Chapter 87: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 87: The Wealth of the Mo Family
However, the words between Hong Shi and her daughter-in-law couldn't withstand scrutiny, especially after the old farmers who grew vegetables for the Mo family voluntarily came forward to refute them.
"These vegetables were all planted by us with our own hands. If there were any secret methods, wouldn't we know? If it were true, would the master entrust us with the task, fearing we would learn and do it ourselves?"
As this message spread, most villagers believed it. Only a few people, seeing the Mo family making big money from greenhouse vegetables and distancing themselves from those who had sought refuge like them, harbored jealousy and resentment, gossiping about the Mo family's lack of compassion.
These things naturally reached Mo Yan's ears through Lin Meng and others. Mo Yan just smiled indifferently.
However, inadvertently, she recounted how Mo Yongshou and Mo Yonglu had plotted against their family.
Upon hearing this, Lin Meng and the others realized how despicable Mo Yongshou and his brother had been. They became even angrier than Mo Yan herself, cursing Mo Yongshou for his deserved exile and public humiliation. Even their sympathy for Old Mo, who had spat blood, diminished significantly.
When Lin Meng and the others returned to Liuyang Village at noon, they didn't exaggerate, just spread the truth about what Mo Yongshou and Mo Yonglu had done.
For a while, the Mo family endured tremendous public pressure. Almost everyone avoided them, and even the village head of Liuyang Village personally visited the Mo family to sternly warn them not to cause trouble and damage the village's reputation.
Old Mo, at his age, besides the day Mo Yan had embarrassed him, was being reprimanded like this for the first time. He was so angry that he fainted again.
Upon hearing about this, Mo Yan raised her eyebrows, then cut off several pounds of premium pork, bought several old hens and a basket of eggs, and asked Lin Meng to take them to Old Mo to help him recover.
Lin Meng and the others felt even more grateful towards the Mo family. If they had been treated like this by their relatives, they would have cut ties long ago. Out of sight, out of mind.
Mo Yan just smiled. She didn't need these things, but using them to improve the villagers' opinion of her family was still a good move. She wondered if Old Mo could stomach it.
Sure enough, when this pile of goods was delivered to Old Mo's house, the villagers' favor towards the Mo family rose again. Those who had doubted the Mo family felt ashamed.
As days passed, they quickly approached New Year's Eve on the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, after four to five thousand catties of vegetables were sold out, the Mo family ended their vegetable business for the year.
When Mo Yan and the others rode the bullock cart back home, another bullock cart appeared behind them, carrying two already cleaned fat pigs.
When the bullock cart was loaded with two more baskets of eggs, and the five members of the Mo family were about to return to Liuyang Village together, Lin Da and Lin Meng, along with more than ten others, learned that these pork and eggs were New Year's gifts for them, the helpers.
"Young Miss, this won't do! The wages you've given us already exceed what's fair. I can't accept these."
Shocked by the generosity of the young master, Lin Da spoke first, refusing vehemently. Lin Meng and Lin Song also shook their heads.
They had been helping to sell vegetables for more than a month, only earning a couple of taels of silver. The young miss had also generously given them eggs and food to take home to their families from time to time. They were already grateful; they couldn't accept these pork and eggs.
Since they couldn't refuse, Lin Da and the others reluctantly accepted their share, along with twenty eggs each, and took them home. For those who hadn't come, Mo Qingze personally delivered them one by one, receiving a lot of gratitude in return. It made Mo Yan reflect on whether the Mo family's workers were working hard enough.
Mo Yongfu's share wasn't any less. Mo Yan had Lin Meng deliver ten catties of pork, a pig's leg, and twenty eggs to him.
The Mo family's act of giving pork and eggs made many villagers envy the families that received them.
Those who had sought refuge and had no property, and those who had come with a lot of wealth but were allocated to Liuyang Village, were definitely the former. This meant that their first year in Liuyang Village was likely a poor one. Forget about twenty catties of pork; being able to buy five catties of pork would already be considered excellent.
The distribution of pork once again made the Mo family a coveted figure in the eyes of the villagers. Each one of them had set their sights on the Mo family, hoping to be chosen for work when the Mo family built houses and hired workers next spring!
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