Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 174
The Return of the Bride I
Mo Yan hadn’t slept all night, so felt completely sapped of all strength and laid down on her kang at home.
She didn’t know how long she had slept for when she heard Ms. Liang call from outside, “Yan’er, wake up, the people sending your sister away have come back!”
Mo Yan was up in a flash, and ran out of her room without any concern to how messy her hair was. As soon as she opened her mouth, she asked, “How’s sis?”
The people who had just returned all looked at each other, and even Mrs. Liu didn’t say anything. At this time, Lu Junming had just walked over after tying his horse to a tree, and Mo Yan ran over to ask, “Is my sis alright?”
Lu Junming didn’t answer immediately either, and Mo Yan grabbed onto the clothes on his chest, “You need to tell me!”
Lu Junming’s gaze sharpened, “Well, the people over there love messing with newlywed brides. When she was kowtowing to the sky and the earth…”
Mrs. Liu felt frustrated the more she heard and admitted, “It’s that second sister-in-law of Zhong Cheng. She slammed Mo Ling’s head on the ground when she was kowtowing to the sky and the earth. I wanted to stop her, but who knew they had long since been prepared? A few people restrained us, and we couldn’t move at all.”
Mo Yan turned to look at Lu Junming, who lowered his head as he said, “All of them were women, so we couldn’t do anything.”
“How about Zhong Cheng?”
“He wanted to stop it, but he was held back too!”
Governing official Wu said, “They’ll only mess with Mo Ling today, since newlywed brides aren’t allowed to get angry. They wouldn’t dare repeat this in the future.”
“Sis has a very straightforward personality, how would she understand the tricks of these small-minded individuals!”
However, Ms. Liang wasn’t as anxious as Mo Yan, “You have to walk the road of your life on your own. How can anyone help her out for the rest of her life? As long as she hasn’t come back home crying, we shouldn’t interfere.”
Ms. Liang made tea, then invited everyone inside the house, but Mo Yan kept on coughing until her voice became hoarse. Lu Junming touched her forehead and said, “You have a fever, I’ll go and ask Mr. Cao for help.”
Lu Junming helped her inside the house, then went to ask Mr. Cao for his assistance. Mr. Cao took her pulse, then said, “You’re overworked, have been in the cold and strong winds for a long time, and are emotionally incensed. It’ll take you a few days to recover. I’ll go back to get the medicine, then send Zhao’er to hand it over.”
Zhao’er delivered the medicine, then stayed behind to boil and serve it to Mo Yan, “Big brother, if you’re busy, you should go first. I’ll take care of sister, and I’ll be making medicine for her every day until she’s fully recovered.”
Lu Junming did have to do something else, so despite his multitude of worries, he had no choice but to leave. After Zhao’er had watched Mo Yan finished her medicine, he went back to Mr. Cao’s house as well.
Without Sis, this house has become cold and empty. There was no one to make dough soup for Mo Yan anymore, nor was there anyone who would stand up to Ms. Liang for her. At this time, she didn’t know how her sister was doing in the Zhong family. As she thought about it, tears started falling from her eyes.
After taking her second dose of medicine, her fever had receded, but she felt unbalanced as soon as she got up and had stars in her eyes. Zhao’er said, “Sister, at this time of the year, the fields are green and the flowers are blooming. The winds are gentle and the sunshine is warm today, how about we go for a walk!”
Mo Yan also thought the house was too gloomy and depressing, so steadied herself and followed Zhao’er to the fields.
The willow trees had grown full of leaves, and the banks of the pond were verdant with grass. They sat down by the base of the well, looking at the pond white enjoying the sunshine.
“Zhao’er, after your house has been built, are you going back to live with your mother?”
Zhao’er thought for a while, “I want to accompany my master. After all, he lives at home alone, so he’s very lonely, and besides, I want to learn more from him as well. My mother has you and brother Lu Junming for company, so she won’t be as lonely.”
“In the future, our Zhao’er will become an even greater doctor than Mr. Cao!”
Zhao’er’s eyes formed crescent moons as he replied, “I’ll try my best!”
Mo Yan’s voice was still very raw, and when she coughed, it felt like there were daggers lodged in her throat. While she was coughing, she couldn’t stop herself from grabbing at her throat.
When Zhao’er saw it, he said, “Sister, let me help you! It’s like gua sha, and doesn’t hurt.” [1]
After saying that, Zhao’er wetted his hands using water from the pond, then made Mo Yan tilt her head up before grabbing the skin around her throat before pressing on it tightly. After a few presses, her throat was already starting to bruise. Then, Zhao’er let go.
