Chapter 69: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 69: Ulterior Motives
At this moment, the Mo family's originally not spacious hall was filled with people. The sixteen members of the Mo family, young and old, were all present.
After leading their four children to inspect every corner of the Mo family's residence, Eldest daughter-in-law finally sat down in the hall with envy and jealousy written all over her face. She grabbed pastries from the table and stuffed them into the mouth of her five-year-old son with one hand while feeding herself with the other hand. She also urged her other three children to eat quickly.
Mo Yongxi was always lazy and gluttonous. Seeing her sister-in-law's family acting like bandits, she was afraid of missing out and quickly stretched out her hands, regardless of cleanliness, to stuff them into her pockets.
Wu Shi, standing in the corner, watched her children salivating continuously and felt guilty towards the Mo family. How could she let her children go near them?
Watching her in-laws chatting affectionately with her husband's uncle, she secretly resented her lack of firmness. It was because she had acted impulsively, fearing that her husband would be deceived by others, that she had brought the whole family to her husband's cousin's house. Thinking of how kind her husband's cousin and his family had been to her two children, she felt even more uncomfortable.
"Zezhe, our family should handle our own affairs. After all, this is the business of our Mo family. Your cousins have quite some strength. It's better to let them help than to hire outsiders, right?"
Old Mo, with a kind expression, looked at Mo Qingze, who was silent, and if one didn't know, they would think these two were father and son.
"That's right! Zezhe, it was because your aunt was too anxious before, worried that you would be deceived, which led to so many misunderstandings. But your second uncle and aunt really care about your family!"
Hong Shi quickly explained, with a hint of "I'm misunderstood" on her face.
This appearance might evoke pity and belief if it were on a beautiful and young woman, but on Hong Shi's wrinkled old face, it was inexplicably chilling.
Xin'er, standing behind her father, twitched her eyes as she watched the couple harmoniously chatting. She couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Grandpa was still okay; he had always been like this. But Grandma had never spoken so kindly to them before. Had the sun risen from the west, or had she changed her attitude?
Humph, she didn't believe that this wicked old woman would change for the better. Her sister had said, "There is no such thing as a free lunch." These people must be trying to take advantage of their family. She had to keep an eye on them and not let her father agree without thinking.
Except for Wu Shi, who wanted to bury her head in the ground, and the honest and simple Mo Yongfu couple, Mo Yonglu and Mo Yongshou, the two brothers, stared hopefully at Mo Qingze, their cousin. Niu Shi, with pastries stuffed in her mouth, nodded repeatedly, sobbing as if she wanted to help Mo Qingze.
They had long heard that those who helped sell vegetables for the Mo family could earn nearly a tael of silver a month, and the most important thing was that the work was easy. If they could get involved in selling or delivering vegetables, not only would they earn wages, but they might also make some extra profit secretly. In that case, they could make a fortune!
If their parents were more supportive and their cousin more generous, it would be even better if they could get a share of those greenhouse vegetables!
Mo Qingze remained silent for a moment, clenching his fists in his sleeves. Finally, he politely refused, "We already have enough people, and we don't need to add more for now. If my cousins can endure the hardship, they can help watch the vegetable fields at night, and I can pay them a higher wage."
"Watch the vegetable fields? Cousin, what are you thinking? It's freezing cold, and you want us to watch the vegetable fields? Do you want us to freeze to death?" Mo Yonglu, speaking ahead of his mother, shouted loudly, as if watching the vegetable fields was sending them to their deaths.
"Exactly, cousin. There are lighter tasks available. How can you let my husband watch the vegetable fields? Just drive those outsiders away!" Niu Shi echoed, her voice loud enough to be heard outside the courtyard.
Even though the door to the hall was closed, Niu Shi's words were clearly heard by Lin Da, Lin Song, and Lin An outside. The three of them suddenly became nervous.
However, what followed made them furious, and they wished to rush into the house immediately and reason with those who were falsely accusing them.
"Your aunt is right. Those are outsiders after all. How can they be as reliable as family? Who knows if they have secretly pocketed any money?" Hong Shi said, glaring at Mo Qingze with resentment. Indeed, he was an ungrateful wolf. Not only did he not take care of relatives when he had money, but he also didn't ask family members for help. He simply let outsiders take advantage for nothing!
Upon hearing this, Mo Qingze couldn't bear to listen any longer. He directly turned cold and said, "Aunt, please be careful with your words! I know the character of those helping me, and they have never made any mistakes these days. I can't just drive them away for no reason. If my cousins can't bear the hardship of staying up at night, then forget I said anything!"
Seeing the situation, Old Mo knew it was going to be bad. He gave Hong Shi a fierce look, motioning for her to shut up. Then, he turned to Mo Qingze, who looked cold, and said, "Zezhe, don't mind your aunt's nonsense. She's just concerned about you and misspoke. Don't argue with a woman."
Although he was disappointed in his only nephew, Mo Qingze couldn't give him a hard time. "Aunt is an elder, and I won't argue with her. But, Uncle, these people helping me are reliable. It wouldn't be right to drive them away for no reason. If I did that, wouldn't I be no different from those untrustworthy people who go back on their word?"
Mo Qingze was straightforward, but what he said meant something else to Old Mo.
Was he accusing his wife of being untrustworthy? Old Mo felt a burning sensation on his face, as if he had been slapped hard. He couldn't help but feel even more resentful towards his only nephew.
Even though he was discontented, he didn't show it on his face.
Old Mo sighed and said with a gloomy expression, "Nephew, I understand your difficulties. But your brothers are all useless. Adults can bear some hardship, but your nephews and nieces can't even eat enough or keep warm. A few days ago, Shi Tou fell ill. If it weren't for your family's money, I'm afraid he would have... If our family weren't going through tough times, I wouldn't have the face to bring this up to you."
Seeing his only uncle like this, Mo Qingze felt uncomfortable too, especially when he looked at his nephews and nieces fighting over pastries and compared their lives to his own. He felt even more sorry for them. He originally wanted to refuse, but he couldn't say it anymore.
Seeing Mo Qingze relent, Old Mo quickly took advantage of the situation, but before he could continue to appeal to his emotions, the door to the hall was pushed open...
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