Chapter 932: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 932: Big Trouble (1)
Cui Ping’an bypassed Da Hongzhao and walked up to the carriage, looking at Mo Yan as he spoke confidently, “Take me to Yuan City. Once we get there, I’ll reward you handsomely.”
Mo Yan didn’t recognize Cui Ping’an, nor did she know that this rather childish-looking fellow was actually the Seventh Young Master of the Cui family—the very one the matchmaker had just been praising to the skies.
Seeing his slightly pale complexion and frail body that looked like it could be blown over by the wind, Mo Yan immediately knew that he had been born weak and had poor health. Although she felt a bit sympathetic, she wasn’t the kind of person who would offer help just to accumulate good karma without considering the situation.
This young man had just been tricked, yet now he was making such a request to a complete stranger. Clearly, he wasn’t thinking straight. Mo Yan had no reason to entertain such a ridiculous request.
So, she simply ignored the overconfident young man and, despite his panicked expression, urged Da Hongzhao forward.
“Hey, wait! Wait a minute!” Seeing that Mo Yan didn’t even acknowledge him and was about to leave, Cui Ping’an panicked. He shouted loudly and hurriedly ran a few steps forward to block Da Hongzhao’s path.
Most people wouldn’t be as bold as Cui Ping’an—demanding help so righteously from a stranger, nor would they trust someone so easily and hop onto an unfamiliar person’s carriage without a second thought. But Cui Ping’an had grown up on a southern manor as its young master. The tenant farmers there had always flattered him, never daring to do anything that might harm or upset him.
Moreover, all the servants around him had been personally selected by Old Madam Cui, and they took meticulous care of him. However, there was always a clear distinction between master and servant—no one had ever taught him about the dangers of the world. Since there were no ill-intentioned people on the manor, even though he was now living a second life, he still remained naive and easy to deceive.
When he left the Cui residence, his original plan had been to hire a carriage to Yuan City in Jiangnan. But the coachmen were outright exploitative—asking for 200 taels of silver right off the bat.
Although naive, he wasn’t stupid. He immediately realized he was being treated like a fat sheep ready for slaughter. So, he tried asking several other coachmen, hoping to find an honest one willing to take him south.
Unfortunately, his clueless demeanor made him look like an easy target. The coachmen, who took great risks traveling long distances, kept raising their prices—one even demanded 500 taels! The sheer audacity of it infuriated Cui Ping’an.
After being repeatedly rejected and swindled, Cui Ping’an began to deeply doubt human nature, convinced that the people here were utterly wicked. He temporarily gave up on going to Yuan City and decided to return to the Cui residence to discuss the situation with his grandmother—only to tragically realize that he was lost. He had no idea how to get back.
For over two hours, he wandered the streets, but he didn’t dare ask for directions. He was terrified of encountering the kind of human traffickers his old servants had warned him about in his youth—who might kidnap and sell him. Ironically, while he didn’t run into any human traffickers, he did come across a girl trying to sell herself to bury her father, and she almost tricked him instead.
This experience shattered Cui Ping’an’s worldview. Even in a bustling city, danger seemed to lurk everywhere. It made him even more hesitant to ask for help.
The reason he stopped Mo Yan’s carriage was because, during his encounter with the girl selling herself, he had accidentally seen Mo Yan speaking kindly to a little beggar and even giving the child something. Seeing that she didn’t mind even a filthy beggar, he instinctively thought she must be a kindhearted person who would surely help him out of his predicament.
However, despite just learning how cruel people could be, Cui Ping’an still didn’t know how to properly ask for help. Instead, he boldly demanded that a young lady take him all the way to the south.
No matter how kind-hearted a girl might be, no one would agree to escort a stranger thousands of miles away to Yuan City!
And the way he made his request—so self-assured and entitled—only made it all the more off-putting.
(End of Chapter)
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