Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 220
Departure
Lu Junming saw the small jade ingot on the stovetop and picked it up, “What is this?”
Mo Yan reached out to grab it, “It’s not done yet. I’ll give it to you when it’s done.”
Lu Junming rubbed the two messy marks on the ingot with his fingertips, “You hurt yourself just carving the word ‘two’? Carve the word ‘tael’ and you’ll puncture your own hand.”
After saying that, he sat down on the low stool in front of the stove, put the small jade ingot on his knees, holding it firmly with his left hand while picking up the carving knife with his right, “When carving, you need to place the object firmly and securely. If you only hold it up in the air, you’re just waiting to stab yourself.”
He carved out the word “two” in two clear strokes, but it was a pity that the broken lines beside it could not be removed. Then, he carved the word “taels” in just a few strokes. He blew the carved jade powder away and then slightly added to the design.
Mo Yan looked on from the side, “You also know how to carve?”
“I was taught how to at school, but I haven’t used it much.”
“This jade ingot has been ruined by me. I’ll find a good one and give it to you as a gift.”
“This one’s pretty good, it’s guaranteed to be unique.”
“It’s true that it’s unique. Then I’ll give you a matching cord for it.”
“There’s no need, your hand is still injured.”
After dinner, Mo Yan pestered Chi Jie to teach her how to tie a cord. Lu Junming couldn’t stop her, and could only let her do as she wanted. She couldn’t learn the complicated knots, and still had to work until midnight to tie a simple knot on a cord.
?She stood up and stretched and said, “It’s done.” Then, she saw that Lu Junming had fallen asleep on the table out of boredom.
Since he had actually fallen asleep, Chi Jie and Ze Wu helped him back to his room. Mo Yan also went back to her room to rest, and the little jade ingot was placed on the table.
After a dreamless night, Mo Yan didn’t wake up until mid-morning the next day. She thought Lu Junming must have gotten up long ago, but when Mo Yan ran out and looked around, there was no trace of him at all.
Seeing Ze Wu feeding the horses in the stable, Mo Yan asked, “Ze Wu, do you know where Lu Junming went?”
Ze Wu pointed to the empty manger next to him, “I don’t know, he might have went to let his horse get some fresh hair.”
??He did walk his horse every day. Mu Yan ran out of the workshop and looked towards the fields. There was no trace of Lu Junming anywhere. Normally, when he walked his horse it was just a short run on the paths in the fields. Where did he go today? Did he go back to the village to see his grandpa?
Yesterday, it seemed that he was in a good mood and he was probably fine, so Mo Yan didn’t look for him again.
After entering the office, Mu Yan realised that the jade ingot she placed on the table yesterday was missing. Lu Junming must have taken it away.
Ze Wu came in with a letter, “I went to Mr. Lu’s room to clean up, and found a letter on the table. It seemed to have been left there on purpose, so I brought it over.”
Mo Yan took the letter. The recipient’s name wasn’t written on the envelope, but it wasn’t sealed. She took out the letter and looked at it. It was headed “Chi Jie, Yan’er”. This letter was written to the two of them!
Then, she continued reading: My mother has just lost her life, and my father is at war and in danger. I feel really uneasy, so I went to the border to look for my father. I don’t know when I’ll return, don’t miss me. I have written a letter of authorisation, and all matters related to the workshop and commercial firm will be handled by Mo Yan with Chi Jie assisting. Lu Junming bids farewell.
Ze Wu found a piece of paper on the ground, picked it up and handed it to Mo Yan. It was the authorisation letter written by Lu Junming.
With just a few words, he had arranged everything. It seemed that he would not be back in the short term. He had said that he was going to find his father, but in reality he was going to join the army.
?Mo Yan thought of “Military Campaign at Fifteen”, a Yuefu poem of the Han Dynasty. [1]
I joined a military campaign at fifteen, I had to return home at eighty.
I asked someone from my hometown: “Who is left at my home?”
“Far off in the distance is your home, graves amidst pines and cypresses.”
Hares entering from the dog’s door, pheasants flying onto ceiling beams.
Wild grains growing in the courtyard, wild mallows growing around the well.
