Translator: Cenniwdyl Editor: Caron_
Mo Tiange lowered her head, enduring the scrutiny of a harsh-looking woman sitting on a rattan chair in front of her.
This lady was the patriarch’s wife as well as Mo Tiange’s grandmother in name, Madam Zheng. However, Mo Tiange barely knew her. Ever since she was little, she only saw her when she came back to the house for New Year’s dinner.
After a while, Madam Zheng uttered a hmph and said to a woman kneeling beside her, “Aunt Lin, clean the room beside the kitchen – she can live there. Show her so she can help clean the room.”
A stout lady gave a compliant answer before turning towards Mo Tiange and said coldly, “Follow me.”
Mo Tiange’s head was still lowered as she followed Aunt Lin and left the room.
In the entire village, there were only about five or six well-off households. The patriarch’s family could be considered the wealthy landlord in this village. They had more than a hundred hectares of land and a huge house. They also employed several servants to do the heavy labor. Several sons in the family had moved out of the house right after they got married, so now, the ones remaining in the house were only a few older sons who would inherit the family property someday.
The room beside the kitchen was originally a storage room. Following Aunt Lin, Mo Tiange moved the worthless things out and swept the room. It was unclear where Aunt Lin got them from, but she managed to move several used, old pieces of furniture into the room. She also brought bedding and a bed curtain and put them on the bed before she left.
Inside the room, Mo Tiange sat in a daze for quite some time before she finally examined the room. This room had been a storage room and thus had never been renovated. There were several cracks in the wall. It was very humid inside, so moss had grown in the corners of the room. Furthermore, although the floor had been swept, dust was still everywhere. All in all, the room looked exceptionally old.
Mo Tiange went to the courtyard to take some water to clean the furniture in the room. She was small and wasn’t very strong, so she could only carry half a bucket of water. After asking for a cleaning rag from Aunt Lin, who was cooking in the kitchen, she started to slowly scrub the furniture. She scrubbed and scrubbed. In the end, her tears finally fell.
With her mother gone, she knew there was no one who loved her now. There weren’t many people in this house and many of the rooms were empty, yet they told her to live in this kind of room.
“Tiange! Tiange!”
A call came from outside. Mo Tiange frantically wiped her tears away, but she didn’t have the chance to answer because Mo Tianqiao already barged into her room.
Seeing that Mo Tiange was scrubbing the headboard, Mo Tianqiao said, “Why do you have to clean it by yourself? Where’s Aunt Lin?” Right after she said this, she prepared to go outside to call Aunt Lin.
Mo Tiange hastily stopped her. “There’s no need. Aunt Lin already helped me sweep the room. It’s just me who feels that it’s still a bit dirty.”
“Then just let her scrub until it’s clean…”
“Tianqiao!” Mo Tiange interrupted Mo Tianqiao. She hesitated for a bit and asked, “Why were you looking for me?”
Mo Tianqiao was simple-minded, so her attention was instantly diverted. She sat on the only clean chair in the room and said, “I came to see you. From now on, we’ll be living in the same courtyard. Asking you out to play will be easier.”
Instead of answering, Mo Tiange threw the cleaning rag into the bucket and started to make her bed.
Watching her work so hard, Mo Tianqiao sprang from her chair and said, “I’ll help you.”
The two little girls weren’t very strong. They also weren’t really proficient in doing this kind of thing – they just unfolded the mattress and considered the bed to be done. As for the bed curtain, since the two of them really couldn’t do anything about it, Mo Tianqiao rushed out of the room and shouted for Aunt Lin.
Aunt Lin finally came into the room and hung the bed curtain up while grumbling. Before she left, she said to Tianqiao, “Miss, it’s time to eat now. You should go to the dining room. The Eldest Young Madam would scold me if she knows you’re doing this kind of thing.”
Although Mo Tiange didn’t say anything, Mo Tianqiao was furious. She said, “This Aunt Lin is too much! Who’s she trying to impress by acting like that? We only asked her to hang the bed curtain yet she had to blabber so much!”
