Chapter 842: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 842: Fooling the Scum (3)
On the morning of March 16, Mo Yan drove her carriage into the city, intending to pick up the various roasting tools she had ordered a few days earlier from the blacksmith shop. Whether or not their spring outing would go ahead, it would still be nice to enjoy roasted meat with some red wine at home.
After retrieving the roasting tools, Mo Yan leisurely strolled along the street. She spotted some beautiful kites at a roadside stall and decided to get off the carriage. Spending two hundred wen, she carefully selected eight different kites—six for the children at home to play with, and the remaining two for San Ni’er and Shi Tou.
After placing the kites in the carriage, Mo Yan urged the horse, Da Hongzhao, to move forward.
At this time, the street wasn’t too crowded. Da Hongzhao was walking leisurely, and Mo Yan happily observed the small stalls on both sides of the street, hoping to find something interesting.
As she walked, Mo Yan suddenly noticed the side profile of a man standing in front of a small stall not far ahead that seemed familiar. As she drew closer and took a closer look, she finally recognized the man: Young Master Du—Liu Tinglan’s fiancé, Du Wencai!
Du Wencai was twenty-one this year. Normally, by this age, a man should already be married, but Du's family had two elderly relatives who were bedridden, and the men in the family were inept. The household had to rely on several women for mundane chores and sewing to get by.
The Du family was poor and heavily in debt, and even though Du Wencai had passed the imperial examination as a scholar, it couldn’t change the fact that the entire family lived in two dilapidated houses with no curtains.
Du Wencai, however, had a very high opinion of himself. He believed he had a bright future and looked down on women from other poor families. He was focused on climbing the ranks of a powerful family, hoping to achieve success and escape his dire situation.
Under such circumstances, no family in a better situation would be willing to marry their daughter into the Du family. As a result, despite Du Wencai being over twenty, no matchmaker had come to him. Had it not been for the Du family’s massive debts, the Liu family wouldn’t have even known they existed, and Liu Tinglan certainly wouldn’t have been engaged to Du Wencai.
Of course, Du Wencai’s ambitions were seen as a sign of determination by Master Liu and Madam Liu, who believed that ambition was proof of a driven character. However, if they had known that several years later, Du Wencai would pass the imperial examination and then abandon their precious daughter, they would never have agreed to the marriage. No matter how many knives were held to their throats, they wouldn’t have let their daughter marry such a heartless and ungrateful man!
At that moment, Du Wencai was standing at a stall selling women’s accessories, holding a somewhat delicate silver-plated hairpin. He was playfully measuring it against the head of a young woman standing next to him.
Apparently, he had said something that made the woman laugh softly, and she flirtatiously threw him a coy glance.
The woman’s appearance was rather ordinary, but her smile added a touch of charm, causing Du Wencai to become mesmerized and stare blankly, unable to snap out of it.
The woman, seemingly embarrassed by his gaze, playfully hit him on the chest, though it was more like a flirtatious gesture than a real slap.
In the next moment, Du Wencai grabbed the woman’s hand, holding it tightly in his palm. The woman pretended to struggle for a moment but, seeing she couldn’t break free, shot him an indignant look and let him hold her hand.
The couple, with no regard for the public, walked hand in hand, shamelessly flirting in broad daylight, completely indifferent to the curious glances from others.
Most bystanders would likely think this was just a couple enjoying themselves and would only mock them in their hearts, not daring to intervene. But for Mo Yan, the sight made her blood boil with anger. She almost grabbed the whip from the carriage to lash out at the scoundrel Du Wencai.
Although she hadn’t planned to let this scoundrel marry her best friend, at the moment, Du Wencai was the Liu family’s soon-to-be son-in-law. His boldness in parading around with another woman in public showed that he had no regard for the Liu family at all, nor had he ever taken their engagement seriously. He was trampling all over the Liu family’s dignity and sincerity. It was utterly despicable!
(End of chapter)
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