Chapter 15

Yun Maozhong put the things in the trunk of the car and Grandma Yun sent him out. She told him to be careful on the road, and added, “After half a month, after the new wheat at home has been made into flour, you come back and take two bags back for Man Ni and the children to eat. The wheat is delicious and fragrant, and the vegetables in the vegetable garden at home are also growing rapidly. So, come back and pick some if you have nothing to do.”

Man Ni’s full name was Tan Man Ni. She was the wife of Yun Maozhong.

“Mom, I know. I’ll come back to see you in a while.” Yun Maozhong closed the trunk, “After working so hard for the day you should go in and rest early.”

Yunyu followed behind Grandma Yun and pretended to say unintentionally, “Uncle, it’s getting late. Why don’t you sleep here for one night and go back tomorrow morning?”

Grandma Yun followed, “Yeah. You’ve been working all afternoon and may be a bit absentminded. I’m a little worried if youdrive back like this. Do you want to stay the night and leave tomorrow morning?”

“No.” Yun Maozhong shook his head, “Man Ni is on the night shift today and I am worried about Mei Jing being home alone. I have to help her make breakfast tomorrow morning too. She refuses to eat well recently.”

Yun Meijing was the youngest daughter of Yun Maozhong and Tan Man Ni. She was a sophomore in high school and was the same age as Yun Sheng, but was two months younger. She grew up spoiled and was a little sassy. Above her there was an older brother by the name of, you’ve guessed it, Yun Liangchen. That’s right, their names formed liang chen mei jing (T/N:良辰美景 liángchén měijǐng – it’s a phrase (?) meaning beautiful times and sights). Yun Liangchen was 23 years old this year. He graduated from college last year and had been working in the imperial capital for a year. He was two years older than Yunyu and a few months younger than Yunlan.

Yun Maozhong got married late, so the two children in the family are about the same age as the children of the third brother’s family. In fact, it was not too late. When he graduated from college, he married Tan Manni. It was mainly because his third brother, Yun Maoliang got married very early. At the age of twenty, he married Feng Xiuzhen.

Meijing had been spoiled and pampered since she was a child. They spoiled her very much, and they did not let her eat outside food often. They made home cooked meals for her, and they usually delivered her meals when she was at school. They treasured her like a pearl.

Yun Yu felt that she could not persuade him. After thinking about it, she took out a yellow talisman that was folded into a triangle from her pocket. “Eldest uncle, please take this with you.” It was a protective talisman (T/N: Previously mentioned in Chapter 4) that she had drawn.

“What is this for Yunyu?” Yun Maozhong laughed at the talisman. A little disapprovingly, he said, “Yunyu, you are a top student in the imperial capital. How can you believe this? Did you give me this because you are afraid that something would happen to me at night? Don’t worry. Driving back to the city takes only over an hour. It’s very close.” It seemed that he did not plan on accepting it.

“Eldest Uncle, keep it. Whether you believe it or not, you can simply put it in your pocket and treat it as a toy.” Yun Yu’s beautiful eyes were a little persistent.

Grandma Yun remembered the divination Yunyu gave her the other time and her face paled. She took the talisman and stuffed it into Yun Maozhong’s pocket, “Take it, da lao (T/N: eldest child). It’ll make me feel more at ease.”

Yun Maozhong wanted to say something, but seeing that the old lady insisted, he could only give up, put the thing in his pockets, before driving away.

Watching the car drive onto the spacious road, Grandma Yun was very worried and turned around to ask Yunyu, “Xiao Yu’er, will your eldest uncle be alright?”

Yun Yu watched the car gradually disappear at the entrance of the village, and said slowly, “As long as Eldest Uncle doesn’t throw away the talisman halfway though, he will be fine. If he throws it away, he will be injured and the car will be scrapped.” It was just a minor disaster, not a major one. Throwing it away would at most result in a 2 or 3 months car repair due to the accident. It would not take away his life. With insurance, the scrapped car also would not be much of a problem.

She already found out when she saw her Eldest Uncle’s face in the afternoon. That was why she wanted him to stay the night. However, she could tell that she would not be successful. Hence, she could only give him the peace talisman they she She found out when she saw the uncle’s face in the afternoon. She wanted to keep someone at night, but she couldn’t keep it, so she could only stuff him the protective talisman.

Grandma Yun sighed, her heart was anxious.

