Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 172
They Didn’t Pay the Ransom
After Manager Liang had been captured and restrained by one of the men, Lin Xian’er walked to the carriage and started interrogating him, “Where’s my son!”
He twisted his head to the side, “I’ve never taken him.”
Mo Zenian walked in front of him as well, and raised a letter he had been holding in his hand, “In a hotel less than ten kilometres from here, you kidnapped my son, and left this letter demanding a ransom.”
Manager Liang was still attempting to refute their words, “What are you talking about? I’ve never kidnapped a child, nor have I written any letters like this. I was just coming through this place on my way back home, and wanted to leave as soon as possible because I didn’t want to be accused of being a kidnapper by you lot.”
Even Lin Xian’er and the others helping out, who had been on the other side of the road, had clearly heard him demand for the ransom to be paid, and he was still trying to refute it!
Lin Xian’er slapped him across the face as she yelled at him while crying, “Are you still human? Zheng’er is your biological son!”
Manager Liang grinned cheekily, “That’s right! Since we’re father and son, it wouldn’t be considered kidnapping even if he was with me.”
The person restraining Manager Liang exerted more force on him, “You still demanded a ransom from someone, at the very least, that’s extortion!”
The sudden realisation that Mo Zheng wasn’t his son hadn’t sunk in to Mo Zenian yet, and he looked left and right wildly, not knowing what to do. Lin Xian’er had to admit to him, “Brother Zenian, I’m sorry, I lied to you. I had already been pregnant with Zheng’er when I had an affair with you.”
Mo Zenian finally understood, and pointed at Lin Xian’er and Manager Liang while shouting, “You bastards of a couple lied to me for so long!”
He turned to grab the sack of counterfeit money from Mo Yan, and poured it onto the ground, exposing the bricks, rocks and lumps of dirt used to fill it, “See? There wasn’t any ransom money in there to begin with. What do I have to do with that son of yours being gone? Even if he’s dead, why does it concern me?!”
He had been fooled by those two too long, and not paying the ransom money was his last act of defiance. He threw the ransom letter on the ground and left.
The person restraining Manager Liang demanded to know where Mo Zheng was again. Knowing that he couldn’t escape this time, he looked at his two former employees and replied, “Those two hid the boy.”
The people restraining Manager Liang’s former employees demanded the same of them as well, and they reluctantly admitted that Mo Zheng had been hidden within Qianshui Town.
So all of them went to Qianshui Town to look for Mo Zheng. With a whistle from Lu Junming, his horse appeared from the gutter and obediently followed behind them.
The two men led them to the end of the main road, and nodded towards the shack that Chuzi used to live in, “He’s in there.”
Mo Yan ran over, opening the curtains of the shack and calling for Mo Zheng. Inside the shack, the sounds of faint sobbing could be heard.
Lu Junming lit up a torch and went inside. Only then could she see that a pile of straw was moving inside of the shack. After she had removed the pile of straw, she could see a tightly-bound and gagged Mo Zheng, lying on the ground with tears in his eyes.
Mo Yan removed the boy’s gag, and he started crying ‘Sister’. Then, Lu Junming took out a dagger and cut away the ropes binding Mo Zheng, letting him hug Mo Yan tightly as he cried into her shoulder.
Mo Yan led Mo Zheng out of the shack. When Lin Xian’er saw him, she reached out to try and hug her son, but he twisted his head to the side as he hugged Mo Yan even tighter.
One of the Yi City’s governing official’s men was questioning Manager Liang, “Do you admit to the crime of kidnapping?”
Manager Liang looked at Mo Zheng, then at Lin Xian’er, “The kid is fine now. Anyways, this is my biological child, and we’re father and son, so this probably doesn’t count as kidnapping, right?”
Lin Xian’er shrieked, “You worthless piece of scum, you don’t deserve to be anyone’s father! This ransom letter is evidence that you kidnapped our son!”
She had picked up the ransom letter that Mo Zenian had thrown on the ground.
The people Lu Junming had asked to help capture Manager Liang said, “Arrest him first, and let him be interrogated!”
However, Manager Liang was still undeterred, “Xian’er, what kind of mother accuses their father of kidnapping? If you withdraw your accusation, I promise to treat the two of you well in the future.”
