Chapter 428 - 372: Qualified
Chapter 428: Chapter 372: Qualified
Mo Laoer quickly pulled Second Aunt Mo aside and forced a smile. "Your Second Aunt just has a foul temper. Xiao Man, Xinghua, don’t mind her. We’re supposed to be harvesting herbs these next couple of days, right? Your Grandpa told us to come over early to help out. Xinghua, open the gate and let us in!"
"Did Grandpa ask you to come? This is the first I’m hearing of it." Xinghua pointed at Mo Chengfu. "Uncle Chengfu happens to be here. Usually, when the herb garden needs workers, Uncle Chengfu writes a notice and posts it at the elementary school gate. Anyone with free time who wants to work signs up at the clinic, and then Uncle Chengfu opens the garden gate to let them in. They also get their wages from Uncle Chengfu... This herb garden isn’t a place just anyone can walk into. If you want to get in, talking to me is useless. You should be asking Uncle Chengfu!"
Before Mo Laoer could speak, Second Aunt Mo, holding her young daughter, shoved him aside and got in front of Xinghua. She demanded aggressively, "Xinghua, how can you say that? Your Grandpa contracted for this herb garden, so it’s our family’s property! You have the key, so just open the gate and let us in. Who else is there to ask? Who the hell is Mo Chengfu? This man here is your *real* uncle, Grandpa and Grandma’s most beloved youngest son! He’s your closest relative! Don’t you get it?"
Xinghua gave them a cool glance and shook her head. "I don’t get it, but I do know you’ve made a mistake. My Grandpa and Grandma only have one son. His name is Mo Jiabao, and he’s my dad. Grandpa and Grandma’s eldest son and their youngest son—they’re both my dad!"
Xiao Man couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. ’What an epic comeback. Absolutely perfect.’
Second Aunt Mo was so furious her lips turned pale. She glared fiercely at Xinghua, heaving for breath like a bellows. One might worry she’d stop breathing at any moment.
Mo Chengfu stepped between them, shielding Xiao Man and Xinghua from the family. "Second Brother Mo, you all should go. Get out of the way. And don’t bang on the gate anymore. I’m warning you—there’s a snake nest under the gate’s stone pillars. If you disturb the old snakes, they’ll come out and bite! The last time Yang the Fourth got drunk and tried to climb the gate, he got bitten. The snakes aren’t that venomous, so I can treat the bite, but it’ll hurt for a few days. If you don’t believe me, feel free to give it a try!"
Upon hearing about the snake nest under the gate’s stone pillars, the two brothers, Mo Xiaobao and Mo Xiaogui, immediately hopped back several steps. When they first arrived, they had done as their parents told them and had been the ones to BANG BANG BANG on the iron gate, making a thunderous racket. It was because of this noise that a passerby saw what was happening and ran to the clinic to report it, which was why Mo Chengfu had come to investigate.
As for the people inside the herb garden, they were paid by the weight of the herbs they picked, so they were all busy gathering them to make money. The racket at the gate was none of their business; earning money was more important. Qiuyan and the other children were sharp little things and had been told long ago not to engage with anyone from the Mo Family Courtyard, so they didn’t even spare them a glance. It was only Mo Chengfu, who happened to have no patients at the clinic at that moment, who had no choice but to make the trip.
First, he was the herb garden’s manager. Second, if someone actually got bitten by a snake, or if the gate collapsed and hurt somebody, he, the village clinic’s "barefoot doctor," would be the one responsible for their treatment. How could he not be stressed? ’Forcing me to run around under this blazing sun...’ He had already cursed Mo Laoer, that shameless mutt, hundreds of times in his mind.
