CH 33

Sir Lu had already called out to Lu Junming, so Mo Yan had to go in.

Lifting up the bamboo curtain and entering the main room of the house, Mo Yan looked around, but didn’t know where Lu Junming was until she heard movement in the east room. She went inside and saw Lu Junming, who was only wearing a very thin silk robe and was putting on shoes. His hair wasn’t done up, and his long black hair was draped over the snow-white robe, which made it particularly eye-catching.

Seeing Mo Yan come in, he hurriedly trimmed his hair: “Go and sit outside!”

Mo Yan did not go out immediately, but instead asked, “Are you ill?”

“No.”

“Then why did you sleep until this time?”

“I felt lazy and didn’t want to get up.”

It seemed like he wasn’t actually sick but just had something on his mind.

Mo Yan turned around and was about to go back to the courtyard. Lu Junming put the hairpin in his mouth and walked out while tying his hair with his hands.

He made a messy bun and was about to insert the hairpin when Mo Yan grabbed his hairpin and said, “What are you doing! It looks like a bird nest. Go get a comb.”

This was to comb his hair. Lu Junming immediately let go of the hand holding his hair and ran back to his room to get a comb.

He took the wooden comb and gave it to Mo Yan. Lu Junming sat obediently on the low stool, waiting for her to comb her hair.

Her technique of combing hair wasn’t very good, and it took three times for a bun to hold. However, Lu Junming didn’t dislike it, and wished she could brush his hair a few more times, so that this beautiful moment could last a while longer.

She did his hair and then turned to look at him. His hair was pretty neat. Only then did Lu Junming notice that Mo Yan’s hair was also messy.

“Sit down, and I’ll comb your hair too.”

“No, I can do it myself.”

These days, Mo Yan still comb her own hair properly, and it was a struggle for her every day.

She removed the wooden hairpin from her head and put it in her mouth, combed her hair and pulled it back into a bun.

She hadn’t reached the age where she had to braid her hair yet. Daughters of aristocratic families her age had their hair in twin buns. However, she was poor so it was fine if it just didn’t get in the way.

Her hairpin couldn’t be called a hairpin at all; it was just a thin wooden stick. Lu Junming thought, What would it look like if she wore fine hairpins and flower ornaments on her head? [1]

Her simple clothes couldn’t hide her pure, innocent face, especially those large black eyes.

“Have you had breakfast?” Mo Yan answered her own question, “Of course not.”

“I’m not hungry,” Lu Junming replied lightly.

Mo Yan tilted her head to look at him, “I think you are.”

Lu Junming’s lips curled up lightly, “Then I’ll eat.” After saying that, he got up and went to the kitchen.

Of course, his grandpa had prepared breakfast for him. It was his favourite smoked meat wrap, and he even added the sauce Mrs. Liang had given them.

He was lying when he said that he was not hungry. He was even hungrier when he smelled the scent of meat. Lu Junming took a bite of the wrap and took it to the courtyard.

Seeing that he was eating, Mo Yan turned to leave, and Lu Junming chased after her, “Wait for me!”

“You can’t run while you’re eating.”

“Then you can walk with me.”

The two walked side by side on the road along the pond, but Mo Yan never asked him why he was unhappy. It had to be because of what was happening at home, and she wouldn’t be able to help, so she decided not to mention it.

Lu Junming was eating his wrap when he couldn’t help but hand a piece of meat to Mo Yan. She wanted to dodge, but Lu Junming pouted and said, “If you want me to be happy, eat it.”

Why does this sound like he was speaking to a pet? Mo Yan glared at him, “Lu Junming, are you treating me like a pet?”

Lu Junming didn’t think of it that way. But when she said it, it did kind of seem like that, “Then you’re a high-end pet, the kind that I always remember to care about.”

These words sounded a bit ambiguous, but Lu Junming just said what was in his heart. He likes being with Mo Yan, likes to listen to her tell stories, likes to listen to her talk, and he is very happy when she’s around.

