On the thirtieth day of the month, before dawn had fully broken, Mo Yan rose from her bed. Aunt Lixiu’s nephew had woken up even earlier, having already washed up and begun preparing breakfast. Once the family had eaten and cleaned up the dishes, Xin Er, Tang Xin, and Lixiu’s nephew started preparing for the New Year’s Eve dinner. It was the Mo Family’s first year in Liu Yang Village, and no one wanted any mishaps.
Mo Yan entered the storeroom to record the gifts that had been received over the past two days in the ledger, so she could refer to it later for reciprocal social exchanges. The gifts had been delivered yesterday while she was at the shop, and she hadn’t looked at them closely upon her return. Now, observing the pile of New Year’s gifts that had accumulated in the room, she felt like a wealthy farr suddenly transford into a tycoon.
It was no wonder she felt like an uncultured bumpkin—it was just that the gifts she received were much more nurous than those she had sent, and they included a number of valuable items. If possible, she would have preferred to return all those expensive gifts.
"A box of various gems, a peck of black pearls... twenty mink pelts, two bear skins, three tiger skins, hmm, I can’t let Mao Tuan see the tiger skins; the poor fellow would definitely feel distressed..."
Mo Yan counted while muttering under her breath, then suddenly noticed sothing amiss: the Lius, Yan Junyu, and the Han Family had all sent their gift lists with their presents, which she had already checked. So where did all these extra valuable gifts co from?
Besides the gems, pearls, and animal skins, there were also various expensive dicinal herbs and even dozens of local gazetteers, describing various prefectures of Great Chu as well as neighboring small countries and ethnic tribes—a comprehensive and rare collection.
Not to ntion the thoughtfulness behind them, the sheer quantity of such valuable items would have been a dowry worthy of a daughter from a wealthy Beijing family with several successful shops, capable of supporting the Mo Family for more than a decade if sold.
Mo Yan marveled at the grandeur of the gifts from the anonymous giver, without a trace of greed in her heart. She carefully compared the items with other families’ gift lists, ensuring they weren’t from the Liu Family, Yan Junyu, or the Han Family. Then, an idea suddenly occurred to her.
She asked Lixiu in detail, confirming that the unexpected New Year’s gifts were delivered yesterday afternoon by five or six young n dressed as house servants.
Lixiu, not fully aware of the Mo Family’s social connections, assud they were friends of Mo Qingze from the Academy. Impressed by their generosity, she had inquired which household they belonged to but was brushed off with vague answers. She hadn’t sensed anything wrong then, but now, as Mo Yan inquired so gravely, Lixiu realized the gravity of the situation.
"Right, Yanyan, those people seed ordinary enough, but there was sothing odd about them! How should I put it, their movents were asured as if they were trained and unlike any servant from a big family..."
Lixiu recounted every detail of the n’s actions from the day before, growing more uneasy by the minute, fearing she had inadvertently accepted sothing that might bring trouble to the family.
"Aunt Li, don’t overthink it. I only asked because I didn’t see a gift list, just to make sure we hadn’t attributed the gifts to the wrong person,"
Mo Yan smiled and reassured Lixiu, albeit with so effort. She was almost certain now of the identity of the person who had sent the gifts, and her feelings were exceedingly complex!
Aside from that person, she had never ntioned to anyone else her dream of soaring through the skies like a mighty eagle, observing the vastness of the land... those dozens of local gazetteers would certainly allow her to wander through such expansive knowledge!
It didn’t take long for Mo Qingze to learn of the unidentified yet valuable batch of New Year’s gifts that had appeared at ho. When he arrived in the storeroom and inspected the gifts that had been set aside, he too couldn’t help but be amazed.
"Yanyan, do you know who sent these New Year’s gifts?"
Mo Yan’s previously turbulent emotions had settled quite a bit. Worrying that her father might let his imagination run wild, she half truthfully replied, "I suspect they were sent by Sir Xiao. After all, our family has saved him twice before. It would make sense for him to instruct soone to send these New Year’s gifts."
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