CH 61
When they arrived at the Cao family and got the wound treated, Zhong Cheng took out money from his wallet and asked, “Sir, how much does it cost?”
“You brought money down to the fields?” Mo Ling asked.
“I’m going outside my village, after all, so I can’t bring no money at all.”
“I just applied some medicine, so ten dollars should be enough!”
Zhong Cheng paid the money and went to assist Mo Ling, but he was brushed off, “My feet aren’t injured, so I can walk by myself.”
He looked at Mr. Cao and smiled embarrassedly, “She’s just that stubborn.”
The two of them left the Cao family, Mo Ling griping, “I told you I wasn’t sitting in your carriage. If you had just let me walk, I wouldn’t have suffered this injury.”
Zhong Cheng apologised from behind her, “Yes, it’s my fault. I should’ve let you walk.”
The two were going past the alleyway to the school when Mo Ling saw Mr. Tian, so she turned back and told Zhong Cheng, “You go ahead first, I’ll return later.”
Zhong Cheng looked at her, then Mr. Tian, without saying anything, and slowly left.
Mr. Tian only came over when he had gone. “How’s your injury? Let me have a look.”
Mo Ling concealed her bloody hands. “There’s no need, Mr. Cao has already treated it.”
“When you go back home, remember not to let it come into contact with water. Rest well in the next few days, don’t go and work in the fields.”
These empty words had transformed into the utmost care and compassion in Mo Ling’s eyes, and her heart leapt to her throat. She replied shakily, “Sir…thank you!” [1]
“Go back home now! Otherwise, your mum will be worried.”
Mo Ling left with a red face to see Zhong Cheng still waiting for her.
“Why haven’t you left yet?”
“I was the one who injured you, so it doesn’t feel right to leave you there on your own.”
Mo Ling intentionally kept a distance from Zhong Cheng, who asked, “Was that person the teacher of your village?”
She giggled and replied bashfully, “Yeah, isn’t he young and handsome?”
“He is.”
Zhong Cheng didn’t object, which put Mo Ling at a loss.
The two didn’t say anything and quietly went back home. Mo Feng had already unhitched the carriage from the ox, and was busy feeding it.
When they entered, Zhong Cheng immediately apologised to Mrs. Liang for injuring Mo Ling’s hand, saying that he’d take care of the rest of the work for free. Mo Ling glared at him, “Did you intentionally injure me?”
He ignored her and told Mo Yan to bring some water to wash her wounds, while Mrs. Liang told him to come eat with them.
After the meal, Zhong Cheng returned home with his ox carriage.
“I’ll come help sow seeds over the next few days, and remove the sorghum stalks too.”
Mo Ling didn’t treat Zhong Cheng nicely, and he wasn’t asking for money, so Mrs. Liang found it hard to accept his goodwill, “There’s no need, we can do it ourselves!”
“Don’t worry, it’s just helping out a little. Please ask Mo Ling to not put this to heart.”
“Then, how can we repay you?”
“Aren’t we still business partners? We still have to work with each other in the future!”
“Then if you need help in the future, don’t hesitate to ask us.”
“Ok. Mrs. Liang, I have a question, is Mo Ling close to your village’s teacher?”
This question pierced Mrs. Liang’s heart. If even he saw this, this matter won’t be able to be kept under wraps for much longer, and she’d have to make a decision quickly.
“We only have one teacher in our village, and everyone knows him. He’s not very close with Mo Ling, but we’ve interacted before because Feng’er used to go to his school.”
Mrs. Zhang had been eavesdropping on them from her courtyard. When she heard Zhong Cheng leave, she said to Dagan, “So that Mo Ling fancies none other than Mr. Tian. Her mother wants her to find a good worker, she’d never accept that scholar!”
He put down the sickle he was sharpening, “Mum, don’t go slandering others.”
The corner of her mouth twitched as she coldly harrumphed, “If she agrees to marry you, I won’t. Otherwise, I’ll go spreading the news. Not just in our village, but all the villages around ours. Let’s see if anyone will accept her then!”
“Mum, we’ve been neighbours for so many years, and we don’t hold grudges against each other. So why are you trying to make them have a grudge against us?”
“None of your business!” Mrs. Zhang turned and went to the kitchen, while Dagan was so mad he stormed back into his own room.
Mo Ling’s right hand was injured, so she couldn’t do much. She couldn’t even run their business. The next day, she changed her bandages and found that it was slightly swollen. Mo Yan was afraid it was an infection and urged her to go see Mr. Cao.
