Chapter 135: Chapter 125: A Dear Daughter’s Filial Piety

"She knows about Xuanxuan, but only because she heard you talking in your sleep. If she knew where that couple was, she would have run off to find them already!" Mo Guoqiang said.

"That’s true! Thank goodness Xuanxuan has already transferred to the provincial city with that woman. The gossip in our village can’t reach her there!" Liu Fengying sighed in relief. "Look at that dead girl, so quiet and sullen all day long. Turns out she’s like a quiet chicken eating all the grain—she hid it from us, secretly currying favor with that old man and old woman. She knew the old man had some money, so she latched onto them! We didn’t suspect a thing and let her get her way. It’s infuriating!"

"What’s the use of saying all this now? We need to think of a plan. We can’t let her actually become successful. What if she starts traveling around and makes it to the provincial city?"

"Exactly, exactly. We absolutely cannot let her affect Xuanxuan or ruin our family’s good fortune! Let me think. I’ll come up with something!"

"You need to think fast. That dead girl gets more popular the older she gets, and she’s bold, too. Didn’t you hear? Last time in Wancheng, she actually got a PLA soldier to drive her home in a car. She didn’t even have to pay for the fare, and even Granny Qiu benefited from it! The PLA, the police—what kind of people are they? They’re powerful and influential. It’ll be a disaster if she manages to get connections with them!"

"I know, I know. Before the New Year, we have to get her under control!"

"Alright. You’re the clever one, you figure something out."

As Mo Guoqiang spoke, he took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, lit one, took a deep drag, and contentedly blew out a smoke ring.

Liu Fengying shot him a sideways glance. "Look at you, with a few coins in your pocket, you’ve stopped rolling your own cigarettes. Packaged cigarettes are so expensive. People only buy those as gifts!"

Mo Guoqiang chuckled. "Our dear daughter is so thoughtful and filial. She told us in her letter to eat and drink what we want. And her old dad can certainly afford these cigarettes! You should have seen Mo Laoer staring at my cigarettes, his eyes practically shooting fire. Imagine how much he was craving one."

Liu Fengying snorted haughtily. "If he wants to smoke these kinds of cigarettes, he’d better have the good fortune for it! His wife’s womb could only produce a worthless good like Mo Xiaosu, yet they still treat her like a treasure! Let me tell you, don’t you dare talk to Mo Laoer, and don’t you dare give him a cigarette. Don’t let him get a single thing from us! He dared to hit me and steal my money—that was Xuanxuan’s private savings! I’ll get my revenge for that one day!"

"Alright, alright. You’ve nagged about it so much my ears are growing calluses."

Mo Guoqiang said, "The kids are growing up fast. He has two sons, and I have two sons. They’ll need wives and new rooms. Our two families can’t keep squeezing into one courtyard. Mo Laoer has his eye on the old man’s Knowledge Youth House, but I think it’s too deserted over there. The feng shui of our old house is better. We’ll save up the money Xuanxuan sends, give Mo Laoer a lump sum to buy him out, and kick him out. Then this whole courtyard will belong to Xiaoqiang and Xiaoneng. We can renovate and rebuild, add three rooms to each of the side-housings, and it’ll be more than enough for the two brothers! Hey, what do you think? She’s already sent all the living expenses up to December, but with the New Year coming up, will Xuanxuan send more money?"

Liu Fengying looked up at their roof, stating with certainty, "She’ll send it! Didn’t you see the last money order? The memo said it clearly: not just money, but clothes and New Year’s goods too!"

"New Year’s goods? What kind of stuff?"

"Things to eat and use for the New Year. Malt candy, dried meat, dried fish, like that big ham from last time, and seafood..."

"Oh my goodness! That’s my precious, dear daughter! Feng Ying, we’ll never have to worry about money again. We’re going to eat well, drink well, and enjoy life! Come on, let’s have a little kiss and cuddle, just like in the movies!"

"Get away, you old lecher... Hey, quiet down! Xiao Feng is still over there..."

In the blink of an eye, a semester had passed. After the exams in the next couple of days, it would be winter break.

When school let out for the morning, Xiao Man walked out of the school gate slowly with her three friends, arms slung over each other’s shoulders as usual, while they enthusiastically discussed last night’s movie.

That’s right. The movie projection team had come again last night and showed *Ashima*. The plot moved the audience, young and old, to tears, but what really caught the little girls’ attention were the exquisite and beautiful costumes of the Bai people worn by the actors in the film. That’s what they were discussing now.

