Reborn as a Landlord

The first watch, asking for pinks.

******

After driving away the Wife of He Laoliu and the others, knowing that Lian Shouli was not in serious trouble, and waiting for Xiao Fu and the others to return with the medicine, Lady Zhang and Lady Wu Wang took Lian Manman, Xiao Qi, and Zhang Caiyun home first. Later, Lian Shouxin, Wu Lang, and Wu Jiaxing also returned, saying they had watched Lian Shouli take the medicine and fall asleep.

By this time, it was already the Hai Hour (9-11 pm).

Xiao Qi then touched her belly.

In the evening, just as they had begun to eat, they were called over, and now, it wasn’t just Xiao Qi; everyone was hungry. Lady Zhang busied herself with heating the food and kept the Wu Family to eat together before they went back.

Lian Zhizhi and Wu Jiayu had stayed at home all along and were unclear about the events at the old residence, so they asked Lian Manman. Naturally, Lian Manman explained everything in detail.

Lady Wu Wang and Lady Zhang, sitting by the side, adopted a laissez-faire attitude on this.

"We’re all people with daughters, say what needs to be said. As long as the girls are reasonable, understand propriety, and have a good heart. Sometimes, they need to be a bit tough when necessary," Lady Wu Wang whispered to Lady Zhang, "That way, they won’t suffer losses and can keep their household in check."

Lady Zhang nodded. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

In today’s matter, they all stood on the side of Lady Zhao and Lian Shouli. Moreover, given the nature of the Wife of He Laoliu, if Lady Zhao hadn’t been so weak, the situation wouldn’t have escalated so disastrously. Therefore, these women with both sons and daughters became vigilant and didn’t rigidly exclude the girls from this affair, allowing them to comprehend the full course of events, whether intentionally or not.

This way, if they encounter similar situations in the future, the girls will know how to handle them.

The two families ate together, and only after the meal did the Wu Family leave.

With only Lian Manman’s family left, although everyone was exhausted, no one hurried to bed. The family sat around under the lamp, discussing the events.

"... Today’s matter was too dangerous. If it weren’t for someone witnessing it, his third uncle’s life might have been lost," Lady Zhang sighed, "To drive such an honest person to this..."

"They should have driven those few people away long ago, then nothing would have happened! Ah!" Lian Shouxin also sighed.

"They shouldn’t have let the people from Old He Family in from the start," Wu Lang commented.

The room fell into silence.

"Old Master Lian was just talking to me, and he regrets it too. He said if he had known it would be like this, he would never have taken them in back then," after a while, Lian Shouxin spoke first, "Old Master also said he didn’t know the Wife of He Laoliu was such a person."

That’s true. Everyone knew He Laoliu had a bad reputation, but as for his wife, she was just known to be sloppy, with no other bad reputation.

"It’s because He Laoliu’s bad reputation overshadowed the rest of his family, making them inconspicuous," Lian Manman thought for a moment and said.

Because He Laoliu misbehaved, the Wife of He Laoliu and those few children’s lives would naturally not be too good. Everyone has sympathy for the weak, noticing only the Wife of He Laoliu’s pitiful situation while overlooking other things.

"It’s still because of her poor character," Lady Zhang considered before continuing, "Otherwise, this wouldn’t have happened. Look at our village, several families living in one courtyard or across from each other, and they all get along just fine, with no gossip coming out."

What Lady Zhang referred to, several families living in one courtyard or two families across from each other, is not uncommon among tenant farmers. Usually, such living arrangements are because former wealthy family courtyards were sold off, and one family couldn’t afford the whole, so each family bought a few rooms, resulting in several families living together in one courtyard.

Tenant farmers are mostly simple and honest, and families living together in this way often assist each other, becoming as close as family. Even if someone moves away later, they continue interacting like relatives, with no less affection than blood relations.

People like Old Master Lian, who are softhearted and value face, and honest people like Lian Shouli and Lady Zhao, as long as the other party’s family is reasonably decent, won’t end up breaking apart unhappily.

Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin both frowned, sharing the same thought at this moment.

In this era, the concept of chastity for women is very strong. Although the Wife of He Laoliu didn’t have a reputation for being promiscuous, the fact that she could climb into Lian Shouli’s bed in such a shameless manner, trying to cling to him, indicates that beyond her being forced by life and her own poor character, there must be other factors at play.