Mo Hanyue heard what was said and sat back down next to her mother.
"What does Mother want to say to Hanyue?"
Seeing her daughter growing more graceful by the day, Old Lady Mo reached out and stroked her smooth hair.
"My Hanyue is becoming more and more beautiful."
Flattered by her mother's praise, Mo Hanyue coyly said, "Mother gave birth to me, so of course I would be beautiful."
Old Lady Mo lovingly put her arm around her daughter and gently said, "Mother remembers back in the capital, suitors from prominent families would come knocking down the Mo family's door to propose to Hanyue. Back then, Mother always wanted to carefully help you choose, but who would have thought our Mo family would suffer such an unforeseen calamity, which has delayed your marriage."
When her mother brought up her marriage, Mo Hanyue's face immediately turned red. At the same time, the image of a person flashed through her mind.
That person had an elegant demeanor and stately bearing, possessing an innate sense of justice beyond compare with the young masters of the capital.
Mo Hanyue did not know why Meng Huaining would appear in her thoughts, nor why her heart was pounding rapidly.
To conceal her embarrassment, Mo Hanyue deliberately rested her head on her mother's shoulder so that she could not see her expression.
"Mother, Hanyue is not getting married. I will stay home and serve you for the rest of my life."
Old Lady Mo laughed. "Silly girl, it wouldn't be proper for an young lady not to marry."
Mo Hanyue pouted. "But Mother, Hanyue wants to always be with you."
Old Lady Mo patted Mo Hanyue on the back and her tone became a little more serious.
"Mother thinks very highly of Master Meng. What do you think?"
Upon hearing his name, Mo Hanyue's racing heart stirred again.
She buried her head deeply in Old Lady Mo's embrace. "Mother... how can you ask a young lady like me such a thing?"
Hearing her daughter's response, Old Lady Mo understood completely. Her innocent daughter also looked favorably upon Master Meng.
Now that she knew her daughter's feelings, Old Lady Mo was in no hurry. Still, it would have to depend on the man taking the initiative. As for the final outcome, that would be up to the fate between them.
The men were chatting in the room while He Zhiran took the women to the kitchen to make cold rabbit meat dishes. Fresh rabbit meat at this time of year made the best cold dishes.
The main reason Meng Huaining came to the Mo family was that he wanted to see more of Mo Hanyue. But whether intentionally or not, she had not shown her face all day.
In fact, Mo Hanyue was not the lazy type. Usually when her sisters-in-law were busy, she would lend a hand. But with Meng Huaining here today, she felt too embarrassed to come out and had been holed up in her room all afternoon reading the book on medicinal herbs that her ninth sister-in-law had given her.
It was not until dinner time that Mo Hanyue finally put down her book and left her room.
Given the Mo family's current situation, meals were taken together by men and women in the main house, albeit not at the same table.
Mo Hanyue had thought to deliberately sit far from the men's table to avoid awkwardness. But her gregarious second sister-in-law happened to pull her to sit beside her, which was the closest to the men's table.
Mo Hanyue wanted to decline, but her sisters-in-law were too quick. With all the other seats already taken, she had no choice but to reluctantly sit there.
It goes without saying that the dishes for dinner were all carefully prepared by He Zhiran, most important of which was the long-awaited cold rabbit meat dishes.
Usually Meng Huaining loved eating at the Mo family the most, but today with Mo Hanyue occupying his thoughts, he was somewhat distracted during the meal.
While others were unaware of why, the perceptive Old Lady Mo had a good guess.
After dinner while drinking tea, Old Lady Mo deliberately stayed behind and casually asked some questions.
"If I remember correctly, Master Meng should have two elder brothers in your family?"
Old Lady Mo was fairly knowledgeable about the Meng family situation, as Meng Huaining's father's generation were her peers. They were also acquainted from their time as officials in the capital years ago.
Asked so directly, even the usually candid Meng Huaining became a little nervous, as if meeting his future mother-in-law.
"Old Lady, please just call me Huaining. No need to stand on ceremony. Yes, I do have two elder brothers who are currently back home looking after our parents."
Old Lady Mo was blunt. She had looked at Meng Huaining like he was of the younger generation, and only addressed him formally out of etiquette.
"In that case, I will call you by your name from now on."
After a pause, Old Lady Mo continued asking, "Your elder brothers have long been married, no?"
Meng Huaining respectfully answered, "My two elder brothers were married early on under my parents' arrangement. They are fathers already."
Old Lady Mo sighed. "Time and tide wait for no one. Back when I was in the capital, I saw your elder brothers who were still boys. And now they are already fathers."
When Old Lady Mo mentioned his brothers, Meng Huaining hoped that she would ask about him too, so that he could have a chance to express his position.
But after waiting for half a day, Old Lady Mo did not ask further.
If it were any other matter, Meng Huaining was not one to beat around the bush. He would have directly spoken his mind. But when it came to his most important personal affair, he became timid.
What a pity. When there was finally an opportunity to communicate with the Mo family elder, he did not say a single important word...
Old Lady Mo also saw that when it came to his own marriage, the young man was still somewhat reserved. She had already taken the initiative to bring up the subject, yet he did not say anything.
Since this was the case, his prospects with Mo Hanyue could only depend on fate now.
After all, he was a guest. With the hour growing late, Meng Huaining naturally had no reason to continue staying. After drinking a cup of tea, he reluctantly bade them farewell.
The women had worked late into the night before finally turning all one hundred rabbits into cold dishes. Early next morning after packaging them up, Mo Jiuye was about to deliver them directly to Tang Mingrui's place.
As luck would have it, every time right after the cold rabbit dishes had just been loaded onto the mule cart, Tang Mingrui would show up at their door with gifts.
Accompanying him this time was Tang Mingxin.
The little girl's face showed no trace of scars from the chickenpox thanks to the ointment from He Zhiran. She still had her previous spirited and cute appearance.
Seeing Tang Mingrui, Mo Jiuye knew he did not have to make the trip anymore.
He first led Tang Mingrui into the main house, then told him about preparing a huge quantity of cold rabbit dishes overnight.
Tang Mingrui had come purely to pay a New Year visit and did not expect to receive such a nice surprise this time.
To a budding young merchant, nothing was more important than business. He immediately abandoned his sister and went to check out those cold rabbit dishes, eager to bring them into the city soon for major profits.
Seeing the little female guest, Mo Hanyue took the initiative to bring her to her room to play.
