pile of baskets, “Come over and see which ones are suitable.”

To store dried fruits, the basket had to be smaller and couldn’t have any large holes. Mo Yan pointed to a square basket, “A square one, made of bamboo, with a tight weave.” She gestured with her hands, “About this large.”

“Alright, this won’t be hard to make. Do you want to sit here while I weave one for you, and you can see if it’s acceptable or not?”

Post-translation notes: The source I used for this had 80% of the text posted on here twice, and I thought this chappie was much longer than it actually was…anyways, thank you for reading as always, and I’m proud to announce I only have one more test this week.

[1] They’ve gone from needing Mrs. Liang’s permission to make noodle soup to being easily able to afford it on their own. They’re much better off now.