Reborn as a Landlord

Second update, asking for pink badges.

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Another letter from Taicang arrived.

Lian Shouxin received the letter, and Lady Zhang grabbed a few coins from the money box to thank the young courier. Only then did the family return home. Wu Lang had gone to Prefecture City for the exam, Xiao Qi was attending the private school, and in the household, only Lian Manman was the most literate. Naturally, the task of reading the letter fell on Lian Manman.

"Your grandfather hasn’t written for quite a while. I wonder what this letter is about?" Lian Shouxin remarked.

Since the last explanatory letter, followed by the one asking to return home next year for ancestral worship, Old Master Lian hadn’t sent any letters.

Actually, compared to the norm, the frequency of correspondence was already quite high. But compared to the initial frequency after Old Master Lian went to Taicang, it had indeed decreased.

Lian Manman couldn’t guess what the letter might contain either, so she opened the envelope and took out the letter to read it aloud.

This letter wasn’t very long, but it wasn’t very short either.

When Lian Manman finished reading, Lian Shouxin stayed silent for a while.

"Your grandfather hasn’t really said much in this letter, has he?" After the silence, Lian Shouxin asked Lian Manman, "Manman, your grandfather uses some scholarly language in the letter that I don’t quite understand. There’s really nothing in it, right?"

"Yes, there’s really not much mentioned," Lian Manman nodded.

Indeed, Old Master Lian hadn’t brought up anything noteworthy in the letter. He spoke little about Taicang, focusing instead on inquiries about Thirty Mile Camp, asking about household matters like spring farming.

In the past, whenever Old Master Lian wrote, there was always some kind of instruction. A letter like this, which felt more like idle chatter, was unusual for both Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang.

"The old master must be... feeling homesick," Lian Shouxin finally said after some thought.

Lian Manman said nothing, only put the letter away. She understood, just as Lian Shouxin had said, that Old Master Lian was indeed homesick—or perhaps more accurately, he was harboring a desire to return home.

Taicang had been prosperous and booming for him, yet Old Master Lian now wished to return to Thirty Mile Camp.

"The days over there surely must be plenty comfortable now," Lady Zhang remarked.

"Old Master isn’t the kind of person who covets comfort," Lian Shouxin replied. "He went to Taicang at the time saying he just wanted to keep an eye on things, lest..."

Lest Lian Shouren and Lian Shouyi act improperly and cause trouble there.

He left the sentence hanging and didn’t continue.

That’s what Old Master Lian had said back then, but what had come of it? Lian Xiuxiu’s marriage, Lian Shouren taking a concubine, Aunt Ping’s situation, and everything else that Old Master Lian refused to mention in his letters—such as the current behavior of Lian Shouren and Lian Shouyi.

Old Master Lian hadn’t really been able to control his two sons.

Now feeling homesick, wanting to return—was it because he’d already lost hope in that place, realizing that even with him there, he could do nothing?

No. Lian Manman shook her head. Even though Old Master Lian had the desire to return, he wouldn’t actually come back. He still felt the need to stay and keep watching over Lian Shouren and Lian Shouyi. Even if he couldn’t fully manage them, he’d try his best—wouldn’t he? That’s why Old Master Lian felt so homesick in his letter, yet seemed so helpless.

"His grandfather..." Lady Zhang sighed deeply. "What’s happening over in Taicang, he doesn’t even tell us anymore. Still, things are what they are over there, and even if we knew, what could we do? Yingzi’s father came back from Taicang a few days ago—seems like he made quite a lot of money."

"Manman, did your grandfather mention anything about Yingzi’s father in the letter?" Lady Zhang, working on her needlework, lifted her head and asked.

"No," Lian Manman replied firmly.

"Living in the same village, running into each other all the time... He didn’t give us any guidelines about how to treat their family?"

"What’s there to treat? Don’t big households say it’s the norm that a smaller wife’s maiden family isn’t considered relatives? We’ll just go about as usual. With them, it’s not like there’s anything special to treat them for," Lian Shouxin said, clearly expressing his disapproval of Yingzi’s situation and her family.

Lian Manman couldn’t help but glance at Lian Shouxin secretly. She was curious whether his stance came naturally or from the reprimand Lady Zhang had given him previously.

Regardless, this attitude was certainly good.

As for Yingzi’s maiden family not counting as relatives, Lian Manman held some reservations about that. Yingzi was considered a "small wife," but she didn’t seem to have been sold to the Lian Family. If you examined the situation closely, she might even be categorized as a legitimate concubine. Moreover, even if the Lian Family didn’t consider Yingzi’s family as relatives, that didn’t mean Yingzi’s father saw things the same way.