Chapter 435: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
**Chapter 435: Intentionally Picking a Quarrel Over New Year's Red Envelope (2)**
The small oxen, each the size of a thumb, were exquisitely crafted and lifelike. Their adorable appearance surpassed that of the already grown-up Xiao Huang at home. At the top, there was a slightly larger hole than a needle's eye, allowing them to be hung as pendants with a red string.
Zhen'er couldn't bear to let go of them. Under the envious gaze of Yun Zhao and his sister, he proudly put them away in his red envelope.
Mo Yan and Xin'er, the two sisters, also knelt down to greet their father, each receiving a red envelope. Just like Zhen'er's, theirs contained ornaments corresponding to their zodiac signs. Mo Yan received a pair of beautiful little horses, while Xin'er got a pair of cute little dogs.
Next, it was Yun Zhao and his sister's turn. The siblings knelt together on the cushion, showing their reverence as they respectfully kowtowed to their adoptive father, Mo Qingze, and finished speaking their auspicious words sincerely. Yun Zhao received a small ox, matching his zodiac sign as an Ox, while his sister, a Dragon, received a small dragon.
Lastly, it was Li's family, including Li Zhong and his grandchildren, and Tang Xin's turn.
As servants of the Mo family, Li Zhong and his family, along with Tang Xin, originally planned to kneel down and pay respects to their masters. However, since it wasn't the custom in the Mo family, Mo Yan and others naturally did not let them kneel.
The red packets for these four were prepared by Mo Yan. She didn't care much about money but was generous towards those who worked diligently for the family. Li Zhong received a plain one with an auspicious amount of six taels of silver inside. Li Xiu got a pair of silver hairpins, Li Yan received a pair of auspicious cloud-shaped silver bracelets, and Tang Xin's was similar, but with a different pattern.
After the family exchanged New Year greetings, they prepared to go to the village to continue paying respects. However, they also needed someone to stay and host the villagers who came to pay their respects. Therefore, Li Zhong and the others stayed behind, while Mo Qingze took Mo Yan and the others to visit old Mo's family first.
Along the way, they encountered many adults and children paying New Year visits, exchanging greetings with each other and wishing each other a prosperous New Year. Although most people didn't have new clothes and some even had patched ones, their faces were filled with bright smiles, and their conversations were full of hope for life.
Simple and genuine, yearning yet content! That restless heart, which had been troubled all night, was miraculously calmed. Mo Yan's face showed a relieved smile.
She had beloved family members, adorable animal companions, a comfortable life, and dreams gradually coming true... No matter what happened in the future, she would at least enjoy her life now. Those troubles—let them go to hell!
Arriving at old Mo's house, unexpectedly everyone was there except for Hong shi, who scowled and turned her head away upon seeing them. Mo Yongxi, who envied Mo Yan's new clothes, also had an unpleasant expression. However, the others' attitudes were relatively good, especially Wu shi's family, who warmly served them tea.
Seeing that the water in the tea bowls was brown from brown sugar, clearly sweetened, Hong shi, who didn't even want to give water to her nephew and grandchildren, erupted completely. Pointing at Wu shi, she cursed loudly, "You spendthrift woman, just like those scoundrels, eating and drinking from our Mo family. And now you're wasting things like this. Get out of here!"
These accusations, thinly veiled insults, not only caused the three elders' expressions to become extremely ugly but also made them look at Mo Yan and others for the first time. Seeing them playing with Sini'er and Xiao shitou, pretending not to hear, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Regardless of who was right or wrong, if both families quarreled on this big New Year's Day, not only would it be humiliating, but it would also be unlucky to be laughed at by outsiders. Moreover, they wanted to improve relations between the two families. Even if they couldn't be as close as family, they couldn't afford to be worse than strangers!
Seeing Hong shi with her hands on her hips, still ranting, old Mo became extremely angry. He slapped the table and scolded, "On this New Year's Day, are you causing trouble again? Do you want to ruin all the family's blessings and scatter this family apart?"
"Humph, if it weren't for this spendthrift woman, should I teach her a lesson? Why are you glaring at me? If you have the guts, let your eldest divorce her." Hong shi embarrassed herself in front of her juniors, venting her anger recklessly at old Mo, going so far as to threaten to divorce Wu shi.
"Shut up! If you dare to cause trouble again, I'll be the first one to divorce you!" Old Mo didn't want to waste time arguing with his unreasonable wife anymore and issued a harsh ultimatum.
"You..." Hong shi was furious, about to retort, but seeing old Mo's darkening face, she dared not say another word and could only stare bitterly at Wu shi.
Seeing her quiet down, old Mo was somewhat satisfied but had increasing dissatisfaction with Wu shi's behavior.
Brown sugar was a precious commodity, more expensive than pork. Since fleeing to this place, he hadn't seen it. This old lady had such a good thing, not using it to honor the elders was simply disgraceful! No wonder the old lady took the opportunity to explode. If it weren't for today being New Year's Day and having outsiders present, he would have properly disciplined his eldest daughter-in-law!
Wu shi, who was talking to Mo Yan, didn't know his thoughts. Even if she did, she wouldn't care. She bought the brown sugar with her own money. She could give it to whoever she wanted, and if she didn't want to give it to someone, they shouldn't try to take advantage of her.
"Yan'er, when you go to other houses later, can you take Sini'er and Xiao shitou with you? Let them meet more people. These two kids are always at home and are getting too withdrawn. They don't seem to have the courage to go out and play with other kids, which worries me a lot." Wu shi looked at the two children lovingly, her heart heavy with sadness.
Their family's reputation wasn't good, and it affected several children who couldn't find friends. The older ones were better, busy with household chores, but the younger ones were shy and afraid, teased by ignorant children and unwilling to go out again.
"Okay, Auntie, rest assured, I'll take good care of them." Mo Yan didn't know the reasons behind their behavior and simply thought the two kids were shy, so she agreed.
Having been patiently taken care of by Mo Yan before, the two children were quite dependent on her. Although they still didn't want to go out, a few gentle words from Mo Yan persuaded them to obediently hold her hand and follow along.
However, Mo Yongxi, under old Mo's tacit approval, stubbornly insisted on going to visit other families with Mo Yan and others.
The village road wasn't owned by the Mo family, so if she wanted to go along, Mo Yan and the others had no reason to refuse. However, Mo Yan didn't like Mo Yongxi, who burned their firewood and destroyed their fruit seedlings. She wasn't interested in her deliberate attempts to get close to them, so she briefly rebuffed her and walked in front with Sini'er and Xiao shitou.
Little did she know that because of this, Mo Yongxi harbored resentment and almost caused Mo Yan a great deal of trouble...
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