Chapter 89: CH 89

Mo Yan heard a bout of coughing as soon as she entered the doorway. For once, it wasn’t from Mrs. Liang, but from Mo Feng. After the severe cough, he yelled hoarsely, “Mum, my throat hurts, what do I do?”

Mrs. Liang wanted Mo Ling to find Mr. Cao, but she glared at her, “I don’t have the time to deal with that spoiled brat of yours. His throat might hurt, but my heart hurts! Do you have any idea how much money we lost with the goods he ruined?”

Mo Ling believed she’d beat Mo Feng up as well if she saw the amount of goods he ruined. However, Mrs. Liang could only see her son coughing with a sore throat right now.

“Mum, your cough has gotten much better on the other hand.”

She replied gratefully, “Yes! It really seems to have gotten much better.”

“It’s all thanks to Yan’er begging Mr. Cao! Our current family situation is also due to her strategies, she’s really the lucky star of our family.”

Mrs. Liang wasn’t dumb, and knew this within her heart. Even though her daughter wasn’t physically strong, she was much better at earning money than her eldest. [1]

After practising for a few days, Mo Yan had started to grasp how to do her own hair. Although she couldn’t be said to have done it very well, at least it looked somewhat acceptable. After wearing the cloak and new clothes she bought from the Upper Valley, she looked like an entirely different person.

She was in Ms. Hua’s courtyard when Lu Junming suddenly ran over, “Yan’er, a Miss Liu just arrived at Jiaolan Courtyard.”

Ms. Zhao was the one who told him to inform her, and everything was within Mo Yan’s expectations. She immediately moved to go there and told him not to return first. Although Lu Junming was confused, he listened to her and started checking the courtyard to see how much of their goods were still remaining.

After entered Jiaolan Courtyard, Mo Yan called Ms. Zhao, who responded, “Yan’er, you’re here. Quick, come in.”

Liu Yuyan was sitting in the living room and drinking tea. When she saw Mo Yan, she smiled and greeted her, “So you’re called Yan’er. Both of our names have the word ‘Yan’ in it, what a coincidence!”

Mo Yan bowed slightly, “It’s my honour to share a name with Miss Liu.” After that, she turned to Ms. Zhao and said, “Ms. Zhao, Miss Liu is getting married next year, but is dissatisfied with her wedding dress. She would like you to help her out.”

Liu Yuyan pointed at the fabrics placed by a side, “Just the texture of the fabrics alone make me feel like my wedding dress is shabby. Ms. Zhao, do you have any recommendations?”

“Aside from being brightly coloured for auspiciousness, what’s most important is that the wedding dress needs to be liked by the bride. Miss Liu, is there anything you’d like?”

This Liu Yuyan seemed like someone with strong opinions and didn’t just go along with the flow, which was why Ms. Zhao asked.

She replied, “I like Hu clothing. I’ve seen people on the road wear it before and it looks vibrant and lively, but the old tailor doesn’t know how to make them.”

Hu clothing wasn’t common at the time, and although Ms. Zhao had seen it before as well, she didn’t know about its details. Mo Yan smiled slightly, “Miss Liu’s correct, Hu clothing is vibrant and lively, but would your elders accept it as your wedding dress?”

Liu Yuyan turned her head to the side playfully, “I’m the one getting married, not them, so what I like is most important. This isn’t a large metropolis or anything, so it’s not like I need to follow too many regulations on etiquette and propriety.”

When the topic of Hu clothing was raised, Mo Yan instantly thought about Tang dynasty clothing. It was based on Hu clothing, and with a good fit and good colour combinations, it would make her seem elegant and refined.

“Miss Liu, Ms. Zhao, I’ll draw a picture first. Could you tell me what you think?”

Ms. Zhao fetched her ink and paper, and Mo Yan roughly sketched a Tang dynasty dress out, “Inside is a dress with a tight cut and narrow sleeves, with a larger outer dress with wide sleeves.”

Liu Yuyan repeatedly praised its design, saying it looked even better than the one she saw in the past.

“Then let’s select the materials and start making it!” Mo Yan said.

“Will it be complete in time?” Liu Yuyan asked worriedly.

Ms. Zhao asked, “When will your wedding be held?”

“January the 18th.”

“Then we still have over a month! There’s enough time, I’ll help you.”

Wedding dresses needed to be predominantly red, and the inner dress would be made of comfortable silk. To save time, they were only going to embroider flowers at the front and on the hem. While the outer robe would be made of a luxurious brocade. No flowers needed to be embroidered, and it would look elegant and luxurious.

Ms. Zhao took out a booklet filled with flower stencils and asked Liu Yuyan to pick some, “Miss Liu, you need to embroider this wedding dress yourself for good luck.”

“But my embroidery work isn’t good,” she said regretfully.

“Don’t worry, I can teach you. Come to my Jiaolan Courtyard as often as you want in the future, and if you’re afraid of being lonely, you can invite some of your best friends over as well. I’ll welcome them here.”

There was no farm work to be done in the winter, and women often gathered together to chat while they sewed. If someone was willing to teach them for free, they would definitely agree to come over.

After deciding on the flower stencils, it was approaching noon. Liu Yuyan was afraid her family would be worried and went home first, but not before promising to return tomorrow. She wanted to see the formation of her wedding dress, and as she could participate in its creation, anticipation began to form in her heart.

When Mo Yan was also about to leave, she suddenly stopped and said, “You need to hire someone for domestic service. Young Master Lu won’t be able to stay in this courtyard often in the future.”

Ms. Zhao smiled, “I understand. With the amount of young ladies that will be in this courtyard from now on, it will be really unsuitable for him to stay here for long.”

They had just finished speaking when Lu Junming came in, “What, are you afraid some young lady will take me home?”

Mo Yan feigned anger, “It’d be very impressive if you didn’t take someone home, as who would take you to their home?”

This was the first time he had seen her dressed up like this, and her usual charm was accented with hints of feminine beauty. She had grown taller and her cheeks had grown redder within the past few months.

“Yan’er, you look really nice today!”

Mo Yan bowed towards him formally, “Young Master Lu, thank you for your compliment.”

He was so shocked he ducked to the side, “It’s my fault, please just go back to calling me with my name.” He lifted the groceries he was holding, “Do you want to stay for lunch?”

Mo Yan shook her coat and replied, “No, I need to go back to help my sister. You need to find a domestic worker to help your mother, as she’ll be unable to deal with it on her own. If you can’t find someone within short notice, you can probably ask Ms. Hua to come over and help you. After all, she’s a familiar face.”

She went to talk with Ms. Hua, but she unexpectedly didn’t agree, “I still have to make lunch for Zhao’er!”

Mo Yan thought she wanted money, and said, “We’ll give you an extra one thousand and five hundred dollars per month.” [2]

She hurriedly replied, “It’s not about money, it really isn’t. Can I go after a few days?”

It seemed like Ms. Hua had something she wanted to hide. Mo Yan couldn’t force her to say anything if she wasn’t willing to. However, she was still worried about Ms. Zhao so she could only go over to help out herself by now.

Post-translation notes: More tests…early chappie so I have time to revise tomorrow…wish me luck…as always, thank you for reading…

[1] Then why does Mrs. Liang still not treat Mo Yan well?

[2] That’s an astronomical amount! For context, Mrs. Liang was only given eight hundred dollars per month by Sir Liu to do the domestic work.