Farm Girl's Manor-Chapter 1390: Extra Nineteen: Wanhua Festival

Spring passed and autumn came, and in the blink of an eye, the chubby daughter—oh no—Xiao Wan had already turned two. Initially, to give the chubby daughter a good name, Mo Yan and Xiao Ruiyuan racked their brains, but in the end, it was Mo Qingze who made the final decision, settling on the single character "Wan," taken from the phrase "The lush bamboo charmingly graces the green pond, while the delicate lotus floats above the jade-like ripples."

"Wan" signifies beautiful jade, representing all beautiful things. In Mo Qingze’s eyes, his granddaughter was the embodiment of beauty, worthy of the best of everything, and he cherished Xiao Wan deeply, even more so than his own son MoHan who was born on the same day as her.

However, two years had passed, and the chubby daughter remained plump, utterly overwhelming her little uncle in body mass. As long as the chubby daughter stood in front of her little uncle, she could block him completely, not even a hem to be seen.

Fortunately, despite her chubbiness, she was in good health; from birth until now, she had not even sneezed once, and her chubby whiteness was beloved by all who saw her, with none not fond of her.

Initially, Mo Yan worried that the chubby daughter would become increasingly plumper. When the chubby daughter was just half a year old, she secretly reduced the feeding frequency. Normally needing to be fed six times during the day and three at night, she didn’t dare to reduce the night feeds, afraid that the chubby daughter would cry too fiercely and alert her father, so she reduced the daytime feeds, cutting out two all at once.

Of course, when the chubby daughter was hungry, she was bound to fuss. Although she was soothed gently and placated by her unscrupulous mother, her father found out at night—and how he discovered it... heh heh!

Xiao Ruiyuan, distressed for the chubby daughter, knew he could not sway Mo Yan’s determination to put her on a diet, so the next day he went to his father-in-law and, beating around the bush, revealed the helpless situation of the chubby daughter’s mother putting her on a diet.

That very afternoon, after work was over, an incensed Mo Qingze stormed to the General Mansion, scolding Mo Yan who was consoling his hungry crying daughter to the point she was covered in bumps, wishing she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into and never come out again.

The diet plan was thus aborted. Mo Yan, unable to calm her irritation, immediately threw out, "If you’re so pained by your daughter going hungry, then you go hungry," and cut off the tattling man’s "rations," also banning him from bed for a month.

Although the price was a bit steep, Xiao Ruiyuan thought it was worth it, considering the chubby daughter no longer had to go hungry. Staying alone in his room or sneaking in at midnight and not being chased away didn’t count for much; it was just that the experience of playing monk for a month was indeed hard to endure.

On March 20th, with the skies clear and the breeze gentle, Liu Yang Village once again welcomed its annual Thousand Flowers Festival. On this day, countless people poured in, enjoying themselves in Mo Family’s thousand-acre orchard through picnicking, admiring flowers, sipping wine while discussing poetry, or displaying their calligraphy and painting skills. The lively atmosphere ensured that visitors arrived in high spirits and left with a sense of fulfillment.

The Thousand Flowers Festival lasted for ten days, beginning with the bloom of myriad flowers and ending with their wilting. After successfully hosting two festivals, the event had become a special symbol of Liu Yang Village.

The festival not only brought considerable profits to the Mo Family but also allowed the villagers of Liu Yang Village to earn a handsome income. Those with culinary skills opened up small restaurants with booming business, earning enough silver in ten days to support their family for a year; the skilled hands wove or carved intricate items related to the festival, much adored by young ladies and children from the city; and the quick-witted offered their services as guides to leisure-seeking tourists, sometimes earning in a day more silver than they would from a year of farming.

After touring with the chubby daughter for over an hour, Mo Yan began to feel the strain. She turned to her mother, who was leading her brother, and her sisters, saying, "Let’s rest a bit in the pavilion up ahead. We still have many places to visit; we won’t finish them all in a while."

Although this was the third Thousand Flowers Festival, it was Mo Yan’s first personal experience. During the first festival, she was in confinement after giving birth, merely providing a rough plan and leaving Lizhong and others to refine it. She could have attended last year’s second festival, but a coalition of southern tribes attempted to challenge Great Chu’s imperial authority. Xiao Ruiyuan was ordered to lead his troops south to suppress the revolt for over half a year, leaving Mo Yan anxious for her husband’s safety, with no inclination to partake in the festivities.

This year, everything was smooth sailing. Taking advantage of the fine weather and being on leave, the family decided to return to Liu Yang Village. Like all the other tourists who had come to enjoy the spring scenery, they fully immersed themselves in the beautiful landscape.

Cui Qingrou was also feeling tired, and with a slightly disordered breath said, "Let’s rest for a while, just in time to wait for your father and your husband to join us."

