Chapter 178: Mofan Returns to the Mo Family (Part 7)

Qianyin stood up to stretch and move around a bit, then looked at the precious items scattered inside the room and let out a sigh. She walked a few more steps, looked around again, and seeing no one in sight, she asked aloud, "Where are the others of the Mo family?"

Molan stood up and stepped forward, wanting to take Qianyin's hand, but Qianyin skillfully dodged the gesture. This evasive movement left Molan feeling both guilty and heartbroken. With an awkward smile, she explained, "Grandfather hasn't woken up yet, so the other two are resting in their rooms."

Qianyin nodded, glanced briefly at the four little ones—East, South, West, and North—and then said very seriously, "I am also preparing to go to Cloud Mountain to accompany the Immortal Elder in gathering herbs. This time, I am not going for the sake of the Mo family."

The subtext of Qianyin's words was that no matter what anyone said, she was going, and it would be best if no one tried to stop her.

East, South, West, and North felt helpless; they had known it would turn out this way. It was one thing for the Immortal Elder to ignore advice, but now Qianyin had just returned only to follow along and stir up trouble again. What on earth should they do to ensure the safety of these two? Always taking care of the household made it impossible to keep an eye on them.

After a joint discussion, the consensus reached was that Qianyin and the five of them would go together, while the others would stay behind to guard the An family estate, ensuring that the An family would not be dragged into this kind of economic crisis as well.

Some were happy while others were worried. East, South, West, and North still felt uneasy, looking very much like they would secretly follow if they weren't allowed to go. In the end, it was Qianyin who gave them a reassurance pill, promising that she would definitely return, otherwise she would never go out again. Only then did East, South, West, and North obediently agree to guard the An family residence.

After the discussion concluded, the cook from the kitchen brought in a bowl of medicinal broth. Molan quickly stepped forward to inspect it; the volume of water had been controlled very well as requested, but the heat had been slightly insufficient, making the decoction not quite concentrated enough, though the proportion of medicinal herbs used was excellent.

"During the few days we are away gathering herbs, we will have to trouble you with brewing the medicine, so you must pay attention to these details. This time the heat was a bit insufficient; it needs to be slightly thicker next time. Everything else was already very good," Molan said gently, looking around at the people present.

"Understood."

After handing the medicine over to Molan, the cook acknowledged the instruction and turned back to the kitchen to continue cleaning. Hygiene had to be strictly maintained here; they had given instructions about this repeatedly ever since they first stepped through the door. The youngest uncle was an absolute neat freak who insisted on cleaning the house continuously every day. Now that there were more people around, he felt embarrassed to nag them directly and could only instruct the servants.

Feeling that staying in the living room was rather boring, Qianyin decided to accompany Molan to check on Elder Mo. She hadn't seen Elder Mo for several days and wondered if his health was doing well. Hearing others say it a thousand times could never compare to seeing it with her own eyes.

"How about I sleep with you tonight?" Molan sat down, picked up the spoon, and carefully spoon-fed the medicinal soup. Her gaze remained fixed on Qianyin as she spoke after a moment of hesitation.

Qianyin nodded out of a conditioned reflex, then immediately shook her head. They were at the An family residence now, and Molan ought to be sleeping with An Feng. Although traditional families placed great importance on propriety, the two of them were deeply in love and their marriage would soon be settled, so moving in together beforehand should not be an issue. On the contrary, she herself was a third party who kept monopolizing someone else's girlfriend, which hardly seemed appropriate.

Molan hesitated slightly. Was Qianyin angry? She turned her head to look at Qianyin, and seeing her serious expression, she turned back and lowered her head to continue feeding the medicine.

Although she knew she had done many things she shouldn't have and felt terribly sorry for Qianyin, didn't her return mean she had forgiven her? Or was she back at the Mo family solely for the sake of Elder Mo, the Immortal Elder, and East, South, West, and North?

As Molan's thoughts drifted, her mind wandered far away, and the hand holding the spoon froze mid-air. The medicinal liquid inside the spoon rippled slightly without spilling a single drop, but long since cooled in the open air.

Qianyin tapped her head, pointed at the medicinal liquid in the spoon, and her eyes filled with curiosity. What was wrong with Molan? Did she have something on her mind?

Molan snapped back to reality instantly, poured the medicinal liquid back into the bowl, and stirred it vigorously. The tips of her ears turned quietly red, and an awkward atmosphere filled the air. Did Qianyin think she was very foolish? Molan was still letting her imagination run wild, but this time her thoughts didn't stray too far, and she managed to finish feeding the medicine properly.

Molan had spent quite a long time feeding the medicine, and Qianyin had stood right beside her the entire time, neither walking away nor shifting her gaze even a fraction, fearing that Molan might drift off into space again and spill the medicinal broth all over Elder Mo.

The air was filled with a sweet yet mildly bitter medicinal scent. Molan had smelled it for many days and had grown used to it, but Qianyin was unaccustomed to it and rubbed her nose vigorously. Both of them went about their respective tasks in a calm silence, peaceful as if falling asleep.

The room was not large, but it was decorated quite luxuriously. It had two windows, both adorned with beautiful wind chimes. When the wind outside blew, the wind chimes would slowly begin to dance, spreading their pleasant, melodious sound gradually.

The sound awakened the two of them. Molan placed the medicinal bowl on the table, rinsed it with water, washed it clean, and dried her hands. She extended her hand, signaling that she wanted to hold Qianyin's hand.

Qianyin was stunned for a fraction of a second. What was this supposed to mean? When did things between them become like this?

A strange atmosphere began to slowly envelop the two of them. Feeling slightly disappointed, Molan slowly lowered her hand and kept her head down. With a sorrowful tone, she asked, "Are you still unwilling to forgive me?"

"I am indeed very angry with you, yet I cannot bring myself to ignore your affairs," Qianyin said with utter helplessness, reaching out to take Molan's hand as they walked outside, preparing to return to their room to talk.

Just as they opened the door, several figures directly tumbled forward and fell flat on the ground in a sprawling, toad-like posture. Molan and Qianyin froze in astonishment for a second, blinked their wide eyes at the people sprawled on the floor, and then burst into laughter.

"Haha—"

"Haha—"

The people on the ground hadn't expected the door to open so suddenly, and now that they had fallen, they were already in pain. Yet seeing these two laughing so heartily, they couldn't bring themselves to say anything harsh to ruin the mood, so they could only stand up awkwardly.

Laughing hand-in-hand, Molan and Qianyin walked right past them and back into the room, choosing to ignore them. The two of them still had plenty to talk about, and these fellows had actually been eavesdropping—it was simply too outrageous.

An Feng and the youngest uncle were just preparing to head to the study to discuss some matters when they saw this scene and couldn't help laughing out loud as well. Catching the sidelong glances thrown their way, they walked past as if nothing had happened and entered a room.

"It's all your fault for causing such a huge spectacle right now!" the Immortal Elder said angrily, pointing a finger at Xiao Bei's head. It was all because this fellow had insisted on dragging them over to eavesdrop on Molan and Qianyin's conversation; and now look at the massive joke they had made of themselves.

The expressions of East, South, and West were equally grim. How could others possibly look at them now? Each of them raised their fists, preparing to give Xiao Bei a sound beating. Boss Jin and the two bodyguards also wore menacing looks, determined to thrash this guy thoroughly.

Xiao Bei chuckled nervously as he looked at this group of ill-intentioned fellows. He bolted straight toward the Immortal Elder's courtyard; there were so many medicinal herbs stored there that they wouldn't dare do anything too drastic to him.

One by one, the others chased after him, and the final outcome could well be imagined.