220: Chapter 18 We All Have Our Own Character Setups 220: Chapter 18 We All Have Our Own Character Setups Upon hearing that it was Jiang Yinyin they were seeking, Mu Yuming relaxed inwardly, glad that they hadn’t come specifically to cause him trouble.
He stood up, walked to the door, and asked with a smile, “May I have the honor of your surname, young brother?”
Wang Yunxiao replied with a salute, “It’s Wang, no honorific is needed.
You must have just returned from abroad, sir?
You might be unaware of our domestic policies, but the new government has prohibited human trafficking now.
It’s understandable that you’re not adequately informed, but be careful not to be misled into trouble by those with ill intentions.”
“There might be some misunderstanding here; indeed, we are not fully aware of the situation.
Why don’t you come inside to discuss?
It’s not good to cause a commotion outside and disturb the neighbors.”
Mu Yuming opened the door, but Wang Yunxiao didn’t step inside, instead, he stood at the threshold and said seriously, “There are ladies at your residence; it’s not appropriate for me to enter.”
“It’s fine; we’ve returned from overseas and do not adhere to those customs.”
Mu Yuming glanced back at Li Ya and was relieved to see that she was dressed decently today, not revealing anything inappropriate.
“Please, come in and have a seat.
It happens to be dinnertime for us.
As you can see, this is not some perilous den.
Let’s sit down, eat, and talk.
Mumu, go to the kitchen and get a bowl and chopsticks for Brother Wang!”
Since their visitor had come for Jiang Yinyin, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to order the servant around in front of their guest; he could only ask his own daughter to step in.
“No need.”
Wang Yunxiao thought to himself that if the host wasn’t bothered by a grown man entering, what was there to fear?
So, he confidently stepped inside, closing the door behind him and inconspicuously covering the gun hidden at his waist, then asked with a salute, “May I know how to address you, sir?”
“You may call me Mu, Mu Yuming.”
“Mr.
Mu, I’ll cut to the chase.”
Wang Yunxiao knew how to read the room—seeing the polite and educated host and his daughter’s charming appearance…
Of course, none of that mattered; the important thing was that the host seemed cultured enough to communicate with normally.
Therefore, he didn’t resort to the behavior common in the Jianghu World but got straight to the point.
“Jiang Yinyin is a first-year student at Qinghe Middle School.
She was taken away by her family the other day, and only later did I find out…”
Wang Yunxiao intended to say that her father had sold her again, but upon seeing the bloodless and terrified expression on Jiang Yinyin’s face, he softened and swallowed the word “again.”
“Her father sold her to someone surnamed Tong, whom you might know.”
Wang Yunxiao’s gaze turned towards the two young girls sitting there; he had already learned from Mr.
Tong that they were the ones who had ‘bought’ the girl.
Li Mumu chuckled inwardly, ‘Mother knew there was a trap here; she was just waiting for this very move.’
“There’s no buying or selling involved; we hired Yinyin, with a monthly salary of twenty yuan.
We are not aware of the other matters.”
“Monthly salary of twenty…”
Wang Yunxiao coughed, nearly choking on his own saliva.
Laozi works to the bone for a whole month to make only twenty yuan!
You just cook some meals, wash some clothes for them, and get twenty yuan a month?
What’s so great about looking good!
Damned wealthy people!
That mention of a twenty-yuan monthly salary nearly broke through Wang Yunxiao’s defenses.
After several seconds of silence, he gritted his teeth and managed to say, “She is underage; hiring child labor is also illegal.”
Li Mumu clenched her fists and took a deep breath.
Looking for trouble, huh?
Arguing for the sake of arguing, huh?
She asked coldly, “We didn’t even provide a contact address to the intermediary.
How did you find our house?”
Wang Yunxiao shrugged.
“Do you really think that Mr.
Tong is some great guy?
He’s got your family all figured out, knows that you’ve come from Saifu and that you’re new here and clueless.
