“We came back early today, so we wanted to see how you were working,” Ye Mo replied.
Liu Duo said, blushing, “I’m here to see you.”
Of course, on the one hand, she got to see him; on the other hand, she wanted to find out how the tomatoes were coming along.
She was inclined to make tomato sauce. Ye Liu could sell it. It seemed tomato sauce hadn’t existed here yet, and she sorely missed it.
Ye Yang walked towards her cheerful smile and made one himself when they weren’t looking.
He went to sit under a shady tree. They followed.
“Here, let me do it,” she took over the towel in his hand and dutifully wiped away his sweat, the way a wife would do.
Ye Yang was content to let her do as she pleased.
Beside her, Ye Mo asked, “Yang, what do you plan to do with this land?”
“Fava beans,” Ye Yang replied calmly, looking at the land.
When she was done, she placed the towel aside, “Yang, let’s plant tomatoes. When they’re done, I can make them into sauce, and we can sell them.”
The two brothers looked at her. Tomatoes?
“Mo, when you and Liuzi went to the other villages to collect bamboo shoots, did you see many tomatoes?” she asked him.
Some farming households would plant them, but not many, because they were quite sour and therefore not as popular.
“Not a lot,” he said, “Do you want to buy them?”
Liu Duo snapped a finger, “Smart! Tomorrow, when you guys go around, do tell them about it, so that they can plant some more without worrying about buyers,”
Ye Mo nodded, despite not knowing how she would make this tomato sauce she spoke of, but he would support her nonetheless.
Then Liu Duo looked at Ye Yang, who nodded in agreement.
She grinned from ear to ear.
After a rest, Ye Yang got up again to continue working. Ye Mo went to help.
He took off his navy green shirt and tossed it to her, “Here, hold on to this, my dear.”
Suddenly there was pitch black before her eyes. Angrily, she pulled the shirt away from her face and yelled, “Mo, can’t you just put it away properly? You don’t have to throw it in my face!”
Ye Yang’s shirt was neatly placed aside.
Yet, Ye Mo smiled at her little temper and rolled up the sleeves of his white undershirt, “The ground’s dirty.”
He was doing that on purpose. Who told her to only have eyes for Ye Yang? And with that perverted look too.
He was doing her a favour by not calling her shameless!
Liu Duo wanted to retort when he turned his back to her.
So, she could only vent her feelings by scrunching up his shirt with as much force as she could muster, “Like hell!”
After a few rounds of torment, she flattened it anyway and placed it nearly aside. Then she took Ye Yang’s shirt, did the same, and placed both on her lap.
She sat under the tree and watched them work. It was a perfect moment, free from any disturbance.
It was almost noon when they stopped their work and walked towards Liu Duo.
“Yang, here. Wipe your sweat,” Liu Duo took the towel and went up to him.
Then she passed him his shirt.
Jealous, Ye Mo said, “Dear, wipe mine too. Don’t you see I’m sweating a lot as well?”
Instead, Liu Duo directly threw a towel in his face, “Do it yourself. It’s not like you don’t have hands!”
Hmmph… She held a vengeance from earlier, when he had done that to her! She wouldn’t let it go easily!