Mo Ling wrapped the bandages onto the wound again and said, “I’ll go see him tonight! After all, I don’t know when he’ll return from his clinic.”
This was reasonable, but her faint blush gave Mo Yan a bad premonition.
Why was she so happy to go to the Cao family?
At night, Mo Ling helped out a little with making dinner with her good hand before going out to see Mr. Cao. Mo Yan wanted to follow her, but the rice was half-cooked and she couldn’t leave it unattended, as Mrs. Liang wasn’t at home either.
This was a good time to pick!
Mo Ling stuck her injured hand out and went to the Cao family. If she met anyone she knew well, she told them she was going to get new medicine from Mr. Cao.
Mr. Tian was hanging up his laundry in front of the school. As there were students in the morning, he could only do it when they were all gone.
Mo Ling asked, “Sir, are you hanging up your laundry by yourself?”
He was focused on the laundry and only spared her a passing glance. “Naturally.”
“Let me help you!” Mo Ling forgot about her injured right hand and tried to help him.
Mr. Tian grabbed her wrist, “Don’t let your wound come into contact with water!”
Mo Ling raised her head, and their eyes met. She could see a spark of passion in his eyes. Sweetly calling his name, she made no move to extract her hand from his grip.
Mo Yan felt more and more worried about her sister, so she hastily added firewood to the stove before rushing to find her sister. She had just rushed to the school when she saw this.
“Sis, have you changed your medicine already?”
This sentence broke the passionate air around the two, and Mo Ling hurriedly retracted her hand, “I haven’t arrived there yet! Why aren’t you making dinner?”
“I was worried about you!”
Mr. Tian swiftly hung up his laundry, “So you were going to the Cao family to change your medicine. I was planning on going there too, so let’s go together!”
Mo Ling rolled her eyes at Mo Yan and went to the Cao family. Mo Yan followed behind her, with Mr. Tian at the very back.
When she entered the door, Mo Ling said, “I’m sorry for intruding. I don’t know when Mr. Cao comes back from the clinic, and I’m sorry if I’m disturbing him while he’s eating!”
After she spoke, she could see Mr. Tian head straight for the kitchen as she followed Mr. Cao back to his clinic room.
Post-edit notes: This has a lot of very worrying implications for the future of this story…not in a ‘bad plot’ sense, but rather ‘lots of drama’ sense.
[1] And here we have the clearest possible indicator of the author’s opinion of Mr. Tian.
“You brought money down to the fields?” Mo Ling asked.
“I’m going outside my village, after all, so I can’t bring no money at all.”
“I just applied some medicine, so ten dollars should be enough!”
Zhong Cheng paid the money and went to assist Mo Ling, but he was brushed off, “My feet aren’t injured, so I can walk by myself.”
He looked at Mr. Cao and smiled embarrassedly, “She’s just that stubborn.”
The two of them left the Cao family, Mo Ling griping, “I told you I wasn’t sitting in your carriage. If you had just let me walk, I wouldn’t have suffered this injury.”
Zhong Cheng apologised from behind her, “Yes, it’s my fault. I should’ve let you walk.”
The two were going past the alleyway to the school when Mo Ling saw Mr. Tian, so she turned back and told Zhong Cheng, “You go ahead first, I’ll return later.”
Zhong Cheng looked at her, then Mr. Tian, without saying anything, and slowly left.
Mr. Tian only came over when he had gone. “How’s your injury? Let me have a look.”
Mo Ling concealed her bloody hands. “There’s no need, Mr. Cao has already treated it.”
“When you go back home, remember not to let it come into contact with water. Rest well in the next few days, don’t go and work in the fields.”
These empty words had transformed into the utmost care and compassion in Mo Ling’s eyes, and her heart leapt to her throat. She replied shakily, “Sir…thank you!” [1]
“Go back home now! Otherwise, your mum will be worried.”
Mo Ling left with a red face to see Zhong Cheng still waiting for her.
“Why haven’t you left yet?”
“I was the one who injured you, so it doesn’t feel right to leave you there on your own.”
Mo Ling intentionally kept a distance from Zhong Cheng, who asked, “Was that person the teacher of your village?”
She giggled and replied bashfully, “Yeah, isn’t he young and handsome?”
“He is.”
Zhong Cheng didn’t object, which put Mo Ling at a loss.
The two didn’t say anything and quietly went back home. Mo Feng had already unhitched the carriage from the ox, and was busy feeding it.
When they entered, Zhong Cheng immediately apologised to Mrs. Liang for injuring Mo Ling’s hand, saying that he’d take care of the rest of the work for free. Mo Ling glared at him, “Did you intentionally injure me?”