Customs even detained you—it’s clear you’re easy to fool.
Otherwise, why do you think it’s such a coincidence that as soon as you arrive, you find the perfect little maid?
It’s all a trap they’ve set for you!”
I’m so annoyed—why does he have to talk in such an irritating way!
Li Mumu felt frustrated, but she was still very concerned about the critical information brought up by Wang Yunxiao.
“What kind of trap specifically for us?”
“You don’t know?
On the Cosmos…
haha, not knowing is a bliss; forget I mentioned it.”
Wang Yunxiao chuckled and thought to himself, if she asks any more, I won’t be able to make things up.
He then turned his head to the little maid hiding in the corner.
“Jiang Yinyin, the school has been looking for you for several days.
The principal asked me to bring you back.
You don’t have to worry about your parents—they have been arrested.
As for the rest, the principal will decide for you.
Your classmate Zhou Qing is also very worried about you.”
He expectedly saw the little maid involuntarily shake her head.
A salary of twenty dollars a month does pack quite a punch—not only for an inexperienced little maid, but even Wang Yunxiao finds it hard to resist.
If it really were a pit of fire, Wang Yunxiao might be able to help her out a bit.
Now, even he wasn’t very confident about the situation.
Twenty dollars a month, two hundred forty a year, seven hundred twenty in three years—enough for a dowry.
Why bother with school?
“Okay, I think I’ve got the gist of it.”
Mr.
Mu, who had been sitting silently by their side, suddenly spoke up, “Our family of four has just arrived in Tianmen, and indeed, we don’t understand the local situation.
My daughter is young, Brother Wang, please be more patient with her, and don’t take offense.
It seems you’ve been hard at work all day and haven’t had a decent rest.
Have something to eat first to fill your stomach.
I’ll take Yinyin to the inner room, talk to her properly, and see what she really thinks.”
His tone was so sincere that Wang Yunxiao was somewhat confused as to whether he was being passive-aggressive.
A regular person surely wouldn’t have noticed that they’d already eaten three bowls of noodles in the noodle shop, right?
I mean, it’s not that I can’t eat them, but is it appropriate for me to be eating your family’s noodles on this occasion?
Wang Yunxiao covertly glanced at the few women present.
Li Ya was propping her chin with one hand, looking at him with interest, completely uninterested in playing the hospitable hostess.
That foreign girl…
Wang Yunxiao was actually most familiar with her, having met her several times aside from the circumstances of life and death.
Although he didn’t know how she died, she had been holding a crumpled piece of paper in her hand that had come right from that notebook.
This girl was no ordinary person.
Next was the pretty young girl sitting beside her, whom Wang Yunxiao only knew was called Mumu…
The name was strange.
What kind of family names their daughter Mumu?
And he had no idea which characters it was supposed to be.
Then, Wang Yunxiao’s gaze involuntarily fell on the peeled garlic cloves on the table next to her hand.
Li Mumu also noticed the change in his gaze and followed it curiously, suddenly freezing.
Where did those garlic cloves come from?
Oh, Jiang Yinyin peeled them, she had just asked for half a clove of garlic…
How are your hands that fast?
And why put it next to me?
Shouldn’t it be put in the middle for everyone to share?
Li Mumu’s facial expression stiffened.
Dammit, my lady persona is crumbling!
No no no, stay calm.
It’s normal to have garlic on the table when everyone is eating noodles at night.
As long as I don’t admit it, who dares to say the garlic is for me?
Li Mumu unobtrusively picked up her bowl and slowly stirred her noodles with her chopsticks.
Then she suddenly realized—eating noodles like this didn’t seem very ladylike at all.
Which young lady would be holding a bowl of tomato and egg noodles and slurping it down wildly?
This is so annoying, when will he leave…
Then she heard Li Ya’s slightly teasing voice next to her ear, “Li Mumu, aren’t you eating your noodles without garlic?”
For the love of…
Can I return this mom!