Chapter 973: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 973: Fondness (2)
“Madam, please rise quickly!” Mo Yan came back to her senses and hurriedly stepped forward to help her up. “Though I took in Young Master Cui, he has already worked to repay the kindness—we owe each other nothing. Madam need not be so formal.”
Hearing this, Cui Qingrou’s expression grew even gentler. “I know Ping’an’s temperament very well. He must have brought trouble to you, Junzhu. That you took him in is a fact. Had it been someone else, they might not have treated him so well.”
She had met countless people in her life—she could easily tell if this young lady before her was speaking out of sincerity or merely going through the motions.
At first, seeing Ping’an reduced to a rustic laborer had made her feel quite uncomfortable. But the moment he saw her and revealed a genuine smile—the same smile he used to wear only when staying at their southern estate—she knew her nephew was truly happy here with the Mo family. Her heart was suddenly filled with gratitude toward them.
Ping’an had no connection to the Mo family. That they took him in at all was an enormous act of kindness. They were under no obligation to treat him well, and it was only right that he contributed what he could in return. She could see that he hadn’t been mistreated at all—in fact, he even seemed sturdier and healthier than before. Just that alone was more than enough for her to feel endlessly grateful.
Realizing that Cui Qingrou truly wasn’t upset, Mo Yan finally relaxed and smiled. “Young Master Cui has a kind and gentle nature. Even if he hadn’t met me, he would have met other kind-hearted people. He’s also very hardworking and hasn’t brought us any trouble.”
Although he’d been a bit dramatic at first, at heart he was a good kid—he listened when corrected, and after nearly a month of living together, not a single person in the household disliked him.
Originally unhappy with how his aunt was putting him down, Cui Ping’an was overjoyed when he heard Mo Yan praising him. He looked smugly over at his aunt, feeling flattered.
Cui Qingrou gave her childish nephew a helpless smile but was inwardly even more grateful to Mo Yan.
Knowing that the aunt and nephew hadn’t seen each other in a long time and would have much to say, Mo Yan politely exchanged a few more words, then excused herself to give them privacy.
As soon as Mo Yan left, Cui Ping’an couldn’t wait to ask, “Aunt, how did you find this place?”
He didn’t for a second suspect Mo Yan of secretly telling the Cui family. If she’d wanted him to leave, she would have said so outright, not gone to such trouble.
Cui Qingrou lovingly patted his head and answered truthfully, “It was Young Lord Yan who told your Uncle.”
Upon hearing this, Cui Ping’an clenched his fists in anger. “I knew that guy was up to no good! He used to bully me all the time—and even after leaving, he still had to sell me out. How despicable!”
Cui Qingrou immediately became alarmed. “Did Young Lord Yan bully you? What happened exactly?”
Yan Junyu didn’t have a great reputation in the capital. While he wasn’t notorious for harming men or harassing women, his reputation wasn’t exactly clean either. Every other young rake in the capital had been taught a lesson by him—yet in the eyes of the world, he was the biggest rake of all. Naturally, Cui Qingrou feared he might have mistreated her nephew.
“N-No, nothing like that. That guy only stayed here for a few days. He just liked to provoke me with words,” Cui Ping’an muttered, embarrassed to admit how often he’d been picked on. “I was planning to stay here a little longer, but I didn’t expect him to go and reveal where I was.”
Seeing that her nephew didn’t seem to be lying, Cui Qingrou felt relieved. Then she lightly tapped his forehead and chided, “You ran away from home without a word—your grandmother and your uncle were worried sick. They haven’t had a proper night’s sleep. And here you are, enjoying yourself without a care in the world, not even thinking about them. Truly heartless!”
Cui Ping’an’s expression changed instantly, worry flooding his face. “Aunt, is Grandmother… is she alright?”
He clearly remembered how furious she’d been the day he left home.
(End of Chapter)
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