He ignored her and told Mo Yan to bring some water to wash her wounds, while Mrs. Liang told him to come eat with them.
After the meal, Zhong Cheng returned home with his ox carriage.
“I’ll come help sow seeds over the next few days, and remove the sorghum stalks too.”
Mo Ling didn’t treat Zhong Cheng nicely, and he wasn’t asking for money, so Mrs. Liang found it hard to accept his goodwill, “There’s no need, we can do it ourselves!”
“Don’t worry, it’s just helping out a little. Please ask Mo Ling to not put this to heart.”
“Then, how can we repay you?”
“Aren’t we still business partners? We still have to work with each other in the future!”
“Then if you need help in the future, don’t hesitate to ask us.”
“Ok. Mrs. Liang, I have a question, is Mo Ling close to your village’s teacher?”
This question pierced Mrs. Liang’s heart. If even he saw this, this matter won’t be able to be kept under wraps for much longer, and she’d have to make a decision quickly.
“We only have one teacher in our village, and everyone knows him. He’s not very close with Mo Ling, but we’ve interacted before because Feng’er used to go to his school.”
Mrs. Zhang had been eavesdropping on them from her courtyard. When she heard Zhong Cheng leave, she said to Dagan, “So that Mo Ling fancies none other than Mr. Tian. Her mother wants her to find a good worker, she’d never accept that scholar!”
He put down the sickle he was sharpening, “Mum, don’t go slandering others.”
The corner of her mouth twitched as she coldly harrumphed, “If she agrees to marry you, I won’t. Otherwise, I’ll go spreading the news. Not just in our village, but all the villages around ours. Let’s see if anyone will accept her then!”
“Mum, we’ve been neighbours for so many years, and we don’t hold grudges against each other. So why are you trying to make them have a grudge against us?”
“None of your business!” Mrs. Zhang turned and went to the kitchen, while Dagan was so mad he stormed back into his own room.
Mo Ling’s right hand was injured, so she couldn’t do much. She couldn’t even run their business. The next day, she changed her bandages and found that it was slightly swollen. Mo Yan was afraid it was an infection and urged her to go see Mr. Cao.
Mo Ling wrapped the bandages onto the wound again and said, “I’ll go see him tonight! After all, I don’t know when he’ll return from his clinic.”
This was reasonable, but her faint blush gave Mo Yan a bad premonition.
Why was she so happy to go to the Cao family?
At night, Mo Ling helped out a little with making dinner with her good hand before going out to see Mr. Cao. Mo Yan wanted to follow her, but the rice was half-cooked and she couldn’t leave it unattended, as Mrs. Liang wasn’t at home either.
This was a good time to pick!
Mo Ling stuck her injured hand out and went to the Cao family. If she met anyone she knew well, she told them she was going to get new medicine from Mr. Cao.
Mr. Tian was hanging up his laundry in front of the school. As there were students in the morning, he could only do it when they were all gone.
Mo Ling asked, “Sir, are you hanging up your laundry by yourself?”
He was focused on the laundry and only spared her a passing glance. “Naturally.”
“Let me help you!” Mo Ling forgot about her injured right hand and tried to help him.
Mr. Tian grabbed her wrist, “Don’t let your wound come into contact with water!”
Mo Ling raised her head, and their eyes met. She could see a spark of passion in his eyes. Sweetly calling his name, she made no move to extract her hand from his grip.
Mo Yan felt more and more worried about her sister, so she hastily added firewood to the stove before rushing to find her sister. She had just rushed to the school when she saw this.
“Sis, have you changed your medicine already?”
This sentence broke the passionate air around the two, and Mo Ling hurriedly retracted her hand, “I haven’t arrived there yet! Why aren’t you making dinner?”
“I was worried about you!”
Mr. Tian swiftly hung up his laundry, “So you were going to the Cao family to change your medicine. I was planning on going there too, so let’s go together!”
Mo Ling rolled her eyes at Mo Yan and went to the Cao family. Mo Yan followed behind her, with Mr. Tian at the very back.
When she entered the door, Mo Ling said, “I’m sorry for intruding. I don’t know when Mr. Cao comes back from the clinic, and I’m sorry if I’m disturbing him while he’s eating!”
After she spoke, she could see Mr. Tian head straight for the kitchen as she followed Mr. Cao back to his clinic room.
Post-edit notes: This has a lot of very worrying implications for the future of this story…not in a ‘bad plot’ sense, but rather ‘lots of drama’ sense.
[1] And here we have the clearest possible indicator of the author’s opinion of Mr. Tian.
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