CH 108

The woman wore makeup and a hair ornament. The materials of the clothes were average, but they were still pretty. She dressed up much more than Ms. Liang usually did.

The boy next to her had a face like his mother’s, and it was on the longer side. His facial features and eyebrows were also reminiscent of Mo Zenian. This was his second son.

The child’s eyes darted around, and he kept quiet after looking around the courtyard, but looked around. It was immediately apparent he was smarter than Mo Feng.

Mo Zenian leaned over and held the child’s little hand, and said softly, “Zheng’er, this is my sister, go greet her.”

The child cautiously greeted Mo Yan, and she replied coldly, “I dare not be that.”

Ms. Liang came out of the house, and stood, dressed-up well, “Ling’er, if you weren’t afraid of dogs, I would have raised a big one in the courtyard long ago, so these people won’t be able to run around in broad daylight.”

The woman asked Mo Zenian, “Who is this?”

He pointed at Mo Yan and Mo Ling, “Their mother.”

“Why is she still here?”

“I didn’t retire her, we divorce. We can’t live here anyways, so I gave it to her. After all, she gave birth to three children for me.”

“How can you let her stay here? How will I face the people in the village in the future?”

“We won’t come back to live. We’ll live in the city from now on and won’t come back.”

“But Zheng’er has to recognize his ancestors!”

“There is no patriarch in my family, and my mother is the only elder. As long as she agrees, you’ll be my main wife, and Zheng’er will be my legitimate firstborn son.”

“It’s that simple?”

“We’ve signed the divorce papers, with the governing official as our witness. What else would need to be done?”

At this time, the old man asked, “Zenian, what about my son’s marriage?”

“She doesn’t want to, so I can’t force her!”

The old man pointed at Mo Zenian with his finger, “How can you let her mother have custody over her? If she followed you, wouldn’t you have the final say on the marriage?”

Zhong Cheng came in. He wasn’t ugly in the first place, but he looked dignified after changing into clean and decent clothes. He saw Mo Ling wearing the hairpin he gave her instantly, “Ling’er, this hairpin looks really good on you.”

Ms. Liang, “Zhong Cheng, you’re here, come in quickly. I’ll cook you something good later. Yan’er, take the dried fruit and fried noodles to entertain my future son-in-law.”

She agreed, and Zhong Cheng asked, “Is there a guest?

Mo Zenian asked Ms. Liang, “This is Mo Ling’s fiance? A farmer?”

“What’s wrong being a farmer? He’s polite and hard-working, much better than those people who dress nicely but have poor intentions. If you have nothing to do, please leave! I still have to entertain my son-in-law. ”

Ms. Liang had authorised their marriage, and Zhong Cheng was overwhelmed with joy.

The old man dragged the idiot out, but he kept backing away, “I won’t go, I want to marry a beautiful wife.”

That sentence exposed the idiot fully, which made the old man feel ashamed, so he could only vent his anger on Mo Zenian, “You went back on the marriage you agreed to and tried to deceive us. You still want a promotion, but you better pray you don’t get demoted!”

The old man took his son outside, and the woman chased after him, “I beseech you, calm down and give her some time to think about it, and she’ll agree? Who doesn’t know that the city is more prosperous than the countryside? You have to give Zenian a promotion.”

“Then let’s talk about it after she agrees. As soon as she marries my son, let alone giving him a promotion, I’ll give him 10% of the business’ shares.”

The old man and his son got into the carriage and left. The woman came back and murmured to Mo Zenian, probably coming out with some garbage idea.

This time, Ms. Liang wasn’t polite at all, and chased them away with a broom, “Get out of here, and never let me see you again!”

The two took their child and fled. Zhong Cheng got a rough understanding of the matter.

Mo Ling came over and said to Zhong Cheng, “You’ve seen that my parents have divorce, go back!” She went back inside, then Mo Yan came over and said, “Brother Cheng, do you dislike my family and my sister because of this? If you do, go now, we won’t blame you.”

Zhong Cheng was anxious and stuttered out, “I, I, I…”

Dagan was standing at the gate since who-knows-when, “I’m willing to marry Ling’er. I don’t mind that her parents have divorced, but I cannot let her marry that fool.”

Seeing his ‘rival’ in love, Zhong Cheng stopped stuttering immediately, “What are you talking about, I’m still here! It’s not your turn to pick up unexpected treasure, get out!”

Mo Ling just stepped back out when she heard what he said. She turned back and slapped him on the shoulder, “Get out too, who are you calling unexpected treasure?”

Zhong Cheng hurriedly apologised, “I responded without thinking, please don’t be angry.” Then, he smiled at her and said, “Ling’er, I’ll go back and ask a matchmaker to propose a good date for the marriage, okay?”

“Won’t your family dislike it?”

“My two elder brothers are married, and our family has already split up. We’ll all live our own lives in the future. Why would they worry about who I marry?”

“Then, my mother wants twenty silver taels for my dowry.”

Ms. Liang coughed and gave her a hard look, “When did I ever say that?”

But Zhong Cheng replied, “I don’t have twenty silver taels in liquid assets, but I have a cow worth twenty silver taels. I’ll give you the cow as a dowry.”

Mo Ling slapped him again, “You’re exchanging a cow for me, are you comparing me to one?”

Before, she always said that Ms. Liang used her like a cow, but now Zhong Cheng was actually using a cow for her dowry.

Zhong Cheng grabbed her hand, “Then, treat it as a gift instead of a dowry, ok?”

Ms. Liang laughed and said, “According to convention, the dowry should be six taels of silver! The ox isn’t needed, but when we need to farm, you need to help out some.”

Zhong Cheng hurriedly nodded, “Ok! Thank you.”

He rubbed his hands excitedly, “Then I’ll let the matchmaker come over on the eighth day of the New Year!”

“The shop will be open, so we can’t receive him on that day.”

Ms. Liang said, “I can receive the matchmaker myself. You won’t be needed for this, go and open your shop.”

The family happily ate, and the laughter of the past resumed at the dinner table.

Zhong Cheng said, “Tomorrow is the first day the store will open, so it must be cleaned up. I’ll go over and help!”

Mo Ling just said “Whatever”, so he simply agreed to go with her. His persistence made Mo Yan laugh every time.

The woman named Xian’er and Mo Zenian had been muttering about something, and Mo Yan felt uneasy, “Sister, be careful when you go out these few days, I’m afraid that woman might make trouble.”

Mo Ling ate as she replied, “I’m not afraid of her. From tomorrow onwards, I’ll carry a kitchen knife with me. If she dares to make trouble, I’ll chop her up.”

Ms. Liang gave her a blank look, “You’re speaking nonsense, be more dignified.”

Mo Yan also said, “We have to stick together when leaving the house in the future.”

Ms. Liang said again, “Yes, come back before it gets dark.”

Zhong Cheng added, “I’ll come pick you up every day from now on.”

“There’s no need, that’s too troublesome! They won’t do anything to us anyways.”

Post-translation notes: I think Mo Ling is just a little too dispassionate towards Zhong Cheng for me to declare that they’ll definitely be married later on in the book without any twists or turns. As always, thank you for reading!