Lu Junming handed over another piece of meat to her, and this time Mo Yan opened her mouth to eat, even biting his fingers. She didn’t bite down hard, so Lu Junming knew she was just joking, “Are you going to eat me too?”

Mo Yan took the piece of meat away, “I won’t eat you. Your meat doesn’t taste as good as pork.”

Lu Junming was not annoyed, but smiled happily: “Then you can eat two more pieces so that you can grow up quicker.”

Mo Yan also wanted to grow up quickly so that she could make her own decisions.

They walked under the willow tree, and Mu Ling called her from the other side of the pond, “Yan’er, we’re leaving, Are you coming with us?”

“Yeah!”

Mo Yan hurriedly waved to Lu Junming and ran home. Mo Ling and Mrs. Liang had already packed everything and was ready to go.

Seeing her running over in a hurry, Mrs. Liang said impatiently, “What’s the use of her going? Why can’t she just look after the medicinal herbs at home.”

Mo Ling said first, “Let her go! She has to learn how to do something. In the future, you will have to make pickled vegetables and salted duck eggs at home, not to mention having to cook at the Lu’s. You have a lot to do! Speaking of, will you still be able to go in winter? I’ll be too busy by myself, and it’ll be better to have her around. ”

What she said made sense, and Mo Yan also nodded enthusiastically to support her.

Mo Feng hadn’t got up, so Mrs Liang called to the east house, “Feng’er, we’re going to the city. You get up and eat, clean up, then tend to the medicinal herbs in the yard.”

There was no answer from his room. Mo Ling pushed the cart out, and Mu Yan followed closely, “Sis, I’m not as good of a chef as you. I’ll do the errands and shopping in the future, and I’ll go buy meat today.”

Mrs. Liang glanced at her, “Do you know how to buy it?”

“Do you need to see a pig run before eating pork? [2] We asked about the price of meat yesterday, so we won’t lose out.”

Mo Ling also said to let her try, so Mrs. Liang nodded in agreement.

“The braised meat shop is on the corner of North Street, opposite the meat stall of the shopkeeper from yesterday.”

The meat had to be prepared in advance, so Mo Yan should go as soon as possible. She was about to run there, but Mo Ling stopped her and handed her an egg. The eggshell was cracked, and it was one of the tea eggs made without tea from yesterday.

Mu Yan peeled off the eggshell and took a bite. It had a faint fragrance, and the saltiness was also suitable, but it didn’t taste the same without tea leaves.

“It tastes good. Sis, let’s go buy some tea leaves after we close the stall. We can start selling tea eggs from tomorrow onwards.”

Most of the villagers in Chenzhong Village didn’t drink tea, as it was a precious commodity at this time.

When she heard that she had to buy tea leaves, Mrs. Liang’s eyes widened, “That’s so expensive! Is it worth it to boil a few eggs?”

Mo Yan explained, “You don’t need good tea leaves, just buy the cheapest ones. They won’t cost you much. Just put a few tea leaves in each time you make them.”

“I’ll buy these later.”

Mrs. Liang had to know about everything and didn’t want to be left in the dark.

“Okay, Yan’er, you can go now!”

Mu Yan ran to buy meat, while Mo Ling pushed the cart and walked behind Mrs. Liang.

“Mother, you can make smoked and braised meat yourself, so you can make more money.”

“Wouldn’t that work me to death!”

“Then you can teach us how to do it! The two of us can do it, you can sit down and take care of the finances.”

“Don’t feed me these sweet lies; I won’t have the chance to sit and enjoy my life. It would be nice just to have my stomach full.”

Post-edit notes: I feel like Mo Ling is in much more control than everyone else thinks.

[1] Yeah, no doubt about it. Despite how much Lu Junming tries to deny it, he has clearly fallen head over heels for Mo Yan.

[2] It’s an idiom that means you can do something trivial just by watching someone else do it, and I probably should’ve replaced it with that, but it was too funny not to use.