Yun Sheng followed behind and could not understand. He didn’t make a sound. He was also tired from working the whole day, so he went back to take a shower and fell asleep.

It was nine o’clock in the evening that Yun Maozhong arrived in the city. He would be home in another half an hour. He did not take the things his niece gave him seriously at all. He wanted to throw it away on the road, but in the end he probably forgot that he had it in his pocket all along and drove downtown with it. He was getting older, and was still a little tired from the farm work in the afternoon. His mind was a little dizzy, hence he drove slowly on the road. The road was actually a little deserted, and there were not many cars. Suddenly, Yun Maozhong felt a chill in his body, and his mind instantly sobered up. His hands reacted ahead of his brain, and somehow he stopped the car at the side of the road to calm down.

As soon as he stopped and had yet to exit the car door, he saw that in front of him, a large truck in the opposite lane trying to avoid a swerving eclectic car. The whole large truck rushed towards his lane at high speed and you could even hear the brakes screeching. The truck was still loaded with heavy cargo and because of the sudden turn of the steering wheel, the whole vehicle slammed to the ground with a bang, stirring up dust.

This was really only a momentary thing.

Yun Maozhong’s mind was buzzing, and it was blank. There was only one thought left. If he did not suddenly want to stop just now, and drove two meters ahead, the truck would have fallen straight onto his car. As for his fate, one could imagine.

The more he thought about it, the colder his body became. Yun Maozhong could not recover for a long time.

As for the electric car that got into the accident, seeing that he was all right, he patted his butt and left.

Yun Maozhong did not stay stunned for a long time. He endured his trembling emotions, opened the car door and got out of the car. After calling the police, he went to the side of the large truck and saw that the driver was pinned in the cab and passed out. He quickly called the emergency number, and waited for the police and the ambulance to arrive. He didn’t know how the driver was doing. He squatted beside him and called out to him. The driver groaned with blood dripping down his head. He breathed a sigh of relief. The driver was not dead yet.

The police came over quickly and asked Yun Maozhong about what happened. After listening and looking at the car that was only two meters away from the truck, a younger policeman sighed, “You are so lucky. If you didn’t stop at that time, you might have been pinned under the truck.”

Yun Maozhong wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, but his heart did not calm down.

This time the incident was not small. He was a witness. When the ambulance came and took the injured to the hospital, he also went to the police station to make a statement. The police looked at surveillance and found that he was telling the truth. He did not violate the traffic rules. The location where he parked could be temporarily parked, so he was released and began to contact the family members of the truck driver.

After dealing with this, it was almost eleven o’clock when Yun Maozhong got home. He was sweating all over, but he did forget to carry up the dishes from the trunk of the car. His wife, Tan Man Ni, was a doctor and was about to go to the hospital to work the night shift. She was a clean-freak, so when she saw her husband’s dirty hands and face, she frowned and said, “Why are you so dirty? Did you help to harvest the wheat? Why are you back so late?”.

“There was a car accident.”

Tan Man Ni was startled, “Did you have a car accident? Are you alright? I told you not to go back and just transfer the money to your mother, but you just had to go over. Not to mention that the work is tiring, you even got into a car accident. .”

Yun Maozhong said tiredly, “It’s alright. It wasn’t me that got into an accident.” He was just a little scared.

Hearing that her husband was fine, Tan Man Ni was relieved and asked about the matter. When she saw that the vegetables in his hand were fresh and dewy, and there was also fresh soil on them, she looked uncomfortable, “Why did you bring the vegetables back? It’s not like we dont have them at home. Now there is mud everywhere. Remember to clean the house later.”

Yun Maozhong did not seem to hear his wife’s complaint, he was used to it. He only talked about the car accident on the road, but suddenly remembered the talisman that his niece insisted on giving him. He took out the talisman from his pocket and found that the whole talisman was a little black, and the symbols drawn with cinnabar were already black. His complexion changed.

“What is this?” Tan Man Ni did not recognize the thing.

Yun Maozhong swallowed his saliva and told her about the talisman that Yunyu gave her. Hearing that, Tan Man Ni felt chills down her body and rubbed her arm, “It’s just a coincidence.”

Yun Maozhong asked, “This talisman was still a piece of yellow paper with cinnabar before. Now, the yellow paper has turned black, and the symbols painted with cinnabar have also become black. Is it still a coincidence?”

