CH 107

Her second grandma came out, and looked towards the north room while signalling for her to speak quietly. Mo Yan said, “Second grandma, my parents have divorced, and our mother has custody of all of us. We don’t have to take care of people anymore, and we lost a lot of our useless relatives. These are fresh dumplings, eat them while they’re still hot!”

She held the dumplings and said in amazement, “How could those two divorce? How can your father treat your mother like this.”

“It’s okay. We never relied on their help anyways.”

Hearing that there was no need to deal with the old woman, Mo Yan’s second grandma also felt relieved. She ate a dumpling, and said loudly, “It’s so delicious.”

The door of the old woman’s room opened, and she stood there leaning on a cane and said bitterly, “How can he just divorce her? She should’ve been retired!”

Mu Yan raised her voice and said, “My mother did not violate the seven marriage rules. If he dared divorce his wife, we’d go to the governing official to sue him and put him in jail.” After saying that, she turned and left.

Knowing they were no longer related, she no longer had to be afraid of that old woman.

Mo Zenian smelled the smell of dumplings and entered the kitchen, and sat at the dining table by himself, “Why don’t you have my chopsticks? Feng’er, bring me a pair of chopsticks.”

Mo Feng stood up to get the chopsticks, but Mo Yan said, “Brother, don’t go, we aren’t related to him anymore. The ingredients used to make these dumplings weren’t bought by him, if he wants to eat them, he has to pay.”

“You!” Mo Zenian had divorced as he wanted to stay with his mistress, and hadn’t considered all of the details.

Seeing the delicious dumplings he couldn’t eat, he reflexively swallowed his saliva. Reluctantly, he took out a few dollars and slapped them on the table.

Mo Feng opened his mouth to say how he couldn’t buy anything with that, but Mo Yan shook his head. The family didn’t need his few dollars, and asked him for money just to let him know that he had no right to shout at their mother.

After they all ate their fill, there were still a lot of dumplings left. Mo Zenian said, “There are so many left, send some to your grandma!”

Mu Yan poured out the remaining dumplings into a bowl and took them away, “Now that we don’t even have a father, what grandma do we have?”

That reminded him he still had a mother to support, and he started to regret his decision.

After eating, Mo Zenian strolled to the backyard. When Mo Yan’s second grandmother saw him, she scolded him, “Zenian, how could you divorce Yan’er’s mother? She raised your children and honoured your mother for you all these years, it’s not easy!”

Mo Zenian smiled falsely and said, “I know, that’s why I didn’t retire her, so the children could still use my surname.”

Their family wasn’t a noble family, so it didn’t matter what their surname was. He was really full of himself.

The old woman coughed from her room, “Mo Zenian come in!”

When Mu Zenian entered the north room, the old woman complained again, “How can you divorce her? You should’ve retired her and forced her to go back to her natal family. Her parents are gone, let’s see who’d take her in. Then, wouldn’t she kneel down and beg us, so we can do and say whatever we want.”

“Mother, you can’t do things so ruthlessly, and there are the three children. Mo Ling is disobedient, Mo Feng is stupid and lazy, and Mo Yan has been weak since she was a child and can’t do anything. If I forced her away, I wouldn’t be able to handle those three.”

“The children are all under her custody?”

“Yes, she taught them all, and none of them listen to me. If I forced them to be under my custody, they’d definitely bear grudges.”

“That’s true, then I’ll follow you to the city!”

“Mother, aren’t you living well here? What are you going to do in the city? You won’t be used to it, I’ll keep sending you money.”

“Then will Mo Ling still carry water for me every day?”

Mo Zenian. Since they’re no longer related, why would they still carry water for her?

“She should! Besides, my aunt doesn’t have anyone to fetch water for her and she’s living a good life.”

“You let me live like her. She is the adopted son, but you are my own son!”

“Mother, my house in the city is small, so it’s inconvenient for you to go there. After a while, when I get a promotion and upgrade to a larger house, I will definitely take you over. Besides, doesn’t my sister live in the east of the village? You can find her if you need anything.”

The old woman stopped talking.

On the morning of the sixth day of the New Year, Mo Zenian went out. Mo Yan guessed that he was going to pick up his employer.

“Sister, you have to dress up today and put on the hairpin Brother Cheng bought for you.”

“Why?”

“Because someone’s coming to see you today and give you a betrothal gift!”

“Then why am I dressing up and not hiding?”

“We aren’t under Mo Zenian’s control now, so dress up beautifully and let them look as much as they want. They won’t be able to do anything anyways.”

Mo Yan had learned several hairstyles from Ms. Zhao. She combed Mo Ling’s hair and put on the peach hairpin.

“Sister, you’re so pretty!”

At the end of the day, a carriage stopped at the door of the Mo family. Mo Zenian got off first, followed by an old man in brocade clothes with grey hair and a fat man in his twenties. The last ones to come down were a woman in her twenties and a boy who was five or six.

Mo Zenian greeted them with a smile, “Boss, second young master, please come inside.”

They entered the courtyard while Mo Ling was cleaning the yard. The young man looked normal just now, but when he saw her, his eyes lit up immediately, and he giggled, “This girl is so beautiful, Shopkeeper Mo, this is your girl?””

Mu Zenian nodded and said, “Yes, this is Mo Ling. She’s seventeen.”

The man smiled dumbly and walked towards Mo Ling, “Girl, you are so pretty, be my wife!”

Mu Ling hit the idiot with the broom in her hand, “Where did this idiot come from? If he’s coming here to cause trouble, he must be tired of living!”

The old man came over to protect his son, and asked Mo Zenian, “What’s going on?”

Mo Zenian cupped his hands at the old man and said, “She’s not very willing!”

The old man put his hands behind his back and said angrily, “How can a country girl not be happy to be able to marry and live in the city!”

He was about to leave with his son when the woman they came with said, “Boss Hu, the girl is just shy. No woman is instantly willing to marry someone.”

The old man chuckled, “That’s right! Zenian, then we’ll be in-laws in the future, and I’ll promote you to be the treasurer when we get back. If your eldest son wants a job, I will arrange it for you too.”

Mo Yan came out of her room and said, “Where is this nobleman from, I’m afraid you must’ve gone to the wrong house!”

The old man smiled and said to Mo Zenian, “This must be your youngest daughter, she’s also pretty. I will take her to the city and find her a good family in the future.”

Mo Zenian was about to thank him when Mo Yan said, “Old man, I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake. My parents have divorce and we’re all under my parents’ custody. Therefore, he has no say in our marriages.”

Before the old man could react, the woman immediately took Mo Zenian’s hand and asked excitedly, “Did you divorce that shrew?”

Mu Zenian nodded to her happily, “Xian’er, you must be delighted now!”

The woman deliberately straightened her back and said to the little boy, “Son, from now on you will be the son of the Mo family, and you’ll no longer be a bastard.”

So this was Mo Zenian’s mistress and bastard, and they actually came over. Only now did Mo Yan and Mo Ling take a closer look at this woman. She had a long thin face and decent facial features, but she was by no means a beauty.

Post-translation notes: I am so ready for some face-slapping and I will be so disappointed if there won’t be any. As always, thank you for reading!