Chapter 48: CH 48

They were talking and laughing when someone asked, “Is this the Mo family’s house?”

Everyone turned over to see Zhong Cheng pushing a cart over. There were several empty baskets stacked on top of each other and a basket of duck eggs. Mo Yan was the first to call out, “Yes, hello Zhong Cheng.”

Zhong Cheng nodded and smiled, “I’m here to deliver the duck eggs.”

The money still had to be paid by Mrs. Liang, and Mo Ling took the basket from her hand, “Mom, go and collect them. Give the money to him, it’s one hundred and fifty dollars.”

Mr. Liang led Zhong Cheng to the front yard, where she counted the duck eggs.

“Why are there a few more?”

Zhong Cheng smiled honestly and said, “I’m afraid that they would break, so I brought a few more. Auntie, accept these! We’ll have to work with each other for a long time in the future!”

When she heard that, Mrs. Liang felt at ease, “I heard from my daughters that you are an honest person. That basket of duck eggs really got damaged last time.”

“It’s not easy to make a living, and it’s even harder for two little girls to do so!”

Zhong Cheng took the money and went back. Mo Ling thanked him, “Thank you for making the trip here on such a hot day.”

Zhong Cheng picked up two melons from his cart and gave them to her, “It’s okay, I was selling melons on the way here too.”

He handed them to Mo Yan. She looked at Mrs. Liang, then Mo Ling. Her mum smiled and said, “You’ve already given us a lot, you didn’t have to give us melons too!”

“It’s nothing, we grow these ourselves. The children can have them!”

Mrs. Liang nodded, and Mo Yan accepted them. The bucket used to wash the millstone was still there, and the melons were washed with the water inside it.

Mo Ling came over to break the melons apart and shared them with everyone. Mrs. Liang put the uncrushed grains in the millstone for another go. Mo Ling stood up to help and push, but before Mo Feng finished eating, Zhong Cheng went to help too.

Mo Ling said embarrassedly, “You’ve already worked all day, so go take a rest!”

Zhong Cheng smiled again, “I’m not anyone special, but I’m pretty strong. I do this kind of work at home every night.”

He started to push, and Mo Ling could only try to keep up. Zhong Cheng’s stride was large and fast, and Mo Ling was only able to follow after him.

After a while, she couldn’t keep up with running at all. Zhong Cheng turned his head and said to her, “Take a break! Just help brush the grains back in.”

One pushes the grinder and the other brushes the grains back in. A married couple typically worked like that. Her second grandmother tugged at Mrs. Liang’s sleeve from the side and whispered, “I think this young man is good, does he like our Ling’er?”

This sentence reminded Mrs. Liang, and she then carefully looked at the young man. He wasn’t short, looked upright, and was kind. He seemed to be a hard worker, but it’s a pity that Xiahe Village is a little too far away for her tastes.

There have been people who have asked to marry Mo Ling, but they were rejected by Mrs. Liang. She wanted Mo Ling to marry closer, preferably someone from their village. Then, she still had to help out at her home after she married.

“No, he lives too far away, and we don’t know his origins.”

She deliberately raised her voice so that Zhong Cheng could hear this. Both Mo Ling and Zhong Cheng heard it. Zhong Cheng pretended not to hear, while Mo Ling gritted her teeth. Her mother wanted to bind her down for the rest of her life and work her like a slave for the rest of her life. [1]

Mo Ling deliberately started talking to Zhong Cheng, wanting to anger Mrs. Liang.

“How old are you, Zhong Cheng, and are you married?”

Zhong Cheng shook his head and said, “I’m nineteen this year, and I’m not married yet. It was my sister-in-law who was selling duck eggs. I’m the youngest of my brothers. My second brother is engaged and will get married at the end of the year. I also have a younger sister who is currently fourteen.”

The second grandmother interjected, “Then how are your parents?”

“They’re both healthy. My father usually works on the melon fields, and my mother helps raise my sister-in-law’s two children at home.”

Mo Ling recalled that the fat woman who sold duck eggs said that she was selling duck eggs because her husband had a sudden illness.

“Is your elder brother better now?”

“My eldest brother has always had issues with his legs. A few days ago, he suddenly developed a rash, and the doctors we asked to treat it all couldn’t deal with it. In fact, her main objective was to find Mr. Cao, selling duck eggs was just something to do on the way.”

Mo Yan interjected, “Mr. Cao is from our village. Has he recovered?”

“He has, Mr. Cao is very good, and he got better very quickly.”

“Your sister-in-law looks very kind!”

“Yes, she and my eldest brother are childhood sweethearts. They still live in our village. She is also very filial to my parents.”

While talking, he pushed the millstone, and it turned dark. Zhong Cheng stopped and said, “Auntie, I’ll go back first, and I’ll deliver more duck eggs next time.”

Mrs. Liang said farewell politely, and watched him walk away.

Going back to the millstone, she collected the flour when she whispered to Mo Ling, “That kid is interested in you, so be careful.”

Mo Ling only had Mr. Tian in her heart, so she said contemptuously, “Don’t worry!”

The dates on the tree in the courtyard have started to turn red. Mo Yan wanted to pick them, but she was too short to jump up and reach them. Mo Ling grabbed a particularly sturdy branch off the ground and used it to hit the tree, making the dates fall off. Mo Yan and Mo Ling started collecting, while their second grandma grabbed one to eat.

Mo Ling glanced at Mo Yan, “Why didn’t your big brain think of that?”

Mo Yan defended herself while eating, “It’s not that my brain’s small, I just lack experience.”

While picking up the dates, Mrs. Liang complained, “We can’t make dried dates now. Hit them off over a few days, and pick some good ones to make wine dates with.”

“What are those?” Mo Yan asked.

Mo Ling poked her in the forehead, “Has that big brain of yours broken? Haven’t you eaten wine dates before>”

Those words reminded Mo Yan to observe more and not to ask random questions. [2]

After packing up, they all went back to their respective homes.

Mo Feng touched the bag of white flour with his hand, “Mum, there’s so much white flour, let’s make noodles and steamed buns to eat!”

Mo Ling slapped his hand away, “These can only make a few days worth of flatbread. We can’t make those! We’re not from the Cao family, we can’t make noodles all year round.”

Mrs. Liang showed mercy and allowed them to make noodle soup. When she went to the Lu family to make them dinner, Mo Feng said to Mo Ling, “Add more flour and make it thicker. She never said how much flour we could add.”

The Mo sisters both laughed. So this is when he uses his brain.

They picked two cucumbers from the fields to fry for the noodle soup.

Post-edit notes: Zhong Cheng kind of feels like the back-up to the male lead, or a secondary male character in a trashy romance story.

[1] I’m pretty sure that’s frowned upon, even in ancient China back then.

[2] Mo Ling is actually explicitly shown to have a weakness that isn’t just ‘fragile constitution’! I thought that would’ve been good enough, but let’s see and hope if this is built upon.