“Sister, how do you feel now?”
Mo Yan tried to clear her throat, “I feel a lot better!”
Then, she heard footsteps on the road to the pond. Is someone here to fetch water? Mo Yan tilted her head and saw Mrs. Liang coming over with a bucket and a carrying pole.
“Mother, why are you fetching water?”
Ms. Liang had lowered her hand to place her bucket at the base of the well, “Are you going to fetch the water if you don’t?”
Mo Yan was too lazy to respond to her.
Tomorrow was the return of the bride, but Ms. Liang hadn’t made any preparations at all. [2]
“Mother, what are we having tomorrow for the return of the bride ceremony?”
“It’s not like there are any outsiders tomorrow, it’s just Mo Ling and Zhong Cheng. What do you want me to do, have a banquet?”
Mo Yan handed some money to Zhao’er, “Help me buy some dishes from Dengyun Tower, and ask them to deliver it at noon tomorrow.”
Ms. Liang threw the carrying pole onto the ground, then snatched Mo Yan’s money angrily, “It’s just those two, why do we need to buy dishes from Dengyun Tower! How can you waste money with wanton spending, we should ready a foundation to build a house on for Feng’er instead! There’s so many important things we need money for!”
“This is the first time sis is coming back to her natal family after getting married, she’s a guest!”
“What kind of guess is she? It’s good that she’s coming back, it’s the perfect time to discuss when to start preparing the foundations for the new house, and also ask them for manpower.”
“They need to build a divider courtyard wall, and don’t have the time.”
“Why do they have to build a wall as soon as possible? We need to finish the foundation of Feng’er’s house before the rainy season, so we can start building the house in autumn.”
“Zhao’er, go to Dengyun Tower and buy eight dishes on credit. We’ll use them to welcome sis and brother-in-law.”
“You’re not allowed to!”
Zhao’er was so scared he clutched onto Mo Yan, without making a sound. As she didn’t want to trouble him, she patted his shoulders before saying, “Zhao’er, go back! Don’t worry about it, I’ll go to Dengyun Tower tomorrow myself.”
After he left, Ms. Liang bent down to fetch water, but as soon as she got up, the water bucket was so heavy that she staggered. The water bucket shook wildly and water spilled from the bucket. After steadying herself, Ms. Liang stabilised the bucket before going back home. At the uphill part of the alley, she set the bucket down to take a break, and massaged her shoulders.
Mo Zenian was also grabbing a water bucket to fetch water. When he saw Ms. Liang, he opened and closed his mouth several times before finally saying, “Mo Ling’s returning tomorrow, I’ll order a few dishes from Dengyun Tower! After all, I am still the bride’s father-in-law, so I have to help out somehow.”
Ms. Liang ignored him, and picked up her bucket and left. When Mo Zenian saw Mo Yan, he said, “Yan’er, I’ll order dishes from Dengyun Tower, so we can gather together as a family.”
“There’s no need, I’ll entertain sis and brother-in-law myself.”
On the third day after marriage, a newlywed bride is supposed to be picked up by her natal family so she could return home to signify the importance of the bride to them. They couldn’t hire outsiders to do this and had to do this themselves, but Mo Feng didn’t care about these things and there wasn’t anyone else who could do it, so they just couldn’t do that.
Around mid-morning, Mo Ling and Zhong Cheng drove back home in a horse-drawn carriage, but Ms. Liang didn’t do any preparations at all. Without waiting for Zhong Cheng to unhitch the carriage from the horse, Mo Yan said, “Brother-in-law, please don’t unhitch the carriage yet. Sit down inside the house first, I’ll borrow the carriage for a short while if you don’t mind.”
Zhong Cheng was worried, “Do you know how to drive a carriage? What do you want to do, I’ll accompany you.”
“I’m going to Dengyun Tower to order some dishes.”
“There’s no need. It’s not like you’re going to be serving guests, and I’m not a picky eater.”
“At these times, you should be more picky!”
P.S. I find Ms. Liang’s complaints more than rather selfish, considering Mo Yan is the sole breadwinner of the entire family. Sorry for the late upload, the first week of school took a bit more out of me than I had initially thought. Thanks for reading!
[1] Gua sha is a traditional Chinese medicine practice where a tool is used to scrape your skin to release…impurities? Or something along those lines.
[2] The return of the bride is a part of traditional Chinese wedding ceremonies where the bride returns to her natal family on the third day after the wedding, or on rare occasions the second.