CH 140

Now her house had been burnt down, Ms. Hua lived in the workshop as a domestic worker, since they needed someone to fill that role.

It was time for the spring harvest. Ms. Liang went to their original two acres of land, and saw that this year’s wheat seedlings had grown better than ever before.

When they divorced, they agreed the two acres of land would belong to Mo Zenian, but since he wasn’t at home, they had to harvest the wheat for him. Besides, they had planted the wheat in the first place, so those were their seedlings and their labour! At most, they’d give some of the wheat to the old woman in the back courtyard.

The first batch of raincoats and canvas bags had been finished, and they were packed and sent to the Upper Valley. It wasn’t the rainy season yet, so the benefits of this raincoat may take some time to be realised.

The Shunlai Restaurant had been cleaned and renamed the Three Rivers Firm.

In addition to the raincoats and canvas bags made in the workshop, there were also fabrics and jewellery from the Upper Valley. Mr. Cao bought various medicinal herbs and supplements to sell, so the products they had to offer were varied.

They timed the opening day to be a market day, and many people came to shop. There are many kinds of goods here, for all price ranges.

For the time being, the only employees were the adorable Xiao Zhuzi and Zhou Liangsheng, who had both come to help out at the firm.

At noon, the number of people entering the firm started decreasing, and Liu Fengchun came over with two attendants. As soon as they entered the door, they congratulated her, “Congratulations on your successful opening!”

Mo Yan went up to thank him, then asked someone to serve tea. Liu Fengchun sat there with something clearly on his mind.

Seeing no one around, he whispered, “Miss Mo, I heard that you bought Ms. Hua’s yard?”

Mo Yan nodded with a smile on her face, “Yes! I felt sorry for them.”

Liu Fengchun sighed and said, “Those two are under my jurisdiction, and I should take care of them. I don’t know how much you spent on buying their yard. I’ll pay you back!”

“With the current rumours about the yard, I can’t just give the yard to you now. How about this, sell me the previous clinic too! In the future, we can build a storefront on that land to operate a business. I’ll take care of the two’s lives, after all, I’m afraid of Zhao’er’s father having a bone to pick with me!”

Mo Yan paid attention to Liu Fengchun’s expression. If he really killed Zhao’er’s father, he would definitely feel guilty.

Liu Fengchun sighed, “Zhao’er’s father was an unfortunate man. He was sickly in life, and was banned from entering his ancestral grave after death. He ended up as a wandering spirit. The rumours weren’t groundless, maybe his spirit appeared because he was angered. Aren’t you afraid at all, girl?”

Mo Yan poured a cup of tea for him, “I believe that as long as I treat Zhao’er and Ms. Hua kindly, he will be fine with me!”

The two continued chatting for a long time, but nothing came out of it. Liu Fengchun saw that Mo Yan didn’t want to give up Ms. Hua’s yard, and left to think of another way.

Not only did she refuse to sell the courtyard, she also wanted to buy the clinic in front of it. This little girl had a large appetite!

This matter was temporarily set aside.

The spring breeze brought warmth, and the pond had turned green. The trees by the pond had regained their leaves. The owls on the tree still hooted occasionally, but Mo Yan was no longer as scared as before.

One day, when the workshop was closed, she asked the whole family to plant medicinal herbs. After hearing about it, Ms. Hua also went to help, and also to see Zhao’er. Chi Jie and Ze Wu had never seen farmland before, so wanted to go, and Lu Junming accompanied him.

Mo Yan took germinating Chinese foxglove seeds, and buried them in the ground at regular intervals.

This wasn’t tiring work, and Mo Feng also followed them to the field. Since the shop had been dismantled, he had nothing to do.

While they were resting, Mo Yan explained to Chi Jie, “In another month, wild flowers will bloom everywhere. It’s a beautiful sea of flowers.”

Hearing that, Chi Jie’s face was full of yearning, “I must come and see it.”

Mo Feng said disdainfully, “It’s just wildflowers, there’s nothing special about them.”

Chi Jie was aggravated by his words and wanted to retaliate, but Lu Junming shook his head at him, signalling him to ignore Mo Feng.

Ms. Liang said, “Yan’er, you have a workshop and a business, where can you arrange a job for your brother? Don’t let him stay at home all the time.”

Mo Feng was very happy when he heard this, and said enthusiastically, “I’m not interested in working in a workshop, let me go to the firm to be a manager.”

Ms. Liang also nodded in agreement.

Lu Junming had grown used to this song and dance, but Chi Jie rolled his eyes when he heard it and couldn’t help but speak up.

“May I ask you if you know how to balance accounts? Do you know how to tell the quality of goods, and their origin? Being a manager also requires skill and technique.”

“I can learn. Won’t I know how to if you teach me?”

Mo Yan said, “I’m not the boss of this firm, that’s Lu Junming. If you want to be the manager, our firm is in need of one, but we have standards for this position. If you want it, you will have to undergo testing.”

“What kind of testing?”

“I want to buy bamboo, so we can sell bamboo wares. Your test is to handle this issue.”

Mo Feng stared at her, “That’s only available in the south. It’s thousands of miles away, with high mountains and long roads. There’s no way I’m going.”

Ms. Liang also said, “Yes! There’s no way you’re letting your brother go so far away.”

Mo Yan smiled and said, “There are merchants who transport goods from the south here. Our firm isn’t very large, so we can buy from these people.”

“Then where can I find these merchants?”

“You’ll have to search for them yourself! How can you be a manager if you can’t even find quality goods on your own? We found all the goods being sold in our firm.”

Mo Feng suddenly stood up and said, “Don’t I just have to find someone who sells bamboo? I’ll go tomorrow.”

Ms. Liang said with concern, “Where can you go to find them? You need to ask around.”

With a straw in his mouth, Lu Junming replied, “Ask someone who makes bamboo goods.”

Ms. Liang said happily, “That’s right! We can ask the Luo family.”

Mo Yan rolled her eyes at Lu Junming, and went back to work. Lu Junming called Chi Jie back home.

It was almost noon. Ms. Hua wanted to go to Mr. Cao’s house to see Zhao’er and cook for them, so she also left. Mo Ling saw that there weren’t many Chinese foxgloves left, so she said that she’d go home after planting to save herself another trip in the afternoon.

Mo Feng threw away the small shovel in his hand, and said dejectedly, “It’s already noon, I’m starving to death, and we’re still working!”

As the others continued planting, he sat on the edge of the fields, digging up soil with twigs and watching the ants with his head down.

Post-translation notes: Mo Feng…he never changes…Annoying and obnoxious as always.