CH 51

Mo Ling’s eyes were fixed on her mother, in fear that she’d name a specific person. The whole village would immediately know if Mrs. Liang said anything.

Mrs. Liang smiled perfunctorily, “With our family background, we can’t pick and choose.”

Ms. Li suddenly remembered something, “I was talking with Mrs. Cao a few days ago, and your Mo Ling was brought up. Even she praised her for her ability and appearance. At that time, Mr. Tian was also there, listening to us talking about her. He had a smile on his face the entire time. Do you think he is interested in her?”

Mo Ling ate quieter when Mr. Tian was brought up, afraid of missing a word, and worried that Ms. Li would think she was uncivilised, and accidentally spread gossip to Mr. Tian.

Mrs. Liang handed the small burlap bag containing the salted duck eggs to Ms. Li, who took the bag. As Mrs. Liang sent her off, Ms. Li was still asking outside the gate, “Would you be satisfied if Mr. Tian became your son-in-law?”

Mrs. Liang stopped smiling, shook her head and said, “Mr. Tian is a scholar. How would he take a liking to an illiterate village girl? Don’t say this in public.”

Without waiting for Ms. Li reply, Mrs. Liang turned around and went back. Ms. Li wasn’t dumb, so she could see that Mrs. Liang didn’t like Mr. Tian at all.

After Ms. Li left, Mo Ling lost her appetite. She knew just from looking at Mrs. Liang’s face that she didn’t like Mr. Tian. All the women in the village liked Mr. Tian, ​​so why didn’t Mrs. Liang?

Sitting opposite Mo Ling, Mrs Liang said coldly, “What’s so good about a weak scholar? He only earns that small amount of tuition fees every month. If it wasn’t for the Cao family, could he even live on his own, much less feed a family? Don’t listen to those nonsense storytellers!”

Not only did she reprimand Mo Ling, she subtly insulted Mo Yan as well.

Mo Ling raised her eyes and stared at Mrs. Liang. They were indeed mother and daughter, as their glares were identical.

Mrs. Liang got up and walked out, only saying, “Back then, your father was also a learned scholar, and his appearance wasn’t bad either.”

She tried to use her own experience to tell Mo Ling not to follow her own path. But Mo Ling felt that Mrs. Liang just thought Mr. Tian was weak and couldn’t help out at home.

Feelings couldn’t be changed by a few words. At this moment, Mo Ling’s heart was only filled with Mr. Tian’s strengths, and couldn’t abide a single negative word about him.

After eating, she returned to her room and picked up her waistband to embroider. Mo Yan couldn’t fall asleep, so she took out her Hundred Herbs Compendium and flipped through it.

The two were feeling bored when Mrs. Liang shouted from outside, “Go out and pick the dates! I don’t want them to be spoiled if it rains.”

Mo Yan got up, “Come on sis, let’s pick the dates.”

Mo Ling grabbed a sturdy branch, Mo Yan carried a fews baskets, and Mrs Liang took a broom and they went to the back of the house. She swept the area around the tree with a broom first, so as to soften the fall of the dates so they wouldn’t be damaged.

After that, Mo Ling raised the sturdy branch and hit the tree. The dates fell like raindrops, making Mo Yan run away from them. Their second grandmother heard the movement and came out to watch the fun.

Seeing that there were still a few dates left on the tree, Mo Ling used the branch to pick them off. Mo Yan and Mrs. Liang started picking up dates, and Mo Yan’s second grandmother also came to help. Mo Yan picked out a half red and half green date, rubbed them on her shirt and stuffed them into her mouth. It was crisp and sweet.

“Mum, these dates are really crunchy when fresh. It’s a pity that we’re drying them.”

“If we don’t dry them now, we’ll have to pick them later. They won’t always stay crunchy! So we have to make wine dates! They’ll stay crunchy for a long time.”

“Are wine dates made with alcohol?”

“If they weren’t, why would we call them wine dates?”

They picked up the dates, took them home, and sorted them carefully. The fresh and intact ones would be used for wine dates. The ones that had already wilted were dried in the sun, to make steamed date cakes and laba congee for the New Year.

After sorting, those ones which would be used for win dates, were wiped with a clean handkerchief. Mrs. Liang poured a small half-bowl of soju out of nowhere and dipped the dates in the wine. Then, she put it into a clean jar, sealed it, and placed it in a cool place.

“How long do we have to leave it for?” Mo Yan asked.

“Seven or eight days.”

Mo Ling put the remaining dates on the roof to dry so the chickens couldn’t get to them. Seeing Mo Ling climbing up and down the ladder quickly, Mo Yan was envious, thinking to herself, If I fell off the ladder again, would I be able to leave this place? [1]

July was hot, but the weather was gradually getting cooler. Sooner or later, they’d have to wear extra layers, and the noon sun wouldn’t be as hot anymore.

These days, the Mo Ling sisters were operating the business while Mrs. Liang took Mo Feng to dig for medicinal herbs. Together, they saved about twenty thousand dollars [2]. The money was enough to buy an ox, but they didn’t have a cart or a plough. Purchasing all of these farm tools would take a lot of money.

Mrs. Liang and Mo Ling were discussing this matter when Mo Yan asked, “Can you rent work animals?”

Mrs. Liang immediately said, “Everyone’s using work animals during the harvest, so how can they be rented out?”

However, Mo Ling felt that what her sister said was reasonable, “In our village, except for the Cao family, everyone else only has a few acres of land, and some only have two or three acres, and some don’t have any land at all. No one uses their work animals every day. If they could rent their work animals to make money, who wouldn’t?”

“Then, does the village have any rules on wasteland reclamation?” Mo Yan asked again.

Mrs. Liang said, “Yes, the government encourages it. Those who do it won’t be taxed for three years.” After she finished speaking, she looked at Mo Yan and said, “What do you want to do?”

Mo Yan held her cheeks in her hands and said solemnly, “Reclaim wasteland and grow herbs!”

Wasteland reclamation normally takes place in late autumn or early spring, when the villagers aren’t busy working in the fields.

Mrs. Liang rolled her eyes at her, “Is this another idea that came to you in a dream?”

Mo Yan shook her head, “Mum, does the medicinal herb you dig up from that piece of wasteland sell for a lot of money these days?”

Mrs. Liang nodded, “Yes, I’m getting a tidy sun.”

“You can get money from unmanaged wasteland, wouldn’t you get even more money if you reclaimed the wasteland?”

This sentence really moved Mrs. Liang. They wouldn’t need to pay taxes for three years, and she could get a lot of money with just a small amount of effort.

“There are people in the village who reclaim wasteland, but it’s all close to the village and by the road. No one goes to that piece of wasteland at all.”

Mo Yan smiled brightly and said, “That’s right, then a large piece of land will belong to us. If we manage it well, it might become a garden in the future!”

“Stop daydreaming so much, go to sleep!”

“Mum, let’s find out how to rent animals first, and how much it would cost to hire workers and work animals for a day,” Mo Ling said.

“What, do you really want to reclaim wasteland?”

“Don’t farmers have to have land? Only with land could we be hope.”

This was a big event, so Mrs. Liang had to think about it. There were still a few days before autumn anyways.

Post-edit notes: If this goes well, the Mo family will probably become more and more prosperous in the future…but this is a story about getting rich, after all.

[1] Mo Yan, don’t have any suicidal tendencies! You still have so long to live. /j