Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 935 - 478: No Giving

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Lady Chiang wanted to repay the money and retrieve the promissory note signed by Lian Jizu.

Lady Zhang glanced at Lian Manman. In this house, on the surface, household affairs were managed by Lady Zhang. However, when it came to important matters, the whole family tacitly assigned decision-making authority to Lian Manman. She had earned this position because countless cases from the past proved that Lian Manman handled matters with greater foresight than both Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang, and her solutions were undeniably better.

Moreover, the matter of Lian Jizu leaving behind the signed note had already been discussed by Lian Manman with the family.

Lady Zhang would certainly not bypass Lian Manman and act on her own.

"What’s this about repaying? When the money was taken, we said it was given by us—there was no talk of borrowing." Lady Zhang refused to accept the money Lady Chiang handed over.

"Yes, big sister-in-law, if you insist on this, it feels too formal." Lian Manman chimed in with a smile.

"It’s not me being overly formal. It’s simply how the matter should be handled." Lady Chiang continued to smile, "Fourth Aunt, this was requested by the Great Grandfather and Old Master. They’ve instructed that Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt must accept this money."

Lady Chiang raised the names of Old Master Lian and Lian Shouren.

Lady Chiang was shrewd and spoke flawlessly, always absolving herself completely. For instance, when delivering gifts, she would claim it was Lady Zhou’s idea entirely. Similarly, when asking Lady Zhang to accept the money and return the promissory note, she attributed this to instructions from Old Master Lian and Lian Shouren.

Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou were the parents of Lian Shouxin, and Lian Shouren was his elder brother. For these three to give gifts to Lian Shouxin, he could only feel grateful, with no grounds for critique. And if they issued directives, Lian Shouxin had no choice but to comply.

However, if Lady Chiang had said that this was something she and Lian Jizu wanted to do, then Lady Zhang could leverage her seniority to critique and reprimand her.

"My grandfather is too thoughtful; there’s really no need for this." Lian Manman said with a smile.

"Fourth Aunt, because of this matter, the eldest master received plenty of scoldings when he returned. If Fourth Aunt doesn’t accept this money, when we go back, Old Master and Great Grandfather won’t let him off easily. Even I won’t be able to explain myself when the time comes." Seeing that even invoking Old Master Lian and Lian Shouren wasn’t yielding results, Lady Chiang became even more earnest. "Fourth Aunt, just think of it as showing kindness to your nephew and niece-in-law."

This was a plea using the young couple’s reputation to seek Lady Zhang’s favor.

Lady Zhang was always soft-hearted and accommodating toward the younger generation. Lady Chiang was also the most respectable woman in the Lian Family. Historically, Lady Zhang had given Lady Chiang special respect—if not for Lian Jizu, then certainly for Lady Chiang.

However, the series of events that occurred in Taicang had changed Lady Zhang’s perception of Lady Chiang.

Now, Lady Zhang didn’t like her much and was even somewhat wary of her.

Nonetheless, as a "mian nai," even if she disliked or distrusted Lady Chiang, hearing such soft, pleading words made it tough for her to outright refuse. At most, she hardened her heart to not agree, but to decisively reject—that was hard for her.

"What kind of reasoning is this?" Lady Zhang said, troubled.

"Mother, since my sister-in-law is begging you so sincerely, you might as well accept the money." Lian Manman noticed and said with a smile.

"Oh?" Lady Zhang glanced at Lian Manman, who nodded back at her. Though she didn’t understand the reason fully, she complied with Lian Manman’s wishes and accepted the money.

"Listen to yourself. You make it sound like something terrible will happen if I don’t accept this money. Fine, I’ll take it." Lady Zhang said.

Lady Chiang appeared to visibly relax when Lady Zhang accepted the money.

Though Lady Zhang accepted the money, she resolutely avoided mentioning the matter of returning Lian Jizu’s promissory note.

Lady Chiang waited for quite a while and eventually had no choice but to bring it up again.

"Fourth Aunt, what about that promissory note?" Lady Chiang reminded Lady Zhang.

"What promissory note?" With a signal from Lian Manman, Lady Zhang feigned ignorance.

"The one where Manman gave money to my husband and had him place his fingerprint on it." Lady Chiang had to explain.

"Oh..." Lady Zhang feigned realization.

"Big sister-in-law, are you talking about that little note?" Lian Manman interrupted smoothly, smiling, "That was merely a joke between me and Jizu. I don’t even remember where I threw it afterward. Mother, did you use it to start a fire?"

Lian Manman deliberately asked Lady Zhang.

"It’s been quite a few days; how could I remember? Manman, why weren’t you more careful with it?" Lady Zhang replied.

"I never planned to make my cousin repay anything. What’s the point of keeping it? I didn’t pay much mind to it." Lian Manman said with a grin.

"So... is that note still around or not?" Lady Chiang’s expression darkened slightly as she pressed further.