Liang Xiuzhen, who was in the fourth grade, ran over to join them, but changed the subject, saying with a smile, "My mom got out of bed by herself and took a few steps in the middle of the night—my mom hasn’t stood up and walked in years!"

Guan Ailan said, "Then it seems like your mom is slowly getting better? That’s great news!"

Liang Xiuzhen continued to grin from ear to ear. "Yeah, my dad was so happy he stayed up all night and finished all the chores. This morning, we all just got up and went straight to school, and he even gave each of us two roasted sweet potatoes."

They were all happy for her, chatting and laughing as they left the school gate and walked to the side of the road.

Teacher Yu rode up from behind on her bicycle and passed them. There was a cardboard box on the back rack, and she called out, "I’m going ahead to pick vegetables, Xiao Man, hurry up!"

Ever since eating a few meals at Xiao Man’s house, Teacher Yu was constantly thinking about their lush green vegetable garden. Now she practically ate lunch at Xiao Man’s place every day and loved picking vegetables from the garden, having completely taken over the task.

Xiao Man called out an acknowledgment and was standing on the road saying goodbye to her friends when she saw Mo Guoqiang and Mo Xiaoqiang striding over from the other direction.

"Xiao Man, wait, Dad has something to tell you!" Mo Guoqiang said with a smile, a stark contrast to Mo Xiaoqiang beside him, who was scowling and glaring at Xiao Man.

Liu Fengying had ordered Mo Xiaoqiang, Mo Xiaoneng, and Mo Xiao Zhi to treat Xiao Man well, call her "Big Sister," and intercept her every day to pull her home for meals. But Xiao Man wouldn’t give them the time of day. Mo Xiaoqiang had even been secretly beaten and stomped on by Xiao Man a few times, so he was full of hatred and naturally couldn’t put on a pleasant face.

This wasn’t the first time Mo Guoqiang had come to the school looking for Xiao Man, and she had ignored him every time. Now he was here again. ’Who knows what kind of trouble he’s trying to stir up,’ she thought.

"Xiao Man," Mo Guoqiang reached out to grab her. "Your maternal grandmother and aunt have come. They brought rice cakes and a chicken. Your grandma wants to see you. Your mom has already butchered the chicken and told me to get you for dinner. Hurry and come back with Dad!"

Guan Ailan deliberately stepped in front of Xiao Man. Mo Guoqiang grabbed Guan Ailan’s hand by mistake. Guan Ailan’s eyes widened. "What do you think you’re doing?"

Mo Guoqiang quickly let go and tried to grab Xiao Man again. "Nothing, nothing, I’m just telling Xiao Man to come home for dinner. You all should head home too, okay? Go on now!"

Mo Shuixia blocked Mo Guoqiang’s hand and yelled to Xiao Man, "Run!"

Seeing her friends trying to help her, Xiao Man realized that tripping up Mo Guoqiang here might end up hurting them instead, so she turned and ran.

Mo Guoqiang immediately gave chase. "Xiao Man! Xiao Man, stop! Don’t be disobedient!"

Xiao Man was a fast runner, but Mo Guoqiang pushed himself to speed up too, the gravel on the road crunching under their feet. Just as the distance between them shrank to a few paces, a pebble suddenly shot out from under Xiao Man’s foot and struck Mo Guoqiang squarely on the shin. A loud THWACK could be heard, and Mo Guoqiang, who had been sprinting with all his might, went sprawling face-first onto the road and lay there motionless!

The students leaving school were still gathered at the gate and hadn’t dispersed, and many adults had also witnessed the scene. Seeing that Mo Guoqiang wasn’t getting up, they instantly swarmed around him in a thick crowd. Mo Xiaoqiang rushed to help his father up. Mo Guoqiang’s eyes were closed, his face covered in dust and sand. His forehead was cut, his nose was bleeding, and his open mouth was full of gravel. It took him a long moment before he could spit out the bloody gravel, and then he stammered out, "Hurts, hurts! My mouth... my leg..."

Was it his mouth or his leg?

His skin was broken and he was bleeding. He was clearly a pitiable sight, but the adults and children couldn’t help but burst into raucous laughter!

Mo Xiaoqiang took a closer look at his dad’s split-open mouth and saw that several of his front teeth were broken!

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