Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1496 - 761: Reciprocal Gift
Looking at the wedding gifts sent from the old house, everyone felt uncomfortable. When Lian Shouxin returned from the front yard, Lady Zhang took out the gifts from the old house and showed them to him.
"Look at this, they won’t even spend one Wen Money on us..." Lady Zhang held back her anger, feeling too tired to even speak.
Whether it’s people or matters, the worst thing is comparison.
Comparing the old house with the Song Family. The old house is Lian Zhizhi’s direct grandfather and grandmother. Even if the family’s financial situation is poor and they can’t afford to buy things, their sincerity shouldn’t be worse than the Song Family’s, right? The things sent by the Song Family aren’t treasures, but the threads of needlework contain their respect and familial love.
The old house and the Song Family are alike; neither has split the family, both are considered a share of the family life, so theoretically, only sending one gift would be fine. The old house sent just one gift, but the Song Family sent more than one, even Zhang Caiyun and the two younger children, Xiao Long and Xiao Hu, each sent a share.
Although the share from Xiao Long and Xiao Hu was actually financed by Zhang Qingshan, their thoughtfulness made others feel warm inside.
Comparing the old house to the Song Family makes the difference in closeness evident.
Even without comparing the old house to the Song Family, a comparison within the old house is revealing. To arrange a marriage for Lian Shouren, Old Master Lian was very generous, spending ample Silver Coins. But now, facing the legitimate major event of his granddaughter getting married, they aren’t willing to spend even one Wen Money.
Lian Manman family is well aware of the old house’s financial conditions. After having spent a sum of Silver Coins for Lian Shouren’s marriage proposal, there should still be about a dozen taels of silver left in the old house. Taking out a small part could afford a more respectable wedding gift for Lian Zhizhi.
This kind of comparison shows once again the difference in closeness.
"...They are poor, and I never expected to receive anything good from them. But what about us, what else are we hoping for from them?" Lady Zhang complained to Lian Shouxin, "Even if they don’t regard us, couldn’t they at least pretend? This is the first major event since we separated families to live on our own. Is Zhizhi not their real granddaughter?"
"At least pretend! If they actually sent anything, could I let her give it for nothing? Could I accept her things for free? They can’t bear to spend money, but at least they could put some thought and effort into it. It’s truly infuriating."
"Look at these things," Lady Zhang picked up the gifts from the old house one by one to show Lian Shouxin, "This knot was made by Jizu’s wife, and it’s something extra she gave to Zhizhi. I guess she even had to hide it, afraid she’d get angry. Look at these few pieces of needlework material..."
When Lady Zhang mentioned ’she’, it was naturally referring to Lady Zhou. Without needing to be explicit, Lian Shouxin could understand.
"These few items used the cloth from Old Song Family for making clothes, given by the old ladies there, and there’s one piece from the city. These are leftover scraps, and thanks to Jizu’s wife’s skillful hands, unless you look closely, you wouldn’t know. Look closely, this is two pieces of fabric patched together, and Jizu’s wife embroidered flowers to cover it."
"And that’s not all, look at this shoe face, this is the material we gave them to make and wrap clothes..."
As Lady Zhang spoke, her hand trembled in anger, and the shoe face fell to the ground.
Lian Shouxin sat there with a dark face, saying nothing. Because everything Lady Zhang said was true and reasonable. He couldn’t defend the old house, but also couldn’t join in her complaints.
When it came to matters with the old house, Lady Zhang could complain all she wanted, but if Lian Shouxin spoke, the weight of his words would be different.
Lian Shouxin also felt uncomfortable. By rights, among all the descendents of the Lian Family today, his branch should be the most promising and showed the greatest respect to Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou. Therefore, they should be valued and respected the most. Old Master Lian spoke well of them to their faces, gave them respect and value, even some affection, though it couldn’t compare to that given to Lian Shouren.
But when it came down to actual situations, the reality turned out to be the opposite.
Even if the old house’s conditions weren’t good, it’s in comparison to them. Compared to the average tenant farmer, the old house should be considered upper-middle class.
Even if Old Master Lian never managed these matters, leaving them all to Lady Zhou. Lady Zhou had always been stingy with her daughters-in-law and granddaughters, but this time she still gave something, even though it was so stingy.
No matter how many excuses they find, there’s no explaining away this matter.
The only reasonable explanation is that in their hearts, the old house simply didn’t regard them as significant and wasn’t afraid to show this attitude, letting them know. Just like Lady Zhang said, they didn’t even bother to pretend.
