CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 30: CELEBRATING MID-AUTUMN IN THE GREAT TANG

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

Little Qingyu, who attended school for a day, was already able to recite phrases like "At birth, man is innately good" while nodding her head. Lin Wanwan was so delighted that she hugged and kissed her twice, praising, "My little Yu’er is amazing!"

Little Yu giggled joyfully, her face full of pride.

During Mid-Autumn Festival, the noble families in Chang’an City hosted cold melon feasts (which are actually watermelons). Lin Wanwan insisted on organizing one herself.

It was Little Yu’er’s first time seeing cold melons, and she was beside herself with excitement.

These were specifically bought by Lin Wanwan from the modern age yesterday, absolute top-tier melons. In Great Tang’s Chang’an City, they could be directly offered to the Emperor as royal-grade treasures.

The second door leading to the school was already closed, but the western side gate of Lin Wanwan’s courtyard remained open, facilitating visits from the clan members.

Under the well-lit moon, Lin Mengbo came to Lin Wanwan’s house carrying a net bag filled with mitten crabs and shrimps.

After spending these days together, Lin Mengbo realized Lin Wanwan genuinely liked seafood and wasn’t just being polite.

Those crabs and shrimps were all scavenged from the beach by himself, specially for Lin Wanwan. Since they aren’t fish, they wouldn’t fetch a high price if sold. But since Lin Wanwan liked them, he naturally wanted to make a thoughtful gesture.

Today was the first day of school, and his two children ate and took stuff without any reciprocation, which made him feel uneasy.

Lin Wanwan and Little Qingyu were burning mosquito-repelling incense, enjoying the moon and eating melons on the open-air balcony on the second floor. Seeing Lin Mengbo come in, she quickly waved him up and cut half a cold melon for him.

Lin Mengbo repeatedly declined, but ultimately couldn’t resist the towering Kun Lun.

In this remote place of Wanghai, the clan members hadn’t seen cold melons before, nor did they know their value. If it were swapped with someone knowledgeable from Wanghai Town or Xiaoxi Town, they’d surely be stunned to see Lin Wanwan casually giving away cold melons.

After Lin Mengbo left, more visitors from the Lin clan, Mengli’s house, and Lin Mengjin’s house came over with seafood, which Lin Wanwan naturally accepted and returned with cold melons. Lin Wanwan had bought a lot of cold melons and stored them in the cellar.

Besides the adults, the arrival of a small fellow surprised Lin Wanwan. His name was Gou Sheng, one of Lin Wanwan’s students, eight years old, who was malnourished, leading to a pale complexion and a thin frame.

"Teacher, I brought a little pet for Yu sister!" Gou Sheng offered his newly acquired trinket, "This is a little turtle, nice-looking."

Little Yu’er craned her neck, using the bright moonlight, to look at the little turtle in Gou Sheng’s hand. She was indeed a bit interested, but her hands were preoccupied with the cold melon and couldn’t take it.

"Brother Gou Sheng, did you catch this from the sea?"

Gou Sheng shook his head, "I picked it up by the seaside."

"Thank you, Brother Gou Sheng!" Little Qingyu politely accepted the toy and reciprocated Gou Sheng with three snowy mooncakes and half a cold melon.

Lin Wanwan also curiously glanced at it; it was indeed a little turtle, and since the little one liked it, she’d keep it. The freshly dug pond in the yard was perfect for it.

Yun Shang was giving away cold melons to everyone, and she felt more pained than the owner! Before being sold to Lin Wanwan, she had undergone two years of training under traffickers and had also lived in Chang’an for half a year, so she understood the value of cold melons.

In Great Tang, cold melons were imported from the Western Regions, where their value was self-evident once labeled as imports.

Lin Wanwan, having ventured out with Kun Lun, returned with many goodies, including these cold melons. Yun Shang and Hua Nong were utterly shocked, realizing their master was even wealthier than they imagined!

Lin Wanwan casually gave one to Yun Shang, Hua Nong, and Kun Lun, which moved the three servants to tears. Such precious cold melons were selflessly given by the master. The value of one melon exceeded their worth!

Lin Wanwan quickly added, "It’s a beautiful moonlit night, no need for tears."

The servants had their cold melons, and naturally Lin Wanwan and Little Qingyu wouldn’t miss out. The mother and daughter each had half, scooping out the flesh with long-handled spoon-forks (similar to modern tablespoons). Eating cold melon without trying the scoop-fork method lacks soul.

Lin Wanwan watched Little Qingyu eat the cold melon, smeared all over her face and body, feeling not annoyed but softened.

Every so often, the little one would look up, flash a sweet smile at Lin Wanwan, filling her heart with a sweetness and coolness surpassing the cold melon!

How wonderful, on such a reunion night, to have a little one who wholeheartedly relied on her by her side.

Lin Wanwan believed that no matter if she was poor or rich, the little one would undoubtedly love her. The word ’mother’ held immense significance to children.

After falling ill, little Qingyu forgot some unhappy things. And Lin Wanwan, indulging in her daily, constantly asked the little one in a brainwashing manner, "What are you to mommy?"

The little one would promptly answer, "Mommy’s precious sweetheart sauce!"

With such long stretches, little Qingyu almost forgot that she was merely a child picked up by mommy.

The next day, as soon as the school courtyard gates opened, several children were already waiting. Apart from yesterday’s batch, others from the clan heard about the pastries and meat in the school, and despite the difficulties, sent their kids today.

Even Lin Guofu’s family, who spent the night refashioning two sets of dresses for girls out of old clothes, sent all four of their children over the next day.

Though the family had fewer hands for chores henceforth, securing a free meal mattered more than anything else.

Lin Wanwan observed the school filled with nearly a hundred children today. She promptly divided them into age groups.

It’s fortunate the hall was big enough; squeezing together, all the children could sit without needing to disperse into other rooms, treating it as a grand lesson.

With more children, noise was unavoidable, cacophonous like ducks quacking nonstop, until Lin Wanwan’s head throbbed.

Realizing this wouldn’t work, Lin Wanwan thought if she shouted all day, her throat would eventually catch fire.

So she chose older children from each group as team leaders, letting kids manage other kids. She promised the little leaders an extra piece of pastry as a reward.

The chosen mischievous kids were overjoyed, stopped being naughty, stopped being loud, and focused on being good little footmen for the teacher.

Apart from this, Lin Wanwan introduced the reward bean strategy: whoever was quiet and behaved would receive a candy bean. This tactic immediately stifled the little "ducks," causing each to clench their mouths and crane their necks to watch her.

At the end of a day’s teaching, Lin Wanwan pulled out the clean children and rewarded each with a piece of date paste cake.

This led to quite a scene; after-school children clamorously demanded to bathe and wash their hair!

Clan members beamed with smiles, yet said, "Wan-nian must have been raised by an immortal, her cleanliness and tidiness are identical to the nobles in the city! We rural folks aren’t accustomed to such standards."

But they turned around and scrubbed their children squeaky clean, even thoroughly cleaning their yards inside and out, lest lice ruin the children’s opportunity to earn pastries!