Reborn as a Landlord

"Second sister-in-law, that’s simply not true. Our family doesn’t have the money to buy a house. How could you take a young child’s words so seriously?" Lady Gu hurriedly said.

Lian Shouyi and Lady He exchanged a glance, and with a slap, Lady He clapped her hands together.

"Exactly, elder sister-in-law is right. I thought the same at the time. If he was lying, then he must have had a hand in abducting Duoduo. We can’t let him off for this. I was thinking about looking into it, and guess what, elder sister-in-law, us country folks might not know much, but the town folks do. Erlang’s father-in-law had heard about this, so he sent people to inquire with, what do you call them, the property custodians, and the security officers, and that’s how we found out, that house had the Lian surname for over a year now."

Having said her piece, Lady He couldn’t help but laugh.

The complexions of Lian Shouren and Lady Gu instantly turned extremely unsightly, while the other members of the second house added smug looks to their faces.

Only then did Lian Manman understand. It turned out Lady He had gone to see Matchmaker Wang to have her inquire whether the house had indeed been bought by Lian Shouren. This Matchmaker Wang must have spoken of this matter with the Zhao Family. Upon hearing that such a house could be attributed to Erlang, and that their daughter could live in the town after getting married, they naturally agreed to help investigate, which confirmed that Lian Shouren indeed purchased it.

Lady He did not rush back to demand the house from the first house right away; she made sure of her facts before speaking up. She handled the matter quite beautifully; who could say Lady He lacked brains? For Erlang’s marriage, even Lady He had become cunning.

"Eldest, did you buy that house?" Old Master Lian asked Lian Shouren.

"This..." Lian Shouren began to stammer. He saw Lady Gu signaling him with her eyes, but what could he do? They had been experiencing a run of bad luck recently, encountering one financial disaster after another. And that house, it represented a significant sum of money to him, so when Lian Shouyi approached him about the house, he refused to agree, which eventually led to an argument between them. Now, with the matter laid out in front of Old Master Lian, he wanted to deny it, but the second house’s family had thoroughly exposed him.

Old Master Lian was not a fool either. Seeing Lian Shouren looking this way, he already understood what was going on.

"Having bought it is also a blessing," Old Master Lian slowly said.

"Father, mother, about that house, I’ve wanted to discuss it with you for a long time," seeing no point in hiding it any longer, Lian Shouren hesitantly spoke.

"Hmph," Lady Zhou snorted coldly and glared at Lady Gu viciously, "You’ve been wanting to tell us? Then why didn’t you? Who covered your mouth? You’re supposed to be a Scholar Master. After living outside for a few years, can’t you make decisions on your own anymore?"

Lady Zhou’s words seemed to blame Lian Shouren, but they were actually accusing Lady Gu. It was all Lady Gu’s devious work; Lian Shouren was merely bewitched and controlled by her.

"Father, mother," Lady Gu quickly stood up, "these past years, the lord has had only a small sum of silver. How could we afford to buy a house? It was my idea. It seemed better to buy than to keep paying rent every month. We sisters-in-law have been scrimping and saving, little by little we’ve accumulated some silver, but it’s hardly enough. It was I and Jizu’s wife who took out our personal silver, and... and we borrowed a good amount from my family, just barely managing to secure that house temporarily."

Lian Manman lowered her eyelids. Lady Gu was obviously out of options to say such a thing; probably not even a three-year-old would believe that.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, by your account, that house was bought by your family. Are my eldest son and grandson depending on a woman, depending on the Gu Family to live?" Lady Zhou asked with a sneer.

"This, of course not..." Lady Gu hurriedly tried to defend herself.

"Elder sister-in-law, no offense, but you’re slapping your own face here," seeing Lady Gu flustered by Lady Zhou, Lady He grew even bolder, "You eat fine rice and flour every day and then talk about saving? Erlang’s father-in-law found out everything. You even employ servants in the town. Elder sister-in-law, we all know what kind of family yours is. Do they have silver to lend you? Aren’t you using my elder brother’s silver, our family’s silver? Where did you get your own silver, elder sister-in-law? You and Jizu’s wife sit at home all day, doing nothing, and yet you can earn enough silver to support the men? What business are you running, elder sister-in-law? Tell me, so I can learn too."

"You..." Lady Gu, now both ashamed and enraged, her face turning crimson, retorted, "Second daughter-in-law, keep your mouth clean."

With the situation having come this far, under normal circumstances, Lady Gu, being as astute as she was, shouldn’t have claimed to have borrowed money from her family. But times were different now, and after suffering several setbacks, her cunning had dulled. Moreover, all the savings they had accumulated over the years were nearly gone, and that house was her last asset; she was determined not to let it go no matter what.