Chapter 66: CH 66

Mo Ling went to her back yard with her water bucket, and went inside the old woman’s house. She was inside, and Mo Ling put the water inside her water bucket into her water reservoir.

She was just about to leave when the old woman said, “Are we eating dumplings today?”

Despite her advanced age, she could still hear the sounds of chopping from the kitchen.

“Yes, I’ll give them to you once they’re done.”

When the first round of dumplings came out, Mo Ling gave them to the old woman before leaving without saying anything. Like her mother, she acted straightforwardly and didn’t care much for licking someone’s boots.

“It’s not a special occasion, why are we having dumplings?” she asked.

“We earned some money and wanted to eat them.”

“A woman earning money isn’t dignified. Are you trying to be gossiped about?” [1]

Mo Ling pretended to be ready to take the plate of dumplings away, “Can dignity let you eat dumplings? Mo Yan and I earned the meat used to make the dumpling fillings, and if you think it’s undignified, don’t eat these dumplings!”

The old woman reached out to grab the plate, “If even your words are like your mother, how can I not speak up?”

Mo Ling ignored her and left. Her second grandma gave her a thumbs-up when she came out, telling her that she handled the situation well.

When she got back, Mrs. Liang had cooked all the dumplings, and they’d be unable to finish them by themselves.

“Yan’er, give a plate of dumplings to your second grandma!”

When she heard she was giving food to her second grandma, Mo Yan immediately agreed. Mrs. Liang’s face sank, “The white flour and the meat are both expensive, and we can’t just give it away to her. Otherwise, we won’t have enough for ourselves.”

Mo Yan replied while picking up the dumplings, “Second grandma doesn’t have a small appetite, and won’t be able to eat many dumplings.”

She grabbed a dozen or so dumplings and ran to her second grandma. “Second grandma, mum let me give you these dumplings, so have them!”

She used her fingers to put one into her mouth, “It’s delicious!”

Their two acres of land would dry up if they didn’t sow seeds again, so Mrs. Liang soaked some wheat seeds in water and put them in a pot to germinate, in preparation to plant them the next day.

They had just set out in the morning when they saw Zhong Cheng driving his carriage, with white flour and duck eggs.

“Are you going to plant those wheat seeds?”

“Yes, otherwise the land will dry up.”

“Go borrow a plough, you can use my horse and hasten the planting process.”

“That…that won’t be necessary!”

“Don’t worry, I’m free today, and my horse isn’t going to be working much either.”

Zhong Cheng put the duck eggs and white flour inside, and put the jar with the germinated wheat seeds on the carriage.

The Cao family had the most complete set of farm tools.

Zhong Cheng let Mrs. Liang on the carriage, without even asking Mo Ling after what had happened last time.

Mo Yan had never seen seeds being planted, so she followed, and Mo Feng thought it looked interesting, so he followed as well.

When they arrived in front of the school, Zhong Cheng stopped the carriage and waited for Mrs. Liang to borrow a plough from the Cao family.

There wasn’t a single person in the school, and sparrows occasionally flew into it.

She returned with the plough quickly, and he put it on the cart. Mo Ling and Mo Yan had walked over, and Mrs. Liang said, “Did you know? Cao Zhang’s going to the metropolis to take the imperial examination! Mrs. Cao is following him there, and is packing her bags right now!”

Mrs. Cao had always wanted Cao Zhang to become an official, so he could gain connections in the government. He probably won’t be coming back, and since she’s going with him, the Cao family will probably be pretty empty from now on.

When Mo Ling saw the empty school, she wondered how Mr. Tian was getting along. [2]

With livestock, the planting process went much faster. The wheat seeds had been planted in just half a day.

On the way home, Mrs. Liang still sat on the carriage while the three children were on foot. She asked, “Zhong Cheng, do you still like my Ling’er?”

Zhong Cheng froze for a second before replying, “It doesn’t matter if I like her or not, what matters is if she likes me.”

“She’ll get around eventually, she was just blinded by that scumbag.”

He could read between the lines. Mrs. Liang was implicitly allowing him to marry her, as long as she just said the word.

When they returned, Mrs. Zhang, who was collecting firewood, coldly harrumphed, “You’re really lucky to have a daughter. To court her, her suitors are willing to do hard labour to help you out.”

As Zhong Cheng was there, Mrs. Liang ignored her, told Mo Ling to make dinner, and rushed to make dinner for the Lu family. But she quickly returned, saying that Lu Junming wasn’t there and had returned to the Upper Valley.

Sir Lu ate simply as his grandson wasn’t there, and only had Mrs. Liang make some congee.

Mo Yan felt unhappy. He never told me he was leaving!

“How long is he leaving for? If he’s leaving for long, do they still need domestic help?”

Mrs. Liang said, “Sir Lu said he might not be gone for just a few days, but he’ll return eventually.”

They didn’t go to town that day, so Mo Ling just made some egg wraps with congee and pickled cucumbers.

Zhong Cheng left after having dinner, and asked Mrs. Liang if she still wanted to reclaim land before he went. Mo Yan replied, “Yeah! When can you come by?”

“In a few days, there’s still a few things I need to deal with at home.”

In the evening, Mo Yan was just about to collect duck eggs from the pond when she saw Cao Zhang, who was waiting outside her door.

“Cao Zhang, are you here to find me?”

Cao Zhang didn’t interact with Mo Feng much, so he had to be here to find her. As there weren’t any adults around, she called him by his proper name.

He nodded slightly. “I’m leaving, I’ll be studying for the imperial examination which will happen next year in the metropolis.”

“I heard my mum talk about it.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever come back here. Yan’er, can I stay with you for a while?”

“Do you want to sit inside?” Mo Yan asked.

Cao Zhang shook his head, “We’d have to adhere to too many social niceties. Where were you initially planning on going?”

“I was going to go to pick up duck eggs from the pond.”

“Then I’ll follow you!”

They went to the pond and started searching in the grass. When Cao Zhang found a duck egg, it was like he had found treasure, “Yan’er, I found it, I found it!”

“Ok, put it in the basket.”

After collecting the duck eggs, it hadn’t turned dark yet, so the two sat down to talk.

Cao Zhang said, “Yan’er, I don’t want to leave Chenzhong Village, to leave you. If I go, I won’t be able to hear you tell stories anymore.”

“There are storytellers in the metropolis too! They’ll definitely be better than me!”

Cao Zhang shook his head, “No one will be able to tell stories as well as you.”

“It’s not like you can’t come back, you can return here whenever you’re free.”

“My mum’s following me there, so I have no reason to return. I was planning on asking you to follow me to tell my stories, but my mum wants Mr. Tian to do that instead.”

“He’s well-suited to that position!”

Cao Zhang said disappointedly, “Yan’er, won’t you miss me at all?”

Mo Yan smiled at him slightly, “You’ll have a bright future, and I’m happy for you.”

Post-edit notes: Cao Zhang route locked…for now.

[1] And this is what we in the industry call ‘dramatic irony’.

[2] I really hope she can fully get over that scumbag soon.