This incident made him, an atheist, doubt his beliefs. Were there really many things in this world that could not be explained by science?

Tan Man Ni did not say anything. She finally checked the time and went out in a hurry, “I’m going to work first. You remember to make shumai for Jingjing tomorrow morning. She wants to eat beef shumai.”

Shumai (烧麦 Shāo mài)

[T/N: My absolute favorite dim sum. I have never tried the beef one though]

After putting the vegetables in the kitchen, Yun Maozhong took a shower and went to sleep.

The next day, Yun Maozhonge got up early. He looked at the scallions in the kitchen and remembered that there were noodles in the refrigerator. So, he decided to make noodles with scallion oil.

He fried diced pork belly and scallions over low heat. The scallions were crisp and the whole house was filled with a delicious aroma. After removing the scallions, he stir-fried some shredded pork with scallion oil. He then added some seasonings and water to make a thick sauce. He cooked enough noodles for two people as Man Ni would not get off work until noon. Yun Maozhong then fried two fresh eggs which he brought from his hometown yesterday.

The cooked noodles are divided into two plates. The thick sauce made of scallion oil was poured onto them and a tender fried egg nestled on top, the egg yolk trembling.

Noodles with scallion oil (葱油拌面 Cōng yóu bàn miàn)

[T/N: Included one with pork bits and one with a trembling yolk (lols)]

Yun Maozhong knocked on Meijing’s door and called his daughter to get up to eat noodles. He also sat at the table and ate it. The noodles were really delicious. Halfway through his meal, the phone rang. It was Grandma Yun calling to see if he had safely gotten home. He told her about the entire incident that occurred the day before. Grandma Yun was silent for a long time. After a while, she said, “As long as you’re alright, it’s fine.”

Yun Maozhong was afraid of scaring the old lady, so he laughed and changed the topic, “Mom, I made scallion oil noodles. The scallions are really fragrant, and the eggs are also very tender. I will be going back to get some more vegetables in a few days.”

Grandma Yun who was anxious, could not help laughing when she heard this, “What a coincidence. We also eat scallion noodles in the morning.”

The mother and son talked for a while, then hung up the phone. Yun Meiming came out of the room rubbing her eyes. She had natural double eyelids (T/N: Chinese beauty aesthetic peeps. Don’t question it ¯\_㋡_/¯ ), sparkling eyes and fair skin. She looked like a well behaved girl. But, when she came out to see the scallion oil on the dining table after brushing her teeth and washing her face, she said angrily, “Dad, didn’t I say to eat shumai yesterday? Why did you make noodles? I won’t eat it!”

Yun Maozhong tried persuading her, “Try it, Meijing. The noodles are delicious.”

“I won’t eat it!” Meijing turned her head stubbornly.

Yun Maozhong ignored her and went to the study to prepare for his lessons.

Yun Meijing angrily held the noodle and wanted to throw it away, but as she was walking to the kitchen, she smelled delicious aroma. She hesitated before picking some noodles with a pair of chopsticks, and giving it a taste. After that, she silently returned to the dining table to eat the noodles.

She was usually picky when she ate, and often had leftovers. However, she ate this plate of noodles cleanly, and finally burped.

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Yunyu was relieved to know that the uncle was all right.

Yun Sheng’s appetite for the scallion oil noodles that he ate in the morning was great, and he ate two big bowls.

Today, they had to thresh wheat, so Wu Li came to help early in the morning. Within a day, he used the tractor to crush the wheat, picked up the straw and piled it on the roadside, and packed all the wheat into bags before dark. Grandma Yun found that this year’s wheat grains seem to be larger than the previous years, and the yield seemed to be higher. Last year, there were about 3,500 kilograms of wheat in the four acres of fields, and 35 bags were packed. This year, 43 bags were packed, which was 800 kilograms more than last year, almost the output of one mu of land.

Grandma Yun could not help but to say, “This year’s harvest is good. The four acres of land have more than a few hundred catties of wheat.”

Yunyu could not help but think that if she used her spiritual spring to raise seedlings, it would be more than 800 catties. .

T/N: Aiyaya. Meijing seems like a real spoiled brat and Aunt Man Ni doesn’t seem to be the nicest either. Will they be like the typical scum relatives in almost every Chinese novel? Hmmm? Read more to find out!