"A stepping stone?"
Although the little girl didn't understand what the word meant, just by looking at the dense handwriting on the papers, she had a general idea of what Han Mo meant.
"Alright, let's eat first! After eating, I should start preparing properly."
After casually flipping through a few of the papers, Han Mo felt a bit dejected.
As an ardent enthusiast of Song dynasty history, classical Chinese characters were no problem for him. However, all the texts on these papers were a single, continuous sentence without any punctuation for pauses, making them incredibly difficult to read.
He had only glanced at them a few times before his head started to ache.
The two little girls didn't bother with such concerns. After chattering and arranging the pastries from the food box, they directly called Han Mo to start eating.
The various pastries smelled fragrant, and several of them were filled with meat.
Besides the pastries, there were also some cold dishes. Although they were all cold, they were truly aromatic.
Even though some time had passed and the pastries were a bit cold, the two little girls couldn't get enough.
Seeing them eat ravenously, Han Mo felt a pang of sadness.
"Second Brother, try this, it's delicious."
Seeing that Han Mo hadn't picked up his chopsticks yet, Han Yan quickly picked up a piece of osmanthus-marinated white fish and placed it in Han Mo's bowl.
"Alright, I'll try it!"
"Second Brother, try this too, it's also delicious!"
Having relied on each other for so many years, they always ate at the same table when there were no outsiders. Therefore, Chun Tao didn't hold back much, picking up a mixed steamed bun and placing it in front of him.
Of course, in this era, whether they had fillings or not, they were all called steamed buns.
"Alright, alright, you two just eat yourselves. My bowl is almost full."
Before Han Mo could even pick up his chopsticks, his bowl was already packed full by the two little girls, containing essentially the essence of the entire spread.
Seeing their smiling faces, Han Mo felt a surge of emotion.
In his previous life, he was all alone. During festivals, seeing other families eating together made him feel an inexplicable sadness.
Now, with these two little girls, he finally felt a sense of family warmth.
However, Han Mo understood that in the not-too-distant future, a catastrophe would descend.
If he didn't have enough self-preservation abilities, everything he now possessed would soon be lost again.
But this only strengthened his resolve to study.
"Second Brother, you're not eating, why aren't you picking up your chopsticks?"
Seeing Han Mo lost in thought, Han Yan looked at him with her beautiful large eyes, full of concern.
"Eating, eating!"
After letting out a long sigh, Han Mo directly cast all those chaotic thoughts aside.
Things were driven by human effort. Even if this path was indeed difficult, he believed he could accomplish it.
After a hurried dinner, Han Mo sat down at the nearby desk, picked up a paper, and began to read it intently.
Han Yan watched him for a few glances, quickly lost interest, and returned to the brazier, gazing at the flickering charcoal fire, lost in her own thoughts.
In the silent night, Han Mo sat alone at his desk, reading the copied papers and constantly scribbling and drawing on them.
His former self, although a bit of a good-for-nothing,
was at least from the Han family. Although he had learned things with a half-understanding over the years,
it had provided him with quite a bit of convenience. However, these texts were truly obscure and difficult to comprehend.
Thinking that he would have to write such things in the future made Han Mo feel like his head was twice as big.
"Second Brother, it's late, you should go to sleep early and read again tomorrow!"
As Han Mo was lost in thought, Chun Tao finally returned.
"How are things over there? Has the doctor seen them?"
Seeing Chun Tao enter, Han Mo finally put down the papers in his hand.
"After all that talking, it turns out you weren't waiting for me..."
The little girl pouted and turned her head towards the window.
"What are you saying? If not for you, who else would I be waiting for?"
As Han Mo spoke, he took his fox fur cloak from the nearby cabinet and draped it over Han Yan, who had fallen asleep.
"Why is she sleeping here again? Day after day, the elder one is worrying, and the younger one is also worrying!"
Seeing Han Yan asleep, Chun Tao glared at her, her voice clearly lowered.
"You're acting a lot like a busybody now!"
Han Mo's words immediately made the little girl blush.
"You're teasing me again..."
Although she said it, a blush clearly appeared on Chun Tao's face.
"Alright, I'll take her back to her room to sleep, and we'll talk when I get back."
Han Mo smiled, then picked up Han Yan and headed straight for the east wing room.
"Everything over there has been settled, the doctor has seen them, set the bone, and prescribed a few more doses of medicine. All the accounts are from the mansion, so we don't have to reconcile them..."
When Han Mo returned, the little girl was no longer angry. She sat in Chun Tao's original spot by the brazier and chattered.
"You, you're good at everything, except you're too narrow-minded!"
As Han Mo spoke, he reached out and pinched the little girl's red cheek.
As someone from a different era, he could feel that the little girl seemed to have some special feelings for him. However, this little girl was only in her teens.
If this were the modern era, she would be at most a middle schooler.
Although Han Mo was not a saint, having been influenced by modern education for so many years, he found it difficult to act at this moment.
"You're talking about me again. I know you have your eye on that seductive woman, but..."
As the little girl spoke, she actually started to cry, which made Han Mo feel a bit amused and exasperated.
"What nonsense are you talking about? The reason I bought her was because she was literate. With a little training, she could be a bookkeeper, and it would save on monthly wages. Don't you think it's killing two birds with one stone?"
Seeing the little girl cry with tears streaming down her face, Han Mo quickly said with a smile.
"Is that true?"
"Of course it's true!"