Mo Yan suppressed her anger, resisting the urge to confront Du Wencai. She didn’t want to tip him off and let the scum escape. After thinking for a mont, she led Da HongZao to a nearby area where carriages could be parked. Having paid a two-wen parking fee, she quietly followed a man and a woman who had left the jewelry stall and were heading west down the street.
Along the way, the pair visited nurous stalls. Du Wencai was quite generous whenever the woman showed interest in anything. Without bargaining, he would imdiately pay with silver. Despite the low value of the items at the stalls, the vendors saw Du Wencai’s generosity and deliberately raised their prices by a few wen. In less than two hours, he had spent at least two hundred wen.
Du Wencai, who ca from a poor background, refused to earn silver taels by copying letters for others, like many other impoverished scholars. He thought it beneath his status. Such a person, now in his twenties, has probably never earned a single wen by himself.
Given the Du Family’s dire circumstances, even if the Liu Family had cleared their debts, they couldn’t have given Du Wencai much silver to spend at will. This money must have co from the several won of the Du Household, who washed perhaps a hundred pieces of clothing in exchange for it—only for Du Wencai to blow it all on winning a lady’s smile.
Though this pretentious behavior was utterly contemptible, it was nothing compared to his selfishness and cold bloodedness in squandering the hard-earned money of his relatives, which was truly infuriating.
"Scum!"
Having seen all this with her own eyes, Mo Yan cursed bitterly. Her disgust toward Du Wencai reached an extre. How could such a heartless and undutiful scoundrel possibly be worthy of her Sister Lan? She would not rest until she tore off his disgusting facade and broke off the engagent between the Liu and Du Families!
The two strolled around for two hours until Du Wencai had spent all the silver he had, then he put on a nauseating show of concern, pretending to be heartbroken for the lady and not wanting her to tire herself. Insisting on this attitude, he escorted the woman back to her ho.
Mo Yan hid in a corner until she saw the lovey-dovey pair—one enter the house and the other leave reluctantly—before she erged. She morized the woman’s residence, then pretended to be lost and stopped an elderly lady passing by. Without asking much, she learned of the woman’s identity.
It turned out the young woman’s surna was Tian, and she was sixteen years old. Her father was a catcher at the Governnt Office and reputedly held so sway there, knowing many prominent figures. In this neighborhood of commoners, the Tian Family possessed so status.
For soone as opportunistic as Du Wencai, where beauty pales in comparison to power, Mo Yan didn’t believe he coveted Miss Tian’s beauty. In fact, all three Miss Tians together couldn’t compare to Liu Tinglan. He likely was attracted to the connection to "prominent figures" through Tian Catcher.
To help the Liu Family Couple see Du Wencai’s true colors and dissolve the engagent with the Du Family, Mo Yan released Maomao from the Space when the coast was clear, instructing it to monitor Du Wencai’s every move and see what "good deeds" he was up to.
Maomao, who had grown quite plump in the Space, nodded its tiny head at Mo Yan’s command, happily flapping its wings as it darted to follow Du Wencai’s disappearing silhouette.
Watching Maomao vanish from sight, Mo Yan’s gaze turned icy. If she could gather strong evidence, the Liu Family would break off the engagent without needing any persuasion. Although ending the engagent would still negatively affect the Liu Family and Liu Tinglan, the bla would lie with Du Wencai, reducing the pressure on the Liu Family.
With a breakthrough in sight, the weight that had been pressing on Mo Yan’s heart for many days suddenly lifted. Noticing it was getting late, Mo Yan returned to where the carriage was parked, took Da HongZao to the grain shop for a round. After eating lunch there and checking the accounts, she drove the carriage to the Examination Institute to pick up Mo Qingze, who had just finished his exams...
Reviews
All reviews (0)