That night, Yang the Fourth had gotten drunk and unknowingly ended up sleeping in front of the herb garden’s iron gate. When he woke in the middle of the night, he suddenly decided it would be more comfortable to sleep inside the garden, so he picked up a rock and began banging on the gate, making a deafening racket. When no one came out, he decided to just climb it. But out of nowhere, several long snakes appeared, coiling around him and biting him. He was so terrified he didn’t dare move, and he wailed like a ghost all night long. It wasn’t until early the next morning when Mo Chengfu arrived, lit a stick of strangely fragrant incense, that the thick, long snakes finally released Yang the Fourth and slithered away under the fence. The whole village knew this story. Many of the braver villagers had come to watch, the sight making their scalps tingle and sending cold sweat down their backs. Mo Laoer and Second Aunt Mo had seen it with their own eyes. But they were forgetful and only remembered the incident now that they were reminded, which gave them a huge fright. Second Aunt Mo quickly snatched up her daughter and scurried further from the gate, regretting her earlier recklessness. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten and had let her sons bang on the gate. Luckily, the snakes hadn’t come out.
Mo Laoer, being a man, still had a shred of courage. ’Snakes fear the heat and prefer the shade,’ he thought. ’They definitely wouldn’t come out in broad daylight under this scorching sun.’
He was, however, extremely unhappy with Mo Chengfu’s tone. ’I, Mo Laoer, was once Grandpa Mo’s most cherished son!’ he thought. ’Grandpa almost never denied me anything. The last few times the herb garden needed workers, they didn’t ask for me, but I showed up anyway. Didn’t Grandpa just pay me without saying a word? Who the hell does this Mo Chengfu think he is, treating me like this?’
Mo Laoer gave Mo Chengfu a hard shove. His face darkened as he said, "Chengfu, my father is the one who contracted for this herb garden, not your family. What right do you have to drive me away? To put it bluntly, if my father were to die unexpectedly right now, a share of this herb garden would have to go to me! Do you understand? My father may have found Mo Jiabao, but I’m still his son! The whole village can testify to that! I even went to court to ask. Biological sons and adopted sons get the same treatment, and on top of that, I’m his biological nephew! I am also an owner of this herb garden. I can go in whenever I want. You have no right to block me!"
Xiao Man was rendered speechless, utterly defeated by Mo Laoer’s incredible shamelessness. Xinghua could only stare blankly at him. ’I know perfectly well how this man and his wife deceived Grandpa and mistreated Grandma,’ she thought. ’I just can’t believe he still has the gall to covet their things. He’s absolutely shameless!’
Hearing Mo Laoer’s words, Second Aunt Mo’s confidence surged. She shrieked at Mo Chengfu, "That’s right! You’re just a hired hand for my father-in-law, a damn lackey! What right do you have to stop us? Hurry up and hand over the keys to our family’s herb garden!"
Mo Chengfu was so angered by the shameless couple he nearly fell over backward. He paused for a moment before stating with a deadpan expression, "Second Brother Mo, I don’t care if you are or ever were an adopted son or a biological nephew. I will tell you one more time, patiently: I am the manager of this herb garden! Do you understand what a ’manager’ is? It’s the person who draws a monthly salary and is responsible for this place! So you tell me, as the official manager, do I have the right to get rid of a troublemaker like you? The only reason I haven’t thrown you out onto the road and called the police to come get you is out of respect for your surname, Mo. I’m already being extremely polite! And now you want to snatch my keys? I should be the one asking you what gives you the right! You truly don’t know your place!"
Mo Laoer’s face was grim. Second Aunt Mo began to shriek, "Mo Chengfu! You lunatic! You damn bastard! What’s there to be so smug about? You’ll die a horrible death one day!"
Mo Chengfu’s expression darkened. He prided himself on having tempered his disposition and matured greatly over the past two years, but there were still limits to his patience. This couple, for example. He couldn’t stand them any longer.
He turned to glance at Xiao Man and Xinghua. "What are you two still standing here for? Isn’t the sun hot enough? Get back inside."
Xiao Man knew he was planning something, so she pulled Xinghua away with her. ’It’s a good idea to teach Mo Laoer and his wife a lesson,’ she thought. ’They might not be as utterly wicked as Mo Guoqiang and his wife, but they’re still ungrateful, unscrupulous, snobbish, and cruel. They deserve to suffer a little. Maybe then they’ll stop coming around and pestering everyone.’