Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 363 - 363 364 Pretending to be Noble_1

Chapter 363: Chapter 364 Pretending to be Noble_1 Chapter 363: Chapter 364 Pretending to be Noble_1 Mrs. Luo laughed with a sly gleam in his eyes, his face full of trembling fat: “I’ll tell you right now what my new fancy is.”

Before his words were fully out, he pushed Qiao Yuanzhen onto the bed, his greasy hands already starting to rip at Qiao Yuanzhen’s clothes. Qiao Yuanzhen was startled, and his face showed an utterly shocked expression, “Mrs. Luo, what are you doing? If you want a woman, I will help—”

“I don’t fancy women anymore, I’ve discovered men are much more fun. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll just obey me. There are plenty of others! Otherwise, I’ll make you regret it!”

Mrs. Luo’s face became fierce and threatening as he spat out his vicious words to intimidate Qiao Yuanzhen.

Fear whitened Qiao Yuanzhen’s face: “Mrs. Luo, I can’t do this, I, I, I really can’t!” If he had known Mrs. Luo had this preference now, he would have never come, dead or alive. Now, filled with regret, it was as though his insides were turning green with it; he hadn’t expected that in trying to throw Qiao Lianhua into the fire, he would be the one to fall in it!

Mrs. Luo didn’t care about the whys and wherefores. Could he let the duck that was already in his hands fly away? He forced himself upon Qiao Yuanzhen.

Listening to the wretched screams coming from the room, the young servants outside began to whisper gleefully among themselves: “Hey, Mrs. Luo has taken a fancy to a new pet. Wasn’t that scholar always so prideful in his refinement? Now that he’s pinned down by a man, do you think he might kill himself?”

“Ha, kill himself, my foot. He’s just a poor scholar. It’s his good fortune that Mrs. Luo fancies him. But talk about bad luck, bumping into Mrs. Luo just as he’s changing his tastes. Ever since Mrs. Luo took a fancy to the Mei Team last month, he’s been infatuated with a bunch of actors prettier than women; he’s undergone a complete taste revolution, not even looking at real women anymore.”

“Exactly, Mrs. Luo used to keep Mei Team’s Yun Guan’er close to his heart. That actor, riding on the coattails of Mrs. Luo’s favor, never missed a chance to show us disdain. But now, finally, Mrs. Luo has a new favorite. Let’s see how proud he feels then!”

The servants’ gleeful chatter continued, blatantly ignoring the commotion inside; they were all too familiar with Mrs. Luo’s methods. He used to play women till they broke, and now he could do the same to men.

At Mei Garden, although Zhong Yulang hadn’t “served well” Muniang, she was reasonable enough to see his difficulty, so she still rewarded him generously, allowing him to account for his task. Zhong Yulang didn’t keep a penny and gave it all to Dazhuang, the servant specially assigned to watch them.

Padding the silver in his hand, Dazhuang laughed and said, “This silver is quite heavy. The Lady is indeed generous. She looks so pretty and still seeks fun outside; it must be because her man at home is dead. Which man would otherwise neglect such a charming wife? You got lucky today.”

Then he leaned in closer to Zhong Yulang, making faces: “Tell me, how pleasant was it with that beauty?”

Zhong Yulang didn’t want to talk much and simply said in a flat voice, “Nothing more for me here; I’m packing up to leave.”

Knowing Zhong Yulang to be a man of few words, Dazhuang didn’t press further. As long as he had the silver, all was good. He walked off happily with it, even though he was supposed to hand it over; he could still skim a good amount off the top for himself to buy drinks.

No sooner had Dazhuang left than a flamboyantly dressed man came in, speaking in a sing-song voice: “Oh, playing coy after taking advantage of the situation? You must be overjoyed, yet you put on such a mournful face as if you’ve been so reluctant.”

Zhong Yulang turned to leave, but Yun Guan’er snorted, “What’s there to be smug about? I am favored by Mrs. Luo, living the life of luxury. Why would I need to stoop to doing such degrading things that everyone else has done?”

Zhong Yulang’s voice immediately turned cold: “I’d rather do something a thousand people regard as shameful, than let a finger of the man who killed my master touch me. That is my basic line, and you, you’re not even worthy to compare yourself to me.”

Having said that, she resolutely walked away.

The most outstanding in appearance at Mei Team was naturally Zhong Yulang, but Mrs. Luo’s favorite was Yun Guan’er, solely because Zhong Yulang had his last line he wouldn’t cross. He could be coerced into selling his body, but as Mrs. Luo was his enemy, he would rather die than let her have a part of him. It was his threat of death that made Mrs. Luo, considering he was the star attraction of Mei Team, let him off—after all, if Mei Team lost him, nobody would be willing to spend money to come here to watch plays.

Yun Guan’er snorted coldly, “Pretentiously virtuous!”

Muniang had nothing special to do in town, so she didn’t stay long and left with Tianniu.

After dinner, she played with Xi’er in the yard with Qinghe. Only then did Qinghe ask, “How did the discussions go today with the theater?”

“They said they would consider it first. I’m not in a rush.”

“You must be cautious about this, the partner also needs to be reliable. After all, the theater will involve a considerable investment, and it wouldn’t do to have it go to waste,” Qinghe still reminded her.

Muniang thought of Zhong Yulang’s manner, which seemed filled with integrity, and who handled things in a straightforward way—of course, except for that ridiculous mix-up with accompanying guests. He should make a good partner.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. Besides, if the theater really gets started, the earnings will be shared; who would have issues with money?”

Only then was Qinghe reassured. But Muniang suddenly recalled something and said, “Qinghe, do actors have to engage in certain… other activities?”

Qinghe tilted her head and asked, “What activities?”

“I mean,” Muniang swallowed, “selling themselves, that sort of thing.”

Qinghe’s eyes widened, looking completely stunned. Muniang hastened to say, “This is just what I heard, so I thought I’d ask you.”

“Who said that? Actors may have a low status, but they would not stoop to that kind of behavior. It’s so undignified. However, unless it’s voluntary, I’m sure no theater would specifically provide such services.”

Muniang furrowed her brows. It seemed she wasn’t naive after all; that’s why she was so shocked to learn about Mei Team’s private endeavors. Most acting troupes wouldn’t do such things, so why did Mei Team have to sell themselves? Voluntarily for money?

Recalling Zhong Yulang’s murderous glare, she couldn’t help but shudder. How could that be voluntary?

But she couldn’t be bothered to meddle in this matter. Whether the actors sold themselves or not didn’t affect their performances on stage. Muniang was too indifferent about people unrelated to her concerns to meddle, her focus was solely on the performances that were public. As for what they did in their private lives, she was indifferent.

Thus, this small doubt in her heart was temporarily pushed aside.