Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 134 - 68 Lian Manman’s Design_2

Lady He set down the melon seeds in her hands and started munching on peanuts from the Chinese basket.

"I came to congratulate Second Aunt," Lian Manman said to Lady He.

"What’s there for me to celebrate?!"

"Second Aunt, are you still keeping it from me? I heard it all in the Upper Room; Second Brother is going to take a wife, and it’s a girl from the town. Her dowry is worth at least one or two hundred taels of silver," Lian Manman said with a smile, "Second Aunt is indeed fortunate. I hear that girl is not only pretty and capable but also comes from a wealthy family."

Every sentence Lian Manman said struck a chord with Lady He.

"Manman, you’ve heard it all. Your grandfather and grandmother are somewhat reluctant," Lady He said.

"Such a good marriage proposal is hard to find even with a lantern," Lian Manman declared, "why would Grandfather and Grandmother not agree?"

Lady He pursed her lips.

"Why wouldn’t they? They think the bride price demanded is too high."

"But the girl’s dowry is substantial as well," Lian Manman pointed out.

"Indeed, and they’ve even said that the bride price is just for show and will be returned with the dowry later," Lady He explained,

"Your grandfather and grandmother can’t come up with the bride price, and because of this, I can neither eat nor sleep well."

"To let such a fine match slip away over a bride price would be such a pity. Wouldn’t it hold Second Brother back?" Lian Manman said, widening her eyes.

"You don’t say," Lady He agreed.

"Second Aunt, as a mother, you should think of some way to help Second Brother," Lian Manman urged.

"What can I do? The money’s all in your grandfather and grandmother’s hands."

"Second Aunt, we have split from the family and started out on our own, but you haven’t. If Eldest Uncle’s family has money, doesn’t that mean you have money too?" Lian Manman reminded her.

"The little money we borrowed, did you not see how much stuff they bought? It’s all gone already," Lady He declared angrily.

She had discussed with Lian Shouyi that this marriage proposal was truly a case of no shop past this village. But since they couldn’t produce the required money just yet, she was thinking about whether they could delay for some days, until Lian Huahua married into the Song Family and they could free up some silver right away to finalize Erlang’s marriage.

"Such a good match; surely there will be many other families vying for it," Lian Manman reminded.

Lady He bit her lip; she too was afraid of this possibility.

"All the money was spent by the main house; what are we to them!"

"Second Aunt, I feel like something is off about those five hundred taels of silver from Eldest Uncle. He said that Yang Chengfeng borrowed five hundred taels, and all of it was spent on jade pendants. But the Sun Family only agreed to three hundred taels for the slave purchase; where would Yang Chengfeng come up with an extra two hundred taels?" Lian Manman stated, "Eldest Uncle actually used three hundred taels to buy the jade pendants, right?"

"Manman, are you saying..." Lady He, catching on to something, widened her eyes.

"With Second Aunt being such a shrewd person, you don’t need me to say anything else. What kind of person is Eldest Uncle? Both Second Uncle and you should know that very well," Lian Manman said with a laugh.

Lady He slapped her thigh.

"He’s fiddling the accounts again," Lady He exclaimed loudly.

"Shh, keep it down, don’t let the Upper Room hear." Lian Manman laughed, hinting at another, suggesting Lady He knew more than just one thing.

"Second Aunt, look at this silk flower, and this bracelet." Lian Manman jingled the bracelet on her wrist and showed Lady He the silk flower on her head. "These were all given to me by Sister Huahua. She didn’t buy them; they were gifts from the Song Family in the county town. You know what kind of family the Song Family is, they really care about face. Sister Huahua is on good terms with the Song Family’s young master. Who knows how they’ve been secretly supporting her? Otherwise, why wouldn’t Sister Huahua hesitate to spend money?"

Lian Manman kept smiling. Half of what she said was speculation, and the other half was concocted. Hadn’t Lady Zhang spoken about how she bought things for them, given Huahua the silk flower and the bracelet, then went to Lian Xiuxiu to stir up trouble with these gifts? So Manman did the same to her, returning the favor. This was the principle of fighting others with their own methods.

"How did she give you these things?" Lady He asked, her eyes showing a hint of envy.

Lian Manman gathered her sleeves and hid the bracelet.

"...As for that previous incident, let’s not even mention how she wronged my mother. Old Aunt pushed my mother, and it was all Huahua’s scheming behind the scenes; she’s afraid we’ll speak out. Oh, right, Yaya overheard that and told me." Lian Manman glanced at Lian Yaya, who had just gotten up and was rubbing her eyes.

"You told Manman?" Lady He immediately turned to question Yaya.

"Erlang asked me to tell." Yaya nodded, still drowsy.

Sure enough, Lady He had already known about this. No wonder, after hearing Lady He and Lian Shouyi talking in the Upper Room, Si Lang had run off instead of going with her to tell Old Master Lian. It must’ve been Lady He who instructed them not to reveal this matter.

Lady He then turned to Lian Manman with a grin.

"These kids, they’ve got such stories to tell and never shared with me." she said.

That was just too fake, Manman thought with a secret chuckle, but she did not call it out.

"Manman, aren’t you going to settle the score with Huahua?" Lady He asked again.

"My parents said to let it be, afraid of causing a scene, worrying that Sister Huahua wouldn’t be able to marry off. Besides, Sister Huahua gave my mother these benefits." Manman replied, "Originally, Sister Huahua only promised that after she was married, she would do this and that. She spoke so nicely, but I don’t trust her. She’s the type to forget the bridge after crossing the river. Those sweet words are worthless compared to the tangible benefits I can hold in my hands now. We can deal with the future when it comes, right, Second Aunt?"

Lian Manman looked at Lady He and added with a laugh, "You understand this far better than I do, Second Aunt."

Lady He nodded, seemingly contemplative.

"Speaking of my eldest uncle’s household, it’s still Sister Huahua who calls the shots." Lian Manman tossed out another comment before picking up her Chinese basket and moving to leave.

"Manman, how did you make these peanuts? They’re tastier than those sold in the town’s grocery store. Do you have more? Give me some more so I can let your Second Uncle try as well." Lady He promptly asked.

"Second Aunt, which is more important to you, these peanuts or my Second Brother’s marriage?"

Manman then left the East Wing Room with Xiao Qi and returned to the West Wing Room. Soon after, Yaya stepped out from the East Wing Room and went to the Upper Room; shortly thereafter, Huahua followed Yaya towards the East Wing Room.

With the situation going as planned to a certain extent, Manman clenched Xiao Qi’s hand.

"Xiao Qi, it’s up to you now."

************

Ruoyan caught a cold as it turned cold and warm again, tears.

Continuing to ask for support, I’ve added extra content for over half a month, yet the support hasn’t reached a hundred, and it looks like we won’t even keep the sad third place, tears.

Everyone, please give more support. Can we hit a hundred today? If we reach a hundred, I will add an extra Chapter, and if we reach a hundred and ten, I will add another. If there are 110 votes today, there will be two extra Chapters, which means there will be three Chapters today.

In short, for every ten votes over a hundred, I will add another Chapter!!! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for it with recommendations and monthly tickets at Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)