Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 404: Ruthless (2)_1

Chapter 404: Chapter 404: Ruthless (2)_1

Mo Qingze had thought she would hesitate, but to his surprise, she was so decisive, which made him feel all the more that the young girl had it tough. Thus, in a gentle voice, he said, "Since that’s the case, I will go with you to your home to settle this matter. While the Government Office hasn’t sealed the documents, we’ll get your servant contract done."

Tang Xin hesitated for a moment, just as she was about to say something, Xin Er urgently intervened, "Dad, Tang Xin is a good sister to me. Can we not formalize a servant contract? Can we just consider this silver as a loan from Tang Xin, please?"

Different from Grandfather Li’s family, who had helped their own a lot, the villagers didn’t know that Grandfather Li’s family had sold themselves to serve them. But since Dad had said those words, it meant that Tang Xin could only stay in the house as a servant from now on. She was very happy that Dad was willing to help, but she really couldn’t accept her good sister becoming a servant in the house.

"Xin Er, shut up!" Mo Yan glared at Xin Er, speaking to her with such a stern tone for the first time, "Dad has his reasons for doing this. Do not say another word."

Xin Er looked at her sister incredulously and felt aggrieved, "Sis... "

Mo Yan just looked at her and did not explain.

Mo Yan just looked at her and did not explain.

Although the family could live a life where servants obeyed their orders, she had never thought of acquiring servants. It wasn’t entirely due to the influence of her previous life that she wasn’t accustomed to it, firstly because the housework wasn’t burdensome and she could manage on her own, and secondly because many mouths breed chatter, and she didn’t want to risk exposing the secret of the Space accidentally.

Her agreeing to Tang Xin’s request was solely out of sympathy, an absolute exception. Formalizing a servant contract would legally bind her and prevent her from easily betraying them.

Moreover, if they didn’t formalize a servant contract, people in the village might think her family easy targets. If they were short of silver in the future, they might "sell" their children to her family where they would be well-fed and free to leave whenever they wished to take them back. That would be endless trouble.

Considering these two aspects, even if her father hadn’t planned this, she would have insisted on Tang Xin formalizing a servant contract. However, since her father had already brought it up, it saved her the trouble of arguing the point.

Mo Qingze indeed had these concerns in mind. He had already decided that as long as the young girl stayed honestly at home, once she reached a marriageable age, he would free her from servitude and return her freedom to her.

Xin Er was unaware of her father’s plans and, seeing her sister’s disgruntled expression, didn’t dare to pry into the reasons. She could only look apologetically at Tang Xin.

Tang Xin tugged the corner of her lips and shook her head slightly. Despite her disappointment, the fact that the Mo Family was willing to buy her and help her escape from her miserable life was already a great kindness. She could not, and dared not, hope for more.

But even though she had accepted the eventual reality of her servitude, she still felt an indescribable pain in her heart. She blinked back the tears of sorrow, raised her head, and said to Mo Qingze, "Mr. Mo, based on my stepmother’s greed, if you go today, she will surely demand a lot of silver. Could you perhaps wait until tomorrow when those people come to my house? Then you would only need to spend ten taels of silver."

Ten taels of silver was the typical price for selling oneself into servitude, and she considered it as repaying the Tang Family for ten years of upbringing. From then on, she would have no ties to the Tang Family. She didn’t want to give even one wen of extra money to Mrs. Yu.

Mo Qingze was stunned for a moment, partly understanding and partly confused. Just as he was about to say something, he saw his eldest daughter signaling to him, so he nodded and agreed.

"Mr. Mo, thank you for your life-saving rescue!"

Having resolved the pressing issue, Tang Xin felt a weight lifted off her shoulders and sincerely bowed to Mo Qingze. As she straightened up, her face revealed the first smile since arriving at the Mo Family.

Despite her young age and her features not fully matured, it was still apparent that the little girl would be a beautiful woman in the future. That heartfelt smile added a point to her already fair appearance, elevating it from seven to eight.

Mo Yan watched the little girl with emotion, no wonder Mrs. Yu had been so determined to sell her to that kind of place, presumably not only expecting to fetch a good price but also hoping to exploit her beauty in the future to rake in more silver.

After Tang Xin left, Mo Qingze asked Mo Yan why she had agreed to visit the Tang Family again tomorrow.

Mo Yan simply spread her hands to show she didn’t know. Seeing her father’s skeptical look, clearly not believing her, she had to say, "The little girl isn’t foolish. Since she said so, she must have a way to thwart Mrs. Yu’s plans. Let’s go to the Tang Family tomorrow, and we’ll see then."

She had her suspicions but wasn’t sure yet, so she decided not to voice them, not wanting to frighten the children.

What she had never anticipated was that Tang Xin would be so ruthless, not only foiling Mrs. Yu’s scheme, but also making sure Mrs. Yu didn’t get a single Wen of the ten taels of silver, and almost causing her to lose her own daughter in the process.

Mo Qingze took her word for it and didn’t inquire further, silently strategizing that he should take more silver when visiting the Tang Family tomorrow, just in case.

Except for Xin Er, who was still a bit concerned, the others didn’t take Tang Xin’s issue to heart. Everything for the kitchen god ritual had been prepared, with only the evening’s arrival awaited. At this moment, everyone began to chop fillings and wrap dumplings.

However, when Mo Qingze followed Mo Yan to the cellar to fetch ingredients and saw more than ten large basins filled with various kinds of cured meat, he almost thought his eyes were deceiving him, "Yanyan, how could there be so much meat?"

Seeing her father’s jaw practically drop, Mo Yan sneakily smiled and then declared generously, "This isn’t much at all; I’m actually worried it won’t be enough!"

True, they had bought half a pig from a family in the village that was slaughtering theirs for the New Year, three beasts had brought back plenty of game from the mountains, and over thirty Spatial Chickens from the backyard had been slaughtered. However, most of these were for New Year gifts, ready to be delivered to their close acquaintances after the festival of the kitchen god.

Mo Yan had prepared these gifts considering several families, including Yan Junyu, the Liu Family, Punishing Shopkeeper, and Owner Mu, as well as Mo Qingze’s good friend Han Zhiyun and a few of his old teachers. Taking these into account, the food didn’t seem excessive...

Seeing that his daughter had taken care of everything impeccably in his absence, Mo Qingze’s eyes reddened as he touched her head, his thousand words condensing into one sentence, "Yanyan... you’ve worked hard!"

"Father, it’s nothing at all, not hard in the slightest!" Mo Yan hugged her father’s arm honestly. The game had been hunted by the three beasts and handled by Lin Yong; she was only responsible for the curing, which didn’t take much effort on her part.

Mo Qingze didn’t argue with her. Watching his daughter smile so carefree, he felt that none of the young talents he admired at the Academy were a worthy match for her...