CH 104

On the third day of the New Year, two of Mo Yan’s other cousins came to pay their New Year’s greetings, and on the fourth, Mo Feng went to his maternal uncle’s house to pay his.

Nothing really happened those two days. In previous years, Mrs. Liang would get together with the women in the village for some cards, but this year, she really wasn’t in the mood.

However, Mo Ling seemed to be fine and ate and slept normally. She had already made up her mind she would never marry that fool. At worst, she’d just use a rope to end it all.

Mo Yan didn’t want her to jump into a well again, so she had to find a way to stop it. She wanted Lu Junming to tell Zhong Cheng to propose on the sixth day of the New Year as well, so Mo Ling didn’t have to marry that idiot.

She said she was looking for Lu Junming to talk business, and then went out. First, she went to Sir Lu’s house, but Lu Junming was not there, so she walked to the city alone.

The door of Jiaolan Courtyard was ajar, so she opened the door and went in. Xiao Chuzi immediately ran over, and when he saw that it was Mu Yan, he said, “I was saying! No one is allowed to do needlework during the first month of the New Year, so no one will come, and Ms. Zhao can take a rest. It turned out to be you, are you looking for Jun Ming?”

Mo Yan nodded, “Is he here?”

“Yes, Ms. Zhao hasn’t been feeling well and he has been by her side.”

“Is she ill?”

“She isn’t ill, she just hasn’t been feeling well.”

Lu Junming heard people speaking and came out of the house. Seeing that it was Mo Yan, he asked, “Why are you here? Is something the matter?”

“Yes, but it’s not a big deal.”

Ms. Zhao asked from the room, “Is it Yan’er? Come in quickly.”

Mo Yan entered the room and saw Ms. Zhao resting on the couch. After she greeted her, Ms. Zhao sat up lazily, and handed her a red satin fortune bag, “I told you we have fate with each other. I guessed you’d come today, and prepared a red envelope for you.”

Mo Yan declined, but Lu Junming said, “Take it quickly! Don’t make my mother anxious.” So she had no choice but to take it.

Then, she remembered that she had promised Ms. Hua that she’d give Zhao’er a ;arge red envelope, so she took the fortune bag and put some more money into it, “Since you aren’t feeling well, just rest! I won’t bother you anymore. We’re going to the storefront to take inventory and check the accounts.”

Ms. Zhao didn’t want to be disturbed during her rest, so Xiao Chuzi had to be very quiet, which was very uncomfortable. Lu Junming agreed to let him go with them.

The three of them had just walked to the street when they met Zhou Liangsheng walking by. He cupped his hands at Mo Yan and said, “Sister Mo, has your shop opened? I was just about to buy your gift baskets!”

“It hasn’t opened yet, but if you want to buy a gift basket, come get it with us!”

The four of them went to Ms. Hua’s courtyard together. As soon as they entered the door, they smelled a tantalising aroma. It wasn’t braised pork, but something else. Ms. Hua and Zhao’er greeted them from the kitchen, and they were greeted back.

Mu Yan handed the red envelope to Zhao’er, “Zhao’er, I’m giving a large red envelope.”

Zhao’er took a look at Mrs. Hua. When she saw the bulging fortune bag, she knew that there was a lot of money in it, so she hurried over to stop him, “We’ve already benefited a lot from you, you don’t have to give such a big red envelope. It’s the thought that matters.”

Mo Yan stuffed the red envelope into Zhao’er’s hand, “Take it! We have to take care of each other, after all, and you help us a lot.”

Mrs. Hua glanced at the steaming kitchen “Okay, then we’ll accept it. It’s almost noon, why don’t you stay and eat! I was braising lamb spine, and there are also a lot of scraps! The two of us can’t eat much.”

Lu Junming was the first to agree, “Okay! This scent is really fragrant!”

Zhou Liangsheng urged Mu Yan to get him a gift basket. Then, he took it and walked out. As he was, he turned his head several times, probably because he was also attracted by the scent.

Ms. Hua urged Zhao’er to set up and prepare the dishes. She kept saying, “This courtyard hasn’t been so lively for a long time.”

As the saying goes, there’s a lot of gossip in front of the widow’s house. Since her husband passed away, few people have come to visit. Now they’ve come today, Zhao’er was also very happy, and told everyone to sit down.

The fragrant lamb spine had just been served when Zhou Liangsheng’s voice came from the door, “Zhao’er.”

Zhao’er ran out and saw Zhou Liangsheng holding a basket in his hand, “Brother Liangsheng, why are you back again?”

“I was afraid that lamb spine would be insufficient, so I brought you some braised pork and smoked sausage.”

Lu Junming said, “I think you were attracted by the smell of the lamb spine. If you want to eat, just say it, don’t beat around the bush.”

Mrs. Hua also came out to greet him, “You can eat as much as you want, there’s plenty of it! You didn’t have to take anything else, it’s really unnecessary.”

Zhou Liangsheng handed the basket to Mrs. Hua and so she could cut up what he brought. He sat in front of the table and saw the hot lamb spine in the middle of the table, exuding a mouth-watering aroma.

“How did you make this? You’ve braised this lamb spine so well.”

Lu Junming handed some over to him, “You can eat it without flattering her.”

Zhou Liangsheng took a bite and repeatedly praised it, “Mrs. Wu, you can open a restaurant. It tastes even better than the lamb of the lamb soup restaurant.”

While cutting the meat, Ms. Hua replied, “Of course, that’s because they have to use the same ingredients to braise multiple pots of lamb.”

A large plate of braised pork and smoked sausage was served up, and Mu Yan said, “This is all meat, and it’s very heavy. Ms. Hua, please bring us some side dishes!”

Mrs. Hua agreed with a smile on her face, and her steps were very light.

Zhou Liangsheng said, “You all call her Ms. Hua, while I call her Mrs. Wu. Those are names from two different generations!”

Lu Junming said, “We’ve always called it that.”

Zhou Liangsheng looked at Zhao’er, “Zhao’er is a little younger than us, but you call his mother Ms. Hua. So should he call you aunt and uncle?”

Zhao’er usually calls Mo Yan ‘sister’, and she call hers Ms. Hua. He really hadn’t thought much about it. Now that he thought about it, it was a little messy,

Lu Junming looked at Mo Yan, “If we call her Auntie, it might make her feel old and she wouldn’t like it.”

Zhao’er gnawed on the bones, squinted and said with a smile, “People who share a meal are brothers, so why don’t we swear each other as siblings! Then you’ll all call her godmother.”

They looked at each other, and Xiao Chuzi was the first to respond, “I agree, I have no relatives anyways. If we become sworn siblings, I’ll have a godmother and brothers.”

Lu Junming slapped him on the shoulder, “Don’t I treat you as a brother?”

Xiao Chuzi said with a bitter face, “You treat me as a brother, but that doesn’t mean we are brothers. If we become sworn brothers, then we’ll be real brothers.”

Lu Junming slapped the table and said, “Done!”

Zhou Liangsheng also raised his hand in response, “Count me in.”

“Don’t you have biological brothers already?”

“That’s different, you’re my friends!”

At this time, Ms. Hua came in with a bowl, and Xiao Chuzi was the first to call her “Godmother”. Then, the other three also called out in unison. She didn’t know what was happening and was stunned.

“What’s happening? Are you drunk without drinking any alcohol?”

As soon as she said alcohol, Zhou Liangsheng remembered that he had wine in his basket, and immediately took the wine jar, “Look, we even have wine.”

Lu Junming stretched out his hand and asked him to take it over quickly.

Post-translation notes: We all need a breather chapter. Thank you for reading!