Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 79 First Encounter with a Wretched Person_1

Chapter 79: Chapter 79 First Encounter with a Wretched Person_1

The next morning, Mo Yan arrived at the Eastern Market as usual, only to unexpectedly discover that Lin Meng and his four companions, who usually arrived earlier than her, were nowhere to be seen. She waited at the stall for nearly half an hour before she finally saw several familiar ox carts slowly approaching, carrying people and vegetables.

After a careful look, she only saw Lin Meng, Mrs. Xiong, and Mrs. Zhou sitting on the ox carts, while Mo Yongshou and Mo Yonglu were nowhere in sight.

Once everyone had disembarked and they had placed more than a dozen baskets of vegetables in order, Mo Yan finally asked, "Why haven’t those two come?"

Upon hearing this, the three people looked at each other. In the end, it was Lin Meng who stepped forward and said, "When we came over in the morning, we didn’t see the two of them, so we thought they had overslept and waited for a while. But after waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour and they still hadn’t arrived, I went to call them at their home, only to find... only to find that Mo Yongshou said that he and his brother would not be coming anymore!"

In fact, what Mo Yongshou said was much harsher than this, but Lin Meng didn’t want to spoil everyone’s mood by repeating his words.

Mo Yan’s brows furrowed. If these two men simply did not want to work anymore, they wouldn’t have left without collecting yesterday’s wages. Recalling their abnormal behavior these past two days, she suddenly had a bad feeling.

Given the events of the past few days, Mo Yan thought carefully but couldn’t figure out why these two would quit without taking their wages. In the past, she would have wished for these two to leave, but now with the situation obviously awry, she couldn’t help but suspect they might have been plotting something behind her back.

Seeing that the street was gradually getting crowded and people were starting to head her way, Mo Yan waved her hand irritably, "Forget about them for now, let’s focus on doing business!"

Lin Meng and the others nodded. Without further words, they quickly picked up the scales to greet the customers.

With two people short, they were suddenly much busier. Additionally, with business being better than usual as the end of the year approached, and more vegetables to sell, the four of them struggled to keep up.

Once all the vegetables were sold, the four of them were exhausted, soaked with sweat on their undershirts and foreheads.

Seeing Lin Meng and the others busy packing up the bamboo baskets and other items, Mo Yan quickly called them to take a break.

Leaning against the stone benches, they caught their breath. Knowing that the New Year’s Eve was only about ten days away, she said to the three of them:

"It’s too exhausting just for the four of us. When you go back, look around to see if there’s anyone willing to come and help. Both the Southern Market and West Market have been busy these days. Three or four helpers will do."

Lin Meng and the others agreed readily. Who in the village didn’t know that work at the little boss’s place was well paid? There would be a queue of people wanting to help. However, they agreed that they had to choose carefully, and make sure not to pick someone like Mo Yongshou, who regularly offended customers and left the little boss cleaning up the mess.

After resting for a while, they began to pack up. Just as they were about to leave, a discreet-looking carriage appeared before them. As the carriage door opened, two people alighted one after another—it was the Punishing Shopkeeper and Xiao Zhu.

"Punishing Shopkeeper, didn’t we settle this matter before? I really don’t possess the secret technique you mentioned!"

Mo Yan greeted with a smile, assuming he had come to talk about the secret technique again.

However, Punishing Shopkeeper shook his head solemnly and said, "This time, old I have come for another matter. Miss Mo, please follow me to a certain place."

Mo Yan felt perplexed and couldn’t help asking, "May I know what the matter is, or could you give me a hint first?"

Punishing Shopkeeper knew that without a clear explanation, she would not go with him, so he said, "This matter could affect Miss Mo’s family’s reputation and assets."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yan felt faintly uneasy, as it concerned the entire Mo Family. She could not refuse Punishing Shopkeeper’s invitation. Thus, she let Mrs. Xiong and Mrs. Zhou return first and took Lin Meng with her in the carriage with Punishing Shopkeeper.

The carriage traveled through several bustling streets before gradually reaching quieter surroundings. By the time the carriage finally stopped, they could no longer hear any human voices.

Alighting from the carriage, Mo Yan saw an ancient-style residence before her. Surrounded by unfamiliar environments, she was nervous, though she quickly calmed herself down.

If Punishing Shopkeeper truly had malicious intentions toward her, he would not have needed to go to such lengths.

Lin Meng stood close to Mo Yan, vigilantly watching Punishing Shopkeeper, ready to flee with the little boss at any sign of trouble.

"Please do not be nervous. I have no ill intentions!" Punishing Shopkeeper said.

Punishing Shopkeeper had seen all sorts of people, and could clearly grasp their thoughts. He felt a growing appreciation for Mo Yan’s composure.

Mo Yan was still poised. Lin Meng, slightly embarrassed, touched his nose but did not stray half a step away from Mo Yan.

Punishing Shopkeeper smiled and made a "please" gesture to Mo Yan, leading the way in front.

After entering, Mo Yan was too preoccupied to notice the courtyard’s scenery. The silence was palpable as they passed through several inner gates. Just as she was internally complaining about the oversized courtyard, Punishing Shopkeeper finally stopped in a small garden.

The garden wasn’t large, planted with evergreen vegetation. What shocked Mo Yan were the several varieties of flowers blooming in the flower beds, including purple chrysanthemums, red begonias, pink roses...

Gazing at these flowers that typically only bloomed in autumn, now fragrant and budding during the coldest season, Mo Yan felt a surreal sense of time reversal.

"Surprised?"

The voice, deep and magnetic with a lazy undertone, flowed gently like a slow-moving stream, playfully entering her eardrums.

Mo Yan initially just dumbly nodded, then snapped back to reality, rapidly turning around. However, before she could clearly see who it was, her face was pressed against something warm and her eyes were covered.

Yan Junyu stared at his hand in astonishment, blinking. He had just wanted to touch the girl’s hair, to see if it was as black and smooth as it looked. But now, how had it become the face?

But this face was smooth, even smoother than Little Flower’s, and he wondered if it was as soft to pinch.

Thinking this, Yan Junyu stretched out his left hand and pinched Mo Yan’s face as if kneading dough: "Hmm, it’s as soft as Little Flower!"

"Slap!"

Seeing the palm print on the left cheek of the rogue before her, Mo Yan’s anger flared even more, and she swiftly dealt another slap to his right cheek...