If Aunt Lin was asked to hang the bed curtain for her master’s family, she naturally wouldn’t complain. However, Mo Tiange wasn’t her master. Having lived through the past few days, Mo Tiange knew that aside from Tianqiao, there was no one in this family who thought she mattered. Therefore, she just pretended she didn’t hear anything. Besides, Aunt Lin warned her that her Eldest Aunt would be angry if she let Tianqiao help her. Hence, she said, “You should go and eat. Everything’s done now. I just need to tidy my luggage and I’ll be done.”
“Of course we have to go and eat together! You don’t have to tidy this up now. Do it later…” Mo Tianqiao spoke as if that was the logical thing to do.
“This…” Mo Tiange hesitated. She wasn’t sure whether she could have meals in the dining room or not. In her heart, she knew clearly that her grandmother didn’t consider her a part of the family at all. Grandmother might want her to eat her meal alone in the kitchen.
“Stop saying this and that. Let’s go!” Tianqiao ran, pulling her towards the dining room.
When they reached the dining room, the Old Patriarch and Madam Zheng were already there. Mo Tiange hastily let go of Tianqiao’s hand and stood behind her with a lowered head.
As she expected, Madam Zheng frowned when she saw them. “What kind of girls would run around wildly!?”
Mo Tiange didn’t dare to answer. Mo Tianqiao, however, grimaced and said, “Grandmother, it’s because I’m hungry!”
Madam Zheng gave her a glare but still showed a slight smile in the end. “Fine, sit down quickly.”
Mo Tianqiao beamed and sat in her seat. When she turned her head and saw that Mo Tiange was still standing, she beckoned her. “Tiange, come here!”
Mo Tiange didn’t move. There wasn’t a seat for her there.
Madam Zheng threw her a cold glance and said, “Aunt Lin, add another seat.”
Aunt Lin answered with a yes before taking a small chair and putting it beside Mo Tianqiao.
Mo Tiange was relieved. She cautiously took her seat and greeted everyone with a low voice, “Grandfather, Grandmother.”
The Old Patriarch nodded and closed his eyes again to continue with his meditation. Madam Zheng ignored her and said, “Aunt Lin, where are the others?”
Mo Tiange had long understood the reality of the situation and didn’t feel disappointed. She merely dropped her head and reminded herself not to care about her grandmother’s attitude.
Aunt Lin said, “The Eldest Young Master will be here soon. Uncle He has gone to find him.”
Right after she finished speaking, they heard footsteps coming from outside the room. The Eldest Young Master of the Mo family and the Young Madam came into the room with Mo Tianjun.
“Grandfather! Grandmother!” Mo Tianjun called out even before his parents gave their greetings. He ran towards the two old people, laughing and joking, and amusing them to the point of them instantly showering him with an extreme amount of love.
Madam Zheng, who had always been cold to Mo Tiange, was smiling kindly at the moment. After showering Mo Tianjun with kisses, she finally told him to sit in his seat and eat.
Mo Tiange was still quite stunned by the scene before her eyes when Mo Tianjun finally saw her. His eyes instantly widened and he said, “Why are you here!? This is my house!”
Before she could answer, Mo Tianqiao already spoke, “Tiange will live in our house in the future. You can’t bully her! Otherwise I’ll…” She wanted to say she was going to tell her father, but seeing as her father was present, she changed her words. “Otherwise, I’ll give you a lesson!”
Mo Tianjun complained back, “Hey! Mo Tianqiao! I haven’t said anything but you already want to give me a lesson! I’m your brother, okay!? Why are you so affectionate to an unrelated person!?”
“What unrelated person? Tiange is obviously part of our family! Although you don’t admit it, I do. Anyway, I’ve warned you, so suit yourself!” Mo Tianqiao didn’t show any weakness at all. Although Tianjun was the darling grandson of this family, she was also the darling granddaughter.
Although Mo Tianjun was the incarnation of the devil, he was completely helpless when he was faced with his sister. Now that he saw the adults weren’t going to interfere even after she threatened him, he could only aggrievedly pretend like he hadn’t heard anything.
His expression, however, caused all the adults to laugh. Madam Zheng commented with a smile, “Serve the meals.”
During this single meal, Mo Tiange completely immersed herself in eating her food.
She felt they were a family.
They gave dishes to each other and chatted about things, but she couldn’t blend in.
She thought about the small yard at the eastern part of the village, about the shabby dining table, about how her mother used to give her food and how her mother listened to her trivial concerns.
That was her true home.