Xin Er and Shengsheng had no objections, so accompanied by their maids, they made their way to the pavilion halfway up the hill.

This particular pavilion was not open to the public and was reserved for Mo Family’s use. It featured a semi-enclosed design, with options to open the windows to enjoy the outside scenery and also to block out all external disruptions, creating a unique private space.

The pavilion, which had not seen visitors in a long time, felt somewhat stuffy due to the sunny day. Mo Yan instructed the maids to open all the surrounding windows, and soon enough, warm breezes carrying the fragrance of flowers wafted in, with the distant tumult of the crowd faintly audible.

While Mo Yan and the others were standing by the window admiring the scenery, the maids quickly set out the food they had brought on the wooden table. Not only were there a variety of pastries and prepared cooked food, but also fruit wine of not too many years and honey water, among other drinks.

The plump little girl, who was playfully tugging at her mother’s hair while nestled in her arms, saw a cup carved with a tiger’s head full of pale yellow honey water on the table. Her bright, round eyes sparkled as she lisped, "Mom, water water, Wanwan want to drink water water."

Mo Yan smiled gently, carried her chubby daughter to the wooden table, seated her on a chair, and let her take the tiger head cup to drink by herself.

"Chu~"

The chubby girl, holding the tiger head cup with glee, did not rush to drink. Instead, she kissed the tiger head before sweetly sipping the honey water from the wooden straw poking out of the tiger’s mouth.

Mo Yan couldn’t help but laugh as she stroked the few strands of hair sticking up on top of her daughter’s head, "You clearly adore Mao Tuan, yet you also love to bully it. After driving it away, you treat the cup carved in its likeness as a treasure. I don’t even know what to say to you!"

The chubby girl guzzled down the honey water, clutched the tiger head cup tightly in her embrace, and poked the tiger head indignantly with her chubby fingers, exclaiming, "It’s bad, it stole Wanwan’s cake meant for uncle and little brother, and ruined Wanwan’s kite for uncle and little brother, bad, super bad."

Although her mouth spoke of grievances against Mao Tuan, her eyes never strayed from the tiger head cup, clearly revealing her true feelings, which she refused to articulate.

Ever since the arrival of the chubby daughter, Mao Tuan seemed to understand that it could never replace Xiao Ruiyuan in Mo Yan’s heart, a two-legged beast, so it entirely devoted its affections to the little girl. It used to come home once every half month, but eventually started returning every evening to spend time playing with the chubby girl.

But little did it know, in the little girl’s heart, the first place for playmates was occupied by uncle and little brother, relegating Mao Tuan to second place, which was yet another heavy blow for it.

However, compared to Xiao Ruiyuan, whom it could neither outfight nor outwit, Mao Tuan felt that handling the two-year-old baby was much easier. As a result, it often sabotaged the bonding moments between the chubby girl and her little uncle.

For instance, it deliberately hid the chubby girl’s favorite toys on her little uncle, causing her to mistakenly believe he had taken her possessions. Or it would purposefully provoke the little uncle and, when he couldn’t hold back and tugged on its fur, it would let out a pitiful cry, making sure the chubby girl heard—Mao Tuan indeed has the cunning of a tiger!

But how could the world of a two-year-old toddler be deciphered through adult thinking? Every scheme of Mao Tuan failed to succeed. When it tried to frame the little uncle as a "thief," the chubby girl simply thought the little uncle liked her toys and generously offered them for him to play with. When the little uncle pulled at Mao Tuan’s fur, the chubby girl thought they were playing and clapped her chubby hands in amusement—Mao Tuan was utterly disheartened after numerous attempts.

A few days ago, the chubby girl kept some of her favorite pastries and a kite aside for her little uncle without considering Mao Tuan at all. Jealous, Mao Tuan couldn’t resist eating the hidden cakes and tearing up the beautiful kite with its paws.

When the chubby girl found out, she was so angry that she declared she would never bother with Mao Tuan again. Mao Tuan was hurt too and ran back to the barracks overnight, not returning for several days.

As for the term "uncle and little brother"... cough, ever since the chubby girl learned the meaning of "little" but still couldn’t figure out that "uncle" was a term for an elder, she continued to call her little uncle "uncle and little brother," just as the little uncle called her Wanwan, believing "uncle" was his name.

Her parents tried to correct this nickname for a long while but were unable to straighten it out. Instead, Mo Qingze and Cui Qingrou, not wanting to force their granddaughter, indulged her in calling him so, saying they would correct it when she grew older.

"You little girl, you certainly are not without temper..."

Mo Yan ruffled her daughter’s head and was about to say something when she saw a group of people approaching through the corner of her eye. Recognizing who was leading them, she quickly picked up her daughter and greeted her mother and sisters before stepping out of the pavilion to wait.