800 Coming Home (2/2)

The houses were densely arranged along the village lane. As they passed by some of the farmhouses, quite a few people recognized Mo Wen and greeted him.

”Aiya. Isn't this the master scholar from the Mo Clan? He has come home.”

”The master scholar from our village is home. This is big news. We should burn a string of firecrackers at the entrance of our village,” someone said teasingly.

”Huh? That girl is so pretty. Whose daughter is she? Mo Wen, your luck in finding beautiful women is not bad.”

...…

The villagers were enthusiastic. There were not many people in the village, so Mo Wen, as the only scholar who was studying outside, would receive great attention when he came home.

Mo Wen greeted the villagers while sighing in relief. Fortunately, everything looked the same in the village. Nothing had gone wrong.

After a while, Mo Wen had reached the front gate of his home. His house was located on higher terrain. The area was surrounded by mountains and covered by the shade of trees. There were five families living in the area. Mo Wen's house took up quite a lot of space. It was a courtyard house with two enclosed, separate backside buildings. There were more than ten wooden buildings in his courtyard house. There was plenty of land and woods around, hence the cost of building wooden houses was not high. However, it was clear that the Mo Clan's courtyard house was a wealthy mansion compared to the rest of the houses in the village.

Just when Mo Wen was about to walk through the gate of the house, a maiden walked out from the neighboring house. She had a basin in her hand and was emptying the water from it. There were a few green leaves in the water. It was likely that the maiden had just finished rinsing vegetables.

”Aiyo! Isn't it Xiaocui? You're getting prettier,” Mo Wen said teasingly with a smile.

”Mo Wen! Ptui! Lecher! Rascal!”

The maiden named Xiaocui was slightly stunned when she saw him. Clearly, she had not expected Mo Wen, who had gone out to study, to come home. However, the next moment, she recalled something and glared at Mo Wen. She did not look happy.

Xiaocui was wearing a plain greyish-white skirt. The skirt was made of very rough cloth, and her overall attire was very traditional. Her skin was a little rough from farming regularly. However, overall, Xiaocui was a comely maiden.

”Don't be like that. We were both young then, weren't we?” Mo Wen said with a smiling face.

Of course, he knew why Xiaocui was so angry. When they were young, Mo Wen had actually gone over to watch Xiaocui showering. What was worse was the fact that she had caught him doing so.

Xiaocui was four years older than him, so she was not really young at that time. Her body had fully developed. She was enraged when she found out that she was peeped at by a brat. Since then, she was on cat-and-dog terms with Mo Wen.

”You were a rascal when you were young. Most likely you aren't any more decent now that you have grown. Young girl, are you his girlfriend? Beware of this scoundrel. Who knows whether he will fool around with other women? You need to pay close attention to him!”

Xiaocui snorted, then walked towards her house as she turned around with the basin in her hands. Before she left, she had sowed discord between Qin Xiaoyou and Mo Wen, as revenge for what had happened in the past.

”What did you do to her?” Qin Xiaoyou stared strangely at Mo Wen.

The maiden had called Mo Wen 'rascal and lecher' and treated him with contempt. It was likely that he had wronged her.

”What could I have done to her? I am a good man, a well-educated man with manners and high moral standards,” Mo Wen said willfully with a serious expression.

Even if he was beaten to death, he could not possibly tell her what stupid act he had committed in the past.

”The maiden has a valid point. As soon as I'm not paying attention, you will sneak out and fool around with other women. Unfortunately, it is useless even if I monitor you 24/7. No one can stop a cat from eating fish.”

”Hey, I am a faithful person, okay?”

”Right, you are faithful in fooling around with women.”

Mo Wen was left speechless.

With a creaking sound, Mo Wen opened the door of the courtyard house. First of all, they entered the big courtyard, then after passing a door, they reached the small courtyard.

As soon as they entered the small courtyard, Mo Wen noticed that the square table had been set with all kinds of food, and a silhouette was busy preparing in the kitchen. The courtyard was huge, yet other than that figure, there was no one else around.

”Mom, I'm back.”

Mo Wen's eyes reddened suddenly as he stared at the figure in the kitchen. In his heart, it was as though a century had passed and he had been reborn. Even though he had only been away from home for a year, tens of years seemed to have passed in his memory.

No matter what he dreamt about regarding his previous life, he was still himself after all. And his mother would always be his mother.