Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1367 - 697: Difficulties (Part 2)

The family was talking and brought up the subject of finding a job for Erlang.

"It’s a pity the mountain project is no more, and we don’t have such good opportunities nearby," Lian Shouxin said. "Erlang doesn’t have any skills, and doing odd jobs isn’t sustainable. If we let him work on this farmstead, it would be hard to arrange."

"Erlang’s wife said she’s not picky, but I guess she would prefer to find work on our farmstead," Lady Zhang said.

"All the management positions on the farmstead are filled, and they’re doing a good job. We can’t just replace them for him," Lian Shouxin said.

"This job should be found elsewhere," Lian Manman said. Having Erlang work on her family’s farmstead was never in her consideration. "From what I see, the county town isn’t far from here. See if any shops are hiring. We don’t need to intervene; any of our family’s shopkeepers could handle this."

If he could indeed find a job in a shop, the wages would be guaranteed, much better than doing odd jobs. The shopkeepers of both large shops in the county town had wide networks, finding someone a job wasn’t a difficult task for them.

"That’s a good idea, then let’s do that," Lian Shouxin thought for a moment, then nodded.

Once they decided on this matter, the family took another look around the manor. This estate wasn’t inside Luo Family Village, but built outside the village, facing a river in the front and backed by a mountain, making it an excellent location. Lian Manman came here today with another plan as well — to build a duck house here. Once the duck-feeding process matures in the future, and she won’t have to oversee it daily, she plans to move the feeding operation here.

This location is closer to the county town, making future transportation convenient. Additionally, the place is large, and fencing it off would help maintain confidentiality. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Lian Manman set her eyes on the empty land on the west side of the estate, and after discussing with Lian Shouxin and Wu Lang, they decided to build the duck house there.

Once the business was completed, Lady Luo Wang had already arranged a lavish meal. The family had lunch and prepared to return to Thirty Mile Camp.

Lian Manman instructed Xiao Qing for a few moments. On their return, their carriage took a deliberate detour, slowing down by a high ridge next to Luo Family Village. Lian Manman lifted the curtain and looked in the direction pointed out by Xiao Qing.

At the easternmost part of Luo Family Village, there was a small courtyard. This courtyard wasn’t square like typical tenant farmers’ yards but was built according to the terrain. Apart from the straight wall shared with the neighbor, the other sides formed irregular arcs. A small part of the courtyard walls was built with piled stones about half a person’s height; the majority was a fence made of branches and straw.

Just by looking at this courtyard, one could tell that this family’s life was definitely not easy.

This was Luo Xiaoyan’s home and was easy to identify.

Since the courtyard walls were open on all sides, it was easy to see inside the yard from here. The yard was decently tidied, with vegetable gardens in the front and back. There were also three main rooms, the simplest earth houses common in the countryside, with thatched roofs and no tiles. From here, one could see the house’s windows, which were pitch black. Next to the main house was a smaller side room, which was about a foot lower than the main house.

It’s said that the Luo Family’s old couple lived in the main house with their two children, while Erlang, Luo Xiaoyan, and their two children lived in the side room.

"What is Erlang hoping for!" Lian Shouxin, sitting on his large mule, exclaimed in frustration upon seeing this state of the Luo Family. Even in that small side room, given Erlang’s height, he could touch the roof just by raising his hand slightly.

Even without considering the burden the Luo Family bore, these living conditions were worlds apart from the Lian Family Old Mansion. If Erlang had seriously remarried in the old mansion, he would now be living in the West Wing Room.

"With these conditions, marrying a wife would be hard," Lady Zhang lamented.

"...I heard they used to have decent houses in the village. They sold their old house because they spent money on medical treatments and had no choice but to put up with these improvised rooms instead," Lian Manman whispered to Lady Zhang, relaying what Xiao Qing had found out.

Properly building a house with seriousness was called ’building.’ Constructing something like the Luo Family’s thatched house could only be described as making do.

Before, they only heard about the Luo Family’s situation. Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang both thought Erlang’s future burden would be heavy. Now that they had seen the Luo Family’s house with their own eyes, the couple realized Erlang’s burden was even heavier than they had imagined.

What is Erlang hoping for?

Lian Manman didn’t know either, but this incident confirmed once again that Erlang was willing to listen to his wife and endure all kinds of hardships for her.

Back home, Lian Shouxin seemed a bit preoccupied.

"The children have grown up and have their ideas. Even our sons can’t be guaranteed to do everything according to our wishes, let alone a nephew," Lady Zhang was more clear-sighted about this matter than Lian Shouxin. She advised him, "No matter how good the old mansion is, even if Erlang wants to find a wife to join, it’s not easy. Now is okay, and it’ll be better in the future."

"That’s not what I’m thinking about," Lian Shouxin said. "Today at the estate, did anyone talk to you about anything?"

"About what?" Lady Zhang was confused.

"They said the Old Luo family married into us because they wanted something from our family," Lian Shouxin said.

"No one mentioned it to me," Lady Zhang said.

"Mom, wasn’t my sister and I there with you?" Lian Manman said, "Even though no one said anything, I think there were quite a few people at the estate thinking that way." (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)