Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1411 - 719: Miscellaneous Matters (2)

Lian Yeye hadn’t spoken yet when he glanced outside the door.

"It’s just us here, speak freely," Lian Manman said.

...

At the same time, in the front yard, Lian Shouxin was walking out with Lian Shouli.

"Are you heading out, sir?" Han Zhong’s wife happened to be coming from the courtyard with a tray of freshly made pastries. She stopped when she saw Lian Shouxin and asked with a smile.

"I’m going to the old house, I’ll be back soon. Please let them know in the back yard," Lian Shouxin replied.

"Okay," Han Zhong’s wife agreed and went toward the backyard.

Lian Shouxin and Lian Shouli went out the door and headed straight into the village.

At the entrance of the old house, Lian Shouxin stopped and looked around. Against the wall outside the gate, there were two large stacks of firewood piled high.

"This year’s firewood should be enough," Lian Shouxin estimated.

"It should be enough," Lian Shouli agreed, "We still have to plant the land ourselves."

"Third Brother, are you planning to buy land?" As the brothers pushed open the gate and entered the old house, Lian Shouxin asked Lian Shouli.

"For now... I don’t have that much money on hand. No matter how much you try not to spend, you still need to spend money. Even if I buy land in the future, I won’t have any good laborers..." Lian Shouli’s expression was a bit gloomy.

Lian Shouxin understood Lian Shouli’s worries; for one, Lian Shouli had hurt himself and couldn’t do heavy work like he used to. Secondly, Lian Shouli only had one daughter, Lian Yeye, and no sons.

"Third Brother, you and Third Sister-in-law are still in your prime, you’ll have whatever you want in the future," Lian Shouxin quickly consoled him.

At this time, the people in the main room heard the door and both Lian Shouren and Lian Jizu came out to greet them.

In the east room of the upper room, Old Master Lian was sitting on the kang, with Lady Zhou and Lian Yaya beside him. Lady Zhou was having Lian Yaya hold a bundle of green threads with her hands and winding it loop by loop onto a spool.

A spool is something every tenant family at Thirty Mile Camp would have. Usually, it’s a not-too-thick rectangular wooden board, wrapped with threads of various colors like green or white cotton threads, and with needles stuck in the thread. Cotton threads bought from the store usually come in bundles and need to be wound onto a spool for convenience of use.

Seeing Lian Shouxin come in, Old Master Lian hurriedly invited him to sit on the kang.

"I’ll sit here on the floor," Lian Shouxin looked around and sat on a chair instead.

"It’s cold in this room, the kang is warm, sit on the kang, so we two old fellows can chat comfortably," Old Master Lian said.

When Old Master Lian said this, Lian Shouxin was already seated on the chair. The two-room house was only occupied by the elderly couple, and although the big stove outside was burning, it was still somewhat cold inside.

Fortunately, when Lian Shouxin left his house, he had put on an extra layer of clothing. Being young and strong, he didn’t mind the cold.

"Dad, I’ll just sit here," Lian Shouxin didn’t get up, "Dad, I just checked, there’s enough firewood for this year. Make sure they keep your kang warm. If there’s not enough firewood, I’ll bring more over."

"It’s burning just fine," Old Master Lian replied, "We cook using the stove here, and at night we burn half a load more or so, the kang is warm enough... It’s just that with few people, the house feels empty and cold."

At this point, Lady Chiang came in with hot tea.

Lian Shouxin glanced at Lian Yaya and then towards the direction of the eastern wing. Earlier, when he entered from outside, he had looked towards the eastern wing. It was quiet in the eastern wing, with no sound of people.

"Yaya, where are your parents?" Lian Shouxin asked.

Lian Yaya seemed surprised that Lian Shouxin would speak to her and was a bit nervous. She glanced at Lady Zhou and hesitated.

"Don’t mention those two idlers," Old Master Lian sighed, "After eating, they wandered around the house and I don’t know where they went."

This meant both Lian Shouyi and Lady He had gone out visiting.

"And those two boys?" Lian Shouxin asked again. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"They’re even more elusive, you can only see them at meal times. They’ve run wild and are completely unreliable," Lady Zhou said bitterly.

"Ah," Lian Shouxin made a noncommittal sound, "Last night, did Jizu come over? I was drunk, didn’t know. This morning Han Zhong told me. Dad, Mom, did you two need anything?"

"Nothing much, just heard you had come back and wanted to have a chat," Old Master Lian said, "Old Fourth, I’ve heard everything. I’m overjoyed!"

"...Money is just an external thing, Wu Lang has brought glory to our ancestors!" Old Master Lian muttered excitedly, "I never thought, in my entire life, I never thought our Old Lian Family would see this day. You’ve honored the Old Lian Family’s reputation. The past few days when I go out, people see me and say our Old Lian Family’s ancestors’ graves are shining with green smoke!"

"Dad, those are just rumors from outside," Lian Shouxin said, "Wu Lang is just accompanying Mr. Loo..."

"I know, Old Fourth, this is what I admire about you, you’re steady. No matter what, you’ll never be flamboyant. Unlike your second brother, who would make ten claims out of one. You’re the exact opposite.... Our Old Lian Family, this is a change of fortune. Old Fourth, I’m happy, these days I’m so happy I can’t sleep at night. In the future, when I go underground, I’ll have something to say to our ancestors. I’m happy..." Old Master Lian said ’happy’ several times in a row.

"When will Wu Lang be back?" Old Master Lian asked again.

"In more than a month, it’s far away, and just the round trip takes days," Lian Shouxin said. He thought for a moment and then added, "When Wu Lang comes back, I plan to take care of Zhizhi’s matters."

"Is Zhizhi’s wedding date set?" Old Master Lian asked.

"It’s set, the Wu Family discussed with us and chose the date," Lian Shouxin replied.

"Good, that’s another joyous event," Old Master Lian said, "Marriage is a major life event. Our Old Lian Family hasn’t added a member in a while."

...

Here’s the first update, asking for votes, more updates will come later. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it, your support is my greatest motivation.)