Chapter 57: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 57 Mo Wu Clan
Mo Yan threw the wild mountain goat into the space. When she was near the foot of the mountain, she took it out and hid it in a secluded place. Then she found Lin Yong, who was cutting trees nearby, and asked him to help carry the goat down the mountain.
As expected of an expert, Lin Yong effortlessly carried the two hundred pounds of wild goat as if he were carrying a bag of cotton. As he walked, he said to Mo Yan, "From the looks of the tracks, this goat was obviously killed by a wolf. I wonder why it wasn't eaten."
The wound was still bleeding, indicating that it hadn't been dead for long. However, he was cutting trees nearby and didn't hear any noise, which was strange.
Knowing that he wouldn't know the whole story, Mo Yan still felt guilty: "Maybe the wolf killed more than one goat!"
Lin Yong thought about it and felt it was possible. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Miss Mo is lucky. There's been a lot of traffic on the mountain these days, but you're the only one who found such a big catch as soon as you came."
With that, he solemnly reminded, "The wolves have all moved to the outskirts of the forest. Miss Mo, try not to go into the mountains alone in the future."
Mo Yan knew he meant well and naturally agreed repeatedly. After experiencing the skirmish just now, she had no intention of going into the mountains again for a short time.
Along the way, they encountered many villagers. The wild goat was so large that it naturally caught their attention. Hearing that Mo Yan picked it up from the mountain, they all envied her luck. However, envy aside, with the fierce beasts searching for food in the mountains at this time of year, they dared not venture into the mountains to try their luck.
Mo Qingze was busy looking for his daughter everywhere. When Mo Yan and Lin Yong returned, he learned that his daughter had sneaked into the mountains. If it weren't for the sake of saving face in public, he would have wanted to take her back home and give her a good scolding behind closed doors.
Looking at his father's stern face, Mo Yan felt extremely guilty. Although her father was definitely a civilized person and wouldn't resort to domestic violence, his ability to recite scriptures like Tang Seng was really headache-inducing.
The wild mountain goat was too large, and there was no one at home to handle it. Mo Yan thought of processing it here and bringing the meat back home.
On the other hand, Lin Yong had hunted in his hometown before and had a knack for handling wild animals. So, he found two helpers and hung the goat on a tree. Starting from the goat's mouth, they quickly peeled off a complete piece of goat skin with a sharp knife. Then they used another knife to gut and clean the organs such as the heart, liver, and intestines, which were edible. They tied them with a cloth strip and hung them on the tree to dry.
After cleaning, the goat meat weighed about one hundred and twenty catties. Mo Yan asked Lin Yong to divide it in half, leaving one half for the people working at home.
"Little master, we've already taken advantage of you. How can we accept this goat meat? If you can't finish it, you can sell it to the tavern. It's the perfect time for hotpot in the middle of winter, and wild meat is even rarer and sells well."
The speaker was Zhang Erniu, who had been working at the Mo family's house all along. He looked at the fat and delicious goat meat, which was worth more than a couple of silvers. How could the little master just give it away like this? It was too wasteful!
Mo Yan still remembered him. Seeing his expression at the moment and hearing his words, which didn't seem to be fake, her impression of him improved a lot.
"It's okay. Since it was picked up, you've all been working hard these days. This little thing doesn't count for much."
Mo Qingze joked, "If we sell it to the tavern, it could fetch one or two hundred taels. I'd really hesitate to give it away." The family didn't lack this money now, and these workers were sincere. It didn't matter to give them some to eat.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Erniu felt even more that the master was generous. He couldn't say anything more to refuse.
Lin Yong, concentrating on cutting the meat, knew the Mo family's kindness better than anyone else in the Lin family. The houses in the clan were built two days ago, and the young and old had moved back from the refugee camp. With the cotton and food from the Mo family, they no longer had to endure hunger and cold, which was better than the poor and destitute days when they were in Linjia'a.
These days, he and the people in the clan were busy cutting trees for the Mo family to prepare wood for building houses next year. Although the work was not easy, no one complained. The kindness of the Mo family to their Lin clan was far from enough to repay them just for that incident.
Mo Yan asked Lin Yong to cut their half of the goat meat into pieces so that they could take it back home and salt it, hanging it under the eaves to dry as preserved mutton.
Turning her head and seeing her father hesitate to speak, Mo Yan quickly guessed his thoughts. From the pile of meat strips, she picked out the best leg of lamb and handed it to him. "Dad, take it to Second Grandpa's house."
"Okay!"
Seeing through his daughter's gaze, Mo Qingze didn't know what to say. Although he couldn't hide his smile, he took the seven or eight catties of meat strips and went to the old Mo family at the end of the village.
Watching her father's departing figure, Mo Yan gritted her teeth. She didn't want to be as generous to that family as she appeared. If possible, she would rather feed it to the wild dogs than give them a bargain.
But she underestimated the extent of that family's despicableness. Not long after, Mo Qingze returned empty-handed, his face looking very bad. He looked at Mo Yan in silence for a long time before saying, "In the future, if there's nothing urgent, don't go to Second itUncle's house to disturb their peace."
Without guessing, Mo Yan also knew that her father was definitely angered by those despicable people. For a while, she was so angry that her teeth itched, regretting giving them such a large piece of meat. It was even worse than feeding the dogs!
Seeing her daughter's appearance, Mo Qingze sighed helplessly. Thinking of his sister-in-law's scolding when he entered the house, his second cousin's couple's snS Seeeering, and the faces of his third cousin and fourth cousin complaining that the meat was too little even after receiving it, at that moment, he felt an impulse never to step into that family's door again. In the future, he really wanted to distance himself from his second uncle's family.
After processing the meat, it was already noon, and there was no time to go home for lunch. Father and daughter didn't go home and ate a big pot meal with the villagers working.
The cooking skills of the two women were good. The dried sweet potato rice and rice were not mushy, and the lamb stew with radish was very tender and delicious. The aroma made people's appetites open wide. Passing villagers couldn't help but swallow saliva, envying the workers.
More than forty people sat around eating happily. Mo Yan also had a good appetite. After drinking two bowls of steaming lamb soup and eating a small bowl of dried sweet potato rice, she felt a bit uncomfortable in her stomach. She had to get up and take a walk outside to aid digestion. During this walk, she ran into an acquaintance.
Seeing Wu Shi, who had a slightly flushed face and looked uncomfortable, Mo Yan, who rarely showed a cold attitude towards other people in the old Mo family, didn't glare at her.
"Aunt, is there anything you need?"
In the entire old Mo family, the only one who made the original owner feel warmth was this aunt in front of her. In the past, when the three siblings were mistreated byHong Shi and couldn't eat or dress warmly, it was Wu Shi who often secretly gave them cornbread and sweet potatoes. All of that came from her own mouth. The original owner was grateful to her, and Mo Yan also had a good impression of this kind woman.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the words came out, Wu Shi's eyes turned red, and she cried, "Yan, Yan, Auntie shouldn't have come to you, but Auntie really can't, can't help it anymore, wuwu——"