Lin Xian’er coldly harrumphed before continuing to yell at him, “I was too stupid before, for repeatedly believing all of your sweet nothings. If I trusted you again this time, then I’d be even dumber than a pig! Sir, I’m the accuser, and I want to file a lawsuit against this black-hearted man for attempting to kidnap my son!”
Mo Zheng was still unwilling to go with Lin Xian’er, so she asked Mo Yan formally, “Miss, this child has suffered a fright and now only wants to follow you. I would appreciate it if you could help me take care of him for a few days, so I could sort out my own affairs.”
Lin Xian’er followed the Yi City governing official’s man back to Yi City, and Lu Junming took Mo Zheng from Mo Yan and brought him to the workshop.
Ms. Hua had come out as she had heard the commotion outside. When she saw them carrying Mo Zheng inside, she asked, “Yan’er, isn’t your sister’s wedding today? Why are you still here?”
Mo Yan’s forehead creased in confusion, “Isn’t it tomorrow? It’s on the eighteenth.”
“It’s already past midnight. We don’t know what the auspicious time the groom’s family had chosen was. If it was before sunrise, you have to go now!”
Realising that she wouldn’t be able to see her sister for a long time if she didn’t go back home, Mo Yan was in a panic, “Godmother, please help me take care of this child for now.” After saying that, she got onto Lu Junming’s horse.
Lu Junming handed Mo Zheng over to Ms. Hua and said, “Yan’er, I’ll follow you!”
The two returned to the village on horseback as swiftly as possible. As soon as they entered the Mo family’s alleyway, they saw that lanterns had already been lit in the house.
Mo Yan jumped off the horse and ran to the house, entering the living room, which was lit and had a feast placed on it. She ran past it, and opened the curtain which served as the door for her and Mo Ling’s room.
Mo Ling had already applied her makeup and changed into her wedding dress. Mrs. Li and Ms. Liang were both present. Mo Yan called her sister, then sat next to her. [1]
Ms. Liang criticised her, “Why did you run off so suddenly? I thought you weren’t coming back to send your sister off!”
Mrs. Li interjected, “How would she? The two are very close, after all.”
Mo Ling reached out to hold Mo Yan’s hand, and Mo Yan could tell that her hand was slightly cold. The weather was fairly warm by this point, and she was wearing a decent amount, so it was probably due to being nervous.
“Sis, if you miss us in the future, you can always come back home using the carriage from your dowry. If someone bullies you, we’ll get retribution for you!”
Mrs. Li smiled, “Yan’er is really attached to her sister!”
Ms. Liang went outside to look at the stars, and said, “It’s about to be dawn!”
Mo Yan asked, “When’s the auspicious time?”
“Early in the morning.”
They could faintly hear the sounds of celebration from outside, and Ms. Liang called Mo Feng over to greet them. He came out of his room blearily and wiping his eyes, and strode towards the gate while Lu Junming came in simultaneously. The two looked at each other, and by an unspoken agreement, walked their separate ways.
The sounds of celebration seemed to come closer and closer, and a sedan chair filled with festive paraphernalia stopped at the gate. Chong Zheng, who was wearing a red cross-shaped sash, got off, and Mo Feng went over to greet him, “Brother-in-law, I congratulate you on your marriage.”
Zhong Cheng took out a lucky bag he had pre-prepared for the occasion, “Thank you.”
Ms. Liang came out to greet everyone from the groom’s side of the family, then poured tea and wine for all present to serve them as best as she could.
The feast she had made was just a formality. There were just some cold dishes, without any hot food in sight.
Aside from the matchmaker, the people who accompanied Zhong Cheng to the Mo family were the uncle and cousin who had accompanied him during the dowry exchange, and a new person whom Ms. Liang had never seen before.
Zhong Cheng introduced him to her, “Mother-in-law, this is my second brother, Zhong Yi.”
After Zhong Yi greeted Ms. Liang, she took a look at him. He was slightly taller and thinner than Zhong Cheng, with a slight hunch, a long face, small brows and single-lidded eyes. He actually looked surprisingly like his wife.
P.S. Updates will be less frequent (assume every 4 days instead of 3, give or take) for the next year or so, given that I’ll be very busy this year with a lot of revision. Thank you for reading, and thanks for being understanding!
[1] I realised that considering Ms. Li is married, it should really be Mrs. Li.