Deshelled wild grains for rice, picked mallow leaves for soup.
Both have already been made, I don’t know who to offer it to.
Stepping out and looking eastwards, teardrops stained my clothes. [2]
No wonder he insisted on hanging a plaque with the name “Lu Mansion” on Jiaolan Courtyard. He must have been afraid that when he came back, everything would be different and he wouldn’t know where to look for them. After all, he never asked Mo Yan to wait for his return.
Mo Yan muttered, “I will wait for you to come back,” as she walked towards Jiaolan Courtyard, which should be called “Lu Mansion” now.
The “Jiaolan Courtyard’ sign had been taken off by Ms. Jiao and put aside. Mo Yan turned the sign over. The back was smooth and flat, and the wood wasn’t low-quality.
She took a brush and wrote the words “Lu Mansion” on the back of the sign. After practising for so long, her calligraphy has improved greatly. Although it still wasn’t as good as Lu Junming’s, at least it was legible.
She wanted to write her own words on this plaque. So no matter when Lu Junming came back, he would be sure this was his home and he could enter at any time.
The sign has been written and was hung in its original location. Mo Yan entered the courtyard and locked the door.
It turned out Ms. Jiao’s house had been untouched, so she cleaned up Lu Junming’s room and prepared to live there.
The flower pond in the courtyard was still empty. Ms. Jiao had tried to plant a few flowers soon after moving in, but none of her attempts succeeded. It was spring now, and in a few days it would be Grain Rain.
As the saying goes, “Before and after Grain Rain, sow melons and beans.” It was a good time to sow seeds and grow sprouts. It was just a shame that Mo Yan had no flower seeds.
Before they reclaimed that farmland, it was a sea full of wildflowers. By this time, they would’ve all bloomed already.
She took Chi Jie’s horse and rode it to the village, but instead of going home, she went directly to the fields. From a distance, she saw people in the fields. It was Ms. Liang, Xiuying and Mo Feng, planting Chinese foxgloves. She was hesitating about whether to go over or not when Xiuying saw her while she straightened up to rest.
“Yan’er, you’ve come back. How did you know we were planting medicinal herbs today? Come and see if we are planting them correctly.”
Since they had already seen her, there was no reason for her to turn around and leave, so Mo Yan had no choice but to urge her horse over and dismount at the edge of the fields.
The three of them were working, but each of them were working separately. Mo Feng was in the middle of the field, half-kneeling on the ground. He didn’t move forward for a long time, and no one knew what he was doing. Xiuying and Ms. Liang working together. Ms. Liang bent down and put the Chinese foxgloves seeds in their holes, while Xiuying covered them with soil behind her.
?There hadn’t been snow last winter, so the ground was drier this spring. If they wanted the seeds to have a high survival rate, you should dig some holes with water.
Mo Yan said, “The soil is too dry. I’m afraid the survival rate will be low, so we need to water the medicinal herbs.”
Xiuying said, “I said the same, but there isn’t a water source nearby. Going back to the village to fetch water would be too far.”
“A well can be dug here in the future.”
“Water from afar cannot quench a nearby thirst, so there is nothing we can do now. We can only leave it to fate.”
“How about transporting water with a carriage, it’d be less exhausting.”
“How can a carriage transport water?”
Mo Yan smiled, “Sister-in-law, you have forgotten that the raincoats made in our workshop are watertight. We can just place some oilcloths on the carriage, and then fill it with water.”
Xiuying was overjoyed and said, “That’s right! Mother, this is a good idea. We can take water from the pond. That way, we won’t be growing Chinese foxgloves for nothing!”
Ms. Liang stopped what she was doing and said, “Then quickly go get the oilclothes so we can figure out how to arrange it.”
Mo Yan had no choice but to ride back to the workshop and bring back a piece of oilcloth. Ms. Liang and Xiuying smoothed out the family carriage so as to not puncture the oilcloth. Then, they cut the oilcloth to a suitable size, and sew the four corners together, like a small pool.
P.S. Yes, the reason for the delay was the poem.
[1] I think that translates literally as Pleasure Mansion.
[2] This…yeah, this is really scuffed.