He Zhiran became more and more interested as she listened, and asked eagerly, "What happened after that?"
When it came to later events, Mo Chongyuan felt somewhat sentimental.
"At the beginning of this year, for some unknown reason, the pair of iron-eating beasts stopped coming here.
I was worried that something dangerous had happened to them, and went up the mountain to search for them many times but was never able to find them.
It wasn't until last month when an severely injured iron-eating beast came before me, carrying its child in its mouth.
Its injuries were too serious. After giving me this little one, it breathed its last.
I felt bad for the little one losing its parents at such a young age, so I kept it by my side to take care of it."
Upon hearing that this little creature was an orphan without parents, He Zhiran felt extremely pained, and held it even tighter.
As Mo Chongyuan told the story of Little Dumpling's experiences, he also indirectly explained the reason behind the hauntings here.
No wonder Ma Junshan had said the house furthest east was haunted - it turned out to be the noises made by the two giant pandas trying to repay an act of kindness.
Mo Chongyuan could see that the Ninth Sister-In-Law was very fond of the little one.
"If the Ninth Sister-In-Law likes it, just keep it. I'm just a big, clumsy man who can't properly take care of it."
Hearing this, He Zhiran immediately broke into a radiant smile, the first time she had acted so ungracefully since coming to ancient times.
"Then you have my gratitude, Fifth Brother."
This was the first time Mo Jiuye saw He Zhiran look so delighted.
Seeing her happy was more important than anything.
He went up and gently stroked the little one's back: "Since you'll be keeping it, why don't you give the little fellow a name?"
He Zhiran thought for a moment, then laughed. "It looks round and plump like a rice ball, so why don't we call it Rice Ball?"
Mo Jiuye indulgently stroked her head. "Good, we'll call it Rice Ball."
As this couple flirted with sweet words in front, Mo Chuhan and Mo Chongyuan following behind really could not stand to keep watching.
In order not to disturb the Ninth Brother and Sister-In-Law's intimacy, Mo Chuhan pulled Mo Chongyuan to walk faster by several steps.
"Fifth Brother, let's hurry on. Mother and Fifth Sister-In-Law are still waiting for you."
At this time, He Zhiran was still excited about gaining a precious treasure.
In order to provide better food for Rice Ball, her consciousness directly entered her spatial ring, where she spent 3,000 yuan to open up a bamboo forest, which she filled with delicious bamboo.
At the same time, He Zhiran also prepared formula milk for it, to feed Rice Ball conveniently later.
The treasure she He Zhiran raised had to enjoy national-treasure level treatment.
Although Mo Chuhan and Mo Chongyuan quickened their pace, over such a short distance they didn't get much further ahead than Mo Jiuye and his wife.
The four returned to where the Mo family members were resting.
Mo Chongyuan first acknowledged his mother under Mo Chuhan's introduction, then his daughter-in-law.
Upon finding out Mo Chongyuan had lost his memory, the two women broke down in loud sobs at the same time.
Especially the Fifth Sister-In-Law - having lived as a lonely widow for many years, her husband had finally returned from the dead, yet he didn't recognize her.
For a time, this was something she could not accept.
The Fifth Sister-In-Law unbelievingly grabbed Mo Chongyuan's arm.
"Husband, you really don't recognize me? You once said that after winning battles and returning home, you would take me to Yueman Building in the capital to eat Dongpo pork.
You also said you would find time to accompany me to the temple to pray to Bodhisattva for a child. Could it be you've forgotten all this?"
Seeing the woman before him crying her eyes out, Mo Chongyuan tried his hardest to think back to what she described.
But the harder he tried, the more his head would hurt, to the point he could only clutch his head in pain as he squatted on the ground, his expression very agonized.
He Zhiran knew this was a symptom that would appear in many amnesia patients.
Such symptoms usually occurred because the patient was trying hard to recall their past, only for their heads to hurt more the harder they tried.
In fact, for Mo Chongyuan, this was a good sign, indicating high probability of regaining his memories.
Even so, the patient could not be provoked too severely.
Seeing the Fifth Sister-In-Law become agitated as if she wanted to say more to get Mo Chongyuan to remember things, He Zhiran hurriedly went up to stop her.
"Fifth Sister-In-Law, Fifth Brother suffered head trauma. Stimulating him like this can easily harm him."
The Fifth Sister-In-Law didn't know how doing so could harm her husband. But she had no doubts about the Ninth Sister-In-Law's words.
Thinking that her actions might injure her husband, no matter how much more she wanted to say, the Fifth Sister-In-Law didn't dare speak anymore.
Especially seeing Mo Chongyuan's agonized appearance, all the Fifth Sister-In-Law felt now was heartache.
She went up to gently help Mo Chongyuan stand up.
"Husband, I won't say any more. If you can't remember, just think slowly. I'll have plenty of time in the future to tell you about our past."
Old Lady Mo also wanted more contact with her son, but seeing the young couple reunited after long separation, as an elder she knew better than to be so insensitive.
So Old Lady Mo called for the others to go to the bonfire area.
Mo Chuhan and Mo Jiuye took the initiative to tell their mother about Fifth Brother's circumstances.
Only then did the attention of the sisters-in-law and Mo Hanyue shift to the rice ball in He Zhiran's arms.
There were still teardrops brimming Mo Hanyue's eyes. She casually wiped them with her sleeve, then moved next to He Zhiran.
"Ninth Sister-In-Law, the little thing you're holding looks a lot like the giant panda plush toys we make."
He Zhiran gently flipped the rice ball over, making it face everyone.
"This is a giant panda."
Mo Hanyue's eyes instantly lit up.
"Ninth Sister-In-Law, this is really a giant panda? It's so cute. Can I hold it for a bit?"
Since it was just for a short hold, He Zhiran was not stingy about it.
But as soon as Rice Ball's body touched Mo Hanyue, it violently shrank back with a faint cry.
The sudden movement frightened Mo Hanyue, who instantly retracted her hand.
"Ninth Sister-In-Law, seems the little one doesn't like me."
"Fifth Brother said just now that Rice Ball is somewhat afraid of strangers."
Mo Hanyue blinked her large eyes, seemingly in disbelief.
"Is Ninth Sister-In-Law not a stranger to it?"
He Zhiran also found this very odd. Ever since arriving in her arms, the little one had been very well-behaved without any visible discomfort.
Could she really have the so-called cat-attracting physique?
To verify this, He Zhiran tried letting the other sisters-in-law hold Rice Ball too.
The result was the same - Rice Ball flatly refused.
Now He Zhiran could completely confirm that she and Rice Ball were destined to be together.
She never expected that a dream unfulfilled in her past life would be realized after transmigrating.
After the women played with Rice Ball for a bit longer, they happened to look up and see Liang Hao still sitting alone over there.
Recalling that He Zhiran still did not know about what Liang Hao and the others did tonight, the Second Sister-In-Law opened up the conversation box and gave He Zhiran another rundown.
He Zhiran had originally thought that after settling down here, she would go take a tour of Magistrate Cui's residence with Mo Jiuye. She didn't expect Liang Hao and the others to steal a march on them.
As long as the benefits didn't flow into outsiders' pockets, it didn't matter who took action.
Moreover, she heard that many large antiques and artworks were still left in Magistrate Cui's home that hadn't been taken away. He Zhiran's heart stirred with desire once more.
